Goal here is to start a brainstorm thread for Reaper buffs to make them feel better to play first and foremost, and to make underutilized traits more desirable to pick to form a playstyle around.
Adept tier
Minor Adept: Shroud Knight
You basically have a perma 33% damage reduction while in Shroud, but you also drain LF faster. This is characteristic to Reaper and doesn't really need a change, though if you have any ideas for a change to it, feel free to comment below!
Major Adept: Augury of Death
Plain and simple, Anet has slaughtered this trait with the February 14th patch. If I were to make it still revolve around Shouts, I would make it do two things:
1. Enable Shouts to no longer require the 130 range for bonus effect, making it an extremely good support for a Reaper who desires Shout playstyle.
2. Gain stacks of Life Siphon per enemy hit, 3 stacks for Veteran and higher ranked enemies.
Major Adept: Chilling Nova
Boi used to be good, though on a longer ICD. Right now it's fine, but perhaps in order to push the DPS of Reaper further, it needs to be able to either:
1. Crit again
2. Even lower ICD.
I support 2. because it will actually enable Deathly Chill to proc much more often, making Condition Reaper a possibility again, but more on that later.
Major Adept: Relentless Pursuit
Frankly speaking, it's a very little used trait for most content. However, I do see the need for an option for this trait due to Reaper being a melee centric class, so I would like to propose some buffs/changes.
Upon entering Reaper Shroud, your first cast of Executioner's Scythe (Shroud 5) leaps you toward your target. This effect can only occur once per entry of Reaper Shroud. 600 units. Immobilizing effects are reduced while in Reaper Shroud.
This enables a few things:
1. It gives Reaper an additional gapcloser in shroud.
2. It allows the Reaper to hit-confirm their Shroud 5.
Master tier
Minor Master: Shivers of Dread
There's nothing wrong with this trait, so I'd leave it alone as well.
Major Master: Soul Eater
Soul Eater is pretty much a mandatory trait right now because it increases overall Reaper damage both in and out of Shroud, and this is crucial for Reaper as a DPS. This does not need change. I will however, look at other traits to make them compete or make them more desirable compared to Soul Eater.
Major Master: Chilling Victory
Not gonna lie, it's a pretty unimpressive trait because Soul Eater is much more valuable and it's basically a discount version of Spite traitline which Reapers already want to pick up to further boost their damage, making this trait redundant. However I feel like this trait could be reworked to help Reaper in general, both in and out of Shroud:
Striking a foe with Chill grants you Quickness. When you have Quickness, your strikes give you 1% Life Force.
Major Master: Decimate Defenses
While strong and allows Reaper different stat builds, ultimately Decimate Defenses loses again to Soul Eater. As it is right now, it's extremely weak due to how little in accomplishes. I propose a change:
While your Life Force level is above 50%, gain 25% Critical Chance. Gain bonus Ferocity based on your Vitality. Vitality +150.
I believe with this change, it will allow a more interesting stat build for Reaper utilizing Dragon stat.
Grandmaster tier
Grandmaster Minor: Cold Shoulder
It'z gud. I don't think it needs anything.
Grandmaster Major: Blighter's Boon
Blighter's Boon I feel has a sort of low synergy with Reaper in particular, more so Synergy with Spite traitline. I would like to propose Shroud interaction for Blighter's Boon that would change this:
Gain Lifeforce when you gain a boon or remove a boon. In Shroud, gain Health instead.
When you enter or exit Shroud, gain boons based on Lifeforce threshold
<50% grants Fury
50% > grants Fury and 5 stacks of Might
80% > grants Fury, 5 stacks of Might and Quickness
Grandmaster Major: Deathly Chill
My previous suggestions should have allowed much more consideration for Condition Reaper, but I think some Shroud play could be added to spice up Deathly Chill:
When you strike a target with Chill, you inflict Bleed.
When you enter or exit Shroud, inflict additional Conditions based on Lifeforce threshold
<50% inflict Bleed
50%> inflict more stacks of Bleed
80% > inflict more stacks of Bleed and Chill
Grandmaster Major: Reaper's Onslaught
Here comes the boi. My proposal, as with the previous two, will involve Shroud play as well, but because this is specifically to enable Reaper's Onslaught to persist for awhile out of Shroud in order to help off-shroud damage much more:
Gain 15% Critical Damage and Quickness while in Reaper's Shroud. Hitting with Life Reapreduces the recharge time of Shroud skills
When you exit Shroud, Reaper's Onslaught persists for a duration based on Lifeforce threshold
<50% Reaper's Onslaught for 3s
50%> Reaper's Onslaught for 7s
80%> Reaper's Onslaught for 12s
I hope these suggestions inspire some of you to think more about Reaper, especially if you have been diehard Reaper fans from early days of Reaper like I am. I also hope this gets people thinking about possible reworks or tweaks to Reaper that may be better than mine, and share them with us!
