Guild Wars 2 News

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Greetings, Tyrians!

It's hard to believe it's already been a few months since Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™ launched. As we wind down 2024, we'd like to give the community an update about all things Guild Wars 2. Our fifth expansion added one of the most requested features to the game—homesteads—and it's been wonderful watching the creativity of players as they decorate their new homes. You also got to experience the beauty of Lowland Shores and survive the dangers of Janthir Syntri with your new allies, the lowland kodan. With the kodans' help, you were taught to wield spears and ride the warclaw like you never have before. But Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds has just begun, and in one week, you'll be able to join forces to tackle our first raid in five years, craft a new legendary spear, and continue your story with the lowland kodan.





"Godspawn," the first of three major updates to Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, is coming on November 19. Three new story chapters will continue your adventure against the threat of the titans. Will you and your allies be able to uncover a path to securing peace for the inhabitants of the Isles of Janthir?

In addition to new story chapters, there will also be a new raid and Convergence, the new legendary spear, Klobjarne, along with a new Wizard's Vault season, relics, weapon and armor rewards, a Mastery update, and new homestead decorations!

Stay tuned for previews of the new rewards and Wizard's Vault refresh in our launch day blog!





In next week's update, we will be introducing our new 10-person raid, which will take you to Mount Balrior. It features three bosses and several smaller, varied encounters that will test your coordination and adaptability.

At the heart of Mount Balrior's narrative are Greer, the Blightbringer, and Decima, the Stormsinger, the two titans you battled in Janthir Syntri. After their defeat, they've retreated to Mount Balrior to recover and regroup. This time, they won't be alone. Their raid versions bring back the chaotic, relentless attacks of Greer and the structured, strategic mechanics of Decima, but cranked up to new levels of intensity. Expect familiar moves executed in ways that will keep your group on their toes, along with a few completely new surprises that Greer and Decima have in store.





For a different flavor of group content, we are also launching a new Convergence in the "Godspawn" update! Like the Convergence in Guild Wars 2®: Secrets of the Obscure™, up to 50 players can participate in public squads every three hours, with private squads able to start any time. Expect a challenge comparable to the Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure Convergence bosses, with most groups completing it in 20-30 minutes.

In this journey, Stoic Alder, the Claw of the lowland kodan, narrates your adventure to young kodan cubs, adding unique story twists with every playthrough. Fans of Greer and Decima will find familiar attacks, but with adaptations that make this event a fresh experience. As our first multi-purpose map, Mount Balrior includes hidden passages and adaptive designs, setting the stage for future rotations of bosses and a challenge mode arriving later next year.

Stay tuned as we dive deeper into what's next for both raids and Convergences in an upcoming blog later this week!





Our team is focused on refining core systems in WvW while we continue planning for some of our larger, long-term goals. One major area of focus is incentivizing winning—or, in other words, creating shared goals that encourage teamwork. We've consistently heard two key pieces of feedback: players often have different preferences for defending versus not defending, and, more generally, many players feel there aren't enough incentives to win matchups. By aligning team goals around winning, we hope to address both these issues. It's a big task, but it's one we're dedicated to, and we're excited to start rolling out improvements.

We're also making some significant scoring adjustments for the first time in a while. This is an essential step in aligning player goals and encouraging teams to prioritize winning together. We've updated PPK (points per kill) values, the points for capturing objectives, and will soon launch adjusted VP (Victory Point) numbers tailored to different time zone coverage.

In the short term, we've been updating several key parts of WvW game elements. We've overhauled the siege system, improved the participation system to make earning repel credit more consistent, and introduced new attribute combinations exclusive to WvW (alongside tweaks to existing ones that don't impact PvE). We're also working to adjust certain tactics and strengthen objective lords to better serve as rally points for defenders. To make WvW more rewarding, we've added unique skins, infusions, new ways to spend WvW currencies, and better skirmish track rewards.

Accessibility for new players is a key goal, too. The warclaw is now immediately available in WvW, mastering it is faster, and new exotic gear with selectable attributes is readily obtainable.





The World Restructuring team is currently focused on larger improvements to the team-creation algorithm, with special consideration given to improving the issue described in this forum post.

We're also enhancing the guild panel with a new UI element that displays which members have selected the guild as their WvW guild, making it easier for guilds to coordinate their World vs. World activities and avoid missing team-creation lockout deadlines.

Additionally, we're updating the character select screen, replacing World Selection with a Region Selection UI panel. This will allow seamless transfers between North American and European datacenters. With this change, intra-region transfers will no longer be necessary, which also eliminates the risk of spending gems on redundant world transfers. Regional transfers will now have a flat cost of 500 gems simplifying the process.

Also, for players who took part in our PvP Push beta event, we recently sent out a survey to gather feedback on the event, and we'll be reviewing the responses and then determining our next steps for the game mode. There will be more Push news in 2025 as we continue to work with the community on building the Push PvP mode.





Guild Wars 2 will be making its debut on the Epic Games Store later this month, and we're thrilled to welcome a new batch of players to the world of Tyria. Guild Wars 2 has been captivating players for the past 12 years, and we are excited to make Tyria even more accessible to players by partnering with Epic.

Keep a look out on our official platforms for a release date (and an epic new Guild Wars 2 trailer) soon!



While the year may be coming to a close soon, there's still plenty of things coming up for Guild Wars 2. November and December will also include more events: a two-week New Hero Jump Start event, a "birthday" bash for Evon Gnashblade, and Wintersday coming up on December 10. Lunar New Year and a second skills and balance update will be coming along near the end of January 2025. Around then—or a little after—we'll be back to talk about the next few months of Guild Wars 2.



Here are some dates for our upcoming events to close out the year:

• October 29–November 19: Extra Life In-Game Bonus
  
• November 12–November 25: New Hero Jump Start Event
  
• November 25–December 2: Evon Gnashblade's "Birthday" Celebration
  
• December 10–January 2: Wintersday Event

And finally, as a reminder of what's still to come in Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds in 2025, we have this handy content chart:



Happy adventuring! We'll see you in the game.

—The Guild Wars 2 Team

This week in the Gem Store, we have elegant attire that suits all who enjoy a handsome style. The Dapper Suit Package is a staple in sharp couture. This package is available for 1,200 gems and contains the Dapper Coat Skin, Dapper Pants Skin, and Dapper Wingtips Skin.



Starting November 15 and continuing for the next few days, the following mount packs, adoption licenses, and select licenses will be 20% off:

• Warclaw Frontline Mount Pack
  
• Distant Lands Mount Adoption License
  
• Distant Lands Mount Select License
  
• Exotic Breeds Mount Adoption License
  
• Exotic Breeds Mount Select License
  
• Lost Era Mount Adoption License
  
• Lost Era Mount Select License
  
• Awakened Mounts Pack
  
• Canthan Vulpine Jackal Mounts Pack
  
• Canthan Tigris Griffon Mounts Pack

Choose your favorite mount skins and add them to your collection!

Returning This Week

Creative hearts rejoice! From today until November 19, Character Slot Expansions are available at an awesome 20% discount. Expand your alt collection with a shiny new character.





Log into Guild Wars 2 and press 'O' to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!

[h2]Release Notes:[/h2]
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.

• Improved mouse-drag behavior when playing Guild Wars 2 on a remote machine connection, such as the Windows Remote Desktop application.
  

• Fixed an issue that could prevent players from entering a party member's homestead by selecting "Join in Homestead" from the party menu.
  
• Stabled mounts in the homestead and open world will now display a portrait when selected.
  
• Fixed an issue that sometimes prevented homestead collection boxes from gathering from all nodes when used in rapid succession.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused the default size of each homestead decoration in the Meditative Garden Homestead Package to be incorrect. Each decoration's default size has increased. Players will need to remove and replace or resize their decorations if they have already placed them in their homestead.
  

• Fixed an issue that caused the Tournaments & Special Events panel to display incorrect live match scores.
  

[h3]General[/h3]

• Fixed an issue that could cause a crash in WvW maps when using armor with special effects, such as Nightfury or Winter's Presence, while standard models were enabled.
  

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This skyscale skin was designed by someone clearly influenced by Scarlet Briar’s clockwork designs, or at least someone who pillaged her workshop for spare parts! The ingenuity of Scarlet’s work has not been forgotten. The Steamwork Skyscale Skin is available now for 1,600 gems.





Inside each chest, you’re guaranteed to find a redeemable Black Lion Statuette, Mini Blue Cuckoo Hatchling, and two common items. You also have a chance to find something rarer in the fifth slot, including special items, glyphs, and skins from the Paladin’s Decree Weapon Collection and the Venombite Weapon Collection. Don’t forget you can redeem Black Lion Statuettes for past items from Black Lion Chests you may have missed!

Exclusive Item: Mystic Visionary Cape

Visions of other worlds cloud your mind. This mantle ushers you through timelines converging—witness the universe through the eyes of time. The Mystic Visionary Cape is a new, exclusive drop from Black Lion Chests.



Foefire Weapon Collection

The spirit of the Foefire rages within these weapons. Memories of blue flames guide your hand into the heat of battle. Each Foefire weapon skin can be obtained in exchange for 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket.





Starting November 8 and continuing for the next few days, select dye kits will be 20% off, including the Smooth Berry Dye Kit, Charr Dye Kit, Norn Dye Kit, Lion’s Arch Commemorative Dye Kit, Aurene Dye Kit, Jade Dye Kit, Lion's Arch Survivors Dye Kit, Kralkatorrik Dye Kit, Mordremoth Dye Kit, and Vibrant Dye Kit.

Returning This Week

If you're a fan of an organized account, this is for you! From today until November 12, Shared Inventory Slots are at an incredible 20% discount.



Log into Guild Wars 2 and press 'O' to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!

The warclaw mount has long been a favorite in the World vs. World (WvW) community, but with its recent revamp, this agile mount now roams the open world, thanks to the release of Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™. What started as a support-focused mount has evolved into a fast, versatile companion for exploring all of Tyria. Today, we'll give you an inside look at how the warclaw made its leap from WvW exclusivity to open-world adventure (with some help from some feline friends, no less).





When the warclaw mount was first developed, the goal was to create a utility-based mount that provided a tactical advantage in World vs. World. While it served its purpose well in that game mode, as player feedback came in, the team's vision began to evolve. Over time, as we refined our approach to mount design—especially with the success of the skyscale in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™—we saw an opportunity to do something similar for the warclaw in Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds.

Looking at the warclaw, we noticed it was underutilized and had the potential for significant expansion and improvement. We started exploring how the warclaw could navigate the open world of Tyria; the idea was that it would no longer be confined to WvW battlefields, becoming a key tool for players in dynamic events and pivotal story moments in Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds.





Several factors were crucial in making the warclaw's transition into PvE a reality. The success of the skyscale and the lessons we learned from its implementation in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure gave us valuable insight into how to repurpose existing mounts for new content. We took the base mechanics of the warclaw and, with feedback from multiple teams and the community, identified its growth opportunities and weaknesses. And of course, we can't overlook the influence that cats—our internet-favorite feline friends—had in shaping the warclaw's personality and movement. Who would turn down studying cats at work?

The main goal of revamping the warclaw mount was to make it feel like a living part of Tyria's world. We wanted to create a mount that had a lot of personality and was fun to move around the world on, while also helping players on their own journey. We leaned into capturing the essence of a cat's playful nature and incorporated feline behaviors into the mount's design. Watching how cats sneak, pounce, and explore places they shouldn't be in gave us the ability to make a mount that feels not only functional, but also full of personality.

As such, the warclaw was crafted to be the premier mount for Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, offering a versatile, all-around experience. Unlike other mounts, which often excel in specific areas, the warclaw was designed to be more of a generalist. It features a dash, but not one as powerful as the raptor's. It can go vertical, but not leap as high as the springer. It's fast, though not as quick as the roller beetle. And while it can navigate aerial spaces, it's not as adept as the skyscale. While the team didn't set out to make a jack-of-all-trades mount, that's exactly where the design landed, and the result is an incredibly fun and adaptable mount for a variety of situations.

Given that the warclaw's movement was inspired by the mischievous nature of cats, it also made sense to grant it no fall damage. Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds has a lot of verticality, and this feature makes the warclaw a great choice for navigating dangerous drops. Just don't go testing your poor warclaw's limits too much!





Designing the warclaw came with its fair share of challenges, and one of the trickiest was perfecting its abilities—especially the fan-favorite double jump. There was a series of prototypes and iterations, each refining the mount's abilities to match both the team's vision and player feedback. Using the ability in various environments and increasing its speed and turn rate to test how it performed was crucial in getting the warclaw to feel just right in a PvE setting.

The real breakthrough, however, came when the team decided to embrace the playful, exploratory nature of cats. Their instinct to sneak into places they shouldn't be served as inspiration for the mount's double jump and fluid movements. Never underestimate the power of researching cats!

In the spirit of transparency, we have to admit that, while cats played a big part in the design process, so did a bug we encountered early on. This bug allowed players to leap higher each time they connected with the ground, causing each jump to get progressively higher. While it wasn't intended, it sparked the idea to explore different jumping concepts. After several iterations, the team settled on the double-jump mechanic because it was both practical and easier for players to control. Of all the versions tested, it was also the most fun, capturing the core goal of warclaw's design and bringing the pure joy of movement to the mount.





In the end, the warclaw transformation is a testament to the power of player feedback and the collaborative spirit of the development team. The transformation from an underutilized mount to one of the community's most beloved companions has been very rewarding for the Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds team. Experiencing the joy of movement is what makes a mount truly special, and whether you're tearing across the WvW battlefield or leaping across Tyria's vast landscapes, the warclaw is there to make every journey a little more thrilling. Just don't forget to visit your feline friend in your homestead from time to time for scritches!