Guild Wars 2

Warning: Here be spoilers, and references to evil plants, some snarking, and walls of text. If you’re prone to t.l.d.r-itis, you should probably go back now.

…..Still here? Good.

Evil’s spreading, oh noes. Welp, finally time to go talk to the Pale Tree about this.

Marjory’s not there, but apparently the funeral’s been taken care of and she’ll be back soon, yay.

Also, Taimi’s off getting some schooling or something. Also yay.

Am i missing something?

So, we tell her about the vision we had, that we used the same device, and the Pale Tree warns us that’s dangerous, but still hears us out. She doesn’t understand the vision however(suspecting Ceara may have left an imprint upon it), figuring we alone can figure that out.

Then we tell her about the dragon, that it’s been wrecking things far and wide, and is spreading, She agrees to trying to get the leaders of the races of Tyria, with the Grove being the meeting spot (since she can’t go anywhere, being a giant tree and all). All good so far.

Meeting back with the others, they all agree to this too, and will go for respective leaders/superiors in their own nations.

Kasmeer’s going for Countess Anise, since not being a noble anymore, she may not be able to get the queen’s ear.

Rox’s going for Rytlock, since Smodur won’t even give even the Commander of the Pact the time of day.

Braham’s going to Hoelbrak, Knut Whitebear…..and his mother (shudder) Eir.

Supposedly, he’ll also see Taimi can get Zojja to listen at least. (A nice touch is that since my character is an Asura, he also notes that the boss could convince Zojja too.)

soo, this thread is you narrating the episode?
don’t you think you should put that in the thread title,
along with [ spoilers ]

During this, we get a note from Taimi.

She mentions Mordrem presence in Iron Marches (…sigh, why Ascalon?), which we tell the others. Off to that then.

Nilkemia.8507:

Supposedly, he’ll also see Taimi can get Zojja to listen at least. (A nice touch is that since my character is an Asura, he also notes that the boss could convince Zojja too.)

It’s not because you’re an Asura. It’s because it’s assumed that you helped Zojja through out all the dungeons.

My character is a Sylvari, I got the same line.

RedStar.4218:

Nilkemia.8507:

Supposedly, he’ll also see Taimi can get Zojja to listen at least. (A nice touch is that since my character is an Asura, he also notes that the boss could convince Zojja too.)

It’s not because you’re an Asura. It’s because it’s assumed that you helped Zojja through out all the dungeons.

My character is a Sylvari, I got the same line.

Aww. Okies, thanks for the correction.

Anyways, I went to Ascalon to get to the next part…but currently can’t. You meet a charr, who directs you to another one who just tells you to get a flamethrower and burn some Mordrem, or maybe the vines around us. But…there’s no flamethrowers nearby, nor are there any enemies to fight nearby most of the time. Either I’m missing something, or it’s bugged so I can’t continue the story as of this post…well.

Seriously, how does a bug so obstructive that it stops the story dead in its tracks slip through like this? I had hoped that they were taking a little longer to make sure something like this wouldn’t happen, but apparently not. Bad first impression for this patch, ArenaNet.

Well, after guesting, not guesting, just going to character select and sitting there while reading things here, I finally got into a flow that had it working.

After killing the gimmick boss there, you talk to that charr again and she directs you to another one that needs help getting samples from vines by coating yourself in spores from dead Mordrem (neat, but again hampered by being a time gated event that can bug out and never pop up)

Of course, that one bugged too, and I had to wait until later to do it.

Uh, why are you narrating? Don’t you think if people want to know the storyline they will, eh, go play the storyline?

………………..

RedStar.4218:

My character is a Sylvari, I got the same line.

So far the only unique line of dialog I’ve heard is that as a Sylvari the Pale Tree mentions that without her intervention, Sylvari are at risk to Mordremoth’s corruption.

Odyssey.2613:

Uh, why are you narrating? Don’t you think if people want to know the storyline they will, eh, go play the storyline?

Why do I do it? Well, because…

- I wanted to give my first impressions on it bit by bit along the way.

- Because I can.

- I might be evil.

- Kasjory forever!

Good enough? No? Oh well.

Hrmn… interesting. Sylvari were said to be uncorruptible by the Dragons, but now we have confirmation that Mordremoth can indeed corrupt them. I’m curious as to why. I mean, the obvious answer is that the Sylvari are plants and Mordremoth is the Plant Dragon and then there’s the usual conspiracy theory that the Pale Tree is a Champion of his, etc…

But I wonder if perhaps it has something to do with how powerful he is? Unlike other dragons, Mordremoth’s influence has spread -rapidly- since his awakening. Could the surge of energy through the Leylines have empowered him beyond what the other Dragons have attained?

Anyways, excellent summary so far, and I find the narration pretty nifty. Thanks for sharing!

Right. Yet anther timed about saving people from vines, then we get to another one about killing a Mordrem wolf running around (that splits into more wolves as its HP goes down, and has permanent stability and retaliation, because unremovable boons for enemies is so fun, not.)

Finally, after talking to one last charr we can get away from that annoying open world event nonsense.

Oh, and Taimi talked to Zojja, but things got complicated.

Vexander.9850:

Hrmn… interesting. Sylvari were said to be uncorruptible by the Dragons, but now we have confirmation that Mordremoth can indeed corrupt them. I’m curious as to why. I mean, the obvious answer is that the Sylvari are plants and Mordremoth is the Plant Dragon and then there’s the usual conspiracy theory that the Pale Tree is a Champion of his, etc…

But I wonder if perhaps it has something to do with how powerful he is? Unlike other dragons, Mordremoth’s influence has spread -rapidly- since his awakening. Could the surge of energy through the Leylines have empowered him beyond what the other Dragons have attained?

Anyways, excellent summary so far, and I find the narration pretty nifty. Thanks for sharing!

While I still don’t subscribe to the “Sylvari are dragon minions” theory, there does seem to be a connection that he has that the other dragons do not possess (also being a large magical plant like being).

Also a thread from way back before Mordremoth’s reveal implied the the Nightmare corruption may have been an aspect of Mordremoth that could affect them, even while it was dormant.

The courtiers don’t seem to be minions as of now, but they could be spreading it, and part of them corrupting something or someone involves breaking their will….and the Pale Tree warned that Mordremoth’s corruption tries to crack through your willpower first (unlike the other dragons who corrupt physically first, besides Jormag who prefers to tempt people, and Primordus who we haven’t seen corrupting anything), implying that it prefers mental over physical.

Speaking of which…

So it seems Mordremoth is no different corruption wise from Jormag….

He seems to have a similar reach as Jormag…. Jormag has access to the Mists so his reach is much stronger than we would normally assume…..

It wouldn’t surprise me if Jormag hasn’t already relocated himself to the Ice Wastes of the Underworld!

Well, Jormag prefers to offer power to people first, then corrupt those who join him. Mordremoth seems to just try breaking into your mind until you’re insane.

Nilkemia.8507:

Well, Jormag prefers to offer power to people first, then corrupt those who join him. Mordremoth seems to just try breaking into your mind until you’re insane.

We haven’t really seen him do that though. People who have been attacked by vines have died and nobody has been seen. That being said only two Sylvari we’ve encountered so far have expressed mental disorders after being exposed. So for the time being, since it’s ramping up slowly, it’s difficult to say for certain. It is only episode 3 of Season 2 after all.

Nilkemia.8507:

Well, Jormag prefers to offer power to people first, then corrupt those who join him. Mordremoth seems to just try breaking into your mind until you’re insane.

I can see why it reminds people of ME’s Reapers, and no, I don’t think GW2 is ripping ME or vise versa. i just find the thematic similarities interesting, especially since it does look like this is going to be a HUGE issue for the Sylvari who up til now have been immune to corruption of the dragons.

Edit: Nilkemia, thanks for the thread, seeing it from another perspective is interesting.

So Jormag is more insidious and evil than Mordremoth is…..

Explains why they are saving him for later…..

No idea why Kralkatorikk is being held back…

Primordus seems to be an Elder Dragon that we’d most likely fight directly rather than by ship….

Most likely the order is: Zhaitan, Mordremoth, Kralkatorrik, Primordus and finally Jormag as the last one….

Mordremoth is the most overtly threatening Elder Dragon…. Even Zhaitan wasn’t as threatening to Tyria as he was….

Mordremoth seems to be able to spread his influence the farthest the fastest, since he doesn’t seem to have to rely on minions and uses the network to put pieces of himself there.

Anyways, Taimi’s been working on her device to save the waypoints, but Phlunt wants to see it work before he goes to the summit. Some of the conversations we hear also imply that some may not be fond of Zojja’s work as of late, or of Taimi…

I’m a little odded out by the fact that only one councillor showed up with just four guards. You’d think that news of a ley line hub being discovered, and a device that can show part of the universe (allegedly) would be immediately swarmed with researchers and Peacemakers to keep it secure and figure out how it works, what with Taimi’s talk of how they’re so elusive…but eh. (shrugs)

So we go on a little scavenger hunt, with Scruffy autonomously helping us out. Aside from some sparks and an Inquest veteran (who wisely runs off after beating beaten down a bit), Scruffy’s detect function makes getting the things you need simple enough.

You can also do some fighting instead of looking, but since the enemies don’t drop anything, I didn’t opt for that.

Afterwards, Taimi heads to Omadd’s machine, using it as a conduit for her waypoint resonance altering device…but it’ll take a few weeks. We can’t wait that long, so we hope she can speed the process up. Oh, and Kasmeer comes in with good news: Queen Jennah’s on board for the summit, so kudos to Countess Anise.

However, how we must go to Hoelbrak for Braham to talk to Eir. Well, let’s see how much drama unfolds this time…

Well, Eir is surprised, but still okay with seeing us. However, Knut Whitebear apparently won’t be going, due to having to deal with the Sons of Svanir and Jormag.

Really? When was the last time they were a threat, Honor of the Waves? And sure, Jormag killed the Spirit of Owl, but apparently has been taking a vacation since then, letting his minions and the Claw do the dirty work.

Braham points out that Jormag is dangerous, but just one of a pack of Elder Dragons, and that Mordremoth is definitely being more active. While Eir understands, she still doubts Knut will run off to the summit while Jormag’s threat looms.

Also…Eir’s kind of become a jerk now. See the last attachment. Not quite the same Eir that tried to help before…

Well, despite the jerkishness I saw earlier, Eir does offer a solution: If we head of to Frostgorge Sound and take out the totem the Sons of Svanir are making and kill them, it might impress Knut enough to help us. However, we have to take out the totem ourselves, while Braham and Eir stay back a ways.

Braham wants to stick with us, obviously not wanting to be stuck with Eir, but we insist on it, probably against our better judgement. Only time will tell.

Norn are hunters who obsessively believe that one must hunt alone to get the highest respect……

Also, either when I got in or during the instance, I got a mail but didn’t notice, because I’m dumb like that. However, I think it deserved its own post…

Mickey Frogeater.1470:

Norn are hunters who obsessively believe that one must hunt alone to get the highest respect……

Too bad the game doesn’t let you do that for everything. Part of me would love to solo things like dungeons and huge bosses and stuff, but it’s either too hard, too long, or just made impossible to to gimmicks.

I know, I know, “it’s an MMO”…I don’t mind working with other people, but when the game forces it, it gets irritating at times.

Anyways, after that revelation, we go find the hunter to talk to, only to find they already wrecked the place. Luckily, we can still check it out (presumably thanks to the recent hotfix) and walk to the totem and smash it. Mission accomplished.

Then we get an instance where Braham and Eir sort of seem to get over the drama after some off-screen fighting, then they decide to head back to Hoelbrak for a feast, and to tell Knut of our victory. But the commander’s job is never done, and we plan to meet Rox soon.

Eir leaves first, but Braham questions us about her afterwards, seemingly understanding why she had to leave to deal with the dragon minions so long ago.

(Well, that and the fact that Braham didn’t actually exist until after the fact. While I don’t mind Braham as a character, I still feel that the plot element of him being Eir’s seemingly illegitimate son was bad fanfiction insert levels of stupid, and didn’t need to be done to make him an interesting character, and it went against everything we knew of Eir so far. Besides…my norn ranger looks like she’s more related to Eir than him.)

So, we get to another instance outside the Old Duke Estate on Ashford Plains (with some nice yet scary art for presumably Rytlock) and we meet up with Rox, who worries about Rytlock’s disappointment over her not killing Scarlet (never mind she was still there for it and was aiding two wounded allies who might’ve died otherwise).

Rytlock’s a tad harsh to her. Seriously, she was still there for it! She didn’t disobey your orders. I just beat her to the kill, that’s all. Anyways, we talk to him, and he notes that while he is harsh, it was to toughen her up, and now that she’s a free agent, she doesn’t have to see eye to eye with him anymore anyways.

Rox then gets to the point, informing Rytlock of the summit, Mordremoth, and that the Black Citadel may be vulnerable, but Rytlock states that the Branded and the Ascalonians have the charrs’ hands full. Sigh.

P.S. And apparently the Flame Legion too, despite the fact they’ve been beaten constantly, had their leader and all aspiring replacements assassinated, and presumably lost even more in the whole Frost and Flame business back in Season 1.

Once again, we have to explain that Mordremoth is a greater threat, having already reached as far as Kessex Hills and Timberline Falls (And Iron Marches, right next to that Brand they’re so worried about, yet we can’t bring that up for some reason) Rytlock figures the Shiverpeaks will block it, thinking the vines can’t go through solid rock (despite the fact that it’s already in Iron Marches!), and we counter by saying it can go through the Fields of Ruin (or you know, south from Iron Marches). That, and the fact that if the charr stick only for themselves, they’ll soon be fighting Mordremoth on top of all their other problems as well.

Rytlock relents, but points out that Smodur will be harder to convince. However, he’s got a plan. He’s apparently researched a way to use Sohothin to reverse the Foefire (and thus the ghosts as well). If that works, the Black Citadel will have one less problem, and Smodur might be easier to convince.

Anyway, onto the plan. Rytlock has learned that the ritual to do this was given to humanity by the Six, and that it involves the use of Adelbern’s crown, which has been split into four fragments, making it hard to find now.

It was preserved even after the Foefire, but charr messed with the pieces and lost them. However, Rytlock managed to find one, and it’s attracted to the others, so we have a means of detection. And they’re presumably still around nearby, so time for another scavenger hunt.

“You, Rytlock Brimstone, are going to perform a ritual?”

“If it means I’d succeed at breaking the Foefire curse, I’d put on a robe and call myself Shaman Brimstone.”

Anyways…time for more open world stuff. -_- Thankfully, these events are simple and don’t bug out ever, as far as I know. First, to Oldgate ruins for the first (or second, since Rytlock gave us the first) lost fragment. It’s in a rock pile, but Rhell Crankmane’s ghost machines have to be active for you to get it.

The next one is at the Serenity temple, but of course you have to wait till a scholar whose name I don’t remember finishes his research there….why? Oh well, didn’t have to do it at least.

The last one is near the front of Bria’s manor, and yes, she has to have been beaten before you can get it, despite that it’s easy to find otherwise, and you don’t have to enter the manor or anything. Good thing I beat her on the way to the second one..

Right, back to Rytlock then.

Now, we meet up with Rytlock and Rox again, with Smodur in tow as well. He states that if Rytlock’s plan wipes out even a potion of the ghosts for good, he’ll join the summit.

Rytlock goes over the plan once more, referencing Rurik being the previous wielder, his death at the hands of a Stone Summit dwarf, (all the while repelling our question about how he got the sword) and that he’s been sniffing around in the Priory, and found a reference to a ritual there (and the source had an Orrian stamp on it, so it had to be legit. Maybe..).

All we need to do is kill a bunch of ghosts to charge up the sword, and he can handle the rest, hopefully.

Smodur notes that it might be a fool’s errand, but Rytlock has done the impossible before, and that he’s spent every day looking for a way to end the ghosts.

Rox is nervous, of course, but hopeful this will work.

With all said and done, we head on in.

Into the vault, we fight some ghosts as we go in. Once we reach the end, some elite vault guardians possess the remnants of Barradin’s statue to fight you, and other ghosts join in as well.

The fight itself is okay, though it does go on a bit long, especially when having to go back and forth between killing the buffing NPCs. That, and the orbs hurt a bit much, though I was playing a thief….better than instant kill though.

After beating the statue, Rytlock performs the ritual, but Sohothin falls into a pit that opens up…and Rytlock goes in after it.

Well, that I didn’t expect that to happen. I mean, I figured the ritual would fail or go very haphazard before working, but…yeah, a pit opens up, and Rytlock jumps in after it.

Rox is worried, but Smodur’s sure he’ll be back. As we talk to Smodur, he explains that the cleansing failed, and that Rytlock went in to get it back. (Glad he knew exactly what happened, didn’t realize the Imperator read up enough on magic and ancient rituals to know that it failed.)

Even though it didn’t work, we still helped him somewhat, so he’s going to the summit. Yay!

Rox is still worried about him, but we’re sure he’s ok. She’s also concerned that none of the other leaders might come, (having not been told that we got the others on board already, Smodur was the last guy) but once again we reassure her, as Mordremoth is a big enough threat to demand their attention.

And that’s the end of the first part of the Dragon’s Reach.

Well, it was a nice continuation story wise, and while the leader/superior NPCs have their own problems, they still hear us out, and agree to come when we alleviate their more immediate problems to give them a breather for the meeting, unlike a certain other group of leaders that did nothing until the baddies were on their doorstep. The interactions between the characters are nice and believable, even Braham’s awkward tone towards Eir.

On the other hand, having the open world events required to progress was flat out irritating, especially with the initial new events bugging out until a fix about 3 to 4 hours later.

Also, enemies in the instances not dropping loot is still a downer for me. Thankfully there aren’t as many fights in the instances so it isn’t as noticable…but it’s still bad. Between that and the open world nonsense, I can’t really say if I want to replay this, even just for the extra loot from alts.

So…yeah. So, what do the rest of you think?

“How did you ever become a krewe leader?”

“Well, I don’t type my own speeches.”

“You don’t give speeches.”

“….Exactly. It’s foolproof.”

I was disappointed when the group choose an ex-noble (Kasmeer) to speak to the Queen when Sir Vincent X is a noble, know Anise and Logan, and have personally saved the Queen’s kitten .