What's a "trait"?
Armor
Weapon
What do I need them for?
Why would I want that?
How do I research them?
What's a "trait"?
A special property on a piece of equipment. A trait can be researched in the research-tab of the crafting interface. There are currently 9 traits:
Armor:
| Divines |
Increases Mundus Stone effects |
Unless leveling, you will want this on your gear (or "Infused") |
| Impenetrable |
Increases Critical Resistance |
For PVP |
| Infused |
Increases armor enchantment effect |
Unless running Twice-Born Star, you might want this trait on chest, legs and helmet, as those give the highest enchanting bonus |
| Nirnhoned |
Increases spell resistance |
Good for PVP or certain tank/survival builds |
| Prosperous |
Increases gold looted from enemies |
Also known as “fucking preposterous”, the most useless trait since the invention of traits. Usually drops on high-end gear. |
| Reinforced |
Increases Armor |
You might consider this for shields |
| Sturdy |
Reduces block cost |
As tank, you will want this on one piece of equipment. Otherwise useless. |
| Training |
Increase XP from kills |
The trait to use while you level, after that it's useless |
| Well-Fitted |
Reduces the stamina costs of sprinting/roll dodge |
I put this on RP gear for the lols, otherwise useless unless for certain exotic builds |
Weapon:
|
Sharpened
|
Increase armor and spell penetration
|
Best in slot for weapons for damage builds. Screw everything else.
|
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Charged
|
Increases your chance to apply status effects
|
Generally useless, except for certain exotic builds
|
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Defending
|
Increases armor and spell resistance
|
You might want this on a tank's weapon or in PVP, otherwise rather useless
|
|
Infused
|
Increases weapon enchant effect / reduces cooldown
|
Some of the more complicated builds rely on weapon enchant proccs for effects. This is rocket science voodoo stuff, you generally don't need this.
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Powered
|
Increases your healing done
|
This and Precise is what you might want to consider for healer weapons.
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Precise
|
Increases weapon and spell critical
|
Together with Powered, you might want to use this on healer weapons.
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Training
|
Increases XP from kills
|
The trait to have while you are leveling
|
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Weighted
|
Chance to gain 1 additional ultimate whenever you're gaining ultimate
|
Generally useless except for some exotic builds |
| Nirnhoned |
Increases weapon damage |
Better than Sharpened for some builds - only go with this if you know what you're doing, though, because the trait stone is sold for 10k+ |
What do I need them for?
You need to research traits in order to craft set gear. Set gear can be crafted at the stations in the wilderness. In order to create an item there, you need to have researched a number of traits on it. For the first zone (Stonefalls) you need 2 traits, for the second 3, and so on.
Why would I want that?
While set gear is no longer completely best in slot, you usually will want to wear some of it to be effective. While leveling, set gear gives you a decent advantage over dropped stuff because it’s really powerful - it’s generally worth it.
If you research and craft yourself, you will not have to beg (and/or pay) other players to do that for you. It’s your call if you think it’s worth the effort (and the 30-50 skill points it binds). It is, however, easy to just level it up next to leveling up your character.
How do I research them?
At the crafting station - the “research” tab. You can research traits for Blacksmithing, Clothing and Woodworking. Research takes time and nothing else. If you want an Add-On to help you keeping track of your timers, look into Wykkydd’s Taskbar, CraftStore Fixed and Improved or something like ResearchBuddy.
Timers are as follows (ruthlessly stolen here):
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1st
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6 hours
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6 hours
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2nd
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12 hours
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18 hours
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3rd
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24 hours (1 day)
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42 hours (~2 days)
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4th
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48 hours (2 days)
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90 hours (~4 days)
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5th
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96 hours (4 days)
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186 hours (~8 days)
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6th
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192 hours (8 days)
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378 hours (~16 days)
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7th
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384 hours (16 days)
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762 hours (~32 days)
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8th
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768 hours (32 days)
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1530 hours (~64 days)
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9th
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1536 hours (64 days)
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3066 hours (~128 days)
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You can speed this up by investing up to 4 skillpoints into the corresponding skill (crafting/craft name/2nd from below).
