Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure introduces sweeping changes to class weapons, reward systems, and more! 

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure Expansion Unveils a Skybound Adventure

As the elder dragon cycle draws to a close, a new threat emerges in the world of Tyria. Guild Wars 2 enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the release of the game’s highly anticipated fourth expansion, Secrets of the Obscure. 

With its scheduled launch on August 22, 2023, players will be pulled into a captivating storyline and introduced to a mystical archipelago hidden above the clouds. Today, we take a look at an overview of what players can expect from this new expansion.

Through the Fire, Into the Flames

Secrets of the Obscure introduces a breathtaking realm of mystery and magic concealed above the clouds. Initially, players will explore two expansive aerial maps and venture into the depths of the Wizard’s Tower outpost. As the story progresses through subsequent updates, a new explorable zone will unravel, offering endless opportunities for discovery.

Players are called upon to join forces with the Astral Ward, a valiant group dedicated to defending Tyria against the encroaching Kryptis forces. These malevolent entities emerge through rifts in reality, launching a siege on the celestial domain of Amnytas. As players ascend through the ranks of the Astral Ward, they will face increasingly formidable adversaries across both new and existing maps, unlocking valuable rewards along their journey.

To combat the ever-expanding threat, players will harness the power of the Heart of the Obscure, a mystical artifact with unique capabilities. By mastering its enigmatic powers, players will be able to track and eliminate the rifts, revealing new dangers as they dive deeper into the mystery. 

The Wizard’s Vault

The Wizard’s Vault, a prestigious location within the expansion, serves as a hub for a variety of in-game achievements. Completing daily, weekly, and regular tasks across the game will earn players special currency called Astral Acclaim. 

Astral Acclaim can be exchanged for a wide range of exciting rewards, such as new weapon and armor skins, select items previously exclusive to the gem store, crafting materials, gold, mystic coins, legendary crafting starter kits, and more.

With regular updates, the selection of available items will expand, guaranteeing an ever-evolving shopping experience for players.

Combat Perfected

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure aims to provide players with meaningful combat choices beyond just introducing new elite specializations. Each existing profession already possesses diverse roles and playstyles with the number of options available to them. For this expansion, the focus is on strengthening and refining existing combat systems while eliminating longstanding limitations. This will ultimately offer players even more build options.

One exciting aspect of expansion releases is the introduction of new weapons and weapon skills through elite specializations. Traditionally, equipping elite specialization weapons required players to commit to the corresponding trait line. However, Secrets of the Obscure introduces Weaponmaster Training. This is a system that transforms the elite specialization weapons associated with each profession into core proficiencies.

Once players unlock Weaponmaster Training, they can use elite specialization weapons without equipping the corresponding trait line, even if they haven’t trained that elite specialization. This means that players can mix and match weapons from associated elite specializations, even without owning previous expansions. However, owning the appropriate expansion and fully unlocking each elite specialization will still be necessary to utilize their trait line and acquire signature weapons and armor pieces.

Armed to the Teeth

The following weapons will become part of each profession’s core proficiencies in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure:

• Guardian: Axe (main hand), sword (off-hand), longbow
• Revenant: Shield (off-hand), greatsword, short bow
• Warrior: Dagger (main and off-hand), pistol (off-hand), torch (off hand)
• Engineer: Mace (main hand), sword (main hand), hammer
• Ranger: Dagger (main hand), hammer, staff
• Thief: Scepter (main hand), rifle, staff
• Elementalist: Sword (main hand), warhorn (off-hand), hammer
• Mesmer: Axe (main hand), dagger (main hand), shield (off hand)
• Necromancer: Pistol (main hand), torch (off-hand), greatsword

Furthermore, a few new skills will be introduced to accommodate edge cases, such as the berserker’s Primal Burst with a dagger or the untamed’s Unleashed Ambush with a staff.

A Rune Reworded

In line with the goal of providing meaningful build choices, Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure streamlines the rune system. Currently, runes offer five tiers of straightforward stat bonuses, with the sixth tier providing additional bonuses or special effects. However, the sixth tier sometimes tied two build components to a single choice.

With the expansion’s release, the sixth tier of each rune set will complete the stat bonuses associated with that set, removing additional special effects or conditional bonuses entirely. To maintain special bonus effects in combat, they have been separated into their own build component, offering players more control over their builds.

Relics Reforged

Starting August 22, every player’s build will include a relic slot that becomes usable at level 60. Many relics, accessible to all players regardless of expansion ownership, replicate the functionality of popular sixth-tier rune bonuses. For example, the Relic of the Trooper mirrors the previous sixth-tier Trooper rune effect of removing a condition from each affected ally after using a shout skill.

Core relics have updated effects compared to the sixth-tier runes they were associated with, such as the Relic of the Thief, which grants a 1% increase in strike damage for 6 seconds, up to a maximum of 5 stacks, and refreshes the duration of all stacks upon striking an enemy with a weapon skill that has a cooldown or resource cost.

Relics can be obtained through crafting, instanced content like Fractals of the Mists and Strike Missions, reward tracks, achievements, and more. To celebrate the new system, all players will receive a relic selection box at launch.

Sky’s the Limit

The skyscale mount, introduced in Living World Season 4 after Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire, revolutionized the way players navigate the maps in Guild Wars 2. The freedom and movement options provided by the skyscale mount have been well-received, and ArenaNet wants to ensure that as many players as possible can experience it. As a result, Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure will introduce a new method of acquiring the skyscale mount. Regardless of whether or not players own Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire or have completed the original skyscale collection, the expansion will provide a streamlined collection process to unlock their very own skyscale.

Building upon existing Mastery lines, the new flight Masteries complement the player’s aerial capabilities. Progression unlocks features such as the ability for flying mounts to traverse leylines and utilize updrafts, even in previously explored maps. Dedicated players who train both flight Masteries will unlock additional bonuses for their skills, further enhancing their gameplay experience.

A Rewarding Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure boasts a wide array of enticing rewards for dedicated players. At launch, players can earn the Rift Hunter and Astral Ward armor sets, with a demonic set becoming available in a later release. Throughout the expansion, completing story chapters, collections, and achievements will unveil a treasure trove of rewards, including weapon sets, unique weapons, back items, combat tonics, infusions, guild decorations, miniatures, emotes, and more. 

The expansion will also (eventually) introduce a set of legendary armor. This will grow more powerful in combat as it becomes infused with magic. It is also noteworthy that this will be the first set of Legendary Armor not tied to raids. Players can go collect and explore the open world instead!

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure

With the imminent release of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, players can look forward to returning to the skies above Tyria. From soaring through awe-inspiring vistas to battling against otherworldly forces and uncovering hidden treasures, this expansion promises a wealth of new content and experiences. 

Brace yourselves for an enthralling journey as the Secrets of the Obscure expansion quite literally expands the horizons of Guild Wars 2 on August 22, 2023. The game can be preordered on the main site, or on Steam after its 10th Anniversary. Fans of the highly successful MMO (that’s perfect on the Steam Deck!) don’t have to wait too long. 

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