Hi, World vs. World community,

I’m Cecil Armstrong, WvW Team Lead and Producer, and I’m joined by Senior Game Designer Floyd Grubb. We’re here today to share a preview of some WvW changes coming in the January 31 update and the months following it.

Before we dig in, we wanted to remind the community of our current team priorities:

1. Address player population balance issues through the World Restructuring and Alliances features.
2. Make WvW more rewarding to play with a focus on active participation.
3. Refine and iterate on core WvW systems like scoring, siege, upgrades, etc.

While World Restructuring and Alliances are still our primary focus, we were able to carve out some time in our schedule to make progress toward the second and third priorities on our list.

In addition to improved rewards, this update includes changes that are designed to encourage direct player vs. player conflict in fights over objectives while taking care to not take the fun (or the teeth) out of objective defense. We’ll be keeping a close eye on these changes—both the player feedback and quantitative data—and will make follow-up adjustments as needed.

We’re adding a set of weekly achievements that reward players for active and positive contribution to World vs. World—for example, capturing objectives, taking down dolyaks, and defeating enemy players. Completing these achievements each week will reward players with 8 gold and up to 35 additional WvW Skirmish Claim Tickets (a ~10% increase in max weekly tickets). The weekly gold reward will only require completion of six out of seven of the achievements to give players flexibility in how they complete the weekly meta-achievement. These achievements will reset every Sunday at 11:30 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8).

On the siege side of things, we’re making flame rams and ballistae more durable. The duration and range on the flame ram’s Iron Will skill are both also being increased to help relieve pressure on assaulters, while the range on the ballista’s Reinforcing Shot is being increased to improve its ability to destroy siege weapons on objectives. We’d like to see the warclaw used a bit more frequently in objective assaults, so we’re doubling the damage that its Chain Pull inflicts on gates.

Ram enjoyers, rejoice! We’re fixing a long-standing issue that caused players to be kicked off siege weapons when hit by certain crowd-control abilities, even when under the effects of stability. This bug has become a key part of the WvW meta, resulting in defense strategies like double-stacking catapults behind gates to chain crowd control on flame ram users. All the changes above combined should help improve the success rate of gate assaults, even while they’re being heavily defended.

The base maximum supply limit for keeps and Stonemist Castle, as well as the supply limit increases granted from the T1/T3 upgrades, are being reduced. These changes are intended to cut down on the time that objective assaulters spend chipping away at an objective’s supply reserves during wall and gate sieges without directly lowering the active defensive capabilities of the defending team.

To compensate, we’ve increased the health of all supply dolyaks to make them easier to defend, and we increased the amount of supply that each successful delivery gives to Stonemist Castle and keeps. The base maximum supply levels for camps have also been increased, as well as the amount of supply that camps generate every 30 seconds, making them a more reliable supply source.

All the changes listed above will be live in just a few days, and we have more in the hopper for the first part of this year. We’re currently working on improving rewards for active participation in fights over key objectives, making towers, keeps, and Stonemist Castle bigger player activity hotspots.

On the World Restructuring and Alliances front, we’re still diligently working on bringing those features to life. As we mentioned last year, we’re going to hold off on running additional betas until the Alliances feature is ready for live testing. We’re not ready to commit to a date for the first Alliances beta quite yet, but you’ll get a more comprehensive update on this from us in Q1.

As we mentioned earlier in this post, we’re planning to release iterative WvW changes more frequently this year, like the update coming next Tuesday. There’s a lot of room for addressing low-hanging fruit in WvW systems, but we need to be careful not to disrupt the game mode too much all at once.

Thank you for reading, and we’ll see you in the Mists!
—Floyd Grubb, Cecil Armstrong, and the WvW Team

The annual Lunar New Year festival is in full swing in Divinity’s Reach! Tyrians are celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit with fireworks, games, delicious Canthan food, and prizes. This yearly festival is now live and will be available until January 31. You can check out all the details in the full release notes on our official forums.

This festival is accessible to players of any level. Even if you’re brand new to the game, you can easily take part in our Lunar New Year activities and earn new cosmetic unlocks, utility items, and more! Read on for a quick rundown of the activities you can participate in during this festival and the rewards you can earn!

Lunar New Year activities will reward you with Essences of Luck, items that can either be consumed to permanently increase your account’s magic find attribute or be used as a currency at Lunar New Year festival vendors at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach. You’ll also earn other currencies—such as the Token of the Celestial Champion from the Celestial Challenge—that can be exchanged for Lucky Envelopes.

Lucky Envelopes are containers that are affected by your account’s magic find attribute. Increase your magic find for chances at better rewards when opening them. Lucky Envelopes can contain additional Essences of Luck, valuable trophies that you can sell to vendors for cash, and a chance at rare weapons, armor, and more. This year, every Lucky Envelope has a chance to grant you the Lucky Rabbit Lantern. Get that magic find up and open as many envelopes as you can!

Completing daily and annual achievements will allow you to earn new weapons, armor, and more! Check the Achievements pane in your Hero panel and navigate to the Daily Lunar New Year and Festivals sections for more information.

The Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach is your hub for Lunar New Year festivities. Check your in-game mail for an Invitation to Lunar New Year and double-click the item to teleport instantly to Divinity’s Reach.

Speak to the Celestial Challenge Attendant at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach to begin the Celestial Challenge, a series of activities that will require you to take down enemies, race through checkpoints, perform feats of jumping mastery, and more. The more activities you successfully complete during the event, the greater your rewards at the end.

Speak to Finola at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach to enter the Dragon Ball Arena. This dodgeball-like PvP game mode is a race to the finish, with the first team of five players to reach five hundred points claiming victory. Collect power-ups throughout the arena to gain access to new skills, zip around the arena with zip pads and jump pads, and master the art of the Dragon Sphere.

Race around Divinity’s Reach! You don’t need to have any mounts unlocked to take place in this race—a nearby rental service is available to rent a raptor for just 10 silver.

Speak to the firecracker-lighting NPC at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach to start this seasonal adventure. Use your mastery of the world to quickly navigate through the streets of Divinity’s Reach and light all the firecrackers! Gliding, mounts, anything goes—just don’t use any waypoints, or your progress will be reset!

Imperial Crane Raptor Skin

I once heard a scholar propose the idea that Canthan moas and Elonian raptors share a common ancestor. Ridiculous! But then again, the way that crane roars… Hmm…

This item will permanently add a new appearance option for your raptor to your account wardrobe.

Now that trade and travel are once again open between Cantha and the rest of Tyria, we’ve been getting some interesting imports in. The Canthan New Year does seem to bring out the animal lovers in all of us!

You can use these items to apply a new appearance to your helm and boots. The skins will become permanently available in your account wardrobe and can be applied as many times as you wish with Transmutation Charges.

For the next two weeks, we’re offering a 20% discount on Character Slot Expansions. This item will add one additional character slot to your account, allowing you to try out new playable races and professions.

At the end of the day, your fortune as a fisher is all you have to rely on. Of course, a bright dangly lantern with a hook on it helps, too.

This item will change the appearance of your fishing rod and permanently unlock this skin in your wardrobe.

In every Black Lion Chest you open for the next three weeks, you’ll find one Evon Gnashblade Lucky Envelope. This container is affected by your account’s magic find attribute and is always guaranteed to contain at least one golden figurine, one Essence of Luck, and a Lunar New Year consumable item. The greater your magic find, the greater your chances of finding rare and valuable items in the envelope.

Starting this Friday, look for the following items to be added to the Gem Store at a 20% discount:

• Butterfly Harvesting Flute
• Consortium Harvesting Sickle
• Firefly Mining Flute
• Frost Wasp Logging Tool
• Fused Molten Logging Axe
• Fused Molten Sickle
• Jack-in-the-Box Scythe
• Molten Alliance Mining Pick
• Infinite Spirits of the Wild Gathering Tools
• Swarm Logging Flute

<p>Hello, all,</p>
<p>As many of you know, we have been working on implementing and improving support for DirectX 11 in <em>Guild Wars 2</em>. Completing this upgrade will allow us to utilize more modern rendering features, improving both the graphical fidelity and performance of <em>Guild Wars 2</em>. We’re happy to announce that we are now ready to remove the DirectX 9 renderer for <em>Guild Wars 2</em> and migrate all players to the DirectX 11 renderer.</p>
<p>With this upgrade, we’ll begin adjusting our minimum system requirements to include a DirectX 11-compatible GPU on February 6. This upgrade will roll out to all players over an eight-week period. We expect the process to be completed and all players to be migrated to the DirectX 11 client by April 18.</p>
<p>After the rollout has been completed, you will no longer be able to launch the game with DirectX 9. Players with systems that are not compatible with DirectX 11 will need to either upgrade their hardware to include a DirectX 11-compatible GPU or use a cloud gaming service such as NVIDIA GeForce NOW to continue playing <em>Guild Wars 2</em>.</p>
<p>DirectX 11 was originally released in 2009, and nearly any GPU released since then should support it. However, if you’d like to double-check your system for compatibility, doing so is simple:</p>
<ol>
<li>In Windows, select Start and enter “dxdiag” into the search box on the taskbar.</li>
<li>Then, select dxdiag from the results.</li>
<li>Once the tool has opened, navigate to the “Display 1” section.</li>
<li>On the right side of this panel, under the “Drivers” section, check the “Feature Levels” listed for your display. </li>
<li>If your “Feature Levels” list contains “11_0” or higher, your GPU is DirectX 11-compatible.</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you,<br />&mdash;The <em>Guild Wars 2</em> Team</p>

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The annual Lunar New Year festival begins next week! Tyrians are celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit with fireworks, games, delicious Canthan food, and prizes. The Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach will be lit up with traditional Canthan decorations and will be your party hub to usher in the new year.

During the three weeks of the festival, you’ll be able to participate in various activities and minigames only available during the celebration. There’s something available for everyone—from the competitive, dodgeball-like Dragon Ball game mode to the agility-focused Celestial Challenge.

By participating in Lunar New Year events, you’ll be able to earn loads of luck, which can be used to permanently increase the magic find bonus of your account. Magic find allows you earn higher-quality loot from foes, and bonuses to magic find obtained from luck are permanent and account wide.

We’ll have more information about the returning activities and this year’s rewards available next week. As always, the full release notes will be available on the official forums.

Happy new year, Tyria!

Tranquil Moon Chair

Playing among the stars is easy when you’ve got your own portable star field. Lounge in style with this snazzy moon-shaped chair!

This item will unlock a new chair in your account wardrobe. Chairs can be found under the Novelties menu in your Hero panel. Resting in a chair for 5 minutes will grant you a one-hour bonus to experience gained in the open world.

For the next week, we’re offering a 20% discount on the following items:

These items add permanent gathering nodes to your home instance. You can take advantage of these new nodes once per day for easy access to basic crafting materials.

• Basic Cloth Rack
• Basic Harvesting Node Pack
• Basic Leather Rack
• Basic Lumber Node Pack
• Basic Ore Node Pack

Take your newest alt on a speedy tour of all your favorite places in Tyria! Purchase the Waypoint Unlock Box, the Central Tyria Waypoint Unlock Package, and the Expansion Waypoint Unlock Package now to unlock waypoints across the world!

Starting this Friday, look for the following items to be added to the Gem Store at a 20% discount:

• Phoenix Light Armor Skin
• Magitech Medium Armor Skin
• Braham’s Heavy Armor Skin

Celebrate the Wintersday spirit and treat your friends and family—or yourself—to the gift of Guild Wars 2.

The following discounted items are available from now until January 5 on the official Guild Wars 2 website and participating retailers listed below.

Experience the entire dragon cycle saga from beginning to end with Guild Wars 2—The Complete Collection. This bundle contains all three expansions and all purchasable Living World episodes to date.

You’ll also get two Level-80 Boosts, allowing you instantly level up two characters and jump straight into our latest content, with two Shared Inventory Slots to easily share items with every character on your account.

This collection is available now at a 20% discount during the Winter Sale for .99 USD.

Begin your journey to discover the secrets of the Elder Dragons in the Heart of Maguuma, where a Pact fleet has gone down in flames on their way to confront the jungle dragon, Mordremoth. Travel to the Crystal Desert to stop the god of fire and war from destroying Tyria in his arrogance. Finally, discover how a new cycle begins in the land of Cantha.

The Standard Edition includes all three Guild Wars 2 expansions, along with a Shared Inventory Slot and a Level-80 Boost to help your character get started in Cantha. (This collection does not include Living World Seasons 2 through 5.)

This collection is available now at a 30% discount during the Winter Sale for .99 USD.

The future of Cantha is now. The dragon cycle that has sustained and blighted Tyria for ages is collapsing. Mortal hearts and choices will define this moment in history—and echo in the future forever. Unlock new elite specializations, Masteries, and more, including access to fishing and skiffs.

This expansion is available now for .99 USD, a 20% discount.

Unlock mounts, gliding, and more with the first two expansions for Guild Wars 2. This package grants you access to a new profession, the revenant, as well as eighteen elite specializations to change the way you play. Experience the joy of movement with the best mounts in MMOs.

This expansion bundle is available now for .99 USD, a 50% discount.

You can also purchase these items from the following third-party retailers:

• Amazon
• Amazon France
• Amazon Germany
• Amazon Italy
• Amazon Spain
• Amazon UK
• CD Galaxis
• GameLiebe
• Gamecardsdirect
• Hype Games
• Key4you

Happy Wintersday, Tyria! Our yearly holiday festival is now live and available until January 3, 2023. You can check out all the details in the full release notes on our official forums. Read on for a quick rundown of the activities you can take part in during this festival and the rewards you can earn!

This festival is accessible to players of any level. Even if you’re brand new to the game, you can easily take part in our Wintersday activities and earn new cosmetic unlocks, utility items, and more!

Wintersday activities award Wintersday Gifts containing an assortment of holiday treats and surprises. Festival currency includes snowflakes, Snow Diamonds, and karma, which you can exchange for new minis, guild hall decorations, recipes, tonics, and more.

Speak to one of the Charity Corps Seraph at the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach to exchange your snowflakes for Snow Diamonds, and your Snow Diamonds for unique Wintersday rewards.
Many unique rewards—such as the new Wintersday Snow Boots and the Snowdrift weapon set—are obtained by completing achievements. You’ll find more information on the Wintersday achievements and their rewards in your Hero panel under the Daily and Festivals categories.

Divinity’s Reach is the hub for Wintersday festivities. Check your mail for a letter from Tixx containing an Invitation to Wintersday, which you can use to travel instantly to Divinity’s Reach. Portals leading to Divinity’s Reach will also be available in Lion’s Arch, the Black Citadel, Hoelbrak, Rata Sum, and the Grove.

Visit locations marked by peppermint candies on your map to participate in Wintersday activities. Don’t forget to visit Wintersday trees and Toymaker Tixx himself each day to collect gifts.

You’ll also receive a letter from Orphan Laine, who needs your help with a scavenger hunt. The hunt will require you to travel to some areas intended for level 80 players, but once you’ve unlocked it you can complete it at any time, even after Wintersday ends.

For the duration of the festival, massive Mysterious Presents will appear in the open world in Central Tyria maps. They explode when unwrapped, so take care! Fight off hostile skritt and collect the Wintersday Gifts that fall out.

Speak to the Bell Maestro near the Royal Terrace in Divinity’s reach to enter the Enchanted Snow Globe and take part in the bell choir ensemble! In this rhythm game, work together with your fellow Tyrians to reproduce songs from Guild Wars 2 and earn karma, Wintersday Gifts, and more!

Speak with the Charity Corps Seraph in the Crown Pavilion to purchase Rolls of Wrapping Paper. These rolls can be combined with various items earned from Wintersday activities to create Wrapped Gifts. Give these gifts to orphans throughout Divinity’s Reach and get some well-earned karma for your good deeds.

Race around Divinity’s Reach! You don’t need to have any mounts unlocked to take place in this race—a nearby rental service is available to rent a raptor for just 10 silver.

Use a unique set of snow-themed skills to defeat other players in this capture-the-flag-style game mode! Speak with the Festive Lionguard near the Royal Terrace in Divinity’s Reach to enter, then choose from three professions: supporter, heavy gunner, or scout. The first team to bring 500 points worth of Wintersday Gifts back to their base wins!

This content has no level requirement and can be enjoyed by players of all skill levels.

Enter the portal southwest of the Crown Pavilion to take on the legendary Freezie! Form a squad of up to 10 players and mend Freezie’s frozen heart. This content is exclusively available to players who have reached level 80.

Enter Toymaker Tixx’s airship from the candy cane portal just west of the Crown Pavilion to assist the asuran craftsman in producing enough Wintersday presents for every resident of Tyria.
Take on the haywire machinery and malfunctioning toys throughout the workshop with a party of up to 5 players. This Wintersday-exclusive dungeon is accessible to players of any level and will dynamically adjust your attributes to those of a level 80 player if you are below that level.

Defend the gift dolyaks from Tixx’s malfunctioning toys! Speak to the Toy Captain just south of the Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach to enter this tower-defense-style game mode with a party of up to 5 players. This Wintersday-exclusive activity is accessible to players of any level and will dynamically adjust your attributes to those of a level 80 player if you are below that level.

Jumping puzzle lovers rejoice! Dodge exploding Wintersday gifts and jump across giant melting snowflakes in this holiday-themed jumping puzzle. Speak to the Festive Youth at the Crown Pavilion to enter the Winter Wonderland and take on one of three available paths through the snow, each offering its own difficulty. This content is available to players of any level.