Guild Wars 2

We had a couple quick things to clarify right off the bat about the upcoming Costume Brawl:

• Yes, it’s called Costume Brawl but it’s not like the Costume Brawl in the original Guild Wars.
• While it does take advantage of many Gem Store related items, players will still be able to participate even without spending any gems.

Why? The animal tonics and town clothes toys were a little lacking in “fun” department. Sure they aesthetically did something, but they weren’t the most interactive pieces of content we had. So for Costume Brawl, we decided to play into the social nature of Guild Wars 2 and allow players to interact with one another in new interesting ways; like a fun, free-for-all, over the top sort of brawl. If you’ve played with the Boxing Gloves already, you have a bit of an idea from air boxing—we’ve just taken it up a few more notches.

Costume Brawl is a fun thing to do when you need a break from all that hero-ing you’ve been doing. Think of all those fun moments playing tag, or running around a playground during recess. Costume Brawl ties into that simple fun of being in the moment playing—but once the centaurs show up, everyone gets back to this hero business of saving Tyria. Using toy items, transform tonics, and interacting with other things in the world allow you to participate in a free-for-all brawl with other players out in the world. If you are a hardcore 24/7 e-sport PvP player you’ll probably be good at this, but it’s not going to scratch your itch specifically. It’s not serious, it’s not highly competitive, but it does let other players interact in ways they normally can’t.

While brawling, you earn temporary status as a ‘King of Costume Brawl’ inciting new rivals by proclaiming your brawling prowess. This is sort of like being king of the hill on the playground and only lasts as long as you stay in the brawl. Score enough hits and you start earning Costume Brawl achievements for longer term progression.

During Halloween, there are areas in which players can get brawl skills without buying anything, like jumping into the Mystic Forge. Each costume has its own skills and certain costumes allow anyone to join in once the owner has started a brawl. For example, a Witch’s Broom allows you to summon a cauldron. This cauldron in turn will transform anyone who drinks from it, enabling them to join the fray. The Mad King’s costume available in the Gem Store allows you to summon a Ghostly Banquet Table and anyone eating from it joins the brawl as a Pumpkin Food Fighter.

The animal tonics from Black Lion Chests already out there will include brawl skills so anyone with keys from playing their personal story or looting monsters can participate! Mystic tonics and animal tonics are all included. The Boxing Gloves, Cook’s Frying Pan, Pirate Wooden Sword from the Gem Store will all be updated and tweaked to work with Costume Brawl.

Halloween costumes will be unavailable to purchase once Halloween is over, but the brawl will continue to work and the fun will go on with existing costumes and tonics. If it’s popular, we plan on supporting it with even more toys, more transforms, and more features! When you think about it, think about how serious you were playing tag at recess. While it’s not the beloved Costume Brawl from the original Guild Wars – it is something fun, innovative, and unique to Guild Wars 2!