LetsTakeWalk: So lore wise, the Black Citadel was never meant to be a city. The lack of centralized healthcare is also part of that. Each Warband has to take care of their own members, as well as education (there is some overlap between the Legions, especially if members of one Legion transfers to another Warband within a different Legion). So the place was put in place as a stepping stone to battle the humans, but a lot of crap happened that pretty much delayed everything. A large part of the Charr got caught within the sinking of Orr, and a large part got burned to a crisp in the Foefire event. That event created an ever replenishing enemy that the Charr needed to deal with. Decades of fighting and stagnation doesn't make the Black Citadel look its best. And after the rise of Kralkatorrik, the Charr called in a truce. Having to fight 4 enemies (Ghosts, Flame Legion, Humans, and the Branded) was too much even for the Charr. So it is only very recently outsiders are allowed at all within the Black Citadel (well, if you played since launch, that is also quite awhile ago now), a very permanent temporary structure.

Theguyoverthere603: Does the Cattle Cannon out in the fields of Ashford count as transportation?

masman121: Can you imagine only playing guild wars 1 and seeing this video? You'd be like "the Charr built WHAT?"

SheenaMalfoy: Re: culture. There's public art all over one of the main roads, statues of famous historical figures, as well as a war memorial. Is it propagandized? Yes, absolutely. But it is there, and that's not nothing.

Also I don't think you gave housing and education a fair rating either, especially when you consider Charr culture. Not only is there no "individual family structure" among Charr culture, there is the EXPECTATION of communal amenities and services. With that in mind, the absolute boatload of bunks (individually heated, mind you!) in the Hero's Forum in the home instance is likely the default housing situation for Charr as a whole. You live, eat, work, and sleep together with your warband and those around you, you don't need to own a house because you're never staying in it for more than a few nights anyways, always in and out between missions. Under that perspective, the absolute luxury of the Hero's Forum becomes more evident. There's fur carpets EVERYWHERE to soften up the space, you've got tables to eat and socialize, fires to cook with and keep warm, couches to lounge in... Oh and books EVERYWHERE. This isn't classified mission material, this is a shared lounge with all the legions, merchants, civilians, and even old veterans occupying the same space in their down time. And there's books and scrolls lining the bases of every support pillar. What else could that be other than a communal library?

In comparison, the Priory hub appears to be more of a Reliquary and workstation, a place to categorize relics and study Ascalonian magics, because the learning is self-driven and located elsewhere. Remember that the Black Citadel sits on top of the ruins of the human city Rin, so this is an archaeological treasure trove.

Also you praised the public crafting stations in DR but ignored them here. Just sayin'.

Also, Charr housing abroad isn't much more than a place to cook and sleep, they're too busy with their work and missions for much else. I don't think the rural houses being small is much of a ding either, it's a place to crash and not intended to be much else.

That's not to say it isn't still kinda shitty for the other races (though random dialogue in the Home Instance does have one Charr admiring the bravery of the Asuran gate guard because he's apparently WELL aware of the explosives beneath his feet!), but for any Charr - legions or otherwise - not on the wrong side of the law it appears that the communal nature of their services actually makes it a surprisingly liveable place. Maybe not ideal, sure, you'd have to end the war with the ghosts for that, but a lot better than an active warzone would imply for sure.

Stands-In-The-Fire: Pre-watch comment: it can't be the *worst*, because it's not Rata Sum so it's not crawling with Asura.

psykocharm: Re:The Adamant Guard doing anything other than npc patrols: If you hang out by Diessa Gate long enough you can catch a soldier talking to iirc a human and a sylvari who they save from some kind of altercation with a charr. I don't recall the exact dialogue but the guard soldier says something about wanting to make the city safe for all visitors or something like that. That's just one interaction, but it's one I really enjoyed seeing the first time I found it.

anidiot9831: An Ash Legion soldier trying to learn basic engineering wouldn't ask to be taught, they'd just spy on the Iron Legion until they knew what they needed.

kahlilhtail: I can't help but think about the number of times I've died from accidentally doing something stupid near the top of the spire and falling off, and realizing it would probably be very canon that a lot of residents die from falling off the upper parts of the spire. Also very often probably while drunk.

But for me, the Black Citadel home in GW2.

goopherfluff7996: i'd add historical places, bars, presented artefacts and alley of heroes with descriptive lore of them to culture and environment! even tho it IS militaristic and dry, its still cultural enrichments and casual activity if you wanna take a walk around black citadel.

cannot even remember how many times i streamed and yapped to friends about pyre and kalla ahahah

KurasakubiSaurn: Still fairly new to Guild Wars, myself, but my initial assumption was that living in the black citadel wasn't much of a choice for most of the population. You don't "move" to the citadel, your warband gets assigned to it.

But again, I have a lot of lore left to learn and I could be wrong. Been wanting to finish my playthrough of Reforged's story first, then start up an ash legion charr of my own.

eyrilonakestrysswyn3513: 14:40 If a member of Ash Legion wants to learn something about the heavier engineering work of Iron Legion, it would probably embarrass their warband if they got it any other way than spying on the technique and then stealing the blueprints.

eyrilonakestrysswyn3513: The most common reason for punishment among Charr is failing to correctly execute orders to the satisfaction of those above you. Or belonging to the wrong legion in the wrong place when they're getting in each other's fur again. Consider that the Charr do not technically have what we'd consider a civilian population, so their system of crime and punishment would be more akin to internal discipline on an army base, and include things civilians do not normally get punished for, like insubordination.

jurare89: well, we´ve had Divinity's Reach and the Black Citadel.

so now for the major cities, we still need the grove, Rata Sum, Hoelbrak and Lion's Arch.

and going forward the same way, Lion's Arch should obviously be the last, as it is an independend city after all.

that said, since Pre-scarlet Lion's Arch is accessible with the "Lion's Pride"-key, LA can actually be done twice (once pre-destruction, when it was still a lot more pirate-themed, and once post-rebuild as it is today).

We could even (theoretically) add later cities and hubs (like New Kaineng City, Arborstone and the Wizard's Tower), or some other random places with historical importance (like Ebonhawke)

leahwatts907: Considering that the Black Citadel is a citadel, the street layout is probably part of the defenses. Don't want to make it too easy for an invading force, after all.

pierre-mariecaulliez6285: You call them accessibility issues, we call them easy chokepoints to barricade ;7

shoulderpyro: Jokes on you, I dont think the Charr care much about liveability - their entire culture is focused on war so they wouldnt really be living there in the first place

KinziZora: love this concept for a video, more cities!

EmaJenson: I told you I dig this any Austin ass content and here you are with another. I'm subbing lol

CameirusIsu: you should do old lions arch, and I must stress OLD lions arch, not the modern monstrosity

HollowTeto31: You forgot to mention that there’s also a huge chance that the fahrar could be literal hell, since according to Ryland’s backstory, while he was there, he was constantly abused and beaten until he fought back and gained the steelcatcher name.

evandill: I wonder how black citadel compares to the blood keep on livability. I imagine it's different but similarly militant-lite feeling (though there's less to see since it's just a keep by comparison)

Game_Maister: As a Norn enjoyer, i can't wait for Hoelbrak. I bet that the presence of Sons of Svanir in the city won't bode well to the overall stability xD

shavanerad9038: Blatant human propaganda. ;)

lirenalaria7707: Basically the problem for Black Citadel is charr culture. :D

Kat-id2oo: sidenote: if a charr becomes physically disabled they're also ostracized from the charr society for being less 'useful' (tybalt specifically mentions having this happen when he loses his hand, this is why he ended up joining the order or whispers). So anything beyond basic healthcare doesn't seem to be a priority, nor does any sort of accessibility

I have really enjoyed these videos, i would love to see you review the other main cities!

shogenx: its a due note that eventually the char technically settle the ghost rebellion but if your looking at the time the instance takes place in then yes they are under attack, there is also im pretty sure a medical service in the home instance or in the living quarters i think

UAHULCBRNUHRSCBRN: 12:24 One of the ash legion npcs by the smelter burn pit uses the mercury he finds in the heap as blade poison.

Oct 27 2026

Buy GW2 Gold