Do you guys think it's worth it to take trap affinity skills over damage dealing? I was wondering if it's better to just walk around traps and not worry about the extra XP each one gives, instead taking another damage dealing skill...or do you feel that disarming traps is enough XP to warrant the 1 in 7 skill slot?
Well, I always take Burglary and Smithing, and Archaelogy, so, trap affinity/lore isn't that hard for me to get. If you wanted just one skill, take Archaelogy, that hat alone is good enough. Especially since a good reroll can spawn a bonus to armor absorption. At least in the next patch Archaeology will be nerfed a bit.
Disarming them isn't worth it. Using them is. At a high enough affinity, you can pick them up for future use.
Disarming them is very worth it. Through out the course of a full run, if you can disarm most or all traps, that is easily up to several thousand XP, fairly quickly. As for using them, not so much. Out side of stacking several on top of each other after you spot a named boss, you aren't going to get much use out of them. Acid Rhizome traps may be the only exception to that, though, since those can apply stacking acid DoTs. They are kind of rare though. Just be very careful you are clear of the area when they get triggered. Killed my self the first time I used one because I didn't think to move away from it.
@Kaoy I agree. Disarming is useful. As for traps, I love to drop them in front of monsters at a monster zoo. Haven't figured out how to stack them though. Acid traps + monsters in a monster zoo = 1/3 of them dead by the time they reach you.
Yeah, I never really use traps, even in the early levels (too tedious for me). I was just wondering if the xp gained is worth the loss of a damage dealing or support skill. I would rather have perception to avoid traps altogether, as well as see monsters further away, plus the extra dodge. Leveling might be a bit slower, but you have the extra support to survive lower levels. Although Archy does have the extra xp from artifacts, which adds up quickly...
Except the ones that that kills are the one that you can kill in one hit anyway. It softens up the rest, true, but doesn't last that long. Now an Acid Bottle Bolt? That's a worth while thing to slog around in your limited backback space for several levels. I still say Acid Rhizome are the only traps worth carrying around, in the long run. The others are good to sell though, and so long as they are there and that named mob is there... Even so, picking up an acid Rhizome requires 5 or 6 trap affinity, if I recall, so stacking it certainly is worth while. I would almost say its worth getting tinkering for nothing else but that, if you have a low-need build.
For me, trap affinity is there to avoid traps, not the exp or the pick up. Since I start using mouse clicks I stop getting trap affinity completely. The exp is just silly because you wasted multiple levels for it. You will never make a fraction of those back. The trap use? You can get better damage by adding to a damage tree. So unless you are going with something that you will pick anyway, don't bother with trap affinity.
Except, if you want rogue style build, with lots of dodge, crit, counter, stealth, and accuracy, getting tinker for those stats(as you level up stats are based on the class of skill you took) as well as trap affinity. Add to that a good supply of bolts for softening named mobs, the ability to use the couple really good traps out there, and the fact that there is still nothing keeping you from using high block gear for even more survivability, and that XP just becomes a sweet icing on an already pretty tasty cake. Try out Unarmed/MoA/Tinker/Assassin/Archaeology/Burglary/Dodge(or Astro, up to you). Make good use of block gear and prepare to have your mind blown.
@Kaoy Well if you are trying to grind monsters to death with unarmed, then sure that acid trap might be worth it.... Still, not having smith in that build means you forgo 16 counters and 12 block from 2 rings of iron thorn. I ran Unarmed/Smith/Vamp/Berserk/MoA/Dodge/Assassin before so yeah I already know how pushing counter/dodge to 50 and block to 80 is like. The only problem with that build is not getting bored out of your mind.
So you think anything that makes you think is boring? I'm sure you are and you dual/staff/vamp/necro/b.magic/promethean/alch build will be very happy, then. In exceptional need of heavy nerfing, but happy.
@Kaoy I was saying my unarmed build is boring. I mean, just look at it. Jamming the left click and occasionally leaping is all I ever do. Dual shield unarmed is broken, in a defensive way. It's grindy, but really how can you even get killed with one of those. You took acid traps to speed up the killing a little, I just focus everything on the defense. I don't see how having a super tank and 2 or 3 escape mechanism require thinking. Tinker is a nice touch for late game, but let's be honest here. It doesn't take too many brain cells to not die with a dual shield unarmed with escape in general. Also, my build don't have promethean..... You don't need fireball if you got rift. Replace it with either magic training or archaeology.
@Kaoy What do you mean the ones it kills are the ones you can kill in one hit? In a monster zoo, stacking the acid blast traps, the ones that spew out a 3x3 grid of acid, are as useful as acid bottle bolts at killing off monsters. Heck, placing a trap or two in front of a monster zoo for me, from level 2 to 6 kills a few enemies, and acid bottle bolts combined with that, tend to wipe the floor with 1/3 to 1/2 the zoo. The remainder are usually so weak by the time they limp towards me, that killing them is easy. Heck, I even cleared out a small zoo once using only one bolt of Squid. Well, all but one monster anyway.
I suppose stacking them is good, but they still don't last to long. The Rhizome ones are best in my mind though because they can even kill named monsters with on application if you get to take a few steps in them. High hit damage and a stacking DoT is very deadly.
I've never managed to get a Acidic Rhizome trap, so I don't know how awesome they are. I do know that most trap damage scales with magic power. So, the main reason they can be powerful is because someone with a lot of magic power uses them. All i know is that I can't stack traps to save my life, don't even know how that works, but acid blasts on a monster zoo will kill almost 12-15 monsters to death. And acid bottles + those = almost no challenge in the zoo. THe remainders, I just walk backwards and wait for them to come at me one at a time. Unless it's floor 2, where I can handle being attacked by 3 at once.
I've never had much luck with traps against monsters. I used a few against named MOBs to whittle them down, but it usually didn't do much. I do love anything with thaumites, though. That said, I find it worth taking the skills for the experience, and added safety. I'm terrible about stepping on traps when I don't have good trap perception (WASD). They also sell for a decent amount.
