Class similar to holosmith

Ive been playing holosmith in PoF and I like it quite a lot. However, I dont like the fact that engis as a profession are tied to kits and dont enjoy having to switch kits constantly in combat. Although no dps benchmarks really exist yet, I get the feeling that to make the most of holosmith you'll have to incorporate kit play into the rotation. Which other profession is most similar to holosmith, but without the complexity and keyboard dancing? The class will mostly be for sPVP and high fractals

What I like about the holosmith:

• Big burst damage, so probably looking for some power class
• Easy access to CC in photon forge
• Some mobility via holo leap so you can stay on targets fairly well
• pewpew from photon blitz is very satisfying
• I like that engineers in general have a lot of options. I just dont like that max dps is tied to kit switching

Obviously I could just play holosmith however I want and not use kits, but I'd like to be able to do competitive dps and Im not sure that can be achieved with kitless play. Maybe this will change through balance patches, but the elite spec is still tied to a profession that revolves around kits, so theres always the future concern that kit play becomes meta (again) at some point

Which other profession is most similar to the holosmith-only playstyle?

Hammer engi. Good damage, great cc, great sustain with perma swiftness/superspeed trait heal plus medkit after dodge, great utility-projectile reflects, self buffing, vulnerability stacking, stealth. To me it seems it will remain the safest and easiest solo class. Its was the only spec i was able to solo almost all hot skill points. Atm new pof specs are nice and fun, but hammer engi will always have place in my heart. Plus u dont use kits. The downside is its old hot spec :/

@LeSavage.1359 said:Hammer engi. Good damage, great cc, great sustain with perma swiftness/superspeed trait heal plus medkit after dodge, great utility-projectile reflects, self buffing, vulnerability stacking, stealth. To me it seems it will remain the safest and easiest solo class. Its was the only spec i was able to solo almost all hot skill points. Atm new pof specs are nice and fun, but hammer engi will always have place in my heart. Plus u dont use kits. The downside is its old hot spec :/

thanks. however, I'm looking to completely get away from the engi profession and play something else entirely. Given that engi is designed around kits I worry that I wont be able to take advantage of future elite specs as theyll be kit based, so I just want to get away from the whole thing altogether

also, this will be for high fractals and spvp. Im not too picky about what I play for solo content

Try spell breaker

Maybe soulbeast could like you. Has decent spikes as power( nos as great as holo but nice too) and even greater continous condition dmg. Several CC, you have mobility moves on Gs, S and D main hand. Longbow to snipe from afar, can easily solo most champs with pets doing the tanking job. And you dont feel lonely when youre playing solo xp

Thief. Then you have mobility, CC and dps

Necromancer. Go minions and think of them as your turrets that aren't nerfed to the ground and don't need micromanagement like tool kits do.

I think thief is one of the deadliest profession, you have great mobility, great damage and burst potential, and some CC. Bonus : Photon Blitz is nearly the same skill than Unload from thief.

All this good aspects are balanced with only one thing : you're squishy as hell.

I also think that thief might be to your liking, and in particular staff Daredevil. Great power damage, as well as amazing mobility and survivability with its dodges. The ult provides some nice breakbar damage, as well.

The photon forge mechanic resembles the reaper shroud on reaper to some degree. Not exactly of course. But you go into another mode after building up life force that gives you access to some powerful attacks. You can play it as power.

Shroud 1 is good damage and cleave.Shroud 2 also has decent damage and is a small gap closer.Shroud 3 is more defensive.Shroud 4 is good aoe cleaveShroud 5 is good damage + chill.

Worth taking a look at. I personally prefer holosmith though.

Edit: just read the last sentence of the OP. Not sure how it does in high level fractals. It can do good in pvp though it is being overshadowed by scourge lately.

Reaper was certainly my first thought - it has a similar style of cycling between a superpowered mode and a regular mode.

It does feel, though, more like you're looking for the characteristics of holoforge mode without actually being an engineer. Listed attributes include big burst damage, easy access to CC, mobility, pewpew, and having options.

With those specifications... the other medium-armour professions might be the ones to look at. Pistol/pistol thief has a lot of pewpew (and therefore burst damage) and always has access to CC as long as you have initiative, and all melee thief weaponsets have gap-closers. Ranger might also work - each bow option brings CC and pewpew (RF on longbow, and just having a high rate of fire on the shortbow), but the melee weapon with a gap-closer is greatsword, which is generally not considered the greatest DPS.

Warrior could also work, although volley fire on warrior rifle doesn't pewpew like thief pistols or ranger longbow does. Melee sets can allow you to strike your own balance between mobility, CC, and damage.

Whether any of these are competitive to raid/high-level fractal play... you'd have to check build sites like qtfy and metabattle for that.

Having a lot of options is somewhat hard to define. Engineer is pretty much defined by having a lot of options, both in terms of customisability and (if built accordingly) having a large number of skills available at once. The professions above will certainly have options, but probably not to the degree engineer has. Soulbeast ranger may well be closest, but accessing all those options will mean swapping through pets as well as swapping in and out of beastmode.

thanks for the recs

I might give necro a go. Probably wont try thief, even though daredevil looks interesting, because I really dont like deadeye and I dont like the idea that I wont ever be playing the other half of a class

Would guardian fit my criteria? Is DH similar to photon forge mode?

Guardian is not a bit like what you’re looking for. It’s much more a sustain class. DH with GS and Scepter/Focus might be a decent analogue as far as Burst DPS and a touch of sustain.

I really do think Thief is the closest thing to Holosmith. It’s pretty similar to a Daredevil using Staff and Dual Pistols.