By Lucas Miller
ArenaNet announced Heart of Thorns, an expansion to Guild Wars 2 at a special PAX South presentation this morning. The presentation included a broad outline of the expansion, which will be the first for the popular MMO. An overview of the content can be found in the announcement trailer, which can be seen below.
The new expansion will bring players to the Heart of the Maguuma Jungle to take the fight to the elder dragon Mordremoth. The new region includes three new zones filled with new enemies and bosses to fight, new events and storylines to discover, and new group content to overcome.
The level cap will not be raised in Heart of Thorns. Instead, ArenaNet is implementing a new feature called the Mastery System. This new system provides opportunities to advance your characters with new abilities like hang gliding in the jungle, or tearing the bark off of heavily-armored enemies. The new system unlocks the bonuses across all the characters on your entire account, so you don't have to unlock them for each character.
The new expansion will also provide new ways to play each profession with the Profession Specialization system. This system provides new combat opportunities for each profession, giving them access to new abilities and a new weapon type. For example, Rangers will be able to become Druids and will have access to the staff weapon type, while Necromancers will be able to use greatswords.
Heart of Thorns will also grant players access to the all-new Revenant profession. This profession wears heavy armor, and can “channel legendary powers to slaughter foes and unleash chaos on the battlefield.”
The new expansion will provide new opportunities for player vs. player content, as well. A new competitive PvP mode, Stronghold, tasks players to recruit NPC soldiers and heroes in an attempt to storm the other team's stronghold and defeat their guild lord to win the game. The new guild team feature is also being implemented, allowing guilds to team up in an attempt to reach the top of the guild leaderboards. There is new content and changes coming to the World vs. World PVP mode as well. A new Borderlands map will be released, complete with new traps and tactics for players to utilize.
Finally, guild halls will be added to the game. This feature, which has been requested by players for a long time, will allow members of a guild to build their own personal guild hall where they can host gatherings and strategize before battles.
There is currently no release date or pricing information for Heart of Thorns. ArenaNet has promised more information about the game will be as the launch draws nearer.
Image: Guild Wars
