This week Matt looks back at the very first Scrying Pool and the events of Season 2.

What had made me most hopeful for the story was the teaser trailer for HoT that was appended to the end of the last episode of Season 2. This teaser trailer highlights both the struggle and the possibility that not all Sylvari are evil. Caithe starts off, clearly uncontrolled by the dragon, saying that there is hope to break free from destiny. Focus then shifts to Rytlock saying not to trust Sylvari as they are the dragon’s now before focus shifts again to Canach, a Sylvari holding off members of the other races while proclaiming that they are not the enemy.

It is this tug-of-war between condemning and trusting Sylvari that has me most excited to see the story unfold in the expansion. We already see this tug-of-war in the first story instance that was shown as part of the convention and beta previews. Right at the beginning of the instance you come across a Norn and Sylvari arguing about trust. This doesn’t end there as the player ultimately makes the decision to align with the Norn or trust the Sylvari on the next course of action.

It is not just with NPCs where I want to see this however, as I want this tug-of-war to carry over to the player characters. Ever since we first saw that teaser trailer I imagined the first time our motley band of heroes meets up with the fresh-back-from-the-Mists Rytlock. If I walk up on a Norn, I am thinking the conversation to go along the lines of:

Me: Rytlock! Sup?

Rytlock: Hero, it is good you are here. We will need all the help we can get to drive these plants back to their roots.

If I’m on a Sylvari character, I expect the meeting to go very differently. In fact I hope it goes absolutely terribly with Rytlock charging at me with the intent to end another evil Sylvari. In my vision it is only the allies that stand next to me to allow Rytlock to see any reason. As Rytlock charges in, Braham would step between us, shield raised in preparation to block whatever attack would befall me. Canach in his own way would also stand vigilant, though with his sword to Rytlock’s neck alongside a few quips to further ruffle his fur. Seeing these allies of different races, Sylvari and non-Sylvari included, would maybe eek some reason into this non-black and white situation. It wouldn’t be a victory, but a small, winning tug in the larger war.

Colin Johanson had made a comment a while back that it might be a good idea to get a Sylvari character ready for HoT. This has me hopeful that there really will be a different experience if we are going in on a Sylvari versus any other race. I’m not saying that the entire story will be different, as I think overall it will be mostly the same, but the interactions between the character and NPCs could be amazingly different in their approach to each situation throughout the story.

There is a lot of amazing things coming with Heart of Thorns. Yesterday, ArenaNet revealed how the Specialization system will work, then there is the Revenant profession, Guild Halls, gliding, adventures, Stronghold and the new WvW Borderlands. Even with all of this amazing content, what has me most excited in the expansion is the story.

Come HoT, you can find me fighting against the forces of Mordremoth alongside my Sylvari brethren. May the Dream guide you.

Matt "Mattsta" Adams is hyped for Specializations!

Work continues ever onward for unlocking the dungeon skins. Since last week's article I finished the collections for both the AC set and the HotW set. In PvP I have started working on the CoE collection while the dungeon running has begun for both TA and CoF (since the third path is avoided in both of these). Outside of dungeons I made a Quiver in the Mystic Forge, which unlocked the backpack skin for me. What are you working on while we wait for Heart of Thorns?

If you have a question for me or a topic you would like to see talked about here, leave a comment below. You can also tweet your question and topics to me on twitter @MattstaNinja. Also, check out my site Mattsta.Ninja that focuses on guides and more for Guild Wars 2.