Guild Wars 2

Are there ever any breadcrumbs leading a player to a dungeon? An in-game mail from an NPC requesting your help, for example, or a storyline quest that has a stage in a dungeon?

Or are dungeons just something players are supposed to stumble upon on their own and then participate in “just ’cause”.?

I know that the first time you play through a dungeon, you’re participating in the dungeon’s story-mode. I’m just wondering if (example) anyone ever tells you to go to Ascalon Catacombs, or if you’re just supposed to know (through word of mouth) to go their on your own at level 30.

When you hit the level req for the dungeon, you get an mail with an invitation.

It can’t be the level requirement as I’ve gone well beyond that. Maybe it’s tied to personal story progression (which I have not kept up to my level)?

I believe it may be a combination.

I think I got the AC mail at level 20 something on my ranger. But I remember distinctly getting mail for certain dungeons outside of my personal story.

You receive a mail when you pass the level needed for a dungeon story mode. So when you’re 30 40 etc you’re invited to do it. When finish, if you try to go inside in explorable mode, you can see what is the minimum level required (which will be the level you will be downed, if your character is higher).

Perhaps a combination of personal story progression + character level as Zenyatoo suggested above then. Because I’ve never received an email at the appropriate levels, but then again my personal story quests are usually lagging behind my actual level by 5-10 levels.

No it’s only your level. I wanted to do my personal story all at once and stopped doing it around level 30. I always got the mail. Maybe your mailbox is full?

Here’s an example. Three of my characters are ~40 and none of them have ever received an email instructing them to go to the Ascalon Catacombs (and, no, my email box is never full). None of them, however, have their personal story above 20 (mainly because I’ve been waiting for them to fix a nasty bug involving groups and personal storylines, but that’s completely unrelated except to explain why my personal stories are lagging behind).

Maybe the fact that you’ve gotten your personal story to ~30 is part of the requirement. Maybe you just have to reach the part where you’ve completed your racial personal storylines and are now on the shared storylines involving Destiny’s Edge (which would make sense since the dungeons involve the members of Destiny’s Edge), which is something that happens ~30.

I left my personal story alone. I leveled to 70 before starting it.

But I got a letter at levels 30, 40, 50, etc. (or 35, 45, 55, etc. I forget) by “Your Herald” telling me of the dungeons. The letter is trigger by level only. Maybe you deleted them by mistake/oversight when deleting the Heart letters?

The other thing is, your Personal Story will also tell you about the Dungeons. Sometimes implicitly, and sometimes explicitly. This is triggered when you are going through the story.

Sometimes, you get multiple letters. It’s like “we know you been ignoring this place, so here are more hints to get over there.”

You’re talking about letters like this (taken from the wiki):

“Your Herald

An Invitation to Caudecus’s Manor

Hail, mighty hero!

I hope that you are well! The neighborhood is buzzing with excitement about you! I’ve had word that there will be a party celebrating the charr/human peace negotiations in Queensdale. The reception will be at the Manor of Lord Caudecus, overlooking the shire of Beetletun, and will be attended by diplomats from all the major races. Captain Logan Thackeray is concerned for the safety of Queen Jennah, will be attending, and will need support. A hero of your merit should attend the soiree and offer what help you can.

—Thanks, Your Herald

PS – We understand that Zojja will be attending as well as part of the asura delegation, but we don’t know why. She is always a wild card, so be cautious."

I haven’t received anything like that except for one letter from the “Herald” at level 25, titled “An Introduction”, and it went like this:

“Greetings,

We have not met, but I have long been a follower of your exploits. I am a collector of tales of great daring and heroism, and your name has come up increasingly in the stories that have been reported to me. I’ve spoken with your mentor, and the suggestion was made that I contact you and add your stories to my collection.

Your mentor was a member of an adventuring group known as Destiny’s Edge. They were legendary heroes, but went their separate ways about five years ago, for reasons I have yet to discover – none have chosen to share that story with me. If you discover the nature of their separation, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you for your help in this, and I will get in contact with you in the future, and hope to keep you in touch with the whereabouts of your mentor and other members of Destiny’s Edge.

Through this I will remain,

Your Herald"

Yeah, I haven’t received any further emails from the Herald since level 25, and that email obviously doesn’t point you towards Ascalon Catacombs. It seems more like a “prepare to get more emails from me (regarding dungeons)” type email. But, as I said, they never came. And, despite being more than high enough level to do these dungeons (as I mentioned earlier) my personal storyline mission is only ~20 and I suspect that’s why.

I still have the above email in my mailbox. I don’t delete mail from NPCs (although they do self-delete over time). However, that’s obviously the first email from the Herald and I still have that one sitting in my box, so that’s not the case here.

You mentioned that you didn’t touch your storyline mission until you were level 70, but still received the emails, so I don’t know what the deal is there. I’ll be catching my story missions up to my level over the next few days and will keep an eye on my email box to see if an invitation to Ascalon Catacombs pops in after a specific step.

I just wanted to update this thread with the correct answer. Also, spoiler warnings from here forward.

My friends and I all had level 39 characters who had not received any sort of in-game email or quest directing us to the first dungeon available at level 30, Ascalon Catacombs. However, our storyline missions were only progressed to around level 20.

Once we reached the level 30/31 (depends on your choice of Order) personal storyline mission where you choose an order, AND witness the failed reunion of Destiny’s Edge at Lion’s Arch, AND then meet with your order leader, you receive an in-game mail from your Herald which informs you about events that are taking place between Eir and Rytlock at Ascalon Catacombs, with a button in the email to show you the location of the dungeon on the map.

Our characters were level 39 at this point (which is above the level 30 requirement for Ascalon Catacombs), but it makes sense that the email is withheld until your personal storyline proceeds to the level 30/31 range because at the failed reunion of Destiny’s Edge in Lion’s Arch (which you witness) Eir has an idea regarding how to patch things up between Rytlock and Logan. This is what sends her to Ascalon Catacombs, and this is why you’re not informed of her trip there until this particular point.

So, long story short, you will not receive an official invitation to the level 30 Ascalon Catacombs dungeon until you’ve progressed your storyline past the level 30/31 mission where you witness the Destiny’s Edge reunion and finish introducing yourself to the leader of your chosen order. Whether character level also restricts the receipt of this particular email at all, I’m not sure. But I do know for certain that you do not receive it until your storyline has progressed beyond a certain point.

The response from Edge is correct I believe. I have run CoE many times but my story was only lvl 64 or so. I did some story line with a friend today and both of us received mails saying that we should try CoE. I remember specifically because we chuckled in our mostly complete sets of CoE armor.

Just wanted to add that the email notification for the level 40 dungeon, Caudecus’s Manor, triggers when you reach level 40 with your character, regardless of whether you’ve even started your personal storyline or not. So, while the level 30 dungeon notification is triggered by your storyline progression, the level 40 dungeon notification is triggered solely by your character level.

This might help explain why there is some confusion regarding what exactly triggers the emails.