Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (2024)

Guild Wars – Theme Page

With the release of the final update of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, it currently seems as if the developers have kicked a hornet's nest. But they haven't done anything – and that is probably the big problem for loud fans who vent their anger on Twitter, Reddit and in the official forum. In short: the “culmination” of an expansion was a disappointment. And I won't lie – I've been ranting in my own four walls for the last few days, even after my frustrated article before the release of the update. The story is bad, the “grand finale” doesn't even have fancy cutscenes. No elite specs.

So the question arose: Was the expansion a complete fiasco? No. Or was it? I looked at the best parts of SotO together with GW2 fans. What were the highlights of Secrets of the Obscure?

Read these interesting stories

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (1)

buffedCast: #645 mit WoW MoP Remix, Cataclysm Classic & The War Within

Episode 645 of the buffedcast is all about the WoW MoP Remix. But Cataclysm Classic, Dragonflight and The War Within are also topics.

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (2)

Guild Wars 2: The patch notes for the final update of Secrets of the Obscure

What's in the final update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure? Patch notes on the new fractal, meta events, rewards, and more.

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (3)

Guild Wars 2: Where to get this new pet with a disgusting factor?

With the release of the final update of GW2: Secrets of the Obscure, the last pet for rangers is now available. What can it do? And where is it?

GW2: Features of Secrets of the Obscure – despite its weaknesses

Fantastic Main Hub: The Wizard's Tower is the perfect progression from Arborstone in End of Dragons. No long routes to crafting stations, banks or trading posts. No annoying NPC statements that repeat themselves over and over again (THIS IS A DEN OF REFUGE!). Here I even hope we can keep this place – why something new? Can't you magically take the thing with you?

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (4)

Source: Arenanet The Wizard's Tower is a great gathering place for players with all the crafting stations and other service points you need in SotO.

Weapons are stripped of their elite specs: Only those who have SotO can use the Illusion Axe as a Chronomancer Mesmer, for example. Or the Untamed Hammer as a Soulwalker Ranger. Or the Scrapper's Hammer as a Mech Driver Engineer! This means that many more builds are possible and cool weapons are not tied to less interesting specs.

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (5)

Source: buffed Thanks to GW2: SotO, you can also swing the hammer of the scrapper spec with the Mech Driver – it's still a celebration!

New weapon types for your classes: On top of that, Guardians now wield pistols, Necromancers wield swords, and Revenants wield a lightsaber scepter – there is still room for improvement, but the door has been opened for significantly more playstyles!Skyscale and Griffin rejoice: With the use of updrafts and ley lines with the flying mounts, GW2 has become even more fun. The Skyscale fireballs allow for siege damage and also provide fun target adventure races.

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (6)

Source: Arenanet Spit fireballs with Skyscale, also use updrafts and ley lines of the Glider Mastery on Griffin and Skyscale – great upgrades for our flying mounts!

Legendary armor for open-world fans: After years, players who wouldn't touch PvP and raids with a tongs are now walking around Tyria in legendary armor. We have Obsidian armor to thank for that! The legendary set is available to open world fans. Is that quite a grind? Sure. Does each of these armor pieces replace an entire armor slot until the servers are shut down at some point? Yep!

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (7)

Source: Arenanet The legendary obsidian armor is now also available at rank 2. The fancy set saves open-world fans from having to visit WvW or dungeons.

The Wizard’s Vault: It's basically the “Daily&Weekly System 2.0”! There were some initial difficulties and not everyone is a fan of having to decide how much PvP, PvE or WvW they want to play. But now it's always a lot of fun to do the weekly and daily tasks.

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (8)

Source: Arenanet The Wizard's Vault offers different rewards every quarter – you can't miss these, but can also buy them later for an additional charge.

Relic System: Perhaps a controversial topic, but overall I would say that the separation of runes and relics is a positive. After all, we can now use some strong rune stat bonuses and then choose the appropriate relic. The selection of relics still seems a bit limited in the endgame (there are simply too few options). But similar to the new weapon types from point 3, I would say that this is a work in progress with a lot of potential.Tolle Launch-Story: Emphasis on the release and maybe just parts of it. But… the entry into the world of wizards. Dwarves made of flesh and blood. A scary demon who ignores our “personal space”. A nice Mursaat and a Jotun lady! The return of Zojja! New and interesting characters like Galrath, Gladium, R'tchikk. I was really hooked here. The focus on Kryptis demons was of course as bad as I had described it last time…

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (9)

Source: buffed A Mursaat, and a nice one at that? The initial story of GW2: Secrets of the Obscure was really gripping because of the many cool elements. Wow, I found more that appealed to me and others in Secrets of the Obscure. Of course, that doesn't mean that Arenanet is fine. The developers want to publish a kind of “retrospective” on Secrets of the Obscure from the developers' perspective soon. I'm very excited to see which criticisms from the fans they address. If any. After all, they're already working on the next expansion, which should be released in three months.

Tags: expansionguildoftenmalignedTerribleWars

Guild Wars 2: How terrible was this often-maligned expansion really? (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Frankie Dare

Last Updated:

Views: 6081

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (73 voted)

Reviews: 88% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Frankie Dare

Birthday: 2000-01-27

Address: Suite 313 45115 Caridad Freeway, Port Barabaraville, MS 66713

Phone: +3769542039359

Job: Sales Manager

Hobby: Baton twirling, Stand-up comedy, Leather crafting, Rugby, tabletop games, Jigsaw puzzles, Air sports

Introduction: My name is Frankie Dare, I am a funny, beautiful, proud, fair, pleasant, cheerful, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.