Firebrand

“

"Let the ancient magics of Vabbi burn away our foes."

Firebrands harness the power of ancient Vabbian tomes to burn away impurities and conquer their foes. Each tome contains raw, powerful magic and must be used with patience and care.

— In-game description

Firebrand is an elite specialization for the guardian unlocked with the Path of Fire expansion. These lore keepers were once the chroniclers of the achievements of the Elonian people, and their culture. They stand against Palawa Joko, who seeks to rewrite history in his own image. Empowered by the fiery hearts of the Elonians fighting for their lives and lands, firebrands have manifested the traditional guardian virtues as tomes: repositories of lore that firebrands bring forth to burn away the oppressors, lift the spirit of their allies, and courageously protect them from harm. They inspire allies by shouting mantras that heal and provide powerful boons, purging their impurities and their enemies alike. Firebrands can use axes on their main hand, combining fire and light to burn foes with vengeance, and pull them to their reckoning. Firebrands are very versatile, and can specialize as either damage dealers, supports, or healers.

List of firebrand skills

See also: List of guardian skills

Profession mechanic

“

Knowledge is power!

— Firebrand

Tomes replace virtues as the firebrand's profession mechanic. Their passive effects are identical to virtues, but using a tome replaces your weapon skills with tome skills. Each tome skill costs a certain amount of pages to cast, and the available page count is shared by all tomes. By default, firebrands have a maximum of 5 tome pages and it takes 8 seconds to generate a tome page.

Using all available pages will automatically exit a tome. Tomes can also be put away early by using the   Stow Tome skill.

#	Skill	Type			Description
F1	Tome of Justice	Virtue			Virtue: Burn foes every few attacks. Activate: Pull forth a magical tome on the dangers of the blazing heat in Kourna.
F2	Tome of Resolve	Virtue			Virtue: Regenerate health. Activate: Draw forth an enchanted tome that recounts the trials undergone by the people of Vabbi.
F3	Tome of Courage	Virtue			Virtue: Gain aegis periodically. Activate: Conjure a mystic tome containing stories about the heroes of Istan.

Tome of Justice

#	Skill			Description
1	Chapter 1: Searing Spell	0.5½		Tome. Fueled by tales of the desolation in Istan, incite a great swelling of heat before you.
2	Chapter 2: Igniting Burst	0.75¾	8	Tome. Ignite the air around you in an expanding burst.
3	Chapter 3: Heated Rebuke	0.75¾	10	Tome. Call forth a heated vortex to collapse your enemies together.
4	Chapter 4: Scorched Aftermath	0.5½	15	Tome. Detail the suffering in fire and blood inflicted during Vabbi's occupation.
5	Epilogue: Ashes of the Just	0.75¾	20	Tome. Recall the memory of fallen heroes, granting allies the searing blades of justice.

Tome of Resolve

#	Skill			Description
1	Chapter 1: Desert Bloom	0.5½		Tome. Tales of desert blooms create a wave of healing for your allies.
2	Chapter 2: Radiant Recovery	0.75¾	4	Tome. Release magic from pages detailing the rebuilding of Vabbi, cleansing conditions on nearby allies. Allies are healed for each condition removed.
3	Chapter 3: Azure Sun	0.75¾	8	Tome. Inspired by countless poems describing the comforting powers of the water-reflected sun, grant boons to allies.
4	Chapter 4: Shining River	0.75¾	10	Tome. Release a torrent of pages describing the water cycle of the Elon River. Heal allies and grant them swiftness.
5	Epilogue: Eternal Oasis	0.75¾	20	Tome. Purify your allies with the waters of Amnoon and increase the healing they receive.

Tome of Courage

#	Skill			Description
1	Chapter 1: Unflinching Charge	0.5½		Tome. Roused by tales of mythical Sunspear charges, ground and motivate allies before you.
2	Chapter 2: Daring Challenge	0.25¼	4	Tome. As the tales recount of Turai, taunt your enemies by issuing an insightfully inciting challenge.
3	Chapter 3: Valiant Bulwark	0.75¾	15	Tome. Manifest the shimmering purity of the desert sun, reflecting enemy missiles.
4	Chapter 4: Stalwart Stand	0.25¼	20	Tome. Recount the stand of Elonian loyalists against Palawa Joko, granting resistance to your allies.
5	Epilogue: Unbroken Lines	0.75¾	25	Tome. Recalling the memory of heroes past, enchant nearby allies with formidable defenses.

Weapon skills

#	Skill			Description
Axe
1	Core Cleave	0.5½		Cleave at your enemy with a physical and a magical axe.
1	Bleeding Edge	0.5½		Slice through your foe again, physically and magically, as your weapon is heating up.
1	Searing Slash	0.5½		Unleash your searing axe in an overhand slash, following it up with a magical edge.
2	Symbol of Vengeance	1	8	Symbol. Cleave your axe into the ground, reducing enemy movement and carving a razor-sharp symbol of vengeance.
3	Blazing Edge	0.75¾	12	Conjure a magical axe to rake your enemies toward you.

Slot skills

Healing

Skill				Description
Mantra of Solace			1	Mantra. Gain health. Grant boons to you and allies in front of and around you.

Utility

Skill				Description
Mantra of Flame			1	Mantra. Chant a wave of purging fire to sear enemies in front of and around you.
Mantra of Lore			1	Mantra. Chant the ritual of cleansing, removing conditions and speeding recovery.
Mantra of Truth			1	Mantra. Chant tenets of truth to debilitate your foes.
Mantra of Potence			1	Mantra. Recite a hymn from the annals of Turai to quicken yourself and your allies.

Elite

Skill				Description
Mantra of Liberation			1	Mantra. Echo remnants of an ancient pamphlet from Vabbi that urged Elonians to freedom. Grant stability and resolution to allies while breaking stun.

List of firebrand traits

See also: List of guardian traits

Tier	Trait		Description
Minor Proficiency	Axe Proficiency		You can wield axes.
Minor Adept	Purity of Word		Gain knowledge of Elonian lore, igniting a fierce drive to purge corruption and manifesting your Virtues as mystic tomes. Gain access to Mantras. Using Tome skills consumes pages. You regenerate pages every interval.
Major Adept	Unrelenting Criticism		Axe skills gain a chance to inflict bleeding. Symbol of Vengeance now dazes on its initial strike.
Major Adept	Liberator's Vow	7	Grant allies quickness when you use your heal skill.
Major Adept	Archivist of Whispers		Your Virtues gain additional pages.
Minor Master	Swift Scholar	8	Equipping a Virtue grants you quickness. Every third Tome skill grants you pages. Stacks reset when exiting a tome. Quickness can only be gained once per interval
Major Master	Weighty Terms	10	Your Mantra skills slow nearby foes. This effect may only occur once per interval. Mantras gain reduced charge-recovery time.
Major Master	Stalwart Speed	7	When you grant aegis or stability, grant quickness. This can affect multiple targets simultaneously.
Major Master	Legendary Lore		Tome skills gain bonuses from scribbling in the margins by ancient bards.
Minor Grandmaster	Imbued Haste		Gain increased attributes while affected by quickness.
Major Grandmaster	Stoic Demeanor	1	Retain Courage passive while it is on cooldown. Grant boons to nearby, allies when you disable, immobilize, or slow an enemy. Disables include stun, daze, knockback, pull, knockdown, sink, float, launch, taunt, and fear.
Major Grandmaster	Quickfire	7	Retain Justice passive while it is on cooldown. Granting quickness to an ally also grants Ashes of the Just.
Major Grandmaster	Loremaster		Retain Resolve passive while it is on cooldown. You generate pages more quickly.

Lore

“

These zealous lorekeepers are skilled in conjuring magical fire, and they use axes and mantras in close combat. Their virtues are replaced by conjured tomes, which act as weapons to rebuke enemies and protect allies.

— Official site

Associated items

•   Superior Rune of the Firebrand
•   Firebrand's War Miter
•   Firebrand's Axe
•   Expurgation
•   Mini Firebrand Roni Gehianu

Related achievements

• Specializations: Adept Firebrand — Begin training the guardian's firebrand elite specialization. (5)
• Specializations: Master Firebrand — Completely train the guardian's firebrand elite specialization. (10)
• Specialization Collections: Expurgation — Collect these 14 items and skins to receive the firebrand's axe, Expurgation. (3)

Gallery

Promotional material

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  Wallpaper

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  Concept art

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  Promotional pre-launch screenshot

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  Promotional official icon

Icons

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  Official icon

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  Official icon

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  Wiki icon

Notes

Bug:

After first unlocking Axe Proficiency and equipping the Firebrand trait line, even before unlocking the next minor trait Purity of Word, Virtue of Courage is replaced with Tome of Courage. When activated, the player receives the Tome and their weapon skills are replaced with the tome skills. However, while tome skills can be used and go on cooldown, they have no effects. The player is therefore effectively unable to fight until the tome is stowed.

Trivia

• Two of the original elite skills for the guardian were also tomes.
• The Firebrand's mantras were one of the reasons why ArenaNet developed the Ammunition System. The old mantra system was inconvenient as once a mantra charge was used and the fight ended, players could either waste the next charge and wait for it to recharge or go into the next fight with one less mantra charge.
• The Elonian Firebrand Roni Gehianu can be found east of Derelict Delve in the Desert Highlands.

External links

• Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire Elite Specializations—Firebrand (Guardian)

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Guardian