Instant Death Traps

I know in recent skill updates, they have buffed the Ranger Trap Skills a bit, which I'm not sure was the best idea.

They talk about Balance all the time, but with the traps being even more powerful, a single Trapper who is using Trapper's Speed can easily set down volley after volley of traps, which can instantly kill a caster or even a group of casters when used on the teleport pads in somewhere like Alliance Battles. It's not been an uncommon occurrence for me to step onto a teleporter in the base and then end up dead along side any other casters I was with when we landed at the teleport pad below. There's no time to heal, no time to move, no time to do anything except be knocked down and given bleeding, crippled, blind, burning, and often poisoned as well... while being hit for over 500 damage or more.

Below is part of a screen shot from the last time I landed in one of the little death traps with a caster... just from what hit me there I took 539 damage as well as all the conditions I was given. Needless to say, instant death... and by just one Ranger. So if there really isn't anything you can do to defend against landing in one of these teleporter death traps, doesn't it seem a little unbalanced for a single Ranger to be able to do instant kills like this?

Maybe I'm just not looking at it the right way, but does anyone else think it's a little over powered for a single character to do 500+ damage in a second or two?

yes trappers have been overpowered for a long time. and anet keeps buffing them. they can actually solo farm gems in DoA and ecto in underworld with no risk at all. place down ~10 traps, lure with a longbow, and you have an unlimited number of dead enemies (however many you pulled). combined with a spirit like edge of extinction, pretty much guarantees no survivors.

Another PVP whine about skills that see a fair amount of use in PVE... I smell a nerf in the air.

well, this is one of those that NEEDS the nerf in both game modes.

edit: perhaps give it a condition similar to spirits, so you cant place two of the same one right on top of each other

Well one solution is to put [wiki]Mark of Protection[/wiki] on one person and send them through (though this requires a monk and an elite).

Also, trappers are usually rather easy to interrupt. Even if they use [wiki]Trapper's Focus[/wiki], they can still be interrupted by interrupt skills.

They use Whirling Defenses? Use skills that go through blocking.

This is partially a case of people not using counters, and partially a case of people exploiting something to be annoying. Yes, only annoying. If you just go through the teleporter one at a time, the first guy will get demolished, but the next few should have a chance to attack the guy trapping.

u just got owned! hahah

lol, well I'm no PvPer... actually, look over most threads and you'll see just how much PvP players hate me. I don't fool much with PvP, I just do a little Fort Aspenwood and Alliance Battle with my PvE characters for amusement, but not very often. I don't fool with the rest of PvP, just PvE... and have played over four thousand hours across my half dozen accounts and all my characters on all the extra character slots I've bought... and even with all those characters I don't have a single PvP made character (mostly because I hate the instant character thing without having to earn the level or armor or anything) and despite the fact that I don't like how PvP players get most of the PvE skills nerfed (look at the poor Necro) I still think something like the Trap issue is a bit overpowered, even in PvE.

Well, I can certainly understand your frustration, but like the OP said, you can always try bringing different counters to it.

As far as the skill being overpowered....well, yeah I guess they are a bit, but considering how situational trapping is then I don't really see an issue with it. Aside from some gimmicky usage in PvP or PvE traps aren't really used much and I think they are ok they way the are. If you reduce their effectiveness then they'd be used even less than they are now.

Anyway, good luck with finding a counter or work around to this.

I don't think players take a trapper slaying build, a build has to be balanced imo. Sorry if that sounded stupid

I just don't want to hear all the PVE'ers crying about how they can't do 3-man UW trap teams anymore when, and if, Anet decides to severely alter their precious traps with stacking limits and nerfed damage ranges.

Eah, I'm a PvE player first and foremost, but I don't go in for the gimmick builds and all the cheap farming stuff. Just doesn't seem like much fun or even a challenge, and thus isn't of much interest to me.

Personally I'd still like to see a three of any one primary profession limit on teams, which would destroy a lot of the gimmick builds in PvP and PvE without the need to nerf so many skills. I mean, what's the point of playing if the only way you can win is with some cheap exploit? It's meaningless to win that way.

just don't go into the traps.

Uh, yeah. That. Traps are only overpowered if you're... I don't wanna say dumb enough, but that's the only phrase that comes to mind... to walk into them.

Also, two [well, one conjoined] word[s] for you if you're having walking-into-trap trouble: Pre-prot.

That makes me laugh so much. ^^

I trap teleporter pads too! I also trap res shrines when people are running off to cap something else. Its so funny and when things go boom.

I dont really see how this is imbalanced though. Trapping is a very very niche role and it only works in certain situations.

It's a lot of damage but its also a lot of energy. Even with trapper's speed, its still interruptable (even with trapper's focus).

Whats needs to happen, imo, is someone on your team needs to identify that trapper, so whenever anyone sees him wander off, just wand him repeatedly. or at least mark the trap by pinging the map.

Heck you can nullify his whole trap setup by going "He trapped the teleporter pads, dont go there."

The PvP trapper was the ViM trapper. And that wasnt because of the traps, it was because ViM allowed the trappers to gain energy and health very quickly.

If your not smart enough to see that running over a spot a ranger has been camping for a long time isn't smart you deserve to die too. To plant those 5 Spike Traps you'd need to be casting traps for at least 60 seconds with QZ up at least.



Traps are not overpowered. In order for traps to do major damage like that 500+ you stated they need to be stacked. They need to have QZ/EW up. They need someone to run over them! They do exactly what they're suppose to do, if you come wandering over to them, they make you suffer.

Besides, SoA COMPLETELY destroys a stack of traps damage, if they've managed to set that many traps and you didn't notice... thats your problem.

And i don't want to hear all the PvP'ers whining about how they got pwnd by the most obvious, most avoidable method of dieing in the game. They're for pressure, protection of key players/spirits and to kill idiots. I don't PvP often, but i do remember the time a warrior ran upto me and the other trapper covering hte entrance to our 'base' and tried to Frenzy attack us... People that stupid deserve anything they get.

Traps are fine.

Don't complain.



Second, as a ranger, mind that rangers have very limited farming options and we NEED the admittedly fubar traps.

End of story. You can go off on your 55 monk and strike gold, but the little people need their traps.

kill monks then necros then rangers...

if i see a ranger in FA i kill him...

like a previous poster said... you have another exit from the rez thing... through the gate... or through the other portal...

if you fell more then once in that trap... im sorry for you...

# Spike Trap: increased damage to 10..40.
# Trapper's Focus: increased duration to 5..25 seconds.
# Tripwire: increased damage to 5..20.

This updates?

Yes i can see the problem here... such overpowered raw, insane, cataclysmic buffs are indeed a problem...

Take it from a solo, duo and trio UW trapper.

Dust trap does the most damage.

You only really need instance of spike trap for the knockdown so they sit in the dust trap pulses.

Wasnt your team paying attention to the ranger who sat there laying traps o.o?


Trapping works in PVE farming since you can take your time and setup your traps. Then you pull, gather up the mob and lead them to the trap spot.

In a normal PvP environment, it seems impossible to me for a trapper to get away with that unless your side of the map was completely empty and nobody noticed. And in that case thats just dumb luck.

Screw that, team farm with B/P. Everything dies to B/P :B