As far as I’ve found, at least…
Introduction Mail
The Vigil needs auxiliary soldiers for a high-priority, high-risk operation in Sparkfly Fen. According to our intelligence, Zhaitan’s lieutenant (designated Tequatl the Sunless) has begun to “evolve.” Its attacks are more elaborate, and its tactics are becoming advanced.
We don’t know if this has anything to do with the Pact’s offensive in Orr, but the situation requires investigation and, if necessary, confrontation. We require infantry to bolster our existing forces and protect our current entrenchment, including the Vigil Megalaser and its power batteries.
Come to Splintered Coast as soon as possible. The Vigil needs you.
- Warmaster Narru
Summary: Reports from the Vigil claim he’s gotten stronger, and Narru suspects it’s due to the current Pact invasion of Orr.
However, knowing ArenaNet it’s possible that the mail I got was geared towards my character being so far in the storyline (I first logged onto my ranger who was at Further into Orr at the time); sadly, it’s one letter per account (why do they go back and forth between per character and per account with these letters!?! It’s freaking annoying. I’ll take per character please, so I can see racial/order/PS progression differences) so I cannot check myself if it says something else for others.
Warmaster Narru(to)
I take it you are here as part of Operation Screaming Sky. Excellent, I’m Warmaster Narru, commanding officer. Mark my words, Zhaitan’s champion will not outfox us here.
-> What’s the operation?
: Vigil tacticians have noticed that Tequatl has been improving its battle strategies with every emergence. We’re here to see if there’s any truth to that analysis.
->-> And if that’s true?
:: If it is adapting, we’ll face a smarter, deadlier foe every time it emerges. What we determine here will chart the course of future dragon lieutenant conflicts.
->->->How are you going to take on Tequatl?
::: Infantry, support golems, technicians. The only non-regulation item is the megalaser cannon. It should put a hole in Tequatl, assuming we can properly deploy it.
->->->-> You think this cannon will help?
:::: Some asura have been testing this laser against Tequatl for a while. We’ve made a generous offer for the weapon. Now, we’re amplifying its power for the operation.
(note: Only documented important lines)
At least this locale is better than Southsun Cove.
Summary: Mainly same as the mail. Vigil have noticed Tequatl improve. But this time there’s no theorycrafting behind it on Narru’s behalf. However, one of Narru’s idle dialogues indicate it is at least post-The Lost Shores.
Rox
You! I remember you from that Molten Alliance hassle. Good to see you back on another mission. You here stalking Tequatl, too?
-> Maybe I am, why are you looking for Tequatl?
: Tribune Brimstone dispatched me here with one mission: locate and defeat Tequatl and bring back a chunk of the rotter to prove it.
->-> For what reason?
::It’s a test to get into the Stone warband. Kill the beast: bring back a trophy. I know, sounds more like a norn thing. Maybe all the time with Braham will pay off now.
->->-> Need a hand?
::: Hmm. The tribune never said anything about teaming up with others. Yeah, sure. Me, you, and Frostbite will crush Tequatl. If you want, you can help us track it.
->->->-> Yeah, count me in.
:::: That’s what I want to hear. Frostbite and I will be heading out shortly, so get ready. We ain’t stopping until Tequatl’s down and broken.
->Rox, how have you been?
: I can’t complain. A few months ago, I was tail-deep in snow with the Molten Alliance. Today, I’m humping through this stinky swamp. Ah, a soldier’s life is never boring.
X Nope, just passing through.
(didn’t put all repeat dialogue options or end dialogue lines)
Summary: Rytlock has decided to send Rox on yet another trial for qualification into the Stone warband (side note: I think he’s starting to use her as a gopher). This time the trial is hunting Tequatl.
(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)
Dragon Hunting
The scavengers hunt seem to provide no lore. It’s just finding Tequatl’s teeth, Claw of Jormag’s scales, and The Shatterer’s crystals.
Update notes
Something’s gotten into Tequatl the Sunless. This ancient dragon, scourge of the Splintered Coast, has become more formidable than ever with an kitten nal of new attacks and lethal tricks at its disposal. To stop this rampaging beast, players will join forces with old friends and new allies in a desperate battle where failure is a very real option. Tequatl has risen, and it will take an army of players to bring it down!
Summary: Same as before, but something interesting to note – Tequatl’s called an ancient dragon.
Bobby Stein’s comments
The story component for the Tequatl Rising LW update primarily deals with helping Rox fight Tequatl and finding dragon minion clues. You can also interact with Warmaster Narru to get a few more details.
Tequatl becoming stronger (and Rox being present) are both tied into the overall LW story. More will be revealed later.
Overall Summary
“No Paradox” rule has been broken!
At the beginning of the Living Story content, ArenaNet stated they wanted to avoid their “living world” story from conflicting with the personal story. In doing so, they would never confirm or deny that the personal story’s events have occurred or do things that would conflict with the passage of the personal story at any point. This content update has broken that rule without a doubt, though it had been potentially-broken beforehand. And now I’m left without knowing what the timeline of events in the game exactly is…
My Final View
Probably would have been better without Rox and without lore or story. Now I’m just confused on story order.
(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)
Yeah, I think the writers tacked Rox onto it to make it seem like there was some story here. It’s hella confusing. The Living Story seems to go back and forth in time, sometimes it seems like events are post Personal Story (Logan and Rytlock’s relationship) and other times it seems to be during it (the idea that Zhaitan is making him stronger yet Rox recognises you from Flame and Frost).
The most frustrating thing is that the story doesn’t seem to ever specifically give us some kind of timeline or directly refer to recent events. They seem to be going out of their way to avoid referencing the Personal Story and all that’s doing is creating a really confusing timeline.
Is it possible Zhaitan’s death caused the magic he absorbed to seep out into the world and that’s what’s made Tequatl stronger? In that sense, Zhaitan is making the champion stronger, but he’s also dead at the same time (my understanding is that Elder Dragons don’t truly die).
Still, I’m quickly losing hope for the story. All year long it’s been going nowhere and now it just seems like they are tacking tiny things onto it just because they felt compelled to do something regardless of whether it makes sense or not. Scarlet was a bust (imo) the SAB story component is like a 3 minute scene that doesn’t specifically say anything (and may or may not fit into the bigger picture) and now we have the confusion that is the Zhaitan/Tequatl timeline. It’s like reading a novel but they only release a couple pages every two weeks.
It’s like reading a novel but they only release a couple pages every two weeks.
I think this is deliberate for the living story. Life doesn’t give us most explanations and answers all at once, or even quickly.
Technically, “the pacts offensive in Orr” does not necessarily mean that Zhaitan has not yet been defeated. After the death of Zhaitan, large chunks of Orr remained heavily occupied by undead. They could very well still be on clean up duty, which would still make it an offensive in Orr. It’s not like the other undead surrendered after the death of their “king”. Furthermore, the death of many troops during the attack on Zhaitan, the theft of many airships and the events in the world may have weakened the Pact’s forces even more after their big victory.
But they are really skirting around the edge of their paradox rule though.
Indeed, the Pacts offensive COULD work for both people not completing the personal story (as in the actual attack on Zhaitan) and people that have completed it (as in a "peace-keeping mission).
The mail is exactly the same if you have completed the personal story.
If it were a peace-keeping mission, I wouldn’t really call it an “offensive.” But what really got me was how it feels like the letter talks about Zhaitan being alive in via the sentence about “Zhaitan’s lieutenant” – though it’s rather… unclear, it just gives me a “he lives” feel to it.
idk, maybe it’s just my interpretation there.
My opinion: Living World != Personal Story.
I would say that Tyria/overworld (outside of your story) is allowed to progress in isolation to your story in exactly the same way your story progresses on without Tyria: zones are frozen in time (with Arah Exp being the only zone that is post-Zhaitan) from a personal story standpoint.
Sparkfly Fen is level 65-ish which means that it should be a representation of Tyria at the time of personal story 65. So Zhaitan does live, the only real difference is those players still doing their personal storyline now have a slightly different Sparkfly Fen.
Not to mention that I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning Tequatl specifically in the storyline. It’s an even surrounding it, but you can quite easily progress past Sparkfly Fen/65 without ever fighting Tequatl (just like the Temples and hundreds of other events).
Edit: This, obviously, isn’t stated by ANet but is an obvious corollary of their personal-story-paradox-consistency rule.
(edited by zamalek.2154)
I logged on with a low level character, personal story on racial sympathy step, and got the same mail. So much for Trahearne and PC initiating the pact…
There is an enviroment dialogue of Warrmaster Narru taht says: “At least this locale is better than Southsun Cove” which would implicate that this is post Soutshun events…
Narru’s mail indicates that Tequatl Rising happens during the personal story, as the invasion of Orr is ongoing and Zhaitan is talked about as if alive.
I think that part can be read as Tequatl is rising in response too the pact invasion of Orr. So it can have happened in the past tense. If taken that way it can make sense.
Of course this still poses a problem for first timers who wander through Sparkly Fen in their first playthrough and stumble upon the event.
We are not getting huge influxes of first time players these days though, so maybe it was a compromise that Anet was willing to make.
My Final View
Probably would have been better without Rox and without lore or story. Now I’m just confused on story order.
I’m confused too and that makes me angry. I’m so angry I could, I could…
/tries to break a pen and fails
No really, I saw that comming, when Angel said in that one TowerTalk episode that the LS isn’t set after the personal storyline. At this point I knew they said this just so they could screw the timeline with this update. It wasn’t even necessary, they could have just said that Tequatl became for an unkown reason more powerful, so the players could speculate if it absorbed some of Zhaitans powers after his death or whatever. This intentional vagueness is better than letting us belief the LS is completely post-Zhaitan and then suddenly not.
There’s something I forgot in the OP:
Update notes
Something’s gotten into Tequatl the Sunless. This ancient dragon, scourge of the Splintered Coast, has become more formidable than ever with an kitten nal of new attacks and lethal tricks at its disposal. To stop this rampaging beast, players will join forces with old friends and new allies in a desperate battle where failure is a very real option. Tequatl has risen, and it will take an army of players to bring it down!
Summary: Same as before, but something interesting to note – Tequatl’s called an ancient dragon.
(added to op)
Now to responding to responses…
My opinion: Living World != Personal Story.
I would say that Tyria/overworld (outside of your story) is allowed to progress in isolation to your story in exactly the same way your story progresses on without Tyria: zones are frozen in time (with Arah Exp being the only zone that is post-Zhaitan) from a personal story standpoint.
Sparkfly Fen is level 65-ish which means that it should be a representation of Tyria at the time of personal story 65. So Zhaitan does live, the only real difference is those players still doing their personal storyline now have a slightly different Sparkfly Fen.
Not to mention that I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning Tequatl specifically in the storyline. It’s an even surrounding it, but you can quite easily progress past Sparkfly Fen/65 without ever fighting Tequatl (just like the Temples and hundreds of other events).
Edit: This, obviously, isn’t stated by ANet but is an obvious corollary of their personal-story-paradox-consistency rule.
Here’s the problem…
As said in OP, we got told that The Lost Shores is post-Zhaitan. Obviously, Flame and Frost by mentioning Southsun Cove (as it was only discovered during The Lost Shores) is post-The Lost Shores. This means that all living story, if it doesn’t do time skips, should be post-Zhaitan.
Plus, by not having a definitive “this is when things happened” you get a mess of the event chronology. The Living Story breaks the zones’ “frozen in time” (which I myself originally believed until the living story updates) – or rather, has in the past (after all the Molten Alliance didn’t invade at the beginning of the personal storyline). And that just leaves people scratching their heads and going “okay, so what happened first?”
There is an enviroment dialogue of Warrmaster Narru taht says: “At least this locale is better than Southsun Cove” which would implicate that this is post Soutshun events…
For some reason I forgot that. Adding to OP.
I think that part can be read as Tequatl is rising in response too the pact invasion of Orr. So it can have happened in the past tense. If taken that way it can make sense.
Fair interpretation. But why now after Zhaitan’s supposed death if it is a response to the invasion?
No really, I saw that comming, when Angel said in that one TowerTalk episode that the LS isn’t set after the personal storyline. At this point I knew they said this just so they could screw the timeline with this update. It wasn’t even necessary, they could have just said that Tequatl became for an unkown reason more powerful, so the players could speculate if it absorbed some of Zhaitans powers after his death or whatever. This intentional vagueness is better than letting us belief the LS is completely post-Zhaitan and then suddenly not.
Yeah, just listened to that interview at long last today…
Leaves me confuzzled.
This is what the Living Story timeline is beginning to feel like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY_Ry8J_jdw
There’s something I forgot in the OP:
Update notes
Something’s gotten into Tequatl the Sunless. This ancient dragon, scourge of the Splintered Coast, has become more formidable than ever with an kitten nal of new attacks and lethal tricks at its disposal. To stop this rampaging beast, players will join forces with old friends and new allies in a desperate battle where failure is a very real option. Tequatl has risen, and it will take an army of players to bring it down!
Summary: Same as before, but something interesting to note – Tequatl’s called an ancient dragon.
That just enforces my suspicions that Tequatl might be Rotscale 2.0.
Also found interesting that they mentioned ancient, would mean that, unlike The Shatterer and The Claw of Jormag, Tequatl is not recycled every time upon defeat by a new one.
From the letter I also get the feeling it’s left open, to neither confirm or deny this is post-Zhaitan. And then comes all the other bits that confuse the timeline further more. I sencirely don’t get why they want to shove us this kitten concept that is messsing everything up.
Also found interesting that they mentioned ancient, would mean that, unlike The Shatterer and The Claw of Jormag, Tequatl is not recycled every time upon defeat by a new one.
Because he isn’t. The Shatterer gets blown up by the giant cannon, the Claw drowns in the water. Teq appears from the water and then retreats after being defeated (or that’s what he did until now anyway). So while we fight a brand-spankin-new Shatterer/Claw (notice it’s referred to as A Claw of Jormag, not the Claw of Jormag) every time, Tequatl is actually the same dragon every time. Unlike the other two, we don’t really get to kill him outright, as he successfully retreated back from whence he came every time. As for him gaining power, this is also explained – the NPC states that these repeated encounters have allowed him to improve his attack plan.
Actually, if the wings can be regenerated- no reason to suspect otherwise, they seem to just be ice- it’s possible that the Claw also survived and can return. We know that it/they have no difficulties being underwater, as evidenced by the gaping rent torn in the Honor of the Waves below the waterline.
I could be mistaken, but I believe the NPC said that the repeated encounters were what allowed the Vigil to noticed his advanced tactics, and not that they were the cause of the “evolution”.
I could be mistaken, but I believe the NPC said that the repeated encounters were what allowed the Vigil to noticed his advanced tactics, and not that they were the cause of the “evolution”.
Vigil tacticians have noticed that Tequatl has been improving its battle strategies with every emergence.
In other words he gets better every time he attacks.
This is what the Living Story timeline is beginning to feel like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY_Ry8J_jdw
Somehow I just knew that’d be what you were linking when I saw the link…
Also found interesting that they mentioned ancient, would mean that, unlike The Shatterer and The Claw of Jormag, Tequatl is not recycled every time upon defeat by a new one.
I think it’s actually said that Tequatl isn’t killed with this update, but retreats.
Technically, we only see the Shatterer dying – the Claw of Jormag may retreat as well, as we never see what happens to the body after it “falls” into the water. Though we’re told there’s many Claws of Jormag, it’s never said it’s killed and its never shown either.
Well BobbyStein (Hey Bobby, come visit us over here at the lore forums! We don’t bite, I promise!) just mentioned that Teq being stronger is all related to the overall LS arc at the moment, so I guess it is more than “ARG, I’m a big boy dragon now!”:
To be honest, I feel that this tequatl’s release makes for an excellent build up for something “dangerous” to come in the future. But based on your post, BobbyStein, it feels like there’s no story planned for this, and that the new details behind the new Tequatl are just marketing hype.
Maybe I wasn’t clear in my other post. Tequatl becoming stronger (and Rox being present) are both tied into the overall LW story. More will be revealed later.
Well BobbyStein (Hey Bobby, come visit us over here at the lore forums! We don’t bite, I promise!) just mentioned that Teq being stronger is all related to the overall LS arc at the moment, so I guess it is more than “ARG, I’m a big boy dragon now!”:
To be honest, I feel that this tequatl’s release makes for an excellent build up for something “dangerous” to come in the future. But based on your post, BobbyStein, it feels like there’s no story planned for this, and that the new details behind the new Tequatl are just marketing hype.
Maybe I wasn’t clear in my other post. Tequatl becoming stronger (and Rox being present) are both tied into the overall LW story. More will be revealed later.
^Actually there can be a lot of biting sometimes. But we still want you!!!!
At times it is possible to over analyze things. The techies have revamped big T. It was the headline for a living story update so Rox was put there on some pretext of no consequence. Some achievements were put there since living story has achievements. Some chat was put onto the other characters to round it off. There may be some hints about future living story updates but that’s about it.
Looking into this update for lore is likely to an underwhelming experience.
Next living story Scarlet rides Tequatl into the battle with Aetherblade ships flanking her and twisted machinations coming out of portals on the ground. You have 30 minutes to kill everything or she takes over Tyria. And people thought Tequatl alone was too tough…
Went and added Bobby’s comments to OP’s double post.
Not quite sure I like how Tequatl’s buff in power will end up tied to the rest of the “living world” since said “living world” is mainly focused on Scarlet.
This means that, for some reason or another, Scarlet is most likely to be why Tequatl got a buff. Which really ruins the lore potential Anet had for the Elder Dragons.
I’ve been under the impression that it’s all post-Zhaitan. Lost Shores was, as far as we know, post-Zhaitan. F&F was after Lost Shores. Therefore…
The way I understood the mail mentioning the “current invasion” was that, despite Zhaitan being defeated, there were still hordes of Risen roaming about. The invasion couldn’t just end right after Zhaitan and be called a success. As far as we know it’s still on-going for the sake of thoroughness.
But again, that’s just how I’ve been understanding it.
Theory.
Zhaitan is control center and big sponge with magical energies.
Zhaitan dead, control link broken, status of energy (and energy links) is unknown.
Tequatl is ancient dragon, probably main champion, probably self-aware (analog of Glint).
So, with broken control and possible knowledge about energy manipulations… champion begin to evolve on it’s own? Seems logical.
If tequatl’s upgrade was not meant to be post-zhaitan, it would already break Personal Story timeline by mentioning the Pact before it is formed (depending on where the character getting the mail is in his/her PS). Basicly the forming of the Pact is one of the few things we can always be sure that happened. The Pacts presence in Orr is another. Its always back to that ambigious death or defeat of Zhaitan that gets things confusing.
Now, if with Tequatl Rising we would begin a LW plotline moving to a revamped, 2nd battle against Zhaitan that makes absolutely certain that he is down for good this time…
The way I understood the mail mentioning the “current invasion” was that, despite Zhaitan being defeated, there were still hordes of Risen roaming about. The invasion couldn’t just end right after Zhaitan and be called a success. As far as we know it’s still on-going for the sake of thoroughness.
The way I understand it is that it would no longer be an invasion after Zhaitan’s defeat. The Pact is now occupying Orr, so they’re no longer invading it, but they’re still combating the ‘natives’.
Now, if with Tequatl Rising we would begin a LW plotline moving to a revamped, 2nd battle against Zhaitan that makes absolutely certain that he is down for good this time…
Adding a fourth path to Arah (follow Ogden!) to investigate and study Zhaitan’s corpse, while stealthly improving the story mode fight?
Yeah, I’d like that.
Talked to Rox today and she has a different dialogue at the start. No mention of Flame & Frost anymore.
Her starting dialogue changes depending on whether Teq’s been recently defeated or not.
I just checked her 5 seconds ago. She still mentions the Molten Alliance.
That’s odd. I checked right after beating Tequatl once to see if something changed, but was the same with the reference to the Molten Alliance. Now I got this one while the Splintered Coast was still with Tequatl’s lingering presence.
This update has to take place after the F&F update because Rox invited Braham to the Queen’s Jubilee which we have established took place after the F&F invasion
Oh it certainly takes place post-MA. That wasn’t the question. Both Jubilee and Teq Rising occur post F&F.
I dont get the confusion about the timeline. It’s clear that Teq rising is post death of Zaithan, probably due the magic released upon tyria after its death.
What I don’t understand is why they needed to make it a living story update. Why didn’t they just change the fight/add achievements etc and say “Hey guys, we made Teq an awesome fight now, worthy of a dragon this is what we should have had from the start”
Then the time line(of this fight anyways) would be irrelevant.
I think people should stop looking at it as a Living Story update and look at it as it really is: revamped mechanics for a fight.
ANet seems to have gotten tied into the “We WILL have Living Story updates every 2 weeks” statement so they were forced to turn this fight into a living story update when it shouldn’t have been.
/mytwocents
^ Most likely due to the fact that they wanted it to make sense.
A dragon suddenly turning up 50 times stronger than he was for no reason whatsoever would be quite weird.
Not really, If they just said “We revamped the teq fight to make it more dragon-worthy, this is what it should have been all along sorry it sucked before” I don’t think anyone or at least very few people would have batted an eye at why the dragon got stronger.
Well, when they already have an ongoing story, why not use it?
We have already gotten confirmation that Tequatl getting stronger has a reason in the Living World, so it is most likely bigger than just “He got stronger for some random reason”.
I see no reason why they shouldn’t utilize what they already have going on in the game. Some people do like immersion after all.
^ Most likely due to the fact that they wanted it to make sense.
A dragon suddenly turning up 50 times stronger than he was for no reason whatsoever would be quite weird.
They had no problem changing the other world bosses without said explanation. Granted, not as drastic as Tequatl, but still.
They had no problem changing the other world bosses without said explanation. Granted, not as drastic as Tequatl, but still.
But then again did they actually do any mechanical changes on them, or did they only add more health/put a timer? I haven’t done any of them since the update, so I wouldn’t know.
The way I understood the mail mentioning the “current invasion” was that, despite Zhaitan being defeated, there were still hordes of Risen roaming about. The invasion couldn’t just end right after Zhaitan and be called a success. As far as we know it’s still on-going for the sake of thoroughness..
I was under the same impression actually. Resurfaced Orr would still be a dangerous place, one that Pact would want to cleanse thoroughly. Priory should be interested in dealing with the Risen asap so that they could study Orr and maybe find out some useful info on Dragons / magic. I just don’t see the Pact immediately retreating from Orr after events in Arah.
So this could still be after Zhaitan’s defeat and after Lost Shores and Molten Alliance. The only thing that isn’t mentioned by NPCs timeline-wise, is Scarlet / Aetherblade attacks during Dragonbash and Queen’s Jubilee.
The mentioned interview complicates things, though. :p
Well, when they already have an ongoing story, why not use it?
We have already gotten confirmation that Tequatl getting stronger has a reason in the Living World, so it is most likely bigger than just “He got stronger for some random reason”.I see no reason why they shouldn’t utilize what they already have going on in the game. Some people do like immersion after all.
I agree, they should have used the story. as it sits tho, there ISN’T a story. The current update as good as it is gameplay wise has a terrible story, it seriously seems like the Sept 17th LS team said “we want to revamp the boss fights, so instead of a living story, we are going to focus on that for our release”
Then someone from the head shed was like “Ok cool, but we will catch major flak for saying that we would release a LS update every 2 weeks if we don’t include some form of LS…just throw Rox in there somewhere and call it good”
and when the gamers are like..where is the STORY? they say “oh we have a story for now it’s helping Rox track down a dragon footprint…..umm we’ll tell you about it later”
(spoiler….it has to do with a red headed sylvari)
/thread derailment.
^ Most likely due to the fact that they wanted it to make sense.
A dragon suddenly turning up 50 times stronger than he was for no reason whatsoever would be quite weird.
What was the story reason for the AC revamp? What’s the story reason for why pets and minions will have 71% more health in the coming patch? What’s the story reason for why Zhaitan was much easier to kill than Tequatl? At a certain point, they will make mechanics and gameplay changes that are in no way related to the story.
I think they are foreshadowing another plot (or a thread of the current plot) that they plan to focus on in the future. To a certain extent I think the Living Story plot is partly dictated by the content. I suspect the devs were working on ‘raid like’ content and it came in the form of Tequatl. The story team were planning on some kind of plot down the road that could involve dragon minions becoming stronger, so the story team decided to work the Tequatl revamp into it. That might be why the story of this update is so thin, it was tacked onto the Tequatl update and ws never intended to be a big story chapter.
^ Most likely due to the fact that they wanted it to make sense.
A dragon suddenly turning up 50 times stronger than he was for no reason whatsoever would be quite weird.
What was the story reason for the AC revamp? What’s the story reason for why pets and minions will have 71% more health in the coming patch? What’s the story reason for why Zhaitan was much easier to kill than Tequatl? At a certain point, they will make mechanics and gameplay changes that are in no way related to the story.
I think they are foreshadowing another plot (or a thread of the current plot) that they plan to focus on in the future. To a certain extent I think the Living Story plot is partly dictated by the content. I suspect the devs were working on ‘raid like’ content and it came in the form of Tequatl. The story team were planning on some kind of plot down the road that could involve dragon minions becoming stronger, so the story team decided to work the Tequatl revamp into it. That might be why the story of this update is so thin, it was tacked onto the Tequatl update and ws never intended to be a big story chapter.
Like you said, the difference is they dedicated an entire release to Tequatl being revamped. That didn’t happen with those other changes. We didn’t get a “Catacomb Catastrophe!” living world release when they changed AC, but we had Flame and Frost instead. The same thing happened in this release – they didn’t give story as to why the WvW borderlands decided to just suddenly change though they could have done and probably would have had this Living World release been dedicated to WvW.
They seem to be changing TA in the upcoming release, though, and they’ve tied story to it.
I agree that they probably won’t tie story into every change they make, though, but they most likely will if it’s the focal point of a living world release. They plan on making The Shatterer and Claw of Jormag stronger, too, and they could easily reference back to Tequatl when they do…especially since we were investigating Shatterer/Claw remains this release.
I have a feeling Anet could go back on the “post Zhaitan’s fall” thing and use a possible future revamp of the fight against Zhaitan in Arah to officially mark Zhaitan as defeated once and for all, instead of just having it confirmed in some random interview.
But then again did they actually do any mechanical changes on them, or did they only add more health/put a timer? I haven’t done any of them since the update, so I wouldn’t know.
Some of their attacks got how they functioned changed – Great Jungle Wurm can no longer be blinded and his roar now fears and the husks that he eats are harder to CC> Fire Elemental and Frozen Maw got some changes to their ambient enemies.
Megadestroyer was given a whole new model, equipped with 100% new attacks.
One of the NPCs has a quote, “Ive never seen Tequatl. Apparently he’s bigger, faster and meaner than before. Sounds more intresting than those giant Molteb Facility rejects”.
I think it’s just a semantics issue really. Its still considered the Pact invasion, even though they’re already occupying Orr. Because clearly it’s happened after MF. To be really honest though, they would’ve eventually had go have broken the no paradox rule, otherwise there would be no potential for story progression. That’s my take, at least.
The NPC who says the line you’re thinking of is Rox, and that’s not what she says though. “I’ve never seen Tequatl. Intel says its bigger than those armored rejects from the Molten Facility.” (this is in reference to the Molten Firestorm and/or Molten Berserker bosses at the end of the dungeon). Followed by “Big, scaly. Has wings. Breath that stinks worse than rotting meat on a dungheap. It’s pretty much a flying abomination.” And more.
And I don’t know why people keep repeating what I said in the OP – that it certainly is post MF, but oddly implied to be pre-Zhaitan, and no mention of Jubilee events (if one met Rox there, but not during F&F, how would she respond?).
And I agree with having to eventually break the no paradox rule. My issue with that is more that it never should have been done. And if they break it, they shouldn’t dance around the issue and just flat-out state it.
The NPC who says the line you’re thinking of is Rox, and that’s not what she says though. “I’ve never seen Tequatl. Intel says its bigger than those armored rejects from the Molten Facility.” (this is in reference to the Molten Firestorm and/or Molten Berserker bosses at the end of the dungeon). Followed by “Big, scaly. Has wings. Breath that stinks worse than rotting meat on a dungheap. It’s pretty much a flying abomination.” And more.
And I don’t know why people keep repeating what I said in the OP – that it certainly is post MF, but oddly implied to be pre-Zhaitan, and no mention of Jubilee events (if one met Rox there, but not during F&F, how would she respond?).
And I agree with having to eventually break the no paradox rule. My issue with that is more that it never should have been done. And if they break it, they shouldn’t dance around the issue and just flat-out state it.
It does seem odd that she ‘forgot’ Scarlet and the Jubilee. But w/e, Anet I guess..
Not affiliated with ArenaNet or NCSOFT. No support is provided.
All assets, page layout, visual style belong to ArenaNet and are used solely to replicate the original design and preserve the original look and feel.
Contact /u/e-scrape-artist on reddit if you encounter a bug.