Going South : GW2

After a weekend of full-on World vs World action my Elementalist really needed some R&R so she thought she might take a trip to the coast. The south coast, about as far south as you can go if you want the wildlife to be, well, alive. Just past Mount Maelstrom, that huge active volcano full of Destroyers. Lovely picnic spot.

It's some hike from Lornar's Pass, where she happened to find herself when she woke up. WvW is like that - you take a nap in your Citadel and wake up in a Dolyak-herder's Yurt half-way up a mountain with ice in your beard. Not that she has a beard. She's a Norn not a dwarf and besides the dwarves are all dead. Or so they say.

Despite what Saylahsays, night does fall in Tyria!

Anyhoo, off she set in the pitch-black of a Lornar's night, snow melting on her bare shoulders (She's a Norn. I thought we'd established that...) in search of sun, sand, sea and something to slaughter.

Tyria is a fascinating place now it's not overrun with adventurers. All the better for it, in my opinion. As she worked her way slowly southward, looping around, doubling back on herself, taking time to see the sights, she crossed paths with many other rugged individualists and a few small bands of travellers but of the bustling, bullying gangs of a few months ago there was blissfully no sign.

Dredgehaunt Cliffs now rests almost entirely in the hands (or is that paws?) of the Dredge. Barely an outpost remains that they don't control. Smuts from their smelters drift in the bitter wind like confetti down the steep streets of Divinity's Reach. My Elementalist (let's call her Summer, though that's not her name) helped one desperate field team from the Durmand Priory regain control of their dig site from the Marxist Moles and assisted the Skritt in kicking the Dredge out of some caves. Then, in best Littlest Hobo style, she drifted on.

It may look pretty but people have to breathe this air

In Timberline Falls she enlisted as a volunteer research assistant at an Asuran lab for a while, then stepped in as combat medic for a Hylek village under attack by the Krait. Deep in the southern wilds of Timberline she observed the first, unwelcome signs of the malign influence of Zhaitan as Risen began to appear like rot from the lush jungle surrounding the great volcano.

A trip inside an active volcano is something not to be missed by any self-respecting Elementalist but it was in expectation of but a short-lived expedition that she ventured into its depths. To her astonisment and mine, half an hour later after a breathless and thrilling trip involving some old-school pulling to make sure no more than one or two Destroyers and fire elementals were trying to roast her at the same time, she emerged singed but unscathed near the southern shore.

Is wood the best building material next to a volcano?

Sadly even the calming presence of the Sylvari, one of whom transformed her into a rabbit for a while so she could collect herbs for him (funny people, the Sylvari) or the military know-how of the Charr, who she came across at a jetty repairing a gorgeous, golden sun-shimmered submarine with tender blows from a lump hammer, can't turn the Mire Sea or the Benthic Kelp Beds into a beach resort.

After a quick run along the sands, made all the quicker by the skelks snapping at her unsuitably high heels, she began to think about the long trip back. Which was when she stumbled upon Dierdre's Steps.

Of which more next time.

Starring Cualli and Sloolap In ...

Back to work means less time to post if I want to play. I do want to play.

Just wanted to mention something Heartless threw away in one of his posts recently:


"there is a fat and happy bonus for killing some of the monsters that haven't been knocked off in a while (I was seeing 40 bonus experience in some cases, 2x what an equal level kill would net in a zone my level)".

This may be in the online manual which I haven't read, but it's the first time I've heard of it. I had noticed the bonus, which can get huge. I was getting 250xp bonus on a 90xp kill in Timberline Falls. I had no idea what was causing it. An excellent incentive to get out there and poke into those places no-one else is using - and there are plenty of them.

There's also a Hint that pops up very early on that says something along the lines of "killing monsters higher than you gives an increased chance of better loot". Push the envelope and you will be rewarded, in other words.

Speaking of Timberline Falls, it's my favorite zone so far for looks and it also has two of my favorite NPCs, Cualli and Sloolap. On the whole, GW2 NPCs are pretty bland but these two are an exception. I really hope there's a back-story.

Not a spoiler as such, just a teaser...