Gem Store Update: Soul River Hound Hammer and Elegant Silk Scarf Skin
Soul River Hound Hammer Skin
The River of Souls drains the life essence of all living beings who set foot in its stream, and the same applies to people who get smacked in the face with this hammer. Not that it really needed the enchantment to do that, mind you...
This item will permanently unlock a new hammer appearance in your account wardrobe.
Elegant Silk Scarf Skin
Join in on the Lunar New Year celebrations with this beautifully embroidered silk scarf. This item will permanently unlock a new shoulder item appearance in your account wardrobe.
Discounts
For the next two weeks, we're offering a 20% discount on Bank Tab Expansions. Each Bank Tab Expansion permanently increases the storage capacity of your account's bank by 30 slots. You can currently have up to 16 additional bank tabs, for a total of 510 slots accessible by any character on your account.
Seasonal Swap
Starting this Friday, look for the following items to be added to the Gem Store at a 20% discount:
Arcane Marksman Rifle
Aspect Master's Greatsword
Baleful Dragon Pistol Skin
Devil-Rending Axe Skin
Dragon Kama Skin
Eir's Legacy Longbow
Elegant Fan Focus Skin
Hourglass Staff
Infernal Roar Warhorn Skin
Infused Blades Package
Lord Caudecus's Pistol Skin
Lord Caudecus's Sword Skin
Shield of the Goddess
Suntouched Scythe Staff Skin
Wolfheart Shield Skin
Wolfheart Sword Skin
Gem Store Update: Floating Lantern Skiff and Magmatic Torch Skins
Floating Lantern Skiff Skin
Celebrate in style with a skiff perfect for the Lunar New Year!
This item will permanently unlock a new appearance for your skiff in your account wardrobe.
Magmatic Torch Skin
Feel your veins overflow with magmatic power. And watch your toes, maybe.
This item will permanently unlock a new torch appearance in your account wardrobe.
Discounts
For the next two weeks, we're offering a 20% discount on the following items:
Storage Expanders Pick up a Storage Expander to increase the size of your material storage by 250 items per slot.
Recharging Teleport to Friend Instantly teleport to anyone in your party or squad with this infinite-use device. Just mind the 1-hour cooldown.
Black Lion Contract Boards Add these contract boards to your home instance for daily deliveries of various crafting materials. These are permanent, account-wide unlocks.
Black Lion Garden Plot Deeds Add up to two additional garden plots to your home instance. Each plot has four harvesting nodes that you can use to grow plants from seeds and harvest daily.
Seasonal Swap
Starting this Friday, the following items will return to the Gem Store at a 20% discount:
Defiant Glass Backpack Skin
Dread Quiver Backpack
Emblazoned Cape
Glittering Wings Backpack
Herald of Aurene Cape
Rox's Quiver Set
Sloth Backpack
Tempest Cape
Available Now in the Gem Store!
Log into Guild Wars 2 and press 'O' to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!
Gem Store Update: Imperial Crane Raptor & Lunar Rabbit Helm and Stompers Package
Imperial Crane Raptor Skin
I once heard a scholar propose the idea that Canthan moas and Elonian raptors share a common ancestor. Ridiculous! But then again, the way that crane roars… Hmm…
This item will permanently add a new appearance option for your raptor to your account wardrobe.
Lunar Rabbit Helm and Stompers Package
Now that trade and travel are once again open between Cantha and the rest of Tyria, we've been getting some interesting imports in. The Canthan New Year does seem to bring out the animal lovers in all of us!
You can use these items to apply a new appearance to your helm and boots. The skins will become permanently available in your account wardrobe and can be applied as many times as you wish with Transmutation Charges.
Discounts
For the next two weeks, we're offering a 20% discount on Character Slot Expansions. This item will add one additional character slot to your account, allowing you to try out new playable races and professions.
Black Lion Chest Update
Black Lion Exclusive: Fortunate Blossom Fishing Rod Skin
At the end of the day, your fortune as a fisher is all you have to rely on. Of course, a bright dangly lantern with a hook on it helps, too.
This item will change the appearance of your fishing rod and permanently unlock this skin in your wardrobe.
Black Lion Guarantee: The Evon Gnashblade Lucky Envelope
In every Black Lion Chest you open for the next three weeks, you'll find one Evon Gnashblade Lucky Envelope. This container is affected by your account's magic find attribute and is always guaranteed to contain at least one golden figurine, one Essence of Luck, and a Lunar New Year consumable item. The greater your magic find, the greater your chances of finding rare and valuable items in the envelope.
Seasonal Swap
Starting this Friday, look for the following items to be added to the Gem Store at a 20% discount:
Butterfly Harvesting Flute
Consortium Harvesting Sickle
Firefly Mining Flute
Frost Wasp Logging Tool
Fused Molten Logging Axe
Fused Molten Sickle
Jack-in-the-Box Scythe
Molten Alliance Mining Pick
Infinite Spirits of the Wild Gathering Tools
Swarm Logging Flute
Available Now in the Gem Store!
Log into Guild Wars 2 and press 'O' to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!
Lunar New Year 2023: Beginner's Guide
The annual Lunar New Year festival is in full swing in Divinity's Reach! Tyrians are celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit with fireworks, games, delicious Canthan food, and prizes. This yearly festival is now live and will be available until January 31. You can check out all the details in the full release notes on our official forums.
This festival is accessible to players of any level. Even if you're brand new to the game, you can easily take part in our Lunar New Year activities and earn new cosmetic unlocks, utility items, and more! Read on for a quick rundown of the activities you can participate in during this festival and the rewards you can earn!
Rewards
Lunar New Year activities will reward you with Essences of Luck, items that can either be consumed to permanently increase your account's magic find attribute or be used as a currency at Lunar New Year festival vendors at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity's Reach. You'll also earn other currencies—such as the Token of the Celestial Champion from the Celestial Challenge—that can be exchanged for Lucky Envelopes.
Lucky Envelopes are containers that are affected by your account's magic find attribute. Increase your magic find for chances at better rewards when opening them. Lucky Envelopes can contain additional Essences of Luck, valuable trophies that you can sell to vendors for cash, and a chance at rare weapons, armor, and more. This year, every Lucky Envelope has a chance to grant you the Lucky Rabbit Lantern. Get that magic find up and open as many envelopes as you can!
Completing daily and annual achievements will allow you to earn new weapons, armor, and more! Check the Achievements pane in your Hero panel and navigate to the Daily Lunar New Year and Festivals sections for more information.
Where to Go
The Crown Pavilion in Divinity's Reach is your hub for Lunar New Year festivities. Check your in-game mail for an Invitation to Lunar New Year and double-click the item to teleport instantly to Divinity's Reach.
Activities
Celestial Challenge
Speak to the Celestial Challenge Attendant at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity's Reach to begin the Celestial Challenge, a series of activities that will require you to take down enemies, race through checkpoints, perform feats of jumping mastery, and more. The more activities you successfully complete during the event, the greater your rewards at the end.
Dragon Ball Arena
Speak to Finola at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity's Reach to enter the Dragon Ball Arena. This dodgeball-like PvP game mode is a race to the finish, with the first team of five players to reach five hundred points claiming victory. Collect power-ups throughout the arena to gain access to new skills, zip around the arena with zip pads and jump pads, and master the art of the Dragon Sphere.
Mount Racing
Race around Divinity's Reach! You don't need to have any mounts unlocked to take place in this race—a nearby rental service is available to rent a raptor for just 10 silver.
Firecracker Lighting
Speak to the firecracker-lighting NPC at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity's Reach to start this seasonal adventure. Use your mastery of the world to quickly navigate through the streets of Divinity's Reach and light all the firecrackers! Gliding, mounts, anything goes—just don't use any waypoints, or your progress will be reset!
Guild Wars 2 Minimum System Requirements Update
Hello, all,
As many of you know, we have been working on implementing and improving support for DirectX 11 in Guild Wars 2. Completing this upgrade will allow us to utilize more modern rendering features, improving both the graphical fidelity and performance of Guild Wars 2. We're happy to announce that we are now ready to remove the DirectX 9 renderer for Guild Wars 2 and migrate all players to the DirectX 11 renderer.
With this upgrade, we'll begin adjusting our minimum system requirements to include a DirectX 11-compatible GPU on February 6. This upgrade will roll out to all players over an eight-week period. We expect the process to be completed and all players to be migrated to the DirectX 11 client by April 18.
After the rollout has been completed, you will no longer be able to launch the game with DirectX 9. Players with systems that are not compatible with DirectX 11 will need to either upgrade their hardware to include a DirectX 11-compatible GPU or use a cloud gaming service such as NVIDIA GeForce NOW to continue playing Guild Wars 2.
DirectX 11 was originally released in 2009, and nearly any GPU released since then should support it. However, if you'd like to double-check your system for compatibility, doing so is simple:
In Windows, select Start and enter "dxdiag" into the search box on the taskbar.
Then, select dxdiag from the results.
Once the tool has opened, navigate to the "Display 1" section.
On the right side of this panel, under the "Drivers" section, check the "Feature Levels" listed for your display.
If your "Feature Levels" list contains "11_0" or higher, your GPU is DirectX 11-compatible.
Thank you, —The Guild Wars 2 Team
Gem Store Update: Tranquil Moon Chair
Tranquil Moon Chair
Playing among the stars is easy when you've got your own portable star field. Lounge in style with this snazzy moon-shaped chair!
This item will unlock a new chair in your account wardrobe. Chairs can be found under the Novelties menu in your Hero panel. Resting in a chair for 5 minutes will grant you a one-hour bonus to experience gained in the open world.
Discounts
For the next week, we're offering a 20% discount on the following items:
Home Instance Nodes
These items add permanent gathering nodes to your home instance. You can take advantage of these new nodes once per day for easy access to basic crafting materials.
Basic Cloth Rack
Basic Harvesting Node Pack
Basic Leather Rack
Basic Lumber Node Pack
Basic Ore Node Pack
Waypoint Unlock Packages
Take your newest alt on a speedy tour of all your favorite places in Tyria! Purchase the Waypoint Unlock Box, the Central Tyria Waypoint Unlock Package, and the Expansion Waypoint Unlock Package now to unlock waypoints across the world!
Seasonal Swap
Starting this Friday, look for the following items to be added to the Gem Store at a 20% discount:
Phoenix Light Armor Skin
Magitech Medium Armor Skin
Braham's Heavy Armor Skin
Available Now in the Gem Store!
Log into Guild Wars 2 and press 'O' to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!
Lunar New Year 2023 Is Next Week!
The annual Lunar New Year festival begins next week! Tyrians are celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit with fireworks, games, delicious Canthan food, and prizes. The Crown Pavilion in Divinity's Reach will be lit up with traditional Canthan decorations and will be your party hub to usher in the new year.
During the three weeks of the festival, you'll be able to participate in various activities and minigames only available during the celebration. There's something available for everyone—from the competitive, dodgeball-like Dragon Ball game mode to the agility-focused Celestial Challenge.
By participating in Lunar New Year events, you'll be able to earn loads of luck, which can be used to permanently increase the magic find bonus of your account. Magic find allows you earn higher-quality loot from foes, and bonuses to magic find obtained from luck are permanent and account wide.
We'll have more information about the returning activities and this year's rewards available next week. As always, the full release notes will be available on the official forums.
Happy new year, Tyria!
Guild Wars 2 Winter Sales Are Here!
Celebrate the Wintersday spirit and treat your friends and family–or yourself–to the gift of Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2 Expansion Sales
The following discounted items are available now on the Guild Wars 2 Steam store page!
Guild Wars 2–The Complete Collection
Experience the entire dragon cycle saga from beginning to end with Guild Wars 2–The Complete Collection. This bundle contains all three expansions and all purchasable Living World episodes to date.
You'll also get two Level-80 Boosts, allowing you instantly level up two characters and jump straight into our latest content, with two Shared Inventory Slots to easily share items with every character on your account.
This collection is available now at a 20% discount during the Winter Sale for $79.99.
Expansion 3: Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons™
The future of Cantha is now. The dragon cycle that has sustained and blighted Tyria for ages is collapsing. Mortal hearts and choices will define this moment in history–and echo in the future forever. Unlock new elite specializations, Masteries, and more, including access to fishing and skiffs.
This expansion is available now for $23.99, a 20% discount.
Expansions 1 and 2: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns™ & Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire™
Unlock mounts, gliding, and more with the first two expansions for Guild Wars 2. This package grants you access to a new profession, the revenant, as well as eighteen elite specializations to change the way you play. Experience the joy of movement with the best mounts in MMOs.
This expansion bundle is available now for $14.99, a 50% discount.
Guild Wars 2 Winter Sales are Here, Happy Wintersday to All!
For the next two weeks (12/22/22 10 AM - 1/5/23 10 AM PST), get discounts on Guild Wars 2 expansions! Celebrate the Wintersday spirit and treat your friends and family – or yourself – to the gift of Guild Wars 2.
And don’t forget, our yearly holiday festival Wintersday is now live and available until January 3, 2023.
Guild Wars 2 — The Complete Collection
Experience the entire dragon cycle saga from beginning to end with Guild Wars 2 — The Complete Collection. This bundle contains all three expansions and all purchasable Living World episodes. You'll also get two Level-80 Boosts, allowing you instantly level up two characters and jump straight into our latest content, with two Shared Inventory Slots to easily share items with every character on your account.
This collection is available now at a 20% discount during the Winter Sale for $79.99.
Expansion 3: Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
The future of Cantha is now. The dragon cycle that has sustained and blighted Tyria for ages is collapsing. Mortal hearts and choices will define this moment in history — and echo in the future forever. Unlock new elite specializations, Masteries, and more, including access to fishing and skiffs.
This expansion is available now for $23.99, a 20% discount.
Expansions 1 and 2: Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns & Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire
Unlock mounts, gliding, and more with the first two expansions for Guild Wars 2. This package grants you access to a new profession, the revenant, as well as eighteen elite specializations to change the way you play. Experience the joy of movement with the best mounts in MMOs.
This expansion bundle is available now for $14.99, a 50% discount.
Wintersday 2022 Is Live
Come join us in celebrating Wintersday—Toymaker Tixx has made his annual visit to Divinity's Reach to spread seasonal cheer and festivity! Bring the cheer of Wintersday to the distant north in the Secret Lair of the Snowmen, complete daily achievements to earn fanciful holiday weapons, save Wintersday for the orphans located around Divinity's Reach by giving them wrapped gifts, test your snow-throwing skills against other players in Snowball Mayhem, experience the joy of jumping in Winter Wonderland, defend against waves of toys in Toypocalypse, and help keep Tixx's airship, the Infinirarium, in order!
This festival is accessible to players of any level. Even if you’re brand new to the game, you can easily take part in our Wintersday activities and earn new cosmetic unlocks, utility items, and more!
What To Do
Divinity’s Reach is the hub for Wintersday festivities. Check your mail for a letter from Tixx containing an Invitation to Wintersday, which you can use to travel instantly to Divinity’s Reach. Portals leading to Divinity’s Reach will also be available in Lion’s Arch, the Black Citadel, Hoelbrak, Rata Sum, and the Grove.
Visit locations marked by peppermint candies on your map to participate in Wintersday activities. Don’t forget to visit Wintersday trees and Toymaker Tixx himself each day to collect gifts.
You can check out all the details in the full release notes on our official forums. Read on for a quick rundown of the activities you can take part in during this festival!
Rewards
Wintersday activities award Wintersday Gifts containing an assortment of holiday treats and surprises. Festival currency includes snowflakes, Snow Diamonds, and karma, which you can exchange for new minis, guild hall decorations, recipes, tonics, and more.
Speak to one of the Charity Corps Seraph at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach to exchange your snowflakes for Snow Diamonds, and your Snow Diamonds for unique Wintersday rewards.
Many unique rewards—such as the new Wintersday Snow Boots and the Snowdrift weapon set—are obtained by completing achievements. You’ll find more information on the Wintersday achievements and their rewards in your Hero panel under the Daily and Festivals categories.
Happy Wintersday, Tyria!
Studio Update: Happy Wintersday from the Guild Wars 2 Team
Before we head out for our annual holiday break and bid farewell to 2022, we want to take a few moments to celebrate the past year and extend our heartfelt gratitude to you, our players, for making it all possible.
2022 was a fantastic year for Guild Wars 2, and it started off with a bang. On February 28, we released our third expansion, Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons™, which brought a climactic end to the elder dragon saga (spoiler!). The team poured their heart and soul into bringing a reimagined Cantha to life, and in the end, we delivered an experience that we're incredibly proud of.
But the expansion is just one part of this year's story. Living World Season 1–which had previously been unplayable for over eight years–returned as a free and permanent addition to the base game. We delivered significant quality-of-life gameplay improvements for both new players and veterans, with more to come. We made considerable progress on long-term initiatives like the DirectX11 upgrade and WvW World Restructuring, and we renewed our focus on regularly refreshing key gameplay systems like combat. And we released Guild Wars 2 on Steam, putting Tyria on the map for an entirely new group of gamers.
We've also reinforced our commitment to being transparent and communicating regularly with all of you, with regular studio updates, quarterly roadmaps, and balance preview livestreams. In the background, we've been working quietly on our next content update, and we began early development on our fourth expansion. In the midst of everything, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Guild Wars 2's original release–an achievement only made possible by the support of our community.
All of this paid off in a big way. Back in April, we reported that our active player count had more than doubled over the past few years and that Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons had already outsold our previous expansion, Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire™. Today, we're excited to share a new accomplishment. This year we've already seen more players venture into Tyria for the first time since 2015– the year we made the base game content playable for free and launched our first expansion, Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns™. This has been one of the best years for Guild Wars 2 in recent memory, and we're eager to keep building on that momentum.
We’ll be back early next year to talk about our Q1 plans, which include wrapping up the DirectX11 transition, continuing work on World vs. World, upgrading our in-game browser technology from Coherent to Chromium Embedded Framework, and of course new Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons content. We're also looking forward to sharing our long-term vision and plans for the game.
Thank you all for a fantastic 2022. Let's do it again next year. Have a wonderful Wintersday! –The Guild Wars 2 Team
