Guild Wars 2

Similar to the “rate the ability” thread we had going on a while back I want to repeat the same thing with traits. I’ll be creating a separate thread for every tree due to the number of traits and I’d ask you all to rate them on a scale of 1 to 10 as to their general usefulness and appeal.

Check your favorite talent calculator for detailed trait descriptions: http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=-cM

We’ll kick this off with Deadly Art

Major traits

1. Back Fighting – 2/10 – probably quite powerful but who likes boosting their downed state?
2. Corrosive Traps – 1/10 – Weak and especially bad due to the crappy nature of traps.
3. Mug – 8/10 – arguably overpowered additional burst trait
4. Venomous Strength – 6/10 – decent enough if you actually use venoms.
5. Potent Poison – 3/10 – probably quite good for some short duration venoms but not good enough overall.
6. Sundering Strikes – 5/10 – decent enough damage boost for PvE for the whole group.
7. Improvisation – 5/10 – Odd trait….never used it but I could imagine it being quite useful depending on how it worked.
8. Quick Venoms – 4/10 – another ok choice for a venom focused build.
9. Dagger Training – 5/10 – boring trait but one of the few choices for Power builds.
10. Combined Training – 3/10 – since few dual-skills are really spamable
11. Panic Strike – 5/10 – kind of powerful when combined with Backstab burst, otherwise so so.
12. Residual Venom – 1/10 – either I don’t get it or this is the crappiest trait there is.

Minor traits
1. Serpents Touch – 5/10 – Despite Poisons often being redundant this is a decent minor trait.
2. Lotus Poison – 8/10 – One of the reasons to spec into Deadly Arts. Auto-Weakness for Dagger mainhand attacks and Gas Cloud. Really nice.
3. Exposed Weakness – 6/10 – 10% more damage, basically all the time. What more to say?

1. Back Fighting – 7/10 – For what it’s supposed to do, it’s pretty good at it. It’s issues are pretty clear though.
2. Corrosive Traps – 2/10 – Gave it one point for working on Shadow trap. Needle and Tripwire being bugged screws it over more, it not working on ambush trap makes it even worse. Very meh in general but it would have it’s purpose…if it worked.
3. Mug – 10/10 – beautiful trait. Useful with every weapon set.
4. Venomous Strength – 6/10 – decent enough if you actually use venoms.
5. Potent Poison – 0/10 – Filler trait, 100% serious. Delete off my thief plz.
6. Sundering Strikes – 4/10 – ridiculous limitation, disgusts meh.
7. Improvisation – 5/10 – Odd trait….never used it but I could imagine it being quite useful depending on how it worked.
8. Quick Venoms – 6/10 – One of the reduction traits that isn’t hard to justify.
9. Dagger Training – 5/10 – boring trait but one of the few choices for Power builds.
10. Combined Training – 3/10 – since few dual-skills are really spamable
11. Panic Strike – 5/10 – Was strong when S/P hit like a truck, might still be useful for P/P unloaders.
12. Residual Venom – 7/10 – Stronger Basilisk & devourer venom ftw + strengthens venom shares.

Minor traits
1. Serpents Touch – 7/10 – Nothing more lovely than finding out you have no ini to interrupt the heal, so you just reduce it! Useful to everyone, but it doesn’t stand out.
2. Lotus Poison – 10/10 – Perfect. Synergizes with the other two traits in this line perfectly, straight up nonsensical with a shortbow and strong with a dagger.
3. Exposed Weakness – 6/10 – 10% more damage, basically all the time. What more to say?

Just edited your stuff :P.

My opinion in this post is solely based on sPvP and WvW, but Back Fighting is a really underrated trait. I used to share the same view as OP in that you shouldn’t be spending much time downed anyway.

But here’s the thing, in PvP, thieves on each team will primarily be targeting each other in fights. And, due to both of their extremely high damage and low survivability, it is extremely likely that, even if both thieves play optimally, they’ll both end up on the ground throwing knives at each other. Taking Back Fighting ensures that in the event that both thieves down each other, you’ll win the downed fight.

People should not necessarily think of the downed state as something to avoid, but rather as an extension of your health and another aspect of your combat ability. You’re not dead till you’re stomped.

Plus the thief downed stealth skill, Venomous Knife, is awesome. 3-4k damage with Back Fighting plus poison and bleeds anyone?