Guild Wars 2

Sharpened Edges and Hidden Barbs
These two traits should be merged together. Other professions have traits that work similarly as minor traits while Rangers have them as 2 separate traits.

Poison Master and Refined Toxins
This GM trait is still in a bind, overshadowed by 2 condition removal traits that compliment different builds that decide to either take or not take Survival utilities.

Merge Poison Master down with Refined Toxins in the Master tier so Rangers can have a competitive choice between focusing heavily into Poison with Poison Master or gaining overall condition damage with shorter cooldowns for Torch and Dagger with Ambidexterity.

Thoughts?

The bleeding traits could be OP if together, but what the hell, why not? Everyone else is OP as anything now, we may as well get something.

I can’t believe they actually nerfed Poison Master, crazy. Anyway, those two should definitely be merged, then Poison Master may actually compete with our condi removal traits. Ahh, who am I kidding, it will still never see play. Poison Master @ 1000 condition damage = 1.25 * (3.5 + (0.375*80)+(0.06*1000)) = 116 damage per tick. Would have been 140 with 50%. If thief keeps its +50% damage & +33% duration trait, I’m going to lose it.

Refined Toxins is actually pretty nice for Power LB, -33% on their heal if they don’t cleanse 1st. Not bad.

Yeah, Poison Master got nerfed, but I didn’t suggest Refined Toxin merged into Poison Master. It was the other way around so Poison Master would compete with Ambidexterity instead in the Master tier.

There’s no way Rangers would take Poison Master as a GM even if Refined Toxins was merged into it, save the minor niche it appeals to. It’s better off competing with something along the same lines rather than being sandwiched between condition removals.

Edit: Also, Refined Toxins is rather pathetic. By comparison:

• Thief’s Dagger Training: Dagger Training: Dagger attacks have a 33% chance to poison enemies for 2 seconds.
• Ranger’s Refined Toxins: While you are above 90% health your strikes inflict 6s of poison. While your pet’s health is above 90% its strikes inflict 6s of poison. This trait has a 10 second internal cooldown.

Refined Toxin should share the same applications of “chance on hit” as well instead of a health threshold and ICD. As it stands, every 10 seconds we are limited to, at most, applying Poison to 2 targets (assuming the pet hits the other) but only when above 90% health. Thieves will be able to apply it without an ICD on multiple targets without a health threshold gate.

My only problem with Hidden Barbs is that it’s contested in the same spot with spotter, which would also have a great synergy with Sharpened Edges. I don’t really have a problem with trait lines having traits that synergize well with each other. ANet is clearly going for this stuff. Refined Toxins is pretty good as it is though, but I wouldn’t complain about a poison master merge, as poison master is in a pretty stupid grandmaster spot.

Ah, yes, I didn’t read that properly. If Poison Master was merged into Refined Toxins at Master, it would be good. They could honestly leave only the two GMs in WS then and I wouldn’t care as there is no other mechanic you can put there except condi removal that will be useful.

Maybe something like Natural Stride; “You move +25% faster and gain 1s of Resistance whenever you gain a condition.” Dunno.

If it’s not condi countering, its pointless in the GM slot.