The new Raids and Wardrobe quarterly update is live today, and the Lunar New Year festival has begun! Read on for highlights of the Raids and Wardrobe update, and catch the full release notes on our forums.
This release is an example of the ways that player feedback shapes our approach to development. In our retrospective on Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™, we talked about changing our release plans based on responses to the quarterly releases for that expansion. This new approach allows us to modestly increase the amount of story, but more significantly, it allows us to bundle the story in a way that should make the second and third major updates for Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity feel more satisfying to play through. It also allows us to focus this release on other parts of the game. As we talked about in that retrospective, we're excited to deliver features that make the game easier understand and more enjoyable to play by refining and modernizing the systems that are already in the game. Today's release is doing exactly that for two big areas of Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity—raids and the wardrobe system!
The Raids Feature and a New Raid Encounter
Players can now challenge the new raid encounter, Guardian's Glade, and face off against a truly awe-inspiring crustacean! The challenge mode will become available in three weeks. One of the easiest ways to access the new encounter is through the new raid UI, a core part of our raids update, which also features the merging of Strike Missions into raids as raid encounters. You can read about the raids improvements in detail in our recent blog on the topic and raid livestream. When you get into the game, be sure to check out the Achievements tab and the new raid reward vendor in the Lion's Arch Aerodrome to start exploring the changes for yourself!
Fashion Templates and Fashion Week
When you first log in after downloading today's update, you should receive an in-game mail with some free transmutation charges encouraging you to try out our latest wardrobe system update: Fashion Templates! You can learn all about the changes in our blog or preview livestream, or just open up your Hero panel and go to the Fashion tab (not the Equipment tab!). When you do, you'll get a one-time prompt to save your current cosmetics to Fashion Template 1 for free. You start out with two free Fashion Templates, and more—up to a total of nine—may be purchased through the Black Lion Trading Company.
To celebrate the addition of Fashion Templates, Fashion Week is taking over the official Guild Wars 2 forums from February 3 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8) to February 10 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC-8)! Fashion Week's theme is "God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals," and it's your chance to channel your divine presence, overwhelming power, or quietly terrifying reverence through your look. Whether you arrive as a benevolent deity or something far more ominous, we can't wait to see how you command the runway. And for those who truly ascend above the rest, the grand prize is a legendary weapon of the winner's choice! To enter, head over to our forums and leave the mere mortals in your wake.
Wizard's Vault Improvements
Alongside the seasonal refresh of new rewards that come with quarterly updates, we've made a number of improvements to the Wizard's Vault. At a high level, this update focuses on making objectives clearer and more flexible, improving reward variety, and protecting the long-term health of the game's economy.
Daily and weekly objectives have been refreshed to improve variety and reduce friction, with several older objectives retired and new ones added that better highlight core activities like fractals, world bosses, and World vs. World (WvW). We've also introduced greater flexibility in how you engage with the system: daily and weekly objectives can now be selected independently, and you can freely adjust your chosen categories as long as you haven't started progressing them. Combined with new special objectives that will roll out over the course of the season, including ones tied to festivals and bonus events, the Wizard's Vault should feel more responsive to how and when you want to play.
The Wizard's Vault shop has also received a broader tuning pass this season, including updates to pricing, quantities, and item availability. We're updating the seasonal inventory with three Black Lion Keys and a Bag Slot Expansion, alongside other new additions and astral acclaim price tuning. As part of this work, we've removed the unlimited Bag of Coins option and adjusted the remaining limited-supply gold reward, which now offers more total gold per season at a slightly higher astral acclaim cost. These changes are intended to limit gold inflation and support the long-term health of the game's economy. For full details on shop changes and reward availability, be sure to check out the complete release notes.
And, of course, there's a refresh of the rewards in the Wizard's Vault for everyone to collect and enjoy. The Castoran Coral Quest License takes you on a journey to obtain the Coralheart Pillar staff and Coralheart Stake sword. These ascended weapons grow bioluminescent coral formations as you wield them! The Seaside Scholar's set is now complete with three new skins to help you become a beach-loving sage. Then there's the Toxinshell weapon set with its beautiful-but-deadly design for all of our terrestrial weapons. Finally, the Tropical Leaf Cape Set grants you dramatic leafy shoulder and cape skins that surround your character with impressive foliage.
Legendary Rewards
Soak in perpetual vacation vibes with the new legendary ring! Endless Summer brings the beach with you wherever you go with splashing water effects and sand at your feet—complete with sandcastles, shells, and crabs!
Talk to Shaman Palak near the Hullgarden Pier Waypoint in Shipwreck Strand to learn more about making this ring your own.
Raiders will find new rewards waiting for them, including the new Dhuumscale skyscale mount skin. Six new combat relics for Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity are also now available.
Lunar New Year & Upcoming Events
Gallop towards a fresh Lunar New Year with decorations and festivities in Divinity's Reach! Of special note is the opportunity to earn the Celestial Hoofed Shoes boot armor skin that will grace you with hooves worthy of the noblest centaur. Other incredible rewards include the Plush Mordy Backpack, the Lucky Great Horse Backpack, Celestial's Firework Weapon skins, and the Mini Horse-Gourdon!
This festival is accessible to players of any level. Even if you're brand new to the game, you can easily take part in our Lunar New Year activities and earn new cosmetic unlocks, utility items, and more! Check your in-game mail for an Invitation to Lunar New Year, and double-click the item to teleport instantly to Divinity's Reach. The Wizard's Vault also has special objectives directing you toward Lunar New Year activities so you can earn more astral acclaim and collect your rewards!
This festival kicks off a quarter full of events:
February
- February 3–24: Lunar New Year
- February 24–March 10: Return to Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds™
March
- March 3–10: Dungeon Rush Bonus Event
- March 10–17: PvP Rush Bonus Event
- March 17–24: Bonus Event (to be announced)
- March 24–31: Bonus Event (to be announced)
April
- Mid-April: Super Adventure Festival
Twitch Drops and Sneak Peeks
Starting today, you can earn Twitch Drops when you tune into participating Guild Wars 2 streamers! Drops are active until February 8 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time (UTC -8), so connect your account and start watching!
Before we sign off, we wanted to give you peek at what's still in development for future releases. Below you'll catch a glimpse of the third map for Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity. And, for a less visual preview: one of the two legendary accessories coming in the next major update will be acquired in WvW! We'll also be back in a month or so to talk about some exciting experimental changes we're making to War Score in WvW.
"With the staff in hand, the way opens before us. The only path to Tyria's survival. A road I walk because someone must, and no one else will." —Vloxx
Happy Raids and Wardrobe release day!
—The Guild Wars 2 Team