Need evasion?

[GeoffWatson]

I was discussing my next life (Artificer) with my TRing group, and it was brought up that you need Evasion on a trap expert, as too many traps have the disarm boxes on the wrong side.

Is this correct?

If so, would a Rogue or Monk splash be better?
Rogue gets more skills and sneak attack,
Monk gets some feats.

Geoff.

[domandi]

Nah, evasion is not needed. Most of the traps can be jumped/ran/whatever through.

[CThruTheEgo]

I've played an arti to cap and found that evasion was not needed for most traps as they can be gotten around, over, through, timed, etc. There are a few, however, where you simply have to go through them and hope you don't die. And if you have a laggy computer timing these can be quite lethal. Playing a trapper without evasion will most certainly put your mario skills to the test, but yes it can be done.

[MRMechMan]

Not needed for most traps. Von5 is the only place I really wished I had it. Perhaps elite monestary.

I would, however, take insightful reflexes still. Having a good reflex save is still important, and with high int moderate dex it is worth getting IMO.

[FooWonk]

Not needed for most traps. Von5 is the only place I really wished I had it. Perhaps elite monestary.

Without trap reflex in the high 50's, evasion is nearly useless in Elite Monastery.

My main is Artificer with Monk splash. The splash is for 2 feats, skills, saves. Evasion is icing.

[goodspeed]

You don't really need it, but it sure is nice to have for when you do. And as said even with evasion epic traps ain't no joke, neither are when your standing amid 6 fire ele's in von 6 that have all awoken because base 2 can't get their act together. So you really need to get reflex up there to say 48 or 50.

And that's what my arti holds. I hold 49 50 with a haste. And I can go another 5 higher for 20 seconds. And I can say ain't nothing got jack on me. Not the fireballs, the lightning walls, or those hellish blades in epic von 5. (Though I still wouldn't outright stand in em any longer then needed. That 1 is always lurking.)

But ya I went a 2 monk slash and took toughness and resilience.

[Postumus]

Without trap reflex in the high 50's, evasion is nearly useless in Elite Monastery.

My main is Artificer with Monk splash. The splash is for 2 feats, skills, saves. Evasion is icing.

I don't think anyone needs evasion in Monastery at any level difficulty. But to each his own I guess.

OP: In my opinion you don't NEED evasion for traps as an arti, a high reflex save should be good enough to get through the traps that have boxes on the other side if you don't know the safe spots or have problems timing them. If you can't get your reflex save over 20, then evasion might not be that valuable anyway.


Evasion does help against spells too, so if you do go for evasion, while rogue does give you a bit of sneak attack, I don't think it is worth much unless you do a lot of point blank shooting.

Monk will give you the two feats.

[EpiKagEMO]

If it is a TR group, you shouldn't really need it, unless you were to grab a lot of aggro.

It is very helpful however. People have said above me, Monk gives two extra feats(toughness), and evasion. 18/2 doesn't sound too bad now does it? Healing amp never hurts if you drop potions.

[Deathdefy]

I'm in the boat of it being unnecessary.

That said, the first trap box in the lightning corridor of Von 5 has never failed to kill me on elite at level. But, I've also never been the only death. Hooray for pugs!

[sirgog]

I'm in the boat of it being unnecessary.

That said, the first trap box in the lightning corridor of Von 5 has never failed to kill me on elite at level. But, I've also never been the only death. Hooray for pugs!

Yeah someone pretty much always dies at the fire trap on the jet (not from the damage caused by the fire itself, but because that damage is significant and then you have to start the next fight after it badly hurt and with the group totally scattered). And then there's random deaths in combats throughout the quest too - you see 0-3 in a good PUG and 10+ in a bad one.


Artis have arguably the best capstone in the game other than the Wizard one, and the only way for an Art20 to get Evasion is by being a Shadowdancer which is not a strong choice for them. You will spend more time in combat than trapsmithing, so focus on the combat first and just get the trapsmithing 'good enough'.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

You do not "need" evasion.

But....
yes, many trap boxes are on the other sides of the traps.

Some are almost impossible to get to without getting hurt by the trap (unless you have evasion)

Some are so rediculously difficult to save and survive against that evasion is barely any help at all!

But still... people manage to do the quests.
(even without someone who can disable the traps)



But evasion "is" nice.
I have often said it was the best feat in the game. (actually Improved Evasion is the best feat in the game. )

And the Artificer does suffer from not having evasion.

But with experience, you can learn many tricks to help you get those difficult traps.

Some can be timed or otherwise bypassed to not take damage. (sometimes....)
some can be buffed against to toughen you up as you go through it.
...or if all else fails have someone toss you a res on the other side..

[nibel]

18/2 doesn't sound too bad now does it?

After playing at cap for a while with a capped artificer, and this weekend running back into another alt, I must say: Artificer capstone is made of awesome. It was kinda painful to return to 11-minute Greater Heroism clickies, and 30 seconds haste potions. And let's not start at what you can do with SP restoration clickies (Bauble, Archivist Googles, RoSS).

I would not trade that capstone for Evasion.

[FooWonk]

After playing at cap for a while with a capped artificer, and this weekend running back into another alt, I must say: Artificer capstone is made of awesome. It was kinda painful to return to 11-minute Greater Heroism clickies, and 30 seconds haste potions. And let's not start at what you can do with SP restoration clickies (Bauble, Archivist Googles, RoSS).

I would not trade that capstone for Evasion.

Without Capstone, GH lasts 14 minutes, haste 1 minute.

Of the mnemonic aids in game, only RoSS benefits from additional caster levels...so an artificer with capstone gets 105 SP v. 25 SP without.

I liked the capstone when it was OP & still affected scrolls. As it is, most of the items I use get minimal gain from the capstone v. Artificer Knowledge.

The 2 additional 6th level spells, 125 more SP, another artificer feat and +1 crafter level are all good reasons to stay pure. The capstone is not and many well-played, pure artificers do not take it as there are better enhancements available.

[Izdaari]

Not necessary but nice.

I took a 2 monk splash, and I'm glad I did. Now, I'm not yet 20 and may not get there for a while, because this is an alt that isn't getting played that much right now. Not that I don't like this toon; I do, but I have so many, and made this one to try out the class. When I get there, I might LR to get the capstone and other purity benefits, but for leveling I sure like having evasion and extra feats from the monk splash.

[shadereaper33]

The necessity of evasion is really dependent upon how good you are at navigating through traps. If you can get the timing required to get through traps without getting owned in the face, then no, you don't need evasion. however, if you are the kind of person that like to dance in the spinning blades n von5, evasion might be a good idea .