Like many Guild Wars 2 players, I’ve been waiting a long time for its first expansion pack to arrive. And like most players, I’ve waited with eager anticipation as to what the new content will bring and how it could potentially reinvigorate the game. Prior to the launch of Heart of Thorns and having invested many thousands of hours into my account, I have completed almost everything: Fractal level 50, four world completions, two legendary weapons, Dragon rank in structured PvP and the Living World story completed across three characters. I was left with little else to do, especially considering my distaste for achievement hunting.  

Arriving at a time where many players were likely in the same boat as me, the expansion pack was undoubtedly needed. Consisting of four maps and bringing with it changes to Fractals, structured PvP (in the form of ranks), Masteries, Guild Halls, elite specializations and raids, on paper there appears a great deal to Heart of Thorns, especially if you also factor in the new items and legendary questing.

The Jungle

Four zones might appear to be too little, especially when most players are accustomed to discovering entirely new continents in other games, but it would be a doing ArenaNet a great disservice to suggest that these zones aren’t large enough. Made up of the canopy, surface and root they’re not only enormous but beautiful in size and scope. At times I’ve stood still and scratched my head in wonder at how ArenaNet went about designing these areas. Yes they’re confusing at first, but it quickly becomes apparent - after you begin to explore - just how detailed and intricate they are. Part of the problem with many of the zones in Tyria is the fact that they’re so familiar and traditional: they’re easy to navigate and make little use of verticality. The Maguuma Jungle rips up the rulebook and instead, makes such use of verticality that at times, you feel totally lost.

Its been many years since a zone in a massively multiplayer game provided me with a true sense of exploration and for that I’m incredibly grateful. Not knowing how to reach a Hero Point or how to land on a particular platform in order to unlock a Vista, only to eventually discover how after searching high and low, is very satisfying. Even outside of the need to “complete” a map, just standing atop a vine admiring the view or watching a group of Itzel go about their business in a rooftop village makes you realise how much time and effort ArenaNet have placed on creating these new areas.

What I’ve found particularly impressive about the Maguuma Jungle is how each zone feels unique. Verdant Brink, the first of the four maps, makes particularly great use of the canopy as you soar past burning Pact ships clinging to vines for dear life. In contrast, Tangled Depths makes much more use of subterranean levels and seldom sees you fly amongst the branches. Not only does it make each zone feel unique but it also helps build a sense that you’re delving deeper and deeper into the jungle. By the time you reach Dragon’s Stand, there’s a real sense of claustrophobia and dread as you weave your way to Mordremoth’s lair.

As for the jungle content, it’s all very reminiscent of The Silverwastes or Dry Top (not a bad thing). Rather than Public Quests, each zone is filled to the brim with events that players can participate in and range from escort to defence. Participating in several key event chains eventually results in a unique Meta event, specific to that zone. Auric Basin and Dragon’s Stand are particularly popular and although challenging, are highly rewarding. The sheer scale of the encounters as you assault Tarir or Mordremoth’s mouth makes them exciting and at times, very difficult. I’ve taken part in both events multiple times and witnessed masses of players fail miserably. Despite that, the challenge is more than welcome in a game where difficulty is all too often absent. It’s also very clever of ArenaNet to utilise Masteries in these events as a sense of purpose to the new progression system.

Masteries

On the subject of Masteries, it’s a system that certainly has vast potential, but one that is yet to be fully realised. Obtaining unique skills that are learnt and utilised in the jungle is enticing but I also get the impression that ArenaNet had to compromise heavily on their deployment in order to ensure the majority of players didn’t feel overly gated. I think that’s a real shame because even though the delivery of Masteries is simple (you only have to level up past 80 in the Maguuma Jungle or Tyria ) there’s scope for it to be a driving force behind player actions. Want that Hero Point surrounded by poisonous plants? Train Poison Mastery to reach it. Need to find a unique enemy but keep getting shot down when gliding? Train Stealth Gliding. Although there’s some minor restrictions in the Living World story in terms of you needing Basic Gliding, Updraft Exalted Mastery (to be able to read certain scripture) or Bouncing Mushrooms, the rest are desirable but entirely unnecessary. Although I’ve almost completed my Maguuma Masteries, having only 4 of the 24 being truly valuable seems a missed opportunity.

I can fully appreciate why ArenaNet chose limit the number of mandatory masteries, especially after the fallout from limiting access to elite specializations, but the end result leaves the system feeling slightly hollow. Worse still, rather than players completing events in order to obtain the experience necessary to level up their Masteries, they’re instead turning to monster farming as a considerably faster route. Trivialising Mastery gain in this way not only pulls players away from events that they should be participating in, but also undermines their value as a status symbol of your efforts. Having players sit in Citadel of Flame, abusing enemy spawns in order to obtain all Tyria Masteries within several hours, is hardly a ringing endorsement of player desire to level up their Masteries through legitimate means.

A large fault in all this is the fact that for the time investment and even when loading up on experience boosters, events give too little experience and too few rewards. There’s so little incentive to participate in them over monster farming (especially when you can quite easily obtain over 100,000 experience in two minutes at certain locations - whereas an event might take ten to fifteen minutes and only reward 30,000) that open world rewards could definitely benefit from being adjusted.

I know there will be many who suggest that you don’t need to farm these locations in order to level up Masteries and they’d be absolutely right. However, when so many players are, it inevitably has an impact on the number of players participating in events around the Maguuma Jungle. If hundreds are farming Citadel of Flame or specific locations in the jungle, they aren’t participating in events that need players to function. Were I ArenaNet, I’d retain the farming locations but I’d also significantly increase the experience for completing events - a small change, but I think it would make a huge difference in encouraging greater participation. Masteries have huge potential for creating “Metroidian” style gameplay in Guild Wars 2 and it’s almost there, unfortunately I fear that the rise of players in the genre wanting everything now has undermined what could have been a truly brilliant system. Despite that niggle, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed having Masteries as a goal to work towards and hope ArenaNet continue to build on the system.

Elite Specialization

The shining light of the expansion pack, outside of the beauty of the jungle, is unquestionably the elite specializations. Having played the vast majority of them during the Beta weekends and with 9 available, I’m incredibly impressed with how ArenaNet have not only created a new means of playing existing profession, but that the majority of them feel incredibly polished. Each offers a viable and fun alternative to what currently exists. As an individual who plays a ranger, necromancer and guardian I’m more than impressed with the way my professions have seen their playstyle alter.

Having players sacrifice a trait line in order to unlock their elite specialization is a clever idea and it challenges the individual to make a difficult choice as to what they wish to sacrifice in order to obtain access their new weapon and skills. As the number of elite specializations expands, it’s no doubt going to result in hard decisions but also much greater build diversity. What impresses me the most however is just how well the traitlines have synergy between the existing and the new elite specializations. The reaper in particular works wonderfully well and has single handedly transformed the necromancer, whilst even the dragonhunter, an elite specialization that saw heavy criticism from the community, is arguably one of the strongest in the lineup (in part due to its traps and virtue potency).

Although there’s always room for improvement when it comes to elite specialization skills and specific traits, my only concern is the fact that most - with the exception of the tempest and berserker - are so good, the likelihood of seeing their predecessor again is incredibly slim. As an example, I very much doubt anyone who purchases Heart of Thorns would ever knowingly remain a necromancer because the reapers shroud is quite incredible. Originally intended as offering horizontal advancement, some are undoubtedly straight upgrades and that poses difficult questions for ArenaNet, especially when it comes to balancing the new arrivals: players won’t take kindly to seeing their elite specialization brought down a peg or two.

Outside of their value to the game, I find it particularly strange that there’s no introduction to the elite specializations and what they do or why they’ve come about. Even in the Living World story, there’s no real mention of any of these new specializations, with Rytlock Brimstone failing to explain why he’s suddenly a revenant (“I’ll tell you later”) and Braham does little but shave his head. Perhaps a quest to discover your elite specialization would have been much more appropriate than simply obtaining Hero Points - an issue that quickly saw the total number needed reduced dramatically after launch.

The Living World story could have been a perfect platform for many things in Heart of Thorns and although enjoyable, it’s certainly lacking in comparison to the stellar Season 2. Set across 16 Chapters, it can be completed in just a few hours. Although fun, the breakneck pace leaves you with more questions than answers and the ending, which I won’t spoil here, left me deflated. Limiting the scope of the story to locating Destiny’s Edge and a how to defeat Mordremoth is sensible, as it feels much more focused. Unfortunately and in the process there’s no real sense of characterization or exploration of Mordremoth’s strength within the jungle. Fighting a few waves of Mordrem in instanced areas doesn’t really provide a sense of dread or oppression whilst quickly glossing over The Exalted, with little scope for digging deeper, makes the whole journey a strange experience. If anything, I think it just needed to slow down and provide the player with a means of uncovering their own snippets of lore. Part of what made Season 2 so great was the fact that players had the freedom to explore and learn more than just what was being said in a brief voice acted exchange. ArenaNet shouldn’t be afraid to provide a lengthy text discussion between the protagonist and auxillary characters - it’s something I greatly miss.

Despite my gloomy outlook on the story, there are moments when it’s fantastic and having played through it as Sylvari, it’s wonderful to see you fall under the influence of Mordremoth and hear his voice in your head: I just wish it was more often as you never truly feel like you’ve uncovered any of his motives outside of his desire to control.

Before I finish this review, I wanted to just touch on two other things that I feel is deserving of praise. The first is the revenant. I will freely admit that when it was first announced that there would be a ninth profession, I had serious doubts as to whether there was even room for another amongst the existing lineup. Despite that, not only is it an incredibly well designed profession but it somehow manages to feel original. Falling somewhere between a warrior, guardian and thief,  utilizing famous Guild Wars legends, it’s not only fast to play but offers a skillcap I feel is much higher than its counterparts. Juggling energy, your legends, your weapons and cooldowns makes for a complex but rewarding experience. Even its elite specialization, known as the herald, is both original and highly sought after thanks to its support abilities and damage potential.

Finally, Guild Halls have been long awaited and I have to admit I’ve thoroughly enjoyed their implementation. Grounding them in real world locations that you and your guild discover and unlock is a great deal of fun and their size and design is, unsurprisingly, absolutely beautiful. My guild is only small and focused predominantly on raiding and at times we’ve struggled to gather the resources necessary to upgrade our hall. Despite that, we’ve had a lot of fun in the process and are slowly working our way through the upgrades. Although I miss the flexibility and accessibility of WildStar’s housing, they do a good job of providing a wider focus for guilds and their members.

Final Thoughts

The question I keep being asked is whether or not Heart of Thorns is worth buying. Does it offer enough content to justify the price tag? For the Maguuma Jungle, gliding and elite specializations alone, it’s without doubt a necessary purchase. It isn’t perfect and most of what’s here you could complete very quickly (in just over a week I’d completed all the maps, almost maxed out my Maguuma Masteries and unlocked all the elite specializations that I wanted). However, there’s still lots for me to do. Raids and structured PvP ladders are only days away, I’ve not even begun to tackle the Scribe crafting profession, legendary questing or the pursuit of certain collections I like the look of. There’s also my need to get to Fractal level 100 (despite the poor rewards they offer) and really focus on our Guild Hall.

I think if ArenaNet are to capitalize on the potential of the expansion pack, they now need to revisit the core game and its systems and assess what is or isn’t working and implement changes where necessary. Rewards still feel particularly stingy across the board, dungeons need mothballing or reworking completely and World versus World desperately needs reinvigoration, despite the new Borderland. Unfortunately for them, the game has grown at such a pace across a variety of game modes that it’s unquestionably a struggle to keep all the plates spinning at the same time. Guild Wars 2 has improved in a multitude of areas thanks to Heart of Thorns and my hope going forwards is that ArenaNet continue to improve their game and build on not only the new systems, but dedicate the time to what they already have.

I'll be returning to add to my review of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns next week after raids and structured PvP ladders have finally been released.