Is it smarter to do PoF first, before Hot? Your thoughts are most appreciated.

So, after landing 80, should you do PoF initial part to get the Raptor Mount, at least?Then does doing HoT become easier if you already have the Raptor?Or, should you just go straight into HoT, without any mount,and just tough it out running your ass off all the time,just so you can say you did them all in order???

This is another "it depends" type of question. There's no right answer and what's best for you is hard to determine until after you've already done it, i.e with 20-20 hindsight.Accordingly, I offer you these guidelines to help you decide:

Is story continuity important to you?Are you the type of person who has to watch the first two seasons of a TV show (which are just meh) before watching the third (which is awesome, really really fantastically good)? Do you find yourself needing to read the book first before seeing the movie based on it?

Do you get invested in the stories in games at all? Do you even do the stories or go directly to hardcore or open world content?

Do you stop to smell the roses in real life?Do you take detours? Or always the quickest route? Do you like seeing the world from different angles? Or do you prefer to just get things done?

When "farming" in games, do you choose the fun ones or the most lucrative?

You only have one opportunity to experience content for the first time, so you can choose to experience it as closely as possible to its original intent/design (with obvious hiccups since time has past and the game isn't the same). Or you can choose to make things as convenient as possible.

Mounts (and even gliders) are a HUGE game changer in terms of the experience of just navigating Tyria. I am very glad I saw the world from the ground first, when missteps on mountains were tragic, when completing JPs was fraught. And I'm equally glad that I don't have to go sooooooooo slow any longer. I don't think I could have managed to enjoy the LS4 maps as much without mounts (if we pretend that they would have been smaller in that scenario).

tl;dr

• If you want to get things done, start in PoF and get Raptor... and then proceed however you like.
• If you want to experience the game three times, do things in order: Core, HoT (getting gliders), then PoF (getting mounts). It's a very different experience

Neither of the above is "better" for everyone.

Mounts (and even gliders) are a HUGE game changer in terms of the experience of just navigating Tyria. I am very glad I saw the world from the ground first, when missteps on mountains were tragic, when completing JPs was fraught. And I'm equally glad that I don't have to go sooooooooo slow any longer. I don't think I could have managed to enjoy the LS4 maps as much without mounts (if we pretend that they would have been smaller in that scenario).

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tl;dr

• If you want to get things done, start in PoF and get Raptor... and then proceed however you like.
• If you want to experience the game three times, do things in order: Core, HoT (getting gliders), then PoF (getting mounts). It's a very different experience

Neither of the above is "better" for everyone.

Woooooooooooot!!

Excellent!!!

Started at scratch, and then was given a head's up that having a mount in Core was totally invaluable.

Totally true.

Without a mount, game content is boring beyond belief.

or Not, if that's your bent.

Gotta get that Raptor and then everything is A - O - K

Fuck doing Hot without a mount, just so you can experience the Agony.

Like Agony?

Just keep doing the game. You'll get LOTS of AGONY.

Having a mount helps a LOT! I would recommend doing just enough PoF until you get the raptor long-jump and then do HoT first.

@Kabuki Theatre.9752 said:doing Hot without a mount,Yeah, it is a very different experience without.If you're find it stupefyingly dull, then yeah, get mounts unlocked first. For HoT, I'd even claim the springer (very useful for the verticality).

Glad the choice was easy for you :)

Personally, I don't think that the time you need to complete the story in (any) LW or HoT is too much: a couple of days, maybe 3. Even 1 week, it's not that long, if you consider that you wouldn't miss very important things (maybe you'd lose a couple of spirit shards, pff).I completed HoT before PoF came out, so maybe I'm biased, but I enjoyed the experience and trying to figure out the way to the next waypoint using the glider/tunnels/mushrooms. Mounts make things much easier, but also take away some fun. Using your words, I liked some "agony" :)

To a new player, I'd suggest to complete the story in order, playing on the map as they were meant to be played. But not to lose too much time trying to complete all the achievements/commute all the hero points. Once you get the mounts, come back for a second pass. This way you can experience both things. If you already start with the mounts, you'd never experience the other half of the gameplay.Though again, this is just me. There are people who find very boring the personal story and just skips it, so in that case it would be a bad advice to suggest to play everything in order.

If you want an easier time, the mount is the way to go. It does take way from HoT though. At the start HoT is lethsl. It feels like a jungle wre everything can kill you. As you progress and unlock masteries, you’ll slowly get more comfortable and adept ad surviving. The mount kills a large part of that.

My suggestion; try HoT as it was intended first. If you find it too frustrating, unlock the mount.