A fresh adventure is on the horizon! Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™ arrives on August 20, bringing with it another year of story chapters and content updates. Bristling with mursaat ruins and harrowing to navigate, the fabled Isles of Janthir have been carefully guarded by the wizards of the Astral Ward—and to most of Tyria's denizens, they are a distant legend. But recent events have inspired the world's leaders to create a Tyrian Alliance and dispatch the wayfinder to befriend new allies. As you seek out the lowland kodan colony in Janthir, you will explore, fight, and learn more about the mysteries of Tyria's past.
We've got a little bit of information to provide about some key features of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds in this blog, and between now and launch, you can stay tuned for even more details.
Beginning August 20, 2024
Prepurchasing any edition of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds before the expansion launches at approximately 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7) on August 20, 2024, will grant you the "Homesteader" title, the Whispering Serpents Pauldrons skin, and a box with your choice of one Serpent's Wrath weapon skin.
Visit the official store page for full details on the items included in the Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate editions. You can purchase Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds through the official store or from the in-game store, Steam, or official retailers.
A New Adventure Beckons
At the launch of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, you'll explore two new maps as you seek an alliance with the lowland kodan who call the Isle of Janthir home, master new ways to fight and explore, and unlock a homestead (an account-wide personal housing instance) of your own. Over the course of three quarterly releases that follow the initial launch, you'll have the opportunity to challenge new content, explore additional story in a third new map, craft a legendary spear and backpack, and obtain new Wizard's Vault rewards, cosmetic items, relic effects, and more.
Homesteads
We're excited to add our take on account-wide housing with Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds. Your journeys will lead you to your own homestead, an account-wide personal instance with a structure and land for you to decorate and cultivate. The Homesteads feature is unlocked and developed through an associated Mastery line as a place to express yourself, share space with your friends, and access nodes and unlockable resources from your personal story home instance. Before we launch on August 20, we'll be back to share loads more information and a look at homestead decorating.
Wielding Spears on Land
Previously only available for underwater combat, spears will now have all-new skills for each profession on land. Spears can be used interchangeably in the aquatic and terrestrial weapon slots, but you will need to equip multiple spears to use them in both slots. The unlocked spear skins in your wardrobe will work with both versions, and if you've made Kamohoali'i Kotaki, the legendary spear, you can equip it through the legendary armory in either slot!
Raids and Encounters
Additional challenging encounters will become available alongside new story chapters in the three major releases that follow Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds. In the first of these releases, anticipated to release around November 2024, you'll get to challenge a new raid comprising three encounters. The story of these encounters will be accessible in two ways: through a classic 10-player raid instance (our eighth raid), or with large groups in open-world events.
The Warclaw
In Janthir Wilds, the warclaw mount will be featured with new mechanics. Previously only available through World vs. World, the warclaw will be introduced to players in the story of Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds, including new skills for PvE play. At the same time, we'll be revisiting the warclaw's WvW skills to provide a refreshed experience that builds on what we've learned about mounts since first implementing the warclaw.
Developing a New PvP Mode
And we've got one final thing to share for now: Over the course of the coming year, we'll also be seeking input from the community on a new PvP game mode we aim to implement. We have a prototype of a map and mechanics that we'll be ready to start beta testing later this year, and we'll iterate on and refine that, taking into account your feedback on the beta tests.
Stay Tuned
Again, you can visit the official store or hop into the game to purchase the upcoming expansion, Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds. Between now and launch on August 20, we'll be sharing additional information about the features and content like the new spear skills, Homesteads, raids, and more.