At least for D/x, the immo is kinda useless do to the stability spams
Stability does not affect immobolize, so Panic strike allows you to stay at an enemies back and not allow him to turn around, dodge or flee – which pretty much guarantee a backstab or heartseeker, or force out a cooldown from him.
And executioner is somewhat useless, since (at least for me) if the enemy is at 50% or lower 1 backstab will kill him anyway, no matter those 20%
It allows for high heartseeker, which is faster and easier to land than a backstab for D/P. It also means you can easier AA kill – and imo a good thiefs knows when to use those two instead of backstab. after all, using a black powder > heartseeker gives the enemy a lot of time to see what you are doing and react.
And then obviously 20% damage on enemies below 50% also allows for great shortbow damage (or S/x if you fancy such weapon sets).Also you did not mention mug, Serpent’s Touch and Lotus Poison – all of which are really great.
Hope this helps you understand why DA is favored by a lot of thiefs
yes i agree that mug is very usefull, i just don’t think that executioner really benefits as much as it seems. I understand the situation you discribed, but i can blindpowder instabackstab faster in most situations then following up with 1 or 2 heartseakers, or even CnD backstab is faster sometimes, i just don’t feel the need for the damage buff becaues it hardly influences the time to kill, well i’ve not noticed it yet to be honet
I’m not saying it’s a bad trait tree, I love mug e.g. and revealed training imo is the strongest trait in that line, but i think it’s mostly not beneficial compared with other lines unless you are just aiming for high numbers
Revealed Training is indeed strong in PvE, but as I mainly play PvP and WvW I always take Panic Strike, as it can secure a few HS or a backstab, which to me is more important than the power Revealed Training provides.
I totally get that it’s not a must have trait line like some people seems to think, I’m currently trying some build with CS instead to see how they work.
As for Executioner, I admit it depends heavily on your playstyle, but if you fight very skilled players, a fight is usually not over just because someone hits 50% health. If you come out of stealth with a strong hit, they will usually try to use whatever they can to survive, like Protection, healing, etc. Think of Executioner as a trait that helps you deny enemy recovery – an important aspect of the thief gameplay, since you can’t stay for long fights, you need to kill them and deny them any chance of keeping themselves alive and fighting. And as I said in previous post, it’s amazing for shortbow aswell.
Keep rocking, thieves!