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Disclaimer: This is a speedrun guide for the Heart of Thorns story and should not be used if you're interested in the actual story as the guide will skip a lot of dialog and contains spoilers.

Chapter 1: Prologue: Rally to Maguuma

Nothing to complicated here: simply don't bother doing anything but run across the desert to your destination.



Chapter 2: Torn from the Sky

Start by running up to the edge of the cliff as shown by marker, then glide down to camp and wait for NPCs to catch up and finish talking. Choose to take Laranthir (the sylvari) to recover the captured soldiers (this route has less dialog). For this next part, ignore the marker and glide across the chasm as a shortcut (see image below).



From there head up to where the sylvari soldiers are being held captive and free them by killing the mordrem. You will then team up with them to take down a champion and head back to camp (feel free to skip all enemies on the way back as you will lose aggro on them). Defend the camp and a bit more RP and you're done.

Chapter 3: Establishing a Foothold

Unfortunately, not much you can skip here. I usually start the conversation with the first NPC and then immediately head to the vendor to sort out my inventory. Once the NPC is done talking, simply use the waypoint (make sure the NPC is done before you use it or you'll have to talk to her again) at the main camp and jump down to talk to the second NPC. While you're waiting for him to stop talking you can head back up to where the waypoint is (don't use it though or you'll have to talk to him again) and glide over to the NPC up on a cliff (there might be another way up, but I don't know what it is) and this will be the last NPC you need to talk to. While this last NPC is talking, you can immediately head over to the entrance of Chapter 4's instance.

Chapter 4: The Jungle Provides

Your party will quickly notice some mordrem attacking some hylek, feel free to head over and attack the mordrem while they give chase as it will cull their numbers and they won't attack you back until the hylek stop fleeing. Once you're done fighting, just deal with the RP and follow the hylek back to their village (tip: try to stay right behind the hylek as they will sometimes stop if you get ahead of them). More RP and then pick to attack the mordrem guard (less RP this route). Your first fight will be in an open field, simply dispatch them all and follow the hylek to the first set of vines. As soon as the vines are cleared, try to get all the enemies out of the circle in the middle and take it for yourself (this way you can save time by claiming the area while fighting the mordrem instead of doing one after the other.



Repeat for the second area. Rest is simple, just kill all the mordrem and postules with a bit of RP and you're done.

Chapter 5: In Their Footsteps

Run over to the marker and talk to the NPC. As soon as dialog commences, start running over to the first scout's location and simply wait for the warbler to appear in your inventory.



Use the warbler, talk to the scout and head over to the second scout.



My route for scouts 1 and 2.



Use the warbler again and talk to the second scout. You can now get rid of the warbler and start heading towards the third scout. I usually use the bouncing mushroom seen in the picture below and immediately glide to the platform seen in the picture below that one. From there, simply run up the ramp and head over to the third scout.





Once this third and final scout is done talking, simply run across the village and bounce out to finish this chapter.



Chapter 6: Prisoners of the Dragon

Initiate RP and walk over to the bridge (but don't cross it completely or NPCs can bug out and not continue the story) and wait for them to finish talking. Once they're done, follow them up the stairs, kill the mordrem you find and proceed to the next batch. Once you've slain all the mordrem in the bivouac, head over towards the tendrils to queue some dialog, turn 180 and head up onto the platform where you'll always find the grenades.



Use the grenades to get past the tendrils and then spam them on the boss and flowers until dead (you can alternate between the two boxes for unlimited grenades). This next part is a bit tough to do without dying (dying isn't a big deal though as you don't have to run back from very far), but you can skip all the mordrem and focus exclusively on the cages to save a bit of time. Then head to the wall so NPCs can break it, suffer more RP and then free Eir so she can die. Kill the mordrem, more RP and leave instance. Talk to the NPC and if your gear suffered death damage, feel free to use the repair anvil right next to the waypoint while you wait for the NPC to shut up.

Chapter 7: Prized Possessions

Run to each point and save the NPCs along the way.



Follow the path shown by screenshots. This will allow you to run ahead while the NPCs RP.







Jump down and when the tool tip updates to "Follow Ruka," run up to the wall for a skippable cutscene. Then, turn around and grab the egg.



Dash (#2 skill) through the thorn wall and across the field (should be able to do it twice before you reach the wall).



Jump up to the second leaf platform (using the #1 skill) and look up to launch yourself with the #3 skill.





Dash through the room and make a left, then use the wall on your left to launch yourself upwards and glide across the chasm.





Dash through another thorn wall and launch yourself in between pods (feel free to use gliding to correct positioning).



Once at the top, dash through the wall that likely hasn't faded yet and glide across another chasm (use dash while gliding to speed things up).





Just dash towards the end and launch yourself to the last platform for more RP to conclude this chapter.



Chapter 8: City of Hope

Ignore the NPCs and run over to read the pedestal (this will skip all their dialog).



Now, glide down to the next location, no need to wait for NPCs, they'll catch up when and where they're needed.



Once at the portal, simply walk back and forth on it until it teleports you to the first trial.



At the first trial, start it up by reading pedestal and then kill all the enemies to move on to the second trial. For the second trial, enter the room and head right to hit the first switch, then go up the stairs and jump onto the walls to skip the labyrinth to a second switch, run back and repeat for the third. This should give you lots of time to clear it even without killing any enemies for more time.



For the third trial, there are two methods. The first involves bringing a second person along and is much faster. All you must do is have the instance owner sit perfectly still (to prevent players from turning into rabbits) while the second person runs over to the veteran and kills it.

EDIT: This first method has been fixed.

The alternate remaining method (if you don't have a friend handy) is to revive the NPC by the entrance and then head over and revive the NPC in the corner (if done quickly enough, this will make it so that the dogs are heading away from the third NPC marked in the image below, so that you can revive them too).



Once you're done reviving the third, head back into the corner where you found the second NPC and pull the regular dog using your 5 skill. By the time the veteran patrols over to you, the regular should be at about 50% HP. Finish it off and enjoy your 4 vs 1 against the veteran.



Turn in the egg, skip the cutscene and use the teleport pad for a bit of RP and you're done.

Chapter 9: The Predator's Path

Start by going to the Eastwatch Waypoint and jump down to the NPC shown by the marker.



Then, use the waypoint to get back up again and follow markers as they show up. You can run to them early, but they will not queue up until the last one finishes its dialog. Also, you have to enter the circle from the outside for the next marker to queue up: if you're already inside, you'll have to walk out and back in.





Sorry about the lack of markers, I forgot to take screenshots while they were up. The best I could do is stand at the correct locations afterward.



Once you get to the mordrem-loving NPC, don't bother waiting for him to finish his dialog, go ahead and run to the next location.



Just follow the path shown in the screenshots and you should make it without too much grief (watch out for hostiles).



Turn 180 here to keep going up.



Use updraft and turn 180 again to get on top of the log.





Don't bother jumping down until the NPC is done talking: you're safe up here and lots of hostiles spawn below.



Chapter 10: Strange Observations

Initiate dialog with Marjory and run to the location in the screenshot below (this is where the next marker will spawn (it's right before a set of traps).



Follow the markers as they appear for the rest of the instance up until dialog starts up between Taimi and the exalted NPC. At that point, move to the location shown in the screenshot below (this is where the following dialog will queue up).



Chapter 11: Roots of Terror

Run up to the NPC by the waypoint (sorry for the lack of marker) and move on to the next location without waiting. By the time you get there, the NPC will be done talking.





Once inside the instance, immediately run to Canach. Note: skipping to the next location will always either interrupt the previous dialog or overlap with it.



Don't even bother stopping, just move onto the camp.



Still not stopping, onward to the three way split (center path is fastest).



OK, now you can stop to fight the chak.



Once the chak are all dead, talk to the magister, then Braham and then move to the next location for more dialog.



Chapter 12: The Way In

Assuming you don't have Teku Nuhoch Waypoint, run over to the Nuhoch Wallow shown in the screenshot below to get you there.



Climb up and out of the tree to talk to an NPC.



Walk over and talk to the other, nearby NPC.



Kill chak until you have a sufficient enzyme count, then return to the first NPC. You can now go through the goo door. Simply follow markers until you reach the end.

Chapter 13: Buried Insight

Start by joining your crew. Defeat some chak, run away from group a little bit and come back to trigger the next dialog. Then follow them around as they reactivate the facility.



If running solo, simply go into the facility and kill everything. If running with others, send one or more to kill turrets when Taimi detects the activation of the other golems.



Follow the arrow shown below to start more dialog.



As soon as the previous dialog starts, run over to the broken piece to minimize time waiting for the next dialog (this way will cause the second round of dialog to start as soon as the first ends).



To clear as quickly as possible: clean out the room (the more you kill, the less time you spend waiting during the laser phase). Then just follow markers shown by story to finish. The lazy way is to just wait for the blast door to open (no need to do anything once you've checked in with Taimi) and then follow the markers.



Chapter 14: Sign Cutting

Simply follow screenshots with the locations of the markings left by Rox.







If you have the Ogre Camp Waypoint, I would use it to get to the nuhoch wallow (which will send you to a location pretty close to the next marking). If you don't have it, you might as well go grab it while near the nuhoch wallow.





If you have the waypoint bordering Dragon Stand, I would use it to get to the next marking. If not, you'll just have to run there.



Upon entering Dragon Stand, you'll immediately unlock all the waypoints there. Simply use the one next to the last marker.



Chapter 15: Bitter Harvest

Run all the way to the split path where Kasmeer appears and make a left towards the wall to skip everything (enemies, dialog, you name it).



Don't stop just yet, keep on running until you reach Zojja and free her. As soon as you destroy her container, get on the root as shown in the screenshot below and jump across. This will cause dialog to bug out and overlap (as you started the second one early by jumping across instead of waiting for the bridge to spawn). It will also cause the second dialog to cut out early, because it will end when the first one does.



As soon as you've freed Logan, head to the location shown in the screenshot below, run past the breacher and glide around cliff to reach the road to the west. Follow the road and skip enemies until you reach the tower.



Don't bother fighting anything on your way up, not even the walls, simply walk around them as shown in the screenshots below. Note: you can't walk around the last wall on one of the two paths. If you happen to walk up that path, simply use the thorn bridge to reach the path on the other side and walk around that wall.





Chapter 16: Hearts and Minds

There isn't really anything that you can skip in this last chapter. So the only thing I can tell you about is the choice in allies you bring:

• Braham will spawn Eir and Garm (defeat Garm and break Eir's breakbar [you only need a bit of CC to break it] and she goes down easily);
• Canach will spawn evil Canach which will throw grenades (still easy, but the stuns and knockbacks are annoying if you can't range him);
• Caithe will spawn the Pale Tree which is a DPS race (I'd recommend this path to anyone with high DPS and no ranged weapons instead of Canach).

With this, I've finally completed my speedrun guide: hope it helps!