Willbender - Condi DPS
Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great
Focused on: Condition damage
Designed for: Raids and Fractals
Expansions required: 
Overview
A condition DPS build for Willbender. Willbender is exceptionally bursty for a condition build, and focuses on rapid strikes to build up stacks of 
Burning. It has easier access to mobility and CC than other guardian specialisations, and while it has powerful personal defensive abilities it can end up trading a significant amount of damage if they are used at the wrong time.
The need to constantly rush into melee limits this build's ability to be at range, despite its access to ranged weapons. Encounter knowledge is greatly beneficial in managing these bursts of damage without putting yourself in danger.
Skill Bar
Weapon Variants
- For players that don't own Secrets of the Obscure, Sword & Scepter mainhands are the best option.
- Greatsword can replace the sword set. The two options have practically identical DPS so you can choose based on preference or requirement.
- Sword offers some group
Fury and a teleport, Greatsword offers a leap and pulls. - You could replace the Scepter set with Greatsword if you want both Sword and Greatsword, but it would be a DPS loss.
Skill Variants
- Bring if you need CC.
Template Code
Specializations
Equipment
Viper
Viper
Viper
Viper
Viper
Viper
Sinister
Sinister
Sinister
Sinister
Viper
Sinister
Viper
Viper
Viper
Viper
x6
x18
- Players that find it difficult to keep up with the pace of the rotation may benefit more from a . With this relic, you can also drop Scepter.
- If using Scepter and Sword, should replace to provide reliable triggers of . If you are not using this relic, a or would be higher damage.
- The value of relies on stacking virtues in order to get multiple virtue triggers from a single hit. If you want to hold on to and for utility, then a will perform slightly better.
Consumables
Food
- (or ascended versions)
Utility
Usage
Beginner Rotation
The easiest way to play Condi Willbender is to camp the Pistol/Torch set. This should give you an idea of how Willbender feels to play before moving on to the full rotation.
You will want to use with this rotation.
Opener
You can precast and to start with stacks of , but skip this if you think you will need them for defence.
- and during the cast to start the cooldown
- ⇒ ⇒
For the rest of rotation, use the skills you used in the opener on cooldown, with being the highest priority, followed by and .
Once you feel comfortable with this build, you can add an offhand Pistol and follow this rotation. The full build is only a small damage increase, so you can go with whichever playstyle you prefer.
Pistol Rotation
- Both your autoattacks are very weak, but the combination of and allow us to limit the time we need to spend using them.
- triggers multiple whirl finishers, so always cast it after (which provides a fire field), at a time where there are none of your light fields.
- Where it lists Virtue in the rotation below, use either or ( is the higher priority if it is at two charges) for extra damage from virtue triggers. If you wish to keep these for utility, just ignore these steps and replace with autoattacks if necessary.
Opener
Start on Sceptre/Pistol. You can precast one or two charges of if you like, to start with and .
- - allow to charge fully, and detonate immediately as is passes through your target.
- - get this out early so combos interact with it rather than a light field
Weapon Swap- and during the cast to start the cooldown
- and during the cast
- ⇒
- Weapon Swap
Sceptre Loop
- Virtue
- - allow to charge fully, and detonate immediately as is passes through your target.
- Weapon Swap
Pistol loop
- and during the cast to start the cooldown
- Virtue
- ⇒
- Weapon Swap
- Return to start of Sceptre loop
Fractal Relic Rotation
With , you should drop the Sceptre. With this, the rotation is no longer a fixed loop and broadly you just use all skills off cooldown. The two rotations are very similar in terms of damage, so use whichever you prefer.
Opener
Start on Sceptre/Pistol. You can precast one or two charges of if you like, to start with and .
- - allow to charge fully, and detonate immediately as is passes through your target.
- - get this out early so combos interact with it rather than a light field
- Weapon Swap
- and during the cast to start the cooldown
- and during the cast to start the cooldown
- Beyond this, use skills off cooldown with the following guidance:
- and are highest priority
- , the second charge of are low priority
- Aim to use ⇒ three times before weapon swapping
- Aim to use as your last skill before weapon swapping.
Sword Rotation
Opener
You can precast and to start with stacks of , but skip this if you think you will need them for defence. Start on Sword.
- Active , but don't throw yet
- - be careful not to interrupt the cast of !
- Weapon Swap
- x2
- until is off cooldown
- →
- and → until Weapon Swap is available
- Weapon Swap
After this, the rotation is mostly priority based, but there are a few ways to structure each section:
Sword Loop
The basic sword loop opens with:
- Follow priority list (below) until is available
- Weapon Swap
Alternate Sword Loop
You can instead structure the sword loop as follows:
- Follow priority list until is available
- Follow priority list until is available
- Weapon Swap
This loop is slightly lower damage in general, but if used for the first two loops it causes cooldowns to line up slightly better, resulting in slightly higher DPS. Just following the basic sword loop is completely fine though.
Scepter Loop
The scepter loop is very simple:
- Follow priority list until Weapon Swap is available
- Weapon Swap
Priority List
- Skills specified in weapon loops above
- - should be activated as soon as it is available as this starts the cooldown, you then have three seconds to throw so it can be delayed but don't miss the window
- - This is a 4x whirl finisher, so it can be delayed up to ~three seconds if it will guarantee to combo with
- , and - when not specified in the weapon loops above, it is important to use these skills but as long as they don't delay your Weapon Swaps it isn't too important when
- - This is higher priority than autoattacks, but as it has a long cast time it is important not to have to delay more important skills too much, and the burning is only applied at the end of the skill
Greatsword Rotation
Opener
You can precast and to start with stacks of , but skip this if you think you will need them for defence. Start on Greatsword.
- Weapon Swap
- - you need to be fast or you might miss the window to throw this
- →
- until is available
- , but don't throw yet
- until gains a second charge
- x2
- Weapon Swap
After this, the rotation is mostly priority based, but each section follows the same structure:
Greatsword Loop
- Follow priority list until is available
- Weapon Swap
Scepter Loop
Provided you are fast enough, will have triggered towards the end of the Greatsword Loop so will be immediately available
- →
- Follow priority list until Weapon Swap is available
- Weapon Swap
Priority List
- Skills specified in weapon loops above
- - should be activated as soon as it is available as this starts the cooldown, you then have three seconds to throw so it can be delayed but don't miss the window
- - This is a 4x whirl finisher, so it can be delayed up to ~three seconds if it will guarantee to combo with
- - when not specified in the weapon loop above, it is important to use this skill but as long as it doesn't delay your Weapon Swaps it isn't too important when
- - If will come off cooldown in the next ~two seconds, then delay this until afterwards
Non-SotO Tips
- On Greatsword, both and gain extra damage if used inside an enemy's hitbox.
Sword or Greatsword?
Both rotations have very similar benchmarks, so feel free to play whichever you enjoy most. There are a few elements to consider in terms of usability though:
- The greatsword rotation is much more structured, which may make it easier to learn.
- On the other hand, as you are locked out of torch when using Greatsword, it is much easier to miss uses of if you are disrupted or slow.
- Both weapons have a mobility skill, but the teleport from is more versatile and can be used for a variety of skips in fractals.
- offer projectile destruction, but it can be difficult to use it effectively without sacrificing DPS.
- greatly rewards standing inside the hitbox, which means Greatsword is less effective on bosses where this is difficult or dangerous.
- and means that Greatsword has slightly more available CC than Sword.
Ratings
Comments
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