PvP: Holosmith Match-ups

Just wondering what are good Match-ups for the typical Meta Holosmith build to engage and which fights should a holosmith simply avoid?

Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

@Yannir.4132 said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

Defensively yes, it can only 1v1 choice professions and builds in comparison to its duelist counterpart. the current meta build is more of a solid DPS build.

@"Yannir.4132" said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

I don't understand why metabattle instantly dropped the static protection build -- It's still perfectly good, just slightly longer cooldowns. Now there's the "static elixirs" build, which looks pretty meh in any non 1v1 situation. In 1v1, that extra quickness/stability might be useful, but only slightly.

If you're using elixirs, static discharge is completely wasted :/ it usually fires into the floor

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

Condi removal can be improved if you run with the Healing Turret or the A.E.D.. I've only used the Healing Turret though, but I have been pondering switching to the A.E.D. because sometimes I dislike having to drop the turret and then explode it for the combo field push. A.E.D. looks good on paper but I haven't practiced with it. Though I still wouldn't engage in protracted fights with a Scourge (is there a non condi Scourge?) or Mirage. However, what I find helps is to just use the Rifle so I can engage at distance. Rifle 4 goes a long way in pushing them away from you. Plus I find it insanely fun to watch a Scourge mindlessly charge at me only to watch them go flying back. If you don't use anything that provides stability they go 400 away from you and you go 350 away from them :). With luck, someone on your team with better condi cleanse will end them while they are face planted.

@Peutrifectus.4830 said:If you're using elixirs, static discharge is completely wasted :/ it usually fires into the floor

I like to carry Gatorade U for the Stability. Since I enjoy Rifle 4 having the Stability is good so that I can send them flying and then net them so they can't get away from follow up attacks.

@Yannir.4132 said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

It's not just you.

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@"Yannir.4132" said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

To prove this point further, I've managed to beat many Holosmiths in 1v1 duels using that static elixirs build with my own core engineer build. I'm not kidding.

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@"Yannir.4132" said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

It's an evolution - it's pretty much the same build, except with the skills that were nerfed in the last balance patch replaced with the elixirs, and a couple of trait swaps to suit. There was a period, albeit short, where the 'static elixirs' build was still called 'static protection'.

U is good for a number of things, and dropping area quickness in a teamfight can be useful. Stealth can also be useful, and drinking the elixir yourself can be good for safe stomps as well as self-preservation. (Honestly, it's often MORE useful for the safe stomps than for self-preservation.) I'd also note that even in the static protection build, Flash Spark and Prismatic Singularity weren't exactly chosen for their synergy with Static Discharge either.

Now, I'm not convinced that static elixirs is the best engineer or even holosmith build around, but the extra CC resistance is certainly useful.

@draxynnic.3719 said:

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@"Yannir.4132" said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

I certainly don't deny that a lot of the elixirs skills are useful, but the original static protection build triggered static discharge more reliably, allowing you to do more consistent damage than waiting for an elixir. Photon wall allows way more reliable defense in fights, whereas elixir S is generally an escape/stomp trick.

I agree, would rather run auto stun break if taking elixirs.

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@draxynnic.3719 said:

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@"Yannir.4132" said:I honestly don't even understand why Holosmith meta is what it is. To me the most popular current meta build seems weaker than other variants of Holosmith. Maybe it's just me.

Photon Wall is still in the build - Particle Accelerator is where the Static Discharge is coming from. That applies to Static Protection as well: the toolbelt skills on the exceeds are technically better for Static Discharge, but the high cooldowns mean that in practice they don't contribute a lot unless you're chaining the lot for a spike.

What's been swapped out is Spectrum Shield for Elixir U, and Hard Light Arena for Elixir S.

YMMV, but I was considering swapping out Spectrum Shield for Elixir U before the update. Spectrum Shield was mainly there as a stunbreak, with a bit of additional damage resistance after you used it - but it's now on a 30s recharge if used at high heat (and Elixir U doesn't punish you for using it at low heat), and provides little protection against a stun chain, while Elixir U has a couple of stability stacks to protect against restunning and also grants decent Quickness and Vigor uptime. With regards to toolbelt skills, being able to grant Quickness to your allies is possibly more useful than an area blind every 34s or so.

Elixir S is the questionable one. It's selfish (apart from using it to stomp or res) and often enough it doesn't save you anyway. The Hard Light Arena/Prismatic Singularity combination is still respectable despite the nerf, and Laser Disc/Blade Burst provides respectable cleave and a decent Static Discharge trigger skill.

Would you run alchemy trait with iron blooded?

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

I find a good warrior really hard to fight - harder than a scourge for example

@Zawn.9647 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

Rampage, specifically, is what makes warriors hard to fight. Most warriors I can deal with, but rampage is just an incredible crutch.

@Zawn.9647 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

I don't find Warrior to be particularly hard, though Spellbreakers can be troublesome at times. I did face down a team the other night that ran with two Scourges whom I avoided like the plague. Without enough condi cleanse their AOEs were eating me up. Granted they weren't exactly bright ones as I was always able to pull them away from a point to cap since I would dart away (Rifle 5) after they engaged and they would chase me. We ended up winning that match as I was able to do the same against their Warrior too. Ran by two points that needed to be capped and he just focused on me until I met up with the rest of my squad. I only fight Scourges out right when I have someone else to back me up and even then I typically chugged my U Gatorade and blasted them away from me and then hit them with the net so they couldn't run forward. With two people wailing on them when they are down on the ground and then held in place they will typically retreat once free from the net. I notice that a lot of Scourges don't have many answers for killing someone if they can't run up on them with their AOEs spammed. So if you can keep some distance from them or keep them distracted they are more manageable.

@Dace.8173 said:

@Zawn.9647 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

Scourges aren't too bad if you pull them away from their group. By themselves, they're super easy to spike.

@Vagrant.7206 said:

@Zawn.9647 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

Thank you!

@Dace.8173 said:

@Zawn.9647 said:

@Hoodie.1045 said:Good match ups for holosmith are non-condition professions such as s/d or d/p thief, radiant guardian, warrior and revenant. Holosmith has weak condition removal so just avoid condi scourge and condi mirage.

Sorry i meant Spellbreaker as well :)

I run the Xan's Pistol/Shield build with 3 elixir, 1 of them is the Elixir C i believe (cleanse all conditions) - that's why I find scourges a little bit easier I guess