Guild Wars 2 releases a massive content roadmap for 2022 and beyond. The blog post contained confirmation of a fourth expansion and the return of the Living World Season 1 content.
Guild Wars 2 Content Roadmap Includes Fourth Expansion, The Return of Living World Season 1 and More
The team at ArenaNet was proud to release their content roadmap that detailed many new things. One of the biggest reveals was that a fourth, unnamed expansion will be worked on. In fact, the confirmation came extremely early as End of Dragons, the third expansion released just under a month ago.
While no details have been discussed, the confirmation signifies the long-term commitment that the team and NCSOFT have for supportingGuild Wars 2for many years to come. It is quite great for fans of the almost 10-year-old MMO hear.
We also got a glimpse at future plans such as the Steam Release, Direct X11, and the return of Living World Season 1. Anyway, let’s get to the rest of the meaty details!
Full Steam Ahead
The technical side of Guild Wars 2 is still getting many updates. This is quite good to know as the game is almost 10 years old at this point so the engine may be showing some signs of age. Guild Wars 2 has had a beta client that makes use of Direct X11, as opposed to the default Direct X9.
Using the updated API allows the team at ArenaNet to prioritize performance and add some more graphical optimizations that weren’t available in Direct X9. They also chose DX11 instead of DX12 as the former still has support for Windows 7 and Vista, while the latter only supports Windows 10. This would limit the potential audience for the game.
In other news, the devs are also hard at work at finalizing the game’s Steam Launch. They are trying to get all the integrations correct, and thus don’t currently have a specific timeframe for its launch. For now, players will still need to download the game client from the official site.
Guild Wars 2 and the Return of the Living World
One aspect that set Guild Wars 2 apart from the crowd is the Living World System. Specifically, Living World Season 1 introduced to us some story elements that made permanent changes to the world. It also gave us some limited-time multi-player events that changed the landscape forever.
However, due to the fact that these events were limited time only, not all players were able to experience the start of the Elder Dragon storyline. This caused narrative issues as players late to the party couldn’t piece together why they were trying to kill all the ancient elemental dragons.
Starting on April 19, the Living World Season 1 will make a return starting with Chapter 1 “Scarlet’s War” and will conclude with “Battle for Lion’s Arch”. Season 1 of the Living World will be released over 5 chapters in total and will provide a cohesive story bridge to Season 2.
This update will be free for all players. You can purchase the later Living World Seasons in the game’s microtransaction store. It will also mark the first time that Season 1 will be playable in 9 years.
It’s You Against the World versus World versus World
The team at ArenaNet will also remain committed to considering World vs World a “cornerstone game mode for Guild Wars 2”. They are putting systems into place that will make this game mode easier for solo players. Matchmaking will soon be implemented for players who go in solo or do not have guilds. WvW will also be more fulfilling to participate in as reward track progress is being sped up.
In the same vein, Guild Wars 2 will continue to receive quarterly balance updates for all its 9 Professions and Specialization Classes. While the team has no specifics in mind just yet, they will ensure to adjust based on how the meta changes. It is certain though that they will be taking a look at underused and underpowered skills and traits in an effort to make them more desirable by the playerbase.
The Beginning of the End (of Dragons)
The third expansion forGuild Wars 2, End of Dragons, was met with a positive reception by fans. It brought players back to a beloved region from the original Guild Wars and implemented many systems that were enjoyable. The expansion added familiar locations to Guild Wars 1 players such as the Echovalds, new elite specializations, two-player turtle mount, fishing, skiffs and more. This doesn’t mean that ArenaNet will stop here. They’re in this for the long run and are riding the momentum.
They will continue to squash bugs and exploits. Some new Strike Missions and Challenge Modes are being planned to release on April 19.
Legendary Weapons and the Living Story
More excitingly, the first iterations of the 3rd Generation of Legendary Weapons will release on May 24. These relics will be themed against the undead Elder Dragon Zhaitan, the final boss of the base game. The second variant of the legendaries will be released on June 28.
The Living Story will also continue on in a totally new map set in the Cantha Region. In between all these exciting things will be the usual yearly events. These include the Super Adventure Box on March 29 and the Dragon Bash Festival on June 7. Find out why Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons made our list forTop 5 Upcoming RPGs Of February 2022here.
This was definitely a lot to unpack here! If you’re a fan of other MMOs, be sure to check out ourBest MMOs To Play This December 2021andTop 10 MMOs In 2022 You’ve Never Heard Of.
For more news, check outThe Witcher Series Will Live on As CD Projekt Red Confirms New Game in Development Using Unreal Engine 5andGodfall to Release on Xbox and Steam on April 7th.
