Aspects of Fun

Part of my Explorer of Tyria journal - you can find the rest here!

After a nice break where in I got to do other stuff (including exploring a vertically challenging aetherblade base within a holographic mountain) while the rest of the populace helped capture Aetherblade Captain Mai Trin in her dungeon, I returned to news that a bunch of flying merchants had docked at some difficult to reach cliffs to display their wares. I like exploring places so I headed on down via ship to visit the spectacularly beautiful (yet deviously deadly) Labyrinthine Cliffs where these Zephyrites had parked. Not only do they have interesting goods (most of which are dangerous - where do they get this stuff and more importantly why are they selling them to unsuspecting folk?), they also have developed a form of travel using aspect crystals to either dash quickly, jump high, or jump far and pray to god you don't end up as a splat on the ground as you climb higher up the dizzying heights. Being sadistic bastards they also setup a scavenger hunt for sky crystals in the zone to encourage self-termination via gravity.

Insane and Insanely Pretty!

High atop their anchored sky ship (which have diving goggles on the prow... as I said, these people are psycho) you can participate in their "aspect training" which comes in the form of a race. A very fun yet very annoying race. Took me 28 tries before coming first, mainly due to aspect lag (a skill ANet didn't forsee nor cater for). I did come up with a short list to help others overcome it though. The Zephyrites were also victims of robbery, not just from random Aetherblade raiders but from skritt running off with a bunch of their kites. The bastard rats even took the time to hide in various jumping puzzles, one within a fractal and one in the PVP Obsidian Sanctum.

Ofcourse I did all the above and kind of regret not chasing down the Aetherblade Caches in the other JP's and mini dungeons previously because I forgot how much fun they were. My favourite was the final kite at Obsidian Sanctum. Upon entering the Eternal Battlegrounds to find that an enemy server, Drakkar Lake, had complete dominion over it (them Germans are good at war). I had to aid my Gunnar's Hold compatriots in violently capturing our low lands corner including three nearby towers and the keep before making my way into the puzzle proper itself, solo. Inside I encountered maybe ten more Drakkar Lake players (in various small groups), any of whom could have really ruined my day but through salute/dance truce (opposing servers cannot hear chat; you can only communicate through action) I freely passed all of them without any aggression whatsoever.

With a boost in achievement points which will help my later achievement unlocks I also was rewarded a permanent quartz node as a symbol of my awesome ambassadorial skills (I don't recall doing any ambassadoring though). Plotwise the newly appointed Captain and ineffective ex-Lionguard Investigator/Policewoman Ellen Kiel is going head to head with Black Lion Company founder Evon Gnashblade. Both trying to secure a trade agreement with the flying salesmen to help their claim to the vacant council seat, made that way from the events last month. I didn't really pay attention to the politics. There were cliffs to be climbed! :P

Fastest 100% World Completion

Part of my Explorer of Tyria journal - you can find the rest here!

Now that I've done it myself I thought I would write up a guide to help others complete their own 100% world completion achievement the fastest way possible.

Be like Snake! :P

The Scout:
Fastest paced character from what I can see is the Thief. Remember your mission is to scout, not to fight every critter that happens to be in your way. I won't go into traits as you will be able to work out what you like best with this, but the skills you'll want to be using are:

Steal covers a lot of ground and useful for escaping mobs if you use your targetting correctly.
Hide in Shadows is useful when things get hairy, go invis.
Signet of Shadows but never actually activate it. Passively it will give you +25% speed continously.
Shadow Refuge - Switch out with Signet of Shadows when you are going for a commune or combat skill point. 7 seconds invis is more than enough to commune!
Shadow Trap is useful as distraction while you flee, or as another damage dealer if you choose to fight.
Thieves Guild the same as above but x2.
Roll for Initiative - gets you much needed init and more importantly is another -moving- skill you can use to escape.

Gear to Bring:
Double Daggers works well for mobility, since you can Leaping Death Blossom "through" incoming enemies and cloak and dagger into stealth for an additional escape. Remember, you run faster -out- of combat though and if you are fighting try land your first strike from hidden to your target's back for maximum damage. A shortbow is handy too to help with some heart tasks, like shooting dredge turrets and such but if you prefer something else go for it.

Underwater primarily use a spear. In close quarters and one on one, you should be unstoppable (unless you are poking a megalodon you idjit). Spam your block attack (3) to regain initiative then (5) to spend it all while dodging.

The Zones:
This may seem counter productive but do not scout zones geographically - like, don't start at Rata Sum and work your way across to the Blazeridge steps. The level difference can hinder you quite a bit if you are not in an appropriate zone. It's easy enough to work around though. Your first rule is to never move on until you've completed a zone entirely.

Now to your actual scouting sequence: Start out by completing each city - including Lion's Arch.

Then use this listing here.
Do all the lowest level zones. Then do the next lowest level and so on, leaving the level 80 stuff for last. As you complete each "tier" (like all level 1-10 zones) return to Lion's Arch for some crafting for a small level boost. You'll be able to gauge when to do this anyway since your bank will be filling with mats as you go - this is if you are harvesting majority of nodes on the way (and you should especially if they are unguarded).

Hearts:
Always chat to the heart person first as half the time the fastest way to complete a heart is a non-combat method. A good rule of thumb for "collection" stuff is get 10-15 items first before heading back to hand them in.

Skill Challenges:
Memory Test - easily accessible for anyone anyway
Food - if it is guarded, throw down a shadow refuge AT the food as you are running at it. Take and eat it, stealth out.
Commune - Same as food. If it is very well guarded throw a thieves guild and shadow trap to keep the enemies busy on your approach. Underwater you will need to kill the guards. You can still bring thieves guild if there's a nearby shore.
Fight - Use thieves guild and shadow trap followed by steal if you have "thrill of the crime" as your NPC pals also get the bonus. Follow up with cloak and dagger and backstab. If the enemy survives just kite while throwing daggers (and/or caltrops) and stealthing until your thieves are ready again. In cases with many opponents just aim to kill one at a time then flee/recover. They hang around for awhile anyway so don't rush.

The Mists:
As the old adage goes: If you can't beat them, join them. Make use of the free server transfer and hop onto the dominant of the 3 warring realms. You need to move fast though as the landscape of who holds what is prone to change. Dedicate at least 2 hours to finishing everything here and hop between the three borderlands and the eternal battlegrounds each time you hit a "block", coming back later to see if your side has retaken what you've not yet scouted.