Jade Bot: the quality-of-life system to upgrade early

The Jade Bot arrives with End of Dragons as a small drone that follows you around, and most players write it off as scenery for a few weeks before discovering it quietly runs half a dozen conveniences.

It works throughout the open world, with some functions switched off in PvP, WvW and instanced content case by case.

The core is the gate.

The power core comes in ten tiers, one per character. Tier 1 arrives as a story reward, so everybody has a bot whether they noticed or not.

🔴 The number that matters is tier 6. Below it the third module slot stays locked, and that slot holds several of the best modules. Upgrading to 6 is the single most worthwhile thing you will do with the system.

What it does for you

Rescue Protocol. When you go down, the bot picks you up. Solo play changes character after this: a mistake stops meaning a run back from a waypoint. Unavailable in PvP, WvW and raids.

Glide Booster. An upward push while gliding, which turns a descent into a route.

Ziplines across the new maps, which also recharge your energy.

Personal Waypoint. Set your own, wherever you like.

Plus opening Jade Tech Chests and lighting lanterns, which is how several collections on those maps work at all.

The three slots

Sensory Array, the second slot:

• Scavenger Protocol harvests materials from corpses as you fight
• Recycler converts junk into karma or materials, which quietly cleans your bags (what else to do with junk)
• Mount Energy Booster and Turtle Enhancers

Service Chip, the third slot and the reason for tier 6:

• Treasure Hunter Protocol puts chests on your minimap
• Skiff Supercharger
• Rescue Protocol Recharge

Energy

Most interactions run on Jade Power Charges. The Multicharge mastery raises what you can carry to four, which is the difference between using ziplines freely and rationing them.

The mastery track

Five tiers, 5,715,000 experience in total, paying 15 mastery points along the way (how masteries work).

• Gliding Booster, 381,000 XP, 1 point. The glide boost, and the ability to craft tier 1 and 2 cores yourself.
• Multicharge, 635,000 XP, 2 points. Up to four energy charges carried.
• Jade Tech Waypoint, 1,016,000 XP, 3 points. Your own personal waypoint.
• Energy Efficiency, 1,524,000 XP, 4 points. More energy per pickup, and ziplines top you up.
• Rescue Protocol, 2,159,000 XP, 5 points. The bot picks you up when you go down.

Two things stand out. The track is the same total cost as the siege turtle, which puts the two headline End of Dragons masteries at exactly the same price. And the tier everyone wants sits last, behind more than two million experience on its own.

That ordering is deliberate and a little mean. Rescue Protocol is the reason to start the track, and you spend the entire track without it.

What to take first

Rescue Protocol, without argument. It is the module that changes how the game feels rather than how it counts.

Recycler next, because junk clearing happens continuously and you stop thinking about it.

Treasure Hunter Protocol if you enjoy collections, since chests on the minimap turns exploration into a treasure hunt with the answers printed on it.

A small observation about convenience

This system is the clearest example of something End of Dragons did throughout: it added almost no power and a great deal of comfort.

Nothing in the list above makes you hit harder. Every item on it removes a small irritation, and the irritations it removes are the ones you meet forty times an evening rather than once a week.

Games rarely spend an expansion’s budget on that, because comfort does not make a trailer. Two years later, the bot is the part of End of Dragons people would refuse to give back.