The way I look at it when you reach level 80 the game becomes basically free-roaming. You can go anywhere and do anything without worrying about being underlevel or not getting enough XP. Which also means you can keep doing anything you were doing before, like PvP, WvW, exploring and completing open-world maps, crafting etc. It’s all still relevant at max level.
But in terms of content that only becomes available at level 80 there’s:
- The last 2 chapters of the personal story
- Season 2 of the living story
- Heart of Thorns story
- 8 maps (Cursed Shore, Southsun Cove, Drytop, Silverwastes, Verdant Brink, Auric Basin, Tangled Depths and Dragon’s Stand)
- Crucible of Eternity and City of Arah explorable dungeons
- Fractals of the Mists
- Raiding
- Masteries become available to train
It also means you’ll have at least enough hero points to unlock all the core skills and specialisations, so they’ll all be available whenever you want them. And because the top tiers of equipment (level 80 exotic and ascended) are now available to you and you won’t need to keep upgrading as you level up you can make or buy a permanent set (or multiple sets if you want) with matching stats, which makes a big difference to how effective you are in combat.
Similarly because you won’t be changing gear as often many people feel like it’s more worthwhile to choose, acquire and use skins they like after level 80. You can do this at any point, but it gets annoying to keep spending transmutation charges just to keep the look you decided on.
Danielle Aurorel, Dear Dragon We Got Your Cookies [Nom], Desolation (EU).
“Life’s a journey, not a destination.”
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