It’s almost that time of the year again. Halloween is approaching and that means some seasonal festive fun in Guild Wars 2 with the Blood and Madness update coming next week. Last year Tyria received a visit from the Mad King, but this year it’s his son, Bloody Prince Edrick, who will be opening the doors to the Mad King's realm and daring players to step through.

Blood and Madness will see the return of the Mad Realm Doors, providing players with a gateway to enter the Mad King’s Labyrinth, the Mad King’s Clock Tower, and the PvP chaos of the Lunatic Inquisition. Additionally, the update also includes balance changes for traits and skills, combat quality of life fixes with ground targeting options, improved targeting, an optional new way to display condition damage numbers, and more rewards for Halloween.

Guild Wars 2: Blood and Madness launches on Tuesday, October 15th, 2013, but you can catch an early peek at the new update during a developer livestream on Twitch on Monday, October 14th at 12pm PT. In the meantime, be sure to keep a check on GuildWars2Hub for more coverage on all things Guild Wars 2.


Guild Wars 2® Blood and Madness



Bloody Prince Edrick comes to Tyria in new, Halloween-themed Living World content update

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Oct. 8, 2013: ArenaNet, developer of the acclaimed Guild Wars franchise, today announced Blood and Madness, a Halloween-themed content update for Guild Wars 2, coming to the game Oct. 15. This seasonal release is the second of three planned for players this month and includes fresh takes on some of the popular content that made last year’s Halloween updates so successful. It also continues ArenaNet’s pattern of delivering new content every two weeks, a pace unmatched by Western competitors.

In Blood and Madness, with Halloween fast approaching, Magister Tassi of the scholarly order Durmand Priory has detected some unusual energy readings that indicate another force is rising from the Underworld. This time, it’s Bloody Prince Edrick, son of Mad King Thorn, the insane tyrant who ruled Kryta centuries ago and now haunts Tyria as the powerful spirit of Halloween. Frightful new events and challenges await players as they confront the Bloody Prince and his growing, evil influence.

Blood and Madness also includes several new features and rewards. Players can get an early look at the release by joining a preview livestream with ArenaNet developers on Monday, Oct. 14, at noon (PDT) on the Guild Wars 2 Twitch channel at http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2.

New Events

  • Mad Realm Doors: Players can trick-or-treat at haunted doors across Kryta. Beware: Knocking isn’t without risk.
  • Mad King’s Labyrinth: Bloody Prince Edrick has taken over parts of the Mad King’s Labyrinth and is controlling the undead armies in the Mad King’s Realm. The Skeletal Lich, Grand High Viscount of Candy Corn, and the Labyrinthine Horror lie in wait.
  • Mad King’s Clock Tower:  Tyria’s most maddening jumping puzzle thrilled players during last year’s Halloween event and returns better than ever. Only the most skillful will navigate the insanity of the Mad King’s Clock Tower to reach the top in time.
  • Lunatic Inquisition: Players can put their PvP skills to the test in the Mad King’s Labyrinth. Play as a villager trying to survive the night or a lunatic courtier intent on destruction. Survival tools and hidden secrets are waiting to be discovered.

New Features

  • Combat Quality of Life Fixes: Improvements to combat include new ground targeting options, better targeting, and a new, optional way to display condition damage numbers.
  • Trait and Skill Tooltips: Updates to the tooltip system for traits and skills mean traits will now display numbers, and skill tooltips will show how skills are affected by equipped traits.
  • Balance Updates: Existing skills and traits have received a balance pass with a focus on improving support builds in all parts of the game for all professions.

New Rewards

  • Sweet  Rewards: Players completing the Blood and Madness meta achievement will receive a Mini Candy Corn Elemental, while following the storyline can earn players a Candy Corn node for their home instance.
  • Candy Cornucopia: Players can trade Candy Corn for new Halloween items like a Mini Bloody Prince, a 20-slot Halloween Pail and special crafting items needed for Halloween weapons.
  • Mask of the Night: Players can earn a Mask of the Night by proving their abilities to obey the maniacal monarch in rounds of Mad King Says.

For more details on Guild Wars 2 or Blood and Madness, visit www.guildwars2.com.

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Last Updated: Mar 14, 2016

About The Author

Stacy "Martuk" Jones was a long-time news editor and community manager for many of our previous game sites, such as Age of Conan. Stacy has since moved on to become a masked super hero, battling demons in another dimension.

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