The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 is set to receive its next expansion “End of Dragons” in 2021. However, details about it are still scarce. A new leak promises many interesting contents – but how realistic is it?
What does the leak say? According to the leak, the new expansion “End of Dragons,” for which a trailer already exists, revolves around the underwater dragon named Solthnys. Development for it is said to have begun in mid-2019, still under the chief Mike Zadarojny.
The leak promises:
- 2 new playable races – Tengu and Largos – starting immediately at level 80 and having no access to the old story lines
- Two new cities for the races, Dominion of Winds and Shing Jea
- Player housing that is to be based on guild halls
- Crafting sections for Writer and Jeweler at 500
- 6 new areas, consisting of 85% land and 15% underwater
- New elite specializations for each class, with the leak naming only 5 out of 9 classes
- Spirit Gems as a new enhancement for equipment
- New adventures, achievements, and skins
- No new mount – instead, the Soaring Manta Ray has already been adapted for underwater riding
- Raids and fractals are to appear aside from the expansion
- PvP and WvW are to receive new rewards, but there’s a lack of resources for major updates
How credible is this? The leak regarding the “End of Dragons” expansion first surfaced in September. In recent days, it has been frequently shared and discussed in streams. Only a text published on pastebin.com was released, compiled by someone claiming to have insider information. Who exactly is behind it remains unclear.
Guild Wars 2 has already struggled with a major leak in 2017, when nearly the entire expansion Path of Fire was revealed. However, at that time, there were also images that leaked.
Much of the text sounds like the desires of a player. End of Dragons would, according to the description, become the largest expansion to date. This seems rather unlikely given the mass layoffs in early 2019. Nevertheless, let’s look at the mentioned points in detail.
New races are possible, but unlikely
What does the leak say about the races? According to the leak, End of Dragons will introduce 2 new playable races, although they will be quite different from the existing 5:
- They start directly at level 80, instead of level 1
- They have no unique racial skills
- They will not be able to partake in the old story
- They are supposed to have similar skeletons to humans or Charr for the Tengu, making armor easily adaptable to the characters
How realistic is this? New playable races are highly sought after by some Guild Wars 2 fans. They are among the features players want for a new expansion. Additionally, each previous expansion in the game had a unique feature, whether it was the first new class (HoT) or mounts (PoF).
However, Guild Wars 2 primarily struggles with a lack of long-term content in its expansions. Within a few days, the content of PoF was completed, and new episodes of the Icebrood Saga often only bind players for a few hours.
New races are labor-intensive and offer no real value to many players who do not wish to switch races or dive directly into a new one. It seems unlikely that the developers will focus on something that will only interest a portion of the player base as a large feature for End of Dragons.
New elite specializations are a must, but will these be it?
What does the leak say about elite specializations? According to the leak, 5 out of the 9 elite specializations (each class receiving one) are already known:
- Elementalist: Assassin specialization with dual pistols – is said to be very acrobatic and will include “magical” orbs for the weapons
- Guardian: Shaman specialization with totems that pulse and provide effects. Uses the trident, which has only been available underwater so far
- Necromancer: A type of warlock with a shortbow – is supposed to have AoE effects and an undead servant as a replica of itself.
- Mesmer: Bard specialization with music and a flute
- Ranger: Beastmaster specialization with a kind of whip and glyphs that are supposed to be similar to the elementalist’s
- The classes Warrior, Thief, and Engineer are expected to receive underwater weapons for their specializations as well. The Revenant is not mentioned at all in the leak
How realistic is this? New elite specializations are content that is essentially mandatory for a new expansion in Guild Wars 2. They expand the classes with new weapons and playstyles and have been included in the other two expansions as well.
However, many players doubt that so many underwater weapons will be utilized. While spear, harpoon, and trident could also be used on land, pure underwater specializations are practically excluded – due to the lack of opportunities provided by the current content in Guild Wars 2.
A lot of content for an expansion that is born out of necessity
What is striking about the leak? In addition to the playable races and elite specializations, the leak promises many new features, such as housing, a completely new equipment system, and much more.
Furthermore, the expansion is supposed to include 6 major areas, among them the Echo Forest, the island of Shing Jea with a major meta event, Kaineng, and 3 other zones.
This would make End of Dragons have the most areas of all expansions (Hot brought 4 areas + 2 guild halls, PoF contained 5 and 1 guild hall) and would also offer many surrounding innovations.
How realistic is this? End of Dragons seems somewhat like an expansion that was born out of necessity. According to Jessica Price, a former employee of ArenaNet who parted ways in a dispute, there were plans suggesting that Guild Wars 2 could have ended with the 4th season of the Living World.
These were, however, discarded, possibly due to pressure from NCSoft, who preferred to earn more money with Guild Wars 2 rather than rely on new projects from ArenaNet. Some of these were apparently halted by the layoffs in 2019.
The teaser for the new expansion came at a time when the game was notably struggling. Nothing indicated a project of such magnitude. That it suddenly should become larger than previously planned expansions seems quite unrealistic at this point.
End of Dragons – What would be realistic
For the new expansion, I certainly expect new areas, a new story, group content, and elite specializations. However, these contents alone will require much development time.
A feature like new playable races, expansions to the equipment system, or housing seems possible. Having all three at once, however, seems unlikely to me.
In my opinion, the leak contains many things players wish for, but it also exaggerates in some areas, such as with 2 new cities for the races. Since the current cities like the Grove or Rata Sum are scarcely used, it would be a lot of wasted developer time.
Nevertheless, the leak sparks some speculation and dreaming. Therefore, the question to you is: What do you expect from End of Dragons? I myself am looking forward to the areas, although the setting makes me only partially happy.
