Guild Wars 2

Hello,

I’m a little unsure of what I should run on my thief to be primarily used for scouting. Also capable of 1v1 if need be. Mobility is important.

Wasn’t sure if I should take the stealth route or acrobatics and such. Any ideas?

I have daredevil unlocked if it matters.

NA server for WvW

Any help is greatly appreciated.

This is a solid starting point.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAoaVl0MhSnY5TwvJw/ELIF1c7X/9PXDEADgXMcD9AA-T1CEQBfQDxiU/5BHJgit/Qb0D4QlfvRTABeAAG4EAAgDJwWUCuZYAYIEBwMzMTFREhUAsqzC-w

Lots of mobility and the the Shadow Trap allows you to quickly port long distances to scout multiple locations. Stealth allows the build to move around large numbers without issue as well as sneaking into towers being attacked. Its damage is respectable particularly hitting wounded players.

You can pick what you want for weapons, D/P will have more on demand stealth access…but for mobility you will be on SB most of the time anyway. Primary weapon is whatever you feel comfortable killing people with.

Taking Shadowstep and reducing the cooldown to 40 seconds from 50 is essential to super mobility.

Use trickery to reduce the steal cooldown to 20 seconds and get the stealth on steal trait in SA.

You will then have a burst mobility on the order of 5k units, with stealth access.

Sample of mobility: see zerg, steal into center of it (gaining stealth at the same time), use shadowstep to port 1200 in opposite direction zerg is moving, using two SB 5 teleports to add another 1800 range. Basically you can flash teleport past a zerg a total of 4,000 units not counting dash from Daredevil. You will be able to add in another SB 5 as soon as a few ticks of initiative regenerate.

I am a big fan of Shadow refuge in any scout build. I like to use in conjunction with improv out of DA along with shadowtrap.

Coupled with hidden thief SR can be used to get some tremendous cross map movement without using ports. It allows a doubling back against the body of a Zerg so you can get in behind them and move in the opposite direction even as they chase in the direction they last saw you. SR stealth coupled with sb ports will make it all but impossible for an enemy to tell where you are or are headed after they spot and chase.

I also like how it can get you past zergs or groups that are at a towers entrance wherein you need to get inside quickly.

It also has great use as an offensive tool ensuring you can get the drop on an unaware opponent or doing things like using it to follow the tail of a zerg and pick off people at the rear without having to burn off all your INI just to stealth (d/p) or port to keep up . (Ie using hidden theif speed rather then Infiltraros and SB)

Personally if I had to choose between stealth or dodges for a scout build, I would favor stealth.

D/P, shadowstep, and shortbow are pretty much mandatory for scouting when you start off. SA can be used over DA for better stealth, but it is a pretty big drop in damage, and honestly it’s only worth using if you use shadow Refuge or blinding powder as the second minor trait won’t add time to stealth gained from leap finishers. Running acro, Trickery and DD with bound is also an option if you want to go ham on stealth, honestly I’d rather do that than SA as you maintain the damage with bound.

Shadow trap can be really useful for scouting without putting yourself at too much risk: find a chokepoint, stand at a distance but somewhere that will allow the shadowstep. Zerg crosses, you stealth, Port to them and move to the back, stack stealth and follow them. The hills near Anza are a good place to try it out.

I normally run S/P as I’m awkward like that, so if I see a zerg I can blast with shortbow for stealth, shadowstep then infiltrator’s arrow. Sword 2 is also really useful for maintaining distance when scouting. As long as you’re comfortable with what you’re using you can make it work with most things tbh.