Build:Holosmith - DPS Holo

The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: WvW Zerg

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Hard

This build was last updated on December 10, 2023 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A power damage Holosmith WvW build meant to do massive damage within melee range, overwhelming the enemies with copious amounts of burst hits, causing great pain and harm to their bodies and souls and health bars, while having no meaningful downtime, unlike their competitors like full damage reaper or berserker which struggle outside of Reaper's Shroud and Berserk.

Skillbar

Rifle/Rifle

Utility

Variants

Weapon

• Hammer

Heal

• Med Kit more team utility but less personal survivability

Utility

• Fill the open utility slot with either:
  • Elixir Gun - higher spike, harder to use
  • Flamethrower - less spike, easier to use
• Elixir S ⇒ Elixir U aggressive stunbreak

Template Code

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Specializations

Variants

• Light Density Amplifier - with Elixir Gun
• Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit - with Elixir Gun

Equipment

Head
Marauder

Shoulders
Marauder

Chest
Marauder

Hands
Marauder

Legs
Marauder

Feet
Marauder

Backpiece
Marauder

Accessory
Marauder

Accessory
Marauder

Amulet
Marauder

Ring
Marauder

Ring
Marauder

Rifle
Marauder

Sigil

Sigil

Rifle
Marauder

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Relic

Variants

Relics

• Relic of Speed
• Relic of the Thief

Sigil

• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Stamina option instead of Sigil of Superior Sigil of Force for activating Explosive Entrance

Consumables

• • feast option with additional power and ferocity.

Usage

General

• As soon as you get the 25 stacks of Sigil of Superior Sigil of Bloodlust and get out of combat, swap back to the Rifle without it

Overall Priorities

High

• Damage

Moderate

• Superspeed

Low

• CC

Surviving

• This build has moderate passive defense
• This build has moderate mobility skill access
  • Holo Leap will leap towards your target if you have one, make sure to drop your target when using it for mobility
• This builds has moderate active defenses

Active defense priority

• Holo Leap or Overcharged Shot - for Immobilize
• Dodge
• Elixir U
• A.E.D.

Detailed Explanations

Damage

Flamethrower version

• In Engage Photon Forge prioritize Corona Burst and Light Strike for damage
  • Use Holo Leap as needed for mobility
  • Use other skills as needed to gain heat for Photonic Blasting Module
    • Make sure to be in a good position for Photonic Blasting Module, use Disable Photon Forge at a high heat value (95+) to save it if you can't
• During Photon Forge downtime:
  • Use your rifle skills, mainly Blunderbuss and Jump Shot for burst damage
  • Spam Flame Jet
• UseLaser Disk whenever you are sure you are going to be able to sit in melee for a long time
• Prime Light Beam is best suited for chokes or scenarios where the enemy is pushing at you, since it goes beyond the standard 5man target cap
  • Prime Light Beam roots you for a while during the cast so be careful to not greed
• Try to use both Exceed skills within Photon Forge, to grant them the Laser's Edge modifier

Skill priority

• Prime Light Beam - over 50 heat
• Corona Burst
• Laser Disk - over 50 heat
• Jump Shot
• Blunderbuss
• Dodge - for Explosive Temper (Explosive Entrance)
• Flame Jet

Elixir Gun version

• In Engage Photon Forge prioritize Corona Burst and Light Strike for damage
  • Use Holo Leap as needed for mobility
• Use Acid Bomb whenever the enemy group will be in the AoE for multiple ticks, the CD is very short
  • The backwards leap can be canceled by using a Weapon Swap keybind during the animation
• UseLaser Disk whenever you are sure you are going to be able to sit in melee for a long time
• Prime Light Beam is best suited for chokes or scenarios where the enemy is pushing at you, since it goes beyond the standard 5man target cap
  • Prime Light Beam roots you for a while during the cast so be careful to not greed
• Try to use both Exceed skills within Photon Forge, to grant them the Laser's Edge modifier
• During Photon Forge downtime:
  • Use your rifle skills, mainly Blunderbuss and Jump Shot for burst damage

Skill priority

• Prime Light Beam - over 50 heat
• Acid Bomb
• Corona Burst
• Laser Disk - over 50 heat
• Jump Shot
• Blunderbuss
• Dodge - for Explosive Temper (Explosive Entrance)

Superspeed

• Holo Leap gives Superspeed to an unlimited amount of allies
  • Use Holo Leap in the direction your commander is pushing whenever you use it
  • Cast Holo Leap behind the commander to keep the group together
  • Pair Holo Leap with Veil if your group isn't out of combat on Veil cast

CC

• Use your Holographic Shockwave when:
  • Your group calls a spike:
    • Winds - Winds of Disenchantment
    • Wells - Well of Corruption+Well of Suffering
    • Shades - Desert Shroud
    • Traps - Procession of Blades+Test of Faith
  • On top of enemy downs (while alive players are on top of them)
  • Enemy groups moving defensively while your group is pushing