On the latest episode of the Guild Chat livestream, Game Designer Hugh Norfolk and Competitive Brand Manager Josh Davis talked with host Rubi Bayer about the recently announced ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League. Josh said that the Pro League had been in the works for some time, and that the past three years of Player vs. Player history in Guild Wars 2 laid the foundation. The competitive team wanted the PvP community to grow organically; it has since become the fastest-emerging segment of the player population.
PvP Leagues will mirror Pro League seasons and guild team ladders in the future, and there will be balance patches two weeks before seasons begin. The qualifying matches for the first Pro League season will be held in mid-November.
In addition, new sigils, runes, and stat combinations will be added to the game, expanding the number of potential builds in PvP even for players who don’t have access to Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns™.
PvP developments and improvements will continue in the live game following the expansion’s launch, and Josh and Hugh said that the competitive team’s intent is to create an atmosphere in which PvP players feel they have bigger goals to aspire to outside of the in-game PvP League system.
Next, Design Lead Linsey Murdock showed off the three brand-new legendary weapons slated for release shortly after the launch of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns. She demonstrated their effects and discussed the stories behind them.
Astralaria is an axe based on a stargazing mechanism. Players who choose to embark on the legendary journey to create it will study astronomy, seeking knowledge about the ancient jotun race and building a device to chart Tyrian constellations. HOPE is an experimental pistol born from the research and melding of hylek alchemy and asuran technology and made safe enough for use only by the addition of a catalytic converter. Nevermore is a staff imbued with the power of a raven spirit that must be sought out and provided with a vessel in the form of a blessed raven—which players will raise by hand from an egg.
Players who have stockpiled Gifts of Fortune won’t be able to use them to create the new legendary weapons, but Linsey’s team plans to implement a method of salvaging them to return all the materials used in their creation. Exploring Central Tyria won’t be required to create the new legendary sets, although map completion of the Heart of Maguuma zones will be. No new underwater legendary weapons will be added to the second set.
You can watch a recording of the livestream below, and be sure to check out Joel Helmich’s blog on the new action-camera feature he revealed on Guild Chat!