BASICS OF GAME PLAY FOR GUILD WARS 2

Dungeons

Dungeons are optional party-based PvE instances, each with their own story. There are currently nine dungeons. All dungeons except Fractals of the Mists and the special event dungeons have two modes: a story mode, which focuses on the story of the Destiny's Edge group, and an explorable mode, a more difficult mode which requires more co-ordination to play through and is unlocked after completing story mode. Each mode allows for groups of up to five players; content does not scale depending on the number of players in the party so the difficulty remains constant. The actions of the team and random dynamic events influence what happens during a dungeon play-through.

To help navigate the dungeon, waypoints are in place as they are around the world and are available for use should the party be defeated or all party members out of combat. A waypoint can be found at the start of each dungeon as well as by the dungeon entrance in the persistent world, with new waypoints opening upon the completion of major objectives. Additionally, dungeons retain a basic level of persistence during the instance: creatures do not respawn, and characters may join or rejoin a party in progress within a dungeon.

Players will be notified via mail by their "Herald" as they reach the suggested level for each dungeon, as well as another notification about the dungeon's explorable mode once they complete the dungeon's story mode.

Story mode

Story mode is played through on the first visit to the dungeon. The dungeon stories, told through cut scenes and exposition, are focused on revealing and developing the Destiny's Edge situation. One or two members of Destiny's Edge join the party to guide them through a largely linear dungeon story. This mode is relatively straightforward for a pick-up-group to complete. Personal storylines and dungeon story modes are parallel: the dungeon story mode does not affect a player's advancement in a personal story or the outcome of the story, but still occurs at the same time storywise. The storylines converge just for the last mission which takes place in The Ruined City of Arah. Completing the story mode of a dungeon for the first time will result in a letter in your mailbox, along with a head piece reward and 50s.

Explorable mode

Explorable mode deals with the aftermath of the events in story mode. The explorable dungeon story is told with fewer cutscenes and little exposition, and the player party is no longer joined by member's of Destiny's Edge. The player is presented with at least three different paths to play through for each dungeon. The party votes on the option they will take through the dungeon and the majority determines on which path they take. The explorable mode dungeon is designed to be repeated, with player actions and decisions determining the occurrence of hidden or random events along with the choice of a path. This mode requires significantly more coordination between team members and so is far more difficult than story mode. A player who has not completed story mode of a particular dungeon may only enter the explorable mode of that dungeon if another party member who has completed the story mode enters the dungeon and selects explorable mode.

Completing a dungeon in explorer mode awards dungeon currencies. These currencies can be used at a dungeon merchant, located in Lion's Arch, to buy weapons, armor, runes, and other items. Each dungeon has its own unique weapon and armor set modeled according to the theme of the dungeon. These items are no more powerful than items which can be gained doing other activities in-game, the exotic sets are equal to the level 80 exotic crafted sets.

Explorable mode gives a standard reward of dungeon currency, gold, and experience at the completion of a dungeon path as well as a bonus chest for the first completion of any given path each day per account. The standard reward gives 20 pieces of the respective currency, silver, experience and karma. Subsequent runs give 15 and 10 dungeon currencies respectively. Completing one path does not affect the reward from other paths. The bonus chest contains 40 dungeon currencies and a specific amount of gold, ranging from 1 g 5 s to 3 g 5 s, depending on path difficulty and length. Completing the same path again with the same or a different character will only give the standard reward.

Bonus Chests

Dungeon	Path	Gold reward	Token reward
Ascalonian Catacombs	Path 1 - Hodgins	1 55	40
	Path 2 - Detha	1 55	40
	Path 3 - Tzark	1 55	40
Caudecus's Manor	Path 1 - Asura	1 5	40
	Path 2 - Seraph	1 5	40
	Path 3 - Butler	1 5	40
Twilight Arbor	Path 1 - Leurent (Up)	1 5	40
		1	40
	Path 3 - Vevina (Forward)	1 5	40
	Path 4 - Aetherpath	2	40
Sorrow's Embrace	Path 1 - Fergg	1 5	40
	Path 2 - Rasolov	1 5	40
	Path 3 - Koptev	1 5	40
Citadel of Flame	Path 1 - Ferrah	1 5	40
	Path 2 - Magg	1 5	40
	Path 3 - Rhiannon	1 5	40
Honor of the Waves	Path 1 - Butcher	1 5	40
	Path 2 - Plunderer	1 5	40
	Path 3 - Zealot	1 5	40
Crucible of Eternity	Path 1 - Submarine	1 5	40
	Path 2 - Teleporter	1 5	40
	Path 3 - Front door	1 5	40
The Ruined City of Arah	Path 1 - Jotun	3 5	40
	Path 2 - Mursaat	3 5	40
	Path 3 - Forgotten	1 55	40
	Path 4 - Seer	3 5	40