We’re a week away from what we now know will be the reveal of Guild Wars 2’s next expansion – and the fresh platter of elite specs that we now know we’re getting. In the meantime, ArenaNet’s Josh “Grouch” Davis has penned a lengthy dev blog, recapping the year of Janthir Wilds, what the studio learned, and what’s coming next.
Davis acknowledges some of the main complaints with Janthir Wilds: that the story content felt brief and that the second chunk of content needed a map.
“For our next expansion, we’re refining that structure to give each update more depth and impact,” he writes. “The first quarterly release after the expansion’s launch will not include new story or map content. Instead, it will focus on updates to core systems and longstanding features.”
But don’t panic: The story and map work will be pushed off to the back half of the expansion arc, but they’ll also be bigger and longer story-wise – meaning more story total.
“By focusing on story and map development in the second and third quarterly updates, we’re able to make those releases more robust and satisfying. Each will introduce a larger, more content-rich map and a longer, more fully developed story than what players saw in the equivalent Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds updates. While the total amount of story content across the expansion is increasing modestly, the bigger benefit is how much more meaningful each individual release will feel, along with the scope improvements to the open-world maps. This approach allows for more complete and satisfying story arcs, and it results in a net increase in total content delivered over the course of the expansion.”
Davis further says the team will continue supporting newly introduced features, streamlining confusing older features, focusing on “sustainable upgrades to the game’s foundation,” and expanding endgame content – including a unification system for strikes and raids.
Finally, Davis confirms that we are indeed getting new elite specs, though with a twist: “Elite specializations are making a return, this time designed to work together with the flexible build crafting system we’ve been refining over the past few years. However, these new specializations won’t come with dedicated weapons. Instead, each one introduces unique profession mechanics, a new trait line, utility skills, an elite skill, a healing skill, and distinct playstyles without locking you into a specific weapon or equipment loadout.”
He drops one more tease before the end: concept art of what sure looks like a Paragon and Ritualist spec with clear nods to Nightfall and Factions, respectively. We were wondering about the Paragon icon when recording yesterday’s podcast, but we definitely didn’t see the Rit coming! Dust off your Necros!
