Traps are generally pretty tough to find. Even maxed perception characters will miss them pretty regularly because the DCs are balanced around the possibility that up to 4 characters will be looking for them.
This doesn’t mean you have to focus on them though. Many APs assume the traps will go off, making finding them more of the bonus than the necessity.
This makes it feel rewarding to be good at finding traps, but not required.
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If you are a rogue or investigator with trap finding, then you count as higher level than you are when disarming traps. This lets you get away with having lower level thievery than is called for when disarming traps.
Also, if you search, trapfinding gives you two secret rolls per trap to find them, so there is that too. Really, the +1 to perception for trapfinding is the least impressive thing about it.
Worth mentioning that the new thaumaturge class can get the same thing for haunts.
General guidelines dictate that perception and all skills related to traps and haunts be prioritized for legendary because of proficiency gating and the difficulty DCs.
That said, the only one finding traps with anything resembling reliability is a thief with minimum 14 wis and trap finder for the passive detection and circumstance bonus. Ditto for disarming them with max dex and thievery skill boosting.
I'm legitimately not sure if characters not on the legendary perception track can detect level appropriate traps 1-20. Even if they can, they definitely can't always detect level+x traps.
Perception increases on its own. There is a general feat that can catch you up a tiny bit if you are of a class that just tanks perception, but generally you don’t have much choice in the matter.
Many hazards and traps can be evaded or disabled by means other than thievery, so many parties I have seen choose to ignore it, and just occasionally eat a bunch of damage at an inopportune time the one on 25 encounters where it really matters.
Then I had a party with 2 characters invested in thievery, who were able to rescue all the hostages instead of half, that probably would have happened without the skill because they could disable different parts of a complex hazzard at the same time.
Had both characters been wizards, they likely could have had spells to possibly save the people another way. PF2 is good about that.
Perception increases on its own. There is a general feat that can catch you up a tiny bit if you are of a class that just tanks perception, but generally you don’t have much choice in the matter.
Many hazards and traps can be evaded or disabled by means other than thievery, so many parties I have seen choose to ignore it, and just occasionally eat a bunch of damage at an inopportune time the one on 25 encounters where it really matters.
Then I had a party with 2 characters invested in thievery, who were able to rescue all the hostages instead of half, that probably would have happened without the skill because they could disable different parts of a complex hazzard at the same time.
Had both characters been wizards, they likely could have had spells to possibly save the people another way. PF2 is good about that.
With perception, I mean you're all-but-forced into bringing someone on the legendary track. A natural consequence of niche protection.
And if the gm isn't punishing ignoring traps and just allowing the party to sit and heal after they're triggered, well, not much to say about that I suppose except at that point why even bother having traps.
Hazards can pretty much always be handled through means other than Thievery, whether it is triggering them from afar, smashing them, or dispelling them. Spotting them is the hard part. Here's what the rules say:
Table 2–14 indicates the high and moderate proficiency requirements by level; you can use lower proficiency ranks than the ones listed, and if you use the high rank, consider a secondary, perhaps less-efficient method to disable the hazard using a lower rank. For instance, the bloodthirsty urge haunt in the Core Rulebook can be disabled with master Religion, or by a higher DC with expert Diplomacy.
If you need a Stealth modifier for a complex hazard, just subtract 10 from the listed DC.
TABLE 2–14: MINIMUM PROFICIENCY Levels High Moderate
0 or lower Untrained Untrained
1–4 Trained (expert for Perception) Trained
5–8 Expert Trained
9–18 Master Expert
19 or higher Legendary Master
So legendary isn't a problem until 19 at the highest, but master could be an issue from 9 onwards. (But won't necessarily be, either.) There's some ancestry options you can use to get around this, and some work for Adopted as well. Stone cunning and Stone Walker for dwarves, and Vigilant Golama spring to mind. (Admittedly limited to trap hidden in stone and magical traps, but most dungeons are around and by high level almost any trap you need to be concerned about is magic.) Can't remember if any of the Haunt Sense feats bump your proficiency.
Perception increases on its own. There is a general feat that can catch you up a tiny bit if you are of a class that just tanks perception, but generally you don’t have much choice in the matter.
Many hazards and traps can be evaded or disabled by means other than thievery, so many parties I have seen choose to ignore it, and just occasionally eat a bunch of damage at an inopportune time the one on 25 encounters where it really matters.
Then I had a party with 2 characters invested in thievery, who were able to rescue all the hostages instead of half, that probably would have happened without the skill because they could disable different parts of a complex hazzard at the same time.
Had both characters been wizards, they likely could have had spells to possibly save the people another way. PF2 is good about that.
With perception, I mean you're all-but-forced into bringing someone on the legendary track. A natural consequence of niche protection.
And if the gm isn't punishing ignoring traps and just allowing the party to sit and heal after they're triggered, well, not much to say about that I suppose except at that point why even bother having traps.
You're correct when it comes to simple hazards, but complex hazards are basically just regular combat encounters, so you can more or less say the same for "why bother having monsters if you'll sit and heal after the battle."
We haven't had perception issues. Most of the time players do multiple searches on a given area or door if they think a trap exists and we usually operate with a point man.
We have had issues with thievery. If you don't have someone who builds up thievery, you have almost no chance of disarming traps at high level. You have to set them off with summons or send a high save character with the appropriate successful save is a critical success ability. And if that doesn't work, heal them up.
Perception increases on its own. There is a general feat that can catch you up a tiny bit if you are of a class that just tanks perception, but generally you don’t have much choice in the matter.
Many hazards and traps can be evaded or disabled by means other than thievery, so many parties I have seen choose to ignore it, and just occasionally eat a bunch of damage at an inopportune time the one on 25 encounters where it really matters.
Then I had a party with 2 characters invested in thievery, who were able to rescue all the hostages instead of half, that probably would have happened without the skill because they could disable different parts of a complex hazzard at the same time.
Had both characters been wizards, they likely could have had spells to possibly save the people another way. PF2 is good about that.
With perception, I mean you're all-but-forced into bringing someone on the legendary track. A natural consequence of niche protection.
And if the gm isn't punishing ignoring traps and just allowing the party to sit and heal after they're triggered, well, not much to say about that I suppose except at that point why even bother having traps.
Traps can be fun ways of accelerating other encounters as they usually make loud noises and alert near by creatures. That is why I said about 1 in 25 encounters tends to feature a trap that really occurs at an inopportune time that the party struggles with, but a party built to spot and disarm traps quietly has its own advantages too.
GMs should always think about how the encounter design will fit with the strengths and weaknesses of the party and how to make sure everyone (including the GM) is having fun playing the game.
If you don't have someone who builds up thievery, you have almost no chance of disarming traps at high level.
This is where the hex cantrip Spirit Object comes in handy: take any handy object and have it wander over to the trap. ;)