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The Warclaw

Another mount has been released for Guild Wars 2 (GW2).  What is it and how does it compare to other mounts?  We're all curious but we've seen enough to give a first impression.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Warclaw

One of the great lesser-known qualities about GW2 is the wiki.  Such a great resource and spares me the task of writing the details of how to get it.  

So how long does it take to get the Warclaw?

Our founder obtained the mount within thirty (30) minutes of the patch being released.  So needless to say, this is not a grind.  Although we should be fair.  She had eighty (80) WvW reward potions so the reward track part was done quickly.  She also was able to get into a zerg so the capture-a-tower achievement was easy to do.

As a reminder, Feline Airlines has a 10% bonus to WvW reward track potion available at the Guild Tavern.

How is it different than the other mounts?

For movement purposes - it feels like a jackal
For dismount attacks - it feels like a springer attack - although it looks more like a belly-squash than an actual attack.
The sniff ability.  A one minute recharge doesn't bode well for constant usage - and doesn't detect stealth.  Its 5,000 range is about half a trebuchet which is about visual distance.  We're reminded of the military adage - if the enemy is in range, so are you.  So if you can see the enemy, they can see you.  Placing it on the minimap is just a nice thing - but does not feel essential.
The gate pulling ability is nice.  Once players get their warclaws, this will reduce the question of "should we drop another ram or catapult".
The "kill downed players" ability is really fun to do when zergs fight.  When the zerg clash whittles into a skirmishes of downed players, the belly-squash speeds things up a lot.  (This has been nerfed so no more finishing 20 players at a time.)

How will this change WvW?

It already has.  Queues shortly after released approached 200.  But once players have the mount, the most annoying thing about WvW will be diminished - running long distances to get back into the fight.  This should bring some disaffected players back into WvW.

We expect the meta to change somewhat.  Pre-mount, speed was absolutely essential in WvW.  Speed is needed to keep up.  Speed is required to run away.  Speed is necessary to avoid unnecessary WvW decay.  So each build needed to address this or have a permanent disability.  Now that we have Warclaw, we expect other builds to show up.  We might see more hand-to-hand builds becoming more viable in WvW - thinking specifically of the reaper - instead of everything being a ranged affair.

Zerg fighting might be more tactical.  Before, the zergs would run into each other.  Now, some may stay back, waiting for a few downed bodies and then a 2nd or 3rd wave of players will jump in and squash downed players.

Any other observations?

There is an unintended undocumented feature - otherwise known as a bug.  If one does not open the collection item which drops from guards, they will keep dropping this loot.  Not very often but enough to notice.  Since each one yields five (5) skirmish tickets, it's not insignificant.  We expect this to be addressed immediately if it hasn't already.

2020 Update

If you do any WvW, definitely get this mount.  How much you put into this mount depends on you.  We recommend going to rank 4 at a minimum.
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