On Tuesday, the new episode of the Living World will be released in Guild Wars 2. In addition to a map and the progress of the story, players can also look forward to a completely new weapon set. Our author Alexander Leitsch was allowed to take an early look at the new episode and patch.
Season 4 of the Living World is approaching its grand finale. You can tell this immediately when you start the new story. Together with our NPC friends and the dragon lady Aurene, we discover a way to deal harm to the elder dragon Kralkatorrik.
But before we can face the dragon, we first need to gather our troops. And for that, we are heading to a new area.
The new map Thunderhead Peaks
With each new episode of the Living World, a new map is introduced. However, not every one of them meets the players’ expectations. In the past, many of the new maps faced bugs and issues with long-term motivation. However, I have a good feeling about Thunderhead Peaks.
Where is the new map located? Thunderhead Peaks is located in the southern Shiverpeaks. In the snowy mountain landscape, we encounter the dwarves and their ancient ruins. Those who played Guild Wars 1 will recognize many of the old contents.
What can you do on the map? In addition to the usual achievements and hearts quests, there are directly two large meta-events in Thunderhead Peaks:
- In the north, we fight against the Marked Ones, the servants of Kralkatorrik, for control of the Stronghold Thunderhead.
- In the south, we help the Dredge defend their lands.
As rewards for both events, there are teleportation stones. These allow us to visit dwarven tombs. And it is well known that dwarves are the guardians of great treasures. However, we could not find out what the rewards within the tombs are during our play session.
There wasn’t enough time for that.
The new map currency in Guild Wars 2: With the new map currency “Marked Mass”, players can unlock recipes this time. These belong to a completely new weapon set that is related to the new map.
The new Dragonblood Weapons
The Dragonblood weapons come in two variants. A simple skin with exotic stats can be crafted relatively quickly and cheaply. However, only when you have crafted all 16 Dragonblood weapons will a collection unlock the second version.
The weapons with ascended stats are more expensive but also look better. We have compiled a few examples for you in a gallery:
The legendary Longbow Pharus
If you want to experiment with weapons, you can craft the legendary longbow Pharus in this episode. It requires a lot of wood and ore – just like the other legendary weapons of the second generation.
Additionally, you need to own Heart of Thorns and unlock the corresponding masteries.
You can view the weapon and its associated animations in detail in this video:
New Fractal and Instabilities
If you’re less interested in new maps and weapons and prefer exploring dungeons or raids, you can look forward to the new fractal “Siren’s Reef”.
This is a secret island hidden somewhere in the mists. On the island, we can expect beaches, ghost pirate ships, and a temple facility with underground passages.
New Instabilities: Fans of fractals can also look forward to new challenges. The so-called instabilities hinder already known fractals through difficult effects or restrictions. Depending on the difficulty, different numbers of instabilities come into play at once.
The patch introduced 12 new instabilities, including:
- Fragility:
- Players are smaller and have 30% less health but move 25% faster.
- Slippery Slope:
- All surfaces are smooth. The duration of granted stability is increased by 20%.
- Fire in the Blood
- Enemies create flaming projectiles when they take damage. The damage taken from conditions is reduced by 20%.
What are fractals? Fractals are small dungeons for 5 players, each available in multiple difficulty levels. You level up fractals by completing higher ones. The highest achievable level is 100. The fractal there is also the most challenging.
Currently, there are 19 different fractals in Guild Wars 2. On your way to level 100, you’ll have to replay some of them. However, as you progress to higher levels, mechanics change, and even familiar locations become more challenging due to the instabilities.
The story of “Everything or Nothing”
I don’t want to reveal too much about the story of the episode. There are a total of 5 chapters, with the first chapter leading players in Guild Wars 2 to the new map.
In chapters two to four, we explore the new map. I haven’t played the fifth chapter myself yet.
However, it seems that there will definitely be a reunion with the elder dragon Kralkatorrik.
What do I need to do to play “Everything or Nothing”?
The new episode of the Living World unlocks automatically when you log into the game.
However, only the currently active episode can be unlocked for free. When the next episode arrives (usually after two to four months), the old one becomes paid. You will then need 400 gems (around 5 Euros) for a past episode.
To be able to play the Living World, the story, and the maps, you also need the Path of Fire expansion.
A look ahead to the rest of 2019 in Guild Wars 2:
