The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Last weekend hosted one of the rare events that ArenaNet has created for Guild Wars 2. The Mordrem Invasion saw enemies from the upcoming expansion Heart of Thorns swarm three of the lower level maps as a sign of Mordremoth’s expanding influence. Players needed to rally to fight off these invasions to keep the Mordrem at bay.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

This past weekend hosted the 2nd of three Beta Weekend Events (BWE) for the Heart of Thorns expansion which comes out October 23rd. I jumped in and played a bit of the new PvP game mode Stronghold, the new area of PvE available in this beta and the recently revealed elite specializations Herald, Berserker and Daredevil. This article of the Scrying Pool will be my thoughts on the beta content.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Next weekend is PAX Prime. ArenaNet has announced they will be on the show floor during the weekend as well as host a panel on Saturday morning focused on challenging group content and the Future of GW2. In the last couple of weeks I have talked about the road to the panel as well as what the Future of GW2 portion could be, so this week I’ll dive into the challenging group content side.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

In last week’s Scrying Pool I talked about the road to Heart of Thorns. In the column, I discussed how I thought that ArenaNet would have a panel at PAX Prime that would announce details of what Challenging Group Content will be as well as a release date for the expansion. Since then, the panel schedule for PAX Prime has been released and includes the following panel for the Saturday morning of PAX:

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

This week I’m going to talk about Heart of Thorn’s launch, specifically the time leading up to it. I feel like we are entering the polish phase. We have seen that the World vs World Desert Borderlands map and the PvP Stronghold map are basically done with just some minor touches needed to make them truly great. This weekend we are getting our hands on the full core Revenant and the first four revealed Elite Specializations. I think that each of these are in their final iteration, with only minor changes coming based on player feedback.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Normally that intro holds true, but with the Elementalist’s elite speculation reveal I will be flipping the tables. Instead of looking forward, the Scrying Pool will be looking back as we pick the Specialization series back up. The specialization series focuses on my impressions of each of the Elite Specializations after they get revealed while throwing in some of my previous articles and speculation for flavor.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Food in any MMO has an odd place, typically requiring time and resources to level up a cooking profession. The road of this progression is always filled with the leftover remains of lower level foods that remain unused in favor of higher stated nourishment. Guild Wars 2 also falls into this trap, but what could be done to fix the warehouses full of unwanted, non-perishable foods?

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

This week however, we will be looking back at the past weekend that included the Revenant and Stronghold weekend tests as well as the World vs World (WvW) Desert Borderlands stress test. I was fortunate enough to take part in each of these tests, so for this edition of the Scrying Pool wanted to share my thoughts on each test’s content.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

Ascended crafting has long existed for both weapons and armor. In order to craft this ascended gear, players first need to level up the crafting of the specific discipline to 500 as all ascended gear is account bound on acquire. For example, to craft any piece of ascended heavy armor you must first level up Armorsmithing to 500. When crafting was expanded to include ascended weapons and armor, it raised the max level of the weapon and armor crafting disciplines from 400 to 500.

The Scrying Pool is a Guild Wars 2 column where I simply ask what if? Nothing is off the table as I dive into possible features and future content, looking at what currently exists in Guild Wars 2 before I answer my own what if question with how I think the feature and content could be implemented.

The true beginnings of the Lion’s Arch reconstruction efforts have started. Last week’s patch has once again changed the way Lion’s Arch looks as all of the Breachmaker wreckage from Scarlet’s attack on the city early last year was removed. In addition to removing the wreckage and piles of debris, the city is now full of rebar, half built structures and barges carrying construction materials.