Are LOUNGE PASSES still worth it today?

[@phandrel]

Discord: discord.gg/JGdQ6Hjny9

[@mandodelorian4668]

I had no idea you lose the Jade Protocol Buffs when you go to Mistlock and/or Armistice. Thanks for the heads-up on that!

[@CrystronHalq]

Having 1 is definetely worth it. Mistlock sanctuary pass is amazing. Whats arguebly most important is in addition to everything else, is that you can teleport right back at the spot you were before. This is very valueable.

[@Cross_111]

To be able to teleport back is essentially nearly as good as a permanent bank access (only does not work if you are waiting in a full map for a meta/event or are queued up for one. But for that instances its nice to have around 100 inventory space. And no...dont let anybody tell you you need more. Keep your inventory in order and you are golden anytime!)

[@BrianMcCarty]

Yeah you missed out on the biggest advantage of the Mistlock pass, the ability to port in and back to your last location make this one worth it.

[@marv1nperator]

The PvP-lobby also teleports you back tho. So, that's really the least important feature.

[@yuvmon]

No. This is the most important feature of the passes that let you do it...

[@CrystronHalq]

@@marv1nperator You should get a passkey and feel for yourself

[@Lothkru]

The main convenience feature of the passes imo is the fact that you can park alts wherever and with just one click save and or sell things collected with said alt and return to the exact same spot (Like chests and whatnot), it is infinitely cheaper than buying the contracts and also I find mistlock the best because all the tables are right next to each other and with F1 you almost instantly go back and forth from the TP or the bank.

[@marv1nperator]

But just for that alone, the PvP-lobby works the same. O.o

[@CountDusk]

​@@marv1nperator "tables are right next to each other". The PvP lobby doesn't have crafting benches so just for that alone it doesn't work the same.

[@Sultore]

Regarding Arborstone - once you get the rested buff, you can sit in a chair to replenish it over time. I had no idea and this isn't something a lot of people talk about. From the wiki page 'Resting in Chair': Sitting in a chair with a character that already has Rested effect from Arborstone (which - depending on the tier of the Arborstone Revitalization mastery - provide 5% to 25% bonus to experience) instead prolongs the duration of the existing Rested effect for up to 4 hours. The effect is increased by 1 minute and 20 seconds every 10 seconds, which means you can replenish about an hour's worth of that buff if you sit in a chair for about 7-8mins. Makes it worth popping the chair out if you're clearing inventory bags or need to step away for a few mins.

[@phandrel]

I have actually never done this, you just made my inventory management that much more efficient! Thanks!

[@Cree8iveS]

Omg I had no idea this was a thing from using the chair while under the buff, this feature is severely undercommunicated! Thanks for sharing!

[@gregg6474]

Great tip, I wasn't aware of also.

[@dallassukerkin6878]

Interesting :) For myself I bought what I call my Tropical Island Paradise (aka Thousand Seas Pavilion :)) and have never regretted it. For the most part it is the access to all the portals that makes it so useful.

[@phandrel]

If I could only pick 1, I would choose Thousand Seas as well! It does indeed feel like a Tropical Paradise tucked away in a corner of Tyria!

[@jmoore9157]

I admit to having more than one but if I had to choose one, Thousand Seas is my favorite. I’ve leveled alts by accessing the free fishing portals to get around Tyria, PoF sites and Cantha. It also has access to Arborstone for visiting the fishing vendor for today’s fish of the day. Also has fishing vendors and Jade bot work station. All crafting stations and vendors are on one level around the mystic forge. And as a bonus…. Underwater training golems!

[@vanhohenheim9083]

I have purchased access to Mistlock Sanctuary. I have never regretted this purchase, and today if I were starting the game, I would probably buy it too.

[@phandrel]

I am convinced the last few passes (Mistlock, Armistice, Thousand Seas) all offer a good extra benefit if you have the gold/gems. So I think most people won't regret their purchases, and neither have I :) If I was completely new, however, I think I really would start to value my inventory space/bank/material storage before picking up a Lounge. But that's mainly due to how convenient the Wizard's Tower is.

[@vanhohenheim9083]

@@phandrel A matter of priorities. I don't think it would be my first or one of my first purchases. What I meant was that I would definitely buy this particular one, not another one. 🙂

[@nexeus7302]

One of the biggest selling points of Mistlock (although a lot of ppl forget that), the lounge is located in "central Tyria - above" which means should you decide to teleport anywhere at your whim, you pay less silver to any WP in comparison if you're far south, or any other direction. Some WP might charge up to 5s.

[@phandrel]

That is a great point, actually! I tend to overlook WP costs, although it's been pointed out to me how fast these can accumulate.

[@JD-ls6ex]

Mistlock - Access to PVE map. Also located in the center of the map. So good for waypoint fees. Good layout of crafting stations. Access to fractals and fractal vendors. It's the most popular one for a reason. This one will probably be the best choice for most Armistice - Best placement of the essentials. Bank, Trading Post, Vendor and mystic forge are right next to eachother. WvW chat and vendors. Can PvP with people. Can teleport around quickly. Has jumping puzzle. Big downside is no PVE map Thousand Seas - Teleports and fishing vendor with mostly all fishing related stuff (some stuff still only available in arborstone) Also access to PVE map Lily of the Elon - Comes with PoF deluxe. So good value. But ... This one doesn't let you teleport back to where you came as easily. It can be done at an NPC. But not as easy as just double clicking the scroll. If you like fishing in Crystal Oasis (one of the most popular farming locations) Then this one is good to own, since it's right at the farming location.

[@pausmth]

I have them all, and I think the divinity's reach one for access to festivals that happen there and the ones that teleport you back to where you were are worth it. On the other hand I'm also in the category having disposable income to spend so I can see the argument changing if you are using gold. I do really like them though, and I would probably still get them. Also, waiting for them to be 800 gems instead of a 1000 is a pretty solid strategy to save a little bit.

[@Zorrolord]

I bought the airship pass back when it released and I think in all of those years I got my value out of it quituple over. Also it has been on sale on multiple occasions too making it cost even less. Also the airship is still one of the more condensed pass areas and I think besides the new strike mission teleporters still holds up very well against a lot of the later released passes. So for a new player I would probably argue airship is actually still one of the best ones to purchase or maybe wizards tower.

[@Insig385]

honestly the lounge passes have never been a new player purchase rec (at least not on my tierlist), it's always better to go for stuff like mat storage expander and bank tabs first. the lounges have always been a convenience tool that ppl get depending on if they personally find it useful or not. but at some point getting more mat storage or bank tab stop being so important, at which point convenience and saving time (and some silver, but mostly time) becomes really useful. the thing with arborstone or wizard's tower is that they're really far from center of map, making tping anywhere outside of cantha/soto maps pretty expensive. and the convenience of being able to go back to where you were is fab for alt parking. but alt parking is generally a late game thing as new players aren't gonna have a pile of alts to park. which brings me back once again to the fact that thd lounge passes have never/should never be recommended for NEW player in the first place. it's always been more a thing for experienced players having reached a certain point where time efficiency and convenience outweighs the cost. (also buy the passes on sale for 800gems) I spent about 2.5 years using wvw portal to port back to LA, and then finally bought thousand seas Pavillion portal, and I will never go back 😂 I actually really want the lily of Elon pass because pof is the only region I cant get closer to, so I want it XD the convenience is unparalleled, but new players should certainly focus on other qol stuff first

[@EmmaRose-yk2qc]

At this point you're buying a VIP pass for the ability to be returned to the exact same place you left. This becomes even more valuable if you have a bunch of alts parked in hard to reach places. It gives them a way to unload and return without having to redo difficult jumping puzzles, etc. To add to it, if you have the Pavillion pass, you also get free teleport to any map (excluding Soto, sadly but you have the Tower teleport for free so it's not a big deal) that has water, which is 90% of them. That saved money adds up. I only bought the pavillion but it's 100% my most used store item. I put it up there with the salvage kits and the infinite gathering tools to make my trinity of convenience. Still very much worth it to me.

[@njnjco]

Mistlock is the best, in my opinion, because you can waypoint across the map from within the lounge. Back when I had a terrible, slow PC, this saved me a ton of time that would have been spent waiting in super long loading screens. I don't use that feature as much anymore now that I have a better PC, preferring to cheep out on waypoints at the cost of an additional loading screen, but it's still a nice convenience.

[@fredarmstrong6418]

I think the only thing I did not hear you mention is one of the benefits that comes with Thousand Seas Pavilion (and I think a few others) which is the ability to ALT-park my weaponsmith at the end of a jumping puzzle and teleport him back to craft something, and he can jump right back when done. I don't know if that justifies 1000 Gems, but since I already have it - it would be hard to lose that ability.

[@phandrel]

Very true! I realized after uploading the video that I left out a few elements that I wanted to include. On the flip side, a lot of you in the comments have been pointing them out, which will definitely help others looking for tips and tricks. So thanks for that!

[@JD-ls6ex]

Thousand seas also makes this ability useful, since you can quickly get battery charges and return to the position where you needed to use it :)

[@AnthoJoh]

I acquired, when on sale, all of the lounge passes. They are good to get you into an area for free, then just WP to where you want to go at a cheaper cost. I like them also for new alts, also helps with getting you around and open up areas and WPs. Since my main game mode in WvW, I mainly hang out in the Armistice Bastian lounge.

[@phandrel]

I bought the Armistice Bastion when on a WvW binge and could definitely see myself hanging out there as well, if I WvW'd more. I keep forgetting to use the Teleport abilities to move around faster though.

[@miereck]

For me, who uses a lot of alts (For alt-parking and farming), the mistlock pass is a blessing! I would not buy it too early on in the game but having one is definetely worth the money (or gold :D)

[@phandrel]

If you have alts, the pass pays itself back passively indeed!

[@mandodelorian4668]

I have both the Mistlock and Armistice Bastion keys, as well as the Lilly and Royal Terrace. Love both *Mistlock* and *Armistice* , I use them both all the time. (Soemtimes even just popping to the Mistlock to go to a City map/LA). The Royal Terrace pass pretty much just sits in my bank now (I log out my 'active pve' characters at the Wizards Tower). And I only use the Lilly of Elon pass to get back to PoF when there is a daily and I wanna just pop over there quickly.

[@Lanzetsu]

It is the last thing I bought and has been a life changer... going from ANY place in the world to the Lounge and going back to exactly the same spot is invaluable. Not to mention you can anyway go to any other place, but this is SO SO SO useful it is completely worth it. I already have 6 tabs on the bank so I am fine with it, but the Thousand Seas and Mistlock at least are two of the best, I have 1 on them on each of my 2 accounts, so I can always try both and none of them made me regret the buy.

[@didoma73]

You can do this with PvP lobby map.

[@Lanzetsu]

There are things you can't do in PvP and the environment is different than in PvE for quickly checking some stuff @@didoma73

[@justinnance1584]

For everyone saying some are good because you can jump in sell items then back to the jp, you can always use the pvp tab for this. The lobby gives you tp, bank, and vendor.

[@gregg6474]

I have mistlock and Lilly, those and guild halls, and the portal scrolls cut my teleporting cost to a minimum.

[@Agong22067]

guildie just gave me one for free, i didnt even ask. im not sure the details (was like two months ago), but there was a convo and somewhere i said i didnt have mistlock pass and 2 secs later its in my mail. Key takeaway... join a guild guys haha. The community is great

[@phandrel]

That's awesome! I love hearing stories like these.

[@Cloudman572]

March sale I got the deluxe upgrade to PoF for 600 gems because it gives an extra character slot, just happens to come with Elon lounge as well as some skins. Elite upgrade was on sale 1960 gems too so got myself another character slot, copper salvage and unbreakable gathering, shared slot and DR lounge was just a bonus

[@phandrel]

Those are some solid overall upgrades for your account, nice!

[@ChaiLatte13]

I have the Thousand Seas and Royal Terrace passes. I love them both for different reasons. Thousand Seas is quick access to many different places. Also if you love fishing, and as far as I know, this is the only place in the entire game where a single vendor has every single type of fishing bait available! Thousand Seas pass also allows you to teleport to it and then click on the pass again to return back to where you were. Royal Terrace is great for the festivals. But if you don't have the money for these passes, it isn't the end of the world. It is just convenience! The new Wizard Tower is honestly pretty amazing too. Arborstone is the worst zone IMO. The crafting tables are soo far away.

[@myselfme767]

I have the Lilly, Crystal Oasis is my favorite map and the pass is good if you make lots of alts.

[@phandrel]

You get the added benefits of having an easy teleport on new characters to get hero points, and it's fairly quick to load as long as pinata isn't going on :)

[@jdgual]

I bought and unlocked them all for my own collection. :D I regularly use Royal Terrace, Mistlock Observatory, Eye of the North, Arborstone, Lily of the Elon, and Thousand Seas Pavilion. In that rough order.

[@phandrel]

All you'd need now is a tome to hold all the passes so you can save bag space! If such an item were to exist, I think I couldn't resist trying to collect them all too.

[@jdgual]

Agreed... I have most of them (plus the Season 3&4 tomes) on my shared inventory slots. @@phandrel

[@marv1nperator]

Since you get both Arborstone and Wizard Tower Scrolls extremely easily, I myself see no reason to spent quite some cash on a minor convenience upgrade.

[@damianbadowski2389]

I just want to point out that the video literally stutters when you are in Wizards Tower, so I'm not that sure if you're free of the performance issue :D

[@phandrel]

I noticed as well, talk about jinxing it for myself 😅

[@Alaric11]

Wizard tower is amazing. I have armistice bastion but i use it a lot less.

[@michaelburke4048]

I've been playing GW2 since the first beta, and I only just got a lounge pass a few months ago. It is still worth it for me for two reasons. For the ability to pop in with my alts, drop off inventory clutter, and instantly return to the end chest of a long jumping puzzle. And it has practically paid for itself already just popping in, then using the portal to major cities around the world. The map travel charge can really add up.

[@phandrel]

Very true! I wonder how much I spent on Teleport Costs over the years, probably a number I'm better off not seeing.

[@marv1nperator]

Just for the inventory dump, you only need the PvP-lobby...

[@michaelburke4048]

@@marv1nperator That's true. I used to use the Obsidian Sanctum for that. Once or twice, however, it returned me to a random spot in Old Kainang instead of the spot I was at. I would still say that's good enough for anyone on a budget.

[@sudbuddiesexteriordetailin9843]

I love Mystlock. I use it everyday. It's worth it for me. Nice to have as a brand new player.

[@frechesferkel2749]

yes but sadly not available at the shop at the moment and who knows when it comes back, i also wait for it.

[@mrxatissimo3937]

I have the Mistlock Sanctuary pass. The fact that you loose the EoD buffs as caused me to loose some time more times than I care to admit. It does help a lot while farming with alts.

[@slycere]

Thousand Seas will retain all you EoD OW buffs

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

I bought every one of these passes (with real money), not because I thought they were useful, but just because I want to unlock the exclusive paywalled areas. I always wait till they get discounted before buying however. I don't remember hearing you mention that the instanced passes (mistlock/armistice/thousand seas) will drop you back to your former location if you double click on them again while in the lounge. If I were to give new player advice though, I won't recommend buying any unless A: You love fractals -> mistlock B: You fish a ton, don't want to lose your jade bot buffs, have easy access to the jade bot workbench or want a somewhat convenient way to move your characters to certain maps your character has no waypoint to -> thousand seas C: WvW players can get armistice I guess. It does look nice though and your participation doesn't decay there so you can afk there. I also want to mention that I have envoy's herald but I'm not registered on gw2 efficiency.

[@RbDaP]

Wait, crafting in our home bl? I dont know about it, its literally the only thing i cant do in wvw

[@phandrel]

I couldn't agree more with every single of your recommendations! I have been tempted to buy all of the passes too, to appease my collectionist needs, but decided to start with Legendary Gear first :)

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

@@RbDaP That was a mistake sorry. Shows how long I've played this game and how long I haven't entered the BL, I only just remembered they removed that from your home BL a long time ago because people were using it and clogging up the BL queues (it's why there's some really off looking empty spots in the home BL - its most obvious on red BL because the upper floor used to be crafting stations with vendors). SO I guess WvW players do have a reason to get armistice. I edited my comment.

[@majked]

I'm actually using mystlock sanctuary but the loading screen is quit long. I was wondering if someone tested all of them to see Wich one load quicker. Because everyday I teleport there fews times in a row and it's killing immersion of the game those long ass loading screen.

[@phandrel]

I've always wondered whether it's due to the map being so packed with players. It definitely feels like it loads longer than any of the other 3 I have (Lily of the Elon, Armistice, Thousand Seas).

[@majked]

​@@phandrelif you make a quick video to compare,I'm sure some people like me would be interested

[@triple1]

It's the amount of players. If someday another lounge becomes more popular, then that will load slower :) In popular hubs and cities like these, I wish they could do parallel processing when rendering characters but I guess it's only possible with dx12 and they just barely switched to dx11 and I don't see it happening soon. ;/

[@JohnPaulRojas]

If you have lots of alts and low level, or low level alts and cant use tp consumables/scrolls, thousand seas to use to move them around tyria for parking

[@phandrel]

I've been using it a ton for map completion as well, there's quite a few handy waypoints you can unlock from the get go.

[@NitroAimBot]

I've a lot of characters and Thousand seas let's them teleport to a lot of places thx to fishing ports for free. So, i don't need to waste friend teles.

[@hollowzangetsu]

Just get mistlock pass and you're good to go . I got the salvage kits , some inventory slots and material expansion to 750 then I got mistlock passkey for 800 gem instead of a bank slot after . it wroth it to me more than a bank slot specially the fact that I have many alt characters . unlimited gathering tools is next

[@tuffigk8235]

My main is human noble, got royal terrace for lore reasons 😂

[@phandrel]

I salute your commitment to the cause!

[@Ailasor]

been playing for 10 years.. never used hem.. have a shitload of 2week passes i got from somewhere to different lounges...

[@agriosbr]

Mistlock? Surely! Others...not so sure. A Mistlock pass on a shared slot is one of the highest QoL purchases one can made.

[@quentinn6834]

Wizard's Tower is so laggy for me every time I go there, it is really annoying. Its such a shame ! But makes me never want to go there

[@didoma73]

The quality of life convenience that you get from lounges are offset by their long loading times. I'd rather just use PvP map and LA.

[@macabrecreation1067]

meh I have unlimited access at Lion's Arch 😂