Recap Of Changes Since The Icebrood Saga
- Last updated: June 13, 2021
An ideal starting point for returning players who quit Guild Wars 2 around 2019 – 2021. This guide provides a brief recap of all major changes and new content leading up to present day.
Up to date as of Icebrood Saga Episode 5 – Champions, Chapter 4: Judgment.
- New Features
- PvE
- PvP
- WvW
New Features
Build and gear templates
This long awaited feature finally made it in! Players can now swap their traits, skills, and gear with a single click. Well, two clicks to be precise, as gear and build templates are separate features.
Each character has 3 free build and 2 free equipment slots which should serve the more casual players just fine, while additional slots may be purchased through the gemstore.
Equipment slots are not just for convenience, they also store gear, removing it from your inventory even when not active!
Boon And Condition Reworks
Torment’s functionality has been reversed. This condition now deals extra damage to stationary foes and less damage to moving targets.
Retaliation is no more, Resolution took its place. Resolution works much like Protection, this boon reduces incoming condition damage by 33%.
Resistance now only works on debilitating conditions and doesn’t help with mitigating condition damage at all.
PvE
Instanced 10 man content
Raids have been more or less replaced by Strike Missions. Strikes are single boss encounters that are more beginner friendly than raids. Eye of the North now serves as a strike mission hub.
Instanced 5 man content
In preparation for the upcoming Canthan expansion, we’ve got a brand new location in the new setting. Sunqua Peak is a fractal with a challenge mode set at a mountain range of Shing Jea Island, few decades after the events of GW1.
Saga
The Icebrood Saga has come to an end on April 27, 2021.
Currently we are waiting for ArenaNet’s livestream on July 27 to find out more about the future of GW2 and the upcoming expansion, End of Dragons. Find out more on this link.
Dragon Response Missions
DRMs are a new type of casual instanced content doable in party sizes of 1-5, accessible via the Asura Gate at the Eye of the North.
Underwater Skimmer
That’s right, with the help of a new mastery the Skimmer became the first underwater mount in GW2. To unlock it you must first max out all the other Skimmer masteries.
PvP
Swiss tournaments
Automated tournaments now use the Swiss format for the first matches of the tournaments. This means that you’re not out after your first loss, as teams get to play multiple rounds. The number of rounds is determined by how many teams have signed up. The finals stages of the tournament are still single elimination, causing your first defeat to end your run.
Miniseasons and new gamemodes
Miniseasons take place between Conquest seasons and are meant to spice things up by allowing people to compete for unique titles in new gamemodes such as 2v2 and 3v3.
Legendary amulets
Two new legendaries are now obtainable through PvP. Both of them are amulets, making them some of the first ever legendary accessories in the entire game! These are called Transcendence and Slumbering Transcendence.
PvP gear
The PvP gear UI has been removed from the game. Instead you’ll be using the build and equipment template features to set both your PvE and PvP builds. There is a special toggle for PvP gear in the PvE equipment panel that lets you select an amulet (this contains nearly all your PvP stats) and your PvP runes/sigils.
sPvP is still all about even playing field, no PvE grind or unlocks required!
To read more about the PvP gear system, click here.
WvW
Legendary Rings
Two new legendaries are now obtainable through WvW, both of them are rings. These are some of the first legendary accessories in the entire game! The two rings are Conflux and Slumbering Conflux.
Alliances
Still in development, no release date given.