Ok. I admit it. Heart of Thorns is fun. I was frustrated when I first started playing it because as you start out you die frequently. But I’m not sure whether it’s just me learning to play more effectively or Arena Net balancing the game a little, but it’s more fun now.
I’ve stayed away from HoT for a while. I’ve been just doing map completions on my Alts and Halloween, which is fun too. But I do have a goal of completing the Revenant Mistward Armor. That seemed out of reach a while ago, but I’m very close with only one piece to go, the coat. I don’t need the scrim [head piece] since I have that skin from creating my Revenant.First, let’s review Halloween, since it’s just wrapping up.
Candy Corn until you can’t stand it any more. And lots of Trick or Treat bags. I’m not a fan of the costume brawl, but I did win a match when the Dailies called for some activity. I did the Mad Kings “Simon Says” event back in GW1, so that’s not very interesting.
But there is “dress up” as you can see. But back to HoT.
I did some of it on a few of my Alts before. Muscled through it actually. I wasn’t much fun. But since them I’ve developed some strategies and learned some Masteries. But I think they have tweaked the game too. They seem to have reduced the damage for some of the mobs and reduced their aggro range so that they are easier to avoid. Oddly, the Revenant is not as survivable as the Ranger or Guardian. Tje Revenant lacks enough Ranged AOE so you have to work too close to the bad guys. All my Alts have exotic gear, so the comparison seems valid.
First of all, here are some suggestions if you want to play HoT:
- Join a guild. There are two advantages. Sometimes you will find “friends” working and they will have an investment in you since you are in the same guild.
- Second, you can easily get to a bank. Just find the scribe station in your guild hall and go there. You don’t have to be a scribe to use the bank function. If the game has this function, then why not just put a banker next to the repair station in the guild hall? Seems pretty obvious.
- Do follow the story. But you can start with the HoT story. I found the Silverwastes story much harder. There were some of the episodes that you really need a friend or two to help. But the HoT stories at least for the first few episodes are solo-able. The story gets you started and points the way through the mess that is the jungle. One tip. When you are doing “Torn from the Sky”, take the “Fortify the Camp” choice and after you get all the parts, you need to cross a ridge with a really bad Vet. Just run past him. He does not follow you and you’ll Pact members will find you at the camp. Just run past the raptors too.
- Don’t try to work alone in the jungle. Find a commander and stick with them. Join their squad if they are running one so you can easily see them on the map.
- I have done HoT content with Guardian, and Engineer, but Ranger is the easiest. The pet tanks, a little, and the staff is a great ranged weapon. But remember you have a bow too. That’s your AoE skill set when you need it. I used the “Spirit of Nature” as the Elite skill to help myself and others when things get tough.
- You’ll want to build your masteries pretty quickly to have Gliding Updraft and Bouncing Mushrooms. I don’t have Ley Line Gliding and I can make it most places. You’ll need to pick up Nuhoch Wallows before you get the Nuhoh Language which is required to purchase the Mistward coat insignia.
- The quests in the Forgotten City are the best. Lots of XP and lots of rewards. I got about 9 keys per run and had to rush to use them all down in the caverns before you get kicked out in about 5 minutes. There are two hero points down there, but wait until you get kicked. You can still get to them. And don’t solo them. They are champions.
- The Mistward armor is easier to get than you might think. Get your gliding to updrafts and bouncing mushrooms. Then just do events for airship parts, didn’t take long for over 1000. The Mistward armor part is only 150 Airship parts and you might want the frog mini, which looks quite nice for 1000 airship parts.
- Doing the other events including the Forgotten City events will get you Arillium for the legs. And a nice mini for 1000 more.
- You can continue to work Tangled Depths to the South to get Nuhoch Language Mastery and 150 Ley Line Crystals to get the insignia for the Mistward coat. The Mini is a Nuhoch toad. I’ve got a ways to go to get the 1000 crystals for that.
I only need a run or two in the city for the Mini Exalted and Nuhoch language skills to purchase the insignia for the coat. Very close.
If you happen to enter the city near the Armor, pick one up. You’ll be about five times more powerful and can do some damage to the Champions during the fight. If you die you lose the armor, so keep it healed up.
Save a few keys for the large round chests. There are about 4 or 5 in the caverns under the city after the event. Don’t use all your keys on the smaller chests.
After the event you will want to explore the city and take pictures. It’s beautiful.
So, if you have purchased HoT, but are frustrated, take a Ranger, Join a guild and push your way along through some story and events.
Enjoy. See you in the Tangled Depths, or soon the Ring of Fire Islands.
Update: After about 4 hours work on a Ranger, I got the Ley Line Crystals and XP required to get the Mistward Plate armor coat, for the last skin that I need. I don’t need the scrim band since the Revenant had that from creation.
I kept all the items in the bank, although you don’t need to keep all the precursors since this is a collection achievement. Just keep the Armor Pieces that you collect. Here are the pics of the armor on a Revenant and a Guardian: The guardian is wearing a flower in her hair and Phalanx legs.
:ww
Windy Weather 