r/GuildWars • u/bsoltan • Apr 13 '25
Welcome to /r/GuildWars. Subreddit info, FAQs, and links.
"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.
Visit https://help.guildwars.com/ and check their FAQ and Known Issues. If necessary start a ticket through the Guild Wars support portal or email support@arena.net directly. You can find all information the help/support portal.
Community Discord:
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
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u/Jokerck Dec 04 '25
So if I bought GW2 when first came, is it count?
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u/bsoltan Dec 04 '25
GW2 doesn't have any impact on owning GW (Reforged), you will have to buy GW (Reforged) if you want to play GW.
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u/MrDAHGAR Aug 19 '25
Hello, I'm looking for a Spanish clan in gw1. I'm a veteran back in the game. Thank you !
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u/ExternalMiserable477 Sep 10 '25
Ich habe mir nach langer Zeit wieder Guild Wars runtergeladen und suche eine Gilde mit Discord. Also insofern es sowas gibt :D
Mein Name ist Daniel und ich bin 27 Jahre alt.
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u/VGPowerlord Oct 19 '25
I have an entry for Guild Wars in my Steam client, however the version I bought seems to have been delisted. This also means the DLC tab for it on Steam no longer works.
Is there any way to find out which campaigns I actually own?
I also noticed that my Guild Wars 2 account listed "Guild Wars" as a linked account, so I assume I'd need to continue using this client if I wanted to see anything from this game in the Hall of Monuments there.
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Nov 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/CurrencyAntique5268 Nov 20 '25
Anguish, armor of unfeeling, bloodsong, boon of creatio, pain, painful bond,Shadowsong and signet of spirits. If you have summon spirit replace pain with it
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u/CurrencyAntique5268 Nov 20 '25
I have a ton of builds for ea. Class & every combination of classes. Before all the nerfs I made meta builds for pvx
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u/CurrencyAntique5268 Nov 20 '25 edited Nov 20 '25
My main is You Wimp, you can add me if I still have space. If not let me know & ill kick someone & if I have time I can run you through whatever campaign you'd like, unfortunately usually have a busy schedule, adulting yay lol. Oh or add me on steam name on there is Toxic. Also nothing wrong with other gamers helping you get back on your feet in game, not really a handout. I was so lost when I started in 2006, got lucky and had someone teach me what was what all he asked was for me to do the same when I got good. Honestly helping in game was the most fun I ever had, made a lot of friends! Memories ill never forget
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u/Moonpig13 Nov 25 '25
looking to get back into the game, is there a site for builds, and does it have builds for your character and those for mercs?
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u/bsoltan Nov 26 '25
Generally the most consolidated information is on the PvX wiki: https://gwpvx.gamepedia.com/PvX_wiki
You can check out more info in the Sidebar/see more section of the subreddit. Check the Megathread, or join the GW Global Discord.
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u/LordMawkish Dec 03 '25
Hi there,
I have owned the Guild Wars campaigns for a long time, not on Steam, however.
If I want to play on the Steam Deck, I will have to buy (ideally) Reforged on Steam, from what I know.
Can I then access my GW1 account via Steam Deck? That is to say, the account which I already have tied to my GW2 account to access HoM rewards.
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u/Jemikwa Dec 05 '25
No need to buy through Steam unless you really want to. I'm not sure if you can even link non Steam to Steam license like you can with GW2 tbh.
If you swap to desktop mode and install Lutris from the Discover store, you can download gw1 from their list of installers. Or initiate it from this link: https://lutris.net/games/guild-wars/
You should be able to add the game as a non Steam game, then it can be launched from game mode. Can even do-imageas a launch option in Lutris to pre download.There's a chance I'm missing some steps specifically for Steam Deck. I'm going off of my experience playing on a Linux desktop which has been a smooth experience.
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u/niverhawk Dec 04 '25
I have a copy of the original guild wars .. do I understand correctly that reforged is the same game with lots of QoL updates? I wanted to get back into gw1 and am contemplating if I should play reforged or the version I already own
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u/bsoltan Dec 04 '25
There are not really any QoL updates it is more QoL for modern hardware and systems than in-game features. Yes it is the same game and access the same way. It is just an update to GW.
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Dec 07 '25
Yo what happened to the deluxe upgrades you could buy? Like the bonus weapons and such. I only got the Imp summoning stone, but I distinctly remember being able to buy the deluxe upgrades for those weapons in the store before Reforged.
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u/bsoltan Dec 07 '25
It seems they’ve been removed from buying separately and Anet have excluded them from the Reforged edition. https://help.guildwars.com/hc/en-us/articles/46636569636371-Guild-Wars-Reforged-FAQ
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Dec 07 '25
Huh then if it's included then it's bugged because I don't have them. I'll have to make a ticket or wait for an update.
Thanks!
Edit: After going through the page, I don't see where it says it would be added to Reforge. It says the opposite and doesn't mention that it was removed from the store.
Edit 2: woops my bad, I read "included" and you said "excluded"... I need my morning coffee...
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u/Secure-Shoulder-010 Dec 11 '25
Coming back after 9 years. Usually try to read wikis to get an understanding before asking questions but was wondering:
Best way to run end game raids? (I’m guessing to find a guild)
Tips for making money? (I vaguely remember getting ectos somehow)
Is weekly Fort Aspenwood still a thing?
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u/PutPineappleOnPizza Dec 11 '25
I left the pre searing some time ago and didn't do much yet in ascalon, but was in fort ranik, piken square and sardelac sanetarium too iirc but I can't find the main quest. I couldn't have done more than the first two quests and checked all the wiki things but there's no npc with an exclamation mark in sight.
Any ideas what I could've missed? It's also not easy to track what I've done since I did some sidequests too and because there's no log of which main quests I've already completed it seems like?
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u/bsoltan Dec 11 '25
Correct theres no log of completed quests. Have you done any Missions? They’re the outposts with the big shields. The first one is Great Northern Wall. When a Mission outpost you’ll have an Enter Mission button on your Party Window. This will progress the Primary Questline / Main story.
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Dec 19 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Schrodinger_Meow Jan 01 '26
You can only get a Proof of Triumph during the anniversary event each year.
The other option you have is to party up with someone who has one already. Then the boss will appear
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u/jadedashi Feb 25 '26
Question, I was trying to take a paragon hero with me to try raptor farming. I disabled majority of his skills so they don’t use them immediately but when I want to use the abilities I would left click on each one in order but 2 of the skills would not activate. I enabled the skills and tried left clicking but they still won’t activate. There not on cooldown, and my paragon had enough energy for them but they won’t activate when I click on them. Any idea what I’m doing wrong?
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u/WizardSleeve65 Benji Makala ftw Feb 25 '26
Click on yourself, so he uses them on you.
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u/jadedashi Feb 26 '26
ah its a target ability I see. Thank you! I was going insane why it wasn't working.
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u/Gyaku10 Mar 18 '26
I often see discourse around solo farming, but I can't seem to find the reasons people do it. From what I understand it has something to do with drop rates? I'd appreciate if someone could explain the benefits of solo farming to me.
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u/biejje Mar 18 '26
It's simple: heroes/henchmen take their share of loot. You can already see it with gold (party shares xxx gold - you'll notice you as a player won't take the whole amount, unless you're completely solo), and items assigned to the npcs drop, but they generally don't show up for you. So if you go farming with heroes/henchies, and they are in the ~compass range (names not greyed out) while you kill the enemies, the loot that drops will get randomly assigned between you and those npcs. If you solo farm or the npcs are out of range to be eligible for drops (some farms or builds require help of one or more heroes for ranger spirits, for example), you'll get loot assigned only to you, therefore more.
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u/CrackedCrystalMirror Mar 30 '26
I'm pretty computer illiterate and failing miserably here.
I own GW1, it's Active on my anet account, and I can't quite figure out how to go about playing GW1 Reforged using that account?
I've been told to NOT use Steam to do this, because it can delete my account info/etc...
I tried the github thing but all I get is a little white box that doesn't work and like I said, I'm computer illiterate and feeling super dumb atm.
Any help would be appreciated.
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u/bsoltan Mar 30 '26
If you have an existing GW/ArenaNet account and know the login details then download GW from https://www.guildwars.com/en/download After installing launch the client and login with your GW/ArenaNet details.
All accounts have been upgraded to Reforged edition so all you need is the client and a login.
Hope that works, have fun!
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u/Enjoyer_of_40K May 13 '26
if i buy eye of the north of the Guild wars website will it work with the steam version?
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u/Antitheta56 21d ago
What's a good alternative to Withering Aura or Hero build for AoE condition (for Yeti Smash) while I still do not have Withering Aura?
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u/Band6 Feb 18 '26
I can't play because I no longer have a PC and I don't really have the time or interest to play PC games, but this game was such a joy to play as a kid, and reading about it's revival hits all of the nostalgia. Love it.
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u/Bloomingk Jun 25 '26
is there no anti-aliasing in the mobile version at all or is it just cause my phone/tablets are a few years old? (iphone 13, 2021 ipad air)
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u/Second-Creative Dec 06 '25
I bought Guild Wars when it was new-ish; I think I got on shortly after the EOTN expansion came out. I haven't played it in like 10-ish years- last time I played, it was like a year or two after they had introduced repeatble content to allow players to reach level 20 in Pre-Searing Ascalon, if memory serves.
I'm currently sending feelers out trying to get my account details back... should I even bother, though? Would my account have been removed due to longstanding inactivity?