Guild Wars 2 is known for catering to casual players and focusing on the evolution of the game world and story. Although the first raids were introduced in 2015, these instances have been dropped since 2019. Instead, the so-called strike missions were established. And the newest hard mode of these is truly challenging.
What kind of strike mission is this? In strike missions, bosses from the story or open world are usually packed into an instance where they can be fought and defeated by a group of 10 players.
With the new expansion End of Dragons, four strike missions were introduced that would receive additional challenge modes after the release. The developers promised that the increased difficulty level would be comparable to raids.
In the last mission, the Harvest Temple, this is absolutely true. There, the final boss of the expansion was challenged once again. However, to defeat this one boss, even the strongest guild needed nearly 5 days. Therefore, hardcore players are currently more than satisfied.
Guild shows over 31 hours of fails at the boss, wiped even at 1%
How did the progress proceed in Guild Wars 2?
- The new challenge mode for the Harvest Temple was released on Tuesday, June 28 at 6:00 PM German time.
- Only on Sunday, July 3 at 5:18 PM was the boss defeated for the first time. The well-known raid guild Snow Crows, which also creates class guides and DPS benchmarks, achieved the World First. Before that, they even wiped at 1% health (via reddit).
- The Snow Crows showed around 31 hours of their fights against the boss Soo-Won live on Twitch. MightyTeapot and Mela, who with their group achieved the second kill a few hours later, even showed over 60 hours in which they struggled with the boss fight.
You can watch how the World First went down in this clip:
How does the boss perform overall? Very well. In normal mode, many guilds have already managed to defeat the Harvest Temple, which is also an adjusted version of the great world boss battle from the last area. Most players have already defeated the dragon Soo-Won themselves.
In challenge mode, however, the fight is so difficult that it poses a tough test even for many experienced raiders. Precisely this combination is appreciated by nearly every player:
- The reddit user Alakazarm writes: ‘What incredibly entertaining days. Many thanks to Cameron [developer] and everyone else involved in bringing such content to GW2. It greatly contributes to making the game feel like the great MMO it is.’
- Subversiontwo also expresses enthusiasm: ‘Not only congratulations to Snow Crows, but also to the developers who have finally started taking the right direction. This type of content, the fight for World Firsts, always held the potential that the strike missions had.’
The German streamer Roca, for example, switched to Final Fantasy XIV a few years ago because he missed the challenge in Guild Wars 2. However, he followed the progress of the Harvest Temple eagerly and even roughly compared it to the Ultimates from FFXIV. For the latest raid, players also spent six days.
In the end, he draws the conclusion that the hard mode in GW2 and the ultimate raid in FFXIV can both do things better than the other, but both are primarily a gain for hardcore players.
Guild Wars 2 receives the toughest content yet and simultaneously brings easy modes for raids
What path is Guild Wars 2 taking regarding hardcore content? A very interesting one. Because the new hard mode is the most difficult content in the game. For comparison:
- The last raid Mythic Writer’s Venture was completed on the first evening.
- The previous hardest content, the challenge mode of the raid Hall of Chains, also lasted nearly 5 days (via Guildnews).
At the same time, it has been decided to simplify the entry into the old raids. Since 2015, an easy mode has been demanded to guide players who are less experienced to the bosses and raids. This was also released with the patch on June 28.
Thus, the patch brought both an easier entry into the old raids and really difficult content for hardcore players. Many fans hope this is the direction to continue in.
What’s next in Guild Wars 2? The developers have several things planned for 2022. New story content is expected to continue the story of End of Dragons. Additionally, three episodes from the old Living World Season 1, which are set to return content from 2013, have yet to be released this year.
Furthermore, Guild Wars 2 is also expected to launch on Steam this year, attracting new players. For the long-term future, a fourth expansion is also planned:
Guild Wars 2 shows roadmap for the future of the MMORPG – Announces 4th expansion and Steam release
