Power
Toughness
Vitality
Precision
Ferocity
Condition Damage
Healing Power
Expertise
ConcentrationWelcome to the Forge
The unique mechanic of Holosmith adds a new Toolbelt skill, , that behaves like a standard Kit, changing out your weapon skills for Photon Forge skills. This build uses these skills to quickly for a significant amount of Burning. The build has a very short ramp compared to most condition damage builds thanks to half the damage coming from Burning.
Level 1 - Overheat
Before each combat, or between each phase, Preheat the Forge to about 80 Heat. See The Photon Forge sidebar for more guidance on this. When the encounter or phase begins, to quickly and continue with the rest of the loop to build up Heat to do it again!
- Auto Attack until
- 3x Kit Cycles
- Fill with Auto Attacks
- 1 x Kit Cycle, then Loop
For now, each Kit Cycle is to cast and fill with Auto Attacks until you can cast it again. In the next few steps more skills will be added, culminating in very few Auto Attacks on Pistol being used.
After the single cycle at the end of the loop, immediately loop back and . Delaying this delays which is a big damage loss.
Level 2 - Basic Kit Cycling
Every Engineer build draws its tempo from using at least one Kit. Condi Holosmith runs 3 Kits, which may feel daunting at a glance, but in reality is very simple and fluid.
Kit Cycle
- enter
- enter
- enter
This cycle is great practice since it only uses the 2 skill in each Kit. You will know you are cycling kits efficiently when there are about 6 Auto Attacks on Pistol before is off Cooldown.
Level 3 - Advanced Kit Cycling
At this point, add in the other skills listed below for Pistols and each Kit. These can be added to the rotation in any order, and at your own tempo so long as you fully complete the number of cycles to not delay . Pistols skills followed by and are recommended first since they have shorter Cooldowns and can be used twice per loop.
| Weapon/Kit | Skills to use |
|---|---|
| Pistols | / / |
| / | |
| / |
The challenge of this step is making sure to not cancel any skills. See the Intro to Engineer guide for additional guidance.
For the single Kit Cycle before looping, stick to the
2and Pistol skills to not delay .
Level 4 - Big 'ol Light Beam Barrage
The last three skills to add into the rotation are , , and . Each of these skills add significant damage and should be worked into the rotation off Cooldown. An easy way to cast the first two is to replace Auto Attacks during Step 5 while waiting for to come off Cooldown. You can also cast if over 50 Heat then, but it can also be used immediately after
Make sure to cast after in the opener! This skill is easy to cancel, so make sure to not move during the casting.
Huzzah to the Master Smith!
At this point, you are ready for the Full Build. As you keep practicing, aim to use all of your non-Kit skills as soon as they are available. For the Kit Cycles, get a better feel for the individual Cooldowns and slowly break from the rigid cycle. For example, you can cast a fourth time while waiting to by adding in an extra swap to . Comparing your logs to the bench's is a great way to highlight these opportunities.
