Guild Wars 2

I made this post in another thread but figured other people might benefit from my experience with this, or refute some of my arguments so that I can learn something.

So 20 points in the trap-tree will allow you to pick this trait that allows you to throw traps, and also make them bigger. I was really looking forward to this, however after having used the trait for about 30 levels after I got it, I decided it was a too awkward in most situations and not as effective as I figured.

I had the ui toggled so that the trap will throw instantly which means it lands on the place where your mouse cursor is at the time you press the hotkey. In hectic situations (both PvE and PvP) it is a bit of a hassle to actually find! and place your cursor so that the trap will land where you want it. This is being aggravated by the fact that the throw-distance is very small, so you will often get the “out of reach” message.
Setting the UI so that you get the target ring first makes it way too slow to use it effectively imo, also because the throw-animation takes time too (the regular “cast-time” of a trap).

Also, I find that traps are most effective when they actually fire off directly around me, since that is usually where most mobs are (In PvE that is), beating on me.
While throwing a trap in that cluster of mobs is harder then you think, because they usually move fast (towards you), or immediately disperse when it fires. This dispersing happens a lot less when the mobs are actually beating me, also because I use the Spike or Frost trap too.

Also the short throw distance makes it so that you always already will have aggroed any group of mobs which will set them to move. Do not expect to be able to sneak up on a clump of mobs and place a trap without them knowing it.

It was also less effective then I figured for using on Champion/Boss mobs, figuring I could keep some distance with a thrown trap: the throw distance is so small that you might as well close in on the mob, and use traps the old fashioned way, and then dodge backout. That way you will know your trap hit the mob (you were standing next to it when you fired it) while a thrown trap may not have hit the right spot, or the mob already moved away from the spot you picked.

The only thing I miss is the fact that the traps were also a lot bigger with trait, that sure was useful. For that alone I would have kept the trait probably if there was a way to set it so that it still fires directly around you (i.e. remove the thrown part). Right now, with my cursor usually being all over the place, it is just too awkward to use.
Mind you, you can actually get better with it, by somehow getting a feel of where your cursor is when you throw the trap, but the short throw-distance and AI of mobs just makes it less effective and fun then I would have thought.

Anyone else uses this trait in another fashion? PvP maybe?(Not much experience with that).

I’ve found it immensely helps in DE because you can use your AoE without being face-to-face with a huge mob group. You can also set up traps faster at appropriate places, e.g. between a foe and your ally in a dungeon.
Currently I’m not sure if the trait increases the radius or the area of the trap by 50%, I have hardly used trap without the trait once I almost died during a DE when I tried to set them up; can anyone clear this up?

My only issue with this skill is that Trapper’s Expertise and Trap Potency are 20 and 30 point skills in the crit (skirmishing) tree. Traps are used for the condition damage and yet they are in a tree that you use if you want to sacrifice condition damage. Just seems backwards to me.

Also I have found the same issue as far as targeting the traps goes. I constantly hold the right mouse button down so that I can turn with the mouse and strafe with the “A” and “D” keys. Doing this though makes my mouse cursor go away preventing me from throwing my traps. In order to throw a trap I’d have to switch to keyboard controls (much more clunky in my opinion) which drives me crazy.

The only time I use this trait is when I’m defending in WvW and want to toss the traps down in front of the gate. Otherwise it doesn’t seem that useful.

I think you’d find disabling the option that causes AoE to activate directly where your cursor is pointing would help in keeping them a lot less hectic. And there’s nothing to stop you from placing an AoE trap right where you’re standing too.

I use fast cast aoe targeting while holding down the rmb. Simply place your cursor slightly above your head and hold the rmd. Then use the top of your head as a sort of guide to place ypur AOEs. Works for me, anyway.

My only problem with it is the range. Seriously, it should at least have the range of a long/short bow. No, I lied. Actually my second problem with it is that it’s a trait skill. If you’re going to have a profession that specializes in ranged attacks, there are some elements that should be default.

I heard a lot about using thrown traps in WvW, so I was excited to be able to try this out when I had enough talent points for it.

I was quickly underwhelmed by the distance I could throw the traps. When going up against a fortress, I attempted to throw my traps up on the walls. I had to be danger close in order to throw them, unlike the other AoE caster classes. In addition, when attempting to defend, my traps couldn’t reach down to the bottom of most walls!

I was hoping for an interesting, viable spec for Rangers, but instead found another pointless build. With so many things broken about the Ranger class, I’m quickly becoming upset that I rolled one as my first character.

Throwing traps is brilliant. One of the problems with the default traps is that you have to put them down at your feet, which is only useful for very specific situations – the majority of which are ‘precautions’, and a utility slot spent on a precaution is a wasted slot – particularly when in PvE mobs tend to go after your pet instead of you.

With the trapper’s expertise, you can set up traps a lot faster and more accurately when you anticipate an attack, and once the fight is underway they work like grenades.

I keep fast ground casting off. I prefer the precision of a reticule, especially when you consider that you can double-tap the key to get the same effect when you need a fast cast. If a 0.2 second delay in placing my AoE spells the difference between victory and defeat, I’ll consider it again (and probably quit until they patch the game so that strategy>twitch).