Dear Chlorine,
Today, ArenaNet announced an upcoming Guild Wars 2 patch with features your Mommy and I have been waiting for.
The announcement is posted here: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/september-03-2013/
Of course, by the time you read this, that page may long be gone so I’ll try to describe some of the new features we so eagerly wait.
Return of the Super Adventure Box
The Super Adventure Box, an 8-bit inspired instance focused on jumping skills, was one of the past living stories I wasn’t able to complete. At the time it went out, I was furiously leveling up my second character, so I didn’t really have time for it.
And now it’s back, improved and better than ever, giving players like myself a second shot at getting those achievement points (I hope, still, worst case is we get to earn a new set of achievements, which is still cool).
Along with this return are the return of the old Super Weapon skins, the introduction of new weapon skins and a collectible Mini.
Ascended Weapons
Another feature I personally have been waiting for is the introduction of Ascended Weapons. As you know, in Guild Wars 2, the rarity levels are as follows: Common, Fine, Masterwork, Rare, Exotic, Ascended, Legendary.
Before this patch, only accessories have ascended versions. Armors only go up to exotic, and while weapons have Legendary counterparts, these only had Exotic stats.
With the introduction of Ascended weaponry, everyone gets a stat boost, and infusions (upgrades plugged into ascended items) will hopefully be reintroduced with more variations.
Plus, we’ll come to expect more weapon skins, which is always a welcome change.
Improved Crafting Levels
To craft ascended weapons, characters must have a higher crafting level. Currently the maximum is at 400. With the introduction of ascended weaponry in the next patch, weapon crafting disciplines (weaponsmith, artificier, hunstman) will have a new ceiling – 500.
This means people will start to level up their crafting skills once again, and possibly increase the value of raw crafting materials. I’ll let you know once the update goes live next week.
Legendary Weapon Upgrades
The way Guild Wars 2 is designed, Legendary Weapons will always have the highest possible stat combinations. As I mentioned earlier, currently, they have the stats of an exotic weapon.
With the introduction of ascended weapons, all Legendary weapons will have their stats boosted to ascended-levels. They will also gain Infusion slots.
Plus, players owning Legendary weapons, like your proud Daddy, will have the ability to change the stats on the weapon while out of combat. This is especially useful when changing builds (i.e. from a Burst damage Thief to a Condition/Bleed Thief).
Finally, though no specifics have yet been released, aesthetic upgrades are reportedly coming, which means more beautiful Legendary weapons for everyone.
Account-Wide Magic Find
Before this patch, Magic Find, a stat referring to a character’s “luck” or his/her ability to find rare items comes as bonuses on equipment.
Because of this, most people usually have two sets of armors, accessories, and weapons, one for serious fighting, and one Magic Find-boosted set for farming.
According to the announcement, this changes after next week’s patch. Magic Find will no longer be an equipped stat, but rather an Account-wide bonus. This means that Magic Find will now be always there, no matter what set you have equipped.
Players will now have the ability to increase this bonus by finding Essences of Luck, which are possible outcomes from salvaging Fine (blue) or Masterwork (green) items.
It is yet to be known if there will be a cap to this stat.
Conclusion
I’m not sure if this is the biggest patch since I’ve played this game six months ago, but it is certainly my most anticipated one.
I will definitely make another post here once I get to try out the new features next week.
