Guild Wars 2

I have put 30 trait points into my warrior, and I see little to no effect of his defense… NPCs still do as much damage as they would if I had no points in Toughness, why is this? Is Toughness bugged for warriors? Or is it merely just a pointless trait to buff up?

Direct damage taken is proportional to 1/armor (where armor = defense+toughness). So for example, if you have 2000 armor and add 300 toughness, that reduces direct damage taken by about 13%.

Other people and classes have noticed a % reduction in the damage that they’re receiving.

One issue with +300 Toughness is that it depends on your level. Making a minor investment in Toughness is like making a minor investment in Power. Yes, adding a little Power will increase your dps output. However it really won’t feel like much of a difference at 80th level when all of the +Stat scores are so high. In order to feel a real reduction, you’d have to noticeably invest in Power. This same situation applies to the Toughness dynamic.

People are reporting noticeable damage decreases in dungeon runs after heavily investing into Toughness. Please just remember that Toughness does not affect Condition damage dots (aka Burn, Bleed, Poison). Those effects will still hurt you for the same amount regardless of your having +0 Toughness or +1,000 Toughness. The only real benefit is a % reduction from standard damage hits.

So would you suggest a balance between Vitality and Toughness for general PvE and for dungeons such as Arah?