Path of Fire may only be a few days old but I’ve already seen people saying there’s nothing to do. They pushed through the story hard and fast without getting a feel for the zones they passed through or even deviating to do some events, but the reality is there’s still so much left to do! Even if you’ve unlocked all the elite specializations and you’ve maxed out the mastery points there’s still more out there. But, if you are stuck for ideas here are 7 things you can do once you finish Path of Fire's story.
Unlock Skins
Path of Fire has some amazing skins scattered throughout the zones with a variety of different ways to unlock them. Go out and find that Dwarven axe, unlock your funerary outfit and get some weapons to match. Already have your look picked out? How desert-friendly is it? Are you super pale and barely dressed? That’ll be a nasty sunburn. Consider having different armor looks for different areas of the world. You could, if you wanted, have completely different sets of armors and weapons for each region of the world as the meta changes and what worked well in the jungle may not work so well in the desert. Having multiple sets of armors allows you to customize your character depending on which region you’re playing, both cosmetically and for the sake of combat.
Finish Anything You Haven’t Done From Past Content
Yeah, this one is kind of an obvious one and a tiny bit cheating. But, if you’re anything like me, once you started playing Path of Fire you realized there are quite a few things in the jungle that you left incomplete. Sure, you aren’t doing the brand new shiny content, but the jungle is still full of people running metas and getting hero points. The Silverwastes, everyone’s favorite zone to farm is still alive and well. And you will want to be farming, because….
Legendary Weapon Prep
The next legendary weapon is only a couple of months away. Why not get started on it now? Not sure what it will need? Well, let's take a look at what is left Dagger, Focus, Greatsword, Longbow, Scepter, and horn. There’s a lot of metal needed in those weapons. Less so wood, but wood is always needed. Leather, eh...not much leather needed amongst those weapons. What else do we know you need for legendary weapons? Various jungle related gifts, a full stack of fulgurite, ectos, and amalgamated gemstones. All your normal T6 materials, 100g worth of runestones, and a bunch of other things that change with each weapon. The point is, you already know a lot of what you should expect from the journey and that means you can get started on it now.
Bounties
I don’t know about your server, but on mine, I’ve started seeing bounty trains forming with the intent to hit every bounty in a given zone. In the jungle, we had hero point runs, in the desert, we have bounty runs. What are the benefits of doing them? Well, the most obvious one is for the loot. But there are also achievements to be earned. So it is well worth doing them, especially the legendary ones.
Achievements
There are achievements galore out in the desert. California had its gold rush, Elona has achievement points. That random scrap of paper you ran past? Achievement. Random chests on cliff edges? Achievement. There are even achievements for completing all the hearts in each zone. Never been one for hunting achievements? You’re basically throwing away free money, and keeping yourself from getting some small, but fantastic account-wide bonuses. It is the ultimate grind in Guild Wars 2. Work away at getting achievement points and get free gems, free gold, and exclusive skins. And in Elona, the achievement points pour in so fast you can’t keep track of it all. If you could sneeze in Guild Wars 2 I’m pretty sure there would be an achievement for sneezing in random places in the desert.
Chances are you’re already well on your way to working on some achievements thanks to the story and any adventures you’ve taken along the way. So why not do some work on those? Don’t forget, the desert also has a ton of hidden achievements that you’ll only find if you go out there (or look them up) and start looking.
Griffon
You’ve seen the griffon flying around and now you want one. I want one too. But ahead of you is a long journey and a massive money sink. Yes, it will cost you 250 gold to get your griffon. Yes, that hurts everyone. Yes, it is worth it. The journey will take you across Elona, have you completing hearts, and hunting for eggs. Can it be done quickly? Yes, it can. But it can also be part of a grand adventure. The kind that a legendary weapon always should have been.
How do you make it last? One way to do it is to not use a guide. Everything you need to know is right there in the achievements. They’re small hints, but they should be enough to get you on your way. While you’re out there let yourself get caught up in little events. While I was making my way through Elona to get to the first contact for the griffons I came across a couple of ghost kids. I won’t spoil how that little event chain ends, but it was well worth the detour. Sure, you might be tempted to blitz through it all, but when you do that you miss out on so much.
Explore
Possibly the best thing to do in Elona is mounting up and exploring. Does it look like you can get up to a particular high point on the map? Chances are you can and there’s something up there. Find a random hole in the ground? See where it goes. There are so many places to explore and little things to see that are off the beaten path that you could spend the entirety of the next two months doing just that. It is this very thing that has slowed down my review of Path of Fire and meant that it took me 6 days to finish the story. It’s so easy to get distracted in Elona, and that is a wonderful thing.
Path of Fire is still only a few days old and there is still so much left to do. Much of it is rewarding, but more than anything Path of Fire is about having fun. Renewing that sense of adventure. Go climb those mountains. Elona isn’t going anywhere, it’s ok to slow down and take a look around. Path of Fire is a gorgeous expansion and it’s only getting started.
