Feedback on the Skyscale mount, a review and suggestion

[Jazz.2643]

I don't usually write much on the Anet forums, thinking usually it won't really get noticed or taken much into consideration. But, given some changes were made to the previous mount i really liked and still use the Rollerbeetle, i'm kinda hopeful someone might read this and agree about a few possible changes to this new glorious mount.

Now, as a lot of people might agree. The amount of time to get this mount is fairly long. I see why the Developers did it, making you form a strong bond with possibly the last mount we will be getting in this game. I was the one of the people to complain and get frustrated once i saw i had to do more and more with each achievement. I don't usually mind dishing out gold and such for a mount, and i do think our Griffon was worth the price tag it was given as it was one of the most useful mounts in the game.

As for the Skyscale however, i can't help but feel that for the amount of time i invested, the mount was not as useful as i had originally thought. And there are a couple of reasons for it which i will list here:

1. Switching in the air makes you go immediately downwards. - To explain this one. If for any reason you use an updraft on your glider, and then after going up, you switch to a Skyscale, you immediately lose all your gained altitude, as the bar gets red. The first time i noticed this, this seemed like a bug, as i haven't even mounted on the Skyscale at all after jumping off. It seems the altitude meter starts the moment you leave the ground, whether on a Skyscale or not, which makes it incredible clunky given there's a mastery to switch to the mount while in air.

2.The bond of Vigor freezes once you cling to a wall - Now i can understand this one to a part. Devs don't want us to climb indefinitely on walls and such. But, here's the thing. It's not much fun, right? The Bond of Vigor has a 1 minute cooldown, now for this game that's a good amount of time, and it will take a long time to climb something high if we just wait. Personally, i don't mind waiting, 1-2-3 minutes to climb somewhere high, and then just enjoy the time gliding or flying around at a big height. It's just fun being that high up. And it doesn't impede travel all that much, hell, it would even make switching to the Griffon at that height even more fun and enable a better combo with the two mounts.

3. The wall clinging is a bit clunky - Whenever you go to a wall you cling to it, whether you want to cling, or you are falling down from altitude. I don't have much issue with this, but why not make this clinging something like a permanent thing? So you do not have to hold down a button to keep clinging?

The mount is fun, don't get me wrong. But given how much time people invested to get it, it should be just a bit better than it already is. I can understand the Devs don't want this mount to overshine the Griffon, but it never will. It will never have the speed and downward thrust of the Griffon which is it's signature thing. But at the same time, in some cases it should be better as to make the mount more worthwhile, given the time invested into getting it.

Tl;dr

• The Skyscale mount doesn't work well with gliding, as updrafting up and then switching to the Skyscale immediately gives us a full red fly bar, and forces us down incredibly fast.

• Bond of Vigor shouldn't freeze it's Cooldown the moment we cling to a wall, waiting 1 minute to climb up is already a bit long, but would make it more fun to scale very high cliffs this way. Call it more immersive if you will.

• Wall clinging is clunky, at least make the clinging permanent. And by that i mean, not make us keep a finger on a button to keep the mount clinging. But make it one button press to cling, and another to let go.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

I agree, and would like to add one thing.

The mastery for recharging endurance while clinging to a wall is super clunky. You have to hold the arrow button to cling and the space bar to recharge. IMO, once you have the mastery, recharging while clinging should be automatic.

[LucianDK.8615]

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:I agree, and would like to add one thing.

The mastery for recharging endurance while clinging to a wall is super clunky. You have to hold the arrow button to cling and the space bar to recharge. IMO, once you have the mastery, recharging while clinging should be automatic.

I think its because of the wall jump mechanic. Either you spend endurance on recharging flight, OR you jump upwards.

[Jazz.2643]

I don't mind it being slow and only let it recharge with the Bond of Vigor. That might be too much, and might as well have more use for the Bond of Vigor mastery.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

@LucianDK.8615 said:

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:I agree, and would like to add one thing.

The mastery for recharging endurance while clinging to a wall is super clunky. You have to hold the arrow button to cling and the space bar to recharge. IMO, once you have the mastery, recharging while clinging should be automatic.

I think its because of the wall jump mechanic. Either you spend endurance on recharging flight, OR you jump upwards.

Hmmm, I think I need to learn more about the wall jump. I only got the skyscale at 1am this morning, and didn't mess with it much before going to bed. Thanks!

[CharuStar.4109]

You don't have to hold forward to continue clinging. Recently I found out if you press auto run (by default this is R) you'll forever wall cling without having to hold it until you press it again or a different movement key.

[Xykris.6758]

@"Jazz.2643" Said:I see why the Developers did it, making you form a strong bond with possibly the last mount we will be getting in this game.

To be honest I doubt this will be the last mount we get. I have a feeling that we will eventually see an underwater mount.As for the rest of your points, I totally agree! Well except with number 2. Not that I disagree, it's just that I haven't bothered with that mastery.That being said though, I find it doesn't take that long to climb things at the moment. About 30 minutes ago I scaled the Tower in Dragon's Domain fairly easily with the Skyscale even with the new invisible walls. (RIP Divinity's Reach Castle :( )

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:I agree, and would like to add one thing.

The mastery for recharging endurance while clinging to a wall is super clunky. You have to hold the arrow button to cling and the space bar to recharge. IMO, once you have the mastery, recharging while clinging should be automatic.

I feel like this could be kind of clunky given that there are times when my skyscale will cling to a wall that I don't want them too. I do like the Idea, I just think that if implemented they would have to make it charge only when your bar in empty.

[Sarpan.9074]

My take -

While acquiring it was a slog, I'm enjoying my Skyscale so far, though the first two masteries are pretty meh.

Air Rescue is a waste of points. We can already mount our griffon or start gliding while falling. Spending points to do this on the Skyscale is uneconomical for us. This ability should have come automatically with the Skyscale.

Rift Repair seems to only lead you on a path of Volitile Magic. It's OK for feeding, but is there a purpose to this? Is there some destination that I'm not seeing yet?

On the other hand, I like Wall Launch. I don't find it clunky at all. Middle finger on W and thumb on the space bar--which you hold to charge it--is very comfortable and intuitive for me. I've been able to climb pretty quickly using it.

Of course, YMMV.

Cheers.

[JustTrogdor.7892]

@Sarpan.9074 said:

Rift Repair seems to only lead you on a path of Volitile Magic. It's OK for feeding, but is there a purpose to this? Is there some destination that I'm not seeing yet?

I found a couple of rifts in Lion's Arch while practicing the controls. They both lead me on a trail of Volatile Magic with another rift at the end that game me a Mistborn Mote. They were both really short trails. Maybe there are more involved ones that give more of a reward for completion.

[LucianDK.8615]

@JustTrogdor.7892 said:

@Sarpan.9074 said:

Rift Repair seems to only lead you on a path of Volitile Magic. It's OK for feeding, but is there a purpose to this? Is there some destination that I'm not seeing yet?

I found a couple of rifts in Lion's Arch while practicing the controls. They both lead me on a trail of Volatile Magic with another rift at the end that game me a Mistborn Mote. They were both really short trails. Maybe there are more involved ones that give more of a reward for completion.

Considering how abundant volatile magic is in the world, these barely seem worth doing. Thunderhead Peaks is probably the most volatile magic dense zone in the game.

[JustTrogdor.7892]

@LucianDK.8615 said:

@JustTrogdor.7892 said:

@Sarpan.9074 said:

Rift Repair seems to only lead you on a path of Volitile Magic. It's OK for feeding, but is there a purpose to this? Is there some destination that I'm not seeing yet?

I found a couple of rifts in Lion's Arch while practicing the controls. They both lead me on a trail of Volatile Magic with another rift at the end that game me a Mistborn Mote. They were both really short trails. Maybe there are more involved ones that give more of a reward for completion.

Considering how abundant volatile magic is in the world, these barely seem worth doing. Thunderhead Peaks is probably the most volatile magic dense zone in the game.

Like I said, the tip says to collect all the VM for a larger reward at the end. Perhaps there are more complex ones, sort of like flying jump puzzles, around the world that give bigger rewards than a Mistborn Mote.

[Jazz.2643]

@CharuStar.4109 said:You don't have to hold forward to continue clinging. Recently I found out if you press auto run (by default this is R) you'll forever wall cling without having to hold it until you press it again or a different movement key.

Good shout! I'll definitely try that.

[Sarpan.9074]

@JustTrogdor.7892 said:

@Sarpan.9074 said:

Rift Repair seems to only lead you on a path of Volitile Magic. It's OK for feeding, but is there a purpose to this? Is there some destination that I'm not seeing yet?

I found a couple of rifts in Lion's Arch while practicing the controls. They both lead me on a trail of Volatile Magic with another rift at the end that game me a Mistborn Mote. They were both really short trails. Maybe there are more involved ones that give more of a reward for completion.

Thanks for that. I've followed one in DF and another in Cursed Shore. I saw the rift at the end but did not notice that I got a mote, which I may or may not have. If this is the reward, then that's cool, but I'm skeptical that it's worth four Mastery Points and the associated XP. Maybe there's more out there for us. I'll keep looking.

[Emberheart.8426]

@Sarpan.9074 said:My take -

While acquiring it was a slog, I'm enjoying my Skyscale so far, though the first two masteries are pretty meh.

Air Rescue is a waste of points. We can already mount our griffon or start gliding while falling. Spending points to do this on the Skyscale is uneconomical for us. This ability should have come automatically with the Skyscale.

Rift Repair seems to only lead you on a path of Volitile Magic. It's OK for feeding, but is there a purpose to this? Is there some destination that I'm not seeing yet?

On the other hand, I like Wall Launch. I don't find it clunky at all. Middle finger on W and thumb on the space bar--which you hold to charge it--is very comfortable and intuitive for me. I've been able to climb pretty quickly using it.

Of course, YMMV.

Cheers.

Agreed that air rescue is a waste of points, though this is mainly because your flight bar does not start out full when you mount mid-air. This makes mounting mid-air rather pointless, since anyone who has the skyscale will almost certainly also have the griffon.

Rift repair is a bit better than you give it credit for, but still not amazing right now. You are supposed to follow the entire path and get to a reward at the end, which as far as I know is a mistborn mote. The problem is that rifts seem to be bugged at the moment and you may not get the final reward in the first try even if you tag all the volatile magic in the path. Re-doing it should give you the reward, but if you re-do on the same day the volatile magic the in path turns to the darker red variety that only charges the flight bar and does not give VM currency. There are also new achievements under the exploration category that require you to do these rift repair courses. I can see this mastery becoming a bit more useful in future releases, because Anet could always make new rifts that actually lead somewhere instead of the ones that we have now that don't lead anywhere.

Wall launch is a pretty good mastery and even if you fall a bitshort from climbing where you want to, you can use bond of vigor and bond of faith to help you get up. It's pretty good.

[Jazz.2643]

So far as i've been playing around. I've mostly been using it as a replacement for the Skimmer and Springer (why they didn't name it Skipper was a waste of a perfect chance). It can climb higher than the Springer which is good, and most of the time the deep water areas are not that long, so flying over them is faster.

All in all it's a useful mount, and is a bit fun, but i just wish it was still a tad bit better.

[Irreverent.3594]

I only agree withThe Skyscale mount doesn't work well with gliding, as updrafting up and then switching to the Skyscale immediately gives us a full red fly bar, and forces us down incredibly fast.Anet should really do something about this.

I love everything else about her. She is my main and only mount now.Flying her is surprisingly fun and rewarding. For example, try and keep going close to the ground/water while kicking up dust or water.... and the go uuup. Feels so good!

[Rukario.1695]

Altitude Bar being drained after mounting in the air plans to be fixed.

Other than that I only wish for...

• Keep full altitude bar after leaving the ground with your first flap. It feels like you're a brick on a balloon.
• Faster stamina recharge, higher jump.
• Stamina recharge while on the wall, but slower than charging during flight. We can already let go of the wall and recharge and wait for the endurance skill to recharge over the course of 60 seconds.
• Jump from wall automatically moves around small ledges blocking you, directly above you.
• Keybind for latch to wall.
• Updrafts pushing you up, tbh the Griffon needs this too, if you already used Bond of Faith you are stuck on the mount.
• Dive option for quick descent and engage.
• Hold skill 1 to show a casting circle.
• Moderately faster travel speed to make the mount an option to travel to events.
• Moderately more gracious canopy to allow slightly further horizontal distances.
• Dash in any direction the camera is aimed.
• Extra dash if possible, 2 is "eh"
• Permanent evade during flight, at least 75%... Tired of getting shot down to my death in post-Tyria maps. Not a problem for Griffon, has a skill like this already.
• More reactive turning speed. If we are meant to use this to jump between cliffs back and forth, the current turning speed makes the user less likely to try in almost all scenarios.
• Would be nice to fly over water with 0 altitude, just much slower than the Skimmer. The Skyscale drowning is sad panda.

Whatever else makes sense but doesn't break the game, mount, or invalidates other mount mechanics.. Something.

Just don't be afraid of letting players actually do what they want to do if they want to climb. If you fix something to make it more enjoyable and it has that effect later, I doubt anyone would complain that you can get higher if you really wanted to.

People will do what they do. Not everyone cares about going as high as you can. The Griffon can already do that for the most part and it's supposed to be a gliding mount with wings.

[Jazz.2643]

Also what does even Rift repair do? I've been doing the entire thing a couple of times, and i've only been getting Volitale magic. It says there's a reward at the end, but i've not been getting anything.Anyone know if i'm missing something?

[Bast.7253]

@Jazz.2643 said:Also what does even Rift repair do? I've been doing the entire thing a couple of times, and i've only been getting Volitale magic. It says there's a reward at the end, but i've not been getting anything.Anyone know if i'm missing something?

I did the one in desert highlands and got ONE mistborn mote. So their real value is probably just going to be achievement points and volatile magic.

[Bast.7253]

@"Rukario.1695" said:Altitude Bar being drained after mounting in the air plans to be fixed.

Other than that I only wish for...

• Keep full altitude bar after leaving the ground with your first flap. It feels like you're a brick on a balloon.
• Faster stamina recharge, higher jump.
• Stamina recharge while on the wall, but slower than charging during flight. We can already let go of the wall and recharge and wait for the endurance skill to recharge over the course of 60 seconds.
• Jump from wall automatically moves around small ledges blocking you, directly above you.
• Keybind for latch to wall.
• Updrafts pushing you up, tbh the Griffon needs this too, if you already used Bond of Faith you are stuck on the mount.
• Dive option for quick descent and engage.
• Hold skill 1 to show a casting circle.
• Moderately faster travel speed to make the mount an option to travel to events.
• Moderately more gracious canopy to allow slightly further horizontal distances.
• Dash in any direction the camera is aimed.
• Extra dash if possible, 2 is "eh"
• Permanent evade during flight, at least 75%... Tired of getting shot down to my death in post-Tyria maps. Not a problem for Griffon, has a skill like this already.
• More reactive turning speed. If we are meant to use this to jump between cliffs back and forth, the current turning speed makes the user less likely to try in almost all scenarios.
• Would be nice to fly over water with 0 altitude, just much slower than the Skimmer. The Skyscale drowning is sad panda.

Whatever else makes sense but doesn't break the game, mount, or invalidates other mount mechanics.. Something.

Just don't be afraid of letting players actually do what they want to do if they want to climb. If you fix something to make it more enjoyable and it has that effect later, I doubt anyone would complain that you can get higher if you really wanted to.

People will do what they do. Not everyone cares about going as high as you can. The Griffon can already do that for the most part and it's supposed to be a gliding mount with wings.

Yeah, I noticed earlier that just hitting space bar to put me at the lowest hover range depleted like a 6th of my bar? Lol

[wiazabi.2549]

For the amount it required to get i can't help but feel disappointed in it and feels mostly like a way to just hover in the air.

Both Griffon and Beetle feels great cause of how each of em can gain speed in a unique way how Griffon requires you to dive and beetle works with the physics of going up or down and boost at the right times to reach max speed faster and such it is really great.

Skyscale Masteries

Air rescue : Seems they want it to be standard air mount i wish it was shared for all mounts so i could land on ground with any mount i wanted after a drop.

( Overall i am not a big fan of Air Rescue or Glider for that matter as it removes any sense of danger when falling. )

Rift Repair : Mount is slow so you either accept it an chill through the course or dash through it, the reward is 1 map currency for completion? i got 1 from DragonFall map on completion.

Wall Launch : First time i heard Wall Launch i thought it would launch us outwards to give it some speed as it made more sense to me being a dragon needing speed but i guess they did not want it to get into griffon territory.

Considering the QOL they did to beetle i am sure they will tweak this to become much more fun and they are amazing when it comes to consideration to not remove other mounts but it seems we have to many mounts then maybe, i sometimes wonder if jackal had been a raptor skin and sand portal was shared with all mounts it would have made more sense.

[Blur.3465]

I agree with everything you said OP!I am personally enjoying Skyscale, but it truly falls behind all other mounts in literally everything.Truly, I hope ANet implements some changes to tweak and improve the mount.

Another thing which bugs me is its attack skill, there's no indication as to where it will land. Imo it would be ideal if it was under your character, but instead it shoots ahead of your character, which is sometimes really hard to 'aim' at enemies.

EDIT:Oh and...since it's a slow flier...well, it happens that many times mobs just dismount me mid-air and it results with me dying a horrible death, as it doesn't evade attacks like griffon flap...

[Gop.8713]

It's brilliant over short distances. Def my mount of choice atm just for straight ease of movement around a map . . .

[Jazz.2643]

Right so i tested out the Rift Repair thing. I'm only getting volatile magic from the rifts. At the end i'm not getting anything, at least nothing in core maps.

[JustTrogdor.7892]

@Jazz.2643 said:Right so i tested out the Rift Repair thing. I'm only getting volatile magic from the rifts. At the end i'm not getting anything, at least nothing in core maps.

I got a Mistborn Mote at the end of two I found in LA. Certainly nothing to write home about. But as I said in another thread, maybe there are more complex ones hidden around the world, like flying JPs, that offer a slightly more substantial reward.