Guild Wars 2

As I start to get more involved in WvW and branch out to do things aside from following the zerg. Often times people using siege will need spotters, you may want or need someone doing recon of enemy forces.

Does anyone have any tips for moving around while staying undetected?

It seems like no matter how much you try to hide behind terrain it doesn’t matter because you have a giant name plate over your head as soon as someone is even remotely close to you.

Add to that the player culling and you could think you’re hidden and out of now where a group of 30 people load on top of you and you’re dead.

It would be great if your name plate only showed up if people had LoS on you.

Use distractions to your advantage.
Stay very close to walls, where people don’t often see you.
Use stealth when approaching/crossing paths of travel. (stealth combos especially)
KNOW THE MAP VERY WELL.
If you see unassailable odds, try to retreat and find another path.
Accept the ever present risk of death.

In the inevitable event of being detected ensure you have:
1) a speed boost
2) stability

Stay in motion. And if you see a group while you’re on your own, run the other way early unless you’re luring them into a trap. And know your terrain. If you can delay a large group as a single person by making them jump down somewhere that will take time to get back up, mission accomplished (as long as you told /map where they were heading). And use a waypoint to completely avoid conflict whenever useful.

Tzash.5748:

In the inevitable event of being detected ensure you have:
1) a speed boost
2) stability

Sadly stability doesn’t prevent immobilize which seems to be what constantly gets me.

A lot of people have mentioned staying mobile but that seems counter intuitive. If you’re moving around wouldn’t you be more likely to be seen since people are drawn to movement?

In many cases I seem to be okay if I’m standing still, what gives me away is people seeing the nameplate over my head as soon as they get even remotely close.

And just as a matter of opinion:

Thief or Mesmer is the best to do this solo.
Mesmer or Engineer is the best to do this in a small group.
Mesmer + Engineer + Guardian is the best to do this in a medium sized group.
Commander Icon is required for any large group special tactics.

TheAltarBoy.3176:

A lot of people have mentioned staying mobile but that seems counter intuitive. If you’re moving around wouldn’t you be more likely to be seen since people are drawn to movement?

In many cases I seem to be okay if I’m standing still, what gives me away is people seeing the nameplate over my head as soon as they get even remotely close.

You should stay in motion because you should be doing more than one thing. If scouting a single spot was a good idea, you should just go there naked and die and then scout as a corpse.

But seriously, staying mobile is useful because nobody can sneak up on you. If you’re running west and your enemy that spotted you is running west, you have a very long time to see him. If you’re running east and your enemy is running west towards you, you’ll see them since they’re right in front of you. On that note, be sure to use your camera to briefly check around you every once in a while.

I play a Shadow Ops, Acrobatics/Tricks Thief. I don’t do a ton of damage, with a lot of power on toughness/vitality gear from Invader epics, I do enough to take down a treb or other siege weapons on walls with cluster bombs before an enemy can efficiently zerg me.

Staying fluid is key, stealth is not invulnerability, so juking enemies and making them think you are going one way while going the other is crucial when at a 10 to 1 or more ratio. Often times, large groups will get annoyed if they can’t catch 1 guy and move on… allowing recon troops to keep doing their jobs.

get a mesmer portal.

All you need is mobility really. Even a warrior can do this if they just slap on a GS, and use signet of rage if spotted.