Guild Wars 2

Even if the venoms are useful in many kinds of builds, I think they shine more on condition ones.

So…
I think the devs want us to choose between Condition Duration & Condition Damage if we want to share it. Some kind of profession balance…

Do you think the same? Do you think it’s wrong to be there? Why?

i think, in my opinion, its to counter balance things?

like in ranger traps that deals condition damage, but the trap mastery and expertise is on the crtical and precision tree,

There have always been complaints on this subject. It happened back during Beta and they’ve continued into the live version.

The fundamental issue is sPvP. It is this setting that the game is balanced around, which is why Venomous Aura is so rediculously hard to get. A well organized sPvP team that is being supported by a Venomous Aura (VA) character is very strong. It’s the common opinion that Venom powers are as weak as they are because VA builds could potentially unbalance the sPvP meta-game. Even with the high investment in Trait points, you still hear about VA builds running around.

If ArenaNet actually put VA in the Deadly Arts or Trickery trees, then many more people would include VA into their character builds. This would throw off the sPvP team meta-game, which is against one of ArenaNet’s unofficial rules of game “balancing”.

While putting it in Shadow Arts is a royal pain, it does make sure that all of the devoted VA builds are going to be running Leeching Venoms (which will be buffed by the +Healing in the Shadow Arts tree). Normally I’ll run x2 Venom power and Shadow Refuge in my Utility slots as a S/P build. Since you can get a T1 Shadow Arts trait to reduce the recast timer on Shadow Refuge, it ends up working out rather nicely as a Support Thief build.

I guess that’s the heart of the matter. If you want to use Venomous Arts, then you have to commit to a support oriented build that will likely have a lower dps output (which will compensate for the dps output buffing that you’re doing to other players and pets). We may not like it, but I can see where ArenaNet is coming from on that issue.

Shadow Arts is our healing/defense trait line. You take Shadow Arts if you want to keep yourself or your team alive. You can do this with frequent blinding, group stealth (and regen on stealth) or venomshare leeching. With Venemous Aura and Leeching Venoms, as well as Quick Venoms and Residual Venoms, thieves can actually be a surprisingly strong healer for the group.

Under ideal conditions and with base healing power, a thief can heal up to 10.2k health per minute on each group member (assuming everyone receives the venom, no venom strikes are wasted, and venoms are used on cooldown). With a decent amount of healing power and realistic conditions, a thief could easily 100-150 hps on the group. And that’s all in addition to the conditions you’re applying.

TL;DR: Venemous Aura alone doesn’t fit in Shadow Arts, but Venemous Aura + Leeching Venoms does.

(and also what Wiser with Age said).