Melody Falk

New version! This one should have everything.

I had a curious thing where I’d missed a few lines entirely, and lacked a whole category of them due to the build I was using.

Originally wrote this (the location list specifically) as a beefy Reddit comment cause I was bored. Bringing it to Tumblr for the benefit of the community here, with some bonus tips on how to take better screenshots! I am writing this as I spend two weeks away from my PC/GW2, so I could be missing things.

Taking Screenshots

If your PC can handle it, GW2 Hook/ReShade is always a boon, but it’s by no means required. I use a preset called “oh shiny” that makes blacks darker, whites pop out more, edges sharper, and colors generally more vibrant. It’s like GW2 Remastered - highly recommend it, but you might get addicted.

Shaders or not, lighting is a pretty crucial thing. Use the natural light, usually sunlight, to show off all the details of the outfit or armor. An inky mass or blinding glowy orb is not always that appealing. But I’ll save the rant about Permafrost and Shadow Abyss, which only make the problem worse, for later. Night in GW2 is pretty lackluster in most places for screenshots, unless you are showing off things that glow in the dark, in which case IMO you’re much more limited as to the places that will look best. For instance, the Grove and parts of Maguuma typically look nice at night.

Camera positioning tips:

You usually want to keep your FoV on the low side. Vary your pics between full-body, waist-up, etc.

Play around with vertical and horizontal position, as well as FoV, between pictures to add variety. These sliders can also help you capture skill animations and VFX that might be difficult to handle otherwise.

You can take close-up screenshots/headshots of your character by positioning them in front of a wall or other path-blocking object, then spinning the camera around so you can see your character’s face. You want your FoV slider to be all the way down, and depending on race and pose of choice (emotes like /crossarms are fun) you will probably need to adjust vertical position (near). Back up from the obstruction as necessary if there is any clipping.

A Few Epic-Looking Skills to Start With

Elementalist - Tempest overloads, most Weaver dual attunement skills

Mesmer - Most autoattack chains

Necromancer - Reaper greatsword 2

Engineer - Holosmith skills and Photon Forge

Ranger - Longbow autoattack; snap a pic when the bow string and arrow are drawn back. Druid staff skills. Soulbeast merge stuff.

Thief - Dagger/dagger 3, pistol/pistol 3, staff and rifle skills

Guardian - Greatsword 2, DH longbow and F2, most Firebrand skills (including axe)

Revenant - Most skills look awesome

Warrior - Axe 5, most Berserker and Spellbreaker skills

My Favorite Places (and who I brought there)

(Feel free to contribute more!)

Kryta

Greatheart Weald, Queensdale - beautiful enchanted-looking autumnal forest. Make sure the corrupted oakheart is dead. (Meli)

Phinney Ridge, Queensdale - Just some nice sky lighting and open space. (Meli)

Forests in Lake Doric are generally really pretty. (Meli)

Divinity’s Reach has a lot of good spots for slice-of-life pics. (Meli, Aloysia, Geanais)

Wynchona Woods, Harathi Hinterlands - nice trees. (Meli)

Mountainroot Lair, Harathi Hinterlands - splashes of pink and some really fun cave flora. (Meli)

Ascalon

Many spots around the Black Citadel are excellent for legionnaires. I’ve taken great pics of some of my charr all over the city, and I even brought my little mechanic asura to the molten scrapyard for a photo shoot. (Andromache, Medeia, Sarri)

Much of Fireheart Rise, especially the area around the Citadel of Flame - Even if your look isn’t molten, sometimes you can use the scorched ground as an accent to go with skill VFX. (Andromache)

Open spots on the Plains of Ashford have really nice lighting. (Old iteration of Andromache; I also took some open space pics of her as a Rev that I did not keep.)

Hellion Forest, Iron Marches (Meli)

Anya’s Strawberry Patch, Diessa Plateau

Shiverpeaks

Open ice areas in Wayfarer Foothills and Frostgorge Sound have good lighting for lighter-colored looks. (Eirwen, Geanais)

Drakkar Lake, Frostgorge Sound (Eirwen)

Dimotiki Waters, Frostgorge Sound - The prettiest underwater area in the game, short of perhaps Bitterfrost.

Naui Waters, Timberline Falls - It looks like Tahoe! (Meli)

Blizzard Basin/Hailstone Floe, Bitterfrost Frontier - amazing lighting on the ice that works best on lighter looks. (Eirwen)

Griffon Old Growth, Bitterfrost Frontier - uniquely pinkish light. (Geanais)

Tarnished Coast

Caledon Forest is always a great place to take a sylvari - loads of good spots including Astorea, the Verdence, Morgan’s Spiral (as long as Risen aren’t attacking), Briarthorn, and Hamlet of Annwen (as long as hylek aren’t occupying). There’s also the tengu wall as a backdrop for South or East Asian-inspired looks. (Jaya, Caerridwen, Elainyn, Siofra)

The Grove, just, all of it, especially at night. There are a couple spots where there are swarms of fireflies, and there’s also the hidden Garden of Dawn which is a bit overused - but that’s ‘cause it’s good! (Elainyn, Geanais)

Rata Sum has cute spots for asura slice-of-life pics. There are balconies on the lowest level with some nice sky views for both day and night. I haven’t liked Metrica as much, though. (Ryxxi, Nexxa, Silaane)

Orr

(I haven’t done a lot of pics here. Sorry.)

All six temples of the gods have some nice spots, if I recall correctly. Orr in general is just pretty nice for the right kind of look.

Pyrite Peninsula, Malchor’s Leap - A gold-plated bright spot in the middle of zombie hell, and a place I don’t see often enough in others’ screenshots. (Eirwen)

Artesian Waters, Cursed Shore - The whole thing isn’t accessible outside of a single story chapter and reforging Caladbolg; there are some nice spots in there though. (Caerridwen)

Maguuma

The oasis in Dry Top (Caerridwen)

Bongo’s Bungalow, Verdant Brink - Lots of fun jungle props to play around with. (Ligeia)

On top of airship wreckages in Verdant Brink - the higher up the better; great sunlight. Best for the crash survivors. (Sarri)

Tarir and Exalted pylons, Auric Basin - Golden shinieeesssss. (Jaya, Lyri)

Morwood Wilds, Auric Basin - Extra wild and jungley. Cool green lighting. (Jaya; I coulda sworn I took pics of Lyri here but I may have replaced them.)

Burnished Quarry, Auric Basin - It’s just pretty, ok?

Dragon’s Stand north lane has some nice nooks and crannies; the whole area has cool ominous lighting. (Jaya, Eirwen)

Chak tunnels in both Tangled Depths and Dragon’s Stand can look nice.

Rata Novus, Tangled Depths - cyber things for sci-fi looks. (Silaane)

Elona

A lot of the desert (including LS4 areas) just looks really good. Even the Desolation has great pic spots. Open sand in Crystal Desert looks especially good, as well as all the cities/towns/temples. I kinda have a weakness for the architecture… (Kyveli, Aanisa, Farhana, Tyra)

Sandstrewn Shrine, The Desolation - Ethereal white-blossomed trees and a very “clean” landscape. (Tyra)

Garden of Seborhin, Domain of Vabbi (Aanisa, Farhana, Tyra)

City of Lights above Desert Highlands - if you can get to this place at night, so worth.

Miscellaneous

Draconis Mons has really nice orange lighting and a natural setting. (Caerridwen)

Ember Bay has a pretty sweet lens flare. It’s also orange but better for fiery looks.

Lion’s Arch Aerodrome has interesting lighting and the area works well for steampunky looks. (Sarri)

The back side of the trading post in LA (blue tile wall), and the golden wall right inside the Black Lion Vaults, are amazing backdrops if you’ve got some camera position skills. (Aurea, older outfit for Tyra)

Other Game Modes

Edge of the Mists has some nice spots (temple ruins etc.) but beware of roamers. (Ryxxi)

The middle of Desert Borderlands is a Tarir-esque ruined temple. (Jaya, Lyri?)

The fractal lobby is pretty cool. Bonus points if you get action shots in the blue portal’s VFX. (Ryxxi, Silaane)

Here are some tips for writing relationships your readers can get behind:

1. Give them reasons to click

The two characters must have things in common - a hobby, a philosophy, a background. There has to be some element that connects them.

Your readers will root for relationships in which the characters fit together better than they would with others.

Also, make their traits compatible. Have them share some characteristics or have their strengths and weaknesses be complementary. Is the one hotheaded? Maybe the other keeps their cool well in situations of conflict.

There are endless possibilities. Just make sure there’s a reason these two people like/love each other.

2. Have them be vulnerable in front of each other

Personally, this is the best way to get me to love a couple.

Have them share secrets, open up about their feelings and tell each other things they haven’t told anyone. Have them cry in front of each other and comfort each other.

This can be taken to a whole new level by having them understand the other’s emotions even without speaking and already offer comfort. Keep in mind that this will probably only be possible with long-established couples.

And having them open up is also a great way for them to discover all the things they have in common/love about each other.

3. Build up the tension

I cannot emphasise this enough: DO NOT MAKE YOUR COUPLES GET TOGETHER TOO QUICKLY.

One of the best elements of a romantic subplot (or even main plot) is the tension. Your readers want to see the pining! They want the build-up.

And no, I’m not saying that you should introduce endless, petty obstacles. That can become tedious and appear forced.

Just give your characters time to sort through their feelings. Make them fall in love slowly. Have them be unsure. Insert SOME obstacles/conflicts.

Have them almost kiss a few times. Not all the time. Too many almost-kisses can become frustrating. But you should throw a few in there.

And, if you feel comfortable with it, add some sexual tension. Have them notice each other’s bodies and imagine what they’d like to do to each other (that sounds more explicit than I intended :) )

4. Write a healthy relationship

This could just be me and my rejection of unhealthy romances, but I will not root for abusive relationships.

Have your characters be kind to each other, support each other and truly care for each other.

If your characters are constantly putting each other down, physically/emotionally abusing each other or going against the other’s wishes, they’re not in a healthy relationship.

A great way to write a healthy relationship whilst still maintaining the tension, is to have the conflict in the relationship be external. Instead of having the conflict be due to internal struggles between the two characters, have obstacles enter from outside.

Your readers should want them to be together and for that, they should be good for each other.

5. Have their friends/family see their chemistry

I find it beyond adorable when two characters are still figuring out their feelings for each other, but the fact that they’re perfect for each other is crystal clear to everyone around them.

Have their friends tease them about the relationship. Have family members ask after the them. Have their loved ones conspire to get them to admit their feelings.

If your other characters are rooting for them, your readers will probably do so as well.

Plus, this means that the chemistry between the two characters is so strong that it’s obvious, which is always good for an exciting romance.

That’s all I’ve got for now. If you have any further questions about writing OTPs or any other aspect of writing, feel free to message me or pop me an ask.

Give them relationships with other characters. Being a villain doesn’t mean they’re isolated

Give them their own set of morals

Give them something to care about

Consider the reasons why they want to hurt the protagonist

Remember that they are human

Don’t make them evil for the sake of being evil

Keep in mind that a villain doesn’t have to do every horrible thing imaginable

Not every villain was abused. Someone who was spoiled is just as, if not more, likely to lack empathy than someone who was abused

Consider how they rationalize their behavior (blame their victims, make excuses, believe that what they’re doing is right)

Give them a life outside of being a villain. Maybe your protagonist is going shopping and they run into their villain and the villain isn’t interested or up for a fight that day. This really depends on the story, though

Give them a past, present, or future relationship with the protagonist. Again, this depends on the story

Consider making your villain likable

Proof of the best character in Guild Wars 2 as collected by me and Jen - as Tyria’s most faithful, dedicated and only professors of Farenology, if we don’t archive it, no one will (even though that's terrible). The people need to know!! Or like, read the first couple of paragraphs and give up, anyway. This thing is long.

WARNING: VERY image heavy under the cut.

Commission for my friends Ced and Ivy!