Skyscale mount mechanics (not about timegate)

[Kidel.2057]

At this point we are aware that this is almost a legendary mount, requiring all episodes, 250 collection steps, lots of gold and at least 8 days (excluding the last 2 steps that we still don't know about). Fine.

The problem is that the mount is mostly a vanity item for chilling afk in LA, not a real useful mount.

https://imgur.com/a/9TMt1xjhttps://imgur.com/a/27bekmJ

As you can see it's impossible to go over that ledge with the Skyscale. Even if you release [W] it bounces off, and it's to far to land on it with [C].Meanwhile the Springer can do it just fine.Another issue I have is that the decrease in altitude if you try to move horizontally seems worse then gliding.

This is not acceptable for a mount that requires such a long collection.

It's almost legendary the way you obtain it, but it's not legendary at all to use. It's not fun as the Griffon or the roller, and not as good as the springer. It has really no use outside of vanity.

In this thread I'd like to gather some useful suggestions on how to improve the mount in a realistic way, without making it gamebreaking or invalidating the griffon completely.

A nice Idea would be to increase the number of dashes to 3, so that is at least decently fast, and rework the wall sticking part so that it doesn't feel so painful.

Using the rental Skyscale, sometimes I can't even emulate the Springer, since the Skyscale doesn't "fall" on small steps on the walls, instead it sticks to it, unable to go higher. The mastery doesn't really solve that.

A solution could be to bind the wall sticking mechanism to an actual button press instead of "forward".

Any better idea?

[Tails.9372]

The removal of the flight meter system would pretty much fix everything, it would still be slow enough / not as maneuverable as some of the other mounts while still being able to deliver what people are looking for in an uncompromised way.

[Kidel.2057]

@Tails.9372 said:The removal of the flight meter system would pretty much fix everything, it would still be slow enough / not as maneuverable as some of the other mounts while still being able to deliver what people are looking for in an uncompromised way.

I think that would break everything, not only old maps. I don't think that the mount should be overpowered, but either unique or a jack of all trades (and master of none).

At the moment is the hardest mount to get, but also the most useless and tedious to use.

Too bad because the design is great.

[LucianDK.8615]

We wont get unlimited flying, that would break far too much

[Kidel.2057]

I agree. In my opinion the skyscale is too weak in horizontal movement to be in any way better compared to a springer (or springer+griffon).

Also I find odd that it auto sticks to wall if you press forward (that is also the only button to go down if you're close to a step).

Also if you're very close to the top of a cliff, the skyscale just sticks to it instead of going above.

It should have 3 dashes and a different key to stick to walls.

[Tails.9372]

@"Kidel.2057" said:I think that would break everything, not only old maps.

Define "break everything". Sure "it sounds bad" to those who are concerned about balance but if you actually think about it you would realise that it wouldn't break anything that isn't already "broken" because of the other mounts. For starters you can only use it in OW PvE maps so it wouldn't break WvW and instanced content. JPs are already engulfed in "no mount zones" so the only thing left to break is map completion, problem is griffon + springer already completely "breaks" this part of the game. Even with unrestricted flight there's nothing left to break here.

[LucianDK.8615]

The world is simply not designed with unrestricted flight in mind. Remember how they had to redo the old world in wow to be able to have flight there.

[Kidel.2057]

Regardless of opinions they clearly said that unrestricted flight is bad, so it won't happen.

I think it would be legendary but I don't know if I'd like that direction. What's fun in that?

[Blocki.4931]

@Kidel.2057 said:I agree. In my opinion the skyscale is too weak in horizontal movement to be in any way better compared to a springer (or springer+griffon).

Also I find odd that it auto sticks to wall if you press forward (that is also the only button to go down if you're close to a step).

Also if you're very close to the top of a cliff, the skyscale just sticks to it instead of going above.

It should have 3 dashes and a different key to stick to walls.

You can press 1 to descend easily. When I did the story for the first time and had to fly around I was getting really mad because I got stuck everywhere. After using it a bit more I don't get stuck nearly as much & finally learning that just pressing S got me unstuck was a huge part of that too. With the masteries unlocked it should be a perfectly usable mount that I will definitely prefer over swapping to Springer constantly just because I don't have to mind what is directly above me.

[Kidel.2057]

If you press S you don't go down, and worse you potentially go too far from the small landing spot.

Pressing 1 to go down is bad if you want to land in a small area and still be able to mount. You are probably used to climbing with a Springer, so you know what I'm talking about. You can't really climb as a Springer with a Skyscale because of the auto-grab.

And pressing 1 also doesn't solve the fact that the skyscale grabs on the edge of a cliff with half its body instead of going over it.

The auto-grab should be removed, period. Give us control.

[Ashantara.8731]

@"Kidel.2057" said:Using the rental Skyscale, sometimes I can't even emulate the Springer, since the Skyscale doesn't "fall" on small steps on the walls, instead it sticks to it

That is the only thing I find super annoying about its mechanics, that it often clings to something even when I am just trying to hop over the small ledge or want to fly closely past a wall.

Other than that, I think you are underestimating the mount. It can be super practical, and probably/hopefully more so once leveled. Just takes practice and getting used to.

[Kidel.2057]

It won't fo higher than a Springer and won't go far compared to a Griffon. Sure, can be useful, but not optimal and not fun.

Has a collection similar to a legendary trinket but feels like an animated throne toy

[Blocki.4931]

But that is the beauty of it. Maintain your initial height by going backwards.

[Kidel.2057]

I see nothing beautiful about that. The purpose is climbing, going on a cliff or over the edge. If you can't hop on a ledge ( moves you backwards and not down, and [1] dismounts you, unable to mount back because there is no space) it's straight inferior to the Springer in terms of vertical movement.

Sometimes it doesn't even land on a diagonal plain or tree branch and just climbs vertically like an idiot.

[castlemanic.3198]

@Kidel.2057 said:If you press S you don't go down, and worse you potentially go too far from the small landing spot.

Pressing 1 to go down is bad if you want to land in a small area and still be able to mount. You are probably used to climbing with a Springer, so you know what I'm talking about. You can't really climb as a Springer with a Skyscale because of the auto-grab.

And pressing 1 also doesn't solve the fact that the skyscale grabs on the edge of a cliff with half its body instead of going over it.

The auto-grab should be removed, period. Give us control.

If you're looking to go straight down, it's mount ability 2 (default binding c) on the skyscale (or whatever button you use to drift on beetle/climb after diving on griffon).

The skyscale has been an absolute pleasure to ride personally. I just keep wishing I already had it because the wall jump is going to significantly improve my enjoyment of the skyscale when we finally get our hands on it.

[Tails.9372]

@LucianDK.8615 said:The world is simply not designed with unrestricted flight in mind. Remember how they had to redo the old world in wow to be able to have flight there.

The world is not designed with mounts in mind in general, unrestricted flight wouldn't make a difference here. There's no point in changing up the maps because of it unless they also want to account for the other mounts + the teleport device.

@Kidel.2057 said:Regardless of opinions they clearly said that unrestricted flight is bad, so it won't happen.

Without objective reasons that in itself is nothing more than an unfounded opinion. Also, citation needed.

@Kidel.2057 said:I think it would be legendary but I don't know if I'd like that direction. What's fun in that?

What fun is what? The ability to fly without being forced to stop every X seconds? Sounds like a lot more fun than what we have rn. Also, it's not required for anything and it would still be quite situational so you wouldn't really use it if it's not needed unless you actually want to.

[Perisemiotics.4579]

I think the premise of comparing performance to other mounts is mistaken - firstly because it's subjective to personal gameplay, secondly each mount is by design supposed to be unique and this one certainly is. It gives you the ability to still-hover anywhere, indefinitely - this will be more or less useful and fun for different players but it's objectively unique. For me personally, it makes exploring from the air so much better, it's like you have access to a satellite or those special free-motion cameras that devs use when putting together a map; even more so when looking for specific stuff, like doing the collections, it saved me A LOT of time and energy having the bird's eye view and being able to stall, go down and back up at will, quick and easy... I basked in the irony, using the very mount I was hunting items to unlock.Also, it does go higher than the Springer if you factor in Bond of Vigor or Volatile-magic globs - it is also more precise since you can hold still and fine-tune your movement whereas with the bunny you have to get the one jump right or (in some cases) you'll fall off to oblivion. I also enjoy the "tactical" planning, looking in advance for subsequent ledges to ensure you'll be able to refill the meter and keep going up as needed... and finally, it can reach places the Springer never will such as chopper tops or hollow domes enclosed behind a horizontal flight path - this mount stands out through the combination of vertical and horizontal movement more, much more than any other.The one thing I felt was "missing" would be a sort of angle indicator when gliding since that makes all the difference when trying to not dip in to the flight endurance but I guess that would be a little too fluffy in a way.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

The problem is that the mount is mostly a vanity item for chilling afk in LA, not a real useful mount.I've found the rental mount to be both fun & useful. The hovering is awesome (for me).

I see the mount as more of a Dragonfly than a Dragon.(The skimmer's Hummingbird MountFit would go really well with the Skyscale.)

[Blude.6812]

Driving more people away from the game that getting more players in. Anet blew it.

[Knighthonor.4061]

I been using it to get scales. It's a good mount. The meter is there to prevent it from being a fully functioning flying mount which would break the old game. The only thing I would change is adding the orbs over the world to make it more fun to find places .

[Adrianna.3092]

I think they should extend the flight time just a little bit... alot of the time the skyscale falls just short of being able to make it up cliffs.. just a little more flight time would make it significantly better.

[Rukario.1695]

( Reiterated on Page 2 )

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

The wall-cling when it isn't wanted is annoying, but once we have the mastery for recharging the height meter while clinging, it will be a LOT less irritating because it will be a temporary moment, and then we can go up again and over the edge. I find the skyscale a lot of fun already, and with the masteries it should be better yet. (Maybe not as 'legendary' as the collection seems to imply, but that's for another thread.)

If the raptor is a bicycle, and the springer is a pogo stick, and the griffon is a Marty McFly hoverboard, then the skyscale is the claw in one of those arcade claw machines. It doesn't ride like any of the others, but what it does, it does well, and its skills are unique.

[Daishi.6027]

Needs more canopy or to maintain the max as you fly down. If you can get there already, you already breaking the map.

Really though it's hard to say just how good it will be until we train up masteries

[Chasind.3128]

Extend flight time and add an actual quick descent/ dive mechanic so it's then on par with griffon. When grabbing onto ledges, if it's not already a mastery, have the flight stamina recharge so grabbing things is more than just an annoying mechanic and actually has purpose.