WvW Update: Guild Hall Arenas and World Restructuring Beta
Greetings, Mist warriors!
We're here to go into a little more detail about some of the upcoming World vs. World (and WvW-adjacent) changes. These are part of the overall schedule of content coming to the game over the next couple of months, which you can learn more about in our recent studio update.
Guild Hall Arena Update
Guild halls have long been a space where players can gather together and craft their own unique gameplay experiences—roller beetle racecourses, jumping puzzles, asura football, and more! We are always thrilled to see the creativity of our community at work, and we want to give creators a few new tools for their toolbox.
Currently, guild halls are limited to using PvE game balance rules, creating a very different combat experience than what's found in WvW or PvP. In January, we'll be adding a new option that allows you to choose whether your guild hall arena uses PvE, WvW, or PvP game-mode balance for play. Additionally, we'll be introducing options to allow you to extend PvP combat outside the confines of the guild arena, meaning you can battle your friends across the entire map. Skyscale aerial duels, anyone? We look forward to seeing what you do with your new battlefields when this feature goes live in late January!
World Restructuring News
As a refresher, we're in the process of making some big changes to how teams are structured in the World vs. World game mode. Currently, players choose a world (e.g., Blackgate and Desolation) to play on, and each week they are matched up against other worlds based on their performance in the previous match. This system has one critical flaw: seasonal player population fluctuations and world transfers can result in some teams feeling very empty and others feeling unbearably full. To address this, we sometimes link worlds together as a single team, but the relatively small pool of worlds makes it difficult to create balanced matches from a player population standpoint.
World Restructuring is a feature that aims to address player population imbalances and create great matches. It achieves this by deprecating the current concept of shards (a.k.a. worlds or servers) and introducing a team-building system to the game mode in which players and guilds are programmatically redistributed to new teams (previously known as shards) on a set schedule. This gives us more flexibility and granularity when creating new teams and helps address natural fluctuations in population over time. It'll also give players more agency in choosing who they want to play with on an ongoing basis and allows long-standing communities to continue playing together.
In a previous studio update, we talked about adjusting our priorities to focus on releasing a live, always-on version of World Restructuring as soon as possible, rather than waiting for the complete version of World Restructuring. This moved up our timeline for releasing the first version of the World Restructuring system, and we're now approaching what we hope is the final beta test before we enable the system 24/7. That beta will include bug fixes for WvW guild-selection visual issues, several queue failure bugs, incorrect map names being shown in the contact list and guild panel, players being redirected to the wrong map, and various UI issues at reset. We've also added some new metrics to our team-building algorithm to help create more balanced matches, taking into account commanders, time zones, and more.
What's Been Postponed?
To achieve our goal of getting World Restructuring into a 24/7 beta state, we're postponing development on the following features for the initial release of World Restructuring, although they're on our list for possible future improvements.
Alliances: Alliances refers to an additional group-management system on top of World Restructuring that would allow multiple smaller WvW guilds to band together as a single entity for team creation. For now, we are focused on developing the best version of the team-building algorithm and maximizing the player experience at the WvW guild level. It's worth noting that the current planned player cap for an alliance is 500, which is identical to the current max roster size for a single guild. In other words, guilds as they currently exist can be used as a proxy for alliances.
Team Transfers: Once a match has started, there will not be a way for a player to initiate a transfer between teams. Players will need to wait until the next team-creation event or season to be placed with a different guild. To help mitigate this in the short term, we'll be reducing the duration of a season from eight weeks to four weeks.
Where Do We Go from Here?
This is just the beginning of the World Restructuring system. We have several features that we are discussing for future implementation, depending on what player feedback looks like after the first version of the system is live. Some examples include:
Additional WvW guild information and management in the guild panel
Team-building algorithm adjustments and improvements
Scoring adjustments
Until Next Time
To recap: In Q1 2024, we'll be running a World Restructuring beta. This beta helps us approach our goal of releasing a live version of the guild-based World Restructuring system by testing our new team builder, UI updates, and bug fixes. If the beta goes well, we'll be able to move forward with turning the system on full time, which will allow us to get consistent live data and community feedback to inform future development.
We'll continue to share development information for World vs. World and other game systems here, although we won't have much in the way of news until after the start of the new year.
We'll see you in the game!
Set Off Chain Reactions with the Engineer Short Bow Proficiency
Hello, Tyrians! My name is Chun-Hong Fung, and I'm a game designer on the Systems Team here at ArenaNet.
Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™, bringing a new weapon and skills for each profession. Today, we'll be taking a look at how the short bow stacks up for the engineer, which will be available to all players during our Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event, starting on November 28 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8).
Solving Problems One Detonation at a Time
The engineer has been experimenting with isolating and storing the magic used by others and infusing them into their own contraptions. This has led to the creation of essence-infused arrows, devices equipped with canisters of distilled magic that can be fired at a distant location. These arrows can then be detonated, releasing the essence within and covering the surrounding area with a magic field that affects both allies and enemies. The magic from these canisters may even combine in certain circumstances, causing their effects to be even more potent than when used by themselves!
By wielding the short bow, the engineer exchanges attack power for team support, gaining a total of four types of essence-infused arrows that can be fired into the ground. Despite them being arrows, the actual act of placing these on the ground is unblockable, so don't worry about those pesky projectile blockers getting in your way. These devices vary in effect, from debilitating your enemies to strengthening or protecting your allies. Once planted, the arrows can be triggered in several ways. They will detonate by themselves after a set amount of time (if the engineer is close enough), or the engineer can choose to detonate them manually with the follow-up skill. Finally, all arrows (except the autoattack) have a special property called Chain Reaction; when an arrow is active, it will also cause your other arrows in range to detonate. If this happens, those arrows gain bonus effects depending on the initial arrow that caused the detonation.
As an example of how this works, let's look at the second skill in the set, Essence of Animated Sand. When it detonates, enchanted sand is spread over an area, immediately granting barrier to allies in the vicinity and crippling enemies. When detonating other arrows, it causes them to grant a small amount of barrier on initial detonation as well, regardless of their original effect. You could either layer all the arrows in a single spot to give out large amounts of barrier in a small area or spread them out for maximum coverage, depending on the situation.
Chain reaction effects are not limited to the initial detonation, either. The fourth skill, Essence of Liquid Wrath, grants might to allies and vulnerability to enemies on detonation, then continues to pulse might to allies afterward. Its bonus effect allows other arrows to also pulse might to allies in their effective radius, making stacking multiple arrows in the same spot an effective way to strengthen allies in a short period of time.
As mentioned above, you'll be able to try out all the upcoming new weapon and profession combos during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event starting at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on November 28 and ending at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta event, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio assets for some of the weapon skills. Be sure to tune in to the Expanded Weapon Proficiency preview livestream on November 27 at noon Pacific Time to get a more in-depth look at all the new weapons.
Pistols Grant Elementalists the Choice between Greater Damage and Defense
Hi, folks. My name is Cal Cohen and I'm the lead skills and balance designer at ArenaNet.
Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™, in which each profession will have access to a new weapon. We're back today to take a look at the pistol weapon for the elementalist.
Elemental Ammunition
The pistol is a condition-focused weapon that brings some mobility, crowd control, and a large amount of damage. The pistol will also provide some interesting gameplay decisions with its elemental bullet mechanic that grants players a selection of bonus effects.
Every time you use a pistol skill (except for autoattacks) one of two things will happen. If no bullet of the same element exists, the skill will perform its base behavior and create a bullet of its element. A bullet will then hover near the player character to signify it has been created. However, if the elemental bullet already exists, the skill will consume that bullet to gain a bonus effect. For example, let's check out two skills from the earth attunement: Shattering Stone (slot 2) and Boulder Blast (slot 3).
Shattering Stone fires a shot that inflicts bleeding and cripple, shattering into multiple fragments that also strike nearby enemies. If an earth bullet is available, it will be consumed to grant the user an enhancement that makes their next few attacks also inflict bleeding.
Boulder Blast shoots a larger projectile that strikes a single enemy, immobilizing them and inflicting a larger amount of bleeding. If an earth bullet is available, it's consumed to grant the user barrier if the projectile successfully strikes an enemy. In this case, depending on the sequencing of skills, players can opt for either more damage or more defense depending on the situation at hand.
Weaver makes things a bit more complicated, as they can attune to multiple elements at once and have access to the multielement dual attacks. So how does this interact with elemental bullets? Dual attacks can consume bullets of both elements, granting a unique bonus for each bullet. If any matching bullet is available when using a dual attack, all matching bullets will be consumed to grant their bonuses. In the event there isn't a matching bullet, the dual attack will create a single bullet that matches the primary attunement.
We're definitely excited to see how players utilize the elemental bullet mechanic to maximize their effectiveness in various situations. We'll do a fuller deep dive into the elementalist pistol as well as other new weapons during the new weapon preview livestream on November 27 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8), and these weapons will all be available during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event that runs from 9 a.m. Pacific Time on November 28 until 10 p.m. Pacific Time on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta test, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio for some of the weapon skills.
We'll see you in the Mists!
Rifle Mesmers Direct Allies to the Nearest Emergency Exit
Hey, everyone! My name is Taylor Brooks, and I am a designer on the Skills and Balance Team here at ArenaNet.
Expanded Weapon Proficiency is coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™. Each profession will have access to a new weapon. Today I'll be giving you a peek at mesmer's new weapon—the rifle! Rifle is a long-range support weapon packed with healing and tools to help your allies.
Portal Power
The rifle is a versatile weapon. As an example of its flexibility, skill 3, Inspiring Imagery, allows the mesmer to throw out a beacon for their allies to rally to that will burst after a delay and grant them might and fury. However, the mesmer can detonate the beacon early in a pinch with Abstraction, which becomes available when Inspiring Imagery is used. When the beacon is detonated early, it will heal allies instead of granting boons while also damaging enemies.
The weapon gets even more exciting when we look at skill 5, Singularity Shot. You shoot a bullet at a target location that grants barrier and resistance to nearby allies. A singularity will linger at the impact, and it can be collapsed with Dimensional Aperture, the reactivation of skill 5. The collapsed singularity becomes a single-use, one-way portal that an ally can use to teleport to your location! This skill can be a powerful tool to bail out an ally from a sticky situation with your careful positioning.
Rifle will open support options for mesmers and provide interesting decision points for players in moment-to-moment gameplay.
You'll be able to try out all of the upcoming new weapon and profession combos during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event starting at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on November 28 and ending at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta test, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio assets for some of the weapon skills. Be sure to tune in to the Expanded Weapon Proficiency preview livestream on November 27 at noon Pacific Time (UTC-8) to get a more in-depth look at all the new weapons.
Create Otherworldly Bonds when Revenants Brandish Scepters
Hello, Tyrians! My name is Chun-Hong Fung, and I'm a game designer on the Systems Team here at ArenaNet.
Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™, bringing a new weapon and skills for each profession. Today, we'll be looking at the new scepter weapon for the revenant profession, which you'll be able to test during our Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event, starting on November 28 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8).
Don't Cross the Streams
Revenants wield scepters in an unorthodox way that is unique to their profession. Having observed the Kryptis in battle, they draw upon their ability to connect individuals together using the scepter as a conduit. They use this conduit to channel energies between targets, strengthening allies and debilitating enemies.
The revenant's autoattack chain projects a concentrated stream of energy from the tip of the scepter, which they wield like a blade to swing in a wide arc, damaging multiple enemies. The first attack, Serene Strike, is a simple melee slice, while the follow-up attack, Acerbic Cut, will grant might to allies. Motivating Whirl is the third strike of the autoattack chain, which cleaves enemies in a 360-degree radius around the revenant and applies barrier to allies on impact.
The second skill, Blossoming Aura, infuses an enemy target with energy from the Mists, dealing damage over time. After a delay, this energy explodes outward, damaging the enemy and granting barrier to allies. This effect can be strengthened by repeatedly striking the enemy with autoattacks, causing the final explosion to deal more damage and grant additional barrier to allies. While this skill can be cast at range, if you want to maximize the second effect you'll need to get in your enemies' faces.
Finally, Otherworldly Bond is an upkeep skill that creates a spiritual tether between you and your target. The tether has differing effects based on whether the target is an ally or an enemy. When used on an ally, the tether continually grants might to the target and allies around you. When an enemy is being tethered, the target will instead be inflicted with vulnerability and take additional strike damage from the revenant. The tether can be manually broken with the accompanying follow-up skill Deactivate, and it will automatically break if the revenant moves too far away from the target. And like Blossoming Aura, attacking enemies will cause the effects of the tether to strengthen!
But that's not all! When the tether reaches maximum strength, the revenant gains a new follow-up skill called Otherworldly Attraction. The allied version allows the revenant to shadowstep to the tethered target, granting barrier to allies around them. When an enemy is targeted, it instead pulls the tethered target toward the revenant while applying additional vulnerability to them.
Until Next Time
That about wraps it up for today's preview. As mentioned above, you'll be able to try out all of the upcoming new weapon and profession combos during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event starting at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on November 28 and ending at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta test, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio assets for some of the weapon skills. Be sure to tune in to the Expanded Weapon Proficiency preview livestream on November 27 at noon Pacific Time (UTC-8) to get a more in-depth look at all the new weapons.
Staff Warriors Bring Frontline Support to the Heat of the Battle
Hi, folks. My name is Cal Cohen, and I'm the lead skills and balance designer at ArenaNet.
Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™, bringing a new weapon and skills for each profession. Today we're taking a look at warrior's new weapon proficiency: the staff. Warrior has been lacking a strong weapon to use in its support builds, and staff serves to fill out some of the tools that warriors need to support their allies. Staff will be playable alongside the new weapons for every profession as part of the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event starting on November 28 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8).
Jumping in to Help
One of the key goals for staff skills was granting warriors the ability to charge to the front lines of battle to empower and support their allies, and for that we have the slot 2 skill, Valiant Leap. Valiant Leap causes the warrior to leap to the target location, healing and granting offensive boons to nearby allies upon arrival.
As a frontline support, we also wanted staff warriors to bring some personal survivability to the table, which is found in slot 5 with Bullet Catcher. Bullet Catcher starts off as a channeled block skill but also grants access to a secondary skill, Defiant Roar. Defiant Roar heals nearby allies, with the amount increasing for each attack blocked by Bullet Catcher (up to a reasonable amount, of course).
We're excited to see how warrior support builds come together with the introduction of staff. There are obviously a few more skills to cover, but we'll hold on to those until our new Expanded Weapon Proficiency preview livestream on November 27 at noon Pacific Time (UTC-8), where we'll give an in-depth introduction to each profession's weapon.
The day after that, the new weapons will be usable during the beta event that runs from November 28 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) through 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) on December 3. Keep in mind that during this beta test there will be temporary UI, art, and audio assets for some of the weapon skills.
We'll see you in the Mists!
Hurl Venomous Axes with the Thief's Expanded Weapon Proficiency
Hi, folks. My name is Cal Cohen, and I'm the lead skills and balance designer at ArenaNet.
Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™. When that feature arrives, each profession will have access to a new weapon, and today's topic is the thief's axe.
The axe is a ranged damage-dealing weapon that can be utilized by both power and condition builds, depending on the off-hand weapon. The core gameplay revolves around throwing axes that linger for a period of time, during which they can be redirected by the dual-wield skill to strike enemies again. Let's take a look at a few skills to demonstrate this.
Skill 2 is Venomous Volley, which throws out a fan of three poisonous axes. Once these axes reach their final destination, they'll remain spinning at that location but won't deal additional damage while stationary. Up to six spinning axes can be active at once.
The dual-wield skill with an off-hand dagger is Harrowing Storm. The thief teleports to a targeted enemy and recalls all spinning axes back to themselves, augmenting the axes to also inflict torment. The returning axes maintain their original properties, so in this example the returning axes that were created by Venomous Volley will inflict both torment and poison. For maximum value, build up more axes before recalling them, as an enemy struck by five returning axes will also be immobilized for a short duration.
We'll be back to show off the rest of the thief axe skills along with the full set of new weapons during the Expanded Weapon Preview livestream on November 27 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8), which will be followed by the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Time on November 28 and ending at 10 p.m. Pacific Time on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta event, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio for some of the weapon skills.
We'll see you in the Mists!
Become a Force of Nature with the Dual-Wielding Mace Ranger!
Good hunting! My name is Taylor Brooks, and I'm a designer on the skills and balance team here at ArenaNet.
Expanded weapon proficiencies are coming in 2024 during the second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™. Each profession will have access to a new weapon and skills to utilize against the evils of Tyria! Today I'll be introducing the ranger's new weapon set—dual maces. Wielding maces will allow you to become a warden of nature, tapping into the power of the land to support your allies while pummeling your enemies. You'll be able to try out all these new skills along with the new weapons for other professions during our Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event, starting on November 28 at 9 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8).
Main-hand mace and off-hand mace are sibling weapons that cover different roles while also synergizing very well together. Main-hand mace has strong supportive capabilities through healing and boons. As you strike enemies with mace skills, you'll bolster your bond with the land, gaining a new, unique effect called Nature's Strength.
Once you reach six stacks of Nature's Strength, the land will grant you its favor, and you'll gain another effect called Force of Nature. Force of Nature will reset your mace cooldowns as you grow large—increasing outgoing damage, healing, and stability!
Here's a look at a couple of the ranger's mace skills:
Mace skill 2 is called Flourish, which damages enemies and heals allies simultaneously. Your strike causes the ground beneath you to swell with energy, and after a delay, the ground will burst. The burst deals heavier damage and heals more than the initial strike. If you hit an enemy with the initial strike, you'll gain Nature's Strength.
The off-hand mace is a more defensive weapon that enhances survivability while also providing some crowd control. Thistleguard (mace skill 4) is a defensive skill that rewards careful timing in the thick of combat. You cover yourself in bramble armor, gaining barrier and stability for a moment as thorns strike outward. Hitting an enemy with these thorns will increase the defensive components of this skill while also granting you Nature's Strength.
Maces have a fun, versatile kit that can be used with many different playstyles. I'm excited to see how they can be used with existing builds, such as a support druid, or how they can lead to entirely new archetypes, like a bruiser that defeats their enemies in a moment of power!
As mentioned above, you'll be able to try out all of the upcoming new weapon and profession combos during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta event starting at 9 a.m. Pacific Time on November 28 and ending at 10 p.m. Pacific Time on December 3. Please note that since this is a beta test, there will be placeholder UI, art, and audio for some of the weapon skills. Be sure to tune in to the Expanded Weapon Preview livestream on November 27 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time to get a more in-depth look at all the new weapons.
New Story Chapters and Rewards Are Live in "Through the Veil"
"Through the Veil" Is Live
Today we're excited to lift the curtain and launch the first major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™—"Through the Veil"! This update contains three new story chapters and will send the wayfinder to a strange new place outside of Tyria proper—Nayos, the realm of dreams and home to the Kryptis.
As a reminder, this update—and the other two major updates to follow in 2024—are part of the Secrets of the Obscure content cycle and therefore free for anyone who owns the expansion!
To begin this content, navigate to the story journal in your Hero panel, select "Through the Veil," then click "Play This Episode."
What's New?
Many of the details for "Through the Veil" were discussed in our recent studio update blog. As a quick recap, you can experience the following when you jump into the game today:
Three new story chapters
The third expansion map, Inner Nayos
Convergences, public and squad-based rift hunting challenges against legendary Kryptis
A new Mastery track associated with Convergences
Wizard's Vault Seasonal Refresh (Remember, cosmetic items you missed are now in the legacy tab and don't expire!)
New Oneiros-Spun Armor, a Kryptis-themed armor set
Additional expansion relics
Cosmic Observatory Challenge Mode
Many new rewards: minis, guild decorations, armor, weapons, infusions, and more!
More Guild Wars 2 Happenings
We have a skills and balance update planned for November 28 and that same day, we're opening up the Expanded Weapons Proficiencies beta, in which you can test new skills and a new weapon for every profession. This feature is coming in our second major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure early in 2024, but we'd love to hear what you think after you've tried it out.
This week's Gem Store blog showcases fifteen new mounts available in the Arcane Delights Mount Adoption set. If riding around in style is your thing, be sure to check that out! We also have some incredible Black Friday sales coming later this month, so stay tuned.
Happy adventuring, and check out the full patch notes for "Through the Veil" on the official Guild Wars 2 forums.
Studio Update: Guild Wars 2 in Autumn and Winter 2023
Greetings, Tyrians,
The launch of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure™ has filled the skies of Tyria with skyscales, Halloween is in full swing, and we're back with another update on all things Guild Wars 2.
Going through the Veil
"Through the Veil," the first of three major updates to Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, is coming on November 7. As you may remember from previous update blogs and our expansion announcement, anyone who owns Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure will have full and permanent access to all new expansion content.
In 'Through the Veil,' three new story chapters will pick up where the launch story concluded and continue the adventure as you take your first brave steps into a new world: Nayos, the Realm of Dreams. If you haven't gotten a chance to play yet, you've got about two weeks to get caught up on the story so far and get ready for the next installment. For folks who have already played the launch story (or want a glimpse of it), we've put together a little refresher on some of the key moments that have led to our situation at the start of “Through the Veil.”
In addition to new story chapters and the opening of the third map, the Cosmic Observatory Strike Mission Challenge Mode and the Oneiros-Spun armor set will also be released on November 7. In fact, to make it simple, here's the chart we shared at launch that shows our plans for each Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure update.
Eagle-eyed observers will notice that the only real change from last time is that we moved up some items: we previously thought we'd need to add a few additional maps to the Rift Hunting rotation with each of the releases, but we were able to include six new maps to the rotation with the September 26 build. An additional six will be implemented with "Through the Veil," completing the Rift Hunting map rotation.
Convergences
Get ready, Rift Hunters! We're excited to take demon hunting to a whole new level with Convergences, which are public or squad-based forays into enemy territory. The new story will introduce you to the concept of Convergences and unlock the associated Inner Nayos Mastery track.
Together with fellow Rift Hunters, you'll open up a portal into the home realm of the Kryptis, where you'll need to have your weapons at the ready and your wits about you. There are no waypoints in the hostile territory you'll strike into; it'll take coordination between players to keep yourselves and your allies alive long enough to complete your objective and take out the legendary Kryptis lurking in each Convergence.
The public version of Convergences operates on a timer, while squads can open Convergences on demand with unstable Kryptis motivations acquired from tier 2 and tier 3 bounties. You can also earn an unstable Kryptis motivation each week by participating in a Convergence.
Wizard's Vault Refresh
Each major expansion release comes with a Wizard's Vault refresh (if you're just catching up with Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, you can find more details on the Wizard's Vault here). New seasons bring a new series of special objectives to complete for astral acclaim, which will all carry over. And you can then spend that Astral Acclaim on an updated roster of rewards!
The upcoming season of the Wizard's Vault features an additional three unique armor pieces (to complement the three pieces from the season that's about to end), a new infusion, a weapon set color variant, and more. And the rewards from the inaugural season aren't going away: this release will add a Legacy Rewards tab, where all the exclusive cosmetic rewards from previous seasons will remain available (although at a slightly higher cost due to being out of season).
Weapons, Skills, and Balance
As you already read in the table above, six additional expansion relics will be available starting November 7. We'll continue to expand the build options available to players through additional relics with the other two updates to follow.
Not too long after the release of "Through the Veil," you can look forward to a skills and balance update on November 28. We'll be sharing a preview of those changes, plus the new relics we just mentioned, this Friday, October 27, on our Twitch channel. As always, we appreciate your feedback beforehand, and we'll be watching carefully when the changes ship so we can see how things evolve.
Speaking of November 28—this is also an important day because you will get your first chance to try out a new weapon on your favorite profession! While this Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure feature will launch during our second major expansion update in early 2024, we're giving all players a chance to demo the expanded weapon proficiencies early to test them and provide feedback. This special beta event will run from the time our November 28 build goes live—around 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) until 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time on December 3. We'll start sharing more information about each profession's new weapon proficiency shortly after the release of "Through the Veil."
World vs. World
We'll have another blog out with more detailed information on World vs. World in a few weeks, but here are some highlights for this quarter.
In late January 2024, we'll be expanding the ways you can use your guild hall to create unique gameplay experiences with a guild hall arena update, including a selector to control which game mode rules your guild arena uses. This new feature will give you the ability to set your personal game mode in the guild hall, enabling the skills and balancing for the Player vs. Player or World vs. World game modes. In addition, we'll be introducing options to select teams outside of the confines of the guild arena, giving you access to the entire map so you can battle your friends.
We'll also be running another World Restructuring beta in early 2024. As we discussed in our last studio update, the WvW team has shifted their priority to releasing a live version of the guild-based World Restructuring system. Doing this allows us to get consistent live data and feedback from the community to inform our continued development and improvement. Since our last beta, we've addressed a number of issues with guild selection, queue failures, reset issues, and more. In the next beta, we'll be testing the new team builder, UI updates, and bug fixes. Assuming everything goes well with that test, we will be able to move forward with turning the system on full time. While we don't have dates for the beta or initial release at this time, we will let you know as soon as possible to allow you time to organize your guilds.
The Busiest Time of the Year, except for All the Other Ones
Those are the major releases and system updates coming up soon, but there's just a little more to cover. November and December will also include more events: a weeklong buff to support our Extra Life stream on November 3 and 4, a two-week New Hero Jump Start event, a Dungeon Rush week, and Wintersday coming up on December 12. Lunar New Year and a second skills and balance update will be coming along near the end of January 2024. Around then—or a little after—we'll be back to talk about the next few months of Guild Wars 2.
Altogether, November through January looks something like this:
As a sign-off reminder, we've got two livestreams coming up. First, we'd love to have you join us this Friday at noon Pacific Time (UTC-7) for a preview of the November 28 balance patch. Then, come back on November 3 and 4 for our 24-hour Extra Life celebration starting at noon Pacific Time on Friday and running until noon Saturday. You can learn more about our Extra Life stream here. And you can always check our official Guild Wars 2 channels for the latest news and updates.
