Holosmith

“

"Burnin' up!"

Use your Photon Forge to generate weapons of pure, blinding light, cauterizing your enemies—but be careful not to use these weapons for too long, or you'll overheat.

— In-game description

Holosmith is an elite specialization for the engineer unlocked with the Path of Fire expansion. Holosmiths have learned to use zephyrite crystals to construct their Photon Forge, a device capable of turning the light of the sun into weapons of hard light to cauterize their enemies. The Photon Forge heats up with use, becoming even more effective. But reckless use will end in overheat, which damages the holosmith and prevents the usage of the Photon Forge until it cools down.

They have learned to use that heat into exceed skills, which become more powerful at higher heat levels. They can wield a sword in their main hand, which they also imbue with hard light for greater effectiveness when heated up. Holosmiths excel at damage dealing.

List of holosmith skills

See also: List of engineer skills

Profession mechanic

“

Activating hard light emitter!

— Holosmith

Photon Forge replaces the Holosmith's fifth toolbelt skill. Activating it grants a new set of weapon skills, which generate heat.

#	Skill			Description
Tool belt
F5	Engage Photon Forge		1	Activate your Photon Forge, gaining access to new skills. Generate heat while Photon Forge is active. Take damage if you overheat. Disables use of kits for a short duration.
F5	Deactivate Photon Forge		6	Cancel Photon Forge and begin cooling after a delay. Cooling effectiveness increases over time.
F5	Deactivate Photon Forge		6	Cancel Photon Forge and begin cooling after a delay. Cooling effectiveness increases over time.
	Holoforge Overheated			Unable to reactivate until cooled.
Photon Forge
1	Light Strike			Swing a holographic blade.
1	Bright Slash	0.5½		Slash with a blade of light energy.
1	Flash Cutter	0.5½		Cleave through all foes in front of you twice.
2	Holo Leap	0.75¾	2	Create a holographic launch pad and leap to your foe. The pad remains behind for a short duration, granting increased movement speed to allies who touch it.
3	Corona Burst	0.5½	6	Strike nearby foes and begin to store up energy, gaining boons and heat each pulse. After charging, the energy explodes, inflicting conditions on nearby foes.
4	Photon Blitz	10.5½	10	Fire multiple piercing blasts at your target.
5	Holographic Shockwave	0.75¾	15	Create a deadly holographic shockwave that launches foes upward. This attack always deals a critical hit.

Weapon skills

#	Skill			Description
Sword
1	Sun Edge	0.5½		Strike your foe and inflict vulnerability. This attack deals more damage based on your heat level.
1	Sun Ripper	0.5½		Strike your foe again and inflict vulnerability. This attack deals more damage based on your heat level.
1	Gleam Saber	0.75¾		Unleash a burst of stored energy with your sword and recharge your other sword skills. This attack deals more damage based on your heat level.
2	Refraction Cutter	0.5½	6	Strike at foes in front of you and launch a blade of light at your target. Launch extra blades based on your heat level. Each blade inflicts conditions.
3	Radiant Arc	0.75¾	12	Leap to your target and create an arc of light that strikes nearby foes. Gain quickness based on your heat level.

Slot skills

Healing

Skill				Description
Coolant Blast		0.75¾	20	Exceed. Heal yourself and chill nearby foes. If you are above the heat threshold when this skill is activated, gain Frost Aura and continue healing for a duration.
Cauterize			30	Use a laser to burn off conditions and set yourself on fire for each condition removed. Removes additional conditions if above the heat threshold.

Utility

Skill				Description
Spectrum Shield			20	Exceed. Break stun effects and create a holographic shell that reduces incoming damage and grants stability. This skill grants more stability and lasts longer while above the heat threshold.
Flash Spark			25	Release a blinding burst of light from your holographic emitter. While above the heat threshold, gain light aura.
Hard Light Arena		0.5½	45	Exceed. Create a holographic arena that grants you boons while inside of it. When activated above the heat threshold, the radius and duration are increased. Allies gain boons at reduced duration.
Prismatic Singularity		0.5½	30	Collapse a ring of holograms to pull foes into a single point. The ring explodes when it fully collapses. Radius and pull distance increased while above the heat threshold.
Laser Disk		0.75¾	30	Exceed. Create rotating laser blades to damage nearby foes. This skill has increased duration when activated while above the heat threshold.
Blade Burst			20	Fire holographic blades at foes within range. Damage increased while over the heat threshold.
Photon Wall		0.25¼	25	Exceed. A defensive barrier appears in front of you that blocks you and your allies from incoming attacks. Reactivate Exceed to fire the barrier at foes as an attack. This skill grants projectile reflection if you are above the heat threshold.
Launch Wall		0.5½	0.5½	Exceed. Launch your photon wall forward, causing the wall to explode when it strikes a foe, inflicting conditions on nearby enemies. When fired above the heat threshold, launch additional walls.
Particle Accelerator			8	Fire a crippling bolt of light at your target. Allies the bolt passes through are granted swiftness. Projectile velocity and damage increased while above the heat threshold.

Elite

Skill				Description
Prime Light Beam		10.25¼	60	Exceed. Charge up and fire an explosive beam of light in front of you. When activated above the heat threshold, this attack leaves behind a burning holographic field.

List of holosmith traits

See also: List of engineer traits

Tier	Trait		Description
Minor Proficiency	Sword Proficiency		You can wield swords in your main hand.
Minor Adept	Photon Projector		Photon Forge replaces your tool belt skill 5. Gain access to Exceed skills.
Major Adept	Light Density Amplifier		Photon Forge reduces incoming damage but has increased passive heat generation.
Major Adept	Prismatic Converter		Deactivate Photon Forge converts conditions into boons based on your heat level.
Major Adept	Solar Focusing Lens		Your first few attacks after entering or exiting Photon Forge inflict burning and deal increased strike damage. This bonus is also granted if you overheat.
Minor Master	Heat Therapy		Gain health per unit of heat lost. This trait does not function while cooling due to an overheat unless Photonic Blasting Module is equipped.
Major Master	Crystal Configuration: Storm		Photon Forge skill 1 now fires explosive projectiles, but generates extra heat.
Major Master	Crystal Configuration: Eclipse		Corona Burst grants a barrier for each target struck.
Major Master	Crystal Configuration: Zephyr		Holo Leap removes movement-impairing conditions, grants superspeed instead of swiftness, and inflicts cripple.
Minor Grandmaster	Laser's Edge		While Photon Forge is active, your outgoing strike damage is increased based on your current heat.
Major Grandmaster	Thermal Release Valve		Dodge rolling vents heat as an attack against nearby foes. (Attack will not occur without heat.)
Major Grandmaster	Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit		Increases maximum heat capacity. While above 100% heat, periodically gain might. Some skills and traits gain additional heat tiers.
Major Grandmaster	Photonic Blasting Module		Overheat now blasts damage to nearby foes and no longer deals its initial damage to you. The tool belt recharge penalty for Overheat is reduced. Heat can only be lost after overheating. Damage over time from Overheat is still applied.

Lore

“

By harnessing the power of the sun, holosmiths can create semi-solid constructs of light. They wield swords in battle, and gain access to powerful light weapons in their volatile Photon Forge mode.

— Official site

Notable Holosmith

• Gorrik
• Ivan

Associated items

• Superior Rune of the Holosmith
• Holosmith's Lucent Vent
• Holosmith's Sword
• The Cutting Edge
• Mini Holosmith Baraz Sharifi

Related achievements

• Specializations: Adept Holosmith — Begin training the engineer's holosmith elite specialization. (5)
• Specializations: Master Holosmith — Completely train the engineer's holosmith elite specialization. (10)
• Specialization Collections: The Cutting Edge — Collect these 14 items and skins to receive the holosmith's sword, The Cutting Edge. (3)

Gallery

Promotional material

• 

  Wallpaper

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  Concept art

• 

  Promotional pre-launch screenshot

• 

  A holosmith using Hard Light Arena.

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  A holosmith using Prime Light Beam.

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  Promotional official icon

Icons

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  Official icon

• 

  Official icon

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  Wiki icon

Notes

• The Holosmith does not have any traits that affect its utility skills because those are all built into the core mechanic of the heat system.
  • Enhanced Capacity Storage Unit adds an additional heat tier to sword skills, effectively making it the "weapon" trait.

Trivia

• Players wishing to learn more about the Holosmith can visit Baraz Sharifi in the Crystal Oasis.
• Each vertical trait line in the Holosmith fits a theme (other elite specializations tend to theme traits across horizontal lines). During development, the themes were steps to "build your own lightsaber." The final product shifted focus to the photon forge, where each vertical trait line concerns to a different component: the projector, crystal, and heat system.
• When activating Photon Forge, Holosmiths may shout "Light, come forth!", a reference to the Slayers in which one of the protagonists wields the Sword of Light.

External links

• Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire Elite Specializations—Holosmith (Engineer)

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Engineer