Support Tempest

October 2024

Introduction

Tempests can provide good support with good condition removal, passive healing, and solid burst healing. It also brings some unique utility via auras that buff allies, both defensively and offensively.

For the Arcane variant, check the alternatives at the bottom.

Build Fundamentals

This build allows you to be the main source of healing and cleansing in your party by transmuting auras and using shouts, it has strong passive and burst healing from multiple sources, for example Transmute Frost, Water Attunement, Overload Water, as well as from granting allies auras via Elemental Bastion and finally Soothing Mist granted by the trait Soothing Mist.

Additional cleanse is provided by using weapon skills, transmuting auras via Smothering Auras, and using shouts.

This build has huge trait synergy with auras. Applying an aura to an ally will heal them through Elemental Bastion, and grant them and via Invigorating Torrents.

The aura transmute mechanic means your weapon skills have a secondary flip over ability called ‘transmute skill’.  This can only be activated while you have the aura they apply currently on you. For example, after applying a shocking aura to yourself either by using Shocking Aura itself or Overload Air, Shocking Aura will change to Transmute Lightning which consumes the shocking aura to stun nearby enemies! The transmutations you have access to on this build are Transmute Lightning in Air Attunement and Transmute Frost in Water Attunement. The previously mentioned extra effect of Smothering Auras is that transmuting an aura will remove another two conditions from nearby allies!

The use of combo fields and a specific rotation of skills, as well as an attunement rotation to maximize effectiveness, is necessary to be successful. Other than overloading water attunement, overloading other attunements could be done as a defensive maneuver, and doing so will break you out of stun. Positioning is very important when using overload skills as they are channeled skills and can be easily interrupted.

Main Priorities

Staying alive is the most important priority. Survivability is obtained by dodging, evading, and positioning as well as party defensive boons such as cleanses, stability, and heals.

Starting the fight in fire attunement is beneficial and out of combat on the empower call you can overload fire for might. Upon leaving fire attunement you will consume any might and give it to allies via Pyromancer's Puissance. Doing so will buff your allies’ damage via flame expulsion! So after the fire overload use Ring of Fire swapping into earth attunement to combo with Earthquake and Churning Earth . Your group will now have 25 might!  After earth attunement, go into air attunement and transmute (i.e. apply) a shocking aura as needed. Finally, switch to water attunement for your burst healing and cleansing, more details on this will be explained later.

Attunements and Weapon Skills

Fire Attunement

• Entering Fire Attunement serves as one of your cleanses
  • Sunspot gives you a Fire Aura whenever you enter Fire Attunement.
  • Combined with Powerful Aura this will cleanse allies each time you enter Fire Attunement due to Smothering Auras.
• Burning Speed is an evade frame, which can be used defensively as needed.
• Ring of Fire as explained earlier, you use this to combo with, before you exit fire attunement.
• Pyromancer's Puissance will grant allies whenever you leave Fire Attunement
  • Remain in Fire Attunement briefly for generation, if you are able to cast any skills before switching attunements, doing so will increase the output. This can be valuable, but do not sacrifice supporting allies for it, but remember you cannot gain might from this trait unless you are in combat.

Water Attunement

• Entering Water Attunement heals allies through Healing Ripple and removes a condition with Cleansing Wave. Healing Ripple also activates when using Overload Water
• Next use dagger skill Frost Aura then press again to Transmute Frost
• "Flash-Freeze!", "Rebound!", andOverload Water are all extremely powerful whilst in water attunement. They will all apply Frost Aura, which is able to be transmuted via Transmute Frost
  • Note: There is a 2.5-second internal cooldown, so do not spam this skill, but rather be patient making sure to not swap out of water too soon.
• Always use Overload Water before leaving Water Attunement
  • Although the radius of the effect is quite large at 360, make sure you are in the range of allies when casting it. Especially at the end of the overload when the strongest healing occurs.
• Cleansing Wave, can be used for further condition removal and provides decent healing

Air Attunement

• Shocking Aura is an extremely strong defensive and offensive skill
  • Use it as the enemy is pushing toward you or during an offensive to push the enemy out of the way
  • Do your best to avoid transmuting this skill unless needed for cleansing
• Updraft is extremely strong crowd control and evade skill
  • There is a long cast time and it locks you in place, use it wisely

Earth Attunement

• Earthquake is used in combo with Ring of Fire
• Earthen Rush is a strong skill that will enemies
  • Extremely useful on engagements as it allows you to evade attacks
  • Combo it as explained earlier with Ring of Fire

Note: Incorrectly used, this skill has the potential to move you out of position as it will move you in a straight line in the direction you are facing.

• Overload Earth Will provide a source of or a stun break, but only use as a last resort
  • Finishing the cast will enemies, so positioning is critical to maximize the value of using this skill

Shouts

• "Wash the Pain Away!" is your strongest easily accessible burst healing ability on this build.
  • There are several healing pulses, with each one healing less but with an increased radius, and the final pulse will also cleanse a condition.
  • Greater value can be seen from this skill if you position near low-health allies when initially casting this skill.  
• "Flash-Freeze!" will enemies and grant allies Frost Aura, so make sure to use this in water attunement to gain value from Transmute Frost
• "Feel the Burn!" grants might and Fire Aura.
  • Use before leaving fire attunement so you can share  via Pyromancer's Puissance
• "Eye of the Storm!" is a stun break for you and your allies while also granting
• "Rebound!" will prevent allies from immediately dying when taking lethal damage, it will negate the death blow and will cause them to get healed instead. This can be useful but usually doesn’t keep the ally alive if they are taking consistent damage.
  • If "Rebound!" ends without a target taking lethal damage, it will apply an aura based on the attunement you are currently in, so being in Water Attunement when the skill ends is critical.
  • This skill may also be used to prevent allies from downing to Illusion of Life, if you cast it right before Illusion of Life ends on them, they will not go down.

Additional Notes

Take an extra dagger in your build with Superior Sigil of Benevolence, this is so you can stack more Healing Power on kills. Once stacked you can then swap to the other set with Superior Sigil of Transference.

Alternatives

Pick Arcane over Fire for additional revival utilities over condition cleanses.