The online role-playing game Guild Wars 2 has been around since 2012. Is it even worth getting back into? Find out here what has happened over the past years.
Guild Wars 2 is a unique online role-playing game that continually evolves. Since the second season of Living Story, there have been profound changes in the world of Tyria. New areas and features are being added regularly. Sometimes, however, something changes, like the city of Lion’s Arch, which gets destroyed and then rebuilt.
So, anyone who has stopped playing Guild Wars 2 in the past and now wants to jump back in will quickly lose track and, quite literally, no longer understand the world.
Therefore, we have summarized the most significant changes to Guild Wars 2 over the past few years for you. We have based this on the work of the fan site GuildNews.
The article was updated on September 3, 2019.
The Living Story
One of the special features of Guild Wars 2 is the “Living Story”. In regular episodes, the game’s story continues like a TV series and evolves the world further. The story is told in seasons. Each season has a clear structure and brings profound changes.
Aside from the first season, you can play all episodes for free if you logged in during the time when the respective episode was running. Otherwise, you need to unlock them using the real-money currency “Gems” or play with a friend who owns the episode.
You can replay the episodes you own at any time to create achievements.
Warning, the following summaries of the story contain spoilers!
Season 1 of the Living Story
The legendary first season of the story began on January 28, 2013, with “Flame and Frost”. At that time, the two fan favorites, Rox and Braham, were introduced. Players assisted the ambitious young Charr warrior and the young Norn with maternal complex in their respective tasks.
The story of the two NPCs was then elaborated in a total of 20 episodes, and players encountered even more iconic NPCs that have since become established in the story’s repertoire. These include:
- The lovable spacey lady Kasmeer
- The tough detective Majory Delaqua
- The brilliant and slightly crazy Asura whiz kid Taimi
- The treacherous Sylvari Canach, who turns out to be an ally in later episodes
- The bear-like Charr Rytlock Brimstone
Scarlet’s Grand Entrance!
The story began harmlessly, but as it progressed, the coolest villain that Guild Wars 2 has ever had appeared: Scarlet Briar! The insane Sylvari reminded players of the Joker from Batman, and in each episode, a new devious plan of hers had to be thwarted. But what Scarlet’s end goal was only became clear towards the end of the story.
There, Scarlet destroyed the great city of Lion’s Arch, which remained a ruin in the game for many months. In the end, players were able to defeat the villain in a thrilling final battle and thwart her plan. But something happened.
Season 2 of the Living Story
The second season began on July 1, 2014, and initially aimed to uncover Scarlet’s machinations. It was still unclear what she aimed to achieve with her villainy.
But soon the true background became apparent. The plant dragon Mordremoth had awakened, and the powerful Elder Dragon unleashed its deadly vines all over Tyria. In the 8 episodes of season 2, players had to mobilize the anti-dragon pact and launch a major assault on Mordremoth’s jungle refuge.
The disastrous outcome of this operation and its consequences then became part of the story for the large add-on Heart of Thorns.
More Jungle for Tyria
In addition to the new story, the areas “Dry Top” and “Silverwastes” were added in season 2. There were new achievements, treasure hunts, and jumping puzzles. You could complete new dynamic events and collect the new currency “Geodes” for the Ambrit weapon set.
Additionally, there were plenty of achievements from the story and the new set “Luminous Armor”.
Season 3 of the Living Story
At the end of Heart of Thorns, Mordremoth was defeated at great cost, but its death brought unforeseen effects and upheaval. A significant part of the third season of the story revolves around their exploration.
Additionally, there are more troubles:
- Two new old dragons awaken and seem to inherit the powers of the already dead dragons Zhaitan and Mordremoth.
- In Kryta, a conspiracy of cultists is rising, aiming to overthrow the queen.
- The offspring of the deceased dragon ally Glint stirs.
- A mysterious Mursaat (known from Guild Wars 1) named Lazarus offers his help against the dragons.
- Taimi discovers that killing the old dragons destroys the world.
The season ends with the explosive appearance of the fire and war god Balthazar and reaches its climax in the expansion Path of Fire.
New Maps and Even More Masteries
Each episode of season 3 introduced a new mastery. For instance, you could learn to harness special energies or shoot yourself like cannonballs from lava tunnels. The new masteries were mainly necessary for the progress of the respective episode and for achievements.
New maps included the “Ember Bay”, the “Bitterfrost Frontier”, the “Doric Sea”, the volcano “Draconis Mons”, and the “Song of Magic Land”. Additionally, you could obtain new legendary items.
Season 4 of the Living Story
The 4th Season of the Guild Wars story continues the events surrounding the end of Balthazar. It revolves around the newly awakened dragon Kralkatorrik and the undead lord Palawa Joko. Additionally, you will visit familiar regions from the old Guild Wars expansion Nightfall, including Istan, the island of the Sunspears.
Season 5 of the Living Story
The fifth season of the Living Story was announced on August 30 and is set to start on September 17 with a prologue event. The focus is on the Elder Dragon Jormag and the associated Icebrood.
As a special innovation, attack missions are planned, where 10 players must face off against tough bosses. They are intended to ease the entry into raids.
In terms of mastery, the spirit animals of the Norn will be the focus.
The Major Expansions
So far, there have been two major expansions for Guild Wars 2. Each expansion brought a highlight to the preceding season of the living story. So like a concluding movie for a TV series.
Additionally, many more gameplay mechanics and several maps were added.
Heart of Thorns
Heart of Thorns, the first expansion of Guild Wars 2, brought the big final battle against the dragon Mordremoth in the Maguuma Jungle. There are huge, intricate maps with multi-stage events at high difficulty. The expansion introduced the following important innovations:
- A new class called Revenant: This heavily armored character can summon the souls of past heroes and thus develop new powers.
- The “Masteries” as a new skill feature: You can now learn and improve special abilities. This includes gliding through the air, deciphering ancient scripts, or using mushrooms as trampolines.
- Specializations: Previously, there were trait lines, which were changed to specializations at the launch of Heart of Thorns. They culminated in elite specializations, giving classes more options and new weapon choices.
- You can embark on a scavenger hunt for the coveted pre-cursor items. These are precursors of the even more sought-after legendary weapons. Some new ones were also introduced in Heart of Thorns.
Path of Fire
The second expansion Path of Fire came in 2017 and brought the fight against the ruthless god of war Balthazar. This time, the setting was the continent Elona, which played an important role in Guild Wars 1. Additionally, the following features were introduced:
- Mounts: Finally, there are Mounts in Guild Wars 2! This allows you to travel faster, and each of the 5 animals has special abilities. For instance, the Raptor can leap horizontally for great distances, the Skimmer glides over water, and the Griffon can even fly briefly!
- New Elite Specializations: Path of Fire finally introduced a second elite specialization for each class. This allows you to further expand your options.
General Innovations and Adjustments
Over the years, several general innovations and adjustments to the system have been introduced. These include the following features:
- The Fractals have been revamped: Now you receive a fixed fractal per level instead of a random selection. Additionally, new fractals have been added, including the “Twilight Oasis”.
- New ascended items have been introduced.
- The city of Lion’s Arch has been rebuilt after its destruction and now shines in new splendor.
- The dragon world bosses “Tequatl” and “The Shatterer” have been thoroughly revamped and are now much more dangerous and exciting.
- You can now create collections in your wardrobe to assemble individual outfits or properly sort your clothes.
- Up to level 80, there are now rewards for each level-up.
Raids
Guild Wars 2 has had raid instances for endgame since Heart of Thorns. In these, 10 players face off as a team against dangerous bosses and treacherous traps.
Currently, there are seven raids, with the latest one released in May 2019. Most of them consist of three or four boss fights, as well as small intermediate events and enemy groups.
As loot, the raids ideally offer the coveted ascended gear, special skins, and gold rewards.
PvP and WvW
There have been several changes in PvP and large world-versus-world battles.
Changes in Structured PvP
Since the launch of Guild Wars 2, there have been ongoing adjustments to Arena PvP:
- The currency “Glory” has been removed; instead, there is more gold.
- You can unlock new rewards through success reward paths.
- Your equipment is irrelevant and taken from PvE. The stats in PvP are determined by worn amulets, runes, and sigils.
- Since Heart of Thorns, there is the Stronghold mode. Similar to Guild Wars 1, you must defeat the opposing guild lord.
- Competitive players can fight for the leaderboard in leagues and seasons and thus earn loot like the “Legendary Back”.
- New maps have been added, like the Revenge of the Rams and the Eternal Coliseum.
- There are also automated daily tournaments and a monthly tournament with additional loot.
- Tournament winners get their own statues!
- In 2018, new 2v2 maps were introduced.
Changes in WvW
In WvW, the following has changed:
- There are new borderlands, where you can also engage in WvW battles.
- Upgrades are independent of supplies.
- The squad system has been revamped.
- You can earn legendary gear.
- There are also WvW success paths for unlockable rewards.
- The changes have even caused queues to return to WvW in Guild Wars 2.
In 2019, there will be further changes to WvW. The developers have only presented ideas so far and want to base changes on player feedback.
According to the publisher NCSoft, Guild Wars 2 is doing well overall.
