Guild Wars Reforged adds two new modes, including permadeath (of pride), to the decades-old MMORPG

Just a few short weeks from the release of a big update that largely came out of nowhere, Guild Wars Reforged has delivered on a cryptic promise that suggested the overhaul was just one small part of a renewed effort to refresh one of the best MMORPGs of the early 2000s. And this first pass introduces the chance for your character to die for good. Their pride, at least.

The December 18 content update dropped without much notice at all, with a dutifully titled news post on the Guild Wars Reforged Steam page asking if players are "ready to make a deal with death." As someone who's getting stuck into the game around 15 years after my first playthrough, am I looking to make it harder than it already is? No, not really. But the other mode might make it easier to convince a few friends to finally give one of my favorite games a go.

The major content update adds two new modes - 'Reforged' and 'Dhuum's Covenant'. The former is in an apparent alpha state, while the latter is in beta. Though with both available to "gather feedback", how alpha differs from beta in this case is anyone's guess.

Anyway, with how popular the idea of permadeath is in games nowadays, the draw here has to be Dhuum's Covenant. Activated during character creation, any adventurer flagged with the Dhuum's Covenant badge loses it after a single death. Forget about the heavy dot damage in the Catacombs, and you sure as Grenth won't last long. And, well… that's largely it. Titles earned while you have the Dhuum's Covenant badge will reflect the conditions in which you won it on the Hero panel, giving you essentially a whole new collection of gloat-worthy titles to work toward, but that's your lot.

With the team open to feedback and stressing that it may "undergo changes," there's likely room to suggest a more public marker for titles unlocked without dying, or the chance to make it a proper permadeath mode. World of Warcraft Classic's Hardcore mode garnered the game some serious attention on Twitch over the past few years, so maybe it's time for Guild Wars to give it a go.

Not up for more stress in what's already a pretty challenging squad-based tactical MMORPG? The alpha release of Reforged Mode might be the answer.

On top of now being able to form four-player parties in Pre-Searing Ascalon - essentially the game's large-scale, picturesque tutorial area many players (included yours truly) prefer to cling onto - Reforged Mode makes things just a tiny bit easier for newcomers, returning players, and those who want a less stressful jaunt around Ascalon.

Enabled during character creation, this revised take on pre-Searing Ascalon lowers the health and armor of enemies across its lush landscape. Henchmen are back, too, letting you fill empty slots in your party with powerful NPCs that boast "additional skills."

Going slightly against the idea of making things a little easier, "the Northlands in pre-Searing Ascalon has additional spawns." Why? Because Piken Square, an area once exclusive to the post-Searing version of the world map, is now accessible without triggering the irreversible timeskip. "You'll have to fight your way there," warns the announcement post, but if those mob nerfs apply to these new guys, the trip can't be too difficult. Unless it's designed as a final fight to see if you're ready for the road ahead, which sounds like a neat way to offer something extra to a player who might be guiding newbies through their first play of the game.

You'll have to don the Reforged Mode badge in character creation to see these enfeebled mobs, but jumping into a party with anyone not using it will drag you into the original mode while you're together. From the sounds of it, veterans can party up with others to play the tougher content if their apprentices elect to spend too long dyeing their gear.

Guild Wars Reforged is available on Steam for $19.99 or £17.99. Grab it here if you're finally feeling compelled to give one of the finest subscription-free adventures of its generation a go. The Reforged release bundles in every expansion outside of Eye of the North, with the free update offering sweeping visual upgrades for the modern era, as well as adding proper Steam Deck and controller support.