As the title explains it, I’ve been fiddling with the new elite spec and I enjoy it a lot. The tomes are a blast to use (I think they’re the key to unlocking the specialization’s potential), and the ax is a really fun weapon to use (although it’s #2 can be hit or miss at times). Mantras… We won’t talk about those (except for maybe the elite, having 3 stunbreakers on deck is REALLY nice).
Since mantras aren’t too hot, I’ve been using a variation of the “standard” Burn Build to pretty good success. You’ll need to full trait into meditations to supplement your damage and healing, but with proper tome usage I’ve been able to devastate people playing on the point. The only thing I can’t decide on atm is whether I should choose Radiance or Virtues for that last specialization.
Under normal circumstances I’d have gone for Virtues: The AoE burn that procs (and more often) from Permeating Wrath is a great way to get stacks going, and the condition cleanse from Absolute Resolution is a pretty good panic option… But now that the true utility of your former virtues are the abilities your tome grants, the old options just don’t make sense anymore. Not to mention that the virtue passives themselves are gutted heavily in favour of the tome’s actives.
That’s why I’m considering Radiance: Increased burn damage from Amplified Wrath is a nice supplement to what we lost from Permeating Wrath into Virtue of Justice’s Tome, and Radiant Fire gives us more consistent AoE burning (or if you have a torch out and ready, an even deadlier single target burn). As an added bonus, Right Hand Strength means that combined with the 20% crit chance due to the Fury you get from Meditations you’ll have decent crit damage to go along with the condition damage (makes Carrion/Sage that much better to use).
So what do you guys think? For Firebrands, will our burn damage be about quantity (Permeating Wrath) or quality (Amplified Wrath)?