Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 is a fantasy MMORPG currently in development by ArenaNet, as a sequel to their episodic Guild Wars game series. It was announced in 2007 alongside the final Guild Wars expansion Eye of the North.


Guild Wars 2 game play has been modified from Guild Wars to include a variety of different features.


Guild Wars 2 will allow a player to create a character from five races and eight professions. Professions are divided into three categories: scholars, who use light armor; adventurers, who use medium armor; and soldiers, who use heavy armor. As of January 2011, five professions, Elementalist, Warrior, Ranger, Necromancer and Guardian, have been announced.

Elementalist concept art

The maximum character level has been increased to 80, however the developers emphasize they wish "to avoid forcing players into the grind-based gameplay that too often accompanies a high level cap."


In PvE content Guild Wars 2 will use a persistent game-world but still utilize instanced content as a story telling device. Instead of quests in this game-world, the persistent area will have a set of scenarios, or events, which dynamically occur depending on player actions in the area. These in-game events are designed to allow characters of all levels to continuously interact with the game-world.


PvP combat will also change from the original series. The popular guild vs. guild matches from the original series will continue to be available, but Guild Wars 2 will introduce large scale world vs. world matches in the in-game setting called the Mists. Players will be able to join this worldwide PvP battle in a variety of roles, with rewards commensurate with their success.


Confirmed playable races are those introduced in the "Eye of the North" expansion for Guild Wars 1, namely Asura, Charr and Norn as well as Humans and a new race, the Sylvari. Professions will not be race limited, however each race will have their own racial skills. These racial skills will be less powerful than the majority of the common skills so as to prevent the large uptake of one race, but will be powerful enough to still be a viable choice.


The game takes place in the Guild Wars fantasy world of Tyria, 250 years after the players defeat the Great Destroyer in the Eye of the North expansion. Five elder dragons sleeping beneath the continent have awoken, causing widespread destruction to Tyria and corrupting its inhabitants.