Two weeks in, we’ve done the full Skyscale unlock — all of it, including the time-gated steps — and we’re ready to tell you exactly what you’re getting into.
The Skyscale is the most demanding mount unlock in Guild Wars 2 history. Not hyperbole. The collection chain spans multiple stages, requires farming currencies from every Living World Season 4 map, and includes mandatory time gates that will stretch your unlock across a minimum of several real-world days. That’s the reality, and we’re not going to sugarcoat it.
What we’ll also tell you: the Skyscale is genuinely worth it. It’s not worth it in the way “it’ll be over soon” worth it. It’s worth it in the way that the Griffon was worth it, except the Skyscale does something the Griffon can’t — it climbs walls, hovers in place, and scales vertical terrain in a way that fundamentally changes how you move through any GW2 map. It’s the most useful mount the game has shipped since the Raptor.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Quick Reference
| Stage | What’s Required | Time Gate? |
|---|---|---|
| Raise the Skyscale | Story — Play “War Eternal” first | No |
| Skyscale Lost | Feed & care for baby Skyscale daily | Yes — 3 days |
| Skyscale Found | Hatch eggs across all Season 4 maps | No |
| Skyscale Love | Gather various materials and currencies | Yes — tied to WvW/PvP dailies |
| Skyscale Blood | 250 of each Season 4 map currency ×6 | No (but heavy farm) |
| Skyscale Scales | Collections from each Season 4 map | No |
| Skyscale Treats | Items from multiple maps + TP | No |
| Rewards Chest | Complete all above | No |
Estimated total time: 5–7 days minimum due to time gates. If your Season 4 map currency stockpile is low, add farming time on top of that.
Stage 1: Raise the Skyscale
Prerequisite: Complete “War Eternal.” You cannot start this unlock without finishing the Episode 6 story. If you haven’t done it yet, our War Eternal review has spoiler-warned context for why you should.
After completing the story, talk to Gorrik in Dragonfall. He’ll start the Skyscale collection chain. The first stage is essentially the game introducing the baby Skyscale to you — a few story steps, some map exploration in Dragonfall, and the transition into the first real time gate.
Stage 2: Skyscale Lost (Time Gate — 3 Days)
This is the stage that broke the most people’s patience, and we understand why.
You’re caring for a baby Skyscale. Specifically, you need to return to Gorrik each day and feed the hatchling, observe its behavior, and complete a short check-in. This repeats over three separate daily resets.
There is no way to compress this. You must log in on three different calendar days. If you try to start this at 11:45 PM hoping the reset gets you a “free” day, you’ll need to check your server’s daily reset time and plan accordingly. NA daily reset is midnight UTC.
Our honest take: the time gate here represents a real design philosophy — the baby Skyscale grows over time, and the game is literalizing that with real-world time. We get the intention. We still think three mandatory daily logins is aggressive for a non-subscriber game. But it’s manageable if you plan ahead and set a reminder.
What to do while waiting: farm Season 4 map currencies. You will need them in Stage 5 and having them ready will make that stage feel like nothing.
Stage 3: Skyscale Found
After the time gate, this stage is a welcome breather. You’re hunting Skyscale eggs hidden across all Season 4 maps — a proper scavenger hunt. Each map has eggs in specific locations, and the GW2 wiki has their exact positions mapped out.
This is the stage that most closely resembles the Griffon’s scavenger hunt, and it’s genuinely enjoyable. The egg locations send you to parts of maps you may not have visited since launch, and some of the spots have solid sightlines worth stopping for.
Bring a squad if you can. Some of the terrain is tricky and having someone marker the eggs over voice chat makes the run faster.
| Map | Eggs to Collect |
|---|---|
| Domain of Istan | Multiple scattered eggs |
| Sandswept Isles | Check Inquest facility rooftops |
| Domain of Kourna | Underground areas primarily |
| Jahai Bluffs | High cliff edges and camp areas |
| Thunderhead Peaks | Inside the keep and surrounding cliffs |
| Dragonfall | Multiple per faction zone |
Stage 4: Skyscale Love (Minor Time Gate)
Skyscale Love requires gathering specific items from a variety of sources. Most of these are either directly purchasable from vendors, craftable, or farmable in open world. The time gate here is indirect — certain items are tied to WvW and PvP daily reward tracks, so if you don’t have them banked, you’ll be waiting on daily rotations.
Items with time dependencies:
- Eternal Ice Shard (Thunderhead Peaks currency)
- Branded Mass (Jahai Bluffs currency)
- Difluorite Crystal (Sandswept Isles currency)
- Mistborn Mote (WvW reward track currency — time gate risk)
If you haven’t been actively playing WvW, the Mistborn Mote requirement can add unexpected time to this stage. Check your currency wallet before you start it.
Stage 5: Skyscale Blood (The Currency Wall)
This is the one that generated the loudest community reaction, and looking at the requirements, it’s easy to see why.
You need 250 of each Living World Season 4 map currency. Six maps. Six currencies. 1,500 total currency across:
- Kralkatite Ore (Domain of Istan)
- Difluorite Crystal (Sandswept Isles)
- Branded Mass (Domain of Kourna)
- Volatile Magic (universal Season 4 currency)
- Mistborn Mote (WvW tracks)
- Eternal Ice Shard (Thunderhead Peaks)
- Garnet Shard (Jahai Bluffs)
If you’ve been farming Season 4 maps regularly since 2018, you may already have most of this. Check your currency wallet before panicking. Veterans of the Istan Palawadan train have Kralkatite Ore sitting in four-digit numbers.
If you’re coming in fresh or haven’t touched Season 4 maps in months, budget 4–6 hours of concentrated farming spread across the maps. The Sandswept Isles and Domain of Kourna tend to be the slower farms — plan for those first.
One efficiency tip: convert excess Volatile Magic at vendors to supplement lower currencies. The exchange rates aren’t great, but they’re faster than grinding a dead meta.
Stage 6 & 7: Skyscale Scales and Skyscale Treats
These two stages run in parallel and are the most straightforward parts of the unlock.
Skyscale Scales: collecting specific items from each Season 4 map’s vendor and from completing map-specific events. The wiki’s checklist is reliable here — follow it step by step.
Skyscale Treats: items from the Trading Post, from vendors, and a few from gathering nodes on specific maps. Budget 5–10 gold for TP purchases. Nothing on the TP list is unreasonably priced right now.
Both stages can be completed in a single dedicated session if your currencies from Stage 5 are already sorted.
Is It Worth It?
Yes. Unambiguously yes — if you care about exploring GW2 maps vertically.
The Skyscale changes traversal in a way that’s hard to convey before you’ve done it. Any cliff face becomes a climbing wall. Any hovering platform becomes reachable. Any vertical map that previously required careful pathing becomes trivially accessible. For players who engage with jumping puzzles, hidden areas, and map exploration, the Skyscale makes GW2 feel like a different game.
For players who only care about meta events and open-world combat, the Griffon and Springer already handle most movement needs. The Skyscale adds a layer of vertical flexibility on top of that.
The time gate is frustrating. We said it clearly in our War Eternal coverage and we’ll say it again: mandatory multi-day waits feel out of place in a game without subscriptions, where your time is already a limited resource you’re giving voluntarily. ArenaNet should look at that design choice carefully.
But the mount on the other side of the collection? Worth it.
Who Should Start This Now
Season 4 veterans with currency banked: Start immediately. You likely have the hard part done already and don’t know it.
Casual players with limited time: Start the Stage 2 time gate now. Even if you only log in long enough to feed the Skyscale each day, you’ll be through the mandatory gate without losing any ground. Farm currencies whenever you have time, but the clock is already ticking.
Returning players: Check what Living World Season 4 episodes you own before you start. You need “War Eternal” (Episode 6) to begin and ideally all six episodes for the currency farm maps.
WvW-only players: The Mistborn Mote requirement means you’re partway there already. Check your wallet.
What to Watch For
- ArenaNet balance passes on the time gate — community feedback has been loud enough that a response is possible. Watch the official patch notes for any adjustments.
- Community-built guides — the GW2 Wiki’s Skyscale page is being updated in real time as players complete the collection. It’s more current than any single site guide right now.
- Next Living World announcement — Season 4 is complete. Something is coming. When ArenaNet announces it, we’ll cover it.
Good luck out there. The climb is real. The mount is worth it.
Tags: Skyscale, Mount, Guide, Living World, Season 4, Collections, War Eternal