Screenshot Saturday: Photos Around Tyria

Welcome back to Screenshot Saturday!

The Photos Around Tyria project will showcase a photo from each zone of the game. My goal is to catch something particularly interesting about each area: this could be an area that is utterly atypical and out of place or something that captures the feel of the area.

This week, we will be starting out in The Grove. I find this to be a breathtaking area, serene as only Maguuma can be.

Read more »

Posted in: GuildWars 2,Screenshot Saturday,Screenshots

Storytime in the Dungeons

Last weekend, we got together to do an event that has been talked about for a long, long time. The goal: to go through each of the eight dungeons in Guild Wars 2 in order to see the story unfold.

I've done each dungeon in story mode at least once. Like most people, I did them out of order, at various times, and sometimes over multiple play throughs. Our goal was to play them like the story they are. To witness the trouble of Destiny's Edge. Here, in summary, is the story so far:

Our story begins in Ascalon. The Ascalon Catacombs, to be exact. We are assisting Rytlock in finding the former leader of Destiny's Edge, Eir, who has gone in search of the mythical sword Magdaer. Rytlock angers the Ghost of King Adelbern, who calls from assistance from his strongest lieutenants, Master Nente, Kasha Blackblood, Ralena and Vassar. With Rytlock's help, we defeated them and King Adelbern. In the end, we learn that Eir's goal was to find the sword in order to give it to Logan, Rytlock's nemesis, to bind them together as friends once more.

Next, we travel to Caudecus's Manor in Beetletun, outside Divinity's Reach. Logan suspects Caudecus of a plot, and he is concerned for the safety of Queen Jennah and the ambassadors from other races, including former Destiny's Edge member, Zojja. We uncover the plot between Caudecus and Uzolan, destroy his magical golem and eventually rescue Queen Jennah from the Seperatists who have kidnapped her in hopes of destroying the peace between humans and charr.

Next, we head to the Caledon Forest to assist Caithe. She must face Faolain, her former lover, and she has enlisted help from Rytlock and Logan, in hopes of mending their relationship. Rytlock outright refuses to help, and Logan leaves after Caithe jabs him one too many times. We help Caithe to defeat the sylvari Faolain has seduced to the Nightmare Court, and we ultimately help her stop (but not kill) Faolain.

Our next summons takes us to Sorrow's Embrace. Zojja needs our help. She has discovered a former apprentice of Snaff, Kudu, who has perverted his research, and she is determined to stop him. She's asked Caithe for help, and Caithe has convinced Eir to come with her, hoping she can mend the relationship between Eir and Zojja. Here is where we learn the source of the enmity between Logan and Rytlock: at the penultimate battle of Destiny's Edge, Logan left the group in order to protect Queen Jennah, and Rytlock has never forgiven him for the defection. We also learn that Zojja is cruel to Eir because Eir's leadership resulted in the death of Snaff, her father-figure mentor. We learn that the death of Glint was not only a blow to the world, but how it shattered Destiny's Edge. We stop Kudu, who teleports off to... somwehere, and his Iron Forgeman creation.

After our (mostly) successful runs of these four early dungeons, we're planning a follow-up event this weekend. We'll be attempting the last four dungeons in story mode. Check out the event on our G+ community and RSVP, because we'd love to see you there!

Read more »

Posted in: Event,GuildWars 2

Fancy Features Update - Traits

So season 1 of living story is done. Scarlet is dead (woot!). This past patch is mostly the celebration of a successful conclusion (and if you haven't gotten the rewards yet, do so quickly. There's no achievements or anything, just go to the party and get some fancy things at the end).



Since living story is on cooldown, Guild Wars 2 is releasing it's first feature-only patch, and it's a doozy. They're releasing balance enhancements, feature improvements, brand-new systems, and other things. They'll be disclosing information everyday leading up to the patch. Today they announced a lot of stuff about traits.
For instance, to prevent idiots from putting 11 traits on one branch and 14 on another, each trait will now be worth 5 old traits. This will condense the 70 trait points down to 14. As a result, you won't start earning traits until level 30, and will only get a trait point once every few levels.

Also, profession books are no longer a thing. Instead of buying a profession book to unlock the next tier of traits, they're all free, and so are trait refunds! You may now change your build instantly anywhere, like you could for PvP. To celebrate, they're adding 40 new traits in total! However, there's a catch. In Guild Wars 1 and other various RPGs, you would have to explore and progress to find new vendors who would sell you new and unique equipment/skills. The same is true for major traits.

On a single branch, the trait line alternates between minor and major traits. Minor traits are a fixed perk, major traits are swappable depending on the tier and generally have an extra little something special. So you now find the guides who distribute the major traits by participating in WvW, personal story, exploring, story/mini dungeons, etc. If you're too lazy for this, then the recently unemployed profession trainers have been re-employed to sell you the traits... for a price that has yet to be disclosed.

To conclude, this all comes bundled with a complete redesign of the traits page, and yes, it does tell you where and how to unlock the specific traits you want.



Oh, and in case you're wondering, there is a new trait that would further make my necromancer harder to kill, but luckily for everyone in PvP, it's aligned towards a Death Shroud build, which I am not very interested in using regularly. That's all for now, if you want to keep up to date as they announce stuff, check out their blog: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/feature-packs/

Read more »

Posted in: GuildWars 2,Living Story,patch,update

The Battle for Lion's Arch

If you've been in-game at any time during the last month, you've experienced the upheaval and ripples from Scarlet Briar attacking and holding the city of Lion's Arch.

The entire support structure of the capitol city has been relocated to the Vigil keep in Gendarran Fields, and the city has become a war zone and explorable area.

When I reached the point in the story where I realized Scarlet attacking Lion's Arch was inevitable, I knew I'd be upset. What I didn't realize was the emotional reaction I'd have to the destruction of what has come to be my in-game "home". Watching the cut scene that first time I logged in was akin to the first time I played through Guild Wars 1, when i didn't realize the Searing was going to happen. Wandering through the destruction she left in her wake was as powerful as exploring in Old Ascalon in the first act of Guild Wars. And don't think I've forgiven the Flame Legion for that destruction yet - I the player still have not.

The mass of events from the last two Living Story updates have been interesting. We've helped defend key points in the city, struggled to keep the various factions of Scarlet's alliance from taking over and poisoning the air and saved countless civilians from certain death.

In the latest installment, we've progressed to fighting her Knights, the final champions preventing us from attacking Scarlet's Prime Hologram. Upon simultaneously killing the Knights, we've encountered the frenzy of slaying the Prime Hologram and then reached the final point.

Dear reader, there will now be spoilers. If you have not completed the Living Story at this time, you are warned.

Then we get to kick Scarlet's evil, corrupted self and finish her off.

Finishing her was quite satisfying for me, I'm not going to lie to you. I felt like I was avenging my home. But it was only a partial victory, and her drilling has awoken another dragon, and my best guess places that dragon in Maguuma.

I experienced a blur of emotions in this moment: grim determination to finish her off, satisfaction for defending my home, grief for Marjory's fate, horror for another awakening dragon, and even a touch of excitement, because maybe we'll get more of the Maguuma map opened up.

With today's patch, the Battle of Lion's Arch has come to a close, and we'll enter a period of rebuilding and reconstruction. It will be interesting to watch the citizens put the city back together and see what changes develop in the landscape - and in the world at large.

Tell me, gentle reader, what do you think about this installment of the Living Story? Do you think ArenaNet will open up more of the jungle? Which zones would you like to revisit (I want to go back to The Falls)? And did you collect enough heirlooms for horns or a halo?

Read more »

Posted in: GuildWars 1,Living Story