Since the first expansion Heart of Thorns was released for Guild Wars 2, some time has passed. However, a second expansion seems to be on the way, as a recent massive leak shows new skills, mounts, and a large new region in the south that should be familiar to players of Guild Wars 1.
Warning Spoiler! – This seems to be quite detailed and credible according to what has been leaked. Fans might learn about content that ArenaNet wishes to keep under wraps for a long time.
Update 3.5. 12:10 AM: During a live stream, the GW2 boss has now confirmed that the second expansion is indeed on the way and should be released soon. Episode 5 of the Living Story was released today, next comes Episode 6, and then the expansion. It could be as early as 2017. Observers expect autumn 2017 as the release date for the second expansion of Guild Wars 2.
Original Report:
If you ask fans of Guild Wars 1 which regions they particularly liked, you often hear wishes for the cool desert regions from the GW1 addon Nightfall after the fan favorite Cantha.
And indeed, that is where the journey leads in the upcoming second addon for Guild Wars 2, if we can believe the recently leaked information. In addition to maps of the new regions, the massive leak also shows a slew of new skills and mounts.
Guild Wars 2 – Expansion Leak – Crystal Desert and Vaabi
The recently released massive leak about Guild Wars 2 shows tons of content that supposedly comes from the new expansion. If the images are authentic – and they look quite real – then the journey takes you to the deep south, through the Crystal Desert and into Elona. This isn’t very surprising, as the Crystal Desert has been mentioned multiple times in the Living Story, although your heroes never ventured there.
But there’s more than just the desert, as you will encounter the Principality of Vaabi (Vabbi in English), which is one of the most beautiful and fun regions from the first Guild Wars. Especially the funny emote quests from the Bazaar should still be well remembered by every player. After the opulent desert cities and colorful oases, there’s also the dark wasteland with the Domain of Palawa Joko.
Guild Wars 2 – Expansion Leak – New Skills and Mount Masteries
To rock the desert properly, the leak states that every class will receive new skills. This includes promising titles like “Holosmith”, “Soulbeast”, or “Scourge”. However, what the new skill lines can do is not evident from the leaked images.
More information is provided in the leak regarding the new masteries. This time, they seem to relate not to personal skills but to taming mounts. According to the leak, these include a raptor, an adorable kangaroo, a flying stingray, a griffon, and a jackal. You can finally ride these beasts and teach them new tricks as your mastery rank increases.
For example, the jackal can buff other riders as a pack animal, while the raptor deals area damage with its tail. So you can likely also fight on the beasts!
The kangaroo, on the other hand, seems to be the ideal mount for explorers, as it can also reach remote locations, and the stingray heals fallen comrades.
Jürgen says: This all sounds extremely cool, and especially the mounts would be a real innovation for Guild Wars 2 that many players have long anticipated. However, we still do not know if the leaks are genuine or an elaborate fake. Tomorrow, on May 3rd, there will be a AskMeAnything session with the developers, which hopefully brings more information about the leaks.
Also interesting: Guild Wars 2 – Legendary Armors are Coming
