The final chapter of Guild Wars 2®: Visions of Eternity™ drops September 15. Next week, “Code of Creation” will send players into the depths of Castora as they seek to stop Vloxx from achieving his goals throughout six climactic new story chapters. All eyes are on you, Commander, and here is what you need to know about next week’s update.
Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity—”Code of Creation”
When the commander and their allies departed from the port of Lion’s Arch, everyone suspected typical Inquest antics—cold and calculating leadership, merciless creations, and a propensity for cruelty in pursuit of innovation. All things the commander certainly faced during their adventure on Castora, but Vloxx proved to be a more complex opponent. His mission was a ruse, viewing the Inquest simply as tools while he sought to remedy something far more severe. Now, the former Inquest director has taken up the mantle of eternity while Kuda has taken up the Inquest he left behind.
In the final update of Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, the commander and Isgarren must coordinate with their allies to fight back against those who threaten everything they’ve built and fought to preserve.
Leyspring Hollows
At the start of “Code of Creation,” you’ll venture deep into the cavernous expanse of Leyspring Hollows in pursuit of both Kuda’s Inquest and Vloxx.
The depths are a mysterious place, and like many things you’ve encountered on Castora, they’re as dangerous as they’re disarmingly beautiful. As you traverse the twisting veins of the leyspring in pursuit of your enemies, you’ll uncover the seer doyen’s greatest secret and the heart of his people’s spiritual undertaking on Castora. The Stewards of Galdra, “living” remnants of this once great society, are eager to keep these secrets from the clutches of your enemies and have offered their aid in your quest.
Although Vloxx abandoned the Inquest, they now pose a threat that cannot be ignored. Kuda is unhinged; she’s been waiting her entire life for this moment—and no one is taking it away from her. Left to their own devices, many of the Inquest are plundering the depths for power. No longer on their heels, you and your allies must make a final stand against them before Kuda pushes the Inquest into a new level of brutality.
Our enemies cannot succeed.
The Depths of Cruelty
In “Code of Creation,” you’ll fight against the Inquest in a multistage meta-event as tensions come to a head with the newly crowned Director Kuda. In the Depths of Cruelty meta, you’ll face a greater challenge than those set before within the expansion. Communication and collaboration will be key in thwarting Kuda’s plans, with the weight of your decisions having a direct impact on swinging the tide of battle in your favor.
Unlike the other meta-events in Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, the Depths of Cruelty is set on a three-hour cycle rather than two, which is similar to Convergences. We’ve also shuffled the Shackles of the Ancients meta-event start time five minutes earlier. We decided on these changes to allow for each meta-event within Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, as well as the Convergence, to run with a reduced chance of potential competition with the other’s start times. That way, you’ll be able to go from event to event, across each map, with minimal disruption.
Another reason for the adjustment is to allow you more time to engage with content on the map before the meta-event begins. Similar to maps like Dragon’s End and Amnytas, Leyspring Hollows will close after the meta-event is completed, but instead of closing immediately, you’ll get a prompt to move to a new map within one hour.
Changing Up Convergences
For this release, you’ll participate in a new Convergence where you’ll find yourself coming head-to-head against in the Nexus of Eternity. You’ll face challenges that call back to experiences and mechanics throughout other parts of Tyria.
Unlike the Mount Balrior and Outer Nayos Convergences, where you clash against a rotation of bosses, the Nexus of Eternity Convergence contains one robust encounter with multiple distinct phases. With this change, you’ll be able to experience the full variety of mechanics with each run and the choices you make will keep the encounter feeling fresh.
We’ve also adjusted the risk vs. reward elements of essence gathering. You must now push yourself to the limit by gathering max stacks of the essence before they can be cleared. Though, doing so will now reward a powerful ability based on your profession, allowing you to turn the tides of battle in your favor.
Prepare Your Squad for New Challenges
In addition to a new Convergence, the Nexus of Eternity has also been adapted to test your mettle as a challenging raid encounter. This encounter requires a squad of ten players to work together to face the great challenges that await them in the finale of Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity.
A new fractal, Solitary Throne, is also releasing with “Code of Creation.” Groups of up to five players can explore what happens when a single being harnesses too much power. Avoid hazards while navigating a mysterious, celestial environment to reach and defeat the Eternal Tyrant himself.
If you’re hungry for a more severe challenge, we will also be releasing Challenge Modes for the Convergence, raid encounter, and fractal two weeks after “Code of Creation” launches on September 29. Following that, the Legendary Mode for the raid encounter will launch on October 13.
Coming Up This Fall
“Code of Creation” kicks off a season that is jam-packed with bonus events, festivals, and game updates. The complete roadmap is detailed below, but let’s discuss some of the highlights.
Later this month, we’ll be debuting a new event called “Dismount Rush” that will offer temporary bonus rewards for forgoing your mounts in content designed before mounts were introduced. This fall, the Fractal Incursion event will return with new rewards, and we’ll be kicking off the beta for our new WvW map where your feedback will help shape its development. Then, we have our annual Extra Life charity game day and accompanying in-game event, which is always a highlight of our year. Finally, we’ll cap off the year with our first Hall of Monuments update, allowing players to start earning rewards for Guild Wars 3™!
Get ready for what we have coming up:
September
September 29–October 6: Dismount Rush Event
September 29: Fractal Challenge Mode: Solitary Throne
September 29: Raid Challenge Mode: Nexus of Eternity
September 29: Convergence Challenge Mode: Nexus of Eternity
October
October 13–November 3: Shadow of the Mad King
October 13: Raid Legendary Mode: Nexus of Eternity
November
November 10–December 1: Fractal Incursion
November 10: Skills and Balance Update
November 10: WvW New Map Beta
November 10–December 1: Extra Life Bonus Event
November 13–14: Extra Life Game Day
November 23– December 1: Gnashbash “Birthday” Celebration
December
December 8–January 5: Wintersday Festival
To Be Announced: Hall of Monuments Begins
Stay tuned for more information in the coming days on our social media channels and our official Discord. We’re looking forward to watching you experience everything we have waiting for you in the “Code of Creation.”
The 14th anniversary of Guild Wars 2® is here, and one of the ways we’re celebrating is by offering savings on past expansions and digital deluxe upgrades. Visit the web, Steam, or in-game stores between now and September 1 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) to take advantage of this deal!
The Guild Wars 2 Starter Pack—A one-time account upgrade with a Raptor Mount Unlock, Basic Gliding Unlock, Bank Tab Expansion, Upgraded Bag Slot Expansion, and Total Makeover Kit.
Claim a Freebie in the Gem Store
Log in and head to the Gem Store now to collect one free Black Lion Chest Key and, if you missed it last year, Prince Rurik’s Vanguard Cape Skin. Additionally, get 30% off Black Lion Chest Keys and 10% off all Black Lion Vouchers until September 1 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7).
During the same discount period, you can store more loot with 20% off Bank Tab Expansions or enjoy exclusive areas with all the conveniences by snagging one of our permanent lounge passes, which are also 20% off.
Select mount skins have also been discounted by 20% until September 4, including the Synergetics Cyberscale Skyscale Skin, the Plush Raptor Skin, the Plush Skimmer Skin, and the Mischievous Ferret Warclaw Skin.
Finally, we have a new festive set of infinite gathering tools. The Piñata Harvesting Tool, the Piñata Logging Tool, and the Piñata Mining Tool are available for 2,700 gems. See them in action here:
We’ve had 14 years of adventures, stories, and friendships, and we’re forever grateful to our community of players that call Tyria home. Happy anniversary, Guild Wars 2!
The Festival of the Four Winds, one of Tyria’s beloved summer traditions, is upon us again. Hot-air balloons in each nation’s capital stand ready to whisk visitors away to the Labyrinthine Cliffs to visit the Zephyrites and the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach, which has flung open its doors for combat-ready visitors.
As you play, earn rewards like the new Cloud Pteruges leg-armor skin (complete with an unclouded alternate skin), Spellwork weapons, a Plush Kralky Backpack, and thematic homestead decoration recipes. Special objectives in the Wizard’s Vault will even award you with Astral Acclaim for participating in the Crown Pavilion and Zephyrite activities. Evon Gnashblade is getting into the spirit of things, too. While the festival is running, select Zephyrite-themed items from the Black Lion Trading Company will be available at a 20% discount.
Preview some of this year’s rewards in the video below, check out the full release notes, then head in-game to enjoy the festivities until September 1!
Throughout this year, the Competitive team has been running beta tests to improve how scoring works in World vs. World (WvW). The focus of the betas has been to shift score generation toward tangible player actions like sieging, capturing objectives, and killing players while moving away from passive mechanics like owning objectives over time that can happen whether players are involved or not.
After the first beta, we shared our findings in a retrospective posted on our forums. Today, we’re here to discuss our feedback and changes based on the second War Score beta we ran during the matchup in May. This beta included new placement-based match rewards, a series of scoring adjustments, and the addition of points awarded for upgrading objectives.
Balancing Active and Passive Play
While the first beta started with zero passively gained points aside from supply deliveries, we agreed with players that defending objectives was not adequately rewarding. In response, we adjusted to a good mix of score accrual from holding objectives that still encouraged interaction from enemy teams. Some points were added back to holding tier 3 objectives, but a larger number of points were added to objective tier-ups. This created contention that players could expect and play around instead of having all objectives constantly trickling points.
So how was the balance? After fixing some extreme outliers—dolyak’s deliveries, for instance—we landed on a much healthier spread in Beta 2 compared to Beta 1:
Objective captures resulted in roughly 30% of all War Score generated.
Player combat was about 25% of all War Score generated.
Progress ticks accounted for 5% of the total, but combined with upgrades, holding objectives jumps to 15%.
The single largest source of War Score generation was keep captures followed closely by player kills.
For reference, the score breakdown for normal gameplay outside of the betas is roughly 40% player combat and 35% passive objective ticks with objective assaults being only 9% of the total score generation.
Adjustments for Beta 3
Dolyak deliveries are still on the watchlist. Supply is the lifeblood of WvW, so we’re very hesitant to remove scoring from dolyaks entirely even if they do provide a challenge for balancing passive score generation. We will continue to adjust their point value. Additionally, while guard kills do add some flavor with a low barrier to interaction, their total score value outweighs their mechanical contribution to the game mode, so they will no longer reward War Score in Beta 3.
One mechanic in the beta that hasn’t had much attention is scaling score based on player counts. The intent was to encourage player congregation, but the system has been overly complex to balance and not easily understood. Plus, the majority of points being scored were coming from objectives that already had naturally incrementing point values.
Therefore, for Beta 3, we will be removing player count and objective type/tier scaling multipliers for simplicity, though the capability will still be there if we want to bring it back.
Beta 3 will include the return of placement-based match rewards, placement-based skirmish rewards, more balance changes, and boosted points for defensive player kills. For defensive actions, smaller areas around objectives will be used instead of the entire sector.
Another exciting new feature to look forward to is an in-game breakdown of War Score sources. We believe that if there are rewards attached to winning, players deserve more insight into what results in victory and the ability to compare against opponents. We’re looking forward to your feedback on these additions!
What’s Next for WvW?
At the end of the War Score betas, we’re going to have new tech that we can leverage, regardless of whether we permanently adopt the adjusted scoring paradigms or not. This would include keeping the new in-game match scoring breakdown and placement-based rewards locked in to continue incentivizing players to care about scoring.
Lastly, don’t forget we’re also developing a new WvW borderlands map alongside the community. For a refresher on that and our upcoming WvW initiatives, here’s a recap of what our Game Director, Josh Davis, spoke about in June:
Beta 3 will begin in the middle of a matchup, so we want to make you aware in advance. We’re looking forward to hearing your feedback about our latest changes to War Score when you get to experience it in WvW during Beta 3 running from August 11 until September 4.
It’s time to dazzle your fellow Tyrians with displays of homestead creativity—the Homestead Design Contest is upon us! From now through August 6, submit screenshots of your best homestead design (from either homestead map) to our official Discord channel to share with the whole community. One submission (of 1–10 screenshots) per person will be accepted until August 6 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). Community voting will last until August 11 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). The top homestead designers, as determined by total number of emoji reactions received, will win gem prizes! Full rules and eligibility can be found here.
Twitch Drops are available starting now, so tune in to your favorite Guild Wars 2® streamers (or discover a new one!) to earn rewards between now and August 2. Join us Wednesday, August 5 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) on our Twitch channel as our partner, EngleburtMeow, cosplays as a homestead and hosts a casual tour of some of the community’s most imaginative homesteads. Yes, you read that correctly. She will become one with the architecture, dressed in one of her signature cursed cosplays.
As a final part of the celebration, we have a discount on the Digital Deluxe upgrades for both expansions with a homestead map, Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds™ and Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity™. Discounts are available in-game and in the official store until August 6, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7).
Check out our official Discord for more details and enjoy the week of homestead homages!
These are the unbelievable community homesteads homesteads that will be toured during our livestream. Images courtesy of ArenaNet partner: United Arts of Tyria
Join us next week for a celebration of our Guild Wars 2® homesteads! Ever since Homesteads were released with Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds™, we’ve been in awe of the community’s creative constructions. To celebrate that creativity and encourage new designs, we’re holding the Homestead Design Contest on our official Discord channel starting July 30!
Conjure your best designs in either homestead map and start snapping some screenshots. There’s no specific theme, so let your creativity run wild! Then, submit your screenshots for peer review and a chance to win gem prizes via community vote!
Submissions of 1–10 screenshots will be accepted from July 30 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) until August 6 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). Community voting will last from the beginning of the entry period on July 30 until August 11 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). At that point, voting will end and winners will be determined by the total number of emoji reactions received. Full rules and eligibility can be found here.
While the contest is running, there will be other reasons to celebrate Homesteads. We’ll have Twitch drops available for watching your favorite Guild Wars 2 streamers starting on July 30. And we’ll be hosting a homestead livestream on Wednesday, August 5 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) on our Twitch channel. Check out Discord next week for more details, but in the meantime, have fun staging your homestead for sharing with the community!
With Guild Wars 2® rapidly approaching its 14th anniversary, it’s abundantly clear that there are numerous ways to enjoy the game. For some, the draw is immersing themselves into the lore of Tyria and getting engrossed in the stories of its inhabitants. For others, it’s tackling the toughest encounters or knocking out every achievement they can.
Whether you spend your time collecting legendary weapons, decking your many characters out in the most fabulous ensembles, or exploring every secret nook in the vast open world, one thing is certain: there’s no wrong way to play Guild Wars 2.
Today, we invite you to go on a journey exploring the various playstyles of Guild Wars 2 with a video from one of our incredible partner program members, Kroof. And over the next few weeks, stay tuned to our social channels and Discord as we invite you to share with us how you play your way.
Treat yourself or a friend to a new adventure this summer! Our summer sale features a 30% discount on select expansions, bundles, and more in the Guild Wars 2® store:
Expansion 4—Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™ (Standard & Deluxe Editions)
Expansion 3—Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons® (Standard & Deluxe Editions)
Expansions 1 and 2—Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns® and Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire™
Guild Wars 2 Starter Pack—a one-time account upgrade with a Raptor Mount Unlock, Basic Gliding Unlock, Bank Tab Expansion, Upgraded Bag Slot Expansion, and Total Makeover Kit.
The sale will be available through the online store, in-game store, Steam, and third-party retailers from June 25 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) until July 9 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). This sale is not available on the Epic Games Store.
Whether you’re just starting off on your Tyrian adventure or continuing your journey, you can unlock new horizons to explore—and save money doing it!
Starting today, you can play Guild Wars® Reforged on the go! Simply download and play for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. For the first time, you can explore the same shared world of Tyria with players across PC and mobile devices.
Our UI and controls have been redesigned for mobile audiences and offer a deep, strategic MMO experience. Craft unique builds from ten professions and personalize your gameplay by combining armor sets, weapons, and thousands of skills that you’ll collect on your adventures.
Play with Everyone, Everywhere, for Free
If you already own Guild Wars Reforged, log in to your ArenaNet on mobile to progress your characters across PC and mobile devices with no cost, ads, or restrictions! Play on your phone when you’re traveling and then hop on to your PC when you get home.
Brand-new players can download the original Guild Wars: Prophecies™ campaign for free as an ad-supported experience during loading screens, but those ads can be removed with a one-time .99 purchase. Additionally, both Guild WarsFactions™ and Guild Wars Nightfall™ campaigns can be unlocked for .99 each. The Guild Wars Eye of the North™ expansion and Bonus Mission Pack will also be available on mobile for .99 and .99 respectively.
And, if you started playing on mobile first, don’t worry! Once you’ve purchased content with your Mobile ID, you can connect your account to an e-mail address that will allow you to log in and play on other platforms. Unfortunately, Mobile IDs cannot be linked to Steam accounts at this time.
Join our Official Guild Wars Community Discord server to discuss the game and find others to play with. There’s never been a better time to start your adventure, so grab your family and friends and hop into the classic MMO that kicked off the Guild Wars franchise. We’ll see you in Tyria!
Yesterday was a huge day for ArenaNet® and our community! We revealed that we are developing Guild Wars 3™ at Summer Game Fest with an announcement trailer. We also published an informative blog covering some exciting new sales both in the game and outside of it to celebrate our big reveal.
Today, we invite you to hear directly from Studio Head Colin Johanson, Guild Wars 2® Game Director Josh Davis, and Guild Wars® Reforged Game Director Stephen Clarke-Willson about the future of the Guild Wars franchise:
Colin and Josh will also be hosting a livestream next week on Twitch to continue the conversation about the future of the Guild Wars franchise. Make sure you tune in to watch on Tuesday, June 9 at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7).
As Josh mentioned in the video, after Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity™ wraps up in September, we’re turning our attention to improving the foundations of Guild Wars 2 and we want to make the most of it, with your help!
Starting with our first Hall of Monuments update coming later this year, we’re going to spend nearly a full year going back through each era of Guild Wars 2, making meaningful improvements to the player experience.
Head over to the new feedback forum and share your ideas on what you’d like us to address. We’re excited to shape the future of Guild Wars 2 alongside the community and ensure its continued success for many years to come.
