MMOs are a dime a dozen but even though the genre is populated with thousands of games, there are a few that stand out. World of Warcraft is one such franchise and Guild Wars 2 is another. The latter came out back in 2012, with an expansion, Heart of Thorns coming out two years ago. Now, after much fan fare, ArenaNet, the developers of the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) have announced their second expansion, Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire.
Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire pickups from where the player was left at after the end of Living World Season 3 (Guild Wars 2 system of releasing new content through an expanding story) and will let players venture into the Crystal Desert. The last time that zone was explorable was back in Guild Wars 1. As a result, Path of Fire contains five new open world zones for players to explore. Furthermore, these zones are the largest to be released yet. A new guild hall is also a part of the expansion.
The scale of these maps has, in turn, prompted the Guild Wars 2 team to introduce mounts to the game (something they were against doing when the base game released). The mounts unveiled so far are the raptor, the springer, the skimmer, and the jackal. Each mount has its own unique movement ability which you can use to explore each of the maps as well as a combat ability to help the player character in fights.
Also being released with the expansion are 9 new Elite Specialisations; the first 9 were released with the Heart of Thorns expansion. For the existing 9 classes, Guardian, Warrior, Revenant, Ranger, Thief, Engineer, Elementalist, Mesmer, and Necromancer, players will have the following elite specialisations, respectively: Firebrand, Spellbreaker, Renegade, Soulbeast, Deadeye, Holosmith, Weaver, Mirage, and Scourge. Each of the specialisations allows the classes to equip a new weapon as well as giving them access to new skills.
Currently, players can pre-order the Standard Edition Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire for $29.99 which will net them a one-time use max level boost. Or they can turn over $54.99 for the Deluxe Editon, which comes with an additional Character Slot, an Identity Repair Kit (name change and total makeover kit), the Spearmarshal’s Presence – Sunspear Outfit, and the Lily of the Elon Permanent Pass, along with items in the Standard Edition. Lastly, players can opt for the $79.99 Ultimate Edition which includes everything in the previous versions as well as 4000 Gems, one of the in-game currencies.
Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire will release on September 22nd, although players can take part in the preview weekend which is on August 11-13. More details about the expansion can be found here.
