Guild Wars 2

It’s time for a change in the Lionguard. Lion’s Arch has stood for over 200 years and has nearly fallen twice in the last three months because of their arrogance. First with the breach of Lion’s Arch by undead scouts and the subsequent invasion of Claw Island by Zhaitan’s forces and now the attack by the Karka.

I understand the Lionguard can’t prepare for impending invasion every time some lunatic starts crying about the end of the world, but in both instances the Lionguard have ignored warnings of impending attacks by experts in the field. These attacks have resulted not only in the loss of many lives, but also putting the city and the entirety of Tyria at risk.

We can’t let this stand. We can’t allow the men, women and children of Lion’s Arch run the risk of death, or worse, because of the Lionguard’s dereliction of duty.

Down this MAGNUS THE BLOODY HANDED!!!!!!!!

This should be the next event.

It’s true. So many plots (not just in this game) are driven by the “mechanic” of impending doom from someone learned, and the boisterous and over-zealous defenders saying they are ready and “there is nothing of concern”. It’s been a trope for years.

don’t forget the halloween event where mad king thorn tried to cross over in lions arch not to mention the statue still hasn’t been repaired

Mad King Thorn I don’t think they could have done much more to prevent. Monsters from the Mists is outside the Lionguard’s jurisdiction until they’re fully present and able to be hurt with weapons, surely?

It is true though, some unfortunate negligence on the part of the Lionguard officer corps lately. I know the city’s almost as overflowing with bold adventurers as it is with pirates, but still, we shouldn’t be responsible for every attack!

Oh the city is under attack? Darn, oh well. Joe, head on over to the black lion HQ and gather up some adventurous types will ya? Thanks.

I agree. I think an investigation needs to be conducted. Since different officers were involved in the incidents, it suggests that this may be a climate of hubris established by the top brass, rather than just one individual making a poor decision. Let’s look into this before Lion’s Arch is attacked again, and ensure the Lionguard take future threats more seriously.

Keep in mind that Magnus is an elected official, so unless there’s some sort of petition signed by a fairly large number of people, it’s unlikely that Magnus will be replaced any time soon. The other issue here is you have to make an ironclad case against him, then provide a potential replacement, likely someone already on the Captain’s Council. Currently, I believe the two strongest members on the Council are Farth Scarclaw and Theo Ashford. And they are still a long way from being the type of people to lead the Lionguard. But with his wealth, Theo Ashford’s influence is spreading rapidly. Farth is more of a fighter so she may also have potential. There’s still the issue of bringing to light more reasons why Magnus is unfit to lead the Lionguard though. I’ll leave that to the real politicians of Lion’s Arch, however.

It could be possible that there are many other Asura (or particularly scientific minded members of other races) that are also doing research and coming up with possibly dangerous results that don’t pan out. Asuran technology in particular isn’t exactly the most reliable.

Erring on the side of caution is all and good, but there comes a point where putting the lionguard on high alert every time some scientific doohicky beeps funny doesn’t do anything but weaken the lionguard.

The lionguard are people too, they need rest, they need time off to visit family, they need R&R time. When the lionguard is on high alert none of that is happening, none of that happening equates to lower morale, lower morale equates to diminished performance when it matters.

This event just happened to end up with something coming of the readings, but do we know how many crackpots with a theory come up to this guy demanding a lionguard response to a blip on a piece of paper?

There probably is a certain question of hierarchy of reliability.

The karka affair is one I can understand, for much the reasoning Greiger stated. However, it’s the Battle of Claw Island that stands out as more of a case of hubris. At that point, Trahearne is known as the foremost expert on Orr, while the character is already an established hero of the culture they’re from (especially if they’re human or sylvari) as well as a high-ranking member of the order they’re from along with their mentor. They… probably should have been given a little more credence than an egghead fussing over a blip on a piece of paper.

You know, we/they could totally make an event plot out of this. Except instead of us as the adventurers, I’d invent a group to fill a role like the Consortium did: a party of show-off adventurers, maybe a lame imitation of Destiny’s Edge, who think they’re great and constantly step in to save Lion’s Arch from problem great and small. Except they start causing more trouble than they solve, and the Lionguard finds that actually leaving the fate of the city in the hands of random adventurers isn’t always a good idea…

Then maybe (after the Lionguard have you investigating them or trying to stop them from poking their noses into more city business) something really bad happens and the new “heroes” are begging for someone to save their sorry butts – at which point a mob of players turns up to show them how it’s done.

Seriously, have that one for free, ArenaNet

This is even truer now and hope ANET really considers this and does not rebuild LA in the same spot. It clearly can’t be defended well enough.

Ps. Thanks to guy on reddit who pointed me to this thread.

WarriorOfAsgard.3705:

Keep in mind that Magnus is an elected official, so unless there’s some sort of petition signed by a fairly large number of people, it’s unlikely that Magnus will be replaced any time soon. The other issue here is you have to make an ironclad case against him, then provide a potential replacement, likely someone already on the Captain’s Council. Currently, I believe the two strongest members on the Council are Farth Scarclaw and Theo Ashford. And they are still a long way from being the type of people to lead the Lionguard. But with his wealth, Theo Ashford’s influence is spreading rapidly. Farth is more of a fighter so she may also have potential. There’s still the issue of bringing to light more reasons why Magnus is unfit to lead the Lionguard though. I’ll leave that to the real politicians of Lion’s Arch, however.

Theo would certainly have a solid voting bloc over in Claw Island. And just imagine his speeches. “Come, my brothers, over here, and vote for Zhai- er- me for Council head!”

I’m not really sure the flood the prior century counts as “stood” – it was rebuilt, certainly, but was damaged at least as badly as it is now.

Sirius.4510:

I’m not really sure the flood the prior century counts as “stood” – it was rebuilt, certainly, but was damaged at least as badly as it is now.

And virtually the entire population died, to be replaced by a new one of mostly different race.

I’ve got a solution to this problem, replace the Lionguard with the Seraph. Just let Queen Jenna reclaim the city from its incompetence now its reason to exist independently is gone.

Will Lucky.8703:

I’ve got a solution to this problem, replace the Lionguard with the Seraph. Just let Queen Jenna reclaim the city from its incompetence now its reason to exist independently is gone.

And put the norn, charr, asura, sylvari, hylek, skritt, quaggan, grawl, ogre, kodan, tengu, and centaur residents under a system of government they can’t participate in. Solid plan, truly.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Will Lucky.8703:

I’ve got a solution to this problem, replace the Lionguard with the Seraph. Just let Queen Jenna reclaim the city from its incompetence now its reason to exist independently is gone.

And put the norn, charr, asura, sylvari, hylek, skritt, quaggan, grawl, ogre, kodan, tengu, and centaur residents under a system of government they can’t participate in. Solid plan, truly.

Satellite government.

I think you forget that it’s the Captain’s Council that’s to be blamed both times and last time at Claw Island, it was also the charr officer in command of defending Claw Island who underestimated the attack.

So if anyone, it’s some of the people at the Captain’s Council that voted “no” to preparing Lion’s Arch for the attack that should go down. I doubt Magnus was part of the ones voting no, since he’s like a father to Ellen and would trust her.

It’s not as much the Lionguard’s fault as some of the Council members. Without their support, the Lionguard can’t do anything drastic about it.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

And put the norn, charr, asura, sylvari, hylek, skritt, quaggan, grawl, ogre, kodan, tengu, and centaur residents under a system of government they can’t participate in. Solid plan, truly.

True, but the Krytan Government only allowed Lions Arch to remain independent so that it could act as a defense against Orr. With that threat gone the Krytan Governments reasons for allowing it to remain independent are gone.

Will Lucky.8703:

True, but the Krytan Government only allowed Lions Arch to remain independent so that it could act as a defense against Orr. With that threat gone the Krytan Governments reasons for allowing it to remain independent are gone.

Other than Lion’s Arch has grown into a very very trade influenced city, that’s become rich enough to put expenses on portal to every city, which furthered their own trade. And the fact that Lion’s Arch had become a quite powerful independent small nation.

Now with it all in rubble, it would be a great time for the Queen to make it part of Kryta, though it would bring salt on already deep wounds and I can’t see the Queen being that greedy. The Ministry though seems likely to wanna get their hands on Lion’s Arch, as its trade would make them bath in riches.

Will Lucky.8703:

Aaron Ansari.1604:

And put the norn, charr, asura, sylvari, hylek, skritt, quaggan, grawl, ogre, kodan, tengu, and centaur residents under a system of government they can’t participate in. Solid plan, truly.

True, but the Krytan Government only allowed Lions Arch to remain independent so that it could act as a defense against Orr. With that threat gone the Krytan Governments reasons for allowing it to remain independent are gone.

It is kinda suspicious that the Seraph were only sent to retrieve Heal-tron, instead of providing any kind of relief.

Remember Lion’s Arch signed a peace treaty with centaurs while the Seraph were full-out war with them. That lead to a lot of resentment they surely haven’t forgotten about. Why would they help “Lion’s Archlings”, when they didn’t help them back in their time of need? That would seem to be their reasoning.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Will Lucky.8703:

Aaron Ansari.1604:

And put the norn, charr, asura, sylvari, hylek, skritt, quaggan, grawl, ogre, kodan, tengu, and centaur residents under a system of government they can’t participate in. Solid plan, truly.

True, but the Krytan Government only allowed Lions Arch to remain independent so that it could act as a defense against Orr. With that threat gone the Krytan Governments reasons for allowing it to remain independent are gone.

It is kinda suspicious that the Seraph were only sent to retrieve Heal-tron, instead of providing any kind of relief.

Do note that really, those camps take place at most a day or two after the actual attack (Scarlet took the city in under an hour or within a night depending on NPC you talk to or overhear).

At this point, it’s unlikely ANY of the cites have a proper response or aid force ready. As noted, the lionguard healer thinks the two Seraph are the “first group of the aid” instead of hunting the golem,.

Scarlet is clearly the enemy of both of them, so some pragmatism has to come in at some point – but I imagine Kryta is still deciding what to do about the problem. You can’t just march into Lion’s Arch in its current state and take it back.

Kalavier.1097:

Do note that really, those camps take place at most a day or two after the actual attack (Scarlet took the city in under an hour or within a night depending on NPC you talk to or overhear).

At this point, it’s unlikely ANY of the cites have a proper response or aid force ready. As noted, the lionguard healer thinks the two Seraph are the “first group of the aid” instead of hunting the golem,.

The camps are actually set more than “a few days” after the attack, according to one of the NPCs in the Vigil Keep camp (human female, called “Beggar”), but I cede the point. Maybe I’m reading too much into the NPCs complaints (both Hao Luen and the head Lionguard healer both express frustration at the lack of a response), which could possibly just be put down to needing something to vent at.

I vote Caeser into power.

CAESER! CAESER! CAESER! CAESER! CAESER!

The sad thing is it would have made Scarlet look genuinely scary if Lion’s Arch had battened down the hatches, manned the walls in double shifts, and made every possible preparation… and her forces walked over them to the exact same degree we see now.

WarriorOfAsgard.3705:

Keep in mind that Magnus is an elected official, so unless there’s some sort of petition signed by a fairly large number of people, it’s unlikely that Magnus will be replaced any time soon.

Well I hope he likes being Magnus of a flaming smouldering heap, I don’t think a lot of the survivors are going to return to Lion’s Arch, the city is literally constantly under attack and under the protection of a rather incompetent lot.

Curuniel.4830:

You know, we/they could totally make an event plot out of this. Except instead of us as the adventurers, I’d invent a group to fill a role like the Consortium did: a party of show-off adventurers, maybe a lame imitation of Destiny’s Edge, who think they’re great and constantly step in to save Lion’s Arch from problem great and small. Except they start causing more trouble than they solve, and the Lionguard finds that actually leaving the fate of the city in the hands of random adventurers isn’t always a good idea…

Don’t worry citizen, we’re here to help you with your rat problem!
Flame Throwers ready?
Destiny’s Child away!

Will Lucky.8703:

I’ve got a solution to this problem, replace the Lionguard with the Seraph. Just let Queen Jenna reclaim the city from its incompetence now its reason to exist independently is gone.

That could be interesting. Players can decide if they’re willing to stand with LA, freedom and what not, or with Jenna, the benign dictator. We need a bit of political intrigue in GW2 I think.

Nike.2631:

The sad thing is it would have made Scarlet look genuinely scary if Lion’s Arch had battened down the hatches, manned the walls in double shifts, and made every possible preparation… and her forces walked over them to the exact same degree we see now.

Actually yes this would have been fun. The first event would have been “Defend Lion’s Arch”, then we would have had “Evacuate Lion’s Arch”. Essentially we’d lose the first event, be doing damage control (like we’re doing now) and then we’d rise up, come back and reclaim Lions Arch with a possible Seraph army, and political intrigue in tow. Maybe a Charr army… now that would be interesting, a Charr army in Kryta… officially helping LA, but so very close to Divinity’s Reach… Actually if we assume Rox is there as a scout it makes sense.

All I am hoping for is that, IF LA is rebuilt, the Lions Counsel hire ACTUAL carpenters and masons this time. That city, although novel, was… well, a shanty town made of beached ships.

I can honestly say i don’t like the idea of Kryta reclaiming LA.
LA currently stands a symbol that the races of the world can live together without killing each other.
I can’t see many of the non Humans bending knee to a Human, especially Charr or Norn.
So if Queen Jennah did bring LA back into Kryta it wouldn’t be that symbol anymore it would just be a Human city that other races are allowed to stay in.
I think keeping LA independent is important.

Nike.2631:

The sad thing is it would have made Scarlet look genuinely scary if Lion’s Arch had battened down the hatches, manned the walls in double shifts, and made every possible preparation… and her forces walked over them to the exact same degree we see now.

I don’t see how she doesn’t ‘look scary’ or her forces don’t look that way now. They took a city in a range from UNDER AN HOUR to within a single night (aka, a few hours).

Frankly, that’d be the result either way. Air bombardment from a group of airships (what was it, around 10?) that apparently also have megalaser style guns mounted on them? It’s going to wreck stuff.

CureForLiving.5360:

WarriorOfAsgard.3705:

Keep in mind that Magnus is an elected official, so unless there’s some sort of petition signed by a fairly large number of people, it’s unlikely that Magnus will be replaced any time soon.

Well I hope he likes being Magnus of a flaming smouldering heap, I don’t think a lot of the survivors are going to return to Lion’s Arch, the city is literally constantly under attack and under the protection of a rather incompetent lot.

I’ve heard in the books claw island is a major force to be reckoned with. And “Constantly under attack?” You mean in the span of 2 years, it was attacked… four times. Three times with minimal damage, fourth being right now (Almost forgot dragon bash). For a city that’s A: a MAJOR trade hub. B: On the coast. and C: with rather poor physical defenses, that’s a kitten good record. Only the fourth attack (a massive air one) actually ruined the city. Lionguard being incompetent? I don’t see it. I mean, they fund and protect havens all over and those are considered guarded enough to be good rest stops for travelers and merchants.

Nike.2631:

The sad thing is it would have made Scarlet look genuinely scary if Lion’s Arch had battened down the hatches, manned the walls in double shifts, and made every possible preparation… and her forces walked over them to the exact same degree we see now.

Actually yes this would have been fun. The first event would have been “Defend Lion’s Arch”, then we would have had “Evacuate Lion’s Arch”. Essentially we’d lose the first event, be doing damage control (like we’re doing now) and then we’d rise up, come back and reclaim Lions Arch with a possible Seraph army, and political intrigue in tow. Maybe a Charr army… now that would be interesting, a Charr army in Kryta… officially helping LA, but so very close to Divinity’s Reach… Actually if we assume Rox is there as a scout it makes sense.

Charr don’t give a kitten about fighting humans. Infact, the only ones they really were annoyed at was Ebonhawke, and by the time of Kralk’s emergance, it was only Iron Legion (and even then, a select few warbands as I recall) maintaining the siege. With the treaty, neither side has ANY reason to actually wage war on each other. The loss in manpower wouldn’t benefit them as then they’d have to defend two LARGE territories against a variety of enemies. Centaurs, Flame Legion, ghosts, bandits/Seraph remnants. It’s not worth it, even IF they held onto the grudges (which they show no sign of).

MAGpie.7962:

All I am hoping for is that, IF LA is rebuilt, the Lions Counsel hire ACTUAL carpenters and masons this time. That city, although novel, was… well, a shanty town made of beached ships.

Part of why it has poor physical defenses. Lovely city sure, but once you are inside those four ways in, you can’t be stopped. My hope is when they rebuild it they include more defensive emplacements. Like those passageways in (groundside) have walls/manned gates. The city itself has some walls and defensive towers, etc.

Kalavier.1097:

Part of why it has poor physical defenses. Lovely city sure, but once you are inside those four ways in, you can’t be stopped. My hope is when they rebuild it they include more defensive emplacements. Like those passageways in (groundside) have walls/manned gates. The city itself has some walls and defensive towers, etc.

Maybe contract Maeva and get a city-sized version of that forcefield for emergencies while they’re at it.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Kalavier.1097:

Part of why it has poor physical defenses. Lovely city sure, but once you are inside those four ways in, you can’t be stopped. My hope is when they rebuild it they include more defensive emplacements. Like those passageways in (groundside) have walls/manned gates. The city itself has some walls and defensive towers, etc.

Maybe contract Maeva and get a city-sized version of that forcefield for emergencies while they’re at it.

Unsure who you talk about, unless she’s the Asura who owned the house which does have a forcefield bubble around it and it completely untouched.

But, in addition to the above, a sea-wall and gate at Lion’s gate lighthouse.

Well it has been noted in-game that the other cities are oddly absent, in terms of major support.

Kalavier.1097:

Charr don’t give a kitten about fighting humans. Infact, the only ones they really were annoyed at was Ebonhawke, and by the time of Kralk’s emergance, it was only Iron Legion (and even then, a select few warbands as I recall) maintaining the siege. With the treaty, neither side has ANY reason to actually wage war on each other. The loss in manpower wouldn’t benefit them as then they’d have to defend two LARGE territories against a variety of enemies. Centaurs, Flame Legion, ghosts, bandits/Seraph remnants. It’s not worth it, even IF they held onto the grudges (which they show no sign of).

War is not logical. Besides I find how well everyone gets along to be rather suspicious… (and boring from a purely narrative perspective).

Besides the Charr war-machine needs resources to wage a war. If the Charr or Divinity’s Reach were to help take LA back they’d also be in a position to help rebuild. Since LA was a major trading hub it stands to reason once it’s rebuilt it might be again, anyone who helped to rebuild would be in a better position to benefit.

Evon Gnashblade has actually stated his displeasure in how the Lionguard performed, stating that the Charr would have been better. If the Charr were to help regain LA from the Scarlet Alliance, Evon would be in a good position to place himself on the Captains Council and in turn send some favours in the Charrs direction.

Divinity’s Reach (so close but so absent, probably building up military force?) could also benefit. Humans are no longer the top dogs, Divinity’s Reach is busy fighting the centaurs, and might still be rebuilding after Scarlet’s attack. With the current captains council make up (4 human, 2 Asura, 1 Norn, 1 charr) there might potentially be a leaning towards human-sympathizing, meaning that if LA was to be recaptured by the Seraphs then Divinity’s Reach might be able to reap the benefit.

How well the races get along.

Sylvari: Have no grudges.
Norn: Have no grudges
Asura: Have no grudges.
Charr-Humans: have grudges, which have SEVERELY depleted over the years.

As noted, by the time of Kralk’s awakening the war between Charr and Ebonhawke had basically simmered down, and the peace treaty just made it so both groups could go “Well, finally we can focus on actual, major threats.”

GW2 is not WoW where everybody bashes each others heads in to the point of people crying out how STUPID it is. In GW2 you have reasonable leaders who actually use their brains. There is no war between races to be had, and at most it’d be Charr attacking Ebonhawke and… that’s it. They literally didn’t care about Kryta.

Also remember, this is at LEAST one day later, at most… less then a week.

There hasn’t been any time (lore-wise) for the other capitals or major cities to FORM a full fledged response. Organizing military aid for the racial armies TAKES TIME. You can’t just send 500 Seraph to LA randomly, you gotta make sure your borders/danger areas have enough forces to hold the line. And According to various dialogue in LA, that’s a situation that constantly fluctuates. Even the Charr have to split their forces between ghost duty, brand duty, and flame legion assaults.

It’s why the orders formed the pact and went after the dragon. Unlike the racial armies, they aren’t bogged down in any conflict or major engagements. They could rally their forces quickly (You see this in the Personal story fight in LA) and marched to Orr, now they have to regroup and would have to split forces between cleaning up Orr and engaging new threats.

CureForLiving.5360:

Well it has been noted in-game that the other cities are oddly absent, in terms of major support.

Kalavier.1097:

Charr don’t give a kitten about fighting humans. Infact, the only ones they really were annoyed at was Ebonhawke, and by the time of Kralk’s emergance, it was only Iron Legion (and even then, a select few warbands as I recall) maintaining the siege. With the treaty, neither side has ANY reason to actually wage war on each other. The loss in manpower wouldn’t benefit them as then they’d have to defend two LARGE territories against a variety of enemies. Centaurs, Flame Legion, ghosts, bandits/Seraph remnants. It’s not worth it, even IF they held onto the grudges (which they show no sign of).

War is not logical. Besides I find how well everyone gets along to be rather suspicious… (and boring from a purely narrative perspective).

Besides the Charr war-machine needs resources to wage a war. If the Charr or Divinity’s Reach were to help take LA back they’d also be in a position to help rebuild. Since LA was a major trading hub it stands to reason once it’s rebuilt it might be again, anyone who helped to rebuild would be in a better position to benefit.

Evon Gnashblade has actually stated his displeasure in how the Lionguard performed, stating that the Charr would have been better. If the Charr were to help regain LA from the Scarlet Alliance, Evon would be in a good position to place himself on the Captains Council and in turn send some favours in the Charrs direction.

Divinity’s Reach (so close but so absent, probably building up military force?) could also benefit. Humans are no longer the top dogs, Divinity’s Reach is busy fighting the centaurs, and might still be rebuilding after Scarlet’s attack. With the current captains council make up (4 human, 2 Asura, 1 Norn, 1 charr) there might potentially be a leaning towards human-sympathizing, meaning that if LA was to be recaptured by the Seraphs then Divinity’s Reach might be able to reap the benefit.

Yes, send in the Panzers.

Kalavier.1097:

Nike.2631:

The sad thing is it would have made Scarlet look genuinely scary if Lion’s Arch had battened down the hatches, manned the walls in double shifts, and made every possible preparation… and her forces walked over them to the exact same degree we see now.

I don’t see how she doesn’t ‘look scary’ or her forces don’t look that way now. They took a city in a range from UNDER AN HOUR to within a single night (aka, a few hours).

No, the plot convenience took the city in under an hour. Nothing about Scarlet or her forces suggest she is capable of doing this. Considering we have dispatched every force she has ever dispatched to date.

Any victories Scarlet achieves are done so because the player and the iconic NPCs are forced to hang on to the Idiot Ball. Nike is correct.

Saint.5647:

Kalavier.1097:

Nike.2631:

The sad thing is it would have made Scarlet look genuinely scary if Lion’s Arch had battened down the hatches, manned the walls in double shifts, and made every possible preparation… and her forces walked over them to the exact same degree we see now.

I don’t see how she doesn’t ‘look scary’ or her forces don’t look that way now. They took a city in a range from UNDER AN HOUR to within a single night (aka, a few hours).

No, the plot convenience took the city in under an hour. Nothing about Scarlet or her forces suggest she is capable of doing this. Considering we have dispatched every force she has ever dispatched to date.

Any victories Scarlet achieves are done so because the player and the iconic NPCs are forced to hang on to the Idiot Ball. Nike is correct.

Nothing suggests that? We’ve never taken on a fleet of airships actively bombarding the ground. Which is what opened up this attack. Even the player mobs had trouble in the final level of tower of nightmares, which was included in the attack (Only in a stronger form).

The invasion forces were scattered all over, we weren’t forced to try to defend a single, poorly defended city full of civilians. Infact, the whole “Airships doing ground bombardment” is practically a new thing for everybody, so it’s hard to imagine people reacting calmly and effortlessly driving Scarlet away.

Hell, the airdrops alone make it a game changer. Bombardment confuses everybody and panics the civilians (Sending them running EVERYWHERE), then you drop mobs of Aetherblades inside those crowds and all around town. There is literally no way the Lionguard could muster an effective response quickly enough to secure the town. The Invasion events (Taking the zerg as being somewhat a canon response) was the people swarming over the portal sites and such AFTER they formed. Not stopping them all instantly after they appeared.

We have dispatched her forces before yes. But did we do that while trying to deal with a city full of panicked civilians AND Miasma clouds before? I doubt the Lionguard have. The city explicitly wasn’t as prepared as it could have been because of the Captain council stonewalling Kiel (and probably Magnus).

Frankly, with Scarlet it’s always been a two phase event. Her forces attack, cause havoc, and deal a lot of damage in the “What’s going on!” period. Then the good guys muster up and charge forth, smashing her. Right now she’s using the “What’s going on!” part to full power.

Saint.5647:

No, the plot convenience took the city in under an hour. Nothing about Scarlet or her forces suggest she is capable of doing this. Considering we have dispatched every force she has ever dispatched to date.

Any victories Scarlet achieves are done so because the player and the iconic NPCs are forced to hang on to the Idiot Ball. Nike is correct.

Its pretty much on the hand of bad writing. EVERYONE and their dog know that Scarlet is going to invade and there is nothing we can do about it because it was already written in such a way that Scarlet won the invasion. You would think that by now, every alliance and every man power that Scarlet once have would abandon her but nope, everything is according to plan.

LA was invaded by god-like creatures and their cultists. LA survive the tidal wave of the Risen Orr. LA defected all those undead armies of Zhaitan. LA took two beating from the Karka Invasion. LA got bombarded with the Mad King’s shenanigans. All of this and you are going to tell me that some Sylvari was able to sack LA without any effort. Screw this.

Qawsada.4251:

Saint.5647:

No, the plot convenience took the city in under an hour. Nothing about Scarlet or her forces suggest she is capable of doing this. Considering we have dispatched every force she has ever dispatched to date.

Any victories Scarlet achieves are done so because the player and the iconic NPCs are forced to hang on to the Idiot Ball. Nike is correct.

Its pretty much on the hand of bad writing. EVERYONE and their dog know that Scarlet is going to invade and there is nothing we can do about it because it was already written in such a way that Scarlet won the invasion. You would think that by now, every alliance and every man power that Scarlet once have would abandon her but nope, everything is according to plan.

LA was invaded by god-like creatures and their cultists. LA survive the tidal wave of the Risen Orr. LA defected all those undead armies of Zhaitan. LA took two beating from the Karka Invasion. LA got bombarded with the Mad King’s shenanigans. All of this and you are going to tell me that some Sylvari was able to sack LA without any effort. Screw this.

Word of God aka Anet. The groups are with Scarlet because of the endgame rewards promised to them or that they want. Not the full forces she once had (for like Molten alliance and such), but the ones left are in it for the end loot.

The Mursaat weren’t god like. And the White mantle was pretty much at it’s weakest.
LA didn’t survive the tidal wave. It got buried. It was simply rebuilt using the shipwrecked boats.
IIRC, It had a very large fleet and the Krytan Navy helping it back then.(And claw Island)
It really only took one beating from the Karka invasion, but even then it was very minor and just the lighthouse. In Personal story it got MINOR attacks because Claw Island took the bulk of the attack and the orders were basically right there with their armies.
Mad King thorn affected the Lion’s Court/fountain. Nothing else. Hardly an attack.

And in general, most of those attacks had warning and preparation. This one did not. It had warning but the warnings weren’t acted upon. The Council got careless/overconfident, and they’ve paid for it.

Scarlet’s attack came from the Air (No warning on when, and the Captain’s council stubbornly believed they wouldn’t be attacked again and thus didn’t allow bolstered defenses), opened with a massive bombardment (No other attack did this, and the undead navies had Claw Island to deal with), followed by deploying forces (Aetherblade from air, toxic from underwater, and Molten through portals and underground), as well as dumping Miasma all over.

Simply put, the Lionguard had no warning, and no chance once the panic set in.

Frankly, this is like going “My Necromancer survived Claw Island, all those dungeons, Arah, Orr, and more. There’s no way tripping down a flight of stairs would kill her!” And frankly, that trip COULD kill my necromancer. Get careless, and the simplest thing will wipe you out. (human necro, btw).

Those airships carry a lot of cannons. Full broadsides from them focused toward the city = a lot of damage. Especially if they targeted Fort Mariner in the first barrage to strike any cannons or clustered lionguard.

Kalavier.1097:

Word of God aka Anet. The groups are with Scarlet because of the endgame rewards promised to them or that they want. Not the full forces she once had (for like Molten alliance and such), but the ones left are in it for the end loot.
.

Funny that those groups are consider the side group of those full force, which is a crap ton more than the full force that wasn’t siding with Scarlet to begin with. Some of them already got their weapon and magic (molten alliance) or their Prophet (Krait) and they still follow and die for Scarlet.

Kalavier.1097:

The Mursaat weren’t god like. And the White mantle was pretty much at it’s weakest.
LA didn’t survive the tidal wave. It got buried. It was simply rebuilt using the shipwrecked boats.

God-like does not mean goes and they can do a number to anyone that isn’t infused. Its a good thing Zinn manage to figure out a way to counter the agony. Of course, we, the players, were there to stop the White Mantle from crushing the Lion Guards.

Kalavier.1097:

IIRC, It had a very large fleet and the Krytan Navy helping it back then.(And claw Island)
It really only took one beating from the Karka invasion, but even then it was very minor and just the lighthouse. In Personal story it got MINOR attacks because Claw Island took the bulk of the attack and the orders were basically right there with their armies.
Mad King thorn affected the Lion’s Court/fountain. Nothing else. Hardly an attack..

The Karka came to Lion’s Arch, Twice. The second time gave us the weapon that was needed to drive them off to the Cove. The first event caught everyone off guard with all the lagging and invisible Karka flying around.

The Personal Story implies that those Risen were a giant threat and that LA was fortunate enough that they got the warming from Claw Island. The damage would have been a lot greater with a giant undead dragon breathing his breath in the populate area of LA.

The Mad King did attack LA and after the attack, he riddle everyone with his awful jokes. No one could have survive that.

Kalavier.1097:

And in general, most of those attacks had warning and preparation. This one did not. It had warning but the warnings weren’t acted upon. The Council got careless/overconfident, and they’ve paid for it..

Scarlet’s attack came from the Air (No warning on when, and the Captain’s council stubbornly believed they wouldn’t be attacked again and thus didn’t allow bolstered defenses), opened with a massive bombardment (No other attack did this, and the undead navies had Claw Island to deal with), followed by deploying forces (Aetherblade from air, toxic from underwater, and Molten through portals and underground), as well as dumping Miasma all over.

The Karka didn’t and the “scarlet” invasion did. There were too many signs that Scarlet would have invaded the place and only incompetency was the reason why it happen.

And with this whole invasion from air, sea, and ground. The Sea would have been detected by the guards in Claw Island. The air would have been guarded with their own airship (by the time the event happen, they have ton of those in their disposal). The only shock troop that would actually happen is the Molten Alliance and its only due to their teleportation.

And this is all assuming that Scarlet haven’t already wasted 15613501535 members of these alliance nor with all the airships and the main airship factory was destroy in the TA Aetherblade Path nor all the resource to pull this off.

Kalavier.1097:

Frankly, this is like going “My Necromancer survived Claw Island, all those dungeons, Arah, Orr, and more. There’s no way tripping down a flight of stairs would kill her!” And frankly, that trip COULD kill my necromancer. Get careless, and the simplest thing will wipe you out. (human necro, btw).

Then you should have use your Death Shroud like any other Necromaner.

Kalavier.1097:

Those airships carry a lot of cannons. Full broadsides from them focused toward the city = a lot of damage. Especially if they targeted Fort Mariner in the first barrage to strike any cannons or clustered lionguard.

And they should have loaded the place with cannons from those ship bridge or from the fort, but that wouldn’t stop the invasion because ANET said so and that is the only reason why it happen.

A: If the Krait were entirely underwater, Claw Island would NEVER know.
B: IIRC, Lionguards have a grand total of… 2-3 airships. Kiel’s, and then the one which attacks the Aetherblade TA path. If you count the ones ingame around LA, you get 3 total friendly airships. Hardly a match for a fleet.

Also, people seem to miss the fact of “kitten in the air comes down”. If they had the AA guns in place, those airships would have crashed downward, probably causing WORSE damage and panic. They might defeat the Aetherblade fleet, but LA would be in ruins anyway.

Also the fact if Kiel’s airship had been hostile and broadsided that section of wall, you wouldn’t have a wall with cannons on top and lionguard manning them. You’d have an explosion, flying rubble, and colorful smears of former lionguard armor and blood.

Hell, waste one airship bombarding the fort and then crashing into it, and the rest of the city is open for assault.

Gameplay doesn’t = lore. If that was true then the centaurs must have around a million babies per day to keep up with player slaughter. All the kills combined would probably equal over the population of the Earth.

@ Qawsada.4251

The Pact and Lionsguard wasn’t defeated in open combat. It was the miasma gas that’s forcing the Pact and Lionsguard into retreat. Scarlet’s forces could never defeat the Pact in a head on fight.

The priority right now is the get the civilians out of LA, away from the miasma gas. It was correct to try to saves lives first.

LA never had air defences because the LA council had the idiot ball.

Lionsguard only have a few airships. The Pact airships are not in LA, yet.

Its worth pointing out that the Pact might not be directly involved save for the player character. The orders supply forces and resources for the Pact but are still independent bodies. The pact is more like a joint task force than the three orders completely merged.

That said, the orders seem to be collaborating even though they don’t seem to be directly working together. However it seems likely that actual Pact forces are still focused on pacification of Orr, limiting Jormag’s influence in the north and continued research into the nature of the EDs.

This was a good chance to make us care about the Captain’s Council and really see them as people not to be trifled with (like how Jenna and Anise look more formidable after Clockwork Chaos). Instead we all see how ineffective and useless the council are (to the point it’s hard to believe) and how ineffective the Lionguard were (you’d think they would be able to at least partially evacuate the city without the support of the Captain’s Council, not invite an orphange to visit a soon to be battle zone). The new iconic characters were the only ones who weren’t given the idiot ball.

Lion’s Arch look like a bunch of chumps (everyone from the Lionguard to Captain’s Council) after this, and it’s a real shame.

Are all of the Captain’s Council still alive? I’ve found a few of them outside of LA but are some of them missing?

Shiren.9532:

Are all of the Captain’s Council still alive? I’ve found a few of them outside of LA but are some of them missing?

Peter the Lost is MIA, but all the others are accounted for.

Maybe he went to sPvP to get his ship back and he decided to stay a bit longer to finish spending all his glory before it’s removed?

Or maybe he got lost.

Shiren.9532:

Maybe he went to sPvP to get his ship back and he decided to stay a bit longer to finish spending all his glory before it’s removed?

Or maybe he got lost.

For some reason that made me think of after the attack he’s found sleeping under a table with a beer bottle in hand. No idea why lol.

But, as said, this is an attack which is (For GW2 purposes) brand new. Afterwards we may see more AA defenses, but right now it’s “WHAT?”

I mean, in Orr what are Airship roles? Kill dragons/keep dragons away from ground forces. Not ground bombardment.