The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 received a new expansion in 2024, bringing cool innovations like home instances and the war claw mount for the open world. But is it worth starting Guild Wars 2 in 2024? MeinMMO clarifies this for you.
Where does Guild Wars 2 stand in June 2024? Since the release of the MMORPG in August 2012, a lot has happened, with high points like the expansions Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire, but also low points such as the mass layoffs in early 2019.
However, 2024 looks really good for Guild Wars 2 again:
- The expansion End of Dragons resulted in high player numbers in the year before last. In fact, the highest player count since 2015 was recorded. Revenue has also seen a significant increase.
- With the new updates of Living World Season 1, the story is completely accessible to both old and new players for the first time since 2013.
- With “The Midnight King”, the finale of the last expansion “Secrets of the Obscure” was released on May 21, 2024.
- On August 20, 2024, “Janthir Wilds,” the new expansion of Guild Wars 2, followed.
- There is even work being done on Guild Wars 3.
But what does this mean for newcomers?
Is now a good time to jump in? In our view, now is an excellent time to start Guild Wars 2. Especially for newcomers, there is a huge world to explore that has been constantly expanded over more than ten years.
You have content, quests, and stories that will keep you engaged for hundreds of hours. And you are getting the new story content for free right now. Below, MeinMMO explains what makes Guild Wars 2 worth starting, what you need to know about the game, and what makes the MMORPG special.
A huge world where the endgame begins with the start
How is Guild Wars 2 structured? The MMORPG from American developer ArenaNet is Free2Play, but this only applies to the base game, the “vanilla world.” You will need to spend money for the expansions Heart of Thorns, Path of Fire, End of Dragons, Secrets of the Obscure, and Janthir Wilds. You have two options for this:
- You can buy the first three expansions as well as Living World for 49.99 euros.
- The last expansion “Secrets of the Obscure” is currently only available as a standalone edition for 24.99 euros. The current expansion “Janthir Wilds” costs the same.
Gameplay-wise, Guild Wars 2 foregoes a traditional Holy Trinity. Instead, each class can dodge, heal itself, and usually has additional defensive skills. This makes it especially easy to explore the world as a solo player.
During character creation, you have the choice of:
- Five races
- Eight (with expansion nine) classes, which we will reveal more about here
- Various cosmetic customization options
- Some character-related questions that will influence your personal story on the journey to max level 80
In the open world, you don’t encounter quests that you have to accept from NPCs; instead, you explore the environment. Along the way, you will encounter “Hearts,” a substitute for quests. A heart must be filled by completing tasks. However, you usually have different options to complete the heart – for instance, collecting items, killing monsters, or healing NPCs.
Moreover, events pop up throughout the world. Some have a timer, while others respond to actions within the map. Certain world events are so large that they affect the entire area. This was especially utilized in the Heart of Thorns expansion.
Additionally, you earn many experience points just for uncovering the map, discovering special locations, and viewing panoramas, which are often hidden behind jumping puzzles.
What does the MMORPG offer? In Guild Wars 2, you can look forward to the following content:
- Over 65 open PvE areas.
- Well over 250 story missions.
- Countless bosses and world events that are regularly completed by players.
- Eight dungeons with four to five different paths each.
- 23 different fractals (5-player instances) with a total of 100 difficulty levels.
- Seven raid wings.
- Several instanced boss fights for 10-player groups, some of which even have challenge modes.
- Various PvP arenas, seasons, and game modes.
- Automated 5v5 tournaments and events like the Tournament of Legends.
- World vs. World, where three servers compete for control of fortresses and towers.
Additionally, with the last expansion, a kind of battle pass with cool rewards was introduced. However, it does not have an option to spend money:
What makes Guild Wars 2 special? What fascinates us most about the MMORPG is the combat system. It is very dynamic and ranks among the best you can find right now.
The skill selection is not huge, but the restriction to ten weapon skills (five for each weapon and one possible weapon switch in combat) and five utility skills forces you to limit yourself to specific skills. Additionally, each class has special abilities located on the F1 to F5 keys, but these cannot be swapped out.
Furthermore, there is a mode with the so-called action camera that you can activate if you want, which requires you to aim at enemies precisely. This adds even more dynamism to the game.
Another highlight is the mounts introduced with the Path of Fire expansion. Each mount has a special use:
- Raptors can jump far.
- Springers can jump high.
- Jackals run particularly fast.
- Griffons can glide in the air.
Currently, Guild Wars 2 offers you twelve different mounts, which we will introduce in more detail in the guide. Each has multiple skins that you can purchase with real money or in-game currency and even a skin that you can earn in-game.
A healthy player base
Are there still players in the starting areas? Yes, as there are also many incentives for veterans to return to the starting areas, including:
- Rewards for fully uncovering the map.
- World bosses that also appear in many starting zones and with a fixed timer.
- Achievements that can be completed on the maps.
- Gathering lower tier materials that are often worth more than higher-tier ones.
- Dungeons whose entrances are located in some starting areas.
Guild Wars 2 uses a dynamic scaling system. Level 80 characters become weaker in lower-level areas, though not quite as weak as freshly created characters. Thus, they remain slightly stronger but cannot defeat everything in one hit.
What does it look like in other areas of the game? There are always many players available for world bosses and world events, whose appearance can be determined by a timer.
Players can always be found in fractals and also in World vs. World. It gets a bit harder for arena PvP and raids. The number of hardcore players has noticeably decreased, while casual players enjoy sticking with Guild Wars 2.
Many updates for PvE – little for the rest
What about updates in Guild Wars 2? Up until 2023, Guild Wars 2 primarily utilized the so-called Living World for updates alongside expansions. New content was released that was free as long as you were “live” at the time.
Since 2023, this is no longer the case. Now, an expansion is released each year with additional quarterly updates that you will receive automatically if you own the respective expansions.
Each patch brings:
- New story
- New rewards from merchants
- New features such as masteries or new mounts
- Often a new area or fractal as well
Additionally, there are constantly festivals, including Winter’s Day, Halloween, the so-called Dragon’s Charge in May, or the Festival of the Four Winds in summer. These events offer special activities, skins, and achievements that you can complete for a few weeks.
What about other content? Aside from “casual PvE,” things look a bit sparse in Guild Wars 2 right now:
- While there have been repeated balance adjustments in PvP and new mini-seasons were introduced in 2020 to bridge the gap, there has not been much new content.
- In WvW, however, players have been waiting for a promised large overhaul for years. It was supposed to finally come in 2022, but this did not happen. In March 2024, a comprehensive beta showed the developers that there is still much work to be done (via guildwars2.com).
- While there was the new fractal Silent Ocean this year for fans of instanced content, players have also been waiting for raids for 1.5 years. Currently, the assault missions from End of Dragons are helping out.
Nevertheless, Guild Wars 2 offers numerous content especially for newcomers. Due to the absence of monthly fees and the regular updates, GameStar referred to Guild Wars 2 as the “perfect side jump or second MMO”.
After all, you can check out updates, enjoy the regular festivals, and then switch to a different game without losing much.
The end of the MMORPG seems far away
What does the future look like? On August 20, 2024, the developers released a roadmap for upcoming updates. The most important finding: there will not be three new regions as originally announced, but four. The official announcement states:
“Instead of releasing the third map in two parts, we will now release a standalone map in the second and third quarterly release that is roughly the size of the map from Doric Lake.”
With Janthir Wilds, a new season has also begun. Those who complete the associated objectives will receive an ascended meteor spear and the meteor bearer gloves. If you equip both of these items simultaneously, the spear will receive a cool overheated effect.
Additionally, in the Wizard’s Vault, you can expect rewards such as the Onyx Spider weapon collection and helm, shoulders, and gloves from the macabre Rotting Stalker armor set! You will also receive a Set 5 of the legendary starter kit with two new and two re-released weapon kits.
Why is now a good time to start? Those who start Guild Wars 2 now can dive into a relatively newly launched expansion with many other interested players and can ask questions or join the crowd of adventurers at events.
Additionally, the base game is free to play, which keeps the entry barrier quite low. So if you are looking for a new MMORPG, you should definitely give GW2 a chance. If you want to learn more about the game, we recommend this article on the topic: Which player types is Guild Wars 2 aimed at?
