Guild Wars 2

Warrior
In addition to moving some utility skills to the new ammo system, we’re also taking a look at the Strength and Arms trait lines. These lines have several adjustments aimed at making each choice more meaningful and less conflicting with other choices in the same tier while also focusing the purpose of each trait line into areas that make the most sense. One important trait that changed in this process was Berserker’s Power, which is an important trait for warriors who rely on Power damage. This trait previously granted a damage bonus based on the tier of adrenaline you were at when you used a burst skill. We’ve updated this trait to better scale with the amount of adrenaline you use so that warriors can feel good about using lower-level bursts consecutively rather than always waiting for the level 3.
Profession:

• Primal Burst: These skills now count as level-1 bursts for the purposes of traits that scale on adrenaline level.

Weapon Skills:

• Throw Axe: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 2 with a 10-second count recharge. There is a 1-second recharge between uses.
• Combustive Shot: Fixed a bug that caused the projectile created by this skill to be destroyed without creating the damaging area when fired at enemy gates in WvW.
• Scorched Earth: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to fail to hit some gates in WvW.
• Flaming Flurry: Increased projectile speed by 66%.
• Aimed Shot: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and now uses the higher damage values and vulnerability stack amounts in all game modes.
• Flames of War: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and now uses the higher burn duration and burning stack values in all game modes.
• Blaze Breaker: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and now uses the higher condition durations in all game modes.

Utility Skills:

• “On My Mark!”: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 2 with a 30-second count recharge. There is a 5-second recharge between uses.
• Kick: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 3 with a 30-second count recharge. There is a 3-second recharge between uses.
• Throw Bolas: This skill now uses the ammo system. Ammo count has been set to 2 with a 25-second count recharge. There is a 1-second recharge between uses.
• Bull’s Charge: This skill now evades for the duration of the charge. Increased damage by 267%. This skill now goes on full recharge if interrupted.

Traits:

• Berserker’s Power: This trait’s functionality has been changed. It now provides a stacking 7% damage-increase enhancement for 10 seconds for each bar of adrenaline used when a burst skill hits. Maximum 3 stacks.
• Axe Mastery: This trait has moved to the Discipline line and takes the slot previously taken by Merciless Hammer.
• Merciless Hammer: This trait has moved to the Strength line and takes the slot previously taken by Axe Mastery. In addition to its previous functionality, this trait now also causes interrupts to inflict 4 stacks of confusion for 8 seconds.
• Death from Above: This trait has been removed and its functionality moved to Peak Performance. It has been replaced with Brave Stride.
• Brave Stride: Your first attack when entering combat grants 1 stack of stability for 4 seconds.
• Peak Performance: This trait now increases the damage of all physical skills by 30% regardless of your adrenaline level. Additionally it now also reduces fall damage by 50% and causes you to launch foes when you take fall damage.
• Distracting Strikes: This trait has been removed and its functionality combined with Merciless Hammer. It has been replaced with Might Makes Right.
• Might Makes Right: Whenever you apply might to yourself, heal a small amount and gain 5 endurance.
• Determined Revival: Now reduces incoming damage by 25% while reviving, instead of granting increased Toughness.
• Precise Strikes: This trait has been reworked and its functionality moved to Bloodlust. This trait has been renamed to Furious Burst and causes burst skills to grant 5 seconds of fury with a 15-second internal cooldown.
• Berserker’s Fury: This trait has been reworked, and it has been renamed Wounding Precision. It now grants +120 Precision at level 80 and converts 7% of Precision to Expertise.
• Signet Mastery: This trait now grants Ferocity instead of Precision when a signet is used.
• Opportunist: This trait now grants 5 adrenaline when immobilizing a foe in addition to fury.
• Deep Strikes: This trait has switched places with Rending Strikes and is now in the Master Minor slot.
• Unsuspecting Foe: This trait now provides a bonus critical-hit chance against foes that are disabled by any hard crowd-control effect rather than just stun.
• Rending Strikes: This trait has switched places with Deep Strikes and is now in a Master Major slot. Increased vulnerability duration to 10 seconds.
• Blademaster: This trait now increases condition duration by 20% for sword skills instead of increasing sword critical-hit chance against bleeding foes by 20%.
• Bloodlust: This trait no longer increases damage against bleeding foes. Instead, it causes your critical hits to have a 33% chance to inflict 1 stack of bleeding for 5 seconds and increases duration of outgoing bleeds by 33%.
• Dual Wielding: Increased attack speed bonus from 15% to 20%. Updated description for clarity. This trait gives an attack speed bonus when a main-hand weapon is wielded in the off-hand slot.
• Shrug It Off: Fixed a bug that could cause this trait to go on a 30-second internal cooldown under some circumstances instead of its listed cooldown.
• Cull the Weak: Increased bonus damage from 5% to 7%. Increased health threshold from 33% to 50%. Increased weakness duration from 3 seconds to 5 seconds. This trait now applies weakness to foes regardless of if they already have weakness on them, but it has a 5-second internal cooldown.
• Sundering Mace: This trait has had its functionality changed. It now causes stuns, dazes, and knockdowns inflicted by mace skills to last 20% longer against vulnerable foes, and it reduces the recharge of mace skills by 20%.
• Reviver’s Might: In addition to granting might, this trait now also heals nearby allies. This trait now triggers when you successfully revive someone or when you rally.
• Inspiring Presence: This trait no longer grants Healing Power to outgoing might but instead grants bonus Healing Power to the warrior for each stack of might.

Structured Player vs. Player

• League Vendors have had some tab consolidation.
• Glorious armors, earned from PvP Reward Tracks, now have Heart of Thorns stat combinations as selectable options. Heart of Thorns required.
• The Champion’s Crown has been swapped with the Champion’s Sun for winning first place in the Monthly PvP Tournament.
• Stealth Attacks: Fixed a bug that caused thief stealth attacks to treat the PvP lobby as a PvE area when determining the duration of Revealed to apply.

PvP Stat-Swappable Armor:

• The PvP ascended armors Ardent Glorious and Glorious Hero’s can now be upgraded into stat-swappable armor.
• The Ascended Armor League Vendor now sells items needed to upgrade ascended PvP armor into stat-swappable armor.
• Since this is an upgrade, the stat-swappable armor does not include a new unique skin but is instead the same skin as the ascended piece that was upgraded.

World vs. World
Territories:

• Each objective now has a territory associated with it that is outlined on the map. An objective’s territory will display the team color of the team that owns it. The WvW score UI now displays the objective of whatever territory you are in.

Gliding:

• The new War Gliding Mastery has been added to WvW. The War Gliding skill allows gliding in territories that your team owns in the Mist War maps. You will be kicked from your glider if you enter a territory that you do not own.
• With the addition of gliding, several small map adjustments have been made to the Eternal Battlegrounds, Desert, and Alpine borderlands to better accommodate gliding. Along with map changes, several out-of-bounds areas have been added that will teleport players back to the spawn point if they get outside of the playable game area. This is a test for gliding in WvW. We can disable gliding in WvW if we do not find it appropriate for the game mode.

Ability-Point Reset:

• A new ability-point reset vendor, the World Ability Master, has been added to each portal keep (team starting area). One free sample ability-point reset is available per character. Ability-point resets can be bought with spirit shards that will instantly reset your WvW ability points.

Siege Balance:

• Ballista:
  • Ballista’s damage to siege has been increased.
  • Ballista’s 4th skill has been replaced with an antiair bolt that shoots people out of the air and immobilizes them.
• Catapult:
  • Catapults’ boulder shots now deal damage based on their charge level. The longer the catapult is charged, the more damage it deals.

WvW Stat-Swappable Armor:

• The WvW ascended armor Triumphant Hero’s and Mistforged Triumphant Hero’s can now be upgraded into stat-swappable armor.
• Commander War Razor now has a new Legendary Components tab that sells items needed to upgrade ascended WvW armor into stat-swappable armor.
• Since this is an upgrade, the stat-swappable armor does not include a new unique skin but is instead the same skin as the ascended piece that was upgraded.

Reward Changes:

• Being in first place with war score now grants 5 pips instead of 3.
• Being in second place with war score now grants 4 pips instead of 2.
• Being in third place with war score now grants 3 pips instead of 1.
• The Superior Siege Blueprint Case choice from the Skirmish Chest now grants 2 superior siege instead of 1.
• WvW Skirmish Claim Tickets have been reduced in the last chest of each division but have been added to every chest.
• The Triumphant Armor Box and Legacy Armor Box exotics now give Heart of Thorns stats if you own Heart of Thorns.
  • If you already chose stats on the exotic gear, you will need to earn the exotic gear again to choose different stats.
• Mistforged Hero’s ascended weapons now have infusion slots.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Rival Skies Package with the Fiery Blade Axe and the Icy Blade Axe is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 1,000 gems.
• The new Black Lion Instant Level 80 Ticket is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 2,000 gems. Using this item will grant a Level-80 Boost, allowing players to test their characters before boosting one to level 80.
• A new Path of Fire Preparation Pack is available in the Utility category of the Gem Store for 3,500 gems. It contains 1 Character Slot, 2 Bag Slot Expansions, 1 Black Lion Instant Level 80, 1 Unbreakable Gathering Tools Container, and 10 Black Lion Chest Keys.
• With the improvement to the Mistlock Sanctuary lounge, the Permanent Mistlock Sanctuary Passkey is available in the Utility category of the Gem Store for an additional week for 1,000 gems.
• The Guild Wars 2 Fifth Year Anniversary Sale starts soon. Check back every day for your favorite items on sale.

Improvements

• Updated the Dynamics Glider Module to appear less detached on asura when deployed.
• The Mistlock Sanctuary’s portal to Tyria has been updated with additional teleportation options. Players may now choose to return to the location where they used their Mistlock Sanctuary Passkey.
• The Black Lion Exclusives Chest has been added as a rare drop in the current Black Lion Chest for a limited time. Players can choose one of the nine exclusive items released previously in the Black Lion Chest, including the Grasping Phantom Glider, Mini Celestial Rooster, Infinirarium Glider, Candelabra Staff, Bitterfrost Vantage Point, Noran’s Safe Room Pass and Key, Elemental Sword, Sworn Zaishen Helm Skin, and Hounds of Balthazar Mail Carrier.
• For a limited time, the Maguuma Jungle, Kryta, and Ranger’s Miniatures are available when using Black Lion Miniature Claim Tickets.
  • Ranger’s Miniatures: Mini Brown Bear, Mini Devourer, Mini Jungle Stalker, Mini Toxic Spider Queen, Mini Salamander Drake, Mini River Drake, Mini Swamp Drake, Mini Polar Bear, Mini Lynx, and Mini Snow Leopard.
  • Maguuma Jungle Miniatures: Mini Colocal, Mini Forest Spider, Mini Green Moa, Mini Jungle Stalker, Mini Skritt Forager, Mini Skritt Bottle Lobber, Mini Tiger, Mini Chickenado, Mini Tizlak, Mini Forest Grub, and Mini Lynx.
  • Kryta Miniatures: Mini Brown Bear, Mini Ettin, Mini Modniir Berserker, Mini River Drake, Mini Swamp Spider, Mini Wind Rider, Mini Black Wind Rider, Mini Blue Drake Hatchling, Mini Swamp Drake, Mini River Drake Broodmother, and Mini Black Moa.

Bug Fixes

• Removed the Agony Resistance filter when searching for armor or weapons on the trading post.
• Updated the Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock to correctly unlock permanent finishers while players have limited-use versions of that finisher equipped.
• Fixed an issue in which players could become stuck midair in the Mistlock Sanctuary when simultaneously manipulating gravity and untransforming.
• Fixed the Merchant Express to prevent summoned merchants floating in midair.

MAC CLIENT

• Adjusted Touch Bar integration to better work with some user preferences.

Hello, Mist Warriors!

I am excited to reveal that on August 8th we will be adding Gliding to WvW. The team has been working hard on a way to make gliding in WvW feel fun and fair, and by using our brand new territory system, we believe we finally have come up with a way to accomplish both goals.

Territories

Each objective in WvW now has a territory associated with it, and the ownership of each objective is displayed by map outlines in the color of the owning team. In addition to the map displaying the territory, the WvW score UI now displays the objective of your current territory next to the War Score your team is earning that tick. The objective icon functions the same way it does on the map and clicking it will open the Objective Upgrades panel.

Gliding

Gliding in WvW does not require unlocking gliding through PvE masteries. Instead, you can acquire Gliding by using ability points in the new Heart of Thorns War Gliding Mastery. The War Gliding Mastery is available to those who own Heart of Thorns and allows gliding in territories that your team owns in the Mist War maps: Eternal Battlegrounds, Alpine, and Desert Borderlands. If you enter a territory that you do not own while gliding, you will be kicked from your glider.

We’ve made several map adjustments to the Eternal Battlegrounds, Desert, and Alpine Borderlands maps to better accommodate gliding. Besides map adjustments, we have also replaced Ballista’s fourth skill with an anti-air bolt skill that shoots people out of the air and immobilizes them for a short duration.

It is important to keep in mind that this is a test for gliding in WvW. If we discover with this test that gliding is not appropriate for WvW, we will disable it.

Ability Point Reset

With the August 8th update, we are also adding a new ability point reset vendor, the World Ability Master, to every portal/home keep (team starting area). A free sample ability point reset is available per character so that everyone with ability points can start gliding right away.

A message from the Skills and Balance Team:

Hi everyone, we have some big news today regarding item changes in an upcoming balance patch. These changes may impact which gear and consumables you want for your build, so let’s dive in and see what’s different!

CONCENTRATION AND EXPERTISE

With the release of Heart of Thorns, we added new stat combos for equipment that included Concentration and Expertise as stat replacements for Condition Duration and Boon Duration. Having both of these systems available on equipment and consumables is redundant, so in the upcoming balance update we will be converting all equipment and consumables that provide a bonus to Boon Duration or Condition Duration to use Concentration or Expertise instead. This allows players more granular control over how much benefit they receive and makes it easier to balance and scale those values across the game. Runes and Sigils are not included in these changes and will remain in their current form.

Consumables

Food buffs that provided Condition Duration and Boon Duration will now provide normalized stat values for Concentration and Expertise similar to other consumables of the appropriate levels. Level 80 food that once provided +20% Condition Duration or Boon Duration will now provide +100 Expertise or Concentration, respectively. This change should lower the power of condition-based builds overall as well as encourage support players to invest more heavily in gear to acquire the boon duration they desire.

We are making this change for a couple of reasons. First of all, condition builds received a significantly higher damage boost from using food than power builds, which made it much harder to balance them across game modes. This change will bring the impact of optimal condi food in line with optimal power food. With the use of food imparting a consistent amount of DPS for all damage-dealing builds, we are able to more easily make changes to the skills and traits themselves, especially base amounts of condition duration. That in turn makes it easier for all players to understand roughly how much benefit they will receive from consuming food.

Secondly, we wanted to clean up a number of inconsistencies with consumables in general, and the upcoming balance patch gave us the perfect window to make these changes. When we made the change to Seaweed Salad, we knew that there were a lot more things that needed attention, but the scope of the changes to consumables was too broad to get out the door at the same time.

Equipment and Upgrades

The Giver’s weapon and armor sets currently are the only stat combos that provide Condition Duration (weapons) and Boon Duration (armor). In the upcoming build, these will be converted to Expertise and Concentration as well! While this will result in a small loss in stats for the weapons, it will greatly increase the benefit of the armor once Concentration is provided in level- and rarity-appropriate values. This change not only completes the standardization of stats on gear, but also will greatly improve the armor stat combo for those looking to play in a support role.

Additionally, Snowflakes and Doubloons have been switched over to use Concentration as well. Doubloons will now grant bonuses in line with other upgrades of their level and rarity, and level 80 Snowflake upgrades will provide the same bonuses as before, now with consistent stat messaging.

CHANGES TO UTILITY CONSUMABLES

We are also taking this opportunity to standardize the way Utility buffs provide bonuses, rework the theming, and ensure that they feel unique and different from Food buffs. All Utility buffs will consistently provide stat conversion from now on. Additionally, Sharpening Stones will always benefit Power-based builds, Tuning Crystals will always benefit Condition-based builds, and Maintenance Oils have been repurposed to benefit Support builds.

As the chart at the bottom of this post reveals, we are making some pretty significant changes, and those changes warrant discussion. When we sat down to talk about consumable balance, we came away with three goals: convert %Boon/Condition Duration into Concentration / Expertise, establish consistency in the damage boost from consumables, and make Utility buffs and Food buffs feel distinctly different. So we reviewed all the different Utility buff models we had tried since the game launched, and decided that the coolest build decisions involved converting stats into other stats. After that, the data showed us that Maintenance Oils were worse than Sharpening Stones for power DPS, so we threw out their concept and repurposed them as the Utility category for support builds.

The damage boost from using the new Utility buffs will be slightly higher for Berserker builds than it was before, and somewhat weaker for Condition builds than it was before. The effects of the baseline buffs also have changed to not convert from defensive stats anymore. That effect is now on the “Magnanimous” prefix, which was introduced in Episode 5 of Living World Season 3. If you’re still interested in that conversion but don’t have the episode or don’t want to do the reward track, the Compact utilities available from Canned Food Crates in WvW will provide a reduced-effect version of the Magnanimous utilities.

Recipes

While we were going through and making changes to the function of the Utility buffs, we also took a hard look at the crafting costs associated with them and made some adjustments to bring down the costs of making Furious, Toxic, and Bountiful utility items. It should be significantly less painful to craft these items going forward, and we are hopeful that the reduced cost of entry leads many more people to experiment with new utilities they may not have considered before.

We’re very excited to release these changes into the wild and look forward to getting them into your hands as soon as possible!

As Season 3 wraps up with “One Path Ends,” we’d love to ask you a favor, as we have in the past:

Please share your high-level feedback (75 words or fewer) on Episode 6.

Please mark any spoilers with the spoiler tag (see formatting guide) to avoid giving away the story to those who have not yet played all the way through.

Devs will be reading other threads, of course, and longer or more detailed feedback is welcome. This thread is designed to amass your high-level views.

07/25/2017 – July 25th Release Notes
Living World Season Finale- “One Path Ends”

Balthazar has disappeared again, and it’s top priority to find him—especially if what he’s planning could bring disaster to Tyria. And if one thing’s for sure, it’s that he’s gearing up for something big. He’s already managed to collect magical power from a bloodstone, and now he’s set his sights on an Elder Dragon. With Taimi’s device broken, you’re on your own—for now.
New Legendary Sword
A new legendary weapon is now available. Speak to Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch to learn how to craft the new sword precursor, Save the Queen, and forge the new legendary sword.
New Legendary Hammer
A new legendary weapon is now available. Speak to Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch to learn how to craft the new hammer precursor, Might of Arah, and forge the new legendary hammer.
World Polish
General

• Players can now turn in midair while jumping.
• The event “Kill the Risen before they reactivate the Statue of Lyssa” now rewards players with the same chest as the event “Kill the Corrupted High Priestess.”
• The skeleton and his treasure hoard have been located and returned to their ship in the Gilded Hollow.

Blazeridge Steppes

• Fixed an issue in which the Shatterer event failed to start when both prerequisite events were completed.
• Prerequisite events for the Shatterer will now automatically fail if they are not completed within the time limit to lure out the Shatterer.

Fractals
New Fractal: Shattered Observatory

• A new fractal is accessible through the Mistlock Observatory.
• Added a new Shattered Observatory fractal achievement category under Fractals of the Mists on the Achievements tab of the Hero panel.
• New rewards are available from BLING-9009 in the Mistlock Observatory.
• The continued perseverance of adventurers has again caught the eye of the Harbinger.

Molten Furnace

• Fixed a bug in which wiping during the final fight with the Weapons Test Engineer could cause the instance to stall on retry.

Molten Boss

• Falling from the platform during the battle against the Molten Berserker and Molten Firestorm will now result in death.

Nightmare

• Fixed a bug in which completing the fractal would not award some daily achievement progress.
• The Nightmare fractal is now accessible at scales 24, 49, 74, and 99, replacing the fractals previously at those scales.

Mistlock Instabilities

• Adrenaline Rush now permanently enrages enemies and applies a 150% damage increase instead of a 200% damage increase.

Miscellaneous

• The glider animation for Ad Infinitum has been updated to be more suitable for a legendary glider.
• Fixed a bug in which Fractal Avengers were prevented from finishing players.
• Mist-potion boon icons are now invisible outside of fractal maps.
• Reduced the gold cost of medium and heavy ascended chest pieces by 1 gold to match the WvW ascended armor cost.

Raids

• Added a new achievement for acquiring legendary armor pieces.

Bastion of the Penitent

• Fixed a bug in which safe zones in the Cairn the Indomitable encounter became out of sync with certain attacks.
• Adjusted the initial impact arc of Orbital Sweep during the Cairn the Indomitable encounter.
• Fixed a bug in which players took multiple instances of damage from Cairn the Indomitable’s Energy Surge attack.
• Fixed a bug in which Rigom behaved erratically when stunned and brought to 0 health at nearly the same time.
• Fixed a bug in which Samarog abandoned the fight when pushed past certain health thresholds too quickly.

Personal Story
Items

• Exotic backpacks acquired from the Druid Stone collections in the “Flashpoint” release now have an upgrade slot.
• Fixed a bug in which killing the Eye of Zhaitan in the Promenade of the Gods in Cursed Shore would not progress the Flameseeker Prophecies III collection.
• The Jade Maw Lens is now required to test items at the Metal Forest for the Bifrost III collection.
• Players who have deleted the Humming Krait Crystal without crafting the Krait Focusing Crystal for the Kraitkin III collection can now purchase a replacement from Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs.
• Players who have misplaced components for the Incinerator III collection can now purchase replacements from Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs.
• Fixed various legendary journey text bugs.
• Two sets of Heirloom Seed Pouches have been renamed to avoid champion loot bag confusion.
• Fixed a bug in which certain weapons prevented progression of the Twice-Told Legend achievement.
• The Charged Quartz Orichalcum Amulet now has a chance to drop from grand exalted chests in Auric Basin.
• The following jewels can be converted into infusions in the Mystic Forge:
  • Preserved Queen Bee
  • Chak Egg Sac
  • Poly-luminescent Undulating Refractor: Black, Green, Orange, and Teal
  • Vial of Liquid Aurillium
• The following legendary weapons now have custom projectile effects:
  • The Juggernaut
  • The Moot
  • Bolt
  • Meteorlogicus

Structured Player vs. Player
PvP Lobby

• Cautrell the Traitor has returned from his exile and is back to vending in the new lobby.

World vs. World
General

• Made the following adjustments to participation grace times:
  • Defending caravans has been changed from 2 minutes to 5 minutes.
  • Hitting a player/objective with a siege weapon has been changed from 1 minute to 2 minutes.
  • Capturing a shrine has been changed from 2 minutes to 5 minutes.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• For a limited time, a new set of Abaddon weapon skins are available from Black Lion Weapons Specialists for 2 Black Lion Claim Tickets. Keys can be found in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.
• The Shield of the Goddess has returned for a limited time and can be found in the Style category of the Gem Store for 600 gems.
• Introducing the Mistlock Sanctuary—the most elaborate Black Lion lounge to date. In addition to a full suite of general services and amenities, the Sanctuary also contains everything a fractal explorer could need. For easy access, pick up the lifetime pass in the Utility category of the Gem Store for 1,000 gems, or check out some of the Mistlock Sanctuary’s unique features with a two-week pass for 150 gems.

Improvements

• The Black Lion Chest has been updated to the Return to Orr Chest and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.
  • The Black Lion Material Bag has been added as the new guaranteed item. It contains a collection of high-quality crafting materials, special Living World Season 3 materials, and a few surprises.
  • The Unidentified Dye and Tome of Knowledge have been removed, and the Mystic Forge Stone and the new Black Lion Booster have been added as common drops.
  • The Communal Boost Bonfire has been added as an uncommon drop.
  • The new Mini Dwayna’s Messenger is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of the Return to Orr Chest.
  • The new Feathers of the Zephyr Package with the Golden Zephyr Backpiece and Feathers of the Zephyr Glider is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of the Return to Orr Chest.
  • The new Advanced Leather Rack and Advanced Cloth Rack are available as rare drops.
  • The Daydreamer’s Weapon Collection is now available as a rare drop for the duration of the Return to Orr Chest.
  • The Dwayna’s Weapon Collection is now available as a super rare drop for the duration of the Return to Orr Chest.

Mac Client

• Fixed an issue in which the command-key symbol was not shown in some contexts.
• Enabled use of the minimize button in windowed mode.
• Fixed keyboard navigation behavior in text boxes.
• Improved the support for non-US keyboard layouts.
• Improved the rendering of some visual effects.

Calanthe.3857:

There was a run of about 50 people last night doing an HP train in Auric Basin and Tangled Depths. Several of us got disconnected 2-3 times.

Very sorry to hear that. There was a DDOS incident that ran between approximately 6:45 PM and 7:20 PM PST. If you were making your run during that time, I would imagine that explains your team’s scattered disconnections.

06/20/2017 – June 20th Release Notes
Fractals
Miscellaneous

• Fixed a bug in which player pets, clones, and minions would scale their stats based on the fractal scale.

Profession Skills
General:
Elementalist
The staff has always been a solid option for support builds, but it has fallen off as elementalists are relying heavily on Obsidian Flesh and other focus skills for self-survivability. In this update, we have looked at a few of the weaker staff skills to try to make the kit more rewarding for players who choose the squishier option.

• Ice Spike: The cooldown of this skill has been increased from 4 seconds to 6 seconds and now causes a blast finisher when the spike lands.
  • The staff has numerous combo fields but has limited ability to utilize them. Adding a blast finisher to Ice Spike gives another opportunity for staff players to set up their own combos. We have slightly increased the cooldown to compensate for the strength of a blast finisher.
• Geyser: The heal scaling of this skill has been increased by 60% in PvP only.
  • Geyser is a solid healing skill but is weakened by the requirement of standing in an area for a period of time, allowing players to take a lot of damage in return. We have increased the heal scaling to make Geyser more rewarding to players who can maximize the risk.
• Gust: The reliability of the Gust projectile has been improved.
  • Gust did not reliably hit targets, especially when they were moving. We’ve made adjustments to the way Gust works to increase the chance it will hit your target.
• Static Field: The radius of this ability has been decreased from 240 to 180.
  • We increased the radius of this skill when we rolled Blasting Staff into baseline for all staff skills. This had an unintended effect of making it easier to move around within the static field and avoid the stun while also avoiding enemy attacks. We are reducing the radius back to the original value to make the skill more effective.
• Eruption: This skill now cripples enemies for 3 seconds in addition to its other effects.
• Arcane Brilliance: The cooldown of this skill has been decreased from 25 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP only.
  • Players who slot Arcane Brilliance are taking a smaller overall heal to gain the utility of a blast finisher, but the overall value is still lower than other options in the heal slot. We are reducing the cooldown of this skill to allow for more frequent blasts and make it a more competitive choice overall.

Guardian
Support builds for guardians have fallen out of favor due to the strength of the support builds on other professions. In this update, we have looked at a few core skills on staff, mace, and shouts to help support guardians retain viability.

• Detonate Orb of Light: The heal scaling of this skill has been increased by 20% in PvP only.
  • The healing of this skill was a bit low, considering the difficulty of hitting multiple allies. We have increased the heal scaling to better reward players who use this ability well.
• Empower: Increased the base healing of this skill by 100% in PvP only.
  • Empower did not offer enough reward given the risk of a stationary 2.5-second channel, so we have significantly increased the healing granted by this skill.
• Faithful Strike: The heal scaling of this skill has been increased by 100% in PvP only.
• “Hold the Line!”: The protection duration of this skill has been increased from 4 seconds to 6 seconds in PvP only.

Necromancer
For this update, we looked at enabling some more bruiser-oriented options for the necromancer.

• Life Siphon: The base healing of this skill has been increased by 25.7% in PvP only.
  • Life Siphon is an extremely long channel, opening the necromancer up to all sorts of punishment from enemies. We have increased the heal to better offset the risk taken.
• Dark Pact: The damage of this skill has been increased by 33% in PvP only.
• Vampiric Rituals: The protection duration of this trait has been increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds in PvP only.
  • Well utilities typically have longer cooldowns, and we felt that 3 seconds of protection was not enough to justify a Grandmaster trait slot. We’ve bumped this up to 5 seconds to make it a more interesting option.

Ranger
The axe has always been suited to work with hybrid damage stats, with the Might stacking of Ricochet combining with the bleeding from Splitblade and Winter’s Bite. The latter two skills have very low power coefficients, which prevented them from getting the maximum benefit from Might. We have significantly increased the power scaling of these two skills to grant them more synergy with the goal of the kit.

• Splitblade: The damage per axe hit of this skill has been increased by 200% in PvP only.
• Winter’s Bite: The damage of this skill has been increased by 150%.

Revenant
Jalis has struggled to remain competitive with other Legend options for the revenant. In this update, we are enhancing some of his underperforming skills with the goal of enabling a more bruiser-oriented build.

• Inspiring Reinforcement: This skill now grants 2 seconds of stability upon cast. Reduced energy cost from 35 to 30 in PvP only. The damage of this skill has been increased by 50% in PvP only.
  • Inspiring Reinforcement was not a reliable way to gain stability in response to incoming crowd control because it didn’t grant stability until the field finished building, so we added stability on the initial cast.
• Vengeful Hammers: The base healing of this skill has been increased by 43% in PvP only.
  • We felt that Vengeful Hammers did not provide enough value to warrant its expensive upkeep cost, so we have increased the healing.

Thief

• Choking Gas: The daze duration of this skill has been increased from 0.5 seconds to 1 second. Poison duration has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds. Daze interval has been increased from 1 second to 4 seconds. All of these changes affect PvP only.
  • We felt that a skill that provides a pulsing AoE daze to such a large area was too strong in PvP. It allowed coordinated players to completely control downed-state situations within the area of effect. By limiting the daze to once per cast, it still allows for the AoE daze but makes the skill significantly less oppressive.

Warrior
In this update, we have taken a look at a few underperforming weapons for the warrior: rifle and torch. The torch exists as a more aggressive off hand for condition builds, but it currently does not provide enough pressure to warrant taking it. We have increased the burning output on both torch skills to make it a more competitive option.
The rifle lacks in sustained pressure because three of its abilities focused on utility. Because of this, the rifle struggled to kill enemies when Volley and Gun Flame were mitigated. We have increased the damage of Aimed Shot to provide another source of damage to the rifle kit.

• Blaze Breaker: The number of burn stacks applied by this skill has been increased from 1 to 2 in PvP only. The cripple duration of this skill has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.
• Flames of War: The burning duration applied each pulse has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds. The number of burn stacks applied by the final explosion have been increased from 2 to 4, in PvP only.
• Aimed Shot: The damage of this skill has been increased by 68% in PvP only. The vulnerability applied by this ability has been increased from 5 to 10 stacks in PvP only.

Structured Player vs. Player
As part of the June 2017 Competitive Feature Pack, structured Player vs. Player will see a custom arena map for 2v2 battles, a new and improved PvP lobby to hang out in, and automated tournaments for a regular schedule of slaughter.
Daily PvP Achievements

• The daily achievements to win a PvP match with a profession have been removed.
• A daily achievement has been added to win a match.
• A daily achievement has been added to participate in a PvP tournament.
• The icon on the Potion of PvP Reward has been updated.

End of Match

• We have introduced a new end-of-match feature for Ranked Conquest and Stronghold matches.
  • After victory is declared, players are teleported to a unique location on each map.
  • Each player on the winning team stands victorious on a pedestal with celebration skills.

Hall of the Mists

• Hall of the Mists is a new map designed for a 2v2 team deathmatch.
  • In overtime, healing and stealth is disabled while the map is filled with a deadly fog that deals damage based on a percentage of maximum health.
• Updated custom arena configuration to allow game-mode selection.
  • Added a new option for number-of-round victories required to win the match.
  • Respawn is disabled for this game mode.

Eternal Coliseum

• The order in which the control points display in the score UI have been adjusted to match the order on the maps.

Courtyard

• Courtyard has been given a unique murderball-style secondary mechanic.
  • An altar in the center of the map allows players to commune for a short duration to obtain an orb. Only one orb exists at any given time.
  • While a player holds the orb, score will be periodically given to their team.
  • More team score is given if the orb is closer to the center of the map.
  • The orb will deal damage to the carrier based on their maximum health.
  • Players who die while carrying the orb cannot be resurrected.
  • When a player holding the orb dies, the orb is returned to the altar in the center of the map.

PvP Lobby

• Heart of the Mists has been given a visual overhaul.
• Added a public free-for-all arena.
• Added an exclusive VIP area accessible to players rewarded with a pass.
  • Timed passes are rewarded through tournament and league play.

Automated Tournaments
Automated tournaments are live!

• Daily, single-elimination tournaments are run three times each day on a shifting schedule to fairly represent all time zones.
• Qualifying Points (QP) are earned by participating in daily tournaments and are reset monthly. QP rewards range from 5 for participating up to 50 for first place.
• Each month will conclude with a single-elimination tournament with a QP requirement of 100.
• The winning team of each monthly tournament will have their likeness celebrated in the Heart of the Mists as statues until the next monthly tournament.
• Tournament rewards include llama minis, gold, mystic coins, and more!
• Tournament registration opens 15 minutes before the start.
• Tournament registration requires a full party.
• A new tab in the PvP panel lists all information related to automated tournaments including rewards, schedule, and live data.
• Looking for Group has a new section dedicated to tournaments.

Link to blog post.
World vs. World
General

• Simple nameplates for enemies have been changed to triangles instead of circles, making it easier to distinguish between enemies and allies.
• The Loyalty pip has been renamed to the Commitment pip. The Commitment pip is obtained by completing wood division the previous week.
• 1 up / 1 down matchmaking:
  • Starting this Friday at reset, WvW will begin doing 1 up / 1 down matchmaking. This means a single, third-placing world will move down one tier and a single, first-placing world will move up one tier. If there is a tie for last, no world moves down, which also means no world in the tier below can move up (as there’s no room). Similarly, if there is a tie for first, no world moves up, which prevents the next tier up’s last-place world from moving down. If there is a change in which worlds are being used for matchmaking purposes (such as when world links change), matchmaking falls back on the usual Glicko rating sort (plus a potential deviation-based shuffle). Even while 1 up / 1 down is active, Glicko data will continue to be updated as it has been when each week’s round ends. This way it is always current when it needs to be relied upon.
  • This is a new test to try to improve how quickly worlds can move into their proper place.
  • We can revert back to Glicko if it is determined that the new matchup style is more harmful than helpful.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Jormag Dye Kit containing six exclusive colors is now available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• A new God-Slayer Bow Pack is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The Sport Sunglasses are back by popular demand for the summer and are available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 150 gems.
• For a limited time, the Tormented weapon skins are available from Black Lion Weapons Specialists for 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. Keys are available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.
• Today is the last day for Inventor’s Sunglasses and Reading Glasses. Pick up yours today in the Style category of the Gem Store for 150 gems each.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed some shoulder-armor positions for characters using the Magic Carpet Glider.
• The Replica Job-o-Tron Backpack will no longer chatter away when equipped but not displayed.
• Fixed a bug that caused the lenses of the Sport Sunglasses to not display from both sides. Additionally, the frames have been made dyeable.

05/02/2017 – May 2nd Release Notes
Living World – Flashpoint
The White Mantle launched a surprise attack on Divinity’s Reach. Betrayed from within and assaulted from without, the city fought a battle on two fronts. Queen Jennah rose to the occasion, revealing just how powerful a mesmer she is, and with a monumental effort on the part of the humans and their allies, the city broke the siege.
Caudecus Beetlestone, once the legate minister, was commanding the White Mantle forces, bringing his plot to take the Krytan throne to its conclusion. He’d been working on it for decades, but his plan was foiled. Loyalists and allies of the queen found him in his mansion. Before he could be taken into custody, however, the snake murdered his own daughter, Demmi, an honorable agent of the Order of Whispers—and a friend to many.
Caudecus’s subsequent death was an unsatisfactory revenge for her loss. With their leader dead, the White Mantle forces fell into chaos, and the Seraph and Shining Blade picked off the stragglers with ease. In the wake of the battle, the Divinity’s Reach prison bulged with inmates. A search of Caudecus’s manor revealed one of Lazarus’s aspects—the objects into which he safeguarded portions of his soul.
This discovery brought Lazarus’s true identity into question. Who is Lazarus? Marjory continues to shadow him, but does she know what she’s getting herself into? That question will have to wait, because Taimi is on the verge of completing her antidragon device. The Elder Dragons grow stronger every day, and thus Tyria becomes ever more chaotic and dangerous. Taimi’s device could be the answer that saves the world.
New Legendary Torch: Flames of War
A new legendary weapon is now available. Speak with Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch to learn how to craft the new torch precursor, Liturgy, and forge the new legendary torch, Flames of War.
Raids

• Legendary armor is now available in the game. Complete the final step in the collection to receive the Refined Envoy set. Combine that armor with the recipe components in the Mystic Forge to produce the most sought-after armor in the Guild Wars® world.
• Rune Swapping: A key functional attraction of legendary armor is the ability to swap the stats of the item on the fly. Since runes and infusions are as impactful a choice as the stats on the armor, we have altered the behavior of these items to allow players to swap runes and infusions from legendary armor at will. Ascended armor will not be affected by this change.

Items

• Blood Rubies, Jade Shards, Petrified Wood, and Winterberries have been added to material storage.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Added the Draconis Mons Reward Track.

World vs. World
General

• Added the Draconis Mons Reward Track.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• The new Kasmeer’s Regal Outfit is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The new Vine-Touched Destroyer Glider Combo is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• Kasmeer’s Staff has returned for a limited time, found in the Style category of the Gem Store for 600 gems.
• The Metallurgic Dye Kit has returned for a limited time, found in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• The Cosmic Harvesting Tool, Cosmic Mining Tool, and the Cosmic Logging Tool have all returned and are available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 1,000 gems each.

05/16/2017 – May 16th Release Notes
Living World

• Moved the Koda’s Blessing achievement from the A Crack in the Ice achievement category into the Rare Collections category.
• Fixed a bug that caused the bonus from Superior Sigils of Bounty to be removed when weapon swapping.
• Resurrecting at a checkpoint after the end of the final cinematic in the “Heart of the Volcano” instance will no longer revive players in midair.

General

• Newly created accounts must wait 72 hours before gems-to-gold transactions can be completed on the currency exchange.

Raids

• Refined Envoy armor crafting recipes are now account bound.
• Acquiring a piece of Refined Envoy armor now unlocks the skin for the corresponding Experimental Envoy armor piece.
• Legendary armor pieces are no longer salvageable.

Items

• Added several cooking recipes to the rotation of the Pact Supply Network.

Profession Skills
In this update, you’ll see some changes aimed at normalizing how certain types of skills work. Skills that tether players together now apply Revealed to provide a stronger window of opportunity to players who can successfully land them. Skills and traits that previously granted pulsing stability now grant a block of stability up front in order better allow for counterplay through boon removal. Finally, we are increasing the casting time of many skills that apply effects like daze or stun in order to give the player on the receiving end of these skills time to react and defend.
General:
Consumables:
The line of foods that provided bonus damage while moving has been dominating consumable use for all power-based builds. In addition to being significantly more powerful than other foods designed to boost power damage, the “wiggle” strategy to maintain uptime on its effect has a negative impact on the health of the game (and its players). For these reasons, food that increases outgoing damage while moving has had its efficacy reduced by 50%. This affects the following items and their respective feasts:

• Bowl of Seaweed Salad (10% -> 5%)
• Bowl of Winterberry Seaweed Salad (10% -> 5%)
• Swiftly Scrambled Eggs (10% -> 5%)
• Bowl of Asparagus and Sage Salad (8% -> 4%)
• Can of Asparagus and Sage Salad (8% -> 4%)
• Experimental Remnant (8% -> 4%)
• Cabbage and Chickpea Salad (6% -> 3%)
• Bowl of Coleslaw (4% -> 2%)

General Continued:

• Frost Gun: The bundle item obtained from Researcher Bamm in Gendarren Fields has had its skills reworked.
• Seed Turret: Reduced duration of bleeding to 3 seconds.
• Take Root: Reduced duration of bleeding to 3 seconds.

Elementalist
In this iteration, there have been a couple of reworks for less-used utility skills and a couple of general quality-of-life changes. In PvP, we’ll be looking to slow down the elementalist’s defensive capability so that it has a few more openings for opponents to pressure them.

• Obsidian Flesh: The duration of this ability has been reduced from 4 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.
• “Wash the Pain Away!”: The cooldown of this ability has been increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only.
• Rebound: The base healing of this ability has been increased by 33%.
• Gale Song: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 40 seconds to 60 seconds in PvP only.
• Elemental Shielding: The duration of protection this trait applies has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP only.
• Glyph of Elemental Power: Reduced recharge to 25 seconds. Now gives 5 charges instead of using a 5-second cooldown interval. Decreased duration to 25 seconds. Reduced burning duration to 1 stack for 3 seconds. Changed crippled condition to 1 stack of bleeding for 6 seconds. Changed weakness condition to 4 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds.
• Arcane Power: The effects of this skill now apply to up to 4 other nearby allies within a range of 240. In addition to its previous effects, each stack of this effect now gives 75 ferocity at level 80.
• Drake’s Breath: Increased burn duration to 4 seconds and increased damage by 14% in PvE only.
• One with Fire: Now applies 1 stack of might for all other auras besides Flame Aura.

Engineer
Most of the time, engineers were taking turret skills and never deploying the turret because the Tool Belt skill was too important to be overridden by the detonate turret skill. In this update we are moving the detonate skill to be the flip-over for the turret itself so that the Tool Belt skill is always available even if you deploy the turret. Because many of the overcharge skills weren’t very tactical and much easier to just press on cooldown, we’ve changed these skills to automatically activate the moment the turret is placed instead. Since this means a turret can only be overcharged once per deployment, we’ve reduced the recharge of a few turrets to compensate.

• Bunker Down: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.
• Protection Injection: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Med Pack Drop: This skill will now remove all (14) conditions for up to 5 allies upon impact.
• Bulwark Gyro: The cooldown of this skill has been increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only.
• Purge Gyro: The cooldown of this skill has been increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only.
• Turrets: Turrets no longer need to be overcharged. Summoning a turret will automatically overcharge it once.
• Detonate Turret: This skill has been moved off of the Tool Belt skill. It is now the flip skill for the associated turret.
• Thumper Turret: Reduced recharge to 40 seconds. Overcharge attack now launches foes straight up instead of out of the turret’s attack range.
• Healing Turret: Fixed a bug that caused this turret to show a water combo field when none was present.
• Flame Turret: Reduced recharge to 20 seconds.
• Rocket Turret: Reduced recharge to 40 seconds.
• Detection Pulse (Scrapper): Fixed a bug that caused the effect from this skill to incorrectly reflect its radius.

Guardian
Quite a few signets have languished for the Guardian for some time, so we took this opportunity to give them a bit more oomph and rework some of their actives.

• True Shot: The recharge of this skill has been increased from 4 seconds to 6 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Wings of Resolve: Base healing of this skill has been reduced by 24% in PvP only.
• Smite Condition: Damage when the guardian is affected by conditions has been reduced by 21% in PvP only.
• Test of Faith: Damage of this skill has been reduced by 10% in PvP only.
• Shield of Courage: Decreased active duration of this skill from 4 seconds to 3 seconds. The cooldown has been decreased from 75 seconds to 60 seconds.
• Hunter’s Determination: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 60 seconds to 75 seconds in PvP only.
• Spear of Justice: This skill now applies 6 seconds of Revealed on the initial impact.
• “Save Yourselves!”: This skill now grants 1.5 seconds of resistance, in addition to the other boons applied.
• Renewed Focus: The cooldown of this skill has been increased from 90 seconds to 105 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of Mercy: Reduced the casting time of this skill from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Wall of Reflection: Reduced the cooldown of this skill from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Hallowed Ground: Reduced the cooldown of this skill from 60 seconds to 45 seconds. Reduced the pulse amount from 10 to 8, and replaced the boon-duration increase component with retaliation.
• Signet of Courage: Reduced the cooldown of this skill from 120 seconds to 90 seconds. Reduced the casting time of this ability from 3.25 seconds to 2.5 seconds.
• Signet of Judgment: Passive now also reduces condition damage by 10%. Reduced radius from 600 to 300. Active no longer inflicts weakness and instead applies 2 stacks of burning for 3 seconds.

Mesmer
In this update, we’re rolling out new attacks for more phantasm skills and looking at enhancements to power-based shatter builds, which have fallen out of favor recently.

• Tides of Time: The casting time of this skill has been increased from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds.
• Well of Precognition: The casting time of this skill has been reduced from 0.75 seconds to 0.5 seconds.
• Continuum Split: The cooldown of this skill has been increased from 90 seconds to 105 seconds in PvP only.
• Phantasmal Berserker: This skill now fires a boomerang projectile that inflicts 3 stacks of vulnerability for 3 seconds in addition to summoning a phantasm.
• Phantasmal Swordsman: This skill now performs a sword strike in front of the player when summoning the phantasm. If the sword strike hits you and all Swordsmen currently summoned, gain 8 might for 10 seconds.
• Phantasmal Warden: This skill now throws an illusionary axe at the target, which immobilizes for 2 seconds in addition to summoning a phantasm.
• Phantasmal Rogue: This skill now performs an attack that applies 1 stack of confusion and 5 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds in addition to summoning a phantasm.
• Illusionary Whaler: This skill now fires Siren’s Call projectiles at 3 nearby foes in addition to summoning a phantasm.
• Illusionary Mariner: This skill now performs an Evasive Strike in addition to summoning a phantasm.
• Mind Wrack: Increased damage of 2 illusion shatter by 3% per strike. Increased damage of 3 illusion shatter by 4% per strike.
• Cry of Frustration: Increased damage by 15%.
• Mental Anguish: Increased bonus damage to 25% base (50% vs. Inactive) in PvE only.
• Master of Fragmentation: Critical-hit chance bonus for Mind Wrack raised to 25%.
• Illusionary Reversion: Increased required illusions shattered to 3.
• Bountiful Disillusionment: Increased might stacks to 5. Increased vigor duration to 8. Increased fury duration to 10.

Necromancer
Our biggest focus in this iteration for necromancers was that of Epidemic, in that its impact is too instant in most PvP scenarios, as well as its heavy toll on our servers. Secondarily, we’ve long felt that the Plague elite was lackluster and was in need of a rework. In addition to a variety of weapon-based quality-of-life changes, we’re excited to see how the skill changes fare over time.

• Plague Sending: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 30 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Chilling Nova: The damage of this trait has been reduced by 33% in PvP only.
• “Rise!”: The cooldown of this skill has been increased from 40 seconds to 60 seconds in PvP only.
• Tainted Shackles: This skill will now apply 5 seconds of Revealed to enemies the first time it successfully hits.
• Infusing Terror (Reaper Shroud): This skill no longer pulses stability but instead grants 3 stacks for 6 seconds upon activating it. The active form of this skill now reduces incoming physical and condition damage by 20% for its duration.
• Chilling Victory: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds in PvP only.
• Plague (Elite): This skill has been reworked and has been renamed to Plaguelands.
• Plaguelands: This skill creates a 240-radius corrupted area at the necromancer’s initial location for 10 seconds. After 1 second, it pulses damage and conditions in that area for 9 seconds. Each pulse applies a new condition, and each pulse applies all conditions from every pulse before it. Conditions applied (in order) are: bleeding, poison, torment, vulnerability, cripple, weakness, blind, chill, and burning. Recharge is set to 120 seconds.
• Epidemic: This ability now fires slow-arcing projectiles from its initial target to up to 5 targets in range. Foes hit by the projectiles gain all conditions from the original Epidemic target. Projectile strikes are unblockable but cannot critically hit. Increased radius to 900.
• Rending Claws: Applies twice as much vulnerability while your target is below 50% health.
• Ghastly Claws: This skill now deals 1% more damage per stack of vulnerability on the target.
• Unholy Feast: This skill no longer applies retaliation. It now invokes a secondary AoE strike against foes below 25% health. Fixed skill-fact bugs that showed range instead of radius and did not display the correct number of boons converted.
• Spiteful Spirit: Updated this trait to clarify that it is no longer casting Unholy Feast.
• Life Siphon: Gains 20% increased healing if cast while you are bleeding. Deals 20% more damage to bleeding foes.
• Dark Pact: Increased damage by 20%. Now inflicts 2 stacks of bleeding on you for 10 seconds.

Ranger
Condition rangers have been pretty potent largely on the strength of torch skills and Quick Draw. We’d like to preserve the tactical play of Quick Draw, so we’re nicking bits of burn duration from torch skills at this time. While we’re at it, we’ve taken the opportunity to revisit a few older weapon traits for short bow, axe, and sword to grant them a bit more synergy with the core weapon skill function.

• Lunar Impact: The amount this skill scales with healing power has been reduced by 20% in PvP only.
• “We Heal as One!”: Shared regeneration duration has been reduced from 5 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.
• Resounding Timbre: Regeneration duration of this trait has been reduced from 10 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only.
• Ancient Seeds: The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 10 seconds to 20 seconds in PvP only.
• “Strength of the Pack!”: This skill has been reworked and no longer pulses boons on the ranger. When cast, this skill will now apply 10 stacks of stability for 8 seconds, along with 12 seconds of fury and 12 seconds of swiftness.
• Smoke Assault: The damage of this skill has been reduced by 15%.
• Bonfire: The duration of burning applied by this skill has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2.5 seconds.
• Throw Torch: The duration of burning applied by this skill has been reduced from 6 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Evasive Purity: This trait now removes one damaging condition and one non-damaging condition.
• Honed Axes: This trait now grants a ferocity bonus whether axe is in the main hand or the off hand.
• Light on Your Feet: This trait now enhances flanking/behind aspects for short bow skills.
• Crippling Shot: This trait now immobilizes if you are beside your target, in addition to when you are behind your target.
• Poison Volley: This trait now has increased effect if you are beside your target, in addition to when you are behind your target.
• Refined Toxins: Reduced the effective cooldown from 10 seconds to 5 seconds. Reduced the required health threshold from 90% to 75%.
• Strider’s Defense: This trait no longer has a chance to destroy projectiles on melee attack. It has gained new functionality: when you evade an attack, gain quickness for 3 seconds.
• Troll Unguent: Reduced total duration of this effect from 10 seconds to 8 seconds. Increased healing per second by 25%. Reduced casting time from 1 second to 0.75 seconds.

Revenant
Some of the core trait lines of revenant have been lacking in either synergy or uniqueness. In particular, the Mallyx legend and the associated corruption trait line aren’t up to snuff. Further exacerbating this, there’s a lack of synergy from other trait lines. As a result, we’ve reworked and tuned up some of the traits in the invocation and corruption lines to offer more to condition-centric revenants. Additionally, we’ve selected a few places to make small effects on condition-applying skills. Lastly, we’re also reworking the Ventari Tablet’s energy expulsion to give it a stronger place in large group support.

• Misery Swipe: Torment duration has been increased from 4 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Anguish Swipe: Torment duration has been increased from 4 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Manifest Toxin: The number of poison stacks applied has been increased from 1 to 2.
• Echoing Eruption: This skill is no longer able to multistrike targets. Torment duration has been increased from 6 seconds to 10 seconds. Torment stacks applied have been increased from 3 to 5. This skill will no longer automatically track the revenant’s target and will instead fire the skill forward.
• Frigid Blitz: This skill now applies the slow condition for 2 seconds in addition to its other effects. The cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 12 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Temporal Rift: In addition to its current effects, this skill now applies 3 stacks of confusion for 8 seconds to enemies that are currently using a skill when struck by it.
• Energy Expulsion: Reduced cost to 10 energy. This skill now consumes all remaining energy when cast and removes a condition from up to 5 nearby allies for every 10 energy consumed (including the casting cost).
• Ferocious Aggression: This trait now additionally increases condition damage inflicted while under the effects of fury.
• Incensed Response: This trait now grants might when you gain fury.
• Fierce Infusion: Reduced the effective cooldown from 20 seconds to 10 seconds, and reduced the duration of fury granted from 8 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Invigorating Flow: Renamed to Rapid Flow. Now grants swiftness in addition to healing when using an energy skill.
• Venom Enhancement: Reduced the effective cooldown from 20 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Opportune Extraction: This trait now steals a boon once every 10 seconds per target when you apply torment to a target with at least 4 stacks of torment.
• Yearning Empowerment: Reduced duration increase from 33% to 20%. Torment damage is now increased by 20%.
• Frigid Precision: This trait has been replaced by Abyssal Chill. Abyssal Chill causes you to inflict torment when you chill a foe.
• Maniacal Persistence: This trait no longer increases your critical-hit chance. It now lashes out torment at nearby enemies when you gain resistance.
• Diabolic Inferno: Reduced the effective cooldown on this trait from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
• Unyielding Anguish: Removed one of the two strikes on initial casting.

Thief
The Daredevil staff functions as a fairly strong AoE weapon, but core thief lacks good ways to deal with large groups, so in this update we’re tuning up the short bow to be a stronger ranged AoE weapon. Additionally, we’re making a small change to Unload to make it more effective as a damage tool when you can ensure that your target will stand still. Finally, we’re also looking at updates to the Deadly Arts line that emphasize poison use to help establish more defined ways to play based on the traits that you select.

• Pulmonary Impact: The damage of this effect has been reduced by 15% in PvP only.
• Channeled Vigor: Endurance per tick has been reduced from 20 to 15 in PvP only.
• Endurance Thief: Endurance gained has been reduced from 50 to 25 in PvP only.
• Palm Strike: This skill now applies two instances of Pulmonary Impact on a successful hit.
• Vault: The initiative of this skill has been increased from 5 to 6 in PvP only.
• Bound (PvP Only): The damage of this ability has been reduced by 24% in PvP only.
• Body Shot: This skill has been unsplit and now applies immobilize for 1.5 seconds in all game modes.
• Unload: This skill now refunds 2 initiative if all attacks hit.
• Trick Shot: Increased number of bounces to 3. Now deals 25% increased damage to poisoned foes.
• Detonate Cluster: Increased number of bombs to 4.
• Choking Gas: Increased damage by 200%. This skill now briefly dazes foes with 5 or more stacks of poison every pulse. The same foe cannot be dazed more than once every second.
• Potent Poison: In addition to its previous effect, this trait now increases the number of stacks of poison applied by other Deadly Arts traits.
• Panic Strike: In addition to its previous effect, this trait now causes you to apply 1 stack of poison for 4 seconds to foes that you immobilize.
• Panic Strike: Immobilize duration has been reduced from 2.5 seconds to 1.5 seconds in PvP only.
• Trapper’s Respite: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to display an incorrect poison duration.

Warrior
For the warrior in this update, we’re looking to tone down some overperforming elements and tune up some underperforming ones. Berserker skills such as Arc Divider and Headbutt were providing too much power for their casting time, while Smash Brawler was just providing too much power overall. In terms of effects, we’re looking at tuning up axe skills and their synergy with other weapons. The Axe Mastery trait has been changed to be friendlier to builds that don’t use axes in both hands, and several axe skills have been tuned up to provide more consistent damage during combat.

• Shield Bash: The initial casting time of this skill has been increased, moving the skill from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds total.
• Arc Divider: The casting time of this skill has been increased by 0.25 seconds.
• Skull Grinder: The damage of this skill has been reduced by 33%. Bleeding has been reduced from 4 stacks for 8 seconds to 3 stacks for 6 seconds. The blast finisher on this skill has been removed. All changes apply to PvP only.
• Headbutt: The casting time of this skill has been increased from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds. Distance traveled has been increased from 300 to 400.
• Healing Signet: The passive healing from this skill has been reduced by 10% in PvP only.
• Endure Pain: In PvP only, the cooldown of this skill has been decreased from 60 seconds to 30 seconds, and the active up-time has been decreased from 4 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Defy Pain: Active up-time has been decreased from 4 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP only.
• Bloody Roar: Taunt duration has been reduced from 1.5 seconds to 0.5 seconds in PvP only.
• Smash Brawler: The cooldown reduction received from this trait has been reduced from 33% to 20%.
• Eternal Champion: This trait no longer grants pulsing stability but instead applies 3 stacks for 8 seconds when activating Berserk.
• Powerful Synergy: This trait has been updated to double the effects of all combo finishers.
• Reckless Dodge: Added missing skill fact for unblockable. Increased damage by 20%.
• Axe Mastery: Now gives 300 bonus ferocity as long as you have at least one axe equipped.
• Eviscerate: Now grants 5 stacks of might for 5 seconds if it hits.
• Decapitate: Now grants 5 stacks of might for 5 seconds if it hits.
• Double Chop: Increased damage per strike by 7%.
• Triple Chop: Increased damage per strike by 7%.
• Cyclone Axe: Now grants 2 seconds of fury per hit in addition to its previous effects. Increased vulnerability applied per hit from 2 to 3 stacks. Updated skill fact to show vulnerability applied per hit rather than total vulnerability for both hits.
• Throw Axe: Increased damage by 27%.
• Dual Strike: No longer gives fury. Now gives quickness for 1.5 seconds per strike that hits.

Structured Player vs. Player
We have revised the sigils available in PvP. Players who had a sigil that is no longer available will have their money refunded.
On Hit

• Sigil of Fallibility: Inflict vulnerability for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 2 seconds.)
• Sigil of Purging: Remove a condition. (Cooldown: 10 seconds.)
• Sigil of Revocation: Remove a boon. (Cooldown: 10 seconds.)
• Sigil of Courage: Gain might for 10 seconds. (Cooldown: 2 seconds.)

On Swap

• Sigil of Agility: Gain 5 seconds of swiftness and 2 seconds of quickness when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 18 seconds.)
• Sigil of Battle: Gain 4 stacks of might for 5 seconds when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)
• Sigil of Doom: Your next attack after you swap to this weapon while in combat inflicts poison for 5 seconds. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)
• Sigil of Energy: Gain 25% of your endurance when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)
• Sigil of Exposure: Your next attack after you swap to this weapon while in combat inflicts 5 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)
• Sigil of Stagnation: Cripple nearby foes when swapping to this weapon while in combat for 3 seconds in a 240 radius. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)
• Sigil of Intelligence: Your next three attacks after swapping to this weapon while in combat have a 100% critical chance. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)
• Sigil of Escape: Remove movement-impairing effects from yourself when swapping to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 18 seconds.)
• Sigil of Annulment: Your next attack after swapping to this weapon while in combat removes 2 boons from your target. (Cooldown: 18 seconds.)
• Sigil of Cleansing: Remove 1 condition when you swap to this weapon while in combat. (Cooldown: 9 seconds.)

On Interrupt

• Sigil of Ruthlessness: Gain 5 might for 3 seconds when interrupting a foe. (Cooldown: 3 seconds.)
• Sigil of Absorption: Steal a boon when interrupting a foe. (Cooldown: 3 seconds.)

Passive

• Sigil of Compounding: Deal 1% extra damage per condition on your foe.
• Sigil of Exploitation: Deal 5% extra damage to targets below 50% health.
• Sigil of Opportunity: Deal 5% extra damage to movement-impaired foes.
• Sigil of Enhancement: Deal 0.5% extra damage per boon on your yourself.
• Sigil of Separation: Deal 5% extra damage to targets more than 500 distance away.
• Sigil of Savagery: +30% stun duration. Deal 3% more damage versus disabled foes.
• Sigil of Agony: Increased inflicted bleeding duration 25%.
• Sigil of Smoldering: Increased inflicted burning duration 25%.
• Sigil of Venom: Increased inflicted poison duration 25%.
• Sigil of Confusion: Increased inflicted confusion duration 25%.
• Sigil of Misery: Increased inflicted torment duration 25%.

PvP default builds have been adjusted in consideration of the sigil rework.
World vs. World
General

• Tactivators and supply depots should now be easier to interact with.
• Updated the laurel vendor in WvW to include the amulets, trinkets, and rings it was missing.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Mercenary Backpack is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 400 gems.
  • For a limited time, a new set of Keepsake weapon skins is available from Black Lion Weapons Specialists for 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket. Black Lion Chest Keys are available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.
  • The Balthazar’s Regalia Outfit is on sale with a 30% discount for a limited time at 490 gems, found in the Style category of the Gem Store.
  • This is the last week to purchase the Swarm Logging Flute, the Butterfly Harvesting Flute, and the Firefly Mining Flute.
  • Over the weekend, some of the glider skins and backpack glider combos will be removed from the Gem Store. Get them before they go away!

Improvements

• The Black Lion Chest has been updated to the Sworn of Balthazar Chest and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.
  • The Zaishen War Paint Kit has been added as the new guaranteed seasonal item. It contains some unidentified dyes, a booster, and a Fire Orchid.
  • The Sworn Zaishen Helm is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of this seasonal change.
  • The Hounds of Balthazar Mail Carrier is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of this seasonal change.

Bug Fixes

• Audio has been added to the Red Envelope Mail Carrier.

The ArenaNet Team recognizes that, as a forum member and a player, you may want to share your feedback about the game. We welcome your doing so! We cannot reply to every thread on the Guild Wars 2 forums, but rest assured that most are read.

The purpose of this post is to provide a little guidance about how to give thoughtful, well-presented, and constructive feedback. Keeping a feedback or suggestion thread on-topic and relevant increases the likelihood that members of the Development Team will read the feedback and share it with their team members, even engage in the thread, if time allows.

If you create a feedback thread, we would appreciate it if you monitor the thread and send reports to the moderators when things veer off-topic or when the content of the thread becomes disruptive. Moderators then can kitten post content to ensure the conversation is on the right track. Do keep in mind, though, that it’s not appropriate to report a post simply because it contains a different opinion than your own.

When posting feedback, please keep these considerations in mind:

• Suggest improvements: “What can I suggest that will make this game content better?”
  • How do you think this particular element or aspect of the game could be improved?
  • What changes to other Guild Wars 2 content resulted in improvements that you liked?
  • How have you seen this particular problem solved in other games?
• Give details and examples: Not a generic “I don’t like this!” but a specific “I think this could be improved by {suggestions}.” And if someone asks a question about the topic, don’t just answer it — explain why you answered the way you did.

• Present opinions as opinions, not facts: Not “This is the only possible change” or “Your idea will not work” but “This is my idea” or “I believe {alternative suggestion} would be the better because {reasons}.”

• Speak from experience: If you’re offering an opinion on new or changed game content, get experience with it before commenting. If you offer input on a profession, skill set, or game mode, be sure you have sufficient background in the subject to validate your opinion. Opinions are welcome, but they’re always best when they’re grounded in fact and experience and, again, when they’re presented as a personal opinion and not an immutable fact.

• Be accurate: If your feedback includes inaccurate information, readers may discard it completely. Do some fact-checking and read through a thread before joining in. This helps you avoid making redundant or inaccurate comments.

• Use references: If there’s a dev forum post, a blog post, an interview, or an external resource, include links in your post so that readers can see you’ve done your homework and have reviewed previously-released information before offering feedback or making a suggestion.

• Avoid making it personal: Resist arguing with a person, but by all means debate a point being made. Not, “I think your idea is bad” but “I would prefer to see this handled a different way {details} because {reasons}.” Not “I know the game better than you,” but “In playing GW2 I have found…”

• Don’t take things personally: By the same token, don’t be offended if someone disagrees with your opinion or suggests alternatives to an idea you’ve put forth. Also, if you make a suggestion and the developers choose to move in a different direction, don’t let that bother you or color your opinion, but review the changes with an open mind and offer your thoughts without rancor.

• Share positives: Not all feedback involves a suggestion on how things could be changed or improved. Sharing your thoughts on things that you like in the game is helpful, because your satisfaction can help steer us in the right direction with future development.

As you can see, what you are saying is important, but how you are saying it is equally important. Your strongest points will be lost if they are delivered without details, if they’re presented in an aggressive or unpleasant tone, or if they are buried in a huge wall of meandering text.

By considering the points above, your feedback will be focused on providing solutions to problems rather than simply focusing on the problems. It will shine a light on content that you enjoy, so that we’re aware of that fact when making future updates and developing upcoming projects. These things are the heart of what we’re looking for from your feedback, and both will result in the best game possible!

I attended the Pride March last year, and it was a fun and worthwhile event. I treasure the memory and the message! Those who are organizing this have put a lot of thought into the event, and I hope to see a lot of Guild Wars 2 players on June 24th!

04/18/2017 – April 18th Release Notes
Living World

• Fixed an issue with the “Into the Labyrinth” instance that was preventing friendly NPCs from assisting in combat.

General

• The Active Guild Member achievement, which can no longer be earned after the retirement of Influence as a guild currency, has been moved from the General ? Community category into the Historical ? Retired Achievements category.
• Unique text has been created for skill and trait tooltips, specific to their game mode.
• An option called Disable Player Item Chatter has been added to the Sound Options tab. Enabling this option will disable all chatter voice-over from player items such as the Replica Job-o-Tron Backpack, tron-themed salvaging tools, and tron-themed gathering tools.
• Ruins of Orr—Karst Plains: Crusader Feintscar now correctly has a female voice.

Raids
Bastion of the Penitent

• Fixed a bug in which players in the Samarog encounter were sometimes impaled when there were no nearby spears.
• Fixed a bug in which Samarog waited too long to recall spears if transitioned at the wrong time.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Rigom and Guldhem from spawning if Samarog was transitioned while using Brutalize on a player.
• Demonic Tears will no longer consume Aegis when hit while the challenge mote is active.
• Players can no longer use Continuum Shift to exit Deimos’s realm during the final phase.
• In the Deimos encounter, the player targeted by Soul Feast can no longer be selected by the Eye of Janthir to enter the demon realm.
• In the Deimos encounter, jumping will no longer prevent Soul Feast from spawning.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Default builds have been adjusted.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Primordus Dye Kit containing six exclusive colors is now available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• The Crystalline Dragon Wings Backpack Glider Combo has returned for a limited time and is located in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• For a limited time, Chaos weapon skins have returned to the Black Lion Weapons Specialist for 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. Black Lion Chest Keys are available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.

Improvements

• Six new exclusive hair colors and six new exclusive hair-accessory dyes have been added and are available in Total Makeover Kits and Self-Style Hair Kits, found in the Services category of the Gem Store.
• For a limited time, Living World Season 2 miniatures and Forest and Jungle miniatures are available when using Black Lion Miniature Claim Tickets.
  • Living World Season 2 miniatures: Mini Rox, Mini Braham Eirsson, Miniature Belinda Delaqua, Mini Marjory Delaqua, Mini Caithe, Mini Faolain, Mini Lord Faren, Mini Kasmeer Meade, Mini Logan Thackeray, and Mini Eir Stegalkin
  • Forest and Jungle miniatures: Mini Forest Spider, Mini Jungle Stalker, Mini Wasp, Mini Swamp Spider, Mini Mosquito, Mini Eelob Poisonfang, Mini Lynx, Mini Forest Grub, Mini Sylvan Pup, and Mini Mossheart

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue that prevented Mist Band rings from being attuned using the Mystic Forge.
• Fixed an issue that prevented parties from joining rated PvP arenas.
• Fixed a client crash.
• Fixed a server crash.

02/22/2017 – Late Notes
General

• Access to Albert the Butler’s stash in Lake Doric will no longer be revoked when players replay the Head of the Snake storyline.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Mystic Forge recipe for stat-swapping Ascended Medium Boots to the Seraph prefix to instead return Laranthir’s Striders.
• Decorations sold by Albert the Butler in Lake Doric now must be taken to the guild decoration trader in a guild hall to obtain the decoration for that guild.
• Added a merchant to the Lakeside Bazaar.
• Fixed a bug in which all the Seraph Morale effect text would disappear.
• Updated the model for jade fragment nodes in the home instance.

Raids
General

• Added confirmation windows to the Exchanges tab on all raid vendors.
• Fixed a bug that prevented magnetite shards from being awarded when salvaging some infused and attuned raid reward rings.

Stronghold of the Faithful

• Players can now safely enter the Keep Construct’s room before it will engage players in combat.
• The doors to the Keep Construct room will now shut when the event begins instead of on a delay.

Bastion of the Penitent

• Fixed a bug that allowed Samarog to cast Inevitable Betrayal on too many targets at once.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes allowed players to be resurrectable during the Cairn the Indomitable encounter.
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to remain alive outside of encounters.
• Updated the icon of the portable magnetite shard vendor.
• Fixed an issue that was killing players a second time if they revived at the checkpoint quickly in the Shackled Prisoner encounter.
• To address community concerns over issues with the Challenge Motes, a new title is available for recompleting all the Challenge Motes.

Professions
General

• Added a delay between failed uses of ranged-attack skills on targets behind the player when holding down the attack key.

Mesmer:

• Continuum Split: This ability will now have the correct cooldown when expiring naturally.

02/22/2017 – February 22nd Release Notes
Profession Skills
General:
A note on target-cap increases: In this balance update, we’re increasing the target cap for a select number of skills and traits. When doing this, we must consider a variety of aspects, from game health to server performance. These changes are intended for the specific purpose of improving large-group compositions and to improve their general support capability. We’ll continue to monitor these changes as time goes on and will make changes as necessary. However, we will not be looking to increase our five-target-maximum standard for player skills and will seldom (if ever) increase existing skill/trait caps.
For the first time in a very long time, we’re changing what a specific combo finisher does. In the past, we made side steps from retaliation to a light aura that gives retaliation. In this update, we’ll be changing the blast finisher for light fields to directly remove conditions from nearby allies. The team will be analyzing the effects of this in each game type and will be following up with it if necessary.

• Rune of Lyssa: This rune will no longer trigger when the player has no conditions on them. This item will now use the standard “condition to boon” conversion table.
• Rune of the Krait: Fixed a bug in which the sixth effect of this rune would not properly apply torment to targets.
• Light Field: Blasting a light field will now cleanse a condition from allies in a radius of 360. This previously granted retaliation.
• Confusion: Fixed a bug in which the player could take a massive amount of damage if holding a ranged autoattack down while their target is behind them.

Elementalist
In this update, we’ve reduced quite a few recharges for many weapon and utility skills that felt too high in light of previous reductions to cooldown traits. With that said, we’re also looking to reduce the elementalist’s damage in high-level content, as this profession’s damage and utility mix currently crowds out other potential high-damage dealers.

• Arc Lightning: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now deal the higher damage values (25%) in all areas of the game.
• Ride the Lightning: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Frost Aura: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Cleansing Wave: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. The number of conditions cleansed has been increased from 1 to 2.
• Earthquake: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. Fixed a bug that caused the blast finisher to occur around the elementalist’s selected target rather than around their current position.
• Frozen Ground: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Healing Rain: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
• Static Field: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.
• Meteor Shower: This skill now has a 0.5-second cooldown when hitting nonplayer targets.
• Armor of Earth: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 75 seconds to 50 seconds.
• Mist Form: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 75 seconds to 60 seconds.
• Ether Renewal: The healing of this skill has been increased by 6% per pulse.
• Arcane Brilliance: The radius of this skill has been increased from 240 to 360.
• Overload Air: The damage of this skill has been reduced by 7% in PvE only.
• Glyph of Elemental Harmony: This skill has been unsplit from PvP, and the cooldown of this skill has been reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds game-wide.
• Arcane Shield: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now use the lower recharge (40 seconds) in all areas of the game.

Engineer
The goal for engineers in this update is to improve trait synergy, weapon usefulness, and kit purity of purpose. Both power and condition builds will be affected in this round of changes, with a focus on PvE group viability. Notable to this, the trait Pinpoint Distribution now grants a unique condition-damage bonus to allies around the engineer. The Flamethrower utility kit is now focused on burning and keeping that condition on your enemies.

• Blunderbuss: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now deal the higher (10%) damage values in all areas of the game. Increased bleeding stacks from 1 – 4 to 2 – 5, based on range. Increased bleeding duration from 4 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Fragmentation Shot: Bleeding duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Blowtorch: The number of burning applications that this skill applies has been increased from 1/2/3 to 2/3/4.
• Elixir U: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
• Toss Elixir U: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 50 seconds to 40 seconds.
• Super Elixir: Fixed a bug where this skill would display the wrong healing values underwater.
• Shredder Gyro Self-Destruct: Increased damage to match other gyros.
• Shredder Gyro: Increased damage by roughly 50%.
• Glue Bomb: Immobilize duration of this skill has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.
• Big Ol’ Bomb: This skill is now affected by Short Fuse. The visual size of this bomb has been increased by 33%.
• Short Fuse: Updated the Fuse Time to correctly display the fuse time reduction of 0.5 seconds. This trait now affects Big Ol’ Bomb.
• Glass Cannon: The threshold for damage increase has been reduced from 90% to 75%.
• Shaped Charge: The damage of this skill has been increased from 7% to 10%.
• Static Discharge: The damage dealt by this trait has been increased by 20%.
• Shrapnel: The chance for this trait to activate has been increased from 15% to 33%. Reduced cripple duration from 2 seconds to 1 second. Reduced bleed duration from 12 seconds to 6 seconds. Fixed issues with this trait that caused it to activate at lower-than-expected rates for some skills. Updated the description to specify that this trait only activates on hit.
• Explosion: Skills that count as explosions for the traits Steel-Packed Powder, Explosive Powder, and Shrapnel are now marked with a skill fact. Scrapper gyro detonations are now considered explosions. Skills that do not hit the enemy, such as Smoke Bomb and Magnetic Bomb, are no longer considered explosions for combat clarity reasons.
• Pinpoint Distribution: This trait no longer grants condition damage based on precision. This trait will now instead grant up to 150 condition damage to nearby allies.
• Flame Jet: The duration of burning inflicted on the final hit of this skill has been increased from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Flame Blast: Reduced the base damage of this skill by 66%. This skill now inflicts burning for 3 seconds.
• Detonate Flame Blast: Reduced the base damage of this skill by 57%. This skill now inflicts 2 stacks of burning for 3 seconds.

Guardian
Improvements to underused base skills have been the general focus for the guardian in this patch, but we are also giving the dragonhunter specialization a little bit more counterplay in PvP scenarios. We’ve unsplit a few of the changes introduced this winter, taking either the more powerful option or compensating to a more powerful level than is available in most game modes.

• Virtue of Resolve: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now use a 30-second cooldown.
• Virtue of Courage: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now use a 45-second baseline cooldown_._
• Signet of Courage: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now use a 120-second cooldown.
• Spear of Justice: The casting time of this skill has been increased from 0.25 seconds to slightly under 0.75 seconds.
• Deflecting Shot: The missile hitbox has been improved.
• Whirling Wrath: Reduced recharge from 10 seconds to 8 seconds. Increased damage by 20%. Projectile damage is now listed separately from melee damage.
• Leap of Faith: Reduced recharge from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
• Symbol of Wrath: Increased damage by 22%.
• Binding Blade: Reduced recharge from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Purification: The trap heal on this skill has been reduced by approximately 16% in PvP only.
• Litany of Wrath: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• “Receive the Light!”: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
• “Feel My Wrath!”: The quickness duration granted by this skill has been increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds in PvP only.

Mesmer
The mesmer is receiving a few different additions and reworks. Time Warp is one of the select skills and traits in this update, which is being changed to affect ten targets. Also in this update, we are implementing initial attacks on several phantasm skills, allowing the mesmer to deliver a primary attack in addition to the summon in order to provide a bit more constant pressure on your targets.

• Arcane Thievery: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 35 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only.
• Null Field: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 32 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Feedback: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 32 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of Midnight: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.
• Phantasmal Defender: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds.
• Time Warp: The interval of quickness and slow that this skill applies has been increased from every 1 second to every 2 seconds. Quickness and slow duration have been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds. This skill now affects up to ten targets. This skill will now apply slow through an unblockable attack rather than directly applying through all defense.
• Portal Exeunt: This skill now has a 1-second recharge after Portal Entre is used.
• Well of Action: Increased the quickness duration from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Chaos Armor: Reduced recharge to 30 seconds. This skill now applies a random condition (confusion, cripple, or weakness) to nearby foes when activated.
• Illusionary Counter: This skill now evades attacks during the counterattack animation.
• Illusionary Riposte: This skill now evades attacks during the counterattack animation.
• Phantasmal Duelist: In addition to its previous effect, this skill now fires a slow-moving homing bullet that cripples its target if it hits.
• Phantasmal Mage: In addition to its previous effect, this skill now burns nearby foes when activated.
• Phantasmal Warlock: In addition to its previous effect, this skill now also fires Winds of Chaos projectiles at up to 3 unique targets within a radius of 600 of the caster.
• Wells: Fixed a bug that caused wells to display their effects incorrectly while under the effects of quickness or slow.
• Gravity Well: Fixed a bug that caused this well to be destroyed prematurely when used with Continuum Shift.

Necromancer
One of the major goals for the necromancer during this update has been to improve the reaper’s greatsword weapon in all game modes, without blowing its power out in the ones where it was already good. In addition, we’ve also been looking to improve a few baseline utility abilities.

• Gravedigger: The aftercast of this skill has been reduced by 0.2 seconds.
• Death Spiral: The damage of this skill has been increased by 20%.
• Nightfall: This skill now converts boons into conditions from enemies it hits.
• Well of Darkness: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 35 seconds.
• Spectral Wall: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
• Spectral Grasp: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvP only.
• Grasping Darkness: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds. Increased damage by 30%.
• Well of Blood: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 35 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Ritual of Life: The well created by this trait has been renamed to the Lesser Well of Blood and will continue to use a 35-second recharge.
• Deathly Chill: Increased bleed stacks to 3 for 5 seconds in PvE only.
• Reaper’s Onslaught: Now grants up to 225 bonus ferocity while in a shroud, based on effective level.
• Life Rend: Increased damage by 17%.
• Life Slash: Increased damage by 17%.
• Life Reap: Increased damage by 12.5%. Increased life-force gain from 1.5% to 2%.
• Death’s Charge: Increased damage by 30%.
• Chilling Scythe: Increased life-force gain from 3% to 5%.
• Wells: Fixed a bug that caused wells to display their effects incorrectly while under the effects of quickness or slow.

Ranger
The ranger will see a variety of changes during this update. Of particular note, we are reducing Grace of the Land’s damage bonus and reworking it so that it’s compatible with all Celestial Avatar abilities and affects ten allies around the druid. We hope this improves the value of a single druid in large-group scenarios. Many pet attacks have had usability and movement enhancements in an effort to improve general damage against moving targets. The greatsword has had a couple of improvements for better damage and pet synergy. Finally, a few underused (and even some meta) utility skills have undergone general quality-of-life improvements.

• Maul: This skill now grants an Attack of Opportunity to the ranger’s pet, causing its next attack to deal 50% more damage.
• Hilt Bash: This skill should now land more consistently when used at max range. This skill no longer grants a damage bonus to pets, but it will now refresh the greatsword’s Maul skill when striking an enemy.
• Throw Torch: The physical damage of this skill has been increased by 33%.
• Sharpening Stone: The number of stacks that this skill applies has been increased from 6 to 10.
• Muddy Terrain: Immobilize duration applied by this skill has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Soften the Fall: Immobilize duration applied by this trait has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Lightning Reflexes: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.
• Spike Trap: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of the Wild: Fixed a bug that caused the ranger to be unblockable.
• Sharpened Edges: The chance to bleed a target on critical hit has been reduced from 66% to 33%.
• Grace of the Land: Damage per stack of this trait has been reduced from 3 to 2. The number of targets affected by this trait has been increased from 5 to 10.
• Natural Convergence: This skill will now provide Grace of the Land on every pulse when that trait is equipped.
• Avian Pets: Updated on-land nonbasic attacks so that they more consistently hit enemies and can be executed from farther distances.
• Canine Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to more reliably hit enemies, with their executable attack range being increased from 130 to 240.
  • Crippling Leap: Increased the attack range of this skill from 130 to 180. Also increased the reliability of this skill by increasing the movement speed and duration. This skill will now be affected by quickness.
  • Brutal Charge: Reduced the warmup casting time by 0.5 seconds. This skill will now be affected by quickness.
• Smokescale: Updated on-land basic attacks to move slightly toward the target when executing attacks on land. Increased the range at which the creature will attack from 130 to 200.
  • Takedown: Updated this attack to have a slight movement toward the target. Reduced aftercast by 0.25 seconds. Increased the range at which the creature will attack from 130 to 240.
• Wyvern Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to move farther toward the target on each swing. Greatly increased the attack speed of this skill from 3.3 seconds to 2.2 seconds. Increased the range at which the creature will attack from 130 to 200.
  • Tail Lash: Updated this attack to move farther toward the target when executing. Reduced the attack of this skill from 3.6 seconds to 1.2 seconds. Increased the range at which the creature will attack from 130 to 200.
  • Wing Buffet: Reduced the initial casting time of this skill by 0.5 seconds. Increased the attack radius from 240 to 360.
• Drake Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to move farther toward the target when executing on land.
  • Chomp: Updated this attack to move farther toward the target when executing on land.
  • Tail Swipe: Increased the radius of this attack from 225 to 280. Greatly increased the attack speed of this skill.
• Feline Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to move farther toward the target when executing on land.
  • Bite: Updated this attack to move farther toward the target on land and have a faster recovery once the skill has been executed.
  • Maul: Updated this attack to move farther toward the target on land and have a faster recovery once the skill has been executed.
• Moa Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to move farther toward the target when executing on land.
• Pig Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to move farther toward the target when executing on land. Increased the attack range from 130 to 200.
  • Maul: Updated this attack to move toward the target when used on land. Reduced the start-up and aftercast by around 0.5 seconds each.
  • Brutal Charge: Reduced the start-up of this skill by 0.5 seconds. Reduced the aftercast by 0.5 seconds.
• Bear (Ursine) Pets: Updated on-land basic attacks to move farther toward the target when executing on land.

Revenant
In addition to bug fixes and quality-of-life changes, we’ve been looking to improve the support role for the revenant. Alacrity will now be available through the Salvation specialization line, allowing Ventari’s Tablet to project it at a constant rate. We’re excited to see it in play!

• Searing Fissure: This skill will now more reliably hit enemies on slopes.
• Temporal Rift: This skill will now more reliably hit enemies on slopes.
• Legendary Centaur Stance: Project Tranquility will now instantly activate when invoking this legend. The cost of this skill has been removed.
• Serene Rejuvenation: In addition to its current bonus, this trait will now cause Natural Harmony to apply alacrity to allies for 3 seconds.
• Natural Harmony: The base healing of this skill per level has been reduced by 30%. The healing contribution of this skill has been increased by 180%.
• Forced Engagement: The cost of this skill has been reduced from 35 energy to 25 energy. The recharge for this skill has been increased from 5 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Rite of the Great Dwarf: The cost of this skill has been reduced from 50 energy to 40 energy in PvP only.
• Vengeful Hammers: Increased the base damage of this skill by 100%.
• Ventari’s Will: The cost of this skill has been reduced from 10 energy to 5 energy.
• Purifying Essence: The cost of this skill has been reduced from 30 energy to 25 energy.
• Unyielding Anguish: Increased the base damage of this skill by 20%. The duration of torment inflicted by this skill has been increased from 5 seconds to 6 seconds.
• Burst of Strength: Increased the base damage of this skill by 25% in non-PvP only.

Thief
Quality-of-life improvements and PvP health have been our focus for the thief, mainly for daredevil. As such, we’ll be looking to reduce endurance from a few different areas to target survivability through evasion but also compensate for it a bit with extra utility and condition removals.

• Infiltrator’s Strike: This skill has been unsplit from PvP and will now use a 900 maximum range. Immobilize duration has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds game-wide.
• Vault: The code functionality of this skill has been updated. The user will now more accurately travel to the targeted destination when under high-latency situations, in most scenarios. This skill is now affected by quickness. This skill now requires a line of sight to the target point in order to cast.
• Bound: This trait will no longer trigger the damage and bonus portion if the dodge is canceled or interrupted.
• Signet of Agility: The endurance gain from this skill has been reduced from 100 to 50 in PvP only.
• Signet of Agility: Condition cleansing has been increased from 1 to 3 in all game modes.
• Channeled Vigor: The endurance gain from this skill has been reduced from 25 to 20 per pulse in PvP only.
• Hard to Catch: The internal cooldown on this trait has been increased from 30 seconds to 45 seconds in PvP only.
• Upper Hand: The internal cooldown on this trait has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds in PvP only.
• Body Shot: The duration of immobilize inflicted by this skill has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds in PvP only.
• Cloak and Dagger: The vulnerability inflicted by this skill has been increased from 3 stacks to 5 stacks.
• Assassin’s Signet: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
• Needle Trap: The poison inflicted by this skill has been increased from 1 stack to 3 stacks.
• Caltrops: The duration of bleeding inflicted by this skill has been increased from 3 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Tripwire: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds.

Warrior
Warrior’s banners are the final recipient for our target-increase update, with the unique enhancements from each banner increasing to ten. After that, we’ve mostly focused on improving weapon and utility effectiveness, with some significant increases to underutilized areas.

• Deep Strike: This trait has been altered and will now grant condition damage to the warrior whenever they have fury. Condition-damage gain has been increased from 150 to 180.
• Eviscerate: Lowered the aftercast by 0.25 seconds.
• Hamstring: This attack now applies 1 stack of bleeding for 8 seconds in addition to its previous effects.
• Fierce Blow: The base damage dealt by this skill has been increased by 28%.
• Hammer Shock: The base damage dealt by this skill has been increased by 25%.
• Combustive Shot: This skill now has a radius of 360 at all adrenaline levels.
• Rupturing Smash: Increased damage by 50%.
• Counterblow: This skill now applies 10 stacks of vulnerability for 8 seconds in addition to its previous effects in all game types. Lowered the damage of this skill by 12.5% in PvP only.
• “To the Limit!”: The endurance gained by this skill has been increased from 25 to 50.
• “Shake It Off!”: The number of conditions removed by this skill has been increased from 1 to 2.
• “For Great Justice!”: The might granted by this skill has been increased from 3 stacks to 6 stacks.
• Mending: The recharge of this skill has been reduced from 20 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP only.
• Blood Reckoning: The amount healed by this skill has been increased from 10% to 20%.
• Vigorous Shouts: The effect of healing power on this trait has been increased by 20%.
• Banner of Defense: Increased the number of enhancement targets from 5 to 10.
• Banner of Discipline: Increased the number of enhancement targets from 5 to 10.
• Banner of Strength: Increased the number of enhancement targets from 5 to 10.
• Banner of Tactics: Increased the number of enhancement targets from 5 to 10.
• Earthshaker: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to hit 10 targets at level 1 adrenaline.
• Blaze Breaker: This skill will now attempt to face your target before firing instead of failing. If you cannot face your target, it will instead fire in your current facing direction.
• Whirling Axe: Fixed a bug that prevented this skill from being canceled when transitioning to gliding.
• Adrenal Health: The amount healed by this trait has been reduced by 10% in PvP only.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Birthday Boosters and Celebration Boosters can now be used in PvP maps.
• Wintersday Black Lion Chests can now be opened in PvP maps.
• Dabs, Globs, and Clumps of Destabilized Ectoplasm can now be used in the PvP lobby.
• The Bag of Spirit Shards given with the second birthday gift is now usable in PvP maps.
• Disconnecting from a PvP match will now add additional respawn time calculated from maximum possible downed bleed duration for a maximum of 30 seconds. Reconnecting to a PvP match with a respawn time will result in death.
• Mastery: Commander swiftness is now enabled in the PvP lobby.

Leagues:

• Losing a Ranked season match with a score greater than or equal to 80% of the winning team’s score will award a Near Victory bonus, worth 2 league reward pips.
• Added rating delta to game history for league matches.
• Ardent Glorious armor can now be used in the Mystic Forge.
• Ascended PvP trinkets now have proper icons.
• Ascended PvP rings can now be attuned.
• The Mini Emperor Llama is now available from the League Vendor.
• Significantly reduced the number of Transmutation Charges obtained through league chests.
• Reduced the number of unidentified dyes obtained through league chests.
• Reduced the number of Ascended Shards of Glory obtained through league chests, but added Ascended Shards of Glory to the repeatable Byzantium reward chest.
• Ascended PvP armor and weapons now require special currency that you craft along with Ascended Shards of Glory and gold.
  • The recipes are available from the ascended vendors for league tickets.
  • These recipes require fewer materials than normal ascended crafting, so they are a small discount from just crafting the armor and weapons outright.
• Ardent Glorious armor skins are now available from the ascended PvP vendors.

World vs. World
General

• Being killed while outnumbered no longer grants any war score to the enemy team.
• All siege devices and traps have been changed to gizmos that are consumed once they are placed.
  • This change was made to help solve bugs in which siege devices and traps weren’t being granted back properly when they weren’t placed.
• Siege bundles now stay in your hands until players drop, cancel, or run out of siege.
• Changed the Potion of Ascalonian Mages to work similarly to combat tonics. The transformation now allows for all player skills to be used. The transformation is removed after 30 minutes. Clicking the potion again will remove the transformation.

Alpine Borderlands

• Garrison’s back gate that enters the lord’s room now has secured, reinforced, and fortified states like all other gates.

Desert Borderlands

• Removed the floating gargoyle at the Shrine of Fire.

Fractals

• The commands /resign, /qq, /gg, etc., may now be used in fractals.
• Ascended fractal armor and weapons now require special currency that you craft, along with Fractal Research Pages, Fractal Relics, and gold.
  • These recipes are available from BLING-9009.
  • These recipes require fewer materials than normal ascended crafting, so they are a small discount from just crafting the armor and weapons outright.
• Unwanted Integrated Fractal Matrices can now be converted to Fractal Encryption Keys at a rate of 10 keys per matrix at BLING-9009.
• Fixed a bug in the event UI that would cause two health bars to appear for the Thaumanova Anomaly.

Living World

• Players will now be able to enter Noran’s Safe Room with an oiled key.

General

• Fixed an issue where many mesmer clone-creating skills did not create clones for players using the Endless Miniature Tonic and Infinite Watchknight Tonic.
• Pact soldiers returning from the campaign in the Maguuma Jungle have created a monument at the entrance of the Grove.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Bloodstone Ascender is available in the Toys category of the Gem Store for 250 gems.
• A new Shattered Bloodstone Glider is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 400 gems.
• The Emissary’s Staff has returned for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 600 gems.
• Taimi’s Dye Kit has returned for a limited time, found in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.

Improvement

• Six new and exclusive eye colors have been added to Total Makeover Kits, which are available in the Services category of the Gem Store.

Bug Fixes

• Scribe has been added to the Crafting Discipline filter on the trading post.

Several members of the ArenaNet Skills and Balance Team will be reviewing this thread for your feedback and your questions about today’s changes, including Karl McLain, Robert Gee, Irenio Calmon-Huang, and Isaiah Cartwright. Team members will be active in this thread for an hour or two, but will continue to read the thread over the next several days, particularly as you’ve had a chance to play using the newly-balanced skills. Thank you for sharing your input!

02/08/2017 – February 8th Release Notes
LIVING WORLD
The Head of the Snake
Caudecus Beetlestone’s depraved White Mantle faction continues its efforts to bring Kryta to heel. Her Royal Majesty, Queen Jennah of Kryta, requests your presence in Divinity’s Reach—help her root out corruption in the Ministry before crisis strikes.

Lunar New Year
The celebration has ended in Divinity’s Reach, but we wish you good luck and fortune all year!
New Legendary Rifle: The HMS Divinity
A new legendary weapon is now available. Speak to Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch to learn how to craft the new rifle precursor Man o’ War and forge the new legendary rifle, the HMS Divinity.
World Polish

• Players can no longer open more Great Exalted Chests and Grand Exalted Chests by changing map instances after completing the meta-event in Auric Basin.
• Several items involved in the legendary precursor collections can now only be crafted once per account. If these items are misplaced, replacements can be purchased from Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch.
• Fixed an issue that incorrectly caused several supply carts in Gendarran Fields to appear lootable when destroyed.

Bloodstone Fen

• Updrafts have been added to the Cavern of Unseen Lights to aid in Bloodstone Crystal Node gathering.
• Decreased the rate at which jade constructs drain bloodstone stalagmites, effectively increasing the duration of the associated events.
• Reduced intersections between ley lines and unbound magic nodes or magical storms.

Thaumanova Rework
The Thaumanova fractal was lacking in many areas, so it has undergone a significant rework. Changes aim to reduce frustration; improve theming, messaging, and story presentation; and generally make the fractal feel more epic and believable. At tier 4, the duration of the fractal should be a bit shorter, and the overall difficulty should be slightly lower while still being challenging.

General

• The audio of the fractal has received numerous improvements.
• Server performance has been slightly optimized.
• Players will now have to complete all four colliders, regardless of scale.
• Fixed a bug that could cause the checkpoint to be reset at the beginning.
• Fixed numerous minor bugs.

Main Hall
The Inquest are fighting for survival against endless hordes.

• Replaced all existing spawns with new ones and added many more.
• Removed all existing portals and replaced them with new ones that spawn via scripted events rather than player proximity.
• Portals no longer pull in players.
• The “Clear out the skritt defending the central control panel” event has been replaced by a new event.
• New dialogue scenes have been added.
• New AI has been added to the Inquest to help them fight more intelligently.
• Jump pads have been added to allow rapid transit between the center ring and the outer rooms.
• The liquid in the lower area no longer applies burning.
• Moved a Mistlock Singularity from the dormitory to a convenient location.

Subject 6 Lab
The Subject 6 encounter retains the same core mechanics, but failing to kill a couple of blue oozes is no longer essentially a reset. Additional scaling has also been added.

• Improved the intro scene.
• Reworked the Subject 6 Clinging Acid attack to be a bouncing AoE.
• Blue ooze will now heal the boss for 6% instead of 25%.
• Blue-ooze health has been reduced by 33%.
• Markers have been added to all oozes to make them more visible.
• Oozes will now instantly heal the boss when they get close, instead of pausing.
• Stronger gold oozes now spawn at 75%, 50%, and 25% at tiers 3 and 4.
• All oozes now die when the boss is defeated.

Dormitory

• Aatxe have been replaced by more interesting enemies.
• Some dialogue has changed.
• Various small bugs have been fixed.
• Added an objective timer.
• Increased the amount of time players have to save Chibb.

Repulsor Lab
The repulsor lab was particularly frustrating for new groups, as it lacked any clear direction and was incredibly punishing. It is now a stealth-based encounter, and the mechanics are clear.

• Reworked repulsor turret projectiles.
  • Reduced the hit box and switched to an effect to match the size.
  • Replaced blowout with a 0.5-second stun.
  • Switched to scaling, health-percentage-based damage.
  • Projectiles will now only hit players.
• Reworked patrol golems.
  • Fixed numerous pathing issues.
  • Switched the aggro mechanic over to a small visibility circle indicated by an effect. Golems will fixate for 15 seconds on any player who enters.
  • Golems have been upgraded to champion rank.
  • Golems will walk at tiers 1 and 2.
  • Golems now die when the event succeeds.
  • Deleted the stationary golem at the first console.
• Improved consoles and barriers.
  • Consoles may no longer be interacted with through walls.
  • Consoles are now numbered on the minimap.
  • Shields are now disabled at the end of the event.
• Safety Shield now has a longer cooldown but cannot overheat.
• Safety Shield’s Repulsor Bolt skill is now instant, and it will instantly break a golem’s defiance bar.
• Safety Shields now no longer use the staff idle animation.
• Getting downed in the repulsor lab will teleport you to the safety-shield room.
• Succeeding at the event will cleanse immobilize on everyone in the room.
• Consoles can no longer be interacted with after the event succeeds.

Cooling Chamber
The cooling chamber was a bit too easy to solo, and it had little emphasis on the cooling rods. Now it is more rewarding of teamwork, while one may still solo it on some professions.

• Cooling rods now have a Heat Shield skill that will block heat damage in a radius.
• Heat damage in the room has increased.
• Cooling rods further reduce heat damage in the room when placed in the Cooling Rod Receptacle. They also create a permanent shield at the receptacle.
• Switched to scaling, health-percentage-based damage.
• A golem will retrieve any cooling rods dropped in the room.
• Cooling Rod Receptacles have gained a map marker.
• A moving flame wall that can be dodged has been added to the room.

Thaumanova Anomaly
The Anomaly boss has numerous attacks that have either no tell or are very difficult to see and react to in the effect soup. The fight can take longer than it should due to high boss health and the fact that players constantly have to spread out. The fight has been reworked to be more interesting and fair. It is challenging but not overly difficult.

• Fixed an issue that allowed the Anomaly to be res rushed.
• The Anomaly’s health has been slightly reduced*.*
• The Anomaly has gained a strong defiance bar that can be broken for a long-duration stun.
• Players now have a special action shield, the Hex Shield, which can protect a platform from disappearing for 3 seconds on a 32-second cooldown. It stacks duration if multiple players use it on the same platform.
• The Anomaly’s base projectile attack, Binding Bolt, has been replaced by a projectile fan attack that is easier to see and react to. Projectile hit boxes have been improved.
• The Anomaly’s hit box has been increased, and it has been centered better.
• The Anomaly’s shield knockback has been greatly reduced.
• At higher tiers, the platform will permanently shrink at health percentages.
• The Anomaly will no longer reflect projectiles.
• Star Smash has had its effect improved.
• Flux Bomb has been renamed to Flux Pulse. Its radius has been reduced from 500 to 300. The Telegraph effect has been added. Damage has been slightly increased.
• Cosmic Instability no longer targets pets and minions, and it will now deal heavy damage to allied players standing within 120 units.
• Players will no longer sometimes fall all the way to the bottom floor instead of being teleported back up.
• The platforms will no longer be targetable by certain player skills.

Aetherblade

• Reworked rotating energy wall traps before the cannon room.
  • Now applies scaling damage based on health percentages instead of standard attacks.
  • Added internal-damage cooldown of 1 second.
  • Fixed a combat-log text issue.
  • Can no longer hurt pets and minions.
  • Applies Electric Shield to the golems for 1 second instead of 3 seconds.
• Reduced the applied agony duration for final energy walls from 6 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Increased the internal cooldown of energy wall damage and agony application from 1 second to 1.5 seconds.
• Golem might stacks can now be corrupted and stripped.
• Knockback is now applied at the correct time when Frizz is defeated.

Chaos Isles

• The Brazen Gladiator no longer clears all conditions when gaining Protective Shielding. Instead, Protective Shielding also behaves like resistance.

Molten Furnace

• Molten protectors can now be inflicted with fear and taunted while not shielded.
• Fixed a bug in which a party wipe before the final event could teleport you to the final chamber and stall the instance.

Nightmare

• Fixed an issue in which Ensolyss could use Rampage before his final phase on challenge mode.
• The crush attack Ensolyss uses when he spawns is now unblockable, making Another Goo Puddle easier for guardians to obtain.
• Fixed an issue in which Ensolyss’s defiance bar could be broken right before casting Nightmare Devastation, causing him to cast it when Arkk’s shield is gone.
• Ensolyss’s attacks will no longer knock back or pull pets and minions.
• Fixed an issue in which Siax’s Toxic Blast attack would show the first AoE telegraph for too long.
• Fixed a bug in which the 30-Second Seizure achievement could be completed in longer than 30 seconds.

Snowblind

• Moved the first Mistlock Singularity to a more convenient location.
• The ice elemental boss will now reset if there are no living players nearby.
• Reduced the chill duration for orbiting projectiles from 5 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Improved the spawning animation for the ice elemental and made it visible from farther away.

Swampland

• Fixed an issue in which being downed while holding a wisp during the final Bloomhunger phase would not allow the wisp to respawn.

Uncategorized

• Added a checkpoint at the end of the final jumping puzzle.
• Fixed a bug in which the battery meters would not properly reset after a party wipe.

Underground Facility

• The Rampaging Ice Elemental will now only target players with Ice Spike.
• Fixed a bug that could cause boss fixate to become permanently broken.

Volcanic

• The first cutscene can now be skipped.

Mist Potions

• Single-use mist potions have had their prices rebalanced by reducing relic cost and increasing gold cost.
• Duration has increased from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Single-use mist potions can now be refreshed.
• Text has been added indicating that unwanted potions can be turned in to Dessa’s Alchemist in exchange for fractal relics.

Daily Recommended Fractal Rewards

• The Fractal Initiate’s Research Chest has had its resonating slivers replaced by a Large Mist Defensive Potion.
• The Fractal Adept’s Research Chest has had its resonating slivers replaced by a Large Mist Mobility Potion.
• The Fractal Expert’s Research Chest has had its resonating slivers replaced by a Large Mist Offensive Potion.

Daily Achievement Rotation

• The Fractal Daily achievements have been switched from a 14-day rotation to a 15-day rotation so that the same dailies do not occur every two weeks.

Ascended Trinket Salvage

• Ascended trinkets will now yield Stabilizing Matrices instead of +1 infusions when salvaged.

Nightmare Rewards

• The Watchknight Tonic has been added to the Nightmare Rewards tab on BLING-9009 for a discount. It has been improved to function like the Kodan Tonic.
• The Antitoxin Injector Skin, Mini Toxic Nimross, and Mini Watchknight have been added to the Nightmare Rewards tab on BLING-9009 for a discount.
• Pristine Toxic Spore Samples are now awarded for completing the Nightmare Fractal Challenge Mode with a rare chance for a jackpot.

Instability Balance Changes
Toxic Trails

• Added low-duration poison to toxic trails. Poison will make damage from toxic trails more visible while slightly increasing the pressure from them.

Social Awkwardness

• Reduced the damage region radius from 60 to 44 to better match the effect.
• Reduced the applied agony duration of Social Awkwardness from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Instead of damaging your allies, you will damage yourself for a maximum of three hits per second if you are standing near three or more allies.
  • This will allow healers to stack up for heals without killing themselves, and it will punish a player for attacking near allies rather than punishing their allies.

Afflicted

• Reduced the number of confusion stacks applied from 5 to 2.

Last Laugh

• Increased the time before the attack hits from 1 second to 1.75 seconds.

Flux Bomb

• Flux Bomb will not apply damage or conditions to the targeted player on the first tick.
• Flux Bomb will not target the same player within 30 seconds.

Miscellaneous

• Fixed a bug in which Fractal Avengers would not properly despawn.

Raids
Bastion of the Penitent
The bloodstone explosion unearthed a portal to a place where few have been and none have escaped. Deconstruct the mysteries and learn the true story of one of history’s most misunderstood figures. Assemble your squad and begin your journey at ground zero or at the Lion’s Arch Aerodrome.
Thanks!
Some members of the following guilds had access to the raid at some stage in development. We’d like to thank them for their time and feedback.

• [Att] Attuned
• [LNR] Latte Night Raiding

General

• Glenna will now exchange magnetite shards for miniatures from any raid wing. This is now located in a new Exchanges tab on her vendor window.
• Skill-fact tooltips have been enabled for all boss skills in Bastion of the Penitent.

Lion’s Arch Aerodrome
New vendor tabs have been added to the Basic Magnetite Exchange Operative in the Aerodrome.

• Exchanges: Miniatures and special items can be exchanged here for magnetite shards.
• Merchant: Sells basic goods (salvage, etc.).

Spirit Vale
Sabetha
The Sapper Bomb skill now ignores snap-to-target settings.
Stronghold of the Faithful
White Mantle portal devices can now be exchanged for magnetite shards at a rate of 250 shards per device. This exchange can be completed by speaking with Glenna or the Basic Magnetite Exchange Operative in the Aerodrome.
General

• Fixed an issue that would sometimes prevent a player from being revived during encounters in Stronghold of the Faithful.

Xera
The Intervention skill now ignores snap-to-target settings.
Items
The legendary precursors Friendship and Endeavor have had their recipes updated to use the new Visionary Inscription. The recipe for the Visionary Inscription can be unlocked by using Recipe: Legendary Inscription, available from Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs, free of charge.
Profession Skills
General:

• Racial abilities: The following racial abilities will no longer allow eternal pets when used with Rebound: D-Series Golem (asura racial elite), 7-Series Golem (asura racial elite), Charr Warband (charr racial elite), Snow Wurm (norn racial utility skill), Summon Druid Spirit (sylvari racial elite).

Structured Player vs. Player
General

• Players who reconnect to a match and achieve victory will no longer receive a desertion game result.
• Fixed a bug that caused the minimap on Revenge of the Capricorn to have no fixed position and zoom level.
• Matches where a player fails to accept will rebalance teams after finding a substitute.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Noblesse Oblige mastery to affect PvP and WvW.
• Fixed inconsistent naming convention for the Diviner Amulet and the Seeker Amulet.
• Fix a bug where new accounts had both Conquest and Stronghold game-mode preferences checked instead of the All preference.

Battle of Kyhlo

• The Clock Tower has had its roof removed to improve visibility and camera behavior.
• The side-entrance jump puzzles to the Clock Tower have been normalized on each side and made much easier.
• Buildings and boxes are no longer destroyable by players. A few structures will now be automatically destroyed as the match progresses.
• The spawn locations of siege repair have been moved closer to the trebuchets.
• An additional exit from each side’s bases have been added to reduce the possibility of spawn camping.

Revenge of the Capricorn

• The locations of the archway and bell capture points have been moved to reduce run times and slightly condense the map.

Leagues

• League rating deviation will not increase over time. This prevents players who take breaks from having ratings that are too volatile when they return.
• Lowered the default/starting rating deviation. League placement matches will result in less volatile ratings.
• There is now a minimum game requirement for the league leaderboard that is separate from placement games. This minimum threshold increases over the duration of the season.

PvP Map Achievements
Meta-achievements have* *been added to all Ranked and Unranked PvP maps. Completion of the meta-achievement will award players gold and a title.
Generic Achievements:

• Wins
• Kills

Conquest Achievements:

• Kills while defending
• Capture-point neutralization

Stronghold Achievements:

• Summoning door breakers or archers
• Killing door breakers or archers
• Champion summons

Each map features one unique achievement themed around the secondary mechanic.
Capricorn achievements have returned, and the time gate for the Coliseum achievements has been removed.
World vs. World
General

• On Friday’s reset (February 10), skirmish points will change to 5 for first place, 4 for second place, and 3 for third place.
• WvW portals have been changed so that they now require an interact. This is to fix the bug in which players were sometimes teleported to different maps when using a waypoint.
• The Plush Griffon Tonic has been reenabled in WvW.
• The Reindeer Tonic has been reenabled in WvW, but the third skill has been removed and replaced with the fourth skill.
• The Potion of Ascalonian Mages now functions like a transformation and not like an enhancement. It has been reenabled in WvW.
• The Permanent Portable Provisioner can now be used while moving.
• The Noblesse Oblige mastery has been disabled in competitive game modes.
• The Gift From Scarlet has been disabled in WvW.

Desert Borderlands

• Shrine bonuses have been rearranged and changed in the Desert borderlands. The last shrine bonus for each shrine is now a themed jump pad that will allow players to travel from one shrine to the next. These jump pads will make it easier for players to traverse the area.
  • Shrine of Earth:
    • Activates lodestones that grant protection and stability to allies. This is used to cripple enemies.
    • A sandstorm that reveals all enemies.
    • Asura launch pads that launch players to all the shrines and inside the keep itself.
  • Shrine of Fire:
    • Inferno Hound
      • Increased the movement speed of the hound.
      • Added swiftness to skill 3.
    • The Flame’s Embrace effect allows players to walk on lava. It functions the same as it used to but is now the second bonus instead of the third.
    • Fire tornadoes that launch players to all of the shrines.
  • Shrine of Air:
    • Air jump pads that allow players to jump to high ledges at various places in the keep. No changes were made to this bonus.
    • The Windfall effect allows players to not take fall damage while near the keep. This functions the same as it used to but is now the second bonus instead of the third.
    • Eagle clouds that transform players into eagles so they can glide to each shrine.
• Desert borderlands now has ruins that work the same as they do on the Alpine maps and grant bloodlust.
• The center of the map has been changed so that it is easier to traverse.
• Removed rock walls inside the north/earth keep.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the incorrect team to earn the Windfall effect for a few seconds.

General

• Many items crafted as part of the legendary journey can only be crafted once per account. Misplaced items can be reobtained from Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs if they are required for other parts of the collection.
• The Antitoxin Injector Skin has been added to the laurel vendor.
• Encoded Orders can no longer be used in fractals or dungeons.
• The Permanent Portable Provisioner, Tarrktun Personal Delivery Portal, Black Lion Miniature Claim Ticket, Fractal Reliquary, Ley-Energy Matter Converter, Black Lion Claim Ticket, and Golden Fortune Scrap can now be used while moving.
• All tonics can no longer be consumed while in combat. You will still remain transformed if you consume a tonic before entering combat. This change was made so players can no longer transform to trigger weapon-swap effects while in combat.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• For a limited time, a new set of Devoted weapon skins is available from Black Lion Weapons Specialists for 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket. Black Lion Chest Keys are available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.
• The White Mantle Appearance Pack has returned for a limited time and is located in the Style category of the Gem Store for 2,000 gems. This pack contains 1 White Mantle Outfit, 1 White Mantle Glider, 1 Immortal Weapon Choice, 1 Total Makeover Kit, and 5 Black Lion Chest Keys.
• The Shining Blade Backpack Glider Combo has returned for a limited time and is located in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The Mask of the Queen and the Mask of the Jubilee have returned for a limited time and are located in the Style category of the Gem Store for 400 gems each.
• The Ringmaster’s Hat has returned for a limited time and is located in the Style category of the Gem Store for 200 gems.
• The Mini Bloodstone Rock has returned and is located in the Toys category of the Gem Store for 350 gems.

Improvements

• Twelve exclusive hair colors can now be used to dye hair accessories using Total Makeover Kits and/or Self-Style Hair Kits, found in the Services category of the Gem Store.
• For a limited time, avian miniatures are available for 1–3 Black Lion Miniature Claim Tickets and are available from the Black Lion Claim Ticket vendor.
  • Avian miniatures include the Mini White Moa, Mini Pink Moa, Mini Green Moa, Mini Yellow Moa, Mini Blue Moa, Mini Moa Chick, Mini Vulture Raptor, Miniature Raven, Miniature Snow Owl, Miniature Hawk, and Mini Chickenado.
• The Black Lion Chest has been updated to the Lake Doric Chest and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.
  • Two Heavy Crafting Bags have been added as the new guaranteed seasonal item.
  • Only for the duration of this seasonal chest, the Noran’s Safe Room Pass is available as an uncommon drop.

Hey all,

I wanted to make you aware of a new program related to GW2 merchandise. We have partnered with WeLoveFine, and they are looking for ideas for items to make with a Guild Wars 2 flavor! I love the idea, and even more I love that:

• Some of the designs will be by players (and the creator will get a commission)
• You get to vote for your faves

So head over to the WeLoveFine Fan Forge to vote, or to submit your entry for consideration.

I’ve been voting and there are some fantastic things on the slate. So help us choose what to make — no obligation, of course — and let’s get some merch out there!

01/17/2017 – January 17th Release Notes
Lunar New Year

• Come celebrate the year of the rooster in Divinity’s Reach!
  • Lunar New Year festivities have returned with the strong and trustworthy rooster.
  • Collect and open lucky envelopes to earn essences of luck, delicious foods, fireworks, valuable items, and a chance to find the new Lucky Great Rooster Lantern backpacks.
  • Speak to Phaedra in the Crown Pavilion to purchase very valuable Divine Lucky Envelopes.
  • Trade extra essences of luck to Fion in your guild hall to purchase Red Lantern decorations.
    • Red Lanterns can be used by scribes to craft one additional festive decoration.
• Bash and kick your way to victory in the Dragon Ball arena!
  • Speak to Finolla in the Crown Pavilion to enter the arena and prove your mettle.
  • Win rounds to earn Tokens of the Dragon Ball Champion, which can be used to purchase extra Divine Lucky Envelopes.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Celestial Rooster Harvesting Tool is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 1,000 gems.
• A new Solar and Lunar Dye Kit containing six exclusive colors is now available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• For a limited time, the Imperial Outfit is 20% off, found in the Style category of the Gem Store.
• The Red Envelope Mail Carrier is 20% off in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for one week.

Improvements

• For a limited time, the Miniature Ram, Mini Tiger, Mini Puppy, Mini Golden Pig, and Mini Red Panda are available for 1 Black Lion Miniature Claim Ticket each from the Black Lion Miniature Claim Ticket vendor.
• Many Merry Minis is no longer available at the Black Lion Miniature Claim Ticket vendor.
• The Black Lion Chest has been updated to the Lunar New Year Chest and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.
  • The Divine Lucky Envelope has been added as the new guaranteed seasonal item.
  • Only for the duration of this seasonal chest, the Mini Celestial Rooster is available as an uncommon drop.

12/13/2016 – December 13 Release Notes
Wintersday 2016
Come join us in celebrating Wintersday! Complete daily achievements to earn fanciful new holiday weapons; save Wintersday by giving wrapped gifts to the orphans spread around Divinity’s Reach; test your skills against other players in Snowball Mayhem; experience the joy of jumping in Winter Wonderland; defend against waves of toys in Toypocalypse; or help keep Tixx’s airship, the Infinirarium, in order! You will also see Wintersday events appearing all around Tyria.

• The Wintersday meta-achievement is earned by completing daily Wintersday achievements and can be repeated to collect more gifts.
• Achievements for the Winter’s Presence collection have returned with saved progress from Wintersday 2015.
• Parts of Divinity’s Reach and the Heart of the Mists have been decorated.
• Earn personalized Wintersday gifts by completing achievements, or buy them from the guild trader.
• Tradeable Wintersday gifts now have a chance to drop all over Tyria.

World Polish

• Fixed a bug that caused Wintersday ornaments to continue dropping from some chests after players had already completed the “For the Children!” achievement.
• Fixed a bug that could cause present boxes in the Winter Wonderland activity to prematurely explode.
• Fixed a bug that could cause snowflake platforms to not melt in Winter Wonderland.
• Fixed a bug that could cause players to keep their normal skill bar during Winter Wonderland.
• Fixed a bug that allowed guardians to benefit from Virtue of Courage’s aegis boon during Winter Wonderland.
• Fixed a bug that could cause players to be unable to start playing a part in the Wintersday Bell Choir if a player leaves the activity while playing that part.
• Fixed a bug that caused some skritt to not progress the “Wintersday Skritt Hit” achievement when pestered with snowballs.
• Increased the amount that players are healed by when standing near the central pillar in Toypocalypse.

Living World
Bug Fixes

• The Endless Kodan Tonic now has a 5-second cooldown and cannot be used while in combat.
• Winterberry home instance nodes now use the winterberry map icon.
• Winterberries now have a Consume All option.
• Reduced the unbound magic acquired from gathering and consuming winterberries.
• Mesmer clone-creating skills now create clones while under the effect of Endless Kodan Tonics.
• Continued attacks by the Shining Blade and their allies have lowered the health of some bandit bosses on bandit supply lines in Kryta.
• Players who have completed the Living World Episode 3 storyline may now skip directly to the boss at the end of the Frozen Out instance by interacting with the Brazier of Heroic Deeds, which is located near the beginning of the instance.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players who are working on Eureka or Shooshadoo from unlocking the Legendary Inscription recipe. This recipe has also been added to Hobbs’s inventory for those who missed it.

Items

• Fixed issues causing clipping on the sylvari female Scallywag armor set.

Fractals
Nightmare

• Added a checkpoint after the maze section.
• Fixed an issue that allowed res rushing for Siax and Ensolyss.
• Fixed an issue that allowed the first boss to be skipped.
• Fixed an issue that allowed the maze capture points to be captured from below.
• Fixed an issue in which Ensolyss could have his defiance bar active at the final 15% phase.

Swampland

• Fixed a bug in which the oakhearts would not get the exposed effect when broken.
• Dropping a wisp in Bloomhunger’s final 25% phase no longer resets all wisps.
• Arrow markers have been added to the minimap during the final 25% phase.

Underground Facility

• The turrets in the bomb path of the Underground Facility Fractal now function properly.
• Bomb and gun paths will now be randomly chosen, regardless of scale.

Agony

• Fixed a bug in which agony healing reduction would compound with multiple stacks.

Fractal Avengers

• Fractal avengers will no longer be able to stomp the wrong player.
• Fractal avengers will be destroyed instantly when interrupted or after stomping a player.
• Fractal avengers will not attempt to stomp again if they are interrupted too early.

Miscellaneous

• The Ascended Salvage Tool (1) now has a 100% chance to return upgrades.
• Mistlock singularities will now apply the agony to attribute conversions when autoconsuming infinite mist potions.
• Mistlock singularities will now apply the mist-potion effects for the correct duration on autoconsume.

Profession Skills
General:

• Added a new amulet to the PvP build panel.
  • Deadshot Amulet: 1050 Precision, 1050 Condition Damage, 560 Vitality, 560 Expertise.
• Added a new rune to the PvP build panel.
  • Rune of the Lynx: 175 power, +100 Condition Damage, +25% Movement Speed.

Elementalist

• Arc Lightning: The damage of this ability has been increased by 25% in PvP only.
• Arcane Shield: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 60 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Final Shielding: The cooldown of this trait has been reduced from 75 seconds to 60 seconds. The health threshold for activating Arcane Shield has been increased from 25% to 50%.
• Glyph of Elemental Harmony: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 25 seconds to 20 seconds in PvP only.

Engineer

• Blunderbuss: The damage of this ability has been increased by 10% at all range thresholds in PvP only.
• Jump Shot: The damage of the initial jump has been reduced by 56%. The damage of the landing has been increased by 28%.

Guardian

• Piercing Light: This trait no longer causes traps to daze enemies and will instead inflict slow on enemies for 1.5 seconds on the initial trigger of a trap.
• Virtue of Justice: Increased the burning duration of the passive effect from 2 seconds to 4 seconds in PvP only. Increased the active effect’s amount of burning from 1 stack to 3 stacks in PvP only.
• Virtue of Resolve: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 45 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only. The healing contribution of this ability has been increased by 87% in PvP only.
• Virtue of Courage: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 60 seconds to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Shield of Courage: Fixed a bug that allowed this ability to grant benefits without going on recharge.
• Detonate Orb of Light: The healing contribution of this ability has been increased by 67%.
• Line of Warding: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of Courage: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 180 seconds to 120 seconds in PvP only.

Mesmer

• Echo of Memory: The cooldown of this ability has been increased from 30 seconds to 35 seconds in PvP only.
• Restorative Illusions: The healing contribution of this trait has been increased by 285% in PvP only. The base healing modifiers for this trait have been adjusted as follows:
  • 0 illusions shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 62% in PvP only.
  • 1 illusion shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 50% in PvP only.
  • 2 illusions shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 42% in PvP only.
  • 3 illusions shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 36% in PvP only.

Revenant

• Surge of the Mists: The damage of this ability has been reduced by 50% in PvP only.
• Precision Strike: The damage of this ability has been reduced by 33% in PvP only.
• Warding Rift: The cooldown of this ability has been increased from 12 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP only.
• Debilitating Slam: The cost of this ability has been reduced from 15 energy to 10 energy.
• Pain Absorption: This ability now breaks stun.

Thief

• Infiltrator’s Strike: The range of this ability has been increased from 600 to 900 in PvP only. Immobilize duration has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds in PvP only.
• Shadow Strike: The amount of torment applied by this ability has been increased from 2 stacks to 4 stacks in PvP only.

Structured Player vs. Player
PvP Leagues Rework

• Leagues have been reworked in order to facilitate better matchmaking, to give a more accurate indication of an individual’s skill level, and to be more rewarding.
• PvP Season 5 begins today, December 13, 2016.
• The Greater Call of the Mists bonus will be enabled in PvP until December 20.
• For more information on the PvP leagues rework, please read our recent announcement. {{+https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/upcoming-changes-for-pvp-league-season-5/+}}

Better Matches

• Matchmaking will no longer factor in pips when creating matches and will instead focus more heavily on your matchmaking rating. This will increase the pool of eligible players that you can play against, thereby improving match quality and reducing queue times.
• Solo/Duo Queue: Due to the results of a recent community poll, rosters in Season 5 are now limited to a maximum size of 2 in Ranked Arena.

Measuring Skill

• Skill rating is a new visible value that represents a player’s skill level for a ranked season. Pips will no longer factor into skill rating or prestige.
• Skill rating determines which division a player belongs to. Each division has 3 tiers within it.
  • Legendary: 1950+ skill rating.
  • Platinum: 1650 – 1949 skill rating.
  • Gold: 1350 – 1649 skill rating.
  • Silver: 1050 – 1349 skill rating.
  • Bronze: 0 – 1049 skill rating.
• Nameplate badges reflect the current skill-rating division.
  • A new option is available that disables nameplate badges from being displayed to others.
• Skill rating will be soft reset at the beginning of each PvP season.
• At the beginning of each season, 10 placement matches are required to earn a skill rating and division placement.
• Skill rating has no limits on backward progress.
• Inactive players will experience skill-rating decay, impacting the division they’re placed in. Decay can be worked off by playing ranked games.
  • Period of inactivity allowed before decay begins: 3 days.
  • Skill rating reduction per day: 100.
  • Maximum skill-rating reduction: 700 (after 7 days).
  • Decay removed per game played: 100.
• At the end of each season, the top 250 players with the best skill ratings in each region will be awarded titles based on their placement. Earning a higher rank title will award all of the lower titles. These titles will persist season to season.
  • Rank 1: God of PvP.
  • Rank 2: Legendary Demigod.
  • Rank 3: Immortal Legend.
  • Rank 4 – 10: Unyielding Legend.
  • Rank 11 – 25: Relentless Legend.
  • Rank 26 – 100: Ruthless Legend.
  • Rank 101 – 250: Merciless Legend.

Rewards

• League pips will now be used exclusively as a mechanism for earning rewards. You will earn varying amounts of reward pips for wins and losses.
• Every reward tier has been renamed, recolored, and rebalanced.
  • Higher tiers now provide better rewards, such as increased amounts of liquid gold.
  • Tier sizes are now 20 – 30 pips. Later tiers are bigger.
  • There is no backward progress for reward pips.
• Winning a match awards 10 pips.
• Losing a match awards 3 pips.
• Achieving a top stat (see “Personal Score & Top Stats” below) awards 1 additional pip.
• Games played with a Platinum skill rating award 2 additional pips.
• Games played with a Legendary skill rating award 4 additional pips.
• Tier completion now awards Shards of Glory, Unidentified Dyes, PvP League Tickets, Transmutation Charges, gold, and a new currency called Ascended Shards of Glory.
• A new Ascended League Vendor has been added. This vendor has ascended armor, weapons, and trinkets available for purchase using Shards of Glory and Ascended Shards of Glory.
  • The Ardent Glorious ascended armor set, a variation of the Glorious Hero’s armor set, is now available.
• A Mini Black Llama can be purchased from the existing League Vendor using league tickets.
• A Shards of Glory Converter can be purchased from the existing League Vendor. The converter will exchange Shards of Glory for a Timeless Bag of Items.
  • The contents of the bag are similar to the bags received from items such as Princess, Mawdrey II, and the Star of Gratitude.
• Item: Tribal Leggings now have the proper icon.

Personal Score & Top Stats
Personal score has been removed from structured PvP games, and stats have been condensed into a more meaningful Top Stat system:

• At the end of a game, players who perform well in a particular area will be given the corresponding icon beside their name on the scoreboard, which is visible to all players in that match.
  • Damage: Total outgoing damage to alive enemy players.
  • Healing: Total healing given to yourself and allied players.
  • Kills: Number of player kills and kill assists.
  • Revives: Number of allied player revives.
  • Deaths: Number of deaths. (A top stat is not awarded for deaths.)
  • Defense (Conquest): Number of ticks spent in combat near a friendly captured point.
  • Offense (Conquest): Number of ticks spent capturing or being in combat near enemy and neutral capture points.
  • Defense (Stronghold): Total number of mercenaries killed and trebuchets repaired.
  • Offense (Stronghold): Total number of defenders killed and supply spent.

Overtime
Overtime has been added to Conquest. When both teams have the same score at the time limit or when both teams reach 500 points simultaneously, the game will enter overtime. Overtime ends when one team’s score becomes higher than the other’s, or after 5 minutes have elapsed. In the case of a time-out, the winning team is chosen randomly.

Infinite PvP Rank Progression

• PvP Ranks are no longer capped at 80. This number will now increment on both the in-game HUD as well as the character-select screen.
• Players will be retroactively awarded rank-ups for every time they’ve repeated rank 80.

Maps

• Battle for Champion’s Dusk has been removed from Ranked Arena. Queue preferences will now only affect Unranked Arena.
• Skyhammer
  • This map has been added to Ranked Arena.

Mist Champion Skins

• Mist Champion skins can now be purchased from the League Vendor for Shards of Glory.

Guild Teams

• Guild teams no longer show a ranked rating as they cannot queue for season games in Ranked Arena.
• The guild team leaderboard and banners have been removed from the PvP lobby.
• Guild missions can still be completed in Unranked Arena.

World vs. World
General

• On Friday’s reset (12/16), skirmish points will change:
  • 1st place will be awarded 2 points.
  • 2nd and 3rd place will be awarded 1 point.
  • This is a change that we and the players wanted to try. If we aren’t happy with the results, we can change the skirmish score values again.
• War score floaters have been added.
  • When war score is earned via various activities, floaters will now appear above various things to display the amount of points earned for all teams.
    • When an objective is captured/ticks, the war score will appear above the lord.
    • When a player is killed, the war score will appear above the player.
    • When a sentry is captured/ticks, the war score will appear above the capture point.
    • When a shrine is captured, the war score will appear above the shrine.
    • When a dolyak is killed or makes it to an objective, the war score will appear above the dolyak.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• The Festive Hat has returned and can be found in the Style category of the Gem Store for 150 gems.
• The Wintersday Wreath Backpack has returned and can be found in the Style category of the Gem Store for 500 gems.
• The Winter Solstice Appearance Pack, containing the Winter Solstice Outfit, a Miniature Snow Flurry Dragon, an Immortal weapon skin, a Total Makeover Kit, and a pack of 5 Glint’s Winter Dye Kits, is available again in the Style category of the Gem Store for 2,000 gems.

Improvements

• The Black Lion Chest has been updated to the Wintersday Black Lion Chest and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.
  • The Large Personalized Wintersday Gift has been added as the new guaranteed seasonal item.
  • The Infinirarium Glider is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of this seasonal chest.
  • The Candelabra Staff is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of this seasonal chest.
• For a limited time, a new set of Frostforged weapon skins is available from Black Lion Weapons Specialists for 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket. Keys are available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.
• Many Merry Minis has been added to the Black Lion Miniature Claim Ticket vendor.
• You no longer need to type an item’s full name on time-expired items when destroying them.
  • Using Gem Store “Time Expired” items will open the Gem Store if that item is available.

A message from the PvP Team:

Hey all,

We have a number of skill splits (and some global changes) that will be accompanying the launch of Season 5 next week. Read on to see what’s in store for December 13.

Over the past few releases the PvP team has been working closely with the Skills team to implement some PvP-only skill splits. Moving forward the PvP team will have more opportunity to make these skill splits as we see fit. It’s important to understand that skill splits should not change the core functionality of a skill. Players should be able to use a skill in PvE and have it do relatively the same thing in PvP, though it may be more or less effective depending on the game mode. This means that when we are looking to split out a skill, the changes are limited to the following areas:

• Recharge
• Damage multipliers
• Healing multipliers
• Number of conditions/boons applied
• Duration of conditions/boons applied
• Skill cost (energy and initiative)

A lot can be done with these knobs, but there still will be cases where we identify a problem skill or trait that we feel cannot be addressed without a functional change. In these cases, we are continuing to work closely with the Skills team to find a solution that makes the most sense as a global change.

Now on to the changes! Note that all changes listed are global changes except for those that are designated as “PvP only.”

General:

• New PvP Amulet: Deadshot Amulet: 1050 Precision, 1050 Condition Damage, 560 Vitality, 560 Expertise
  • This amulet should be a viable choice for lower-HP precision proc-based condition classes, such as condition engineer and condition ranger. It provides strong offense, with some defense through vitality.
• New PvP-only Rune: Rune of the Lynx: +175 power, +100 Condition Damage, +25% Movement Speed
  • We’re looking to add a viable damage-oriented movement speed rune to help professions with minimal access to in-combat movement speed or swiftness. This may impact match pacing, so we’re going to keep a close eye on it.

Elementalist

Support elementalist has long reigned supreme, but we’d like to see elementalist bring a bit more damage to the table. To start, we’re looking at giving scepter some stronger sustained damage to fill the gaps between their burst combos. The changes to Final Shielding are more QoL in nature, but should give the elementalist slightly better survivability when pressured in 1-on-1 scenarios. The greatest buff to the elementalist’s survivability will come as a result of reductions to other professions.

• Arc Lightning: The damage of this ability has been increased by 25% in PvP only.
• Arcane Shield: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 60 to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Final Shielding: The cooldown of this trait has been reduced from 75 to 60 seconds The health threshold for activating Arcane Shield has been increased from 25% to 50%.
• Glyph of Elemental Harmony: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 25 to 20 in PvP only.

Engineer

We’ve been making some gradual changes to pistol and rifle, hoping to bring them a bit more in line with hammer. As for Jump Shot, it’s difficult to land both the first and second attacks consistently unless you’re cleaving a downed player. To address this, we’ve moved some of the initial damage to the end of the attack, making it easier to spike. The total damage done by the skill will be the same.

• Blunderbuss: The damage of this ability has been increased by 10% at all range thresholds in PvP only.
• Jump Shot: The damage of the initial jump has been reduced by 56%. The damage of the landing has been increased by 28%

Guardian

We’d like to give the guardian some core buffs to encourage non-elite spec play, ideally pushing them towards a potential support role. As for Dragonhunter, we’re seeing a disproportionate amount of play across all skill levels. We’re mostly happy with their damage output, and have decided to instead shave some of their utility.

• Piercing Light: This trait no longer causes traps to daze enemies and will instead inflict the Slow condition on enemies for 1.5 seconds on the initial ‘trigger’ of a trap.
• Virtue of Justice: Increased the Burning duration of the passive effect from 2 to 4 seconds in PvP only. Increased the amount of burning of the active effect from 1 to 3 stacks in PvP only.
• Virtue of Resolve: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 45 to 30 in PvP only. The healing contribution of this ability has been increased by 87% in PvP only.
• Virtue of Courage: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 60 to 40 seconds in PvP only.
• Shield of Courage: Fixed a bug that allowed this ability to grant benefits without going on recharge.
• Detonate Orb of Light: The healing contribution of this ability has been increased by 67%.
• Line of Warding: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 40 to 30 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of Courage: The cooldown of this ability has been reduced from 180 to 120 seconds in PvP only.

Mesmer

Mesmer has been on our radar for a while now, but it’s a delicate situation. We’re going to keep the change list small for this update, focusing mostly on sustain, and reassess the situation mid-season.

• Echo of Memory: The cooldown of this ability has been increased from 30 to 35 seconds in PvP only.
• Restorative Illusions: The healing contribution of this trait has been increased by 285% in PvP only. The base healing modifiers for this trait have been adjusted as follows:
  • 0 Illusions shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 62% in PvP only.
  • 1 Illusion shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 50% in PvP only.
  • 2 Illusions shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 42% in PvP only.
  • 3 Illusions shattered: Base healing modifier reduced by 36% in PvP only.

Revenant

Revenant is in an interesting place in PvP. It’s undoubtedly one of the more difficult professions to play, but when mastered it is devastating on the battlefield. We’re going to bring some elements of the main power build down slightly, while attempting to address the lack of stun-break in the standard Mallyx condition build.

• Surge of the Mists: The damage of this ability has been reduced by 50% in PvP only.
• Precision Strike: The damage of this ability has been reduced by 33% in PvP only.
• Warding Rift: The cooldown of this ability has been increased from 12 to 15 seconds in PvP only.
• Debilitating Slam: The energy cost of this ability has been reduced from 15 to 10.
• Pain Absorption: This ability now breaks stun.

Thief

Thief has two very strong options between the dagger/pistol and staff builds. We’re putting in two small changes in this release that might open up additional options for pistol main-hand and sword builds. Sword already does top-tier damage between its auto-attack chain and various 3 skills – the changes to Infiltrator’s Strike should help make that damage land more consistently. The change to Shadow Strike should hopefully give a bit more punch to some off-meta condition builds.

• Infiltrator’s Strike: The range of this ability has been increased from 600 to 900 in PvP only. Immobilize duration has been increased from 1 to 1.5 seconds in PvP only.
• Shadow Strike: Increased the amount of Torment applied by this ability from 2 to 4 stacks in PvP only.

11/21/2016 – November 21 Release Notes
Living World
Taimi made a major breakthrough in Rata Novus when she discovered that magic can be broken into spectrums, which led her to speculate that the remaining dragons are absorbing each other’s power. She sent the commander to the Fire Islands to collect a recent destroyer sample in hopes of testing her theory. The expedition was a success, but the group was compelled to leave when a vision from Glint’s egg called them back to Tarir…just in time to see Aurene hatch! The celebration was short-lived, however. A mursaat named Lazarus crashed the party, claiming his rebirth had changed him and that he now wanted to side with the new guild and stand against the dragons. The commander declined the alliance, but Marjory was intrigued and left with Lazarus. Now, with Jormag also on the rise, the commander has to brave the bitter cold to see how the new theory of magic absorption affects the merciless ice dragon. Bundle up!
New Legendary Shield: Shooshadoo
A new legendary weapon is now available. Speak to Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch to learn how to craft the new shield precursor Friendship, and forge the new legendary shield Shooshadoo.
Fractals
New Fractal—Nightmare

• A new fractal is accessible through the Mistlock Observatory. You may now delve into the Nightmare.
• A new Nightmare fractal achievement category has been added under the Fractals of the Mists achievement panel.
• New rewards are available from BLING-9009 in the Mistlock Observatory.
• Enterprising adventurers have attracted the attention of the Harbinger.

Aquatic Ruins

• Instead of depending on scale, the path will be random with an equal chance for the dolphin or dark path*.*

Molten Furnace

• The fire tornadoes in the boss chamber have had their hit boxes improved. It is now easier to dodge them.

Uncategorized

• The pulsing-orb lightning attacks on the stairs before Old Tom have been reworked.
  • Hit boxes have been reduced.
  • Damage is now a flat -80% of your total health.
  • Damage is not applied to pets.
  • Players who are downed and teleport will now instantly revive.

Underground Facility

• The dredge in the Underground Facility have opened their eyes and can now be blinded.

Mai Trin

• The Champion Inquest Technician has had its health reduced by 60%.

Swampland

• The objective timer for the final 25% will now show at all fractal scale tiers, not just the master tier.

Volcanic

• Lava no longer deals damage to dead players.

Achievements

• A new daily recommended achievement for tier-3 fractals has been added. Completing this achievement awards a Fractal Expert’s Research Chest.
  • Fractal Expert’s Research Chest: contains a Pristine Fractal Relic, 2 +1 Agony Infusions, 2 Resonating Slivers, 3 Fractal Encryptions, and a Fractal Research Page.
• Daily fractal achievements have been moved to live under the Daily achievements category.

Mistlock Singularities

• Mistlock Singularities now repair all equipped gear when used.
• Mistlock Singularities now apply Infinite Fractal Potion effects, provided the player has an Infinite Fractal Potion in their inventory.

Mistlock Instabilities

• No Pain, No Gain now applies fury instead of stability.
  • We noticed that the random application of stability in defiance break bars felt like an uncounterable punishment against certain attacks. The removal of stability in favor of fury should retain the threat of the boon’s application without feeling unfair.
• Social Awkwardness now applies a flat 70% multiplicative incoming healing reduction regardless of stack count, and it now outputs damage to the combat log.

Miscellaneous Changes

• Added an Infinite Mist Omnipotion that can be created by combining Infinite Mist Offensive, Defensive, and Mobility Potions in the Mystic Forge with Gifts of Ascension.
• Fixed an issue where the Mistlock Observatory jumping puzzle awarded participation for the wrong jumping puzzle.
• Added a Potion Refunds tab to Dessa’s Alchemist that allows you to gain a fraction of the value in Fractal Relics in exchange for unwanted potions.
• Removed the ascended aquabreather recipes from Cracked Fractal Encryption. The recipes can be purchased from BUY-4373.
• Player skills will now reset their cooldowns when a party wipes inside the Fractals of the Mists.
• The Mai Trin timed mote for the Ad Infinitum legendary backpack has been moved to scale 98.
• The fractal scale selection UI will now disable action camera while it’s open.

World vs. World
General

• There is now an option under Competitive to turn on WvW simple nameplates.
  • WvW simple nameplates turn enemies’ or all players’ nameplates into circles to help reduce nameplate clutter.
• Upgraded objectives now reward more war score per tick and when captured.
• Points per Tick/Capture:

• Sentries and shrines now grant 2 war score on capture.
• The chests at the end of reward tracks now stack.
• Plush Griffon Tonics have been disabled in WvW.
• Fixed a bug in which auto turrets and supply depots sometimes took damage.
• Fixed a bug in which the wrong skill effects for enemies were playing for mortar Fire Incendiary Shells.
• Fixed a bug in which Presence of the Keep wasn’t applying correctly.
• Fixed a bug in which players could sometimes earn 40 supply from Presence of the Keep.

General

• Fixed a bug that prevented glider deployment animations from playing in some situations.
• Repeatable hearts are now properly tracked by map complete.
• Players will now drop bundles they’re holding if they disconnect from the game.

Items

• The legendary shield Flameseeker Prophecies has received an updated projectile effect.

Guilds

• A guild commendation vendor has been added to all guild halls.

Structured Player vs. Player

• The chests at the end of reward tracks now stack.

World Polish

• Creatures in Bloodstone Fen will no longer be able to throw rocks at flying players 6,000 units away. Their range has been reduced to 2,000 units.
• A Petrified Wood home instance node is now available for purchase in Ember Bay.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Crystalline Dragon Wings Backpack Glider Combo is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The following items are 20% off for one week only: the Aviator Quaggan Mail Carrier in the Upgrades category; the Warrior Quaggan Backpack Set, Plush Quaggan Backpack, Fuzzy Quaggan Hat, and the Fuzzy Quaggan Hat with Bow in the Style category; and the Bazaar Quaggan Mini Pack in the Toys category of the Gem Store.
• The Toxic Dye Kit has returned for a limited time in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• The Toxic Gloves and Toxic Mantle skins have returned for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 400 gems each.

Improvements

• The Black Lion Chest has been updated and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.
• Frozen Exotic Weapon Fragments have been added as the new guaranteed seasonal item.
• The Braham’s Wolfblood Outfit is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of this seasonal change.
• The Bitterfrost Vantage Point item has been added as an uncommon drop for the duration of this seasonal change.

Bug Fixes

• Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock will no longer grant the following unlocks.
  • Mini Queen Jennah: Obtained from character’s first birthday chests.
  • Mini Clockheart: Obtained from the Twilight Arbor achievement only.
  • Exalted armor pieces: A crafted armor above the rare limit.
  • Shadow Assassin Short Bow: No longer counted separately from the Merciless Short Bow.

The team has been looking at ways to improve the server identity within the World Linking System. We have come up with several potential solutions, and we’d like your feedback on them.

Solution 1: Alliance Names Proposal

Every time worlds are linked, an alliance name would be generated for the linked worlds.
• Names would be generated from a pool of names that we create.
• Once a name is being used it would not be used again until the pool ran out of names.
• NA and EU would not share the same names.
• An alliance name would be preserved until every name in the pool of names was used. For example, the linked worlds of Crystal Desert and Eredon Terrace would always share the same alliance name until all names in the pool were used.
• The alliance name would be used instead of the host world’s name in almost all areas of the UI. Specifically, it will be used as the map name, the name that shows up when something is captured, and the name on the mist war panel. On the mist war panel, the + would continue to list all the worlds in the alliance.

Solution 2: Guild Focused Proposal

Instead of having an alliance name, worlds would be referred to by their color.
• The borderlands would now be called Red Desert Borderlands Green Alpine Borderlands, or Blue Alpine Borderlands.
• The color designation would replace the “host” world’s name in almost all areas except within announcements.
• When objectives were captured, the name of the guild that contributed most when capturing the objective would be displayed. For example, “Objective Captured! [Guild Name] has captured [objective name].”

Solution 3: Some Guest Names Proposal

In areas where there is more player involvement, such as capturing objectives, guest world names may appear.
• When objectives are captured it would now display the guest world’s name: “Objective Captured! [Guest World Name] has captured [objective name].”
• The map name would remain the host world’s name.
• We would not display guest world names to enemies because we believe that would make fighting enemies more confusing since it would be harder to tell which world you were fighting.

Questions:
1. Which proposal is your favorite?
2. What, if anything, would you change about any of the current proposals?
3. Is there another proposal you think is better?

11/01/2016 – November 01 Release Notes
Container Preview Added
Many boxes, chests, and reward containers throughout the game have received preview functionality. By right-clicking in your inventory and selecting Preview, you will be able to browse the full list of possible container contents. Additional container previews will be added over time.
BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Vibrant Dye Kit containing six exclusive colors is now available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• A new Customer Appreciation Package containing one Black Lion Chest Key and one Black Lion Chest is available at no cost for one week only. Limit one per account. Only available to Core or Heart of Thorns™ accounts.
• For one week, the Mini Angry Chest is 20% off in the Toys category of the Gem Store.

Improvements
The Black Lion Chest has been updated, and its contents will continue to rotate more often with the in-game seasons. A preview of the current loot table is available in-game.

• Booster drops have been removed.
• Every chest contains a guaranteed seasonal item that will change regularly.
• Every chest contains a convenience item.
• Every chest contains an item that will progress your account in some way.
• There is now a consistent chance at a fourth drop that is uncommon or rare.
• A random wardrobe unlock item has been added to the chest. This will unlock a weapon, armor piece, backpack, outfit, dye, glider, miniature, or finisher at random, guaranteed to be something you do not yet have. This does not include rewards exotic or better but does include all Black Lion – style items prior to September.
• Only for the duration of Halloween, the Grasping Phantom Glider is available as an uncommon drop in the Black Lion Chest.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug in which asura would not receive control skills for the Magic Carpet and Hovering Mad Mirror travel toys.

The ArenaNet Team recognizes that, as a forum member and a player, you may want to share your feedback about the game. We welcome your doing so! We cannot reply to every thread on the Guild Wars 2 forums, but rest assured that most are read.

The purpose of this post is to provide a little guidance about how to give thoughtful, well-presented, and constructive feedback. Keeping a feedback or suggestion thread on-topic and relevant increases the likelihood that members of the Development Team will read the feedback and share it with their team members, even engage in the thread, if time allows.

If you create a feedback thread, we would appreciate it if you monitor the thread and send reports to the moderators when things veer off-topic or when the content of the thread becomes disruptive. Moderators then can kitten post content to ensure the conversation is on the right track. Do keep in mind, though, that it’s not appropriate to report a post simply because it contains a different opinion than your own.

When posting feedback, please keep these considerations in mind:

• Suggest improvements: “What can I suggest that will make this game content better?”
  • How do you think this particular element or aspect of the game could be improved?
  • What changes to other Guild Wars 2 content resulted in improvements that you liked?
  • How have you seen this particular problem solved in other games?
• Give details and examples: Not a generic “I don’t like this!” but a specific “I think this could be improved by {suggestions}.” And if someone asks a question about the topic, don’t just answer it — explain why you answered the way you did.

• Present opinions as opinions, not facts: Not “This is the only possible change” or “Your idea will not work” but “This is my idea” or “I believe {alternative suggestion} would be the better because {reasons}.”

• Speak from experience: If you’re offering an opinion on new or changed game content, get experience with it before commenting. If you offer input on a profession, skill set, or game mode, be sure you have sufficient background in the subject to validate your opinion. Opinions are welcome, but they’re always best when they’re grounded in fact and experience and, again, when they’re presented as a personal opinion and not an immutable fact.

• Be accurate: If your feedback includes inaccurate information, readers may discard it completely. Do some fact-checking and read through a thread before joining in. This helps you avoid making redundant or inaccurate comments.

• Use references: If there’s a dev forum post, a blog post, an interview, or an external resource, include links in your post so that readers can see you’ve done your homework and have reviewed previously-released information before offering feedback or making a suggestion.

• Avoid making it personal: Resist arguing with a person, but by all means debate a point being made. Not, “I think your idea is bad” but “I would prefer to see this handled a different way {details} because {reasons}.” Not “I know the game better than you,” but “In playing GW2 I have found…”

• Don’t take things personally: By the same token, don’t be offended if someone disagrees with your opinion or suggests alternatives to an idea you’ve put forth. Also, if you make a suggestion and the developers choose to move in a different direction, don’t let that bother you or color your opinion, but review the changes with an open mind and offer your thoughts without rancor.

• Share positives: Not all feedback involves a suggestion on how things could be changed or improved. Sharing your thoughts on things that you like in the game is helpful, because your satisfaction can help steer us in the right direction with future development.

As you can see, what you are saying is important, but how you are saying it is equally important. Your strongest points will be lost if they are delivered without details, if they’re presented in an aggressive or unpleasant tone, or if they are buried in a huge wall of meandering text.

By considering the points above, your feedback will be focused on providing solutions to problems rather than simply focusing on the problems. It will shine a light on content that you enjoy, so that we’re aware of that fact when making future updates and developing upcoming projects. These things are the heart of what we’re looking for from your feedback, and both will result in the best game possible!

0/18/2016 – October 18 Release Notes
Release Notes:
Living World
Halloween: Shadow of the Mad King
Come one, come all! Join us for this year’s Halloween! Play Mad King Says with old Mad King Thorn himself, jump to the top of Mad King’s Clock Tower, battle in the labyrinth, or fight Mad King Thorn in his realm. You will also see doors appearing and Trick-or-Treat Bags dropping all around Tyria.

• Parts of Lion’s Arch and the Heart of the Mists have been decorated.
• Trick-or-Treat Bags have been updated with new weapons, miniatures, and more!
• Trick-or-Treat Bags now have a chance to drop all over Tyria.
• Candy Corn vendors in Lion’s Arch have been updated with new items.
• Complete daily and permanent Halloween achievements!

Ember Bay

• Veteran Jade Armor and Jade Bow defiance bars no longer scale.
• Fixed an issue in which the Veteran Jade Armor and Jade Bow defiance bars immediately refilled when broken too quickly.
• Fixed an issue in which some Ether Towers weren’t properly awarding task participation when destroyed.
• Fixed an issue in which Ether Towers were difficult to hit with projectile attacks from certain angles.
• Fixed an issue in which Jade Constructs would not scale properly during the Caliph’s Steps events.
• Fixed an issue in which the Sloth Queen was not gaining her Hunger Crazed damage-reduction effect while chasing Tasty Slublings.
• Fixed an issue in which the destroyers in the Burning Grotto would sometimes become invulnerable.

World Polish
General

• Fixed a bug that could prevent progress in the Verdant Brink event “Extricate stranded nobles from vine chambers, and escort them to safety” when Minister Merula is defeated before reaching the rendezvous point.

Fractals
Thaumanova:

• Boss platforms have been changed to a more visible model.

Raids
Stronghold of the Faithful

• Keep Construct
  • Fixed an issue in which any players downed before transitioning the Keep Construct via the defiance bar would not be able to assist with destroying Xera’s phantasms.
• Xera
  • Bloodstones will no longer allow downed players to rally.

Items

• Many karma consumable items now have a Consume All option.
• Skritt Worker Contracts now have a 10-second cooldown between uses.

Profession Skills
General:

• Sigil of Demon Slaying: Fixed a bug that caused this sigil to indicate elementals in some instances.
• Superior Sigil of Draining: Fixed a bug that prevented the life-stealing effect from displaying in the combat log.
• Superior Rune of Altruism: Fury is now properly applied when the sixth effect of the rune is used with Bandage Self.
• Superior Rune of the Krait: Fixed a bug that prevented the sixth effect of this rune from working properly with certain elite skills.
• Superior Rune of Surging: Fixed a bug that prevented the sixth effect of this rune from working properly with certain elite skills.
• Superior Rune of the Sunless: Fixed a bug that prevented the sixth effect of this rune from working properly with certain elite skills.
• Seaweed Salad: An unintentional 10 condition-damage bonus has been removed.
• Caladbolg: Extraneous skill facts on Caladbolg tool tips have been removed.
• Combo and enemy rings: Fixed a bug that caused these to occasionally be culled.
• Boons: The duration-based boons Protection, Quickness, Regeneration, Resistance, Retaliation, and Vigor will now only stack up to 5 times instead of 9.

General—PvP Only:

• Downed state: Players will no longer become invulnerable when downed in PvP.

Elementalist
In this iteration, we’re looking at some specific improvements to dagger weapon types in addition to general utility and miscellaneous updates. Abilities with very long cast times have been reduced to no longer provide extended interruption openings.

• Impale: The aftercast of this ability has been reduced by 0.13 seconds. The damage of this ability has been increased by 20%, and the duration of bleeding has been increased from 8 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Burning Speed: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
• Earthquake: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 45 seconds to 40 seconds.
• Drake’s Breath: The damage of this ability has been increased by 40%.
• Cone of Cold: The damage of this ability has been increased by 20%. Its base healing has been increased by 10%. Fixed a skill-fact bug that displayed this ability’s healing contribution lower than its actual levels.
• Ice Spike: The casting time for this ability has been reduced from 1 second to 0.75 seconds. Aftercast of this ability has been reduced by 0.5 seconds.
• Healing Rain: The casting time of this ability has been reduced by 0.3 seconds.
• Lightning Surge: The damage of this ability has been increased by 10%.
• Glyph of Elemental Power: The trigger chance of this ability has been increased from 25% to 100%. Weakness duration has been reduced from 6 seconds to 3 seconds. Internal cooldown can now be shared between elementalists. This ability will no longer apply conditions to nonenemies.
• Signet of Fire: The burning duration of this ability has been readjusted from 2 stacks for 10 seconds to 4 stacks for 6 seconds.
• Signet of Air: This ability now inflicts 8 stacks of vulnerability for 5 seconds in addition to applying blind in a radius of 240 around the target.
• Ether Renewal: The casting time of this ability has been reduced from 3.5 seconds to 2.75 seconds.
• Harmonious Conduit: Updated the tool tips for overload skills to display stability granted when an attunement is overloaded while this trait is equipped.
• Elemental Surge: Immobilize duration has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.
• Ice Bow: Ice Storm damage has been doubled in PvP only.

Engineer
We’ve been looking to improve the engineer and to support the areas it’s been lacking in so that the profession can perform more effectively in a DPS role. In order to improve purity of purpose, we have removed the daze functionality from the Gyro utility type for scrapper.

• Static Shield: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. Block duration has been increased from 1.5 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Flamethrower—Air Blast: The description has been updated to better specify the ability’s function. The burning stacks it applies have been increased from 1 to 2.
• Fire Bomb: The physical damage of this ability has been increased by 10% per tick.
• Concussion Bomb: Confusion duration has been increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds. The physical damage of this ability has been increased by 20%.
• Big Ol’ Bomb: The knockdown duration of this ability has been increased from 2 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Mechanized Deployment: Fixed a bug that prevented the tool belt recharge-rate attribute from updating properly on the Hero panel.
• Poison Dart Volley: The projectiles fired by this skill will now land more consistently.
• Rocket Boots: The initial damage of this ability has been increased by 25%.
• Utility Goggles: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Glue Trail: Fixed a bug that caused this skill to affect certain friendly NPCs.
• Gear Shield: The block duration of this ability has been reduced from 3 seconds to 2 seconds.
• Gyro utility skills: Gyros will no longer daze anything in the area they affect when they die.
• Gadgeteer: Fixed a bug in which the overcharged versions of gadget skills did not have their recharge time reduced by this trait.
• Incendiary Powder: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to display longer than the attainable burning duration on skills.

Guardian
The guardian is faring well in multiple game types with a few exceptions. In the next balance patch, we’ll be normalizing some of the dragonhunter specialization’s defensive capabilities while increasing some effects for baseline guardian abilities.

• Shield of Courage: The baseline duration of the blocking effect has been reduced from 5 seconds to 4 seconds.
• Zealot’s Embrace: Projectile speed has been increased by 100%.
• Cleansing Flame: The casting time of this ability has been reduced from 4.25 seconds to 3.25 seconds.
• Merciful Intervention: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 50 seconds to 40 seconds. Base healing power has been increased by 20%. Healing-power contribution has been increased by 83%.
• Signet of Wrath: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 30 seconds to 25 seconds. This change also modifies Wrath of Justice in the Radiance specialization.
• Symbol of Punishment: Skill facts have been updated to display the light combo’s field effect.
• Signet of Courage: The casting time of this ability has been reduced from 4.25 seconds to 3.25 seconds.
• Purification: The cast time of this ability has been increased from 0.5 seconds to 0.75 seconds. The initial heal’s base healing value has been reduced from 80 to 40, with level scaling also reduced by 6%. The initial heal has had its healing-power contribution increased by about 33%.
• Piercing Light: Daze duration from this trait has been reduced from 0.5 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
• Hunter’s Determination: The ability triggered by this trait has been split from the utility skill and renamed Shards of Faith. The cooldown of this trait has been increased from 45 seconds to 60 seconds. The number of fragments dropped has been decreased from 5 to 3.
• Hunter’s Verdict: This ability can now be used underwater.

Mesmer
In this update, mesmers will see a reduction in readily available boon output through Signet of Inspiration. While we feel the reduction of boon uptime is necessary, we also want to help mesmer DPS builds remain sustainable. We have implemented several changes to help it maintain its effectiveness.

• Mind Slash: The damage of this ability has been increased by 6% in all game types.
• Mind Gash: The damage of this ability has been increased by 6% in all game types.
• Blurred Frenzy: The damage of this ability has been increased by 100% in PvE areas only.
• Phantasmal Disenchanter: The casting time of this ability has been reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second.
• Phantasmal Defender: The casting time of this ability has been reduced from 1.5 seconds to 1 second.
• Mirror: Base healing power per level has been increased by 10%. Healing-power contribution has been increased by 33%.
• Mimic: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 90 seconds to 75 seconds.
• Signet of Inspiration: Added stability, quickness, and resistance to the signet’s passive skill. The active skill of this ability has been reworked and will now apply one of each of your boons to nearby allies for the same duration the passive skill applies them.
• Signet of Humility: The signet’s casting effect will now occur at the beginning of the ability. This ability can no longer target enemies behind the mesmer who casts it.
• Well of Calamity: Fixed a bug that allowed this ability to apply conditions through all forms of defense.
• Illusionary Avenger: Fixed a bug that allowed this illusion to activate Fencer’s Finesse.
• Spatial Surge: The aftercast has been reduced by 0.3 seconds.

Necromancer
We feel that necromancers have been faring quite well gamewide, providing play and counterplay in many spots over the last few months. In addition to a couple of minor bug fixes, we wanted to improve the viability of necromancer power builds, which have been somewhat lacking in presence.

• Rending Claws: The damage of this ability has been increased by 15%.
• Ghastly Claws: The damage of this ability has been increased by 13%.
• Unholy Feast: The number of boons converted to conditions has been increased from 1 to 2.
• Fading Twilight: The aftercast of this ability has been reduced by 0.11 seconds.
• Chilling Scythe: The aftercast of this ability has been reduced by 0.06 seconds.
• Death Spiral: The damage of this ability has been increased by 66%.
• Blood Is Power: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 30 seconds to 20 seconds in PvP only.
• Signet of Vampirism: When the Signets of Suffering trait is equipped, this skill will no longer corrupt boons on players who evade it.
• Lich Form—Jagged Horrors: These minions will no longer lose health over time and will instead die 30 seconds after they’re summoned.

Ranger
After a period of observation, the balance team will be changing the druid specialization’s nature somewhat. In this iteration, we’ll now be making healing types more healing-power based. We’ve reduced base values of many healing abilities while substantially increasing the overall healing-power contribution. This patch will also upgrade the ranger’s short-bow weapon—a change we’ve been looking forward to doing for a long time.

• “We Heal As One!”: The recharge time of this ability has been increased from 20 seconds to 25 seconds in PvP only.
• Lunar Impact: This ability’s tool tip has been updated to display its blast finisher effect.
• “Search and Rescue!”: Fixed a bug that prevented the ability’s voiceover from playing.
• “Strength of the Pack!”: The recharge time of this ability has been increased from 60 seconds to 75 seconds. The voiceover will now play when the ability completes instead of midcast.
• Maul: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 6 seconds to 4 seconds. Damage has been increased by about 10%.
• Sun Spirit: Fixed a bug that caused rangers to lose access to their Solar Flare skill in certain situations.
• Quick Shot: Rangers will now gain swiftness regardless of whether they’ve hit their target. The recharge time of this skill has been reduced to 8 seconds.
• Crippling Shot: In addition to its existing functionality, this skill will now immobilize your foe for 1.5 seconds if you are behind them.
• Crossfire: This ability will now bleed foes for 1.5 seconds when they’re struck from the front.
• Poison Volley: This skill’s cooldown has been reduced to 8 seconds. Its poison effect will last 2 seconds longer when this skill is applied from behind your target.
• Call of the Wild: This ability now also causes a ranger’s pet to become unblockable for the next 4 seconds.
• Hunter’s Call: This skill’s cooldown has been reduced to 20 seconds.
• Ancestral Grace: The recharge time of this ability has been increased from 15 seconds to 18 seconds. Its base healing power per level has been reduced by 10%.
• Vine Surge: The velocity of the vines has been increased by 50%.
• Celestial Avatar: The recharge time of this ability has been increased from 10 seconds to 15 seconds in PvP and WvW.
• Cosmic Ray: The base healing power for this ability has been reduced by 50%. Healing-power contribution has been increased by 52%.
• Seed of Life: The base healing power for this ability has been reduced by 20%. Healing-power contribution has been increased by 33%.
• Lunar Impact: The base healing power for this ability has been reduced by 34%. Healing-power contribution has been increased by 63%.
• Rejuvenating Tides: The base healing power for this ability has been reduced by 20%. Healing-power contribution has been increased by 43%.
• Lick Wounds: Fixed a bug that caused your pet to briefly blink away from you if it was attacking an enemy before you activated this skill.

Revenant
One of the bigger changes for revenants in this update will be the reduced boon duration for the herald specialization’s Naturalistic Resonance effect. We’re adjusting a few different boon durations as a result of this and will continue to monitor the effects as time progresses.

• Enchanted Daggers: Attacks that are blocked or evaded will now remove stacks of Enchanted Daggers.
• Unrelenting Assault: Fixed a bug that prevented the ability user from being stunned when initiating an attack against foes with Shocking Aura.
• Inspiring Reinforcement: Stability duration has been increased from 1 second to 1.5 seconds per pulse. The resource cost has been increased from 30 to 35.
• Dwarven Battle Training: Fixed a bug that caused weakness to have increased effectiveness instead of reduced effectiveness. Revenant skills that inflict weakness will no longer display a revised condition tool tip.
• Facet of Light: Regeneration duration has been increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds. Upkeep cost has been increased from 1 to 2 in PvP only.
• Naturalistic Resonance: Boon-duration increase has been reduced from 50% to 33%.
• Versed in Stone: The recharge time of this trait has been increased from 45 seconds to 60 seconds in WvW and PvP.
• Unwavering Avoidance: This trait now triggers when an attack is successfully evaded instead of during dodge rolls. The recharge time has been increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds. Stability duration has been increased from 2.5 seconds to 3 seconds.

Thief
Changes for the thief profession are not overly extensive, but they are direct. The team is still observing the changes from previous balance updates, and we’re looking to fine-tune the profession so that it maintains a unique role in the game without breaking its core philosophies.

• Potent Poison: Fixed a bug that prevented the condition’s duration increase from displaying in the Attributes section.
• Pulmonary Impact: Fixed a bug that prevented this skill from doing damage while a thief was in the air.
• Bound: The damage of this ability can now be triggered in midair or underwater.
• Vital Shot: Increased damage by 15%.
• Dancing Dagger: Increased damage by 20%.
• Skelk Venom: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. Its duration has been reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Skale Venom: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. Its duration has been reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Spider Venom: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 30 seconds. Its duration has been reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
• Ice Drake Venom: The recharge time of this ability has been reduced from 40 seconds to 36 seconds. Its duration has been reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.

Warrior
Warrior continues to hold its place among each game type, so the team isn’t looking to make massive adjustments at this time. For this update, we have a few quality-of-life adjustments and bug fixes, as well as a few functionality changes to skills like Whirling Axe and Rupturing Smash, which will help them achieve their purpose.

• Shield Bash: Fixed a bug that prevented the immobile condition from being removed when the Warrior’s Sprint trait is equipped.
• King of Fires: Fixed a bug that prevented this trait’s detonation from functioning with Head Butt.
• Berserker Stance: Fixed a bug that caused this stance to apply for less than the full 125% value when the Last Stand trait is equipped.
• Dual Strike: Increased damage by 34%.
• Whirling Axe: While channeling this skill, you move 50% faster.
• Bull’s Charge: Reduced the recharge time to 30 seconds.
• Signet of Fury: Reduced the recharge time to 20 seconds.
• “On My Mark!”: This skill now applies revealed for 4 seconds in addition to vulnerability.
• Signet of Stamina: Reduced the recharge time to 40 seconds.
• Wild Blow: Reduced the recharge time to 20 seconds.
• Flaming Flurry: Reduced the projectile variance by 10 degrees.
• Rupturing Smash: This attack now strikes as a single hit within an arc rather than a cascading damage attack. The effect for this skill has been sped up to better match its new functionality. The radius has been increased to 360. The ground decal size has been increased to match the new radius. The daze duration has been increased to 1 second.

Structured Player vs. Player

• A Halloween reward track has been added to the PvP reward tracks.
• The PvP lobby has been decorated for Halloween.
  • The Guild Challenger League Leaderboard and Guild Challenger flags have been temporarily disabled during the holiday.

World vs. World
Beta
Deployable cannons are now in beta! Purchase cannon blueprints from either the siege master or the permanent portable provisioner to test them out.
Deployable cannons have less health and deal less damage than their static counterparts but can be placed anywhere that other deployable siege weapons can.
We will be looking for feedback about deployable cannons on our forums and will be holding a follow-up poll to determine if they should become a permanent feature in the game.
General

• A Halloween reward track has been added to WvW reward tracks.
• New Mystic Forge recipes have been added to create 10 or 25 superior siege pieces at a time.
  • The Siege Master’s Guide is now worth 10 Spirit Shards.
  • Created two new guides:
    • Siege Novice’s Guide—worth 1 Spirit Shard
    • Siege Grandmaster’s Guide—worth 25 Spirit Shards
  • 10 Superior Siege Recipe:
    • 20 Siege Blueprints
    • 50 Elder Wood Logs
    • 50 Mithril Ore
    • Siege Master’s Guide
  • 25 Superior Siege Recipe:
    • 50 Siege Blueprints
    • 125 Elder Wood Logs
    • 125 Mithril Ore
    • Siege Grandmaster’s Guide
  • 10 Omega Golem Recipe:
    • 50 Alpha Siege Golem Blueprints
    • 100 Elder Wood Logs
    • 100 Mithril Ore
    • 3 Siege Master’s Guides
  • 25 Omega Golem Recipe
    • 125 Alpha Siege Golem Blueprints
    • 250 Elder Wood Logs
    • 250 Mithril Ore
    • 3 Siege Grandmaster’s Guides
• The southeast desert dolyak path has been fixed so that it no longer goes through lava.
• Fixed a bug in which Legendary Defenders were no longer attacking enemy players.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• Six new, exclusive eye colors have been added to the Total Makeover Kit, which is available in the Services category of the Gem Store for 350 gems.
• For a limited time, a new set of Gargoyle weapon skins is available from Black Lion Weapons Specialists for 1 Black Lion Claim Ticket. Keys are available in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems each.
• The Candy Corn Gobbler Pack is available for a limited time in the Toys category of the Gem Store for 300 gems. Each pack comes with a Candy Corn Gobbler and 15 pieces of Candy Corn.
• The Black Wings Glider Combo is available for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The Mad King’s Outfit is available for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The Mad King Dye Kit is available for a limited time in the Special category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• The Ghoul Backpack and Mini Set is available for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 600 gems.
• For a limited time, past Halloween miniatures are available when using Black Lion Miniature Claim Tickets.