The Celestial Firebrand is a build for groups to use instead of a Heal Firebrand. It provides more than enough healing for most groups, permanent Quickness, a large chunk (15-18 stacks) of might and on demand Stability and Aegis, whilst dealing a decent amount of damage. It is especially strong in PuGs where often a Heal Firebrand is overkill, especially in condi groups, but the convenience of having a more supportive player pumping out important boons such as might, Stability, Aegis and heals is invaluable.
There are Three variants shown below; a low AR Celestial variant, a high AR Celestial variant, and a Celestial Heal variant. The Celestial 150AR variant is the standard version with high boon duration and provides solid damage while being fairly forgiving with boon uptimes. It also has the advantage of working well in other content outside of fractals with minimal changes. The Celestial 222AR build is a more offensive build and offers the most damage. While the Celestial Heal 150AR variant is much more supportive and a last resort before swapping to Heal Firebrand 🡢Go to build . All of these builds can be optimized further with a mix of gear to suit your needs using our gear optimizer .
testAlthough made in a previous patch, this video still contains useful information about utility skill selection and gameplay. However quickness generation, tome usage and traits have changed
Only use these skills close to your allies - try to “puke” on them with the mantras
Keep in mind that equipping/stowing a tome grants you (only you, not your party members!) 3 seconds of Quickness every 8 seconds thanks to Swift Scholar !
The rotation is a lot simpler compared to any other Guardian build (except for HFB where your weapons do not have an immediate effect on how efficient the build is). However, weapon swaps require careful consideration, because it is not efficient to be stuck on staff or to have less than 25 might during a damage phase.
Getting the weapon swaps right is probably the hardest part (more info below). Generally, it is recommended to always camp Axe/Torch and only swap to staff to use Empower to top up Might.
Remember to be smart about your free utility swap and adjust as necessary to the encounter and your party.
Suggested key moments to swap to staff and Empower :
MAMA: There is no exact key moment and you need to decide on your own when to swap to staff.
Siax: This build has quite good damage and is fairly self-sustained enabling you to kill your add quickly. Swap to staff for the last few percent and be ready to Empower in the middle. This works better the slower the group is due to the weapon swap cooldown. If another person helps you kill your add (typically the Renegade) you can chill on staff for the add so you are ready to swap to Axe/Torch sooner.
Enso: Be on staff at the beginning of every phase and use Empower while Ensolyss is invulnerable.
Skorvald: Anomalies 2 and 4. In case your group gets too fast you might have to skip Empower at the 2nd island. When using the 66% portal make sure to drop a Symbol of Swiftness on Skorvald before swapping to Axe/Torch.
Artsariiv: If your party deals the majority of its damage in the middle you want to empower at 66% and 33% shortly before she becomes vulnerable. If not, you may empower while she is jumping away and the team kills the Anomaly.
Arkk: Finish your orb first by camping in the light field and auto-attacking with the superior weapon (staff) so you can precast Empower and Symbol of Swiftness .
Ai: On light Ai you will want to Empower mid at the beginning of the fight and after each split phase. You should also swap to Staff during the split mechanic so you can cast Empower as everyone returns to the middle. On Dark Ai this is mostly the same aside from the lack of split phases so keep an eye on might and be ready to swap to Staff when needed. Remember with the amount of movement in this fight to be casting Symbol of Swiftness where possible to help keep everyone moving.
Tomes are very useful when no other skills are ready. Tome of Justice also gets refreshed every time an enemy dies (works with anomalies at Skorvald/Artsariiv/Arkk, knights at MAMA, and hallucinations at Siax).
There is no set rotation in this Tome, use whatever skills you need for their utility and make sure to press Skill 5 as it is an incredibly strong skill.
You can camp in this Tome for a few extra seconds to get an extra cast on an important skill, for example, a 2nd reflect. However, only do this when needed as you will not have access to the boons and healing your weapon skills provide.
