An Army Of Misfits
Beyond the central forge and the Dragonsblood weapons, this is where the last, best hope for victory gather. A Star to Guide Us focused heavily on bringing together the forces that could stand against the waves of branded that swept across the land and, eventually, sowed the seeds for the upcoming fight Now the Dragonsblood Forge houses a mismatched army of misfits, monsters, and questionable alliances all ready to take on Kralkatorrik. Sunspears, Free Risen, Olmakhan, and even Exalted join the Pact and fill the outer regions of the forge. Still housed safely within the natural cave of the Peaks, the last, best hope for victory gather and as if ArenaNet is desperate to re-enforce just how desperate things are, the diverse group of scrappers isn’t exactly a well-oiled machine. Rytlock and Cannach can be found drilling volunteers and pulling together this alliance, the Dredge are an acceptable ally, The Flame Legion skirt around the camps, and Skritt are even conscripted into the ranks. Take your time exploring this post before heading outside, it’s full of marvelous little personal moments that happen when such a diverse set of characters are forced together.
Beyond the relative safety of the Forge lies the Thunderhead Peaks, a twisting mountain range continually assaulted by bitter winter winds. As if the weather’s onslaught isn’t enough of an inconvenience for the local Dredge, a branded storm bombards the landscape. Glowing purple scars crop out of the mountainside, threatening to overcome what little life still remains and this desolate combination of environmental effects that makes the defense of any safe area utterly vital. The peaks are a mix of underground burrows and massive verticality that gives Griffon’s somewhere to really shine. It is a nice change of pace to see this much verticality, without the feeling that this is a hangover from Heart of Thorns. It even synergizes nicely with the latest movement bonus.
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Following on from the recent movement masteries, like Bond of Life and Bond of Vigor, the latest mount mastery enhances the use of mounts for players. Bond of Faith provides a fun acrobatic exit to any mount barrel rolling players into the air. It is a lot of fun but not the quite as universally useful as extra health. However, time your dismount from speeding beetle or a floating griffon and you’ll find extra reach for all that vertical exploration.
Despite the unforgiving nature of this environment, there is plenty to do here in All or Nothing’s open world addition. The Dredge populates the largest single open world area that this episode houses. Their shacks and mining constructs are dotted across the ice and it’s an interesting change to see a race like the Dredge or Skritt in a new light. The Priory can be found trying to scratch out many of the fossils littered around Deldrimor Ruins, while the Branded continue to tear through rifts and threaten to overrun the allied strongholds on the map. The usual mix of map metas and seasonal currency can be found with a bunch of new rewards, including some fun minis. Events even manage to spill over into the Dwarven Catacombs which run deep into the mountainside. I am hesitant to say much more about these areas and burrow too far into the story, but I can assure you that the return to Thunderhead Keep and it’s surrounding region is well worth exploring for long-term fans of the Guild Wars franchise.
While there are plenty of historical reference points in this area, All or Nothing has plenty of new content to keep players busy between episodes. It seems somewhat fitting that while the fabric of the mists is being torn asunder by recent events, that a new fractal should reach us. Depositing us in Siren’s Reef, this fractal faces off against an army of ghost pirates. Unfortunately, I’ll be experiencing that with everyone when All or Nothing launches, such are the perils of solo previews. I did However get tooled up with the latest additions to the legendary weapon collection.
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The Right Tools For The Job
Pharus is a brand new legendary longbow that wraps the wielder in an aura of light. The shimmering white radiance of this weapon tacks on all the particle effects you might expect. Glittering footfalls and a dazzling pulse of blinding light follow as players release Pharos and deliver its wrath upon their enemies. This new longbow is an elegant design. It does not deliver the same fun extras as Xiuquatl but is a solid alternative to Kudzu. For far too long players wielding a longbow legendary have had a top-tier weapon that only really seems to coordinate with a few Slyvari skinjobs and Pharus feels like it has been too long coming.
However classic this weapon feels it does not have quite the same historical significance of the brand new Dragonsblood weapons set. The Dragonsblood weapon set is a new range of upgradeable weapons that channel the aesthetic of the Dragonsblood spear. 16 exotic weapons are available to collect with their requisite ascended variants coming in tow. While these take definite aesthetic inspiration from the Dragonsblood spear, they mostly work best when upgraded to ascended forms, taking on the full purple glow or the Dragonsblood, merging blood and metal to make some striking pieces. If you feel that Pharus is a great deal of time, then these aren’t just shiny pieces of plastic. The Dragonsblood weapons are deeply thematic and work on multiple levels.
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Story Time
While it comes with plenty of new content and some weapons that I will be working on for months, the core of any Living World episode, to me, is the story. The writing team at ArenaNet do a great job as things All or Nothing starts to gather pace, but the episode suffers from its own big bad. Moving the last few pieces into place and preparing to face any major foe makes for a relatively mundane opening. This isn’t a problem that is unique to Guild Wars 2 and it is something I’ve mentioned regarding the Dragons on more than one occasion. Where it does shine, is during character moments, where the writers, and other teams, can delve off and introduce characters we’ve not seen for some time or push together unusual bedfellows. You can rest assured that, as we creep closer to our final target, things don't stay quite so stoic. While I won’t spoil the story, it certainly reaches some new heights and you’ll need to soar if you’re going to reach an Elder Dragon after all.
