Guild Wars 2

First of all, I’m lvl kitten I “unlocked” jumping puzzles quite some time ago. The problem is… how do I find them? If I find a set of platforms, how do I know this is a jumping puzzle, and not just some random platforms? Are JPs on the map? And how do you know if you’ve completed one?

Clicking on a jumping puzzle name in the UI will show you to the general area. Other than that, to find the specific locations without searching that area, you’ll need to check out the guides for the jumping puzzles, such as Dulfy. http://dulfy.net/2012/09/16/gw2-jumping-puzzles-guides-guild-wars-2/

You’ll know when you completed one by either getting to the chest at the end or getting the achievement notification.

Most have a chest at the end, there is maybe 3 exceptions to that. The achievements for each JP also has a thing you can click on that shows you the approximate location of the JP.

The easy ones to find are those where a POI, Vista or SP is above you with no obvious means to get there.

There is nothing in-game that will clearly tell you until you get to the end and get an achievement for having completed the puzzle (if it’s your first time doing it, if it’s not then you’ll probably remember).

You can look them up on the wiki, or other sites if you want to know in advance where they are, how to find them and how to complete them.

But for me part of the fun is not knowing until the end that it is a puzzle. I love exploring anyway, so I’ll quite happily spend my time climbing the scenery just to see if I can. The most exciting part is sometimes when I then find I can keep going, and start to suspect I might have found a puzzle, but I’m not completely sure until I see something that confirms it. Sometimes that’s simply seeing a section of scenery that at first glance is just decorative and after a second look forms an obvious path, sometimes it’s a chest or item that forms part of a checkpoint system, sometimes it’s not until I get to the end and see the chest or get the achievement.

I think that’s the intention. Jumping Puzzles (and mini-dungeons) aren’t supposed to be things you’re told to do at a specific point, pointed towards and then go and complete before moving on to your next task. They’re something you’re always aware may be there, and that knowledge gives you an incentive to go poking around in out of the way corners, to climb cliffs and swim through tunnels and search through bushes where you might otherwise run straight past, just in case there is something there.

Of course if that sounds incredibly boring or an ‘inefficient’ way of playing to you then it’s worth noting that they almost never give you any good items and other than what’s in the chest and the achievement points there is no reward for doing them. So if you don’t like the idea you can simply ignore them.

Thanks, guys. I checked the list of all the puzzles, and just thought it weird that I’ve explored Metrica Province, Caledon forest and Queensdale many, many times, yet I haven’t found a single jumping puzzle there. But according to the list, there’s one in MP, one in Queensdale and FOUR in CF. How could I possibly miss every single one of those, despite having gotten 100% map completion in all threee maps with at least ten different characters? Clearly there had to be something vital I was missing. Other than the JPs, of course.

So I checked the guide for the start of the JP in Metrica, and annoyingly, I know exactly where it is. I’ve been through that area at least a few dozen times, especially since there is both TWO events there, as well as plenty of lumber to chop down. What I’ve been missing is that one little crack in the wall where we can start the jumping. But now that I know where it is, I’m off to go jumping. And I’ll be darn sure to scan the environment a lot closer from now on.

And yes, I do enjoy the JPs. I love exploring in this game, and just having fun. Although my highest level is 45 (and that’s an accomplishment for me), I’m still mostly playing around in low level areas, as I want to get 100% completion before moving on.

Some of them are pretty well hidden, so don’t feel bad about missing them. That said, of the four in Caledon, one of them is hidden in plain sight. The name of the JP itself in the achievements section should give it away, once you compare it to the Caledon map. And once you see that, you’ll be wondering how you could’ve missed it all those times.

3 of the ones in Caledon are extremely well hidden, you won’t see anything from outside. One I found because I thought the map looked strange in that area, like it should lead somewhere. One I found because I was running around exploring odd corners (I was actually trying to get somewhere totally different) and came across the entrance. The 3rd I only found because I saw someone else going in.

The 4th one however is hard to miss IMO. When I saw it during the beta my first thought was “oh that must be one of those jumping puzzles”. It just looked like a path, but an incomplete one you’d have to jump up. I couldn’t imagine it as anything else.

I found the jumping puzzle in Metrica, and completed part one. Once I found it, I wanted to hurt myself for having missed it for so long. I mean, it’s right there, almost in plain sight. I’ve walked past those trees countless times, yet never bothered to see if there was anything behind them. Grrr…

Then when I got to the top, I found a chest and a portal. The chest contained shoes I can’t use, as well as three map pieces. Funny thing is, they needed four to complete, and I had a map piece already… to the wrong map. Hmpf. But then I went through that poartal, found a log with wind blowing me down every time, and I still haven’t been able to cross it. I can’t get the timing on the wind right. But that’s ok. I’m only level kitten i’m thinking about doing the jumping puzzles and full map completion on every map as a level 80 thing.

One of the good things about this game is that you don’t need to do things in any set order, or even within the level range of the map.

There is no harm at all in waiting until you’re level 80 then coming back to do stuff you missed, even entire maps.

For the wind, you might want to check out the utility skills available to you, to see if any offer Stability. With the Stability boon in place, you’ll block attempts to ‘crowd control’ you, letting you walk through the wind without it sending you flying. Different classes have different access to Stability, though. A Warrior will have an easy time getting Balanced Stance or Signet of Stamina to just walk right through, but a Thief will have to wait for the Elite skill Dagger Storm to be able to make it through that way.

Danikat.8537:

One of the good things about this game is that you don’t need to do things in any set order, or even within the level range of the map.

There is no harm at all in waiting until you’re level 80 then coming back to do stuff you missed, even entire maps.

Hehe, I know. The problem is I rarely ever make it to max level in any game (only happened twice so far, in Lord of the Rings Online and Neverwinter), and I really do want to get to max level in this game. So shiould I move on to harder areas for more XP, or wasting a lot of time doing nothing in low-level areas? (nothing meaning “I don’t get XP for this”.) Funny thing is, I’m usually the person telling others to slow down, and don’t rush to max level. But that’s because there aren’t really anything to do at max level in other games, but there are tons of stuff to do here. As a result, I often find myself doing both at once. I sometimes charge ahead into new areas, and sometimes spend a lot of time not really doing anything. The best part? I’m perfectly happy with that.

Xiahou Mao.9701:

For the wind, you might want to check out the utility skills available to you, to see if any offer Stability. With the Stability boon in place, you’ll block attempts to ‘crowd control’ you, letting you walk through the wind without it sending you flying. Different classes have different access to Stability, though. A Warrior will have an easy time getting Balanced Stance or Signet of Stamina to just walk right through, but a Thief will have to wait for the Elite skill Dagger Storm to be able to make it through that way.

THAAAAANKS!! I’ve never even thought about crowd control and Stability. As a Mesmer, I’m 90% sure I have Stability on a Signet already. I’ll have to check in a bit, once I get back into the game. But even if I don’t, I have other classes to play around with. My Warrior is level 39, so she should perhaps have some already. And now that I know where the JP is, getting there as a warrior should be peace of cake.

I never did find one single jumping puzzle on my own. I was led into each of them either by fellow guild members, or by the wiki, or by a video guide.

In my opinion they are not best suited to be run by a beginner. Do level your char, do the short puzzle-like ascensions to the vistas during map exploration to get used to this kind of movement. Only after a bit of practice go to the jumping puzzles.

For my part, I hated jumping puzzles for the first 2 years of the game from the bottom of my heart, made them unwillingly with the aid of my guild, and never revisited them again. But in the last months, while roaming with my mule account, I rediscovered the jumping puzzles, tried them again for the account points, and even enjoyed some of them, because they seemed much easier now. They were the same, of course, but I did know how to jump this time. Part of it may be the better camera as well and the 1st person perspective that was not available at release.

The answer to nearly all GW2 question is on the wiki….

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Jumping_puzzle

You can get rough locations or links to full Youtube video walkthrus….it’s up to you.