Guild Wars 2 News

Greetings, Tyrians!

For the past few weeks, we've been teasing information about our expanded weapon proficiency feature, which will be arriving early next year for everyone who owns Guild Wars 2™ : Secrets of the Obscure™. Each of our nine professions will have access to at least one new weapon and a smattering of new skills, which you can preview today!

The Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event begins today and runs until 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on December 3. Please keep in mind that since this is a beta test, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio for some of the weapon skills.

Today we have also introduced a host of balance updates for all of the professions, which you can read all about in our update notes.





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.

Please note that the beta characters will disappear on December 3 at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) at the end of the event, and any gameplay progress earned while playing on them—including rewards and currency—will not be saved.

We've created a thread in each profession's subforum for feedback from this beta. 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 what you liked or disliked about the beta. Please visit the threads for elementalist, engineer, guardian, mesmer, necromancer, ranger, thief, revenant, and warrior to share your feedback.



Here is a handy list of the new weapons you can try out in the beta event. These will be fully released when the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure goes live early next year. Click the links below if you missed any of our recent expanded weapon proficiency preview blogs:

• Guardian: Pistol (main and off hand)
  
• Revenant: Scepter (main hand)
  
• Warrior: Staff
  
• Engineer: Short bow
  
• Ranger: Mace (main and off hand)
  
• Thief: Axe (main hand)
  
• Elementalist: Pistol (main hand)
  
• Mesmer: Rifle
  
• Necromancer: Sword (main and off hand)
  

Until next time: be safe, have fun, and game on!

The Steam Awards 2023 are LIVE! Cast your vote now and let's make Tyria shine! Don't forget to show some love to #GuildWars2 if it made your gaming year epic. #SteamAwards #GW2Vote #GamingCommunity

Greetings, gamers. We're excited to announce our Black Friday sales for this year, including some of our deepest Guild Wars 2® expansion discounts ever! It's not Friday yet, but our sales begin today, and you'll have until next Tuesday, November 28 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) to take advantage of these discounts.

We'll also be offering deep discounts on many popular in-game items starting on Black Friday itself—November 24 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8). Check out our Gem Store blog or the Gem Store in the game for more information on these discounts, but as a teaser: Black Lion Chest Keys will be a whopping 40% off!



The following discounted items are available now on Steam!

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 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 November 28.

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!

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.

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



To celebrate our sales, today we're also launching the New Hero Jump Start bonus event! From November 21 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) until the same time on December 5, all players will enjoy the following bonuses:

• +50% Experience (All Sources)
  
• +30% Magic Find
  
• +30% PvP Reward Track Progress
  
• +30% WvW Reward Track Progress
  

In addition, every player who completes five events in any starting zone can claim a Dreambound weapon from the Mist Stranger! These weapons level up with you, but are only available once per account, so choose wisely!

Greetings, gamers! My name is Taylor Brooks, and I am a designer on the Skills and Balance Team here at ArenaNet. I hope you are all hungry for another look at a new weapon, because today I'll be giving you a taste of necromancer swords!

Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™, bringing a new weapon and skills for each profession. Don't forget that you'll be able to try out all these new skills, along with the new weapons for other professions, during our Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event, starting on November 28 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8).

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Necromancer sword skills focus on dealing powerful strike damage in an area while consuming enemies' vital energy to sustain the wielder. The main-hand sword skill 3, Path of Gluttony, will allow the necromancer to leap to their enemy, healing themselves for each enemy struck. Hungering Maelstrom, off-hand sword skill 4, will damage and steal health from enemies in a targeted area.

With so much healing, a necromancer might find themselves with a surplus of health! Luckily, their swords always hunger. Each sword skill has a secondary ability that can be activated by sacrificing health to sate your swords. Path of Gluttony can be reactivated to cast Gorge. You leap again, repeating the effects of the first leap while also corrupting boons on enemies struck. Hungering Maelstrom's reactivation is Gormandize. Gormandize will damage and chill enemies struck by Hungering Maelstrom.



Necromancer swords will allow you to sustain yourself through fights while also increasing your offensive capabilities at the price of your own health. Will the risk be worth the reward, or will you find yourself eaten alive?

As mentioned above, you'll be able to try out all of the upcoming new weapon and profession combos during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event starting at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on November 28 and ending at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta test, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio assets for some of the weapon skills. Be sure to tune in to the Expanded Weapon Proficiency preview livestream on November 27 at noon Pacific Time (UTC-8) to get a more in-depth look at all the new weapons.