Brisban Wildlands deserves more love imo. It’s GW2’s equivalent to the Barrens from classic WoW, as sylvari, asura and some human players will all converge here after level 15-20, so you get tons of activity and variety. The flow is just fantastic, as each race gets their own entrance to the map, focused on their main antagonistic faction, but the events eventually lead into dealing with the Sinister Triad, an “alliance” between bandits, Inquest and Nightmare Court, (which is basically what inspired Scarlet’s whole plan). Also, Skrittsburgh is an awesome area.
Lowland Shore is a proof that Anet still got it when it comes to map design. It just boiles down to having enough time/resources to deliver good map experience.
yeah this is what got me most excited just the knowledge that they very much still have the SAUCE man lowland shore, visually, is unbeatable. literally breathtaking.
Wayfarer Foothills will always have a special place in my heart, just for the fact, i completed that map on the very first beta weekend of GW2.. It's my ultimate entry into the game. S Tier.
Wayfarer foothills at least (!) B tier, maybe A tier. Why? There are so cool and variable quests like the raven riddles, playing as snow leopard with the little ones is so cute, throwing snowballs on childs, catching bear kegs, how can you rate this C tier? 😂 And Caladon forest need to be A tier for the hidden quaggan organ alone. That creates just goosebumps this gw2 theme under water.....❤
I love how this is bringing back memories of all the cool stuff you find in core. Caledon Forest was my starting map and it started my love for jump puzzles.
On fields of Ruins, I want to highlight the fact that in Ebonhawke, by the waypoint there is a hub with alll the crafting stations and a bank/ TP very close by. I used this as my crafting hub before I got the mistlock sanctuary pass. So FoR is top A tier for sure
There is 2 things i really hope would come true in future maps. 1. Map with more hostile enviroment than the current maps. It doesn't have to be on the same level as HoT maps when they came out but I don't like the feel of the resent maps where you just walk around spam 1 and everything around you just dies. There is not really any threat while moving around. Mounts do contribute alot for this so maybe something like the traps in PoF maps or new enemies that can instantly dismount you if some "dismount attack" hits you and with that make the mobs stronger so you can't just nobrain run around with mounts without any danger. For me that would make the exploring much more interesting. 2. This could be with the first point or just alone but a map where you can't use flying mounts especially skyscale. I think alot of the new map desing gets ignore with skyscale. Lowland shore is a amazing map but I think alot of the cool desing gets ignore or it goes unnoticed because of the flying mounts. You could argue that "you dont have to use skyscale" but i think if you were forced to use land mounts anet could do a lot of cool stuff with the enviroment and how moving around would work. They could also add a mastery that gives you the ability to use flying mounts again later but if you couldnt use them when you first arrive on the map it would also make it easier for them to make the map more dangerous.
I don't know if it's still a thing, but WoW used to do the no flying at the start of an expansion thing. You'd only unlock flying later into the expansion, locked behind a whole bunch of achievements. It really made you appreciate the effort the devs put into designing the maps.
Grothmar has gone up recently for me thanks to the Wizard's Tower gobbler. Previously I had no reason to go back aside from doing the Ooze Pit every once in a while. Now that there's an actual use for hatched chilis I feel a bit better about hanging out there and doing random events.
Tangled Depths is the best map in the Game. A few years ago I did many HP Trains as a catmander through all of HoT maps. It was a nice challenge for me to find many shortcut, optimal and fun routes around the map. In the end of my HP in TD the squad was always full, and it was so epic to lead the train of 50 random people into their inevitable surprises, deaths and orientational confusion.😅 I miss those times before mounts. I always timed my HP Train so that it did not conflict with the Meta, and after the HP run I did an after party in the Underground dance floor room with an optional Chak Gerenth Meta as an after-after Party. After I have done the HP Trains so many times (maybe 50+) I still can find new ways around the map. That is perfect map design. Fun fact: Did you know that you can do a Messmer portal directly to Mushroom HP from central (Meta-) waypoint in a specific spot? 😅
Divinity's Reach and Old Lion's Arch, to this day, are among the best fantasy cities I have ever saw in any media in the genre. They are both perfect visually, lore and world-building wise. It absolutely breaks my heart that old LA got swapped to a MOLD tear waterpark.
Honestly, Wayfarer Foothills is the best starter map by far. You have the small village/ valley part that introduces you to the Spirits of the Wild and the Svanir, Jotun, Dredge and Grawl with actual lore about them. You have cool events and event chains even. A vista that introduces the idea of jumping puzzles. Then the separate tutorial area opens up as the story takes you over/through the mountains. You have homesteads, hot springs, a jumping puzzle, ice cliffs and when you fought through it all the ice citadel at the top. The only downside is that the shaman is the most boring World Boss by far - also, why does he appear at a random lake and not in the citadel?! But when it comes to a new player that knows neither the game nor the lore of the world/their race, Wayfarer Foothills is without a doubt the best starter map
Wayfarer foothills is really good imo. Super dense with variety and verticality in the south. Hoelbrok is really pretty and has rewarding nooks all over. Great view from the deck. It's a solitary vibe maybe.
Holy shit this is the most high effort tier list I've ever seen, I'm only 6 minutes in but I'm gonna watch the whole thing for sure. Probably have to spread it out over the next day and a half but I'll get it done. I may spam comments as I go, I do that sometimes, treat the comment section like a live reaction section 😅
Nah justice for Wayfarer Foothills, the best starter zone. It's the prettiest, varried settings and evemy factions (svanir, grawl, dredge, and jotun), hidden caves, jumping puzzle, even a mini-meta whete you asssault the svanir. Snowball fight heart is S tier, and jackalope hunt is a classic fun event. Also, it leads to a level 70 map, so it gives new players a chance to explore and get a taste of higher level enemies if they want.
I strongly disagree with Gendarran fields, its got LLA, Sunken Chest, a really fun Roller beetle race, Vigils Keep, while not the greatest, i personally like the other two options better base wise, its still neat, its got fun events like the Heart in the top right in the snow, its special wave event makes heart completion a breeze, thats another, its got really easy map comp there's like 2 or 3 hearts that i can recall that were a little slower than the rest, but still pretty fast, and its pretty easy to Traverse the map with and without mounts
Dragon Stand Hot Take: even without mounts, the boss fight sucks for new players because everyone else has lay line gliding + infinite gliding. Without lay line gliding you have to use the updrafts, which is drastically slower to get from platform to platform, and without infinite gliding, you often won't make it to the updraft before falling to your death -- the distance to the updrafts is on the verge of being too far, and, as a new player, your judgement for updraft distance isn't great, so you might try to get to one that's too far, or change your mind on the way... and by the time you actually get to the platform where everyone's fighting, they're done and moving on to the next. I quit GW2 in core and then came back in season 3; the first time I did Dragon Stand, everyone had all the gliding masteries, and I couldn't keep up. I started off stressed about being able to be a part of the fight, and towards the end, I was concerned whether I was going to get credit at all. IMO, if the "lay lines" between platforms were actually updrafts (like in Xera), even if they still looked like lay lines, that would go a long way to improve the new player experience of the fight.
I will never forget my first impression of Verdant Brink when I leveled up to 80 and bought the expansion. It blew my mind, absolutely blew my mind, it was as if a 2D creature was suddenly warped by a power beyond their comprehension into a 3D being in a 3D world with previously unthinkable verticality. Gliders (and mounts ofc) are single most unique thing GW2 has over other known to me MMORPGs. Which is not a lot-lot but still a lot. I still like Auric Basin more (that bit of music at the very end of meta makes me feel things unfeelable anywhere else) on top of amazing everything, from secrets, events, lore, LOOK I LOVE GOLD MONUMENTS IN JUNGLE THEME AAHH And Tangled Depths was such an abusive relationship for me. I had to spend a lot of time there crafting my first gen 2 leggy and raid armor set, it made me love that map, I know it well from memory but until that painful memory-making process finishes, its quite a doozy, not gonna lie. Still love it. Best three maps Arenanet have made, though Tangled is slightly debatable if it shouldn't be lower on S+ tier.
Started playing a year ago, played in order, and caught up at the end of inner nayos. I'm right there with them up through Seitung. Everything in EOD and SOTO, though, they cooked this. Look at every map they placed above those maps and compare, that's wild. Edit: imo, only gyala belongs below A tier of the maps after Living world 4.
Thunderhead Peaks is my favorite map of all time. I dont like the meta, but the map itself is so amazing. the elevation changes and depth of the map is so good it makes u actually feel like ur on/inside of a giant mountain. its unfortunate that it lacks interesting gameplay though. its the one thing i would take from dragonfall and that would make it the best map in the game imo
I really like all of these tierlists but this one is the best one both of you have ever done, this tier list is S++. Would love to see more collabs like these, Fractal Tier List, Raid/Strike Tierlist maybe?
I had a chance to play story and subsequently dry top and silverwastes in order (same living world 3) and those maps hold up even today. Yes now I have my skyscale, but since i progressed everything in order, oh man, when it wasnt mount-crept that was a blast. (ofc my rewards gold wise sucked but i had fun and thats what counts)
Oof did Straits of Devastation dirty... Really good vid though, like how you presents arguments to eachother and not agree on all, adds another level to the tierlist! 😊
I gotta say I agree on MOST of the spots you placed the maps BUT Thunderhead is as bad as Kourna if not worse. I really noticed that during the current return to week. This map literally has NO CONTENT other then achivements, 2 meta events and 2 other events. _"Do 3 Events"_ while the meta isn't up is just straight up pain because there are no events.
Tangled Dephts is actually a very very good map. It is pain! You get lost! You get hurt! Because you are in the freaking jungle! And there are so many hidden details to find. At first I hated it and then I wrapped my head around it and LOVED it. For a long time, TD was the map I would go to have fun.
They literally put Amnytas (which is created and tiled from 2-3 identical 3D models and looks boring AF) HIGHER than Lions Arch (which is RICH from the perspective of 3D and exploring) and New Kaineng City with all this gangs and insane atmosphere for GW2. OMG i cant believe in that lol. They put the most confusing map (which is Rata Sum (even though its upper area looks cool)) HIGHER than Black Citadel which have 10 times more interesting RP areas, and one of the best night views of the city (which you can get if you stay from the lake side). P.S. For me one of the best "vibe" maps is Gendarran Fields. It reminds me TES: Oblivion & Witcher landscapes cause of those little cities on the hills. There are no more such true places in this game.
Dragonstand, is a totally coherent map. beautifully crafted, and it makes you participate in everything as you push forward, in whichever lane you follow. Even though Gyala delve follows the same idea, it's not annoying like gyala. The first time you meet Modremoth, it was such an epic moment, I can still remember the feeling of awe. powercreep and mounts have trivialized it but it was such a good experience and memory. Top grade map.
Haven't gotten to that point yet but i can feel it coming already. To all my fishing aficionados, you already know crystal oasis is getting done dirty by everyone. Still my favorite map in the game, most likely completely undeservedly, but the stuff that happens in the fishing squad chats is the best content this game ever had to offer.
Some of the hero points in HoT are the best on-demand pve challenges in the game. Great for testing out builds and having a good time. Raises the maps even further compared to what you both talked about.
I disagree with the placements of the home areas. I unironically think that the Charr starting area is the best, followed by the humans, Sylvari, Asura, then the Norn area.
The 15-35 map choice is suffering for levelers repeat-wise. And I didn't know about Fields of Ruin for the longest.(30-40). Probably a good idea to level in Caledon forest, Queensdale, or Wayfarer Foothills. Gendarran Fields isn't too bad. Had a lot of trouble getting past 40,. but there's easier/more pleasant options when you want since you can always play maps leveled below you, same xp~.
Some maps are judged based on their current state, the others are judged based on original release. Some are judged based on content, others get a pass because of the art. E.g. dragons stand is weak map today and your alkost 10 year old nostalgia to reality that never comes back make it sound like people trying it today gonna experience some real gaming, which is false. This tierlist lacks cohesion and is basically teapots nostalgia trip. I dont even know why Lara is here, when teapot mansplains against everything they dont agree on. Fingers crossed you gonna do better next time.
So this was originally going to be a rant about the Asuran cubes like Rata Sum, but I did the maths and it turns out the area is basically 1:1 with a normal cube standing on one side rather than a corner. However: - How do you expand? Once the cube is built, you can't effectively expand upwards or downwards, you have to expand up-and-sideways along the normal of each side. - The space efficiency is horrific. You can't effectively divide the cube into rooms because eventually you'll run into the side of the cube and even as an Asura there's some space along the walls you can't use. If I had calculated the volume of each floor I think the difference would be larger. - With a normal cube, there's a floor at the top of the cube you don't have when on the Asura cube. This obviously also means it's easy to expand upwards or downwards.
The core maps really make the game feel like a fantasy world. The expansiveness, the different factions that fill it, the hidden locations makes the game come alive. The expansions maps (PoF being the exception) are beautiful but somehow fail to capture the scope of the world. They are more tied down and specific if that makes sense.
Tangled Depths was brutal - but we overcame it. It is an amazing piece of map design. With mounts and overlays it's even easy to navigate these days. :)
Still big F to me that Rata Sum is placed so low, to me this is one of the greatest city hub's. The bank, TP & crafting stations are so close by eachother it's legit crazy good. Didn't know Lara was also Dutch, shit blew my mind :)
I Love LOVE Tangled Depths. The jungle HATES ME so much the MAP ITSELF hates me, Mordremoth will know my name 😂🎉 I do mean it btw, TG loves since 1st time without mounts there. People need to use the burrows more
Like Lara is against swamp, I'm against snow. Every snow area looks the same. Still pretty new to the game and haven't even been to every map yet, but T-Line Falls is just another snow map to me. Also she seems to be rating maps on visual aspect, and you seem to be rating them based on what you can actually do there and how good it is. 2 completely separate lists are fighting each other this whole time lol.
I just thought how would I have put some maps... I think Lara's negative "it's a swamp" would be my "but it's the shiver peaks". I fell in love with guild wars with the eotn expansion of gw1 and I love being in the shiver peaks. Norn main city way above Charr and Sylvary though... Just think about Dragonbash Festival there
Actually it's interesting that now i find myself appreciating core maps much more than i used to. Calm, simplicity and openness of the core maps feels nice in contrast. Plus nostalgia. Wayfarer's would be on par with QD for me, although second half of the map falls off a bit. Metrica is a snooze fest. New Kessex is an allegory to what feminism does to society and world. 😆 Edit: Ebonhawk's gates art on the loading screen is cool, but in-game realization falls flat in comparison. Snowdrift and Ashford have pretty cool guild missions though, very atmospheric. Better than rest of the map. Funny how Laranity practically getting bullied out of her every opinion on every map. Be careful what you wish for, you wanted the tier list professional, got tier list warlord instead. 😂 Edit: Timberline Falls along with Tangled Depths is by far 2 of my fav maps. The scenery and vibe is fantastic. TD is one the very best areas/regions in any game ever in terms of how brilliantly artistic vision realized in an actual map, absolutely uncompromised. It feels like a journey, feels like you're lost in world's ass, it truly feels alien in many places, it feels like Jules Verne's novel. Orr is a stand out in general, just esthetic of this area is sublime. And i think Ruins of Arah is the best dungeon in GW2, i wish they would revamp it somehow to create incentives to go there, it's absolutely beautiful.
I do think that all they need to do to make EotM popular to play again is give it pips and let you use your warclaw and glider. That’s my genuine opinion. Cause as of now the only time I play that map is if the gates bug out on reset and our guild is queued out.
"It is painful to go in Tangled Depth. It is painful all the way out of Tangled Depth... I appreciate it but I don't need a second Tangled Depth" Hmm, so technically, Tangled Depth is like losing my virginity
I agree with most of this rating (with the exception of Dry Top, hate that map so I think it should have been lower) but I did want to be devil's advocate a bit for current Lion's Arch. I think if they had spread out the textures some so that it doesn't look like bare concrete on the usual camera angle walking around the city, people would like it more. Seriously. Go to the Jellyfish plaza and look south at the buildings. Then tilt your camera up about 20-30 degrees. The building textures are there, but they are elevated... perhaps to be flood ready? The sad part is that even doing the 4 treasure chest jumping puzzle won't give players a different view since the roofs you are jumping between all stick out enough from the walls that all you see are green tiles. There's no real variance. Now go to the Memorial on the west side, the one that goes underground with the waterfalls. Those textures, the green-blue-teal seaweed tiles, should have been sparsely distributed around the city's building bases, giving a feel like you are in the bay looking at the original underwater LA that the quaggan live near (in the water near the lighthouse) and drawing your eyes upwards to where the wooden buildings stand. Or, there should have been some murals or something to go with the sea theme (though that may make it seem even more themeparkish) - or tell season 1's story by showing it during the tour (something like what the real life Romans did with their tileworks, art that reflects life). To also make the city look less like concrete, there should have been worn wooden plank paths embedded in the concrete ground between the common buildings in the main area - bank to the Trading Post to the crafting area to the Mystic Forge. Just so long as it doesn't look too manicured, it won't contribute to the themepark feel but adding paths would make it look like the area *is* well trod and needs maintenance (like knowing a road is used because it has potholes) as well as serving as a call back to original Lion Arch's arched wooden plank paths. Old Lion's Arch would still have a better "lived in" feel because it had verticality (especially doing the jumping puzzles!) and all the wooden ships everywhere giving texture. But, I think that current Lion's Arch isn't irredeemably terrible.
Heavy disagree with black citadel placement. Its industrial aesthetics fit iron legion to a T. And for navigation it is so much better than grove and rata sum. The crafting locations are also centralized around one point and the home instance was one of the easier do the home instance farm prior to homesteads.
I just finished another world completion and right now every core map is mold tier to me lol. I can appreciate the design quality of HoT maps but when I had to play them the first time I had so much anxiety. I was always lost. Running toward my group wasn’t good enough because once I thought I was close on the minimap I realized they are way above me or below and by the time I figured out how to get to them they moved on again. I prefer PoF maps, nice open desert, much easier to find my way lol. EoD might be my favorite, getting fishing finally in the game just made my day and I love the first map. Probably the most beautiful map they e ever made. Soto is just 🤮 and so far JW is better, but we’ll see where it goes.
Whats with the Arborstone hate here?!? Its so unique and majestic. Gothic cathedral swallowed by nature next to a creepy forest trail? My only critique is it needs more functionality. Maybe tent markets amongst the ground
Mount Maelstrom should of been S tier from what you stated, the problem is its not S tier compared to the Expansions and LS, but for CORE game easy S tier.
Divinity Reach S Tier, All the holiday events are pretty much here, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Crown Pavilion / Gauntlet. When you learn about the Shining Blade. the RP is god tier aswell,
Amnytas bastions being all the same architecture-wise was exhausting. meta event needs to be removed. Then being in the ashy halo flood hell maps later made me want to go back to the first map.
every S3 map is hard to like to be honest, I like their concepts, and the artistry, but being in them is just painful, the colour palette is atrocious (draconis mons - my gawd… what is that?!?) not to mention the ascended backpack quest on Mons is absolute torture, what a total drag that collection becomes at Draconis Mons, my GAWD heart quests that repeat are such a bad bad bad idea
As a map artist on a number of these maps I was defiantly curious how this was going to work out. Thanks!
Happy to see a few marked well while understand why one that was not. Would love to tell the tale on the creation of these maps one day.
@@starfly5 That would be quite interesting, actually. Maybe we can get @MightyTeapot and friends to do a special teatime episode with you.
@@starfly5 I'd watch that! Do you still do map design for the game?
@@7sonfilmsAlas I have moved on to other adventures. I worked on a number of maps from the core GW2 launch to Path of Fire living world.
ty for your service. The Artstyle in GW2 is out of this world.
This video is shorter than the time Lara spends jumping around aimlessly in game before getting into content.
That is literally me
@@ardabaser1349 was about to say: very relatable
"I'm in this comment and I don't like it". 😅
Brisban Wildlands deserves more love imo. It’s GW2’s equivalent to the Barrens from classic WoW, as sylvari, asura and some human players will all converge here after level 15-20, so you get tons of activity and variety.
The flow is just fantastic, as each race gets their own entrance to the map, focused on their main antagonistic faction, but the events eventually lead into dealing with the Sinister Triad, an “alliance” between bandits, Inquest and Nightmare Court, (which is basically what inspired Scarlet’s whole plan).
Also, Skrittsburgh is an awesome area.
"I like when things are on fire."
Dark Lara is ever lurking just under the surface.
That's fire wizard lara
Your a Wizard Harry I mean Lara🎉
LaranEVIL
Finally seeing the GOAT Verdant Brink on top.
That map is responsible for my continued love of the game
Love love love Verdant Brink
Yeah! In my meager 400 hours Verdant Brink is just great
I don't see why people love it so much! The entirety of HoT is such a PAIN to traverse and the colors are very neutral and bland IMO.
@@dragon153rider it’s a mean lean green gliding machine. What’s not to love.
@@dragon153riderI’m so with you there!!
Lowland Shore is a proof that Anet still got it when it comes to map design. It just boiles down to having enough time/resources to deliver good map experience.
I wish they made more maps like Kessex Hills that change based on story events
yeah this is what got me most excited
just the knowledge that they very much still have the SAUCE man
lowland shore, visually, is unbeatable. literally breathtaking.
Wayfarer Foothills will always have a special place in my heart, just for the fact, i completed that map on the very first beta weekend of GW2.. It's my ultimate entry into the game. S Tier.
The underappreciation of Thunderhead peaks... Mind boggling
nah fr its the best designed map in the game imo. the gameplay kinda sucks ass but yeah the map itself is amazing
Verdant Brink is the greatest map ever made. The visuals and story telling is fantastic
Wayfarer foothills at least (!) B tier, maybe A tier. Why? There are so cool and variable quests like the raven riddles, playing as snow leopard with the little ones is so cute, throwing snowballs on childs, catching bear kegs, how can you rate this C tier? 😂 And Caladon forest need to be A tier for the hidden quaggan organ alone. That creates just goosebumps this gw2 theme under water.....❤
I love how this is bringing back memories of all the cool stuff you find in core. Caledon Forest was my starting map and it started my love for jump puzzles.
On fields of Ruins, I want to highlight the fact that in Ebonhawke, by the waypoint there is a hub with alll the crafting stations and a bank/ TP very close by. I used this as my crafting hub before I got the mistlock sanctuary pass.
So FoR is top A tier for sure
petition to make Edge of the Mists into Blue borderland! After we got red desert it makes no sense that blue and green are still mirrored
Edge of the mist is my fav wvw map and it pisses me off so much that i cant get skirmishing track rewards in it
Petition to replace Red BL with it.
There is 2 things i really hope would come true in future maps.
1. Map with more hostile enviroment than the current maps. It doesn't have to be on the same level as HoT maps when they came out but I don't like the feel of the resent maps where you just walk around spam 1 and everything around you just dies. There is not really any threat while moving around. Mounts do contribute alot for this so maybe something like the traps in PoF maps or new enemies that can instantly dismount you if some "dismount attack" hits you and with that make the mobs stronger so you can't just nobrain run around with mounts without any danger. For me that would make the exploring much more interesting.
2. This could be with the first point or just alone but a map where you can't use flying mounts especially skyscale. I think alot of the new map desing gets ignore with skyscale. Lowland shore is a amazing map but I think alot of the cool desing gets ignore or it goes unnoticed because of the flying mounts. You could argue that "you dont have to use skyscale" but i think if you were forced to use land mounts anet could do a lot of cool stuff with the enviroment and how moving around would work. They could also add a mastery that gives you the ability to use flying mounts again later but if you couldnt use them when you first arrive on the map it would also make it easier for them to make the map more dangerous.
I don't know if it's still a thing, but WoW used to do the no flying at the start of an expansion thing. You'd only unlock flying later into the expansion, locked behind a whole bunch of achievements. It really made you appreciate the effort the devs put into designing the maps.
Loving the content with laranity
Grothmar has gone up recently for me thanks to the Wizard's Tower gobbler. Previously I had no reason to go back aside from doing the Ooze Pit every once in a while. Now that there's an actual use for hatched chilis I feel a bit better about hanging out there and doing random events.
Tangled Depths is the best map in the Game.
A few years ago I did many HP Trains as a catmander through all of HoT maps.
It was a nice challenge for me to find many shortcut, optimal and fun routes around the map.
In the end of my HP in TD the squad was always full, and it was so epic to lead the train of 50 random people into their inevitable surprises, deaths and orientational confusion.😅
I miss those times before mounts.
I always timed my HP Train so that it did not conflict with the Meta, and after the HP run I did an after party in the Underground dance floor room with an optional Chak Gerenth Meta as an after-after Party.
After I have done the HP Trains so many times (maybe 50+) I still can find new ways around the map.
That is perfect map design.
Fun fact: Did you know that you can do a Messmer portal directly to Mushroom HP from central (Meta-) waypoint in a specific spot? 😅
Worst map ever. Get that crap out of here
Divinity's Reach and Old Lion's Arch, to this day, are among the best fantasy cities I have ever saw in any media in the genre. They are both perfect visually, lore and world-building wise. It absolutely breaks my heart that old LA got swapped to a MOLD tear waterpark.
Honestly, Wayfarer Foothills is the best starter map by far. You have the small village/ valley part that introduces you to the Spirits of the Wild and the Svanir, Jotun, Dredge and Grawl with actual lore about them. You have cool events and event chains even. A vista that introduces the idea of jumping puzzles. Then the separate tutorial area opens up as the story takes you over/through the mountains. You have homesteads, hot springs, a jumping puzzle, ice cliffs and when you fought through it all the ice citadel at the top. The only downside is that the shaman is the most boring World Boss by far - also, why does he appear at a random lake and not in the citadel?! But when it comes to a new player that knows neither the game nor the lore of the world/their race, Wayfarer Foothills is without a doubt the best starter map
I was back there recently and I loved it !!
Wayfarer foothills is really good imo. Super dense with variety and verticality in the south. Hoelbrok is really pretty and has rewarding nooks all over. Great view from the deck. It's a solitary vibe maybe.
Holy shit this is the most high effort tier list I've ever seen, I'm only 6 minutes in but I'm gonna watch the whole thing for sure. Probably have to spread it out over the next day and a half but I'll get it done. I may spam comments as I go, I do that sometimes, treat the comment section like a live reaction section 😅
Nah justice for Wayfarer Foothills, the best starter zone. It's the prettiest, varried settings and evemy factions (svanir, grawl, dredge, and jotun), hidden caves, jumping puzzle, even a mini-meta whete you asssault the svanir. Snowball fight heart is S tier, and jackalope hunt is a classic fun event.
Also, it leads to a level 70 map, so it gives new players a chance to explore and get a taste of higher level enemies if they want.
I strongly disagree with Gendarran fields, its got LLA, Sunken Chest, a really fun Roller beetle race, Vigils Keep, while not the greatest, i personally like the other two options better base wise, its still neat, its got fun events like the Heart in the top right in the snow, its special wave event makes heart completion a breeze, thats another, its got really easy map comp there's like 2 or 3 hearts that i can recall that were a little slower than the rest, but still pretty fast, and its pretty easy to Traverse the map with and without mounts
Man, this is gonna be vrazy i'm excited. Btw, i love core maps too
This is the only GW 2 video we actually need!
Dragon Stand Hot Take: even without mounts, the boss fight sucks for new players because everyone else has lay line gliding + infinite gliding.
Without lay line gliding you have to use the updrafts, which is drastically slower to get from platform to platform, and without infinite gliding, you often won't make it to the updraft before falling to your death -- the distance to the updrafts is on the verge of being too far, and, as a new player, your judgement for updraft distance isn't great, so you might try to get to one that's too far, or change your mind on the way... and by the time you actually get to the platform where everyone's fighting, they're done and moving on to the next.
I quit GW2 in core and then came back in season 3; the first time I did Dragon Stand, everyone had all the gliding masteries, and I couldn't keep up. I started off stressed about being able to be a part of the fight, and towards the end, I was concerned whether I was going to get credit at all. IMO, if the "lay lines" between platforms were actually updrafts (like in Xera), even if they still looked like lay lines, that would go a long way to improve the new player experience of the fight.
I will never forget my first impression of Verdant Brink when I leveled up to 80 and bought the expansion. It blew my mind, absolutely blew my mind, it was as if a 2D creature was suddenly warped by a power beyond their comprehension into a 3D being in a 3D world with previously unthinkable verticality. Gliders (and mounts ofc) are single most unique thing GW2 has over other known to me MMORPGs. Which is not a lot-lot but still a lot.
I still like Auric Basin more (that bit of music at the very end of meta makes me feel things unfeelable anywhere else) on top of amazing everything, from secrets, events, lore, LOOK I LOVE GOLD MONUMENTS IN JUNGLE THEME AAHH
And Tangled Depths was such an abusive relationship for me. I had to spend a lot of time there crafting my first gen 2 leggy and raid armor set, it made me love that map, I know it well from memory but until that painful memory-making process finishes, its quite a doozy, not gonna lie. Still love it. Best three maps Arenanet have made, though Tangled is slightly debatable if it shouldn't be lower on S+ tier.
Started playing a year ago, played in order, and caught up at the end of inner nayos. I'm right there with them up through Seitung. Everything in EOD and SOTO, though, they cooked this. Look at every map they placed above those maps and compare, that's wild.
Edit: imo, only gyala belongs below A tier of the maps after Living world 4.
Thunderhead Peaks is my favorite map of all time. I dont like the meta, but the map itself is so amazing. the elevation changes and depth of the map is so good it makes u actually feel like ur on/inside of a giant mountain. its unfortunate that it lacks interesting gameplay though. its the one thing i would take from dragonfall and that would make it the best map in the game imo
I really like all of these tierlists but this one is the best one both of you have ever done, this tier list is S++.
Would love to see more collabs like these, Fractal Tier List, Raid/Strike Tierlist maybe?
Core game is magical with the secrets and quirky stuff they put in it.
God Teapot and Lara's chemistry is genuinely so fucking good
I had a chance to play story and subsequently dry top and silverwastes in order (same living world 3) and those maps hold up even today. Yes now I have my skyscale, but since i progressed everything in order, oh man, when it wasnt mount-crept that was a blast. (ofc my rewards gold wise sucked but i had fun and thats what counts)
"Inner Nayos is super different from anything else of GW2" 2:53:10 - says about ultraboring map which built literally on Echovald Wilds 3D assets...
SO much love for Jumping puzzles. I hate jumping puzzles
Oof did Straits of Devastation dirty...
Really good vid though, like how you presents arguments to eachother and not agree on all, adds another level to the tierlist! 😊
Wayfarer Foothills is A tier for rollerbeetling
I gotta say I agree on MOST of the spots you placed the maps BUT Thunderhead is as bad as Kourna if not worse. I really noticed that during the current return to week. This map literally has NO CONTENT other then achivements, 2 meta events and 2 other events. _"Do 3 Events"_ while the meta isn't up is just straight up pain because there are no events.
I hate how mounts pretty much killed half of the maps. They should have been disablen on all pre-PoF maps.
Tangled Dephts is actually a very very good map. It is pain! You get lost! You get hurt! Because you are in the freaking jungle! And there are so many hidden details to find. At first I hated it and then I wrapped my head around it and LOVED it. For a long time, TD was the map I would go to have fun.
Metrica got shafted, it's WAY better than it was placed.
They literally put Amnytas (which is created and tiled from 2-3 identical 3D models and looks boring AF) HIGHER than Lions Arch (which is RICH from the perspective of 3D and exploring) and New Kaineng City with all this gangs and insane atmosphere for GW2. OMG i cant believe in that lol.
They put the most confusing map (which is Rata Sum (even though its upper area looks cool)) HIGHER than Black Citadel which have 10 times more interesting RP areas, and one of the best night views of the city (which you can get if you stay from the lake side).
P.S. For me one of the best "vibe" maps is Gendarran Fields. It reminds me TES: Oblivion & Witcher landscapes cause of those little cities on the hills. There are no more such true places in this game.
A bunch of weird takes…
@@Stevethebeast08 Most youtubers either main Rats, Mice, or Big Mice, never the Charr nor the Twigs
Dragonstand, is a totally coherent map. beautifully crafted, and it makes you participate in everything as you push forward, in whichever lane you follow. Even though Gyala delve follows the same idea, it's not annoying like gyala. The first time you meet Modremoth, it was such an epic moment, I can still remember the feeling of awe. powercreep and mounts have trivialized it but it was such a good experience and memory. Top grade map.
Haven't gotten to that point yet but i can feel it coming already. To all my fishing aficionados, you already know crystal oasis is getting done dirty by everyone. Still my favorite map in the game, most likely completely undeservedly, but the stuff that happens in the fishing squad chats is the best content this game ever had to offer.
My go to map, would be Tangled Depth.
Did you know the background music changes with each lanes?
what do you MEAN timetravel npc in kessex hills??? WHERE IS THIS PERSON
2:40:31 "This is a place of refuge" thanks for reminding me, that Arborstone actually is mold-tier Lara xD
Some of the hero points in HoT are the best on-demand pve challenges in the game. Great for testing out builds and having a good time. Raises the maps even further compared to what you both talked about.
I disagree with the placements of the home areas. I unironically think that the Charr starting area is the best, followed by the humans, Sylvari, Asura, then the Norn area.
The initial exploration of Tangled Depths was epic, and I love it for that, but pretty happy not to go back if I'm honest.
The 15-35 map choice is suffering for levelers repeat-wise. And I didn't know about Fields of Ruin for the longest.(30-40). Probably a good idea to level in Caledon forest, Queensdale, or Wayfarer Foothills. Gendarran Fields isn't too bad. Had a lot of trouble getting past 40,. but there's easier/more pleasant options when you want since you can always play maps leveled below you, same xp~.
Not sure what kind of Tea mr Pot is brewing but for putting tangeled depths so high im sure its not a normal one 😂
Some maps are judged based on their current state, the others are judged based on original release. Some are judged based on content, others get a pass because of the art.
E.g. dragons stand is weak map today and your alkost 10 year old nostalgia to reality that never comes back make it sound like people trying it today gonna experience some real gaming, which is false.
This tierlist lacks cohesion and is basically teapots nostalgia trip. I dont even know why Lara is here, when teapot mansplains against everything they dont agree on.
Fingers crossed you gonna do better next time.
Wtf ... Dragonfall and Drizzlewood are great
So this was originally going to be a rant about the Asuran cubes like Rata Sum, but I did the maths and it turns out the area is basically 1:1 with a normal cube standing on one side rather than a corner.
However:
- How do you expand? Once the cube is built, you can't effectively expand upwards or downwards, you have to expand up-and-sideways along the normal of each side.
- The space efficiency is horrific. You can't effectively divide the cube into rooms because eventually you'll run into the side of the cube and even as an Asura there's some space along the walls you can't use. If I had calculated the volume of each floor I think the difference would be larger.
- With a normal cube, there's a floor at the top of the cube you don't have when on the Asura cube. This obviously also means it's easy to expand upwards or downwards.
Snowden Drifts was great!
The core maps really make the game feel like a fantasy world. The expansiveness, the different factions that fill it, the hidden locations makes the game come alive. The expansions maps (PoF being the exception) are beautiful but somehow fail to capture the scope of the world. They are more tied down and specific if that makes sense.
Chaotic Grass is my new alignment
I'm amazed at how they still can differenciate one core map from one other
Holy i still remember the first time i ever fought shadow behemoth i was a super young kid and it blew my mind.
Tangled Depths was brutal - but we overcame it. It is an amazing piece of map design.
With mounts and overlays it's even easy to navigate these days. :)
imagine what gw2 would have been like if every map was like 3 tangled depths stacked on top of each other. It would have been glorious xD
Metrica was done dirty 😢 it's the quintessential Asura map imo. So many little nuggets of Asura culture and characters. Peak immersion
Still big F to me that Rata Sum is placed so low, to me this is one of the greatest city hub's. The bank, TP & crafting stations are so close by eachother it's legit crazy good.
Didn't know Lara was also Dutch, shit blew my mind :)
I don't understand why they don't add pips to edge of the mists
i cant believe you wanted to put arborstone in Mold... Teapot, THIS IS A PLACE OF REFUGE!!!!
jeeez
I Love LOVE Tangled Depths. The jungle HATES ME so much the MAP ITSELF hates me, Mordremoth will know my name 😂🎉
I do mean it btw, TG loves since 1st time without mounts there.
People need to use the burrows more
Like Lara is against swamp, I'm against snow. Every snow area looks the same. Still pretty new to the game and haven't even been to every map yet, but T-Line Falls is just another snow map to me. Also she seems to be rating maps on visual aspect, and you seem to be rating them based on what you can actually do there and how good it is. 2 completely separate lists are fighting each other this whole time lol.
What about labyrinthine cliffs? I use the art for that as my wallpaper
Tangled depths isn’t fun for new players honestly but once you know how to use the wallows , you can get anywhere including all 7 waypoints easily.
I just thought how would I have put some maps... I think Lara's negative "it's a swamp" would be my "but it's the shiver peaks". I fell in love with guild wars with the eotn expansion of gw1 and I love being in the shiver peaks.
Norn main city way above Charr and Sylvary though... Just think about Dragonbash Festival there
NKC has great fishing routes
Dragons Stand as the best map ever made is an insane take, even with it bing the finale.
Actually it's interesting that now i find myself appreciating core maps much more than i used to. Calm, simplicity and openness of the core maps feels nice in contrast. Plus nostalgia.
Wayfarer's would be on par with QD for me, although second half of the map falls off a bit. Metrica is a snooze fest. New Kessex is an allegory to what feminism does to society and world. 😆
Edit: Ebonhawk's gates art on the loading screen is cool, but in-game realization falls flat in comparison. Snowdrift and Ashford have pretty cool guild missions though, very atmospheric. Better than rest of the map. Funny how Laranity practically getting bullied out of her every opinion on every map. Be careful what you wish for, you wanted the tier list professional, got tier list warlord instead. 😂
Edit: Timberline Falls along with Tangled Depths is by far 2 of my fav maps. The scenery and vibe is fantastic. TD is one the very best areas/regions in any game ever in terms of how brilliantly artistic vision realized in an actual map, absolutely uncompromised. It feels like a journey, feels like you're lost in world's ass, it truly feels alien in many places, it feels like Jules Verne's novel. Orr is a stand out in general, just esthetic of this area is sublime. And i think Ruins of Arah is the best dungeon in GW2, i wish they would revamp it somehow to create incentives to go there, it's absolutely beautiful.
I do think that all they need to do to make EotM popular to play again is give it pips and let you use your warclaw and glider. That’s my genuine opinion. Cause as of now the only time I play that map is if the gates bug out on reset and our guild is queued out.
"It is painful to go in Tangled Depth. It is painful all the way out of Tangled Depth... I appreciate it but I don't need a second Tangled Depth"
Hmm, so technically, Tangled Depth is like losing my virginity
I agree with most of this rating (with the exception of Dry Top, hate that map so I think it should have been lower) but I did want to be devil's advocate a bit for current Lion's Arch. I think if they had spread out the textures some so that it doesn't look like bare concrete on the usual camera angle walking around the city, people would like it more. Seriously. Go to the Jellyfish plaza and look south at the buildings. Then tilt your camera up about 20-30 degrees. The building textures are there, but they are elevated... perhaps to be flood ready? The sad part is that even doing the 4 treasure chest jumping puzzle won't give players a different view since the roofs you are jumping between all stick out enough from the walls that all you see are green tiles. There's no real variance.
Now go to the Memorial on the west side, the one that goes underground with the waterfalls. Those textures, the green-blue-teal seaweed tiles, should have been sparsely distributed around the city's building bases, giving a feel like you are in the bay looking at the original underwater LA that the quaggan live near (in the water near the lighthouse) and drawing your eyes upwards to where the wooden buildings stand. Or, there should have been some murals or something to go with the sea theme (though that may make it seem even more themeparkish) - or tell season 1's story by showing it during the tour (something like what the real life Romans did with their tileworks, art that reflects life). To also make the city look less like concrete, there should have been worn wooden plank paths embedded in the concrete ground between the common buildings in the main area - bank to the Trading Post to the crafting area to the Mystic Forge. Just so long as it doesn't look too manicured, it won't contribute to the themepark feel but adding paths would make it look like the area *is* well trod and needs maintenance (like knowing a road is used because it has potholes) as well as serving as a call back to original Lion Arch's arched wooden plank paths.
Old Lion's Arch would still have a better "lived in" feel because it had verticality (especially doing the jumping puzzles!) and all the wooden ships everywhere giving texture. But, I think that current Lion's Arch isn't irredeemably terrible.
Dragonfall is the best farming map in the game and also a fun map to play. DF deserves atleast A tier
Heavy disagree with black citadel placement. Its industrial aesthetics fit iron legion to a T. And for navigation it is so much better than grove and rata sum. The crafting locations are also centralized around one point and the home instance was one of the easier do the home instance farm prior to homesteads.
I just finished another world completion and right now every core map is mold tier to me lol. I can appreciate the design quality of HoT maps but when I had to play them the first time I had so much anxiety. I was always lost. Running toward my group wasn’t good enough because once I thought I was close on the minimap I realized they are way above me or below and by the time I figured out how to get to them they moved on again. I prefer PoF maps, nice open desert, much easier to find my way lol. EoD might be my favorite, getting fishing finally in the game just made my day and I love the first map. Probably the most beautiful map they e ever made. Soto is just 🤮 and so far JW is better, but we’ll see where it goes.
Whats with the Arborstone hate here?!? Its so unique and majestic. Gothic cathedral swallowed by nature next to a creepy forest trail? My only critique is it needs more functionality. Maybe tent markets amongst the ground
My controversial comment is that I agree with 99% of this tierlist.
it's triggering that only echovald has a narrower image than all the others, so that the images don't align
Tangled Depths deserves it's own tier.
Below MOLD.
They could add a big ghost boss or some big fireboss to Ashford. something!
Teapot talking about Seitung Province and Mr. Bots was not mentioned. Fake video?🤨
That's actually a major oversight
Mount Maelstrom should of been S tier from what you stated, the problem is its not S tier compared to the Expansions and LS, but for CORE game easy S tier.
Divinity Reach S Tier, All the holiday events are pretty much here, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Crown Pavilion / Gauntlet. When you learn about the Shining Blade. the RP is god tier aswell,
What about a legendary karka convergence? o.o
Sneaky Brisban Wildlands escaped Swamp tier.
Sparkfly should have been summerized with one word - Platinum Ore.
Low A IMO
Amnytas bastions being all the same architecture-wise was exhausting. meta event needs to be removed. Then being in the ashy halo flood hell maps later made me want to go back to the first map.
Honestly why the hate for Krytan maps? All should be in B tier or above. Divinity's Reach should be S+ imo
Miss Old Lion's Arch
HoT made me quit, doing those maps without mounts were just PAIN. Hate them when they released, loved then after skyscale.
I love going around the Tangled Depths with a fully kitted out Griffon
the core maps are good enough that they kept us all entertained until the first LW came out ! hating the core maps is wrong ! change my mind !
Tangled Depths is the best map in the game.
every cell in my body disagrees
@@janryllesol8070Every cell in your body is wrong.
@@rainman6090every cell in my body also disagrees.
Can you guys do the same but for music? 🤩
Mount Malestrom is a good map with a good JP, but Megadestroyer blows hard. C tier lowest, middle B tier
every S3 map is hard to like to be honest, I like their concepts, and the artistry, but being in them is just painful, the colour palette is atrocious (draconis mons - my gawd… what is that?!?) not to mention the ascended backpack quest on Mons is absolute torture, what a total drag that collection becomes at Draconis Mons, my GAWD heart quests that repeat are such a bad bad bad idea
Probably they should remake this tier list to: Ranking EVERY OPEN WORLD MAP FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF META EVENT 😅