This morning’s reveal of Guild Wars 2’s The Midnight King episode isn’t the only big GW2 news today, as ArenaNet’s Josh “Grouch” Davis penned a spring and summer roadmap with more in store.
First, as we noted this morning, The Midnight King will cap off Secrets of the Obscure on May 21st, pushing players deep into Nayos and into the Lonely Tower fractal, the challenge mode for which will roll out on June 4th. Notably, the May 21st patch will include a challenge mode for squad convergences along with a fifth boss and a leaderboard, plus quality-of-life perks for reticles, squad messages, and guilds (yes, you’ll be able to join as many as six guilds after this patch).
Second, PvP players will finally see some light at the end of the tunnel for the WvW world restructuring system, which enters always-on beta starting June 14th. Grouch does say the studio is continuing to work on queue issues and will offer titles to commemorate old world teams. Expect additional tweaks for WvW UIs, siege disruptors, supply counts, in addition to scoring changes coming in July. ArenaNet further aims to realign PvP rewards “to make ascended armor and weapons more accessible in PvP by increasing the number of grandmaster marks that can be earned each season and decreasing the number of ascended shards of glory needed to purchase ascended armor and weapons.” New titles, reward track perks, and automated tourney adjustments are on deck, spread out between the June 25th and July 16th updates.
Third, the aforementioned June 25th update will include another skill and profession balance round. “We’re primarily focused on improving the usability of underpowered skills, utilities, and traits and bringing in outlier builds where necessary,” Grouch says.
And fourth, and perhaps most importantly, ArenaNet is plotting a retrospective recap of Secrets of the Obscure – and a tease for the next expansion and its quartet of content drops. “Shortly after that, you’ll get your first look at what that next expansion has to offer,” he promises.
