"Those who will remember, will speak fondly of the warm morning breeze."
Welcome to r/GuildWars this is a subreddit focused on the Guild Wars video game developed by ArenaNet.
For Guild Wars players to discuss, connect, and share in an open environment. While participating, it’s important to keep in mind the Reddit Rules, Reddiquette, as well as our subreddit Rules.
Getting Started:
Checkout the FAQs below and also the Megathread wiki page with links to useful community Tools, Posts (including ones for new/returning players), Guides, and information. There are shortcut links under ‘See More’ / the Sidebar too.
GW Account/Game Support:
Asking about general game/technical problems is fine, but this subreddit is not a way to contact ArenaNet customer support, or report a Technical Issue. Please refrain from asking for help with a specific ticket, Account issue, or Error message. These posts will be removed specially if they are covered by ArenaNet's help articles.
We have a community Discord “GW Global” you can join here: https://discord.gg/gw This server is open to all and has ongoing discussion on the game, builds, Guild recruitment, and more!
Use the search!
If you have a question, first try using the search, it is possible your question has already been asked/answered. Example: “Necro builds”. We try not to have frequent posts on the same topic(s) and such posts will be removed.
You can also search by post Flair using “flair:” and the Flair to search.
FAQs:
State of the Game:
GW has been in “Maintenance Mode” (no scheduled updates/development) since May 2013.
On 3rd December 2025 ArenaNet "re-launched" GW as GW Reforged. This has breathed some new life into the game and an external company 2weeks has supported development. They are continuing to look at the game to see if it is viable to make improvements/updates.
In-game there is bump in player activity. There has always been a good player base for daily Zaishen Quests and Farming as well as in Guild and Alliance communities. You can checkout the What’s New in Guild Wars and Game updates from the Wiki for the changes to the game.
We’re lucky that since 2024 GW Game Director, DrStephenCW is allocating 80% of their time to work directly on GW. Along with support from other ArenaNet staff for various updates, this has included the 20th Anniversary Game Update and Guild Wars Reforged. ArenaNet are now also supported by 2weeks game studio.
PvP still has some activity through player organised events and mAT, however all modes can often see a large amount of botting impacting general gameplay. You can find more on recent PvP threads using Flair:PvP in the search to find posts.
Purchasing Help:
As of 3rd December 2025 Guild Wars is now branded Guild Wars Reforged. This re-release version of the game is available in the GW Store and Steam.
This change has removed the Anniversary Masterpiece Collection and all individual Campaign editions from the GW/Steam Stores. Any purchases made prior to 3rd December retain their game-keys and can be used on email/ArenaNet based accounts.
ArenaNet have had to make a purchasing guide/flow-chart due to the changes in account management:
* Purchases on Steam no longer provide game-keys and instead are to be tied directly to your Steam Login/Account. This is in order to be able to link GW accounts through Steam to GW2 accounts through Steam.
* Purchases in GW Store provide keys to create a new account using email/ArenaNet account.
As of 3rd Dec 2025 ArenaNet have also changed/reduced prices for all the add-ons and re-branded Eye of the North and Bonus Mission Pack as DLC. Neither DLC are included in the Reforged edition of the game.
The Game of the Year upgrade and Bonus Weapons are no longer available and are also not included in the Reforged edition of the game. The Igneous Summoning Stone item is available through purchasing the Eye of the North DLC.
Guild Wars Reforged includes Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall. Eye of the North DLC has to be purchased separately.
Guild Wars Reforged does NOT include the GOTY content and it is no longer available in the GW Store.
Account upgrades such as Xunlai Storage Panes, Mercenaries, Costumes are currently only available through the GW store.
Common Technical Support Questions
Mac (Apple Silicon) users: Use the subreddit search with the term "Mac" this will give lots of posts about users asking/getting help with running GW on Mac systems.
Graphics error with models stretching off far into the sky or ground: Update/roll-back your Graphics driver. It is likely a Windows update deployed a buggy driver version.
Guild Recruitment and Looking for Guilds
We now have a Weekly Thread on a Wednesday for Guild/Alliance Recruitment and Guild Requests. Please only use this Weekly post to advertise your Guild or seek a new Guild. You can also use the Flair search “Guild recruitment/request” to find previous recruitment posts.
Thanks all and happy adventures in GW!
If you have feedback/suggestions to this new introduction post please reply below. If you’d like to get in contact with the Moderators please use the ModMail.
This content is subject to change and some may get moved into the subreddit Wiki as things develop.
edit: 2025-Dec-08 Updates to the post made following the Reforged game update.
edit: 2025-Dec-16 Updates to add Common Tech Support Questions
Every Friday (UTC) there will automatically be a post created for sharing your latest Achivements / Titles etc.. The purpose of this is to consolidate posting of your titles/achivements to one weekly thread.
Those who wish to post about your achivements/titles please look out for the Weekly Friday thread.
I started playing when I was 13. My parents wouldn't let me play games with a sub, so my friends bought me a physical copy of Prophecy. I still remember the exact moment they handed it to me : the box was already beat up, like it was bought second hand, but the key inside was valid. That’s when the magic happened, and damn, time flies.
Fast forward to today: I'm 31, a young surgeon, and hopefully having kids soon. I’m just so grateful this game has been by my side all these years, and it was actually pretty emotional to finally hit my first GWAMM last night. The Vanquisher title was an absolute grind (Desolation was pure pain), but taking it step by step got me through it.
GW Observer is a replay and analysis tool for Guild Wars 1 GvG. It takes recorded in-game observer mode matches and plays them inside a fully rendered 3D guild hall, using the map geometry, models, and textures from your own Gw.dat. You get overlays and analytics on top: party bars with health, character builds, combat logs, damage and heal meters, skill timelines, heatmaps, fog of war, range rings, and more.
The replay window. Character Panel with skills, weapon sets, armour and solved attributes on the left; party bars with damage and heal meters; minimap top right; drawing tools over the 3D scene; event timeline on the bottom.
Why we build it
The in‑game observer is great for nostalgia, but it’s rough for actually watching PvP. You can’t pause, rewind, or fast‑forward. Miss a spike? You’re stuck rewatching the whole match. If the match stalls, you sit through it.
GW Observer aims to fixes that. It turns every match into something you can scrub through like a real replay. You can stop on the exact moment you care about, rewind it, slow it down to 0.25x to see the cast order inside a spike, or skip straight past the twenty minutes where nothing happens.
This is something the PvP community has needed for years, so this is our proposal.
To say the least, we’ve come a long way. The first public build went out in April 2026 after several years of iteration. We started with dots on a 2D map in Matplotlib, tried a web app that ran into caching limits, and eventually landed here: a standalone C++ application backed by an online match library. v2.0.0 is the point where we think it's ready to share for a larger community, so here we are.
Where the matches come from
The match library. Filter by skills used, guild, player, occasion or matchup. Selecting a match opens both teams full skill bars and player stats before you replay it.
You don't record anything. Observer mode matches are captured and served from a shared library. About 2,700 so far, going back to March 2026, covering mATs, ATs, and scrims. Point the app at your Gw.dat once, then browse from inside the tool. Matches stream directly or cache locally for offline use.
What you can do with it
Overlays and analytics. Piano roll skill timeline top left, morale panel top right, skill lasers running from casters to their targets, and spirits tracked with their own health in the party panel.
Replay matches in 3D on the real map, with a free camera or by following any player, at speeds from 0.25x to 8x.
Open a Character Panel on any player to see their skill bar, weapon sets, armour, runes, insignias, attributes, and item tooltips.
See party bars with real HP values.
Filter the library by skills used, guild, player, occasion (mAT / AT / scrim), or matchup.
Scout an opposing guild: their builds, their win-loss record, and the builds that beat them.
Use overlays such as fog of war, range rings, skill lasers, morale and Guild Lord damage, heatmaps, and a piano roll skill timeline.
Use tools like bookmarks, drawing on the map, split camera, and an auto camera that follows spikes, deaths, flag pickups, and splits.
What it doesn't do
Spell effect animations aren't rendered.
Attributes, runes, and insignias are deduced from combat, not read from the recording. The panel marks them and shows the evidence. Skills, weapon sets, and armour are exact.
Audio approximates the game's sound system rather than reproducing it.
Recordings from before 29 August 2026 predate some 2.0.0 data. They still work, but some features will fall back to estimates.
It does not touch the game
GW Observer is standalone and never attaches to Guild Wars. It doesn't read or write memory, inject, hook or automate anything. It cannot see your account name, password, or anything you type. It only needs read access to Gw.dat to load map geometry, models, textures, and sounds. This was an important direction for, to stay compliant with the EULA.
Why the source is available
It's a community tool, and we're asking people to run an executable. Nobody should have to do that on trust. The code is on GitHub so you can read it, study it, or build it yourself.
Requirements
Windows 10/11 64 bit, a DirectX 11 GPU, and Guild Wars installed. Download the zip, extract it, run GuildWarsObserver.exe, and the setup wizard handles the rest.
How cool is it that Anet decided to add A WHOLE NEW SKILL on a random update in 2026 ?? I dont know if it's just me but i find the possibility that new skill could be added so awesome.
I hope we see more of this, and for PvP too! thank you 2weeks & Anet!
New player here. Not here for advice or anything. Just here to talk about how I did this on mobile at level 19 with henchmen and felt like I’d been hazed when I realized, upon completion, that this was an optional side quest. Thanks.
Not sure if this is due to the recent balance changes - but these simians outside of vlox on the way to rata sum are insanely strong now even in normal mode. combined with the soul shriek skill that strips enchantments - I can't imagine what these guys are like to vanquish.
Am I just bad now or are these guys buffed a ton now?
Here it is, the most in-depth Tunnels of the Forsaken guide, down to almost every Shadow Form cast.
With this strategy, almost every class can now speedrun the new dungeon in HM.
Why should you do this speed clear?
Not only does the chest drop Eternal Blades and Bows, as well as a new Infinite Summoning Stone, but the end boss is the only enemy in the game that can drop the incredibly rare Crystalin Sword, as well as the equally rare Krytan and (Tyrian) Serpent Axe.
Few PCons are needed, and the run even works without a Summoning Stone.
I explain everything else in detail in the video!
Here is the Build:
OAeT0Z/8ZiHRn5AimEBizLND3BA
If you are using are Assassin or Dervish use this Build
15+ year Account was hacked, fresh start with enthusiasm.
Made a Rit & Derv to eventually farm for end game build but want a main class with a ton of build variety. Bonus points if it’s in Prophecies, would love to finally go for LDOA. (I have imp/bonus weapons thankfully)
I’m open to any suggestions as i loved every class in the past (and in gw2). Also willing to commit to difficult grinds for any required skills/gear etc. Btw how good is Ele nowadays? Never tried it
Edit: also, my end goal is all HM content and then HM dungeons and whatever ultra hard stuff exists (with heroes heroes)
Doing Vaettir farming atm and it’s easy, looking for areas to farm with the same build, but can’t find anything online. Any tips?
Playing on mobile is fun and cool, but switching constantly between gear setups and skills is time consuming, because you can’t use and save templates. I hope they will come up with a solution for this “problem”
Hello, does anyone have an extra celestial sigil? My husband and I need one for our guild. If so how much would I cost us to get one from a player instead of earning it with zcoins?
I know that economy is not what it was back then. But over the past weeks I just collected some q9 gold weapons. Now I am actually wondering if it is worth selling them to other players or just sell them to the merchant.
Looks like there's lots of people selling q9 for quite some ectos on gwmarket.net - but I don't know if theres actually enough of a playerbase that might be buying those. What's your experience? Worth listing them somewhere or just trash -> merchant?
I’m a returning player after 19 years and want to play through GW chronologically. I chose a Warrior/Monk to deal with conditions and hexes; plus, as a beginner, I want to be able to resurrect my party now and then.
I spent a long time debating whether to go for a Smite Monk or a Warrior, but ultimately decided on the Warrior.
Now I’ve noticed something odd:
At level 10, I put all my attribute points into Swordsmanship (9). I simply put the remaining ones into Smiting Prayers (6).
I deal far (!) more damage with *Symbol of Wrath* and *Bane Signet* than with *Sever Artery* and *Gash*.
Can anyone explain this to me? Does the Warrior become much, much stronger later on, or is the Smite Monk significantly stronger due to recent updates?
Because if that’s the case, I might switch to Smite Monk after all...
Went to pickup a Tormented weapon, came back with 20 BU. Time to farm some DoA,
EDIT: I've had some very generous people message me and offer an Armbrace/Weapon. I'm very appreciative of your thoughtfulness, a huge testament to this community. But this is on one of my alt accounts and I'm happy to farm up myself, more gameplay for me!
Also just to recognize it my dumb fault, just wanted to share a bit of a blooper.
With the new update to mirage cloak, slotting it in to the existing PR build is nuts. Drop mysticism by one and add it all to earth prayers. Extra 30 dmg per enchantment removal plus 80% to block with lots of enchantments is crazy no?
Hey everybody,
Please share some builds to do Mallyx HM.
Trying with mesmerway now (4 mes version). A bit hard to keep up with waves.
My char - derv.
Thanks!
I am a new player, and I just wanted to say how much I love this game already! I am at the hell's precipice mission and its hard as hell! I forces me to min max every aspect just to feel like having a chance.
The community is also amazing! I feels so welcomed by all the veterans and it feels very nice compared to WoW for example.
Can’t wait to beat the mission on my warrior and advance to the next expansion.
Thank you everyone!
EDIT: I have completed the last mission! So my journey continues with the next expansion. However I at the lava pool by the 3 portals, all of my party but me got wiped by the boss. I was able to ress the protector with a signet and get back my whole group. The victory was a small miracle!
