Guild Wars 2

After playing an undead rogue in WoW for too long, I’m checking out GW2 on the advise of a friend. I’m just a casual player who likes to sneak around and backstab, but I can’t seem to find a way to go into stealth “on demand”. There’s so much to learn here, but I’m frustrated because I can’t sneak. Please help me!

There are many skills that allow stealth in gw2. (blinding powder, shadow refuse etc..)
the main way to achieve this is through the dagger/pistol weapon set.
Black powder (pistol #5) then while in the black powder field use heartseeker (dagger #2) this will grant you stealth.. gw2 has many interactions within the game. take a look at this to see how all your skills interact with various fields and walls.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Combo

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Stealth

So there is no stealth “button”, just skills that allow you to go into stealth for a short period while you set up an attack? I always enjoyed being able to sneak around a room full of high level mobs and not be seen.

There is no perma stealth in GW2.

scarletrose.1790:

So there is no stealth “button”, just skills that allow you to go into stealth for a short period while you set up an attack? I always enjoyed being able to sneak around a room full of high level mobs and not be seen.

You can chain together skills like shadow refuge, smokescreen + clusterbomb, and blinding powder to do this for groups up to 5, but there’s no passive way to remain in stealth in this game.

scarletrose.1790:

So there is no stealth “button”, just skills that allow you to go into stealth for a short period while you set up an attack? I always enjoyed being able to sneak around a room full of high level mobs and not be seen.

Just run around cloak and daggering everything then. (dagger 5)

scarletrose.1790:

After playing an undead rogue in WoW for too long, I’m checking out GW2 on the advise of a friend. I’m just a casual player who likes to sneak around and backstab, but I can’t seem to find a way to go into stealth “on demand”. There’s so much to learn here, but I’m frustrated because I can’t sneak. Please help me!

Stealth is achieved through skills such as Cloak and Dagger (offhand Dagger 5), through the use of utility skills like Shadow Refuge and Blinding Powder, or through combo fields and finishers such as blasting or leaping trough a smoke field (Using shortbow 2 or dagger mainhand 2 through Black Powder or smoke screen.

The closest thing to a “sneak button” is through the use of the Dagger/Pistol weapon combination and using the skill combo 5 → 2 to create a smoke field from Black Powder and leap through it via Heartseeker. All stealth effects are temporary in GW2, and aside from staying within a Shadow Refuge during its pulses and blasting/leaping through multiple fields, all effects are limited to short durations primarily focused on using them again while in combat. to disorient the enemy and repeatedly use the stealth skill which your #1 skill will turn into while stealthed for extra damage/utility effects.

scarletrose.1790:

So there is no stealth “button”, just skills that allow you to go into stealth for a short period while you set up an attack? I always enjoyed being able to sneak around a room full of high level mobs and not be seen.

None.
I assume wow was one of the only mmo’s you really played??
Well first you must accept that gw2 is a different game the combat is quite different from wow.
The way gear and level works also. Gear differences at endgame are not so large.

Thief can stay in stealth permanently/almost depending on your skill choice and weapon set by chaining stealth skills and field combos.

In GW2, thief has much more shadowsteps and overall better mobility than a rogue in WoW, but that’s in exchange for ,,stealth on demand button’’. I used to play a lot of rogue in WoW and I remember how frustrating snares and roots were – this is no longer the case in GW2. Also, here you are much more fragile, your defenses are active, but that makes you feel like an actual -rogue- rather than a warrior in leather armor.

If you like to surprise people, then consider using shadow refuge or shadow trap. You can also shadowstep to somebody from behind a wall, pillar or floor. This is like appearing out of nowhere, pretty much stealth without actual invisibility.

Thief is waaaay better than Rogues. You can re-stealth while in combat as soon as your Revealed debuff drops without using a utility skill like Vanish — albeit GW2 has a Vanish also called Blinding Powder, but you don’t have to use that. You have skills as a Thief from your weapon set that allows you to go in stealth.

Also GW2 is more fun that WoW because of combo fields — which you can also use to go in stealth. If you combo a “leap” into a “smoke field”, you go in stealth.

Once you play enough time with your Thief, you’ll wish that your Rogue could be as cool — I know I did.

scarletrose.1790:

So there is no stealth “button”, just skills that allow you to go into stealth for a short period while you set up an attack? I always enjoyed being able to sneak around a room full of high level mobs and not be seen.

Afraid not friend. Guild Wars 2 is an entirely different animal compared to WoW. In terms of entering stealth, you primarily access it through the use of various skills, usually ones concerning your weapon set. Wielding a dagger in your off-hand gives you access to Cloak and Dagger, which allows you to drop into stealth almost instantly provided you hit the enemy with the attack. You can also enter stealth through use of smoke combo fields, such as the ones provided from the utility skill Smokescreen or The off-hand pistol skill, Black Powder. You would either use a blast finisher on these fields or leap through them to access stealth. Right now, the most popular means of gaining stealth is to wield a dagger in your main-hand and a pistol in the off-hand. After using Black Powder (5), you would use Heartseeker (2) to leap through the smoke and gain stealth. It’s a bit initiative heavy, but it’s the only easy way to gain stealth before engaging an enemy without using utility skills, which have cooldowns. There are also a few utility skills that also grant stealth, such as Blinding Powder and Shadow Refuge.

As for the mechanics of stealth, most skills will only grant you 3 seconds of stealth. This can be increased to 4 seconds if you go at least 3 trait points into the Shadow Arts trait line. The utility skill Shadow Refuge is one of the few exceptions, granting a full 11 seconds of stealth provided you remain in the initial stealth field for its duration (4 seconds). If you’re looking for a way to sneak past large groups of enemies, this is your best tool to do so, though it has a cooldown. While in stealth, you gain access to stealth attacks, which take the place of your auto-attack skill. If you attack while in stealth, whether it’s with your stealth attack or another skill, you’ll be hit with a debuff called “Revealed” which will prevent you from re-entering stealth for 3 seconds (4 in PvP modes I believe). Long story short, stealth is used more as a tool for combat than for simple invisibility, like you see in other MMOs. It doesn’t last as long, but its use isn’t restricted to outside of battle.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Thief

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

I know I just hit you with a lot of info just now, so I’ve included two links to help. The first is a link to the Thief class page on the Guild Wars 2 wiki. It can help you with getting a basic understanding of the class. The wiki is also a great resource for any other Guild Wars 2 questions. The second is a link to a really good build calculator I use. That can help you get a better feel for some of the skills and how certain traits affect them.

I know GW2 Thief is a big change from WoW Rouge, but it is an insanely fun class to play. Incredible mobility through the use of Shadowsteps (which is essentially teleporting), a variety of different skill types, interesting weapon skill kits, no cooldowns on weapon skills and the most potential dodges in the game without the Vigor Boon, depending on your traits. If you give it a chance, I think you’ll really enjoy playing it. I have trouble playing any other class

Thank you for all the replies! A lot of good information here. I am realizing how different GW2 is and I have a lot of reading and researching to do. Thank you so much!

Being a long time WoW rouge player(since vanilla) it took some adjusting to get used to the stealth in this but for me it makes fights much more interesting and you need to know when to use what and you have alot more in combat stealth compared to the 1 or so in WoW.

starsurfer:

If you attack while in stealth, whether it’s with your stealth attack or another skill, you’ll be hit with a debuff called “Revealed” which will prevent you from re-entering stealth for 3 seconds (4 in PvP modes I believe).

What mode does that happen in? Or, are there skills that ignore “Revealed” status? I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that.

I want perma stealth, no reveal and 1,200 range backstabs. Otherwise, I don’t feel like playing a real rogue. Anyone knows how? Thanks.

Sviel.7493:

starsurfer:

If you attack while in stealth, whether it’s with your stealth attack or another skill, you’ll be hit with a debuff called “Revealed” which will prevent you from re-entering stealth for 3 seconds (4 in PvP modes I believe).

What mode does that happen in?

In any case that your attack dealt damage while you’re in stealth, you will get the Revealed debuff — preventing you from entering stealth for the duration.

Or, are there skills that ignore “Revealed” status?

No skills ever ignore Revealed status.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that.

You will eventually.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

No skills ever ignore Revealed status.

Mesmer’s decoy ignore revealed status, giving them stealth even when they are revealed.

Dagins.5163:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

No skills ever ignore Revealed status.

Mesmer’s decoy ignore revealed status, giving them stealth even when they are revealed.

That was changed a while back. It should work correctly now.

sasoriaka.6348:

I want perma stealth, no reveal and 1,200 range backstabs. Otherwise, I don’t feel like playing a real rogue. Anyone knows how? Thanks.

Living Story, play as Caithe.

-nod nod-