We’ve all been there. You only got a spare few moments left before you are unceremoniously yanked out of Tyria. Pizza is on the way, the raid group has dispersed, or worse you’ve got to go outside. Years ago, I might have suggested speed running a dungeon before you’re done but even drumming up interested in these desolate corners of the world seems to take far too long and getting into WvW can turn into an authentic British queueing experience. So instead here are a few ideas for things that you can do in Tyria that can be crammed into the space between. Let’s all them adventures in ten minutes or less.
PVP
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Top of this list of Tyria Done Quick has to be PvP. While this doesn’t come to you in any particular order, jumping into the Heart of the Mists is probably the most obvious choice when you have just a few moments to spare. For the uninitiated, the Heart of The Mists is the home of Guild Wars 2 PvP and can be accessed by spamming the crossed swords icon at the top of your screen. For those who would rather kick back than kick ass, you can make use if the new seat tech next to the Arena Waypoint and watch the locals duke it out in the practice arena. However, this isn’t nearly as much fun as getting your hands dirty. Before queuing up for battle, newcomers should probably make sure you are in a position to inflict maximum damage. While we’ve bashed on Metabattle in previous weeks, you cannot deny it’s a quick and convection way to prepare for the comparative experience. Once you’ve selected a build, spammed the PvP menu, applied the relevant gear, and queued up for PvP, you will find the Temple of the Silent Storm, Skyhammer, and the Capricorn are just some of the locations where you can squeeze in a quick conquest match in Guild Wars 2.
Even participating rewards players. Down the other team, capture points, and generally contribute to the game and you’ll watch the reward track creep along. Loot chests, dungeon tokens, and some incredible armor are all there for the taking and can be carved out in ten-minute chunks if that’s all you can spare. Check out he reward tracks in the PvP menu after you’re done taking names to see some of the rewards on offer. ECTO GAMBLING
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Hidden away in a dank corner of Lion’s Arch lies the seedier side of Tyria. The exuberant highs of success, the despondent cries of the destitute, and the promise of untold riches all wait for anybody who care to risk it all and try their hand at some ecto gambling. Introduced back in back before the rebuild of Lion’s Arch, the Apprentice Mekteki is now found in a cave off the south-east shore of Lion’s Arch and is an effective sinkhole for the game’s river of ectoplasm. Mekteki was supplemented by the casino in Amnoon with the Path of Fire Expansion, although I’m guessing Mordremoth does not have the financial acumen to run a gambling operation. Players with excess Globs of Ectoplasm can use thee to purchase a range of RNG items. The Destabalized Ectoplasm available from Meteki or the hands dealt in Amnoon’s casino can prove to be very lucrative for the right individual. Lucky followers of the RNG gods have been known to make thousands of gold profit from this endeavour. As well as a financial return, there’s also the prospect of grabbing some Superior Runes of Holding and a personal delivery portal from our little furry friend. While Superior Runes of Holding are a direct drop, the personal delivery portal is only available to players who complete the Legendary Tarktun Supporter achievement. This requires players use 100 Globs of Destabalized Ectoplasm. It’s a pretty expensive achievement but if you have the pockets for it then you can absolutely complete this in a few minutes. MOUNT RACING Let’s be honest, I was not quite sure mounts were going to work out in Guild Wars 2. The team had so vehemently championed the waypoint system for so long that I clung onto concerns that they might make Tyria just seem irrevocably smaller. I turns out that I was totally wrong. The Mount system has brought a ton of replay value to the maps that make up Tyria. Where Living World Masteries required a great deal of effort for some very limited, if fun, movement rewards mounts bring a whole new way to traverse the world. The recent addition of the Roller Beetle left us all battering around the sand dunes for hours on end. Now that everyone has a new favorite mount, it is time to take it out for a spin. If you get sick of freestyling with your new companion, then there are a range of mount races for you to take part in from the Crystal Oasis to the Sandswept Isles. You’ll find all the locations in the official Wikki, but just remember that fastest doesn’t always mean first in these challenges. DYE YOUR MOUNT
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When a player asked if my purple beetle was a special reward recently, it became all too clear how easy it is to miss this awesome little addition to Guild Wars 2. Dying armor is pretty common knowledge but your mount couldn’t be easier too. Just jump into the hero panel by hitting H, head into the Dyes menu and take a look for a little shoehorn icon, click it and get creative with your mount. PARTICIPATE IN AN ACTIVITY So you’ve only got minutes to kill and you don’t know what to do? Head over to Activity Lead Cassi in Lions Arch. You’ll find her loitering around The Grand Piazza with a range of fun distractions to keep you occupied. In addition to just killing time, each of the daily activities has a whole plethora of achievements attached and some participation rewards. Each and every one of the following can be nailed in around ten minutes. Crab Toss Crab Toss is a manic game of catch the crab, played against eight other competitors and a gaggle of hungry Karka hatchlings. Talking to Cassi will match players with 7 other contenders ready and willing to scramble around an arena after a singularly elusive crab. Holding onto the aforementioned crab awards points to players who can avoid the attention of their opponents and the cranky Karka. Participants will find their skill bar replaced with a new set of abilities in the Crab Toss and can score additional points by using these to dislodge the target crab from opposition hands, stealing the crab, and downing your competitors. This manic match takes place in the outskirts of Southsun Cove and comes in at around six minutes, just enough time to prove that slippery when wet won’t phase you. Sanctum Sprint Introduced as part of the Bazaar of the Four Winds update back in July 2013, Sanctum Sprint is probably one of my all-time favorite activities. It was introduced around the same update hat first featured Belcher’s Bluff, another mini game that still exists in Guild Wars 2. It is like a kind of Tyrian Mario Kart. This race around the world deposits players at the start of a huge race track and encourages them to scale a track that winds its way to the top to Labyrinth Cliffs. Like other activities, it swaps standard skills for a specific set of options. These imbue players with a set of movement and action abilities, enabling them to channel the power of the aspects. Power ups scattered around the track allow players to dash into the distance, teleport, leap incredible heights, and deploy lightning storms, among other things. Winning is the only thing that is important in Sanctum Sprint, but thankfully, unlike Mario Kart, there is no blue shell quite yet. Southsun Survival
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Southsun Survival was yet another activity that entered the game alongside the discovery of Southsun Cove. It is the nearest approximation to a Guild War Battle Royale mode that you will see. Players planning to survive in Southsun are deposited in an instance of this wretched island and forced to duke it out among themselves until only one survivor remains. You’ll need to scavenge for rations, find weapons, and stave off enemies, all while hunger eats away at your health bar. It’s a surprisingly fun fight that is certainly a lot quicker to complete than your classic PUG. Keg Brawl The Guild Wars Wiki describes Keg Brawl as Norn basketball and quite frankly I couldn’t think of a better way to explain it. This mainstay of Hoelbrak is full of burly brawls and flying kegs. It doesn’t take much more to explain and you’ll pick up the just quick enough. START COLLECTING THOSE CATS
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OK Not all of us want to grow up to be a crazy cat Asura, and this doesn’t have much intrinsic reward beyond the fact that home instance will end up absolutely overrun with cute cats. Some time ago ArenaNet started dropping cats into the game for no apparent reason. Players could interact with them but they seemed appropriately aloof, turns out it took some clever members of the community to try the right treat. Now over thirty cats are collectible throughout the game. These tend to require a little edible encouragement, all of which are listed in the official Wikki. Most of these take a few moments to complete and spruce up your home with the cutest little balls of fluff. It’s totally flippant but it makes me feel better so what better reason. There are absolutely tons of things you can get up to in Tyria for a few minutes, from Guild dashes to making music. What do you do between those mighty map metas and WvW campaigns? Let us know in the comments below.
