More and more is being revealed about the upcoming expansion of “Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns“. A few days ago, a new game mode was introduced in more detail, which is likely to please PvP fans: Stronghold!
What needs to be done?
The stronghold mode is relatively quickly explained in its basics: One team must defend a stronghold, supported by NPC guards, sturdy walls, and a trebuchet. The other faction has occupied a small barracks and must now assault the stronghold gates until they break them down and ultimately take down the lords in the castle.
What sounds relatively “familiar” so far is spiced up by the new NPCs: Players cannot deal damage to the stronghold gates; instead, NPCs must be purchased at the barracks for supplies. These supplies, in turn, are available in a contested camp and must first be brought to the barracks. Additionally, “heroes” can be summoned, granting the team a powerful buff or dealing significant damage to the enemy stronghold, provided they reach it alive. As previously reported, the developers drew inspiration for the PvP mode “Stronghold” from the design principles of a MOBA.
More NPCs, but the focus is on the players
One of the main goals for the game mode was, according to the developers, to introduce new and especially more gameplay elements into the PvP battles. This is intended to encourage all players to try previously overlooked builds for their characters. The various NPCs are meant to bring a whole new dynamic to the fights but should never replace players.
The different helpers, whether archers, door-breakers, or heroes, are worthless on their own and can never replace a player. It is still up to the people behind the screens to decide the battle. However, it is no new insight that sometimes you have to send a few NPCs to their doom to achieve this.
Anyone who wants to read the entire, rather extensive developer post on the topic of “Stronghold” can do so here on the official site. Additionally, you can see first live gameplay on a recorded Twitch stream of the GW2 developers:
More about the upcoming addon “Heart of Thorns” and the game can be found on the theme page for Guild Wars 2.
