Guild Wars 2 drops WvW warclaw mount, Lounge, and class balance tweaks in today’s patch

Last week was surely the most disastrous in Guild Wars 2 history, and that’s saying a lot given the mess that was last July. But with today’s patch, the ArenaNet team is pressing onward, releasing new content in spite of saying goodbye to 143 colleagues after the February layoffs. The headline feature of the patch is the new warclaw mount, of course.

“The new warclaw mount can now be unlocked in WvW. To accommodate this addition, a Warclaw Mastery line has been added to the Rank and Abilities tab of the World vs. World panel. Training the first skill in the mastery line will unlock a collection achievement that, once completed, allows players to purchase a warclaw from vendors in the Borderlands. Once the warclaw has been unlocked, players can summon it anywhere that mounts can be used, but warclaws are especially effective in WvW where they excel in battle and siege warfare. A well-trained warclaw can finish off enemies who are in a downed state, detect nearby foes, and even help destroy gates in siege battles.”

However, you should probably take a peak at the patch notes even if you’re not into awesome cat mounts, as the update also includes sweeping balance changes for all the classes. It’s the kind of list where exactly nobody is going to be happy, yay.

Incidentally, if you’re normally a PvE player in Guild Wars 2, but you still want that Warclaw, take a look at this thread from that_shaman, breaking down exactly what PvP slog you’ll have in front of you to get it.

If you're a WvW newbie and wonder how long it takes to unlock the #gw2 #warclaw:

50 skirmish tickets require 290 "pips" which you earn at T3+ participation. You get at least 3 pips every 5 minutes so it will take 8 hours of gameplay. These can not be earned in edge of the mists

— that_shaman (@that_shaman) March 1, 2019

There’s been a cash shop update too; the cool bit here is Armistice Bastion, which appears to be a new Lounge (one of those special pay-to-play hubs with all the vendors and gates and such). Just the music on this makes me feel homesick.

“Grab your pass and enter the Armistice Bastion, a neutral ground in the never-ending Mist War. Stay informed on the shifting tides of battle with access to team chat and a detailed view of the WvW map. Traveling around this lounge is made easy with Mist-Step travel skills—simply use them to teleport to merchants or to quickly return to Tyria. But with amenities this great, we think you’ll stick around for a while.”