Guild Wars Area Tier List

[@okbuddykormir]

Nothing beats watching the snow fall from tree branches in the Shiverpeaks while listening to Tasca's Demise and pretending to be an e-girl to catfish that one officer guy in the guild because you want an elite armor but don't know any other farming method. Good times. Best zone.

[@DoomBox]

we've all been there

[@johncutie5769]

LOL

[@Endrosz]

Tasca's Demise is my alarm clock tune on my cell phone. That ambience you're talking about is unforgettable.

[@joeydepoy]

Definitely Cute E Girl?! Is that you?!

[@toastedt140]

I quit playing my female assassin because dude's kept hitting on me.

[@LeonAlexGuitar]

God I hate Maguma Jungle That zone is a fucking maze, the missions are hella annoying and that seed-vine bridge mechanic results in loads of back tracking when playing solo And don't even get me started on vanquishing that shit hole

[@joeydepoy]

Even a decade later, I see Doom Box upload, I drop what I'm doing and click

[@metamon2704]

Isn't about time to do a Nightfall playthrough?

[@justice_1337]

nightfall bad

[@jonathanreece4151]

@@justice_1337 NIghtfall best

[@Plinious]

@@justice_1337 I played it recently. Nightfall is amazing.

[@justice_1337]

@@Plinious It's an ok campaign, its just heavily gated and too long.

[@rebelsouljaz]

​@@justice_1337gated how?

[@Gyokan7]

Your slander against the Echovald Forest will not be forgiven easily.

[@LeeCoins]

We need more Doom Box content!

[@johncutie5769]

I saw pre-searing hit the S tier and I knew I was in the right place

[@LettucePlate]

3 active districts in 2023. It's goated.

[@DaedalusIV]

Set foot and never left the place

[@ShoppingStew]

You are right, post-searing Ascalon was most certainly behind the great emo movement of early 2000s.

[@ErikMm5]

man GW1 is my happy place, I could talk about or listen to someone dig into for ages

[@MenardiChan]

0:22 Aww, poor Doombox! You always have us to listen to your bi-annual random GW1 thoughts :D

[@T3AMKILL]

Pre-searing is peak nostalgia. The bleakness and depression of post-searing Ascalon makes you appreciate seeing the snow of the Shiverpeaks that much more.

[@ryanu3708]

I remember coming out of Pre into post searing Ascalon. That dreadful jaws-like low bass music thudding in the background still gives me the willies.

[@ryxb]

Time to do a mission tier list next

[@justice_1337]

Ice Caves of Sorrow

[@Odysseusx86]

I still log on occasionally just to chill in pre-searing. It's just so relaxing, and it always surprises me how many people are still there. Getting to lv20 before the vanguard quests and the Incorrigible Ale-Hound before they changed it from minutes to points is still my lifes biggest gaming achievements

[@MoonForge]

I loved post searing Ascalon, everything felt and looked miserable. Hell, even the sky was grim yet bright like fire. Rurik's daddy issues was kinda whatever to 10 years old me but we had to force our way throught the big scary cats and leave Ascalon behind us FOREVER. That place hits hard.

[@maddyleaf]

As a kid, slogging through post searing and finally reaching the beautiful snows of the Shiverpeaks was absolutely serene for the first time. It's like, crawling your way out of a long, deep depression and finally seeing the beautiful white light at the end of the tunnel.

[@maddyleaf]

Also, the first time you hear Temple of Tolerance in Kryta. 10/10 GW moment, made me a Jeremy Soule fan for life.

[@awesomesauce980]

Doombox: "Istan is just kind of a generic deserty island." Meanwhile, Istan: Desert, Swamps, forest, flooded farmland I mean, in terms of singular areas, Istan feels like the most diverse.

[@FlavaProeliator]

It is so strange watching Doom Box all these years later cause I JUST had the realization, as a 26 year old man, that a good portion of the sense of humor and sarcasm that I have to this day was formed from watching Doom Box back when I was in middle school. Watching this video I found myself making jokes in my head milliseconds before you made the same joke with the same tone in the video. Crazy how some things can stick with you when introduced through a passion as a kid.

[@johngarland4431]

Bae Six Nightfall play through coming soon?

[@francosferrella6377]

It's great to see so many people watching and commenting! Been back in Tyria for a month now. Joined an awesome guild and got some chars through their story campaigns. Feels good to be back!

[@haydnr01]

It's GW1, all of it is S tier

[@tarheel7406]

Pre-Searing Ascalon (B-Tier). Special but one can't return, limited skills, no hard mode. Unique case. Ascalon (F-Tier): Ugly, 4-man zones, foes with relatively random skill bars. Northern Shiverpeaks (B-Tier): 6-man zones resulting in bar compression challenge. Kryta (S-Tier): Iconic, early access to an 8-man party, and an interesting mix of foes rewarding smart damage type choices (including holy). Maguuma Jungle (D-Tier): Main outpost comes at the end of this part of the story rather than the start, relatively few quests, foe diversity seems to be a drop from the previous Kryta. Crystal Desert (B-Tier): 6-man zones that reward smart bar compression but with an 8-man option. Missions are time based that don't fit my playstyle. Southern Shiverpeaks (A-Tier): First true 8-man zones with challenging vanquishes, lots of elite skills to capture, and Sorrow's Furnace. Ring of Fire (D-Tier): One explorable, the rest missions, too many elites in the missions. Missed potential. Shing Jea (B-Tier): My first ever area, good mix of 4 and 6-man zones. Should have been a bigger starting area like Istan. Kaineng City (E-Tier): Zones far too similar in appearance and mobs, timed missions don't fit my playstyle. Should have been split into 2 regions, perhaps affluent and slums. Echovald Forest (S-Tier): Personal favorite; love the look and feel. This and the Jade Sea seem to be the first areas in which foes are added and subtracted as one get deeper until the end zones that have them all. Jade Sea (B-Tier): Unique appearance, but mobs just less interesting than in the Echovald Forest. Istan (S-Tier): Great starting area but could have used a 6-man area. Relatively safe for different strategies (e.g. Protection, Motivation or Restoration). Kourna (C-Tier): Zones/mobs too similar except the one-off Barbarous Shore. Lots of quests. Vabbi (A-Tier): Zones/mobs more diverse than Kourna, but despise the Roaring Ethers. Lots of quests. The Desolation (F-Tier): Zones/mobs far too same, especially with the wurms. Realm Of Torment: (C-Tier): Domain of Anguish too difficult in my view for an all hero team, but the different environmental effects add diversity. No vanquish required/reward. Far Shiverpeak (A-Tier): Has the most zones in the Eye of the North. Fire damage friendly. Tarnished Coast (C-Tier): Very difficult vanquishes, but the extra energy buff encourages non-standard builds. Charr Homelands (D-Tier) Only 3 zones, 1 with no attached outpost. Bonus points for the return of the Charr. Depths Of Tyria: Needs its own tier list. The Mists (E-Tier): Not all hero friendly. Recap: S-Tier: Kryta, Ecovald Forest, Istan A=Tier: Southern Shiverpeaks, Vabbi, Far Shiverpeaks B-Tier: Pre-Searing Ascalon, Northern Shiverpeaks, Crystal Desert, Shing Jea, Jade Sea C-Tier: Kourna, Realm Of Torment, Tarnished Coast D-Tier: Maguuma Jungle, Ring Of Fire, Charr Homelands E-Tier: Kaineng City, The Mists F-Tier: Ascalon, The Desolation

[@2nd3rd1st]

Your fan community should be called The Doom Box Saints

[@cryssoberyl5813]

I agree with you about Kaineng, I always somehow loved the sprawling dilapidation. Vabbi too, always loved the opulence. I'm surprised about Istan though, given that it has Mehtani Keys, basically THE most beautiful island/beach area in the game, and for me Lahtenda Bog was also incredibly atmospheric, dark and dank. Also Farahnur. It's an extremely VARIED starter area in terms of terrain, unlike Pre and Shing Jea.

[@AramilsMusic]

13:30 I hear ya, I thought I was the only one who loved Kaineng City and this was really refreshing to hear. Kaineng City and Jade Sea might be my all time favorites in any game ever, such amazing and creative designs and dense atmosphere. God damn. Regards, Fellow Factions simp

[@metor36]

Damn, all these years of watching DoomBox and I didn't realize how similar our preferences are.

[@Julz420666]

I remember playing with Doom Box in like 2007 with no idea he was an in game celebrity 😂 Cool to see you still uploading bro

[@DoomBox]

dang what was your IGN?

[@hundun5604]

Doom Box's GW Tier List: S; Pre-Searing, The Jade Sea, Vabbi A; Crystal Desert, Shing Jea Island, Kaineng City, The Mists B; Shiverpeaks, Kryta, The Desolation, Realm of Torment, Charr Homelands C; Maguuma Jungle, Ring of Fire Islands, Far Shiverpeaks D; Istan, Kourna, Tarnished Coast, Depths of Tyria E; Echovald Forest, The Battle Isles F; Post-Searing

[@therupert9506]

Sorry Doom but i think that contrast about the post searing areas makes it what it should be so it deserves an A with a fact that it didint aged good

[@LettucePlate]

Before watching the video I'll make mine and see how it compares. S - Presearing, EotN/Northern Shiverpeaks. A - Echovald Forest, Shing Jea, Southern Shiverpeaks. B - Jade Sea, Charr homelands, Ring of Fire, Kaineng City itself, end game Prophecies (UW, FoW, etc.). C - Crystal Desert, pretty much all of Nightfall, Asura area, Kaineng outskirts. D - Maguuma Jungle, Post searing Ascalon. Didn't think about this much. Probably just forgot like 10 locations but yea.

[@Xivinux]

Doom Box legend

[@Snillomator]

I'd put Vabbi down to A. Move Echovald up to A too. Shing Jea was my original starter area and has a big part of my personal experience in GW1 so I'd move it up to S for that. Other than that I agree with it for the most part.

[@AramilsMusic]

14:24 truer words have never been spoken

[@DerLetzteElf]

Great to hear from you again!

[@Volatile-Tortoise]

Oh my god Doom Box, so happy to see this video uploaded that I have to comment before I’ve even got past a five minute point. Such a happy memory meeting you in game in Lion’s Arch with my friend on Skype. And yes, I still haven’t forgiven the Charr either, I was thinking about this very fact only about half an hour ago before I bumped into your video. Sidetrack tangent - I’m still resentfully disgusted overhearing some citizens in GW2 [Divinity’s Reach] saying to each other (but effectively telling the player) to “get over it”. “Oh my Gaaawd, the searing was like 200 years ago, get over it already.” The real salt in the wound is that pre-and post-Searing Ascalon are analogous to what happened in my own childhood… Anyway, before this comment gets too dark, let’s get back to the video.

[@bdawg2592]

Imagine a common Suxon giving his (wrong) opinion on the Echovald Forest

[@1awesomishjohnny]

S: Kaineng City, Vabbi, Realm of Torment, Pre-Searing A: Jade Sea, Shing Jea, Charr Homelands B: The Mists, Shiverpeaks, Crystal Desert, Istan C: Far Shiverpeaks, Maguuma Jungle, Echovald Forest, Desolation, Kryta D: Kourna, Tarnished Coast E: Ring of Fire F: Ascalon

[@justcus]

return of the KING! or should i say, the GOD WALKING AMONGST MERE MORTALS?

[@floridaman4473]

Doom box ass reveal when

[@the_purple_mage]

I really enjoyed this video, but I am surprised, and genuinely flabbergasted, that you made it through the entire video without mentioning the music in each of these areas even ONCE. Overlooking how integral the music was and how it contributed to the mood and enjoyability of these areas is a truly lamentable oversight. I'm experiencing so much SMH right now that I feel like a bobble-head...

[@DoomBox]

I mentioned Crystal Oasis and the music on Shing Jea island

[@the_purple_mage]

@@DoomBox I stand corrected! Okay, SMH subsides somewhat. Still deserved much more attention, imho. The music was probably the primary reason I played the game for as long as I did, and the nostalgia I have for different areas in the game is defined overwhelmingly by the music. For example: The Shiverpeaks deserves an entire extra rank based on the music alone! 😊

[@blind2415]

Man I was wondering if you’re going to finish those walk through with nightfall then eye of the north

[@nikolasscholz7983]

my main complaint with this video is that the intro song is shortened into oblivion. i love that shit man, get out a 10 hour version

[@moti1s]

I really liked the Far Shiverpeaks though, would give at least an A, its the soundtrack and the NORN atmosphere of it, you could feel as if you are some kind of The Great Hunter slaying legendary wurms and omegadestroyers while the epic symphony soundtrack is echoing through the dungeons, yeah i really liked that. Something they couldnt replicate in the GW2 quite as much

[@wwld9823]

I browse youtube exclusively because I know doom box might upload

[@Eddywars]

You forgot the annoying parts of desert and maguuna jungle. The crystals to pop up vine bridges and teleports

[@jhroomy]

He is back! I recently watched the whole Prophecies playthrough and the Factions playthrough and then noticed his last upload was 7 months ago I was worried.

[@brodofraggins]

Agree with most of what you said, especially regarding the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest and Kurzicks vs Luxons, but the Tarnished Coast is by far my favorite region of EotN. The dinosaurs, the jungle aesthetic, the floating mountains and magic temples, I loved it. And the wurm parts of the desolation can go die in a hole. The non wurm parts were cool though.

[@justice_1337]

PreSearing > Southern Shiverpeaks > Crystal Desert I am a huge prophecies fan. Presearing Ascalon has a different warmth to it. I think it may have special lighting? Ironically the coolest thing about post searing ascalon is the giant crystals... Kryta isn't jungle, its swamp, fields/water terrace things, swamp, sandy beaches and swamp. The magumma jungle is the worst area in the game but thankfully you can skip it by walking to the sanctum cay mission. The only thing cool about the ring of fire is all the mursaat stuff. I suppose if you like lava there is that as well. FoW is pretty meh but I do like UW icewastes. I don't mind factions. Shing Jea has a nice blend of biomes. Its clear they were trying to replicate the appeal of presearing without creating the hassle of pre/post hacking. Kaineng City is pretty bad. Its copy paste rust color palettes. The Jade Sea is about like the crystal desert, it has its distinct look utilized well. The Echovald Forest has a good blend of drab grandeur architecture with stain glass and green grasses. I dislike nightfall but the savannah areas are ok. Vabbi blue makes me want to vomit after a while. Desolation and realm of torment are trashy. It does have big purple library things though.

[@Sithlordxxxx]

You still have people to talk with. Remember that.

[@Youngsy5]

I remember the Emo kids. Elementalist/Monks right?

[@michaelbird9148]

Man, if Anet was able to iterate upon existing campaigns around the Factions/early NF era, that would've been fascinating. Even just from the point of the end of prophecies. Pre-searing was the last region made, and it shows the learning curve.

[@EmissaryOfSmeagol]

Kaineng City is honestly a banger of a zone. Highly underrated city. Undercity, if you will.

[@charleslawrence7327]

Apart from the placing of the NPCs which was fucking atrocious. I had 10k hours in GW and I still could not remember where each of the specific merchants in that city were

[@jameslin3458]

The man and the myth is back!! Please do a nightfall lets play.

[@MrNdrewb]

Kaineng City was AMAZING, I still remember wondering whats behind the next corner, on high alert constantly

[@justice_1337]

What's around the next corner? More rust color copy paste...

[@MrNdrewb]

@@justice_1337 you're not lying, it was a lot of that vibe - I liked it a lot though, sky-high ceilings, yet loads of claustrophobic corridors

[@jordanpower7941]

He’s back

[@SomeAssh0le]

this is the content we've been waiting 7 months for

[@fruzeniusgames]

Personally I would separate Northern and Southern Shiverpeaks, just because of the stark difference in level difficulty and the enemy composition. I would still rank them both very highly though, Northern Shiverpeaks feels so cool and peaceful after getting out of Old Ascalon, and Southern Shiverpeaks, while the difficulty increases a fair amount, offers some really fun zones, and a ton to explore outside the missions, even if you don't include Sorrow's Furnace.

[@justice_1337]

Think he was going by looks of the region not monsters. Although imo even then they are quite different. Mineral Springs stands out drastically from the rest.

[@warnerchandler9826]

The Southern Shiverpeaks have that wonderful "go get you some good elite skills FINALLY" vibe to it. I love the snow on the ground and falling, great views, and challengingly peaceful.

[@jamesdow211]

my friend I think you did old ascalon dirty. Sure, everything is orange and bland and drags on but I think the depressing atmosphere is a great contrast to what comes before and after and it. It also is pretty great because of how it really justifies rurik-adelbern drama by showing you thoroughly the destruction and savagery of the charr I think it deserved to be above the echovald forest at least for being much more emotionally-provoking.

[@ViviLouF]

Yearly video FeelsGoodMan

[@velDANTe]

nobody cares but: S - Realm of Torment, The Mists (ascension levels) A - Echovald Forest, The Jade Sea, Crystal Desert, Vabbi B - Kourna, Shiverpeak Mountains, The Mists (FoW, UW) C - Far Shiverpeaks, The Battle Isles D - Shing Jea Island, Kaineng City, Istan, Charr Homelands, The Desolation E - Tarnished Coast, Ascalon, Kryta F - Ring of Fire Islands, Maguuma Jungle

[@BalticBlades]

I've missed ya buddy

[@funeralmuse]

I can confirm your theory. I was a post-searing induced emo in high school

[@chazdomingo475]

Kursuck

[@Depporas]

do a nightfall playthrough or I will have to get involved.

[@gabeclark8050]

Oh my god the king is back.

[@pwnagenuss]

Ah the teir list meme, you genius. Milk this

[@InkogitoRecords]

continue the journey and play nightfall... pls

[@Depporas]

You owe use a Nightfall playthrough

[@Runeify00]

OUTSTANDING VIDEO!!!!!!!

[@justcus]

i’ve gotta know, is the bae six X nightfall play through still coming eventually? i know you’re a busy beaver, but even if it’s not for a while longer i’d love to see the series finished one day.

[@BlightBlaze583]

Gotta put the Sunspear Arena in S for Sunspear

[@DoomBox]

how is vabbi formed

[@pancake7183]

Pre is SSS, any other opinion is wrong.

[@IcewolfBrett]

Love this video! I wanna go back to gw soon.

[@Iamtidal]

what tier is bay6 in?

[@DoomBox]

b tier because bay starts with b

[@Imbagon]

All 👏Shiverpeaks 👏areas 👏are 👏 S tier

[@DoomBox]

dang rurik I'm surprised you have that opinion considering you got murdered in the shiverpeaks

[@vladislavkouchnarev1227]

You're nuts for not ranking Kryta higher. The transition from the shiverpeaks and ascalon to a beautiful tropical paradise, was incredible. And if you cant describe Istan in a single sentence, its not that generic, is isn't it?

[@smiterdin8404]

Kaineng city was turboaids of the highest calibur. It was such a mess and everything was gated with forced progression which was antithetical to how fluid progress could be in prophecies. Not to mention how being stuck in brown wall city for 10+ hours is so boring, but I will say getting out of that hell hole was a real high 13 years ago.

[@DoomBox]

whattup candy

[@smiterdin8404]

@@DoomBox HELLO DHUUM BAWKS

[@meerkatm7117]

[@birdzs2342]

Jade sea fan boy all the way 😍

[@joaomachado9105]

long time no see :P

[@Dungaipara]

nothing will ever beat presearing, it had an oldschool rpg feel, you could get so immersed in that vibe. The modern gw sucks compared with its min maxxing mesmer heroes bullshit.

[@edsah1213]

He's back!!!!!!!

[@unfluencedarea]

I can only agree with about 50% of the choices here. Especially some zones after Prophecies just feel a bit more fleshed out and streamlined than the Prophecies zones. Its pretty hard to consider visuals, music, missions, atmosphere, etc. at the same time. Post Searing Ascalon up to E, but I can understand F. The Charr patrols and the shock after the Searing cutscene are the only thing this zone has going for itself. Ring of Fire and Maguuma lower to D/E/F. Whatever flows your boat. The zones feel quite bland. Crystal Desert down to C/D. The only thing keeping this zone from E/F is the music. Istan up to C. I like how the zone is diverse with jungles, beaches, savannah, etc. Kourna to A, I just love this zone, the orange sand, the fortresses, the Kournan patrols, the poverty is palpable, very good atmosphere imo. Vabbi to B/C. Its not bad but less than Kourna imo. The garden of Seborhin is nice, but what else does Vabbi have? Maybe the library in the north, thats it. The Desolation down to E/F, the poisonous hazes is an interesting concept, but i cant see other appeal. The entrance to the Real of Torment is cool, thats it. The EotN zones have some interesting locations, like the fire forest and Charr base in Sacnoth Valley, the GOLEM project in Asura territory, the frozen lake in Drakker Lake, etc. I would probably bump these up a bit. I dont love the factions zones as much as you, but I can see your reasoning. Thanks for your annual upload!

[@casualsa]

you did Istan dirty. It was kind of an experiment i feel like though. like every zone is kind of a different thing which was pretty much an entirely new thing to try for them. in prophecies or factions the regions were pretty much just what they were and werent trying to do a lot of different things. for instance in the jade sea all the zones are pretty much thematically the same. wheras in istan you have a zone thats like a plain, one thats sort of foresty, a big ruined city, a more tropical type area and a swampy area which i think is kinda cool.

[@monsterreeder]

Echovald Forest and the Jade Sea are the only reasons to even go to Cantha, and you cannot change my mind.

[@johanwikstrom5671]

I always thought Kourna was really atmospheric... You have Gandara and all the other huge military garrisons scattered all over the map but the actual landscape is just this dead, dry wasteland where people live in huts made out of mud and it just reeks of poverty. It's a very stark contrast and makes for a great visual storytelling for how Kourna's government operates and what their ideology is. But yeah whatever, 18 year old dead game 🤷

[@Triaz357]

Kaineng is a solid F tier only because there isn’t a lower tier to put it in. I was so excited when Factions came out I took my main there as soon as it went live. By the time I got out of the city I shelved Factions and didn’t finish it for months. Still to this day I dislike going to Factions. The starter area is awesome though. I do begrudgingly take a character through factions every so often and am reminded why it’s easily, in my opinion, the worst game of the trilogy. Prophesies and EotN are my favorites.

[@AnalogX64]

I think I want to get my GAMM finally finished. I don't think I even remember how to play it, there are no mounts, no jumping.

[@Tobys3rdAttempt]

Nightfall lets play?

[@chazzitz-wh4ly]

Shing Jea boardwalk is best zone after pre. Post reminds me of a scab wound.

[@MT-zb7eg]

He HAS RETURNEEEEEED!!!!!!!

[@galaxian23]

is there one blade of grass in post searing ascalon?

[@krystof5271]

nightfall series wen

[@Tosnoob]

The thing that doesn't help Post-Searing Ascalon is the absolute insane amount of enemies giving themselves 100% Block for a long-ass time, while also just burrowing themselves out of the ground next to you with no warning, with not a whole lot of skill you have against it. So martial players would often just pick their nose. Not a great introduction.

[@UnwarrierChicken]

Loved it.

[@ryanu3708]

You should do a poll somewhere. Results might surprise ya.

[@OneMorePotion]

Kaineng City is S+ and yes, you can fight me on this.

[@justice_1337]

its copy paste rust color buildings rofl

[@OneMorePotion]

@@justice_1337 Cities like these are ugly. Look at Kowloon, the real life city Kaineng was designed after.

[@kyleduvall6721]

Bro we know you are busy but elona is waiting.

[@kyleduvall6721]

Fr tho hope all is well!

[@chazdomingo475]

Land of the Golden Sun

[@YouTubeChillZone]

Lol doom box is alive

[@danmujibangsong]

Whichever area has the most goats has to be the best

[@Jertopotamus]

Aw shit it's time for DOOM!