Summary
The mounts inGuild Wars 2are one of the MMO’s greatest selling points. Each of the nine mounts was seamlessly integrated into the story and gameplay and designed orthogonally, meaning that each one offers its own use case, look, and feel. The concept was introduced in the second expansion, “Path of Fire,” and additional mounts were added with subsequent patches.
Some mounts and their abilities have changed over the years. For example, the “Janthir Wilds” update brought a suite of new abilities for the Warclaw in both World VS World and PVE. Each mount is ranked according to its current abilities rather than its state upon release, but returning players (or those interested in returning) may be interested to know how each has changed.
9The Springer
The Cute Vertical Climber Outpaced By A Later Addition
Although the springer can’t reach the same speeds as other mounts, there’s justsomething lovable about these energetic rabbits. Negating fall damage and bouncing to scarily high places in a single, dusty bound is extremely satisfying, and bounding around on one is still very fun.
However, once a certain mount is unlocked (the skyscale), the springer sadly becomes somewhat redundant, besides some specific situations. The springer’s “cannonball” ability can still be used as an effective way to start breaking down a boss' defiance bar, and getting up and down steep terrain fast is best achieved on the back of this bouncy bunny.
8The Raptor
A Classic And Respectable Travel Choice
The first mount added toGuild Wars 2is still a highly viable way to get around on land. Although it comes with none of the fancy tricks of the other mounts, the raptor’s leap allows it to cross gaps or gain speed quickly and reliably, all with a whoosh of satisfaction. Its engage attack ability is still very useful for rounding up enemies to put them into one spot for a pummeling.
In terms of their looks, this mount clearly had a lot of love put into its design despite only being a starter mount. Using a raptor is an excellent way to enjoy the game with alt characters, as their speed doesn’t turn the world into a blurry smear, but it does let players take intheir beautiful surroundingsat an easily adjustable pace.
7The Skimmer
For Land, Sea, And Under The Waves
On release, the skimmer offered a way to cross water without hitting the slowdown of swimming. Since then, there has been a way to upgrade the skimmer to allow it to move just as rapidly through water as well.
As good as underwater combat is inGuild Wars 2, even when stacked against othergames with watery exploration, it isn’t as engaging as it could be, making the skimmer’s depth-skimming ability a much-appreciated feature for aqua explorers.
6The Jackal
Great Handle And Feel With A Somewhat Specific Ability
This stunning mount’s blink ability doesn’t just look or feel cool; it is a highly useful feature for maneuvering, effectively offering perfect turning precision. Since blink can be used mid-fall, it can both help its rider reach far-away ledges and negate all fall damage.
Blink’s secondary ability brings it through sand portals, and the jackal is able to run along sand bridges. While this makes the jackal an essential mount for map completion in “Path of Fire” and “Living World Season 4,” it is a little niche, as these features do not occur much else outside Elona.
5The Siege Turtle
A Fun Way To Buddy Up
The siege turtle, along with the skimmer, can be mounted while swimming, but it can also be ridden by two players at once, making itperfect for two friends or a couple. One player drives while the other rides shotgun (or, more accurately, jade tech cannon). While its siege attack is powerful, the gunner must watch their ammunition count.
Despite its massive, bulky body, the siege turtle is able to build up immense speed and even hover above the ground with its jump jets, if only for a short time. However, being the two-seater combat mount, the turtle is, of course, still quite sluggish in terms of its speed and stamina regeneration.
4The Warclaw
The Combat-Focused, Multi-Purpose Mount
To many players, especially those who only played around with the Warclaw at its original release or those without the “Janthir Wilds” mini-expansion, the Warclaw may seem like a more sluggish version of the raptor. However, besides the fact that it is the only usable mount in World Verus World (GW2’shuge-scale battle mode), it has seen many great improvements over time, with or without visiting Janthir.
The warclaw can be mounted even during combat (although this applies a cooldown each time it is done). It currently runs much faster now in PvE than it did in the past, and its “sniff” ability displays enemies and treasure on the minimap. The “Janthir Wilds” warclaw mastery line grants it a suite of moves, including mid-air jumping, fall damage negation, and additional mounted combat moves.
3The Skyscale
Fulfilling The Ultimate Travel Fantasy (But At A Cost)
The appeal of the Skyscale (being able to fly across the landscape) is undeniable, as is being able to cling to the sides of walls and cliffs to reach greater heights, perform barrel rolls, and shoot fireballs from the sky. There’s nothing quite like taming a dragon and taking it out on a skyward adventure.
However, this mount’s implementation comes at the cost of retroactively turning all of Core Tyria and much of the previous expansions into “flyover country.” All the future work of ArenaNet’s level designers has to take this game-breaking mount’s abilities into consideration, meaning ballooning map sizes and less intimate detail on the ground.
2The Roller Beetle
The Fastest Land-Based Mount
As much as the addition of mounts shook things up, the roller beetle mount is a game-changer even among them. While its blinding top speeds may be too much for some to handle, especially given the challenge of maneuvering, many players will swear that being able to rocket around a map from one side to the other in a matter of seconds somehow never gets old.
This extreme speed would not be as much fun without roller beetle racing. These tracks can be found across Tyria and offer a real challenge for racing fans. The roller beetle was implemented so well that it’s possible to forget thatGuild Wars 2is an MMO and nota high-speed racing game.
1The Griffon
Tyria’s Elite Fighter Jet
The griffon wasGuild Wars 2’s first flying mount, and while it isn’t able to hover in place or reach new heights, it has a much better implementation. For one, the griffon does not invalidate land travel or vertical travel as the skyscale does, but it also outpaces it both literally in terms of speed, skill, and freedom of movement.
Moving around in the air with the griffon is a pure rush that makes the skyscale feel sluggish by comparison. Diving down to gather momentum and rising back up in a glorious ascent is easily one of the best feelingsGuild Wars 2can offer. High-speed griffon flying, although it takes time to master, is both satisfying and incredibly useful for both traversal over short and long distances.
