Guild Wars 2's Next Expansion Is Janthir Wilds

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The long-running MMORPG Guild Wars 2 has announced its next expansion: Janthir Wilds. Launching on August 20, 2024, Janthir Wilds takes players north to the wilderness of Janthir, where they’ll experience a story that will unfold across four major releases through the first half of 2025. Perhaps most exciting for longtime players is the addition of homesteads, an account-wide persona housing instance. With homesteads, Guild Wars 2 players finally have a permanent structure to cultivate, decorate, and share with friends.

Another major addition is the spear, a weapon available to all professions. Previously only used in underwater combat, spears will have all-new skills for each profession on land. Some professions will use it as a melee weapon, while others will hurl it at range. ArenaNet confirmed that one of the post-launch releases will introduce a new legendary spear.

The expansion also features the warclaw mount, previously only available through World vs. World, with new mechanics. The warclaw will be added to the story of Janthir Wilds, meaning new skills for PvE. The team is also revisiting the warclaw’s WvW skills in hopes of delivering an updated experience that builds on what they’ve learned since they first implemented the warclaw.

Following the expansion’s launch, a new raid will be added sometime in November 2024, featuring three encounters. The story of these encounters will be accessible either through a classic 10-player raid instance or with large groups in open-world events. In the first quarter of 2025, players can look forward to a challenge mode and legendary challenge mode for the raid. The final major release for Janthir Wilds will add a new fractal and an accompanying challenge mode.

Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds starts at $24.99 for the Standard version and goes up to $74.99 for the Ultimate version. You can grab yourself a copy here.