Guild Wars 2

So part 3 of Taimi’s log reports that she has found also a large amount of data about the Crystal Desert and the Creatures in the Crystal Desert.

What kind of Lore do you guys think is in that data and do you think it foreshadow CD area maps as part of S3 updates?

Well… as much as I would like it too, I don’t think we’ll go that way, at least not immediately. First we’re heading north (direction Mantle & Mursaat) and then we’ll (hopefully) see further. Also the Report speaks of lots of Destroyer and Primordus Data in the same way.

However I see multiple reasons for us to go there:

• We’re we’re likely gonna be dealing with Mursaat to some extent in the upcoming story arc, however our characters are not ascended so we can’t actually sense them in any way. The Crystal Desert would provide the nescessary locations to perform the ritual.
• Destinies Edge still hasn’t come to a conclusion on their personal conflict with Kralkatorrik. They must be eager for revenge and they are starting to fall apart for good. (Still concerned that we have not heard anything from Zojja since HoT-End scene. If they kill her before Kralk dies I’ll quit.)
• The order of Whispers as well as the Krytan Crown have ways in and out of CD and Elona (which is also in that direction). Primordus being Underground feels a little bit more out of reach.
• The Egg being from Glint also hints direction Kralkatorrik.
• Backstory to the Exalted being Descendants of the Forgotten also inevitably leads southeast.

P.S.: If I made major errors on the lore please correct me. I didn’t play the original game and all this old lore has come to me through reading.

You have the basics already so it is fine.

On Topic:

Going North for now seems to be how Season 3 focus starts out since North is where majority of the White Mantle activiting in the Maguuma Jungle is located.

Probably keep moving North until the story requires the Commander to back track into the Crystal Desert after learning he or she can’t fight Lazarus the Dire.

My best guess is that we may see Crystal Desert Map areas as the pre-final new Maps for Season 3 so they can release 1 or 2 Crsytal Desert map area, 1 or 2 area per update, for the 4 Trials required to allow the Commander to Ascend so he or she can finally fight Lazarus the Dire at the end of Season 3. Then we begin moving towards the final North Map after Crystal Desert Map into the Map where Lazarus the Dire awaits the Commander for the Final Battle.

Then after Lazarus the Dire’s defeat we get a glimps at Kralkatorrik finally ready to move and a big “To Be Continued!” scene for the 2nd Expansion.

EdwinLi.1284:

So part 3 of Taimi’s log reports that she has found also a large amount of data about the Crystal Desert and the Creatures in the Crystal Desert.

What kind of Lore do you guys think is in that data and do you think it foreshadow CD area maps as part of S3 updates?

Please reread as it does not say anything about the crystal desert or any creatures there. It speaks of the beast in the crystal desert. This would be Kralkatorrik. So in addition to the Primordius info mentioned in the HoT story taimi had discovered some info about Kralkatorrik and let’s us know it’s from info sharing between Novans and Exalted.

There is likely no data about the region or native wildlife just the Dragon.

hornswroggle.8023:

• We’re we’re likely gonna be dealing with Mursaat to some extent in the upcoming story arc, however our characters are not ascended so we can’t actually sense them in any way. The Crystal Desert would provide the nescessary locations to perform the ritual.

P.S.: If I made major errors on the lore please correct me. I didn’t play the original game and all this old lore has come to me through reading.

The slight problem with heroes undergoing Ascension is that we have no idea if there is anything left down there to tell us where to bloody start.
Not to mention the fact Kralkatorrik will literally be looming right to the north, in case he wants to come down and bash our heads in for thinking we can stop him. It’ll be an interesting bit of story to say the least, whenever we go down there.

Oh, and lets not forget the Old Seer, in case Lazarus decides to bring back our favorite ability, Spectral Agony. For those who dont know what Spectral Agony, imagine trying to fight a perma-stealth Condi thief, who can spam the condi bomb.

Invictorum.7643:

The slight problem with heroes undergoing Ascension is that we have no idea if there is anything left down there to tell us where to bloody start.
Not to mention the fact Kralkatorrik will literally be looming right to the north, in case he wants to come down and bash our heads in for thinking we can stop him. It’ll be an interesting bit of story to say the least, whenever we go down there.

Oh, and lets not forget the Old Seer, in case Lazarus decides to bring back our favorite ability, Spectral Agony. For those who dont know what Spectral Agony, imagine trying to fight a perma-stealth Condi thief, who can spam the condi bomb.

The priory has already established a good amount of bases in the Crystal Desert even before the Pact we formed as it was mentioned by NPCs. They have been researching the Crystal Desert and ruins in the area along with keeping a eye on Kralky for a long time now. If any info is left there then no doubt the Priory in the Crystal Desert will have the infomation we need by now.

Along with a group of Order of Whispers keeping a eye on Joko’s activity to the South area of the Crystal Desert.

EdwinLi.1284:

The priory has already established a good amount of bases in the Crystal Desert even before the Pact we formed as it was mentioned by NPCs. They have been researching the Crystal Desert and ruins in the area along with keeping a eye on Kralky for a long time now. If any info is left there then no doubt the Priory in the Crystal Desert will have the infomation we need by now.

Along with a group of Order of Whispers keeping a eye on Joko’s activity to the South area of the Crystal Desert.

I personally have my doubts the Priory would know too much about the process, even given their ability. Perhaps we’ll have to aid the Order in quelling Joko to maybe get Turai back so he can guide us through Ascension?
I kind of cant wait to see whats become of the old desert. That was one of my favorite areas, only being topped by the southern section of Cantha, both the Jade Sea and the Echovald Forest.

EdwinLi.1284:

The priory has already established a good amount of bases in the Crystal Desert even before the Pact we formed as it was mentioned by NPCs.

There are mentions of expeditions into the desert, but no timeframe to these and no mention of bases let alone “a good amount”. For all we know, they had a temporary small outpost that got wiped out when Kralkatorrik rose.

Unless you saw a dialogue I didn’t.

EdwinLi.1284:

If any info is left there then no doubt the Priory in the Crystal Desert will have the infomation we need by now.

Which truth be told is a mighty big if.

We know they know about the Ascension process – we learned this in Season 2 – but it seems indicative that they don’t know how to partake in it, or if it is even still possible. Remember that when we Ascended in GW1, Augury Rock split apart. We also created the Vision Crystal (which in Arcana Obscura is said to be more powerful than a “mere crafting component”) and fought the Forgotten (who have left this world entirely per A Study in Gold – whether this means through travel or through extinction is unknown though), and ousted a ghost that could no longer be present to get the attention of the Five Gods.

In short, everything we did in the Ascension trials seems to have been a one-time thing, literally. The only way to Ascend would be to find a repeatable trial – such as the Weh no Su trials (which, yes, Closer to the Stars = Ascension).

In other words, the only known way to Ascend in GW2’s time is via the guide and gaze of the Celestials, since the gods (who were the ones who’s attention Ascended folks in Prophecies) are gone.

EdwinLi.1284:

Along with a group of Order of Whispers keeping a eye on Joko’s activity to the South area of the Crystal Desert.

Joko and the rest of the Order of Whispers are in Elona, not the Crystal Desert. The Order of Whispers have a means to get to Elona, but no one says that this means is traversing the desert – it could be as simple as an asura gate.

Invictorum.7643:

I personally have my doubts the Priory would know too much about the process, even given their ability. Perhaps we’ll have to aid the Order in quelling Joko to maybe get Turai back so he can guide us through Ascension?

Two things:

First, see Arcana Obscura about the Priory’s knowledge. I believe that’s their extent.

Second, Turai’s ghost is in the Mists now – specifically, the Hall of Heroes. When we Ascended in GW1, we opened the way for Turai Ossa’s soul to move on to the Hall of Heroes.

Joko hunted down and captured Turai’s ancestors, but had no hand in the fate of Turai himself – even post-GW1.

Unless for some reason, Joko is capable of stealing souls from the very center of all existence – something even Zhaitan, who was capable of stealing souls from the Underworld – is not shown capable of doing.

During LW2 The pact where gearing up to head in to the CD, until Mordi woke up.

So my thinking is, we will most likely head there with 1/2 maps like in LW2 as a build up for the next Xpac that will be set there. but I can also see Anet leaving him till last as sort of a end to the story of DE and the game, as far as dragons go anyway.

I don’t think the presence of the Forgotten is required for Ascension. The Forgotten made it more difficult, but fighting the Forgotten wasn’t what lead to Ascension – cleansing yourself in the Thirsty River, performing a ritual to draw the attention of the gods, and focusing that attention through the Vision Crystal were. It’s possible that, if anyone went out there, Ascending would be simply a matter of visiting the Thirsty River and the Throne of Pellentia and then walking into Augury Rock after passing through the crystal (and defeating the doppelganger, of course).

It’s also possible that the Forgotten reset the trials after the PCs left in Prophecies. The book that triggered Fake Ascension would probably have within it the information you’d need to repeat true Ascension. Doesn’t mean it’ll be easy, though: Joko may have claimed some of the sites, or Kralkatorrik’s minions might be there (noting that if the Forgotten have applied their anti-dragon protection to the sites, they could be crawling with Branded while still being potent).

If true Ascension is on the cards, though, I hope it’s like the sylvari-Mordremoth relation and the story is different if you play a human versus some other race. Regardless of which race you are, you have human NPCs (possibly Marjory, Kasmeer, and Logan) who are Ascending. If you’re playing a human character, you’re leading the process and achieve Ascension yourself. If you’re a nonhuman character, you’re helping the human NPCs to Ascend, and after that they can play “spotter” for you when the time comes to throw down against Lazarus.

(From what we see in Prophecies, particularly War in Kryta and Saul’s Story, the mursaat can fight or be Unseen: they can’t attack without becoming visible to everyone. So in the final showdown, the PC doesn’t need to have the Gift of True Sight, they just need an ally who does. Kasmeer would probably be ideal, since she can then project an illusion of what she sees on top of Lazarus.)

Konig Des Todes.2086:

The only way to Ascend would be to find a repeatable trial – such as the Weh no Su trials (which, yes, Closer to the Stars = Ascension).

In other words, the only known way to Ascend in GW2’s time is via the guide and gaze of the Celestials, since the gods (who were the ones who’s attention Ascended folks in Prophecies) are gone.

Even if somehow the player character were to find some Canthans able to administer the trials to become Weh no Su, that still wouldn’t stop any Mursaat or their constructs from Spectral Agony’ing everyone to death.

I feel like Anet will just do what they always do and go with ‘Priory has knowledge of it’ and ‘Asuran tech will fix it.’

BrotherBelial.3094:

During LW2 The pact where gearing up to head in to the CD, until Mordi woke up.

So my thinking is, we will most likely head there with 1/2 maps like in LW2 as a build up for the next Xpac that will be set there. but I can also see Anet leaving him till last as sort of a end to the story of DE and the game, as far as dragons go anyway.

Not a surprise the Pact was originally going after Kralky before Mordy showed up and became a huge threat.

Kralky was currently the only Elder Dragon that the Pact knew where exactly he was located and open to attack while the info on the other Elder Dragons only had where their territory are but no info on where they were located within that territory.

draxynnic.3719:

I don’t think the presence of the Forgotten is required for Ascension. The Forgotten made it more difficult, but fighting the Forgotten wasn’t what lead to Ascension – cleansing yourself in the Thirsty River, performing a ritual to draw the attention of the gods, and focusing that attention through the Vision Crystal were. It’s possible that, if anyone went out there, Ascending would be simply a matter of visiting the Thirsty River and the Throne of Pellentia and then walking into Augury Rock after passing through the crystal (and defeating the doppelganger, of course).

The “cleansing yourself in the Thirsty River” required fighting the Forgotten, though.

draxynnic.3719:

If true Ascension is on the cards, though, I hope it’s like the sylvari-Mordremoth relation and the story is different if you play a human versus some other race. Regardless of which race you are, you have human NPCs (possibly Marjory, Kasmeer, and Logan) who are Ascending. If you’re playing a human character, you’re leading the process and achieve Ascension yourself. If you’re a nonhuman character, you’re helping the human NPCs to Ascend, and after that they can play “spotter” for you when the time comes to throw down against Lazarus.

You make it sound like non-humans are incapable of Ascending, but there’s no real indication of this, despite Ascension being a part of human history rather than other races’

draxynnic.3719:

(From what we see in Prophecies, particularly War in Kryta and Saul’s Story, the mursaat can fight or be Unseen: they can’t attack without becoming visible to everyone. So in the final showdown, the PC doesn’t need to have the Gift of True Sight, they just need an ally who does. Kasmeer would probably be ideal, since she can then project an illusion of what she sees on top of Lazarus.)

But from what we saw of Arah explorable, this isn’t true – the Inquest operative and the PCs both undergo the Mursaat’s “phasing” and is capable of attacking non-phased without unphasing.

EdwinLi.1284:

Kralky was currently the only Elder Dragon that the Pact knew where exactly he was located and open to attack while the info on the other Elder Dragons only had where their territory are but no info on where they were located within that territory.

Actually, Kralkatorrik is MIA. He’s been highly inactive for the past now 9 years. Last he was seen – as far as players know anyone knows – is at the end of the battle against Destiny’s Edge. People went to that spot later (the Zephyrites to recover Glint’s corpse), but no Elder Dragon in sight. Kralkatorrik flew off in an unknown (to players, known to DE) direction – but where he landed, no one knows.

The Pact only knows the “general wereabouts” of Kralkatorrik.

Jormag, on the other hand, they know where he is. Because there are still foolish norn going after him.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

You make it sound like non-humans are incapable of Ascending, but there’s no real indication of this, despite Ascension being a part of human history rather than other races’

Ya if i remember right Ascension can be done by anyone as long they can meet the requirements. They don’t have to worship the Human Gods to meet one of the requirements, just make enough noise for them to have their attention on the person Ascending which was how one of the Trials worked by basically using a Ritual to grab the attention of the Human Gods.

However, it still would be nice to have Unique Dialogue for the Human race due to their History with the Human Gods while events still play out mostly the same but with the same ending for the other races just not with the small bits of “Human” events.

Ogden Stonehealer

Your race’s benefactors—the gods—enchanted their favorite followers with their magic. It allowed these humans to access hidden places. You will not be Ascended, however, so touching it could kill you.

The humans’ benefactors enchanted their favorite humans with their magic, perhaps even their own essence. No one knows for sure. It allowed the humans access to hidden places. It could kill you.

(Ascension is) a ritual that allowed your ancestors to commune with their ancient benefactors. Your people called them gods. Those who successfully performed it received power and knowledge.

(Ascension is) a human ritual that allowed them to commune with their ancient benefactors. Humans called them gods. Those who successfully performed it received power and knowledge.

Seems like a real indication to me.

I suspect that ‘human’ is not actually a requirement per se, but being a follower of the gods is. The rituals bring the attention of the gods to you – I expect they still have the option to go “you’re an {insert race here} that has insulted us at every opportunity, kitten no.”

It’s also worth noting that Weh No Su, while mechanically treated as Ascension and the Canthans seem to regard it as such, may not be the same Ascension in lore (after all, in Nightfall you can “Ascend” simply by engaging in a spot of pest control). Even then, though, it’s possible that Talon Silverwing had enough regard towards the gods to be accepted, while some of the playable races now explicitly hate and/or belittle (charr, asura) them, while others (sylvari, norn) are indifferent to them.

Finally, from a meta perspective, Ascension is likely to only be relevant for two instances, so making it one-race-only probably won’t be a big deal. It could well be less work than the sylvari-specific stuff in HoT.

Regarding fighting and being Unseen: Do we know that going out of phase is the same effect as their invisibility? As I recall, it was possible to see the Inquest operative while she (I think it was a she?) was phased – you just couldn’t damage them. While in the Battle for Lion’s Arch, regular Shining Blade and Lionguard could attack and deal damage to a mursaat.

Regarding Thirsty River, the important step with regards to Ascension is to reach the Rune Circle and perform the ritual. Fighting the Forgotten along the way seems to simply be a case of the Forgotten not giving anyone what they want without testing them first (don’t take it personally). It’s probably an intended part of the tests, since the gods knew the Forgotten would be there, but without the Forgotten or some other guards it does appear as if anyone who knew the ritual could just waltz in and do it. Likely, though, the area will still be infested with Branded or Joko’s undead, so in the eyes of the gods defeating them would probably fulfill any combat portion of the tests.

draxynnic.3719:

It’s also worth noting that Weh No Su, while mechanically treated as Ascension and the Canthans seem to regard it as such, may not be the same Ascension in lore (after all, in Nightfall you can “Ascend” simply by engaging in a spot of pest control). Even then, though, it’s possible that Talon Silverwing had enough regard towards the gods to be accepted, while some of the playable races now explicitly hate and/or belittle (charr, asura) them, while others (sylvari, norn) are indifferent to them.

Except that it’s outright called “what Canthans call Ascension” in An Empire Divided:

Chanang became one of the first Canthan heroes to become Closer to the Stars (what in Tyria is referred to as “ascension”) and, when the time came to succeed his father on the throne, he refused the title “lord emperor” and instead became the first “ascendant emperor,” changing his name to Chang Hai.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/An_Empire_Divided

draxynnic.3719:

Regarding fighting and being Unseen: Do we know that going out of phase is the same effect as their invisibility? As I recall, it was possible to see the Inquest operative while she (I think it was a she?) was phased – you just couldn’t damage them. While in the Battle for Lion’s Arch, regular Shining Blade and Lionguard could attack and deal damage to a mursaat.

I think the Inquest-mursaat-combination device was an incomplete phasing, and I do believe it was said in the Arah path that the phasing is how they became “unseen” to people.

And when you infer what Ascension/Weh no Su does to why you can see mursaat, it becomes evident that the mursaat’s “phasing” is basically a replication of what souls can do naturally – hide themselves from human eyes by slipping into the spirit realm (where we go during the norn Defend the Mists storyline – a spiritual world of Tyria). And just as Shiro killed the PCs in Factions without being seen (the entire reason why we needed to become Weh no Su/Ascended in that plot), so would the mursaat be able to.

draxynnic.3719:

Regarding Thirsty River, the important step with regards to Ascension is to reach the Rune Circle and perform the ritual.

Fair, forgot about that as the rune circle was only shown in the cinematic, whereas the vision crystal and Throne of Pellentia were parts of the mission itself.

Remember that Guild Wars uses the unreliable narrator, and the first printing of An Empire Divided was prior to any known successful ascension through the Crystal Desert trials. The 1072 printing is ambiguous, but as far as we know Ermenred was neither Ascended through the Crystal Desert nor Weh No Su, so he’s not really in a position to compare them – just to observe that the two have similarities.

However, we do have some evidence that the two are not the same. While ingame it’s ambiguous to allow characters to jump back and forth in the timeline, I’m pretty sure that lore-wise Factions from Vizuneh Square on happens after Prophecies. Which means, in turn, that lorewise the Ascended Tyrian heroes were wiped out along with the Canthan heroes by Shiro, and both required Weh No Su to be able to combat Shiro… suggesting that the two are in fact different.

If, however, we were to assume that the two were mixed up so that Vizuneh Square happened before Ascension, the two might not be equivalent: Weh No Su is likely granted by the celestials rather than the gods themselves, and may not contain the full effects of the Crystal Desert Ascension (such as access to Divine Fire). Additionally, the only nonhuman that we know of to have become Weh No Su is Talon Silverwing. Talon’s religious inclinations are unknown, and we don’t have much information on tengu religion on the whole, but being an NPC it would be very reasonable to say that Talon at the very least respects the gods alongside whatever the tengu native religion might be (similar to how the dwarfs respected the gods while maintaining their belief in the Great Dwarf). This is very different to, say, the charr attitude, and it would be a bit of a 180 on ArenaNet’s part to suddenly say that charr PCs do respect the gods.

Additionally, if we assume that the spirit hiding and mursaat hiding are the same, then it’s still not necessarily evidence that phasing and hiding are the same and that mursaat can attack while stealthed. Stealth – with the exception of Caithe’s elite – is broken while attacking, but you can usually carry out the setup while still stealthed. Shiro happens to have an ability that is lethal to everyone in the area unless broken prematurely (Meditation of the Reaper) – he could simply have used that.

Even if we did assume that mursaat could attack while hidden, it’s not necessarily required for the PC to be Ascended to fight Lazarus assuming that there are NPCs around who are. Let’s say we have Marjory and Kasmeer both ascended: Kasmeer can then project an illusion on top of Lazarus, while Marjory performs some necromantic jiggery-pokery to drag Lazarus into the real world. Nonhumans might then need to protect those two to succeed, or alternatively, Braham, Logan, and/or some Taimi-made device can shield them so they’re safe while everyone else performs a mursaat beat-down. Or, even simpler, it could be that proximity to Divine Fire drags the mursaat out of hiding.

From a meta perspective, too, humans (and norn) have been the spearcarriers and also-rans of Guild Wars 2, while the asura, charr, and sylvari have had the spotlight. It’s arguable which is has had it worse – norn have been sidelined but we haven’t really dealt with much in their territory so they may claim the spotlight when we do, while in the case of humans they’ve been sidelined in their own plots (with other races eclipsing them in Orr, Rytlock at least being able to attempt the Foefire ritual without human involvement, and so on). One of the things humans are supposed to have that other races don’t is their relationship with their gods – if full Ascension turns out to be something that PCs of races that disdain or actively hate the gods can achieve simply by waltzing in and performing rituals out of a book, then that will pretty much be the final nail in the coffin of the idea that the human relationship with the gods means anything special.

In the Battle For Lion’s Arch in GW1, didn’t Zinn and Blimm make something that allowed non-ascended people (the NPC’s) to see and attack the Mursaat? I thought that was the reason why we weren’t the only ones able to do anything against them in that battle. Or did it just do some weird voodoo against Spectral Agony and leave us with weirdly efficient NPC allies?

What we were told is that it gave everyone Infusion… and that only at a critical moment (it often wears off before the final mursaat wave if you’re not efficient).

As we now know three possible ways to ascend, in which the methods do not seem to have that much in common, perhaps there is another way to look at this. To me it seems like ascension is about gaining a greater awareness, to be able to see past and expand your own perspective. In Prophecies you learned to do this by learning to defeat yourself, in Factions by learning to defeat the different Celestial beings while also dealing with essences of the ones you already defeated and Chanang could have learned this on his travels while performing his heroic deeds. Some of the effects of ascension can also be explained this way, as a greater understanding would allow the PC to learn skills from other professions and enable them to see things they could not see before.

Of course, this would mean ascension can be achieved in any situation where this greater awareness is unlocked and would perhaps not require us to go to the Crystal Desert, which would really be a shame…

narwhalsbend.7059:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

The only way to Ascend would be to find a repeatable trial – such as the Weh no Su trials (which, yes, Closer to the Stars = Ascension).

In other words, the only known way to Ascend in GW2’s time is via the guide and gaze of the Celestials, since the gods (who were the ones who’s attention Ascended folks in Prophecies) are gone.

Even if somehow the player character were to find some Canthans able to administer the trials to become Weh no Su, that still wouldn’t stop any Mursaat or their constructs from Spectral Agony’ing everyone to death.

I feel like Anet will just do what they always do and go with ‘Priory has knowledge of it’ and ‘Asuran tech will fix it.’

Or just throw a Seer at us.

Squee.7829:

In the Battle For Lion’s Arch in GW1, didn’t Zinn and Blimm make something that allowed non-ascended people (the NPC’s) to see and attack the Mursaat? I thought that was the reason why we weren’t the only ones able to do anything against them in that battle. Or did it just do some weird voodoo against Spectral Agony and leave us with weirdly efficient NPC allies?

Less I’m mistaken, Saul was not ascended himself. With that taken into consideration, I feel joining the “They can be unseen or interact but not interact while unseen” camp is the best place to be in right now.

Taimi is already investigating the chak’s organs and what did we used to get infused in GW1? Guts. Who did we give them to? Seers. Checkmate.

Has the matter of ascension not been dealt with already with LW3E1? I kind of assumed the strong magic that Jade Armors pulled against us was spectral agony, and Taimi’s counter magic is what allow us to pull through it. This is not a case of cheap solution either: Zinn already gave us something like that during War in Kryta for GW1, a temporary buff equivalent to both infusion and true sight: asuras have, centuries ago, actually skipped the ascension process concerning the Mursaat.

Ronin.7381:

Taimi is already investigating the chak’s organs and what did we used to get infused in GW1? Guts. Who did we give them to? Seers. Checkmate.

We already have infusion. In the form of a further developed form of the Spectral Infusion mass temporary AoE buff Zinn developed.

That’s what the new mastery track is – learning how to use that further-modified device from GW1.

maxwelgm.4315:

Has the matter of ascension not been dealt with already with LW3E1? I kind of assumed the strong magic that Jade Armors pulled against us was spectral agony, and Taimi’s counter magic is what allow us to pull through it. This is not a case of cheap solution either: Zinn already gave us something like that during War in Kryta for GW1, a temporary buff equivalent to both infusion and true sight: asuras have, centuries ago, actually skipped the ascension process concerning the Mursaat.

Infusion and Ascension are different things.

Infusion allows us to survive Spectral Agony, and we do have this settled via a nod to GW1. Zinn’s buff didn’t give a temporary Gift of True Sight – just infusion.

Ascension – or the Gift of True Sight – allowed us to see the mursaat while they were invisible. This has not been settled, hence how Lazarus appeared from thin air and disappeared into thin air – that was him appearing from his invisibility and disappearing into it. Unless he just teleported… But that’s less menacing.