Trahearne isn’t all bad. In fact, after replaying the campaign for my alt, the vegetable leader kinda grew on me. Granted, he isn’t your standard high fantasy leader, who is at the frontlines with his troops, but that isn’t what he’s good at.
The green Necromancer did fill the role of a general, or a field marshal. Him being a scholar fits, as there have been many historical generals and officers, who were far more competent outside of the battlefield. (doesn’t mean they were incompetent there either)
Some areas where a general applies his Skillset:
Planning force and Equipment.
Remember, when in forging the pact the first thing we had to do was talking to the best smiths in order to secute quality equipment for pact soldiers? The pacts constituent orders were competently trained troops to begin with, but it never hurts to be able to place custom orders. Also, with the help of Whispers and the knowlege of the Priory, the pact became the fist aiship deploying military force in Tyria.
Planning mobilization and deployment.
The Vigil already has great tacticians and leaders, so Trahearne needed to decide on a strategy, brief the colonels and get everyone together to make war plans. This is not what most adventurers find interesting though, since it doesn’t involve much action. Instead you look at maps and coordinate your soldiers.
Logistics
Trahearne has the added benefit of great knowlege on the terrain of Orr. On a tactical level, terrain is merely important, but on a strategical level, it dictates your supply routes and restricts campaign movement. Accurate maps of Orr are likely scarce, so a Scholar, who has evaded the undead for years is actually qualified to direct a campaign against Zhaitan. Logistical planning probably won’t drive adrenaline to high levels either.
Personnel planning
The other important part He did right was to delegate. The orders were employed in their areas of expertise with enough liberty to make decisions on their own. The pact is large and complex, but the pact members know what they do. Trahearne didn’t fall into the micromanagement trap – When things didn’t go right, he sent his second in command to make sure they did.
Operational command and leadership.
This is the point, that would have disqualified Trahearne from Pact command. I make no attempt at claiming Trahearne to be an inspiring leader.
This is where the pact could have fallen apart, if it weren’t for another person. Someone, who probably wasn’t impartial when it cam to order politics. However, that someone has proven his or her competence in actual battlefield performance and leadership even before Claw Island.
Whenever there was a critical mission to lead, whenever something had to work on the first try, this someone would stick up for Trahearne and accompany him into dangerous places. Whenever the Pact needed answers, or results, this person would deliver them.
The problem with all that is, that all that stuff is only vaguely hinted at. You wouldn’t see Trahearne discuss strategical details with his staff. The Person to explain the three pronged invasion plan to you would be Tactician Falx and his northern and southern collegues.
I would have liked to see some more details on the organization and planning of the pact. I understand, that having you be part of many different staff meetings would have been tedious for many players, but I would have liked to see some of the reasons, why the invasion of Orr worked in the way it did. Some NPCs to talk to or, Trahearne visibly being engaged in pact leadership.
From what I could gather ingame, a lot of effort went into the campaign in Orr, but we, as players don’t get to appreciate it, because it is not presented.
TLDR: It is not about Trahearne being a bad general (he isn’t except for his people skills) . The problem is, that the Personal Story wasn’t presented in a way, that made it feel truly engaging. (there are exceptions, the “Greatest Fear” missions, for instance.)
More dialogue (not even voiceover, just text) for the interested players and lore experts would have helped.
