Yesterday, many exciting details about Heart of Thorns were revealed. Among other things, raids and new armor sets are waiting for the players …
Raids without Item Spiral – Everything that Players Love
The big news right away: Guild Wars 2 is getting raids! While it would have been much more spectacular if it hadn’t been accidentally leaked a few days ago, the announcement still causes a stir. The creators of the now 3-year-old MMORPG have departed from some typical raid conventions to offer players exciting and challenging content. There will be no item spiral, and raids should never become easier. At the same time, players will never have to wait for a specific role – because GW2’s versatile combat system allows all classes to perform supportive abilities.
No Better Items – What’s the Point of Raiding?
It has been clearly communicated that an endless item spiral like in other games (WoW, WildStar, SWTOR) has no place in Guild Wars 2. For this reason, loot will be awarded in the form of legendary armor with unique skins – they are purely cosmetic in nature. This will be equivalent to the existing ascended gear. This leads to no devaluation of the items earned, and it also ensures that boss fights remain exciting and challenging even in several years. The developers consider it a devaluation of player achievements if the boss encounters became weaker due to continually better items.
Scope and Future of Raids
The first raid will consist of three wings, each of which will be released with several weeks delay after the release of Heart of Thorns. Access requires the expansion, of course – as well as some teammates, as a full group of 10 heroes will be needed. They should also bring patience, discipline, and plenty of time, as the new instances are said to be more challenging than anything the PvE area of Guild Wars 2 has offered so far.
But even in the future, raids will play an important role: Future updates (such as the “Living World”) are set to introduce new areas and thereby provide fresh content for raid enthusiasts in the long term.
4 Gigantic Maps
The new areas of Heart of Thorns will be gigantic, if the developers are to be believed. The 4 new zones will not be traditionally designed as “flat” but three-dimensional. Consequently, the events will take place on multiple levels, and the map-specific events are said to offer the “greatest replay value that has existed in Guild Wars 2 so far.”
Furthermore, the base game of Guild Wars 2 has been free since yesterday. Although you have to live with minor restrictions, now is the best time to get a personal impression of Tyria.
