First Mount.

I'm currently at lvl 80, almost done with the main story quests (pre expansions). I have read that to get your first mount (Raptor), you just need to do the first PoF quest. My question is, once I finish the original main story, will I then have to do the HoT story line first before I even get to the PoF quest-line? Or once I beat the original story, can I then go straight to the mount quest? (I'm getting a bit impatient if you can't tell. :) )

As soon as you are level 80, you can start the PoF story in the storyjournal. You don’t even need to finish the core story (and you can go back and switch between the different story lines)

When you finish the original story (or even right now, given that you have reached level 80), you open your Hero Panel, and select the expansion or living story season you want, and begin the story. You can then switch back after you have the mount and pick up where you left off.

Note a few things:

• Unlocking a mount on one character unlocks it for your whole account, present and future, even level 2s that have just finished the starter instance.
• You can use mounts anywhere in the open world which isn't marked as a no-mounts zone. Those are usually (but not exclusively) just in and around jumping puzzles.
• You cannot use mounts in "Central Tyria" and "Heart of Maguuma" instanced areas, including your home instance (Salma District, Heroes' Canton, etc.)
• The Raptor cannot cross "swimming-depth" water unless it is narrow enough to jump over.

EDIT: Sorry, when you open the hero panel, you must click the "star" icon on the left to select the story management function.

Well damn. Knowing that would have saved me a bunch of hours trying to grind out the main story. lol. Thanks.

Yea, personally i treated HoT like a bad nightmare. Just follow the PoF storyline quests and the mounts will drop right into your lap.

Thanks. Do the Expansions' story content build off of one another? For instance, if I WERE to follow the core story, then the HoT story, and finally the PoF story, woud that be the preferred way of injesting the story? Or do they not build off of each other?

@scoop.9613 said:Thanks. Do the Expansions' story content build off of one another? For instance, if I WERE to follow the core story, then the HoT story, and finally the PoF story, woud that be the preferred way of injesting the story? Or do they not build off of each other?I know that PoF mentions some things that happen in the Living worlds and HoT before it.

@schmots.6803 said:

@scoop.9613 said:Thanks. Do the Expansions' story content build off of one another? For instance, if I WERE to follow the core story, then the HoT story, and finally the PoF story, woud that be the preferred way of injesting the story? Or do they not build off of each other?I know that PoF mentions some things that happen in the Living worlds and HoT before it.

But if I were to just do the first PoF quest just to get the mount, I wouldn't be lost, would I?

@scoop.9613 said:

@schmots.6803 said:

@scoop.9613 said:Thanks. Do the Expansions' story content build off of one another? For instance, if I WERE to follow the core story, then the HoT story, and finally the PoF story, woud that be the preferred way of injesting the story? Or do they not build off of each other?I know that PoF mentions some things that happen in the Living worlds and HoT before it.

No, that would be fine. Well, except that you won't really understand why you are doing what you are doing, in much the same way that the beginning of Living World Season 2 is something of a mystery for everyone who wasn't playing when Season 1 was current(1). But all you really need to know is that in the immediate, you are chasing this person and you must do that thing to get access to the Raptor.

(1) Season 1 was the only season where the world was truly living and evolving. You know how Lion's Arch looks in the Personal Story instances? Apart from the "sepia" look, that's how all of it looked before Season 1, and the western section of Divinity's Reach looked totally different. (It was a building site with a huge hole in it, no glass dome thing, etc.) The episodes were only available to play for specific periods back then. Arenanet thought better of this for subsequent seasons, although there are still lasting changes - LS3 added an exit in the north-west of Frostgorge Sound, etc. - but those changes are much less intrusive these days. Um. Except the Joko invasions, but I think those will eventually fade. I hope so, anyway.

@Steve The Cynic.3217 said:

@scoop.9613 said:

@schmots.6803 said:

@scoop.9613 said:Thanks. Do the Expansions' story content build off of one another? For instance, if I WERE to follow the core story, then the HoT story, and finally the PoF story, woud that be the preferred way of injesting the story? Or do they not build off of each other?I know that PoF mentions some things that happen in the Living worlds and HoT before it.

I vaguely remember the original Lion's Arch. I bought GW2 when it first launched. Played one character to lvl80, then stopped. (Never did any PvP, WvW, never completed a dungeon, etc...) I came back to it after a little while, and noticed thet Lion's arch had changed, but didn't know what had happened. Now, fast-forward 5+ years, I really dont have a clue what happened. lol. I just knew that something happened to Lion's Arch, and that it was rebuilt(?). I found a Wiki that explains the story from season 1. I'm trying to skim through that to get a grasp.

@scoop.9613 said:Thanks. Do the Expansions' story content build off of one another? For instance, if I WERE to follow the core story, then the HoT story, and finally the PoF story, woud that be the preferred way of injesting the story? Or do they not build off of each other?

Between the stories, there are living world stories (including new maps in season 2 and 3. The PoF story requires to be up to speed if you want to understand all the background (although he stories are good on their own). The issue is that you’ll always experience a gap as season one is not available due to the nature of that story.

When you finish HoT and the start PoF you skip so much story that it will feel as a stand alone story anyways.

To add to my previous post. The release order of the stories are:1: main story2: season one (not available except a summery video and more detailed YouTube video’s)3: season two (available in the gemstore, free for those who played during the time of a release)4: heart of thorns5: season three (available in the gemstore, free for those who played during the time of release)6: path of fire7: living world season 4. You have story two unlocked as you are actively playing. If you played before march 6, you also have story one unlocked allready.

Well crap. Didn't realize I was going to have to spend another $40 to get the season 2 and 3 missions. Would I be missing out on too much if I just skipped the seasons?

@scoop.9613 said:Well crap. Didn't realize I was going to have to spend another $40 to get the season 2 and 3 missions. Would I be missing out on too much if I just skipped the seasons?

The seasons offer much more than just story. There's nearly like half a dozen or more maps you have access to as well, Full with new mastery lines, events, currencies you can spend on ascended accessories, and a multitude of other items and recipes etc. Do a little searching around on gw2 wiki about what each season offers. It's so much more than just some story instances.

Also each chapter comes with sets of achievements to complete that reward unique items, skins, mastery points(for whichever expack it relates to) and ascended items.

@scoop.9613 said:Well crap. Didn't realize I was going to have to spend another $40 to get the season 2 and 3 missions. Would I be missing out on too much if I just skipped the seasons?

Another option will be using in game gold to purchase the gems for it.

99.9% of story in GW2 is optional, and you can pick which ever story you want to do, you can finish all the stories on a single character and dont bother to do it on other toons, unless you want to get some collections done.

Not only can you go to PoF first, but HoT is MUCH less frustrating with mounts.

Its pretty standard for new players to hit 80, head to PoF to get the Raptor and then the Springer, and then go and start HoT. Mounts make everything better, and the Springer can help out in HoT until you have unlocked many of the masteries.

As for LS2 and 3, I skipped on LS2 but opted to buy LS 3 because of the ascended trinkets. That said, I hear S4 has just as easy a method to earn those, so maybe you don't need to get them?

@scoop.9613 said:Well crap. Didn't realize I was going to have to spend another $40 to get the season 2 and 3 missions. Would I be missing out on too much if I just skipped the seasons?

You miss out on continuity. The entire story flows as a continuous narrative aftr rthe Personal Story, so if you care about keeping up, then skipping anything is going to problematic.

Seasons also contains maps, gear, skins, achievements. All of which you can return to at your leisure, so really it depends on how you feel about doing the story in order.