Firebrand - Quickness Support 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 and Support

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on September 10, 2023 and is up to date for the September 19, 2023 game patch.

Overview

This build provides 100% Quickness and high Fury uptime on a closely stacked group while having very strong personal DPS as well as access to Guardian's powerful utility skills.

The access to utility skills allows firebrand to provide boons such as Aegis and Stability better than almost any other class, and their tomes mean they always have access to extra abilities such as condition cleanse or reflect.

Skill Bar

Axe/Torch

Scepter/Torch

Utility

Skill Variants

or may be swapped out for more utility. deals more damage if you consume the last charge, but provides a convenient way to track an important tome skill.

can be used to provide Stability and Resolution.
can be used if you need multiple pulsing applications of Stability over a longer period of time.
can be used as a reflect.
can provide higher DPS than on encounters with long phases.
can be used for more CC.
might be useful on encounters where reliable Swiftness and Aegis are more valuable than damage.

If you use and consume all charges of off cooldown, then you can maintain Quickness without the need for

gives access to regular Stability and a rare group stunbreak.
could be used to gain more utility from your tomes as you typically will be spending pages as fast as you can generate them.

Template Code

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Specializations

Trait Variants

The master trait in Virtues is completely optional. You could run for more support, or for higher Chilled uptime.
is so strong that it is higher DPS to use it and take significantly higher boon duration to compensate for the lost Quickness generation. See the boon duration section below for a discussion of the drawbacks.

Equipment

Head
Ritualist

Shoulders
Ritualist

Chest
Ritualist

Hands
Ritualist

Legs
Viper

Feet
Ritualist

Backpiece
Viper

Accessory
Viper

Amulet
Viper

Ring
Viper

Axe
Viper

Torch
Viper

Sigil

Scepter
Viper

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x10

Infusion
x8

Relic

Swap in as many Ritualist stats pieces as necessary to ensure Quickness uptime.
If you are tanking, swap in Celestial stats gear until you have as much toughness as needed.
If Ritualist stats are too difficult to obtain, you can replace those pieces with Celestial stats.
- If the toughness is an issue, then just run full Viper stats with .

Boon Duration Variants

The setup above has ~51% boon duration. If you consume all charges of immediately and recharge as soon as you can, you can potentially lower your boon duration as low as 25%. This higher value was chosen as it significantly opens up your options:

At this level, you can just about maintain Quickness without the need to consume the last charge of . This allows you to very easily handle mechanics off-stack by consuming all remaining charges before you leave.
Similarly, this also gives the option to swap out for something like if you consume all charges of .
- You could also run if you took and make sure to use a charge at least every 20 seconds.

Unrelenting Criticism
If you want to run you should bring ~75% Quickness duration by switching most (or all) of your gear to Ritualist stats.

Run .
You must consume all charges of if using this trait.
Without , is mandatory, so you lose some versatility.
Your crit chance is very low in this gear, so procs will be less reliable and you may need to adapt your rotation around them.

(More) Convenient Gear

There are an awful lot of gear options that will work for this build. The option below is a good option if you don't have access to or if you want to run ascended food:

Head
Ritualist

Shoulders
Ritualist

Chest
Ritualist

Hands
Ritualist

Legs
Ritualist

Feet
Ritualist

Backpiece
Ritualist

Accessory
Ritualist

Amulet
Ritualist

Ring
Ritualist

Axe
Ritualist

Torch
Ritualist

Sigil

Scepter
Ritualist

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

You should use (or ascended versions) and .
- If you just want to run ascended food, use and .
In fractals, you can swap in Sinister stats pieces for more DPS (assuming you have 150+ AR and Mistlock Singularities).
Note that as this setup has much lower precision, procs will be less reliable which may make the rotation more awkward.

Consumables

Food

- for a cheaper alternative

Utility

Usage

Rotation

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

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.

Every ~16s you want to use then jump into , use three skills and exit. This takes priority over all other skills except if your charges would run out while in tome.

Opener
During the opener spam all charges as fast as you can without delaying other skills. If you're not fast enough to reach the last step before expires, you can throw them before entering tome instead.

Axe

While on Axe, you mostly use and off cooldown and autoattack in between, making sure to finish auto chains. When comes off cooldown, you want to use it then immediately perform a tome burst. You should be able to fit two uses of in between every major tome burst.

When comes off cooldown, activate it and wait for the second charge from , then throw both charges together. You want these two to remain synced up, but if they become desynced just use them off cooldown.

Tome Usage

You cannot see the cooldown of your tome skills outside of your tome, but the most important skill is Epilogue Ashes of the Just, which has the same cooldown as . By casting these skills in close succession it is somewhat possible to keep track. Each time you enter, you will use the same three skills: Epilogue Ashes of the Just, Chapter 4 Scorched Aftermath and Chapter 2 Igniting Burst. Using three skills in one burst provides a page refund via so the third skill is essentially free.

You may enter tome and Epilogue Ashes of the Just will not quite be off cooldown. In this case do Chapter 2 Igniting Burst ⇒ Chapter 4 Scorched Aftermath ⇒ Epilogue Ashes of the Just.

You can deal some extra damage by quickly entering tome and using Chapter 2 Igniting Burst in between major tome bursts. Make sure not to spend the pages you need for the major tome burst!

Thanks to , if you are using the last charge of either mantra then you can use the extra pages for utility from other tome skills.

Scepter

You want to swap to Scepter when it's time to recharge mantras (or for ranged damage). As the autoattacks are very weak, you want to cover as much time on this weapon with the following:

throws
Recharging

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

Video Example (using slightly different gear)

Video example of Axe-camping rotation

Quickness

, , and are used to maintain Quickness on your group.

and can be cast as soon as they are available.
should be used every 7 seconds to activate . You can estimate this by looking at the line that moves around the mantra icon as it recharges. Once it starts moving along the top of the icon, at least 7.2 seconds have passed (if you have Alacrity) so it can be freely used again.

Mantras

As the final charge of each mantra is so powerful, the optimal use of them is to quickly consume all three charges (NOT ) then recharge them as they come off cooldown and use all three charges and repeat. You typically always want to do this for , but there can be reasons to keep charges of .

For example, with the recommended boon duration you can maintain Quickness by only using the first charge of , then if you need to deal with a mechanic that keeps you off-stack for an extended duration, burn all remaining charges to provide your subgroup with enough Quickness to (hopefully) last until you get back.

General Tips

All mantras are instant cast and should be used while performing the rest of the rotation.
and should be used in place of autoattacks when up. You should throw the free you get from as well.
- is not affected by Alacrity, but is. This means they have approximately the same cooldown so if you activate when it comes off cooldown and wait until triggers, you can throw both in quick succession.
Make sure to always complete your auto attack chain while on Axe.

Encounter Specific Tips

Spirit Vale

Vale Guardian

Use on Scepter to Immobilize Seekers that are getting too close.
Make sure not to face Seekers when using to ensure you don't pull them into the group.
can be used to quickly recover after a skipped green, or at the end of the split phase if you have any spare pages.

For more information, see our Vale Guardian Guide.

Spirit Woods

For more information, see our Spirit Woods Guide.

Gorseval the Multifarious

can be used to block Gorseval's slams.
can be used to pull the little spirits into Gorseval to they can be cleaved down.
During the split phase, use on the big spirits to prevent them moving into Gorseval.
Use during the break bar to help out-heal the returned damage.
During the later parts of the encounter it may be worth dropping your on the Orbs to prevent them expanding into the group.

For more information, see our Gorseval the Multifarious Guide.

Sabetha the Saboteur

Bandit Sappers spawn opposite the cannons every 30 seconds, and you can use to pull them into the group. Make sure the sapper has thrown its bomb before doing this however if you don't want to skip the cannon.
can also be used to provide Stability during the flamewall attack.
If you have spare pages, use Epilogue Unbroken Lines in when Karde spawns, to provide toughness and protection for his flamethrower attack.

For more information, see our Sabetha the Saboteur Guide.

Salvation Pass

Slothasor

Use to pull slublings (NOT the friendly slubling) into the stack.
Unless it's being covered by other people, bring to provide Stability for the Fear attack after Slothasor's defiance bar is broken.
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 can reduce it, though some slubling attacks are unblockable.

For more information, see our Slothasor Guide.

Bandit Trio

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 . 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 .
If your group's CC is bad, take 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 you have spare pages, enter 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

is worth taking to reduce general annoyance from the various White Mantle CCs.

For more information, see our Escort Guide.

Keep Construct

can be used to pull the orb into a rift.
Slightly delay 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

is worth taking to reduce general annoyance from the various White Mantle CCs.

For more information, see our Twisted Castle Guide.

Xera

Use to pull adds into the stack.
Use during the split phase and on the "puzzle islands" to clear condis, provide Swiftness, and keep everyone alive. The pages should recharge by the time Xera spawns.
You can help clear shards with without having to run into the AoEs.

For more information, see our Xera Guide.

Bastion of the Penitent

Cairn the Indomitable

Bring to help your group if you are skipping greens.
If you are skipping greens and is not off cooldown, you can use 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 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 . 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 will be useful to keep people alive.
If you are responsible for Aegis then you need to take as the duration and AoE are much larger.
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 .
After the Tormented Dead has been knocked, you can use to keep it Immobilized at range.
can be useful in dealing with conditions if people are hit by scythes or the Tormented Dead AoE.
You could take to help with CC.

For more information, see our Soulless Horror Guide.

River of Souls

You could bring as an emergency heal.

For more information, see our River of Souls Guide.

Statues of Grenth

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 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 or 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

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 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

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.

For more information, see our Cardinal Sabir Guide.

Cardinal Adina

Chapter 3 Valiant Bulwark in can be used to protect against the hand knockback in the split phase by camping the tome to keep using it. Note that it will not be up for every hand (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

You should bring to protect everyone from the knock-back attack at the start of each phase.

For more information, see our Qadim the Peerless Guide.

Firebrand - Quickness Support Condi DPS

Contents

Overview