A Surprise Fractal Incursion with New Rewards Awaits You Today!

A Surprise Fractal Incursion with New Rewards Awaits You Today!

The Mists tremble and warp as the impact of recent events permeates the beyond. The Astral Ward has named it a fractal incursion, as Tyria risks a deluge of malicious attacks from fractal recreations.

I am calling for your aid to stabilize the disturbance via the Fractals of the Mists in Lion’s Arch. Let us meet there, and I will explain how we may avert this crisis.

—Mist Stranger

Surprise! Today we’re introducing a brand-new bonus event called Fractal Incursion that will run until October 7 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). This event is aimed at introducing new players to fractals and giving fractal veterans more rewards to seek, including an incredible pair of legendary gloves! We also have some updates for our new PvP game mode, Push.

The mysterious Mist Stranger calls for your aid with a plan formed alongside the Astral Ward to calm the Mists. Join them in Lion’s Arch to embark on an adventure into the Fractals of the Mists and across Tyria! All of today’s live content updates are free and accessible to all players regardless of expansion ownership. Let’s dive in!

Introducing the Quickplay Beta

The Looking For Group UI showing the Fractal Quickplay group finder.

This event introduces a new way to play fractals called quickplay mode, which we’re now beta testing with the community. Quickplay will automatically pair you with other adventurers and launch you into a curated list of scale 1 fractals. You can use this new feature when you’re solo, in a full group, or in a partial group, and quickplay will do the rest!

Quickplay mode is accessed through the Fractal of the Mists (Initiate Scales 1–25) section of the Looking for Group panel or by clicking the red banner outside the fractal portal in Lion’s Arch. The current set of fractals available for quickplay includes:

  • Aetherblade
  • Cliffside
  • Deepstone
  • Kinfall
  • Molten Boss
  • Molten Furnace
  • Snowblind
  • Uncategorized
  • Urban Battleground
  • Volcanic

The Mist Stranger will also assist players using the quickplay mode queue by helping to revive fallen adventurers and overcome environmental puzzles. For more information about this and some other changes to the fractals themselves, please refer to our full release notes for today’s update.

Open-World Incursions

The Molten Firestorm fractal boss hovers in the open world ready to attack. It's a giant automaton surrounded by glowing pink energy.

Enemies from the fractals are spilling into the open world! You’ll need to safeguard Tyria from the Mists’ creatures during these new events at the top of every hour in one of these zones: Snowden Drifts, Diessa Plateau, Kessex Hills, and Brisban Wildlands. Don’t fret if you travel to the wrong zone, though—portals will appear in the others to lead you to where the problem is!

These events will award participants with achievement progress and a sampling of agony resistance infusions to assist heroes in preparing for more challenging fractals.

Fractally Amazing Rewards

Participating in this month-long event can earn you significant rewards! The Fractal Incursion Champion achievement is only available during the event and offers players twenty-two different reward tiers. The final reward of this achievement chain is the Legendary Weapon Starter Key—Universal, which allows you to kickstart your progress toward any first-generation legendary weapon!

Other rewards include:

  • A full set of rare-quality equipment for fresh level 80 characters.
  • Exotic armor, weapons, and accessories, including the new Guild Captain’s Cape.
  • A new ascended accessory with agony resistance, the Fractal Sheriff’s Star.
  • Two Bag Slot Expansions and a 20-slot bag.

There’s also a set of new achievements and rewards that are now permanent additions to the game. The Incursive Investigation achievements will guide you through the effort to stop the incursion attacks with a new section of the journey unlocking each week over the first three weeks of the event. The final reward for completing these achievements is the legendary Eikasia, Mists-Grasper gloves!

These gloves allow you to project a magical aura around the tip of whichever weapon you’re wielding. Over time, you can earn all three armor weights of these gloves and a series of Agony Lens infusions that let you customize the color of Eikasia’s glow on each weapon you wield!

Lastly, check the Wizard’s Vault for some bonus objectives and new rewards, including 20 Lucent Crystal Vault Bags, 3 Mystic Coin Vault Bags, a Lesser Essence of Gold, and an Infinite Mist Omnipotion.

Push Is Launching Today!

A dark alley in the Sunjiang Backstreets shows the silhouette of a group of combatants at the end bathed in green light.

Almost exactly a year ago today, we unveiled our plans to develop a new PvP mode alongside the community. After three beta events, countless changes based on player feedback, new map art, and new UI elements, we’re finally launching Push out of beta and into full release. PvP players can hop into the game right now and play Push. This game mode is here to stay!

In our most recent beta, we collected some great feedback from you, and our team has implemented the following notable changes:

  • Adjusted Mortal Contest and global healing reductions to reduce barrier support effectiveness.
  • Changed the locations of secondary objectives and updated their interaction-point art.
  • The visual effects for the center objective have been updated to better fit the setting.
  • Interactable teleports have been added to increase the variety of map pathing.
  • We’ve made some additional map adjustments, including the removal of ramps near player spawn points to avoid pregame griefing.

While Push is now live, we’ll continue to monitor feedback and make adjustments to the game mode as needed to ensure it’s as fun and competitive as possible. Thank you for your assistance in making Push come to life, and we’ll see you in the Sunjiang Backstreets very soon!

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Stay Cozy and Warm with the Austral Mantle Skin

Stay Cozy and Warm with the Austral Mantle Skin

    Austral Mantle Skin

    The days are getting colder as autumn approaches. Get ready to feel cozy and warm with a beautiful garment designed to allow freedom of movement. The patterned poncho is adorned with lovely details, and the undershirt is crafted with high-quality textiles. The Austral Mantle Skin is available for 400 gems.

    A male sylvari wears the Austral Mantle which is a brown patterned poncho made of wool with a white undershirt.

    Black Lion Chest Update: Seasoned Hunter Chest

    Inside each chest, you’re guaranteed to find a redeemable Black Lion Statuette, a Mini Green Turtle Hatchling, and two common items. You also have a chance to find something rarer in the fifth slot, including special items, glyphs, and skins from the Venombite Weapon Collection and the White Tiger Weapon Collection.

    The Mini Green Turtle Hatchling is a new mini to grow your collection. Use the Mystic Forge to combine the Mini Green Turtle Hatchling into different variants, such as the Mini Blue Turtle Hatchling, Mini Albino Turtle Hatchling, Mini Celestial Turtle Hatchling, and more!

    Two cute turtle minis are shown. The one on the left is sparkling and gold. The one on the right is green.

    Exclusive Item: “/Barbecue” Emote Tome

    Spend the rest of your late-summer days cooking up delicious barbecue meals for all your friends. Type /barbecue, /bbq, and /grill in the chat to start your feast. The “/Barbecue” Emote Tome is a new, exclusive drop from Black Lion Chests.

    A male norn in a baseball hat and sandals is grilling various meats on an elaborate iron grill.

    Shade-Touched Weapon Collection

    Caressed by darkness, these weapons are imbued with an ancient power harnessed by necromancers of ages past. Let their chilling metal and blue gloom guide you in battle. Each Shade-Touched weapon skin can be obtained in exchange for 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket.

    A female sylvari wields a staff and a male charr wields a hammer from the Shade-touched weapon collection. These metal weapons are blue and gray and have black smoke billowing around them.

    The Sensational Storage Package Returns!

    It’s back! Pick up this valuable bundle and upgrade your account today. This package is available until September 23 and can only be purchased once per account—but don’t worry, if you’ve purchased it before, you can obtain it again this time around! The Sensational Storage Package is 1,500 gems and contains the following items: Bag Slot Expansion, Shared Inventory Slot, 20 Slot Black Lion Satchel, Bank Tab Expansion, and Material Storage Expander.

    What’s in Stock

    We’re getting ready to rotate some goodies on Friday, September 12! These will be 20% off until September 26. Check out some of our favorites, like the Astral Scholar Outfit, Mist Stranger Outfit, Adventurous Cat Outfit, Infused Samurai Outfit, and Mage Knight Outfit!

    Returning This Week

    Free your artistic mind and design a whole new hero! From today until September 16, Character Slot Expansions are available at a 20% discount.

  • Available Now in the Gem Store!

    Log into Guild Wars 2 and press ‘O’ to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!

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Home Improvement: A New Homestead Arrives with Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity

Home Improvement: A New Homestead Arrives with Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity

A beautiful tropical island with a magical mountain in the middle. A tall house made out of an overturned ship adorns the left side of the island near a dock. The beaches are sandy and have palm trees scattered around.

Back in July, we announced that a new homestead map would arrive with the launch of Guild Wars 2®: Visions of Eternity™. Today, we’re thrilled to share more details about it, along with some exciting quality-of-life improvements. These enhancements will be available to anyone with access to homesteads, which requires ownership of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds™. Players who also own Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity will get a magical new map to decorate called Comosus Isle.

To see everything we’re talking about today—including the new map—join us for a livestream on our Twitch channel this Friday, September 5, at noon Pacific Time (UTC-7).

A view of a magical island at night. Wisps of blue leyline magic can be seen swirling around. A rock formation stands out of the water on the left and palm trees are scattered on the right.

Your Very Own Private Island Getaway

Looking to take a break from the pressures that come with being the commander and wayfinder? Talk to Deft Lahar in your homestead, and he’ll set you up with your very own private island in a Castoran paradise.

Start your day on Comosus Isle by hanging out at the beach’s fishing spots or by enjoying a guided ley-line tour that takes you on a scenic journey around the dazzling mountain bursting with energy. Thrill seekers can dive through the top of the mountain to the otherworldly caverns below, and explorers looking for a more relaxed time can hike through the hidden tunnels to get there instead. Once there, wash your worries away in the bubbling pool and let the crystal resonance of the area revitalize you.

A homestead house made out of a ship buried into the sand. It towers over a dock that surrounds it. In the background a mountain looms out of the island.

Your new vacation home is a three-story suite that comes fully furnished with a sitting and dining area, kitchen, bedroom, and a balcony where you can enjoy the ocean view in private. If you’re looking for a livelier time, you can wander over to the attached club hangout area.

If you’d prefer not to have a house on your island, fear not! The house—and every decoration it’s made from—can be removed and stored in your decoration inventory. They’re yours to keep! You can construct a new house just the way you like it or remove it entirely and customize the look of your island getaway.

Home Improvement

So, you’ve decided to pack up all your stuff in Hearth’s Glow and move to paradise? Before you go, consider using the new decoration layout feature to make a record of all your carefully placed decorations. That way, if you get sunburned a little too easily, you can move back and get all your furniture set up again with just a few clicks. Are you a big fan of Wintersday? Save a festive layout for your homestead that you can swap to in seconds when the season arrives!

The best part is that you can share your layouts with others! Layouts are stored as XML files that you can freely share with anyone you like. We can’t wait for the expert interior decorators in our community to share their amazing designs with everyone! Please note that layouts are stored locally, so if you play Guild Wars 2 on multiple devices, you’ll need to copy your layout files over.

A bedroom inside the homestead house. A bed with a blue patterned blanket sits on a gold and blue rug on the right side of the room. A desk and chair sit across from it under a circular landscape painting. A large open window reveals an ocean view with a palm tree.

When you load a layout into your homestead, it will only place the decorations that you have crafted and own. You’ll also be shown a list of the decorations that you’re missing so you know what you’ll need to go make!

You can also save the layout of a homestead you’re currently visiting. Maybe you aren’t much of a decorator yourself, but you’ve been impressed by all the amazing work you’ve seen in your friend’s homestead? Ask them to enable the Party Layout Saving option while you’re visiting, and you’ll be able to save their layout and import it into your own home!

A cozy outdoor setup with blankets, glowing lamps, and wooden wall decor, all placed on a beach.

Finally, we’re adding a new option to make decorating your homestead a bit easier. A Place Duplicate skill will be added to the Modify Existing Decorations mode and will allow you to use an already-placed decoration to guide your alignment of a new decoration. This alleviates the need to manually align decorations when you’re building things like walls or fences.

To utilize this feature, edit an existing decoration and position it to where you’d like your next piece to go. Then use the new Place Duplicate skill instead of Confirm Modification. Assuming you have more of that decoration available in your storage, it will place it in the newly selected area and leave the existing decoration where it was before. This is definitely easier to visualize with a video:

Livestream This Friday

We can’t wait for you to see Comosus Isle and all of the wondrous locations there are to explore within. This gorgeous map and the features we discussed today will be shown in detail during our livestream this week. Tune in to our Twitch channel this Friday, September 5 at noon Pacific Time (UTC-7) to see it all for yourself. And if this sounds like the all-inclusive resort experience for you, you can prepurchase Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity and unlock some of the digital rewards today!

A magical underground cave bathed in blue light with a beautiful serene lake in the middle. Overheard the ceiling is alive with bright blue fairy lights sparkling with bioluminescence.

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Open the Gates to a New Customization Option with the Crystal Rune Conjured Doorway

Open the Gates to a New Customization Option with the Crystal Rune Conjured Doorway

    Crystal Rune Conjured Doorway

    Your home sweet home’s front door can say a lot about you—transform the passage to your little piece of paradise with this ancient crystalline skin. Everyone will know your place is as magical as its entrance, especially after you customize your doorway with its four dye channels!

    The Crystal Rune Conjured Doorway Skin is available for 600 gems and requires the Homesteads feature from Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™.

    Two giant magical doorways stand in the desert. They are both made from rune-etched stone with shimmering magic in the doorway. Large crystals adorn either side of the archways. The left doorway is purple and blue while the one on the right is pale pink and green.

    What’s in Stock

    On Friday, September 5, it’s time to rotate our stock for the season with an overall 20% discount! The following items are some of our favorites among the discounted wares: Avian Aspect Helm Skin, Rebel Jacket Skin, Baggy Cargo Pants Skin, Enchanted Dragon Crown Package, and the Shatterspark Shoulders and Shatterspark Gloves skins.

    Make sure to pick up your favorites before September 19!

    Returning This Week

    If you love to have everything in hand while adventuring through Tyria, then this sale is for you! From today until September 9, Shared Inventory Slots are available at a 20% discount.

    A giant magical doorway stands in the desert. It is made of dark grey stone with blue runes etched into it. At the base are dark blue crystals.

  • Available Now in the Gem Store!

    Log into Guild Wars 2 and press ‘O’ to access the Black Lion Trading Company for these great offers and more!

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