Guild Wars 2

Overview

Guild Wars 2 is the second game in the Guild Wars franchise. GW2 is currently being developed by ArenaNet and is still retaining the original concept of having no monthly fees. The game uses a new engine with improved graphics over the original games, but is said to still run on moderate to high spec PCs. DirectX10 is supported but it is not required.

Controls

Guild Wars 2 will have revamped controls compared to the previous game, eliminating "click-to-move" and adding a Z axis to allow for jumping and swimming. Characters will be able to interact with the environment through motion significantly more, by jumping, climbing, swimming, sliding, etc. Spells and abilities with cast times can be cast while moving, and it has been mentioned that using an ability while jumping or moving may cause it to perform differently than usual. Players can also dodge incoming attacks by double tapping on any directional key.

Skills

Guild Wars 2 is unique in that it has a ten slot skill bar, of which only five skills are determined by the player. The rest are determined by the character’s profession and weapon they currently have equipped. For example, a Warrior with a two-handed greatsword will always have the same first five skills (the weapon’s main damage dealing skills); with the latter five being drawn from a pool of healing, utility, and elite skills. These are customizable to best fit the player’s play style and current situation and each profession and race will have a wide variety of utility skills from which to choose.

Weapon skills are unlocked through use of their associated weapon, while non-weapon skills can be collected using a mechanic similar to the one found in the original Guild Wars.

Instancing

Unlike the original game, which was completely instanced aside from towns and outposts, Guild Wars 2's world will be entirely persistent except for dungeons and some personal storyline quests. Instead of each area having a series of "districts" so that not too many people are on one server, there will be a list of "worlds," similar to most MMOs' server or "realm" setups. However, unlike most other MMOs, these "worlds" can be switched between very easily, with the caveat that some restrictions on World vs. World PvP will be in place after a transfer to prevent people from jumping ship to the winning side. Persistent areas will have new "dynamic events," essentially public quests that aren't always present but can be triggered as a result of the success or failure of other dynamic events in the area.

Character Creation

The character creation in Guild Wars 2 is much like other MMOs, where you select your Race and Profession and customize your appearance. After you select those, the game will ask you some personal questions about your upbringing to help flesh out your character. These choices have an impact on some aspects of your character's personal story. This feature is unique to each race and affects the development of your character's personal story drastically. The character customization is to be drastically improved from the very limited customization in Guild Wars. You will be able to refine your characters body and face allowing you to modify your facial features and body type. Armor will also not be exclusive to just a single profession, but are instead divided into weight classes - Warriors and Guardians (Soldiers) wear Heavy Armor; Thieves, Rangers, and Engineers (Adventurers) wear Medium Armor; and Elementalists, Necromancers, and Mesmer (Scholars) wear Light Armor.

Subscription Fee

Like the original Guild Wars, there will be no subscription fee to play Guild Wars 2. All that is required is a game purchase and an internet connection in order to play. The game will have a microtransaction store, but according to ArenaNet, microtransactions will remain limited to cosmetic items or account services and not things that significantly impact gameplay.

Character Races

One of the most obvious new options for character creation is the addition of new non-human playable races. Each race has some unique abilities, such as the norn, which can transform into bears, or the asura, who can summon golems.

Human

Logan Thackeray, human

The only playable race in the original Guild Wars, the humans were the most prominent Tyrian race. The human kingdoms have suffered since the first game, however. After the rise of Orr from the bottom of the sea, most humans on the continent of Tyria died battling the invading undead armies. Orr's rise flooded the Krytan city of Lion's Arch completely. Centuries ago the king of Ascalon invoked the Foefire to prevent his kingdom from falling to the charr. He saved his kingdom at a terrible price: Every living person in Ascalon was transformed into a ghost, and the ghosts haunt Ascalon City, defending their king in death. The remnants of Ascalon live in Ebonhawke, their last stronghold, and in the kingdom of Kryta, behind the walls of Divinity's Reach ruled by Queen Jennah. Since the defeat of Abbadon in the first Guild Wars and the rise of the dragons in the intervening centuries, the Six Gods have withdrawn from interfering with the Humans daily lives. The Gods are still worshipped by the humans and they do not feel abandoned by them, but rather tested. They know the Gods want humans to fend for themselves and solve their own problems.

Asura

Zojja, asura

The asura are an incredibly intelligent race who lived beneath Tyria until they where forced out by the Destroyers during the events of GW:EN. Since then, they've built new lives for themselves on the surface. Asura are short, usually have grayish hair and skin and are commonly arrogant and proud, considering the other races of Tyria to be inferior. They created the Asura Gates, magical gateways that create portals from one gate to another, and they maintain strict control of these gates in the cities of all the other races. They have remained neutral with the other races, though they try to manipulate conflicts so they can gain power in the word of Tyria.

Charr

Rytlock Brimstone, charr

The charr are a race of savage feline creatures that were responsible for the fall of the Kingdom of Ascalon. The Flame Legion, comprised mostly of shamans, were the leaders of the legions during the Searing of Ascalon, having made a bargain with false gods known as Titans to gain the power to invade the human kingdoms. After the Titans were killed by humans, the Flame Legion was thrown into disarray. They discovered the Destroyers and intended to make them their Gods, but a group of charr led by Pyre Fierceshot felt the charr should no longer depend on false gods, and with the help of a group of humans he killed the Shaman Caste leader and the Destroyers. Now the charr are in control of everything east of the Shiverpeaks except the mighty fortress of Ebonhawke and the haunted Ascalon City. The charr have four legions: The Blood Legion, the Iron Legion, the Ash Legion and the outcast Flame Legion (derisively called the Gold Legion by most other charr).

Norn

Eir Stegalkin, norn

A race of nine-foot-tall warriors from the cold north, the norn worship the spirits of nature and have the ability to transform into their totem animal. They currently recognize four great spirits: Wolf, Bear, Raven, and Snow Leopard. Previously they made their home in the farthest north reaches of the Shiverpeak mountain range, but since the rise of the ice dragon Jormag, they've been forced farther south, into lands previously held by the dwarves before the dwarven race went into decline. Norn are an individualistic race - they value a person's accomplishments over all else, and a norn's ultimate goal in life is to have their deeds immortalized, the stories of their accomplishments passed down to future generations. They have no concept of leaders or government, though some may choose to follow certain heroes who have accomplished legendary deeds.

Sylvari

Caithe, sylvari

The youngest race of Tyria, born less than 30 years before the start of the game, sylvari were created from a magical tree planted in Arbor Bay by the centaur Ventari. Before Ventari died, he inscribed a stone tablet with the values and lessons he'd learned throughout his life and laid it at the base of the tree. The tablet was found by the Firstborn sylvari and became the foundation of their beliefs and morals. Before sylvari are born, they absorb knowledge of the world from the tree and from living memories of their race in a bond they call the Dream of Dreams. However, they often lack the experience to go with this knowledge, and are typically both curious and very naive as a result.

Professions (Classes)

There are eight professions in Guild Wars 2, roughly categorized by the type of armor they wear: scholars wear light armor, adventurers wear medium armor, and soldiers wear heavy armor.

Unlike Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 will not have secondary professions. They found that the complexity of each individual class was making the task of character creation overwhelmingly elaborate and extremely difficult to balance for the average user. Each class has enough depth to stand on its own, so a secondary profession system was deemed unnecessary.

Guild Wars 2 also has no dedicated healing class. Instead there is more focus on support roles, preventing damage before it happens with buffs or by controlling or blocking enemy movement so that enemies can't reach their targets. There will be healing skills, but they will make up a very small number of spells overall and each profession has one ability slot on its action bar that is reserved for a self-heal.

Elementalist (Scholar, low health)

A human Elementalist casting Static Field.

The Elementalist channels the natural forces of fire, water, air and earth to combat against enemies. Even though the Elementalists lack physical toughness they make up for it with devastating offensive power. Elementalists can deal enormous amounts of damage in very small periods of time. The Elementalist's ability to adapt to certain situations is their true strength and with their ability to attune to the four elements they show their versatility.

Fire is an element that causes scorching damage to multiple enemies at a time and allows the Elementalist to rain fire from the sky upon enemies. When attuned to fire, enemies automatically take fire damage when they attack the Elementalist.

Air is an element that allows the Elementalist to control both wind and lightning to target specific targets with high damaging focused attacks. These attacks include lightning bolts to damage enemies and bright blasts of light to blind foes. When attuned to air enemies are automatically struck by lightning bolts.

Water is an element that, as opposed to dealing large amounts of damage, allows the Elementalist to control the movements of their enemies. This is done by freezing enemies or causing them to slip on ice. When attuned to water nearby allies also receive continuous healing.

Earth is the element that is needed to protect the Elementalist and her allies. They can turn flesh to stone, destabilize foes with seismic shocks, and destroy threats with volcanic eruptions. When attuned to earth the Elementalist gains magical protection.

There are several different types of spells that the Elementalist relies on and these include:

• Glyphs - These arcane spells enhance or modify the natural power of the Elementalist. They use the Glyph of Elemental Power to increase the damage, range, and duration of their spells.
• Signets - Signets provide an ongoing benefit to the Elementalist, but can also be activated for a greater effect. An Elementalist equipped with the Signet of Earth has increased damage resistance, but activating the Signet sends out a wave of stone, stunning nearby enemies.
• Conjure Spells - The Elementalist uses Conjure spells to summon useful items and potent weapons that they or other party members can use. For instance, Conjure Flame is used to create a fiery rock to hurl at the enemy.
• Area Spells - Using Area spells, the Elementalist creates hazards and mayhem all over the field of battle. The Elementalist fires lava arrows in a cone-shaped blast or creates walls of fire that scorch any enemies passing through.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Staff
• Main-hand - Dagger, Scepter
• Off-hand - Dagger, Focus
• Aquatic - Trident

Warrior (Soldier, high health)

A human Warrior faces his foes.

The Warrior is the master of weapons. He uses heavy armor along with his brute strength and will to fight. The Warrior relies on his agility, strength, and fortitude in combat and can take blow after blow without faltering, all the while building up his adrenaline to further fuel his abilities. The more adrenaline the Warrior stacks up during a fight the more damage that warrior does to his respective opponent(s), or the Warrior can choose to use all the adrenaline he has stacked up over the time of the fight and channel it all into one burst skill. Each weapon variant will have a burst skill and these burst skills can cause a massive amount of damage if the player has enough adrenaline to do so.

The Warrior will have many special skills as will all of the classes, and they will include:

• Shouts - Shouts are to buff allies in the area of effect or to demoralize and debuff enemies within the area of effect.
• Banners - The Warrior can call down a banner to buff himself or his party members. The warrior can carry this banner around or plant it in the ground for the area of effect.
• Stances - The Warrior can change stances that give advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation the warrior is in.
• Chains - A certain weapon type will have specific chains that come along with the weapon. These chains are multiple moves put into one attack variant. So one attack button on your action bar that is labeled as a chain attack is actually two to three attacks that are available because of the weapon you are using.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Greatsword, Hammer, Longbow, Rifle
• Main-hand - Axe, Mace, Sword
• Off-hand - Axe, Mace, Shield, Sword, Warhorn
• Aquatic - Harpoon Gun, Spear

Ranger (Adventurer, medium health)

A Ranger is a master of ranged combat. The Ranger is able to adapt to his/her opponent's many weaknesses with the variety of pets they have at their command, and their ability to strike a deadly blow from a distance. A Ranger is always accompanied by their faithful pet. The Ranger must bond with this pet and through that bond they gain a powerful connection to one another that makes them a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. The Ranger may have up to three charmed pets at a time, but only one can be active and traveling with the Ranger at once. The Ranger must charm a juvenile member of the species he/she hopes to attain. This enables the Ranger to raise the animal and form a powerful bond with it as it ages. It is also worth noting that a ranger is a jack-of-all-trades and is adept at many things, and as such is able to use that to his/her advantage.

A group of Rangers.

The Rangers have many special skills that include:

• Traps - A trap is triggered when an enemy enters the area it is planted. The trap can be used to do a number of different things. It can damage the enemy or used for crowd control. The Ranger may only have one of these traps out at a time, and can utilize them to utterly disable their enemies.
• Spirits - A Ranger can call an a spirit of nature to buff the party, or himself/herself. The spirit will appear and give a buff, depending on what spirit the Ranger chooses to call. The example given on the Guild Wars 2 website states that if the Ranger calls on a Sun Spirit the Ranger receives a buff to fire damage for the duration of the spirit. However the Ranger must be careful as spirits are able to take damage from enemies, and if the Ranger wanders out of range of the spirit it disappears. In addition to that the Ranger may only have one spirit active at a time.

Of course one of the most important aspects of the Rangers class is the necessity of a pet, a loyal companion that will fight beside you to the death. The Ranger can only have one pet active at any given time, but outside of combat can swap between the three pets they are able to have in total. There are 12 different types of pet species that the player may charm. These include (but are not limited to) various spiders, various lizards, and sharks. With each subtype of species comes certain skills and abilities that another species might not have; bears may have different roars, different spiders may have different venom, etc. The Ranger's pet will evolve and level with the Ranger. When a pet evolves it gains "evolution points". These points can be used to unlock certain talents and abilities for the pet, as well as the health and resistance the pet will receive with each evolution level it gains. The pet's level will be determined by the Ranger's, which determines everything from its attack, resistances, and its overall health.

The Ranger is able to control his/her pet in and out of combat. Modes determine what state of mind the pet is in before or after and attack, and commands enable the Ranger to give specific commands to their pet. Some of these modes/commands are:

Pet Modes

• Aggressive: Attacks what the Ranger is attacking.
• Defensive: Attacks what attacks the Ranger.
• Passive: Doesn't attack at all.

Pet Commands

• Attack: Attacks the Ranger's target.
• Stay: The pet is ordered to not move.
• Heel: The pet is ordered to return to its masters side.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Greatsword, Longbow, Shortbow
• Main-hand - Axe, Sword
• Off-hand - Axe, Dagger, Torch, Warhorn
• Aquatic - Harpoon Gun, Spear

Necromancer (Scholar, high health)

The Necromancer is a master of the dark arts and an individual who revels in death. The Necromancer uses the power of death to summon the dead to fight, wield the power of lost souls, and suck the very life from the enemy. The Necromancer thrives in death and decay and can use life force to fell their enemies or to aid their comrades. A Necromancer uses "Life Force" to extend his/her life. This life force is gained over time by attacking enemies with specific skills and techniques. Once the Necromancer reaches a certain threshold the Necromancer can activate an ability called "Death Shroud". Death Shroud enables the Necromancer to take a spirit-like form and leave their body behind. If the Necromancer happens to be bested by the enemy, he/she can activate the "Death Shroud" ability and continue to fight drawing from the "Life Force" they have gained during the fight. The Necromancer will be able to fight until the life force runs out or until the Necromancer is able to get a kill while using "Death Shroud" and return to their body. Death Shroud will also give the Necromancer using the skill multiple unique spells associated with the shroud form.

A group of Necromancers.

A Necromancer has many special skills, some of which include:

• Wells - Area of effect spells that a Necromancer can use to buff his/her party or themselves. An example presented on the Guild Wars 2 website is called the "Well of Blood". When the Well of Blood is placed the Necromancer and his/her party will gain a bonus to regeneration. A Necromancer may have only one well down at any time.
• Minions - The Necromancer is able to summon undead minions to fight alongside him. Along with each summoning spell comes a second spell. For example, when you summon a creature to fight for you its associated button on the actionbar will be replaced by another spell that is directly related to that summoned creature. The spell usually (if not always) will give the Necromancer the ability to destroy the creature they just summoned to gain some sort of bonus to a statistic or even replenish health.
• Fear - The Necromancer can make a character flee in terror of the caster. This is not an individual spell, but rather an effect of some spells. When the Necromancer uses various spells they will have the ability to incite fear into the enemy.
• Marks - A Necromancer can place marks on a chosen area and when the mark is triggered it is able to give boosts to stats or damage those in the area of effect. A mark functions like a trap of sorts, although a Necromancer is able to trigger the mark at anytime if he/she wishes to do so.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Staff
• Main-hand - Axe, Dagger, Scepter
• Off-hand - Dagger, Focus, Warhorn
• Aquatic - Spear, Trident

Guardian (Soldier, medium health)

The Guardian is an extremely devoted fighter who calls upon special abilities in battle to aid and protect his/her allies. The Guardian is a master tactician who knows when to sacrifice his own abilities to empower his allies in combat. Every Guardian is supported by an array of passive abilities that grant the Guardian benefits. The Guardian may choose to sacrifice these abilities in order to grant them to his/her teammates in combat, which makes the Guardian an excellent supportive member of any group. This ability especially comes in handy when leading a battle charge or protecting your parties flanks. These passive abilities are called "Virtues". Each Guardian has three virtues that are Courage, Justice, and Resolve. Each of these unique virtues carries with it a unique "buff" that will effect the Guardian or the Guardian's party, depending on how the Guardian chooses to use the virtue.

A charr Guardian.

The Guardian profession will have a multitude of skills, some that have been unveiled are:

• Wards - A ward is a marked area on which enemies cannot move, but allies can. The Guardian may drop down a ward to allow a retreat or a regroup, and the enemies will not be able to interfere.
• Spirit Weapons - A spirit weapon can be summoned by a Guardian to aid him/her in battle. The spirit weapon will aid the Guardian in combat for a limited time, acting as a companion.
• Symbols - A symbol is dropped by the Guardian on specific place to do damage to enemies or aid allies in battle. Different symbols will have different effects when dropped.
• Aegis - An aegis is a removable boon that has the ability to block incoming attacks. This is accessed through the Virtue of Courage.

The Guardian will have access to three different virtues that he/she may access at any time to aid in battle or to aid the party. They are:

• Courage - Every 30 seconds you are granted Aegis which blocks the next incoming attack, may also be used on party.
• Justice - Every fifth attack causes burning, may be used on party.
• Resolve - Regenerate health, may be used on party.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Greatsword, Hammer, Staff
• Main-hand - Mace, Scepter, Sword
• Off-hand - Focus, Shield, Torch
• Aquatic - Spear, Trident

Thief (Adventurer, low health)

A norn Thief using Unload.

The Thief is a master of stealth and is at their best when catching an enemy by surprise. The Thief has very little armor and has a very low pool of health but compensates for that with their ability to vanish in combat and hide in the shadows until the moment to strike is just right. The Thief uses initiative to fuel their weapon skill, which is unique to the Thief. While most other classes rely on recharge rate, the Thieves' abilities cost initiative but in turn have no recharge time. This means that the Thief can use weapon skills back-to-back with no penalties and gives the Thief the ability to unleash a ravaging array of attacks in a short amount of time. One of the most unique abilities that the Thief has access to is called "Steal". This ability generates an environment weapon based on the monster and/or player that the Thief is in combat with and gives said weapon to the Thief for use. The weapon generated is unique to the class, race, and/or species of the opponent. The Thieves' ability to dual wield weapons offers a unique situation for their profession. When the Thief is dual wielding he/she will gain two skills from their main hand, two skills from their off-hand, and one skill from both weapons. This means that a different combinations of weapons will benefit different playstyles. An example being a Thief who is wielding two daggers will not have the same playstyle or skills as a Thief who is dual wielding a dagger and a pistol.

The Thief has many special skill types, three of them are:

• Stealth - The Thief can vanish and hide in the shadows. This skill makes the Thief invisible to enemy players, allows them to ignore aggro, and replaces the Thief's first skill with a "Stealth skill" that can only be used when in stealth (ex: going into stealth with a dagger gives you the back stab skill) . The Thief can still be damaged in stealth mode however, and this will temporarily knock them out of their invisible state.
• Shadow Stepping - Allows the Thief to vanish from one point on the battlefield and quickly reappear at a different location during combat.
• Traps - Similar to the traps that the Ranger profession can utilize, a Thief can use traps to ambush opponents and catch them off-guard.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Shortbow
• Main-hand - Dagger, Pistol, Sword
• Off-hand - Dagger, Pistol
• Aquatic - Harpoon Gun, Spear

Engineer (Adventurer, medium health)

Engineers are master mechanics, and they use every tool at their disposal to commit the maximum amount of carnage. Engineers use the gadgets they make to aid them in battle, things like explosives, deployable devices, and elixirs to name a few. They can turn the tide of battle by securing an area with a turret, or by buffing their allies with alchemical weapons. Additionally, they can simply lay waste to the enemy by themselves with their vast array of mines, grenades, bombs, and other explosives. Much like the Elementalist profession, an Engineer can only have one weapon 'set' at a time, but to make up for this, each set comes with special utility and healing kits that the Engineer can use. Each weapon set gives the Engineer unique skills and abilities corresponding specifically to the set.

A few examples of what Engineer kits consist of are:

• Weapon Kits - These are utility skills, and when equipped by the Engineer give them a unique set of powers. If the Engineer chooses a flamethrower kit, the engineer will be granted a set of abilities unique to the weapon. Skills like "Immolate" to damage, "Air Blast" to defend from ranged attacks, and "Backdraft" to bring enemies within range of the Engineer's attacks.
• Backpack Kits - These kits give the engineer a unique set of talents in the place of a weapon. For example, a bomb kit would allow an engineer to place bombs and use them offensively instead of a weapon.
• Turrets - Turrets have a wide array of uses. There are some suited for offensive placement and dealing damage. There are others that are more suited to aid the Engineer's party members. Whatever the case, when an Engineer places a turret they can use a skill that is granted upon placing the turret, called "overcharge". An overcharge would effectively boost the turret's abilities for a short time. If a "thumper" turret is placed down, which deals AOE damage, and the Engineer activates "overcharge" the turret will deal massive AOE damage for a set number of attacks. In addition to that, an Engineer can interact with a turret after having placed it, in order to transport the turret to wherever they choose. Only one turret may be deployed at any time by an Engineer.
• Tool Belt - The tool belt boosts the Engineer's utility and healing talents. It can be paired with various weapon kits to provide interesting new talents and skills for the Engineer to utilize.

Finally a list of the tools and weapons available to the Engineer class:

Weapons

• Two-handed - Rifle
• Main-hand - Pistol
• Off-hand - Pistol, Shield
• Aquatic - Harpoon Gun

Backpack Kits

A norn Engineer with a Healing Turret.

• Grenade Kit
• Bomb Kit
• Tool Kit
• Mine Kit
• Med Kit

Weapon Kits

• Flamethrower Kit
• Elixir Gun

Turrets

• Thumper Turret
• Rifle Turret
• Net Turret
• Flame Turret
• Healing Turret

Mesmer (Scholar, low health)

The Mesmer relies on manipulation and confusion to incapacitate their opponents. Their greatest asset is the indecision of their foe. Using illusions to distract and avoid close-quarters, they are able to stack any encounter in their favor. Beware, because just when you think you've cornered a Mesmer, you may find yourself swinging at clones, illusions, or empty air. The real Mesmer can be difficult to follow.

Rather than specializing in one-on-one or ranged combat, Mesmers are master artificers. They layer conditions, phantasms, and confusion to create intricate puzzles to be solved by their enemies while aiding their allies.

The Mesmer has a few skill types unique to the profession:

• Illusions - Mesmers can manifest physical illusions in battle. Most are directed at a single target, but they are visible to anyone. They exist only as long as the target lives and can only be dispelled by direct damage to the illusion. A Mesmer may maintain up to three illusions simultaneously, with the newest illusion replacing the oldest. There are two types: clones and phantasms.
1. Clones - A clone is an illusion that is physically identical to the caster, shares the caster's name, and has simple A.I. behaviors. They tend to have little health and poor damage output. For example, a Mesmer with a sword would have two skills to summon clones: "Leap", which propels them forward while leaving a clone at their original location, and "Illusionary Leap", which summons a clone that propels forward from their location.
2. Phantasms - A phantasm is an illusion that resembles the caster but has its own name and illusionary weapons. Phantasms have more health and a higher damage rate than clones. For example, a Mesmer might summon a mage phantasm that deals additional damage for every condition on its target.
• Mantras - A mantra is a skill with two phases. Their activation phase carries a relatively long casting-time, but is followed by an instant-activation skill which can be used while casting other spells without interrupting them. For example, "Mantra of Pain" has a secondary phase that is an instant-cast spike, and is usable during any channeled skill.

The Mesmer's special abilities are different skills that shatter all of their illusions for a variety of effects:

A norn Mesmer.

• Mind Wrack - Destroys your illusions and does damage to opponents near them.
• Cry of Frustration - Destroys your illusions and gives the confused condition to nearby foes.
• Diversion - Destroys your illusions and stuns nearby foes.
• Reflection - Destroys your illusions and places a barrier around the Mesmer, which reflects enemy projectiles.

Weapons

• Two-handed - Greatsword, Staff
• Main-hand - Scepter, Sword
• Off-hand - Focus, Pistol, Sword, Torch
• Aquatic - Spear, Trident

Gameplay

Adventuring

Teaming up and adventuring will be very different in Guild Wars 2. A sidekick system will be added, allowing for a character to join a party with much higher leveled characters. Originally, characters were going to be able to recruit one cohort to adventure with them without penalty - this has since been removed. The professions system will be designed for both solo play and playing in an adventuring party. The game will be very solo-friendly, with most of the content being soloable and difficulty being increased for a larger party. However, there is still a strong emphasis on teamwork and some challenges will require teaming up with others.

Dungeons

Dungeons in Guild Wars 2 are not beginner content and the earliest will require characters that have reached level 35. They will have two distinct modes that serve different purposes in terms of player progression and gameplay. The story mode of each dungeon is meant to exist as part of a greater narrative involving the story behind Destiny's Edge (the adventuring group that splits after the events of the Guild Wars 2 novel The Edge of Destiny) and the player's attempt to reunite the group once more to combat the Elder Dragons. Story mode is meant to be easy enough for a casual group of players to complete without much difficulty and can be repeated if desired.

Explorer mode, unlocked after the player has cleared the story mode of a dungeon once, shows the consequences of your previous actions in the area and will typically give the player's party three choices as to how the situation will be approached. Each of these three routes will create an entirely different version of the dungeon, with alternate pathways, areas, and enemies to conquer. As explorer mode is some of the most punishing content in the game, it will require a significant amount of planning and group coordination to overcome.

Both modes will demonstrate the dynamic event system though events that trigger based on location, player action, or chance. Also, while each dungeon will contain a unique set of weapons and armor, it will be no more powerful than gear found elsewhere in the game, providing only unique skins for increased customization of appearance. Tokens will be awarded to the player after completing a dungeon, and these will be exchangeable for items from that dungeon's set.

Player vs. Player

The much praised player versus player ( PvP) system in the original GW will also be revamped. There will still be a structured PvP system, allowing you to play at maximum level with everything (including all skills) unlocked. There will also be a World PvP system taking place in the Mists, the "area between world shards". This will allow characters of all levels to play against each other in massive battles. It is considered a bridge between PvE and PvP.

All servers will be constantly engaged in WvW combat, so people won't feel left out if their world happened not to be battling. There are always 3 worlds paired up against each other at once for a specific amount of time, up to two weeks. There are 4 maps in WvW: 3 home maps for each world and then a huge central map. The goal of WvW is to capture fortresses, acquire resources, and cut enemy supply lines. This is all in order to gain points, and obviously the more points you gain the better. If your world does well you gain bonuses for everyone in the world regardless of whether they participated or not. This could be an XP bonus or increased item drop rate. These bonuses are all based on how many points you gain. There is a minimum and maximum you can reach. Along with all of this there are world rankings, so the performance of your world results in you competing against worlds of similar rank. Migrating between servers is going to be restricted to decrease the amount of people changing servers just to gain awards.

Weapons

The Charr, wielding rifles, one of the new additions to the weaponry of the Guild Wars universe.

Weapons are divided into four categories: one-handed, two-handed, offhand only, and underwater weapons.

• One-Handed: Axe, dagger, mace, pistol, scepter, and sword.
• Two-Handed: Greatsword, hammer, longbow, rifle, shortbow, and staff.
• Offhand only: Focus, shield, torch, and warhorn.
• Underwater: Spear, trident, and harpoon gun.

Some professions can dual wield two one-handed weapons, while others cannot. No single profession can wield every weapon, but each has different choices. Additionally, the game includes a wide variety of environmental weapons, such as boulders, wooden planks, trebuchets, and even chair legs.

Environments

There will be many different types of areas to explore, from jungles to deserts, as well as underwater areas. There will also be a 2-hour day and night cycle (1:20 of day and :40 of night) implemented as well as dynamic weather to add more realism to the landscape.

Underwater Gameplay

Areas that are underwater will contain their own dynamic events, their own friendly, neutral, and unfriendly creatures (aquatic and amphibious), and their own major landmarks. At least one zone in the game will be almost entirely underwater, with only a few islands present.

Breathing underwater will be automatic, as a default breathing apparatus will be given to all players and is automatically applied as soon as you become submerged. While swimming on the water's surface, you will have no skills to fight with and may be attacked from below. As soon as you tilt your camera, your underwater utility skills, underwater weapon, and breathing mask will all activate.

Underwater combat reflects the three-dimensional environment in which it takes place. AoE attacks, for example, will also affect foes on the z-axis, and there will be skills that either sink or float enemies. Not only will each player receive underwater-only weapons with their own five-skill sets, but several utility skills that are unfeasible for underwater use will instead have equivalents that the player may choose to place on their underwater skill bar. In addition, when you run out of health underwater, you enter a "drowning" state, which functions similarly to the on-land "downed" state. Just like the downed state, you can rally by either killing an enemy before your secondary health bar empties or an ally reviving you. Unlike the downed state, however, you will still have some freedom of movement and thus may also swim to the surface, where your secondary health will stop draining and start to refill. If you manage to regain all of your health, you will rally.

Dynamic Events

According to lead content designer Colin Johanson, Guild Wars 2 will have dynamic events instead of quests. These events are truly dynamic and do not necessarily reset after a certain time period but actually cascade across the entire region. GW2 will strive to avoid quest text as much as possible and will instead try to show and involve the player in the world around him or her. Players will decide the outcome of events and the "next thing to do" or the chain will progress as the characters choose. The aim according to the designer: create a true living world. Dynamic Events will celebrate community play, as each event dynamically scales the difficulty to correspond with the number of players participating. This also eliminates some griefing, as every player (even those not in groups) will be rewarded for their contribution to the event.

Chatting

The chat system in Guild Wars 1 was very limited in that - outside of guild and alliance chat - you could only talk to people in the same city and district you were located in. Though eventually it was added that if you were trading/selling items you could bring up a screen showing what others were selling in different districts in that specific town, it was still rather limiting when compared to other MMO's.

Not a lot has been said about the chat system, but Martin Kerstein stated that, "It will definitely be more convenient than it was in Guild Wars 1. RIGHT NOW, I have to point out, while testing the game we have a messaging system as well as the possibility to create chat channels." So there could be the potential for people to create their own chat rooms, therefore potentially allowing people from other worlds to join your chat room.

Skill System

Skills, one of the major features from the original Guild Wars, will also be revamped. There will be fewer skills that can be used in more situations, such as when surrounded by enemies. But perhaps the biggest change in the character creation system is the increased level cap, which has been confirmed to be 80. However the level curve will remain consistent for all levels, and not scale like in most MMORPG's. Players with large level differences will still be able to play together because of a strong sidekick system not unlike the one used in City of Heroes.

Ten-Slot Skill Bar

An Elementalist using the skill Meteor Shower.

Similar to the eight-slot skill bar featured in the original Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2 has a new customizable ten-slot skill bar. The first five skills on the bar are determined by the character's equipped weapons and chosen profession, while the last five are directly chosen by the player from a list of skills determined by the character's profession and race. Environmental weapons, such as a boulder or a siege weapon, will change the first five skills to those specific to that item. A one-handed weapon will also have different skills based on the hand it is equipped to (either the main hand or the offhand). Individual slots from the last five on the bar will be used specifically for certain skills, such as healing or an Elite skill. Most professions will also have the ability to have two weapon sets containing different combination of weapons, which allows the player to change the first five skills in the bar on the fly.

Racial Skills

The primary and secondary class system from the original Guild Wars has been completely overhauled. Guild Wars 2 has removed secondary classes, instead, coupling a character's primary class with new Racial Skills which are specific to that character's race. Examples include the charr's ability to plant "shrapnel mines" or the asura's ability to summon a magical "Golem Battlesuit" which they can climb into and use to devastate their foes.

Traits

Teach me, old man!

Specific to each profession in Guild Wars 2, traits are used to modify a character's skills and attributes. Each profession has unique trait lines, such as Power and Tactics for Warriors, and additional trait lines based on a character's equipped weapons. Within these trait lines, traits can be assigned that will alter skills and attributes, making them more useful in battle. Examples include Power traits that increases damage dealt or Tactics traits that lowers the cool down when switching between weapon sets. Traits are obtained through various profession specific challenges found throughout the world of Tyria, such as a duel with a legendary swordmaster to learn his age old techniques, or finding a mysterious tome full of arcane knowledge.

Crafting

There will now be crafting in GW2 allowing the player to specialize in up to 8 specific disciplines:

• Weaponsmith: Craft melee weapons, such as swords, axes and hammers.
• Huntsman: Craft ranged weapons like bows and pistols, as well as torches and warhorns.
• Artificer: Craft magical weapons such as staves and scepters.
• Armorsmith: Craft heavy armor.
• Leatherworker: Craft medium armor.
• Tailor: Craft light armor.
• Jewelcrafter: Craft jewelery such as rings and necklaces
• Cook: Make food that the player can eat to get temporary buffs.

The player will only be able to specialize in two disciplines at a time, but the player will be allowed to switch their disciplines as they please by talking to a master craftsman NPC in all major cities. Also, if the player wants to switch back to a discipline they previously leveled up they will maintain that level and their recipes. Though as you increase in level with that discipline the player will have to pay a higher fee to switch back.

In order to craft items you first need supplies and these supplies can be gathered in 4 different ways:

• Salvaging Kits: Just like in GW1, you will be able to salvage items and retain certain materials from the item.
• Looting: You can gather certain materials from enemies, such as hides.
• Harvesting: Ore veins, plants and trees can be harvested for materials.
• Fellow Players: Just like GW1, you can always choose to just buy your supplies too!

A key difference in GW2 from such games as WoW is that nodes are not exclusive. This means that you don't need to race players to nodes of rare materials, instead if you see a rare material you won't need to worry about someone else swooping in and getting it before you. This makes the crafting field open to everyone as opposed to just crafters needing to purchase materials from people who run around gathering materials.

Once you have the materials you need to craft an item you will need to visit the proper crafting station, whether this is a woodworking table, an anvil, a forge or a tanning station. The player will then be presented with an interface which will allow the player to add up to 4 materials to the interface, which will then give them the option to make certain items. Also, for added ease, if you have never crafted that item before the recipe will be saved so you know exactly what you need to craft that item again. Most recipes must be learned by the player, but there are also some recipes that can only drop from mobs or be learned from a trainer.

This discovery system allows players to distinguish themselves from others since you aren't given a static list you can just follow. Also, just like your combat, you have a crafting level as well. You increase your crafting level in a discipline by making items. There is a 400 skill point cap in each discipline. Since there are lots of potential items you can craft in each discipline, the player won't need to just make an item because it gives the most experience. This system is meant to ensure that the player creates the items that are needed or wanted, rather than following a rigid crafting route.

Crafting is something players should take interest in because crafting can create weapons that are just as good as weapons dropped by powerful monsters. Of course this will probably require the player to be very high of a level in crafting, but nonetheless that is a very intriguing aspect.

Combat

The combat system will be expanding on the system that was first developed in Guild Wars. Tactical placement of your hero will be important in Guild Wars 2 as opposed to just attacking once you are in range of your enemy. For example Eric Flannum stated, " if you are using a skill that hits all targets in a straight line, you'll want to line your targets up for maximum effect. A spell that affects a cone-shaped area may need to be aimed in such a way that the middle of the cone is between two targets in order to hit them both." Some character skills promote flanking and will provide bonuses if you attack from the side or the rear. The range of attack also plays a role in the combat mechanics. Now if a character is meant to attack at medium range they are going to want to keep that distance in order to be most effective and prevent the enemy from getting too close. It has also been revealed that the natural environment around the player will have an impact on combat and players will be able to use it to their advantage. For example, the Elementalist class will be able to use rocks and other things from the environment to hurl at enemies.

Combination attacks have also been implemented. This is when a party works together to complement each other's skills. Eric Flannum stated, "When an Elementalist uses the static field ability, it will create a circle of electrical energy that will damage and stun anyone entering or exiting it. A Warrior who uses his rifle to shoot through this circle will charge up his shots, dealing additional damage." This allows the game to reward the party of people who have a thought out plan of attack, as opposed to an unorganized group that just runs in blindly.

There have also been changes to the death system. Not only will the consequences of dying be different from the first game, but there will also be a "down but not out" stage before the player bites the dust entirely. In this state, the player has access to specific abilities that allow him to continue fighting. These downed "skills" are less powerful than your normal profession skills. If you manage to kill an enemy while downed, you will "rally" and get right back up and into the action. Other players, regardless of profession or level, have the ability to revive you when you are downed or defeated (dead). You can also choose not to be revived or rally and instead release to any discovered waypoint on the map, without any debuffs, experience loss, or "corpse running". Guild Wars 2 game designer Jon Peters stated, "Defeat is the penalty; we don't have to penalize you a second time." This milder death penalty, along with the "downed but not out" stage before death, complements the fact that there is no dedicated healer class.

Orders

Orders are Guild Wars 2’s answers to factions. At some point during the player’s personal story they can make a choice to ally with one of the 3 orders. After the choice is made a player gains access to order specific armor, weapons, gear, and even certain parts of the players high level personal story are influenced. It is not required to join an order to play the game and it is possible to switch orders if the player wishes to with “a little work” as stated by ArenaNet.

Vigil

“These crusaders understand that the world is a dangerous place. They intend to be an army of light against the onslaught of darkness”

Founded by Charr General Almorra Soulkeeper, the order of Vigil are a group of crusaders comprised of multiple races who believe the Elder Dragons can only be defeated by the races of Tyria uniting to face them.

Current Leader: Almorra Soulkeeper

View: While there is darkness in the world the Vigil will be the light that protects those that cannot.

Method: The Vigil prefers to face the Elder Dragons head on, facing the minions of said dragons hoping to gauge their strength and find weaknesses to defeat them.

Durmand Priory

An order of scholars founded to secure and vanguard the lore and history of Tyria. Their most current and notable contribution is creating the language of New Krytan. They scour for lore on dragons of the past.

Current Leader: Gixx

Views: They believe knowledge is the greatest tool of sentient races and share it with the other races freely (but causally) so that it might better the races of Tyria

Method: They believe that the knowledge of the past encounters with the dragons will be the way to defeat them once and for all and hope to find lore on a way to stop them.

Order of Whispers

An Ancient order that originated from Elonia that relies of secrets and shadows, the order prefers running things behind the scenes so that others may claim the glory instead. It is rumored that they played a big part in slaying Abaddon and preventing him from bringing Nightfall upon the world. With their extensive networks stretching from Elonia to far beyond Tyria, they are not an order to be taken lightly. They are one of the few groups to have had knowledge of the Elder Dragons before they had awakened and returned to Tyria

Current leader: ???

View: You are truly victorious when your enemy knows nothing of you and you know everything of him.

Method: They believe there is no way to physically defeat the dragons and thus the only solution is to send them back to sleep.

Guilds

What good would a game called Guild Wars be without Guilds? Not much is known about guilds just yet but there will be significant improvements involving guilds and there will be a lot more focus on the social aspects of guilds. ArenaNet wants to make Guild Wars 2 a very social experience and guilds will be a primary way to do this. This is what we know:

• Guilds will be available to the player from the very beginning of the game and they will not be race restrictive.
• Each character the player creates will not be restricted to one guild like in GW1. Instead each character can each be in a different guild, but if a player wants all characters to be in one guild they can freely do that without having to get an invite for each character.
• Each character will also be able to join as many guilds as they like. Though with this they can only be loyal to one guild at a time, so the player would need to switch loyalty in order to gain "influence" points for that guild.
• A player's loyalty to their guild may be rewarded. This could be through helping control an outpost in WvWvW. These are called "influence" points.
• Guilds will be able to capture keeps in WvWvW and with these influence points they can upgrade these keeps.
• Guild achievements will be available for the guild to complete.
• There will be greater out of group interactivity, such as being able to easily locate your guild members on the map and seeing what quests or events other guild members are trying to complete.
• Along with being able to communicate in-game, players will be able to communicate through a web browser or even the mobile app.
• Purchase upgrades such as a vault for sharing items between guild mates and bonuses that boost things like XP gain.
• Have the ability to throw parties, this might be in your guild hall or potentially even in cities.

Marketplace

The marketplace is Guild Wars 2's trading system. It is global and enables trade between different servers. Items may only be put up for sale while in-game, however it will be possible to browse, bid, and cancel auctions and offers through a web browser. The seller does not have to be online for a transaction to complete, as the price paid will simply transfer to an account bank. The marketplace also displays the histories and trends of item values.

Sound

There is said to be over 60 feature films' worth of dialogue recorded for the game, for everything from the concept art-driven cinematics, to NPC's alerting the player of a nearby dynamic event, to in-combat taunts/shouts to "flavor" conversations amongst NPC's.

Jeremy Soule will once again be composing the game's soundtrack, however there will also be a system in place to allow players to choose selections from their own library of music and assign them to different audio cues (such as battle, ambient, etc.), letting the player tie their music to the appropriate engine-determined context. When necessary, the game may also revert temporarily to the default soundtrack for the best possible experience during dramatic moments (e.g. story development).

Relation with Guild Wars: Prophecies

As this game takes place 250 years after the original Guild Wars, players will not be able to transfer existing characters from the first game. Instead players can carry their name over from one of their characters from GW1. Also, players are able to gain titles and items through the Hall Of Monuments introduced with the Eye of the North expansion. Also, for those that took the time to reach the title "God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals" that title will be carried over for those players in GW2. There was a Hall of Monuments calculator released to help players maximize rewards from their hall, that can be seen here. ArenaNet has stated that the items gained through the Hall of Monuments will be customized to the players level and that the items can be upgrade as the player progresses through the levels so the items are still useful. Items are gained up until he player reaches 30 Hall of Monument "points" and titles are gained until 50 points, though the titles are earned each 5 points. Since Guild Wars 2 contains different races, there will not be an option for players to import their original GW character into GW2.

Release

ArenaNet's Mike O'Brien has stated that the game never had a firm release date attached to it, and the developers have continued to use the phrase "when it's done" in answer to questions concerning release. The first (and only) closed beta started on December 19th and ended on December 30th.

As the game gets nearer to its release, Beta Weekend events are being scheduled for people who have pre-purchased the game, allowing them access to a slice of early content. The first of these events began on April 27th and, after some brief downtime hiccups, ended on April 29th.

Different editions

Guild Wars 2 will ship as three different editions all of which, if pre-purchased, include three special bonuses:

• Access to Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekends
• Early access to the final game three days prior to everyone else
• Hero's Band, an in-game item to boost the player's stats

Digital Edition

Digital Edition is the most basic version available with no special bonuses or extras, unless pre-purchased prior to the game's release. Distributed as a digital download only.

Digital Deluxe Edition

The Digital Deluxe edition of Guild Wars 2 contains the actual game in as a digital download, plus the following in-game extras:

• Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite skill, to summon a combat pet to aid the player or party
• Rytlock Miniature, a vanity pet with no combat skills
• Golem Banker, a portable banker the player may summon anywhere in the world (limited to 5 days)
• Chalise of Glory, a one-time use item to unlock PvP rewards and compare yourself to other players
• Tome of Influence, a one-time use item to boost a guild's Influence to further the guild's progress

Collector's Edition

The Collector's Edition is a physical copy of the game with all the extras available in the Digital Deluxe edition plus the following physical collector's items:

• 10" Rytlock figurine
• 112 page Making of Guild Wars 2 book
• Custom art frame
• Art portfolio and five art prints
• Best of Guild Wars 2 soundtrack

Additional Guild Wars 2 Source Material

• Ghosts of Ascalon (Release Date: July 27th, 2010)
• The Art of Guild Wars 2
• Edge of Destiny (Release Date: December 28th, 2010)

Mobile App

On September 21st, 2010, the Guild Wars 2 Mobile App was revealed. The app's full potential hasn't been revealed, but there are a few pieces of information available:

• Players will be able to communicate both within and outside the game with the app.
• The app will allow the user to look around the game's map in real time.
• The user can watch dynamic events unfold (to a certain extent) and even alert their friends and ping the location on the map.
• It will be very easy to control how and when people from within the game can contact you.