Guild Wars 2

I don’t recall seeing any discussion on this, but maybe I just missed. Is there any information on why the statues in Divinity’s Reach are the same as the statues in Orr? Shouldn’t they be the “traditional” statues of GW1?

They are Malchor’s statues. Apparently the creators of Divinity’s reach decided to give them a little Orrian flair. Realistically, yes, they probably should be the other statues.

Realistically they could be any design. The only statue that’s really odd would be the one in Reaper’s Gate (Lornar’s Pass), since that one is where one in GW1 was, but it uses the newer design.

I’d say that it using the new statue is a very pointed decision by Anet. After all, we’ve seen the older statues tucked away in places like the Brand and underwater in the Godlost Swamp. My gut tells me the old statue was likely replaced after something happened, or perhaps the fact that it was replaced means that up until recently people still made pilgrimages to it. The lack of people there currently is no doubt symptomatic of either the Steam Creatures/Underworld beasties that now fill the area.

It could also be that the old statues were built to display the favor of the gods, but now that the gods are gone, they wouldn’t work as such.

Excelliate.7914:

It could also be that the old statues were built to display the favor of the gods, but now that the gods are gone, they wouldn’t work as such.

Regarding this, I find it very odd that Malchor, a citizen of highly magical Orr, created these beautiful yet absolutely ordinary statues, while the new versions we saw and encountered in GW1 all the time were sculpted in a way to only work with the gods’ magic/favor.

Balthazar’s lit on fire, Grenth’s was surrounded by a shroud of icy mist, Dwayna’s rose up and rebuilt itself, defying gravity, Lyssa’s cast away the stony thorns that grew on the twins and shone with unearthly radiance, Melandru’s tree bloomed and water started to trickle from the jug in her stone form’s hands. All of these reflected the power and domains of the gods. Malchor’s versions are a perfect depictions and really grasp the very being of each of the human gods, but I miss the magical visuals. I reckon that back in the day when they hadn’t pulled back yet those statues did show that the depicted god was watching, but I really doubt in the same awesome way GW1 statues did.

For that matter, I’m really interested who was the sculptor of the newer set of statues.

As for the effects, I think it’s largely because of the silence of the Gods. Remember that the previous statues in GW1 were only displaying those effects when we had Favour of the Gods. However now the Gods are Silent, so arguably we’re just in a prolonged case of no favour of the Gods.

I believe the new statues were inspired by the Malchor ones. However I’m not entirely positive of this, so somebody feel free to jump in and correct me if I’m wrong here.

Ratphink.4751:

As for the effects, I think it’s largely because of the silence of the Gods. Remember that the previous statues in GW1 were only displaying those effects when we had Favour of the Gods. However now the Gods are Silent, so arguably we’re just in a prolonged case of no favour of the Gods.

I believe the new statues were inspired by the Malchor ones. However I’m not entirely positive of this, so somebody feel free to jump in and correct me if I’m wrong here.

Thalador.4218:

while the new versions we saw and encountered in GW1 all the time were sculpted in a way to only work with the gods’ magic/favor.

- snip -

I reckon that back in the day when they hadn’t pulled back yet those statues did show that the depicted god was watching, but I really doubt in the same awesome way GW1 statues did.

I never said that the it wasn’t because of the gods, only that the new versions were designed specifically to show if a particular god was watching Tyria (I think in lore it had more to do with the attention of the god(s) being turned back to humanity, rather than favoring us because Joe and Jane spent 10,000 minutes drunk), while Malchor’s versions were always intact/did not seem to have specific mechanics similar to Dwayna’s or Melandru’s. As I said, I do suspect that Balthazar’s and Grenth’s might have had the exact same effects as their new counterparts, but there’s not much that can be done to show off in the case of Melandru’s and Dwayna’s (and maybe Lyssa’s, though it might have pulled off a trick similar to the stony thorn vines and the radiance) – Malchor style – when they are made of a single marble slab.

And the new ones might be based on Malchor’s designs, too, come to think of it: at least the new Dwayna one is sure as the Realm of Torment his. You can find at least half dozen unfinished statues of that style in his workshop (Malchor’s Lament (?)) with three having personal messages of Malchor carved into their surface.

Thalador.4218:

Excelliate.7914:

It could also be that the old statues were built to display the favor of the gods, but now that the gods are gone, they wouldn’t work as such.

Regarding this, I find it very odd that Malchor, a citizen of highly magical Orr, created these beautiful yet absolutely ordinary statues, while the new versions we saw and encountered in GW1 all the time were sculpted in a way to only work with the gods’ magic/favor.

Balthazar’s lit on fire, Grenth’s was surrounded by a shroud of icy mist, Dwayna’s rose up and rebuilt itself, defying gravity, Lyssa’s cast away the stony thorns that grew on the twins and shone with unearthly radiance, Melandru’s tree bloomed and water started to trickle from the jug in her stone form’s hands. All of these reflected the power and domains of the gods. Malchor’s versions are a perfect depictions and really grasp the very being of each of the human gods, but I miss the magical visuals. I reckon that back in the day when they hadn’t pulled back yet those statues did show that the depicted god was watching, but I really doubt in the same awesome way GW1 statues did.

For that matter, I’m really interested who was the sculptor of the newer set of statues.

Ratphink.4751:

As for the effects, I think it’s largely because of the silence of the Gods. Remember that the previous statues in GW1 were only displaying those effects when we had Favour of the Gods. However now the Gods are Silent, so arguably we’re just in a prolonged case of no favour of the Gods.

I believe the new statues were inspired by the Malchor ones. However I’m not entirely positive of this, so somebody feel free to jump in and correct me if I’m wrong here.

Well, in Orr, you have magical effects for the statues still – when the risen have the respective temples. I imagine that if Anet went with the old versions in Orr, they’d be using designs like the GW1 favor system.

As I see it, both the favor system and the temple system is a case of the statues showing their divine magic versus not doing so.

Furthermore, wasn’t it said that in GW1 those statues were all busted and whatnot, and “fixed themselves” whenever we had favor? It wasn’t that they had magic because we had the gods’ favor, but rather that the gods went and fixed them (or the favor caused the statues to repair themselves).

The Grenth’s Door statue in Lornar’s Pass (the one in the temple that in GW1 allowed access to the Underworld) is said to still radiate divine magic during the Priory storyline, iirc.

As to the designer of the new statue – Malchor’s statues were taken to the gods’ temples. This means those huge kitten statues that stand high above the temples? Those are likely Malchor’s own personal design (that would include the one in Abaddon’s Cathedral of Hidden Depths). Though it might be that Malchor’s statues disappeared/were removed overtime, sans the Dwayna and Balthazar ones – for some reason, those two temples have an additional unique statue (Balthazar’s being a commune skill point instead of an altar, Dwayna’s being part of the meta). This is the unique Balthazar statue – seen in only one other place, titled “Ancient Statue of Balthazar” and is mostly buried (you can only see the head and top of greatsword).

Something interesting to note about these two statues: they’re in the same stance as the GW1 ones. Obviously altered differently and more detailed, but these two share the same stance nonetheless. (Edit: Okay, the statue of Dwayna is slightly different via a leg being behind another and her back arched a bit more – though the GW1 statue’s legs are practically non-existent).

And the GW1 statue of Dwayna is also said to be a statue design by Malchor – but unfinished.

Will have to look at this as didn’t notice it before, too busy getting attacked in Orr to be a tourist. Next time I’m there I’ll pull up the screenshot showing the collection of statues in Ascalon Settlement (up on a hill).