A Little Confused about "Scribe"

So I want to get all crafting professions to max level, spread among my characters. However, I am a little confused about what a Scribe is and what they do. I know the trainers are not in normal places with the other trainers. I also think I read that Scribes are mostly used for guilds? However. I am not in any really active guild.

What does a scribe do?What are they used for?Is being in an active guild important when being a scribe?Are there any pre-requisits to be a scribe?

Scribing is a crafting profession which mainly helps the guild rather than just the scribe. The HoT expansion is required, as well as access to a scribing station found in a guild hall with the guild workshop unlocked.

Scribes can craft decorations for the guild hall, as well as items for WvW and PvE (e.g. stronger siege weapons and banners, respectively). Being the only scribe in a guild is an expensive endeavor, both in leveling the discipline and producing items; though I did it solo myself, I would not recommend it for others. Larger, active guilds can donate to their scribes to help mitigate the costs.

More info may be found on the wiki page for scribes.

I agree with @Greener.6204 -- scribe is super expensive to level on your own, and I can't really recommend it unless you're either in a large or active guild willing to help subsidize the leveling, or you want to be able to make your own WvW items often enough to be worth the leveling cost vs. just buying them. Because so little of what the scribe does is for personal use, I'd definitely recommend saving it for last, if you want to do it for completion's sake.

Here's something worth knowing if you are planning to rank up a scribe: Guild decorations that a scribe creates do not immediately appear in either the guild inventory or the personal inventory. They go to a work station (think of it as a 3D printer) where you have to process them to put them in guild inventory.

The vast majority of players don't need a scribe. You should only level one up if:

• You are a completionist and can't resist.
• You have a guild without a scribe (or, if a larger guild, without backup scribes).

If you're "just curious as to what they do," reading the wiki pages on scribe will tide you over until one of the above categories applies.

@"Taelac.7036" said:scribe is super expensive to level on your own

From GW2 Crafts (as of current market prices, and without considering resale values):

• Chef: 2-5 gold total to max to 400
• Jeweler: 11-14 gold (max = 400)
• Weapon & Armor professions: 50-110 gold each (max = 500) (20-40 gold for r400 only)
• Scribe: 148g (max = 400)

So I'd say it's clearly the most expensive, but (at this time) not "super expensive." When Scribe first launched, it could cost over 1200 to max. After ANet adjusted some things, the price dropped to 400-600 gold and has gone down every since (even without the recent drop in market values for constituent mats, the price was falling).

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:So I'd say it's clearly the most expensive, but (at this time) not "super expensive." When Scribe first launched, it could cost over 1200 to max. After ANet adjusted some things, the price dropped to 400-600 gold and has gone down every since (even without the recent drop in market values for constituent mats, the price was falling).

Thanks for the updated information. I'm glad it's come down so much, so more people can try their hand at it.

@Taelac.7036 said:Thanks for the updated information.

No problem; easy enough when the website does the calculations for us :)

I'm glad it's come down so much, so more people can try their hand at it.I still recommended scribing only for completionists and those with guilds that lack enough scribes. But even under those conditions, I'm glad that the prices have dropped.

More historical details: It was hard to get a true measure of the cost when it became available because everyone was following nearly the same guide (which spiked prices on the specific items listed). Once the GW2 Crafts method went live, the costs started to follow the market better. Additionally, AB Mult-loot and Istan Loot-loot-loot have driven market values down. Right after ANet made adjustments to recipes (April 2016), we needed ~700g in mats to follow the old guides & costs had already dropped to 600g by July. Those same mats now cost ~220g.