The Guild Wars 2 Screenshot Master Post
Originally wrote this (the location list specifically) as a beefy Reddit comment cause I was bored. Bringing it to Tumblr for the benefit of the community here, with some bonus tips on how to take better screenshots! I am writing this as I spend two weeks away from my PC/GW2, so I could be missing things.
Taking Screenshots
If your PC can handle it, GW2 Hook/ReShade is always a boon, but it’s by no means required. I use a preset called “oh shiny” that makes blacks darker, whites pop out more, edges sharper, and colors generally more vibrant. It’s like GW2 Remastered - highly recommend it, but you might get addicted.
Shaders or not, lighting is a pretty crucial thing. Use the natural light, usually sunlight, to show off all the details of the outfit or armor. An inky mass or blinding glowy orb is not always that appealing. But I’ll save the rant about Permafrost and Shadow Abyss, which only make the problem worse, for later. Night in GW2 is pretty lackluster in most places for screenshots, unless you are showing off things that glow in the dark, in which case IMO you’re much more limited as to the places that will look best. For instance, the Grove and parts of Maguuma typically look nice at night.
Camera positioning tips:
You usually want to keep your FoV on the low side. Vary your pics between full-body, waist-up, etc.
Play around with vertical and horizontal position, as well as FoV, between pictures to add variety. These sliders can also help you capture skill animations and VFX that might be difficult to handle otherwise.
You can take close-up screenshots/headshots of your character by positioning them in front of a wall or other path-blocking object, then spinning the camera around so you can see your character’s face. You want your FoV slider to be all the way down, and depending on race and pose of choice (emotes like /crossarms are fun) you will probably need to adjust vertical position (near). Back up from the obstruction as necessary if there is any clipping.
A Few Epic-Looking Skills to Start With
Elementalist - Tempest overloads, most Weaver dual attunement skills
Mesmer - Most autoattack chains
Necromancer - Reaper greatsword 2
Engineer - Holosmith skills and Photon Forge
Ranger - Longbow autoattack; snap a pic when the bow string and arrow are drawn back. Druid staff skills. Soulbeast merge stuff.
Thief - Dagger/dagger 3, pistol/pistol 3, staff and rifle skills
Guardian - Greatsword 2, DH longbow and F2, most Firebrand skills (including axe)
Revenant - Most skills look awesome
Warrior - Axe 5, most Berserker and Spellbreaker skills
My Favorite Places (and who I brought there)
(Feel free to contribute more!)
Kryta
Greatheart Weald, Queensdale - beautiful enchanted-looking autumnal forest. Make sure the corrupted oakheart is dead. (Meli)
Phinney Ridge, Queensdale - Just some nice sky lighting and open space. (Meli)
Forests in Lake Doric are generally really pretty. (Meli)
Divinity’s Reach has a lot of good spots for slice-of-life pics. (Meli, Aloysia, Geanais)
Wynchona Woods, Harathi Hinterlands - nice trees. (Meli)
Mountainroot Lair, Harathi Hinterlands - splashes of pink and some really fun cave flora. (Meli)
Ascalon
Many spots around the Black Citadel are excellent for legionnaires. I’ve taken great pics of some of my charr all over the city, and I even brought my little mechanic asura to the molten scrapyard for a photo shoot. (Andromache, Medeia, Sarri)
Much of Fireheart Rise, especially the area around the Citadel of Flame - Even if your look isn’t molten, sometimes you can use the scorched ground as an accent to go with skill VFX. (Andromache)
Open spots on the Plains of Ashford have really nice lighting. (Old iteration of Andromache; I also took some open space pics of her as a Rev that I did not keep.)
Hellion Forest, Iron Marches (Meli)
Anya’s Strawberry Patch, Diessa Plateau
Shiverpeaks
Open ice areas in Wayfarer Foothills and Frostgorge Sound have good lighting for lighter-colored looks. (Eirwen, Geanais)
Drakkar Lake, Frostgorge Sound (Eirwen)
Dimotiki Waters, Frostgorge Sound - The prettiest underwater area in the game, short of perhaps Bitterfrost.
Naui Waters, Timberline Falls - It looks like Tahoe! (Meli)
Blizzard Basin/Hailstone Floe, Bitterfrost Frontier - amazing lighting on the ice that works best on lighter looks. (Eirwen)
Griffon Old Growth, Bitterfrost Frontier - uniquely pinkish light. (Geanais)
Tarnished Coast
Caledon Forest is always a great place to take a sylvari - loads of good spots including Astorea, the Verdence, Morgan’s Spiral (as long as Risen aren’t attacking), Briarthorn, and Hamlet of Annwen (as long as hylek aren’t occupying). There’s also the tengu wall as a backdrop for South or East Asian-inspired looks. (Jaya, Caerridwen, Elainyn, Siofra)
The Grove, just, all of it, especially at night. There are a couple spots where there are swarms of fireflies, and there’s also the hidden Garden of Dawn which is a bit overused - but that’s ‘cause it’s good! (Elainyn, Geanais)
Rata Sum has cute spots for asura slice-of-life pics. There are balconies on the lowest level with some nice sky views for both day and night. I haven’t liked Metrica as much, though. (Ryxxi, Nexxa, Silaane)
Orr
(I haven’t done a lot of pics here. Sorry.)
All six temples of the gods have some nice spots, if I recall correctly. Orr in general is just pretty nice for the right kind of look.
Pyrite Peninsula, Malchor’s Leap - A gold-plated bright spot in the middle of zombie hell, and a place I don’t see often enough in others’ screenshots. (Eirwen)
Artesian Waters, Cursed Shore - The whole thing isn’t accessible outside of a single story chapter and reforging Caladbolg; there are some nice spots in there though. (Caerridwen)
Maguuma
The oasis in Dry Top (Caerridwen)
Bongo’s Bungalow, Verdant Brink - Lots of fun jungle props to play around with. (Ligeia)
On top of airship wreckages in Verdant Brink - the higher up the better; great sunlight. Best for the crash survivors. (Sarri)
Tarir and Exalted pylons, Auric Basin - Golden shinieeesssss. (Jaya, Lyri)
Morwood Wilds, Auric Basin - Extra wild and jungley. Cool green lighting. (Jaya; I coulda sworn I took pics of Lyri here but I may have replaced them.)
Burnished Quarry, Auric Basin - It’s just pretty, ok?
Dragon’s Stand north lane has some nice nooks and crannies; the whole area has cool ominous lighting. (Jaya, Eirwen)
Chak tunnels in both Tangled Depths and Dragon’s Stand can look nice.
Rata Novus, Tangled Depths - cyber things for sci-fi looks. (Silaane)
Elona
A lot of the desert (including LS4 areas) just looks really good. Even the Desolation has great pic spots. Open sand in Crystal Desert looks especially good, as well as all the cities/towns/temples. I kinda have a weakness for the architecture… (Kyveli, Aanisa, Farhana, Tyra)
Sandstrewn Shrine, The Desolation - Ethereal white-blossomed trees and a very “clean” landscape. (Tyra)
Garden of Seborhin, Domain of Vabbi (Aanisa, Farhana, Tyra)
City of Lights above Desert Highlands - if you can get to this place at night, so worth.
Miscellaneous
Draconis Mons has really nice orange lighting and a natural setting. (Caerridwen)
Ember Bay has a pretty sweet lens flare. It’s also orange but better for fiery looks.
Lion’s Arch Aerodrome has interesting lighting and the area works well for steampunky looks. (Sarri)
The back side of the trading post in LA (blue tile wall), and the golden wall right inside the Black Lion Vaults, are amazing backdrops if you’ve got some camera position skills. (Aurea, older outfit for Tyra)
Other Game Modes
Edge of the Mists has some nice spots (temple ruins etc.) but beware of roamers. (Ryxxi)
The middle of Desert Borderlands is a Tarir-esque ruined temple. (Jaya, Lyri?)
The fractal lobby is pretty cool. Bonus points if you get action shots in the blue portal’s VFX. (Ryxxi, Silaane)
Cleared raid instances are your friend, too! I have only really taken some nature-y pics in Salvation Pass, but if you wanted to take pics of a White Mantle cosplay there are ample spots for that in multiple wings. Mythwright Gambit is also downright gorgeous as a whole. (Ligeia - so far)
