Guild Wars 2

“400+ hours on my thief and I still don’t know what most of the traits really do!” That’s because half of them are worded pretty poorly, and the other half flat out lack information. I have therefore decided to try and assist anet by offering my perspective on how a normalized description of thief traits could (should?) be written. Note that I lack the values for many traits, and so, they will be replaced by (X, +…) until someone posts the actual formulas for me to fill in on that. I also found many similar effects or conditions to be worded differently for no apparent reason (notably cooldowns) and so I wanted to normalize those as well. All of this ain’t gospel of course, but I personally like them, and hopefully you guys will as well!

The pattern I will (mostly) follow will be the following:

Skill description = (1) Condition / trigger + (2) effect & value + (3) disclaimer (situationnal).

The conditon or trigger is basically what causes or enables the trait to function.

Examples include: Reaching a certain % of health; using a certain weapon or skill type; being effected by a number or type of conditions.

The effect & value are, well, what you gain from the trait and how much of it.

Examples include: A boon; a damage bonus; cooldown reduction; combo field; a duration.

The disclaimer is something to consider, that will in most cases prevent the effect.

Examples include: A cooldown; a maximum number of targets; range* or area*.

*sometimes

I also try to avoid the passive stance for non-passive skills (like, 20% CDR) to avoid convoluted descriptions. After all, you are the actor, not the acted!

So, anyway, without further due, let us proceed… enjoy.

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Deadly Arts

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Serpent’s Touch: Stealing Poisons your target for 10 seconds.
Lotus Poison: Poisoning a foe also Weakens them for 3 seconds. [I feel the “also” is necessary to mesh the poisoning trigger properly with weakness; you could remove it, but you’d lose some sweet prose]
Exposed Weakness: Foes with a condition take 10% more damage from your attacks. [here, the term “attacks” does not include conditions and their respective damage; the
older tooltip could lead one to believe that conditions would indeed see a 10% increase from this trait when it isn’t actually the case – I also use “foes” here instead of “target” because you aren’t necessarily targeting what you are damaging, notably with a Short Bow, though also with a Sword or Daggers, which could be a tad confusing if you saw the same numbers dealt to your non-target in the case of Trick Shot, for instance]

Back Fighting: While you are downed, your attacks deal 50% more damage.
Corrosive Traps: Traps also apply 5 stacks of Vulnerability for 5 seconds to triggering foes.
Mug: Stealing deals [X Base + Y Power Scaling + Z Level Scaling] damage to your target.
Venomous Strength: Using Venoms grants you 2 stacks of Might for 20 seconds. [here, it could be argued that it would be unnecessary to add “using”; Venoms by definition have to be used to provide an effet, but I like the word for clarity here]
Potent Poison: Poison you apply lasts 33% longer.
Sundering Strikes: Critically hitting a foe has a 40% chance to apply 1 stack of Vulnerability to them for 5 seconds. This effect can can only occur once per second.
Dagger Training: Dagger attacks deal 5% more damage.
Combined Training: Dual Skills attacks deal 5% more damage.
Panic Strike: Striking a foe [at or] with less than 50% health Immobilizes them for 4 seconds. This effect can can only occur than once every 60 seconds.
Residual Venom: Venoms last for 1 additionnal strike.

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Critical Strikes

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Keen Observer: While your health is [at or] above 90%, you have an additionnal 5% chance of critically hitting.
Opportunist: Critically hitting has a 20% chance to restore 1 Initiative. This effect cannot occur more than once per second.
First Strikes: While your Initiative is above 6, you attacks deal 10% more damage.

Furious Retaliation: When your target reaches 50% [or less] health, you gain Fury for 10 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 45 seconds.
Signets of Power: Activating a Signet grants you 5 stacks of Might for 5 seconds.
Side Strike: Attacking from behind or the side of a foe have an additionnal 7% chance of critically hitting them.
Concealed Defeat: When you are downed, you create a Smoke Screen. This effect can only occur once every 10 seconds.
Pistol Mastery: Pistol attacks deal 5% more damage.
Practiced Tolerance: 5% of your Precision is added to your Vitality.
Ankle Shots: Critically hitting a foe with Pistol attacks has a 60% chance to Cripple them for 3 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 10 seconds.
Signet Use: When activating a Signet, you gain 2 Initative. Signets also recharge 20% faster.
Combo Critical Chance: Dual skills have an additionnal 5% chance of critically hitting.
Critical Haste: Critically hitting a foe has a 10% chance to grant you Quickness for 2 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 30 seconds.
Executioner: Your attacks deal 20% more damage to foes [at or] below 50% health.
Hidden Killer: While Stealthed, your attacks always critically hit.

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Shadow Arts

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Last Refuge: When you reach 25% [or less] health, you release Blinding Powder. This effect cannot occur more than once every 90 seconds.
Meld with Shadows: Stealthing effects on you last 1 additionnal second. [Okay, this one is hard; you need to convey that even if you are already stealthed, you’ll benefit from an extra second, an effect that is easily seen when using Shadow Refuge]
Hidden Assassin: When Stealthing, you gain 2 stacks of Might for 15 seconds.

Master of Deception: Deception Skills recharge 20% faster.
Slowed Pulse: When you have 5 or more stacks of Bleed, you gain 10 seconds of Regeneration. This effect can only occur once every 30 seconds.
Shadow Protector: Your Stealthing effects also grant Regeneration for 5 seconds. [Tricky tricky here; “your stealthing effects” can also include allies; yeah, this is one of those where it’s somewhat implied within the skills themselves rather than the traits]
Shadow’s Embrace: Stealthing effects on you remove one condition from you instantly and one more for every 3 seconds that you remain Stealthed thereafter. [wewh… somewhat kitteny, but fairly clear]
Infusion of Shadow: When Stealthing, you gain 2 Initiative.
Cloaked in Shadow: When Stealthing, you Blind foes within [X] range for [Y] seconds.
Power Shots: Shortbow and Harpoon Gun attacks deal 5% more damage.
Hidden Thief: Stealing grants you 2 seconds of Stealth. [it should also disable your auto attack, kitten This trait is kinda kitten because it doesn’t, so you often end up wasting the “from behind” effect of your stealth skills and the stealthing effect in general]
Leeching Venoms: When triggering a Venom, you also steal [X] health from affected foes. This effect can only occur once per strike.
Patience: While Stealthed, you gain 1 more Initiative per second.
Shadow’s Rejuvenation: While Stealthed, you gain [X] health per second.
Venomous Aura: Using Venoms also applies their effects to allies within [X] range. [okay, this is far from my best; help me here!]

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Acrobatics

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Expeditious Dodger: Dodging grants you Swiftness for 2 seconds.
Feline Grace: Dodging returns 40% of its Endurance cost.
Fluid Strikes: While your Endurance is not full, your attacks deal 10% more damage.

Descent of Shadows: Taking falling damage releases Blinding Powder. You also take 50% less damage from falling. This effect can only occur once every 10 seconds.
Power of Inertia: Dodging grants you 1 stack of Might for 10 seconds.
Vigorous Recovery: Using a Healing Skill grants you Vigor for 10 seconds.
Assassin’s Retreat: Killing a foe grants you Swiftness for 10 seconds. This effect can only occur once per second.
Master Trapper: Traps recharge 20% faster.
Fleet Shadow: While Stealthed, your movement speed is increased by 33%.
Fleet of Foot: Dodging removes Cripple and Weakness from you. This effect can only occur once every 10 seconds.
Pain Response: Being struck while your health is [at or] below 75% grants you 10 seconds of Regeneration and removes Bleed, Poison and Burn from you. This effect can only occur once every 45 seconds.
Quick Recovery: You gain 2 more initiative every 10 seconds.
Assassin’s Reward: Using Initiative heals you for [X] per point spent.
Hard to Catch: Being disabled grants you Swiftness for 12 seconds and Shadow Steps you away from the source. This effect can only occur once every 60 seconds.
Quick Pockets: When weapon swapping while in combat, you gain 3 Initiative.

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Trickery

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Kleptomaniac: When Stealing, you gain 3 Initiative..
Preparedness: Your maximum Initiative is increased by 3.
Lead Attacks: Your attacks deal 1% more damage per point of unspent Initiative.

Merciful Ambush: Reviving an ally creates an Ambush Trap at their location. This effect can only occur once every 20 seconds.
Instinctual Response: Taking more than 20% of your health as the result of a single strike grants you Stealth for 2 seconds and Blinds foes within [X] range for [Y] seconds. This effect can only occur once every 60 seconds.
Uncatchable: Dodging releases Caltrops at your initial location for 4 seconds.
Flanking Strikes: Attacking from from behind or the side of a foe deals 5% more damage to them.
Thrill of the Crime: Stealing grants Fury, Swiftness and 1 stack of Might to yourself and allies within [X] range for 10 seconds.
Long Reach: *Your Steal has 300 more range.
*Bountiful Theft: Stealing grants Vigor to yourself and allies within [X] range for 15 seconds. Two boons are also removed from your target and granted to yourself and allies within [X] range for their remaining duration.
Trickster: Tricks recharge 20% faster.
Initial Strike: Strikes with your first Weapon Skill Slot have a 7% chance to cause you to gain 1 Initiative.
Ricochet: Pistol attacks have a 5% chance to also affect an additional target.
Hastened Replenishment: When using a Healing Skill, you gain 4 Initiative.
Sleight of Hand: Stealing Dazes your target for 1 second.

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Wewh, here it is. Some mistakes / inconsistencies might have slipped in, so feel free to comment on those as well. And stuff.

See ya

Reading the introductory paragraph led me to believe you were going to attempt to reword our traits to be more informative, however most of the descriptions you’ve typed out here seem identical to their in-game counterparts or you’ve just added unnecessary additional description. You probably could’ve saved yourself a lot of space by just typing out the ones you actually did change for the better, lol.

They are the same in essence (I’m not changing the traits, after all), but vastly more normalized. The old tooltips had 5 different ways of indicating that some of them had a cooldown. I made that to be one. I also solidified certain terms, clarified that conditions weren’t improved by the % increase talents, and more.

Patience in the Shadow Arts tree should say you gain 1 extra initiative per second, not 1 initiative per second.

Hmm, I see what you mean. I wonder if I should imply that – no one sane would think that the trait reduces your actual initiative generation. I’ll think about it.

Last time I checked (in the beta), initiative actually regenerated at a rate of .75 initiative every 1 second. In other words, every 4 seconds that goes by you gain 3 initiative. The official website is incorrect in that fact (we also start with 12 base initiative, not 10). Please correct me if I’m wrong anyone or my info is outdated.

Zunhar.4079:

Last time I checked (in the beta), initiative actually regenerated at a rate of .75 initiative every 1 second. In other words, every 4 seconds that goes by you gain 3 initiative. The official website is incorrect in that fact (we also start with 12 base initiative, not 10). Please correct me if I’m wrong anyone or my info is outdated.

It’s a strange number with 3 decimals IIRC. Regardless, I clarified the tooltip.