Gameplay tips against holosmith?

Hi Everyone

I really enjoy the PVP aspect of this game and I am currently spamming a lot of PVP.

I play Firebrand Support and Power Revenant. I have not figured out how to counterplay against Holosmith with both of my classes.What exactly are the weaknesses of Holosmith. Is there a timewindow, where people can actually burst him down?Do I, as a Firebrand, use specific skills to counter certain skills of the Holosmith? If so, what skill do I need to prepare/hold to counter him?

I would be really grateful for any help.

Greetings Dralur

The only counter play, is to request the nerfs that it deserves.

Alt+f4 .

Comes down to figuring out what you can and can't mitigate.

Holosmith has:Forge1 - AA, nothing of note2 - gap closer - only dodge if you're low health or notice they have reached high might stacks, otherwise save dodges for other things.3 - always try to dodge this, as it gives the holosmith might and stability. It has a second hit, so kiting away can reduce the damage by a decent amount if you do get hit by the first one. Train yourself to keep an eye on the holosmith's stab stacks so you know when not to CC4 - projectile skill. Good damage - FB can mitigate with their dome thingy, rev staff has their block. It hurts, but I rarely see them use it cuz it generates a lot of heat.5 - along with 4, is the highest heat gen skill. Always mitigate this somehow.

At high might stacks, unfortunately, p much all of the forge skills are dodge-worthy.

Now, they'll have either a rifle or sword/shield.For rifle, watch out for #2 and #4 - an immob and knockback, respectively. Both are projectiles, so FB has some ways to deal with that. Otherwise it's mostly based on prediction, but try not to get stuck in an immob -> knockback -> gapcloser/burst -> another CC -> etc combo.Rifle#5 is the big damage dealer, deal with that how you will.

You DO actually want to kite rifle a bit, as Rifle#3 does a large chunk of damage in melee range, so kiting away will at least reduce that.

If they're sword/shield, don't hit them during their block as it'll stun you. Shield#4 is a reflect, so on your rev try to avoid using sword#2 into that.

As for what you have....More 'bout knowing what your build has, as there isn't really a change you can make to suddenly do better. Just learn to count when they're out of dodges, know when they don't have stab, drop in/out of forge mode, etc.

As a FB, you have Aegis on your heal, maybe a blind/weakness mantra I've seen some FBs using (good for negating an important skill and cutting their outgoing damage). Your first tome has a pull/CC that can help teammates burst the holosmith when it doesn't get negated by stability. You can TRY to load the holosmith down with burn to make them waste their cleanses a little, but you may have better things to do with their time. Mostly it depends on your teammates, but you can help out. Staff's line of warding is nice to help reduce stab stacks, deny a gap closer, or help kite if you've managed to deny them stab.

Rev has more options - Herald has that nice AoE thingy that pulses out weakness and...chill? Plop that down and you can sit in melee range with relative safety. Same things apply - dodge their CC and burst skills, deny stab when possible. Forge mode is generally a good time to kite. Imo, the best time to burst is right when they come out of forge mode, or a little bit before. If it's before, it means they probs can't nail you with high heat gen skills for fear of overheating. If it's right after, Heat Therapy takes a little while to really get going, so you have a window to do some smash. In such cases, the usual sword#4 and 5 combo will do, as will Shiro gap closer + staff#5. IIRC power rev has a reveal, so you can use that to deny them their toolbelt stealth that usually comes up when they're low so they'll try and stealth -> heal -> opener CC or burst back on you, if they don't kite away/disengage.

Unfortunately, the other posters are also kinda right. Holosmith doesn't expect to lose a fight against a Rev, and as a FB it's mostly on your teammates to nail down a kill. So, part of this will also be learning when you need to just kite and wait things out, even if it costs a couple ticks on the point. Waiting for help and ensuring they've lost enough cooldowns to implode at a +1 is also a decent strategy (tho as a rev you should BE the +1 most times, I think xD)

Edit: at the very least, check out godsofpvp.net and metabattle.com to see what builds the holosmith might be running. Bonus points for copying the builds and playing a few unranked rounds to get used to what the skills look like.

Sometimes I try to make them blow themselves up but they always heal to full instead. So much healing power.

play deadeye, and when they get close press this over and over:https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Death%27s_Retreat

Hi @Curennos.9307

Pretty good insight. I will try to remember some of the tips and try to utilize it next time when I have to deal with one.I wasn't using my walls correctly and didn't think that much about the blind.

Your post was great overall and very helpful.

Thank you :D

In general A holo doesn't have a lot of stunbreaks... they have one on a quickness potion. The usual holo is the rifle one.... it can not sustain spike DPS. They can't toe to toe very well and must always be moving or actively defending. They can dish out damage but can't take it and will have to pop their shield, go invisible, or go mini when pressed. They usually setup from invisible, do a big spike that combines with CC (the rifle knock back, the elite, the forge 5) and need to disengage if that didn't go well.

I've seen rev builds that do very well against holo's because they can unleash large amounts of damage suddenly and can chase down a holo. I generally find that holos do well against guards.

Rev loses hard against Holo especially now after it's been gutted. You just have to hope they are bad and can't dodge any of your big telegraphs and even then they can facetank almost everything and just full heal repeatedly with their overturned sustain which rev can't keep up with.

Holo 3 grants stab if it lands. Avoid both damage ticks.

Shiro strip or annulment strip the stab from their elixer.

Attempt to CC their heal. Even if you are late cc anyways to interrupt combo finishers in the water field.

Avoid the second cast to photon wall.

2v1ing can be very effective.

Apply condis when holo leaves holo form. Apply them when they enter holo form if they run mortar kit, but only for the first 2 seconds or so.

CC a vent exhaust holo when he reaches high heat.

And the usual, don't eat damage, count dodges, watch stab etc etc.

If you're a class without blocks on demand then (all of them except guard and warr):

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leapYou can facetank the 4k quickness autos, ain't nobody got time to dodge those.

Now that they're outside photon forge, you may dodge the sword, pistol or rifle skills. Not as must-dodge as photon abilities though so you might as well face tank them.

Photon is up again 7~ seconds later

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leap

Nerf it..oruninstallbest counter play

@Razor.6392 said:If you're a class without blocks on demand then (all of them except guard and warr):

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leapYou can facetank the 4k quickness autos, ain't nobody got time to dodge those.

Now that they're outside photon forge, you may dodge the sword, pistol or rifle skills. Not as must-dodge as photon abilities though so you might as well face tank them.

Photon is up again 7~ seconds later

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leap

So far, out of all the threads and comments in the entire forums, this is actually the best advice anyone has ever given.

I will put this into application this next season.

@Razor.6392 said:If you're a class without blocks on demand then (all of them except guard and warr):

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leapYou can facetank the 4k quickness autos, ain't nobody got time to dodge those.

Now that they're outside photon forge, you may dodge the sword, pistol or rifle skills. Not as must-dodge as photon abilities though so you might as well face tank them.

Photon is up again 7~ seconds later

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leap

That's a lot of dodges lol

Reroll condi thief and farm them

@knite.1542 said:

@Razor.6392 said:If you're a class without blocks on demand then (all of them except guard and warr):

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leapYou can facetank the 4k quickness autos, ain't nobody got time to dodge those.

Now that they're outside photon forge, you may dodge the sword, pistol or rifle skills. Not as must-dodge as photon abilities though so you might as well face tank them.

Photon is up again 7~ seconds later

Must dodge holographic shockwaveDodge Corona Burst's timed procsDodge holo leapDefinitely dodge prime light beam if they equip it, or every single rampage abilityDefinitely dodge photon burstDodge the other holo leap

Well, that's how it is lol.

play poison thief, it melts any holo that's not top skilled in less then 5 seconds

(Engineer is not the only broken Profession at the moment. (Don't only point>fingers at Engineer)

All Professions are broken due to Toxic Balancing with Toxic having design>Thief. in fact, the entire game is broken due to push of increasing Damage control. Solution- Rework the entire game from the ground up including the complete removal of Thief Profession)

Enjoy

-Builds included-

[sC] Sword Holosmith Benchmark by Sony

[CnD] Short Fuse Condi Holosmith | 34.3k (35.7-40.4k w/ Confusion) by Lunar

@"Burnfall.9573" said:(Engineer is not the only broken Profession at the moment. (Don't only point>fingers at Engineer)

All Professions are broken due to Toxic Balancing with Toxic having design>Thief. in fact, the entire game is broken due to push of increasing Damage control. Solution- Rework the entire game from the ground up including the complete removal of Thief Profession)

Enjoy

-Builds included-

[sC] Sword Holosmith Benchmark by Sony

[CnD] Short Fuse Condi Holosmith | 34.3k (35.7-40.4k w/ Confusion) by Lunar

Change the record dude.

@"Burnfall.9573" said:(Engineer is not the only broken Profession at the moment. (Don't only point>fingers at Engineer)

All Professions are broken due to Toxic Balancing with Toxic having design>Thief. in fact, the entire game is broken due to push of increasing Damage control. Solution- Rework the entire game from the ground up including the complete removal of Thief Profession)

Enjoy

-Builds included-

[sC] Sword Holosmith Benchmark by Sony

[CnD] Short Fuse Condi Holosmith | 34.3k (35.7-40.4k w/ Confusion) by Lunar

Why are you putting videos of PvE rotations with PvE stats, food and other effects and boons you probably wont get on a regular basis on a PvP match?

How is an immobile, incapable of dodging or attacking golem a good representation of damage potential in a match where the opponents can move, attack or CC you?

At the very least put a video of this in a PvP golem, with your own buffs, heck, I would take fighting the class AI bots they have in the PvP lobby....

Your video argument brings nothing to this discussion.

@Fortus.6175 said:

@"Burnfall.9573" said:(Engineer is not the only broken Profession at the moment. (Don't only point>fingers at Engineer)

All Professions are broken due to Toxic Balancing with Toxic having design>Thief. in fact, the entire game is broken due to push of increasing Damage control.

Solution

- Rework the entire game from the ground up including the complete removal of Thief Profession)

Enjoy

-Builds included-

[sC] Sword Holosmith Benchmark by Sony

[CnD] Short Fuse Condi Holosmith | 34.3k (35.7-40.4k w/ Confusion) by Lunar

I didn't bother watching vids cuz I mean why bother? But if the vids are less than 2 yrs old burny's stepping his solo anti thief campaign's game lol

as someone mentioned, dodge everything forge or pressure them with high spike dmg. also immob, its so so annoying since we dont have alot of on demand cleanses and a holo that cant dodge to vent heat or kite away from dmg is usually a dead holo :) we got high healing but are still quite squishy once u lock us down.

@"toxic.3648" said:but are still quite squishy once u lock us down.

...just like every single other class in the game.

this comes from mobas, but when the only 'counter' is "just cc lmao" then it probably means its broken.

@Razor.6392 said:

@"toxic.3648" said:but are still quite squishy once u lock us down.

If it was that simple then you probably must be outright disgusted at scourges.

@MrForz.1953 said:

@Razor.6392 said:

@"toxic.3648" said:but are still quite squishy once u lock us down.

My class and build deals with scourges easily. Also, their counter isn't "just cc", you can kite them, condi clear, outrange them, or just simply burst them because they have no blocks, no invuln and no damage mitigation outside 1 stack of stab and autoprot.

Inb4 "lol i was talking about fb + scourg combo"