special access passes, worth it?

[Xoleuph.7014]

are the permanent special access passes ( mistlock sanctuary, royal terrace, captains airship and so on) worth having?

are any of them more useful or in any way better than others?

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

It depends on how much you value convenience. None of them are necessary. They have multiple NPCs inside a small area and portals to the racial cities. The Mistlock one allows users to access the area to craft, visit the Trading Post, merch, etc and return where you came from and is the one I’d recommend for a first purchase.

 

I have 3. The Royal Terrace, my first. The Lily, which came with the PoF expansion, and the Mistlock which I bought for the ability to go to a Pass area and return.

[DawnSketch.7105]

I have Lily which helps me get to Amnoon on alts without having to do the story. otherwise, it's not much help to me.

[Jwake.7013]

It's all about the convenience of having a bunch of stuff right there so you don't have to run around to different locations. I'd say personally, I use my Mistlock Sanctuary Passkey a bunch to hop in and craft then hop back out or grab something from the TP or Bank, etc. I know for Mistlock you can hop out to where you were or any city location for free. The biggest differences are where the passkeys are set in the world. (aside from Mistlock being in the mists and not on Tyria) And also the npc positions in the locations. I don't think any are 'bad' some just more convenient then others depending on what you go there to do. I'd say if you don't mind the waypointing/running around that much when doing crafting or hopping over to a laurel or dungeon vendor.... then may not be worth it for you. If that sounds really great, then I'd say get one.

[Blocki.4931]

Personally I couldn't justify it besides for the kind of prestige attached to them. If I want instant access to bank or TP I just quickly jump into WvW, the crafting doesn't interest me because my character with all my professions sits 24/7 in LA anyway.

[Neutra.6857]

The mistlock has one other advantage if you do fractals, namely they have access to the fractals themselves as well as the fractal vendors.

[Devildoc.6721]

> @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> It depends on how much you value convenience. None of them are necessary. They have multiple NPCs inside a small area and portals to the racial cities. The Mistlock one allows users to access the area to craft, visit the Trading Post, merch, etc and return where you came from and is the one I’d recommend for a first purchase.

>

> I have 3. The Royal Terrace, my first. The Lily, which came with the PoF expansion, and the Mistlock which I bought for the ability to go to a Pass area and return.

 

This is me too. I was at first thinking it's a shame I can't turn my royal terace pass into something useful since it's been replaced .. but I end up using the royal terrace pass to travel as well.

[Dewsitine.3645]

I bought the lily and have used it to travel to and from mainland. Also with the subsequent maps being require a boat to get to with some of them in the starting city is nice if I don't want to spend any money.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Devildoc.6721" said:

> > @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> > It depends on how much you value convenience. None of them are necessary. They have multiple NPCs inside a small area and portals to the racial cities. The Mistlock one allows users to access the area to craft, visit the Trading Post, merch, etc and return where you came from and is the one I’d recommend for a first purchase.

> >

> > I have 3. The Royal Terrace, my first. The Lily, which came with the PoF expansion, and the Mistlock which I bought for the ability to go to a Pass area and return.

>

> This is me too. I was at first thinking it's a shame I can't turn my royal terace pass into something useful since it's been replaced .. but I end up using the royal terrace pass to travel as well.

 

I actually still use the Royal Terrace Pass a lot. Both as a fast travel back to Divinity’s Reach and as a place to park my alts after playing. I still prefer it to Mistlock, which gets used more when I’m going back to the previous map later. The Lily is used mostly to bring alts over to that map without having to do the story. The site itself could be better situated. Off to one side in the water isn’t that convenient.

[Danikat.8537]

I think they're useful, but I'm not sure they're worth 1,000 gems.

 

Which is why the only one I have is the Lily of the Elon pass. I'd already decided I wanted a pass in Elona as a quick way to get down there without paying for a waypoint. But then it was included in the Deluxe and Ultimate packs for HoT which made it an even better deal for me: base PoF is £26. Ultimate is £70 and includes £42.50 worth of gems. I buy gems periodically, so sooner or later I'd spend £42.50 on them anyway. So in my head I can subtract that from the cost of the Ultimate edition, meaning I pay £26 for PoF and just £1.50 for the Deluxe edition items. That's a great deal even if I only use the pass and the character slot.

 

If I'd had to pay 1,000 gems, or £10.60 for it I'm not sure I'd have bought it. It is an easy way to get alts into PoF maps, but so is having a guild with the Vabbian guild hall, or the item you get at the end of the story which teleports you to Vabbi. And for the town functions I think I'd rather just go to the Heart of the Mists/WvW or to Lion's Arch if I need other stuff.

 

But I know other people have the gem store passes and absolutely love them and think they're well worth the money.

[Mea.5491]

Mistlock is totally worth it because you can go back to your previous map and has extra stuff like entrance to Fractals, a special skill to teleport around, etc.

[Haleydawn.3764]

I bided my time and waited for the perfect pass for me, then they released the Mistlock Sanctuary and I had to have it. It has all the merchants/stations, Fractal portal and to return to previous map function, which is what I was waiting for, I bought it as soon as Anet said they’d add this function to it. Absolutely worth 1000 gems for me.

[Hevoskuuri.3891]

Like someone already mentioned, they're not essential, but a great convenience item. I managed just fine for years without one, but at some point all the running between places got tiring. I bought a couple, and couldn't live without them anymore. So it's really up to you. If you can afford it and have no other goals at the moment to save your gold/gems on, go ahead and grab one. You won't regret it, that's for sure.

[Steve The Cynic.3217]

> @"Jwake.7013" said:

> aside from Mistlock being in the mists and not on Tyria

 

If you open the map while you are there, and set the "level" selector to the lowest possible level, you'll see that it's on/above/related to that fuzzy island between Claw Island and Southsun Cove, and you can WP out of it to anywhere(1) in Tyria.

 

(1) Well, no, there are a few Tyrian WPs that aren't accessible, notably the one in the bottom of The Grove.

[Devildoc.6721]

> @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> > @"Devildoc.6721" said:

> > > @"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:

> > > It depends on how much you value convenience. None of them are necessary. They have multiple NPCs inside a small area and portals to the racial cities. The Mistlock one allows users to access the area to craft, visit the Trading Post, merch, etc and return where you came from and is the one I’d recommend for a first purchase.

> > >

> > > I have 3. The Royal Terrace, my first. The Lily, which came with the PoF expansion, and the Mistlock which I bought for the ability to go to a Pass area and return.

> >

> > This is me too. I was at first thinking it's a shame I can't turn my royal terace pass into something useful since it's been replaced .. but I end up using the royal terrace pass to travel as well.

>

> I actually still use the Royal Terrace Pass a lot. Both as a fast travel back to Divinity’s Reach and as a place to park my alts after playing. I still prefer it to Mistlock, which gets used more when I’m going back to the previous map later. The Lily is used mostly to bring alts over to that map without having to do the story. The site itself could be better situated. Off to one side in the water isn’t that convenient.

 

It's a tossup whether I prefer Terrace vs Mislock for crafting/parking alts, Terrace is more convenient for the mystic forge vendor and laurel vendor , but Mistlock has a dungeon vendor and fractal vendors. I tend to use terrace for keyfarming alts who are always human so it's a free fast trip back to DR

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

If you love crafting? Yes. If not? Nope.

[Vash.2386]

I use the Royal Terrace pass the most, it's not over crowded and full of visual spam like Mistlock Sanctuary but it doesn't have the convenience to return back to where you were in the world. If I'm out in the world doing something I just go either PVP lobby or WVW/Obsidian Sanctum to pick up items from the TP or bank. If I need to craft something quick (which really isn't very often) I then use the Mistlock Sanctuary. Captains Airship is also nice and quiet too. But to be honest I rarely use the Mistlock Sanctuary pass.

 

If you have the black lion commemorative sprockets you can buy the the Royal Terrace and Captains Airship for 25 sprockets each.

[Super Hayes.6890]

I got the airship pass with black lion statues if I remember correctly. It was from the black lion chest system regardless. I use it almost everyday for the convenience. Not required but definitely worth it in my opinion.

[Bast.7253]

Mistlock is kind of a must if you do fractals regularly. Everything you need in one area! It’s certainly the most quality for your money as far as passes go.

[Cynn.1659]

You don't really need them, as long as you have infinite salvage kit, you can ignore going to the bank for ages.

[Jahroots.6791]

Mistlock sanctuary is amazing if you do fractals and dungeons daily, especially if you craft.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Blocki.4931" said:

> Personally I couldn't justify it besides for the kind of prestige attached to them.

Prestige? There's no prestige associated with the special access passes.

 

> If I want instant access to bank or TP I just quickly jump into WvW,

That's a relatively new feature and does undermine one of the advantages of these passes.

_adding:_ "relatively new" for obsidian sanctum. Years ago, there were crafting stations in the borderlands, not nearly as convenient.

 

> the crafting doesn't interest me because my character with all my professions sits 24/7 in LA anyway.

Then you've (arguably) spent more than 1000g for the convenience, since three character slots cost a minimum of 1800 gold on sale (or additional crafting licenses is also pricey). Unless you only 'play' two characters, in which case, you don't benefit from the convenience as much as others.

 

Plus, there are other conveniences:

* Mystic Forge

* One click access to all the major cities, fractal lobby, raid lobby.

* Additional vendors, including for fractals, dungeon tokens, activities, etc.

* Additionally, the Lily of Elon pass offers easy first-time access to the Desert zones, without doing story.

* Additionally, the Mistlock Sanctuary itself is a huge amount of fun. The "low gravity" and near-infinite use special access skill are a joy to use.

[Sinful.2165]

I personally have noble’s folly pass and use it several times a day. It’s very convenient. Plus it doesn’t cost anything to use after getting the pass. Often times it is the quickest way to exit a map when there is lots of aggro and I just need a quick breather or bank run before going about my business.

 

It is in my shared inventory slot so all my chars have easy access to all the major cities and I can even exit to verdant brink from there. The area it puts you in is just a short flight to the auric basin portal. Having all the crafting stations in close proximity to the bank and marketplace as well as the mystic forge is pretty nice.

[Dreamy Lu.3865]

Same for me. I have the Noble's Folly one. All my toons are parked there and it would be difficult for me to get back to not having such a "base camp", with everything into it and cost free portaling to anywhere in the world. At the top of it, I really appreciate its location, giving me free access straight into Verdant Brink, and close to Dry Top/Silverwaste. I find that perfect since those locations have no related thingy allowing straight travelling (unless you're guild has Auric Basin GH).

Like Sinful.2165 above, I have it in one of my inventory shared slots.

 

The only weak point for me related to Noble's Folly: It is not an instance, so there is no return back to previous position after we travelled there. But well, it is a minor disturbance since there are other cost free ways to find bank if needed, like PvP lobby or WvW start zone, with return to previous location.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"Blocki.4931" said:

> > If I want instant access to bank or TP I just quickly jump into WvW,

> That's a relatively new feature and does undermine one of the advantages of these passes.

>

Obsidian Sanctum having these features is relatively new yes, but WvW have had bank, TP, vendors etc for as long as I've played (bit under 3 years) if not forever. Home Borderland even used to have crafting stations until june 28 2016.