The term 'glass cannon' could easily be applied to this build. In terms of total damage and DPS a well-played Weaver will easily outperform you, however, in terms of localized (ranged) burst Heralds come out ahead.
The term 'glass' might not apply as well as the term 'cannon' does, with various ways to avoid damage and more than enough ways to (quickly) reposition you can hold your own, however, keep in mind you are vulnerable to the same bursts you deal and to overwhelming condition pressure.
I would like to note that, in practice, Scourges are your greatest enemy and when taking big risks, which may very well be worth it, they are likely to be your undoing, with that said, in most situations you will be able to get out alive, provided your Firebrand helps you out a bit.
The support from a Firebrand is not just a quality of life improvement, it is a necessity to be able to perform your role well. Make sure you have a Firebrand in your party that actually supports you.
DAMAGE
- ~50% (high deviation), Coalescence of Ruin(CoRUIN)
- ~25% (medium deviation), Phase Smash(PS)
- ~10% (medium deviation), Drop the Hammer(DtH)
- ~5% (low deviation), Hammer Bolt(auto)
(- ~2-3% , Lightning Strike)
LEGEND USAGE
GLINT:
- Maintain Facet of Darkness (fury) and Facet of Elements (swiftness) when out of combat. Incensed Response will take care of the might-uptime during the fight.
- Gaze of Darkness, cheap stun-break. Keep in mind that keeping of Facet of Darkness helps with maintaining might, but try not to overvalue it.
- Elemental Blast, filler AoE, can be used on downstates or more creatively, for example, to self-bomb.
- Burst of Strength, filler, can be used on downstates or otherwise.
- Infuse Light, an effective way to avoid damage and a decent heal, consider that it can be used to deal with conditions, but also consider that it can be used to soak up damage, to heal, or to simply enable yourself to go to a better position.
- Facet of Chaos, situational, sometimes keeping this up for a short period of time helps with mitigating damage.
- Chaotic Release, situational, can be used to support allies, Superspeed might just help them to get out of harm's way or to gain a better position.
- Keep in mind that Forceful Persistence gives an extra 2% damage per upkept Facet.
SHIRO:
- Riposting Shadows (RS), expensive, but extremely valuable. Can be used in a variety of ways, to reposition, to evade, to stun-break and to cleanse movement-impeding conditions. Use it wisely, but not sparingly.
- Phase Traversal, situational, can be used to gain a better position or otherwise.
- Impossible Odds (IO), situational, but arguably valuable. Do not underestimate this utility, Superspeed allows you to reposition, be it to safety or to an opportune position, as fast as possible and the quickness allows you shorten the cast time of CoRUIN, DtH and Hammer Bolt. In addition, due to Forceful Persistence, that when using this upkeep skill you will receive a 7% damage bonus.
- Enchanted Daggers, 1% of your total damage, life-steal that does not have a huge impact, but it is a decent way to sustain yourself in certain situations.
- Jade Winds, (too) expensive, rarely this skill warrants it's energy cost, otherwise it does not.
WEAPON USAGE
HAMMER:
- Hammer Bolt, piercing AA, rather slow but deals good damage and pierces. This skill is mostly used as a filler skill, but do not forget to use it, because it does hit hard.
- Coalescence of Ruin, as mentioned earlier this skill makes up for the majority of your damage. To maximize damage, make sure you have enough distance to only hit the second/final impact (=more damage) and make sure you use it as often as possible. Consider using IO when you want to shorten the cast time, especially in risky choke situations.
- Phase Smash, this skill is pretty self-explanatory. Keep in mind that it is a pretty long evade, which allows you to stay somewhere for a bit longer and still deal damage, if your position is unsafe when the evade is over you can either evade backwards instantly or use RS to gain distance.
- Field of the Mists, situational, sometimes helps to absorb projectiles from rangers/ele's
- Drop the Hammer, due to it's 1200 range and decent radius this skill can have a pretty big impact. Besides being used for cc'ing people in a bubble it also can used to CC people stuck in shades. For example, you can pre-cast DtH with IO to shave off some cast time and then follow up with a CoRUIN and the same location that will also still benefit from IO.
STAFF:
- Useful to avoid damage. When you swap to staff you get one additional dodge (Sigil of Energy), Warden Rift and the evade+movement from Surge of the Mists. In combination with the defensive cooldowns from your legends that should be plenty to get you back to safety to recover. Additionally, Renewing Wave cleanses 2 conditions and heals for a small amount.
Other tips:
- In order to reach your potential DPS 2500-7000 you have to play aggressive. Find angles to canon down your enemies, learning to read the fight helps immensely with that. However, don't tunnel vision on your DPS/DMG. An important part of being effective is where you deal that damage. Sometimes you aid in an organized spike on the enemy melee, other times you spike the enemy ranged to prevent them from spiking you.
- Like thief's (initiative) and the previous meta's iteration(s) of Herald, manage your Energy, this might not be as important in Glint, but consider to make sure you have 30 Energy available for RS when you think you might be needing it.
- All evades in this build are able to be interrupted by CC, for example PS and RS can be interrupted by a Line of Warding.
- Scourge is your hard-counter, any decent scourge will be looking to shut you down, be careful.
- If you do get spiked by a Scourge, Infuse Light can help to mitigate the damage, but ideally your FB or other FB's will cleanse you, meanwhile get to safety so that when you go down you might be able to get ressed.
- Not too long ago PS was changed so that you can hit siege on top of a wall or you can use it on enemies from an elevated position.
- Do not forget swapping legends stun-breaks and that you get superspeed on stun-break (if traited, you should)
- An example of an aggressive burst at the start of, or during, the fight would be to approach the enemy in Shiro, popping F2 for protection, casting CoRUIN while under IO, casting PS while ending IO to maintain 30 Energy, on the return of PS use RS to get to safety.
- Keep in mind that being aggressive is easier with a good commander, because he will protect you to a certain extent.
- Chokes suck, but always try to keep up the pressure, if the enemy pushes try to position yourself to the side as close to horizontal axis of the choke. In other words, position yourself so that you are not in their initial damage when they push through the choke, but that you are able to damage them and that you remain able to cannon down on the choke entry point after the melee entered.
- Keep in mind that, if you play with Sigil of Stamina, dodges can also be used to reposition faster, rather than just for evades, be careful though.
- Be nice to your Firebrand, but keep in mind that the performance of your FB can have a big impact on yours too.
- Bitch to your commander if he is fighting on spots where it is hard for you to damage, he may not be aware of it and it can be difference between winning and losing.
- Do not commander focus unless you fight, or play on, FSP or WSR (sarcasm)