Yooooooooooo, Giant Bomb assembly. You may or may not have noticed: I stopped posting expansion updates! Because I got lazy! Whatreyagonnado! If you haven't logged in, lately, you've missed some stuff. Lion's Arch is all-new (again, but more so), your build has almost certainly been fucked by the skill/trait/specialization overhaul, and there are now... pet rocks?
Anyway, last week ArenaNet laid out their plans for a revamp of guild functionality in GW2, and as we have ourselves a community guild, here, it seemed like especially pertinent information for you folks. Let's share!
Guild Halls: the Basics
- a hall is an instanced map, set in the regions players will explore in Heart of Thorns, and owned by any guild that should claim it
- HoT will launch with two halls: Lost Precipice and Gilded Hollow; you may only occupy one hall at a time, but switching between claimed halls will transfer upgrades (and presumably currencies)
The Guild Initiative
- following the destruction of the Pact, various powers have formed an organization that will enlist guilds to combat substantial threats to Tyria (e.g. large dragons)
- their headquarters in Lion's Arch will serve as general facilities, including a staging ground for guild missions and various existing features that are being moved from the current guild interface into the world
- upon earning the trust of the Guild Initiative, funding associated expenditures, and actually reaching the physical location, your guild will be able to mount an assault on mordrem-occupied ruins; in the center of those ruins is a crystal that will drive out the infestation once attuned by a guild leader
- a successful expedition means the hall is claimed for your guild, will be staffed by Initiative members, and is prepped for upgrades
Build the Guild... Hall
- there are six major structures around your hall to upgrade, each managed by an NPC proprietor
- upgrades are bought with three resources, the first of which are crafting materials; these materials must be donated to the new guild treasury to be spent
- the second resource is favor, which is earned through successful runs of guild missions
- the third resource is aetherium, accrued at a stable rate from your hall's mine; the gathering rate and storage capacity of aetherium can be upgraded
- aetherium serves as the sole time gate for unlocks; as soon as you have the relevant resources you may activate an upgrade instantly
- the existing upgrade paths (Architecture, Art of War, Economy, Politics) and their research levels are being transferred to functionality in the new buildings; any upgrades you've earned will be available upon claiming a hall
- taverns are the socialization hubs for your guild; here you may choose an anthem that will play after completing guild missions, claiming WvW objectives, or winning a PvP match with a guild team
- mines are where NPC workers obtain aetherium for upgrade purposes; upgrades here center around increases to efficiency
- workshops serve the new crafting profession, scribing, which replaces the build queue
- war rooms focus on improvements to a guild's strength and influence in World vs. World
- markets are finance centers where you'll be able to unlock new guild armor and weapon skins
- finally, arenas are "combat sandboxes" in which your guild members and various guests may participate in open combat; they can be customized with varied obstacles and traps, and host multiple teams (red, blue, green, free-for-all)
Guild System Changes
- certain upgrades (guild mission unlocks, build queue improvements, remote crafting, emblem unlocks) will be phased out when the expansion launches
- emblems are now available upon creating a guild
- bonuses will change to be more accessible: waypoint fee reduction will be permanent, WvW objective enhancements will always apply around a claimed objective, and boosts to karma, gold, magic find, etc. will permanently occupy a slot that may be swapped at a vendor in your tavern
- consumables not making the transition to the new system will be removed at release, with reminders as that date approaches
- other upgrades, such as banners and the vault, will be moved to the new system more or less unchanged, with all attendant consumables unlocked
- all guild consumables that will be transferring have a new reserve cap of 25
- an exclusive decoration will be granted to your guild upon accessing your hall that reflects its progress through the old 24 research levels; the more progress, the more refined the decoration
- influence is being removed as a currency and being replaced functionally with three currencies
- favor, mentioned above, will continue to incentivize the completion of guild missions and will also replace merits
- aetherium, also discussed previously, establishes a baseline progression that may not be circumvented through purchasing power
- resonance serves to speed the crafting of guild items, and rewards play in small guild groups
- once you have access to the Guild Initiative and your hall, you may spend leftover influence in three ways: trading for favor once per day, speeding aetherium production once per day, and converting to resonance at any time
- new chat channels, /g1 through /g5, will allow you to customize which guilds you chat with in any tab of your chat panel, regardless of representation
Guild Mission Changes
- all mission types will be unlocked upon creating your guild
- missions no longer have an associated cost; they are free to run ad infinitum
- each guild mission rewards its favor after the first successful completion of the week; guild members may choose to run it again to earn their personal commendations
- you will start with a few available missions per week, this number will increase as you level your guild through the hall
- challenges and puzzles are becoming instanced
- challenges, puzzles, and rushes are keeping their old starting points
- bounties and treks will have new starting points in Lion's Arch
- you may only have one mission of a given type activated at one time
- you'll be able to construct a "guild portal" device that sends you to the waypoints nearest the active missions free of charge
- the portal also has a list of destinations (Heart of the Mists, Lion's Arch) that can be accessed at any point
- once the portal target is set, a group of any size may travel through it, together
Scribing, Construction, and Decoration
- as a crafting profession, scribing will primarily invest in building items that will benefit your guild
- scribes craft schematics, which when placed in an aetheric assembly device will queue to build; once building is complete, the crafted item will be available from your guild panel
- resonance can be used to shorten the build time for an item
- resonance shards are gathered as loot when grouping with fellow guild members; bringing a shard to your assembly device attendant will harvest the resource and earn you some additional rewards
- scribes fabricate three categories of item, primarily:
- guild consumables such as banners, banquets, and world boss tokens
- improvements to claimed structures and access to tactics in WvW
- guild hall decorations
- decorations are used from your guild UI; activating one puts you in "decoration mode", which allows you to rotate, scale, place, and remove decorations
- basic decorations are purchased from a vendor in the hall, and catalyst materials hidden around Tyria will allow you to further enhance their appearance
Guilds in WvW
- upgrading your hall's war room will unlock objective claiming, along with upgrades that can be selected for maximum effectiveness at any given objective
- when an objective is captured by your team, the guild with most players present has first dibs on a claim, then the second most, then the third, after which claims are open to any guild
- a guild member with claiming permissions must be present to speak to the NPC and slot in structure upgrades
- banners and certain NPCs at the objective will display your emblem after a claim is laid
- as a structure makes progress through its three tiers of passive upgrading, it will also unlock access to more improvements (always active) and tactics (triggered abilities) for use by the owner guild
- improvements enhance the baseline functionality of a given objective, seen in basic buffs to guards and siege along with changes specific to its structure type
- supply camps receive improvements to dolyak speed and carrying capacity, towers will reveal nearby enemies on your map, keeps will buff defenders, and Stonemist Castle's fountains will grant stealth on interaction
- tactics are reactionary abilities, best used when the situation calls for them to briefly boost an objective's capability; includes supply drops, chill traps, defense fortification, and airship bombing runs
- some tactics are weapons that may be taken into the map at-large, including Centaur Banners (control), Turtle Banners (defense/support), Dragon Banners (dps), and fucking #CHARRCARS
- area-wide enhancements to a claimed structure, previously constructed for 12-hour activation, now last as long as you hold an objective; these can be upgraded in your war room
Guild Teams
- a guild team is selected by any member of a guild that has the "teams management" permission; this is only the leader by default
- a name is chosen at creation; this name must be unique for each team within your guild
- once a team exists, the roster may be edited by both anyone with "teams management" and the team's captain
- each team has a maximum of one captain
- when a party queues for PvP, if at least three people in that group are members of the same guild team the party will represent that team in the Mists
- your guild team will have a rating separate from any personal rating; the team rating is what will be used in matchmaking
- a new guild team leaderboard will measure you against competitive teams from across the game
- certain perks for your team (such as an anthem) may be purchased in your guild hall; on the flip-side, success as a guild team will earn resources to assist in the construction of your hall
- while guild teams will initially be focused on in PvP, they persist across the game; future content in all game modes will look to making use of the unique capabilities of guild teams
Finally, we have the most recent Points of Interest livestream, which features a short run-down of basic guild hall stuff. The arena showcase footage (@29:15) is pretty interesting!
That's a lot of information. Be sure to head over to Lincoln Force's guild hall poll (here) to relieve that mental pressure! Hopefully, the thread won't be totally fucked for too much longer. Ciao!
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