The fourth expansion of Guild Wars 2, is just two weeks removed from the unnamed secret conclusion. But thanks to the MMO's recent switch to an annual expansion cycle, that means we're only a few months away from the start of the fifth expansion. 

Called Janthir Wilds, it arrives at 8/20 and 2 additions that are frequently requested are added to the game.

The first major new feature is Homesteads, a housing system that allows players to decorate their personal space. There are few details at present, but ArenaNet calls it "the most player-friendly housing system in MMORPG." It's a bold claim, but this is an MMO that prides itself on a more casual and player-friendly design system. Check back later this month when PC Gamer brings you an exclusive first look at Homesteads.

The 2nd big check from the community's wish list is a return to the raid. The last raid of Guild Wars 2, Ahdashim Key, released in 2019, has since moved ArenaNet into strike missions as a de facto end game for a 10-player squad. Strike missions are more lfg-friendly - each is standalone, boss like Raid - but players have been hoping for a return to the more complex design of the game's Raid wing for a while.

Guild Wars 2's eighth Raid will not launch on August20 with the first release of Janthir Wilds, but will arrive with a follow-up update as part of the extension's lifecycle, which means tweaks are being made to the annual expansion plan, as revealed in a post by game Director Josh Davis last week. It is due to this. In it, Davis addressed some of the frustrations that players had with the new expansion model, as seen in Secrets of The Obscure.

In terms of story, Davis admits that he feels too hastily underdeveloped, making the Devil's War of ambiguous chapter progression, especially quarterly updates, and in response, Janthir Wilds is set to tell a more grounded, focused story and hopefully avoid some of the same pitfalls. It's a great place to start. Here, then, we head to the islands of Janthir, far north of Queensdale, to make contact with lowland kodansha.

In terms of map design, Davis admits that it is not ideal to make a single map the focus of every update of the extension. Instead, Janthir Wilds will be released again in 2 maps, but the first major update will include raid instead. The third map will be released in two halves in the second and final update. This may seem like a small change, but my hope is that it will make a difference. The gold standard here is Icebrood Saga's Drizzlewood Coast map - which itself was released in half and is still one of the best (and most profitable) meta events in the game. In his post, Davis specifically calls Bjorra March and Dorislewood Coast. Hopefully, the design of Janthir Wilds' 3rd map is more similar than the recent Gyala Delve.

For other features announced for Janthir Wilds, the old weapon type has gained brand new use. Spears, one of the three underwater weapons in Guild Wars 2, has been updated to work on land. Each profession has its own skill set, allowing you to wield a spear on the water. The beta version, scheduled for 6/27, will allow players to try out new weapons.

The old mount is also getting some new tricks. Technically, you can ride Warclaw outside of World vs World game mode, but it doesn't make any sense. In Janthir Wilds, Warclaw gains double jumping abilities designed to help cross the mountain and river valleys of the Janthir region. I would be interested to see how they make this a useful choice on the skyscale that can cross the mountains (Flying

Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement is to reveal that one of the quarterly updates is bringing a new PvP mode.1). No doubt, structured PvP players are more hungry for new updates than Raider. Given what the PvE-oriented Guild Wars2's player base looks like, we'll see if ArenaNet can convince players to return to competitive salt mines.

In terms of rewards, ArenaNet is not only promising a suite of new armor and weapon skins for the regular, but it's also offering the Wizard's Vault Daily system. Update to the system. We are also getting new legends — new legendary spears and new back items. If you haven't made Kamohoali'i Kotaki or infinity yet, the new design might be more to your fancy.

Like many players, I left frustrated at the end of the secret ambiguity. The first launch showed a lot of promise, but the third map — Inner Nayos — struggled to keep my attention in the course of its major update. Ultimately, it felt like the Devil's War should have been pushed into its own expansion — given the time and resources needed to do justice to that premise. Instead, what we got felt much smaller in scope and spectacle than it deserved. But here ArenaNet says all the right things — admit flaws in the development of Obscure and promise meaningless improvements.

Nevertheless, I am surprised to see the raid come back. There has always been a suggestion that the raid wasn't popular enough to justify continued development, and I'm interested to see what has changed in that aspect — whether this indicates a change in attitude in the studio, or whether the push to strike missions will give players a chance to tackle the more difficult challenge of a full raid. Whether it's giving you confidence that you're going to be able to do that or not. Whatever the reason, I'm glad for the change — especially the old raid wing, which has continued to be diminished by the power creep of the last few years. The last couple of wings have some of my favorite combat encounters in the game — I'm a serial QtP kiter — and I'm looking forward to seeing what ArenaNet is cooking for the next one.