Guild Wars 2

So back to the game after break and trying to get into WvW again. With the “new” (to me) changes, e.g. auto keep upgrades etc. does the old playstyle of scout keep/tower protector still exist?

This is a role I used to play and I remember there being almost a sub-community of scouts in WvW where we would play an important role in ensuring our towers and keeps were stocked up, escorting dollys, preping seige and even holding off zergs until backup arrived.

But now this type of role and gameplay seems to be completely gone? Or maybe I just haven’t re-discovered it.

If this role no longest exists then this makes me very sad So far WvW seems much more…impersonal. Or smaller…I dunno, it feels very very different (and not in a good way)

Maybe someone can give me some tips on how to play this sort of role in the new system?

Scouting, and giving proper scout reports is always important. Whether or not anything is done about it is a different story. It is very easy to lose something because of lack of scouting. Thankfully now scouts can get shared participation credit in a squad so they can still get something for their contribution.

There are some essential things you want to know before scouting. How to communicate a scout report, how to check a structure (know where and how it can be attacked), know how to counter and defend with siege. You will also want to check the map often to see what gets flipped, ri timers, see where there are swords, orange dots etc, these are good indicators and can help greatly.

Take Garrison on Alpine borderland for example…You have 5 outer gates, 3 inner gates, and 2 wall sections on the northeast and northwest that can be attacked. This is where you check for damage, enemies, incoming siege etc. You also need to know other methods of how a structure can be attacked. The garrison can also be trebbed from the northern towers.

You can also counter a lot of attacks with proper siege placement throughout a structure, be creative with it. A dedicated scout will know where to place these defensive siege weapons.

Being in TS with a group/commander is essential for proper communication and getting a response. Being able to give a timely and accurate report is also very important.

You should focus on this info:
number of enemies
location-outer/inner and structure
method of attack
guild tag(s)
HP on structure

Sometimes there can be an attack where you are not scouting, and you might see orange swords indicating that there are more then 25 enemies present. Use that info when reporting to your group as you run over to get more info.

It is also important to familiarize yourself with lingo that is commonly used and attributed to different areas of a map. Also knowing how and when to use the tactivators can make a big difference.

there are toons that run on keeps and towers with the same pattern to repair build etc for hours even days
is that count as scout or protector?

The role was made marginal by the introduction of scout ballons and visible red tags on the map from sentries. DBL also made the role completely impossible because the map is too massive to keep an eye on so thats a quarter of the maps pointless for them (case of point, the SW tower can see up to the sentry… bay is still 3x that distance and hidden by terrain. On Alpine, you can see bay from the SW tower).

Then add the boons for zerging with lots of supplies (ie being able to dump shield gens and make it impossible to disrupt) and the inability for small groups to take well defended objectives (again, shield gens) and you got a situation where the scout is merely one that cries for the zerg to come.

It still exist, its just meh.

If call out an attack on a T3 objective you will get defenders. If it’s a paper southern tower it’s just viewed as a buffer mostly unless you have other allies on the map and the enemy attacking is less than 10.

Dawdler pretty much nailed it. The scouts/defenders left because anet dumbed down the game mode with all the passive bs they added.
This in turn made a lot of the solo/small group roamers leave because it’s no fun taking stuff when there is either no response or they bring the whole zerg for 2 people.