Trapper rotation advice

grumblesmorf

I haven't gotten all the abilities yet, but I want some advice from you people who know what you're doing now that I'm getting close to 60 on my first TR. I went with trapper because the longer root with damage looks really nice and I like the idea of needing to change stances a lot to get the most of out it. I like the Aspect of the Serpent class feature a lot too, in theory anyway. I'm just struggling to get the most out of it.

Right now I find I'm still mostly just staying in ranged stance the entire time while soloing. I pull by hitting a tougher mob with Aimed Shot then a quick Constricting Arrow. Usually I'm able to kill everything then with one or two more Split Shots. Just for soloing, this is fine. I don't really care so much I just want to kill the stuff. But in group play I want to make sure I'm getting the most out of the class and spec to help the group. A lot of those melee powers share buffs with others and it seems pretty nice.

So what sort of rotation do you guys recommend especially for group content, but also for soloing if I want to get the most out of my trapper spec using Aspect of the Serpent?

Oh I went for Storm Warden paragon path too. I'm not sure it makes much of a difference though since most of the stuff I think I'll be using is available to both.

rayrdan

grumblesmorf wrote: »

I haven't gotten all the abilities yet, but I want some advice from you people who know what you're doing now that I'm getting close to 60 on my first TR. I went with trapper because the longer root with damage looks really nice and I like the idea of needing to change stances a lot to get the most of out it. I like the Aspect of the Serpent class feature a lot too, in theory anyway. I'm just struggling to get the most out of it.

Right now I find I'm still mostly just staying in ranged stance the entire time while soloing. I pull by hitting a tougher mob with Aimed Shot then a quick Constricting Arrow. Usually I'm able to kill everything then with one or two more Split Shots. Just for soloing, this is fine. I don't really care so much I just want to kill the stuff. But in group play I want to make sure I'm getting the most out of the class and spec to help the group. A lot of those melee powers share buffs with others and it seems pretty nice.

So what sort of rotation do you guys recommend especially for group content, but also for soloing if I want to get the most out of my trapper spec using Aspect of the Serpent?

Oh I went for Storm Warden paragon path too. I'm not sure it makes much of a difference though since most of the stuff I think I'll be using is available to both.

your problem is quite easy, you are playing it as a dull archery HR.

lets analize one possible rotation:
hindering shot (double swap instance, take capstone bonus)
costrincting arrow (aoe roots + damage )
rain of arrow / fox shift onto the enemy
swap instance
aoe hindering strike ( aoe roots + damage )
final clear with steel breeze
rinse and repeat, no at wills.

you are playing a fast recharge tree with slow animations stuffs....aimed shot?? split shot?? if you really want some at wills usage you can try aimed strike

royal guard + dot enchant and you have 100% uptime encounters
i do use a vorpal tho for the big numbers

about serpent of the aspect, do not take attention to the number of stack you have.
you WILL change instance however and you will take advantage from serpent.
the most important is the crit chance that it gives but that does not imply you have to change playstyle somewhat, stacks are stacks they give you crit chance in melee and archery regardless

query523

Personally I think RG is wasted on Trapper as I can perma-encounter without it rather easilly. And it is so heavy on ArPen that you are likely to end up with wasted points. GW's set bonus is based around at-wills that you will practically never use. What this means is that you are free to stat-max your character based on your attributes. Another good general rule is to start each stance with a strong root attack. This means that you get the most Serpent buff on the attack that also delivers Thorned Roots maximising the potential of both.

grumblesmorf

Thank you both. What about those buff sharing abilities? Are those not really as good as I'm thinking they are? They don't have thorny roots...

rayrdan

grumblesmorf wrote: »

Thank you both. What about those buff sharing abilities? Are those not really as good as I'm thinking they are? They don't have thorny roots...

you should always have abilities that apply thorned roots, the damage is all there.

grumblesmorf

So who uses those buff sharing abilities? Archery people? Anyone even?

query523

grumblesmorf wrote: »

So who uses those buff sharing abilities? Archery people? Anyone even?

I still see Fox's Cunning sometimes. Really the most effective party buffs HR has are Aspect of the Pack and the DT set bonus.

stah01

None of the buffing powers we have really seem to be as effective anymore and those powers should probably be reworked. They were meant to work with the nature tree that no longer exists.

blazious11

Royal Guard is wasted on trapper IMO. Draconic or Draconic Templar is very good, I will change to templar as soon as I can (TIA never drops that helm )
I use fox' swift (great party buff in around every 6 secs) - Constricting - Roa/Hindering shot - TAB - Fox (great damage and gap closer) - Steel breeze - Ros (I use Hindering strike before steel breeze if that's in my rotation). - TAB Consticting,Roa,Fox (Fox is last in second rotation, to not waste serpent buffs).
Fox is great for gap closer, you dont have to run or dodge to melee range, so you dont waste time and dps. I dont use any atwills.

grumblesmorf

WOW... You're right. I don't even need at-wills at all. Swiftness of the Fox is amazing. I'm using the Hindering Shot, Fox's Cunning and Constricting Arrow. Thorned Roots uptime is 100%. Encounter Powers are always available. I get so much AP it's ridiculous. Fox's Shift is really fun since it makes me run faster. I have AoE roots from range and one in melee. I have that dodge buff. This is actually a really fun class and spec. Thanks for the advice, people! Couple more questions:

Question 1: Twin Blade Storm or Aspect of the Serpent? I'm not sure which to choose here since they seem pretty close and I definitely want aspect of the pack. 12% more damage most of the time or higher crit chance and damage a lot of the time?

Question 2: Which dailies are actually useful? I was looking forward to Cold Steel Hurricane but it seems pretty lame. Not that I really NEED the dailies since I'm constantly spamming encounter powers but I feel like I should do something with all those AP.

query523

1. Serpent never leaves my bar, ever. Serpent and packfor parties, serpent and twin-blade solo usually
2. I used to be a big fan of disrupt because it is so spammable. But the Ap gain from Master Trapper is so big I moved to Siesmic. Pro-tip Seismic counts as a ranged attack regardless of stance as far as Serpent is concerned....

blazious11

I use serpent + pack. Pack gives me and the party CA (for me that's 100% uptime) That's 10%+Ca bonuses (artifacts, boon, companions) + offhand feature. Thats 20%+ for every damage, not just aoe.

I use seismic as Daily.
Cold steel hurricane - Someone pls tell me, how to use it, because I just cant figure it out It's just like Maelstrom of Chaos.

ychiaki

For PvP I go Hindering, Fox, Constricting, Serpent and Lone Wolf, for PvE I swap Fox for RoA and Lone Wolf for Pack.´

Seismic is needed with all the AP Gain from Master Trapper and if you really need it you can also slot Forest Ghost for some breathing room, and also Disruptive is awesome in PvP.

Avoid wasting serpent stacks with Fox Cunning or at-wills, use them to build the stacks. I prefer using them with Hindering Strike or Constricting but I'm not sure if the Serpent buff will also apply to the root damage.