Guild Wars 2: The One Thread

[PACOX]

Ok, thank you both!

So my follow-up question on the mounts would be: Once you unlock a mount that flies, do you ever use mounts that are restricted to the ground anymore? Basically, would it even be worth unlocking a skin for a non-flying mount in the long run? I'm thinking either way I'll just hold on to the license and see what I end up with in the future.

Shame about the hearts, but yeah I could just run around with her for the fun of it then.



People like that don't seem to realize that their frothing impotent rage is more a source of laughter than any anger they may think they'll cause another person. Lots of posts on these forums fall into that category, as well. Just sad attempts to insult or incite others that are different in some way.

On mounts (on mobile its a pain to do formatting)

With the way GW2 mounts works you'll still be using your ground mounts, mainly raptor after you unlock either flying mount.

Griffon is like a jet. Great in the air, meh speed on the ground. You'll be using a ground mount on flat terrain simply because they are more agile and faster.


Skyscale is like a helicopter and closest to being a the jack of all trades when it comes to mounts. It still has about the same ground speed as griffon but you can hover just above the ground to use flight ability for a speed boost.

Someone actually did the math

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mou...speed_research

Looks like they haven't clocked the turtle yet.


Also license doesn't have any of the turtle skins. It's just the skins before that.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

So my follow-up question on the mounts would be: Once you unlock a mount that flies, do you ever use mounts that are restricted to the ground anymore? Basically, would it even be worth unlocking a skin for a non-flying mount in the long run? I'm thinking either way I'll just hold on to the license and see what I end up with in the future.

It depends on the map. For extremely flat maps with hardly any hills like Diessa Plateau, using a raptor or a Roller Beetle is the fastest way to traverse the map. But most maps aren't extremely flat like Diessa and have hills that slow down ground mount movement or obstructions that have to be navigated around, which makes the Skyscale more useful because it can just fly in a straight line over the obstruction at constant speed. For maps with an easily accessible way point way up in the air, people just use the Griffon or the Skyscale and fly down to wherever they want. The Siege Turtle also has jumpjets so it can hover down from a high point like a Skyscale as well, though there is no reason to use it over a Skyscale or a Griffon unless you're trying to carry a second player who does not have one of those three mounts.

Generally the most often used mounts are Skyscale > Raptor = Griffon > Jackal >>> Springer (once you unlock the Skyscale there are very few circumstances in which using the Springer is better) >>> Skimmer. Some people prefer to use Jackal over the Raptor as their ground mount of choice due to aesthetics. I've also seen some people prefer using the Warclaw to the raptor as their ground mount in open world due to aesthetics.

So if you're going to use a mount skin you want to look through the GW2 wiki and pick out your favorite raptor (and/or Jackal, if you prefer that to the raptor, or Warclaw) and Skyscale skins. If you're doing the story content in chronological order then you can think about which skin you want until you reach the Path of Fire expansion since you won't unlock any mounts until then (or you can get a raptor skin right now since you can use a raptor from the get go nowadays).

[Geckoo]

So my follow-up question on the mounts would be: Once you unlock a mount that flies, do you ever use mounts that are restricted to the ground anymore? Basically, would it even be worth unlocking a skin for a non-flying mount in the long run? I'm thinking either way I'll just hold on to the license and see what I end up with in the future.

Flying mounts in Gw2 don't give as much freedom as the name might suggest or how flying works in other games.

Think of the griffon as a gliding mount: it requires some initial height to get the best out of it. You gain speed by swooping down, then you are just gliding down at a very high speed and the possibility to glide up using that speed and momentum to regain some altitude and swoop again. The speed is insane if you manage to do that and is a very fun experience, but not all zones allow for that situation to happen naturally.

The skyscale also has some gameplay attached to it: think of altitude as a resource, the skyscale can go up and that depletes the resource, in order to gain it back you can either go down to slowly regain it or find somewhere to land to regain the whole resource back. Add to that that it can stick to the walls to gain a small altitude bump and in terms of travelling it has barrel rolls and decent flying speed.

Because of how versatile the skyscale is you'll end up using it a lot, but using ground mounts once you have it is very common. Depends on the zone, depends on your destination and how well you know your way around. I highly recommend setting up different keybinds for each mount because that way you can easily use all of them for each situation very naturally.

With that said, if you are worried about choosing a skin for a mount that you might not use in the future... i would avoid the springer skins since the springer does get replaced by the skyscale in terms of utility. It would be a good idea to check some of the unlock requirements for certain mounts just in case you are not interested in some of the farming involved or don't plan to buy some of the living world zones required for them.

[Edge-]

So my follow-up question on the mounts would be: Once you unlock a mount that flies, do you ever use mounts that are restricted to the ground anymore?

Yes. They're more "general" mounts and aren't specifically good at anything really (skyscale is good at getting higher at least).

Raptor is still my general "go-to" mount for travel around, and if I know I need to go longer distances I use the beetle (unlocked via LS S...4 I think?) since that can maintain high speeds for very long periods of time.

Beyond that, just the respective mechanical interactions in case I'm in PoF and need to jump on the fox to go through sand portals.

Basically, would it even be worth unlocking a skin for a non-flying mount in the long run? I'm thinking either way I'll just hold on to the license and see what I end up with in the future.

Unlock what you think is cool. Fox can realistically replace raptor as your "go-to" ground mount, and even after you get flying mounts the springer still has some utility (especially if you don't unlock skyscale).

But real, for general travel just about any mount (except maybe the hopper) will be effective and generally up to user preference.

[VMSmith]

But real, for general travel just about any mount (except maybe the hopper) will be effective and generally up to user preference.

I discovered this last night, pretty much, but was still unsure if flying mounts were just flat-out always superior as they are in games like WoW.

I actually got really stoked. I finally got enough mastery points to unlock canyon jumping on my raptor and then discovered that that would open up the ability to acquire the springer. After getting the springer, I started getting the fact that mounts are good at different things. But the "ah-ha!" moment was when I used the springer to get to a vista that was inaccessible previously and then realized that from up on top of the building I could switch over to the now-super-jumping raptor and get to a cliff that held another mastery point. It was just such a great moment of realizing that the small improvements all feed into each other and unlock the ability to solve new puzzles and combine to do new things.

I haven't had such a great feeling from an MMO in a long while.

[Edge-]

But the "ah-ha!" moment was when I used the springer to get to a vista that was inaccessible previously and then realized that from up on top of the building I could switch over to the now-super-jumping raptor and get to a cliff that held another mastery point. It was just such a great moment of realizing that the small improvements all feed into each other and unlock the ability to solve new puzzles and combine to do new things.

I haven't had such a great feeling from an MMO in a long while.

Yeah, that's a great moment and why A) folks didn't react negatively to mounts after they got their hands on them and B) the GW2 mount system is largely well regarded/popular.

They don't exist as passive/general speed buffs, they exist to solve problems and get you to places you otherwise couldn't access. Skimmer has a similar function (that's very useful in general) and the fox is the most niche of the group, but still fun. It makes things like getting to core Tyria vistas and such super easy and helps get around a lot of zones by jumping over ravines and stuff.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I am going through the GW2 story again. It's been a decade since launch and Anet hasn't bothered to allow you to replay on the vanilla game's story on an existing character, so I had to create an alt. I picked Ash Legion, Sorcerous Shaman, and chose the Vigil as my order just like my main, but went with different choices for the rest.

Chapters 1, 2, and 3 were about as good as I remembered. I was invested in my warband and my superior officers. At the end of chapter 3, when the Charr player character confronts his zombified comrade and is hoping against hope that Howl is somewhere still inside there, you can hear the PC's voice waver. Ron Yuan really sells it.




The Vigil chapter was okay. Playing as a Charr, there is a lot of silly "as you know" dialogue. My character asks "who are are the Charr Renegades? Who are the Ascalonians Seperatists? What do they want"? ... Really dude? You should be explaining this to Forgal, not the other way around. I am also reminded of how nonsensical the Charr-Ascalon treaty plot was. Instead of an ambassador from Fort Ebonhawke (the last remaining city held by Ascalon), instead you have an ambassador sent by... Kryta, a completely different kingdom. The game can't seem to decide whether or not the Ascalonians are a sovereign nation or have been annexed by Kryta. And then there is the whole "why can't Ascalonians forgive Charr?" crap that should get people smacked in the face. Moving on...

For chapter 5, I think I helped the Ogres in my original playthrough, but all I can remember is that it was a really boring story with terrible voice acting. This time I went with the Skritt and it was much better. Voice acting was decent enough. I was invested in the character and his village being blown up was quite sad.

The last three chapters are the least engaging as you fight hordes of boring zombies. Doesn't help that chapters 1-5 were 30 minutes to 1 hour long while chapters 6, 7, and 8 are upwards of 2 hours long each, so six hours of fighting bland zombies. There were a couple standout moments, namely the scene where you accidentally shell your own troops and your lieutenant throws you under the bus to save his own hide, and the Mouth of Zhaitan mission where you raid the evil lair and stumble upon a dance party. Also, the PC and Traehearne conversations were good. Again, props to Ron Yuan's and Matthew Brenher's voice acting.

I forgot about the lady who looks like a Ben 10 alien. Thank goodness these guys never showed up again, not that it matters because later on Anet finds other ways to smear the aesthetic of the Guild Wars setting.




Then Destiny's Edge comes back at the eleventh hour, and it's really jarring. They only had one single scene prior to this moment, and then suddenly the narrative starts acting as if they are the centrally cast. Rytlock had been a presence during the first three chapters but then dropped out of the story at the start of chapter 4. My character has literally never interacted with any of the other members of DE (you can meet them in the optional dungeons where they interact with each other, but I don't recall them interacting with the PC), and yet they're acting as if I'm a close friend of theirs.

It's also weird that the closing movie frames them as the saviors of Tyria, when they contributed pretty much nothing to the defeat of Zhaitan. They were absent for almost the entire war. It was Traehearne who was organizing the Pact forces and it was the player character who commanded the vanguard. Destiny's Edge don't jump in until literally the final 30 minutes, and even then didn't do anything noteworthy. They just sat around inside the first airship while I shot down three zombie dragons, and the on the Glory of Tyria they simply defended the cannon... along with dozens of other Pact soldiers, while I shot Zhaitan. If DE is getting credited as being the saviors of the world, what about the other Pact soldiers who were onboard and defended the cannon? And what about crediting Traehearne? Now that I think about it, it's rather bizzare that Traehearne is with you every step of way during the war effort, but is absent for the final battle. Feels like he was usurped by DE.




Also, if the Pact had a fleet of dozens of airships, and the endgame was always going to be flying into the mountains of Orr and battling Zhaitan in the skies, then why did we even bother with a ground war in the first place? It's not like Zhaitan's ground forces had anti-air capabilities. It seems like the only threat to our airships were the other zombie dragons, which were handily dispatched by the cannons on our airships. Seems like the ground war was a completely pointless waste of life. Yeah, Traehearne's destiny was to cleanse that wellspring of water in Orr, but he could have done that after Zhaitan had been killed and after its armies had been mopped up.

The actual vanilla gameplay is incredibly unpolished. A good 1/3rd to half of the voice lines/dialogue that plays out in the open world was bugged out and didn't play, so you would often have inconsistent scenes where character A would say something, character B would react with an unvoiced textbox, and then character A would again speak, almost as if he was talking to himself. The centaur models were bugged out and slid across the plains. The enemy design is boring and the vanilla maps look pretty ugly. There is some pretty awful Unreal-engine esque texture pop-in in the Orr zones. The writing and especially the voice acting of the main characters is what salvages the vanilla story, though it's still a mediocre introduction to GW2.

[Ghost of Cow]

Also, if the Pact had a fleet of dozens of airships, and the endgame was always going to be flying into the mountains of Orr and battling Zhaitan in the skies, then why did we even bother with a ground war in the first place? It's not like Zhaitan's ground forces had anti-air capabilities. It seems like the only threat to our airships were the other zombie dragons, which were handily dispatched by the cannons on our airships. Seems like the ground war was a completely pointless waste of life. Yeah, Traehearne's destiny was to cleanse that wellspring of water in Orr, but he could have done that after Zhaitan had been killed and after its armies had been mopped up.
.

As I recall, it was something something "weaken Zhaitan" something something by killing the mouth and eye and whatnot.

It seems silly after the fact because we're up there with the USS Enterprise going pew pew laser beams through the dragons, but eh. Standard fantasy/RPG fare I guess. Gotta have you doing all the little quest series before you do the real stuff to make the story longer.

[PACOX]

As I recall, it was something something "weaken Zhaitan" something something by killing the mouth and eye and whatnot.

It seems silly after the fact because we're up there with the USS Enterprise going pew pew laser beams through the dragons, but eh. Standard fantasy/RPG fare I guess. Gotta have you doing all the little quest series before you do the real stuff to make the story longer.

Zhaitan basically works how you say. It's the dragon of death and decay, just assaulting its body does not matter much at all. You have to go after what actually sustains its body, the Mouths. The Eyes were just it's eyes but as long as it had Mouths they could reanimate Zhaitans body.

Why couldn't they just send in airships? Because airships aren't invincible, require manpower, and all the strategic points that needed to be hit were on the ground. You had the tequatl like dragons taking down anything until air defense could be established. Airships don't seem that strong since every threat after Zhaitan from Scarlet to Void Soo-Won could at least mitigate them.

For Zhaitan they basically adapted LOTR cliff notes as inspiration using Lovecraft monsters.

[Lex Icon]

oof! today i learned how to show how long i've played this game and it's longer than a lot of games i thought where ahead O.o
/age

[LilSaihah]

Then Destiny's Edge comes back at the eleventh hour, and it's really jarring. They only had one single scene prior to this moment, and then suddenly the narrative starts acting as if they are the centrally cast. Rytlock had been a presence during the first three chapters but then dropped out of the story at the start of chapter 4. My character has literally never interacted with any of the other members of DE (you can meet them in the optional dungeons where they interact with each other, but I don't recall them interacting with the PC), and yet they're acting as if I'm a close friend of theirs.

It's also weird that the closing movie frames them as the saviors of Tyria, when they contributed pretty much nothing to the defeat of Zhaitan. They were absent for almost the entire war. It was Traehearne who was organizing the Pact forces and it was the player character who commanded the vanguard. Destiny's Edge don't jump in until literally the final 30 minutes, and even then didn't do anything noteworthy. They just sat around inside the first airship while I shot down three zombie dragons, and the on the Glory of Tyria they simply defended the cannon... along with dozens of other Pact soldiers, while I shot Zhaitan. If DE is getting credited as being the saviors of the world, what about the other Pact soldiers who were onboard and defended the cannon? And what about crediting Traehearne? Now that I think about it, it's rather bizzare that Traehearne is with you every step of way during the war effort, but is absent for the final battle. Feels like he was usurped by DE.

It's a little disappointing that the dungeon storyline isn't really put forward to someone going through the personal story, but the original personal story kinda-sorta finished at Source of Orr. It's way less jarring if they're kept separate. Shame, too, because the dungeon storyline is pretty good from where I sit but the game is not good at signposting it for you.

Also Garm not pictured in the cinematic what the hell.

[Edge-]

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/l...ves-next-week/

S1 E4 coming on Sept. 13. I don't remember this bit at all so it'll be a nice reminder, and cool that they're turning the tower into a group event with public instances as well. No clue how it works, but that's nice.

[Ghost of Cow]

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/l...ves-next-week/

S1 E4 coming on Sept. 13. I don't remember this bit at all so it'll be a nice reminder, and cool that they're turning the tower into a group event with public instances as well. No clue how it works, but that's nice.

To this day I still look at the Kessex Hills loading screen and say, "....the fuck...?"

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Finished seasons 1 and 2. Before talking about their content, I should probably talk about the new cast.

The original cast, Destiny's Edge, was voiced of up of big name American voice actors, the two most prominent being Steve Blum and Troy Baker. For season 1, Anet was releasing a patch every 2 weeks (Anet had 4 teams rotating, each spending a month working on a patch). Voice acting for video games and animation doesn't make much money in America, unlike in Japan, so here VAs have to take on as many VA gigs as they can, and also take up part time jobs such as retail to support themselves. So the VAs have busy schedules and it's hard to bring a VA in a two week short notice. In game development, stuff is changing up until the last minute, which is why voice acting is almost always among the last things to be implemented, so even if the VAs had done their voices several months in advance, the script would have likely changed and new voice lines would have been needed to be recorded anyway. Getting the same 5 voice actors every 2 weeks would be very difficult unless Anet wanted to wave money in their face, which Anet was unwilling to do.

So the main cast of heroes, Destiny's Edge, were ditched (one or two of them make a cameo each episode but that's it). Additionally, the player character is voiceless during the first two seasons (because there are 5 playable races and 2 genders, and getting the same 10 voice actors in the booth every 2 weeks without waving money in their face is impossible). With the cast of the vanilla game gone, Anet had to create a new cast of characters to be voiced by lesser known voice actors, whose time Anet would able to monopolize without having to pay as much money for Felicia Day's time.



Art by Ruan Jia. If only their ingame models looked anywhere near as good.

Episode 1 introduces two new characters: Rox, and Braham.




Braham is quite likeable here, being an inexperienced but brave young man who steps up to the plate when no one else will. If this storyline hadn't been absent from the game for a decade, then Braham would have been much better liked by the fandom rather than being the butt of jokes. Most people became acquainted with Braham in season 3, where he is very rude to the PC and spends most of the season refusing to help. Most people didn't play season 1 as it was removed from the game and didn't return until this year, and it was generally not recommended to buy season 2 as doing so didn't unlock any new maps.



Her big, cutesy cartoon eyes do not befit a Charr.

Next is Rox. She was a member of a demolitions warband, but lost them in a cave in. She wants to join Rytlock's warband (Rytlock being the Blood Legion Tribune and one of the most renowned Charr warriors alive), and starts taking odd jobs for him trying to ingratiate herself to him. I was lukewarm to her at first but she becomes more likeable as the story progresses. She starts out trying to be a military hardass, but gradually realizes that she isn't as mean as she thinks she is, and gradually becomes the heart of the group. Unfortunately, he role as the heart is usurped by a new character who joins the cast in season 2, and Rox is eventually written out of the story.




Episode 2 introduces Marjory and Kasmeer. Marjory is first shown off as a private detective in a cringey film noir spoof. I think it might have been the way Marjory's voice actor did the narration in the 2D movie. Thankfully her voice gets a better as the story goes on, but she never becomes a character I really liked. She is in a lesbian relationship with Kasmeer.

Finally, there is Kasmeer, the pretty blonde girl. There isn't much to say about her. She's from an impoverished noble family and is now employed by Marjory. She's just kinda "there", mostly being a flower for Marjory to dote on. It feels like she is only really here because she can teleport the party around during missions.


I guess while I'm at it, I will talk about the 5th and 6th characters who join the party in season 2.




Taimi and her golem Scruffles. Art by Naomi Baker.

Taimi is a an Asura engineer whose purpose is to provide technobabble and to whip out new gadgets as the plot demands. Unfortunately, she sounds like a spoiled Californian valley girl. She is very bratty and constantly backtalks. At one point, she throws a temper tantrums that threatens important negotiations to form an international alliance against the Elder Dragons. She is also a teen genius who constantly outperforms pretty much every other expert in the setting (Wesley Crusher!). She also usurps Rox for the role of the heart of the group. She also has an incurable fatal illness that never seems to kill her, even though a decade has passed in lore. She is the most contentious GW2 character.



Art by Jamie Ro.

Lastly, there is Canach (voiced by John DiMaggio, aka Bender from Futurama, later replaced by Matthew Mercer). He has had an unfortunate life. He is a Sylvari, a race that has only emerged a couple decades ago. He was captured by a group of Asura and experimented upon. He became a mercenary after escaping. He becomes implicated in a couple of incidents and is eventually arrested (again, stuff omitted from the returning season 1 episodes). In season 2 he is given the option to rot in jail, or to help out the heroes. He is a begrudging ally. He doesn't formally join the party until season 3. He is rather cynical and witty. Having Bender from Futurama (John DiMaggio) as your voice actor is pretty good.

That's most of GW2's main cast. A couple more characters join but that happens way later. Also, after season 2, Anet's situation changes. The game has stabilized after its disastrous launch and Anet is no longer in crisis mode, and becomes willing to pour more money into the game. Anet also transitions from dropping a patch once every 2 weeks to major patches once every 2 months. So Anet is able to start bringing back some of the original cast (most notably Rytlock, aka Steve Blum), and the player character becomes voiced again.

[Edge-]

Lastly, there is Canach (voiced by John DiMaggio

Man, I never really keep up with who does the voicework in GW2 but I knew he sounded familiar through the filter. I knew there had to be some other reason I liked him beyond his fantastic dialogue, and this sure explains it.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Living World Season 1




Episode 1 - "Flame and Frost"

Aside from the banter between Braham and Rox, episode 1 is boring. You raid a huge underground base in the mountains and free enslaved prisoners. Aesthetically it's not very interesting. You fight hundreds of generic Dredge and Flame Legion, which is boring.

We find out that Eir apparently had a one night stand, birthed Braham, and then promptly abandoned him to go adventuring. What an inspiring hero.




Episode 2 - "Sky Pirates"

Raiding the pirate base was pretty fun, with you diving underwater and avoiding mines, jumping across the electric floor, and the first boss fight where you run away from the laser and jump on top of the boxes.

The biggest WTF is that these pirates hijacked a Pact airship. You know, that state of the art strategic asset that was made by combining Charr and Asura technology and was only just put into production one year prior. As the second highest ranking officer in the Pact, I think I should have been notified that one of our airships had gone missing. I'd also expect that the Orders and the nation leaders would have been grilling Traehearne and I over that. But no, the pirates having an airship goes completely unquestioned.

Also, Sky "Pirates" implies that there is a lot of mercantile activity to leech on. In GW1, Lion's Arch was trading with Orr, Elona, and Cantha. But by the time GW2 takes place, Orr has sunk, and Elona and Cantha have become isolationist. So who is Lion's Arch trading with? Is there some other wealthy land we have never heard about that ships are sailing to and from?




Episode 3 - "Chaos"

We are introduced to the main villain of season 1, Scarlet Briar, who is a Harley Quinn-esque character. She is unconvincing as a mastermind, let alone as a leader that hundreds of sky pirates would follow and die for. Also, surprise! She has ANOTHER stolen Pact airship, and no one told me the Pact Commander about it.

That's it for S1 episodes that are out now.



Living World Season 2

The first half of season 2 is dull. Nothing of consequence happens until the end of episode 4. Before that, you are either wandering around a generic sandstone canyon for hours on end achieving nothing, or doing chores in the ugly vanilla zones. There is no plot momentum.

My biggest question is why am I, the Pact Commander, leading an expedition into the West with... a city detective, the daughter of a gambler, a dangerous convict, and a bratty teenager? None of the party members have a personal investment in journeying West or official business there, and are just civilians. Why aren't I leading a detachment of professional troops (ie Pact forces, Vigil forces, my Charr Warband, etc). The new cast hasn't cemented into THE group of world saving heroes dedicated to stopping the dragons yet. That doesn't happen until next season.




Season 2 is the beginning of the Elder Dragon magic storyline that GW2 will revolve around from this point on, concluding in the End of Dragons expansion. There are some interesting nuggets of lore here, but worldbuilding notes and potential story ideas doesn't make for an actually engaging story that is paced well or has tension.

The Svanir totem still being bugged, 8 years later. It becomes killable before the quest updates to have it become the next kill objective, so if you kill it early you can't get completion and have to wait half an hour for the event to repeat to get a second chance to kill it for quest completion.




Episode 4: The Dragon's Reach, Part 2

The timed questions and the limit on how nosy you could be before you got thrown out of the party helped raise the tension.

The final fight against the dragon atop the Pale Tree felt a little scary, with the dragons trying to claw his way into the tree like the cat from Tarzan.




Episode 5 "Entanglement"

The first interesting episode of season 2. You go to the Durmond Priory and get to wander about their library digging for clues on the Elder Dragons. There are dozens of books you can read, ranging from in universe histories on nations, to biographies written by party members you may have adventured with in guild wars 1, to scholarly thesis on the nature of Elder Dragons and magic, to fluff pieces. Nice touch.

You also get sucked into a magic hourglass that sends you to a bizzare crystalline dimension, which makes for a fun high fantasy adventure. The puzzles there are quite engaging enough, but unfortunately the boss design can be rather infuriating.


Episode 6

The plot is now moving at a fast pace as the commander pursues Glint's egg. There is urgency and stakes. Navigating the maze at the end and trying to find the four party members in order on a 20 minute time limit was also engaging.


Episode 7 "Seeds of Truth"

The use of an in-universe flashback plot device is interesting. IMO it's done better here than it was in FF14, where the flashbacks were contrived and random. Here, the plot device can only be given out by the Pale Tree, who has been weakened (so only a handful of seeds can be given out), and only work on Sylvari (so the writers just have to be conscious about introducing Sylvari characters if they want to avoid the audience thinking "hey, why can't we just use the flashback seeds on this character?").


Episode 8 "Point of No Return"

The music for the final fight was pretty dramatic.

There were dozens of airships in that last cinematic and every single one of them was destroyed. I don't recall hearing about any airships that evaded the opening attack in HoT. The vast majority of everyone on those airships should have died in the crash, but HoT doesn't show a lot of bodies strung around on the ground or inside the wreckage.

[PACOX]

Mordremoth harvested all the dead bodies in your last paragraph.

Cool writeup

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Heart of Thorns

From here on out, every chapter (about 1-2 hours of story) takes us to a brand new high fantasy zone. The zones also start looking... actually good! They're not cramped and claustrophobic anymore. The environment artists have become better at doodad placement. The new maps are also fun to play, with the vertical design and bouncing mushrooms to jump on and updrafts to glide on, among other gameplay mechanics.

Verdant Brink and Auric Basin are the best looking maps in HoT. Tangled Depths looks pretty good at certain points on the surface, especially below ground with the ley line magic rippling through the tunnels. Dragon's Stand sadly was an unfinished zone and the only memorable part is the final area. Unfortunately, the game is really hamstrung by the short draw distance which the devs try covering up with fog, but even then the missing chunks are quite noticeable in Verdant Brink and Auric Basin when you look down from high above.




Sadly the water reflections are a massive framerate drop and there is a water texture underneath every single map in the game. GW2 is CPU bound so having a 3080ti won't stop your game from dropping below 60 FPS if you have water reflections turned on.



The campaign is overall good. It is very condensed, very concentrated. It's four hours long and it feels very action packed. Almost every moment is spent pushing through the jungle towards Mordremoth. The only part that felt like filler was Rata Novus, where we learned that Elder Dragons can be killed. As if I didn't already know that since I killed Zhaitan at the end of the vanilla story. Thanks Taimi for the pointless deteour!

A simple change to make the Rata Novus deteour actually matter would be to have Taimi discover a mind-machine interface there and to take it, with it later turning out to be a checkov's gun. It would have made the heroes casually suggesting hopping into Mordremoth's mind at the end make sense as they just learned that it was possible, rather than feeling like an asspull out of nowhere. Using a mind machine interface to jump into Mordremoth's mind would also make more sense than non-Sylvari with no magical link to Mordremoth being able to jump into the Dream. The interface could then be either confiscated by the Asura High Council, or broken to prevent the audience from questioning why aren't we using it to jump into the minds of future villains.

The sound disaster continues. Music bugged out at the end. Mordremoth's 2nd phase music kept playing after the fight end, into the epilogue and played during the ending cinematic.



Okay, plot holes:




Once the PC learned that marshal Traehearne had been captured, the chain of command dictates that the PC effectively became the new marshal. This is a crisis situation and the marshal needs to be organizing the Pact, not gallivanting off into the jungle and leaving his men to run around like headless chickens and lynching Sylvari soldiers and be picked off by Mordremoth's forces. The PC should have at least have delegated command to Laranthir or another Vigil Warmaster before continuing the pursuit of the egg.

At the end of the story, the PC tells Traehearne that the Pact has been destroyed. This is preposterous! Right before the final boss battle, Canach tells us that the Pact forces are assailing the tree outside. Which means that the Dragon's Stand meta event in which hundreds of Pact soldiers participated in is canon, and those soldiers were supported by a supply line that stretched all the way back to Camp Resolve in the Silverwastes. And who knows how many other Pact forces were garrisoned elsewhere in the world, such as at Fort Trinity. It's not like all Pact personnel were on the airship fleet.

If the writers didn't want the player character to be the Pact Commander anymore, then they could have just written the PC to take a step back from the Pact. The PC already seemingly did in season 1 and the first half of season 2 given that they didn't have any contact with the Pact when they should have. The Pact Commander is about to have his hands full raising a baby dragon. It would have been simple for the PC to pass leadership of the Pact to someone else. No need to destroy the Pact in the process. (EDIT: Thankfully the writers realized just how dumb they were and immediately walk back the Pact's destruction in the next episode).



Are they still polishing their weapons? Because your guys never showed up when I needed them. Unless they all died in the crash, in which case... RIP.

Where was the support from the 5 nations of Tyria? At the end of episode 4, we had that summit at the Pale Tree and everyone pledged to support the Pact... and yet in HoT we only see Vigil, Priory, and Whispers personnel. No Seraph, no Blood Legion, no Rata Sum, etc. It seems like Smoldur was the only nation leader who held true to his word by providing Iron Legion choppers.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Season 3

This season takes the player on a world trotting tour to different maps spread out across the world. You get to revisit old places such as Kryta, the Shiverpeaks, and Orr, but also get to visit new places such as the Fire Islands. Two maps in particular are quite memorable.

Bloodstone Fen from episode 1 is the site of a magic nuclear detonation with ley lines of unstable magical energy everywhere and floating islands:


It would have been cool if the floating islands and the airship moved around the crater. For some reason GW2 didn't implement moving platforms you could stand on until PoF.



Staring up at the sky from within the crater. There are multiple crags running down the cliff face where boss fights take place.



The bottom of the crater.



The second memorable map is Draconis Mons from episode 5, which is set within a volcano. There are a variety of biomes within the mountain, with a boiling sea dotted with islands inside, a layer with a tropical forest, a top layer with craggy rocks, and this weird stone in the middle that looks like it is made out of mercury or something. This map got me really excited for a potential Primordus themed expansion set underground (look at Pierre-Olivier Vincent's amazing concept art for the Hidden World from How to Train your Dragon 3 that was sadly underexplored). Alas, the map designers moved away from HoT-styled vertical maps. The writers also threw away Primordus in Icebrood Saga, so there isn't much pre-existing story material for the writers to work with for an underground expansion.



The Boiling Sea. I would have liked this layer to have been fleshed out more. The only reason to come down here is to fight the dragon rares. Also would have been cool if the dragons could blow people off of the plateaus, forcing them to pop their gliders and ride an updraft back on to the platform or be scalded in the water below.



The steamy tropical shelf.



The top layer.

As awesome as Bloodstone Fen and Draconis Mons are, they are really harmed by the game's short draw distance.

As for the other four maps, Ember Bay is okay, though a little generic since it's just a firery volcano. Bittefrost Frontier and Siren's Landing are better looking than the other vanilla maps set in those regions, but aren't my favorites. The only bad map this season is Lake Doric, which is set in a flat dried out lakebed and is just boring.



The most visually interesting area of Bittefrost Frontier. Reminds me of Winterspring from WoW. The vertical nature of the forest is sadly underutilized.



Episode 1 "Out of the Shadows"

We open with Eir's funeral. I'm not sure why the game acts as if I was a close friend of Eir's. From Vanilla to HoT, my character had only known her for a grand total of 10 minutes.




Blaming Traehearne for not commanding from the rear is silly. Traehearne led from the front because that was how generals commanded in a world before radio. They HAD to be there. Radio did not exist in GW2 before HoT. When a zombie navy was advancing on Lion's Arch in the vanilla story, Claw Island had to light signal towers to warn LA. From Vanilla through the end of season 2, if you wanted to contact somebody, you either had to send them a letter, or visit them in person. If we had radio, you could bet that he would have warned Traehearne about the Sylvari's connection to Mordremoth the moment we learned about it.

I play a Charr, and I am not a member of the Durmond Priory, so why is my character suddenly a history buff on a Krytan cult that seemingly died out 200 years ago? I could understand if the White Mantle were Ascalonians (the people the Charr have been fighting for the past 200 years), but a Charr should not give a crap about Krytan history.



Episode 2 "Rising Flames"

The male Charr PC's voice actor was recast from Ron Yuan to Lex Lang. I've been listening to him for a couple episodes now, and... well, it's not very good. The voice doesn't have the fervor, the passion, the warmth that the original had. It feels rather dry, and his dialogue at the end of this episode sounded as if the actor was reading the lines out loud. Hopefully it gets better.




It becomes more obvious as Aurene grows older in the next expansion, but her rhino horn looks extremely similar to Mordremoth's horn. The ending cinematic of HoT shows energy from Mordremoth's tree travelling to Tarir and entering into the egg, so that's probably the in lore reason. If Aurene had hatched before Mordremoth had died, I wonder what she would look like. Out of universe, her character designer, Ronald Kury, seemed to just like Mordremoth's face.



Episode 3 "A Crack in the Ice"

The episode begins with the PC playing with Aurene and trying to teach her virtues. The Exalted also help. One question, though: why aren't the Zephyrites also here? They were disciples of Glint for the past 200 years. They were the ones entrusted with the egg. They deserve to see the fruits of their efforts, and they had 200 years to prepare for this role. They should have a lot of valuable info on how to raise this dragon.




Braham, you know I wasn't involved in the planning process for the Pact Fleet's invasion of Maguuma at all. I spent the whole pre-invasion build up chasing after the egg, with YOU! By the time I returned back to the Pact the fleet had already been wrecked. And besides, no one knew at the time that Mordremoth's vines were that agile or could reach so far upwards. No one knew that the Sylvari were sleeper agents who would begin butchering their comrades and blowing up their own airships either. No one could have forseen the Pact fleet being annhilated.



Episode 4 "The Head of the Snake"



Queen Jennah is apparently such a powerful magus, she envelops the ENTIRE CAPITAL CITY in a shield that lasts for hours or days (it's not clear how long episode 4 takes place). Sheesh! With Jennah being a queen with a kingdom to run, there is no way she could have devoted all of her time to becoming the best wizard ever. Imagine how powerful people who dedicated all of their time to being the best wizard could be! If only we had mages with a fraction of her power shielding the airships in the Pact fleet, perhaps the invasion wouldn't have been a catastrophe.

We see hundreds of White Mantle in Lake Doric, and Logan calls this a "civil war" so there could be an army of thousands of them in lore. How on earth could the White Mantle have remained secret for 200 years? Once a conspiracy grows larger than a half dozen people it generally becomes impossible to prevent it from leaking out.

The White Mantle allying with the centaurs seems extraordinarily short sighted. The centaurs have been massacring the people of Kryta for decades, and now the White Mantle is relying on them to storm the capital. What does the White Mantle think will happen once they do? That the savages won't start butchering civilians left and right? Being responsible for the sack of the capital isn't going to help endear the populace's sympathy towards the White Mantle.




Episode 5 "Flashpoint"



This is a nice tidbit of GW1 fanservice. You can come across the golem M.O.X. If you played Guild Wars 1 then he was probably the first hero you acquired. The player character immediately recognizes M.O.X.'s sentience (he was created 200 years before the golem uprising which led to the Asura lobotomizing their golems), and kindly invites MOX to come with them back to Tyria. Sadly MOX never appears again after this.



Episode 6 "One Path Ends"



The big bad, Balthazar, has absorbed a magic nuke that would have wiped out half of Tyria, the largest continent in this world. Why are we pursuing him without first coming up with a plan to deal with his sheer raw power? Trying to shoot him with an arrow might not work.

It doesn't make sense for the Shining Blade - a human organization - to welcome in me, a Charr. The Charr were responsible for wiping out two human kingdoms. The only reason why we didn't get around to Kryta was because our momentum slowed down. Also, last time I checked, I am still an active member of the Ash Legion. You know, the Charr spies. Why on earth do these people blindly trust me and think I wouldn't pass any juicy info I receive up to the High Legions?

My player character is now a member of FIVE different organizations: The Ash Legion (Charr nationalistic organization), the Vigil (swears to renounce prior loyalties and fight for the greater good), the Pact (fighting against Dragons), Dragon's Watch (fights against whoever they deem to be bad guys), and now the Shining Blade (Krytan nationalistic organization). There is quite a lot of conflict of interest here.

I'm not fond of the sheer amount of sarcasm and snark in this episode. It undermines what is supposed to be an immersive fantasy story.

[Lotus Victoria]

Just finished the original personal story, again, on another character. Last finished it back in 2013.

Damn. Anet's writing and pacing improved by a TON. Like, it's not even the same game.

Too bad free to play players have to stick with the slow paced, and mostly underwhelming supporting cast and villains.