Guild Wars 2

After reading the other thread, and seeing how many of us disagree on our least favorite maps (besides most people including TD and a few others in there), it made me wonder which maps we DO like the most (and why).

Let’s go with 2 categories: 1) Top 5 maps in the game that we love the most for purely the overall look. 2) Top 5 maps in the game that have the general gameplay we enjoy the most. Also please explain why of course.

My top 5 most beautiful maps:
1. Caledon Forest (amazingly beautiful map)
2. Desert Borderlands (the map is just plain awesome)
3. Timberline Falls (Love the way it looks)
4. Snowden Drifts (I am a snow person)
5. Auric Basin (it’s pretty beautiful and chill)
Honorable mention: Silverwastes, Hoelbrak and Fireheart Rise.

Top 5 maps to play in:
1. Tangled Depths ( I LOVE me some chak, and love the way the map looks. The events are fun, fairly quick and the map is just overall rewarding. My favorite meta event too.)
2. Cursed Shore (The events in this map are full of zombie waves that drop good loot. Best events in Tyria by far.)
3. Silverwastes (gold gold gold. I love the desert style map, the mobs, and the forts. Also the jumping puzzle is nice and peaceful if you’re in the mood for it.)
4. Verdant Brink (Good events, rewarding map to play in, fun to explore, best HoT map for overall gathering)
5. Auric Basin (Beautiful and chill map, quick HP runs, fun events, rewarding meta, good for gathering.) Only bad thing about the map is the meta event can be a pain in the @$$ for reasons such as: 1. When you need to get into tyria for story instance or for any other reason. 2. When you want to do the meta and most people are doing HP’s. 3. When you only came for the HP’s and most people are doing meta.

My favorite will always be queensdale just because it was the first map I ever explored and had such a fun time with it and the game with my first login

Silverwastes is my second because it had the most fun meta event in my opinion and always had something going on. Plus I loved how it was player driven and not based on a timer like all the hot maps

Draconis Mons (for it’s originality)
Verdant Brink (the best of the HoT vertical zones imo)
Frostgorge (the most varied vanilla map)
Silverwastes (it’s fun to mess around in)
Queensdale (the best starter map imo and my first map)
Lake Doric (whilst small and bland in places, its story and warzone feel are second to none)

Honorary mention to Ember Bay – a beautiful, atmospheric map, let down by poor events and bosses, slightly overtuned Jade mobs and probably the worst designed JP conceivable.

Also to Southson which has all the recipes for a top notch map, except an actual reason to go there..

To be honest, I like almost all the maps except most of the Ascalonian ones (which are terribly dull imo) and the truly awful Straits of Devastation. Anet are generally very good at map design and using a map to tell a story (Fields of Ruin being an excellent example of map storytelling).

For the record, I have no major issue with Tangled Depths, it really does need a clearer mini map though

Ahh crap, I forgot about SW (one of my favorite maps).

inserts it into number 3 in my fav maps to play in, and pushes Fireheart Rise out

Cursed Shore is my favorite by far.

WvW Alpine Borderlands.

Silverwastes is very fun.

I like most of the non HoT maps really, but those three stand out to me.

For looks:

1. Frostgorge Sound – The scenery is beautiful. It’s not my favorite map to play through, but I love looking at it when I’m there.
2. The Grove – This is just a beautiful setting, especially at night when you can see the stars.
3. Auric Basin – The jungle sections are beautiful, the waterfall area is one of my favorite places in the game, and Tarir is just gorgeous.
4. Kessex Hills – Despite the blast zone around the destroyed Tower of Nightmares, I still think Kessex Hills is one of the most beautiful zones. Plus, floating tower of mystery is mysterious and neat.
5. Divinity’s Reach – I love the bustling city atmosphere. Plus, it’s a beautiful city, which gives it double bonus points.

Favorites to play through:

1. Cursed Shore – I’ve always liked playing in CS a lot. Lots of fun lore bits to seek out, tons of events, and good for farming certain mats/items.
2. Silverwastes – Again, good farming, but the events area also entertaining and engaging enough that I don’t get bored easily.
3. Straits of Devastation – I have a soft spot for Straits because of the old, old, old karma train. Events are plentiful, and the loot isn’t bad, either.
4. Draconis Mons – I love playing in this map. Spiderman fun times, GW1 tie-ins and lore, and a few fun events.
5. Brisban Wildlands – I love Skrittsburgh. The end.

Queensdale, for my favorite leveling map for new chars followed by Wayfarer Foothills.
Harathi Hinterlands, for the long events chain leading up to a meta boss.
Auric Basin, has my vote for most beautiful map.
Draconis Mons, for the Oakheart mastery (and I hope that this mastery will be in the next expansion maps).

RoseofGilead.8907:

For looks:

1. Frostgorge Sound – The scenery is beautiful. It’s not my favorite map to play through, but I love looking at it when I’m there.
2. The Grove – This is just a beautiful setting, especially at night when you can see the stars.
3. Auric Basin – The jungle sections are beautiful, the waterfall area is one of my favorite places in the game, and Tarir is just gorgeous.
4. Kessex Hills – Despite the blast zone around the destroyed Tower of Nightmares, I still think Kessex Hills is one of the most beautiful zones. Plus, floating tower of mystery is mysterious and neat.
5. Divinity’s Reach – I love the bustling city atmosphere. Plus, it’s a beautiful city, which gives it double bonus points.

Favorites to play through:

1. Cursed Shore – I’ve always liked playing in CS a lot. Lots of fun lore bits to seek out, tons of events, and good for farming certain mats/items.
2. Silverwastes – Again, good farming, but the events area also entertaining and engaging enough that I don’t get bored easily.
3. Straits of Devastation – I have a soft spot for Straits because of the old, old, old karma train. Events are plentiful, and the loot isn’t bad, either.
4. Draconis Mons – I love playing in this map. Spiderman fun times, GW1 tie-ins and lore, and a few fun events.
5. Brisban Wildlands – I love Skrittsburgh. The end.

Thank you for reminding me…Divinity’s Reach is outstanding. I would love some more urban content, set in DR.

all map that doesn’t have wrecked at it

Pretty maps / favorites to explore: Timberline Falls, Lornar’s Pass, Caledon Forest, Blazeridge Steppes. Favorites to play: Silverwastes, HoT maps.

Tangled Depths
Draconis Mons
VB
AB
DS

Its only fair to say that, though I dont enjoy navigating them, the HoT maps are stunning to look at. VB and AB are truly gorgeous.

Aesthetics:

1. Timberline Falls
2. Frostgorge Sound
3. Divinity’s Reach
4. Malchor’s Leap
5. Mount Maelstrom

Gameplay:

1. Bloodstone Fen
2. Verdant Brink
3. Cursed Shore

Only listing three for gameplay. There are far too many other maps that would be tied with a “not bad but not that memorable” tag. Then there are the ones that I’d put in the other thread the OP referred to.

Aesthetics:
Labyrinthine Cliffs (one of those maps to just stop and look around)
Draconic Mons (such a high level of detail)
Divinity’s Reach (immersive atmosphere)
Auric Basin (beautiful and varied)
Frostgorge Sound (arctic beauty)

Gameplay:
Ember Bay (can drop in for an event any time)
The Silverwastes (the map is a miniature game unto itself)
Draconic Mons (events or meta, you can do either)
Bloodstone Fen (high mobility)
Edge of the Mists (got me to somewhat enjoy WvW)

Tangled Depths is my favorite HoT map. Since that map actually comes the closest to feeling like a multi-layered map. It is the best exploration map in this game. The split meta actually is actually worth doing. The pre-meta to the Chak Gerent actually is short and satisfying to do for all four areas. Which leaves you time to explore and do alternative tasks in the map. The Chak Gerent meta is fun to engage in. Unlike Auric Basin’s Octovine event which feels like the developers ran out of time to put together that in the last minute (the poor man’s version of the Vinewrath). Also the reward system in this map does not feel completely out of whack. Key’s are not dropping by the bucket load next to how little chests appear after clearing an area (again looking at you Auric Basin pylon meta events). I absolutely enjoy the Chak and the overall lore for this map. Verdant Brink would come in as a close second. However the beginning of the night time defense meta is too chaotic and drags for a bit by keeping you within one area.

Vanilla map wise: It’s hard to pick just one map. Since they all of have their pros and cons. However none of them feel horrible except maybe one in the back of my mind. Snowden Drifts. Or what I would call the poor man’s Frostgorge Sound. The biggest offender being the majority of the hearts are “kill this many things to progress.” Especially the one to the top left hand side of the map called “Help the Serph outrider camp.” Which need you to kill certain enemies that spawn very little in that area, and have no other events to help it move along faster. Every other map has a good amount of variety in it’s heart quests or skill points. Even Lonar’s Pass and Dredgehaunt Cliffs does not make this mistake all the time. The other thing is most of the maps have some really great overarching theme’s going on. Plus there are certain dynamic events that have some fantastic character development in them. It’s probably why I like when the asura and charr team up reluctantly. They always feel like they are the perfect foil to each other.

So many great maps to choose from,

So top 5 for visuals.

1) Queensdale – I just love the look of this map! The scenery is stunning, the small towns are great, and seeing DR from the outside is a great sight too.

2) Caledon Forest – Again great scenery, and the floating spiral JP is a quite impressive structure with all the floating rocks.

3) Divinitys Reach – My favourite city with lots of interesting things to look at in it. Love the pavilion area, especially during festivals.

4) Metrica Province – The Asura stuff around the map looks cool, also like the general terrain.

5) Lornar’s Pass – The snow and mountains are great.

Now to play in;

1) Dragons Stand – I enjoy the meta, lots of action & combat
2) The Silverwastes – Again I enjoy the meta, no idea how people enjoy CF runs though, tried one once & was braindead after 10 minutes!
3) Auric Basin – Still something fun about Octovine, also the map looks great
4) Verdant Brink – I didn’t enjoy it at first, but now I enjoy the meta and night bosses.
5) Draconis Mons – Will never understand what all the fuss is about layered maps, especially this one, with the thermal tubes & gliding it’s easy to get around, there’s a lot of events, and Oakheart’s Reach + gliding = fun.

Visually The Grove, Rata Sum & Hoelbrak get honourable mentions. And gameplay wise Ember Bay for the frequency of events, though I’m not a fan of the fire maps visually.

Desert Borderlands

Surprised the Super Adventure Box maps aren’t in one thread or the other. 0.o

For looks, I find the new map, Draconis Mons, really nice with the update to the way the graphics are displayed. Might be because I have an older computer. I hope they use these new graphics on all forthcoming maps.

1. Draconis Mons – Spiderman. Also the way all the natural elements mesh together is profound.

2. Silverwastes – Beautiful scenery accompanied by adventurous/melancholic/mysterious soundtracks.

3. Dry Top – same as the top comment, the mechanics of this map used to bother me but I’ve grown to like them.

4. Glint’s Lair – everytime I go here my jaw just drops. If I recall, I spent about 5 minutes total just admiring the scenery.

5. Auric Basin – has the good stuff from Tangled Depths / Verdant Brink (the detail) and a lot less of the bad stuff (maze-like traveling).

In no particular order: Frostgorge Sound, Snowden Drifts, Wayfarer Foothills, Dredgehaunt Cliffs and Lornar’s Pass. Sneaky extra in Timberline Falls. All the snow, (most of) all the time!

Best of bunch for art: Snowden Drifts, because there are points, when running across the map, where the sun is perfectly hazy, which causes a "Somewhere in My Memory" response in me. The simple effect makes me so happy. It’s beautiful.

Best for personal challenge and core game self-fulfillment: Dredgehaunt Cliffs. This may not make sense to a lot of you, but as someone who sucks at JPs, the Tribulation Rift scaffold vista used to be the stuff of nightmares for me. Now, having completed it so many times, it’s something I just run to and bounce up. Love it. Also, got over a few JP woes doing the caverns following the vista. The Vista in Dostoev Sky Peak also gave me the jitters, but now I cheerfully fight my way up completing the heart as I go, so not too fast, not too slow, and it works for me nicely.

All of the HoTs maps in both categories. Stunning features with plenty of diversity coupled with a fantastic approach to vertical traversal. Here’s hoping the new expac’s maps are even more challenging!

I don’t have HoT or haven’t played in a while so I don’t know new ones. I love them all but the Orr maps. One thing that is absolutely love about GW2 is the maps, the different areas from snow to normal woods to jungle.

Going to be fun the see if and how they add the desolation maps in the next expansions, I think those were amongst the most hated maps in gw1 =)

1. Auric Basin – by far the best of the HoT maps, without the kitten elements TD has.
2. Cursed Shore – optically not that impressive, but the gameplay and flow of the map are great.
3. Malchor’s Leap – similar to CS.
4. Divinity’s Reach – beautiful and one of the best MMO cities I’ve seen so far. I remember when I first went there during the beta weekends. I was absolutely impressed, especially because I had to compare it to WoW’s Stormwind and DR was just so much better in every aspect.
5. Gendarran Fields – dunno why exactly, but I just like it.

So as I posted on which maps I think are the worst, let’s post here as well:

1. Verdant Brink. I love it. It’s the best of the entire game for me. Both in terms of aesthetics, gameplay and challenge to navigate. I love the day-night cycle. I love all the sneaky routs to go through, I love all these ancient ruins, plants, mobs. Crashed air vehicles. Meta. Music. I feel like it’s most polished map of the entire expansion. Like seriously, I love it.

2. Bitterfrost Frontier. Okay, I will be in a very small minority of people who like it. It’s my favourite of LS3. And I do hope for a better snowy map for LS3E6. Overall I love snow-themed maps. This one seems to deliver several different things (frozen lake, caves, forest) in terms of winter maps. It does it quite well, despite it’s well known problems.

3. Bloodstone Fen. A well packed small map with avesome theme and great mastery. It was soo good for start of LS3.

4. Auric Basin. It’s very well balanced in terms of jungle + beauty of Tarir and it’s great meta.

5. Wayfarer Foothills. Cus I love wintery maps and this one is great, also as a starting zone.

Honourable mention – as well as in the worst maps – is the Desert Borderlands. I hate it cus it’s in WVW and it could be soo good in PVE, especially when WVWes hate it. And I love it cus it’s so kitteny beautiful.

Well I like

1. Tangled Depths because I can get lost in it
2. The grove (& caledon forest) for their peacefull and beautiful nature
3. Lake Doric mostly because of the beautiful caves, I like the better part of it
4. Draconis Mons. It’s epic. I hope to see more of the travel ability in the future. Also a lot of caves, ridges and hidden area’s
5. Verdant brink due to its epic open-ess… I love to glide outside of night time…

Verdant Brink
Tangled Depths
Draconis Mons

These are my three favorites in that order.

Desert Borderlands is the most well done map in the game, it just doesn’t ever get seen because it’s wvw and not pve.

All of the heart of thorns maps for their size and complexity. Not big on verdant brink though.

Bitterfrost because it has some really nice assets like the trees and the hot spring.
Draconis mons.

All of the raid wings – just wish they had an explorable mode.

Favorite vanilla maps are the Orr locations for their rich history and immersive experiences, Lornars pass for it’s relaxing scenery, and mount maelstrom for its variation and the awesome jumping puzzle area.

Actually I might have been thinking of timberline falls, not lornars.

I love the look and feel of the core Tyria maps and feel a few have room for additions and improvements not likely to happen at this point. Specifically, I like Cursed Shore and Diessa Plateau for their increased event activity, as well as Wayfarer Foothills.

After awhile the Hot maps became more enjoyable once I could recognize and use the different forms of travel possible, NOT before though, and still not a favorite there.

My least favorite maps are the two that were changed, Lions Arch and Kessex Hills.

The right combination of fun, activity, mobility, beauty, challenge and reward is hard to attain but totally worth the effort.

My favorite maps:
1. Original Alpine borderlands with the lake (WvWvW, no longer available)
2. Eternal Battlegrounds (WvWvW)
3. Natural looking original pve maps such as Timberline Falls, Queensdale, Harathi Hinterlands etc.
4. Cursed Shore (best level 80 pve map)
5. Battle of Kyhlo (spvp)

Original Lions arch was also cool, but the revamped one is very much meh (over design, just like all the new maps, which I am going to use as examples in my game design lessons how not to make maps).

Since I contributed to the other thread also.. i really like plains, snow and orr zones.

1. auric basin
2. gendarren fields
3. wayfarer foothills
4. malchors leap
5. silverwastes

Any map not designed by the HoT team.

Well, I might as well show some love for maps that aren’t universally loved!

Top 5 favorite maps:

1. Tangled Depths
2. Verdant Brink
3. Auric Basin
4. Bloodstone Fen
5. Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Because there’s more than a few maps I like, I won’t double up the lists even though I’d normally include some on both.

Aesthetic top 5:
Desert Borderlands – I love the vastness and diversity of landscapes here.
Ember Bay – the desolation of volcanic landscapes appeals to me, even if the basalt lattices are unrealistic
Auric Basin – particularly happy about the implementation of the Falls
Timberline Falls
Mount Maelstrom

Gameplay top 5:
Silverwastes – although underpopulated nowadays, it’s one of the few PvE maps where you can meaningfully take and hold land, and unlike Dragon’s Stand it’s less linear and you aren’t wasting your time if you’re on the “wrong” map
Dry Top – I enjoy all the nooks and crannies, and it’s not as easy to get lost as Tangled Depths. Lots of map knowledge needed to get T6.
Blazeridge Steppes – one of the few hinterlands where you can go in almost any direction for as long as you want up to the map boundary, so it’s great to wander around
Lake Doric – lots of completely different things to do, and the inclusion of villages makes the map much more alive than the other LS episodes so far
Eternal Battlegrounds – the only WvW map that’s really been designed in such a way that the three sides are roughly equal, making it easy to compete but very hard to dominate.

I can’t sort my thoughts like that, so general favorites.

1. Verdant Brink. Welcome to the jungle! Looks great, plays well. It makes good use of the mastery system for mobility, while also having a clear, mostly-straightforward layout. Its vertical elements work really well, as well.
2. Plains of Ashford, for the same reason most people seem to like Queensdale. First impressions and all that.
3. Timberline Falls. Beautiful map, and loaded with platinum and T4 materials.
4. Desert Borderlands. Favorite WvW map, but I need to learn its layout better.
5. Silverwastes. I can almost forgive the lack of waypoints because of how well-designed the map is. I just wish it better-utilized the northern half.

Hrm, difficult again, so many nice maps.

1. Probably Verdant Brink. The 3D-gameplay is absolutely amazing and this map really makes you hyped for it (which sadly makes AB and TD a bit of a letdown in comparison). Also it’s very very pretty, with multiple consistent areas which work well together with the bridges and vines to separate them visually. On top of that it has a nice overall meta event chain which keeps everything tied together.
2. Metrica Province, pre-newbie-zone changes. So many fun non-combat events, on top of so many super-quirky and -funny elements and hidden gimmicks. Sadly many elements got stripped out when they dumbed down the newbie zones.
3. Silverwastes. One of the very very rare times ANet got “farming” right. Repeatable, continuous, with enough variety but also enough mindless grind to be, well, mindless. A quality I very much desire if I want to go and farm.
4. Dragon’s Stand. Similar to Silverwastes really, this works perfectly fine as an endless grind. More meaty, but the large scope really helps it. The only reason this is below SW is because of the dead time, but to be fair, it makes up for it in sheer prettiness.
5. Bloodstone Fen. This is on here just for the graphics. The gameplay is meh, events wonky, chains too cramped. But the floating debris, the constant fx in the air, this map is preeeeettyyyy.

Honorable mention: old Lion’s Arch, with its pirate atmosphere and shantytown design.

Cursed Shore

WvW Alpine Borderlands.

Silverwastes

Queensdale

Wayfarers Foothills

Pre-Searing Ascalon from GW1

oh wait, you asked for GW2 → Timberline Falls and Queensdale

Someone beat me to this thread, I see! I was going to wait until the “Worst Maps” topic I posted died down before posting this one. Guess I’ll have to come up with something else entertaining down the line.

To answer the question with my Top 5 faves:
1. Fireheart Rise – I dig the aesthetic. Lots of charr, and it’s cool to see so many Ash Legion in action. You meet TWO Ash tribunes here. I love the events. The mini dungeons are really entertaining, especially Vexa’s Lab.
2. Silverwastes. Could spend a lot of time here. The map meta feels easy to follow, participate in, and rewarding to complete. Plus Solus the Outlier is a hilarious charr.
3. Cursed Shore. There are both massive events here and minor ones you can do on your own. Lots of crannies to explore, and the mobs aren’t pushovers. This area keeps me entertained.
4. Fields of Ruin. I really like the takes on Ebonhawke and the negotiations are Warrior’s Crown. Order of Whispers agents will be interested to learn who are plants for the Order in the negotiations.
5. Ember Bay. I think this is the Season 3 map done best. I like the repeatable hearts giving me goals. I dig assisting the Skritt. I love the lore dripping on the map. And the circus people are just bizarre. This is a map I enjoy going back to.

Honorable mention to Black Citadel. I can understand non-charr griping – it’s not the easiest city to explore. But to me, it does feel like home. And since the megasevers came only, it’s full of charr players all the time.

Carighan.6758:

Metrica Province, pre-newbie-zone changes. So many fun non-combat events, on top of so many super-quirky and -funny elements and hidden gimmicks. Sadly many elements got stripped out when they dumbed down the newbie zones.

When did they make adjustments to the early zones? What did they do?

It’s really hard for me to seperate aesthetics from game-play enjoyment, so I will just list my favorite 5 maps:

1. Plains of Ashford (and pretty much any other Ascalon map) because it was my “gateway” map into the game and has many Charr NPCs. I also love the autumn leafy/ great plains style atmosphere.

2. Desert Borderlands Because I like WvW and it is my favourite map due to it’s looks and complexity. Also fell to death countless times there.

3. Temple of the Silent Storm My favourite PvP map layout-wise and atmosphere-wise. It also has the most fun secondary map mechanic that punishes poor strategic decisions extra hard.

4. Bloodstone Fen Awesome design and colors. Also by far my favorite place to gather materials and unbound magic (gliding puzzles).

5. Verdant Brink So beautiful and surreal with the ruins, airship wrecks, caves and little bridges… so much detail. I also like the meta event because of its “descentralized” design.

Honorable mention to Timberline Falls, Orr maps and Mount Mealstrom.

Vesuvius.9874:

Pre-Searing Ascalon from GW1

This!

My favorites so far:

1. Silverwastes
Good meta gameplay. Good map layout with zerg zones and rather chill hidden places. Bandit chests are the best interactive reward design in GW2 so far.
2. Auric Basin
Great soundtrack leads to a great vibe. Vertical map done right. City/countryside done right, to sad that Divinity Reach and other cities are instanced. Shinies!
3. Bloodstone Fen
Great map layout. Vertical map done right. And this map is offering really special gameplay exp.
4. Bitterfrost Frontier
Great map layout. Underwater part done right. Cool part with forest, great part with freezing, should be more extreme during the storm.
5. Lake Doric and Draconis Mons
I like the Doric theme of drained lake. And Mons 3 layered biome is outstanding.

Honorable mentions:
Divinity Reach
Just a great ingame city, handy Bank, TP and crafting cluster. Great layout. Gliding transformed map from great to outstanding!
Legacy of Foefire / Revenge of Capricorn
Conquest done right
Most of vanila maps except Orr
GW2 is just awesome to explore

I really love all the HoT maps, Tangled Depths being one of my favorites. When I made and boosted new characters, the first thing I did was explore all the HoT maps. They are just so fun to navigate, and aesthetic wise, very beautiful to look at as well

Wayfarer Foothills
Lornar’s Pass
(for the looks of both snow/frost and green/vegitated areas in these maps)

Metrica Province
(i like the Asure look and feel)

Verdant Brink
(when i had gliding and mushroom jumping i really started to like navigating this map)

Divinity Reach
(structured and easy to navigate. Larger city look/feel with all those houses and buildings)

azureai.9764:

When did they make adjustments to the early zones? What did they do?

In the September 2014 Feature Pack, they disabled all underwater content in the early parts of the starter zones (hence the empty lake in the southern part of Metrica Province- there used to be a heart there), they disabled gathering and removed all gathering nodes below level 10 or so. Given that especially Metrica Province was extremely busy in the early parts, there were probably other changes as well that I can’t remember.

Well this will be easy …

1. Alpine WvW Map
2. Eternal Battlegrounds WvW Map
3. Desert Borderlands WvW Map
4. The Gilded Hollow. Lovely hidden jumping puzzle for players to rebuild in there that starts near the little dock thingy. Good luck finding the rest of it. Keep an eye out for the hidden dragon statue.
5. Obsidian Sanctum WvW Map – yes, really!

Hmm.. here we go.

Looks: Glint’s Lair (my god this place is so beautiful)
Bitterfrost Frontier (i love snowy maps and the massive forest thematic is so
cool)
Ember Bay (Unique enough to catch my eyes (compaired to the other map at
least))
Any Hot map really.
More than just looks: Td is a mastepiece.

1. Queensdale – On most my level 80 characters, this was one of the first maps I completed, even the ones that weren’t human. The Shadow Behemoth is still an enjoyable world boss for me, as is the easy JP, Demongrub Pits.

2. Mount Maelstrom – The size and diversity is great. I love that you can climb to the top of the volcano and look down into it. It features 2 world bosses (Golem Mark II and Megadestroyer) and a meta for access to the dungeon. It also includes two JPs. It’s also one of the few maps where you can encounter Largos.

3. Diessa Plateau – Cattlepult! Meatoberfest! Some of the hearts and events on this map have a great sense of humor and are fun to do. There are 3 relatively easy Jumping Puzzles which make this map come back through the daily rotation rather frequently. One of the few places where you can fight a giant. Has meta event to enter the Flame Temple Tombs, which is a really cool mini-dungeon.

4. Timberline Falls – Nice looking scenery, and good diversity. Two relatively challenging JPs (for me at least). Seems like it could use a world boss or something else to help bring more people here. The Legendary Ley-line Anomaly is an attempt to do that, I guess.

5. Wayfarer Foothills. The 2nd best starter map after QD. Nice scenery with transition to snowcover in middle area map. Features a popular world boss (with meta events), and another meta chain for assault on the svanir dome. Also features an easy JP.

Top 5 Beauty

1. Divinity’s Reach – The most city-like of all the racial cities. It is simply beautifully crafted in all ways and truly looks like a city populated by a race of people. My favorite map, hands down.

2. Frostgorge Sound – This map is a wonderfully crafted map with interesting places, and the most beautiful of all the underwater maps.

3. Queensdale. Most reminiscent of GW1 maps for me. Also, it just feels like an actual place. Beautiful artwork as well.

4. Bitterfrost Frontier – I love the giant trees and mountainsides. The hot springs area right next to the ultimate cold area make this a beautiful map to look at.

5. Desert Borderlands – One of the best crafted and most beautifully drawn maps depicting an arid climate.

Most fun to play in:

1. Silverwastes – love the events and the loot. The Vinewraith is a fun cooperative event.

2. Dry Top – Same reason as Silverwastes. These two maps have the most interesting and diverse activities of all maps.

3. Verdant Brink – I like the meta and the map combined. Events are varied, loot is good, and meta bosses are fun.

4. Auric Basin – Like the Vinewraith, the Octovine event is a fun cooperative event. Tarir is beautifully drawn. The whole map is varied and interesting.

5. Draconis Mons – Where else can you be Spiderman in a beautifully rendered map?

my 5 fav maps are

1. Queensdale lvl nice and open

2. Gendarran Fields here again nice and open

3.Bloodtide Coast nice and open

4. Malchor’s Leap a bit mixed but still open

5. Straits of Devastation same as number 4