Good post. I just wanted to add some additional info for
bullzeye as a Trickster main.
My suggestion is, at least, to have an AR or SMG until you can get consistent replenishment of shotgun rounds. I started with shotguns, but constantly run out of ammo, & switch to SMG/AR & never need to look for ammo in middle of battle.
WIth a huge Clip size of AR/SMG, you barely are off Twister rounds (skill unlock mid level). I have a mod that leech life when using twister round & its good for sustain. The automatic shotgun variants also have a decent clip size(20) but less overall ammo, Tes for yourself which fit you better. Even if you go SHotgun main, Its good to have an AR/SMG as the 2nd weapon in case you run out of shotgun ammo,
I think you should go with the teleport skill (Hunt the prey) & get the mod that 1/2 the cooldown. In the end game, its more about moving pack to pack, than escaping. Have a mod with crowd control like slow in 5m radius on teleport is very helpful for survival.
The keynotes to look for are the one that increases weapon damage when you use a movement skill (Outrider Executioner), & increases weapon damage when you use a deceptive skill (Disruptive Fire). You want them to overlap while the Twisted rounds is on for the juicy 100% weapon damage, meaning you want to prioritize the cooldown nodes in the tree over others.
My skill steup currently are:
Hunt the prey (movement skill)
Venator's Knife (deception skill) It has a far shorter cooldown then the other one I unlocked (SLow trap) allow you to slam constanly to keep up 50% weapon damage
Twister rounds (Most Trickers & their mother-in-law) uses this as main damage.
For stats priority (for my build)
Good->Bonus Firepower , close-range damage & cooldown (Damage is king & most damages come from weapon. Cooldown allows you to keep skill buff up longers)
Okayish->max health, (More Health is always good)
Mediocre->Skill life leech, Anomaly power, Status power (skills are used for Crowd control, movement, keep buff, so the leech & damage is not that important here)
Weapon leech on weapon is great (personal preference)