Firebrand - Condi DPS

Part of the current metagame

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

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on January 19, 2022 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, Stability, Resistance, projectile destruction, and emergency healing.

Skill Bar

Axe/Torch

Scepter/Torch

Utility

Skill Variants

• Mantra of Flame or Signet of Wrath can be swapped out for more utility. In general Mantra of Flame should be swapped out, but it will deal more damage than Signet of Wrath on encounters that have phases below 25 seconds as well as split phases long enough to regain all three charges.
  • 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.
• With virtues, your tome comes off cooldown quickly enough that Renewed Focus barely offers a dps increase, thus you could bring "Feel My Wrath!" for better Fury and Quickness uptime, or Mantra of Liberation for Stability and a group stunbreak.

Template Code

[&DQEuHxAaPj1LF0sXFRcVF0wBTAExATEBNwE3AQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA=]

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Specializations

Specialization Variants

• You could run Absolute Resolve for more support and personal sustain.
• Archivist of Whispers can be taken for more DPS, with some caveats:
  • It has slower burst, so phases need to be 20+ seconds long.
  • The rotation may not line up on encounters where you get tome resets via Renewed Justice (e.g. some bosses in wings 1-2, most fractals).
  • If you have three or more firebrands in the same subgroup, you may not be able to expend Epilogue Ashes of the Just charges faster than you gain them, limiting the benefit of the trait.

Equipment

Head
Viper

Shoulders
Viper

Chest
Viper

Hands
Viper

Legs
Viper

Feet
Viper

Backpiece
Sinister

Accessory
Sinister

Accessory
Sinister

Amulet
Sinister

Ring
Sinister

Ring
Viper

Axe
Viper

Torch
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Scepter
Viper

Torch
Viper

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Equipment Notes

Only a single torch is required.

Consumables

Food

• or ascended variants

Utility

• • or for a cheaper alternative

Usage

The basic idea is to maintain high symbol uptime while spamming Burning with Tome of Justice, Mantra of Flame and Zealot's Flame. When Tome of Justice is not available, axe skills are used to fill the downtime.

Your default state will be to autoattack in axe and using Symbol of Vengeance and Blazing Edge as filler. Use your Mantra of Flame and Purging Flames off cooldown. You should be able to use Symbol of Vengeance three times between each Tome Burst.

Immediately after using your 2 casts of Zealot's Fire, you may perform a Tome Burst if it is available.

Example:

1. Zealot's Flame
2. Symbol of Vengeance
3. Zealot's Fire
4. Weapon swap
5. Symbol of Punishment
6. Zealot's Fire

Tome Burst

1. Tome of Justice
2. Chapter 2 Igniting Burst
3. Chapter 4 Scorched Aftermath
4. Epilogue Ashes of the Just
5. Chapter 1 Searing Spell
6. Chapter 2 Igniting Burst

• If you have Renewed Focus available, you may do another tome burst (below). If it is unavailable, use Cleansing Flame and another Symbol of Punishment before returning to axe.

Archivist of Whispers Tome Burst

1. Tome of Justice
2. Epilogue Ashes of the Just
3. Chapter 2 Igniting Burst
4. Chapter 4 Scorched Aftermath
5. Chapter 1 Searing Spell
6. Wait for Chapter 2 Igniting Burst to come off cooldown, then use it
7. Wait for Chapter 2 Igniting Burst to come off cooldown again, then use it
8. Epilogue Ashes of the Just
9. Chapter 4 Scorched Aftermath

• While waiting, continue to use utility skills such as Purging Flames as they come off cooldown.
• If you have Renewed Focus available, you may do another tome burst (below). If it is unavailable, use Symbol of Punishment before returning to axe.

Renewed Focus Tome Burst

1. Renewed Focus
2. Zealot's Flame during the channel of Renewed Focus
3. Zealot's Fire x2 (second throw assumes Radiant Fire triggered)
4. Symbol of Punishment
5. Repeat Tome Burst
6. Cleansing Flame if Symbol of Punishment is still on cooldown
7. Symbol of Punishment
8. Return to axe

Rotation example

Archivist of Whispers rotation example

General

• Try to always place a Symbol of Punishment immediately before entering Tome of Justice as well as immediately before swapping back to axe.
• All mantras are instant cast and should be used while performing the rest of the rotation.
• Zealot's Flame and Zealot's Fire should be used in place of autoattacks when up. You should throw the free Zealot's Fire you get from Radiant Fire as well.
  • Radiant Fire is not affected by Alacrity, but Zealot's Flame is. This means they have approximately the same cooldown so if you activate Zealot's Flame when it comes off cooldown and wait until Radiant Fire triggers, you can throw both Zealot's Fire in quick succession.
• Make sure to always complete your auto attack chain while on Axe