So I Bought LW S2 E1 (Recap, Spoilers (Sort of)

[DreadstoneofXev.6810]

Had some spare gems, so I figured why not, some loot I can DE, and two (2) Mastery Points (another topic of contention, but let's move on)

 

Alright, head to Brisbane Wildlands, get the obligatory BA (Big A55) orange arrow, telling me 'GO THAT WAY', find another player fighting level 76 (In BW?) vines, he's down, rez him, burn the vines. (I play a Char Engineer using the Flamethrower ability). Still outside the area, * I * go down, other player ignores me. 

 

Get to the actual content, listen to dialogue between the sisters that makes no sense in the big scheme of things, defend the workers, Ally NPCs are useless as usual, can't hold aggro, and so I end up fighting multiple Veteran Assassins. Ground is covered in AOE (A not so nice touch from WoW) that shows up after the effect goes off and has a much larger radius when said effect does manifest in time, push through, move to Dry Top. 

 

Where the Hades is Sparkle? (Or whatever). She's not on the map (I don't expect hand holding but Dry Top is not exactly small), oh wait, let me ask the Sage 'Google', lo and behold she's right by the WP. Convenient that.

 

She tells me to use these {SPARKLY MCGUFFINS} to maneuver past artificial constraints, and that I do. Finally get to the crash, listen to the forced same-sex attraction dialogue ("Hey, this event isn't timed, I can go behind a rock if you need me to. Or vice-versa. Your call")  from the doe-eyed ladies, begin investigation. Whoopsie! Inquest is here (Reasons), so I dispatch them as my erstwhile companions do...things.

 

Find more companions, listen to more dialogue, press on trying to find "clues". Finally get to crappy mining town (The ill-named 'Prosperity') located on other side of the most orderly quicksand on the planet, look for mine. Mine is blocked, but conveniently there's dynamite. Also people standing around who apparently aren't that concerned their fellow townspeople are trapped behind a landslide. Got it.

 

Pick up box of dynamite - whoopsie, get knocked over. Must be the gazillion spider / scorpion hybrids in the area. Not a problem, I'll set them on fire and what? 'Invulnerable'? To EVERYTHING? We need to use these suckers to go after {BIG BAD}. 

 

Oh, the dynamite has a secondary ability of displaying invisible AOE effects on the ground. Wow, that's next level engineering. Fine, use ability, avoid invisible AOE (turrets are still ineffectually firing at the Hybrids of Doom}, and get knocked over again. 

 

Hold on, I'm outside the AOE, and fuzzy circle. Ok, take the Asura-sized space between the wagon and wall (remember I'm Charr), clear the entrance, go inside, do the thing. 

 

Encounter the {BIG BAD} of the episode, Aerin, a Sylvari displaying symptoms of psychosis with delusions of grandeur who is after the 'Master of Peace' in order to have the latter give him "power". (Because back in the day, if you wanted arms, you went to Ghandi, not the US or USSR. Also, have you met the Hybrids of Doom back in the ill-named town? Might I suggest a breeding program?). 

 

Get him to half-health and he throws up a shield of invulnerability. FOREVER. Also, why is one half of the doe-eyed ladies continually throwing {SPARKLY MCGUFFINS} at me?

 

Hang on, let me break immersion and consult the Sage - AGAIN. (Nothing says "RPG" like the heroic ability to hide behind a rock and look up stuff on the internet)

 

Got it. Use the {SPARKLY MCGUFFIN} which now has the additional ability to break through a shield. When did she have time to retrofit these things? Shield goes down and Aerin runs away past the ever-spawning Tentacles of Knockback. (Because EVERYTHING has Knockback / Knockdown)

 

Apparently, it's up to me to solo this nutjob while the rest of the team flails away impotently against the aforementioned Tentacles of Knockback. Luckily I can set up my turrets on hilltop of AOE, with just a couple (make that three or four) clicks of an ability.

 

Eventually he drops dead (Laughter, boredom, aforementioned turrets), and we head back to the ill-named town, and search the room that has been here for....EVER. (Mr. Mayor, maybe call in a demo team or someone to remove this potential hazard from your crappy mining town? I mean I know where you can get some dynamite).

 

Search the room, more obligatory dialogue that explains - Something in the big context of things - decide to leave the most irresponsible of the group - ALONE - to "inventory and catalogue" the contents. (Mr. Mayor, I'm not telling you how to do your job, but we might be able to solve multiple problems with the aforementioned dynamite. Just saying)

 

Go BACK in the mine, discuss the world-shattering concept of Ley Lines with Miner_01. Yep, when Einstein need a second pair of eyes on his early musings of the Theory of Relativity, the mines of Zollern was a frequent stop.

 

No problem, episode ends, get my DE loot and two...hold on....ONE Mastery point? Consult the Sage - AGAIN. Oh you've got to be kidding me right?

 

Time to log off and go do something less frustrating. Like learning Polish. Do Widzenia!

[Farohna.6247]

I enjoyed reading that.   I don't recall it being that complex but I highly appreciate the recap.  

[Fueki.4753]

The part with Spark and the other Zephyrites as the start is intended to teach you how to use their crystals.

I quite like the Devourer mine event. I can agree with your opinion on our shielded cactus enemy though. I always have issues breaking his shield.

[Ariurotl.3718]

22 hours ago, DreadstoneofXev.6810 said:

decide to leave the most irresponsible of the group - ALONE - to "inventory and catalogue" the contents.

I don't remember leaving Braham there tbh.

[voltaicbore.8012]

I mean, nobody told you to play a turret engi.

My first time through S2 I vaguely recall having a hard-ish time with some of the fights, but I never felt compelled to look anything up to continue. In fact, it wasn't until much later that I learned that GW2 had a wiki, and that it's amazingly complete. As for the sage Google, I still don't generally google any information about GW2 outside of the wiki, after 5 years of playing.

10/10 humorous writing, I had a chuckle. 0/10 for the gameplay reality behind the humor. Yes, I'm saying you're bad. No, my opinion does not matter.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

OP reads like someone who plays the game without reading NPC dialogue or the objectives box and then complains about being confused. Every "consult google" stage is really in your face in-game. Humorous thread, but very much feels like a "I didn't pay attention so let me rant in a funny way about why things are confusing and bad."

Though I do fully agree with the issue that Season 2 story achievements can only be obtained in the second playthrough. Which gives zero rewards. This needs fixing.

20 hours ago, Farohna.6247 said:

I enjoyed reading that.   I don't recall it being that complex but I highly appreciate the recap.  

Because it isn't. 😄

3 hours ago, Ariurotl.3718 said:

I don't remember leaving Braham there tbh.

Storywise, we just leave Taimi there while the rest "go off to investigate" which is what we talk to the miner about - not about ley-lines directly, but asking what Scarlet was doing there (the answer of which is "investigating something she called ley-lines").

[Ariurotl.3718]

17 minutes ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Storywise, we just leave Taimi there while the rest "go off to investigate" which is what we talk to the miner about - not about ley-lines directly, but asking what Scarlet was doing there (the answer of which is "investigating something she called ley-lines").

*whoosh*

[Ashantara.8731]

Most things have already been covered in the responses.

Just one more thing: Why did you have to stress out the same-sex attraction? If it were opposite sexes, would you have written "opposite-sex attraction"? I doubt it. Has a slight homophobic touch, if you ask me.

As for the "doe-eyed ladies": I hate such manga face designs for female faces as well (oversized googly eyes, tiny noses and mouths... brrrr). Never was attractive and never will be. BUT: no one in GW2 beats Rox in that department. Even most female asura don't, and they already look creepy as hell. 😆

Edited May 24, 2022 by Ashantara.8731

[squeegee.4320]

To be fair, the zephyrite aspect crystals do come out of nowhere if you weren't around for LWS1.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

1 hour ago, narwhalsbend.7059 said:

To be fair, the zephyrite aspect crystals do come out of nowhere if you weren't around for LWS1.

Or around for any annual Festival of the Four Winds...

[Ashen.2907]

Throughout the game we frequently run into foes who have the ability to generate shields or other forms of complete invulnerability that can only be penetrated via a singular tactic, device, or similar mechanism. Later foes never have access to those tactics, devices, or similar mechanisms....so why are we not replicating the shield effect for our own use? I mean we know that we can make ourselves, and potentially an entire army, completely invulnerable to everything that the various big bads can throw at us...why dont we?