Which living world chapters are worth getting most?

[Linthenius.3704]

Being an on and off player, typically dropping in for a month or 2 when there is a long drought of games i'm after, I tend to have alot of living world chapters not available since i'm not around for when they are given out for free most of the time.

 

I have both heart of thorns and path of fire. So i'm wondering which chapters are most worth picking in terms of gameplay aditions they add. Not nescesarrily story wise. I know 2 of the path of fire chapters give new mounts that weren't around at launch, which ones give those specifically?

 

Last time I dropped in was just before season 4 chapter 3 dropped, so I have everything up to that point in path of fire. But i'm missing pretty much all heart of thorns chapters except 2 and 5.

 

So if i'm looking for new stuff that will directly enhance gameplay like the above mentioned mounts. Any others I should pick up?

[Ayrilana.1396]

You need all of LS4 for the skyscale mount. Episode 3 has the beetle.

 

LS3 maps are good for ascended trinkets.

[Linthenius.3704]

> @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> You need all of LS4 for the skyscale mount. Episode 3 has the beetle.

>

> LS3 maps are good for ascended trinkets.

 

Guessing that mount is a reward for completing the whole story then? Or is it like the griffon where its just tied to a long and elaborate scavenger hunt that can't be started unless you have the full story?

[Zaraki.5784]

> @"Linthenius.3704" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > You need all of LS4 for the skyscale mount. Episode 3 has the beetle.

> >

> > LS3 maps are good for ascended trinkets.

>

> Guessing that mount is a reward for completing the whole story then? Or is it like the griffon where its just tied to a long and elaborate scavenger hunt that can't be started unless you have the full story?

 

Both.

[Firebeard.1746]

> @"Linthenius.3704" said:

> Being an on and off player, typically dropping in for a month or 2 when there is a long drought of games i'm after, I tend to have alot of living world chapters not available since i'm not around for when they are given out for free most of the time.

>

> I have both heart of thorns and path of fire. So i'm wondering which chapters are most worth picking in terms of gameplay aditions they add. Not nescesarrily story wise. I know 2 of the path of fire chapters give new mounts that weren't around at launch, which ones give those specifically?

>

> Last time I dropped in was just before season 4 chapter 3 dropped, so I have everything up to that point in path of fire. But i'm missing pretty much all heart of thorns chapters except 2 and 5.

>

> So if i'm looking for new stuff that will directly enhance gameplay like the above mentioned mounts. Any others I should pick up?

 

You want all of LWS4 so you can unlock skyscale (and roller beetle too, if you so wish). I haven't done season 2 content yet, but I would recommend it as an easy way to get core tyria masteries if you haven't already. Without season 2, you have to earn an obscene percentage of normal core tyria masteries, which tend to not be easy at all.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

This page will show some of the highlights of each Living World release: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Release

 

Good luck.

[Jojo.6140]

Its a bit hard to recommend specific episodes as i dont know what is fun to you, so i just try to give some details for some of them:

 

- ls3e1 introduced combat skills while gliding, unique to its map Bloodstone Fen

- ls3e3 has the easiest to get ascended trinkets (winterberry farm)

- ls3e4 map feels very close to core Tyria maps.

- ls3e5 map feels very close to HoT maps (very vertical)

- ls4e4 has a new armor set + suns refuge

- ls4e6 map has a dragon stand style meta event that is not on a timer though, similar to SW

 

If you cant get all episodes, I'd go for the remaining ls4 maps. You get suns refuge, a big meta map and access to the skyscale.

[Linthenius.3704]

> @"Jojo.6140" said:

> Its a bit hard to recommend specific episodes as i dont know what is fun to you, so i just try to give some details for some of them:

>

> - ls3e1 introduced combat skills while gliding, unique to its map Bloodstone Fen

> - ls3e3 has the easiest to get ascended trinkets (winterberry farm)

> - ls3e4 map feels very close to core Tyria maps.

> - ls3e5 map feels very close to HoT maps (very vertical)

> - ls4e4 has a new armor set + suns refuge

> - ls4e6 map has a dragon stand style meta event that is not on a timer though, similar to SW

>

> If you cant get all episodes, I'd go for the remaining ls4 maps. You get suns refuge, a big meta map and access to the skyscale.

 

I do plan on getting them all at some point. Just at this moment I only have enough gold that I can convert to buy about 4 chapters.

[Dreamy Lu.3865]

If you can't afford all the episodes, I would recommend you - personal opinion - to go for:

1. LW4 that includes War Eternal (area Dragonfall) => This is the one to obtain skyscale. With volatile magic, you can buy the materials you need from other LW areas.

2. Icebrood saga (area Bjora Marches ) => The local material, eternal ice, is easy to farm and with it, you can buy all the other LW episode materials that you need for the skyscale. Thanks to eternal ice, you then don't need to bother about buying the other LS areas. And you can complete by farming homes of players having the nodes too.

Unfortunately, like said in my correction at the end, you need all other LW4 areas in order to complete the achievement Skyscale Flight. My bad, had forgotten that.

 

Now aside of that, if you can afford more episodes, I would tend to recommend:

3. One Path Ends (area Siren's Landing), because farming nodes, trees, plants, chests (no key needed) and oysters allow for a rapid and safe (enough zone free of foes) very rich farming.

4. A Bug in the System (area Sandswept Isles), for same reason than above, incredibly rich farming of nodes, trees and plants in nearly fully safe zone.

 

Of course, as usual, it's a matter of preferences and also you need to see what suits your needs and way to play best. :)

 

EDITED FOR CORRECTION

I have to apologize: You can't avoid to obtain all the episodes of LW4 to get skyscale, because one of the achievement, skyscale flight, needs you to catch rifts in each of the area.

[Aridon.8362]

Everything except for season 2.

[Dreamy Lu.3865]

For one given LW season, you don't need to buy all episodes. For example, you can buy only One Path Ends out of LW3. Each episode is a standalone.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

You might check the Gem Store for the price on bundles. You may have enough Gold to exchange for the discounted price on one of the bundles. (Cheaper than buying single Episodes from the Hero Panel.)

 

Good luck.

[ShadowCatz.8437]

> @"Linthenius.3704" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > You need all of LS4 for the skyscale mount. Episode 3 has the beetle.

> >

> > LS3 maps are good for ascended trinkets.

>

> Guessing that mount is a reward for completing the whole story then? Or is it like the griffon where its just tied to a long and elaborate scavenger hunt that can't be started unless you have the full story?

 

Mount work as an extension of player character and also have special features that you need in certain maps to access area that you will have trouble or can not reach without mount (Jackal can use Sand portals to access places which is otherwise closed; Beetle can open passage through knocking down special doors etc). Skimmer hover above surface so it work above quicksand (where you would very fast get stuck and die) and water. You swim to surface and then you can summon Skimmer. Springer do a knockdown when you unmount from being in air. Most mount have also a feature (skill) where you can throw yourself in air to get into flight mode (need to press space bar to secure that you wont fall down after the first seconds.

 

It is a long process to fully upgrade Mastery for each one of these mounts and also there is a Mastery for all mounts that give them better skills and improve the way they work. For Griffon which where the last "known" (it was a secrete until it where released) mount at that time you will be able to fly more free in maps where there is no support for Gliding (no wind that blow upwards, so you can glide from each of those like in LW3 (HoT) maps. For Griffon you need to have completed all LW4 stories. There are also environmental damage in some area (Fury of the Brand) which will be easier to handle with Griffon then with Skimmer (the first mount that isn't in contact with ground). Skyscale is a very long road a head to complete. You will manage a lot with only Raptor (gap closer over open gaps), Jackal (portals and teleport in air), Skimmer (water/sink/quick sand - hover so it can be used to avoid Fury of the Brand and that type of environmental damage; do also rez ppl when on unmounting) and Springer (high jump, knock down from unmount in air). Griffon is the last one which you need to finish story in PoF (you will not get special loot that directs you towards unlocking it until then).

 

Skyscale is something that you start with Dragonfall (story) and it continues as you need to collect items and finish achievement for Skyscale. When you are in Dragonfall (as story directs you there) you will also have access to Skyscales that you can borrow after the first achievement are finished. You can dye these Skyscale as you would when you have one later. The problem is that you can not unmount (no picking up loot on ground, gathering from nodes or chest) without having to find a place where you can borrow a fresh Skyscale from its resting place on shelfs or trees (so you need Springer to get up there).

 

The main difference between Griffon and Skyscale is that Skyscale can stand still in air which is needed for some achievement. Griffon is faster as it can fly and get elevation from going forward, but Skyscale need to gradually rest (or later use skills to regain endurance) and avoid to get too close to walls which it will then hug. Both have their uses and take time to learn to control.

 

Here is all Mastery related to mounts and you can look up each mount what you need to unlock them.

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mastery#Mastery_track

 

Also when you buy Gems do it from Gem Store (Black Lion). There you should see each part cost 160 Gold instead of 200 gold (which you would be asked if you use Hero Panel from Story section).

 

Buy those Stories that unlock map for each mounts (up to at least Springer, Jackal can wait a bit as you will have more use of getting up in most maps incl HoT). Don't forget that you can buy Portal Scroll if you plan to farm on a particular map and there is a Tome where collect all Scrolls from LW4. This you can buy at Volatile Magic vendors.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"ShadowCatz.8437" said:

> > @"Linthenius.3704" said:

> > > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > You need all of LS4 for the skyscale mount. Episode 3 has the beetle.

> > >

> > > LS3 maps are good for ascended trinkets.

> >

> > Guessing that mount is a reward for completing the whole story then? Or is it like the griffon where its just tied to a long and elaborate scavenger hunt that can't be started unless you have the full story?

>

> Mount work as an extension of player character and also have special features that you need in certain maps to access area that you will have trouble or can not reach without mount (Jackal can use Sand portals to access places which is otherwise closed; Beetle can open passage through knocking down special doors etc). Skimmer hover above surface so it work above quicksand (where you would very fast get stuck and die) and water. You swim to surface and then you can summon Skimmer. Springer do a knockdown when you unmount from being in air. Most mount have also a feature (skill) where you can throw yourself in air to get into flight mode (need to press space bar to secure that you wont fall down after the first seconds.

>

> It is a long process to fully upgrade Mastery for each one of these mounts and also there is a Mastery for all mounts that give them better skills and improve the way they work. For Griffon which where the last "known" (it was a secrete until it where released) mount at that time you will be able to fly more free in maps where there is no support for Gliding (no wind that blow upwards, so you can glide from each of those like in LW3 (HoT) maps. For Griffon you need to have completed all LW4 stories. There are also environmental damage in some area (Fury of the Brand) which will be easier to handle with Griffon then with Skimmer (the first mount that isn't in contact with ground). Skyscale is a very long road a head to complete. You will manage a lot with only Raptor (gap closer over open gaps), Jackal (portals and teleport in air), Skimmer (water/sink/quick sand - hover so it can be used to avoid Fury of the Brand and that type of environmental damage; do also rez ppl when on unmounting) and Springer (high jump, knock down from unmount in air). Griffon is the last one which you need to finish story in PoF (you will not get special loot that directs you towards unlocking it until then).

>

> Skyscale is something that you start with Dragonfall (story) and it continues as you need to collect items and finish achievement for Skyscale. When you are in Dragonfall (as story directs you there) you will also have access to Skyscales that you can borrow after the first achievement are finished. You can dye these Skyscale as you would when you have one later. The problem is that you can not unmount (no picking up loot on ground, gathering from nodes or chest) without having to find a place where you can borrow a fresh Skyscale from its resting place on shelfs or trees (so you need Springer to get up there).

>

> The main difference between Griffon and Skyscale is that Skyscale can stand still in air which is needed for some achievement. Griffon is faster as it can fly and get elevation from going forward, but Skyscale need to gradually rest (or later use skills to regain endurance) and avoid to get too close to walls which it will then hug. Both have their uses and take time to learn to control.

>

> Here is all Mastery related to mounts and you can look up each mount what you need to unlock them.

>

> https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mastery#Mastery_track

>

> Also when you buy Gems do it from Gem Store (Black Lion). There you should see each part cost 160 Gold instead of 200 gold (which you would be asked if you use Hero Panel from Story section).

>

> Buy those Stories that unlock map for each mounts (up to at least Springer, Jackal can wait a bit as you will have more use of getting up in most maps incl HoT). Don't forget that you can buy Portal Scroll if you plan to farm on a particular map and there is a Tome where collect all Scrolls from LW4. This you can buy at Volatile Magic vendors.

 

You don't need any LW Season 4 maps or Story for the Griffon.

You don't need any LW Season 4 maps or Story for any of the Path of Fire Mounts; not the Jackal, nor Skimmer, nor Springer, nor Raptor.

You do need LW Season 4 for the Skyscale, and one map for the Roller Beetle.

[Cuks.8241]

In general I would say LW4 overall is best, followed by LW3. All chapters also get you new maps. LW2 is just for story instances and some achievements and core mastery points.

For specific lw4 maps/chapters its really what you like. Sandswept isles (A bug in the system) is the best map imo, Dragonfall (War Eternal) and Domain of Istan (Daybreak) have cool metas and are really good farm maps and maps in general, Thunderhead keep (All or nothing) has ok metas and really strong story encouters, Domain of Kourna has a boring map but you can get beetle mount and story is cool also, Jahai Bluffs has a world boss (Shatterer repeated) and a hub instance with a lot of achievements, collections.

Overall I would propose you get all of LW4 if posible and play it through. It's really quality content imo.

 

LW3 my fav is the first map. It doesn't have anything special happening I just like vertical maps and this one is as high as it is wide. Sometimes I just glide around cuz I like it.

 

Based on what you have and if I could only buy one map it would be Dragonfall. The concept is similar to Silverwastes. First everyone does events all over the maps and once you finish those events it goes to the final boss and ends in a champion rush, reset and repeat. Its also a good map for ascended jewelry.

[castlemanic.3198]

If you want to max out core masteries, season 2 is your best bet for a few mastery points.

 

I totally recommend season 3 episode 1 because the ancient magics line eventually has an extra downed skill that goes on all level 80 characters and that's been very useful and super fun to have (I currently don't know if you need to unlock season 3 episode 4 to get that mastery or not).

 

for the skyscale you will unfortunately need every map, but to start you off get season 4 episode 6 to finish the story step to get the skyscale, season 4 episode 4 for the suns refuge bit that'll be required, and episode 1 or 2 of icebrood saga for the eternal ice shards that someone above recommended to get all the items you'll need. the very last step for the skyscale requires all the season 4 episodes so you can delay getting the entirety of season 4 for a while (unless I'm forgetting something).

[Linthenius.3704]

Thanks for the responses. Just went ahead and got the rest of season 4 so I can start working for the other mounts. I will plan on getting the rest of the chapters once I get more gold together though.