Gliding
“Mastering jungle movement will unlock the ability to hang glide to previously unreachable locations. When you train the Gliding Mastery, you’ll have the option to soar freely through the treetops, escape the dangers that await you on the jungle floor, use the air to your advantage in combat against certain foes, and save yourself from accidental death by slipping.
— Official site
Gliding is a unique type of movement that allows characters to descend from one point to another. Originally available exclusively through the Heart of Thorns expansion, players with End of Dragons, Secrets of the Obscure or Janthir Wilds are able to unlock the base ability without masteries.[1]
Gliders may be deployed in most open world zones, instanced content in expansions (e.g. story missions), the Heart of the Mists PvP lobby, and in the ally-controlled areas in World versus World. Gliders cannot be activated in PvP maps or in Central Tyria instanced content (such as dungeons or personal story instances) and in many jumping puzzles. Further upgrades to the gliding mastery improve the speed, control and durability of the glider.
Unlocking[edit]
Heart of Thorns
- Complete the second chapter of the Heart of Thorns story, Torn from the Sky.
- Unlock the
Glider Basics mastery.
End of Dragons
“Use the space bar while jumping to glide across gaps.
— Gliding, in-game hint, Shing Jea Training Grounds
- Enter any zone in Cantha, either by:
- Completing the first chapter of the End of Dragons story, Old Friends;
- Teleporting to a guild's Isle of Reflection guild hall; or,
- Using a
Teleport to Friend.
- This will not unlock the mastery track, which requires completing the unlock process for Heart of Thorns.
Secrets of the Obscure
- Progress through the second chapter of the Secrets of the Obscure story, Hell Breaks Loose.
- This will not unlock the mastery track, which requires completing the unlock process for Heart of Thorns.
Janthir Wilds
- Progress through the first chapter of the Janthir Wilds story, Unknown Territory. [verification requested]
- This will not unlock the mastery track, which requires completing the unlock process for Heart of Thorns.
Mechanics[edit]
Once unlocked, gliding can be used by any character on the player's account. Provided that the player is not attempting to glide in a restricted area, marked by the 
Gliding Disabled effect, the glider will be deployed either by pressing the jump key in mid-air, or by holding down the jump key after jumping; it will not appear if the player has not jumped far enough off the ground.
The glider will automatically fold-up when the player lands, or when the player "jumps" while gliding which causes the player to start falling. The player will be briefly revealed immediately following deployment and landing.
In PvP, gliding is not possible; in WvW, gliding is unlocked separately from PvE, through spending World Ability Points for the War Gliding Mastery, though Heart of Thorns is still required. Gliding is possible only in territories controlled by one's own world.
Related masteries[edit]
- Primary article: Heart of Maguuma mastery tracks#Gliding
| Mastery | XP required | Points | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 Glider Basics
|
508,000 | 1 
|
Gain access to the glider so that you can glide like a squirrel across the highest points of the Heart of Maguuma. |
 Updraft Use
|
1,016,000 | 2
|
Improved design to your glider handles and slits in the wings let you confidently fly into updrafts, allowing you to gain altitude and travel to previously unreachable locations. |
 Lean Techniques
|
1,778,000 | 3
|
Learn the gliding technique of leaning forward to increase your gliding speed and leaning back to brake midair at the cost of endurance. Your improved technique also increases your total endurance pool when gliding. |
 Stealth Gliding
|
2,540,000 | 5
|
Learn to glide silently and undetected through the air for short periods by dodging while gliding. |
 Advanced Gliding
|
3,302,000 | 8
|
Learn to glide with such efficiency that you no longer use endurance to stay up in the air, only to perform lean techniques. |
 Ley Line Gliding
|
4,318,000 | 12
|
Learn to enter ley-line energy flows while gliding to be moved along with the flow, gaining access to otherwise inaccessible places. |
| Total | 13,462,000 | 31
|
List of gliding skills[edit]
With a Jade Bot[edit]
Only available after unlocking the Gliding Booster mastery.
| # | Skill | 
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Jade Bot Glide Booster | 30 | Your jade bot will give you a boost straight up. |
Auric Basin[edit]
Only available in the Slay the octovine! (eastgate) boss fight.
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drop Bomb | Drop a bomb while gliding. | ||
| 2 | Drop Bomb | Drop a bomb while gliding. | ||
| 3 | Drop Bomb | Drop a bomb while gliding. |
Dragon's Stand[edit]
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glider Bomb | ½ | 2 | Throw a mortar that explodes with force, doing bonus damage to the Mouth of Mordremoth and his minions. |
Unstable magic skills[edit]
These skills appear in Bloodstone Fen, Lake Doric, Dragon's End and all Secrets of the Obscure open world maps, including Convergences.
The following skills can be bought (as account-wide unlocks) from Natto on the Soul's Vendetta in Bloodstone Fen, the airship circling the Harvest Temple during the Battle for the Jade Sea meta event or at the Rift Hunter Lounge in The Wizard's Tower. The skills only need to be purchased once as they are shared across all locations.
In Lake Doric, they can only be used after gliding on a ley line and last until you land. In Dragon's End, they can only be used while engaging the final boss of the meta event.
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Focused Magic | 1½ | Shoot a beam at your foe. The farther away they are, the less damage you deal. | |
| 2 | Unstable Magic Volley | 1 | 5 | Release a volley of unstable magic on the target area, damaging and knocking down foes, and applying a random condition. |
| 3 | Pacified Magical Storm | 20 | Call down a pacified magical storm on the target area, healing, curing conditions from allies, and granting regeneration to allies once every second. | |
| 4 | Dogfight or Flight | 8 | Use the power of wind to evade attacks and heal yourself. | |
| 5 | Ride the Ley Line | 5 | Focus unbound magic to create a ley line and propel yourself forward. Warning: Crossing streams with other ley lines is deadly! |
In Secrets of the Obscure maps, the skills are available in all open-world maps, but they are placed on the utility side of the skill bar, and Dogfight or Flight is not provided. Without Jade Bot Glide Booster, the healing slot will simply be empty.
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Focused Magic | 1½ | Shoot a beam at your foe. The farther away they are, the less damage you deal. | |
| 8 | Unstable Magic Volley | 1 | 5 | Release a volley of unstable magic on the target area, damaging and knocking down foes, and applying a random condition. |
| 9 | Pacified Magical Storm | 20 | Call down a pacified magical storm on the target area, healing, curing conditions from allies, and granting regeneration to allies once every second. | |
| 0 | Ride the Ley Line | 5 | Focus unbound magic to create a ley line and propel yourself forward. Warning: Crossing streams with other ley lines is deadly! |
Fighting The Shatterer[edit]
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drop Bombs | 1 | 2 | Drop bombs on target area, damaging and knocking down foes. |
| 2 | Drop Med Kits | ½ | 5 | Drop three med kits to be collected in the target area; players in the target area are healed and gain protection. |
| 3 | Consume Med Kit | ¼ | 30 | Consume a med kit to heal yourself and gain regeneration. |
Siren's Landing[edit]
| # | Skill |
|
|
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Throw Artifact | 3 | Throws artifacts at the unchained wyvern, damaging its defiance bar. | |
| 2 | Roll Left | 5 | Use the artifact to propel yourself to the left. | |
| 3 | Dash | 5 | Use the artifact to boost yourself forward. | |
| 4 | Roll Right | 5 | Use the artifact to propel yourself to the right. |
Related equipment[edit]
Jade Bot equipment that improve this mechanic[edit]
Jade Assistant: Gliding Booster 1 - Increases the vertical height of your jade bot's Gliding Booster ability.
Jade Assistant: Gliding Booster 2 - Increases the vertical height of your jade bot's Gliding Booster ability.
Jade Assistant: Gliding Booster 3 - Increases the vertical height of your jade bot's Gliding Booster ability.
Glider skins[edit]
“Use a random glider skin each time you deploy your glider. (Only picks from your favorites if any have been selected.)
— Randomize Glider Skins
Glider skins can be unlocked account-wide by purchasing them in the Gem Store or by crafting legendary back items which also unlock the glider version. The skins have only cosmetic effects; there are no gameplay advantages associated with them. They can be changed at any time in the hero panel (default H). Most skins can be dyed and have up to four dye channels to customize colors. Applying a skin does not cost any Transmutation Charge.
Add/Remove from Favorites: Skins can be added to Favorites by placing the cursor on the top right corner and clicking on the 
heart icon.
Randomize Glider Skins: Skins can be also randomized by selecting the Randomize Glider Skins option. If no skin has been added to Favorites, it will cycle through all unlocked skins upon deploying the glider.
List of glider skins[edit]
- See also: Gallery of gliders
(*) The gliders in the marked rows either don't appear in API:2/account/gliders and API:2/gliders and/or don't have an ID set. Therefore it cannot be checked if they have been unlocked.
Gallery[edit]
Art by Jamie Ro.
Related achievements[edit]
Tangled Depths: Cloak and Snagger — Bypass the Mordrem snipers using Stealth Gliding and steal their supplies! (1
)- Tangled Depths: Pulse Room Glider — Fly to the place of power in the Ley-Line Confluence. (1)
- Tangled Depths: The Longest Glide — Glide from the Mordrem migration path in SCAR Field Operations all the way to Dragon's Passage. (5)
Out of the Shadows: Reversal of Fortune — Hit the ghostly justiciar with aerial attacks when he portals you into the air. (1)- Out of the Shadows: Don't Cross the Streams — Use ley-line magic in the middle of a ley line. (1
)
Trivia[edit]
- Upon release of the Heart of Thorns expansion, gliding was restricted to the expansion-related areas. The Winter update of 2016 added gliding to central Tyria, though gliding remains disabled in certain instances and locations such as Personal story and Home instances, Dungeons, some jumping puzzles and PvP maps outside of Heart of the Mists.
- Gliding in WvW was originally disabled following the release of the Heart of Thorns expansion but was added in the August 8, 2017 game update. The War Gliding mastery upgrade must first be unlocked on a character to be able to use it.
- The Favorite and Randomization options have been added with the February 14, 2023 game update.
See also[edit]
- Gliding Disabled — for a list of places where gliding is explicitly prohibited.
Gliding Disabled Warning
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Guild Chat 111: Shing Jea Island, YouTube.com
