Guild Wars 2's new expansion is bringing back its strongest builds, and I've been waiting for this day for years

While most people started their MMO adventures with World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14, Guild Wars 2 was my first foray into the massively multiplayer genre. I remember downloading it on my dusty old university Macbook far too many years ago, taking my first steps into Tyria, doe eyes filled with wonder. Since then I've played through all of its content, reviewing the stellar End of Dragons back in 2022 and loving every minute of it. But Guild Wars 2 looks different these days, with shorter, more condensed expansions bringing new content to players at a faster pace. First came Secrets of the Obscure, then Janthir Wilds, and now Visions of Eternity is finally here, whisking us away to an island paradise where magic is king.

Castora is Guild Wars 2's Bermuda Triangle - an island etched into the history books as nothing more than a legend. But, for whatever reason, the Inquest, an Ausuran collective intent on harnessing the destructive power of Eternal Alchemy, has its sights set on this fabled land, and that probably isn't a good thing. As you race to uncover their machinations, you'll discover not only Castora but its denizens: strange aquatic creatures hell bent on tearing you limb from limb.

Adding two new open-world maps and three new mastery tracks (including one for the much-neglected Skimmer mount), there's a lot to break down here, so let's start with the most exciting thing: elite specializations.

With nine elite specs on the cards, including Guild Wars 1's Paragon and Ritualist, buildcrafters are about to have a field day. The last time we saw elite specs was in End of Dragons, with Mesmer very quickly becoming my absolute favorite. Now tied to unique trait lines instead of the spec's specific weapons, you'll be able to customize your builds to your heart's content: the Inquest won't know what hit them.

Lead competitive designer Cal Cohen showed me a few of the specs at Gamescom, noting that Visions of Eternity felt like the perfect time to bring these high-tier build paths back. "We felt that doing a new weapon type again wasn't really going to add to the amount of build options," he tells me, referencing the addition of the spear in Janthir Wilds. "The amount of play styles that you can add with a weapon is a little more limited than an elite spec.

"We had a lot of great ideas for elite specializations, all of them born around the idea of the Tyrian Alliance, with different areas of the world all inspiring a different elite spec, and we're really excited about how they turned out."

But there's a lot riding on Ritualist and Paragon specifically, given that they're two of Guild Wars 1's most beloved professions. I ask Cohen what it was like bringing them into the modern game. "We definitely tired to be as true as we could to the source material," he says. "We started with, 'what are the iconic things?' Those have to be there. So there's Ritualist with spirits, but the exact mechanic of the Ritualist's spirits from Guild Wars 1 doesn't play that well in Guild Wars 2, so we have to reimagine it.

"We still want to evoke the same playstyle and feelings because we know so many players are attached to those professions. It's not always going to perfectly line up with what those players imagine Ritualist or Paragon should be, but we're hoping that we're capturing a lot of the iconic moments of those professions."

The other big addition in Visions of Eternity is a new homestead map, which is probably the thing I'm most excited about. Inspired by Castora's oceanic ties, the latest addition to the roster is a towering ship that sits parallel in the sand, offering you three stories to decorate, as well as some panoramic views. You can float around the island using various ley-line resonances that take you around in a circle, or relax in the pool for some much-needed me time.

Following housing's introduction in Janthir Wilds, however, NCSoft has listened to players and iterated on the actual building process. The new duplicate tool lets you copy items with ease, and the 'modify existing decorations' mode lets you snap pre-existing structures into new positions with ease. There's also the new layout feature, which lets you save and transfer pre-existing homesteads to other locations (senior gameplay engineer Sarah Davies shows me a Halloween-inspired build that I immediately fall in love with).

"We wanted to make [Comosus Isle] feel more like an island with a proper island environment with all the charm you would see in an open-world Guild Wars 2 map," she tells me. "We were able to get the best of both worlds."

But there's even more to get excited about. There's the aforementioned Skimmer Mastery track, which gives your aquatic pal the ability to shoot at enemies and detect treasure using sonar. There's a new legendary weapon and aquabreather, as well as fresh Wizard's Vault rewards and armor sets. You can check out all things Visions of Eternity here and, if you fancy a new adventure, pick it up for $24.99 / £21.99.

If you're looking to get back into NCSoft's classic MMO, we have a full rundown of the Guild Wars 2 system requirements so that you can ensure your PC's up to speed. Alternatively, if you're looking for something new but equally as magical, we have a list of all the best fantasy games.

Are you excited for Visions of Eternity? Let us know which Elite Spec you choose on Discord, and show us pictures of your new homestead.