Game updates
- Thursday 24th of April (talk)
- Tuesday 15th of April (talk)
- Thursday 10th of April (talk)
- Wednesday 9th of April (talk)
- Wednesday 2nd of April (talk)
This list contains all recent updates as published by ArenaNet. If there are undocumented changes, they are listed in a section titled "Guild Wars Wiki notes" under the related update.
Update, April 24, 2025
- Server maintenance build.
Guild Wars Wiki notes
- For the 20th Anniversary Update changes & announcements, see April 15, 2025 update.
Update, April 15, 2025 - 20th Anniversary
Hello friends! Today we released the special 20th Anniversary Update to Guild Wars.
Twenty years ago we set out to make something really special with Guild Wars. Today we're celebrating that journey with this special update.
We've made it easier than ever to play Guild Wars. The new Guild Wars: The 20th Anniversary Masterpiece Collection includes all three campaigns (Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall), Eye of the North, some special bonus items, and now, the Bonus Mission Pack.
And it is available a little bit later today and until April 29th at 80% off - our best deal ever.
And you can load up on costumes and other quality-of-life add-ons at 60% off!
Visit The Guild Wars Store.
New Anniversary Content
For the full list of limited weapons now permanently available as rare drops, check out last week's update Feedback:Game_updates/20250409.
Here is an overview:
- Various weapons previously limited to pre-order bonuses or special promotions, and a few weapons previously exclusive to the PvP Reward system, have been added to loot tables across Tyria, Cantha, Elona and Eye of the North.
- In some cases, weapons are only dropped by enemies in their associated campaign.
- These weapons are low drop rate and only appear at Rare quality.
Additionally, there is a new series of permanent quests which allow you to revisit the stories and endgame areas of Guild Wars in Hard Mode. They are permanently available from Merrise, Sworn to Seas in Embark Beach.
- These quests reward a series of Miniatures previously only available in limited numbers as prizes from conventions or contests. To preserve the value of the original pre-release items, these cannot be traded between players.
- In the case of the Miniature Gray Giant, the new quest rewards the Broken Toy needed to start the quest "The Toy's Story". The Miniature Gray Giant received from this quest is not tradeable.
During the Anniversary festival each year, a series of Unique weapons featuring some of the returning weapons and new mods have been added to the Ancient Anniversary Weaponsmith.
One More Thing ...
We're excited to announce we have permanently added a new series of suffix mods, "of the (Profession)". These are available as rare drops on main-hand weaponry. These mods have the following special features:
- They increase the associated profession's Primary Attribute stat up to a small limit, even if the equipping character normally would not have access to it.
- The weapon will be upgraded with a special streak effect when used in combat, based on the profession's associated color. In the case of spears, bows, rods and staffs, which often don't support a streak on the weapon itself, this streak is applied to their projectiles.
- For Rods, as with other suffixes, these mods will only appear in Nightfall or Eye of the North areas.
Item Updates and Bug Fixes
Item updates:
- Increased the duration of many consumable items that give a combat bonus to 30 minutes. This eases the number of consumables needed to maintain their effects during extended missions. Items affected:
Bug fixes:
- Fixed an issue that caused the Anniversary elite skills Shadow Theft and Heroic Refrain to not increase attributes that had zero points invested.
- Fixed an issue that caused the "Deals 20% additional damage during Festival events" weapon mod to add more damage than intended.
- Frame rate is now capped at maximum 180 FPS to prevent the graphics system from stealing CPU from the networking system. (Modern graphics cards can easily render the game over 400 FPS!).
- Fixed a bug that would cause an arithmetic exception on some larger displays.
Update -- April 10, 2025
GW1 Steam Deck Control Layouts (beta 1)
by Sam Clarke-Willson
Hello friends! We've been working on an official Guild Wars Steam Deck control layout. Today we're pleased to present a beta version in order to get some community feedback.
There are two layouts:
- ABXY: a simpler layout
- Soulslike: a trickier layout for hardcore console players
The GW1 controls were created using a Steam Deck layout that converts button presses and control movements on Steam Deck into the game's corresponding keyboard and mouse controls.
The current (beta versions) of these are in the Steam Deck Community Layouts page. Search Sam CW and you should find them. After some feedback, we intend to promote them to the official GW1 recommended controls. As with all Steam Deck controls, you can modify them to your taste and save them either locally on your Steam Deck or in the Community area.
Keyboard / Mouse Mapping
This table lists the key bindings that both the ABXY and Soulslike Steam Deck controls require. Both layouts use the same keybindings which makes it easy to try both.
| Action | Guild Wars 1 Input | Steam Deck Input | Needs Gw1 additional mapping? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack/Interact | Space | "Inventory" | No. |
| Skill 1 | 1 | A | No. |
| Skill 2 | 2 | X | No. |
| Skill 3 | 3 | Y | No. |
| Skill 4 | 4 | B | No. |
| Skill 5 | 5 | D-Pad Down | No. |
| Skill 6 | 6 | D-Pad Left | No. |
| Skill 7 | 7 | D-Pad Up | No. |
| Skill 8 | 8 | D-Pad Right | No. |
| Player Movement | WASDQE | Left Stick | No. |
| Camera Control | Right Click (Held) plus Mouse movement. | Right Stick "Contact" plus movement | No. |
| Left Mouse Click | Left Mouse Click | Left Trigger | No. |
| Right Mouse Click | Right Mouse Click | Right Trigger | No. |
| Target Next Foe | ] | Right Bumper | No. |
| Target Previous Foe | [ | Left Bumper | No. |
| Targeting: Party Member - Next | Page Down Key | R4 (top right grip button) | Yes. |
| Targeting: Party Member - Previous | Page Up Key | L4 (top left grip button) | Yes. |
| Shift | Shift. | Right Stick Click | No. |
| Action: Clear Party Commands | Home key | Left Stick Click | Yes. |
| Cancel/Close Window | Escape | "Start" | No. |
| Hold Action Layer Hero 1 Command | N/A | L5 (bottom left grip button) | No. |
| Hold Action Layer Hero 2 Command | N/A | R5 (bottom right grip button) | No. |
| Left Trackpad radial menu: | |||
| Options menu | F11 | Radial Menu Center | No. |
| Inventory | I | Radial Menu 1 | No. |
| Quest Log | L | Radial Menu 2 | No. |
| Skills and Attributes | K | Radial Menu 3 | No. |
| Map | M | Radial Menu 4 | No. |
| Mission Map | U | Radial Menu 5 | No. |
| Friends | N | Radial Menu 6 | No. |
| Guild Panel | G | Radial Menu 7 | No. |
| Party | P | Radial Menu 8 | No. |
| Help | F10 | Radial Menu 9 | No. |
| Hold Action Layer Hero 1 Command: | |||
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 1 | Numpad 1 | L5 + A | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 2 | Numpad 2 | L5 + X | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 3 | Numpad 3 | L5 + Y | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 4 | Numpad 4 | L5 + B | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 5 | Numpad 5 | L5 + D-Pad Down | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 6 | Numpad 6 | L5 + D-Pad Left | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 7 | Numpad 7 | L5 + D-Pad Up | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 8 | Numpad 8 | L5 + D-Pad Right | Yes. |
| Action: Command Hero 1 | Numpad / | L5 + Right Trigger | Yes. |
| Hold Action Layer Hero 2 Command: | |||
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 1 | Numpad 9 | R5 + A | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 2 | Numpad 0 | R5 + X | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 3 | Numpad + | R5 + Y | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 4 | Numpad - | R5 + B | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 5 | Down Arrow Key | R5 + D-Pad Down | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 6 | Left Arrow Key | R5 + D-Pad Left | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 7 | Up Arrow Key | R5 + D-Pad Up | Yes. |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 8 | Right Arrow Key | R5 + D-Pad Right | Yes. |
| Action: Command Hero 2 | Numpad . | R5 + Right Trigger | Yes. |
Most of the additional key bindings (i.e., new bindings that are not on by default) exist to support Hero commands. The other two additions are Target Next Party Member and Target Previous Party Member. These are helpful for support characters; alternatively you can mouse click on a party member HP bar.
To add or remap controls in Guild Wars 1, open the Options menu (on Steam Deck using the right track pad as a mouse or from the radial menu on the left track pad) and navigating to Controls. There you'll see a large list of potential key bindings.
Scan down the list for the command to add/remap, select it in the list, click the bar under and then type a new key for this action. Press the appropriate button on Steam Deck and click Assign to lock in the new mapping. Don't forget to press Assign!
Alphabetical Key Bindings
Here are the key bindings you'll want to change in alphabetical order (which matches the order in the dialog box):
| Action | Input |
|---|---|
| Action: Clear Party Commands | Home key |
| Action: Command Hero 1 | Numpad / |
| Action: Command Hero 2 | Numpad . |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 1 | Numpad 1 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 2 | Numpad 2 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 3 | Numpad 3 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 4 | Numpad 4 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 5 | Numpad 5 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 6 | Numpad 6 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 7 | Numpad 7 |
| Action: Order Hero 1 to Skill 8 | Numpad 8 |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 1 | Numpad 9 |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 2 | Numpad 0 |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 3 | Numpad + |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 4 | Numpad - |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 5 | Down Arrow Key |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 6 | Left Arrow Key |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 7 | Up Arrow Key |
| Action: Order Hero 2 to Skill 8 | Right Arrow Key |
| Targeting: Party Member - Next | Page Down Key |
| Targeting: Party Member - Previous | Page Up Key |
How to use ABXY binding
The four face buttons and the four D-pad directions are a perfect match for the eight skills in Gw1. A (the bottom face button) is the standard first action input across gaming, so that's skill 1 and the rest of the face buttons are skills 2-4 moving clockwise. The D-Pad matches that pattern, with the down direction being skill 5 and 6-8 moving clockwise in the same way.
The default action key (space) is pretty important but there isn't really a good 'ninth' button on the Steam Deck that is intuitive to use. Most of the possible candidates, like the triggers, have pairs of inputs that make sense if they stay together. Ultimately the basic attack/interact is on the Inventory (
) button near the left thumb stick and D-pad.
The bumpers control enemy targeting: right bumper targets next and left bumper targets previous. The right track pad is mouse control and pressing it is left mouse click. The trackpad is a bit 'iffy' for double clicks and similarly for hold click&drag actions, so the triggers are available as backup mouse buttons. Left trigger is left mouse button and Right Trigger is right mouse button. This matches the layout on a mouse as a mnemonic.
Left stick is character movement. Just note that the stick is eight-way directional movement rather than an analog stick. Right stick is camera control to keep with the industry wide standards on two stick character/camera movement.
To make the stick work as a mouse for Guild Wars, the Right Stick contact input option is used. This makes it so that when you touch the top of the right stick, the control layout will start holding down the right mouse button for you; since the Right Stick is already mouse curser movement it will act as you expect a console camera control stick to work!
Important: This stick-as-mouse is very convenient, but there is one very important caveat. This only works when the Steam Deck detects your thumb, which it only seems to do when you have it on the center top of the stick. You might find that sometimes you control your joystick by pushing it from the side of the stick instead of keeping your thumb on top. In that case, the contact action doesn't trigger the Right Mouse Button input. There is a bit of a learning curve here. If you are moving the Right Stick and it is not doing what you expect, check your thumb placement.
The left trackpad is a radial menu with the panels and windows that are under the option menu in the bottom left of Guild Wars' screen. This radial menu gives quick access to things like Inventory, Skills/Attributes and Guilds.
The grip buttons on the back of the Steam Deck control target next/previous party members and have the only hold action set layers in the layout. (A hold layout means you use the button like a shift key.) The grip buttons alter the inputs for Hero control by switching normal skill inputs to Hero 1 or 2 and the matching skills on their bar. Holding the bumpers also changes Right Trigger to activating the Hero movement command flags for their respective Hero. Canceling movement orders is left stick click regardless of if you have any Hero command layers active.
The Escape key is on the hamburger icon (
) button near ABXY.
We're considering flipping the and , as the so-called hamburger menu is closer to your main attack skills. Let us know what you think in the Discussion page.
Finally, when using a mouse, you need to Shift Left Click Hero Skills to order Heroes not use the skill unless told. The only unused button was Right Stick Click. This is a bit awkward but it makes other actions easier to access in battle.
How to use Soulslike binding
The basic premise of this mapping is to put your skill buttons on the triggers and bumpers instead of the face buttons and D-pad. There are only four triggers and bumpers instead of the 8 face buttons and D-pad, so a hold action set layer was made to fit the all of the skills there.
- Right Trigger is skill 1
- Left Trigger for skill 2
- Right Bumper for skill 3
- Left Bumper for skill 4
Hold L4 to switch to:
- Right Trigger for skill 5
- Left Trigger for skill 6
- Right Bumper for skill 7
- Left Bumper for skill 8
This saves a few buttons compared to the Gw1 ABXY layout, but the layout needs two buttons for each Hero Command Layer.
The change to relying more on Hold Action Set Layers meant reshuffling a lot of buttons from the ABXY layout. All four targeting inputs (enemy and party) are on the ABXY buttons. B is target next enemy and X is previous enemy. This forms a right>forward, left>back mnemonic that seems intuitive. A is next party member and Y is previous party member; target next party member moves your selection down the list (in the Party Formation UI) and target previous party member moves up. This way the buttons correspond to the direction they move through the UI which is a nice mnemonic. For similar reasons, the extra mouse button inputs are on the D-pad and match the side of the mouse. Left D-pad is Left Mouse Click and right D-Pad is Right Mouse Click.
For the Soulslike layout, the Hero Command layers are split in two and given a button each since there is only room for 4 skill buttons in this layout. R5 enables Hero 1 skills 1-4 and L5 enables Hero 1 Skills 5-8. The Hero 2 commands are on the up and down D-Pad inputs. Down enables Hero 2 skills 1-4 and Up enables skills 5-8. The first four skills are on down which matches how the ABXY layout starts at A (down on the D-pad). Another side effect of the button reshuffle is that R4 is the button to clear Hero movement orders; it becomes the 'hero order button' when either of the matching hero command layers is held down. This allows Shift on the more convenient left stick click. Right stick click is another source of Right Mouse Click as a convenience.
The Trackpads and the Sticks are unchanged from the ABXY layout (altered stick clicks notwithstanding). It is the same for the select and start buttons, which are still Space bar for attack/Interact and Escape key respectively.
Thanks
Thanks to Bobby Stein for his support and feedback.
Reference
ABXY
Soulslike
Update -- April 9, 2025
Hello friends!
As we announced last week, there will be a special update to Guild Wars on April 15th featuring permanently updated availability for a number of limited weapons and miniatures.
Various weapons from pre-order bonuses, special promotions and a few weapons previously exclusive to the PvP Reward system have been added to loot tables across Tyria, Cantha, Elona, and Eye of the North. These weapons only appear as Rare quality drops (with a few exceptions as noted) and are randomized rather than featuring the fixed stats and free creation of their bonus-item incarnations. Rods, Staffs, Shields, and Focuses can also drop with a variety of stat requirements.
Weapons
The newly available weapons are listed below.
- Available everywhere:
- Only available in Tyria:
- Bone Idol (pre-order item)
- Only available in Cantha:
- Japan 1st Anniversary Shield (Exceptionally rare)
- Only available in Elona:
- Only available in Eye of the North regions:
- Glacial Blades (a dagger form of the Glacial Blade)
- Lesser Etched Sword (Available at Magical rarity)
- Etched Sword (Available at Uncommon rarity)
- Arced Blade (Available at Uncommon rarity)
- Lesser Granite Edge (Available at Magical rarity)
- Granite Edge (Available at Uncommon rarity)
- Lesser Stoneblade (Available at Magical rarity)
- Stoneblade (Available at Uncommon rarity)
Miniatures
Additionally, a series of miniatures previously limited to special promotions and contest prizes will be available from new hard mode quests available at Embark Beach. Unlike their original versions, these cannot be traded between players. These quests will send you to replay the story missions and endgame areas of Guild Wars to prove your skills once more, so prepare for a tour of your triumphs to earn these miniatures.
Get ready to celebrate 20 years of Guild Wars! And you'll want to keep an eye out for some other rare drops.
Update -- April 2, 2025
Hello friends!
The 20th Anniversary of Guild Wars is approaching on April 28th, 2025! This year, our annual Anniversary Celebration festival will start a week earlier than usual - beginning on April 15th and running through May 6th.
On April 15th, we're also releasing a special anniversary update that includes:
- Permanently adding previously limited weapons to world drop tables.
- New permanent quests that reward untradeable copies of certain limited-release miniatures when you revisit classic content.
- And you'll want to keep your eyes open for some other new loot appearing as you hunt for weapons.
This is your chance to complete your collections, revisit your greatest triumphs, and hunt for exciting new loot!
We'll share more details next week. Get ready to celebrate 20 years of Guild Wars!
See also
- List of game updates, for a full list of game updates articles.
