Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds's ambitious Godspawn update brings back Raids, changes Convergences, and more

The latest chapter of Guild Wars 2's Janthir Wilds expansion, titled Godspawn, promises to achieve some hefty goals, such as delivering a new Raid, a different approach toward narrative and rewards, a revamped convergence experience, and more.

Godspawn is the first of three quarterly updates scheduled for the Janthir Wilds expansion, following the new release model outlined during the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

We were invited to an hour-long preview event to see all the changes and new additions coming to Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds with Godspawn. This is a comprehensive look at all the content we enjoyed, so without further ado, let's begin.

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Everything we know about Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds - Godspawn

The preview and play-along session was filled with the developers walking us through all the aspects of the Godspawn update, telling us all the small details and design philosophies behind their decisions. Our first stop was a stroll through the first mission of the new act.

Narrative and campaign

Full disclosure, we were offered a full playthrough of the new missions, but I refrained from doing so because I want to experience the story myself when it arrives. Still, the first mission was a mixture of dialogues and sporadic combat against a new sub-faction of Titanic beings.

According to the developers, the story heavily involves an investigative approach rather than the combat-dialogue-combat cadence of previous story beats. It was interesting to see the story shift its focus towards Janthir Syntri and have an increased Charr involvement. This is considering the Charr, Titans, and the previous occupiers of Janthir Syntri, the Mursaat and the White Mantle, are inextricably linked since the original Guild Wars.

The encounters promise to be difficult but rewarding (Image via ArenaNet)

In Godspawn, Convergences are being weaved into the narrative more intricately than previously experienced in Secrets of the Obscure. Convergences in Godspawn are centered around Stoic Alder retelling a story of the Wayfinder-Commander scaling Mount Balrior and facing the great enemy, to a group of Lowland Kodan children. The in-game events are narrated in real-time as players complete these and even have special dialogues should an event fail.

During our preview, we couldn't enter the Raid. Hence, any narrative connection to the activity remains unknown. As it stands, Janthir Wilds's narrative has been a mix of exposition and cleverly obscured lore references. What began as an excursion into the previously uncharted wilds has morphed into yet another catastrophe, and unfortunately, the Lowland Kodan have the most to lose.

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Convergences and Raid

The Convergence event and Raid are undoubtedly the centerpiece of this update. During the preview event, the developers exhausted every possible information regarding Mount Balrior and how the map expansion allowed them to develop multiple gameplay approaches using a shared space.

Mount Balrior is the place to be in Godspawn, as the campaign, the Convergence, and the Raid all exist in the same gameplay space. The Convergence event, in particular, has been designed as a map-wide meta event, similar to Dragon's End or Dragon's Stand.

Now even you can look in raids (Image via ArenaNet)

There are multiple ways to move about aside from Mounts and Gliding, like steam vents protruding from mountainsides, or breakable walls that require using the Warclaw's spear pull attack to break. There are also weather events that can bring additional hurdles. The developers implied that with time, the Convergence will change to include new challenges to keep the experience fresh.

As previously mentioned, the Raid was unavailable to us. However, the developers divulged a few details about the activity. This included how it has been designed as a gateway for new raiders and encouraging raiding, how mounts were involved during the initial development cycle but were dropped in favor of a smoother combat cadence, and more.

Players can still use mounts between encounters to move around quickly, similar to the Path of Fire Raids. While the initial Raid launch will be easier for accessibility, later updates will introduce Challenge and Legendary modes for the seasoned raiders of Guild Wars 2.

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Rewards

Naturally, the conversation ended on the reward structure and the myriad offerings that Godspawn had in store for players. Perhaps the tentpole reward of this update is the Legendary Klobjarne spear. This unique item will come in six different cosmetic flavors, corresponding to its name.

While not much information was shared regarding the crafting process, the preview showcased a lengthy collection grind of over 50 individual items.

One of the unique variants of the Klobjarne, titled Klobjarne Geirr (Image via ArenaNet)

The developers reiterated their drive to make the rewards from the Mount Balrior Raid exclusive and not have veteran players purchase everything with their existing inventory. These rewards include a set of three Ascended gloves themed around Decima, and a Greer-themed backpack that will act as a glider skin.

Beyond that, the Raid will feature an exclusively new set of Ascended weapons and the return of Gaeting Crystals as Raid currency, previously discontinued after the simplification of Raid rewards. The Raid encounters are expected to give a hefty sum of gold per encounter, a guaranteed Exotic piece of gear, and quite possibly a Legendary Insight.

These boxes will contain the goods once the update drops (Image via ArenaNet)

The reward from Convergences has been streamlined compared to Secrets of the Obscure. Players will not need any Mastery Points to obtain the maximum amount of rewards, unlike the previous expansion's Convergences. Furthermore, Godspawn's Convergences will run at an offset timer to prevent conflicts with the previous Convergences, but will still arrive on a three-hour schedule.

The Wizard's Vault has received quite the facelift with this update. Players can draw the standard set of rewards like Gold, crafting materials, and build template expansions. There will also be exclusive rewards like a unique Warclaw skin, three unique pieces of Rot Stalker armor, and more.

The biggest change coming to the Wizard's Vault is the Mists Vault, where players will get an extended preview of the unique weapons offered.

The Mists vault, where legends are stored (Image via ArenaNet)

The Mists Vault is an entirely separate space, featuring a full-scale display of the four legendary weapons available for the ongoing cycle, with player models showcasing equip/stow animations and unique footprints.

The four weapons on display during the preview, were the Twilight greatsword, the Kudzu longbow, the Howler warhorn, and the Kamohoali'i Kotaki spear. However, these are subject to change.

Beyond these, Godspawn will bring a new mastery tier for homestead crafting unique homestead decorations, six new collectible relics, achievements, and collections.

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From all the conversations and questions, it was evident that Godspawn is an incredibly ambitious developmental jump from Secrets of the Obscure's second update, Through the Veil. Now all that remains is for players to jump in and experience it for themselves today.