Tangled Paths patch has dropped! Celeste and Allona talk about it! They have fun! And a small rant. (Psst … spoilers)

Allona

• 
  
• Played a lot in the Silverwastes … the more I’m there, the more I like it.
  
• Achievement Saturday! Marathoned a TON of achievements (story and zone) and am a mere sliver away from my 12.5K chest … like, around 15 points.
  
• Bought T3 cultural armour for the very first time. For my wee Asura necro. She looks AMAZING and I don’t regret that it took half my money.
  
• Did guild missions with Wardens of Destiny AND Maven … Tons of fun and both great groups of players.
  
• Played Tangled Paths. More on that later in the show.
  

Celeste

• 
  
• Messed about in Silverwastes, got the lost badges cheevo done, got 8k chest
  
• did some cheevos on the older LS episode.
  
• Got super upset about the patch and the way it unlocks living story episodes.
  
  • 
    
  • I promised Ben I’d log in to his account to unlock the living story chapter, he’s been on a break because he doesn’t want to progress in the story until he can replay season 1. (Yes He knows it’ll take a LONG time before this happens), I logged in on Tuesday morning, WAY before the patch is set to launch and Echoes of the Past was already locked behind the gem paywall. I understand that 200 gems is cheap, but I DID log in before the next patch. So it’s frustrating to see that this is the way it works when it was advertised differently.
    
  • “Please keep in mind the chapter Echoes of the Past ended on November 18th. After that day, any player who would like to play it needs to pay 200 gems.
    
    Thank you for your understanding on the matter. Should you have any other doubts or concerns, please let us know.â€
    
  • When I asked for clarification as to when (time-wise) I would need to log in in order to prevent the problem from happening again I was told that information would/could (it wasn’t clear) not be made available to me. Best advice? Log in on the day of the patch, every time.
    
  
  
  
• Playing through Episode 6, Tangled Paths
  

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http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Game_updates/2014-11-18

• 
  
• The war against Mordremoth rages on in the Silverwastes as a new mystery arises. The Zephyrite Master of Peace has taken his precious cargo beyond the front lines. Where has he gone, and what answers will he give if he’s found?
  
• With the release of “Tangled Paths,” players can continue to build their Carapace and Luminescent armor sets by collecting the light, medium, and heavy gloves.
  
  • 
    
  • Carapace gloves are obtained by completing the new Silverwastes reward track, completing the storyline, and exploring the Silverwastes.
    
  • No longer do you get another chest with completing the story on an alt… to be fair though, people have reported getting the chest that contains them from doing open world events and from opening chests in the labyrinth. (More information: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2mrbb6/psa_carapace_glove_boxes_drop_from_the_nightmare/)
    
  
  
  
• Explore the newly discovered labyrinth, and find nightmare pods full of rich rewards.
  
  • 
    
  • The greater nightmare pod contains rare and masterwork gear, dragonite ore, and a chance to discover new recipes for Bountiful and Furious Maintenance Oils, Sharpening Stones, and Tuning Crystals.
    
    • 
      
    • To open them you’ll need to combine a nightmare fragment (found in the labyrinth) with a bandit skeleton key.
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• Bug Fixes: Fixed a bug that prevented players from assigning, removing, or reassigning healing, utility, or elite skills while in a cosmetic transformation (e.g., during the siege of Ascalon in the Urban Battlegrounds fractal).
  
  • 
    
  • A: Yay! I had this happen in the Thaumanova fractal and it was irritating.
    
  
  
  
• Polish: The cryptobotanist now correctly indicates the parts he is looking for.
  

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE

• 
  
• World Tournament finishers are available to support your favorite region in the World Tournament Finals. Players purchasing the winning region’s finisher before the finals will receive three Celebration Boosters after the event. Each region’s finisher is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 600 gems each.
  
• A new Pact Fleet weapon set is available at Black Lion Weapon Specialists for a limited-time price of one ticket per weapon. Tickets can be found inside Black Lion Chests.
  
  • 
    
  • A: AAAHHHHHHH!LOVE! (surprising no one)
    
  
  
  
• The Jungle Explorer outfit is now available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
  
• There’s also a new dye pack not mentioned in the patch notes, Glint’s Dye Kit (125 gems each, 5 for 500 gems, 25 for 2500 gems)  http://dulfy.net/2014/11/19/gw2-glints-winter-dye-kit-and-world-series-finishers/
  
  • 
    
  • C: DON’T BUY IT, ALLONA, YOU HAVE TERRIBLE LUCK.
    
  
  
  

Celeste

• 
  
• I did manage to stick around through Return to Camp Resolve and I thought the dialogues that they added at the end really added a lot for the lore hounds. Having Destiny’s Edge there and contributing the first-hand information that they had about Glint was nice. It was also really cool to hear Eir mention Gleam and not really have a confirmation of life. The one comment that got me a little weirded out was from Zoijja, if you picked that she never really seemed to have faith in you, you were told (as a Norn) “That’s not true. I have a great deal of faith in you when it comes to doing Norn things. But she’s an asura. I wouldn’t expect anyone except another asura to be able to connect with her.†So Zoijja doesn’t necessarily think Taimi’s connection with Braham is unique and different as well? It feels a little xenophobic. Or maybe it’s just Asura being Asura.
  
• Tracking the Aspect Masters: This was surprisingly bad if you were solo. Tried dodging and ended up defeated a few times during the fight. Also, who was the person who died? No explanation of that at all.
  
• Into the Labyrinth: I couldn’t figure out how to get out, thankfully Hunter told me how in a whisper. I haven’t done the open world event down there so I can’t speak to it.
  

Allona

• 
  
• It was brief. Really brief. BUT I felt that it laid a lot of really interesting groundwork for the next episode.
  
• I really loved the letter from Logan. The style it was written in made me smile.
  
• We had a ringer for the labyrinth portion so it was a breeze!
  
• I played through the first chapter of the episode again today to talk to ALL the NPCs which I missed doing my first time though. Celeste is right, there’s a lot of meat there and I plan on doing the same thing for the rest of the episode as I continue this second play through. The episode is MUCH longer if you take your time and not ‘green star chase’ your way through the episode. I watched Bog Otter’s play through and the dialogue he got as a Charr was sometimes quite different! I know they’ve been doing that for a while, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. And I know Cal (who was playing human — I was on as my Asura in mine) had different dialogue from Logan than I did!
  
• From in game:
  
  Just a thing to look for
  
  Greetings Master Podcaster
  
  Just wanted to mention this spoiler-free thing to look at in the first part of the new episode. Before you speak with the character that sent the update mail, head towards the training dummies.
  
  There you will see Miss Delaqua practicing. I could be wrong but the attack cycle looks new (not just a warrior/guardian copy). It might be a three hit cycle of a “one†skill for a necro using greatsword. :D
  
  Ah well, enough of my prattling.
  
  One of your fans,
  
  Particle Shift
  
  • 
    
  • Okay. Thanks SO much for sending this. As you suggested, I did this on my second time through and you’re right, it’s a new set of actions with different necro-y flashy bits. At the end of the chapter she talks about practicing with the sword because it doesn’t come easily to her as a necro. We might be seeing the groundwork for new weapons for the professions. I know this suggestion has been tossed around the community for a while now, but this is the first time there’s been commented on by an NPC.
    
  
  
  

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2mky46/colin_johansons_post_on_the_concerns_of_new/

Right now we’re sort of splitting out things you can “spend†between three different places: Your inventory, your bank, and your wallet.

At its core, we need to decide on one of these to compliment your inventory and call it good. As we’re continuing to introduce more items like the geodes and bandit “hello my name is†crests, this has obviously become even more of an issue.

Ultimately, we either need to let you spend materials from your bank directly at vendors so you don’t need to keep them in your inventory (and then make geodes/crests materials) OR continue to make the wallet larger and larger. Or option #3 we haven’t considered yet you might think of in this suggestion forum!

Either way, we’re aware of the need and will address it “when it’s readyâ„¢â€.

• 
  
• A: I am happy there’s chatter and acknowledgement from Anet on this. I like the spending from the materials option quite a bit actually.
  
• C: I’d much rather just see them change up the wallet and leave everything in there, http://swalsh81.github.io/gw2improvedwallet/ this one is particularly good as a frame of reference. Though I do have to second think this after the crazy hero panel revamp, where I’m STILL trying to make sure I’m on the right “sub†tab when looking for things.
  

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/announcing-improvements-to-pvp-and-the-ladder-test-season/

• 
  
• Not a lot of details but here’s what’s being changed, more blog posts incoming through the week
  
  • 
    
  • Matchmaking
    
    • 
      
    • Dishonor System: Penalized for leaving a match before it’s been completed.
      
      • 
        
      • A: Yes. Good.
        
      
      
      
    • “In addition to ratings, matchmaking will now consider factors such as the largest group size on a team, team composition, players’ accumulated dishonor, and more.â€
      
    
    
    
  • Map Selection
    
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    • No more rosters, simply join with your party
      
    • player confirmation dialogues for entering a match
      
    
    
    
  • PvP Modes
    
    • 
      
    • PvP is now grouped into three areas: “Practice†in hot-join, “Play†in unranked arenas, and “Compete†in ranked arenas.
      
    • “If you play team arena by joining with a team of 5, you’ll generally be matched against other teams of 5. You can play solo by joining alone, or join in groups of 2, 3, or 4 and have your party filled out to create balanced games. The new matchmaking algorithm will take party composition into account when determining how much a game impacts your ladder position. So, on the off chance there aren’t enough solo or small groups of players in the queue to fill two teams and you find yourself up against a fully organized team of equally skilled players, the match will have very little impact on your ladder ranking if you lose and may give you a bigger boost if you win.†Freaking cool.
      
    
    
    
  • Map Selection
    
  • Player Ranking Systems
    
    • 
      
    • New Ladder formula with a test of it upcoming during the middle of December “we’ll hold a test season starting on Tuesday, December 16, that will be running until Tuesday, January 13â€
      
    • Competition: “The top 250 players on the ladder at the end of the season will receive a mini llama. The top 20 players on the ladder will also receive a piece of Glorious Hero’s armor, and the top 5 will receive two pieces of Glorious Hero’s armor.â€
      
      • 
        
      • Players who rank on the old ladder system need not fear, there’s rewards for you as well… “we’ll be awarding a piece of Glorious Hero’s armor to the top 20 players on both the solo and team arena leaderboards. The top 100 players on each leaderboard will also receive a mini llama. The cutoff time for the current leaderboards is December 2.â€
        
      
      
      
    
    
    
  
  
  
• “Additional details on all of these changes are coming soon in Evan’s and Justin’s blog posts, as well as the next episode of Ready Up on November 26.†Pre-(American)Thanksgiving Ready Up!
  
• Dec 2 release date means this could be solely pvp update and the season 2 storyline will be put on hold again until January (12/2 – PvP, 12/16 – Wintersday events, 1/13 – living story).
  
  • 
    
  • C: Though I think they might have told us if that was what was happening, so maybe next update is the season finale as well? Might explain why this one felt so small.
    
  
  
  

 

Hi Guild Wars Reporter!

I’m a big fan and thought I’d send in an email to ask a burning question I have to Ask-An-Asura!

So the new Living Story is really exciting, and a lot of new information is coming out helping to flesh out the history of Tyria. As you know, there has been much talk regarding the Elder Dragons and Tyria’s history, as well as references to Guild Wars 1. There has also been talk of the human gods, and in considering these things I’ve come to an interesting possibility. Consider…

The Elder Dragons follow a cycle of slumber and magic-sucking alertness. What if the human gods also followed a cyclical system of activity? Further, I propose that the Elder Dragons and human gods are, in fact, one in the same. While one sleeps, the other is awake, and vice versa. We see the human gods disappear, just as the Elder Dragons are awakening.

Additionally, we have been educated that the Tree possesses an avatar which comes before the players in the story. It is theorized that the Tree is a “corrupted” champion of an Elder Dragon, and if this is true, then perhaps the Elder Dragons also possess such avatars, however in their case the avatars are the gods, again, awake while the Elder Dragons slumber. When the Elder Dragons awake, the avatars – the gods – are now manifest. They have returned to their “source”.

This is why the “gods” did not want Abaddon to give the races magic. It would be, in effect, giving away the “gods” (Elder Dragons) power. Their war with Abaddon was for their preservation. Thankfully, Kormir stepped up to take Abaddon’s place as the god of secrets and water. It is perhaps no wonder then that the last Elder Dragon awakening is the Sea Dragon aka the newest god on the block, Kormir.

What do you think?

I hope this revelation brings joy to your hearts and minds, but most importantly I hope to see you in-game.

Sincerely,

Oakedon Calenshield

PS: The Hero of Shaemoor, Caledon Oakenshield, is just amazing!!! I really look up to him, as we all do I’m sure!!! Some day I hope to get his autograph!!!

 

• 
  
• C: Avatars of the Elder Dragons is certainly an interesting idea. I feel like from a lore standpoint their motives seem odd. The Six brought the humans to Tyria from some mystery place that we’re not (as of yet) aware of. In a lore interview, Jeff Grubb stated the following, “The Dragons, as we said, have always been here. The gods predate the humans, but not by much.†If the Gods were created as avatars, it doesn’t really make sense that the dragons would want to bring the humans to Tyria. I’m just not sure how that serves the Elder Dragons in the long term.
  
• Now the question leads us back towards Glint and what was, perhaps, the first evidence of Glint telling the humans a falsehood in order to influence our perspective on her. Jeff Grubb continues, “Much of what we know about Glint comes from Glint herself. The truth of the matter may be very different, and she has her own reasons for saying what she has said.†From the wiki, “She was said to have been the first creature on Tyria, sent here by the Gods over 3,000 years ago to act as the world’s guardian during its shaping, and was later given servants—the Forgotten—to aid her in this task.†Now this information comes from the Ghostly Hero in Amnoon, so this is even getting further from the truth as it was at BEST a third party retelling, though because it was in game it was considered canon (at the time). What we now know is that Glint was a lieutenant of Kralkatorrik and was purified from its influences. The fact is, this shows that because they’ve lied in the past with canon in order to obscure future storylines, you can’t trust a lot of the lore unless it was directly experienced by the player at some point.
  

• 
  
• A: Quick clarification: Kormir is the god of order, spirit, and truth (according to the GW2 wiki) or god of truth and knowledge (GW wiki). Either way, water was taken out of the equation so there is less of a correlation to Steve. Not that I don’t love this theory! I think the gods as avatars could be a newer occurrence, perhaps the form avatars take change between every cycle?
  

 

From mingtoww through YouTube

This is a question for ask an asura. Anet has just finished the Raiding discussion on the forums. My question is, if you had a say in it, how would you like the raiding to be implemented in game, if at all? I do not mind the idea of raids, I just hate raiding mentality. If it were done like a guild mission with a big boss at the end and it required coordination between 10 or more people, than I would be fine with it.

• 
  
• A: I think you hit it the nail on the head, Mingtoww. They would need to feel like bigger dungeon runs or guild missions for me as well. I mean, I’m okay with a raid system that I might not feel like participating in … I’m still really happy with PvE as it stands. Mostly, I just hope that it doesn’t take the form that it seems to in most other MMOs and breed elitism and toxicity.
  
• C: +1
  

Allona’s tip of the week: The search feature in your account vault and bags is pretty smart. Aside from typing the names of items to find them, you can search by rarity (eg: type ‘masterwork’ and all those rated items will show), and you can search by level! I tried it on a lark; typed ‘80’ and only level 80 items returned! Although if you have a stack of something with the same amount it shows too. :)

Celeste’s tip of the week: It’s an elementary one… You can draw on the map, ping, and create a personal waypoint on the map by using alt, shift, and ctrl while left clicking (and dragging to make a line).

 

http://turtleygw2.tumblr.com/post/103080407117/ccrow-by-eshva

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2mnfbr/its_now_blatantly_obvious_who_e_is/

It’s now blatantly obvious who E is…

Egg.

Discuss.

• 
  
• A: This thread broke me.
  
• C: lulz. Freaking Distilled Will… “I believe you’ve cracked it. I did not think it would be over easy, but look on the sunny side, up until now the facts have been scrambled but you obviously incubated your ideas and hatched a plan.â€
  

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2ml9s0/the_egg_isnt_simply_glints_offspring/

[spoilers] on Edge of Destiny and Personal Story

…it’s Glint herself morphing into an Elder Dragon. She transferred her mind into an that egg when she (actually) died (on purpose).

I mean she was gifted with foresight and other mesmeric abilities so wouldn’t she be able to foresee Logan’s getaway and her “untimely” death?

Caithe’s secret? She knows. She knew it all along. She accepted Snaff’s dead as necessary sacrifice to create an elder dragon that is actually devoted to the races of Tyria. She kind of betrayed Destiny’s Edge that way.

Source: My wild imagination (and some boredom at work)

• 
  
• A: I like this theory! Cal was wondering if Caithe’s secret was that she was directly responsible for Glint’s AND Snaff’s death because of some early whispers from Mordy.
  
• C: Interesting thought. I suspected that Caithe was being fishy when she followed you around the entire time in the first instance (it was a bit heavy handed but maybe not for everyone). I’d much rather see this player’s theory be accurate than just Caithe was corrupted and The Pale Tree is a dragon’s lieutenant.
  

 

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