THE GW2 BLOG KREWE LOVES DUNGEONS BUT NOT SO MUCH DRAGONS!

Dungeon Fun in Guild Wars 2

After first being introduced in Eye of the North expansion, where they were hugely popular, dungeons are back in Guild Wars 2 and they're bigger and better than ever (even though some of them aren't underground)! At the time of writing this there are eight dungeons in Tyria. All are optional but all are amazingly good fun, challenging and REWARDING, with armors and weapons that are unique to each particular dungeon! Guild Wars 2 rewards image.

Unlike most of the rest of Tyria, which can be explored by solo players, the dungeons in GW2 are multiplayer, instanced adventuring areas, with a single group of players running through them. They are VERY dangerous places not suitable for low level characters as some of the bosses are truly massive in both size and power and it requires teamwork and planning to overcome them. The earliest of the dungeons require characters who've reached a minimum level of 35 while there are three of them for level 80 characters. When you near the level required to enter a dungeon you will be made aware of its existence.

Here's the intro video to the Ghosts of Ascalon Dungeon in Guild Wars 2

Each of the dungeons in GW2 are divided into a story and an explorable version. The story version of each dungeon comes first, and completing it unlocks the ability to run the explorable version.

The dungeon story mode tells the tale of the former members of the legendary band of adventurers known as Destiny's Edge. Human Logan Thackeray, Zojja the ambitious Asura, ferocious Charr warrior Rytlock Brimstone, Caithe the Sylvari Necromancer, and Norn huntress Eir Stegalkin. (If you've read the Guild Wars novels you'll already know quite a lot about the role these characters play in the storyline leading up to the times of GW2). The player's job is to bring the feuding members of that group back together to fight the Elder Dragons.

In terms of difficulty, the story mode dungeons are balanced for five random players and are pick-up-group friendly.

As players start new characters in Guild Wars 2 they'll get to know and earn the trust of the iconic figure of their race, and by the time players reach level 30 they'll be a trusted ally and confidant of that figure.

A player starting as an Asuran will cross paths with Zojja. A human player will encounter Logan Thackeray. Select Charr as your race to meet Rytlock Brimstone. A Sylvari player will meet Caithe, while a Norn player will share adventures with Eir Stegalkin.

Once unlocked, the explorable versions of the dungeons have three options, each of which creates a different version of the dungeon, with new areas, new challenges and new and more difficult creatures to battle. These are intended to be the super hard, very coordinated group style content like Fissure of Woe, Underworld in the original Guild Wars campaign or Slaver's Exile in Eye of the North expansion.

This content happens in the same area as the story mode, but it takes place after the events of the story. What happens in story mode directly affects the circumstances of the explorable mode. This gets back to something that's been talked about before, that in Guild Wars 2 your actions have consequences. Because of what happens in story mode, new challenges arise in explorable mode.

There will be many different puzzles in the explorable dungeons of Guild Wars 2, such as boss-monster puzzles, where you have to figure out a relationship to beat a boss, puzzles of disarming traps and all kinds of riddles.

Upon entering an explorable dungeon players get to vote on which path you want to go down as you progress through it. There are three different paths that you can take, and each path provides you with completely different content. All paths are equally difficult, and they usually end in different ways.

This and the dynamic events sytem inside the dungeon combine to ensure that you can come back and play the same dungeon for the same rewards, but experience it in a different way so that you're not having to do the same content over and over and over again.

Here's a video of the GW2 Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon. From the 7:06 point there's some excellent underwater combat on display.

The enemies in this dungeon are primarily Ascalonian ghosts and a group of creatures known as "Gravelings", who feed on the essence of the ghosts and are twisted by that power. Long-time GW players will recognise some of the Ascalonian ghosts and the abilities they use, including Ray of Judgement, Meteor Shower and Crippling Shot.

Another GW2 dungeon which may seem familiar to players is "Sorrow's Embrace". Inside the story version of this dungeon, players will battle a large mechanical boss over a pit of lava. (I always hated the Flame Djinn in Sorrow's Furnace until Pain Inverter came about). The explorable version includes threats from the dredge, the Inquest and the dreaded destroyers! One of these threats comes in the form of a captured destroyer, forced by the dredge to fight the players.

A third dungeon, "Lord Beetlestone's Estate", is situated ABOVE ground, contrary to the common expectation of a dungeon! GW2 is questioning conventional thinking in many different ways.

William Fairfield, one of the Guild Wars 2 dungeon content designers at ArenaNet explains the improved playability of the dungeons in GW2...

"Overall, our dungeons have a more team-oriented feel to them. One person does not dictate the flow of a dungeon; the entire team contributes to the direction. This could mean making decisions as a team on which path to take or splitting up to fight two pieces of a boss at the same time."

The GW2 dynamic event system is also present in the dungeons as bonus events can be triggered by player actions, by location, or even by a random percentage chance. Even when you're adventuring again in the same dungeon and making the same choices, you can get a different gaming experience as a result of these bonus events, adding to the replayability factor.

The dungeons of Guild Wars 2 are rewarding to those who choose to take up the challenge.

Are YOU up to that challenge?!

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Dungeon Fun in Guild Wars 2

Here's the intro video to the Ghosts of Ascalon Dungeon in Guild Wars 2

Here's a video of the GW2 Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon. From the 7:06 point there's some excellent underwater combat on display.

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