Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

[Silvanus]

So, the long-awaited (too long-awaited?) first expansion for Guild Wars 2 has been released: Heart of Thorns [http://heartofthorns.guildwars2.com/]!

GW2 players will probably already know all about it, since the last season of Living Story was building up to this, and it was announced both in-game and out. Outsiders may not. Either way, I want to know what Escapists feel about it so far.

So far, it contains four new maps (several of which are relatively huge, and far more vertical than previous maps), along with two Guild Hall maps (maps you share with your guild, and can develop with upgrades into a small, functional town). Raids are upcoming.

The biggest changes are mechanic in nature, though. The Mastery System [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mastery] lets players develop a number of different "mastery tracks", affording them new abilities (like GLIDING!), understanding the languages of the monsters, and the ability to reach special areas. Specialisations [https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Specialization] are new trait tracks for existing professions, letting them use new weapons (shields for Mesmers! Hammers for engies!) and other new specialised stuff, usually letting them diverge significantly from the usual role of the profession.

SO! So far, I'm loving the changes, particularly the Mastery system, which strikes me as having a huge amount of potential (though some have complained that the XP requirements come too close to grinding). The new maps seem extremely well-designed, and due to the multiple vertical levels, revisiting somewhere you've been before on another level can be hugely rewarding. Raids are coming soon, which may salve the biggest gripe people have had thus far with GW2: comparative lack of endgame content.

Now, I've not experienced everything the expansion has to offer; nowhere close. That said, my one worry is that the four new standard maps, as expansive as they are, don't seem to provide as much sheer geography as I would want/expect from the pricetag. There's a lot of content, definitely, but its pure exploration that appeals to me the most. Still, I can't deny I'm having a great amount of fun... liberating our Guild Hall from the Mordrem has been a highlight.

I know other Escapists play. How do you feel about HoT? Is it HoT HoT HoT?

 

[Asita]

Difficult for me to give a comprehensive opinion yet. That's not to say that I'm not hyped, just that I can't devote as much time as I'd like to it, and that what time I do have for Guild Wars right now tends more towards the Halloween event (I want my mini Gwynefyrdd, dammit!). I haven't gotten a chance to try out the new specializations yet, but I do remember Dragonhunter and Daredevil striking me as a bit lackluster during the betas. Perhaps that's changed, perhaps not. Anyone given them enough of a whirl since beta to tell me one way or another?

 

[Scarim Coral]

Snip

Same here seeing how Halloween is temporary content while HoT is here to stayed. I just been farming the TiT bags for the new weapons (and that shackles skin) and if I'm lucky get those amulets stuff.

I only played HoT just a little but like claiming the GH and the first story. I'm abit overwhelm by the new content and abit annoyed that I can't access to it straight away. Dammit I want my Revenant to be Heral already! I also don't understand why my Tyira materies is locked at the moment despite I played the first mission to unlocked masteries.

 

[Asita]

Snip

Same here seeing how Halloween is temporary content while HoT is here to stayed. I just been farming the TiT bags for the new weapons (and that shackles skin) and if I'm lucky get those amulets stuff.

I only played HoT just a little but like claiming the GH and the first story. I'm abit overwhelm by the new content and abit annoyed that I can't access to it straight away. Dammit I want my Revenant to be Heral already! I also don't understand why my Tyira materies is locked at the moment despite I played the first mission to unlocked masteries.

Second mission. First mission has you going through the silverwastes. Second mission comes with entering the new area and either helping to fortify the camp or rescue the prisoners. It's after the second mission that masteries start to get unlocked, but it looks like you need to get experience from HoT content to level up those masteries, and you start at level 0 in each.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I'm absolutely loving the expansion. The story itself is a tad short and too straightforward, but it's still better than the original story. The maps and their huge meta-events are the major standouts for me. The events are more heavily tied to story and lore so they kind of make up for the shortness of the story IMO.

Gliding is absolutely amazing. I've actually jumped to my death a few times in core Tyria forgetting that gliding is only available in the jungle. I highly recommend fighting the Wyvern Patriarch in Verdant Brink. The fight forces you to make use of juggling updrafts to drop bombs on the beast when it has its shield up. It's a pretty spectacular fight.

Then there's the meta-event in Dragon Stand. It's quite tough and definitely requires a good amount of coordination, but it's still doable with a PUG map as long as people are willing to read map chat and are reasonably competent. I've only completed it once (though, I've only been part of a few attempts since other parts of the expansion have kept me busy), and I think it was the first or second PUG map to actually do it. Every other success had come from organized guild maps. It was honestly the most satisfying two and a half hours (yes, meta-event, start to finish can be that long) I've ever experienced in this game.

I played through the story at first on my main (Warrior) and am currently working on my new Revenant. I think it might end up being my new main unless some major buffs come to the Berserker spec. As it stands, Berserker seems to be much worse than running a standard Warrior build (both in PvE and PvP). That's not to say playing through the maps with my Warrior isn't fun, I just want something new and Revenant is a blast.

I haven't gotten a chance to try out the new specializations yet, but I do remember Dragonhunter and Daredevil striking me as a bit lackluster during the betas. Perhaps that's changed, perhaps not. Anyone given them enough of a whirl since beta to tell me one way or another?

While I haven't played either, I've heard good things about both. Most people consider Thief to be fairly underpowered right now, but Daredevil is a step in the right direction. I assume they fixed the clunky dodges since people would have been raging about that if it'd made it into the game at launch. Dragonhunter, while not the most interesting spec, is very powerful. Especially in PvP where stacking highly damaging traps on points means that your enemy is going to have to make the choice either dying or letting you take the point.

Honestly, Berserker is the only new spec that I would argue is in a bad place. Part of this comes down to a numbers thing, part comes down to clunky/underwhelming new mechanics, and part comes down to the core trait lines being too important. I really wish they had gone with their original intention to make it an all out condi spec. Then we could have had a really different yet still really useful new playstyle. The best you can do with the new spec is a really half-baked hybrid build. If they gave us a way to stay in Berserker mode it would make the spec way more viable since, if you're taking Berserker, you're severely crippling your power when you're not Berserking. This means that half the time, you're playing a severely underpowered version of base Warrior, while the other half of the time, you're playing something that is MAYBE on par with base Warrior. Anet has been quick to listen to feedback with the expansion though (most notably their change to Elite Specs unlocking with 400 Hero Point to 250 Hero Points) so I'm sure they'll be buffing the spec.

 

[Mashed]

As someone who played GW2 for a few months at launch and left it ever since, could someone give a brief overview of how much has changed since then?

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I've been leveling my alts in the Mad Lab and managed to get a Ghost Doge drop from the ToT bags. Going to be doing some more dungeons and fractals before I do HoT content.

 

[RedDeadFred]

As someone who played GW2 for a few months at launch and left it ever since, could someone give a brief overview of how much has changed since then?

I've only been playing for about a year so I don't know a full list of major changes. However, I do know they've added 3 level 80 maps for free, redid the trait system (much easier for a new player to understand now), did a whole bunch of free story content (only free for the people playing at the time, it costs gems if you weren't there), made major adjustments to the leveling process, and changed the final mission so that you can solo it.

I'm sure there's a ton of other stuff, but I wouldn't really know.

 

[Ryallen]

I'd enjoy it more if I didn't have to pay $50 for an expansion that includes a game that I already purchased.

 

[Worgen]

As someone who played GW2 for a few months at launch and left it ever since, could someone give a brief overview of how much has changed since then?

You would have to relearn the game, they changed a ton about the trait system, they made it so that any gear you equip unlocks that item look permanently for your whole account, same with dye, you can also change your traits anywhere in the game world for no cost, they added fractal dungeons which are short dungeons for good rewards. There is more too, but I've been playing since launch and have gotten used to the changes so I'm sure there are some Ive missed.

 

[GundamSentinel]

My most important points:

Pro:
- In enjoy the new maps. They're tricky to navigate, but not annoyingly so (looking at you, Dry Top). They look good and they're far more varied than I'd expected. Also, gliders are fun
- I love the new story missions. They're fun and well made (though still a bit buggy).
- The new professions are fun, though I'm still unsure about the practicality of some of them.
- Masteries are a good addition to expand on the core gameplay experience.
- Excellent new gear. And I'm loving the scavenger hunts for things like precursors and specialization weapons.
- New class. I'm not quite sure what to think of the Revenant yet, but it has some nice skills and seems to have potential for the meta game.
- The new content is (a bit) more challenging than previous PvE stuff.

Con:
- As a massive WvW player, I'm not a fan of the new Border maps. Sure, they look great and have some fun new stuff in them. But they're just too big. You hardly ever encounter a good battle. My server is not a ppt server, we want big fights! But the size and the lack of open areas makes them very hard to find. I'll be sticking to EB. And while I like that I'm able to unlock my specializations in WvW, it still feels that the masteries basically force me to do PvE.
- Grinds. Anet once claimed that they never intended for GW2 to become a grindy game. Masteries and specializations did just that. I have 21 characters, how am I supposed to unlock all their specializations? Thank god Masteries are account wide.

Haven't been able to check the fractals yet, so I don't really have an opinion on that.

 

[Silvanus]

- The new content is (a bit) more challenging than previous PvE stuff.

They've come a long way in PvE design. Looking back, there were far too many examples of bosses acting as simple punching-bags filled with mountains of HP, and open-world challenges needing nothing more than a zerg. PvE challenges are so much improved, with large-scale open-world stuff requiring genuine cooperation and thought, and encounters demanding you think and react rather than hammer away for a half hour.

I wasn't a fan of the Living World method, but that's one thing it was great for: they tested out some great stuff (with the Marionette & Vinewrath, for example), refining what worked and getting better.

 

[GoGoFrenzy]

I'd enjoy it more if I didn't have to pay $50 for an expansion that includes a game that I already purchased.

Well said! It's why I haven't purchased it yet and will be waiting for a serious sale before I do. And I played GW2 since beta before game ever launched. It's really quite an insult to make old timers pay that price for an expansion. (And no, I don't think the expansion alone is worth $50.)

 

[Rack]

The core game is now free so you can't really say you're paying for the full game with the expansion because you just aren't. So it just comes down to the expansion being really expensive. Which would be fine if the expansion wasn't also really lacking in content.

I really liked Guild Wars 2 when it launched and would have loved to see some great new content for it. Sadly that never really happened and Guild Wars 2 is still basically the same as it was at launch, with just a handful of extra maps thrown in and that one new class.