ArenaNet is getting ready to launch its latest free content update called Wintersday. Like the
Shadow of the Mad King update back in October, this one is themed around a real-world season. Specifically, in Wintersday you’ll find a giant airship floating over
Guild Wars 2's main cities where a character named Tixx builds and distributes toys.
If you want to find the airship, you’ll find a full schedule of its tour around Tyria on the
official Guild Wars 2’s site. On December 15 the ship will visit The Grove, then drift to a new city every day until it finally lands at Lion’s Arch on December 20 where it’ll stay until January 3, 2013.
Inside the airship you’ll find content built for five-person groups, though it’s not a typical dungeon experience. ArenaNet didn’t give out many specifics, but you’ll find toys within the airship that correspond to whatever city Tixx’s ship happens to be floating over. As the ship continues to visit more cities more toys will be added in, and so by the time the ship reaches Lion’s Arch the airship experience will be more sophisticated than it was initially. You’ll also be able to participate in the Toypocalypse, where you need to protect Tixx’s production machine from hordes of ill-tempered toys.
In terms of rewards, by participating in the airship content you’ll get blueprints and materials to build mini-pet toys. Even when wandering around outside of cities you’ll be treated with reminders of the airship’s presence, as presents will fall from the sky. They’ll explode when you approach them, and ArenaNet isn’t yet saying what’ll pop out.
Aside from a Wintersday-themed redecoration of Lion’s Arch, which includes a snow-globe-capped Mystic Forge, you’ll be able to check out an all-new jumping puzzle and take part in a PvP snowball-tossing game. You’ll also get plenty of Wintersday crafting recipes as well as cosmetic changes to PvP finishing moves and World versus World siege weapons (some will shoot candy canes).
The changes aren’t all cosmetic, though. As ArenaNet
recently posted on the Guild Wars 2 forums, you’ll find a number of gameplay adjustments to the WvW mode. The additions include ‘Breakout events’, which are designed to help a dominated team reassert control of a map if it’s been pushed all the way back to its portal.
If you're interested in checking out Wintersday, the event starts up on December 14.
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