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Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Expansion features
APThug
Member RarePosts: 543
A lot of people have been asking questions or have been wondering what the new guild wars 2 expansion will include. So I created this post to help enlighten you. In this post I’ll briefly explain what’s going to be included/ possibly included, and what people are requesting for it to include. Feel free to correct me or include any addition information.
Confirmed new additions to the game:
1. New region to explore: Heart of Maguuma
a. The Core of Maguuma (The mid-level ground of the Maguuma)
b. The Roots of Maguuma (Underground area of Maguuma)
c. The Canopy of Maguuma (The upper area, in the sky of Maguuma)
d. Continued story line
i. Reworked cut senses (Your character now talks in game)
e. Living story season 3
f. New jumping puzzles
g. New Achievements
2. Outposts:
a. New Meta event, aka series of dynamic events that tell the story of the new zone that players will be able to participate in together. These events are very large scale and each outpost will have their own series of dynamic events. (Build defense and attack in the day, defend and protect in the night, etc.)
3. Adventures:
a. Hidden challenging events throughout the map with leaderboard support for friends and Guild members.
b. Adventures have their own UI and will include different repeatable challenges and minigames (Not much word has been said on what exactly this will include)
c. New mini games (Not much said on what these will look like)
4. Guild halls:
a. A new location for guilds and invited players alike. Hangout spot, gather for Guild missions, etc.
b. Guild Halls are not simply purchased and you just have it, groups of people will have to fight for it. Currently only two different guild hall areas have been announced with more coming later on.
c. Guild Halls will include the following: (These must be unlocked before becoming available. Once unlocked they can be upgraded to increase functionally)
i. Tavern –Socializing
ii. Mine – Gather a new resource called Aetherium (Used for Guild crafting)
iii. Workshop – Guild crafting for the new crafting discipline Scribe
iv. War Room – After a Guild claims a structure in World vs World they can use the War Room to buff and protect their structure. (You can even transform into a Charr Car with its very own skills and abilities!)
v. Market – Will probably be used for Guild buffs (Karma, Magic find, etc) Will also be used for crafting Guild Armor and weapons
vi. Arena – A fighting arena sandbox where Guild members, invited players, and invited Guilds can fight each other. The arena can be customized with traps and obstacles at any time, even during fights by the arena master.
vii. Guild portals – Teleport to Guild mission areas as a guild. Useful for members that don’t have the waypoint unlocked to get the Guild mission area in the first place.
viii. Decorations – Customize your Guild hall and create your very own jumping puzzles!
d. The new Guild Initiative headquarters (located in Lions Arch) will be used to register guilds to fight against the continuing threat of elder dragons. The Guild initiative will send guilds and players on missions for their guild to help maintain guild initiative “fitness and welfare” for Tyria. Not much has been said on what this will include besides “large scale exploration and activity regarding the dragon’s minions.” The Initiative can also be used as a place to do minor guild hall stuff if guilds choose not to purchase the expansion.
a. The Revenant is the third newest heavy armored class to be introduced. Unlike the Warrior or the Guardian, the Revenant focuses on using the powers of Legends to defeat his/her foes.
a. A new spvp map that plays similar to a MOBA. Two teams must break down enemy defenses in order to reach and kill their base lord.
a. New siege equipment
b. New WvW buffs
c. Rework of WvW ability tree
8. Guild vs Guild leaderboards
9. New Mastery progression system:
a. By completing the in-game PVE content, you’ll be able unlock abilities and bonuses for all of your characters. (Gliders, increased effectiveness against difficult enemies, new fractal abilities to overcome new fractal challenges, getting around Maguuma with shortcuts, craft precursors in order to craft Legendary weapons, learn new languages in order to interact with new races and secret locations)
b. Masteries are only unlocked after reaching level 80. As you level up your mastery level, it will be displayed for all other players to see.
10. Guild chats for all the guilds you’ve joined:
a. Instead of having to go back and forth between guild repping, you’ll be able to chat to all your joined guilds at once
New/reworking’s of current additions to the game/ game additions that have not yet been confirmed/not explained yet:
1. Reworking of AI to make them more difficult and react better to large groups of players (300 enemies fighting at once)
2. New Challenging content for open world and possibly groups (Raids?)
a. Anet has confirmed that the new enemies you will face in open world will be much more difficult to defeat than any other enemy they have introduced before. Requiring greater skill and tactics. What this involves is still unknown.
b. Talk about raids for groups/guilds have been a looming rumor for a while. Anet has hired a lead raid designer and have promised to include “Challenging group content/ encounters.” Quoted in the blog post on the Anet site: “Not only are we presenting these new challenges throughout the outposts and adventures you’ll find in the jungle, but they’ll also be layered across other types of content experiences.” However, they have yet to present what this will include.
3. A playable/ soluble version of living story season 1: Possible confirmation proof from ANet
a. Secret of Southsun
b. Flame and Frost
c. Tower of Nightmares
d. The Nightmares Within
e. The Battle for Lion’s Arch
f. Queen Jennah’s Jubilee
g. Blood and Madness
h. Clockwork Chaos
i. Sky Pirates
j. Etc…
4. Guild Missions reworked:
a. When your guild completes a guild mission they will be granted a new currency called “Favor.” Favor will be used for Guild Hall upgrades in the new guild progression system.
b. Guild missions will now be playable whenever you want. This helps out smaller Guilds from having to always craft guild mission tokens in case they fail because of small numbers. Guilds get favor once a week, while individual players will still get commendation rewards (Guild armor, weapons, and possibly trinkets)
c. As Guilds complete more missions, new ones will unlock. This is a part of the new guild progression system. Guild missions include new Guild Challenges (Rushes), Guild Puzzles (Treks), and Guild Bounties. They will function in their own instanced dungeon area; however Guild Bounties may remain open in the open world.
5. New Specializations specs for all classes/ New weapons for all classes:
a. Mesmer = Chronomancer with shield
c. Guardian = Dragonhunter with longbow
d. Necromancer = Reaper with greatsword
e. Warrior not yet confirmed
f. Thief not yet confirmed
g. Elementalist = Tempest, no confirmed weapon
h. Engineer with hammer, new name not yet confirmed
i. Revenant = no confirmed name, melee staff
6. Boss Defiance system reworked:
a. The current defiance system on bosses usually prevents them from being stunned/ feared/ cc’ed from weapons and skills. The defiance system changes that. This time, all bosses will have a stacked version of defiance depending on how many people are around it. When a player uses a cc ability, once stack is removed. Once all stacks are removed, the boss will suffer from the cc affect.
b. This new system will introduce a bit more of a dynamic boss fight. Defiance regens over time and can cause bosses to go into a vulnerable state for more damage. If not broken, the boss will continue to attack as if nothing has happened and at times go invulnerable.
7. Reworking of legendary crafting
Features/ additions people want:
1. Bring back super adventure box!
2. More support for mini games
3. New dungeons
4. Brand new weapons (Flail, spears, Crossbows, Halberd, Scythe, etc)
5. Add-ons
6. Cantha/ Elona continent
7. New pvp game modes
8. Saved build templates
9. Mini Pet battles (polymock)
10. Better underwater combat
11. The return of Heros
Can you think of any other changes or additions they should add to the game? And please, actual possible additions? Also, please correct me if I have anything in this post that is incorrect or possibly poorly explained.
Comments
You missed the new PvP mode: Stronghold:
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Stronghold
About the aditions/wanted features, some more info:
1. Bring back super adventure box!
About this Colin posted this in reddit: "Rinith's reply is probably the closest description to the reality as of today where we stand with SAB. We've made a number of changes to the physics engine as a result of places like Silverwastes, Dry Top, and the expac that means we need to go back and re-work SAB to use all the new movement systems. It also needs a pretty solid rewards overhaul, and I know Josh would love to make some changes to world 2 before it returns.
We're all focused on expansion - both the announced details, and the un-announced details and simply can't peel anyone off a team to work on it right now without it effecting expac. The two SAB worlds we've seen will return as we've said before, but simply put our focus right now is on making the expansion amazing
"
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3bqhaf/infinite_continue_coin/csoszn5
3. New dungeons
4. Brand new weapons (Flail, spears, Crossbows, Halberd, Scythe, etc)
They already said that there are no new weapon types coming in the expansion, and most likely no new dungeons either.
What can men do against such reckless hate?
I thought it was in a rotation.
Did they changed that position?
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
I'm not so sure about that unless I missed that somewhere.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Desert_Borderlands
At the bottom of this page in the notes section, it says: "The Desert Borderlands are planned to be on a rotation with the Alpine Borderlands." The Alpine Borderlands are the current maps currently in place in WvW. So we are getting an extra map, not a replacement.
Last I heard, i believe from the points of interest live stream regarding said map, it would be a replacement (for now). That they would possibly overhaul the old borderlands more in line with the new one and then have em rotate.
http://medias.luna-atra.fr/gw2/char_tool/CT_imageGenerator.php?pseudo=Centurion Mikal&lang=EN&code=&code=TSwtLDUsLSw2LC0sMjksOSwyMiwyMywyNCwtLDEwMiwzNiw4MSw4NCw4OQ==
You listed melee staff as the Revenant elite specialization weapon. It is not. Ventari, it's trait line, and the staff are all part of the core Revenant.
The Elite specialization for the Revenant has yet to be announced. There is also one more unannounced core legend, plus any weapon(s) that might be associated with it.
Datamining has revealed the following as likely possibilities:
Shiro legend
Sword (Mainhand)
Dagger (Offhand) or possibly Sword (Offhand)
Glint legend
Shield
Now, of these, Glint is the unconfirmed Elite Specialization legend, with shield as its weapon. This is supported by a recent set of data-mined weapons, which included a crystalline shield skin that appears to complement the Glint theme. Most of the other weapons and armor pieces datamined in that wave are associated with known elite specializations.
actually they are not included you can play them if you buy the xpac
Does the story journal let you see everything in the living story that has since been taken out as the world changed?
Only one new zone seems a bit small.
New region.
Regions have several zones (maps)..
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
The OP listed it as a "region," not a zone. We don't actually know how many zones we'll be getting and won't know until either they announce it or the expansion is released.
LIving Story Season 3. Well, originally this was included with the base game . No extra charge. They they sold parts of the Living Story if you fail to log in after two weeks or so. Now apparently you need to buy the LIving Story . No expansion, no LIving Story Season 3. Is this correct?
So much of what they are including in here seems more fitting for update or game patch, not an expansion. But these are new times and developers can now charge for them so , hell, why not.
Ok. I had gone to the link and it only listed one zone in the region (Verdant Brink).
That is the one shown in the betas.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
The Revenant is a totally new class. It is effectively a battle historian of sorts, which empowers itself by possessing itself with the ghosts of legends from the past, while also directly manipulating the Mists themselves to attack foes and support allies.
The Revenant is a heavy armor class with a medium amount of health. It can only use one weaponset at a time, but it can swap the second half of its skill bar (its healing skill, utilities, and elite skill) between those of two legends.
Each legend has its own set of skills that cannot be changed. Therefore, as a Revenant, you have less customization than any other profession. You can only customize your traits, your choice of one weaponset, and two legends.
The benefit of the Revenant is that it is designed more cohesively than most professions. The lack of customization in a legend means that each of a legend's five skills are designed with a particular overall style in mind. In other words, you are not an assortment of random, often poorly designed utility skills, but something more along the lines of a MOBA character with 15 skills.
Additionally, like Thief weapon skills, Revenant utility skills have no cooldown and instead use a resource system. The Revenant's resource is energy, which regenerates, can degenerate by toggling certain skills, and is used (in small amounts) to use weapon skills and (in large amounts) to use utility skills. You can swap legends to return to 50% energy.
As for how the class stacks up, we can only really speculate on that. Currently, it appears to have poor stun-breaking, poor stability, and poor out-of-combat mobility. These could be downright crippling in PvP, but the strengths of the Revenant could very well make up for them, and we have no idea what the two unannounced legends and the unannounced weapons are capable of.
They changed the whole two week thing. Instead, you have 1 month to log in to get the free update. If you fail to do so, you can just buy it with gems by converting it into in-game gold. Its 200 gems which = 35 gold if you missed it. Or you can have a friend who already has it, run you through it for free.
Not much has been said about living story 3 but it will be coming. Right now its all speculation. Some say HOT is living story 3, others say living story 3 will take place once HOT is over (2 weeks after HOT release?) In terms of more information, Anet isn't saying. They are still sticking to the whole "When its ready" philosophy.
When I played the Revenant it wasn't all that bad, but it did feel like it was missing a whole lot and it did. Not all of the traits were in place. I think I only saw three. One thing, I think that class could really use is a weapon swap. But alas, it isn't getting one...At this point we'd really have to wait and see. Maybe when they introduce their next beta event or live stream.
https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/hot/What-if-we-don-t-buy-the-expansion-pack
https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/game/hot/HoTs-WvW-and-Core-WvW
According to what I am reading here..... the new WVW maps and STRONGHOLD are going to open to everyone. Expansion or no Expansion.
Which to me sounds like they are promoting it as part of the expansion just to make it look like more content for your money then it really is.
Which on a side note.... once you start selling maps... for pvp. It would polarize the (little pvp) community they have.... Only some players would be invited to group if they didn't have the map and that would be bad for everyone. Can you imagine this
"LFG have expansion maps only" "LFM must have SPVP map"
http://medias.luna-atra.fr/gw2/char_tool/CT_imageGenerator.php?pseudo=Centurion Mikal&lang=EN&code=&code=TSwtLDUsLSw2LC0sMjksOSwyMiwyMywyNCwtLDEwMiwzNiw4MSw4NCw4OQ==
Sure, Stronghold and WvW is available to everyone.
But they will be missing the revenant and the other specializations.
Additionally they will be missing some of the mist champions for stronghold- atm it seems Nika will be locked behind HoT purchase and so will future champions.
It is the second time I see something that is good, allowing existing players to access some of the content released with the expansion, belittled as something bad (Anet trying to boost the number of features that will be released with the upcoming expansion).
It seems like on one hand they greedy bastards that ask $50 for the expansion but on the other hand they silly people that don't monetize all the features they could be releasing with the expansion.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
This is a stupid argument. So because they are doing the right thin and not wanting to split the playerbase with segregation, it doesn't count? They've said many times that these things are part of the expansion.
Um, if you get it without buying the expansion, then it's not part of the purchased expansion. derp.
it is not simple as that.
If you are a new player the only way you get it is by buying the latest expansion, so in that case it is part of the purchased expansion.
I see it more as a freebie/trial for veteran players, as some of the content used in WvW and stronghold will not be available without the expansion (new class/elite specializations and some mist champions).
There is also nothing that excludes even further limitations to the WvW and stronghold experience.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders