Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons Takes Players To Cantha In February, Adds Masteries, Boats, Multiplayer Mount, And Fishing

It's been just over one year since ArenaNet announced that it was working on the next expansion for Guild Wars 2. A month later, that expansion got a name -- End of Dragons -- and we were told it would be coming sometime in 2021. As is the case with many gaming launches, those plans went awry and the expansion was pushed back to next year, but today we got an updated release date, as well as a whole bunch of info about the game's third expansion.

End of Dragons will arrive in February 2022 and take players to Cantha, the iconic location that Tyrians first visited in 2006's Guild Wars: Factions expansion. Cantha has been cut off from the rest of Tyria for 200 years, but the events of Guild Wars 2 -- the battles against elder dragons and the human god Balthazar -- have still affected the area, and players will see those changes firsthand.

As befitting an expansion, End of Dragons will add a number of new gameplay elements to Guild Wars 2. As with previous expansions, each class gets an elite specialization -- the mesmer's dagger-wielding virtuoso was the only one shown off, though there was a tease of what looked like a pistol-wielding necromancer -- and ArenaNet will run a series of beta events from August 17 through November where players will be able to create new characters and try out the new elite specs. There are also five new masteries, a new island guild hall, third-generation legendary weapons inspired by Aurene, and new strike missions that come with challenge modes for additional, well, challenge. Notably, no new raids were announced.

Fitting with the aquatic/island theme of the expansion, fishing is a new pastime for players to enjoy, and the new travel mode in the game is a personal watercraft, the skiff, which serves as a transport for multiple players. You can also hitch a ride on a friend's siege turtle, GW2's first multi-player mount.

(And, just in case you were wondering, the name "End of Dragons" does not represent the end of Guild Wars 2, as Studio Director Colin Johnasen confirmed.)

The base edition of End of Dragons sells for $29.99 and includes a Flame Serpent Weapon Chest, a Shing Jea Mosaic Cape, the Prodigy of Shing Jea character title, a shared inventory slot, and a level 80 character boost. The $54.99 Deluxe Edition includes all of that, along with a Shing Jea Dragon Boat Skiff skin, a Canthan Raptor mount skin, an additional character slot, and an Identity Repair Kit. The $79.99 Ultimate Edition tacks on another 4,000 Gems.

If you want to spend even more, ArenaNet will also offer an 8-by-10-inch translucent crystalline limited-edition sculpt of Aurene for $120 plus shipping. You can order her from the GW2 site from now until August 20.

Learn more about End of Dragons and pre-order the expansion on its landing page on the Guild Wars 2 site.