Is Guild Wars 2 Still Worth Following in 2025?
Guild Wars 2 has a new expansion coming out on October 28, 2025. It’s called Visions of Eternity, and it adds a little bit of everything the game is known for. Exploration, lore, group content, and parkour that will ruin your day if you’re anything like me.
I’m smiling as I write that because it’s true. I’m terrible at parkour. I don’t want to get better at it. I’m okay with knowing my limits, and in Guild Wars 2, that’s one of mine. Mounts help, but some parts of this game are just built for the people who love jumping puzzles. I’m not one of them.
Still, I follow the game’s updates. I like the lore, even if it can be hit or miss sometimes. I like watching other people play it. Most of all, I like that Guild Wars 2 is respectful of your time. It’s a game that understands players have lives. The expansions are affordable. The game does not require a subscription to play. You can put it down, pick it back up months later, and not feel like the entire world moved on without you.
What’s Coming in Visions of Eternity?
The expansion takes players to a new magical island called Castora, where the Inquest, the game’s resident bad guys, are up to something shady. The story will unfold over the course of a year, with three major content updates planned after launch.
At release, you’ll get:
- Two new open-world regions right away, with two more maps arriving later in the year.
- Nine new elite specializations – one for each profession. These are full trait lines with new mechanics, not just a small patch note update.
- A skimmer mount upgrade, letting players dive, soar, and hover more efficiently across Castora’s terrain.
- Two new raid encounters, challenge modes, and a new fractal dungeon, delivered throughout the expansion cycle.
- Six new legendary items, including a long-requested legendary aquabreather for underwater combat.
- A beachside Homestead, if you own both Janthir Wilds and Visions of Eternity, with customizable layouts and decoration saves.
- Fashion templates, finally allowing players to swap cosmetic loadouts without messing with their entire inventory every time.
For players who pre-purchase, ArenaNet is throwing in a unique helm skin, a character title, and a weapon skin choice. The expansion is available in Standard, Deluxe, and Ultimate editions, depending on how deep into your wallet you’re willing to go.
The Bigger Issue: What Happened With Elite Specializations?
Let’s address the elephant in the room. There’s been a lot of confusion about elite specializations over the past few years. Some players thought ArenaNet was phasing them out.
Here’s why:
- In the last expansion, Secrets of the Obscure, the developers introduced Weaponmaster Training. This feature let you use elite specialization weapons on core classes without actually equipping the elite specialization itself.
- That led to speculation. People assumed ArenaNet was dismantling the elite specialization system piece by piece.
- To be fair, there was a long gap with no new elite specs added. That silence created rumors.
Is ArenaNet moving away from elite specializations?
No. Visions of Eternity confirms they’re here to stay. There will be nine new elite specializations, one for each profession, bringing back the progression system that debuted in Heart of Thorns and carried through into Path of Fire and End of Dragons.
The Weaponmaster Training system isn’t going anywhere, but elite specs remain a core part of the game. This expansion just clears up the confusion.
Guild Wars 2 Respects Your Time. That’s Its Selling Point.
Not every MMORPG does this, but Guild Wars 2 lets you play at your own pace. That’s always been its strength.
You won’t log in to find ten flashing yellow exclamation marks over NPC heads, begging you to start quests. You can pick a direction and just explore. That freedom can confuse new players who are used to more linear games, but for players who stick with it, it feels good to have that choice.
Guild Wars 2 isn’t perfect. The lore can feel scattered sometimes. The parkour can be brutal if you’re not into that kind of thing. But the game doesn’t punish you for stepping away, and it doesn’t guilt-trip you into coming back every day just to keep up.
Visions of Eternity isn’t just another Guild Wars 2 expansion. It’s a reminder of what the game does right.
It gives players new places to explore, new ways to build their characters, and new content to enjoy solo or with friends. It brings back elite specializations, clearing up confusion about the game’s future direction. It continues Guild Wars 2’s tradition of respecting player time, not locking everything behind daily check-ins or endless grind.
I’m not going to pretend I’ll suddenly become a parkour pro and main the game full-time. I’ll follow this expansion. I’ll watch other players dive into Castora, and I’ll enjoy the game my way.
That’s the point of Guild Wars 2. You get to enjoy it your way.
