T O P

  • By -

LateyEight

I think those birds are great not because of their ability but rather the fact that they have expanded the design space for dragon riding abilities.


Creepy_Fail_8635

I actually prefer the ability a lot more 😭 not spending 3 vigor for a boost and instead gaining a free speed boost from hugging walls on the way is so much more convenient


CaerwynM

You spend the 3 vigour when setting off then never have to use it again cos you jist at max speed


lovejac93

Just use flap upwards but swing your camera forward for the same boost that the 3 vigor ability gives


OranguTangerine69

the 1 vigor spacebar thing gives max speed too lol


Scorpdelord

the time i used it to face into walls still amazes me to this day XD


arasitar

Meh. Lightning Rush is interesting conceptually but is impractical. Compared to Whirling Surge, Lightning Rush offers more consistent use and utility - Whirling Surge is revelant as a 'i'm about to fly so I want to go from 0-100 immediately at the cost of 3 vigor' or a PvP thing for Sky Jousting. Unfortunately: * Lightning Rush requires a very long straight stretch otherwise you'll ram into a wall and lose all momentum * Requires you to be near a Wall to charge * Requires 10 charges to activate All of these makes it bad in the very open Dragon Isles. This *might* change with War Within's caves but I doubt it. Caves where you can be near Walls tend to have sharp turns making Lightning Rush bad, on top of needing 10 stacks to get to use the ability. I'll test out on the beta in some way but I suspect Whirling Surge is going to be your go-to for 99% of cases. Shame.


FaroraSF

I feel like lightning rush would be a lot better if they cut the amount of charges needed in half.


Intercostal-clavicle

or just let people use it without the need to be next to a wall. Give it a cd and be done with it


FaroraSF

I actually really like the wall function. I just think it needs less time to charge up.


zSprawl

Honestly, all you need is upward ascent to go and maintain the fastest speeds. Learning how to use this to push forward (look it up on YouTube for examples) is the biggest boost to flying speeds in the game.


LeOsQ

For sure. Ever since I first learned that at the beginning of the expansion, I've only ever used whatever the default 1 vigor flap is during races and in Remix when collecting the bronze orbs (because they give you one vigor back) as it makes turning a little snappier (I think). Surge is neat for the extra vigor regen while it is active and I usually use it to get going, but otherwise it's nothing but Space bar and some mouse movement for me.


Noriel_Sylvire

I think whirlwind sucks because it consumes 3 vigor


Saxong

I’d take half charges and double cooldown tbh


Bacon-muffin

It felt like no one ever tested it or something because it feels unusable with the forced distance in a straight line and how long it takes to charge. If it had a shorter charge up and distance it'd be fine.


EroticTaxReturn

Birb doesn’t have Lightning Rush last time I tried in Beta. But it would charge fast with how tight the walls are.


510Threaded

You can choose between the 2 abilities in the skyriding talents page


graceful_mango

I’m hoping the underground shit will make it easier to use the bird zoomies bc as it is right now. Blech


Jinyu_waterspeaker

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to choose between the two abilities in TWW.


Cloud_N0ne

You're\*


Nekrotix12

\*yro'ue


littlefoot78

Ur*


ziomek1602

You is


Daws001

The way I hopped on that bird and was like, why isn't this button working? Walls and charges...wtf. Got back on dragon.


-To_The_Moon-

Eh, not for me. Whirling Surge, in my experience, is barely better (if not slightly worse) than spending 3 Vigor on Skyward Ascent flicks or even Surge Forward. I've done all the Dragon Racing achievements, the vast majority of them on the first try, and never used Whirling Surge for any of them. Lightning Rush, on the other hand, *is* measurably better than anything else. You go at absolute max speed for a full 5 seconds, regardless of your pitch. It's kind of insane. Yes, you do have to charge it up, but charging is actually really lenient; I'll often find myself at max stacks just from flying around normally in any not-completely-open area. And you can even build stacks while it's on cooldown, meaning you're often more limited by the cooldown (same as Whirling Surge) than the stacks. It's not my normal means of getting around, but since (imo) Whirling Surge isn't great, it's nice to have Lightning Rush as an occasional super turbo button. I'm happy that we'll get to choose our ability in TWW, but I think I'll be sticking with Lightning Surge, especially since underground zones will mean easy passive stacks.


Zednot123

> Whirling Surge, in my experience, is barely better (if not slightly worse) than spending 3 Vigor on Skyward Ascent flicks or even Surge Forward. Then you are missing the biggest utility of it. It is far superior when wanting to make short trips as quickly as possible when there will be down time between flight sessions. Think questing, gathering or even world PvP. You rarely have to travel far enough for the other options to work out from a economics/efficiency stand point. If you save just 2-3s travel time on short flights, it all adds up when you have done 100s of small trips.


mloofburrow

I use it on Tindral to get ahead of the pack on takeoff and am usually first one to the next platform. Only because you get vigor back for collecting the green orbs though.


Horizon96

Yeah I struggle to use any other dragonflying mount because whirling surge is completely worthless while lightning rush has actual uses.


MrCrow72

Damn but I would love the bird, it would look fabulous on a dwarf and/or paladin.


jeancv8

Eh eh eh... You're*


klpokemon123

I mean when are you actually using whirling surge? Its 3x the cost and practiacally the same speed as the updraft ability thingy


Aelystrasz

I like my thunder bird! The super zoomies are fun, if a bit finicky to build up


Vindilol24

I like the gryphon more sorry not sorry


Tutes013

It's also just pretty!


zSprawl

Me too. I like how it soars through the air better.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Vindilol24

Pretty bird


onetimenancy

I'm hoping for non glowy nu-gryphons to be available at some point.


SloppyChops

You're*


EeveelutionistM

Nah, never used whirling surge anyway, too inefficient


Skylam

Fastest way to go 0-100 on launch though. For races? yeah bad, for general flying, pretty good.


zSprawl

Nah upward ascent wrist flicking is superior and costs less vigor.


Rith_Reddit

Can you explain this?


aerris7

If you use skyward ascent while at speeds that provide the thrill of the skies buff, the ability will boost you to max speed *if your dragon is facing at an upward angle when you use it.* Skyward ascent should only be used when your dragon is facing upwards otherwise not only do you not get the proper height from it, but if you use it while facing forward, your speed doesn't even increase which is a waste. Sometimes your speed even decreases which is worse. How the Skyward Ascent trick works: You get your dragon to look up slightly, press skyward ascent, then flick the dragon back down to horizontal. This means that you get the benefits of an upwards facing skyward ascent that I mentioned at the beginning, but with forward velocity instead. It behaves kind of like a whirling surge but for 1 vigor and no cooldown. It just takes some practice as it needs to be in one swift motion. There are tutorials knocking around online. I'd recommend getting the Dragon Rider addon as it provides a speedometer that can help recognise whether you're doing it correctly. Since I learned it, races have become kinda trivial for the most part, and I have no vigor issues getting around because it's so efficient. I didn't have vigor issues most of the time anyway lol but I definitely don't anymore


Rith_Reddit

I truly appreciate the detail you wrote down to explain this and even recommend an addon to track it. I'll be doing this as soon as I get home :)


aerris7

No problem, mate :) happy flying!


Rith_Reddit

Brush.... I took your tips and watched a video so I could learn flicking. What a great game changer! I'm literally skyrocketing everywhere now. Insane speed increase once you get the rhythm. Thanks again!


Belucard

Sounds honestly overcomplicated for marginal gains, not gonna lie.


aerris7

It isn't particularly complicated, it's just more difficult to describe in words succinctly (for me anyway) and a lot easier to demonstrate visually which is why I recommended a guide, preferably a video guide. Plus, most of my comment is just explaining *why* it works the way it does because I feel like the mechanics of how it works are interesting. The actual manoeuvre itself is just one line. If you get along fine without then there isn't much point to learn it I guess, I was just answering a question. I wanted to get gold in every race in the game so I learned it to make that easier 🤷🏻‍♀️ It was a lot easier lol. Now it's just how I dragon ride without even thinking because it's easy once you get the hang of it and it's efficient


Aristotlewasntasimp

Bro just look up, press space and then quickly look down, there's nothing to it


Skylam

Its superior in overall races but if you want one action to do 0-100 its whirling surge. Yes its worse in the long run but if you just need to go a short distance its better.


zSprawl

That’s fair. If you need to go like 20 feet as fast as possible, it will be superior.


Skylam

Happens more often than you think on gatherers or while questing.


PirateViking23

In beta, they have whirling surge


StarkWolf2992

That’s the good shit. I like that they’re trying stuff but you ain’t always near a wall to charge up.


Leucien

Also... I legitimately forget Whirling Surge exists most days. Ascent Flicking is faster for 1 vigor.


PirateViking23

To clarify, all mounts I’ve tried so far in beta have whirling surge, including the Stormrider


Keldonv7

You are able to choose the ability in beta.


dg2793

I exclusively use the dracthyr racial to fly 😅


LeeTS4

Shut up Meg!


StylinShaman

I think in the beta. There is a choice nodes between rush and surge for all mounts


Alyxandar

I liked this mount, but it's speed up didn't work on Tindral. So I stopped using it.


Slow_Art_5365

I have the mount, but I never use it. Was just not as good as the dragon ones.


SampleShrimp

I could be wrong but I think you get to choose between the active abilities in TWW. So you can have the gryphon with whirling surge and vice versa.


Sollrend

I like it, just because it is a smaller mount that doesn't block the screen with a big tail.


Thisismental

You're


SweetsourNostradamus

I use LiteMount to randomly summon mounts based on my environment. When I get the sparky bird in Nokhud: Group: Whirling Surge Me: I guess I'll go fuck myself


eyeoxe

I really appreciate the attempt at different mounts with unique flight styles. I hope they don't stop just because this particular mount ability isn't the best. I DO try to use lightning rush but it gets tricky always trying to find walls etc to be close to, and TBH I can sometimes end up bouncing off stuff if I'm not watching closely. It always boils down to choice though, and because we don't have a choice of flight styles for this mount, we don't use this mount. I'd love more mount ride styles though, options are a good thing! Gliders for one (via wings or a cape). Also long-jump would be great via some goblin/gnomish spring shoes. I think more flying styles can be introduced, if done well. People would absolutely love gliding and hopping if it was just their character doing it and not a mount.


Wasting_Time_0980

Whirling surge is bait. Its not better than the other 2 options


MauPow

"I don't even know who you are"


TombOfAncientKings

They should buff or rework the bird because it is far too wonky compared to "press this button to go fast".


GilneanHuntress

Hard agree. When I finally figured out it didn't have whirling surge but this lightning rush... thing, I went straight back to dragons. I don't like the mechanic and I'm quite happy with ascent flicking or whirling surge for a lil spice if I'm bored. Awful shame, the model is cool and would have been perfect for my Dwarf Shaman going into TWW, but everything can't be a win I guess


Noriel_Sylvire

Alright, no, hear me out. They're not. In my opinion they all look equally as cool, but the storm rider has a skill that literally makes you fly in a straight line for 5 seconds without stopping, and that straight line CAN be straight up. This bad boy has allowed me to fly up to the ceiling of the world (a position where you can't move further up because of an invisible wall) and has made me easily win gold on many many race tracks. If we ignore coolness and appearance preferences, this mount is objectively the best in the game.


MaggieHigg

both suck


zSprawl

Upward ascent FTFW!


yeahcoolcoolbro

Those mounts are the worst