Skyscale: could it use an overhaul?

[Forda.6359]

They need to do something about this mount, when I got to the saddle, that was it for me. I mean, a full stack for each map is totally ridiculous for what we get capability wise for the mount, I almost wish the griff and the skyscale's had swapped functionality with the griff being more like a helicopter with wall cling and glide and the skyscale being the jet engine. I've played this game for a little over a year, I LOVE the fact that you can work towards anything you want and it usually has the desired payoff but after doing the full collection and unlocking the last day, everything about the last collection is depressing, seeing what you need for the saddle is depressing, the rate at which you get them is depressing, and what the skyscale can actually do is depressing. I was burned out, even though I had all the currency needed for two of the pieces and some currency in bank for the others. I've praised this game to my friends over the last year and the rest of the collection was really fun even though it was a bit tedious and locked you out if you missed the reset but the saddle collection, specifically, almost made me quit the game altogether. It was only when I admitted to myself that this mount was worse than the griffon and didn't add anything meaningful to travel that we didn't already have with the other mounts, that I started enjoying playing again.

[FrizzFreston.5290]

@Nury.3062 said:The only thing that needs to be done is to have the flight bar tweaked,nothing more.

I agree, I understand it cant just fly up endlessly, although a bit further, for a bit longer maybe a bit faster or anything along those lines make it more fluid to use.

[Ayrilana.1396]

I've been doing PoF map completion on the mount for the past few days and enjoying it. It just takes getting some used to just like the beetle did but I don't see any major issues. The flight meter could be doubled or the rate of decay from flying horizontally halved; but even then, I don't feels it's that necessary.

[Pirindolo.9427]

Skyscale is a beutiful mount that has only 1 use: mastery #2

Apart from that, anything you can do with a skyscale is doable (easier and faster) with griffon+springer

[Teratus.2859]

Only issues I really have with it are the low horizontal and ascending flight time and the pointless red bar ceiling mechanic.

Imo the Skyscale would have been better off having a hard hight cap on each map instead of the current way the red bar works.

The way I understand it is that your hight cap is set by the ground level under your Skyscale when you mount up.. so if you mount from the top of a very tall building, tree or mountain you'll have a significantly higher cap than you would just from the ground and since the Skyscale and Springer can be used to effectively get on top of anything that doesn't have an invisible wall blocking you this makes the red bar effectively useless at stopping you from getting to places on the Skyscale that the Devs intended the red bar to stop you getting to.

It would have been easier to have just had a hard cap on the hight your able to fly in each map (defined by each map individually) and then just give the Skyscale complete freedom to fly anywhere within that boundry without a flight time restriction.

As it is right now these limitations only diminish the mount's usefulness for no genuine apparent reason as each one is easily worked around by climbing up something very high before flying the Skyscale.You can hover/grab wait out bond of vigors cooldown not to mention launch yourself with Bond of Faith onto edges your Skyscale and Springger can't reach without fear of fall damage so again these limitations are more about annoying you than actually limiting you which just makes them pointless tbh.

Set a hard ceiling and let us fly free instead and this mount would be greatly improved ^^

[otto.5684]

Everything that it does other mounts can do it better. It is a novelty item with major grind. And ya, it is anything but smooth.

[Blocki.4931]

Honestly this thread didn't age well (as any "omg it sucks" threads on the mount did)

It replaced the Griffon 100% for me now.

[Forda.6359]

@"Blocki.4931" said:Honestly this thread didn't age well (as any "omg it sucks" threads on the mount did)

It replaced the Griffon 100% for me now.

Why? Even with full masteries it's movement is slower, what attributes of the skyscale would make me not want to use my griff anymore?

[castlemanic.3198]

@Forda.6359 said:Why? Even with full masteries it's movement is slower, what attributes of the skyscale would make me not want to use my griff anymore?

For me, the skyscale replaced the griffon springer combo because it's easier to use and I don't have to swap mounts to climb things anymore. Speed is not so important to me as ease of traversing places and reducing the number of times i have to swap between mounts to get somewhere. I no longer have to worry about just missing a ledge to try and get to a higher cliff or worry about aiming my bond of faith correctly, i can just stick to a wall and wall jump. If i'm looking for absolute speed i have both roller beetle and griffon as an option for those moments, but for general use the skyscale is far superior to me than griffon because I have a much easier time climbing up walls etc. to get to places that I want to go (and i rarely use the climb/dive mechanic in general daily travel with the griffon which was my previous go to mount).

Those may not be your priorities, but they are mine, and for me as an individual, the skyscale is superior to the griffon for actual day to day travel use, especially because I often find objectives I want to get to require precision climbing that the springer/griffon combo doesn't offer.

[Gambino.2109]

Red Bar needs to go..

also why does the blue bar go away when you use the vigor skill that only grants half bar and it drains at double the speed if you choose to fly as well... and it drains really quick on it's own.

There is so much negative in this thing that prevents you from trying to go places.

[Forda.6359]

@"Gambino.2109" said:Red Bar needs to go..

also why does the blue bar go away when you use the vigor skill that only grants half bar and it drains at double the speed if you choose to fly as well... and it drains really quick on it's own.

There is so much negative in this thing that prevents you from trying to go places.

I tend to agree with this, for what you have to do to acquire it, there are too many negatives that are resolved by swapping to a griffon or springer. Those negatives are what brought me to the conclusion that the skyscale, right now, just isn't worth it. Most people, if they stopped, stopped at the saddle collection. Now, maybe if we get some awesome new skins in the future people will push for it again but the aggravation is outweighing the benefits for right now. Also for the "speed isn't that important" thing I dive with griff all the time, maybe it's b/c I'm a newer player but speed is important to me especially b/c I have lower lvl alts and like to do events and getting there quickly is the difference between gold contribution or missing the event entirely.

[Blocki.4931]

@Forda.6359 said:

@"Blocki.4931" said:Honestly this thread didn't age well (as any "omg it sucks" threads on the mount did)

It replaced the Griffon 100% for me now.

Why? Even with full masteries it's movement is slower, what attributes of the skyscale would make me not want to use my griff anymore?

Movement is marginally slower. In the air you move about as fast as a raptor would on land and 90% of the time you're not getting much out of the Griffon anyway (walking on land, jumping, flapping) Skyscale does it better by not having to land most of the time. It's also better to jump up ledges, where on the Griffon I would have to jump multiple times.

[Tyncale.1629]

@castlemanic.3198 said:

@Forda.6359 said:Why? Even with full masteries it's movement is slower, what attributes of the skyscale would make me not want to use my griff anymore?

For me, the skyscale replaced the griffon springer combo because it's easier to use and I don't have to swap mounts to climb things anymore. Speed is not so important to me as ease of traversing places and reducing the number of times i have to swap between mounts to get somewhere. I no longer have to worry about just missing a ledge to try and get to a higher cliff or worry about aiming my bond of faith correctly, i can just stick to a wall and wall jump. If i'm looking for absolute speed i have both roller beetle and griffon as an option for those moments, but for general use the skyscale is far superior to me than griffon because I have a much easier time climbing up walls etc. to get to places that I want to go (and i rarely use the climb/dive mechanic in general daily travel with the griffon which was my previous go to mount).

Those may not be your priorities, but they are mine, and for me as an individual, the skyscale is superior to the griffon for actual day to day travel use, especially because I often find objectives I want to get to require precision climbing that the springer/griffon combo doesn't offer.Yes, same for me. When I use Taco paths to farm currencies or for instance Buried Locked Chests I used the Griffon: not anymore, Skyscale is much more flexible for that. Also traversing rough terrain is very nice with a Skyscale, like it is with the Griffon.

I will use griffon still for when I am high up and want to traverse the map lightning fast.

NB I agree though that the automatic wall clinging should be a manual thing. This is the only thing that makes use of the Skyscale sometimes clunky for me.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Blocki.4931 said:Movement is marginally slower. In the air you move about as fast as a raptor would on land and 90% of the time you're not getting much out of the Griffon anyway (walking on land, jumping, flapping)

Who uses the Griffon on land?? You quickly switch between it and the Jackal or Springer on land. At least I do (hence my wish for an enhanced mount UI). A combination of old mounts is faster than anything you can do with the Skybrick. Not even its Dash skill is useful, it just looks cool.

[sitarskee.5738]

I love the mount except for the clinging to wall mechanic which is annoying. I wish there was a separate bind to park on a wall then just pressing W so we can land more freely.

[Daishi.6027]

I just want to chime in on something I noticed and is a bit ridiculous and makes the mount feel over all clunky.

Mid air mount is already pretty bad, it doesn't raise fast enough to negate a lot of the downward motion unless you are dodging upwards, but it's kind of pointless because of how much you are almost required to fall reduces the canopy. But often if you are shot out of a thermal tube, go glide up a leyline, or jumping off griffen after rising, into skyscale while already pretty high there is a massive red bar forcing you to drop altitude.

It's bad enough that you are innately forced to drop while transitioning, but the fact it can sometimes impose a red bar as well is even worse.

A-net just flat out remove this, it's clunky and feels pretty bad to use at best, and makes it flat out inferior to griffin when mounting mid air at worst.

If I mount mid air, that is where the bottom of the canopy should START, and we should come out hovering in mid air.

[Xanadrine.4352]

It can barely lift off, it uses up half its bar just to get in the air..i hate the thing personally. If you are going to do a flying mount then do it right. That energy bar is a problem, its usage is way too much too fast. Like i said just getting up into the air uses it up then you hop glide till you can land and regen the bar. All the other mounts work well from the get go, this thing is like the red headed black sheep step child of mounts. Its like ..hype a flying mount, but not really because its not a flying mount, it barely stays aloft, unless you jump off the top of a mountain lol. For the amount of kitten you have to do to get this thing, it isnt worth it in its current state.

[Ragnarox.9601]

After testing over the vikend I quite enjoy it but they could add 25% more blue endurance or reduce its usage by 25% and everything would be fine.

[Tyncale.1629]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:Movement is marginally slower. In the air you move about as fast as a raptor would on land and 90% of the time you're not getting much out of the Griffon anyway (walking on land, jumping, flapping)

Who uses the Griffon on land?? You quickly switch between it and the Jackal or Springer on land. At least I do (hence my wish for an enhanced mount UI). A combination of old mounts is faster than anything you can do with the Skybrick. Not even its Dash skill is useful, it just looks cool.

I use the griffon on land because it can easily cross humps and bumps on rough terrain. I agree that the Bunny And Jackal can be faster but I hate the jackal movement: it's a personal thing. It also sucks every time you hit a little elevation in the terrain. The Bunny is good for that but I am not a fan of the hopping and Mount itself: I prefer the smoother movement of the Griffon and its cooler looks. Again, personal. Also, you can very often get airborne for short bursts on rough terrain too, which makes traversing that terrain even smoother and faster. I also try to avoid changing mounts too often: it's annoying and in some areas, getting aggro can be a problem, though the latter hardly ever happens to the experienced traveler.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Tyncale.1629 said:I use the griffon on land because it can easily cross humps and bumps on rough terrain.

That's what the Jackal is for ;) or the quick dismount jump then remount immediately. But let's not get into this as I agree that everyone is entitled to play the way they feel most comfortable. :)

@Daishi.6027 said:If I mount mid air, that is where the bottom of the canopy should START, and we should come out hovering in mid air.

Good suggestion. I agree 100% and hope they are going to address this issue soonish.

@Zuldari.3940 said:Its like ..hype a flying mount, but not really because its not a flying mount, it barely stays aloft, unless you jump off the top of a mountain lol. For the amount of kitten you have to do to get this thing, it isnt worth it in its current state.

:+1:

[CJH.2879]

After having used the mount myself for a few days now (with masteries fully upgraded on it), the skyscale is indeed useful in many ways. For short distances it can indeed out perform the griffon when using its ability to dart forwards (V key I believe), but of course you need to be slightly airborne to use it (which is fine). For longer distances the griffon is still the way to go with the jet ability lol. There have been several places I've been able to get to now that previously were in-accessible. Also the ability to vertically ascend up cliffs = invaluable. Overall I like it & yes I do recommend getting it to those whom haven't already done so. =)

[ProtoGunner.4953]

It's far too gimicky. They just should get rid of the cling mechanic and make it permanent flying. Griffon will keep its use for it being much much faster.

[retconned.9358]

i think it definitely tweaks,Make it ascend faster but drain your altitude bar quicker too, so you'd get to the same height you do now just quicker. A bit faster endurance regen too. Those two changes really wouldn't allow you to get anywhere you can't already get now with it, just allow you to get there faster. I think directional dodging would be great on this mount and fits with the hover thing but would be more complex to add as they'd need new animations.

[Celldrax.2849]

The red bar aside (which definitely needs something of a review), I think it's a pretty solidly balanced mount with some well thought out nuances in its flight mechanics. Once you get those figured out you learn quite a few ways to take advantage of the Skyscale.

! Not still being completely and utterly salty over the time gates is also helping in my enjoyment of our new mount.

[Ayrilana.1396]

@Daishi.6027 said:I just want to chime in on something I noticed and is a bit ridiculous and makes the mount feel over all clunky.

Mid air mount is already pretty bad, it doesn't raise fast enough to negate a lot of the downward motion unless you are dodging upwards, but it's kind of pointless because of how much you are almost required to fall reduces the canopy. But often if you are shot out of a thermal tube, go glide up a leyline, or jumping off griffen after rising, into skyscale while already pretty high there is a massive red bar forcing you to drop altitude.

It's bad enough that you are innately forced to drop while transitioning, but the fact it can sometimes impose a red bar as well is even worse.

A-net just flat out remove this, it's clunky and feels pretty bad to use at best, and makes it flat out inferior to griffin when mounting mid air at worst.

If I mount mid air, that is where the bottom of the canopy should START, and we should come out hovering in mid air.

They should only do this if it’s your first time mounting the skyscale since leaving the ground. What I mean by this is that otherwise there would be the potential to keep using the dismount skill to reset the canopy and flight meter.