Holosmith - Explosive Roamer

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

Focused on: Direct damage, Mobility and Control

Designed for: WvW Roaming

Difficulty:

TBD

This build was last updated on April 14, 2022 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

A WvW Holosmith roaming build with high pressure and moderate sustain.

Skill Bar

Sword/Shield

Utility

Skill Bar Variants

Elite

• Prime Light Beam - unblockable AoE CC on a short CD for setting kills up.

Template Code

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Equipment

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Marauder

Accessory
Crusader

Accessory
Marauder

Amulet
Commander

Ring
Crusader

Ring
Berserker

Sword
Berserker

Shield
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Consumables

Food

• - good stats and passive damage mitigation.

• - defensive option with Explosive Entrance synergy due to more frequent dodging.
  • - budget version.

Utility

• or

Usage

Elite specialization basics

• Holosmith grants access to the Photon Forge (sometimes referred to as holo mode) and introduces a new resource: heat. Heat is generated passively while the forge is active and also by activating forge skills. Higher CD skills generate more heat.

• Reaching maximum heat (150 due to Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit) should be avoided as Overheat damages you and locks you out of the forge until heat goes back to 0.

• Engage Photon Forge is used to activate the forge, after which your weapon skills will be replaced by 5 new ones. You can't exit the forge for at least 6 seconds, so be careful about reentering with high heat levels.
  • Both Engage Photon Forge and Disengage Photon Forge count as toolbelt skills and will work with related traits. Both skills can proc weapon swap sigils too.
  • If absolutely necessary you can abort Photon Forge by using Elixir S.

Forge skills

• Auto attacks are just filler/spammable downed cleave if you'd need it.

• Holo Leap should be used on CD most of the time as this is an incredibly loaded skill with a very short CD. This skill provides mobility/cleansing via Crystal Configuration: Zephyr, does decent damage, and even functions as a Leap Finisher (although the default build doesn't really have combo fields, variants or your allies may do).

• Corona Burst tends to be the first skill Holosmiths use in combat right after entering holo mode. This is a two-parter that also stacks Might. The second strike goes off after a delay, making it ideal to combo with other skills for burst damage. Try to squeeze in 2 Corona Bursts before exiting the form.

• Photon Blitz can be useful for reaching targets trying to escape, otherwise it should only be used if you can make sure that all of its projectiles are going to land (for example if the target is CC'd).

• Holographic Shockwave is an excellent AoE CC and also a Blast Finisher. You can also fake cast it by stowing your weapon right after activation in order to bait enemy dodges.

General

• The build by default has rather poor access to condition removal, limited only to Prismatic Converter and Sigil of Cleansing.
  • Against condition burst Elixir S's immunity can bail you out.

• Elixir U has both defensive and offensive uses. You could either hold on to it to break out of stuns and deal with CC in general, or burst targets with Quickness.

• Elixir S is the go-to panic button in the build, making you immortal for the time being (well, except for fall damage). Beside just avoiding cerain death, this elixir's also useful for stomping enemies or reviving allies without any risk of interrupts.
  • Toss Elixir S is the only source of Stealth in the build, and it's AoE. There are plenty of situations where stealth can be a powerful thing to have. These include hiding allies who are being stomped thus saving them, removing pressure from yourself by turning invisible, or concealing your movement before an engagement to catch enemies off-guard.

Damage

• After every dodge roll you gain Explosive Entrance which adds a decent damage proc to your next attack.

• Most of your damage comes from spamming holo forge skills, grenades and dodging. Sword/Shield is mainly a filler set you use while the forge is cooling down.

• Right after exiting the forge follow up with Radiant Arc and Refraction Cutter while your heat is still high, preferably in this order (Radiant Arc is a leap which makes it easier to land Refraction Cutter in melee range which increases the chance of landing all projectiles on one target).

• Once your heat is back at a reasonably low level enter holo mode and spam away.

Top Streamers

• Twitch: Azzardome

Related Builds

• Explosive Sword - Conquest PvP version.