- New races:
The Kodan share many of the aspects listed for the Tengu. Their problem might be that a city is hard to add lore-wise, as the whole point of Kodans in Tyria is that they fled south and are scattered on their small sanctuaries along the shore. However, the "city" could just be an additional, maybe a bit larger sanctuary added further north in the Far Shiverpeaks. The low-level zone could be connected to Snowden Drifts.
The Largos are also humanoid and non-hostile, but since they prefer to stay completely hidden and only reveal themselves to certain pact members when they have to, it would be hard to justify having them openly running around other territories, and even harder justifying other races visiting theirs. But they would open the possibility of a major underwater city.
The Dredge are a far-off choice and a nightmare to integrate into the story. Almost all encountered Dredgre are hostile, and they contribute absolutely nothing to the Pact. However, they would be a truly unique race. One way the introduction of the Dredge as a player race could be handled might be to stage a revolution which overthrows the communist regime (players who have been through Frostgorge Sound know that there is an ongoing rebellion against the regime, and even help said rebellion in a couple of renown hearts and a number of dynamic events.) The Dredge home city and level 1-15 area could be set up in one of the currently unused areas of the Shiverpeaks, possibly in a northern zone connected to Snowden Drifts or Diessa Plateau, and the enemy faction (which every player race has) could be remnants of the old regime seeking to regain power. Or, alternately - in order not to make things too confusing for players - the playable Dredge could be the anti-communist rebels, which would make the existing NPC Dredge the necessary enemy faction.
The quaggan are another possibility. They're very popular among the GW 2 player community, are widely spread across Tyria (just about anywhere there is a large, open body of water connected to the sea is likely to have a quaggan community), they're definitely on the side of good, and like the existing races, can be modeled on the basic humanoid form without excessive tweaking. The big problem, of course, is that they're amphibians so that their home city and low-level area would have to be in a coastal or sea zone, and they currently have no home city, having been driven from their old homes by Jormag (in the north) and the krait (in the south); however, as suggested with the Tengu above, the foundation of a new quaggan home city could be made a major one-time in-game event.
Also, conveniently, there are five races (skritt, hylek, ogres, Grawl, Jotun) that have been introduced recently...and become good... The skritt are the most popular of these races (in fact, there have already been several fan-made mockups of what a skritt character creation screen sequence might look like). Their city and level 1-15 zone, like the Dredge's, could be located in any currently unused mountain area linked to a level 15-25 zone.
- New classes:
Another class using heavy armor seems intuitive, as there are only two at the moment. Maybe a kind of battle mage? (The upcoming Heart of Thorns expansion set will have a new heavy-armor class, the Revenant, which will indeed function as a sort of battle mage with some similarities to the GW 1 Ritualist class.)
- New places
The current Flame and Frost series of updates will end with the defeat of Jormag, to finally give players the feeling that there is something moving with the Elder Dragon situation. To get there it will also open the Far Shiverpeaks region. Rule of Three says that it will probably have three stages, spanning January through March (possible April if there is another event in between). (Jossed; as the Flame and Frost story has developed, the enemy turns out to be an alliance between the Dredge and the Flame Legion.)
At some point a similar chain of events will start with Kralkatorrik, at the same time the first paid addon for GW 2 will be released, which will add Elona. Since that dragon is said to block the way across the Crystal Desert, his defeat will be the perfect kick-off for the Elonian campaign. The Elder Dragons will stay a Tyrian problem, though, in Elona you will fight against other foes (probably including, but not limited to, Palawa Joko).
The same will happen for Cantha and the Sea Dragon.
Primordrus and Mordremoth will also be defeated at the end of a series of updates, Primordus will be somewhere in the depths of Tyria.
After all six dragons are down it will be revealed that a seventh exists, because six is just no proper number for mythical beings (only five or seven will do). This will also be the last major story update for Tyria, from then on the focus will only be on further addons, or, if it takes some years for this to happen, even already on GW 3.
- It is highly likely that Flame and Frost will bring us to a Jormag storyline, but your Rule of Three argument is invalid as it has been announced there would be four releases.
- I kinda lost faith in that happening. The first two installments of the Flame and Frost story were just Flame Legion and Dredge enemies (both without any connection to Jormag, or another dragon for that matter) randomly popping up. And the preview of the third story makes no mention of anything connected to the Sons of Svanir, Icebrood, Jormag, or the Far Shiverpeaks either. So Flame and Frost will probably just end with killing whoever leads the Molten Alliance, and otherwise just be an Excuse Plot to introduce new mechanics and updates.
Not only does part of the storyline involve your character teaming up with former members of the group and befriending them, but it's strongly hinted that the player will be tasked with Putting the Band Back Together. It's entirely possible that the player will ultimately join the group not only as the Sixth Ranger, but also as The Heart of the ensemble.
- Confirmed as of the City of Arah dungeon (except that all five players of the party fill the spot, but from a storytelling perspective, they act as one).
The Ancestor Trees (a minor lore detail from Nightfall) were considered sacred to Elonian centaurs; their fruit was believed to be divine and a way of passing down spiritual wisdom from one generation to another. The Pale Tree is a sacred, magical tree planted by a wise centaur whose fruit (the sylvari) are born gifted with knowledge from previous generations and Ventari's teachings.
- Jossed. The Pale Tree, and by extension the Sylvari, is a creation of Mordremoth
- Jossed - we finally meet our Herald during S4's "Long Live The Lich," and she's human.
Sure, the Sovereign Eye of Zhaitan claims he/she is, but that just begs the question of why it didn't just make you fight a Risen version of your order mentor then in an attempt to demoralize you/persuade you to join Zhaitan. The real reason? Simple, the Risen failed to kill him/her. Granted, this just raises a lot of questions (Where did he/she go? Where were he/she while you did everything else in your personal story?) but considering that the Eye tried to persuade you to join Zhaitan, it just felt weird that it didn't try to throw your mentor at you then.
- The one problem with that is Sieran, the mentor for Priory members, is a Sylvari. As we've seen the Sylvari are immune to, if not all dragons', Zhaitan's corruption. Suicide bombing to avoid leaving a useable corpse seems right up the Vigil's alley... But surviving through apple based shenanigans suits Tybalt to a T.
The place that they've taken as their home is a conspicuously blank area on the map that's just west of Lion's Arch. The content in there should be enough to get characters up to level 15, which should be enough to boost early level characters, and it's right next to the Kessex Hills where they can continue leveling up. They likely won't have a portal to Lion's Arch, but that's okay, since their zone is right next to the city anyway.
If the Tengu don't become playable, then we can at least rest assume that they'll open up the gate and let visitors in where we'll have a whole new place to quest around in.
There are six gods, six infinite coils, six facets, six elder dragons. And here is my speculation how they align.
- Black - Death and resurrections - Zhaitan and Grenth
- Blue - Magic and water - The tentacle dragon and Abaddon
- Green - Life and Nature - Mordemoth and Melandru
- Violet - Chaos and chaotic energies - Kralkatorrik and Lyssa
- Red - Aggression and fire - Primordius and Balthazar
- White - Ice and light - Jormag and Dwayna (this is kinda weird, but I kinda think Dwayna was patron of Water elementalists)
- That simple 1-to-1 list breaks down when you consider that the gods have different two-attribute combos than the dragons do...Grenth is the god of death and ice, for example. It might work out if you arrange the dragons, gods and attributes as a wheel. The attribute of death, for example, would be between the entitites of Grenth and Zhaitan. On the other side of Grenth, there'd be the attribute of ice, shared with the dragon Jormag, who also has a connection to rage (more so than Primordius, really...Jormag's creatures appear to be all rage, all the time, while the Destroyers show no emotion whatsoever), linking him to Balthazar...
We know that for some reason, the Sylvari are apparently immune to Elder Dragon corruption. Some takes this as a sign that the Sylvari are the Elder Dragon's corruption or minions. I have a different theory.
Sylvari are immune to Elder Dragon corruption because the sixth Elder Dragon has already corrupted them. It will turn out that the sixth Dragon has lied dormant underneath or nearby the Pale Tree, subtly corrupting the tree and her children. However, the Sylvari are not minions because the sixth Elder Dragon haven't awakened yet, and thus unable to turn them into his minions. So the Sylvari aren't fully corrupted... yet. Would it awaken though, the Sylvari will be warped into the Elder Dragon's minions, now that it would have full control and influence over them. The Nightmare Court is a group of Sylvari who has subsconsciously succumbed to the corruption, kind of becoming the Elder Dragon's minions in the process. The nightmare corrupting the dream? That's the Elder Dragon.
The sixth Elder Dragon (Which I will call Nightmare Dragon from now on) embodies Nightmare Fuel, which will be mirrored in its minions. The minions will all look nightmarish and terrifying, even more so than the Risen!
There may be a multi-part update series like Flame and Frost where not only will the Nightmare Dragon begin to awaken, but it will also become a race against time to find a way to cure or at least neutralize the corruption in Sylvari before it's too late.
After the update, the Nightmare Dragon's corruption in the Sylvari will be heavily weakened, though it won't be completely gone (the corruption can still take over the Sylvari if they're subjected to enough torture and horror). The Nightmare Court, of course, will fully embrace the corruption. Their models will be changed after the update to reflect these changes, and some dialogue will also be changed.
- The idea that the Sylvari aren't dragon minions because the dragon is dormant is, at the very least, doubtful. Jormag created the Nornbear, and there were Destroyers around, long before Jormag and Primordus awoke. Why would Mordremoth be weaker than these two ?
- Confirmed. Season 2 pretty much focused on the sylvari and Mordremoth, and the conclusion stated that the race was born because of the dragon. The question, though, is why they weren't out doing dragon things sooner.
I definitely agree with the reason that the Sylvari are immune to the corruption is due to them being tied to the sixth dragon (aka, Mordremoth, which according to some hints from the Crucible of Eternity explorable paths, is likely earth/nature themed in its powers), but I do have a different interpretation. The Pale Tree is a dragon minion that spawns other dragon minions. The "Where life goes..." Sylvari storyline shows that there are other similar Trees, so the Pale tree is not unique.
As Mordremoth is (possibly) still asleep or in a weakened state it has limited influence over its minions, which were prematurely awakened by Ronan. Ventari's teachings have led the Sylvari to adopt a new philosophy and without direct control from the dragon the other trees, which have just began to flower and spawn, have no explicit direction, meaning their Sylvari are not inborn with malicious intent.
This could all change when Mordremoth awakens. The Pale Tree may be able to resist the Dragon's orders, but would the Nightmare Court, the Soundless and Sylvari from other trees, deep in the Maguuma Jungle and Wastes?
- Glint was also proof that Dragon Minions, even ones as powerful as their champions, are capable of pulling a Heel–Face Turn and that it was through Ventari's teachings that the Pale Tree and her children learned kindness and compassion. It would also mean of course, that the Nightmare Court were right all along, that Ventari's Tablet really did take the Sylvari away from their true path.
They're just a Red Herring placed by Anet to distract us from the truth. Mordremoth isn't even anywhere near the Pale Tree. His true location is right underneath Divinity's Reach. Remember that Great Collapse? Mordremoth caused it while dormant. The Sylvari's immunity against the dragon corruption will be explained, but Mordremoth has nothing to do with it.
- Jossed: In that the recent events have shown that Mordremoth's resting place was nowhere near Divinity's Reach and had nothing to do with the Great Collapse. But it is still possible that Mordremoth has no connection with the Sylvari at this time.
- It is implied (and confirmed by Living World Season 2) that Mordemoth (green dragon) is behind the Nightmare that stalks the Pale Tree. Basically he is the cause of Nightmare Court. See Shadow of the Dragon for this clue. He has been shown to be able to influence and corrupt Soundless, which are Sylvari that avoid the calling of the tree. For example Scarlet Briar is one such Soundless (although not explicitly).
- Jossed: again, this time comprehensively, by the events in the last episode of Living World Season 2 in which we find out from Wynne that the Sylvari were always intended to be Mordremoth's minions, but that the offspring of the Pale Tree (removed from the dragon's malignant influence by Ronan) are free of/resistant to its influence to various degrees. Essentially, the influence of the Pale Tree protects the Sylvari blooming from it, and linked to it by the Dream of Dreams, from Mordremoth's control. However, Sylvari that separate from the Pale Tree, such as the Soundless or the Nightmare Court, are vulnerable, and as of the end of Season 2 of the Living Story, the Avatar of the Pale Tree herself is still recovering from serious injuries inflicted by Mordremoth's champion and thus unable to protect all her children to the extent she usually does. This has baleful results, if the trailer at the end of Episode 8 of LS Season 2 is accurate, for the Pact's assault against the dragon, since apparently many of the Sylvari taking part in the operation fall under Mordremoth's control or are driven insane by his influence, and sabotage the attack resulting in a devastating setback.
- Considering that humans weren't originally native to Tyria, this still might have some merit. We know very little about The Six, their origins and present location.
- It's not Zhaitan's corruption but Mordremoth's. As for why Faolain, it's in part because she's one of the Firstborn, and gains some celebrity through that status.
- We know that the dragons have woken up in the past, but there's been no indication they've been killed before. Recently, it's been implied that they are a natural part of the cycle, siphoning off magic once it's built up too much. I doubt any one race had been able to defeat the dragons before science advanced enough and they all put aside their differences to do so.
- I'll agree that there are dragons in Cantha (we know there's a dragon in the seas between Tyria and Cantha), but I don't think that's the agenda. If the elder dragons had truly been enslaved, they would've been used for world domination by now. Not even Scarlet, who was obsessed with the dragons, was able to take over a dragon.
- That obsession with Dragons is because she was corrupted by a Dragon... You can't control a Dragon if you are already under another Elder Dragon's control! The Elder Dragon might take control of another Elder Dragon through Elder Dragon Corruption if he makes the first move and is smarter than the Elder Dragon he's controlling... Mordremoth and Jormag are the only Elder Dragons I know of that are likely intelligent enough to pull it off...
- Jossed: At least as far as the Master of Peace having enslaved such dragons. Latest content reveals he was actually hiding and protecting the last of Glint's eggs the entire time since her death. What's more, the Master of Peace has now died protecting it from the Mordrem and is nowhere near powerful enough to enslave an Elder Dragon.
- Jossed again by Point of No Return. Wynne is killed - at her own plea - by Caithe after revealing the secret that the Sylvari were intended to be minions of Mordremoth, in order that she can't be tortured by Faolain and reveal that secret to the wrong ears. This event doesn't seem to affect the relationship between Caithe and Faolain, since Faolain, while momentarily shocked that Caithe has killed Wynne, is apparently mainly concerned to find out if Wynne revealed anything. Caithe lies to her lover and says that Wynne told her nothing. We still don't know what definitely drove the pair apart, but it may have something to do with their activities in Orr or simply be the cumulative result of Faolain's Jerkass, xenophobic tendencies.
- Faolain seems more like a high priestess, leading the charge for Mordremoth, rather than a champion. Especially as we had the Shadow of the Dragon as its first champion.
- BOTH jossed and confirmed by Heart of Thorns. Faolain and the Nightmare Court are not connected with Mordremoth, and in fact hate him because he is capable of controlling them, which is why they split off from the Pale Tre in the first place. However, Mordremoth does not care about that and simply takes Faolain into a prison camp and turns her into a goddamn Vinetooth. Body Horror indeed.
- Also, female Dwarves will have beards, as hinted in GW 1.
- This doesn't work for so many reasons. Ignoring the male/female issue, we know that the dwarves were all turned to stone through the ritual. Even Ogden, who was one of the heroes in GW 1, underwent the ritual some time after leaving our old character's company. No more are spawning. They'd have to be at least 250 years old at the start. And from the looks of Rhoban, they don't really heal the way the other races do.
- The bit about the PC not getting the job is confirmed (you get the offer in Living Story Season 3 and turn it down because it'd be a desk job), but it's Almorra Soulkeeper, the leader of the Vigil, who seems to be calling the shots.
- There's no shortage of Commanders out there, as Camp Resolve demonstrated. I don't know if Laranthir is the next highest ranking officer, but he's definitely a potential candidate. It'd kind of be a shame, though, if the new Pact Marshall were to be another sylvari male.
- S3 chapter 4 finally gives us the new Marshal of the Pact: It's Logan.
- I highly doubt that. While it may not be him, it's a safe bet that he is mursaat. Especially after Episode 2, where we see what the armor looks like on other species.
- The Head of the Snake reveals that it can't be Lazarus. After his last appearance during GW1, Lazarus went the Voldemort route and hid his soul in a number of inanimate objects. Xera (the raid wing 3 boss who was trying to resurrect Lazarus) had most of them...and a fake, planted on her by Caudecus, who had the real final Soul Jar. So Lazarus is still in pieces, making it anybody's guess who or what this character really is...
- His true identity was finally revealed in Flashpoint: It's Balthazar. Yes, the actual god himself.
It's possible maybe the fact that they came back to life will give them a connection to King Joko, who will now be running wild since Balthazar died. And probably wants revenge. Especially after you took advantage of him being absent.
- It is certainly possible that could come to a head and have the Commander banished too the Mists/forced into some form of imprisonment and the Commander only receiving a Reprieve from a Friend that know's us better then anyone else, Say our Mentor. It could also give the Commander a Chance to actually say goodbye. (Hence my Thoughts that this should take Place somewhere in the Mists, so it can be our Actual Mentor and not someone else)
- Not a Heroic BSoD proper, but "What Lies Beneath" (the 2023 new storyline for End of Dragons) confirms that the Commander has been trying to suppress one heck of a case of PTSD for years of in-game time.
- Path of Fire introduced the mount system. The Raptor, Springer, Skimmer, and Jackal are fairly easy to obtain, but the Griffon takes a whopping 250 gold, a scavenger hunt, and tons of waiting for certain events to roll around. Aurene would be a great alternative to anyone that couldn't invest that sort of time or money into the Griffon hunt, and it would be fitting to expand on the mount system with a Living World that's tied to the Po F expansion.
- The Griffon shares the same animation skeleton as Adolescent Aurene.
- While there's only one mastery track at the moment, Aurene is clearly visible in the header art, and said mastery track is described as mastering our connection with her.
- Ultimately Jossed. While the Commander does get to ride Aurene at the beginning of 4-6, they unlock an entirely different dragon mount... which is even more of a time sink than the Griffon.
- Lyssa is about trickery, manipulation, and such, similar to Blue.
- Grenth is about Death, and is somewhat grouchy and evil appearing without technically being evil, though necromancers are willing to use methods others aren't, like Black.
- Balthazar is about war, fire, and aggression. Warriors, the associated class, used adrenaline, kind of like red's emotion focus and aggression focus.
- Melandru is nature focused, similar to Green.
- Dwayna is associated with air and light, also the friendliest, possible the one focused on protection and people getting along. Closest to a "good" god though technically the same as the others, resembling white.
The dragons may follow this theme as well, since they follow similar elemental divisions.