Holosmith - Power PBM 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 January 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 extremely high burst and sustained AoE damage, as well as heavy CC and Vulnerability.

While this build deals good damage on its own, it excels when there are lots of conditions on the boss for Modified Ammunition. A dedicated healer in the party will also help maintain this build's Rune of The Scholar bonus after it deals damage to itself with Photonic Blasting Module.

Skill Bar

Rifle

Utility

Weapon Variants

• See Build:Holosmith_-_Power_Sword_DPS for the Sword/Pistol variation of this build.

Skill Variants

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

Rifle
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. First you build heat in Photon Forge with Corona Burst, Photon Blitz, and autoattack chains. After you overheat, you use your highest damage skills together with Solar Focusing Lens, then fill with Bomb and your high damage skills such as Shrapnel Grenade, Fire Bomb, and Blunderbuss. Rinse and repeat when Photon Forge is available again.

Opening Rotation

Start with 75% heat.

1. Big Ol' Bomb
2. Fire Bomb
3. Shrapnel Grenade
4. Grenade Barrage
5. Engage Photon Forge
6. Corona Burst
7. Photon Blitz
8. Laser Disk
9. Overheat

Loop Rotation

1. Laser Disk
2. Prime Light Beam
3. Jump Shot
4. Blunderbuss
5. Shrapnel Grenade
6. Fire Bomb
7. Bomb until 5s cooldown on Fire Bomb
8. Shrapnel Grenade
9. Poison Grenade
10. Freeze Grenade
11. Bomb until Fire Bomb is almost off cooldown
12. Blunderbuss
13. Shrapnel Grenade
14. Fire Bomb
15. Bomb until Engage Photon Forge is available
16. Engage Photon Forge
17. Photon Forge rotation (see below)
18. Repeat

Standard Photon Forge Rotation

This is the easier Photon Forge rotation and applicable to all bosses.

1. Corona Burst
2. Photon Blitz
3. Light Strike → Bright Slash → Flash Cutter x5
4. Corona Burst
5. Photon Blitz
6. Overheat

Delayed Overheat Rotation

This is an alternate Photon Forge rotation which aims to use Corona Burst 3 times before overheating. You leave Photon Forge mid way through to get in an extra cast of your non-Photon Forge DPS skills.

This rotation is a DPS increase in long phases or bosses that don't have phases. However, it's more dependent on quickness and alacrity uptime.

1. Corona Burst
2. Photon Blitz
3. Light Strike → Bright Slash → Flash Cutter until Corona Burst is available
4. Corona Burst
5. Deactivate Photon Forge
6. Blunderbuss
7. Fire Bomb
8. Shrapnel Grenade
9. Engage Photon Forge
10. Light Strike → Bright Slash → Flash Cutter until Corona Burst is available
11. Corona Burst
12. Photon Blitz
13. Overheat

Notes

• Never interrupt your Photon Forge autoattack chain.
• In real fights you will want to time your Overheat based on the encounter. Overheating provides a lot of burst damage, but it will also deal damage to yourself.
  • If a burst damage phase is about to come up, it's worth tweaking your rotation or using extra Photon Forge skills like Holographic Shockwave so you will be at 75% heat when the phase arrives. This lets you do your opening rotation and overheat for high burst damage.
  • If you are low on health or if the burst damage will be wasted, you should Deactivate Photon Forge and fill with your normal DPS skills similar to the "Delayed Overheat Rotation" listed above.
• Use Big Ol' Bomb and Grenade Barrage in place of an autoattack chain whenever possible.
• Blade Burst should be used off cooldown, as long as you're above 51 heat. Try to stand inside the boss' hitbox when you cast this, to ensure all projectiles hit the boss.

Video example by Fallen (Delayed overheat rotation)

CC

• Big Ol' Bomb
• Holographic Shockwave
• Overcharged Shot
• Prime Light Beam
• Static Shock