TLDR:
Do the stats in the trait lines and stats available on gear need to be re-evaluated and changed?
I want to start this post by stating that I acknowledge and agree that stats are not everything, and that skill makes up for a majority of how a character is played.
But stats are what define what our characters can do, so we can only skillfully perform within the parameters of our stats.
Additionally I also understand that there are more synergies within the train lines that accommodate for a lack of some of the optimal stats and create more interesting game play that is more than just numbers alone.
That said:
The stats in GW2 have been explained to have a sort of trinity of synergy intertwined between them.
The Offensive Combination is Power/Precision/Critical Damage, which is the most notable stat combination that provides the most observable and understood increase in our characters.
Yet, each professions trait lines differ slightly in the combinations of each of these stats, which leads way to some professions being “better” than others (from a stat standpoint, not factoring in the mechanics and utilities).
Professions that combine critical damage and precision together will be able to maximize the benefits of direct damage, since they only need to go down two trait lines to achieve the most gain.
30 points down power/condition duration and 30 points down precision/critical damage, and now you can set yourself apart from other professions also wearing power/precision/critical damage gear, as you have a higher set of stats than they do.
Most notably the professions that can do so are: Elementalist, Ranger, Thief, and Mesmer.
The Defensive Combination consists of Toughness/Healing Power/Vitality, which is the other well known and understood stat combination.
Every profession is able to 30/30 down the trees to gain maximum stats in this spread except for the Ranger.
The Utility Combination is the only one that differs from the idea of a trinity of stats and prioritizes Boon Duration and maybe the Profession Specific trait lines. Although it can be paired with Precision for on crit effects such as vigor, might, or profession specific things such as initiative or life force on crit effects.
The Condition Combination which is Condition Duration/Condition Damage and in many cases Precision, based off of on crit effects is the last stat combination.
Of all the professions, only two lack in the condition on crit effects. The Guardian has chill for 5 seconds when critting with hammer every 30 seconds and Mesmers which have a 50% chance to daze and illusions cause bleeding (but they have a lot of conditions on block and interrupt effects which make up for it).
With all that said, gear is also a limiting factor in gaining the optimal stat combinations. The defensive combo does not have any gear that supports all three stats on one piece. Condition duration and boon duration are also not regular stats on gear, which limit players to trait line only in many cases, forcing them down that tree and what ever paired stat it has for that profession.
Also, why is Power always paired with Condition Duration?
So the bottom line is, some professions excel more than others based off of trait line synergies with the stats and some gear excels more than others because of the combinations of stats on the gear are optimal to the stat synergies. Is this a problem or should it be fixed? Does this create diversity like it was intended? Or does it just muddy up the waters and cause confusion, and ultimately just get ignored because they are “useless”.
edit: shamelessly removed the (long) out of title to try to not ward off potential readers…
:p
(edited by CMF.5461)