Guild Wars 2

I’ll be doing a thread with my opinions on each Specializaiton line:

• Ready Up AMA Inititial thoughts: Critical Strikes
• Ready Up AMA Inititial thoughts: Shadow Arts
• Ready Up AMA Inititial thoughts: Acrobatics

High Level thoughts:

• Screen shots of the traits
  In summary this line is so offensive currently that it is simply mandatory for PvP. This is partly because crit strikes is so weak, but mostly because the DA line is so strong. Multiple immobilize sources make this line a must have, it has strong damage modifiers, and utility options are stong.

Minor Traits
There’s familiarity here, which is fine, but even though these are familiar they create interesting play.

• Serpent’s Touch – It’s the same, plus more downstate damage. Not much to say
• Lotus Poison – Weakness for some short term staying power in 1v1 or some peeling power on enemies training allies
• Exposed Weakness – Still a damage modifier

Adept Traits
I like the choices for these traits. There’s condi, power, and utility opitions here.

• Dagger Training – Per the Ready Up, this will be RNG poison apply. Not sure what the poison stacking changes will mean, but maybe it’ll result in P/D like effects coming from D/P, I guess we can expect hybrid bursts of damage.
• Mug – Mug is mug, It’s good. Stealing will still be usable as a way of turning a situation around on enemies.
• Needle Trap – This one really excites me, but it might be too good with Withdraw and unusable with HiS due to reveal.

Master Traits
The master traits at first glance seem like there’s no choice. But the traits seem like interesting choices.

• Resourceful Trapper – More traps sounds like it could be interesting for area control, but traps are too easily countered by AI procs, blinds, and dodges for this to be used in PvP.
• Panic Strike – Seems mandatory in this line at first glance. It’s strong, it’s a current grandmaster that’s now a master for some reason.
• Revealed Training – This seems like an appropriate master trait, but Panic strike.. With quickness and Trappers Respite though revealed training could allow for really strong bursts.

Grandmaster Traits
These grandmasters really feel like grandmasters and are each interesting.

• Potent Poison – I feel like you’ll only take this if you take the assumed version of Dagger Training, but even still it feels like these combined traits will be useful for adding to your burst and countering out some sustain on targets.
• Improvisation – With the changes to unclassified skills, IE Withdraw and HiS, this feels like it’s going to be super good. Either you’re RNGesus and recharging a deception heavy build or you’re running the standard panic strike D/P slot skills Kit and getting an 80% chance to recharge one of your skills. On top of that though you get a bonus use of your steal skill. Honestly even though a lot of whatI’ve seen in the AMA seems OP, this seems boarderline OP squared if Improve gives you 4 slot skills recharged and 1 more bonus steal skill.
• Executioner – Still strong. This plus Panic Strike or Revealed Training seem like good combos. There’s a crit strikes trait too where you can pretty much guarantee when you crit something a 1/3 health it will die, not it will take a lot of damage.. it will DIE.

Obviously numbers on everything will change, so I’m trying not to focus on that too much. Overall though this line will currently be mandatory. More importantly though it feels like an offensive line with lots of utility. Whether you are a condition build or a power build or a hybrid build, you’ll be taking this specialization, because of what immobilize, poison, weakness, and more damage or extra recharges allows you to do for your team.

Too good to be true… probably they realise this soone or later

The trap on heal – perfect candy to lure people away from slotting mug all the time.

Improv vs Exec – unless there is some sort of condition to proc the 10% dmg in Improv, why would anyone take Exec again, in most situations it won’t offer higher dmg boost.

Jayden Ennok.3687:

The trap on heal – perfect candy to lure people away from slotting mug all the time.

Improv vs Exec – unless there is some sort of condition to proc the 10% dmg in Improv, why would anyone take Exec again, in most situations it won’t offer higher dmg boost.

I can see Mug, Revealed Training, and Executioner being a viable PvP burst spec.

The problem I see with trap on heal is that it’ll trigger at the end of withdraw, not at the start of it, if it’s anything like with on-heal triggering runes. Making it pretty kitten.

Oxygen.5918:

The problem I see with trap on heal is that it’ll trigger at the end of withdraw, not at the start of it, if it’s anything like with on-heal triggering runes. Making it pretty kitten.

I do not see this as a problem at all unlike those proc on heal traits simply because a trap is persistent. You will withdraw and drop a trap. Generally the other person chases you after a withdraw and will than stand in the trap. Stealth off him/backstab. He can not dodge.

Withdraw will now grant stealth with runes of trapper?
I see a new P/D meta build incoming.

Overal, DA is now mandatory.
I can’t think of a single Thief build that wont take advantage of DA.

babazhook.6805:

Oxygen.5918:

The problem I see with trap on heal is that it’ll trigger at the end of withdraw, not at the start of it, if it’s anything like with on-heal triggering runes. Making it pretty kitten.

I do not see this as a problem at all unlike those proc on heal traits simply because a trap is persistent. You will withdraw and drop a trap. Generally the other person chases you after a withdraw and will than stand in the trap. Stealth off him/backstab. He can not dodge.

That’s terrible when fighting on points.

Oxygen.5918:

babazhook.6805:

Oxygen.5918:

The problem I see with trap on heal is that it’ll trigger at the end of withdraw, not at the start of it, if it’s anything like with on-heal triggering runes. Making it pretty kitten.

I do not see this as a problem at all unlike those proc on heal traits simply because a trap is persistent. You will withdraw and drop a trap. Generally the other person chases you after a withdraw and will than stand in the trap. Stealth off him/backstab. He can not dodge.

That’s terrible when fighting on points.

The trap will do nothing negative when fighting on a point. If you are concerned with staying on Point you would not use withdraw to get out of it. You do not not have to stealth if you do not wish to. Nothing forces stealth .Venom trap has a longer Immob then panic strike and will add up to 4 other conditions. Further it unblockable and is not predicated on the enemy having less than 50 percent health.

It also covers an area which can be handy when trying to cover a point. It will allow you to move within the entire point while limiting the enemies movement on that point.

Thanks for re-iterating everything, every post on the forums have been saying. DA is so strong that EVERY build will take it and that’s bad for variety.

Thanks for re-iterating everything, every post on the forums have been saying. DA is so strong that EVERY build will take it and that’s bad for variety.

Scootabuser.4915:

Thanks for re-iterating everything, every post on the forums have been saying. DA is so strong that EVERY build will take it and that’s bad for variety.

Well, they shouldn’t make it weaker, they just need to make it CS more interesting to be competitive. I mean you’ve got 1/3 of the choices in the CS line just flat benefits to different things. DA has flat benefits (if a condition is met) that’s universal like a power or damage boost to all skills, not just dual skills here and precision buffs if behind/side there. Maybe boon destruction or blinding on crits could be the way to go. That could make it worth taking as a complimentary line or even instead of DA depending on what you’re fighting.

babazhook.6805:

Oxygen.5918:

babazhook.6805:

Oxygen.5918:

The problem I see with trap on heal is that it’ll trigger at the end of withdraw, not at the start of it, if it’s anything like with on-heal triggering runes. Making it pretty kitten.

I do not see this as a problem at all unlike those proc on heal traits simply because a trap is persistent. You will withdraw and drop a trap. Generally the other person chases you after a withdraw and will than stand in the trap. Stealth off him/backstab. He can not dodge.

That’s terrible when fighting on points.

The trap will do nothing negative when fighting on a point. If you are concerned with staying on Point you would not use withdraw to get out of it. You do not not have to stealth if you do not wish to. Nothing forces stealth .Venom trap has a longer Immob then panic strike and will add up to 4 other conditions. Further it unblockable and is not predicated on the enemy having less than 50 percent health.

It also covers an area which can be handy when trying to cover a point. It will allow you to move within the entire point while limiting the enemies movement on that point.

The trap can reveal you. Saying that you should not use your healing skill at all is flat out silly. Certain things so force stealth as well, such as last refuge. Please think before you post.

What I like the most are the buffs to Poison. Thieves have a lot of sources for Poison (including Dagger auto) but Poison has always been weak for a damage condition. This will help improve build variety and should also help make D/D as versatile as it was intended to be.

Oxygen.5918:

babazhook.6805:

Oxygen.5918:

babazhook.6805:

Oxygen.5918:

The problem I see with trap on heal is that it’ll trigger at the end of withdraw, not at the start of it, if it’s anything like with on-heal triggering runes. Making it pretty kitten.

I do not see this as a problem at all unlike those proc on heal traits simply because a trap is persistent. You will withdraw and drop a trap. Generally the other person chases you after a withdraw and will than stand in the trap. Stealth off him/backstab. He can not dodge.

That’s terrible when fighting on points.

The trap will do nothing negative when fighting on a point. If you are concerned with staying on Point you would not use withdraw to get out of it. You do not not have to stealth if you do not wish to. Nothing forces stealth .Venom trap has a longer Immob then panic strike and will add up to 4 other conditions. Further it unblockable and is not predicated on the enemy having less than 50 percent health.

It also covers an area which can be handy when trying to cover a point. It will allow you to move within the entire point while limiting the enemies movement on that point.

The trap can reveal you. Saying that you should not use your healing skill at all is flat out silly. Certain things so force stealth as well, such as last refuge. Please think before you post.

No sir YOU are not thinking. You do not have to hide after your heal. Do you even use traps?

I never said you should not use your heal. I said if you are concerned about being pulled off point WHICH withdraw can do you should not use withdraw. You are the one who mentioned fighting on point not I.

I would also point out that if you are “fighting on points” stealthing can lose you that point. There are times a stealth thief does not want to stealth.

I stated in my example that you CAN use withdraw , have the person pursue and set off the trap and then stealth and ambush. This will not reveal you as the trap is already triggered.

There are also a multitude of builds that do not use a lot of stealth where this trap can be very useful. S/d comes to mind, heal and drop the trap and get an immobilized foe that has weakness, poison and vulnerabilty. now tear into him with your attacks.

Or use d/p with stealth. Drop the trap and have the enemy stand in it. He is now immobilized. Port to him, stealth or not as you wish. Nothing forces you to stealth before the trap is triggered.

In S/p , again with little in the way of stealth heal with withdraw or even HIS inflict an immobilize and pistol whip.

As to last refuge who cares? using a trap has nothing to do with that skill. If an enemy steps in my trap and is now immobilized I am going to use that opportunity to attack . I am not going to worry about last refuge.

Please think before you post .