PvE Hybrid Holosmith

[Sol VIII.6812]

I just want to ask, if a hybrid (Power + Condition) Holosmith would be viable, as I finished the complete funerary set and thought about making a character to wear it.

This is the setup I created, but I am open to any kind of proposed improvement:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdUQJAsanEILQmKkVIbNyakxWLjXwlsNRLsFG4HqEFA+eBZoDQfb8NeHB-jBiAQBwY/BA8AAWrSwmqn4aK/GwBEQAnIgrq+DA-e

[Adamantium.3682]

I don't think it will be good. Holo doesn't have as much condi as some of us first thought. Grieving on a Holo will never out dps Berserker I don't think.

What you linked will probably hit like a wet noodle but not be able to stack enough condis to be dangerous from that perspective either.

[Nate.8146]

IMO, viper condi/power builds is still the best stat choice for engineer. You want that duration, that's key to seeing those high burn ticks. I would also replace flamethrower with rocket boots. Rocket kick has a much lower CD + 5 target AOE. You'll get more burn dmg for your mileage compared to incendiary ammo. I'm also not as fond of laser disk anymore. It has such a slow cast time compared to what the tooltip says (closer to ~1.5 seconds). Often I can squeeze in 3 attacks by the time it triggers. I would instead recommend grenades for greater access to conditions and bursty power attacks that won't eat into your cast times. Plus you'll want some ranged weapon, and grenades are better than flame thrower for that.

Power/condi mix is viable. The PvE in this expansion is very cheesy. Lots of bounty champs roll around the battle arena, have OP knockbacks, Djinn's and forges flying around like idiots, etc. You need to stack those condis and be able to range them so you can sustain your DPS. Pure power builds on those fights just drag on and on. And since Holosmith is a confused elite because of its mixed power and condi damage (similar to grenades), it's best to maximize both.

[Sol VIII.6812]

@Nate.8146 said:IMO, viper condi/power builds is still the best stat choice for engineer. You want that duration, that's key to seeing those high burn ticks.

I am a bit uncertain about how the Condition Duration works...I know that "Chemical Rounds" increases the duration by modifying the pistol-skills directly, but I am uncertain about "Serrated Steel" & "Incendary Powder" , specifically if they are included in the +100% Duration cap.

With 6 Balthazar-Runes & a Sigil of Smoldering I am already at +65% burn duration, so with a full Viper-Set I would cap out at 100% (even if I make Sinister-weapons instead of Viper). If "Incendary Powder" wouldn't add anything except for the crit-burn (with 10 sec CD) would it be smarter to replace it with "Modified Ammunition"?

[Nate.8146]

Chemical Rounds is a unique trait that extends the base condition duration on pistols. Since it modifies the base duration on pistols, it is not capped to the 100% condition duration limit. Therefore, you effectively get a 3x condition duration on your pistol skills. 4s bleeds become 12s, 5s burn becomes 15s.

Serrated Steel and Incendiary Powder are global condition duration modifiers, so those would contribute to your 100% duration limit. Since you're using Balthazar runes, your current setup does give you 100% burn duration. However, you forgo all other condi duration and dmg. You're effectively trading that power/condi balance for a bit more of an average power / strong bursty burn build.

[Sol VIII.6812]

@Nate.8146 said:Chemical Rounds is a unique trait that extends the base condition duration on pistols. Since it modifies the base duration on pistols, it is not capped to the 100% condition duration limit. Therefore, you effectively get a 3x condition duration on your pistol skills. 4s bleeds become 12s, 5s burn becomes 15s.

Serrated Steel and Incendiary Powder are global condition duration modifiers, so those would contribute to your 100% duration limit. Since you're using Balthazar runes, your current setup does give you 100% burn duration. However, you forgo all other condi duration and dmg. You're effectively trading that power/condi balance for a bit more of an average power / strong bursty burn build.

Then I rather go with "Modified Ammunition" and set on Viper (have a full Ascended trinket set anyway)...but for what will I use the Funerary set?

[digitalruse.9085]

I was playing with a build like this, but I was getting burn to 100%, bleed as close as I could, and ferocity as high as I could. Personally, I could go either way on chemical rounds or high caliber, but CR wins for now.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vdUQJAsanUUJQm+uUIbFyakxEZjXwlsNRLsFWfa8NeHB/QloAwXFKDdAA-jxBBQBLVPxzeAAOU9HAcCAIryPXs/QaVCGA4Aw6rv+6rveVf91Xf91Xf91XfUQZF-e

Ramp up heat to 150% quickly, good mitigation for being in close (I still like HT best as that group support is hard to pass up, but frost aura from CB could be helpful), and bursty burning with P4 and Rocket Kick.