Why use Skyscale?

[Scared.7195]

I'm aware of the discussions regarding this mount but in my opinion most of the info I saw was pre the patch to improve the mount.

What I'm asking now is how good is this mount really? When is it worth taking over griffon? Finally, does it still suffer from the red bar when you mount up after getting an updraft or mounting too high up?

[phs.6089]

Outside of DF, I recently found a good use for it. You know vistas on those krait towers?Now it's a cakewalk with skyscale.That is about it. Yes, it still has red bar and still descends if you try to fly.

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

It's like the Springer, except it goes higher and has more control.

[Ayrilana.1396]

It's good when you need to move both horizontally and vertically. It's also good for when there are no easily accessible ledges.

[rotheche.2964]

I quite like my skyscale. Not as fast in the air as the griffon, but I like that sometimes - say, if I'm gathering volatile magic up in the air, the skyscale is more forgiving of my lack of coordination some days. Sometimes on some things, it can feel like you've got to get everything just right or you'll miss one magic ball, and that means you lose the lot of them - skyscale takes that pressure away, makes it more fun.

Plus I just like the look, both of the fluttery fairy dragon skin and the original chonky boi.

[BlueJin.4127]

I use the Skyscale when I...

...need to go up diagonally higher than the Griffon....need to go up vertically higher than the Springer....want to fly to a place, but there is not enough space below to swoop on a Griffon....just feel like it.

I use the Griffon when I...

...don’t need to fly as high as the Skyscale and want more vertical speed....need to fly long distance....have room to swoop....just feel like it.

[godofcows.2451]

compare it's design to a helicopter vs griffon's which is forced momentum akin to a plane. Depending on the environment's design, arenanet can easily make something for skyscale alone. The possibility of the y axis scaling can be infinite depending on the environment that arenanet provides (resting steps or volatile magic). While this is also true of the griffon, there is less space needed and elevation is more emphasized. This was played around with in dragon fall's eastern area.

[Westenev.5289]

The skyscale is more general purpose than a griffon, which I was already guilty of riding pre-skyscale in areas where I'd expect to need to scale small cliffs but didn't want to go to the effort of dismounting and using a springer.

Basically, I think of the Skyscale as a flying raptor mixed with a few helicopter genes.

[Last Crysis.1934]

I find it good for when I need to afk and do the casino coin event. Don't get me wrong I love the skyscale but I am finding the other mounts more useful after the few car smell is gone.

[Derdzvero.7051]

Well, it's good, compared to alternatives. Not because it's a very good mount, rather than everything else being clunky and nerfed as..They nerfed Griffon's dive and speed gain, and Imho silently nerfed its evasion last patches. So I'm rarely using Griffon lately, guess that fits Anet's understanding of content and balance. Expert next patches and updates of the game to have more "non mandatory" F-key spamming grind, which will be a chore to get without skyscale..Beware skyscale has mount skills 1&2, which, as beetle, do not get mapped to other keys, when using action camera. So you need to bind them and forget QoL

[Randulf.7614]

It gets you up and in the air fast.

For example, I was in frostgorg by the champ troll. Jormag spawned and it was seconds to get up and out of the canyon to the event without having to negotiate round any landmarks.

I’ve found it invaluable for fast point to point travel when starting from lower down

[Danikat.8537]

I haven't unlocked the skyscale yet (I'm hoping to have it by the end of this week) but for me the appeal is that it's slower than the griffon. Just like how I often use the jackal instead of the raptor because I want to move faster than walking, but not so fast that it's hard to keep track of what's around me.

The griffon is great when you want to cover long distances quickly (if you're high enough up, otherwise the raptor is probably better) but once you start you have to keep going, moving quite fast, or find somewhere to land, which usually means sacrificing some height and potentially getting stuck somewhere awkward. The skyscale is IMO much better for exploration because you're going slower, you can stop in mid-air and it's easier to gain height when you need to.

[NanoEliteSixSixSix.8935]

Why use the skyscale? Because it's a dragon, and dragons are cool.

[LucianDK.8615]

The skyscale is much more precise than the griffon. And its such a relief that I dont to have to constantly press space to flap and stay in the air. And that argh feeling when juuuuuuust missing a ledge.

[Cyninja.2954]

Skyscale excels at:

• precise climbing which requires both horizontal as well as vertical adjustment
• vertical climbs which require precise movement
• traversing horizontal areas with a lot of gaps
• skipping over enemies
• short direction burst movement

In order to get the maximum out of your Skyscale you need to understand when to use your Bon of Vigor and Bond of Faith.

Bond of Vigor replenishes both part of the blue bar as well as both dodges. This results in following combos:Vertical Movement:Use up blue bar -> grab a ledge -> charge the bllue bar and jump off -> repeate with second dodge bar -> Bond of Vigor -> use the acquired blue bar and double dodge again

Horizontal Movement:Use mount action 2 skill for a fast burst twice -> Bond of Vigor -> mount action 2 twice again -> Bond of Faith

Vertical Movement without ledges:Use up blue bar -> Bond of Vigor -> use up blue bar -> Bonf of Faith -> glide into Griffon

Vertical+Horizontal short burst movement:lift off and angle the camera upwards -> mount action 2 twice -> Bond of Vigor -> mount action 2 twice again

There are more variations of this. The Skyscale only loses out to:

• long horizontal ground distances where the Beetle outperforms any other mount
• long horizontal distances where the griffon can gain enough altitude and speed
• strait up vertical movement where the bunny is slightly faster
• jackal portals
• chilled hover mode on the skimmer

Anything else is outclassed by the Skyscale.

[calb.3128]

@Cyninja.2954 said:Skyscale excels at:

Thank you, this is exactly what I wanted to say! Skyscale is really versatile and wins the default spot on my bar - all other mounts get key binds elsewhere.

[Grim West.3194]

They made some improvements to the SkyBrick, so it's not totally useless anymore. But it's still a vanity / troll mount for the most part. Too much effort for too little reward.

[stone cold.8609]

Agree completely with Cyninja's assessment. The Skyscale has become my default mount for all of those reasons.

[LucianDK.8615]

using skyscale as default now, over the griffon. The naysayers just needs to train more with it to see its strenghts. And its only gotten better after the first round of tweaking.

[Teratus.2859]

Skyscale is a combination of Springer, Griffon, Raptor with more movement freedom.The difference is that while it can do more or less what Springer, Griffon and Raptor can it does so a bit more akwardly and slower, much much slower in the case of Griffon.

Anet said it best in that think of the Skyscale as a Helicopter and the Griffon as a Plane.

Using the Skyscale is more of a novelty, I could make this Jump on a Raptor.. but would I rather fly over it on a Dragon?Could reach that vista with a Springer.. but would I rather fly up on a Dragon?I only replaces other mounts if you choose to allow that.I personally prefer to zigzag through different mounts on a whim as I have them all keybound, I still use the Warclaw in PvE as well.

[Taygus.4571]

I find the skyscale very useful. It excellent for mapping, getting to those hard to reach spots. I don't use springer anymore really.

Its veen really handy getting around bloodstone fen to gather unbound magic and nodes, it gets up and around very smoothely.

I hated the time and work for the collection, but its defintely been worth it.

Skyscale is my primary mount.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I just used my Skyscale to finally map-complete Tangled Depths, and would have finally completed Verdant Brink if not for that darn Vampire Beasts Hero Challenge.I really like the Skyscale. It's very useful.

[Etria.3642]

Did the verdant Brink meta yesterday and you know all those irritating boxes in the air that I, at least, find very irritating to grab? Oh hey look. Skyscale. Amazing. I collected over 20 of the buggers whereas usually I end up with 3-7.

[jinxykat.6519]

Going back and doing map completion with alts on skyscale is much quicker. All those ultra high vistas and poi's in odd places are no problem and the super high view of core Tyria maps is also pretty cool. Haven't really used any other mounts since i got it.

[Tarlonniel.6534]

@jinxykat.6519 said:Going back and doing map completion with alts on skyscale is much quicker. All those ultra high vistas and poi's in odd places are no problem and the super high view of core Tyria maps is also pretty cool.

Since I (finally) got the skyscale, this is basically what I've been doing with it. And exploring old maps is even more fun when you stumble on a rift and get to fly around nomming volatile magic.