Greetings, Tyrians!
The final chapter of Guild Wars 2®: Visions of Eternity ™ drops September 15. Next week, "Code of Creation" will send players into the depths of Castora as they seek to stop Vloxx from achieving his goals throughout six climactic new story chapters. All eyes are on you, Commander, and here is what you need to know about next week's update.
Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity—"Code of Creation"
When the commander and their allies departed from the port of Lion's Arch, everyone suspected typical Inquest antics—cold and calculating leadership, merciless creations, and a propensity for cruelty in pursuit of innovation. All things the commander certainly faced during their adventure on Castora, but Vloxx proved to be a more complex opponent. His mission was a ruse, viewing the Inquest simply as tools while he sought to remedy something far more severe. Now, the former Inquest director has taken up the mantle of eternity while Kuda has taken up the Inquest he left behind.
In the final update of Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, the commander and Isgarren must coordinate with their allies to fight back against those who threaten everything they've built and fought to preserve.
Leyspring Hollows
At the start of "Code of Creation," you'll venture deep into the cavernous expanse of Leyspring Hollows in pursuit of both Kuda's Inquest and Vloxx.
The depths are a mysterious place, and like many things you've encountered on Castora, they're as dangerous as they're disarmingly beautiful. As you traverse the twisting veins of the leyspring in pursuit of your enemies, you'll uncover the seer doyen's greatest secret and the heart of his people's spiritual undertaking on Castora. The Stewards of Galdra, "living" remnants of this once great society, are eager to keep these secrets from the clutches of your enemies and have offered their aid in your quest.
Although Vloxx abandoned the Inquest, they now pose a threat that cannot be ignored. Kuda is unhinged; she's been waiting her entire life for this moment—and no one is taking it away from her. Left to their own devices, many of the Inquest are plundering the depths for power. No longer on their heels, you and your allies must make a final stand against them before Kuda pushes the Inquest into a new level of brutality.
Our enemies cannot succeed.
The Depths of Cruelty
In "Code of Creation," you'll fight against the Inquest in a multistage meta-event as tensions come to a head with the newly crowned Director Kuda. In the Depths of Cruelty meta, you'll face a greater challenge than those set before within the expansion. Communication and collaboration will be key in thwarting Kuda's plans, with the weight of your decisions having a direct impact on swinging the tide of battle in your favor.
Unlike the other meta-events in Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, the Depths of Cruelty is set on a three-hour cycle rather than two, which is similar to Convergences. We've also shuffled the Shackles of the Ancients meta-event start time five minutes earlier. We decided on these changes to allow for each meta-event within Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity, as well as the Convergence, to run with a reduced chance of potential competition with the other's start times. That way, you'll be able to go from event to event, across each map, with minimal disruption.
Another reason for the adjustment is to allow you more time to engage with content on the map before the meta-event begins. Similar to maps like Dragon's End and Amnytas, Leyspring Hollows will close after the meta-event is completed, but instead of closing immediately, you'll get a prompt to move to a new map within one hour.
Changing Up Convergences
For this release, you'll participate in a new Convergence where you'll find yourself coming head-to-head against in the Nexus of Eternity. You'll face challenges that call back to experiences and mechanics throughout other parts of Tyria.
Unlike the Mount Balrior and Outer Nayos Convergences, where you clash against a rotation of bosses, the Nexus of Eternity Convergence contains one robust encounter with multiple distinct phases. With this change, you'll be able to experience the full variety of mechanics with each run and the choices you make will keep the encounter feeling fresh.
We've also adjusted the risk vs. reward elements of essence gathering. You must now push yourself to the limit by gathering max stacks of the essence before they can be cleared. Though, doing so will now reward a powerful ability based on your profession, allowing you to turn the tides of battle in your favor.
Prepare Your Squad for New Challenges
In addition to a new Convergence, the Nexus of Eternity has also been adapted to test your mettle as a challenging raid encounter. This encounter requires a squad of ten players to work together to face the great challenges that await them in the finale of Guild Wars 2: Visions of Eternity.
A new fractal, Solitary Throne, is also releasing with "Code of Creation." Groups of up to five players can explore what happens when a single being harnesses too much power. Avoid hazards while navigating a mysterious, celestial environment to reach and defeat the Eternal Tyrant himself.
If you're hungry for a more severe challenge, we will also be releasing Challenge Modes for the Convergence, raid encounter, and fractal two weeks after "Code of Creation" launches on September 29. Following that, the Legendary Mode for the raid encounter will launch on October 13.
Coming Up This Fall
"Code of Creation" kicks off a season that is jam-packed with bonus events, festivals, and game updates. The complete roadmap is detailed below, but let's discuss some of the highlights.
Later this month, we'll be debuting a new event called "Dismount Rush" that will offer temporary bonus rewards for forgoing your mounts in content designed before mounts were introduced. This fall, the Fractal Incursion event will return with new rewards, and we'll be kicking off the beta for our new WvW map where your feedback will help shape its development. Then, we have our annual Extra Life charity game day and accompanying in-game event, which is always a highlight of our year. Finally, we'll cap off the year with our first Hall of Monuments update, allowing players to start earning rewards for Guild Wars 3™!
Get ready for what we have coming up:
September
September 29–October 6: Dismount Rush Event
September 29: Fractal Challenge Mode: Solitary Throne
September 29: Raid Challenge Mode: Nexus of Eternity
September 29: Convergence Challenge Mode: Nexus of Eternity
October
October 13–November 3: Shadow of the Mad King
October 13: Raid Legendary Mode: Nexus of Eternity
November
November 10–December 1: Fractal Incursion
November 10: Skills and Balance Update
November 10: WvW New Map Beta
November 10–December 1: Extra Life Bonus Event
November 13–14: Extra Life Game Day
November 23– December 1: Gnashbash "Birthday" Celebration
December
December 8–January 5: Wintersday Festival
To Be Announced: Hall of Monuments Begins
Stay tuned for more information in the coming days on our social media channels and our official Discord. We're looking forward to watching you experience everything we have waiting for you in the "Code of Creation."
—The Guild Wars 2 Team