Guild Wars 2 Diary #31: The Chosen of the Sun

The Hylek village is hurting. For years they’ve been sacrificing their champions, sending them to their deaths so that the sun god looks over their village. Not only have their “sacrifices” been providing undead soldiers for the dragons, but they’ve been getting rid of their biggest and best soldiers as well. This has left the little village in an odd position, petrified of losing the protection of the sun god, but probably unable to actually defend themselves if anything did attack them.

This week there’s going to be a new champion though, somebody who will teach the Hylek to defend themselves, and someone who will stop that steady chain of fresh Risen.

That champion is you.

Guild Wars 2 Gameplay Video - Chosen of the Sun

The Secret of Southsun

If you’ve logged in during the last few days, you’ll have received a message asking you to come to Southsun. They need assistance and you’re exactly the sort of person they need. This, in case you hadn’t guessed, is the latest part of the living story. Much earlier than the last one (released only a few weeks ago), this new piece of single player content has you travelling to a beautiful tropical island. Expect the full review of The Secret of Southsun, as well as some fresh video of the tropical island, over the next week.

In the meantime, here’s what you can expect when you next login to Guild Wars 2. Obviously, you’re going to have to update. It isn’t a huge update, but add an extra ten to fifteen minutes to your game time, just in case.

The new story involves a series of terrible animal attacks and a Lionguard inspector who must try and sort it all out. She can’t do it alone, and so you, the player, must come to Southsun Cove and do your stuff. Along the way you’ll need to work out exactly what is going on that has suddenly turned the wildlife of Southsun Cove so violent.

It won’t all be crab battles though. You’ll be tossing crabs as well. A new mini-game designed exclusively for Southsun Cove will have you catching crustaceans and maybe even winning a few prizes.

There’s an update for the World vs. World mode as well, although it’s only a small one. People who play online now have the ability to set traps. This will add a new tactical aspect to the game, although how much it will change your gameplay this far after release is, I suppose, yet to be seen.

And if you’re not interested in the online mode, in the new living story or in the crab toss, you can at least be happy in the knowledge that this update brings along with it a set of fixes and improvements to the game as a whole. Although not as extensive as in previous months, there are some important balances there; high level players will either love them or hate them.

All this is tied together by a new set of achievements, designed around your adventures at Southsun Cove. Can you grab them all?

Chosen of the Sun

The level requirement for this mission is quite a bit higher than the last. If you’re feeling brave (or are willing to use the respawn trick to overwhelm the enemy with your inability to die), you can go ahead and jump into Chosen of the Sun (although I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re below level 42). Otherwise, you may want to explore the area, or perhaps even visit Southsun Cove and boost your experience a little before continuing.

This isn’t a difficult mission, but there are parts of it that will test your patience.

You must prove yourself if you plan to be the Hylek’s next champion. This means going through a rather unusual ceremony, but not one that you’ll struggle to ace. How these people ever managed to avoid extinction is beyond me. The ceremony is in three parts; the first two parts might as well not be there.

The first test is that you must destroy a set of pots with a turret. You don’t need to destroy all of the pots and you don’t even need to use a turret, so perhaps this one is just to test that you can completely ignore simple instructions. If you’re not interested in using the turret – you’ve probably used them before at this point – you can use a gun to shoot out the pots. This is far simpler. Don’t try to melee the pots, as they’re outside the instance area and you may be kicked.

After you’ve destroyed four or so of the pots, you’ll move onto the trial of words. You must talk up your story enough to impress the judges, to show that you’ve had a heroic streak throughout your adventure. I got this first time without very much effort, to the point where I’m not even sure that you can lose it. Your competitor’s story is impressive, but given the adventure we’ve had over these last 30 Guild Wars diaries, it’s not a difficult challenge.

For the third challenge, the mission starts proper. You’ll no longer be able to phone things in, especially if you’re of a lower level. You must battle creatures of the air, the land and the sea. Each round of creatures will be more difficult, although for much of that time you’ll have your Hylek competitor fighting alongside you.

Your first fight will be against a wave of frenzied fireflies. These aren’t very dangerous, and their worst attacks are fairly easy to dodge. Try and use moves that will catch all the wave at once, and also focus on your competition so that she isn’t knocked out – the extra help (and the enemy having another target) will come in handy. Keep using your best attacks and soon the fireflies will fall.

The beasts of the land turn out to be a group of Moa. These are more difficult that the Fireflies and you’ll want, again, avoid losing your “teammate” if you can. Use long sweeping moves and don’t be afraid to dodge. If these gang up on you, it won’t be long before you’re dead.

It’s with the beasts of the sea that things start to become more difficult. You’ll face a wave of drake, although it isn’t the wave you have to worry about. Alongside the three or so sea creatures is a larger, more deadly Veteran Drake. His smaller counterparts will fall without any effort, but prepare yourself for several minutes of battle with their leader. This thing is huge, although you can defeat it by using the same methods as you would any other Drake. Just take your time, use health items/skills when appropriate and before long, you’ll find yourself as the new champion.

Conclusion

The Hylek are impressed and, as their new champion, ready to put your plan into action. Instead of sacrificing yourself to the sun god, you’re going to help them fortify their village so that if the dragon and his army of Risen ever do attack, they’ll be prepared for it. Unfortunately, the head priestess is less confident in your skills, and instead vows to sacrifice herself. 

• See previous episodes here