So first let me say the FT is a great kit. However, people aren’t using it as it should be used. When you go into lets say another weapon kit (grenades, bomb kit) you auto attack with it. You do damage with it. With the current meta in usage of the FT kit, you use it for it’s utility (blinds, knockbacks, the explosion). You hardly see anyone bothering to stay in the kit, much less get juggernaut. It just current isn’t viable.
Here is why.
The kit sacrifices too much surviveability for its low damage. When you’re in the kit auto attack, you can’t dodge. You can’t block or anything. You only have the blind. The current meta of the game (and has been since launch) is comprised of using skills in rapid succession. Such as using high damage skills one after another to push out huge burst damage. Using high defensive skills in rapid succession to heal and stay alive. So the FT kit only has one main defensive ability, that is its knockback and its blind. The blind can save oyu for one attack, but it wont save you for long since most classes have an abundance of high damage skills and CC. The knockback, same thing. It may buy you some time, but not nearly enough to survive in a battle.
Since the recent patch, I saw the new dire state. Vit, Tough, and condi damage. I figured I’d give it a try with the FT. First I traited 10/30/0/30/0. A common all around FT build that traits for damage, surviveability. I used it with the elixir gun of course. The damage was ok, but not nearly enough to be effective in battle. For example I found a ele in WvW and we decided to go akittenone on one. I used my FT, my elixir gun, and my elixir R to help me survive in the battle with him. I was popping all my stuff and trying to do most of my damage with the FT. The ele actually stopped moving/dodging. Stood still and just spammed it’s attacks. It was doing a lot of damage to me and thanks to its skills it was able to heal its self and actually negate the damage from the FT. The battle didn’t look like it was going to end soon since I was furiously pushing everything I had to stay alive while he stood there spamming. Eventually a thief/warrior combo came up behind me and killed me in about .5 seconds.
So even with a lot of toughness, vit, and condi damage I couldn’t take out a ele who wasn’t even bothering to be defensive and a thief/warrior was still able to do 6k + to me despite the toughness. Now if I was the meta build with bombs/grenades and perm vigor and dodge spamming I probably could have survived, heck I probably could have killed the ele.
I just find that the FT is a great kit for utility, but it sucks as a weapon kit and its damage/survivability ratio is so bad thakittens not worth getting traits or staying in. I dont feel like using it as it was supposed to be intended to use is viable at all.
Does anyone else have success stories with the FT? Mainly in the PvP theater. If so where, what were your traits, and any other important information.