Firebrand - Condi DPS

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This build was last updated on October 02, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A condition DPS build for Firebrand in fractals and raids. This build can inflict massive AoE Burning bursts with Tome of Justice, which resets on killing (most) enemies. This makes it one of the burstiest condition damage builds and very strong if it can consistently reset Tome of Justice.

In addition to DPS, Firebrand's tomes can provide high defensive utility to its subgroup including Aegis, Protection, Resistance, Resolution, Stability, projectile destruction, and emergency healing.

Skill Bar

Axe/Torch

Pistol/Pistol

Utility

Weapon Variants

For players that don't own Secrets of the Obscure, Unrelenting Criticism makes Axe strong enough that you don't need to swap to another weapon set. Scepter is a good pick to provide a ranged option.

Skill Variants

Utility

Signet of Wrath can be swapped out for more utility:
- Sanctuary for more CC.
- "Stand Your Ground!" for group Stability.
- "Advance!" might be useful on encounters where reliable Swiftness and Aegis are more valuable than damage.

Elite

Renewed Focus is totally optional - it gives you access to invulnerability, more pages for utility tome skills, and can allow you to recover from accidentally spending too many pages, but provides no extra damage.
- "Feel My Wrath!" offers ~10% Quickness uptime to your group. With this and Liberator's Vow, three firebrands could mostly maintain Quickness in their subgroup, allowing for a quickness support to be dropped.
- Mantra of Liberation for on-demand Stability and an AoE stunbreak.

Template Code

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Specializations

Trait Variants

You could run Absolute Resolve for more support and personal sustain.

Equipment

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Sinister

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Axe
Viper

Torch
Viper

Sigil

Pistol
Viper

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

Non-SotO Relics

The best core damage relic for condi firebrand is Relic of the Aristocracy. Unfortunately the standard build cannot trigger this, so Virtues must be swapped out for the Zeal traitline:

Swap the Sigil of Superior Sigil of Smoldering for Sigil of Superior Sigil of Torment.
Swap your food for , or alternatives.

The rotation remains the same.

Consumables

Food

or ascended variants

Utility

- or for a cheaper alternative

Usage

The basic idea is to use skills off cooldown while spamming Burning with key Tome of Justice skills.

Thanks to Weighty Terms, expending all charges of Mantra of Flame generates two pages. This means that you can frequently jump into Tome of Justice and use any or all of the following skills (listed in order of priority):

Rotation

Opener

During the opener spam all Mantra of Flame charges as fast as you can without delaying other skills. Jurisdiction is a decent CC skill, so you can slightly adjust its position in the opener to line up with breakbars.

Jurisdiction ⇒ Detonate Jurisdiction - allow to charge fully, and detonate immediately as is passes through your target.
Purging Flames
Symbol of Ignition
Weapon Swap
Symbol of Vengeance and Zealot's Flame during the cast
Tome of Justice
Epilogue Ashes of the Just
Chapter 4: Scorched Aftermath
Chapter 2: Igniting Burst
Stow Tome
Zealot's Fire
Blazing Edge and Zealot's Flame during the cast
Zealot's Fire

Rest of the rotation

Outside of Symbol of Ignition, Purging Flames and Mantra of Flame are your highest priorities. Don't delay Weapon swaps though.

Axe

Open and close each axe section with Symbol of Vengeance. Cast the second Symbol of Vengeance just before you swap away, as Symbol of Ignition triggers extra burning when you hit a target within it so we want as many damage ticks as possible in order to trigger it close to the ICD.
Use Blazing Edge once without interrupting your auto chains. This can be saved for CC or ignored entirely if it causes problems, as the damage is low.
Use Zealot's Fire ⇒ Zealot's Flame off cooldown. On your first loop you want to cast this three times. Otherwise, do not delay your weapon swap for it.

Pistol

Open each pistol section with Symbol of Ignition, then follow up with all available pistol skills (remember to let Jurisdiction charge fully, and manually detonate it after it hits your target). Hold on to skill 4 when it recharges, use it immediately after the second use of Symbol of Ignition, then Weapon swap.
Try to cover as much time on pistol with Tome of Justice dips. Try to avoid having to use pistol autos as much as possible.

Tome Usage

You cannot see the cooldown of your tome skills outside of your tome, but Epilogue Ashes of the Just has the same cooldown as Purging Flames. By casting these skills in close succession it is somewhat possible to keep track. Using three skills in one burst provides a page refund via Swift Scholar so the third skill is essentially free.
Try to make note of the remaining cooldowns on Chapter 2: Igniting Burst and Chapter 4: Scorched Aftermath to give yourself an idea when you should jump back in.

Video example

Axe-only Rotation

Axe is by far the most damaging weapon set. However, if you need to swap to Sceptre for ranged damage, you have several long cast-times that that can be used to cover the time and minimise the need to use Sceptre's weak autoattacks.

Opener
During the opener spam all Mantra of Flame charges as fast as you can without delaying other skills

Symbol of Vengeance and Zealot's Flame during the cast
Purging Flames
Tome of Justice
Epilogue Ashes of the Just
Chapter 4: Scorched Aftermath
Chapter 2: Igniting Burst
Stow Tome
Zealot's Fire
Blazing Edge - if you're very fast you can fit this in before the Zealot's Fire throw, but don't miss it!

Axe

While on Axe, you mostly use Symbol of Vengeance and Blazing Edge off cooldown and autoattack in between, making sure to finish auto chains.

Use Zealot's Flame ⇒ Zealot's Fire when available. As long as Zealot's Flame doesn't reach maximum charges you can't waste the cooldown, so feel free to fit its usage around other skills.

Tome Usage

You cannot see the cooldown of your tome skills outside of your tome, but Epilogue: Ashes of the Just has the same cooldown as Purging Flames, and Chapter 2 Igniting Burst has the same cooldown as Symbol of Vengeance. By casting these skills in close succession it is somewhat possible to keep track. Using three skills in one burst provides a page refund via Swift Scholar so the third skill is essentially free.

Scepter

You may occasionally want to swap to Scepter for ranged damage. As the autoattacks are very weak, you want to cover as much time on this weapon with the following:

Zealot's Fire throws
Cleansing Flame

Using these skills means you spend as little time autoattack as possible whilst still being able to benefit from Symbol of Punishment.

Video example

General Tips

All mantras are instant cast and should be used while performing the rest of the rotation.
Zealot's Flame ⇒ Zealot's Fire should be used in place of autoattacks when up. As an ammunition skill, you are free to delay use of this as long as you don't reach maximum charges.
Make sure to always complete your auto attack chain while on Axe.

Encounter Specific Tips

Spirit Vale

Vale Guardian

Use Chains of Light on Scepter to Immobilize Seekers that are getting too close.
Make sure not to face Seekers when using Blazing Edge to ensure you don't pull them into the group.
You can bring "Feel My Wrath!" to provide some Quickness in the split phase, if you will not have any other source.
Renewed Focus can be used to invuln the damage if you are skipping greens.
If you don't trust your healers, you can bring Litany of Wrath to heal up after a skipped green.
Tome of Resolve can be used to quickly recover after a skipped green, or at the end of the split phase.
The split phase guardian will reset your Tome of Justice when they die, so you don't need to save it for the main phase.

For more information, see our Vale Guardian Guide.

Spirit Woods

For more information, see our Spirit Woods Guide.

Gorseval the Multifarious

Blazing Edge can be used to pull the little spirits into Gorseval to they can be cleaved down.
During the split phase, use Chains of Light on the big spirits to prevent them moving into Gorseval.
During the later parts of the encounter it may be worth dropping your Symbol of Punishment on the Orbs to prevent them expanding into the group.

For more information, see our Gorseval the Multifarious Guide.

Sabetha the Saboteur

For more information, see our Sabetha the Saboteur Guide.

Salvation Pass

Slothasor

Use Blazing Edge to pull slublings (NOT the friendly slubling) into the stack.
- Slublings reset your Tome of Justice when they die, so be on the lookout for stray ones to pull in.
If you are the only firebrand in the group, you might want to bring "Stand Your Ground!" to provide Stability for the Fear.
Renewed Focus can be used while jumping in Slothasor's hitbox to block the spores from the shake attack.
Tome of Resolve can be used to quickly cleanse conditions if people are hit by the shake attack.
If slubling pressure is too high, then Chapter 3: Valiant Bulwark in Tome of Courage can reduce it, though some slubling attacks are unblockable.

For more information, see our Slothasor Guide.

Bandit Trio

"Stand Your Ground!" is worth taking to reduce general annoyance from the various bandit CCs.

For more information, see our Bandit Trio Guide.

Matthias Gabrel

You can be the group's primary reflect if you bring Wall of Reflection. Note that you must place the wall inside Matthias' hitbox, or the targeted person will need to remain still in order to ensure all the shards are reflected correctly.
if you are not the main reflect, you can be a backup by using Chapter 3: Valiant Bulwark in Tome of Courage.
If your group's CC is bad, take Sanctuary to easily break the sacrifice. Matthias will no longer try to sacrifice players in the abomination phase, so you can use it to block the Shards of Rage attack instead (make sure not the block the bubble attack).
Matthias will Fear the whole squad when transitioning into the abomination phase. If it's available, enter Tome of Courage and apply as much Stability and Resolution to your group as possible to protect against this.

For more information, see our Matthias Gabrel Guide.

Stronghold of the Faithful

Escort

"Stand Your Ground!" is worth taking to reduce general annoyance from the various White Mantle CCs.

For more information, see our Escort Guide.

Keep Construct

Blazing Edge can be used to pull the orb into a rift.
Slightly delay Purging Flames after the orb collecting phase and drop it on the group and KC when it starts using phantasmal blades to cleanse the Confusion and Torment from your subgroup.

For more information, see our Keep Construct Guide.

Twisted Castle

"Stand Your Ground!" is worth taking to reduce general annoyance from the various White Mantle CCs.

For more information, see our Twisted Castle Guide.

Xera

Use Blazing Edge to pull adds into the stack.
Use Tome of Resolve during the split phase and on the "puzzle islands" to clear condis, provide Swiftness, and keep everyone alive.
You can help clear shards with Symbol of Punishment without having to run into the AoEs.

For more information, see our Xera Guide.

Bastion of the Penitent

Cairn the Indomitable

If you have no other source of Stability, you can bring "Stand Your Ground!" to help your group to skip greens.
If you are skipping greens and "Stand Your Ground!" is not off cooldown, you can use Tome of Courage to provide some Stability to your subgroup instead.

For more information, see our Cairn the Indomitable Guide.

Mursaat Overseer

For more information, see our Mursaat Overseer Guide.

Samarog

Epilogue Eternal Oasis in Tome of Resolve can be dropped on the target of Brutalize to boost healing to them during the break bar.
If your group's CC is lacking, you can bring Sanctuary. Try to drop it on the target of Brutalize to provide some incidental healing as well as CC.

For more information, see our Samarog Guide.

Deimos

When blocking Mind Crush rather than hiding in the dome, you will take ticking damage for 10 seconds afterwards, so Tome of Resolve will be useful to keep people alive.
If you are responsible for Aegis then you need to take "Advance!" as the duration and AoE are much larger.
Chains of Light can be used to Immobilize Prides to keep them away from Saul.

For more information, see our Deimos Guide.

Hall of Chains

Soulless Horror

Make sure not to pull the Tormented Dead into the group with Blazing Edge.
After the Tormented Dead has been knocked, you can use Chains of Light to keep it Immobilized at range.
Tome of Resolve can be useful in dealing with conditions if people are hit by scythes or the Tormented Dead AoE.
If CC is severely lacking, you could take Sanctuary to help.

For more information, see our Soulless Horror Guide.

River of Souls

You could bring Signet of Courage as an emergency heal.

For more information, see our River of Souls Guide.

Statues of Grenth

Do not run Unrelenting Criticism on the eyes, as the Daze will overwrite the orb stun.

For more information, see our Statues of Grenth Guide.

Dhuum

You can use Epilogue Eternal Oasis at every Greater Death Mark to convert the Torment.

For more information, see our Dhuum Guide.

Mythwright Gambit

Conjured Amalgamate

Use Blazing Edge to pull in swords and CC shields.

For more information, see our Conjured Amalgamate Guide.

Sorting and Appraisal

For more information, see our Sorting and Appraisal Guide.

Largos Assassins

As it's hard to maintain DPS during Nikare's charge, use Tome of Resolve or Tome of Courage to heal and clear condis, or provide extra toughness and Protection.
The breakbar attack fires out projectiles than can be blocked with Chapter 3: Valiant Bulwark.
The Largos are Exposed for eight seconds after being broken, so it may be beneficial to try your burst to coincide with this - if you enter your tome as the breakbar appears this should be approximately the correct timing.

For more information, see our Largos Assassins Guide.

Qadim

Blazing Edge can be used to pull Magma Elementals (either into the group or away, depending on strategy).
If the squad is really struggling to prevent the Lava Elementals from reaching Qadim, you could consider bringing Sanctuary as this will prevent them from being able to enter his hitbox for five seconds. Be aware that this will also push Magma Elementals out, so be very careful when you use it.

For more information, see our Qadim Guide.

The Key of Ahdashim

Cardinal Sabir

Sanctuary is a good choice here as Sabir cannot be damaged during one of his defiance bars, so breaking it quickly is a group DPS increase.
Renewed Focus will allow you to invuln through some shockwaves and hold on to the damage buff.

For more information, see our Cardinal Sabir Guide.

Cardinal Adina

Chapter 3: Valiant Bulwark in Tome of Courage can be used to protect against the hand knockback in the split phase by camping the tome to keep using it. Note that Tome of Courage will not be up for every split phase (unless you are very slow) so you will either need to alternate with another player, or just keep it as a backup.

For more information, see our Cardinal Adina Guide.

Qadim the Peerless

If the group lacks another source of Stability, you should bring "Stand Your Ground!" to protect everyone from the knock-back attack at the start of each phase.

For more information, see our Qadim the Peerless Guide.

Firebrand - Condi DPS

Contents

Overview