Preview: GUILD WARS 2: SECRETS OF THE DARK is a real treat!

On August 22, the ArenaNet team will be launched Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Dark. This will be the fourth expansion for the successful MMORPG and the first under the new release model with quarterly updates. I had the privilege of attending a hands-on preview earlier this month, and I think fans are going to love it.

The event contained very little information about the story in which fans will unfold SotO, but what little we experienced was fun. However, we dare not venture into spoiler territory. Instead, let’s talk about some of the new features of the game, starting with the Skyscale. Now, the official site recently published an entire post about the changes coming to Skyscale, including a new attack, the ability to use updrafts and leylines, and more. I recently unlocked Skyscale on my personal game account and these changes are amazing! They fix most of the problems I’ve had with Skyscale, some of which I didn’t even realize I had.

First, the Fireball attack is a very welcome addition as it lets you do a lot more than you think. Part of me wishes it used green aiming circles instead of a small reticle, but I’m sure there are others who think otherwise. Secondly, the ability to mount your Skyscale in combat is absolutely amazing. You can use it strategically to find new ways to deal with enemies or simply to escape! Lastly, it’s so nice to be able to use updrafts and ley lines are a must. During the final stage of the meta Dragon’s Stand battling the Mouth of Mordremoth and battling Patriarch Wyvern at Verdant Brink are two moments that immediately come to mind. It goes without saying that you’re definitely going to want to take some time to really learn the Skyscale, and luckily, they’re making it easier than ever to get both in terms of mount unlocks and rental terms while you’re in the SotO maps.

Another great addition to Guild Wars 2 with SotO they are splits. Again, the team has written about Rifts in the past, but let me provide some more practical information. If you like Open World content, this is going to be really fun for you. I know there have been times I wanted to attend Meta Events, but the timing was wrong. The nice thing about Rifts is that they don’t have a timer, which means you can interact with them whenever. Also, I know there have been some questions about how they work. In short, your party will go and interact with the Rift which will summon a group of Kryptis monsters based on how many people are there. Once you’ve defeated them all, you can invest a specific type of item into the Rift and a Bing Kryptis boss (again scaled to your party size) will appear for you to defeat. You will then be rewarded based on your level of participation and the number of people who joined. The actual encounter feels similar to a big boss fight like Tequatl, but it scales with your party and isn’t on a timer.

Another thing! The daily results have been slightly reworked. There will still be Daily Fractals achievements, Daily PvP achievements, etc., but general daily things (e.g., “Win 1 PvP match”, “View 1 Shiverpeaks Vista”, etc.) will be reworked into a new system. This system will grant you new currency to use in a unique shop with various rewards including mount skins, armor skins, a starter pack for legendary items, and much more. That’s right, the team is adding more ways to unlock skins without the need for the Gem Store. Another aspect that I really like is that you can customize the types of achievements that appear. If you don’t create PvP content, you can tell it not to show you PvP content and it will adapt to PvE and WvW. I am personally excited about this update and while I don’t have a Griffin yet, I do want a Griffin skin which will be available here.

There are some aspects I’m not allowed to share, but there are plenty for the fans Guild Wars 2 to enjoy in SotO. I am extremely excited for the expansion and can’t wait for it to be released on August 22nd. You can pre-order your copy now via the official website or via Steam depending on which version you prefer.