Griffon is useless after getting Skyscale

[Skyronight.6370]

I unlocked both mounts not long ago and I noticed that griffon has no use anymore after getting skyscale since you cannot gain altitude with the griffon its only useful if you are already in elevated spots like in dragonfall. Griffon is literally just a fast glider that can somewhat fly if you already have alot of altitude like I mentionned but skyscale can go anywhere. Also the misconception of Skyscale being "slow" is false, its actually faster than the griffon if you dont have enough space to swoop because skyscale has that dash ability in the air. It makes sense for skyscale to be better since its much harder to unlock but I just never use griffon anymore unless im in dragonfall or something. I think griffon should fly faster than skyscale at base speed without having to swoop and wing flap should bring you up higher aswell.

[Randulf.7614]

So griffon is still better in the intended design then. It's meant to be a fast, high altitude mount. It achieves that goal completely.

Yes, the Skyscale can ascend from base, but Griffon couldn't do that anyway, so it hasn't really been replaced

[phokus.8934]

You don't know how to use the griffon then.

[Perihen the Thawk.9527]

Can the Skyscale fly like a hundred miles an hour across a map while losing hardly any elevation?

Can it do loop-the-loops around bridges?

Does it make an adorable chirping sound?

No?

Then what's the problem?

[Endless Soul.5178]

As with all mounts, the use of each one is situational. No one mount has been replaced by another.

[Magnus Godrik.5841]

WRONG.... i use it all the time

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

I use all of the mounts all of the time; they each have features that are best suited in different areas/situations. So far, I've been impressed at how ANet has been able to add new ones that are super fun to use, while leaving the others still fun and still have great utility.

tl;dr it's horses for courses the right mount for the best discount(erm, okay, yeah, as a future cliche, that needs some work; it gets the idea across)

[Zephyr.5382]

@Skyronight.6370 said:

GRIFFON IS USELESS...

...its only useful if you are already in elevated spots...

I don't think you're totally convinced, yourself.

[Xstein.2187]

So, what situation is "Gliding" better at then?

There is little difference between trivializing armor in other mmos vs trivializing masteries in gw2.The only question is, how will they achieve trivializing all the current mounts in the next expansion?

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@"Xstein.2187" said:So, what situation is "Gliding" better at then?

Escaping from mobs. You can glide while in combat.Using updrafts and ley-lines.

[Xstein.2187]

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@"Xstein.2187" said:

So, what situation is "Gliding" better at then?

Escaping from mobs. You can glide while in combat.Using updrafts and ley-lines.

99% of the time you are on a flat surface with no way of gliding when you are in combat and updrafts and ley-lines practically died with HoT.Do you really think using the glider is as useful as having the griffon or skyscale mount?

Same could be said about raising the level of armor in other games. Raising the armor doesn't mean your old armor is useless. However, it does mean it is outclassed. I'm not saying gw2 is as bad. However, I am saying it is a dangerous road to trod down when they claim to be against such a philosophy.

[Turkeyspit.3965]

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

So, what situation is "Gliding" better at then?

Escaping from mobs. You can glide while in combat.Using updrafts and ley-lines.

99% of the time you are on a flat surface with no way of gliding when you are in combat and updrafts and ley-lines practically died with HoT.Do you really think using the glider is as useful as having the griffon or skyscale mount?

Same could be said about raising the level of armor in other games. Raising the armor doesn't mean your old armor is useless. However, it does mean it is outclassed. I'm not saying gw2 is as bad. However, I am saying it is a dangerous road to trod down when they claim to be against such a philosophy.

The problem is how GW2 goes to market with their product. They made the (imo mind-boggling) mistake of allowing players to purchase PoF without having to first purchase HoT. So how can you have gliding / updrafts in PoF maps without being sure 100% of the players have already unlocked gliding?

Dragonfall map was interesting in that in incorporated a lot of elements not seen since LS S3, but just like the Beetle walls (all 2 of them) I'm sure there were ways to get around if you only owned PoF.

Fact is, not requiring players to buy HoT as well as PoF has hamstrung future map design, as now they have to balance around those who own just PoF as well as those with HoT and PoF.

I would love to see more instances where gliding is the smart choice over mounts, but until they force their customers to upgrade, at most it will be a mere convenience, with another path available that doesn't require gliding.

[KrHome.1920]

@Skyronight.6370 said:you cannot gain altitude with the griffonYou can gain altitude on the griffon.

You need some vertical spaces to perform the dive/rise actions but that's hardly a problem as the GW2 maps feature a lot of verticality.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@Xstein.2187 said:

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Xstein.2187 said:

So, what situation is "Gliding" better at then?

Escaping from mobs. You can glide while in combat.Using updrafts and ley-lines.

99% of the time you are on a flat surface with no way of gliding when you are in combat and updrafts and ley-lines practically died with HoT.Do you really think using the glider is as useful as having the griffon or skyscale mount?

That wasn't the question though. The question was "what

situation

is gliding better at" (my emphasis).

With the verticality in this game, I find myself using gliding to disengage a fair amount, even in some parts of core tyria.

I also sure wouldn't want to play in VB with only Griffon/Skyscale. (Or in Bloodstone Fen, but that's a bit too niche for an arhument.)

[NanoEliteSixSixSix.8935]

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@"Xstein.2187" said:

So, what situation is "Gliding" better at then?

Escaping from mobs. You can glide while in combat.Using updrafts and ley-lines.

Also preventing youself from splattering all over the floor when in 'no mount' zones.

[Goettel.4389]

Griffie looks better though.

[Xstein.2187]

Yes, I agree that there are situations where a glider is more useful.I just think in the larger picture it is vastly outclassed and don't won't to see stuff so vastly outclassed in the future.'no mount' zones are situational, just like ley-lines and updrafts are situational.Why are much of the glider 'benefits' so much more situational than mounts?

For example, a fair comparison would be that in future maps after PoF, 'no-mount' zones are baseline and 'mount' zones are situational.I feel like that is largely the place that gliders are in right now relative to the new mounts. That doesn't mean they are worthless.

[Zephyr.5382]

We're getting off-topic, here (and I won't be helping with this comment), but one way they could make gliders relevant again would be to enable the gliding skills that we get while in Bloodstone Fen.

[Ygdrasill.9135]

I use both. The skyscale makes getting to a high altitude launch point a LOT easier for if I need to cover a lot of ground fast. The mount that the Skyscale completely orphans is the Springer. I only use that now because it makes me smile to ride a giant rabbit sometimes. No more worrying where ledges are just go up.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

I find the griffon a little awkward now that I'm used to the skyscale, just because both have different methods of descending. 'Useless' is an overstatement, though.

[draxynnic.3719]

Skyscale is better at gaining altitude and is more precise, yes, but griffon is better at maintaining it.

The skyscale is limited to an "envelope" based on where it took off (or where it last picked up some floating magic). Wall-jumping and the dodge spin can extend the envelope, but the only way to truly reset it is to pick up some floating magic or to land on a sufficiently flat surface.

Griffons, on the other hand, will generally lose altitude over time, but while you could say an envelope still exists, it's a lot flatter and isn't hard-coded in. If you flap as often as you can (noting that just holding down the space bar won't achieve this - you can actually flap at 75%, but holding down the space bar will only flap at 100%) or if you're good at using the swoop maneuver, the griffon loses its altitude very slowly, and you can use the faster energy recharge mastery to extend it even further. The griffon certainly is more reliant on getting to a high spot than a skyscale, but a griffon that reaches a sufficiently high point can often cross the map without landing, where a skyscale needs to make a series of hops.

The ones that are more subject to redundancy are, IMO, the springer and the jackal. The springer does have a niche in that if you have a reasonably clear series of ledges to jump up, the springer is significantly faster to get up than the skyscale is. Jackals, on the other hand... I rarely see outside of interactions with sand portals and sand paths that require them. Generally speaking, they're outclassed by raptors and flying mounts.

[Ultramex.1506]

Both of them are useless on flat map.

[PervMonk.4891]

skyscale is the most useless mount. after i unlocked it i never used it again

[Rasimir.6239]

@Xstein.2187 said:99% of the time you are on a flat surface with no way of gliding when you are in combatThat depends entirely on where you play. I find myself jumping off ledges to glide out of combat a lot of times, in pve as well as wvw (where it's super convenient since enemies can't glide in your territories). I do however prefer to play the more vertical maps, so finding a suitable ledge is rarely an issue.

updrafts and ley-lines practically died with HoT.Dragonfall would like to have a word with you, as well as the jungle part of Jahai.

Do you really think using the glider is as useful as having the griffon or skyscale mount?I do. To me, each of those means of transportation have a very specific niche. Gliding offers the most precise way to manouver if I want to go to or land in a certain spot, it works in combat, it works in tight spaces that don't offer enough room to mount up, and it can make use of updrafts and leylines where those are available

Skyscale works well for going fast and slightly uphill, as well as making it a lot more convenient crossing short distances in any direction. Griffon is still king if you want to cover a lot of distance, provided you have someplace high to jump off to begin with.

I'm not an either or person, but prefer to use the mode of transportation that feels most convenient and comfortable in any given situation. As such I find that the skyscale has indeed replaced some mount and ability uses (as it should, or else it would really be useless to me), but hasn't replaced any mount or movement ability completely or even for a large part.

[LucianDK.8615]

Griffon is absolutely not good at maintaining altitude on the fly like the skyscale. You need to have space to drop down to superspeed dive, but then you can stay in the air for a long bit and go far ahead of the skyscale.

Griffon needs space to work with, the Skyscale does not. Skyscale excels at precision and shorter distances where the griffon absolutely struggles due to its momentum.

Overall I am using the Skyscale far more than the Griffon, because the long superspeed dive spots are far and between. And for going down Ive just taken to use the glider.The Griffon have its niche, and is far more situational than it used to be. The Skyscale is simply way more enjoyable to use as you dont need to hammer space constantly to flap.