Guild Wars 2 news » Countdown to Launch: Heart of Maguuma and Masteries

The Heart of Maguuma region is brimming with life, challenges, memorable characters, and sights and sounds to explore. From the depths of the lowest biome to the tip of the jungle canopy, the Heart of Maguuma has been designed to intertwine new gameplay mechanics with the ongoing story-driven saga of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns™.

Narrative Designer Scott McGough says, “The Narrative team was especially excited to reintroduce personal character voices into the story—Guild Wars 2 has always been about our players and the community they create, so it felt great having them participate in (and in many cases lead) verbal exchanges with allies and enemies in game. Combining that with the new ability to have such exchanges while in motion or in action let us portray the PC as the active and dynamic presence the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns story demanded. This is what also allowed us to craft a unique story experience for sylvari PCs, which is one of my favorite aspects of the Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns story.”

The jungle has shaped the evolution of all the creatures you’ll meet, from the frog-like hylek to the Mordrem Guard. The expansion’s PvE content is tuned for level 80 characters, and at that level players will begin to earn account-bound Masteries to progress their characters further.

The jungle environment is teeming with new dynamic events, boss battles, and an active day and night cycle that shakes up the available map content. Players can also participate in adventures, which provide a diversity of activities and a showcase for skill through leaderboards.

Check out some of our livestream recordings for more details!

• Points of Interest: Pact Commander Masteries
• Points of Interest: Mordrem Guard
• Points of Interest: Hylek
• Points of Interest: Adventures