Griffon-Friendly Istan

I've been really appreciating the map design of the Domain of Istan. There are multiple locations with high elevations that are perfect for launching off of with the griffon. The Astralarium, for instance, lets you Ludicrous Speed your way to pretty much anywhere on the map and has a waypoint right next to it, a choice that had to have been intentional. Furthermore, the cliffs in this area are much more easily scalable than ones in the past. In quite a few other maps, I found myself getting off the griffon constantly because I needed to use the Springer to get to higher ground. In the Domain of Istan, for contrast, there is rarely a point that can't be scaled simply by using Jump and Flap while on a griffon, which is incredibly satisfying. Now that I'm spending time in this map, the Griffon is starting to feel like a fun and useful luxury rather than simply a status symbol, so thank you! I'd love to see more maps like this in the future.

I am curious, though, for those without a Griffon, how do you like the map layout? Is it difficult to traverse with the other mounts?

@Sevifor.1925 said:I am curious, though, for those without a Griffon, how do you like the map layout? Is it difficult to traverse with the other mounts?

I've traveled around both ways. Griffon makes some things easier, a few things much easier. But I still find it easier just to raptor/jackal along by ground when I'm not going far.

Dark Helmet: No-no-no, light speed is too slow!Colonel Sandurz: Light speed too slow?Dark Helmet: Yes, we're gonna have to go right to... Ludicrous speed!

I don’t have the griffon, but all other mounts. The map is very good. I do wonder how the atmosphere changes. I actually love the area around the great hall. It is very doable to navigate but you have a certain thrill cause of the enemies and the traps. It gives a great feeling of approaching a dangerous place.

Yeah, this map is really great for mounts, so much elevation, so many fun swoops and dives to make. Can you imagine how BORING this map would have been pre-HoT though? Just running around on foot? I think you can actually reach most vital locations, but you'd have to go way out of the way sometimes, and it'd be a real slog.

@Scarlett.1605 said:Dark Helmet: No-no-no, light speed is too slow!Colonel Sandurz: Light speed too slow?Dark Helmet: Yes, we're gonna have to go right to... Ludicrous speed!

bahahaha... Shame only 3 people get it.....

I guess you could say with PoF, we have been "combing the deserts" :+1:

As for OP: I think the map is great aswell but my main gripe about these new maps are - WHERE THE HELL ARE THE UPDRAFTS!!!!!!??????? I don't want my gliding to take a back seat because of griffon and honestly I love griffon in the jungle because it's really smooth using an updraft then mounting up mid air.

I've been enjoying the jungle a lot more recently due to being able to use both expansions selling points on the one map. On PoF maps you have to forget gliding ever existed.

@sephiroth.4217 said:

@Scarlett.1605 said:Dark Helmet: No-no-no, light speed is too slow!Colonel Sandurz: Light speed too slow?Dark Helmet: Yes, we're gonna have to go right to... Ludicrous speed!

I was elated to find some sawgill mushrooms, just to prove my HoT masteries weren't totally dead. Sure I can still go gather sawgills somewhere else, but it was nice to see that I got some benefit in new content from my old masteries.

I'm hoping in future maps Anet incorporate more optional but not progression blocking uses for old masteries like this. For instance, lets say you've designed a section of the map for springer jumps. Why not stick an updraft somewhere nearby? People without updrafts doesn't really lose anything, but people with updrafts get to go "oh, hey, an updraft" and get that old mastry validated a little. Overall it doesn't matter which tool you choose for that little map section, but maybe having the old mastry is a little faster or lets you skip a couple mobs for a mini-shortcut. If you don't have it, you're not missing out really.

I do not agree with you OP. For me, for this new area, it is still the same: I find Griffon too imprecise at landing and prefer by far combining raptor/springer/normal gliding, what works a lot more efficiently in my case (I use Griffon only if I have an airport available for landing! =) ).Apart from this, I agree that the new area is big fun to use mounts because we can go everywhere (have not encountered any invisible walls up to now). :)