WvW Zerg Holosmith Build, AKA how to be usefull with a non-meta class

[Philo.9128]

Hello everyone!

First of all, excuse me for my english. Like a good part of this community, it isn't my first language. I'll try it anyway. That being said, let me start a discussion about what i think is the best way to play the holosmith in a wvw zerg. Here is a gw2skills linkEven though the build looks straightforward, let me explain my choices so you'll understand maybe better why it's more usefull than some people (i'm looking at you, commanders who say that Holosmith is a shitty zerg profession) would pretend.

First of all the Traits: Looks pretty standard to most of the engi players. The sinergy between Anticorrosion Plating and Purity of Purpose is too good to not use.In the Holosmith traitline, i'm using Light Density Amplifier over Prismatic Converter. You probably understood that other triaitlines are already dedicated to Condi-management so i found the 15% damage reduction much more valuable in teamfight than a 3 Condis-to-Boons conversion each time i quit Photon Forge. I choose Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit over Thermal Release Valve because of the fact that i am using 4 Exceed skills. So i want to be almost permanently between 50% and 150% Heat to benefit from the bonus effects when above 50% Heat .

As weapons, i'm using Sword/Shield, since you want the Shield for its defensive abilities, CC and Protection application (Over Shield) and the Sword offers you good damage, buffs and Physical Projectile. Also, others option (Pistols and Rifle) are both ranged, and there is a lot of range hate in zerg fights.As healing skill, i'm using the Healing Turret. Even if the Medkit rework is awsome, i feel like it has not enough burst heal and the sinergy between the Photon Forge and the Medkit is like really bad (you can't use kits when you enter Photon Forge).

As Utility Skills, and after many hesitation, i felt like Photon Wall, Hard Light Arena and Spectrum Shield offers the most survivability and utility. You sure have only 1 activable stunbreak (on really low cd if you manage the heat mechanic good) but you have a good access to stability thanks to Corona Burst traited with Crystal Configuration: Eclipse.The Elite Skill is pretty self explanatory. I always use Prime Light Beam since it offers an outstanding amount of damage, has a good CC capabilities and is a good way to cleave downs from a distance.

Now for the Bonuses to Attribute i use that exact setup for many reasons. First of all, it allows me to have a decent amount of thougness and vitality, wich are mandatory if you want to play on the melee train like this build is designed for. Second, it reaches the much wanted 100% Boon Duration, wich is the main goal of the builds: giving boons to allies thanks to the Anticorrosion Plating and Purity of Purpose traits. The bonus point is that it allows you do some decent damages. You won't deal the most damages of your zerg, but you definetly have the capabilities to be in the top 10 of your zerg (I trust ArcDPS for that). The Runes of Durability is there for the Boon Duration, the Thougness/Vitality it offers and for the 4th effect on the rune, wich will give your allies some usefull boons (Protection, Regeneration and Resistance) and convert a condition into a boon thanks to the traits used. Sigil of Concentration allow this build to reach the 100% Boon Duration and the Sigil of Severance, even if it could be remplaced by another Sigil, boost significantly your stats (500 points worth of stats, wich is the same amount of 2 pairs of legs armor). And what's good is that it only got an internal CD of 1 sec, for 4 sec of buff, wich is absurd in my opinion mainly on a profession like Holosmith, who got a ridiculous amount of CC.

Now that you know how i traited and geared my character, let me show you some examples of what this build was made for, and why i think it's not that bad, even good i would say.First of all, the survivability is really, really good, even with "only" 2.8k armor. The Food + Photon Forge allows you to have almost a consistant 25% damage reduction, and goes up to 75% with the Spectrum Shield activated. Assuming you have Light Aura, wich is likely the case, you got a 85% Condi damage reduction and a 75% (i don't think Frost Aura is that frequent) direct damage reduction for 4 sec every 20 sec (if you manage your heat well), and the best in there is that nobody can take that away from you by corrupting it.Second, the Condi management/Boon application is pretty awsome. The long lasting Light Field, the differents ways you have to explode in it and the numerous Protection sources allow this build to clear condi well and to give buffs to your allies, wich is awsome! As a proof, i will show you this image wich shows my stats (right) and a healing firebrand stats (left) on a teamfight we had in a T3 keep.https://imgur.com/grazf4oThird, the damages are really good, and not that hard to pull off. The hardest spell to use is the Prime Light Beam but with a bit of practice, it seems obvious when to use it.And last but not least, the CC capabilities of this build are, in my opinion, comparable to a Spellbreaker. Between the Prime Light Beam, Holographic Shockwave, Prismatic Singularity and the Shield Skills, you have a good amount of way to lock the enemies in your zerg bomb.

Anyway, if you have any questions/suggestion/critics, let me know by answering on this discussion. Otherwise, you can still pm me IG (Philo.9128), it'll be a pleasure to chat with you. If some of you show interes interest, i can try to record a footage of this build and upload it to youtube if i find the time. =) C ya!

[folk.8190]

build link ? vid ?it would be nice to structure the text, now it looks like an unreadable "text wall".

[adventure.9032]

Would be intresting to see what this build can really do in wvw. Can you make a video? Talk is cheap after all.

[Philo.9128]

@"folk.8190" said:build link ? vid ?it would be nice to structure the text, now it looks like an unreadable "text wall".If you're reading it on a smartphone the links are not working, i have no idea why. On my computer it works just fine.

@adventure.9032 said:Would be intresting to see what this build can really do in wvw. Can you make a video? Talk is cheap after all.

I'll try record some fights those days and upload them on youtube.

[folk.8190]

@Philo.9128 said:

@"folk.8190" said:build link ? vid ?it would be nice to structure the text, now it looks like an unreadable "text wall".If you're reading it on a smartphone the links are not working, i have no idea why. On my computer it works just fine.

@adventure.9032 said:Would be intresting to see what this build can really do in wvw. Can you make a video? Talk is cheap after all.

I'll try record some fights those days and upload them on youtube.

it's will be really nice

[starlinvf.1358]

This is like 80% my holo build.... except I was too lazy to change out of Knights armor for 4 stats..

[Stand The Wall.6987]

if you want to go more zerk and dont trust / cant sustain pushes, you could always use https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crystal_Configuration:_Storm , assuming your stab is covered , which it should be.

[Rezzet.3614]

@"Stand The Wall.6987" said:if you want to go more zerk and dont trust / cant sustain pushes, you could always use https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crystal_Configuration:_Storm , assuming your stab is covered , which it should be.

i found myself more successful with the super speed cc break trait , because i get cced alot and then immob spammed in group fights 2 stab stcks arent gonna do anything vs an ocean of cc boon corrupt and strip , granted that was my experience .