Return of Reckoning

Salutations! o/ I'm a newcomer to WAR in general and thus have been learning on the go, with advice from some more knowledgeable friends. Unfortunately, none of them are overly experienced with BW in particular beyond 'it's really good' and so I wanted to come here for a bit of specialized advice.

Without further ado, here are the builds I've been bouncing between and how I've been using them. I'd love any inputs/tweaks/general thoughts and commentary!

http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... :3549:3550: - ST build. Fireball being undefendable is really nice for securing kills, and I could see it being viable to try to actually burst a tank down with some coordination. FBB also gives the spec a small bit of aoe, and there's always Flashfire Fiery Blasts in a pinch. Obvious downside that it doesn't have the group presence that things like Wildfire confer.

http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... 548:3549:0: - Usual full on AoE build. Backdraft is also a surprisingly good DoT and the knockback usually is irrelevant because of CC immunity, Spreading Flames also practically guarantees an endless supply of Flashfire procs if you throw it on someone in the middle of a WB. Focused Mind M2 Fiery Blast spam is also really potent if there's a decent target nearby that doesn't mind sitting still.

http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... :3549:3550: - The hybrid build. I've had decent results with this between using FBB to fish for Wildfire procs and combine the two for tons of AoE, while still retaining decent ST. I think this one would benefit the most from a higher renown rank though, since it doesn't have Burn Through for healers/occasional tank or Spreading Flames for extra procs.

The thing that's got me somewhat puzzled is that I've had greatly varying degrees of success with these builds. Sometimes everything totally melts and falls apart when I'm AoE specced, and other times it feels like the enemy WB is just laughing off my damage. Much the same for the ST spec, on some nights I can go around dropping people from 100 to 0, other nights the entire combo of my dots + casted spells synced together does maybe 10-15% of someone's HP bar before it's healed up.

In general, what should I be prioritizing in a stalemate situation where neither WB is making a ton of progress on the other? Should I opt for a ST build and try to burst down a priority target, or is the constant AoE pressure actually meaningful in any capacity? It's hard to gauge sometimes when things aren't dying if it's a numbers problem or a personal one.

I have limited play time on my BW, but I've found that against pug players or warbands you can pretty much drop everybody. It's not a personal issue if you can't drop players against competent, organized groups. It's because your damage isn't meant to kill everything alone. Grouping up with other, organized players will allow your damage to shine because it's being supplemented by the warband.

For your single target, that's pretty much what I run. Don't neglect the power of Nova. It deals a lot of damage and helps build combustion quickly. It's also another instant you can use on the move. Same with the heal debuff, which I like to take because shammies can't cleanse it (a nod to rocks).
Bright Wizard ST

I've run with your AOE build once before (except I wouldn't run Crown of Fire.. that 75% only applies to you, not your party; I took Fan the Flames instead, and with the dev change to Rain of Fire making it so that the AOE matches it's visual animation, it becomes much larger than the 10ft "on paper" increase). I ran it during a Reikland defense and it worked great, but that AOE build will only be good for fights around keep sieges.

Looking at it in that context, that makes me feel a bit better at least! I guess it would be a little silly to expect to put a dent in an organized group by my lonesome. I also appreciate the suggestion of Nova! I'm fast approaching RR50 so I'll have another point to throw around. I'm not sure yet if I want to opt for Nova for the upfront burst or taking Playing With Fire instead. Truly can't wait until I hit the much higher renown ranks, I just want all the abilities.

Also good to know about Crown of Fire, that definitely diminishes the value a bit. I've mostly been sticking to the ST spec lately, but I'll give Fan The Flames a try next keep siege. I imagine the extra people hit is great for pressuring with Wildfire procs.

Yep! And especially with a ground targeted ability like that there are a lot of places where you can play safer and get the full channel off, making the tactic worthwhile. Fishing for disrupts is made easier with the extra range on Detonate as well. If you don't have a dedicated heal debuff (i.e. a SW in group), then I would run PWF. If you're playing against pugs it probably doesn't matter.

Try these builds;

ST rr60+(FBB) > http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... 548:3549:0:

ST rr60+(RKD) > http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... 548:3549:0:

if you arent 60 yet go with this; http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... 548:3549:0:

I dont play much as AoE specced but when I did, this was quite a success; http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=bw; ... 0:3539:0:0:

Not really active on forums but you can pm me in game for more info on builds, gameplay etc.

Appreciate the build suggestions! I've mostly been running in ST mode the past few days and enjoying it for the most part. The only thing I keep coming back to however is swapping out Ignition for Burn Through. I really want to use Ignition because it's obviously more damage if the full combo goes off but at the same time I'm finding it maddeningly frustrating that I can't seem to damage healers without Burn Through. Out of a Ignite/BB/SB/Sear/WH combo, one, maybe two of those abilities will land and the others will be disrupted by the average healer.

Yep - Burn Through is incredibly more efficient than Ignition. High rr healers and deftard tanks are untouchable and BT makes it somewhat bearable.

So, Flashfire's ICD was doubled recently, presumably to compensate for the DoT disrupt changes. Kind of unfortunate since it seems caster DPS is increasingly undesirable in a meta where the average target has 30% or higher chance to totally negate your damage.

It doesn't seem like it really changes the calculus very much though. Being able to fit an instant fireball into a timesnap is still incredibly good.

Until the meta changes away from mobility fighting, any tactic that allows you to instant cast a normally castabls ability on the move will be a core tactic.

What armor should I aim for as a 40lvl BW?

Conqueror's? Beastlord? A mix?