The Burst Effect

[BOY] Having a chill time at @paragonbroadcasting‘s event in The Coin today!

Working on map completion in Orr

Bloodstone Fen, Heart of Maguuma

Kirei Wa the Sylvari Necromancer

Custom 12″ ThreeA figure of a client’s Guild Wars 2 sylvari necromancer. She has a mix of Tier 2 and 3 sylvari cultural armor. All customization made with polymer/epoxy clay (along with a bunch of other materials like wire..glue.. So much glue.)

Fourth photo down, she’s holding the accessory the original ThreeA Lady Sham figure came with. I know necros don’t use pistols :) 

More photos here :)

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One could assume Charr are obligate carnivores. While the majority of their diet appears to clearly support this, other aspects do not. A good point brought up to me is a facet of Charr behavior that is often overlooked. They drink alcohol. If Charr were indeed obligate carnivores, they would lack the ability to process ingredients like hops and grain as they do not possess the necessary enzymes to break down vegetable matter. The fact that Charr Barkeeps exist and are serving alcohol to Charr patrons within the Black Citadel is a pretty powerful argument that Charr are not obligate carnivores. Considering the possible use of alcohol for in-field pain management in the inevitable event of injury, it’s not exactly conducive to the military lifestyle if your soldiers are required to carry around or are forced to take emetics after treatment. Many Charr still distrust magic due to their subjugation to theocratic rule by the Shaman Caste of the Flame Legion. In other cases, an individual with magical healing aptitude may not always be readily available or present. With this evidence in mind I personally would have to say that Charr are most likely in the range of what is considered a hypercarnivore in which more than 70% of their diet consists of meat.

Another question posed by the community revolves around the topic of taste. Domestic dogs, like humans, share our five taste receptors; salty, sweet, bitter, umami (savory/meaty) and sour. Domestic cats and other “pure” carnivores on the other hand have lost their ability to taste sweet food throughout their evolutionary process. Bitter and sour taste receptors take priority over sweet due to their ability to help carnivores detect rancid meat. It’s interesting to consider the possibility that Charr have lost their ability to detect sweetness but may still enjoy foods that would be considered sweet by human standards such as high fat content foods like ice cream. Hypercarnivore, mesocarnivore, omnivore, obligate carnivore. Ultimately and as always, beyond the scope of confirmed lore it’s up to the player to decide how to play or develop their own characters. As long as you’re having fun that’s what matters!

To add a tidbit, there are charr who talk about eating ‘greens’, aka plant-based food, presumably a prepared salad along with a meal. An NPC expresses a distaste for them, but this also implies that charr are capable of eating and digesting plants.

It should also be noted that, unlike domestic cats (I don’t know about wildcats on this topic), charr can, by default, eat foods containing lactose. A cub and mother at Meatoberfest talk about “cheesy meat”. Although the conversation as a whole is a nod to the I Can Has Cheeseburger? meme, it can also be inferred that most charr can tolerate lactose, seeing as “cheesy meat” is being prepared for charr by charr.

While not explicit in the patch notes, there’s some new events and achievements related investigating some anomalous activity around the ley lines- to start them up for rewards and in the achievement panel though, first you’ll have to find an unidentified lodestone!

I didn’t have much luck getting it from raptors and flame legion but got it really quick fighting branded, so you may want to fight dragon minions to get it. Afterwards you turn it in to Ela Makkay at the Priory camp on the beach in Lion’s Arch.

She’ll give you a 7500 karma consumable and then direct you to some waypoints in Blazeridge Steppes, Snowden Drift, and Mount Maelstrom. A new achievement section called “current events” will also be unlocked.

The events themselves seem to be fighting off dragon minions with the occasional spawn of a “Champion Coalescence,” there also seems to be more achievements to be unlocked.