Thread: Time for a stupid question but what is trait 3b, 2r mean?

I just started reading the forums and I haven't done any Moor stuff. As I have been reading I see references to trait 3b, 2r or some such. While I have a thought on what it is referring to I was wondering if anyone could elaborate?

Also I see people mentioning hot swapping gear, does that mean you have a set of gear on and an extra set of gear in your inventory that you switch into mid-fight?

I tried searching but the terms I used didn't find anything useful.

Thanks in advance.

When people refer to say 3b or 2y, they're referring to your traits: yellow line, blue line, and red line. If someone says 3b, they're indicating having three blue class traits equipped. It's an easier way to refer to them over using the names (since every class has blue, red, and yellow, but every class names all their lines differently. Plus, the names are longer)

Originally Posted by Ullr_of_Aesir

Also I see people mentioning hot swapping gear, does that mean you have a set of gear on and an extra set of gear in your inventory that you switch into mid-fight?

Basically, yes. When you use certain abilities you equip gear that maximizes that ability's potential (example: You switch to a special Heart Seeker bow when you fire off that skill), then swap back into your regular gear afterwards. Without a programmable gaming keyboard gearswapping is of questionable value in this game, and even with one it's mostly pointless. If you enjoy twinking with numbers or Munchkinizing your gameplay, go for it, but it's very far from a necessity in this game.

Thank you both for the reply.

I was wondering how ppl would swap stuff out fast enough to be of any use, hadn't thought of a gaming keyboard.

Thanks and happy Hunting

Originally Posted by CWood

Basically, yes. When you use certain abilities you equip gear that maximizes that ability's potential (example: You switch to a special Heart Seeker bow when you fire off that skill), then swap back into your regular gear afterwards. Without a programmable gaming keyboard gearswapping is of questionable value in this game, and even with one it's mostly pointless. If you enjoy twinking with numbers or Munchkinizing your gameplay, go for it, but it's very far from a necessity in this game.

A lot of people carry gear that increases their base stats so that they can quickly alternate the amount of DPS they're doing or the amount of morale/power/whatever they have on the fly. That's why I carry extra gear in specific. It's not number crunching, it's just basic micromanagement and preparedness.

You may hear people refer to 'builds' and such, and that's what this is about. Different builds or sets of gear that emphasize more on different stat bonuses to accommodate various situations. For instance, in Tower of Orthanc, many people carry different armor pieces or jewellery to swap into for the boss fights where the damage is 100% tactical and require you to increase your vitality, resistances, or base tactical mitigation, so that they don't have to cripple themselves with less morale or DPS on the way through the trash.

There are also certain sets with bonuses that one may want to use for certain skills. I can't think of any for hunter so I'll give a captain example. Captains rez skill is on a 30 minute cooldown. The rez trait will bump this down 10 minutes. You can also have a swap LI that you can equip, use the skill, and then equip your normal LI for another 10 minutes off of the cooldown. Finally, 3 pieces of Moors gear or 6 pieces of Helegrod gear (then swapping back to your normal gear) will bump it down another 7.5 or 5 minutes respectively, allowing you to reduce the cooldown on your skill by up to 17.5 minutes (or 15 minutes) via gear switching alone.

Originally Posted by TinDragon

There are also certain sets with bonuses that one may want to use for certain skills. I can't think of any for hunter so I'll give a captain example. Captains rez skill is on a 30 minute cooldown. The rez trait will bump this down 10 minutes. You can also have a swap LI that you can equip, use the skill, and then equip your normal LI for another 10 minutes off of the cooldown. Finally, 3 pieces of Moors gear or 6 pieces of Helegrod gear (then swapping back to your normal gear) will bump it down another 7.5 or 5 minutes respectively, allowing you to reduce the cooldown on your skill by up to 17.5 minutes (or 15 minutes) via gear switching alone.

For hunters, there's Baingrist from OD, +5% devastate chance.

I also have a 'buffstick' type LI with FtP movement speed and some other CDs on it for the reasons mentioned above. Multiple LIs are pretty handy.

Originally Posted by Kajil

A lot of people carry gear that increases their base stats so that they can quickly alternate the amount of DPS they're doing or the amount of morale/power/whatever they have on the fly. That's why I carry extra gear in specific. It's not number crunching, it's just basic micromanagement and preparedness.

Just lost a reply to the back button on my mouse, so here's the short version:

Carrying situational gear isn't the same as FFXI-style gearswapping. Situational gear has its uses (though I'd wager a well thought-out hybrid build would perform just fine for pretty much anything), but hotswapping multiple gearsets for every skill you use just doesn't hold enough of an advantage to bother with in this game. There's been a lot of debate on the topic over the last year and a half or so (the champ forums in particular are enamored of using DW to build Fervour, switching to a 2H to use it, then switching back to DW to rebuild), but nobody's been able to prove that doing so has any statistically relevant impact on your actual performance.

Originally Posted by CWood

Just lost a reply to the back button on my mouse, so here's the short version:

Carrying situational gear isn't the same as FFXI-style gearswapping. Situational gear has its uses (though I'd wager a well thought-out hybrid build would perform just fine for pretty much anything), but hotswapping multiple gearsets for every skill you use just doesn't hold enough of an advantage to bother with in this game. There's been a lot of debate on the topic over the last year and a half or so (the champ forums in particular are enamored of using DW to build Fervour, switching to a 2H to use it, then switching back to DW to rebuild), but nobody's been able to prove that doing so has any statistically relevant impact on your actual performance.

You've misunderstood the point. The idea is to carry gear that change your actual base stats for the situation over a long term. For instance, if I'm going through ToO instances I might carry more vitality and morale oriented gear with less agility for trash pulls, so I can have less of a chance of accidentally pulling something off of the tank and have roughly ~1200 morale extra than what I'd usually have, but only 2100 agility, which is a very effective difference. Once we make it to the boss fight, I might swap the morale gear for agility and tactical mit oriented gear, so that my agility increases to around 2400, a very noticeable increase in the damage I am able to do.

It's not about micro-swapping single pieces of gear or whatever just for one single skill, it's determined by the situation you're in. It makes complete sense to carry multiple sets of gear into an instance to accommodate your weaknesses in some areas and strengths in others.

Originally Posted by Kajil

It's not about micro-swapping single pieces of gear or whatever just for one single skill, it's determined by the situation you're in. It makes complete sense to carry multiple sets of gear into an instance to accommodate your weaknesses in some areas and strengths in others.

I think we read the OP's question differently. I saw a question about macro-based hotswapping (which I addressed), you saw a question about situational builds (which you addressed). Between the two of us, I think the OP has the answer he was looking for.

Originally Posted by Ullr_of_Aesir

I just started reading the forums and I haven't done any Moor stuff. As I have been reading I see references to trait 3b, 2r or some such. While I have a thought on what it is referring to I was wondering if anyone could elaborate?

Also I see people mentioning hot swapping gear, does that mean you have a set of gear on and an extra set of gear in your inventory that you switch into mid-fight?

I tried searching but the terms I used didn't find anything useful.

Thanks in advance.

+1 reputation to you for asking a very intelligent and relevant question, especially for newer players