Drive to 80, or take the scenic route?

Hey everyone! I have a small/medium sized problem that Y'all might be able to help me with...in my travels I have come across vistas, points of interest, and Hero challenges, that are in remote areas and very difficult to reach; I've managed to complete the world map and the city map in the Asura area, but not without a considerable amount of effort. And it never fails, as I'm struggling to complete the task, along comes someone riding a mount and 'Bip, Boop, Bop' they're at the top! My question is this: can I bypass this kind of content until I can get a mount to come back and do it then?

There is no disadvantage to you skipping map completion

One of the beautiful things about GW2 is you never outlevel content, and you never stop getting rewarded for doing it. When you hit LV80 and head back to a LV20 zone, you are downleveled to match, so it isn't ezsauce. Even though you don't need XP to level any longer, at LV 80 and after starting the story in HoT you unlock the Mastery system, which then requires XP.

What's more as you head back to lower level zones, at least some of the gear that drops will be level appropriate. So even if you're a LV 60 character questing in a LV 20 zone, you will get items with levels close to yours.

So even at LV 80, reviving NPCs, harvesting nodes, or completing hearts still has value.

To answer your question, yes, getting the Raptor mount and the Springer mount make Tyria map completion 100x easier. Some choose to do it without mounts to preserve immersion and challenge. Myself, I suck at Super Mario Wars 2, so I ignored many vistas until I got the Springer. Only then did I go around focused on map completion.

@Randulf.7614 and @Turkeyspit.3965 Thanks...you guys are the best! :)

Take your time , enjoy the full game and every map. discover all the hidden dialogue this game is rich of.

@Sazukikrah.5036 said:Take your time , enjoy the full game and every map.

Oh, I will...on my brand new Springer mount!! :D

Don't do Core Tyria with a mount. That's ruining the experience.

There's no wrong way to play GW2, it's designed to be challenging regardless of level. At some point in the after game you'll faceroll everything, but dynamic leveling makes low level maps enjoyable regardless of level. Plus mid-level maps typically have the highest value materials you earn by playing the map.

@narwhalsbend.7059 said:Don't do Core Tyria with a mount. That's ruining the experience.

Maybe...do you know what really ruins my gaming experience? Jumping puzzles!

Well you cant use mounts or gliders in jumping puzzles so they will always be the bane of your existence lol I have been known to rage quit some myself.

Mounts are amazing. Of course I had map/world completion before they were around and Im grateful. World completion at that time even included WvW maps. Going back on alts and doing core Tyria is fun with mounts now .... but Im glad I didnt always have them. Play your way. Have fun. No rage quit LOL

@GW Noob.6038 said:Hey everyone! I have a small/medium sized problem that Y'all might be able to help me with...in my travels I have come across vistas, points of interest, and Hero challenges, that are in remote areas and very difficult to reach; I've managed to complete the world map and the city map in the Asura area, but not without a considerable amount of effort. And it never fails, as I'm struggling to complete the task, along comes someone riding a mount and 'Bip, Boop, Bop' they're at the top! My question is this: can I bypass this kind of content until I can get a mount to come back and do it then?

All you need to do is pick up the waypoints. Map completion will be 100x easier when you have your mounts. I wouldn't even waste time trying to do map completion on foot.

@GW Noob.6038 said:

@narwhalsbend.7059 said:Don't do Core Tyria with a mount. That's ruining the experience.

You wont be able to use mounts in the jumping puzzles as they will be blocked.

I always maintain map first time round on foot preserves the intended experience, but ultimately beyond an ambient feel, there is no loss to using to mounts. Do things however you want to do it, but do bear in mind getting mounts will mean seeing story spoilers since you have to access the later story to earn them.

My recommendation is try to get all you can prior to getting the mounts. That is purely to see what it was like originally. At least you have the option to bypass areas that you don't find easy and com back with the mounts. Sole reason I suggest this is you can sometime have fun trying to work out how you were meant to get to a hero point or vista. Some had tricks to them that with a mount one never notices. Main thing though is to enjoy what ever you are doing :>

@Randulf.7614 said:

@GW Noob.6038 said:

@narwhalsbend.7059 said:You wont be able to use mounts in the jumping puzzles as they will be blocked.

What I do is I go to the location and see if it's doable...if it is, great, if not I'll leave it for later.

@Ellegon Mcleod.5931 said:My recommendation is try to get all you can prior to getting the mounts. That is purely to see what it was like originally. At least you have the option to bypass areas that you don't find easy and com back with the mounts. Sole reason I suggest this is you can sometime have fun trying to work out how you were meant to get to a hero point or vista. Some had tricks to them that with a mount one never notices. Main thing though is to enjoy what ever you are doing :>

You are correct, sir...I go to each location and give it a try. Some are very easy; some are doable with a few tries; others are very difficult...these are the ones I want to bypass til later. Now, on the Hero-point ones: I've found them to be very easy to get...the Vista ones can be the toughest.

It really depends on how bored you are.

If you have prior MMO experience, sure race to the good stuff. But it's good otherwise to learn and just take your time. Burnout can happen in games and will ultimately ruin it. So unless you feel like you're not doing much, don't use the boost.

Oh, yea most content is skippable Map completion isn't required unless you want a legendary. Ignore people that talk about how they have a gun to their head forcing them to do stuff. It just astounds me that they made a game with so much detail in the scenery and all people can see is how much shiny per hour is to be made from it.

imo: take the scenic route, take your time and enjoy the journey :)

of course it's up to you if you wanna skip, boost to 80 and grab the mounts - there's no harm in doing that and it's fine, it's your money and it's your account anyway but it may leave you either overwhelmed with stuff to do or completely lost (and then bored) on what to do from thereon

@GW Noob.6038 said:My question is this: can I bypass this kind of content until I can get a mount to come back and do it then?You can pretty much bypass any kind of content in GW2 if it isn't to your liking. That's the beauty of the game: pretty much nothing is mandatory, and progression and rewards usually all have alternative routes to get to the same goal.

Map completion specifically isn't everybody's thing. Personally I enjoy it, especially since I learned to move (and jump) in this game so I get to most spots without a major hassle, but it took a couple of years to get to that point. I remember in the beginning even the now-easy vistas that required jumping were a major obstacle to me and my charr ranger (and not just because precision jumping on a charr is a challenge in itself ;) ).

Map completion is a good source of leveling experience, but it's far from the only one. Simply going through the maps, grabbing the easy waypoints, PoIs, and vistas already gives you a good amount of experience. Check other maps of the same level range if you feel you are in over your head. Grab all the gathering nodes you pass, as they will give necessary materials (on all levels, and any surpluss can be sold for decent profit on the trading post) as well as more experience. Take part in events you pass as another source of experience (and karma, a currency widely used in the game). If you like crafting, leveling up your crafter will give them leveling experience as well.

This game, much more so in the beginning, isn't primarily about completion or doing things in a certain order. It's about choosing yourself what you enjoy, and play that. That's why some people say endgame begins at level 2, as soon as you step out of the tutorial instance. And thanks to down-leveling even the low-level maps, while getting a bit easier, won't become trivial as you advance through the game.

So go ahead, level any way you like, and don't worrry about (map or other) completion until you know you want something specific that you can only get that way. Welcome to Tyria, and have fun!

I did my first map completion after 5 years and almost 2,000 hours, when the mounts came out. I always hated map completion, and those godforsaken hearts made it so tedious I simply chose to do something else with my time.

So no, you don't have to do it now, and you can come back anytime.