Holosmith - Power Sword DPS

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Strike damage

Designed for: Raids and Fractals

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on February 19, 2022 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A power DPS Holosmith build for fractals and raids. This build brings good burst and sustained AoE damage.

While this build deals good damage on its own, it excels when there are lots of conditions on the boss for Modified Ammunition.

Skill Bar

Sword/Pistol

Utility

Weapon Variants

• Shield can be used in the offhand slot of extra CC and/or survivability for a very minor DPS loss.

Skill Variants

Healing Skills

• A.E.D. provides a massive amount of healing if you can predict damage spikes (e.g. specific mechanics in raids). It also provides CC with Static Shock.

Utility Skills

Swapping out your utility skills is a large DPS loss and should only be considered as a last ditch option.

• Hard Light Arena can be useful in uncoordinated groups for the protection and pull.
• Spectrum Shield if you don't trust your healer to keep you alive or stunbreak you in high pressure fights.

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Equipment

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Ring
Berserker

Sword
Berserker

Pistol
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Equipment Variants

• Sigil of Superior Sigil of the Night or slaying sigils when applicable.

Consumables

Food

Utility

• Slaying potions when applicable.

Usage

The logic behind this rotation is to maximize your Photon Forge and Laser's Edge uptime. You build heat in Photon Forge with Corona Burst, Photon Blitz, and autoattack chains. Using Corona Burst as your last skill and exiting Photon Forge will continue to generate heat for a few seconds without causing you to overheat. Then fill the time cooling down with Sword auto-attacks and your high damage skills such as Shrapnel Grenade and Refraction Cutter. Rinse and repeat when you fall below 100 heat.

Opening Rotation

Start with 90% heat.

1. Engage Photon Forge
2. Corona Burst
3. Grenade Barrage
4. Laser Disk
5. Prime Light Beam
6. Light Strike → Bright Slash → Flash Cutter x2
7. Photon Blitz
8. Corona Burst
9. Deactivate Photon Forge

Loop Rotation

1. Refraction Cutter
2. Blowtorch
3. Shrapnel Grenade
4. Poison Grenade
5. Sun Edge -> Sun Ripper -> Gleam Saber x2
6. Refraction Cutter
7. Shrapnel Grenade
8. Sun Edge -> Sun Ripper -> Gleam Saber x2
9. Refraction Cutter
10. Shrapnel Grenade
11. Engage Photon Forge
12. Corona Burst
13. Photon Blitz
14. Grenade Barrage
15. Light Strike → Bright Slash → Flash Cutter x3
16. Corona Burst
17. Deactivate Photon Forge

Notes

• Under no circumstances should you ever overheat as it will massively reduce your damage output. Try to exit photon forge as close to 149 heat as possible.
• Corona Burst will continue to generate heat for a short time after it finishes, but it will not trigger an overheat if you are not in forge. For this reason, it should be the last skill you use while in Photon Forge.
• Never interrupt your Photon Forge auto-attack chain.
• If you are a little slow with the rotation outside of Photon Forge, you may find that you are not close to 149 heat when you would normally exit. In this case, perform an extra Photon Forge auto-attack chain.
• The cooldown on Poison Grenade is longer than the loop, so it will change position in the rotation. Whenever you enter Grenade Kit, use Poison Grenade if it is available. If it is still on cooldown the third time you enter Grenade Kit in the loop (just before going into Photon Forge), use Freeze Grenade instead. Both Poison Grenade and Freeze Grenade may be omitted from the rotation if you are losing too much heat between Photon Forge uses.
• Blade Burst should be used off cooldown. Try to stand inside the boss' hitbox when you cast this, to ensure all projectiles hit the boss.
  • Surprise Shot, Grenade Barrage, Laser Disk and Prime Light Beam should also be used off cooldown.