Guild Wars 2 Guide: How to Get the Griffon Mount

Image: ArenaNet via HGG / Tyler Locke

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Tyler is a psych graduate turned freelance writer and one of the newest additions to the HGG team. They currently write guides for a variety of gam... Read more

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Soar the skies with the Griffon in Guild Wars 2! With the Path of Fire expansion, GW2 gained a bunch of different mounts to use. There’s a giant bunny, a hovering manta ray, a raptor, and even a teleporting dog. They all have their own uses and can be unlocked as you explore the Crystal Desert. Yet there’s a secret fifth mount in GW2 — the Griffon.

It’s somewhat easy to miss the Griffon because it isn’t really mentioned until you start the quest. While it’s a bit of a time and gold sink, the Griffon is worth unlocking since it’s the only flying mount in GW2 besides the Skyscale. Plus, it’s super fast, perfect for traversing the open world. So, if you want to grab a pretty cool mount, continue reading for our step-by-step GW2 Griffon guide.

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What You Need to Unlock the Griffon Mount

Before you can get the Griffon in GW2, there are a few prerequisites. Make sure you have everything on this list taken care of:

1. Complete the Path of Fire Main Story Quest
2. Skimmer, Jackal, and Springer mounts unlocked
3. Shifting Sands Jackal Mastery
4. High Vault Springer Mastery
5. Some time on your hands
6. 250 gold

Yup, you read that right. 250 gold! Everything here is absolutely required to unlock the Griffon. In fact, you won’t be able to even start the quest without having the first three. So, once you’ve done and gathered everything you need, let’s start the quest.

How to Get the Griffon in GW2

Once you’ve completed the main story for Path of Fire, you’ll start to find items that hint towards Griffons. Strange Pellets of Bones and Fur, Strange Droppings, and Strange Feathers will drop from mobs in the Crystal desert. All you need is one, so start killing.

These items will point you towards Beastmaster Ghazal in the Menagerie in the Domain of Vabbi area. Show one of these items to him and he will direct you toward the next person, Seeker Kandake in Spearmarshel’s Lament.

Finding Seeker Kandake

To reach Seeker Kandake, teleport to the Vehtendi Academy Waypoint. From there, travel southeast until you hit the brandstorm. To avoid getting struck by lightning, you’ll need to ride your Skimmer through the storm.

Jump on your Skimmer and head east until you reach a sand portal. Switch over to the Jackal and use the portal. The portal will take you right next to Seeker Kandake. Talk to her, then jump on your Springer to reach the next area.

Reaching the Sunspear Sanctuary

To reach the Sunspear Sanctuary, you’ll need your Springer and the Jackal. After talking to Kandake, use the Springer to jump onto the ledge above her. Be sure to grab the Mastery Point as well. Once up the ledge, there will be a sand portal to your right that will take you to a path safe from the brandstorm.

This portal will take you to the Yahnur Plateau. Follow the path to another sand portal. Once through, follow the path up, then use your Springer to jump up to the Sanctuary. There, you can interact with the Remains of the Last Spearmarshal to start the quest.

Eggs, Events, and Losing All Your Gold

Much like other unlocks in GW2, the Griffon is unlocked through completing achievements. Interacting with the Remains of the Last Spearmarshal will unlock the Open Skies Collection and give you an item that will teleport you to the Sanctuary whenever you need.

Once the Open Skies Collection is unlocked, you can start collecting the items needed to complete the collection. Additionally, wild Griffons will appear around the map, which you can mount for a limited time.

To fully complete the collection, you’ll have to complete events and achievements, gather Griffon eggs, and buy items from vendors from all five maps in the Crystal Desert. Say goodbye to your gold, and let’s get started.

Crystal Oasis

Runes

This first event for the Griffon collection is a bit different than your average event in GW2. The event you have to complete is the Legendary Bounty Corrupted Facets. This bounty can be found at the bounty board in Destiny’s Gorge. It respawns every thirty minutes, so just wait if it’s not there.

Take the bounty to the Teradohedron Pyramid and the boss will spawn. This is a legendary tier boss, so you’ll need a group to take it down. Start an LFG or ask in chat for some help. Defeat the boss and you’ll get the Rune of Honesty for the collection.

Egg Locations

There are five eggs in the Crystal Oasis map. To begin, start at the Temple of Kormir waypoint. The first egg can be found at the cliff across from the waypoint. Use your Springer to jump your way up to the peak to the find the first at the Griffon roost.

The second egg can be found on the cliff side south of the first. Use the Griffon or your glider to float down the side of the cliff until you find a little cubby containing the second egg.

The third egg can be found near the Altar of Silence on a cliff overlooking the area.

The fourth egg will be atop the Teradohedron Pyramid. Climb the broken floating rock pathway until you see a sand portal and use your Jackal to go through it.

This sand portal will take you a sand path in the sky. Follow the path up for a chest, then look down. You’ll see a hole you can glide to for the fourth egg.

The last egg can be found at the Sanctum of Nabkha. All you need to do is follow the sand portals until a sand portal takes you inside the building. Inside, there will be multiple sand portals.

This place is kind of confusing and requires a bit of patience and reaction time. To start, walk to the end of the platform. Take the sand portal in the middle of the floor, then dash to the next portal directly across from you.

Continue straight and drop into the next portal.

Immediately dash into the portal in front of you, then jump into the hole.

This portal will take you to the top of the building. Loot the chests then use your Springer to jump up the north side. Glide off the building onto one of the pillars holding the Griffon egg.

Supply Locations

Now is the time to spend your gold. There are two supply items to buy in Crystal Oasis. The Heart Karma merchant at the Temple of Kormir and the merchant at Amnoon will sell you the Icon of the Goddess and the Sunspear Tithe.

You’ll have to fully complete the Heart to unlock their wares. Buy the two supplies, and the first collection will be complete. On to the next!

Desert Highlands

Runes

This time, you don’t have to do a bounty event. Instead, you have to complete a three-part event called Defend Second Spear Nayrim. This event starts at the Makali Outpost, the very beginning of the map, and ends at the Kanuz Cache to the west.

Luckily, you don’t have to participate in each part. As long as you complete the last part, you get the Rune of Loyalty. So, if you see the event almost done, be sure to get some participation.

Egg Locations

Yet again, there are five eggs located in this map. The first egg is located where you first fought Balthazar on top of one of the pillars. Using a Springer with the High Vault mastery can get you up the pillar.

The next egg will be found west of the first on the high cliffs. There are a couple ways to get up. You could use the Springer to climb the cliff side, use the Griffon you got from the first egg, or use a Jackal portal.

Running north along the cliff will lead you the next egg. Past the floating weeds, you’ll find the next egg guarded by a couple of hostile griffons. You can quickly grab the egg and fly away toward the next area.

The fourth egg is located to the west at the Giant Steps. Once there, you find this egg on top of the square structure. Now head over to the snowy mountains.

The last egg can be found on the cliff side of the Enchanted Bluffs. You can approach from the Windshear Scarps or from Fortune’s Vale. Either way, jump off the cliff and you’ll find the last egg in a nook.

Supply Locations

As for our supplies, we have to buy another 50 gold’s worth. Again, these items are available in Heart merchants, so you’ll have to finish the Hearts to access their goods. Groffmok in Lommuld Kraal will sell the Enormous Supply of Bird Feed and Tendaji at Diviner’s Reach will sell the Survival Supplies.

Buy your supplies, and you can move on to the next map.

Elon Riverlands

Events

This time, you have to complete two events in the Elon Riverlands. First up is the Free Emara event, which is started by the Helping Erran event in the Arid Gladefields. This event will lead you to the Deadhouse, where you defeat the Warden Jabari for the Rune of Justice item.

Next, you’ll have to complete the Champion Unbound Djinn event. Much like the other event, this event will start by completing a previous event, Gathering Memories in Bahdaj Vigil at the Shallows of Despair. Defeat the Unbound Djinn for the Rune of Honor.

Lastly, you’ll have to complete the Equipment Tracker Mastery achievement. Talk to Master Sergeant Shadi in the northwest of Elon Wetlands at Deadlock Sweep to start the quest. All you have to do is gather some items for her, which will be indicated by the Shadi’s Shopping List item. Once collected go back to her, give her the items, then choose the last dialogue choice.

Egg Locations

Luckily, there are only three eggs located in the Elon Riverlands. The first egg can be found south of the Olishar’s Oasis Camp Waypoint. It will be located atop a ruined tower just below the Vista. Simply use your Springer to jump your way up.

The next egg can be found west of the Olishar’s Oasis Camp Waypoint, so teleport back there. Run west until you hit the plateau with the Griffons roost. Then use your Springer again to jump up and grab the second egg.

The last egg can be found just south of the area where you unlocked the Skimmer. Teleport to the Skimmer Ranch Waypoint and head south. Continue south until you reach the rock pillar just before the hero point. Use your Springer to climb your way up and grab the last egg for this area.

Supply Locations

Last, you’ll have to buy some items from Heart merchants. You can grab the Relic Preservation Materials from Follower Xunn in northern Elon Riverlands. Ebele, east of the Olibar’s Oasis Camp Waypoint, will sell the Maps to the Outpost item. For both, you’ll have to complete the Heart.

The Desolation

The Desolation is probably my least favorite map in GW2, and if it weren’t for the Griffon, I would never have come back.

Runes

The first thing to do in the Desolation is the Patrol with Redeemer Kossan event. It’s a quick escort mission that will reward you with the Rune of Valor. You can find the start of the event near the Darklands Waypoint at the Ruination.

The next thing you should do is teleport back to the Darklands Waypoint and use the Springer to jump up the cliff to the north of the waypoint. Head to the Sandstrewn Shrine point of interest. Directly west up the hill, you’ll find the Rune of Compassion.

Egg Locations

This time you have to collect four eggs, but they are thankfully semi close to each other. The first egg can be found just southeast of the Scourgeway Waypoint at the Towering Links. Head past the first bridge, then use your Springer to jump up the mountain. However, we won’t be able to reach it without the Griffon from the second egg location.

To get to the second egg, take the southernmost sand portal, which will take you just below the Griffon Roost. Turn right and use your Springer to jump up to the Griffon Roost for the second egg. Be sure to take the Griffon. Now we need to fly to the top of the Towering Links for the first egg.

It should be a straight shot to the first egg. Be sure to hit Spacebar to whenever you can to make it. Grab the egg and look to the west. That pillar is our next destination. Just like the previous egg, we can use the Griffon to fly all the way there.

Now we need to make it around the big mountain next to us. You can probably make it there with the Griffon, but I kicked a sand pile and kicked myself off the Griffon. Oops. So, we will head to the Darklands Waypoint and Skyrim our way up the cliff with the Springer for our final egg.

Supply Locations

The next set of supplies can be found from Dunkoro in the Lair of the Forgotten and from Kisha Odili at the Bonestrand. Complete their Hearts and buy the Ancient Sunspear Flags and the Prayer Lights, and strap in for one last map.

Domain of Vabbi

Events

The event we have to do is Rescue First Spear Kitur at the Warehouse in Vehtendi Academy. You can get to the Warehouse by going through the passage behind the Headmaster’s Office inside the Academy.

You’ll have to escort him to each piece of his equipment, then defeat a couple of veteran enemies. Once you complete the event, you’ll gain the Rune of Sacrifice.

Supply Locations

We’ll grab the supplies first this time, and you’ll see why. The last two supplies you need will be located in the Vehjin Mines from Servant Tooraj and the Vehtendi Academy from Professor Nazimi. Complete their Hearts and finish spending the rest of your gold on Stone-Carving Tools and a Guard Bribe.

Egg Locations

We have five eggs to grab. The good news is that they’re close to each other. The bad news is that you have to trek through one of the more annoying hazards in GW2, brandstorm, to get the last Griffon eggs.

Use the Spearmarshal’s Plea in your inventory to teleport back to the Sanctuary. Look to your right at the rock pillar in the distance. You’ll need to use your Springer to jump up there, grab the egg, then mount a Griffon to get the rest of the eggs.

Mount the Griffon and look to the north. The next egg will be on the mountain you see. Fly there with the Griffon.

You can reach all the eggs from here, so we will be returning to this spot. Now look to the west. The next egg will be atop the big crystal you see. Fly there with Griffon, but watch out for the brandstorm when you land.

Now return to the location of the second egg the same way you did before. Once there, look north towards the big crystal dome. The next egg will be on top.

Return to the second egg location one last time. Now look to the south toward the big crystal. The last and final egg will be there.

Now head back to the Sunspear Sanctuary to return all the items you grabbed. And maybe reward yourself with a nice break.

Back to the Sunspear Sanctuary

Once you’ve gathered everything, head back to the Sunspear Sanctuary. You’ll notice you can place down the eggs and runes you’ve collected. Interact with each spot and you’ll fully complete the Open Skies collection and unlock the Sunspear Wisdom collection.

You’re not done yet. It wouldn’t be a GW2 Achievement to unlock the Griffon without a bunch of steps. Now head over to the Tomb of Primeval Kings. Go all the way to the back of the tomb and interact with the seal to teleport to Kormir’s abandoned library, just like you did in the story quest.

Kormir’s Abandoned Library

Inside the library, there are 10 Writings of the Last Spearmarshal. Each of these are in a cache found through the library and guarded by an elite mob. These elites will have the Key Hoarder effect, and killing them will grant a key that unlocks a cache.

1. Go up the staircase to the left of the portal, then follow the platform to the first location
2. On the outer bottom edge of the map near the pillar
3. To the left of the portal towards the edge of the map
4. Underneath the big bridge
5. Northwest near the outer pillar, hidden by the mist on the map
6. Northeast near an outer pillar
7. Go up the same staircase as the first item, then follow the platform to #7
8. Go up the spiral staircase to the north then follow the bridge to #8
9. Near #6, just jump up the ledge
10. Go up the staircase connected to the central portal platform to grab the final item

If you’re having trouble with killing some of the elites, then I recommend killing easy ones over and over again. Each elite respawns after a while and will open any of the caches. Additionally, if you die and are fast enough, you can reach them before they regain health. Once you’re done, leave the instance and return to the Sunspear Sancuary.

Defeat the Hierarch

For the final time, return to the Sunspear Sanctuary and place the writings at the pedestals surrounding the Statue of Kormir. This will complete the final collection and grant you access to the Spearmarshal’s Lament instance. Interact with the Statue of Kormir and it will teleport you to a boss fight.

Strategy

This boss fight has to be done alone, so it might be a bit hard. But you can do it! The Hierarch will use attacks with AOE damage, so as long as you keep out of the zones you’ll rarely get hit. Luckily, you have a few Sunspear NPCs to help and revive if you need it.

At 25% health intervals, the Hierarch will put up a Tar Shield that makes him immune to damage. Grab one of the Griffons located in the arena and use its Swoop ability to break the shield. You’ll have to do this three times, so be ready to run to a Griffon.

Once you’ve defeated him, the Last Spearmarshal will appear and talk to you. Finish the dialogue to get your reward. Now you have your very own Griffon!

Mastering the Griffon

Once you’ve completed everything, the Griffon will be unlocked and can be found with the rest of your mounts. Just like the other mounts in GW2, all you have to do is select the Griffon on your hotbar and press X.

However, the Griffon behaves a little differently than other mounts. It still moves in the same manner with your WASD movement keys, but has three new buttons to use:

• Diving: Default V Key
• Climbing: Default C Key
• Flap: Default Spacebar (Unlocked through the Aerial Finesse Mastery)

While flying, you can press the Dive key to dive downwards. Diving doesn’t consume any of the Griffons endurance and gives a burst of speed. The longer the dive, the more speed you get. Additionally, using Flap during a dive will instantly max out your speed.

Climbing on the other hand, can only be used after using Dive. Using the Climb ability will propel your Griffon upwards, using the speed you gained during the Dive to gain some height and level out. You can only Climb a few times before you’ve lost any momentum and have to Dive again.

Mastery

Much like other mounts, the Griffon has its own set up masteries to unlock that count towards your Mastery Level.

To unlock all of these masteries, you’ll need a total of 12 mastery points and about 2 million XP. The mastery points should be pretty easy to get through the story alone. If you need more, check your Achievements tab for achievements that reward mastery points or your map for ones you’ve missed.

As for the XP, events give a ton of XP especially the bounty events. There are also multiple Adventures around the Crystal Desert that reward tons of XP that can be completed once per day.

Adventures

Speaking of Adventures, once Aerial Prowess and Aerial Finesse are unlocked, multiple Griffon Adventures will be unlocked through the Crystal Desert. In Guild Wars 2, Adventures are small mini-games with time limits you can complete for rewards, for the Griffon it will be a flying race.

There are two Griffon Adventures per map, Expert and Master. All you have to do is fly through the rings within the time limit. Each have an achievement for finishing in Silver or Gold tier. Each Adventure will have an icon on the map similar to the one in the picture above.

Join the High Ground!

And that’s all you need to know about the Griffon in GW2. Good luck getting one and I hope you enjoy the new flying mount! Leave a comment if you have any more questions and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more Guild Wars 2 content.

Happy gaming!