Hardlight Knight - Versatile WvW Holosmith build

[Shroud.2307]

"Hardlight Knight"

Had a lot of success with this build when I used to play Holo and felt like sharing in case anyone else wants to pick it up to try something new.

Build description

"Comfortable zone" of armor at 2.5k cushioned by high Protection uptime, further improved by Over Shield and the added bonus of high condition resistance thanks to Anticorrosion Plating.

Hits like a zerker, tanks like a Nomad.

Moderate Boon Duration allows for easy Might stacking. Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit heavily improves Sword skill damage at high Heat.

Prismatic Converter, Cauterize, Hard Light Arena, both shield skills and Cleansing Synergy are all powerful condition cleanses, some that are boosted further by Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit to help combat even high condition pressure builds.

Coolant Blast, Holographic Shockwave and Magnetic Shield are all also Blast Finishers which can be used in Hard Light Arena to clear additional conditions, effectively making you near immune while inside it, on top of heavily reduced physical damage.

The only major drawbacks to this build is it's low mobility, no Stealth access and potential for Overheating. It is extremely vulnerable to being kited which means against better opponents you will need to do a lot of terrain maneuvering.

Tldr; Highly resistant to both conditions and physical damage thanks to Protection and cleansing synergies. Moderate/high offensive stats so you still hit very hard. Weak to being kited and Overheating so caution is recommended when engaging in open fields.

Personal noteI feel people underestimate the strength of Coolant Blast. Although I wouldn't argue that Healing Turret is objectively better, Coolant Blast is a close second. Its toolbelt skill cleanses far more conditions than Healing Turret and the healing over time post-50% health is akin to Warrior's Adrenal Health. You can even use Cauterize to convert Burning to Aegis if you use it before leaving Photon Forge. Add to that the heal itself is a blast finisher, synergy with the grandmaster trait and additional damage reduction from Frost Aura and you have an extremely stacked skill. Even if you dislike this build I suggest more people give this healing skill a try.

[Lacko.6572]

very similar to the post I posted just 1 day ago about extremely strong holo builds ;)

Feel free to check out the builds