Konig Des Todes.2086

> @"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said: > > @"Fenom.9457" said: > >the Krait obelisks and their prophecies about their prophets returning to flood the world, > * DSD story element. Not necessarily. While krait and largos may become involved, the prophet could be used to be entirely separate, similar to Balthazar in Season 3. Their is plenty of potential to be explored without the DSD. > >The mystery of the human gods, particularly Lyssa. > * Almost certainly EoD or LWS6. And there isn't much of a mystery. Balthazar is dead, Kormir, Grenth, and Melandru, are confirmed gone, and Lyssa is up to something. The only one we don't know about is Dwayna. Hard disagree. I know you're really strong feeling towards your theory of Lyssa's involvement because of purpose mist in the trailer, but there's really nothing solid to put Lyssa in EoD - let alone Season 6 (assuming this wraps up some EoD major plot thread). ANet did promise that "the gods' story is not finished" - whether this involves them returning (because the Elder Dragon threat that caused them to leave has been solved, or because they found something worse and need the Dragon Slayer's help), or because Lyssa alone is up to debate and not something we can solidly argue one way or another. I feel doubtful they'll just wrap that back into an Elder Dragon lead-in _again_ since they don't really replicate plotlines (in GW2) that closely. There's also the topic of Menzies, who could serve as a major antagonist, and hell if ANet wanted, they could even make Desmina an antagonist or bring back Dhuum again. Plenty of plot potential present among god material. > >There's supposedly giants across the Blazeridge mountains right? > * The other side of the Blazeridge Mountains is Charr lands. Partially. But there's a **_HUGE_** fucking expanse of land out that way. Nothing about giants though. > >And ogres came into Ascalon from there too, why are they leaving? > * Lore states they had attacked the humans and Charr in Ascalon in the past, they were just pushed back. Kralkatorrik's awakening, and the creation of the brand, pushed back the Charr, which allowed them to spread down from the mountains as they had been trying to for ages beforehand. They aren't leaving, just spreading out like all races do. Minor correction: Ogres are leaving (or rather, expanding) specifically because of overpopulation. While there were attacks in the past, this was just raiding. Sajuuk is correct about the Kralkatorrik part. > >What about the rumored Charr lands to the east as well, Ash lands? And the Blood Citadel. > >And the trade routes on the order of whispers map with one route going to another continent we know nothing about - a 4th human homeland? > >Also the Isles of Janthir, the potential Mursaat homelands, and the rumors people with True Sight lived there? Why was Caudecus headed there in season 3? There must be something happening there. > >Remember the implication that harpies came from Dzalana, and may have some sort of ties to Dwayna? > >Remember the Largos and their assassin based culture with houses, how does that work? Where are they and what's their story outside of being menaced by the DSD? > * There is no rumor about it. We know Charr have lands to the east. What about them? Its just more Charr lands ala Ascalon, but without all the problems Ascalon has. > * The Order of Whispers map had no trade routes. The trade routes were on the Durmand Priory floor map. And yes we know there are humans elsewhere due to Whispers agent Doern Velazquez. > * The Mursaat are all dead as per LWS3. As for why did Caudecus go there, because the White Mantle would have obviously had bases/outposts out there in the homeland of their gods. He would have been trying to rally more of the Mantle behind him. > * If GW2 was ever going to explore Dzalana it would have been in PoF or LWS4, and it didn't happen. > * Again, a DSD plot element much like how we got more Kodan lore with Icebrood Saga. These places are all ripe for exploration after EoD (and maybe S6) with the potential for new lore, and new plots. There's an entire place to explore if ANet wanted. The question isn't "is there a plot there", because ANet can **with ease** make something up - like how Scarlet and Balthazar came out of thin air as far as plot setup in GW2 was concerned - but rather the question is **"does ANet want to make a plot there?"** > >Similarly, the old Utopia lore was recently brought up in the Guild Wars art book and made to fit into the current canon, and now we know about some mysterious island in the mists called Xotecha where the old gods before the six we've ever known lived. > * And Anet themselves have said Utopia isn't canon so... its not canon. ANet said that before the book. With the book, they said it was written in a way that it may-be-canon-may-not-be-canon. They're leaving it open ended, intentionally. Wonder _why_. (Not saying they're going to use it, but they certainly _could_ for post-Elder Dragon storyline. God killers would be a predictable threat level up from magic consumers.) > @"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said: > > @"Fenom.9457" said: > > So yeah, maybe there’s only say.. 3 expansions worth or content in the points I listed? > Weill, given that EoD is taking us to Cantha, and seemingly going to involve the Deep Sea Dragon, I would say maybe 1, assuming Anet actually wants to show us the 4th human homeland. While I would **LOVE** an expansion to the Sunrise Crest, I could very easily see ANet making use of Forsaken Cliffs and/or "Olympus" in a god-returning/Lyssa plot. Sending us _far_ east. Could also see them using Sunken Isles and the waters around for a "krait prophets return to destroy the planet now that the Elder Dragon threat is no more" plot. Hell, quite a lot of potential "now that the Elder Dragon threat is gone, all this shit's returning because they left due to fear of the Elder Dragons and the world's fucked in a different way".

> @"LilSpark.4567" said: > Hello guys, i have a questions, i am new in the game, i play this game from 10 days and i play this game with the dlcs and my friends and other ppl tell me i waste time to play gw2 bcs is a dead game. Is that true? Fun fact: GW2 has been dead / dying since 2013. At least, that's what people say. You guess whether the doomsayers are right or not. Also, here's the thing: even if GW2 goes into maintenance mode (it is not there yet, and won't be for several months), you'll still have *eight years worth* of content to play through!

> @"Aerick Blackmoore.8167" said: > intitial 6 month period after End Of Dragons releases [...] 6 month period for the Expansion itself so LW Season 6 starts somewhere in April 2022, LW Season 7 in 2023. Where do you get that? Season 4 started right after Path of Fire, no gap. Season 4 Episode 1 was 2 months after PoF, just as PoF was 2 months after Season 3 Episode 6. I could see them doing a "small update" right after instead, making Season 6 beginning 4 months after. But no reasoning for a 6 month period. Or 6 month before, the roadmap ends in May - making July a likely candidate. Or September, if July has an epilogue or intermission release (like a Visions of the Past 2 thing). > Eye of the North was the first standalone Expansion instead of Full Campaign and was filled up with unfinished stories afterwards(Livia in Ascalon, Mysterious FIgure during Wintersday in Droknar). That's because Eye of the North was intentionally created to lead into GW2, a bit different situation (and the Mysterious Figure came in even later, as part of Guild Wars Beyond that got cut because people jumped to GW2 at its launch, leaving ANet thinking there was no bang for GW1 anymore, sadly). And that's the key thing - if people stay with GW2 despite another game's launch, ANet will keep providing GW2 content, even if it's at a much smaller scale. They dropped all support for GW1 because when GW2 released, a **lot** of people left for GW2, to the point where it wasn't profitable after watching demographics for 3 months (development formally stopped in November 2012).

> @"HotDelirium.7984" said: > Was it ever explained why the Dominion Charr have the 3 corrupted spirit essences? In the timeline didn't we kill Drakkar and subjugate the corrupted spirits? If drakkar is no longer around are they then still influenced by Jormag and Bangar somehow is rerouting their spiritual power to his forces? I'm so lost. My interpretation is like Tyson's. ANet didn't want the mastery line to be completely useless outside of Bjora Marches, so they attached it to Iron/Blood/Ash as well. They follow the same color coding we see in The Ooze Pits, where we get blue (iron), green (Ash), and red (Blood) buffs. There's no lore implication that the Dominion charr are enhanced in any way. No mention of magic or essences in all of Drizzlewood Coast. The closest we get are the three champions at the end of the Citadel meta during the Claw fight, and that's just in their NPC naming. And if they were enhanced... why wouldn't Frost Legion (outside the three champs) and Flame Legion _also_ be enhanced with essences? There's a lore reason for the Aberrants, Svanir, and Fallen being not-mixed. But no real reason why Dominion are divided by legion in their essences.

> @"BrotherofShadows.7426" said: > it makes the sudden "Primordus is awake now by the way" very jarring for players who aren't playing live, or who don't chase achieves. Primordus isn't awake yet. Primordus is *stirring*. He's basically in the state Jormag was from Episodes 1-3. Hence Jormag's line that is in the first instance and the trailer: > Bangar Ruinbringer/Jormag: My brother is incapable of subtlety. He stirs. And **when** he awakens, it **will** not be with the same grace as I. Present tense: Stirs. Future tense: when, will People are treating Primordus' reawakening as inevitable, but not having happened yet.

> @"DaFishBob.6518" said: > Why do you keep lumping Bangar in with the other three? Because he is an icy cat, is connected to Jormag, but has free will. Sure, Bangar didn't want the particular role he got. But he still technically got exactly what he asked for: a bond with Jormag. Bangar has four of those five points. Well, presumably four - we technically have not seen Bangar, Caithe, or Ryland safely absorb small quantities of magic, but given they have the other three points, I think it's safe to say that they can just as the Commander and dragon minions can.

> @"The Greyhawk.9107" said: > So our characters, regardless of race, are all glorified dragon minions. Great. Gunna go back to playing Conan Exiles and Warframe for the next few months. Only beginning with HoT, but that's kind of the entire narrative of Season 3 onward, that we are the bonded champion of a new Elder Dragon. > @"Daniel Handler.4816" said: > > @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said: > > The Commander has 2, 3, and 5, and the lack of 1 is, as said, because fashion wars. Thus, the Commander's only differences is the same as Caithe/Bangar/Ryland, but + no physical change (because fashion wars). > > Is it possible the physical change is internal? There is zero evidence of such.

> @"The Greyhawk.9107" said: > I'm sorry to say that I'm unconvinced of any real similarities between Dragon Champions and whatever the Commander is. Other than two or three mastery abilities, most of which have to do with mounts, the Commander seems physically and mentally unaltered. A couple people here keep referring to thee Commander "serving" Aurene, but I think it could be argued that the Commander doesn't even do that. Maybe I'm missing something, some piece if lore or a statement by Anet, but from my own observations it just doesn't line up that the Commander is really the same type of Champion as the others. In regards to mental alteration, they are - as much as Caithe and Ryland at least. Throughout War Eternal, Aurene telepathically communicates with the Commander. Aurene is also said to have felt the Commander's injury at the end of Shadow in the Ice (when the Commander got shot by Bangar and the bow), further connecting the mental connection. There's also how in HoT and Season 3, Aurene gave the Commander visions - like the vision the egg was about to hatch in S3E2, or the illusion of baby Aurene showing up in S3E3. The mental connection is 100% there. As to the mastery you note, the first one is also pretty critical: through our bond, we can absorb magic safely... like literally every dragon minion. Yet another trait shared, checked off. It's the least solid case, because gameplay reasons (primary reason for why no physical change) and probably the fact the bond was established while Aurene was an _egg_. As to the serving thing... The idea for Aurene is that she doesn't have enslaved minions so, no, the Commander doesn't serve Aurene. But neither does Caithe, Bangar, and Ryland. This is the whole aspect of what differs them from old-school champions - they're _free willed._ Dragon minions have four main traits, with dragon champions having a fifth one tacted on: 1. Physically changed to Elder Dragon's element(s). 2. Mentally connected to the Elder Dragon's hive mind, where the Elder Dragon knows what the minions know, but not vice versa. 3. Can consume magic "safely". 4. Has no free-will. 5. (Champions only): Can receive direct commands from the Elder Dragon, and order minions accordingly. Caithe, Bangar, and Ryland have 1, 2, 3, and 5, and the lack of 4 is the main plot point of "it's a bond, not corruption". Caithe, Bangar, and Ryland's **only** difference from traditional dragon champions is the free-willed bit. The Commander has 2, 3, and 5, and the lack of 1 is, as said, because fashion wars. Thus, the Commander's only differences is the same as Caithe/Bangar/Ryland, but + no physical change (because fashion wars).

It's mechanics. Cultural weapons, namely Tier 1 and 2, are tied to generic drops in the region. Because the asura and sylvari share a region (Maguuma Jungle), their tier 1 and tier 2 weapon drops - and therefore cultural weapons - are shared. Incidentally, glyphic weapons are also regional drops in Orr, where the second tier are Orrian weapons.

> @"Teratus.2859" said: > Most common complaints that I recall are. > > 1. His voice is annoying. > 2. We do all the work and he steals all our glory. > > I don't mind him personally but I can see why others dislike him so much. These are the main complaints. There's a third though: That he comes out of nowhere to replace the mentor, who was much more liked. Though Trahearne doesn't really steal any glory at all. He **always** credits us, except for one thing: Fort Trinity's name. But he was still the one who decided to use it, so his wording isn't wrong - he doesn't say "I came up with the name", he says "I decided to call it this". And for the third complaint, he only "comes out of nowhere" for non-sylvari players. Which is the majority of players. > @"Only Even.6193" said: > If all these players complaining about Trahearne played GuildWars1, It would not be the case. > Kittensss, Kormir in the last Nightfall missions to the abaddon fight, she's just here like, " I follow you but I'm not going to participate in your fights even if you'r next to me dying ". > And then, at the end, takes all the glory, became a Godess, and tells you " It's your world, take care of it" or even " You'r not fighting alone ", and kitten leaves you alone, you and your efforts, not even a thanks, nothing, she caused all this , you fixed all, and she just go doing her godly manicure. > > Yes I hate Kormir, that, much. Trahearne at least respects you. Most complainers about Trahearne actually call him a Kormir 2.0. Also, to your "I will not fight" -Komir issue... Do you **really** want a blind person throwing spears around? And, to be fair, Kormir as a goddess doesn't do nothing. She did help - within the gods' rules of allowance - the Sunspears with Joko. It's just that the rules of "gods are not allowed to interfere" - which exists to prevent a second Desolation - prevented her from doing enough. (Same with Balthazar)

> @"BrotherofShadows.7426" said: > What was the deal with, just out of the blue, Primordus suddenly awaking and bursting lots of flame monsters out everywhere? It struck me like lightning from a clear sky. > > Last chapter ended with Ryland and Bangar becoming Icebrood and Ryland running off with Jormag to some unknown place, with us having to try and track the two of them down. I was pumped and ready to give chase and then all of a sudden they're just like "Oh haha, another Elder Dragon woke up and now the world is ending =)" Why? Isn't the awakening of an ELDER DRAGON kind of a big deal that we usually use whole living world seasons or expansions to set up? It just seemed to me that everything happened so incredibly fast from Chapter 4 to Chapter 5. There is a multi-month gap between the end of Episode 4 and the beginning of Episode 5, which gets explained during the Confer with Bangar post-Episode 4 achievement. During this gap, Primordus _began_ to stir, due to the awakening of Jormag somehow causing it (despite there being a 50 year gap between their awakening last time). Primordus is not yet awake, but is awakening. They're not spending a whole season on Primordus' awakening because ANet doesn't want to just be retreading the same plot again and again. They did so for Mordremoth because it was the first time they did that plot. With Icebrood Saga, they only spent half a season on that so that they can include other stuff. > @"HotDelirium.7984" said: > I'm still confused about how and what the Spirits of the Wild are doing right now and why did Charr have essence from the 3 spirits if we killed Drakkar? For the latter: pure mechanics. They wanted to keep the masteries relevant, and they used the same color coding we see in [The Ooze Pits](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Ooze_Pit_Trials) meta, where green=Ash, blue=Iron, and red=Blood.

> @"The Greyhawk.9107" said: > > @"Teratus.2859" said: > > We are Aurine's Champion. > > > > Think Shatterer and Tequatl.. what they were to their respective Dragons we are to Aurine only we're not corrupted and mutated to serve our master's will. > > We serve the same role to Aurine while remaining an individual with free will. > > I don't believe the two concepts are more than vaguely similar, if even that. They're pretty much exactly the same concept, though Teratus is wrong about "All Elder Dragons have a Champion which is regarded as their strongest and most trusted warrior" (I mean, there was the herald champion while the ED slept, but they weren't necessarily the strongest or most trusted, just the strongest surviving champion from the previous dragonrise that woke up beforehand to help the ED rise). The only difference between [dragon champions](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dragon_champion) and bonded "champions" is, ultimately, the existence of free will. Though rather than The Shatterer, a better example may be The Fraenir of Jormag and the three Mordrem Guard Commanders, as they're corrupted individuals rather than a hand-forged minion.

To the best of our knowledge, "proto-ritualists" were summoning spirits from the Mists to do actions for them. Which is a lot similar to what ritualists post-gift of magic did, except they did more things. The Commander's bond is simply a less-invasive method of corruption. Though for Caithe, Ryland, and Bangar "bonding" resulted in physical changes to their body, making it literally the same as corruption but without the will-enslaving and stupifying aspect. Due to metagaming-related reasons, the Commander's physical appearance was unchanged (because fashion wars). So what is our bond with Aurene? Dragon corruption dialed back to benevolence. Nothing more. Nothing less.

I'd just echo Randulf. Neat theory, but a lot of this stuff is disproven already or assumes that players were lied to extensively, including by developers. None of which is a strong point for a theory. For example: * Thyria is not a region on the planet, it **is** the planet. * Lyssa isn't a spirit of time, she - like the other gods - are foreign and are unrelated to the Elder Dragons. As such, the Elder Dragons wouldn't care about "recovering Lyssa's form", because her (and all gods) entire existence as far as the ED are concerned happened while they slept. * Kralkatorrik's domains are not related to time, despite prophecizing being a family trait. * Lyssa has literal records existing post-Exodus, which would counter the idea that she poured her lifeforce (if gods even have such a thing) effectively physically dying. * Despite the OP's claim, timekeeping methods do **not** differ from Northern Tyrian to others. There is still the same passage of time - just because different calendars have a different starting date doesn't mean there's a different timekeeping method. Dynastic Reckoning and the Mouvelian calendar are both solar-seasonal calendars, while the Canthan calendar is a lunar-seasonal calendar. Different calendars exist in reality too, with nearly every culture developing their own calendar. They still count the passage of time the same, they just use different markers for where to start and stop their numbers. A year is the same length regardless of placement on Tyria, just as on Earth. There's more points of conflict, to the point where it just doesn't work. > @"ugrakarma.9416" said: > The theory is cool, but I'm sorry for ruining the party: > > - Unfortunately the current direction of the lore is to throw the Gods related stuff under the rug. POF was a nail in the coffin. LS4 had near 0 human god related stuff aside small map achievs. Anet actively established that the gods' plot wasn't over after PoF, and Balthazar's lack of mentioning Lyssa was intentional. I highly doubt they were just referring to Hall of Chains or Dragonfall map.

I think you're trying to make it far more complicated than need be. Especially when things like "wind" is never attributed to Kralkatorrik (except indirectly via the Sky Aspects that are more related to Glint). The simple matter, really, is that the behavior of the Spirit of Fire is so vastly different from Primordus that them being the same is very unlikely, and trying to relate the two feels like the same kind of theorycrafting that tried relating the Six Gods to the six Elder Dragons. We even interact with the Spirit of Fire's power in Season 3, Taimi even _reads its energy signatures_, and given how much time she has spent reading Primordus' energy signature during that time, I'm pretty sure she would be able to see if they're the same. > Taimi: I think you should listen to that bear, Commander. I'm picking up some very high readings from that fire. > Taimi: Whoa, you've definitely just picked up some ancient magic. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Journey_to_Bitterfrost_Frontier#In_the_Frostgorge_Sound

> @"Teratus.2859" said: > As far as the Spirt of Fire goes.. I wonder if that could also be just another name for Primordus. > The Sons of Svanir have long believed Jormag to be the Dragon spirit so it wouldn't be the first time an Elder Dragon has been associated with a Spirit of the Wild. > The spirit of fire is also deemed to be a hostile and malicious spirit as well so that kinda does fit with Primordus nature. The thing is, according to the norn and kodan, there is a spirit for **everything.** The Spirit of Fire, the Spirit of Mountains, the Spirit of Seasons, the Spirit of Darkness - these are all nature spirits and are on par to the animal spirits like Bear, Wolf, Otter, Wolverine, etc. They're far inferior to the Elder Dragons as we've seen, but driving forces of nature in the world as well. The Sons of Svanir only relate Jormag to the Spirit of Dragon because that just fits their modus operandi, and they actively ignore the presence of the other five Elder Dragons. So I don't see any relation between the Spirit of Fire and Primordus, no more than there's a relation between Primordus and Balthazar. There are hundreds more nature spirits out there than there are Elder Dragon or Elder Dragon domains, so linking them by this point seems silly and pointless. And besides, what Elder Dragon would be the Spirit of Seasons? Besides, the Spirit of Fire is considered malicious by the norn, but a spirit with both good and bad qualities by the kodan. And not to mention according to the kodan, the spirit of fire was small and meek until "they" carried it: > Flamebearer: From Koda's eye, our tribe accepted the spirit of fire. Small and meek, it could only go where the kodan carried it. > Flamebearer-in-Training: Like quaggan. > Flamebearer: As we carried the spirit, it grew in size and speed. Suddenly, it carried itself. spreading throughout the world. > Flamebearer: After the Time of Great Trial, the kodan realized that we were also charged with teaching fire about creation. > Flamebearer: The kodan then taught the spirit life. We gave fire a home in our sanctuaries. It learned to warm us. > Flamebearer: Because the flame is a pure form of harmony. A fulcrum between creation and destruction where all living things exist. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Flamebearer If the Spirit of Fire = Primordus, I don't think the Flamebearers would say that the Spirit of Fire is in perfect balance, knowing to destroy and to create. That puts a major wrench in your theory.

> @"DaFishBob.6518" said: > > @"Daniel Handler.4816" said: > > > @"Randulf.7614" said: > > > > @"Daniel Handler.4816" said: > > > > I wonder if them bringing up the Pale Tree again is a red herring. > > > > > > It's most likely because people keep complaining we never hear anything about the Pale Tree, so this was about the only way they could squeeze some info in > > > > That is possible. We did have Ryland say only he, Caithe, and the Commander were champions. And even the wiki doesn't acknowledge the Pale Tree as technically being one. Maybe that storyline will just die out. > > I gotta nitpick here but the Pale Tree isn't like Ryland, Caithe, and the Commander because her relationship to Mordremoth is largely characterized by being a sapling of Mordremoth. Ryland, Caithe, and the Commander are champions of their respective elder dragon but were not born of the elder dragon in any way and instead were willingly adopted as champions. Well, it depends on how you're defining champion. Ryland, Caithe, and the Commander are unique to dragon champions ins that they have free will and are bonded, which makes them "champions" but not "dragon champions" as we've known. Meanwhile Glint and the Pale Tree **are** dragon champions, and they were cleansed after corruption, rather than simply bonded. It's an annoying thing caused by ANet using the same word to mean many things.

A comment on reddit made me remember something that supports this change being due to his connection to the Spirits of the Wild. From the story journal: > And Braham is...changing. The weight of prophecy. The death of his mother. The plight of his homeland. It's all aging him. > And now he's able to sense Primordus's minions. **Almost like a skilled hunter would.** He doesn't quite understand the changes he's going through. I just hope he's able to keep it together This reminded me of when we get the Volfen Blessing to track the nornbear. Specifically, the skill used to ping the Nornbear's location on the map: https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Volfen_Bloodlust_(Curse_of_the_Nornbear) > Shout. For 6 seconds, you and all adjacent allies attack 33% faster. While this skill is active you can **detect the presence of Svanir.** This mirrors Braham's new ability perfectly, and keep in mind this is technically the first time we see Braham tracking or hunting someone/something since first "becoming the Wolf" in the end of Episode 2. This solidifies my belief this is the Spirits of the Wild's doing, and not Primordus.

I find it very unlikely that Braham is going to become Primordus' champion. It just doesn't fit. Primordus doesn't give a damn about mortals. His only interaction with them was *to kill them*, only those corrupted by him are those which took his power and this was a painful transition for them as shown by the Stone Summit who _were liquified from inside_. While Jormag looks down on mortals, Primordus is genocidal to them. > @"Reynarth.4819" said: > And what if these aren't really Primordus minions, but Jormag's in disguise? And that's why Braham can sense them, because of his connection to Jormag? I don't think Jormag is capable of producing illusions that cause entire landscapes to burn. > @"Bast.7253" said: > What if the jotun scroll was actually infused with Primordus' power, thus why it was able to harm Jormag, and it's started to slowly corrupt Braham? > @"Teratus.2859" said: > The Fire Scroll that Braham used to enchant his mothers bow could actually be an ancient Jotun weapon created with power harnessed from Primordus, that would explain why it can hurt Jormag and why Braham now seems to have some kind of connection with Primordus and can sense his Destroyers. Very, very unlikely, imo. A Crack in the Ice seems to more hint that the scroll is infused with the Spirit of Fire's power - which the episode also shows is capable of countering Jormag well. Plus, the method of the Stone Summit being corrupted is defined as their insides being liquified (this is even shown in the models too), so I think if Braham was being corrupted, he'd feel that. If dwarves who were literally made of stone and thus incapable of feeling heat could feel the burning, Braham would too. > With each phase, transformation can be felt within. Though we grudgingly accept our new bodies, we are bound for irreversible change. All has not been to plan, however. Some among us have not withstood the treatment. Their bodies were melted from within by fire, leaving behind nothing but ash. We mourn them, but their wills were perhaps not strong enough for the rites. The ritual priests propose the fallen may have been overwhelmed by a force connected to or perhaps superior to what we're harnessing. A being of pure and ancient fire. > Something wrong > thoughts thin > burning > ash > summit https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Books:_Records_of_the_Stone_Summit Braham's bond with the Spirits is far more likely. Before Episode 4, he had only a tangible tie to three Lost Spirits and one Great Spirit. With Episode 4, he is tied to four Lost Spirits and four Great Spirits. And some minor spirits too: > Braham Eirsson: The Great Spirits aren't talking, so we need the other Spirits to help. I can feel them. Hare, Otter, Griffon... > [...] > Braham Eirsson: The Lesser Spirits don't know me. I need to prove I'm worthy, like I did to the others. > [...] > Braham Eirsson: Otter Spirit was a little feisty, but I think everything's fine now. Just waiting on you. At this point, Braham is basically Supershaman Braham, and is close to becoming Super-Havroun Braham, the norn of all Spirits. > @"Fueki.4753" said: > > @"Bast.7253" said: > > I had a random thought about the bow. In the Vision of the Past we saw all of the stone dwarves being corrupted by Primordus. > They weren't corrupted by Primordus. > The Stone Summit used Primordus magic in a ritual to try and prevent themselves from turning into "The Great Dwarf." > So far, Primordus has not corrupted a single living being. That would be corruption by primordus, the same way Kellach was corrupted by Zhaitan via an Orrian relic.

> @"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said: > So the allies we got in this release are > * Crystal Bloom: Primary > * Seraph and Watchknights in Brisban > * Asura and Golems in Metrica > * Norn shamans in Gendarran The allies are randomized. I got Crystal Bloom in Brisban and Metrica, rather than seraph or asura. I had also gotten both Seraph and norn in Gendarran. This being out of 2 Gendarran runs, and 1 Metrica/Brisban runs. > Other notes > * Jhavi is still leading the Vigil, since Laranthir hasn't returned from the Grove. > * We got confirmation that the Pale Tree is better, but still healing from the attack by Mordremoth. > * The Asuran Counsel has accepted Jormag/Ryland's help. > * Braham has gained some ability to feel where the larger destroyers are going. > * Braham and Taimi have a fight over allying with Jormag. > * Aurene isn't taking an active role in the fighting, and The Commander wishes she would. > * Jormag says the "balance" is made up, and not real. > * The group leading the war effort consists of Logan, Crecia, Phlunt, Sigast, and a sylvari whose name i forgot right now Also bulletpoint notes of worth: * Destroyers are unaffected by water. * Primordus is theorized to have become capable of filtering Zhaitan's and Mordremoth's magic better, resulting in stronger but pure-fire destroyers. * Seismic activities have gotten deeper than ever before. * Aife is that sylvari btw. > @"Yasai.3549" said: > Everytime I feel like, hey maybe we are making progress with Braham as a character, and that his growth arc is happening, he regresses back into a baby. > > Anet. Stop this. Braham doesn't have to express his opinions about everything by whining like a child. He's no longer one. > Takes like 4 different parties to tell Braham to focus on the threat at hand for him to kitten about Jormag for 2 steps of the quest and HE BACK AT IT. How has Braham regressed by being far more realistic and sensible about Jormag's actions and plans than Taimi? Or being worried that there is a prophecy told by his personal deity-like figure telling him point blank "either you succeed or you will die". Braham is acting very realistic and mature for his position. Jormag **IS** the threat at hand. > @"Yasai.3549" said: > > @"Pax.3548" said: > > > I share his reaction though, I too really distrust Jormag, like, really. > > Except it doesn't excuse his terrible behavior. (or terrible writing) > > Maybe it's just me but it was pissing me to the high heavens when yu fight the final boss of the Metrica Instance and he freaking chirps in randomly about "I don't like this alliance" > > Hello? Focus on big destroyer ***FIRST*** ? > > Taimi was literally just arguing back to Braham so he would zip it and focus on the fight THE ENTIRE TIME. > Like gosh, Taimi is insufferable but Braham whining the entire way from the gate to the Destroyer boss was straight up the worst filler dialouge no one had to write. > > And then the instance ends with "huh, idk man, I can like, tremor sense Destroyers" People can argue while fighting. This is actually how 80% of video game dialogue occurs. And Braham isn't whining. He's literally saying "hey, you know that trusting the Elder Dragon of persuasion, who's 150 years of history is literally tricking people into wanting to work with it before corrupting them, is a very bad idea, RIGHT!?" And responding to comments of "but my racial history" with "but my racial *and personal* history too!" Taimi is the one being childish and unreasonable here. And I suspect that Jormag may have been a bit... _persuasive_ to cause that. The Arcane Council - I can see them agreeing without any need of whispers. But Taimi? She should be smarter than that.

> @"Weindrasi.3805" said: > > @"Fueki.4753" said: > > If Calm in the Storm isn't simply bugged and continuing really requires waiting one week, this is by far the worst living world release they have done yet. > > > > Agreed. If this isn't a glitch... I'm kind of blown away by how poorly thought out and badly designed this is. Hardly. It's designed to be more paced out. Smaller chunks at a time, but more frequent new stuff, like in Season 1. It's a **different** design, but not an inherently worse or bad one. > @"kharmin.7683" said: > > @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said: > > Though to answer your actual question: no, it isn't. What sunk LS1 was 1) the temporary nature of the content (which is supposedly untrue for this - based on old comments earlier in the year, players coming in late will not have to wait, just like any normal release period), and 2) that the developers were in constant crunch mode, causing unnecessary stress and a steady lowering quality of content. > I hope that's right. It would be bad for players coming in late to not be able to access rewards for content. From what I see in-game, it seems that the "temporary timer" part is only 0AP achievements that reward Bonus Box of Goods. The actual unique rewards are available from the permanent vendor too. This is why there's two currencies - one, which is in the wallet, is permanent. The other, which clutters the inventory, is temporary - and cheaper for the same items of the permanent currency, as you need 1/10th the currency for the same items. > @"Tehnerdynerdlo.5846" said: > Wait so which one is it we have to wait for? the Token bar to fill, the timer to hit 0 or both? because this seems like some serious kitten padding out The bar seems to be for the locked achievement which gives extra rewards for the community. The timer seems to be for story/content additions. That's my educated guess, at least. > @"Galmac.4680" said: > But what is with the other three locations that Taimi has shown us (near flame citadell e.g.)?? > @"Jilora.9524" said: > You know at first I thought it was new content every week but what if it's just we get 5 weeks of having to do crystal bloom related stuff to get tiered rewards and nothing else. Then I will be disappointed if that's it and we don't get new drm or unlock the next batch of masteries etc. See that_shaman's reddit post. GW2Forums tend to delete entire posts that mention the certain three-lettered d word that is often associated with that_shaman. There is more content to come. The trailer showed some of it in the "Future Chapters Feature" - which seems to have indeed been a type for "Future Chapter Features". > @"Doghouse.1562" said: > > @"Vavume.8065" said: > > > @"Randulf.7614" said: > > > > > The biggest issue seems to me that the instances do not appear to scale which means group based story content. > > > > I solo'ed one and then I did the rest in groups, the bosses seemed to take longer in groups so I think the bosses scale at least, could be wrong though. > > Sure as heck didn't for me (assuming that "solo" also means "private"). It took me forever to take the first one down on my own in private mode. Aside from the recently nerfed health bars - I found that the fights were **MUCH** easier if you managed to complete all three pre-events. When I did the Metrica one solo, it was a pain in the everliving butt, because I was idle while dialogue played out and didn't have time for even one of the three morale boosting events, but for the second and third ones I completed all three and had a much, much easier time. I also made good use of charr waystations for the second and third fights. Those remote charges helped a lot in reducing their health.

> @"kharmin.7683" said: > Putting things on a timer? Isn't this what sunk LS1? When players in large numbers ask for something (e.g., biweekly releases return, build templates for money, easier raids, etc.), Anet will inevitably supply. And then those same players (and others) find out that they actually hate it. Though to answer your actual question: no, it isn't. What sunk LS1 was 1) the temporary nature of the content (which is supposedly untrue for this - based on old comments earlier in the year, players coming in late will not have to wait, just like any normal release period), and 2) that the developers were in constant crunch mode, causing unnecessary stress and a steady lowering quality of content.

> @"firedragon.8953" said: > Elder dragons were purposefully corrupted by someone or something yet unknown (or maybe even the gods themselves in a failed experiment). It wouldn't be the Six Gods, since they post-date the Elder Dragons going evil and Kralkatorrik suffering from Torment. Keep in mind that based on the elder races' records, these six Elder Dragons (Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Primordus, Jormag, Kralkatorrik, and the DSD) would be at **least** 20,000 years old - and the hint from the jotun records would imply at least 30,000 years old. This, of course, works on the notion that every dragonrise cycle is 10,000 years like this previous one (due to the creation of the Bloodstones and the ED rise being sparked by Abaddon's death, this may not be true - but this would also imply a _longer_ gap between rises instead, making the Elder Dragons even older). The Six Gods first stepped foot on Tyria within the past 3,000 years. Making the Elder Dragons' presence as evil entities on Tyria at least 10x longer than the Six Gods' presence on Tyria. > Each dragon has a non-elemental trait, death, mind, fury, persuasion; with Primordus and the sea dragon somewhat different (or maybe not known, but on the other hand controlling elements that arguably cover or fill most of Tyria) unless "conflagration" is just another way to say "destruction" but with fire. Even if "conflagration" wasn't just another way to say destruction, I'd still argue "explosion" to be as elemental as "shadow" in all honesty. > Or maybe the last two dragons are more "pure" and not actually corrupted and imbued with sentient traits and just embody the natural characteristics of their element. Anyway, by imbuing these traits into the dragons they became mad. Just like us imbuing compassion into Aurean has insured her "goodness". The weakness of the elder dragons (or dragons in general probably) is that likely that they can be "programmed" in a sense. Maybe the Canthans know a little something about this. Would make sense since it was successfully attempted on Glint, semi-successfully on Vlast, and unsuccessfully on Kralk in Tyria. > @"Daniel Handler.4816" said: > Kralkatorrik and Jormag were twins at birth. Whether that is still physically true after they became elder dragons, and more elemental, is anyone's guess. I'm going to hazard a guess and assume you mean "Primordus and Jormag". However, that's only on the notion that Jormag is being literal with her commentary of sister and twin - and since we know for a fact that Jormag's mother wasn't Glint, we know for a fact Jormag isn't literal with calling Aurene "little sister", so good chance they're not literal in calling Primordus their "twin".

Same reason people follow Kim Jong-un in North Korea, in effect. That's literally all they were taught to do since birth. And if it's all you know to do through life, that's all you really do. Those who argued against got exposed to something that made them question.

I'm going to agree that the dead guards are likely just a foreshadowing and nothing major. It's possible that they aren't even meant to show up (dead) until after that story instance.