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Posted by: AidanTaylor.3872

AidanTaylor.3872

European Community Manager

Flame and Frost: The Razing has been released, and you may be wondering what to do and how to start. We’ve created a small guide to help keep you on the right track.

“Wait, wait! I don’t want spoilers; just point me in the right direction!”

Fair enough! Here’s a spoiler-free mini-guide to our March 26 Living Story release:

  • When you log in to Guild Wars 2, you’ll receive a mail from your race’s iconic character (Logan, Zojja, etc.) with information about the crisis in the foothills of the Shiverpeaks.
  • A World Event UI will appear and should provide you with direction on where to go in order to start playing the new Living Story content.
  • Additionally, if you left-click the Flame and Frost: The Razing World Event UI, your Living Story achievement panel will open, you’ll be able to browse through all of the Living Story achievements.
  • Hover your mouse over any achievement to learn more about where to go and how to complete it.
  • Be aware that some Living Story achievements have prerequisites, and cannot be completed before accomplishing other achievements first.
  • When you venture into Wayfarer Foothills, Diessa Plateau or any of the major cities, keep an eye out for characters or areas with yellow Living Story icons on your map.
  • Speak to these NPCs to learn how you can do your part to fight back against the growing threat of the Molten Alliance.
  • Check in with the heralds – they may have new information for you as well. You’ll find them near the asura gates and next to the entrances of each major city.
    That should get you going in the right direction.

For this update, you’ll meet two new characters, Rox and Braham, and become part of their stories as you help them fight back against the Molten Alliance. Here are a few things about how the content around these characters work:

  • Much like your character’s Personal Story, each Living Story step is designed to be played in order. You must play a character’s beginning story step before you can play the middle story step, and so on.
  • You don’t have to finish one whole story before you can start the other; you can participate in either Rox or Braham’s story at any time.
  • You don’t need to complete any of the previous month’s Living Story achievements to participate in any Flame and Frost: The Razing content. However, that content is all still there if you missed it and want to play it now.

Rox’s Story
The beginning of Rox’s story occurs in the Black Citadel Command Core.

  • If you’ve never been to the Black Citadel, you can travel through any city to Lion’s Arch, and then take the portal guarded by Adamant Guard charr.
  • The closest waypoint to your destination is the Imperator’s Waypoint. Look for the yellow instance entry icon that reads Rox: Critical Mission when you mouse over.
  • When you enter the Command Core and approach Rox and Rytlock, a short scene will play.
  • Talk to Rox afterwards to earn the associated achievement.
  • Rytlock will send you a mail that explains where to go next.

The second half or Rox’s story occurs at the North Nolan Hatchery. It is located just north of the town of Nolan in Diessa Plateau, just outside the Black Citadel.

  • Take the Diessa Gate waypoint and leave the Black Citadel through this portal.
  • If you open your map, there should be another yellow instance entry icon nearby.
  • Enter the instance, approach Rox and have fun!
  • You can complete Rox’s instance for gold and karma once a day.

Braham’s story
Braham’s story begins in Rytlock Brimstone’s office, near the Command Core.

  • The closest waypoint is, again, the Imperator’s Waypoint. The entrance is marked with another yellow instance entry icon; this one reads Braham: Help from the Legions when you hover your mouse over it.
  • When you enter Rytlock’s office and approach Rytlock and Braham, a short scene will play.
  • Talk to Braham afterwards to earn the associated achievement.
  • Rytlock will send you a mail detailing where to head to next.

Part Two takes you to Hoelbrak, specifically Knut Whitebear’s Loft.

  • In Lion’s Arch, the portal to Hoelbrak is being guarded by Wolfborn norn.
  • Once in Hoelbrak, take the Great Lodge waypoint. On your map, you should see another yellow instance entry icon.
  • Enter Knut’s office and watch the short scene.
  • Talk to Braham afterwards to earn the associated achievement.
  • Braham will send you a mail explaining where to go next.

The final part of Braham’s story occurs in Cragstead, a village located in Northern Wayfarer Foothills.

  • Take the Eastern Watchpost Waypoint and exit Hoelbrak through the portal.
  • Head north to the snowy fields of Wayfarer Foothills.
  • In the northeastern section of the zone, near the Dolyak Pass waypoint, the final yellow instance entry icon should be visible. Enter the instance, approach Braham, and have fun!
  • You can complete Braham’s instance for gold and karma once a day.

Spy vs. Spy
In the open world, both the Molten Alliance and the Order of Whispers are employing covert surveillance tactics in an attempt to get the upper hand.

The Molten Alliance has begun monitoring activities in Wayfarer Foothills, Snowden Drifts, Diessa Plateau, the Plains of Ashford, and Iron Marches.

  • In these areas, you may encounter Sonic Periscopes spying on locals (or you).
  • When you are close to a periscope, you will notice a distinct visual effect emanating from you. Additionally, an “Eavesdroppers” debuff will be applied.
  • Destroying a Sonic Periscope will yield an audio log which can be turned in to an Audio Log Collector for karma.
  • You can only receive an audio log from each periscope once per day, but fifty total periscopes can be found across all five areas.

Meanwhile, Agent Brandubh, an Order of Whispers agent, can be found in the Black Citadel near the refugee camp. His partner has infiltrated the Molten Alliance by working undercover, and has been leaving cryptic communiqués at set locations.

  • Interact with Brandubh in the Black Citadel, and he will send you a mail with an Order Crypto-translator as well as locations for all of the “dead drops” his partner has left.
  • As long as you have the Crypto-translator, you will be able to interpret the messages left by Brandubh’s partner.
  • If you lose your Crypto-translator or accidentally delete the mail with the instructions, speak with Brandubh again to receive a replacement.

(edited by AidanTaylor.3872)

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Posted by: Cuchullain.3104

Cuchullain.3104

Can anyone tell me specifically where to find Agent Brandubh in Black Citadel? I checked the refugee camp near the refugee coordinator just north of the Imperator’s Core, but no sign of this guy.

Also, does the Hatchery instance in Diessa Plateau require more than 1 person to do it? It doesn’t say it is a 5 man but I got swarmed by mobs in there including vets and killed repeatedly.

TY

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Posted by: Gregorius.1024

Gregorius.1024

I was able to solo both instances, the Molten Alliance doesn’t play around, you have to constantly move and use AOE. I finished Cragstead with a Necro and the hatchery with a warrior.

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Posted by: FelixYang.6452

FelixYang.6452

Agent Brandubh it’s here!

Attachments:

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Posted by: LucaZ.3825

LucaZ.3825

Is this something that a low level can make use of? Or its just for high lvl ones?!

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Posted by: Catrix.7685

Catrix.7685

Thank you Felix for the pic.

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Posted by: gdamp.3214

gdamp.3214

Is this something that a low level can make use of? Or its just for high lvl ones?!

Yes – you scale to 80

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Posted by: Noralee.6215

Noralee.6215

Is this something that a low level can make use of? Or its just for high lvl ones?!

When I went to do the earlier parts before the final missions it specified that they were for level 80 characters so that might be why some people had a hard time doing these two missions solo if they were using characters that weren’t that high to start with… and if you don’t have any level 80 characters yet yourself then maybe you should group with someone else that has a high level character when you do these missions for best results!

I haven’t gotten around to doing the last part of these missions myself yet… going to do that next.

(edited by Noralee.6215)

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Posted by: kingpuza.4835

kingpuza.4835

I did both solo with a Lvl. 80 Engineer

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Posted by: Anwar.2018

Anwar.2018

Is there any way we could have some indication of content that is NOT hardcore, some level indications, and what casual players who enjoy doable but interesting content can play.

Seems everything is “challenging” (read: hardcore kin only). Been there, done that, nowadays I’d like to solo quest and occasionally join in on bosses and win most of the time…build up some charactors then try to find someone who will let me group with them as I get a reasonably outfitted charactor leveled up.

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Posted by: NSKaneda.1026

NSKaneda.1026

Are we supposed to get some kind of reward on finishing all achievements in Live Story?
Finished mine and nothing…

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Posted by: Mia Lunarfang.5826

Mia Lunarfang.5826

Is there any way we could have some indication of content that is NOT hardcore, some level indications, and what casual players who enjoy doable but interesting content can play.

Seems everything is “challenging” (read: hardcore kin only). Been there, done that, nowadays I’d like to solo quest and occasionally join in on bosses and win most of the time…build up some charactors then try to find someone who will let me group with them as I get a reasonably outfitted charactor leveled up.

These new instances in the living story are NOT ‘hardcore’. I soloed them with my lvl 80 ranger. Don’t have a lvl 80? No problem, it scales you up to lvl 80. Essentially that means if your character is a lvl 5, when you walk into the instance you will become a lvl 80… though, your weapons armor and abilities would still be lvl 5, so probably not a good idea. I suppose you should still be a lvl 30+ before going in… and if its still hard at lvl 30, then bring a party, you should be able to complete the instances with moderate to easy difficulty.

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Posted by: Mia Lunarfang.5826

Mia Lunarfang.5826

Are we supposed to get some kind of reward on finishing all achievements in Live Story?
Finished mine and nothing…

you get rewards for completing many of the individual achievements (the key ones, like completing the instance with Roxy), but not a reward for completing all the achievements… but then, there are still more achievements to be added, when all are added, then perhaps there will be a reward for completing all.

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Posted by: Icy.6709

Icy.6709

Q: I have a question about this patch, mostly dealing with the Fused weapons skins. I was wondering. . .how long do have until those are no longer within the chests?

Asking as I don’t get paid until monday afternoon, in which from what I was told/heard, that’s when the patch will change and some were saying they won’t be obtainable anymore after that.

Thank you in advance!

(edited by Icy.6709)

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Posted by: EdB.2803

EdB.2803

Not at all happy that you now have to be level 80 to get map completion for the Wayfarer Foothills area!!! The new point of interest added in today’s content must be found to complete this supposedly Level 1-15 area.

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Posted by: kiwiburner.2186

kiwiburner.2186

Q: I have a question about this patch, mostly dealing with the Fused weapons skins. I was wondering. . .how long do have until those are no longer within the chests?

Asking as I don’t get paid until monday afternoon, in which from what I was told/heard, that’s when the patch will change and some were saying they won’t be obtainable anymore after that.

Thank you in advance!

Hi Icy, not being mean but if you are living on the bones of your bum atm, blowing your paycheck on BLC keys is probably not a good idea. Opened 11 and got nothing unique to the new patch, last time I buy BLC keys

With that said, whilst there will probably be a new patch adding new content on 1 April (or 31 March) for April Fools, I am sure they won’t remove the fused weapon skins from the chests so quickly. I know this because I am psychic.

“poopsock made it past the filters!” -stinkypants.8419

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Posted by: Rajani Isa.6294

Rajani Isa.6294

Not at all happy that you now have to be level 80 to get map completion for the Wayfarer Foothills area!!! The new point of interest added in today’s content must be found to complete this supposedly Level 1-15 area.

One, this content auto-levels you (side-kicks you up to) 80.

Two, if being at the door doesn’t trigger the POI, go north hugging the mountain to the Warmsprings Grotto – I actually got it there before going in on my not level 80 ranger.

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Posted by: Anwar.2018

Anwar.2018

Is there any way we could have some indication of content that is NOT hardcore, some level indications, and what casual players who enjoy doable but interesting content can play.

Seems everything is “challenging” (read: hardcore kin only). Been there, done that, nowadays I’d like to solo quest and occasionally join in on bosses and win most of the time…build up some charactors then try to find someone who will let me group with them as I get a reasonably outfitted charactor leveled up.

These new instances in the living story are NOT ‘hardcore’. I soloed them with my lvl 80 ranger. Don’t have a lvl 80? No problem, it scales you up to lvl 80. Essentially that means if your character is a lvl 5, when you walk into the instance you will become a lvl 80… though, your weapons armor and abilities would still be lvl 5, so probably not a good idea. I suppose you should still be a lvl 30+ before going in… and if its still hard at lvl 30, then bring a party, you should be able to complete the instances with moderate to easy difficulty.

Bummer to hear that even the living story requires an 80…I’ve got 5 chars one 40, others early 30s. Hehe I can’t do an 80 with a 40, I have to work hard doing the personal stories sometimes. Game seems to be getting harder, I seem to have to run away more often, seem to limp a lot, and seem to move slower overall.

Old age sucks.

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Posted by: Mashedpotato.3126

Mashedpotato.3126

Just finished both of these quests solo on my lvl 60 Ele. I haven’t played for awhile, so I was a bit rusty. You do get auto-leveled to 80 to do the quests, although it might help people if there was some visual queue that you’re temporarily bumped up for these quests, which both take place in instances.

As mentioned, they will kick your butt as these guys don’t play, and I died a few times and had quite the repair bill later on. There is money as part of the reward, but if you faceplant as I did, it may be better to rope a friend in to help. Some of the fights are pretty hairy if you’re solo. You don’t need a party, even one friend will probably be enough, but hey, the more the merrier. Rox and Braham are pretty tough and take a lot of abuse, but they can die if you’re not careful.

Other than that, enjoy. I didn’t realize these were repeatable, so maybe I’ll take a day of rest and try it again.

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Posted by: OutOfMyMind.9613

OutOfMyMind.9613

Just wondering what form of karma you get for the audio logs. I turned in 3 of these and did not notice any form of karma being given. Is it karma going directly to your toon or an item that gives karma when used?

I figured out the answer by myself. You get 100 karma going direct to the toon. Since the logs are soulbound that means that each of your toons could get 5000 karma a day if they found all 50 periscopes.

(edited by OutOfMyMind.9613)

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Posted by: DietPepsi.4371

DietPepsi.4371

I did them solo as a Marksman [warrior]. The environments weren’t very marksman friendly though; not much cover. (I’m not complaining though)

You stand to benefit more from making friends than making enemies.

Also I hate my user ID.

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Posted by: quirkyhndl.2043

quirkyhndl.2043

I just soloed the first two with my lvl 14 guardian. So if you can’t solo, you might want to find some tips on how to play your class.

My question is, will it make much of a difference to do this with alts as well? Is there a major reward at the end or is it mostly just for the story?

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Posted by: bish.8947

bish.8947

I gotta say – while running around gathering the Dead Drops for the Whispers agent, I loved running into related events. Felt very cohesive. Nice job, Anet.


that blurb about food in one of them?

A hoot!

Team ¡Mela-NO-MAS! | Dice & Decks

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Posted by: Dukemarz.1309

Dukemarz.1309

Is there any way to get to the warmspring grotto point of interest or skill point without doing the Cragstead instances? (Assuming you can do them when you do the instances.) My other characters were able to pick these up before the razing superimposed Cragstead over the NE corner of Wayfarer Foothills.

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Posted by: Will Dissolver.5941

Will Dissolver.5941

Easily soloed both instances with my Necro. Granted, these guys are not a cakewalk, but…

…Wait, yes they are. They’re ALL glass cannons; they do high damage, but they go down very easily. Bring high-damage AoE or pets / minions / turrets / blocking skills to soak some of the damage, and some form of stability to deal with the (very, very frequent) knockdowns, and these guys are very easy.

As I said, I ran both instances solo, using heavy life drain and vampiric wells, no minions. Just AoE and lifesteals.

I am a VERY casual player, since I only get to do more than minimal dailies on my days off – full time job, wife, kid, that – and I had no trouble with this content at all. Seriously, learn to dodge. You can even hotkey it.

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Posted by: AutumnWind.7689

AutumnWind.7689

Dukemarz, I assume getting those two (the skill challenge and the Warmspring POI) have not changed by Cragstead. Not saying why to not make any spoilers for those who want to explore their way to them, but if you’ve done them before, you might remember why.

The new POI (Rugnar’s Steading) is also achievable without doing the instance.

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Posted by: Stonecrusher.8527

Stonecrusher.8527

Just finished both instances on my level 31 warrior. I did die quite a few times, but it was certainly doable.

Some tips for soloing it:

1) When you initially pull a group, run back a bit before you engage. That way if your companion (Rox or Bra) goes down, you can run off the mobs and rez them before you re-engage.

2) Focus on one mob at a time, whichever your companion is hitting or weaker ones first. That way the group will be smaller next time, if you need to break combat and rez your companion. This will also equal less DPS from the mob group as whole.

3) Stay near your companion. Both of them have aoe healing skills that you can benefit from. Just the same they will benefit from any of yours.

4) When you defeat a group, run away so you and your companion are fully healed before the next group aggros.

5) If you do get into a situation where you can’t break aggro to rez your companion, rez them a little bit at a time, break aggro, rez a bit more, break aggro, rez a bit more, break aggro, etc. When they are a hair from recovering, break aggro, regain full health, make sure all pre-combat skills/timers are up, and run in and finish rezzing your companion, this works particularly well with Bra.

6) Teach them who’s boss!

(edited by Stonecrusher.8527)

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Posted by: Vulpis.8063

Vulpis.8063

Just a note here—I ran both instances with my ~40 thief (at a disadvantage at that, since my skill selection doesn’t have any AoEs…I tend to be a single-target sort of guy, apparently) and managed them with effort. You just have to not get frustrated when you go down (and not get too mad at the final repair bill—I had 2 items broken, and all of the rest damaged when doing Cragstead), and just keep getting back up and getting back into the fight as quickly as possible. Also, as has been mentioned, hang back and pull small chunks at a time, rather than running in like Leroy. :-)

That said, my favorite part of the instances—Rox and the baby devourer. :-)

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Posted by: Wizler.8192

Wizler.8192

Thank you for this guide and thank you (the whole GW2 team) for making it easier to know where to go in-game!

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Posted by: Dukemarz.1309

Dukemarz.1309

Dukemarz, I assume getting those two (the skill challenge and the Warmspring POI) have not changed by Cragstead. Not saying why to not make any spoilers for those who want to explore their way to them, but if you’ve done them before, you might remember why.

The new POI (Rugnar’s Steading) is also achievable without doing the instance.

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Posted by: Dukemarz.1309

Dukemarz.1309

I have completed the Cragstead instance, but the skill point and POI were not in it or available through it. When I tried to get to the points afterwards, I get an NPC who wants to let me recap the instance. So how do I get to them? Do I have to complete the razing? I hesitate to do this, and find out it still doesn’t provide the points, as I am a low level character who just wants to get this zone done.

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Posted by: Stonecrusher.8527

Stonecrusher.8527

To get to the skill challenge and the poi read the following:

No you don’t have to go through Cragstead at all for them. They are actually located in a cave below Cragstead. You access them by exploring the west wall of Cragstead, from outside. There will be a cave that will let you in. This is the same place that existed before the Razing was released.

-Cheers

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Posted by: tomaxamot.2683

tomaxamot.2683

Braham is a horrible npc he keeps running into the mob n dying, doesnt know the meaning of ‘pulling’ n also not hitting the same mob i m hitting is there a way to call the targets so the npc attack the same target you are attacking like in GW1?
And what’s up with the range of the final boss in Cragstead? it has super long range,longer than a bow or rifle, n it jumps around while interrupts u while throwing those splitting flaming tornados make it slightly easier Anet

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Posted by: Silfver.6198

Silfver.6198

I don’t get why ppl fail at this event. It is very easy to solo. (to easy I think). Just make sure to plan your healing and AOE well.

If you still cant make it I say its not the game thats the problem

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Posted by: Otakore.9045

Otakore.9045

Hello, I have a question about Fused Gauntlet ticket. We can only receive it one-time only after achievement completion? And we will not ever to receive it if we happen to enter and finish the Molten Alliance dungeon? Yes?

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Posted by: Asahi.5380

Asahi.5380

Braham is a horrible npc he keeps running into the mob n dying, doesnt know the meaning of ‘pulling’ n also not hitting the same mob i m hitting is there a way to call the targets so the npc attack the same target you are attacking like in GW1?
And what’s up with the range of the final boss in Cragstead? it has super long range,longer than a bow or rifle, n it jumps around while interrupts u while throwing those splitting flaming tornados make it slightly easier Anet

I agree! I completed the Rox story , but the Crastead it’s so hard!