The first expansion pack for Guild Wars 2 has been announced at this year’s PAX South.
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns will bring a new Mastery progression system to the MMO, a new level cap, as well as new story content continuing the conflict between the world of Tyria and Elder Dragon Mordremoth.
“With Guild Wars 2, we set out to redefine the MMO genre by letting players experience the world in such a way that the journey itself became the goal, and give them a place where they are constantly able to enrich each other’s experience,” says ArenaNet’s Mike O’Brien in a statement. “Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is taking that philosophy to the next level with our reimagined endgame systems that turn tired tropes like level and gear grind into an expandable framework for progression.”
A breakdown of all Heart of Thorns’ new features can be found below:
• The Heart of Maguuma
New adventures await you in the heart of the Maguuma Jungle. Confront the growing hordes of Mordremoth’s minions, discover allies from ancient civilizations, and battle new enemies.
o Tackle challenging group content.
o Explore new open world jungle maps.
o Experience new events and storylines.
o Test your mettle in new boss battles.• The Mastery System
We’re reimagining progression with our new Mastery system. Explore new training opportunities for your character beyond level 80 and master abilities like hang gliding in the jungle, tearing the bark off of heavily armored Mordrem, or building new collections that earn precursors to a legendary weapon.• New Profession: Revenant
Channel legendary powers to slaughter foes and unleash chaos on the battlefield with our brand new profession: the revenant. Enter the field of battle heavily armored and equipped with the otherworldly powers of the Mists.• Specializations
Evolve your gameplay. With profession specializations, you’ll unlock access to a weapon previously unavailable to your profession as well as new traits, skills, and unique mechanics – all of which will transform your profession into something new.• PvP: New Stronghold Game Mode
Gather supply to hire soldiers. Battle for control of heroes. Man the trebuchet to defend your stronghold, and storm the enemy gates to defeat the guild lord! Use our new guild team feature to team up and battle to the top of the leaderboards. Stronghold offers an entirely new way to play competitive PvP in Guild Wars 2!• WvW: New Borderland
Experience epic battlefield combat like never before in World vs. World’s latest core addition, the new Borderlands map. Navigate treacherous heights with traps that blow your foes to the depths below and ferocious defenders to help keep the enemy at bay. Map objectives will be more important than ever before, as they’ll unlock new strategies, tactics, and play mechanics that you’ll want to use to your world’s advantage!• Guild Halls
Your guild has roamed the world together. Now, it’s time to claim a piece of it. Work with fellow guild members to claim and grow your own guild hall in the heart of Maguuma.
For more on Guild Wars 2, check out the Gaming Trend review.
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