Heart Of Thorns Is Incredible | Journey And Experience

Heart of Thorns is the first expansion for Guild Wars 2. Here is my journey and experience through ArenaNet's first endeavor into this field of content, hope you enjoy!
#guildwars2 #gw2 #heartofthorns
Part 1: • Final Fantasy XIV Vete...
Part 2: • Finishing Guild Wars 2...
Part 3: • Checking Out Living Wo...
Part 4: • So This Is Living Worl...
Where to find me:
Twitch: / megamadvlad
Twitter: / megamadvlad
Discord Server: / discord

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

This one took a bit to get through, but we’re finally into the expansion experience! Hope you all enjoy!

[@parasite159]

Something interesting about Heart of Thorns is dialogue play out a lot differently if you play as a Sylvari, NPC's treat you with a general sense of distrust, and you're able to hear the voice of Mordremoth during some cinematics where other races wouldn't.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Yeah I heard about that. I’ve got a level 80 Sylvari on standby for when I have the time lol

[@isbammoi3358]

Idk if you've managed to have the time yet, but it's super worth it. I've always mained a Sylvari mesmer, and the surprise of the unique experience when this first released was exhilarating. I obviously have bias, but it's due to playing through this expac as a Sylvari that it's by far my favorite! @@MegaMadVladMMO

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

@@isbammoi3358 Oh yeah, I haven't had the chance to just yet lol. Still planning on it but currently busy with moving and other content at the same time.

[@methanbreather]

each of the maps is a story chapter in itself: Ch 1: Verdant Brink - find the survivors and survive until the next morning Ch 2: Auric Basin -.regrouping and finding new allies Ch 3: TD - preparing for the counter attack Ch 4: Dragon Stand - the counter attack

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

That’s definitely what helps with the different personalities of each zone for sure lol. They still have the themes from the main story

[@kaspi001]

Something to look forward to: Living World Season 4. This one is generally regarded as the best story-wise.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

So I think the order going forward is LWS3 - Path of Fire - LWS4 - Icebrood Saga - then End of Dragons. Still got a bit of a trek to get to LWS4, but it's been a fun ride so far lol

[@Jinny-Wa]

Disagree. LW3 onwards the story fell (rushed to tie in all the threads) and turned in to cartoon heroes with snarky jokes vs cartoon villains with jokes. Cutscenes and how its presented improved a lot yes, writing no no no!

[@sanguin3]

@@Jinny-Wa How dare you oppose Palawa Ignacious Joko (also known as King Joko the Inevitable, the last Primeval King, Joko the Undying, the Scourge of Vabbi, Joko the Feared, Joko the Beloved, Joko the Transcendent, and Joko the Eternal Monarch of All). You have lost the chance to be awaken and serve under his reign forever. Praise Joko!

[@annaperham9508]

“FEAR ME MORTALS” literally my favorite line in this video 🤣🤣🤣

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Oo so close lol

[@theia.t]

Loved the video, great narrative and editing. Really enjoyable. ^^ About the octovine meta, each gate has different mechanics. The one you were at needed to be sprayed by that gun to remove the slime from the vines and afterwards you'd need to plant the gun to shoot at the vines,and only after that the octovine is vulnerable. It's one of my favourite metas out there. Hopefully you get to check out all 4 gates there :D

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

OOOH! The one or two times they had us spray vines, it was to kill the vines. Because of that, I thought it was the same thing. Spray to kill the vines, then explosive turret for damage. What you said does make sense in the context, but unless I missed a message somewhere in the event, I was led to believe the other way lol And thank you! ^^

[@stormscreed]

Love this style of narration! Awesome video!😊

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Thank you! ^^

[@kwith]

I love that GW2 has had another resurgence as of late. I'm seeing quite a few new videos on people going through the story. I remember playing it back when it was released and had a blast and I keep coming back to it every few months for a while.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

It was the mount system that caught my eye on this gem lol Slow going, but at least I'm not getting any amount of burnout from playing too much.

[@kybaliel]

Ah shit, I can't wait 2 more months for the next one. You got me hyped

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

lol Thank you! ^^ You can be sure that I'll have the next part for sure. Pretty much all my free time goes into this channel at this point lol Not much free time on work days sadly. But trudging on!

[@bulletdancestorm554]

Its the fact that Anet has some of good rewards through the meta events of HoT keeps players coming back. VB has stat selectable armor rewards, Auric has an infusion lottery at the meta, Chak has an infusion lottery, Dragonstand has selectable stat armor. I always gear up my alts via the exotic armors in VB. the infusions are worth TONS of gold if you get it. The loot reward is great so you should do the event maybe just once a day, and get a chance at the infusion.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Rewards are always the carrot on the stick that players look for when doing something. Since they're still good by current standards, that's a great thing for sure! I'm looking forward to seeing other meta events in later game areas lol

[@bulletdancestorm554]

@@MegaMadVladMMO The horizontal progression really makes it "End Game content" instead of "Old game content". Sure there are times of the day when theres less players, but usually around the reset time, or right before, various metas will have people. Once you learn the schedule and where people are, you could literally just chill and keep doing meta events all day. And at the same time, the HoT metas have some challenge that can cause a picnic if the map isnt coordinated well enough.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

@@bulletdancestorm554 Player population fluctuating between different times of day is going to happen regardless. The surprise I had was more about how populated it still was when compared to other MMOs. It's a great thing that helps to fill the world out and make it feel more lived in. Fantastic for an MMO

[@ginster458]

Glad to hear you enjoying it! Really enjoy the quality of your videos! As for the octovine- each of the four lanes has it's own mechanic, that needs to be completed to make the vine vulnerable. In your video at 09:53 you can see that under the lowest health bar (the one you're currently fighting) it says "Layers of slime protection: 15" these need to be erradicated with the lane mechanic (pushing a bomb, gliding and dropping bombs, running over as a mushroom, and dropping weed-begone turrets respectively) and then the vine becomes vulnerable for a short time. Then it needs big dps- but all four lanes need to complete it roughly at the same time, because as soon as one is killed, it's one and a half minutes until it regnerates a large amount of health. This is one meta event that needs map coordination for that reason. From the way it looks, your map was pretty empty, and nobody was really doing the meta- I highly recommend looking for a map in the lfg panel or joining when you see a or several commander tags on the map. The event is pretty short if done well and very rewarding, and still done a LOT even today! I loved LS3- looking forward to hearing your thoughts :)

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Thank you! ^^ I did get an actual completion of Octovine thankfully, though there were so many people there I kind of chalked the north gate up to being brute forced with the sheer amount of people there lol

[@battlebots1]

@@MegaMadVladMMO For what it's worth, North can be buggy. I usually go west or south because they're the ones that struggle most haha

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

@@battlebots1 I tried out another gate not too long ago. I forget which one it was, but it was something about gliding and dropping bombs or some such lol I do like how each gate has its own mechanics lol

[@battlebots1]

@@MegaMadVladMMO that's east, it's pretty straightforward, best for new players to the meta. People will usually be happy to explain mechanics if you ask.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

@@battlebots1 The Chak meta is one I haven't gotten a chance to try yet because it pops at the most inopportune times for me xDDD Thankfully weekends can help with that now that I'm done with this video lol

[@jrafel1707]

I love the commentary, story descriptions!!🤣

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Thank you! ^^

[@Alkhaldi92]

Welcome to GW2 ^^ I really enjoyed the video. Have fun playing this game, it is SO underrated imo. What I noticed is that you picked Bladesworn, which is a very powerful DPS Elite specialization. I have 4k+ hours spent on this game and I absolutely hate Bladesworn xD I just cant get the hang of it for some reason on raids/strikes. I hope you try the last expansion's meta event (EOD) it is waaay better and more amazing.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Thank you! ^^ I’ve been having fun with Bladesworn tbh lol Definitely feels better after having maxed it out now too I’m slowly working my way toward End of Dragons lol Got what, 4 more pieces of content before getting to it I think?

[@Forgotten_Moon]

3:29 lol 9:03 Love that slide too xD 9:54 I never get that one either lol After watching Mukluk's guide and realized that I only need to set a turret inside the 1st layer xD 10:47 You can continue the progression in living world season 3, no worry ;D Love this vid

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Thankfully I did get a clear of Octovine before I made this video lol The only one I'm missing, to my knowledge, is now the Chak meta

[@Forgotten_Moon]

@@MegaMadVladMMO nice :D

[@spaceantqueen4327]

an interesting detail of heart of thorns map design is how tightly it ties to the main story beats. in verdant brink, the pact is brought to the brink of defeat. there is no war or rules of engagement, mere survival matters. it's where you will suffer for the longest time as a new player, getting regularly massacred by pocket raptors or falling to your death. around you lie the wrecks of the pact's airships and only pockets of survivors with each subsequent maps, the pact (and the commander) learn to master the jungle. you learn how to glide, how to use the mushrooms to jump around, handle the chak, everything you need to survive. you build up allies and fortify until you can finally take on the mouth of mordremoth in dragon's stand. even that fight matters in the story, as it's what is needed to distract the dragon while the commander canonically fights it in it's mind

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Yeah that was definitely a really cool part of HoT. Not only did the story follow the various zones, but the themes of each one had meaning behind them. Though Tangled Depths was still really difficult to navigate in every way lol

[@kopikapiku2321]

seated for season 3 and path of fire

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Lol Working on another video at the moment and Season 3 comes after that

[@ZianaSue]

Sad, Scruffy 1.0 is no longer with us. However, someday in the future, you will meet Scruffy 2.0, and all will be right with the world again.

[@madmotorcyclist]

Octovine meta event in each of the four areas where groups fight the vines there are different mechanics to remove the protection on the vines that then allow you to damage them. You must not have figured out your room's mechanic. Done the meta lots of time, never bugged.

[@flavioromano8754]

Octavine isnt bugged at all. It is a bit tricky for new players to understand all the mechanics involved in that fight tbf

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

I've tried 2 gates so far. Someone in the comments here earlier explained my mistake with the North gate lol Gonna try what they said at some point in the future

[@flavioromano8754]

@@MegaMadVladMMO nice. My favorite is the west gate. The mushroom run is fun

[@flavioromano8754]

@@MegaMadVladMMO tbh, after all these years, i think ive never done east

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

@@flavioromano8754 I think East was the other one I've done. South I have no idea what happens there xDDD

[@flavioromano8754]

@@MegaMadVladMMO on south you have to use your CC skills to push it to the vine

[@sohu86x]

Great video - subbed.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Thank you!

[@soulsfood5691]

Pocket Raptors❤

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Whenever I close my eyes, all I see are Pocket Raptors. Pocket Raptors everywhere

[@soulsfood5691]

@@MegaMadVladMMO as a veteran player, thats all i ask for everyone to experience the love of them Pocker Raptors

[@Forgotten_Moon]

lol a girl even made a rap for the pocket raptors xDD

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

I’m gonna have to look this up now lol

[@THEBLUENINJASHEN]

prepare to heavy spoiled noted = proceed to watch to the end 😅

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

lol Hey, I've gotta give some people warning xDDD Not holding back with this series

[@FenrirFrostborn]

should use axe with pistol for bladesworn :)

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Something I'll definitely have to test out!

[@MarineCARMINE]

Screw pocket raptors!

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

I’ve heard people complain about the pocket raptors before getting into the expansion so I think I was a bit more prepared for them lol I do like playing it up though

[@Nebarus]

Welcome to the wildest, most confusing and amazing region, full of tiny raptors that kick your a... ;) Everything is deadly here until you gear up and get respecced ;)

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

lol Thanks for the warm welcome. I have enjoyed my pocket raptor filled jungle vacation ;P

[@VirtuesOfSin]

I wanna take this man into raids once he unlocks leyline gliding. xD lmao

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

I’m close to unlocking it lol

[@ksfarmmom]

Unpopular opinion-Dragon Stand meta was intended to be done with gliders. It would make it much more challenging. I wish they would have blocked mounts at the get-go. You could never remove them now.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

I’m definitely a fan of keeping the challenge in things as well. Seeing as I could barely keep up with everyone else was rough but I was still awestruck by the spectacle of it all

[@Auriorium]

I call Heart of Thorns the Vietnam War of Guild Wars 2.

[@sinchill5424]

Some bow to Mordremoth, some bow to Balthazar, while others bow to Joko…. Me? Well, funny you should ask… ALL HAIL OUR OVERLORDS, the Pocket Raptors! Fear their tiny, yet mighty powers. How they trip and traumatize you with their fangs and minuscule claws. Pocket raptors suck, I love and hate them. Lol

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Have you checked your pockets recently?

[@johnnymartinjohansen]

Imo, GW2's best 2 features are, 1: no zone gets outdated, not even when new expansions are released 2: you can always just join events on the spot without signing up or making groups And imo, It's worst 4 features are, 1: the storie lines, that are so bland and short with neverending dialogues and little gameplay 2: parts of the mastery system, meaning that if you don't do miniraids (Strikes), you won't have enough points to unlock them all 3: the LFG feature - not really bad, but almost no one use it, so getting a group there is almost impossible 4: and as you mention, the floors, which are worst in Heart of Thorns zones, but not exclusively there Overall a great game, but it certainly has it's issues

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Yeah it's definitely a great game for sure! I agree with your opinion on the best 2 features there. As for the storyline, I would agree that it's short and doesn't hit the highs of other games that focus on story. I wouldn't call it bland, but that's my opinion lol

[@patrickhaley1312]

My first impression of hot will always be hiw absolutely awful it is to traverse most of the maps. Like either the devs had the best time ever making those or it must have been cancer for them as well.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Verdant Brink is a fantastic zone, but mostly after you level up the Glider enough. Dragon’s Stand is mostly about the Meta Event, and the other 2 zones are where it was either alright or difficult to traverse

[@WFly101]

Ah yes, Heart of Thorns, or as I call It, Ekspansi gila sial kelelawar.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Can confirm, definitely a very different style of expansion from what I’m used to in MMOs lol

[@nielsjensen4185]

Fridging Eir was the worst decision ever made.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

The way I read into it was that scene was for both shock value and to give Braham more reason to fight Mordremoth.

[@nielsjensen4185]

@@MegaMadVladMMO While there's some plausible deniability in HoT because it's so compressed there's none in LW s3. His motivation for doing things = his dead mother would have wanted it. At some point, he uses Eir as justification to do something after Rytlock has stated that Eir would never have wanted that. The worst part of that entire thing is that Dragon's Watch enabled him to behave that way instead of giving him the verbal slap that he needs. Btw. it'll be a long time before Braham gets a character. In Lw s4 ANet thought that having traits = having character. So, they gave Braham a bunch of those. It's only in IBS that he gets a proper character, which for you will only be a short time after his introduction, and for the older player base was seven years, which is seven years too late considering that the rest of Dragons Watch, even Aurene, had a characterization from the moment they were introduced. His characterization would have been better had Eir never gotten fridged. It's one of the biggest narrative travesties ANet has ever made.

[@nicktaylor4204]

Honestly bro if your an mmorp player like I am 2000 hours does not make you a specialist at the game. I play GW2 and have played ESO, SWTOR, WOW, GW1, and about any other mmo I can get my hands on and though 2000 hours is a lot of time it isn't enough to truly traverse the lands of a fully fleshed out mmo. Nevertheless 2000 hours is a lot but mmorpg players like myself might not be to impressed by it. At least im not 2000 hours isnt shit to me. Especially if your spending all your time just doing one part of the game which can be done.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Oh I'm well aware that 2,000 hours into a single MMO doesn't make me a specialist in MMOs. I never claimed to be either lol The idea of this is a journey and experience into different MMOs and trying to make it entertaining for people to watch.

[@nicktaylor4204]

@@MegaMadVladMMO 2000 hours in a single game doesnt mean that much either when it comes to an mmo is what im saying people spend years of there lives in them so when you said well I got 2000 hours in FF14 or what ever then I was like well 2000 hours really is not that much.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

@@nicktaylor4204 Oh I'll absolutely agree that people spend years of their lives in MMOs. It's one of the things that really caught my interest in the genre. That said, 2,000 hours is still over 83 days. That's a lot for any game. Considering I got that much after starting FFXIV during patch 5.3, it's definitely still a lot. And that number has been slowly going up since then lol I'll admit much slower because of my KZbin content xDDD Whether it's 2,000 hours or 20,000 hours, the number is arbitrary at best here. I know what I enjoy, I've experienced a lot of FFXIV, and I'm now experiencing new MMOs. This series isn't to say that 2,000 hours of gametime in one MMO is more than what some people commit to for their chosen MMOs. This is me playing through new games, having fun, and making videos on them lol

[@pokeylope6108]

I'd say top mmos are realistically just WoW FF14 and GW2. ESO is trash idc what anyone says.

[@MegaMadVladMMO]

Realistically, WoW and FFXIV are the top 2. GW2 is still trailing behind them but it’s nothing to scoff at either. Even if you don’t really care for ESO, it’s still a big name MMO as it is. Success for MMOs comes from the amount of players playing