Episode 5: All or Nothing Trailer Discussion.

[ThatOddOne.4387]

I still think ArenaNet are making a massive mistake if they're going to go the route of "Oh you needed MacGuffin all along" that we're going to recover in less than a single episode, most likely, the episode after we got that disastrous vision that specifically focused on allies, not MacGuffins.

[Castigator.3470]

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:I still think ArenaNet are making a massive mistake if they're going to go the route of "Oh you needed MacGuffin all along" that we're going to recover in less than a single episode, most likely, the episode after we got that disastrous vision that specifically focused on allies, not MacGuffins.

That could indicate that no matter our allies, we need some item, or power, that counters Kralkatorrik's insane AoE lightning breath. Which would be in line with the vision as well. Remember, visions are warnings as much as they are meant to inform. In this case bringing additional flies to the flamethrower just results in more burnt flies.However, if we can field some "dirty"tricks, we may be able to turn this around. That may include luring Kralky into an area where we can reflect his attacks back at him, finding areas where magic is far less powerful, forcing Kralkatorrik to bleed magic back into the environment, or just dropping a mountain onto the dragon to break his back.Because let's face it, if you got the vision that an assault on Kralkatorrik will fail, why would you go and assault him anyway?

[ThatOddOne.4387]

You misunderstand. I'm not talking in universe reasoning or strategies, I'm talking narrative, out of universe reasoning. Why bother with the vision if it's not going to be at all impactful.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:You misunderstand. I'm not talking in universe reasoning or strategies, I'm talking narrative, out of universe reasoning. Why bother with the vision if it's not going to be at all impactful.

because it is impactful, if it prevents the commander and Aurene from doing something incredible stupid?

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Arden.7480 said:

so they risked everything for something they could have predicted?

But if it was after Glint's death, then why didn't they help her and Destiny's Edge out to bring down Kralkatorrik?

And where was Vlast, where were her crystal guardians/facets? No answer, it's largely an oversight of a third party writer, no doubt.

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:I still think ArenaNet are making a massive mistake if they're going to go the route of "Oh you needed MacGuffin all along" that we're going to recover in less than a single episode, most likely, the episode after we got that disastrous vision that specifically focused on allies, not MacGuffins.

I mean, technically we needed three mcguffins. A base safe from Kralk (Sun's Refuge), a means to track Kralk (Blish + Balthazar's sword + Blish's tracker), and a means to overcome Kralkatorrik's strength.

Given the preview, the Brotherhood of the Dragon + Glint had more than one weapon made out of Kralkatorrik's blood. We'll have an upgradeable "Dragonsblood weapons", the same naming as the Dragonsblood Spear we destroyed. The dwarves also made the Sanguinary Blade out of Jormag's blood. So I suspect that one of the "means to overcome Kralkatorrik's strength" will be arming an army with weapons that resonate with Kralkatorrik's own frequency, thus becoming effective against branded and Kralkatorrik alike.

That would be a huge advantage compared to just having one person (Aurene) who could deal harm to Kralkatorrik. That will spread Kralkatorrik's attention, at the very least, as anyone could harm him versus only one being can harm him.

@ThatOddOne.4387 said:You misunderstand. I'm not talking in universe reasoning or strategies, I'm talking narrative, out of universe reasoning. Why bother with the vision if it's not going to be at all impactful.

It is impactful. Just because we find a way to make the vision not come to pass doesn't make it impactful.

Right off the bat it's impactful because, as I said, it prevents the Commander and his allies from going after Kralkatorrik right away. This delay of needing to find some method to counteract Kralkatorrik's strength also gives Kralkatorrik time to get stronger.

[Kossage.9072]

Regarding Vlast's whereabouts during the battle against Kralk, Josso Essher states the following in the Book of Vlast where he also curiously believed that Glint had prophesized her own death: "When the Branded came, Glint sent Vlast away. She could feel Kralkatorrik coming to destroy her. She prophesized a great legacy, an important role for Vlast, and could not risk his death as well." Granted, the same book also curiously suggests that Vlast inspired generations of Elonians with his heroics even though Kralk has only been awake for a decade given the time of his rise while Destiny's Edge was active, so take that as you will.

As for our ways of battling the Branded, Josso does give us something more concrete to work on as per his speech in Kesho:

Josso Essher: Kralkatorrik's unique strength—its power to crystalize objects—is also its singular weakness.
Josso Essher: Its creations share a fundamental resonance that connects them back to the crystal dragon and makes them vulnerable to each other.

What makes the above tidbit interesting is a little side achievement called Crystal Attunement in Sun's Refuge regarding Naja studying crystal frequencies. As per her ambient dialogue:

Naja: Such beautiful sounds, made by such terrible things...
Naja: This sound... There's something intriguing about it. Musical. Lilting. Purposeful.
Naja: I wonder what this would sound like in the Mists. How much can ghosts hear, anyway?
Naja: Strange. A part of me rings like a bell when I hear the water running over these crystals.
Naja: Wonder if you could make musical instruments from Brand crystals. If the Brand scar could sing like a harp.
Naja: Hm. Wind would have to be right.

Perhaps one of the keys to defeating Kralk will be using his own Brand and/or Branded against him in Tyria and the Mists (why would Naja just off-handedly wonder out loud what it would sound like in the Mists if not to foreshadow something now that Kralk is in the Mists?) with a resonance like a tuning fork creates sound when hit on a proper surface. It would be ironic for Kralk, the selfish dragon who desires to turn everything in his image and destroying what he can't have, to be disoriented and weakened by his very own Brand with the sweet sound of music before we face him in a final assault.

Another cool but unlikely comeuppance would be if we somehow completed the Forgotten purification ritual on Kralk if Josso and co couldn't manage it (the wording seems to leave it ambiguous whether they successfully cast it or if Kralk killed them before they finished it). Even though as the originator of the corruption and being a selfish prude Kralk would not turn to the side of good, I'd love the karmic fate of the purification giving him a new mental frequency as he adjusts to the changed magic, and thus severing his connection to the hivemind of the already existing Branded. If that was feasible lorewise, it'd be fun to see the confused old school Branded panic (and mirror the Icebrood's reaction to Snaff severing the Dragonspawn's mental link to Icebrood hivemind in Edge of Destiny) and have Kralk end up being assaulted by tens of thousands of Branded who, due to different hivemind frequency, now view him as a foreign entity in their midst in a lovely twist. ;)

I do hope that we'll find more allies to fight Kralk with. I've been waiting for Forged to return to the story to earn their redemption as tragic villains. Surely Zafirah must exist for more than just make us feel sympathy for Balthazar's priesthood; as a Balthy sympathizer she could be our emissary to the Forged, and we might finally meet the General of the Burning Forest who was mentioned in Devona's letters and who was sent south to prepare for Balthazar's arrival but who never showed up in PoF to my knowledge. I just don't want the Forged to suffer the fate of Mordrem Guard and be forgotten except for a side mention. Although seeing them in a raid would be nice, they still played a major part in the general pve experience, so they deserve a proper pve sendoff outside raids too. They're an army literally forged to take the fight to Kralk, so it'd be foolish on our part to ignore these perfect killing machines who, if they're like Exalted in the way they were created with Forgotten magics (as suggested in Kesho), should be immune to being corrupted and thus act as great frontline soldiers in our assault.

As for visions of the future, it's curious that Snaff suggested in "Legacy" that Glint has a prophecy regarding Aurene AND us. Either she had this premonition before her death, or her prophetic abilities persist in her current existence in the Mists:

Character name: No. She can't face Kralkatorrik alone. She isn't ready!
Snaff: Not alone, Commander. Your fate is entwined with hers. The prophecy hinges on you both.

What I hope is that Kralk is given his due in the narrative. He's been a mostly distant force and with not enough recent impact compared to Zhaitan and Mordremoth. Sure, he's caused trouble in the past to affect some characters, but as Commander we haven't really faced any personal losses beyond Blish and arguably Qais. To really hammer home Kralk as a dragon nemesis, he needs to do something vile that really rattles the Commander. I wonder if the promotional image for Ep5 showing a pensive Aurene next to Glint and Glint being referred to in the past tense in the trailer means that something will go horribly wrong in the episode and Glint will sacrifice herself, this time dying for good. While it would be sad to see her die a second death despite not getting to interact with her that much, it would show Kralk as an even more menacing figure and hammer home how Aurene really is our last hope when even her mother's spirit can't guide her or us anymore. If that happens, though, I'd love to see one tearful scene between Glint, Vlast and Aurene so our scion can say proper farewells to her family before facing grandpa in a later battle.

The mention of Dragonsblood weapons set, the existence of that area of Deldrimor Front for the episode, and Caithe reappearing makes me curious. At the end of Edge of Destiny Caithe was shown gathering Kralkatorrik's crystallized blood for a reason, and these crystals could be used to fashion new weapons akin to Dragonsblood Spear we destroyed, or even another powerstone laurel like the one Snaff fashioned, especially if Snaff's ghost and/or Zojja help us finish it with Taimi's assistance to try the same "mind control" tactic on Kralk again. What's also interesting is the idea if Dragonsblood Spear has ties to another weapon tied to dragons, namely the Sanguinary Blade which just so happens to also be known as Dragon's Blood Blade and has mysterious origins apart from its brief possession by Stone Summit in the past.

If Thunderhead Peaks lets us explore Marhan's Grotto and we learn more about the Brotherhood of the Dragon, what if Marhan, the legendary dwarven weaponsmith, is retroactively revealed as a member of the Brotherhood who crafted both Sanguinary Blade and Dragonsblood Spear as per Glint's instructions? While the GW1 description for the grotto mentions axes in particular, there's still enough leeway there:

Once, Dwarves from all over the Shiverpeaks made the trek here to barter with Marhan the Mighty, a weaponsmith who was reputed for making the best axes in all the land. After he passed into the Great Forge, this grotto was named in his honor.

Perhaps to best Kralk, we need not only unusual allies like Forged but also a powerstone laurel, new Dragonsblood weapons, turning the Brand and Branded into a kind of tuning fork to disorient Kralk with the resonance, and use a Forgotten purification ritual to sever Kralk's connection to Branded hivemind, all of which would hopefully leave him vulnerable enough for the final blow by Ep6?

However, before any of that is to happen, there's one thing I'd love Kralk to do to truly turn his Mists trip into a memorable one. What if he's learned of the existence of the Rift and the Hall of Heroes within which, as per GW1 and wvw lore, has the access point to all realms of the multiverse and time itself? Kralk would not only threaten to ravage our Mists but the entire multiverse and all that was, is, and will be. The Hall of Heroes already exists as a mostly finished asset with a map in GW2.dat before it was removed late in development due to lack of meaningful content for it, but adding a few Branded crystals there would make it suitable for a final battle location as it already looks rather ruined. Just imagine the craziness of witnessing our Kralkatorrik Prime in the hall trying to reach the nexus of the multiverse while we see crystallized reflections of alt Tyria Kralkatorriks battling their realm's version of the Commander and trying to reach their side of the nexus at the same time. How would the Kralks react to the revelation of multiple versions of himself existing? Would he seek to destroy his alts to become The One, or avoid them out of worry that all Kralk powers match at this point as the timeline is the same (e.g. Snaff has died in each alt Tyria) in all multiverse versions of Tyria? What about a temporary alliance so we'd witness a flight of Kralkatorriks and we'd join forces with other realms' Commanders in a mind-twisting battle in the Mists for the grand finale? This would be such a golden opportunity to nudge at wvw and old GW1 lore and leave a lasting impression on players to up Kralk's threat level.

While I find most of the following unlikely, I'd personally love to see many of the past, slain heroes and villains join our side as ghosts out of necessity to prevent all reality from being destroyed. Imagine fighting alongside the likes of Snaff, Eir, Omadd, our mentors, Apatia, Tonn, Trahearne, Demmi, Caudecus, Kudu, Gaheron Baelfire, Faolain, Scarlet, Devona, Oluwa Eranko, Olori Ogun, Lonai, Varesh, maybe even find if Balthazar's spirit survived his demise somehow unless he was fully absorbed by the two dragons etc. While this would risk diminishing the impact of their deaths, it'd be justified in this case due to the reality-bending actions of Kralk and ghosts being displaced in the Mists. To spice things up, add in inevitable villain betrayals as I imagine at least Gaheron would want another shot at coming back to life after we foiled his scheme in Citadel of Flame explorable's Magg path. It'd be a finale worth remembering and be a truly nice callback to our trials and tribulations in personal story and past expansions and seasons to bring things full circle as we wrap up Destiny's Edge storyline with Kralk's defeat. :)

[Michram.6853]

Some details that got my attention:

1) There is a bristleback in the trailer, that is native only to the warm climate, doesn't look like it's like this chunk from Maguuma in Jahai, it's fully branded, which makes me very suspicious and I wonder how it got to the mountains. How did Kralkatorrik managed to brand something that doesn't belong to this climate. One bristleback got lost and climbed the mountains high? No, I don't think so, and I have no idea how it got there, none, can Kralkatorrik move the species all across the world, not even being close to them?

2) There is Kito during the PC's speech standing in front of Rox. Haven't appeared since he informed us about the unusual order that the Inquest got from his man, and there is also a very suspicious thing about him, because Zaeim said that he was told Kito and the Commander defeated two Elder Dragons and Balthazar together. I thought he was secretly Joko's spy or something, but now I don't know who he really is. Also he promised he would help us to rescue Zaeim, but he didn't come, and it's a wonder the PC didn't point it out.

EDIT: He actually appeared in Jahai as heart, and the Commander seems very annoyed about him:

Kito: We're under attack! Get squads to the entrances!PC: I want to buy something real quick.Kito: Now? Did you not hear me? We're under attack!PC: Yes, we are. Now show me the goods.

3) The screen goes blur, then white, and then is blacking when Kralkatorrik looks angrily at us - can mean just nothing, but I believe there will be PC's Death 2.0, but not only the Commander will die, but everyone else, and Aurene too. That's my most insane theory about this episode, and people on Reddit doesn't seem to like this idea, because it won't give the same surprise moment as in PoF etc etc. Meh, Kralk is SO powerful, INSANELY powerful than Balthazar, and he doesn't kill us? That'd be kind of weird, but I don't know if they will go this route again, because the PC's first death was kind of disappointing. That'd be insane, though... But I am divided about this speculation, because there is this slight sign that can happen something catastrophic, but will this be THAT catastrophic? I have no idea. We will soon find out, right? :)

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Arden.7480 said:Some details that got my attention:

1) There is a bristleback in the trailer, that is native only to the warm climate, doesn't look like it's like this chunk from Maguuma in Jahai, it's fully branded, which makes me very suspicious and I wonder how it got to the mountains. How did Kralkatorrik managed to brand something that doesn't belong to this climate. One bristleback got lost and climbed the mountains high? No, I don't think so, and I have no idea how it got there, none, can Kralkatorrik move the species all across the world, not even being close to them?

Technically yes he can. It was established in Ep4 that the portals occur across Elona, and it's warping in parts of Orr and Maguuma's history too. We even get historical bits of Ascalon and the Shiverpeaks in Jahai momentarily during the Riftstalker events, which includes living beings from those regions (Flame Legion, raptors, etc.). It wouldn't be impossible for him to open portals across the world.

Would have expected some Side Story event about it though, but the same team that does Side Stories does festivals, so they were busy with Freezie, I guess.

@Arden.7480 said:2) There is Kito during the PC's speech standing in front of Rox. Haven't appeared since he informed us about the unusual order that the Inquest got from his man, and there is also a very suspicious thing about him, because Zaeim said that he was told Kito and the Commander defeated two Elder Dragons and Balthazar together. I thought he was secretly Joko's spy or something, but now I don't know who he really is. Also he promised he would help us to rescue Zaeim, but he didn't come, and it's a wonder the PC didn't point it out.

EDIT: He actually appeared in Jahai as heart, and the Commander seems very annoyed about him:

Kito: We're under attack! Get squads to the entrances!PC: I want to buy something real quick.Kito: Now? Did you not hear me? We're under attack!PC: Yes, we are. Now show me the goods.

I doubt that dialogue has anything to do with the story. It seems more like a joke on players' insistence over things, and a means to keep the vendor from being inaccessible during that frequently reoccurring event chain.

And Kito did help us rescue Zaeim. He didn't need to come personally, because there was a Sunspear army allied with Rytlock and Canach and Aurene. If you haven't noticed, Kito is not a front-line fighter.

3) The screen goes blur, then white, and then is blacking when Kralkatorrik looks angrily at us - can mean just nothing, but I believe there will be PC's Death 2.0, but not only the Commander will die, but everyone else, and Aurene too. That's my most insane theory about this episode, and people on Reddit doesn't seem to like this idea, because it won't give the same surprise moment as in PoF etc etc. Meh, Kralk is SO powerful, INSANELY powerful than Balthazar, and he doesn't kill us? That'd be kind of weird, but I don't know if they will go this route again, because the PC's first death was kind of disappointing. That'd be insane, though... But I am divided about this speculation, because there is this slight sign that can happen something catastrophic, but will this be THAT catastrophic? I have no idea. We will soon find out, right? :)

The final scene was influenced by Godzilla 2014 movie, confirmed by one of the devs who made the trailer. Likely has no true meaning, it was just showing off Kralkatorrik's new model in an obscure (aka Godzilla 2014 Chinatown trailer scene) way.

Killing the PC again would be silly - any repeating of narrative in short span is simply poor writing. It'd be redoing a plot point a second time, and Aurene's death would mean we fail and the world dies. ArenaNet does tend to have a "hero's actions worsen things" but they always solve the immediate problem. That said, I do expect some deaths, but I think the PC and Aurene are off limits for the sake of plot. That resurrection thing was meant to be a one time deal, after all.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@"Kossage.9072" said:However, before any of that is to happen, there's one thing I'd love Kralk to do to truly turn his Mists trip into a memorable one. What if he's learned of the existence of the Rift and the Hall of Heroes within which, as per GW1 and wvw lore, has the access point to all realms of the multiverse and time itself? Kralk would not only threaten to ravage our Mists but the entire multiverse and all that was, is, and will be. The Hall of Heroes already exists as a mostly finished asset with a map in GW2.dat before it was removed late in development due to lack of meaningful content for it, but adding a few Branded crystals there would make it suitable for a final battle location as it already looks rather ruined.

I really, really hope that they have the final battle with Kralkatorrik in the Hall of Heroes. I've wanted this since we saw the Dragonbrand ending at the Tomb of Primeval Kings back in 2010; us riding one of Glint's children in a final battle against Kralkatorrik in the "skies" above the Hall of Heroes.

And that was before alternate Tyrias were brought into the lore via WvW, or we had a ruined Hall of Heroes or even Aurene.

[Michram.6853]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

@"Kossage.9072" said:However, before any of that is to happen, there's one thing I'd love Kralk to do to truly turn his Mists trip into a memorable one. What if he's learned of the existence of the Rift and the Hall of Heroes within which, as per GW1 and wvw lore, has the access point to all realms of the multiverse and time itself? Kralk would not only threaten to ravage our Mists but the entire multiverse and all that was, is, and will be.

The Hall of Heroes

already exists as a mostly finished asset with a map in GW2.dat before it was removed late in development due to lack of meaningful content for it, but adding a few Branded crystals there would make it suitable for a final battle location as it already looks rather ruined.

I really, really hope that they have the final battle with Kralkatorrik in the Hall of Heroes. I've wanted this since we saw the Dragonbrand ending at the Tomb of Primeval Kings back in 2010; us riding one of Glint's children in a final battle against Kralkatorrik in the "skies" above the Hall of Heroes.

And that was before alternate Tyrias were brought into the lore via WvW, or we had a ruined Hall of Heroes or even Aurene.

you mean this weird light in the mists? YAS pls!

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

I really hope the final battle includes Sunspears on Griffons. I mean, we have the Sunspear Sanctuary in Vabbi that has many Griffon nests, and Kitur said he wanted to train some new Sunspears and get griffon riding a thing again so they could have an edge against enemy ground forces.

The player riding Aurene, Sunspears on griffons, Pact airships, an army of mooks on the ground, would be cool as hell.

[perilisk.1874]

@"Kossage.9072" said:As for our ways of battling the Branded, Josso does give us something more concrete to work on as per his speech in Kesho:

Josso Essher:

Kralkatorrik's unique strength—its power to crystalize objects—is also its singular weakness.

Josso Essher:

Its creations share a fundamental resonance that connects them back to the crystal dragon and makes them vulnerable to each other.

What makes the above tidbit interesting is a little side achievement called Crystal Attunement in Sun's Refuge regarding

Naja

studying crystal frequencies. As per her ambient dialogue:

Naja:

Such beautiful sounds, made by such terrible things...

Naja:

This sound... There's something intriguing about it. Musical. Lilting. Purposeful.

Naja:

I wonder what this would sound like in the Mists. How much can ghosts hear, anyway?

Naja:

Strange. A part of me rings like a bell when I hear the water running over these crystals.

Naja:

Wonder if you could make musical instruments from Brand crystals. If the Brand scar could sing like a harp.

Naja:

Hm. Wind would have to be right.

Perhaps one of the keys to defeating Kralk will be using his own Brand and/or Branded against him in Tyria and the Mists (why would Naja just off-handedly wonder out loud what it would sound like in the Mists if not to foreshadow something now that Kralk is in the Mists?) with a resonance like a tuning fork creates sound when hit on a proper surface. It would be ironic for Kralk, the selfish dragon who desires to turn everything in his image and destroying what he can't have, to be disoriented and weakened by his very own Brand with the sweet sound of music before we face him in a final assault.

The Dredge are adept with sonic/vibrational weaponry. Episode 5 will be taking place in a region filled with Dredge...

[Kossage.9072]

@"perilisk.1874" said:The Dredge are adept with sonic/vibrational weaponry. Episode 5 will be taking place in a region filled with Dredge...

Yes! It would be pretty nice to meet old dredge allies from Frostgorge Sound (Rebel Isaak) and Sorrow's Embrace (Koptev and Rasolov) and see how they're faring. Although their revolution to topple the corrupt Moletariate didn't quite work in the long run despite War Minister Shukov's downfall as shown by dredge aligning with Scarlet and the Flame Legion in the Molten Alliance despite female dredge's protests a year later, perhaps the revolutionaries (and hopefully some female dredge too because I've long been waiting to meet them!) relocated elsewhere, claiming parts of Deldrimor Front for their collective to continue the revolution from there. I'd love to see such allied dredge work and improve on the late Barron and Fero's Psi-Lance which just so happens to resemble a tuning fork and was quite effective against the Risen in the reclamation of Claw Island. We could even try using a version of the late Vyascheslav's Sonic Vaporizer to both cause damage to Brand-infested areas and lure Branded to it. :)

[Michram.6853]

I absolutely HATE dredge! I hate their machinery and locations, everything about them. And that's the only thing I actually hate about this episode... so far...

I hope they will be just an addition, and any chapter wont be focused on them.

[ugrakarma.9416]

@"Arden.7480" said:I absolutely HATE dredge! I hate their machinery and locations, everything about them. And that's the only thing I actually hate about this episode... so far...

I hope they will be just an addition, and any chapter wont be focused on them.

Dredge is a joke about the imaginary about the former Soviet Union in times of cold war.

Would be fun and trollish if the key to kill Kralkatorrik is in the hands of a "slow" races like Dredge or Qaggans.

About Dredge again, i agree the aestetics of their locations and stuff sucks a lot. the Dredge areas is the most boring stuff when im doing world map completion.

[hugo.4705]

What can I say? Seriously, a cool trailer, not showing too much or not enough. I'm satisfied, want to discover the map tomorrow.But agree about the fact of spookiness in the trailer: Kralk body or lieutenant one at the end was cool but apart that very flat. The only one that gave me shivers was the A bug in the system trailer which was speaking of asuras wearing black and red uniform and some awakened mummies. Here I don't know, the scenery looks beautiful apart that can't say anything. I'm expecting a more stunning trailer for the last episode.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

Themapismassive

[Teratus.2859]

@Castigator.3470 said:

@"ThatOddOne.4387" said:I still think ArenaNet are making a massive mistake if they're going to go the route of "Oh you needed MacGuffin all along" that we're going to recover in less than a single episode, most likely, the episode after we got that disastrous vision that specifically focused on allies, not MacGuffins.

That could indicate that no matter our allies, we need some item, or power, that counters Kralkatorrik's insane AoE lightning breath. Which would be in line with the vision as well. Remember, visions are warnings as much as they are meant to inform. In this case bringing additional flies to the flamethrower just results in more burnt flies.However, if we can field some "dirty"tricks, we may be able to turn this around. That may include luring Kralky into an area where we can reflect his attacks back at him, finding areas where magic is far less powerful, forcing Kralkatorrik to bleed magic back into the environment, or just dropping a mountain onto the dragon to break his back.Because let's face it, if you got the vision that an assault on Kralkatorrik will fail, why would you go and assault him anyway?

Arrogance?.. Pride?.. Faith?.. No choice?There are quite a few reasons to challenge the Dragon.. Glint, Snaff and Eir all pushed for this encounter to take place despite Aurines predictions.The commander and their allies too seem to think that the time is right and they can win this battle despite having no plan other than.. replace Kralk with Aurine.

That's one of the biggest reasons I am both expecting and absolutely wanting this battle to be a complete disaster.We've killed 2 dragons so far with some making it up as we go solution to actually killing them.. for Mordremoth we literally came up with a plan right on his doorstep.. and Zhaitan was nothing more than look big dragon shoot it with canons till it dies..If Kralkatorrik falls by another random plan we pull out of our butts last minute from nowhere I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed.. I know I will be.

I'm far more interested in loosing this fight and having living world 5 deal with the fallout of our futile assault on the dragon and recovering from the consequences whatever they are.Kralkatorrik already has a win over Destiny's Edge.. be nice to experience a similar defeat with Dragons Watch.After all.. nothing bigs up an elder Dragons threat level than loosing to one.. and Kralkatorrik definitely has the biggest baddest reputation out of all of them right now.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@Teratus.2859 said:and Zhaitan was nothing more than look big dragon shoot it with canons till it dies..Ignoring the entire Orr campaign where we cut it off from its food sources and intel gathering minions leaving it nearly powerless and blind before we fought it.

[Fenom.9457]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:Themapismassive

How do you know that? Does the art connect it to desert highlands?

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@"Fenom.9457" said:How do you know that? Does the art connect it to desert highlands?Several sites/groups were given permission by Anet to release videos of the content today, though they weren't given access to the final instance so no one knows how it ends.

And no, the map doesn't touch the Desert Highlands. It does touch Labyrinthine cliffs though.

 

 

[Teratus.2859]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@Teratus.2859 said:and Zhaitan was nothing more than look big dragon shoot it with canons till it dies..Ignoring the entire Orr campaign where we cut it off from its food sources and intel gathering minions leaving it nearly powerless and blind before we fought it.

Blind and hungry maybe but certainly not powerless.Zhaitan was unfortuantely the victim of time constraints and technical limitations.. all bravado but little threat which is why the entire fight was more or less kill minions and watch cutscenes.Many of us look back on Zhaitan with disappointment but forgive it due to the early days of the game and all that.

Mordremoth on the other hand was far better handled mechanically, visually.. he really did feel like an Elder Dragon in the Dragon Stand Meta.But he was a little disappointing in the story mostly down to how we work out his weakness, formulate a plan and destroy him all in the final story instance while we've already started the final assault against him..That was just ridiculous.. and a lot of players criticized it.

[Fenom.9457]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@"Fenom.9457" said:How do you know that? Does the art connect it to desert highlands?Several sites/groups were given permission by Anet to release videos of the content today, though they weren't given access to the final instance so no one knows how it ends.

And no, the map doesn't touch the Desert Highlands. It does touch Labyrinthine cliffs though.

 

 

Uh oh, that gap between highlands and new map doesn’t look nearly big enough for another map... does it give anyone else incredibly intense OCD at the mere thought of not one day mapping every last inch of the map?

Edit: also yeah, that’s fricking monstrous!

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@Fenom.9457 said:Uh oh, that gap between highlands and new map doesn’t look nearly big enough for another map... does it give anyone else incredibly intense OCD at the mere thought of not one day mapping every last inch of the map?

Edit: also yeah, that’s fricking monstrous!Doesn't bother me TBH. That ship sailed back at like launch or w/e.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Teratus.2859 said:

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@Teratus.2859 said:and Zhaitan was nothing more than look big dragon shoot it with canons till it dies..Ignoring the entire Orr campaign where we cut it off from its food sources and intel gathering minions leaving it nearly powerless and blind before we fought it.

Blind and hungry maybe but certainly not powerless.Zhaitan was unfortuantely the victim of time constraints and technical limitations.. all bravado but little threat which is why the entire fight was more or less kill minions and watch cutscenes.Many of us look back on Zhaitan with disappointment but forgive it due to the early days of the game and all that.

Mordremoth on the other hand was far better handled mechanically, visually.. he really did feel like an Elder Dragon in the Dragon Stand Meta.But he was a little disappointing in the story mostly down to how we work out his weakness, formulate a plan and destroy him all in the final story instance while we've already started the final assault against him..That was just ridiculous.. and a lot of players criticized it.

I mean, "how well fed they are" for Elder Dragons is far more directly linked to how strong they are. It was more than just killing Eyes and Mouths though. We also cut off Zhaitan's connection to the five temples, each teeming with magic, as well as the Artesian Waters, which seems to be one of the strongest magical hotposts in Central Tyria. In addition to that, we learn in Arah Seer path that the Six Gods had weakened Zhaitan while it slept by siphoning magic from it to empower the Bloodstone when they shattered it into five pieces. On top of that, the weaponry used against Zhaitan was based off of Gorr's, Snaff's/Kudu's, and the Tequatl Megalaser research on Elder Dragon vulnerability, specifically focused towards risen/Zhaitan magic.

I agree that the Zhaitan fight was disappointing, but in all honesty, other than Anet shoehorning in "unique weaknesses" later on and having to asspull a weakness for Zhaitan ("over-reliance on specialized minions caused a direct vulnerability to Zhaitan by killing said specialized minions") the fact Zhaitan was so weak actually was explained right away, both in the presentation up until, as well as in the immediate aftermath after. And that explanation wasn't too bad.

Mordremoth's weakness and counterplanning presentation, I also agree, was horrible. That fight was more a win of luck than anything, as the Commander just rushed in without a plan and happened to rush in at the same time the Pact was futilely trying to kill Mordremoth.

Hopefully ArenaNet learned from their mistake, but unless we're facing Kralkatorrik off in this episode, I don't think a loss is necessary or even a good thing. I mean, we already had two confrontations with Kralkatorrik where we lost in some manner - first at the end of Path of Fire, where our actions strengthened Kralkatorrik, and then at the end of episode 4 where we lost Blish.

Given the trailer, I'm expecting another face-to-face confrontation with Kralkatorrik in this episode, but not as the main battle. And after four face-to-face meetings, having the main confrontation be a total loss would just be sour. It'd be like if we caught up to Balthazar during Beast of War, and he was scripted to win after all. We fought him four times already by that point, with a stalemate, a victory, and two losses, but still get forced to lose a third time. Would that honestly feel good to you?

Sure as hell wouldn't to me. And I'm a fan of bittersweet stories where the hero dies in the end.