How To FIX The Mounts Of Guild Wars 2

[Maria Murtor.7253]

Didn't know the mounts are broken in this game.

[Scar.1793]

On 9/26/2023 at 9:01 PM, kharmin.7683 said:

These sound more like preferences than actual fixes.  I don't believe that the mounts need to be fixed.

There is literally no reason to use the bunny when you have the Skyscale.

Why take the raptor when you can quickly skip enemies and fly between mountains with a Griffon or Skyscale or even a Jackal.

2 mounts being overshadowed by flying mounts as they do their primary functions much better and safer.

How is that balanced ?

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

if anything, i think mounts have introduced way too much movement creep into the game and could be toned down significantly.

 

i've been alot more interested in the environment ever since i forced myself to stop using mounts to get from one point to another in five seconds, but instead only when it makes logical sense to do so like scaling a cliff. everyone i encouraged to do the same has said they never realised how much it had passively corrupted their gameplay to the point where they were missing almost all the details in the game, with many players not even thinking about it anymore.

 

its a form of power creep that has essentially killed our warm immersion and replaced it with cold efficiency.

Edited October 1, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[eyelogix.1654]

they should have stopped with the griffin mount.. 

[kharmin.7683]

1 hour ago, eyelogix.1654 said:

they should have stopped with the griffin mount.. 

Why?  It was a bonus mount and not even required to complete any content.  One could argue that it shouldn't have been introduced at all since it was not needed.

Personally, I hardly use the thing.  I find a combination of jackal/skyscale/beetle gets me just about anywhere that I need to go. 

If you have some hang up about the mounts that were released after the griffon, then don't use them.   Even EoD and SotO don't require them.  You can get to any place on the map with the "basic" mounts (edit: and gliding) and not even need a griffon.

So, again, I ask you "why?"

Edited October 8, 2023 by kharmin.7683

[ShadowKatt.6740]

Alright *cracks knuckles* My time has come.

None of your ideas are needed, and while I'd love a pet to fight alongside me, no, just no. But if you wanted to fix mounts, I'll tell you where you start: You take your skyscale out behind the shed and give it the Ol' Yeller treatment.

Look, I'm not saying the skyscale is bad. Quite the opposite. It's actually too good. Anet was kind enough to give us.....hold on, I have to count...one...five...EIGHT mounts. So obviously they love mounts and they love us, right? Well, no. Because one of them makes pretty much all other mounts utterly irrelevant: Skyscales. Skyscales would be absolutely great if they were the only mounts in the game. They run! They climb! They fly! Now they shoot fireballs! They're perfect! And that's the problem.

Raptors are great. In terms of versitility they're almost unparalleled. They're quick, nimble, and they can jump low cliffs and large gaps. Faster than a bunny, but doesn't jump as high. Faster than a woof, but can't use portals. Slower than a bug, but it can corner on a dime. Not as agile or safe as a Catbirb, but it doesn't need a launching point. It's great.

Springers are also good. Need to climb a mountain? Anything short of about 80 degrees if it has ANY footholds at all and the springer is going up it. And most vistas or JPs you can just bounce up and there you go(Unless they block mounts and then, you know....just no)

Jackals are cool. They're a lot cooler than the raptors and there's places in the world that you can only get to by jackal, so they have some utility. If Raptors are Subarus, Woofs are Cadillacs...that teleport.

Skimmers are actually....kinda still useful. They're the water mount and if you A) Don't have a skiff and B) Don't have Underwater Skimming, then it's your godsend on the water. However, once you have End of Dragons you get a skiff, which goes on water...AND you can drop anchor and walk around....AND you can go fishing, or do whatever you want. Smart people know that the skiff is basically just a skyscale launchpad, but it's also just your little piece of land anywhere. Can't do that with a skimmer! But to be fair, once you get a skimmer that can skim underwater, well, that's a niche that hasn't been filled. But how often do you need it? Not very. So again, niche.

Griffons are great. They're my favorite mount. There is nothing as exhilirating as jumping off a high cliff, diving for speed and they zipping across the map so fast the waypoint asura technicians throw their wrenches at you for stealing their profits. True, their use is limited. If you don't have a place to launch from then they just run about as fast as a woof (and look majestic doing it). But give them a little air and they are the undisputed GODS of mounts. Afterall, you can't hurt when you can't even see.

Roller Beetle just goes fast. That's it. Terrificly fun to race with in every festival and on relatively flat maps THE way to get around. If Raptors are Subarus and Woofs are Cadillacs, Bugs are Bugattis. But they only go fast. In a relatively straight line. And you can't get off most of the time so wear a helmet.

Then we got Siege Turtles, the first Two-Seater. You can drive and your friend (or rando in the squad....we don't have friends) can fire off the big cannons at a random moa and then complain they don't have any ammo when you get to the actual target. It works on land. It works underwater! (most people don't know that - the cannons even auto-target underwater!). It is THE combat mount.

-----------------------------------------------Deep Breath-------------------------------------------------------------

Then we have skyscales. A little slower than Raptors but they can scale any hill, any gap, or any water a raptor can't beat. They can fly higher than a bunny can bounce. The woof portals tend to go to other places the skyscale can fly to, so unless the portal goes to a completely sealed off location the teleport isn't needed. Skyscales don't need to touch the water and now that we have Skiffs you can mount up in the middle of the water. They can take off from the ground straight up and just hover if they need to. They're a lot slower than a bug but they can do this thing called "Turning" that the roller bugs still struggle with. AND AS OF SOTO now they can be used in combat, not just with their own fireballs BUT you can mount them in the middle of combat and fireball somemore!

Here's the dirty, uncomfortable truth that no one wants to talk about: Skyscales have made ALL other mounts utterly irrelevant. I love my griffon. Other people love their jackals or their roller beetles or their raptors and use them regularly. But this is the distinction that NEEDS to be made: Those preferences are IN SPITE OF the skyscale. That is to say in simpler and more verbose terms, we acknowledge that the skyscale can do everything our mount does, often times better, but we want to use our other mounts anyway to our own detriment. There is literally no other reason to use any other mount other than the skyscale. And with the release of SotO, as other people have observed, Anet seems to understand that, hence why they have made all strides to make the skyscale the clearly superior mount over everything, as if it needed the help.

So what is the sum point of all this? Simple. Do you want to improve mounts? Would you like to see a greater diversity in mounts? Would you like to see new pathways, new trails, and new challenges for mounts? Then the skyscale has to go. It doesn't matter what you do with mounts AT ALL so long as there is ONE solution to literally every problem that could ever be presented. Need to cross the map? Fly on a skyscale. Need to cross the water? Fly on a skyscale? Need to get through an enemy fort? Fly on a skyscale. Want to blow it up instead? Fly on a skyscale and fireball it from the air. Vistas? Skyscales. Jumping Puzzles? Skyscales. Events? Skyscales. Metas? Skyscales. Story? Skyscales. GW2 has been reduced to either get a skyscale, or get a different game.

Oh, and I forgot Warclaw. Only useable in WvW, no reason to see it anywhere else, and even in WvW it's a little lackluster. But it's better than nothing I suppose. Until Skyscales somehow make it into WvW and then the Warclaw will be useless as well.

[illuminati.8453]

On 9/26/2023 at 10:30 AM, InfiniteRetro.9865 said:

I love the mounts in this game

I complain about this studio so much that I'm going to make a positive post and say I second this.  There was some inspiration behind the mounts in this game.  Each serves a purpose (albeit more than others) and I find most to be extremely intuitive when using.  Thumbs up to the devs on the mount system. 

That being said, because I love being negative, lol, can we please get the skyscale *not* to get stuck on twigs and other 'invisible' geometry?   I know, not gonnna happen, but dang I can't tell you the number of times I'm stuck in mid-air on some translucent tree limb.  

Edited October 9, 2023 by illuminati.8453

[Doam.8305]

On 9/26/2023 at 2:33 PM, Chowley.6217 said:

I actually prefer the jackal and bunny over the skyscale. Skyscale is great, but just a bit clunky and find it awkward to manage height, the others are just fun 

It's not about peoples preferences at all the Skyscale does everything the other mounts do and more. I don't know if you've been to Soto but the Skyscale is mandatory though you can get by with a Griffon after masteries are unlocked. You can use leylines however with how Rifts work and how their tied into the story process without a flying mount by the time you make it the rift will be done and everyone will start flying to the other side of the map. Thus the Skyscale is mandatory since you'll need to fly up at times or activate updraft generators. Also after masteries are added the Skyscale is required for numerous achieves and mastery points.

So the other mounts become useless and the TC merely wants to bring the other mounts up to skyscales level and aside allowing all mounts to use updrafts, fire missiles/lazers,  and use  leylines I don't see how that's even possible