After 10 years of killing dragons, Guild Wars 2’s new update is a touch at what comes subsequent

Final 12 months, Guild Wars 2 killed off the final of the Elder Dragons—the primary risk that is been dealing with Tyria ever because the game’s launch again in 2012. So what’s subsequent? Right now, we get our first trace with a brand new map and story chapter launched within the What Lies Beneath update. Just lately, I acquired the prospect to play by means of the update, its story and a portion of its new map-wide meta occasion.

Selecting up from the conclusion to Finish of Dragons, the participant is named to hitch Rama and Gorrik and their newly registered Associates’ Detective Company. Their first job? Investigating a mine run by Jade Brotherhood chief Chul-Moo. This leads gamers to Gyala Delve, a area of the Jade Sea, to follow-up on studies of lacking miners and unusual phenomena. Naturally, this results in a tease of a brand new risk that gamers should face sooner or later.

Discovered to the east of Dragon’s Finish, the brand new map really takes you underneath the jade, letting you wander round on the ocean mattress. It is right here that gamers uncover the haze, a void-like corruption that is turning the miners hostile. The centrepiece of Gyala Delve is its meta-event, The Jade Disaster—a map-wide territory management meta that has gamers pushing south to recapture the mines and confront the source of the haze.

The haze is greater than only a story beat—it makes itself identified all through the occasion. Push into hostile territory, and you may obtain a debuff that—because it stacks—will drain your health. To counter this, you may spend jadebot expenses to purchase air filters, making it secure to progress into enemy territory. However these filters are on a timer, and you may must refresh on the filtration stations which might be unlocked as you recapture enemy outposts. The thought is that, along with simply pushing by means of, you will additionally must defend zones from recapture with the intention to preserve the filtration stations energetic.

This seems like a great occasion for the Canthan area to introduce. As a lot as I loved Finish of Dragons, I discover that a lot of my playtime now, a 12 months out from its launch, is extra centered on older maps. The area’s present showpiece meta occasion, The Battle for the Jade Sea, requires heavy coordination. It’s a must to plan for its completion, utilizing the LFG instrument on the right time to discover a squad that is planning to take it on. It is an actual showpiece for the game—I am keen on the struggle—nevertheless it’s a little bit too intense to be a part of my day by day routine.

This, as an alternative, is extra like Drizzlewood Coast or Dragonfall—a rolling meta where you may show up each time the temper takes you and leap right into the motion. It is one thing the Canthan continent was lacking: an occasion chain where folks can simply show up each time the temper takes them and leap into some type of motion. The important thing to its success is, in fact, going to be the rewards. The rationale gamers are nonetheless visiting maps like Drizzlewood—hell, even Silverwastes—is as a result of there’s revenue to be made flipping supplies. Hopefully Gyala Delve is simply as rewarding.

No matter its place within the general economic system, although, there are some particular rewards that gamers can goal. There is a new jade-themed weapon set, a holographic cape for chapter mastery, and the Grinning Tahkayun Masks—the masks seen within the Specter elite specialisation’s idea artwork, accessible right here for all armour classes.

It is a smaller launch than a standard Dwelling World update, however it is going to be up to date with a second update later within the 12 months that can additional broaden the story, the map and its meta. In response to ArenaNet, if this occasion chain is all about attending to the underside of Gyala Delve, the following launch can be about how gamers climb again out.

As a result of this is not a part of the Dwelling World, although, it additionally means it is going to be free to everybody who owns Finish of Dragons. This seems like a take a look at run of how we’ll obtain updates in future, after ArenaNet has converted to its promised cadence of smaller, extra frequent expansions.

I solely acquired a quick tease of the meta occasion, so I am wanting ahead to leaping into the dwell game with a full map of gamers. So long as the rewards are right, it ought to be an excellent place to spend time in-game, at the same time as we look forward to it to be expanded within the subsequent update—which ArenaNet says is due earlier than this Summer time.