MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz had the opportunity to play with the developers of ArenaNet in Janthir Wilds. The new expansion of Guild Wars 2 has its strengths and weaknesses, often exciting but also leaving some potential untapped.
With Janthir Wilds, the new expansion of Guild Wars 2 is set to be released on August 20, 2024. A few days ago, an hands-on event was held by ArenaNet, where I had the chance to try the two new regions, the Warclaw mount, the new weapon type Spear, and the housing feature of home instances alongside developers and other media representatives.
We also challenged a world boss, solved quests and events, and learned more about the new rewards. The new 10-player raid, which can also be approached as a 50-player convergence, was, however, not on the agenda.
Since then, he has accumulated several years of play time in various online role-playing games and has played almost every relevant genre representative of the last nearly two decades at least for a while. This also includes Guild Wars 2, which he has been playing from time to time since the early launch on August 25, 2012.
Here is the announcement trailer for Guild Wars 2 – Janthir Wilds:
Leisurely Start into the Wilderness
The new expansion first takes all Tyrian heroes to the Janthir Islands. Your objective: Find new allies for the Tyrian Alliance to be prepared for future threats. The journey during the hands-on event begins at the so-called Moon Camp of the Astral Watch, which is dedicated to protecting the Janthir Islands.
There, an old acquaintance welcomes the adventurers: Vanak – you fought against the Kryptis with him in Amnytas. The next half hour makes it clear: The upcoming adventure starts leisurely. Through conversations, you get to know the land and its people. Familiarize yourself with the nearby wilderness. Reach the settlement of the Lowland Kodan, where you unlock the Warclaw mount.
This also includes a useful stealth attack, which can also be enhanced through combos. All of this was smoothly animated, effectively staged, and felt just as good as my currently preferred staff.
The Clear Highlight: the Warclaw
In the test characters, the Warclaw, many will surely know it from the World-versus-World area, was already unlocked from the start for the new expansion. For the launch, it applies: If you already own the PvP mount, you still need to obtain the extended version for use in the open world from the Lowland Kodan.
For me, it is already clear that the new Warclaw will immediately rise to be one of my favorite mounts in Guild Wars 2. It is extremely mobile with its multiple jumps in the air (only stamina is the limit), the character does not take fall damage on it, and it can track treasures.
There are also several skills to attack enemies and pull them in or throw them to the ground. The high flexibility and mobility of the cat come into play not only when exploring the world but also during some events or the new convergence content.
First Cozy, Then Deadly
After arriving in the settlement of the Lowland Kodan and many dialogues, the developers explain that they consciously want to create a feel-good atmosphere at the beginning of Janthir Wilds. This is reflected in the events of the settlement: You catch cute mini Warclaws that have run away, or participate in a dance party of the Kodan.
In this first region, the focus is entirely on leisurely exploration and getting to know the Kodan culture. Therefore, there is no overarching meta and no dangerous world boss that could destroy the “cozy vibes”. Instead, you can now complete the heart tasks multiple times to earn new rewards.
Nevertheless, fighting does take place in the first area, in an arena for example, where you can challenge bosses and master exercises. With strong actions, you can excite the audience and gain a power boost through the cheers. If you don’t want to fight, you can even join the spectators and thus make progress on the corresponding tasks.
Off to Janthir Syntri
It gets really dangerous in the second new region, Janthir Syntri. There, powerful Titans are said to roam, and indeed we get a first impression of the dangerous giants and their jumping attacks and area attacks during a world boss event.
A particularly dangerous attack does not stop until the raid breaks the boss’s stance. However, this can only happen when a) all the small creatures are defeated and b) afterwards enough damage is dealt to the beast.
If it is possible to break the stance of the world boss and stop the attack, the boss is momentarily weakened. Now players can mount their Warclaw, throw a spear with a rope into the flank of the opponent, ride around it and then bring it down like an AT-AT from Star Wars. Cool!
The Housing of Guild Wars 2
At the end of the hands-on event, a visit to the new home instance was on the agenda. Similar to the Warclaw mount, you also automatically unlock access to your own home through the story of Janthir Wilds. You and your group can access the property from anywhere in the world through a summonable magical door.
When you enter the home instance for the first time, you will already find some standard buildings on the spacious property that can be expanded through home instance masteries. Additionally, you can unlock improvements for sawmills, mines, and farms. However, you cannot build completely new buildings or destroy or alter the existing ones.
However, countless size-adjustable decorations are available to outfit the main house or get creative in other ways. The operation is quite smooth after a short familiarization period. If needed, you can transform into a flying bee to get a better overview of your building project or to position objects in the air.
The new home instances fit well within Guild Wars 2, as they allow all collectors to showcase their mounts, characters, but also special armor and weapon skins. Additionally, you will find all your resource nodes here, which can also be harvested, of course.
All of this is nice, but I personally miss one or two content features that are directly linked to the housing feature. For instance, WildStar had the so-called housing expeditions back then, which could be completed alone or with friends to earn exclusive decorations.
First Conclusion on Janthir Wilds
With Janthir Wilds, Guild Wars 2 seems to be on course for a solid expansion that initially brings more of what fans of the MMORPG have appreciated for many years. It is almost a little sad that the feature that excited me the most during the play was already known from the WvW area (even if not in exactly this form).
The leisurely introduction to the new adventure might annoy some. I found it quite fitting to first learn more about the Janthir Islands and their inhabitants and to take it easy with dance performances and cat cuddles.
For collectors who have always wanted to display their achievements and collections in a cozy place, the new home instance is likely to be a great feature. However, personally, I still lack gameplay reasons to want to spend a lot of time on the property. Here’s the complete overview: Everything important about the release, housing, Warclaw mount, spear, versions, legendaries of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds.
