Find out what is coming to Guild Wars 2 in the big feature patch on April 15th.

Trait System Overhaul

• Trait Tiers
• Trait Tiers (Adept, Master, Grandmaster) unlock automatically without having to buy a training manual
• Traits pushed to higher levels. Adept Unlocks at level 30 (previously 11), Master at level 60 (previously 40) and Grandmaster at level 80 (previously 60)
• Trait points
• Points have been simplified. 14 total points to assign instead of 70
• Each point in a line will unlock the next Minor or Major trait
• This will not change how many traits will be unlocked. 30/30/10 will just become 6/6/2
• After level 30, one trait point will be awarded every 6 levels up to level 66
• After level 66, one trait point will be awarded every 2 levels
• Refunding Traits
• Traits will now be free to reset anywhere in the game as long as you are out of combat
• The Refund Traits button previously seen in PvP is now available everywhere
• Additionally, Plus (+) and Minus (-) buttons next to each trait line will allow quick and easy changes without resetting everything
• Unlocking Traits
• Major traits will no longer be fully unlocked for players
• Players can buy traits to unlock them or complete trait specific challenges in the game to unlock them
• Existing characters before the April 15^th patch will be grandfathered in, having all previously existing traits unlocked
• New characters after the patch will need to unlock every trait
• All characters will need to unlock new traits added with this patch and future patches
• New Traits
• 40 New traits are being added
• 1 new Grandmaster trait in each of the 5 trait lines for every class
• Click here for a list of the new traits

Runes, Sigils and Balance Updates

• Runes
• All runes updated to have a specific focus (such as a particular boon/condition or offensive/support role)
• Runes adjusted to improve completing a set over mixing and matching
• Proc effects (such as 5% on hit) have been dramatically increased (up to 50% chance)
• Runes in PvP are being simplified to a single Rune Set item in a single PvP rune slot that will give the full 6 rune bonus.
• Sigils
• Many hidden rules have been simplified
• The cooldown from one sigil will not affect another
• Identical sigils still will not stack (even if they are a different minor, major or superior version)
• New warning will appear in the tooltip for conflicting sigils
• On-Kill Sigils
• On-Kill sigils will now give 5 stacks when killing another player in any game mode while killing monsters still only gives 1 stack
• Un-equipping an On-Kill sigil will remove all stacks given from the sigil
• Two-handed weapons will now have 2 sigil slots (previously only one)
• Some Chance on Critical sigils are becoming new Chance on Hit to give non-critical hit builds more options
• Many balance changes to various sigils
• Balance updates across all classes with a focus on survivability and support

Critical Damage Changes

• Critical Damage % will no longer be a base stat
• Ferocity is a new stat based on points like every other stat in the game
• Critical Damage % will now be based on the Ferocity stat at 15 points of Ferocity per 1% bonus critical damage at level 80
• With this change, full Berserker builds will see a 10% reduction in overall damage
• UI Change in the Hero’s panel to better display critical damage increase
• Celestial stats will be raised by 6% to balance the sharp decrease in overall damage from the Ferocity change