Recently,Guild Wars 2put out a Studio Update full of features coming to the game. One of the new game mechanicsGuild Wars 2is adding in an upcoming patch is an adaptation of a popular mechanicFinal Fantasy 14has been using for years.
ThenewGuild Wars 2systemis called Embolden. With this system in place, players entering a raid will get a small stacking enhancement that will increase their health, damage, and healing output, which increases more after each wipe. The purpose of this mechanic is to make raids more beginner-friendly and approachable. Players will be able to deactivate the Embolden system from nodes inside the instance, and they must do so to be eligible for certain high-difficulty achievements.
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For players familiar withraids inFinal Fantasy 14, this mechanic sounds a lot like the Echo buff. This buff is used intermittently in the game, both to ease the difficulty of challenging solo and group content, as well as a stacking forgiveness buff in older Raids and Trials, similar to how the Embolden system works.
The Studio Update mentioned plenty of other features coming toGuild Wars 2as well. Strike Mission rewards are being increased, and professions and boons are receiving buffs and balances as well. With improvements to the boundary system in instances, removal of item durability, and more,Guild Wars 2fans have a lot to look forward to soon, as these quality-of-life improvements are coming on June 28th.
Player response to this update is overwhelmingly positive, and it seemsGuild Wars 2does a fantastic job of communicating with its players. Casual players who have been too intimidated to try raids may now be able to give the difficult content a shot thanks to the Embolden system. Likewise, durability has been a pointless chore since its cost was removed in 2014, and the other quality-of-life improvements can only be awin forGuild Wars 2players.
However, some players have concerns over the new Embolden system in particular. Some players expressed concern some raiders would just enter an instance and immediately wipe several times to max out the Embolden buff.Guild Wars 2said it has countermeasures in place to prevent such abuse of the system. If its system is similar to theEcho inFinal Fantasy 14, there will be a set amount of time players must survive before wiping to increase the buff. This ensures wiping to increase the buff is inconvenient, and that players are actually trying to clear the content.
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragonsis available now on PC.
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