Guild Wars 2 news » Release Notes for the Nightmares Within

Are you ready to enter the Tower of Nightmares that’s spreading evil through Kessex Hills? Now that a way inside has been found, it’s time to storm the tower and attempt to put an end to its toxic growth.

LIVING WORLD

The Nightmares Within

The way is open. The bravest are entering the Tower of Nightmares and confronting scores of powerful enemies. Toxins in the air make the going rough, and players won’t know whether they’re encountering a hallucination or a living foe. No antitoxin can protect them from their inner demons, but someone has to bring this tower down before Kessex Hills is lost to the nightmare.

Story

• Thanks to the heroes of Tyria, Marjory Delaqua’s research has yielded a viable antitoxin that has allowed teams from the Seraph, the Durmand Priory, the Vigil, and the Order of Whispers to infiltrate the Tower of Nightmares in Kessex Hills.
• Air purifiers have been placed at key locations to counteract the toxic clouds around the base of the tower, allowing access to the interior. To destroy the heart of the nightmarish structure, brave squads have attempted to carry newly designed antitoxin injectors to the top of the tower, but they haven’t been heard from since. It’s now up to the heroes of Tyria to defeat the Toxic Alliance and destroy their tower.
• Players will receive in-game mail from Lady Kasmeer Meade informing them that the Tower of Nightmares is now open. Use the Show Me functionality in the mail to find the location of the Tower of Nightmares.
• Once inside the Tower of Nightmares, players will need to make their way up the tower, scaling three floors of horrifying dangers to reach the heart of the tower—a massive, noxious bloom pulsing with malevolent power. At the apex of the tower, players can enter the chamber protecting the tower’s heart and begin a story instance that can be completed solo or with a group of up to five players.
  • Upon defeating the challenges of the story instance, players can finish what the scouting team could not: inject Marjory’s antitoxin directly into the heart of the tower!
  • The story instance also has a repeatable mode so players can confront the challenges as many times as they like for additional rewards and accolades. Upon each completion, players will be able to inject another dose of antitoxin, weakening the tower that much more.

The Tower of Nightmares

• The interior of the Tower of Nightmares has been revealed, and it is as deadly as its name suggests. The Tower of Nightmares is an open-world map designed to challenge even the hardiest of groups. Fighting side by side, players will need to rely on each other to survive.
• Players will participate in a number of new open-world events throughout the structure and encounter the deadly hallucinations and lethal champions of the Toxic Alliance.
• Within the Tower of Nightmares, a mysterious chest was found at the top of the tower. The chest’s lock is an intricate mechanism that seems to require a three-pronged key. The pieces of the key for this Tri-key Chest can be found on creatures within the Tower of Nightmares, or they can be acquired through trade with Marjory’s Helper Dee back at the Thunder Ridge Camp in Kessex Hills. Players will also receive one complete set of keys in the initial mail from Kasmeer. Combine the keys to create a Tricolor Key.
• The Tower of Nightmares content will be available until the tower’s heart is destroyed. Watch the progress as more antitoxin is injected!

Nightmare Chambers

• Throughout the Tower of Nightmares, players will find smaller blossoms that resemble the tower’s heart. Within these chambers, players will experience their deepest fears and encounter twisted visions of their past.
• The Nightmare Chamber instances are designed for either solo or group play and are comprised of a number of random elements. Each time a player enters a chamber, there is a chance to see something, or someone, different. But is any of it real?

Open World

• The Toxic Alliance isn’t giving up on its plans for domination simply because their tower has been breached. Toxic Offshoots and Toxic Alliance events will continue to run throughout this release, giving players a chance to finish many of the achievements they may have missed in the last release.
• The Antitoxin Injected indicator is a representation of the amount of antitoxin that has been pumped into the heart of the tower by the heroes of Tyria and will update periodically.

Rewards

• Finishing the meta-achievement for The Nightmares Within rewards players with a Gas Mask Skin. This headgear skin has three dye channels and can be applied to head armor of any weight class. It’s just the thing for infiltrating a hostile and toxic environment like the Tower of Nightmares.
• Players will be awarded with a Mini Toxic Nimross miniature for completing the Tower Hybrid Master achievement.
• Tricolor Keys can be used to open the Tri-key Chest at the top of the third level of the Tower of Nightmares. Besides its guaranteed rewards, there’s a chance for players to receive unique items:
  • Air-Filtration Device Skin—a headgear skin for all weight classes
  • Toxic Spore Skin back-slot item
  • New, exclusive miniature

Achievements

• The Nightmares Within meta-achievement will task players with combating their way through the interior of the Tower of Nightmares, conquering their fears in the Nightmare Chamber instances, defeating the Toxic Hybrid, and injecting antitoxin into the heart of the tower.
  • Completing special Nightmares Within daily achievements during this release will contribute to the meta-achievement. These are earned by participating in specific Nightmares Within content each day.

NEW FEATURES AND CONTENT

Structured Player vs. Player

• Added a new Custom Arena option: Force Respawn. When enabled, players will automatically respawn at the end of their respawn timers, and defeated players will no longer be resurrectable.
• Solo Arena players will now be shuffled before joining a match to promote a more even and challenging game.
• The compass and map will now display enemy markers for enemies who are in combat and within line of sight of one of your teammates.
• Trick-or-Treat Bags have been reverted back to reward chests, and candy corn has been removed from Solo Arena and Team Arena. Until December 10, PvP will offer double reward chests for Solo Arena and Team Arena wins.

BALANCE, BUG-FIXING, POLISH

General

• Introduced further server-side optimizations, with significant improvements during heavy combat scenarios.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Fixed the Solo Arena UI to always have a Leave button instead of a Disband button.
• The PvP panel now remembers the last opened tab.
• The trebuchet in Battle of Kyhlo no longer awards personal scores for hitting minions.
• The PvP medal on the Character Select screen now directly represents the player’s rank.
• The Custom Arena configuration UI now disables the Play button when it’s expired.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE

New Items and Promotions

• All permanent gathering tools will now be account bound rather than soulbound. For one week, account-bound versions of the Jack-in-the-Box Scythe and Bone Pick gathering tools will be available in the Services category of the Gem Store for 1000 gems each.
  • Previously purchased permanent gathering tools can be upgraded to account-bound versions by unequipping them and bringing them to a Black Lion Weapons Specialist.
• Marjory’s Axe, Marjory’s Dagger, and Kasmeer’s Staff are now available as skins in the Style category of the Gem Store for 600 gems each.
• A pair of spirit wings rises from the player’s defeated foe. The new Permanent Sanctified Finisher is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 600 gems.

Improvements

• PvP Locker slots have been added for the Toxic hand and shoulder armors received from the Toxic Gloves Skin and the Toxic Mantle Skin, both available in the Style category of the Gem Store.
• Soulbound permanent gathering tools can be exchanged at a Black Lion Weapons Specialist for account-bound versions. Players must unequip the tool before exchanging it.
• All future permanent gathering tools from the Gem Store will be account bound and will cost slightly more than the soulbound versions.