Looking for advice on how to proceed through story content

[Shadowman.3054]

I'm a fairly new player, I recently got back into the game about a month ago and I hit max level a few weeks ago on my guardian. Ever since reaching max level, I've gone through my personal story and currently on Entanglement of Living World Season 2. I've also been playing a lot of ranked conquest and dabbling in wvw. I don't have any elite specializations unlocked, but my goal was to get 100% map completion of core Tyria before moving onto the next story step. 

 

I've been looking at the rewards for some of the old maps associated with Living World Season 2, for example in Dry Top, there are Geodes I've been collecting and other misc stuff I'm finding that might be worth collecting later for cosmetics. One of the bigger problems I'm encountering is the lack of having an elite specialization and only having the raptor mount. I'm wondering if it would be best to go through the story and then come back later once I have all the mounts and hero points? I've been told for hero points I can join an HP train, but I'm unsure if I want to do that with my first character.  I've just noticed I'm at a big disadvantage when I don't have half the mounts other players do lol. 

[Harfang.1507]

Some questions:

 

First, how important story continuity is for you? If that is your #1 concern, forget about elite specs until you are through with Season 2. Yes, elite specs are nice and shiny, but no, they are not make-or-break unless you go for high-end content. I often see people in core builds in all maps of the game.

 

Second, how much of the the Living World do you have unlocked? There is season 3 between the two expansions, seasons 4 and 5 after. (Season 5 is better know as the Icebrood Saga, or IBS). The mount you arguably want the most is the skyscale and it requires completing all six episodes of season 4 (1,200 gems in total). In the meanwhile, you can make do with the springer, which is typically the second mount unlocked in the PoF story.

 

I highly recommend HP trains for HoT. What you are expected to have is basic gliding and sometimes a raptor. The commander I follow the most for HP trains often runs on foot, but it goes really fast and don't be surprised if you get winded and miss a few HPs. It would still be worth it. Doing an HP train through VB, AB and TD should fully unlock two elite specializations. Most Hero challenges in PoF maps are soloable if you know what you are doing, so you see less HP trains there.

[Khisanth.2948]

Most of the hero points can  be done solo since a lot of them are just communes. On the other hand if you are new to the game actually getting there might be the real challenge. In that case whether or not to follow a HP train depends on how much you care about exploring the world on your own.

[Danikat.8537]

There is nothing in any release which requires elite specs, masteries, mounts or other abilities which weren't available at the time it was released - you'll never find something in HoT which is impossible without mounts for example. They can make it easier, but you can also lose part of the experience by doing that. For example you might see a mastery point on a cliff in HoT, and with the springer you can just jump straight up and grab it. Without it you have to find your way down through a cave, across a hidden area behind the cliff and up the other side to reach it. If you use the springer to get there straight away and then carry on to the next thing you want to check off your list you might never see that area (and won't get the achievement for finding a strongbox hidden in there.)

Whether you want that is up to you. Some people like to unlock as many things as reasonably possible before going through the story or doing map completion, others like to do each part in order or do the story then come back to do map completion with more stuff unlocked, and some skip the story entirely and only complete maps when they want the reward from that specific one. All of those are valid ways of playing, one of the nice things about this game is you get a lot of freedom in what you do and how you do it.

I think if I was in your position I'd do pretty much what you're doing - maybe unlock a few useful and quick to get things like the raptor but mostly play the game in order. (I didn't really get a choice, I played each release when it came out.) But that's because that's what I enjoy, for example I have all the mounts but won't always use them in core maps because I like doing it the way it was intended, and I want to see the story in order.

If you've been doing WvW you have an alternative to finding hero points on your own or following a train. You can use the testimonies of heroics from rank up rewards to get hero points. Each one completes a random hero challenge in either the core game, HoT or PoF maps. (Personally I always use the PoF ones because most of those are commune points, whereas some of the HoT ones can be more interesting. Although some of them are also repeatable.)

Edited January 6, 2022 by Danikat.8537

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

3 hours ago, Shadowman.3054 said:

I'm wondering if it would be best to go through the story and then come back later once I have all the mounts and hero points?

Depends on what you value: the authentic (classic Tangled Depths) experience, or ease of gameplay. Personally, if I could, I would replay both season 2 and HoT without mounts or elite specs (already) unlocked. It really is a high-quality delivery on every front (except the story length and pace).

[Shadowman.3054]

Thanks all, I decided to use some testimonies of heroics to get the skill points needed for dragon hunter specialization. I think for now I'm going to continue through the story and come back to the zones later if I want to grind currencies for rewards. It's just not fun having to follow others around without springer or flying mount and I'm not interested in skipping the story just to get them. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Shadowman.3054