Do you still use your raptor?

[Danikat.8537]

Yes I use the raptor. If I'm not in a hurry and I don't need to use the canyon jumping I'm more likely to use the jackal or even the warclaw because I like to take my time and look around and the raptor can actually be a bit too fast for me. But I still use the raptor a lot.

 

One of the nice things about the way GW2 does mounts is they each have their uses and none really becomes obsolete just because you've got other options. I know some people prefer specific ones, but I doubt anyone will be able to completely avoid specific mounts, at least not without going out of their way to avoid using it.

[Oogabooga.3812]

For short distances, the raptor is the best to just yeet from point to point, such as Lion’s Arch crafting area to the TP and back, harvesting nodes/SW lost bandit chests run, skipping past thick mobs in tight spaces. No other mount has such a quick launch forward with precise turning.

[Turkeyspit.3965]

Not sure how Raptor is a 'noob' mount? One can argue that the Jackal is a smidge faster and can avoid damage better, but the Raptor can be used to engage mobs and gather them, as such, if I'm not on Griffon or Skyscale, I use my Raptor.

[Tyncale.1629]

I use the Raptor all the time. It is maneuverable, pretty fast and I absolutely love the long jump. Perfectly timing and placing the long jump on rugged terrain from bump to bump is a lot of fun. Much more fun then the jackal which movement feel unintuitive to me. The jackal may be somewhat easier on terrain with tiny hurdles, however once the height differences (obstacles) become too large, you get stuck constantly since its special move does not include any vertical component. The raptor jump does and can actually be used on pretty rugged terrain if you plot your path smartly. Off course at some point when the terrain gets really bumpy, it's Skyscale all the way.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

The raptor has a couple of funny advantages over other mounts. A skilled raptor-rider can outsmart other mounts easily and may even reach his destinations faster. It depends on how you use its abilities in your advantage.

 

You can climb smaller ojbects, which are normally too high for a normal jump or mount-jump by just getting really close to it and dismount. This causes a small but effective updraft that is often enough to reach the top. It is faster and in my opinion easier than switching mounts and allows you to re-mount the Raptor quickly. It works with other mounts as well, but I only use it with the Raptor due to its fast movement-speed.

 

The Tail Spin (Engage) is one of the most powerful area-pulls in the game. It is quick, has a wide range and deals a good amount of damage to the mobs. I often just mount up during events, wait for the mobs to spawn, pull em, kill em and mount up to wait for the next wave to come. The engage-skills of other mounts also have their advantages, but the Tail Spin can be used quickly and recharges really fast. In several cases, the skill is so overpowerd, it kills the NPCs when pulling them.

 

The wall-ride mechanic is fun if you want to get around a wall or larger object. Just run towards it until you are close, then do a long-jump and aim left/right. If the surface is flat enough, the Raptor wall-rides along the wall, automatically gets around the corner and you can leap forward a second time, away from the object. If you use this, you do not have to re-position your camera to get around the object/wall.

 

Bond of Faith turns the Raptor into a giant player-slingshot. If you practice a little with the aiming, you can reach a lot of places where you would normally need another mount. It is pretty useful to navigate vertical maps, getting from higher ground to lower ground. One of the most fun & ridiculous places to use it is Draconis Mons, from Ancient Hollow Waypoint. Just head west and jump towards Ignis' battleground, then Leap of Faith. If executed correctly, you will land directly on the plateau. Due to the mechanics of BoF, it does not matter how deep you "fall." You receive 0 fallingdamage and can just move on & fight, like nothing happened. There are a lot more places in Tyria where this can be used, but for Ignis it is really helpful. Turns waypointing and getting back into a matter of seconds. I often use it in other situations, to shoot myself through doors or on tiny platforms. The more you practice, the more you get a feeling for the leap-arc.

 

Last but not least, the engage-leap. It is a combination of Bond of Faith and the Tail Spin engage. Requires a little timing. There is a narrow time-window of ~ 1 second, where Bond of Faith is still use-able although you are currently executing an engage skill. If done correctly, you pull your enemies and leap away. It can be used in a few situations. If you join a bounty late, you can deal some CC damage to the boss & get into range, to decide if you want to stay ranged or go into melee - depending on the bosses attack-pattern. If you are a ranged class like Ranger, you can pull the mobs together and use the AoE (Longbow 5) to attack them all at once. This also works with other mounts, but I use it mostly on Raptor.

 

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Do not bother too much with the opinion of other players. They do not care what mount you pick. It is always better to use something you are familiar with and you enjoy using, instead of something that just looks good. This applies to mounts, classes, weapons and skills. Sure GW2 is fashion wars, but that also means to be unique. Being the 15th of a giant horde of Skyscale riders is not very unique. When you use your Raptor instead, you draw attention and curiosity. If you manage to perform well, they might reconsider their own decision in the end.

[Rasimir.6239]

I choose my mounts, skins, whatever based on what I enjoy and feel comfortable with and what suits the situation at hand. The raptor has its uses just as much as any of the other mounts.

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

No mount is a 'noob' mount. Every mount is unique and has its own abilities, meaning every mount is useful depending on the situation. And if you want to use the raptor, just use it. You won't be judged, and even if others judge you, so what? :)

[Game of Bones.8975]

I use the skyscale and raptor exclusively (unless required by story or land configuration).

 

I don't care about the animations (or skins). That part is purely personal.

[killermanjaro.5670]

Wow, some people seriously see the raptor as a "noob" mount? I've got all the mounts but the raptor is probably still my most frequently used as most of the time its sufficient for what I need. Guess most of the time I'm riding about people must look at me thinking 'ha what noob, using a raptor and even the default skin! '. Oh well, I shall continue not caring what those people think and go about my business as usual.

[Hot Boy.7138]

i haven't used raptor since i got my jackal. Jackal is just always my preferred mount. it's just cool

[Zaklex.6308]

Yes, and stop worrying about what other people think of you, the only person who's opinion about you that matters is your own, the rest of the world's opinion isn't important enough to give one seconds notice. In simpler words, don't give a shit what others think.

[Danikat.8537]

> @"killermanjaro.5670" said:

> Wow, some people seriously see the raptor as a "noob" mount? I've got all the mounts but the raptor is probably still my most frequently used as most of the time its sufficient for what I need. Guess most of the time I'm riding about people must look at me thinking 'ha what noob, using a raptor and even the default skin! '. Oh well, I shall continue not caring what those people think and go about my business as usual.

 

I'm not sure many people actually do think that. I've certainly never seen anyone say anything about another player using the raptor instead of another mount, either to me when I'm using it or in general conversation talking about other people. The only time I can ever remember someone saying not to use a raptor is when we were waiting for a boss to spawn during an event, lots of people mounted up to use the engage skill and the commander said the springer is better than the raptor because it will help break the defiance bar. But of course that's not really what the OP was talking about since that's strictly about the best use of game mechanics and not using the latest mount just because it's newer.

 

Maybe there are people who think like that. But if so I suspect they irritate a lot more people by insisting on only using their newest mount even when it makes no sense than with their comments about other players using the raptor. I know a lot of people really like the skyscale's versatility, but there's a lot of places where it would lose a race against a raptor because by the time you've climbed up high enough to be able to do the 'super fast' quadruple barrel roll dash to your destination someone on a raptor would already be there waiting for you.

[thepenmonster.3621]

I find I swap between the raptor and jackal depending upon mood and terrain.

[MidnightX.6294]

i even prefer a raptor over a jackal. and i use it alot when the rollerbeatle cant do a good job on small spaces.

[Dragon Priestess.9760]

Ofc, still the fastest way to get around the Silverwastes. Plus I like the skins!

[Teratus.2859]

> @"Kunzaito.8169" said:

> Raptor: If you're not a racing pro, a lot of the races are best done or have parts best done on a raptor. It's a good all-around option for short distance land travel, especially with long jumps, where it can be a bit easier to get where you want than the Jackal. Any time you're facing a bunch of small enemies the dismount is invaluable.

>

One of the biggest advantages Raptor has over Jackel is jump control.

Jackel will always tp-jump the same distance unless it's blocked by something which makes precision jumping far more difficult.

Raptor however with a bit of practice can pull of some fantastic acrobatic feats.. jumping off platforms and landing on singular beams or very small pillars or platforms etc and instantly jumping off them again to expand your jump is something Raptor can do very well and Jackel cannot.

 

I play around with this a lot because I think it looks awesome, it's always fun to jump and try to land on some teeny tiny object and launch yourself off it again right away.

This ability is what makes Raptor more of a popular choice for me over Jackel.. and Warclaw simply lacks the distance to replicate it.

 

> Bunny: It's had a lot of its usefulness stripped out by skyscale, but it still provides the strongest CC on its dismount skill, so I use it before engaging in those type of fights.

>

Fully agree here, Springger, Jackel and Warclaw are the 3 mounts I use least of all in PvE these days.

 

> Skimmer: It's the only water mount, so... yeah. Water. It's also the only dismount heal, but the heal can be finicky to land (I sometimes use it repeatedly to heal npcs). I wish they'd make one tweak, that when you use the hover over land, it keeps you at water speed. Would let you hop little land fingers more smoothly.

>

Fully agree on this.

 

> Jackal: More maneuverable than the raptor. I feel like it's overall slightly slower most of the time, but it really shines any time you need to go uphill - the teleports do that much better than the raptor leap. Tight spaces, obviously the jackal portals, and the barrier dismount is pretty good for squishies.

>

It's ability to negate all fall damage by teleporting before you hit the ground is a pretty nice bonus although made quite irrelevant by the Bond of Faith.

Outside of portals and the occasional feel like using it moment I don't use this mount much.

 

> Griffon: If you can get to a high place, it's hands down the fastest way to get across a map. Obviously needed for griffon races. It's fairly nimble climbing things but has a very lackluster dismount.

>

I do enjoy precision flying with Griffon, it's a hard mount to perfect and I still screw up a lot XD

Even if Skyscale did manage to negate some elements of this mount I still use it a lot because it's just too much fun.

Flying around DR and dodging bookstalls is still a fun past time.

 

> Rollerbeetle: Obviously land-based speed and racing courses. If the terrain isn't very clear and/or you don't know exactly what route to take it's not the best option because you will be slowed down constantly by hillocks and trees and small rocks and gaps or whatever. The dismount is a novelty, just let's you get one last burst toward the (figurative, now that you can't use it in races) finish line.

>

Probably one of the most fun mounts in the game providing you have a general knowledge of terrain.

It's also the most satisfying mount to ride around on imo.

Learning how and when to drift takes practice and even when you're good at it you'll still screw it up at times but there's nothing more satisfying than going from A to B without screwing up or beating your best time in a race or something.. this mount will definitely make you feel good about yourself when you do that sort of thing.

 

> Skyscale: It's slow and clunky, but since it's basically a more versatile springer + griffon hybrid it tends to get used most often. It's intuitive to control and just gets the job done for a lot of short to medium A to B travel.

>

Agreed, it can however be used a bit like Raptor for precision/acrobatic jumping which does come in handy if you want to avoid being grounded to refil the flight bar.

Timing the dash rolls is much harder than the Raptors jump though and takes practice but you can get some pretty fun feats out of it.

I use Skyscale a lot as a general mount because of it's versatility.. plus it's a dragon XD

 

> Warclaw: Well, it's the only WvW mount, so even though it's been nerfed into being as much fun to drive as a Yugo and half the speed, we're kinda just stuck with it. It does what it does where it does it, monopoly style.

 

It's more of a gimmick in PvE but I do use it on occasion.

I still feel Anet should utalize Warclaw as a first mount/endgame goal for f2p and core accounts by removing the PoF requirement to unlock it.

Imo that would do 3 things for Gw2.

Promote WvW as endgame content and encourage all players to go there and try it by using a gamewide usabale mount as a reward.

Slightly diminish the mobility problems created by PoF mounts.. example, Mountless players being unable to keep up with event chains and squads etc.

Promote PoF and it's superior mounts by giving players a taste of how fun and useful mounts are in Gw2 through the Warclaw.

 

As for the WvW side of things, I still really like the Warclaw.

I've played a lot more WvW since it was added and while I never will regard myself as good at WvW I do feel like the game mode is more enjoyable since it was added.

The mobility access alone helps diminish a lot of that runing around boredom that used to put me off.

There was nothing more annoying than running for several minutes to reach a squad at a far location only to be killed before I get there and have to run all the way back again >.<

Slow.. tedious and very annoying, The Warclaw does help diminish that as well as provides other benefits so yeah i'm very pro Warclaw despite all the hate it gets.

[VladimaBlack.5618]

I'd like to not use as veterans tend to turn their nose up on anyone not using the dragon, even though ill never be able to unlock it.

[SoulGuardian.6203]

Of course.

I use the raptor as often as the other mounts.

Sometimes is more convenient because of its long jumping ability.

I tend to switch mounts all the time.

[Josiah.2967]

One of my least used mounts.

 

For the most part, I only use 3 mounts.

All around mount: Skyscale

Long distant travel: Roller Beetle

Water Travel: Skimmer

 

I rarely use the other mounts. I at least use Jackal when I need to access a portal.

[Super Hayes.6890]

I use it frequently and I have all mounts unlocked. I use it because it looks awesome! Who cares what other players think about my gaming habits!!!

[Cuks.8241]

I use all mounts. Raptor might be less used than most since I prefer Jackal for short distance land travel but I think functionally it is a tie between them and just a thing of flavor (I think Jackal is 10 % faster but Raptor has a bit faster burst of speed and just a little bit more altitude gain). The engage is cool and animations really fluid.

[Cynder.2509]

Thank you all for your elaborating answers. I think the real issue is that I should build more confidence in myself. However it's nice to see that a good portion of the community is different than I actually think it is.

Memo to myself: I definitely should post anything when drunk and having a panic attack.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[AliamRationem.5172]

Yes, I still use the raptor. Why wouldn't I? It still has the best engage attack and is generally the best option over short distances. I don't care about keeping up with the Joneses. All that stuff you're on about seems pretty irrelevant.

[Kaliwenda.3428]

I use the raptor all the time! I love the clip-clop sound it makes and the way it swivels its head around from side to side, it makes it seem really engaged in the world around it. I only have the basic skin for it and I think it's fine.

[Pockethole.5031]

Yeah, I'm shamelessly striding on cosmic raptor skin, magenta-dyed on my mesmer. It's so pink and pretty to look at. I would use other mounts but I'm prioritizing other stuff than story. Also I never have killed Zhaitan in my life, and would like to do the story in order at some point. All in good time.