Guild Wars 2

Link to original idea https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Utility-trait-line-with-magic-find/

If you clicked the link then you already have an idea of what this is going to be about, if not I’ll sum up. I think that the best form of post-level eighty character progression would by adding “utility trait lines” to all characters. While the linked thread talked specifically about a “treasure hunter” line, it has since occurred to me that this idea could be expanded on to encompass virtually all post-endgame character progression.

In essence, Arena Net needs only to add new trait lines with alternative forms of progressing through them with each expansion or major game update. For example with the next expansion they could simply add a “Pact Herald” trait line (I am assuming the pact formed in the current personal story will still play a role) that gradually unlocks as you progress through the new story content, allowing themed buffs and bonuses to specific (non-statistical) elements of play. This allows for further progression and for players to feel like they are growing more powerful/more efficient without having to tinker with the level cap and all associated game elements such as statistics and equipment.

Better yet is that these new traits could be as specific or broad as Arena Net likes, being tied to story progression, achievements, mini-games, or literally any other aspect of play. I’ll give you a couple of examples.

Karka’s Bane
You are a master karka hunter, well-practiced at the art of karka slaying.
Unlocks gradually as you progress through the Karka slayer achievement track. Minor traits include passive buffs to the exp gained from slaying karka, while major traits include combat related buff choices such as doing extra damage to karka, reducing the duration of conditions applied by karka, or increasing the drop rate of karka specific loot.

Master Platformer (or Do the Mario)
Run, jump, and tumble; you’ve mastered the art of exploring Tyria’s hard to reach places.
Progressing slowly as you gain achievements relating to jumping puzzles, this trait line passively improves the rewards for completing jumping puzzles, and can slot in bonuses to movement speed, jumping distance, and other useful benefits while in the area of a jumping puzzle.

Addendum:
Recently (no I don’t have a link) Arena Net made it known that they were looking into some way to allow players to swap out individual skills on their weapons. An often requested feature. And it occurs to me that this utility trait idea is the perfect way to do that. You see back before release Arena Net had in place a system of trait lines for each weapon type in the game, and players could earn new traits through alternative means (now skill challenges) that would allow them to alter the form and function of their weapon skills.

Bring that back with this idea. Starting at level eighty players can begin progressing through “weapon mastery” trait lines either through repeated kills with each weapon type, or renewed profession challenges. As these lines are progressed players would gain the ability to slot in traits that could drastically alter the effect of existing weapon skills, or even completely replace certain skills with all new ones. Their old system, the new thing players demand, and presented as alternative character progression. This is a win/win without doubt.

Total lack of responses….okay….

Strange, I honestly thought this was a good idea. Oh well, one last bump and that’s it.

I love this idea. I think things like trait lines like this could be expanded to account for all sorts of things including [possibly] waypoint costs, repair costs, or retrait costs, with the maximum discount being 15-30%. Gold sinks exist for a reason, but doing something like this would be quite cool.

In my opinion, it should follow the WvW system of leveling, requiring a different amount of skill points at each tier, and being essentially nonrefundable.

For example:
Waypoint Costs:
Tier 1: 2% Discount: 5 Skill Points.
Tier 2: 4% Discount: 10 Skill Points.
Tier 3: 6% Discount: 15 Skill Points.
Tier 4: 8% Discount: 20 Skill Points.
…
Tier 15: 30% Discount: 75 Skill Points.

Just make it get silly high so that a person can’t max out everything in every trait line, thus breaking the effectiveness of a money sink.

This is just a single example, but I definitely think that it should follow a quadratic regression as opposed to a linear regression model.