Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns

1. OutOfPoint

   Oct 27, 2015

   10

   This expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map soThis expansion exceeds my expectations. The maps, gliding, story, music and amount of content are fantastic. Auric Basin is my favorite map so far, and as a wvw player mostly, I haven't even touch on that, and pvp as well.
   
   Mastery points are account bound so for me it isn't a problem, gives me a purpose to keep playing and progress.
   
   Hero points which are character based and needed for unlocking elite specialization seem to be too much, but the latest update has them reducing the total points needed from 400 to 250.
   
   Overall, I'm having fun with HoT and can't wait to play it after work each day!… Expand

   • 8 of 17 users found this helpful
2. Dreddi1

   Oct 26, 2015

   10

   First of all let me say how amazingly stable this launch was. Hats off to Anet on that one.
   
   Just finished the story and I must say AnetFirst of all let me say how amazingly stable this launch was. Hats off to Anet on that one.
   
   Just finished the story and I must say Anet really outdid themselves this time. The zones are much more alive, events require you to participate instead of just tag-and-run and each map has its own unique meta event (Haven't done the Dragon's Stand zone yet but I've heard it's amazing). each map is filled with secrets, jumping puzzles, adventures, challenges, masteries etc.
   
   The dialogue between the player character and the npcs in both story and in the zones have gotten vocal which is amazing
   The story is also a major improvement from the original PS.
   
   The new masteries are also a welcome sight and makes your leveling meaningful again. Plus there are a lot of new ways to earn XP now so you'll have no trouble leveling them in the new zones.
   Not to mention all the new collections, achievements, skins, minis, the amazing glider and much much more. I really can't believe how good of an expansion this has been so far and I'm far far from done!… Expand

   • 27 of 58 users found this helpful
4. NathanRav

   Oct 25, 2015

   10

   This is an example of an expansion done right. A business model that is pleasing to the customers and provides the players with the type ofThis is an example of an expansion done right. A business model that is pleasing to the customers and provides the players with the type of content that we want. It would have been nice if it included build templates but they said that will come soon.… Expand

   • 91 of 182 users found this helpful
5. Mank

   Oct 28, 2015

   9

   Stable servers, no game breaking bugs but a few client crashes for me. Maps are fantastic, beautiful, chock full of content with lot's ofStable servers, no game breaking bugs but a few client crashes for me. Maps are fantastic, beautiful, chock full of content with lot's of variety and things to do. Mastery system really changes how you play, gliding is very fun, and there's a couple of little things gated behind masteries that give a good sense of progression when you come back to them. Solid experience overall.… Expand

   • 9 of 21 users found this helpful
6. Heimlich

   Nov 11, 2015

   7

   Update concerning WvW in GW2:Heart of Thorns
   
   My original review of GW2:HoT was mostly about the new features that were included. A few moreUpdate concerning WvW in GW2:Heart of Thorns
   
   My original review of GW2:HoT was mostly about the new features that were included. A few more weeks experience have revealed some severe flaws in the form of what is not included.
   
   1. WvW is now an unholy mess. Existing features have been made far less accessible than they were. New features for WvW players are effectively unavailable due to cost and bugs. The game developer does not seem to understand how bad WvW is. It is very bad. If you used to WvW and took a break, do not come back right now.
   
   2. Legendary Armor is not in the game yet and will not be accessible until at least after ArenaNet introduces the first 3 wings of their first raid.
   
   Open-world PvE is still pretty good, but major problems in WvW and an uncertain timeline for the availability of new Legendary equipment detract from the experience.
   
   Original review (score 9) below:
   Heart of Thorns adds a good amount of area to explore, a new class, new specializations on each of the 9 classes.
   
   Many of the changes revitalize existing content (Fractals are radically improved and WvW finally has a new map). Guild Halls and improved missions are a worthy addition to focus a group on playing together.
   
   The new content has launched with relatively few bugs and I'm overall impressed. New options for armor and weapons (both in appearance and in attributes) are a welcome addition.
   
   Much of the new content does require some playtime to access, either from experience levels, in-game-wealth, or prerequisite activities, but the cost is not excessive.
   
   In a month players will have discovered optimal routes to access content and veteran players will be able to guide new players who need some extra help. I didn't expect to be able to complete the entire expansion on the first day. I don't know why people seem to have expected that.… Expand

   • 16 of 32 users found this helpful
7. Utopia12

   Nov 20, 2015

   3

   The core game is great, if you've never played it before, they got a F2P system set up so you can play for yourself. Definitely somethingThe core game is great, if you've never played it before, they got a F2P system set up so you can play for yourself. Definitely something every gamer should experience.
   
   However, most of the original developers left the company, and everything went downhill, the new story is bland, the new maps are confusing and poorly delivered, pvp balance is a complete disaster (VERY punishing to new players, very CC centric), they're ruining the most beautiful skill animations in the sake of poorly thought-out clarity (they're actually making them harder to recognize) completely ruining the works of the talented developers that worked on this game.
   
   On top of it, they completely ignore their community, I've been through some rough stuff, Nexon and NCSoft to name a few, but they're even worse than them, not only do they NOT listen or respond to their community, they do the COMPLETE opposite of what's requested, in bad taste. AVOID AT ALL COSTS unless you want to get stressed and angry.
   
   Is the core game good? YES, and it's free. Is the EXPANSION worth buying? a resounding NO.… Expand

   • 12 of 20 users found this helpful
8. ShinGlacier

   Dec 1, 2017

   0

   The game has a lot of potential, but ANet doesn't care about the players, they are more interested in their money instead.
   
   The game evolvedThe game has a lot of potential, but ANet doesn't care about the players, they are more interested in their money instead.
   
   The game evolved since launch, that's true, but at quite a slow pace.
   
   The expansion stories were a lot shorter than the main one and a lot more convoluted.
   
   The new classes that were added with the expansions are a bit of a fresh air, but ANet doesn't know how to make them fit in the different aspects of the game (PVP, PVE, Raids).
   
   Spellbreaker from the last expansion doens't have a place in Raids, as an example. Scourge was so nerfed that it lost it's place in any raid for more than 3 months.
   
   ANet doesn't seem to test what they do and then it takes 2+ months for them to fix it.
   
   Classes are absurdly unbalanced in PVP, you can take an overpowered one and simply cheese you way to the top tiers.
   
   End game content (I include making new Legendary items, high level Fractals and Raid Wings in this category) are slow, very slow to come out. We had to wait 6 months for a new raid wing (had 4 before that), and ONE YEAR for 01 new fractal level. That is RIDICULOUS.
   The new legendary items are lackluster. As an example the new rifle and shield are simply garbage when compared to the previous ones. The medium legendary armor look absurdly crap, when compared with it's heavy and light counterparts.
   
   Now they decided and go heavy with the lootbox system. It was ALREADY present in the game, with Black Lion Chests, but now they decided to introduce Random Mounts for a price. When they are not random, which are 2 atm, they are extremely overpriced.
   
   Oh, and I forgot to mention that they slyly changed most of their servers to Amazon ones, giving most of their player base worse pings, while a minority ended up getting better pings, and they don't even acknowledge that.
   
   So yeah, that's it I guess. A game with potential, but huddled together with a greedy, lazy management.… Expand

   • 0 of 1 users found this helpful

See all 507 User Reviews