My ideas on how the rest of Living World Season 4 will continue

[Bast.7253]

@Edelweiss.4261 said:If they do go after DSD soon, I'm kind of hoping for an Innsmouth-esque area. We can even have a proper invasion of a new area that puts us on the defensive. Work up the paranoia angle by having some long-trusted allies turning out to be sleeper agents of the DSD. Eventually, the DSD will come ashore believing total domination and only be defeated by an unexpected turn of good fortune or, perhaps, DSD is killed by an opportunistic Jormag looking for an edge.

I know people are tired of the human-centric plot as of late, but I would love it if the expansion was Deep Sea Dragon/Cantha, but took us to the place where humans FIRST arrived on Tyria given the speculation that they were somewhere before Cantha. Would be amazing to see what the area looks like where the gods decided to plop them in from the mists. Wonder what the architecture would look like of their first civilization, assuming they settled there and didn't just immediately keep going towards Cantha. Humans over the years have had such a huge variety. Elonian/Ascalonian/Krytan are all so different. And I believe the gods had more to do with the building of Orr, but it's far different from even any of those. I'm assuming Canthan is different from even any of those.

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@Tyson.5160 said:We could in episode 4 but more likely 5 head up to the charr homelands, due that tainted magic she ate from Joko. Perhaps she needs be around some kralkatorrik magic to assist in healing her and possibly put her in a stasis while she absorbs more ley line energy, so she can take on Kralkatorrik magic at the end of the season.

During that time, we might get some more knowledge on Kralkatorrik. We did have those weird map edits way up in the Charr Homelands.I've considered that in the past due to the obvious narrative benefits we might gain from visiting the area where Kralkatorik slept for 10,000 years.

Its the only real non-Elonian area I cold see them taking us too in this LW season, if we leave Elona at all.

Though I would prefer they stay in Elona and use the remaining episodes to cover the Order of Shadows, Corsairs, and possibly some hidden Elonian centaur tribe, instead of spending an episode in Charr lands.

I think there's plenty of things still to discover in Elona for sure. I've never really been interested in the Corsairs and felt like their introduction was kind of random, but perhaps there's some Guild Wars 1 precedent I'm just unaware of that makes their introduction necessary.

I was kind of hoping we would traverse some previously unexplored area in or near Elona and discover a completely new kind of creature or one thought extinct, like an actual living Giganticus Lupicous, or a seer, or a forgotten that has survived somewhere and remained secluded.

Also given the speculation that Harpy's have a relation to Dwayna, I'd love to visit their place of origin and maybe find out more about that potential relation.

Aside from finding the Forgotten, none of these things would have to involve a huge detour from the current story, so I feel like they would be a bit easier to implement. And if we managed to find a Seer somewhere, perhaps we could revisit the Shadowstone current event that never seemed to go anywhere.

Would also love to find a surviving Margonite, even if it's just an event boss in some ruins somewhere. Or did all the Margonites immediately go away when Abaddon was killed? The Jackal's are still alive and well and if I remember correctly they were a remnant of Margonites or their magic aren't they?

Was also kind of expecting to see some Largos in one of these coastal maps we've gotten throughout living season.

We'll probably see more Heket at some point, but I've honestly never been a huge fan of the frogs.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:I was kind of hoping we would traverse some previously unexplored area in or near Elona and discover a completely new kind of creature or one thought extinct, like an actual living Giganticus Lupicous, or a seer, or a forgotten that has survived somewhere and remained secluded.The Sandsweapt Isle map was previously unexplored, in the sense that we didn't go to it in GW1. The same would be true of any map set on "Mount Kralkatorik" as I like to call it. But it would be hard to explore something new, in the sense that no human had ever been there, when the Elonians had already explored basically all of Elona before GW1 began, with only Dzalana being unexplored, and that's on the other side of the brand now.

Would also love to find a surviving Margonite, even if it's just an event boss in some ruins somewhere. Or did all the Margonites immediately go away when Abaddon was killed? The Jackal's are still alive and well and if I remember correctly they were a remnant of Margonites or their magic aren't they?The Jackals are created from remnants of Abbadon's tormented magic, which was spread by the Margonites.

[Aaron Ansari.1604]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:I've never really been interested in the Corsairs and felt like their introduction was kind of random, but perhaps there's some Guild Wars 1 precedent I'm just unaware of that makes their introduction necessary.Not necessary, per se. They were a de facto fourth human culture living on the fringes of Istan and Kourna and some unclaimed spots in the sea, with hundreds of years of culture and tradition built up, so it's nice to see that they're still kicking around... but from a plot perspective, they just served as a cover operation for the real antagonists in the early game, before we discovered who it actually was that we were squaring up with. Nothing central. The Sly crew's involvement in the recent episodes seems to just be a nod back to a specific companion from Nightfall, and a way to get us an airship without needing to fall back on Kiel yet again.

[Tyson.5160]

With some hints provided in the AMA, it seems apparent that Kralkatorrik will be the main antagonist of this season. The only episode that really had no Kralkatorrik mentioned or any new information on him has been episode 3. So it seems as unlikely in the past of killing an Elder Dragon in LW was, I think it’s now going to happen. Thankfully they revealed Kralkatorrik and hit some key points in PoF.

[crepuscular.9047]

here's my 2 cents, Joko will reattach himself inside Aurene and pop out from its belly ;)

[Sardeth Wynn.9548]

So we kill Zhatan,Mordermoth and Kralk gets Zhaitans power and has their ownKill Mordi, Kralk and Aurene gets that powerBalth, after he absorbs Primes power, kills Vlast releasing more power for the remaining,We kill Balth Aurene and Kralk nom on that.The only difference is Joko, Aurene gets all that.So when is she dropping the Egg/Eggs?With Joko Lich energy and the ambient Zhiatan stuff seems like a good time to drop the first band-aid.Just saying this is the way I see the story going as well as meeting the sea dragon which will probably be indifferent and not an ally per se but not really an enemy. I mean there are named water areas that you can't get to yet. Updates to underwater combat and the swim speed bubbles.

[Tyson.5160]

I think we will definitely be dealing with Aurene, Branded and Kralkatorrik in the coming episodes, how this will tie into the next expac is anyone’s guess.

[ugrakarma.9416]

i just hope for something more epic enough to not be too predictable.

[ugrakarma.9416]

@"crepuscular.9047" said:here's my 2 cents, Joko will reattach himself inside Aurene and pop out from its belly ;)

[Blocki.4931]

We will bond closer to Aurene over the next episodes, learn to understand her powers and eventually use her resonance with Kralk to send him back to sleep. She'll grow quite a bit larger and the plan for her to replace the dead dragons goes into the next stage.

It ends with us having to face the next dragon that stirs, which I just hope would send us into the depths of tyria or against jormag, with the deep sea dragon looming closer to the horizon than ever.

[perilisk.1874]

Totally random speculation for solving the imbalance issue:

Aurene is actually the "weapon", not only the last Scion, but (speculatively) the only female in the litter. Aurene reaches adulthood rapidly after the next expansion sees her consuming the powers of both Kraalkatorik and DSD. She then lays six eggs containing the new baby Elder Dragons, who quickly hatch, though J Jr and P Jr can't fully grow until the big ones are dealt with. Each baby goes to live near an appropriate civilized era (Amnoon, New Quaggland, Hoelbrak, The Grove, Orr or maybe Vabbi, and maybe a lone surviving dwarf settlement or an area reclaimed by Asura) to better socialize.

However, in between the finale of Expansion 3 and the birth of the new Scions, there's enough magical instability to cause big changes and create the next antagonist. Maybe the world is more exposed to threats from the Mists (which can bring the gods back into the story), alternate worlds, or alternate timelines.

[Alga.6498]

@"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said:

That is a great choice of our upcoming living world areas, I have aswell been thinking about these areas too as our upcoming maps! :)

[Tyson.5160]

@Alga.6498 said:

@"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said:

That is a great choice of our upcoming living world areas, I have aswell been thinking about these areas too as our upcoming maps! :)

I like the Jahai bluffs, sunward marchess sulferous wastes then Mt Kralkatorrik if I had my choice.

[Bast.7253]

@Tyson.5160 said:

@Alga.6498 said:

@"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said:

That is a great choice of our upcoming living world areas, I have aswell been thinking about these areas too as our upcoming maps! :)

I like the Jahai bluffs, sunward marchess sulferous wastes then Mt Kralkatorrik if I had my choice.

I'd love to see some Margonite temples, but other than potentially getting a junundu worm mount I'm not sure what we would have to gain story-wise from going to the Sulfur wastes. And I'm not sure what we would go to the Barb coast for but I guess if we did wind up going to Cantha next expansion having that as the final map instead would be interesting as it would be a good location-wise. And I'm kind of hoping Mt. Kralk won't be just a purple bloodstone fen with branded death floor everywhere.

It still strikes me as odd that he made such a quick turn to that specific area though. They have enough room to skip that area if they wanted to and have him move back up north along the western coast of Elona, then maybe skip over to Scavenger's Causeway. Not sure they would have him move again but he's kind of cornered into this little area where any movement he makes is going to potentially require updating existing maps which I doubt they would do. It's hard to tell if the movement is implying he's moving towards something or away, but I guess moving to Vabbi originally wasn't really fueled by any motives so this one doesn't really have to be either. Unless he's just recuperating from Balthazar and wanted to get to the nearest safest seeming mountain he could. (Which in that case could have been further into Dzalana or an area east of Vabbi.)

[Tyson.5160]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:

@Tyson.5160 said:

@Alga.6498 said:

@"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said:

That is a great choice of our upcoming living world areas, I have aswell been thinking about these areas too as our upcoming maps! :)

I like the Jahai bluffs, sunward marchess sulferous wastes then Mt Kralkatorrik if I had my choice.

I'd love to see some Margonite temples, but other than potentially getting a junundu worm mount I'm not sure what we would have to gain story-wise from going to the Sulfur wastes. And I'm not sure what we would go to the Barb coast for but I guess if we did wind up going to Cantha next expansion having that as the final map instead would be interesting as it would be a good location-wise. And I'm kind of hoping Mt. Kralk won't be just a purple bloodstone fen with branded death floor everywhere.

It still strikes me as odd that he made such a quick turn to that specific area though. They have enough room to skip that area if they wanted to and have him move back up north along the western coast of Elona, then maybe skip over to Scavenger's Causeway. Not sure they would have him move again but he's kind of cornered into this little area where any movement he makes is going to potentially require updating existing maps which I doubt they would do. It's hard to tell if the movement is implying he's moving towards something or away, but I guess moving to Vabbi originally wasn't really fueled by any motives so this one doesn't really have to be either. Unless he's just recuperating from Balthazar and wanted to get to the nearest safest seeming mountain he could. (Which in that case could have been further into Dzalana or an area east of Vabbi.)

Yeah it’s hard to say. Mt Kralky could also be a single instance as well like fahranur. I would also like to see more of Istan, however I don’t see any reason to go there, when they hit the major landmarks of the island.

In terms of why Kralkatorrik moved to Vabbi, I also recalled that Vabbi held a lot of magic due to the area being blessed by Lyssa as well as all the floating structures seen in Gw1. If Kralkatorrik wants a magical meal, Vabbi would be the place to go, especially the mirror of Lyss, which he clearly hits and brands.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

My theory for Kralk's location choices is Shiny. He would no doubt have gotten powerful in the past 250 years, eating magic and the like, and Saltspray Dragons house similar physiology to wyverns. meanwhile, there's not really any wyverns native to the Crystal Desert best we can tell (a couple in the Riverlands but no adults curiously), and the Branded Wyverns came out of nowhere after Kralkatorrik moved further south.

Makes me feel like Shiny will become involved with us learning that Kralkatorrik was hunting him down, and he'll be Elder Dragon Replacer #2 alongside Aurene.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:It still strikes me as odd that he made such a quick turn to that specific area though. They have enough room to skip that area if they wanted to and have him move back up north along the western coast of Elona, then maybe skip over to Scavenger's Causeway. Not sure they would have him move again but he's kind of cornered into this little area where any movement he makes is going to potentially require updating existing maps which I doubt they would do. It's hard to tell if the movement is implying he's moving towards something or away, but I guess moving to Vabbi originally wasn't really fueled by any motives so this one doesn't really have to be either. Unless he's just recuperating from Balthazar and wanted to get to the nearest safest seeming mountain he could. (Which in that case could have been further into Dzalana or an area east of Vabbi.)Kralkatorik's old location gave him a pretty good command of Vabbi, but left him otherwise outside the rest of Elona.

His new location on top of the mountain gives him a far more commanding central location to reach Vabbi, Istan, Kourna, and the Desolation, without actually being in any of those areas, allowing us to still explore them the rest of this living world season before taking him out.

[Bast.7253]

But he’s not really commanding anything is he? It doesn’t seem like his branded have any motive or agenda.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:But he’s not really commanding anything is he? It doesn’t seem like his branded have any motive or agenda.Hes still learning the full extent of his power after taking in the other dragons, and Baltahzar's power.

I do expect we will see more movement when we get into branded territory in future maps.

[Bast.7253]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"cptaylor.2670" said:But he’s not really commanding anything is he? It doesn’t seem like his branded have any motive or agenda.Hes still learning the full extent of his power after taking in the other dragons, and Baltahzar's power.

I do expect we will see more movement when we get into branded territory in future maps.

I speculated that he is going to wind up moving back up north toward scavengers causeway. I still believe that honestly. Plus the causeway had some minor map changes done to the coastline and what appears to be a vertical line. It’s the only movement that makes sense from where he is now. Plus it would be interesting to have the Orr area mostly uncovered, except that middle watery area.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"cptaylor.2670" said:I speculated that he is going to wind up moving back up north toward scavengers causeway. I still believe that honestly. Plus the causeway had some minor map changes done to the coastline and what appears to be a vertical line. It’s the only movement that makes sense from where he is now. Plus it would be interesting to have the Orr area mostly uncovered, except that middle watery area.I very highly doubt that will happen.

No company would follow a desert based expansion that ended in the (mostly) ruined area of a once highly magical nation(Vabbi) with another desert based expansion that ends in the ruined area of a once highly magical nation(Orr). Each expansion is supposed to offer a whole new landscape type to keep things fresh.-GW2 ended is the desolate and dead Orr-Heart of Thorns took us to the exxact opposite of that, with a dense jungle environment full of life-Path of Fire took us to the exact opposite of that, with a wide open desert environment.Expansion 3 will likely take us to someplace like the Far Shiverspeaks, or Cantha, giving us either a very cold environment, or a dense urban one, to serve as an opposite to PoF.

We don't need Path of Fire 2: Electric Boogaloo, and I doubt Anet is going to do it either.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"cptaylor.2670" said:But he’s not really commanding anything is he? It doesn’t seem like his branded have any motive or agenda.Hes still learning the full extent of his power after taking in the other dragons, and Baltahzar's power.

I do expect we will see more movement when we get into branded territory in future maps.

TBH, he never did much with the Branded in the 10 year span he was sitting in the northern Crystal Desert either.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:TBH, he never did much with the Branded in the 10 year span he was sitting in the northern Crystal Desert either.Given that he moved to Vabbi not long after glint and Destiny's Edge almost kill him, his lack of movement in the desert make sense.

As we hear in Ascalon, all the Branded are moving south, seemingly in an attempt to meet up with Kralkatorik. And given thatwe hear people in Amnoon speaking of "the Branded migration", as well.The branded in the Crystal desert are likely the same way. They don't do much because they are just, overall, moving south to meet up with Kralkatorik in Vabbi, and he has already taken over like 2/3s of what was Vabbi. Had Joko not had a rather large army already, he likely would have taken it over by now, and had been moving into Kourna.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

He didn't move to Vabbi until Mordremoth's death. He was sitting in the northern Crystal Desert for the 8 years between his near-defeat by Destiny's Edge and Mordremoth's death.

After absorbing a portion of the magic released by Mordremoth’s demise, Kralkatorrik rises from its lair in the Crystal Desert and heads south, toward the more populated areas of the Elonian region.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2:_Path_of_Fire%E2%80%94Road_to_the_Desert

Yet both the ogres and the "nomads" (who apparently have stone structures...) were barely affected by being a few miles away from Kralkatorrik. So he wasn't very expansionist for all that time.

IIRC, there is a bit of dialogue around Amnoon about how the branded have been a hassle to traders towards the north (likely to the two settlements we see in Desert Highlands) but that was all we really hear about issues coming from Kralkatorrik since he killed Glint and Snaff until he moved to Vabbi after noming on Mordremoth magic.

[Bast.7253]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"cptaylor.2670" said:I speculated that he is going to wind up moving back up north toward scavengers causeway. I still believe that honestly. Plus the causeway had some minor map changes done to the coastline and what appears to be a vertical line. It’s the only movement that makes sense from where he is now. Plus it would be interesting to have the Orr area mostly uncovered, except that middle watery area.I very highly doubt that will happen.

No company would follow a desert based expansion that ended in the (mostly) ruined area of a once highly magical nation(Vabbi) with another desert based expansion that ends in the ruined area of a once highly magical nation(Orr). Each expansion is supposed to offer a whole new landscape type to keep things fresh.-GW2 ended is the desolate and dead Orr-Heart of Thorns took us to the exxact opposite of that, with a dense jungle environment full of life-Path of Fire took us to the exact opposite of that, with a wide open desert environment.Expansion 3 will likely take us to someplace like the Far Shiverspeaks, or Cantha, giving us either a very cold environment, or a dense urban one, to serve as an opposite to PoF.

We don't need Path of Fire 2: Electric Boogaloo, and I doubt Anet is going to do it either.

I wasn’t referring to an expansion. I was referring to a living story map this season. As in he moves again after the next episode and then moves up north for some reason. I’m just skeptical they will put a map in the region he is perched at now.