Descension achiev-any way to do it without jackal?

[ThunderHierres Strells.2730]

Came back to the game in Icebrood Saga, and thought the griffon would be obtainable for me with the mounts i did have. things were going fine until this achievement.

Is the cave for the achievement really jackal only?

I don't have the jackal, and don't particularly want to have to take a detour that would probably be just as time consuming as getting the griffon itself. All to get a mount I wouldn't really use except for this one time-not to mention the time needed to grind its masteries. I was hoping the griffon would be less of a headache to get than the skycale for someone who returned late and missed when the PoF stuff-and it's locked LW- was current.

If there isn't any other way, I'll be disappointed that I got this far only to be barred by not having a jackal and just stick with the core mounts. I only ever had the energy to undertake one big mount grind-I was intending for the griffon to be that one grind, but it looks like I'll probably just have to abandon that idea, as bitter as it is.

It makes me glad for WoW's much simpler mount achievements-guess I'll only have flying mounts over there, if the jackal is the only way.

 

Edited June 13, 2021 by ThunderHierres Strells.2730

[Khisanth.2948]

Trying to skip things or doing them out of sequence is pretty much always going to require more effort or extra trickery. Easiest workaround for that should be a mesmer portal. On the other hand not sure why you need that specific mastery point ...

[ThunderHierres Strells.2730]

 I'm not asking because of the specific mastery point but for the griffon achieve chain. I need to get into the cave and fight the guy as the next step.

I was following a guide and doing things in order up until this point.

 the game never gave me the impression I'd need the jackal for the griffon, and the guide did not make any mention of needing it up until this step.

I was also under the impression that the Jackal was a flavor mount that you'd only need for treasure hunting in the portals. I wasn't expecting the griffon chain to take for granted that players pursuing the griffon would have the jackal and have its masteries up to tier 3.

If the jackal doesn't require a huge achievement chain to get, I may keep going, though.

[Elennilda.3162]

The jackal is the fourth core mount. It doesn't require achievements, it works the same as for the springer and skimmer (just slightly more expensive). Go to the Djinn Enclave in the Desolation, do the heart, pay 20 gold and it's yours.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Elennilda.3162
typo

[Manasa Devi.7958]

The Jackal is worth it for its final mastery alone: giving all other mounts evasion on their movement skills.

[Danikat.8537]

There's no way into that cave without the jackal mount. The griffon is one of PoF's 'end game' rewards, so I think they designed the collections to require some of all the rest of the expansion, including the other mounts.

 

But it's really not difficult to get. As @Elennilda.3162said it's the same as the springer and skimmer, there's no achievements or collection required, just a heart and paying 20g. You do need 9 mastery points to be able to use sand portals but it's worth training it up because it comes in useful for lots of things (including getting more mastery points).

[Cyninja.2954]

3 hours ago, Manasa Devi.7958 said:

The Jackal is worth it for its final mastery alone: giving all other mounts evasion on their movement skills.

This.

 

Skipping the core mounts of PoF is overall a bad idea. Each of them adds a significant benefit to all mounts when mastered. The evasion of the jackal being one of, if not the, most useful shared ability.

Edited June 13, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Do be aware:  You must have trained either the Springer's High Vault mastery, or the Skimmer's Ride the Wind mastery before being allowed to purchase the Jackal. 

[Khisanth.2948]

16 hours ago, ThunderHierres Strells.2730 said:

I was following a guide and doing things in order up until this point.

I don't know what guide you are following but I just checked the list of collections on the wiki and dulfy's guide for the griffon. There is no mention of Descension, the NPC, nor the location(Cave of the Lost). So if the guide says it is required I would say that is a guide of questionable quality.

 

There are two locations where you will need a Springer OR a Jackal. Although as mentioned before, mesmer portal or Teleport to Friend would also work ...

 

 

[Cuks.8241]

Get the jackal. There are no useless mounts that you will never use in GW2. All of them come into play at one point or the other.

[Khisanth.2948]

14 minutes ago, Cuks.8241 said:

Get the jackal. There are no useless mounts that you will never use in GW2. All of them come into play at one point or the other.

In the last couple of months I've only used jackal by accident but it is till worth leveling the jackal mastery to tier 4 since gives all your mount the ability to evade while using their movement skills

[ThunderHierres Strells.2730]

On 6/13/2021 at 11:41 AM, Khisanth.2948 said:

I don't know what guide you are following but I just checked the list of collections on the wiki and dulfy's guide for the griffon. There is no mention of Descension, the NPC, nor the location(Cave of the Lost). So if the guide says it is required I would say that is a guide of questionable quality.

 

There are two locations where you will need a Springer OR a Jackal. Although as mentioned before, mesmer portal or Teleport to Friend would also work ...

 

 

i did realize a little while after i made this post that the guide was indeed questionable, and all i had to do to get the last rune was talk to the Equipment Manager achiev lady(forget her name) and didn't needed the rather unneeded jackal.

Made me a little steamed that i wasted all that time, but i guess it is what it is. At least my griff has dodge now with its movement abilities.

[LucianDK.8615]

Ive not seen a need to use neither raptor or jackal in quite a long time now.  Though If i should choose, the jackal first and foremost.

Sure the raptor have a long jump, but with only two stamina bars, you get to sit waiting for a while for recharge.  Plus it turns so slowly. Beetle outclasses both in fast and fairly straight land movement where you can see obstacles in advance to curve around them.

 

The jackal compared to the raptor gives you a much better feeling with its 3 stamina bars. With the blink its imune to fall damage, and chainblinking through a group of enemies will not activate them.

 

Tbh, the additions of the flying mounts made raptor and jackal much less important or even needed for general use. Snap upwards movement is just too good. Though the skyscale took it to extremes, and I practically never use the birb now. Its niche of long distance flying nearly never offered, and it competes with the beetle for fast movement