Guild Wars 2

Best.Map.By.Far

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Vayne.8563:

I don’t think everyone has the same memory or same set of directions. While I had little problem learning this map, I can understand why the OP is frustrated by it.

I can understand why people have trouble when they first encounter it. I don’t accept that it’s okay to stop there and claim it’s a horrid map.

I have trouble on every map. My brain has difficulty distinguishing left & right (and so east & west) and top & bottom (so north & south). And the UI’s limitations for displaying height are vexing even in a single-layer map.

So I know going in that I’m going to be lost most of the time to start with. It is challenging to get around and so it’s worth learning (through trial & error or reading about it) various tricks for navigating.

• The map works like a healix: a spiral shape with a couple of layers.
• In this map, unlike others, lava tubes are your friend. Take them all the way up and glide down to any level.
• Updrafts are less friendly, in that they often won’t take you up a layer.
• Sometimes the best way down is to go up and glide down.
• Oakheart’s Reach is useful everywhere; get in the habit of grabbing it and using it all the time. It can be used while gliding, while falling, and allows you to fix a whole host of mistakes we all tend to make when navigating.
• Identify one spot in each layer and find a reliable way to reach it, one that works for you. (It turns out that there are usually 3-4.)

Or in shorter form: when in doubt, lava tub up the map and glide down, using Oakheart’s Reach as a safety, um, web.

Don’t get me wrong, I personally love the map. It’s my kind of map and the mastery feels made for me. After Bitterfrost and Lake Doric which I didn’t particularly like (they were okay for telling the story but I wouldn’t spend time there by choice), this is a map I can spend hours on just exploring. I like it as much or more than Ember Bay and I really like Ember Bay.

Still the OP doesn’t like that type of map and is entitled to that opinion. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but that’s not really the point.

penguin.6491:

A lot of people are losing interest (or getting frustrated) by these style of maps. I’m sure there are people who enjoy it, but… I just don’t see an equal amount of those folk.

Also whenever someone explains this map I laugh because it just sounds ridiculous.

Because folks who like things tend to play them and not complain in the forums.

Entenkommando.5208:

penguin.6491:

A lot of people are losing interest (or getting frustrated) by these style of maps. I’m sure there are people who enjoy it, but… I just don’t see an equal amount of those folk.

Also whenever someone explains this map I laugh because it just sounds ridiculous.

Because folks who like things tend to play them and not complain in the forums.

Exactly this. I think this new map is my favourite of the entire season and one of my favourite maps of the entire game (along with Caledon Forest, the Silverwastes, Verdant Brink and Dragon’s Stand). Especially the jumping puzzle, and this is coming from someone who disliked the Chalice of Tears.

Keep up the good work Arenanet!

It literally takes maybe 1-2h to fully explore the map (without checking youtube). You figure out most pretty fast. It’s no way near the complexity of TD.

Beside that, I really like the map. The atmosphere is great and after getting the mastery there, exploration is easy.

Entenkommando.5208:

penguin.6491:

A lot of people are losing interest (or getting frustrated) by these style of maps. I’m sure there are people who enjoy it, but… I just don’t see an equal amount of those folk.

Also whenever someone explains this map I laugh because it just sounds ridiculous.

Because folks who like things tend to play them and not complain in the forums.

Wow then you must really hate this map if you are here instead of playing, complaining about others complaining lol ☺

Amaimon.7823:

Ookamikun.6472:

The tube near the Mariner WP only goes to the south, but most of the action happens at the eastern area of the Savage area.

ye, but there’s another thermal tube just up the hill. you can tell from the map I linked a few posts up

Huh, didn’t realize there was a tube there.

Amaimon.7823:

two words, thermal tubes.
You can get from the submarine to Rata Arcanum in a few seconds if you’re willing to jump in them:

so here you go, a map, please forward it to everyone who says the map is hard to navigate.
Thermal Tubes take you literally everywhere

No, there are places like Golemancer’s Tomb and Druid’s Grotto that are very difficult to find / get to. And when the events happen there, a lot of people don’t bother because of that fact.

Djinn.9245:

Amaimon.7823:

two words, thermal tubes.
You can get from the submarine to Rata Arcanum in a few seconds if you’re willing to jump in them:

so here you go, a map, please forward it to everyone who says the map is hard to navigate.
Thermal Tubes take you literally everywhere

No, there are places like Golemancer’s Tomb and Druid’s Grotto that are very difficult to find / get to. And when the events happen there, a lot of people don’t bother because of that fact.

druid’s grotto is straight below the heart area. take the thermal tubes, glide down the cliff to a lower level, into the cave, and you’re done. Getting there from the submarine should not take more than 30 seconds.
As for the golemancer’s tomb, yet, I agree, that one’s a bit of a pain, but there are two ways to get there:
take the thermal tubes to Rata Arcanum and take the back entrance
take the thermal tubes to the grove and walk up the spiraling cliff on the south
both take some time, but they’re pretty straight paths, can’t get lost on a straight going cliff

Djinn.9245:

Amaimon.7823:

two words, thermal tubes.
You can get from the submarine to Rata Arcanum in a few seconds if you’re willing to jump in them:

so here you go, a map, please forward it to everyone who says the map is hard to navigate.
Thermal Tubes take you literally everywhere

No, there are places like Golemancer’s Tomb and Druid’s Grotto that are very difficult to find / get to. And when the events happen there, a lot of people don’t bother because of that fact.

Golemancer’s Tomb is easy with the tubes as well. Start at the waypoint at the merc camp. Take the tube a few feet away that shoots you west toward the center of the map at Titan’s Throat. Where you land you can see another tube just across the lava river, take that to just north of the tomb.

For the druid grotto, the trick is getting to know which ledge you drop to from above. Again starting at the merc camp waypoint, run west to the nearby cliff and fall off. There is a series of ledges as you fall down the cliff, one has a particularly flat and featureless surface. If you land on this ledge it leads back north east through a cave that goes to Druid’s Grotto. The trick is identifying the cliff face the first time, but once you know what you are looking for you can get to druids grotto very fast from that waypoint.

Ookamikun.6472:

Amaimon.7823:

Ookamikun.6472:

The tube near the Mariner WP only goes to the south, but most of the action happens at the eastern area of the Savage area.

ye, but there’s another thermal tube just up the hill. you can tell from the map I linked a few posts up

Huh, didn’t realize there was a tube there.

That one is handy. Enter the map and you get the first WP. Make your way up to the heart and hop in the tube. Quickly run north so the mob does not get you and claim the upper WP. Then it is a short distance on the upper level and you can drop down near the middle WP. That does not give you 100% completion, but now you have all the WPs in your first few minutes.

What, an altoholic who is used to running that route now? Where?

Also you do not need the newest mastery to complete the map. I did not get my new mastery until I finished mapping it. Where there is a will there is a way.

Malerian.8435:

Also you do not need the newest mastery to complete the map. I did not get my new mastery until I finished mapping it. Where there is a will there is a way.

Yeah, if you are doing all the achievements that is one thing, but if you are just completing the map and story IMO the new mastery isn’t really even that helpful. I had the mastery points to spare so I unlocked it well before I finished the map, didn’t really use it for the story steps at all.

The new mastery is awesome, but not needed.

Draconis Mons is the first map in this season that I actually map completed and spent the most time on because I found it the most interesting. Yes, it took me a little while to get used to it but once I did, it has proven to be the most entertaining one. It was just a matter of putting in a little bit of effort to learn the map, otherwise I can see why people would be frustrated.

To be fair it’s a good map but we need some more flat maps just for a change and no more ridiculously long JP’s. Something a little bit easier for the future please, the hardcore gamers that love the tougher stuff have had their share of goods, us softer players need some goods to!

Thank you

Vesuvius.9874:

Draconis Mons is …map that I …spent the most time on because I found it the most interesting.

Let’s see, a user named Vesuvius favors the map with the biggest and most volcanic mountain in the game.

Zappix.7928:

we need some more flat maps just for a change

You mean maps like Lake Doric? Or Bitterfrost? Even Ember Bay was mostly flat (jp area excluded), and Bloodstone Fen, while having three layers, basically had three flat layers without interaction placed on top of each other. How much change do you need when one map out of five that’s catering to those of us who love to explore is too much?

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Vesuvius.9874:

Draconis Mons is …map that I …spent the most time on because I found it the most interesting.

Let’s see, a user named Vesuvius favors the map with the biggest and most volcanic mountain in the game.

By that logic you must be hyped waiting for the Canthan release

It’s possibly my favourite map in the game (with Tangled Depths second). Much more interesting to explore, and rewards learning the map.

I want anet to go further, a 5 level.. nay, 10 level map, make a mountain full of caverns and bedlakes, a city on level 3, and level 7, level 1 and 2 are dominated by destroyers, 4-6 are dominated by normal cavern-life, and 8-10 are dominated by icebrood. Some places where you carefully climb up or down, and some spaces where you jump down from 8 all the way to floor 1

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Vesuvius.9874:

Draconis Mons is …map that I …spent the most time on because I found it the most interesting.

Let’s see, a user named Vesuvius favors the map with the biggest and most volcanic mountain in the game.

Wow… uhhh… that never occurred to me… I’m questioning my very existence right now…

Vesuvius.9874:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Vesuvius.9874:

Draconis Mons is …map that I …spent the most time on because I found it the most interesting.

Let’s see, a user named Vesuvius favors the map with the biggest and most volcanic mountain in the game.

Wow… uhhh… that never occurred to me… I’m questioning my very existence right now…

Naw, sometimes a coincidence is just remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

I like it! I mean it’d be nice if there was a way point near the Inquest base, but you can get to it from the highest way point, so it’s not too bad.

Lots of areas to explore. The kind of maps I like.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Vesuvius.9874:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Vesuvius.9874:

Draconis Mons is …map that I …spent the most time on because I found it the most interesting.

Let’s see, a user named Vesuvius favors the map with the biggest and most volcanic mountain in the game.

Wow… uhhh… that never occurred to me… I’m questioning my very existence right now…

Naw, sometimes a coincidence is just remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

Vesuvius and Draconis Mons. A double volcano! What does it meeeeeaaannnnn?! T_T https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI

Rasimir.6239:

Zappix.7928:

we need some more flat maps just for a change

You mean maps like Lake Doric? Or Bitterfrost? Even Ember Bay was mostly flat (jp area excluded), and Bloodstone Fen, while having three layers, basically had three flat layers without interaction placed on top of each other. How much change do you need when one map out of five that’s catering to those of us who love to explore is too much?

Yes, more like that please!

Zappix.7928:

To be fair it’s a good map but we need some more flat maps just for a change and no more ridiculously long JP’s. Something a little bit easier for the future please, the hardcore gamers that love the tougher stuff have had their share of goods, us softer players need some goods to!

Thank you

We just had 3 flat maps in a row and there are now 2 vertical maps in LS3. I guess that’s not enough for you?

its a spiral… how can you possibly get lost on a spiral?? pick a wall… follow it up…

CorrynnStarr.7942:

its a spiral… how can you possibly get lost on a spiral?? pick a wall… follow it up…

Trouble with minimap navigation when you are looking for a specific place that’s marked on the map maybe? It was a big problem with TD, and even though I think that this map was designed nearly perfectly in that its pretty clear if you aren’t on the right level, I could see how it might be confusing for some players.

Djinn.9245:

Amaimon.7823:

two words, thermal tubes.
You can get from the submarine to Rata Arcanum in a few seconds if you’re willing to jump in them:

so here you go, a map, please forward it to everyone who says the map is hard to navigate.
Thermal Tubes take you literally everywhere

No, there are places like Golemancer’s Tomb and Druid’s Grotto that are very difficult to find / get to. And when the events happen there, a lot of people don’t bother because of that fact.

It’s massively easy to get to Druid’s Grotto. Not sure why anyone has a problem with that. And there’s an easy shortcut to the Golemancer’s Tomb. Once people learn it, it’ll be fine. Just like it used to be hard to get to the Bat Guano hero point in VB and people finally learned how.

the map is perfect and the new “Indiana Jones” mastery is the best by far. The druid liana opens so many possibilities…

Ardid.7203:

Sooloo.1364:

Love when people say it’s not hard. Ive been in there since the update and I cannot find how to get up top. Call me stupid all you like but im certainly not the only person that cant navigate this hell. I thought they learned after TD that most people wont play this type of map.

We don’t have any hard data. Maybe they learned after TD that most people DO play this type of map.

For my side, I’m happy to get a HoT style map again, although I still have to truly explore it to give a proper opinion.

I don’t think HoT maps were easy to navigate (mostly due to a bad minimap, but still). They were hard to navigate and SO MUCH FUN. I love a good maze, lots of situations to face, places to discover and challenges to solve. Hope this map delivers.

Yeah I thought TD was fun provided you can get a decent group of players to properly completely the meta map event. For me that was the only reason I stayed off of TD. Because more times then not it was a fail and waste of time comparing to SW, VB, and AB. Tho I mostly stayed in AB for the multi-map for the lazy rewards.

Oh great another person complaining about 3 level maps.

@Wendy – go ride your horses in Black Desert then. You’ll be riding your horses more then playing the game.

I think the Draconis Mons map is cool because it has so many layers. How many flat maps can a game have. I’ve left games because the maps are only boring flat maps. Part of the fun of a map is exploring it and getting lost.

From any waypoint there with the Oakheart mastery and gliding this map is one of the quickest to navigate but still one of the fullest maps. I normally hammer out the story then go back to WvW and use the new maps reward track but I’m actually having a lot of fun on this map and I wish Bitterfrost Frontier was designed similarly because I like the look of that map also.

May have missed this listed already but … WHY DON’T ANET JUST ADD “ABOVE” AND “BELOW” TO GROUP/GUILD PLAYERS. if you can do if for enemies, why not friends?
Draconis is not to hard to get around in once you learn a cuple of tube locations, and the start high n glide down method, sort of, works… still takes to long to get to boss, ie arrive just as it dies… again….
But the running around on top of a mates"dot" and having no clue if they are above or below is a royal pain in the butt

I sometimes wonder how the people who dislike this style of map feel about some of the city areas. For example, the stacking that is Rata Sum or the central portion of the Black Citadel present multiple layers, and you didn’t have waypoints until you explored it.

TD and this map can certainly seem daunting, but my recommendation to people has been to explore the map first -- without explicitly trying to rush to events or the story steps -- and get the overall feel for the layout. Lava tube and gliding masteries will definitely help (as the wallows will in HoT maps). I dunno, after I did that I felt I had a good handle on where things were and how to get to events, and I’ve only been in there a couple times.

synk.6907:

I sometimes wonder how the people who dislike this style of map feel about some of the city areas. For example, the stacking that is Rata Sum or the central portion of the Black Citadel present multiple layers, and you didn’t have waypoints until you explored it.

TD and this map can certainly seem daunting, but my recommendation to people has been to explore the map first — without explicitly trying to rush to events or the story steps — and get the overall feel for the layout. Lava tube and gliding masteries will definitely help (as the wallows will in HoT maps). I dunno, after I did that I felt I had a good handle on where things were and how to get to events, and I’ve only been in there a couple times.

There aren’t timed events that I’m trying to get to but end up missing in cities…

Djinn.9245:

There aren’t timed events that I’m trying to get to but end up missing in cities…

synk.6907:

been to explore the map first — without explicitly trying to rush to events or the story steps — and get the overall feel for the layout

If you’ve already explored and are still not sure how to get to events, perhaps take a moment to look around the waypoints and see what they provide quick access to and possible paths between them (e.g. lava tubes, updrafts, leylines)?