Guild Wars 2 News

Last week, we laid out the basic premise of the story in Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™, including an introduction to the lowland kodan who live in the Janthir isles. This week, we thought we'd take a closer look at the area you'll be exploring, plus another fuzzy denizen of the Janthir region: the warclaw, which the lowland kodan call "journeykin."



[h2]Arriving at the Lowland Shore[/h2]

This blog was originally published with an earlier draft of this section. It has been updated as of July 18.

Your first steps into Janthir will take place in the Lowland Shore map, home of the Lowland Kodan. Here you will be given the chance to immerse yourself amongst them to get a glimpse into their culture by assisting in daily tasks, engaging in sporting competition, and dealing with localized threats. During your time here, you will also learn of their relationship with your soon-to-be mount the Warclaw, which they call the “Journeykin”. These Journeykin play a pivotal role for the Kodan of Lowland shore as they are instrumental in their ability to traverse the terrains of Janthir as well as be the “work-Waclaw” of the Kodan to assist in the needs of utility and contest.

We’ve also heard your feedback around our more recent maps over the years being meta heavy, so for Lowland Shore we’ve decided to not include a meta. Instead, we’ve aimed to create a map without a sense of time pressure or urgency where players can focus on exploration, discovery, and world immersion similar to core Tyria maps with inspiration from more recent places like Grothmar Valley and Seitung Province.



[h2]Into Janthir Syntri[/h2]
As you push deeper into the wilds, you'll encounter more reminders of the region's dangerous reputation. Deep forests transition into sulfurous swamps that give way to volcanic terrain. Ruins left by the ravages of time and a bloodstone crater speak of the White Mantle occupation in the time of the original Guild Wars ®. The barrier between this world and the Mists has grown thin in Janthir Syntri, resulting in magical storms called Mists Tides that sweep the area. And strange creatures, known to scholars of Tyria's past as titans, have begun appearing in greater numbers.



[h2]Warclaws in the Wilds[/h2]
While in Janthir, you'll have the opportunity to forge a bond with a warclaw mount and train a new Mastery line that grants your warclaw new skills in PvE maps! The warclaw is a highly mobile mount that can navigate with precision and agility over all kinds of terrain, and it also boasts some unique combat and exploration abilities:

• Chain Pull: Deals damage and pulls enemies closer.
• Battle Maul: Commands the warclaw to leap forward and perform an area attack, stunning enemies at the center of the attack.
• Sniff: Enhances nearby allies while detecting nearby enemies. With Mastery training, Sniff also detects nearby treasure, which your warclaw can help you dig up.
• Lance: Throws a spear to deal damage and knock down an enemy.

And here are the warclaw's Mastery tiers:

• Nine Lives: Take no fall damage while mounted on your warclaw (the base warclaw already has decreased fall damage).
• Feline Reflexes: Extend your jump by hitting the spacebar again in midair.
• Wild Claws: The warclaw performs a hit on enemies when dodging through them. Hitting at least one foe gives you endurance at the end of the dodge.
• Feral Fury: Increases damage while mounted on the warclaw. The Lance skill now stuns enemies and deals increased defiance bar damage.
• Well Rested: Increases the endurance regeneration rate for all mounts.

[h2]WvW Changes[/h2]
When designing the warclaw mount for PvE, we saw some opportunities to improve how the warclaw works in WvW. This refresh of the warclaw experience comes from our evolving understanding of our mount system since we first implemented mounts. Whether you're taking over or defending your territory, the warclaw will continue to be your steadfast companion with these updated skills:

• Chain Pull: Added a new effect, Weakened Frame, which amplifies damage inflicted on gates and walls. This will stack with Structural Vulnerability.
• Sniff: In addition to its abilities, it will also highlight damaged gates and walls for both allied and enemy structures when you're in range.
• Lance: Increased to 2 charges.

Prepurchasing any edition of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds before the expansion launches will grant you the “Homesteader” title, the Whispering Serpents Pauldrons skin, and a box with your choice of one Serpent’s Wrath weapon skin.Visit the official store page for full details on the items included in the Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate editions.

[h3]07/16/2024—July 16 Release Notes[/h3]

Note to users of third-party programs: The game may not launch or work properly after we release a new build if you use a third-party program, due to possible incompatibilities. ArenaNet cannot offer support if a third-party modification breaks, interferes with, or prevents you from playing Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2. Our policy regarding third-party programs can be found here.

[h3]General[/h3]

• Updated the behavior of the away-from-keyboard timer that returns players to the character-select screen after extended periods of inactivity. In open-world maps, the time remaining before a player who has not manually moved their character or performed any skill inputs is returned to character select is now reduced to 5 minutes if the player enters combat.
  
• Removed rocks that were blocking access to mursaat tokens 19 and 31 in Ember Bay.
  

[h3]Items[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that prevented some legendary armor pieces from becoming invisible under the effect of thief stealth skills like Shadow Refuge.
  
• Updated the Communal Boost Bonfire with the following changes:
  
  • The spawn radius of the wood has been reduced.
    
  • Players can now place the Communal Boost Bonfire, select its boost, and interact with it, even if they are already under the effect of one of its boosts.
    
  • A Locked Bonfire status will now apply to Communal Boost Bonfires for the first two minutes after they are placed, and only the owner will be able to select a boost during that period. When it expires, it will be replaced by a Public Bonfire status, and any player can select a boost if one has not already been selected.
    
  • Players can now interact with a Communal Boost Bonfire multiple times to refresh the boost, up to a maximum of 60 minutes. The boost will not be refreshed if the maximum time limit has already been reached.

[h3]Structured Player vs. Player[/h3]
Automated Tournament Updates

• The frequency of daily automated tournaments has been reduced from 8 to 4 per day.
  
  • All EU server tournaments will occur during their standard prime-time player activity period.
    
  • On North American servers, 3 tournaments will occur during NA's standard prime-time player activity period. One tournament is timed to occur during Oceanic (OCX) prime time.
• A new weekly automated tournament has been added. This tournament happens every Sunday at the following regional times:
  
  • EU: 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7)
    
  • NA: 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7)
• A new monthly variety automated tournament will happen every second Saturday of each month at noon Pacific Time (UTC-7).
  
  • This tournament will alternate between 2v2 and 3v3 modes.
• Tournament of Legends will occur every 6 months on the third Saturday of each month at noon Pacific Time (UTC-7).
  

Structured PvP Titles

• The "Champion Brawler" title awarded for winning 10,000 rated arena games is now colored pink.
  
• Added a new colored tournament title, "Champion of Champions," for consistent high placement in the Kormir's Clash monthly automated tournament. Players accrue points by placing in the top 4 teams. First place awards 30 points, second place awards 15 points, and third and fourth place both award 10 points. The title is earned upon reaching 120 points.
  

Djinn's Dominion Objective Update

• The lamp map objective has received several updates:
  
  • The objective now requires channeling, rather than being awarded by standing within a capture circle boundary.
    
  • The special action skill is no longer granted to the entire team. Only the player who channeled the lamp will gain access to it.
    
  • Leaving the lamp arena now causes subsequent uses to apply Weakened Soul for longer durations. The maximum penalty lasts for 30 seconds, refreshing when you enter or exit the lamp.
• Special action skills have been updated:
  
  • Giant Meteor is no longer ground targeted, and it is now unblockable and requires a targeted enemy. The meteor will be attached to the target upon casting.
    
  • Disenchantment Field has been replaced by Waters of Life, a ground-targeted area of effect that revives allies and finishes downed enemies within its radius.
    
  • Waxing Doom has been replaced by Starfall, which damages and launches enemies in a radius around the player. Using Starfall on an enemy capture point will instantly neutralize it.
• Fixed an issue that prevented jumping players from being counted as present in the Market (middle) capture circle.

[h3]World vs. World[/h3]
General

This update focuses on changing some aspects of WvW scoring, as well as some siege updates and various WvW quality-of-life improvements.

These next few changes are part of an effort to make scoring feel healthier and to make fighting for structures feel more valuable. We will monitor the impacts of these changes and adjust as needed to maintain healthy scoring as play patterns evolve.

• The victory point values from skirmishes will now be weighted based on player activity during the skirmish.
  
• The war score awarded for capturing objectives has been increased and will additionally increase based on the objective's tier when it is captured.
  
• The war score awarded for defeating an enemy player in WvW is increasing from 2 to 3.

These changes are focused on making gameplay in and around sieging structures feel healthier, paying
particular attention to the tools defenders have available. We continue to strive to make both attacking and defending feel good for players.

• Objective-contesting conditions are changing. Objectives will now become contested if the lord is put into combat or if a gate or wall is damaged below 98% health.
  
• The Emergency Waypoint tactic now spawns 3 waypoints in various locations near the lord's room in Stonemist Castle and keeps.
  
• Alacrity can no longer be applied to players using siege equipment and will be removed from players when activating siege equipment.
  
• Boons other than swiftness can no longer be applied to siege golems.
  
• Flame ram health has been lowered by 50%. Iron Hide will be applied to flame rams when they are operated.
  
• Guild siege golem supply cost has increased from 50 to 75.
  
• Arrow cart supply cost has been reduced from 40 to 25.
  
• Superior arrow cart supply cost has been reduced from 50 to 35.
  
• Trebuchet supply cost has been reduced from 100 to 50.
  
• Superior trebuchet supply cost has been reduced from 120 to 60.
  

Rewards

• Added a new Corrupted Hero weapon set to WvW.
  
  • Exotic versions of the weapons have been added to the Mist-Hardened Lockbox.
    
  • Ascended versions of the weapons can be acquired from a new Mystic Forge recipe utilizing rare Hero weapons, which are acquired from the Hero Weapon Reward Track.
• Added varietal seeds to herb synthesizers.
  

[h2]July 17th HotFix[/h2]

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue that prevented new players from entering the World vs. World game mode.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented walls in WvW from being repaired when interacting with them.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented "Repel the enemy attackers" events from starting in WvW.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused some items offered by the Skirmish Supervisor in WvW to be priced incorrectly.
  

[h2]July 18th HotFix[/h2]

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue that blocked access to mursaat token 25 in Ember Bay.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented this week’s updates to the AFK timer from functioning correctly.
  

[h2] July 25 HotFix[/h2]
Bug Fix:

• Fixed a pricing issue that affected the Living World season complete packs. They will be 20% off again until August 2, at the proper price.
  

To view these patch notes in your native language please visit our forums here:

German:
https://de-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/10842-update-notes-zum-spiel-16-juli-2024/
Spanish:
https://es-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/4562-notas-de-actualizaci%C3%B3n-de-juego-16-de-julio-de-2024/
French:
https://fr-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/8127-notes-de-mise-%C3%A0-jour-du-jeu-16-juillet-2024/

Hey there! This is Indigo, the Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™ Narrative Lead, and Chloë, the expansion's Story Design Lead. We'd love to walk you through a high-level look at the Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds story to help set the stage for launch next month.

The story of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds is a treasure trove of intrigue and lore, both past and present, and we'll be encountering a variety of allies and enemies as we venture into the long-awaited region of Janthir. We'll be picking right up where Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™ left off.

Let's dive in!

Please note: Light spoilers ahead! We'll be teasing a little bit about the region and current affairs surrounding the start of the expansion, so if you'd rather go in totally unspoiled, you'd best skip this one!





To get things going, let's look back at last year. Following the end of the dragon cycle, Tyria had no idea what the ramifications would be. As we learned in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, Soo-Won's death caused a powerful blast of magical instability that fractured all sorts of magical forces and barriers within Tyria. Aurene immediately went to work reestablishing herself as a filter for those magics, and stability was quickly restored, but we've only just begun to understand the consequences of that transfer of power.

Right at the onset of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, the commander was thrown into uncharted territory. We learned that the World Spire, a powerful conduit forged by the wizard Isgarren, was fractured following that blast. The spire was one of the few barriers sitting between us and potential calamity, and it only took a moment for the denizens of a parallel realm to worm their way in. And thus, the commander was introduced to the long-fought war between the Astral Ward and the Kryptis.



Through the story of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, the commander aids the Astral Ward in rescuing the Wizard's Court while toppling the malevolent Kyptis king, Eparch. While the fight against the Kryptis was won, there are a lot of stories left to be told about our wizardly new "friends." The Astral Ward has proven to be a worthy ally with a benign cause, but we've barely touched the surface of some of their more questionable choices—not to mention their cantankerous leader, Isgarren. We know they helped in some ways, but why didn't they get involved sooner? Where do we even start with the fractal fiasco?

Time to pull us back to the present. While the commander—now the wayfinder—was fighting back against Eparch in Nayos, the threat of the Kryptis didn't go unnoticed by the rest of Tyria. In fact, that threat was very much noticed, and nations started talking. At the start of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, the commander will receive an invitation to the inaugural meeting of the Tyrian Alliance—and oh boy, do they have a lot of thoughts about our latest demonic invaders. After everything the world has endured, Tyria's patience with destruction is limited.

While we want to keep some of the minutia surrounding the Tyrian Alliance under our hats for now (including our lavish host of guest appearances), in addition to providing the player with a new directive, the alliance also gives us the ability to demonstrate Tyria's growth outside of the main story path. What's happening in the rest of the world? How are things progressing when we're in the thick of adventure?





One of the results of this first Tyrian Alliance meeting will send the commander and a very small team of allies into the dangerous wilds of the Janthir region—starting due north of Divinity's Reach, over the Krytan border. The initial focus of our mission is to establish a diplomatic connection with a small faction of kodan. The lowlanders, while hesitant, welcome us into their village—we spend some time getting to know their culture as we explore the Lowland Shore (which we'll dig into a bit more in a moment!).

Partway through the story, we'll be pulled even further into Janthir. That's when we'll make our way into the isles themselves. The bay is rich with history—bloody, brutal, sullen history. And we've never strayed too close until now! We know that Saul and his fledgling White Mantle went to the isles in search of something, leaving with an Eye of Janthir. We also know that other conspicuous figures have ventured into the region, too. On the first island we reach, Janthir Syntri, we'll begin to unravel the tragic history behind the ruined village of Gavril.

But that's a good spot to pause because, most importantly: bears.





One of the most exciting things to dig into has been our new faction of lowland kodan, who have called Janthir home for many generations. Despite the region being viciously dangerous and inhospitable, they are expert survivalists and have carved out a comfortable—even cozy—way of life in these lands. All lowlanders are capable fighters and learn survival tactics from the time they are cubs. The wayfinder will spend much of their time in Janthir learning about—and learning from—the lowlanders, as they have much to teach.

As a population isolated from their northern kodan cousins for so long and living in a much different environment, they're a little different than the kodan we are familiar with. Perhaps the most notable difference lies in their spiritual belief system. Unlike other kodan, who revere the will and balance of Koda, the lowland kodan hold in reverence the environment, the relationship they maintain with it, and the responsibility they have as stewards of the land. Rather than viewing themselves as enlightened protectors chosen by Koda, lowlanders act out of a duty to maintain necessary balance in a harsh place where taking is easier than giving and survival can be difficult.

These differences trickle down through other aspects of their society. Kodan leadership is typically a partnership between a spiritual mouthpiece of Koda, called a Voice, and a physical protector, called a Claw. However, the lowland kodan have a Claw as their sole leader, a feature of their society that goes back as far as anyone can remember. The Claw is not without balance, though: a council that represents key roles in the village lends the Claw perspective and advice.

As the wayfinder spends more time with the lowland kodan and begins to earn their trust, we'll gain more glimpses into their lives and their history as denizens of Janthir.





The inhabitants of Tyria are on the cusp of a new era. It's time for nations to ally and work together on a more global scale. Those seeds of alliance were planted under the threat of the Elder Dragons, but the need did not end with the Elder Dragons. As new threats rise, it's good to have friends on your side. What better place to start than with people living next door? The lowland kodan might prove to be valuable allies...if we can earn their trust and convince them it's worthwhile to join the global conversation.

We're so excited to be able to give some first looks into the narrative of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds! There is so much fun existing lore and history to dig into and build upon with new stories and characters. We can't wait for you to experience it all!



Prepurchasing any edition of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds before the expansion launches will grant you the "Homesteader" title, the Whispering Serpents Pauldrons skin, and a box with your choice of one Serpent's Wrath weapon skin.

Visit the official store page for full details on the items included in the Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate editions.

With summer in full swing and our next expansion on the horizon, there is no better time to immerse yourself in the world of Guild Wars 2®! Explore past adventures and experience the latest expansion, Guild Wars 2®: Secrets of the Obscure™, now on sale for the first time!

Head on over to the official Guild Wars 2 website or right here on Steam from Thursday, June 27 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) until Thursday, July 11 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) to take advantage of these discounts.



The following discounted items are available now on the official Guild Wars 2 website, with similar deals on Steam!

Expansion 4: Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure



In a world finally safe from the Elder Dragons' corruption, new threats rise to seek power. Embark on an epic journey and uncover the mysteries of the Wizard's Tower as you defend the skies against incursions from the Mists. Unlock access to weapons that were previously exclusive to elite specializations for each profession, and an updated path to unlocking your skyscale mount.

Both Standard and Deluxe editions of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure expansion are now available at a 20% discount.

Expansion 3: Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons



The future of Cantha is now. The dragon cycle that has sustained and blighted Tyria for ages is collapsing. Mortal hearts and choices will define this moment in history—and echo in the future forever. Unlock new elite specializations, Masteries, and more, including access to fishing and skiffs.

Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons® expansion is available now at a 50% discount!

Guild Wars 2—The Elder Dragon Saga Complete Collection



Experience the entire dragon cycle saga from beginning to end with Guild Wars 2—The Complete Collection. This bundle contains an entire decade's worth of content! Included are Guild Wars 2 Living World® Seasons 2–5 and the first three expansions: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns®, Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire®, and Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons®.

You'll also get two Level-80 Boosts, allowing you to instantly level up two characters and jump straight into our latest content, with two Shared Inventory Slots to easily share items with every character on your account.

This collection is available now at a 50% discount until July 11. For players only interested in the expansions, the Standard and Deluxe editions of the Elder Dragon Saga Collection are discounted by 60%.

Expansions 1 and 2—Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns and Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire



Unlock mounts, gliding, and more with the first two expansions for Guild Wars 2. This package grants you access to a new profession, the revenant, as well as eighteen elite specializations to change the way you play. Experience the joy of movement with the best mounts in MMOs.

This expansion bundle is available now at a 75% discount!

Guild Wars



In addition to the Guild Wars 2 sales detailed below, we're also discounting the original Guild Wars ® and all its expansions and editions by 75%! Now is the perfect time to experience the game that started it all. Fill your Hall of Monuments and unlock bonus items and titles that transfer to Guild Wars 2!

Greetings, Tyrians!

Today marks the arrival of the highly anticipated spear beta event. Spears are finally making landfall, and now is your chance to test them out across all professions and provide valuable insight and feedback! The event runs from June 27 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) until June 30 at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7).

If you have a Guild Wars 2® account in good standing, you are invited to try out the spear beta—you don't need to prepurchase Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™ to join the fun.



Every Guild Wars 2 account in good standing, including Play-for-Free accounts, will automatically get character slots marked "Beta" when the beta event begins. Clicking on one of these slots will allow you to create a character using any of the nine Guild Wars 2 professions.

From there, explore the open world or try a game mode dedicated to group play. You'll find options to join World vs. World and structured Player vs. Player in the bar located at the top-left corner of your UI. To tackle the Fractals of the Mists instanced group content, visit Fort Marriner in Lion's Arch and enter the portal.

Beta characters will disappear at the end of the event, and any gameplay progress earned while playing on them—including rewards and currency—will not be saved.

After you've had a chance to play, we'd like to hear what you think—what you enjoyed, what you think could be improved, and why you liked or disliked certain build changes in the beta. Head on over to our forums and leave us some feedback!





We have heard your feedback from the last beta events regarding our "under construction" icons for temp skills being a pain point. In an effort to improve the experience, we created these temporary icons. We hope these will help to address some pain points, confusion, readability issues and enhance the experience for those testing the new spear weapons.

To highlight these improvements, here is a showcase of the new temporary skill icons that players can anticipate, along with a simple breakdown of what each icon represents.

Ground-Targeted AoE: Launches an attack at a specified area on the ground.
Beneficial Effect: Applies boons or other helpful effects to you and your allies.
Projectile: Shoots one or more projectiles at a targeted enemy.
Player-Based AoE: Executes an area attack centered around the player.
Movement: Moves you a certain distance when activated.
Utility: Offers a variety of options, such as stealth and other versatile actions.
Melee: Delivers an attack directly in front of the player.
Line AoE: Unleashes an area attack in a straight line ahead of the player.
Healing: Restores health to you or an ally.
Defense: Provides defensive actions like blocking or evading attacks.
Cone: Executes an attack in a cone-shaped area in front of the player.
Crowd Control: Uses a skill to disable your enemy.



As our fifth expansion, Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, sets sail for release on August 20, players across all professions will have the opportunity to embark on a new combat journey. The long-awaited spear is finally making its debut on land! Join in on the conversation by catching up on our general spear Q&A and also learn how rangers, necromancers, and guardians wield spears. Additionally, check out our recent blogs detailing spear skills for warrior, thief, and engineer, as well as mesmer, elementalist, and revenant.