Meet the Insanely Fun Mounts of ‘Guild Wars 2’

Evan Killham
Games PC Gaming
Games PC Gaming
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The PC MMO Guild Wars 2 offers players a huge world to explore and countless enemies to battle. And while it’s massively entertaining to explore or battle on foot, developer ArenaNet also gives players the opportunity to do those things astride a number of wild mounts that enable them to reach hidden locations or simply traverse the world in style.

With “Long Live the Lich,” the latest episode of content from the game’s fourth season, ArenaNet added a brand-new mount, the Roller Beetle, bringing the total up to six. Each one has unique abilities unlocked through the Mastery system to help with quests and exploration, so what you ride is more than just a style choice. Here’s an overview of everything you need to know about the mounts in Guild Wars 2.

The Raptor is the first animal players can befriend. It’s for people who saw the Jurassic Park movies and thought, “I would love to sit on one of those dinosaurs and go on adventures.” It can make giant leaps and get into places your own legs won’t carry you. The map is full of canyons, and why go around when you can go over?

Raptor Mount in Guild Wars 2

Players who prefer a cuter ride and aren’t afraid to show it should check out next unlockable mount, the Springer. It’s a huge rabbit with all the jumping power that comes with it. It’s also a solid backup in combat and can knock down enemies.

Next is the Skimmer, a giant, ray-like creature that’s from the riverlands but apparently does just fine in the desert. It can also float. The Skimmer travels faster when it goes over water or quicksand, and it has magical healing abilities. In short, it’s as useful as it is weird — definitely the most bizarre mount Guild Wars 2 has to offer. And that’s saying something.

Then there’s the Jackal, which is actually a magical creature made of living sand that’s simply shaped into the animal of the same name. And if that isn’t odd enough, it also has teleporting abilities thanks to the fact that it’s made of millions of tiny grains of sand. But how does the Jackal take its rider along with it? Because magic. Don’t think about it.

The Jackal Mount from Guild Wars 2

The most difficult mount to tame is the Griffon, the current superstar of Guild Wars 2, a powerful creature with wings and huge claws that make its presence known. It’s a hidden mount, discoverable only after completing the Path of Fire expansion’s storyline and solving a series of mysterious quests. Those lucky enough to enlist one as their travel partner will be able to glide through the air and they’ll be immune to falling damage. Its Aerial Prowess mastery unlock is particularly powerful, vastly increasing your flying speed.

The newest member of the mount roster is the Roller Beetle, a giant pill bug that builds up speed going downhill and can even smash through walls and bounce across water. Even better, it can roll right over enemies. It’s the choice for players who want to blast across the Elonan desert with speed and power.

Whatever a player’s travel or style needs, Guild Wars 2 has a mount to match. You can begin to unlock all six by buying Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, available now on PC and Mac.

Evan Killham
Evan is a high-powered supernerd who is sprinkled across the internet like salt. His contributions have appeared at Screen Rant, Cult of Mac, and GamesBeat. When he isn't writing, he plans projects he won't have time to make and cultivates an affinity for terrible horror films.