Condition Quickness Harbinger

May 2023

Condition Quickness Harbinger is a powerful offensive support. While this build doesn’t provide as many boons or utility as some other offensive supports, its damage output is unmatched in the category.

Harbinger's Shroud differs from other Shrouds like Death Shroud in that it doesn’t replace your health pool while active. It also comes with a unique effect, Blight, which reduces your maximum health by 1.5% per stack while also boosting your condition damage via Septic Corruption.

Harbinger benefits from self-inflicted Blight stacks by utilizing Shroud skills that consume Blight in exchange for more damage.

The Universal setup does a little less damage but allows you to use the same armor set as both Condition Scourge and the optimal version of full DPS Condition Harbinger.

This build uses a Jade Bot Core: Tier 10 to gain extra Concentration via Twisted Medicine. If you are not using a Jade Bot Core: Tier 10, you will lose some boon duration. You will still be able to upkeep 100% quickness, but the Jade Bot Core is recommended.

Build Fundamentals

Condition Quickness Harbinger plays extremely similarly to its full DPS counterpart.

The quickness this builds provides comes through the passive pulsing in Harbinger Shroud because of Deathly Haste. Additional quickness is generated by Elixir of Anguish and Elixir of Ambition.

Use Harbinger Shroud, Elixir of Promise and Elixir of Anguish to stack up Blight on yourself. You gain 2 stacks of Blight every second while in Harbinger Shroud.

To utilize your Blight stacks, you will be using Voracious Arc and Devouring Cut in Harbinger Shroud. These skill have a Blight threshold of 5 stacks above which they will consume that Blight to inflict extra Torment.

To transfer the self-inflicted conditions from Blood Is Power, use Deathly Swarm. These self-inflicted conditions make up a huge part of this skill’s damage, so getting the transfer off is a priority! Make sure to quickly use Deathly Swarm before your teammates manage to cleanse the conditions off of you, or move slightly out of the group to avoid a condition cleanse and move back in after the transfer.

Elixir of Ambition has a threshold of 10 stacks of Blight, above which it will double the duration of the conditions it applies to enemies. Always use this skill at a minimum of 10 stacks of Blight! Generally, this is not something you need to specifically watch out for; Harbinger Shroud and your basic Elixirs generate bountiful amounts of Blight and you will always meet the threshold for Elixir of Ambition as long as you are actively in combat and doing your rotation. Just be careful during your opener and any phase transitions to make sure you have the required Blight on yourself.

On Pistol, use Weeping Shots twice before weapon swapping or re-entering Harbinger Shroud; once at the start of the loop and once at the end.

Use Elixir of Ambition off cooldown.

Build Specifics

The short Harbinger Shroud part at the start of the opener is optional. Just make sure you are in combat before using Elixir of Anguish and Elixir of Ambition, or the boons will be removed by the encounter boonstrip!

You will sometimes accumulate 2 charges of Blood Is Power. To maximize your damage, use both charges before transferring the conditions. As the skill has a very brief cooldown before it can be recast, you’ll want to fill that time with another skill. Typically, the sequence will look like Blood Is Power Vile Blast Blood Is Power Deathly Swarm.

Elixir of Ambition gives you and your squadmates every boon in the game, including Stability, Aegis and Resistance. While it’s never worth to hold off on using this skill just for this, sometimes it will line up nicely with a mechanic and allow you to block or ignore an important attack.

Alternatives

Skills

• Signet of Spite is a flexible slot and should be replaced if the encounter requires something specific.
  • If you need CC or add control, you can take Spectral Grasp.
  • If you need cleave, you can take Epidemic.
  • If you need projectile destruction, you can take Corrosive Poison Cloud.
  • In some niche cases, Summon Flesh Wurm can be useful. The most notable example is helping defend a friendly Reaper from adds in the Dhuum encounter.

If you are using Epidemic or Corrosive Poison Cloud, try to use them after your Blood Is Power Deathly Swarm combo. These skills inflict you with some conditions that can interfere with transferring the Torment and Bleeding from Blood Is Power.