Guild Wars 2

I was reading about the krait today, and I was a little confused by their description in the wiki. It reads:

“When they come close to death they enter a frenzy which shape-shifts them to another form, this gives them a second wind which makes them particularly difficult to kill.”

I went and fought some krait, but none of them changed physically in a notable way. They did, however, gain a ‘berzerk’ buff when they got low on health. Is this ‘shape-shifting’ simply a sort of frenzy mode? I mean, warriors can go into a frenzy, but we don’t say that they shape-shifted, as they don’t physically change (as a necromancer would, for example).

I know that the krait witches actually morph via mesmeric magic, but this seems to describe something else. Any tips are welcome.

They used to change shape in GW1 but no longer in this game.

Since its still counted as lore my guess is its just not shown in the game. Like horses.

Yeah in GW1 most Krait began as Krait Neoss’ and would then use a metamorphose skill to transform into different types of Krait.
- They also looked vastly different and I think from memory some of them could fly but whatever. I like the GW2 visuals better anyway.

In Gw1 juvenile krait could undergo metamorphosis in battle to become one of the much more deadly adult krait forms. None of these various forms (some of which had actual legs, not just a tail) exist at all in gw2. Either they’ve lost their metamorphosis capabilities, or it’s just another case of gameplay and story segregation.

Thanks everyone for that clarification. So then, with regard to the toxic hybrid in the nightmare tower, is this essentially the first instance of a metamorphosis that we’ve seen in GW2? I know that they classify it as an evolution, but they seem like identical concepts when referring to the krait.

Psynch.4087:

Thanks everyone for that clarification. So then, with regard to the toxic hybrid in the nightmare tower, is this essentially the first instance of a metamorphosis that we’ve seen in GW2? I know that they classify it as an evolution, but they seem like identical concepts when referring to the krait.

I think yeah you could probably say that. Since as you lower it’s health it is metamorphosing into different stages. But we do have to remember that it isn’t a naturally occurring Krait but rather something that has been biologically engineered. Of course Scarlet could easily having been using the Krait’s ability to metamorphose to give it said ability.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

Psynch.4087:

Thanks everyone for that clarification. So then, with regard to the toxic hybrid in the nightmare tower, is this essentially the first instance of a metamorphosis that we’ve seen in GW2? I know that they classify it as an evolution, but they seem like identical concepts when referring to the krait.

I think yeah you could probably say that. Since as you lower it’s health it is metamorphosing into different stages. But we do have to remember that it isn’t a naturally occurring Krait but rather something that has been biologically engineered. Of course Scarlet could easily having been using the Krait’s ability to metamorphose to give it said ability.

Yeah, that’s basically what I’ve been thinking about. If she is trying to biologically engineer some creature, then the entire reason for enticing the krait to cooperate is to exploit their metamorphosis capabilities. What ever she’s trying to build, she needs it to grow/evolve quickly.

(That’s all IF her plan is to grow something)

That might possibly be why she went after the krait to begin with, to experiment with their natural metamorphosis abilities. They didn’t really seem to serve a greater purpose in the Toxic Alliance otherwise.

Silavor.6257:

That might possibly be why she went after the krait to begin with, to experiment with their natural metamorphosis abilities. They didn’t really seem to serve a greater purpose in the Toxic Alliance otherwise.

Yeah, exactly. Many speculators (myself included) attributed their supposed mesmeric prowess as the reason to include them in her plans, but I really don’t think that’s the case. Especially given Scarlet’s clues in her leftover lab atop the Nightmare Tower. It’s the aetheric output (that she produced artificially) that created the illusory barrier around the tower, not some special krait magic.

To me, the krait act as a sort of vessel, carrying the attributes that Scarlet has fused together and is trying to cultivate. Through the kraits’ natural physiological mechanisms, they themselves are the catalyst for such rapid growth and development of these fused attributes.

What exactly she is growing remains to be seen. Some have speculated that she is trying to create her own pale tree. The clues in her lab hint that this is a possibility (although obviously not the only possibility).

Doesn’t one of the NPC’s say that the veil was made by the Nightmare Court? I think it was the quaggan.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Doesn’t one of the NPC’s say that the veil was made by the Nightmare Court? I think it was the quaggan.

Yikes, I hope that dialogue isn’t forever lost in the LS void. I would really like to know if that is true.

Gonna go check now.

EDIT: Did I say quaggan? I meant the most unnerving abomination of nature yet to appear in the game.

Ahem.

“The Nightmare sylvari came after that, [cut for brevity]. They hid it when it got too big.”

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Gonna go check now.

EDIT: Did I say quaggan? I meant the most unnerving abomination of nature yet to appear in the game.

Ahem.

“The Nightmare sylvari came after that, [cut for brevity]. They hid it when it got too big.”

Great, thanks for looking that up

Glad to help. I’ll be honest, that console has my mind scrambling for answers too.

EDIT: Do you think that might be talking about the holograms?

So much to dissect from that little puzzle. I’m putting together notes for a video; there’s so much to talk about!

I don’t think that people have really appreciated how much information was packed into that story instance.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Glad to help. I’ll be honest, that console has my mind scrambling for answers too.

EDIT: Do you think that might be talking about the holograms?

Yes, I think that portion refers to the holograms.

I think I must be missing something about the console bit…

The Molten Alliance console was referring to the extremes of the alliance (flame and icicle and iron – not sure how iron fits into that though, smithing?); the pod did give interesting bit about how it reacted to heat which could explain why Kessex got more humid (per Kasmeer and Marjory’s dialogue during Halloween when the veil was up); the asura console pointed to the Aetherblades and their focus on air magic to fuel their steampunk tech, but I saw nothing indicating holograms.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

I think I must be missing something about the console bit…

The Molten Alliance console was referring to the extremes of the alliance (flame and icicle and iron – not sure how iron fits into that though, smithing?); the pod did give interesting bit about how it reacted to heat which could explain why Kessex got more humid (per Kasmeer and Marjory’s dialogue during Halloween when the veil was up); the asura console pointed to the Aetherblades and their focus on air magic to fuel their steampunk tech, but I saw nothing indicating holograms.

One of the outputs from the Asuran console was something along the lines of

“There is a correlation between aetheric energy output and mesmeric illusions.”

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Doesn’t one of the NPC’s say that the veil was made by the Nightmare Court? I think it was the quaggan.

yes and no. It was made by the nightmare court but they are not as loyal to the court. they kinda follow scarlet but started as the court, maybe they still are a part of it but they are a sub group