Expansion

Expansions, short for expansion packs, are paid content upgrades for Guild Wars 2. They introduce new content exclusive to them, including story chapters, explorable zones, masteries, mounts, elite specializations, and instanced PvE content. They can be purchased as standalone products without needing to own the previous installments to activate the latest release. The stories are not standalone, however, and all Guild Wars 2 story releases follow one continuous narrative.

Post-expansion content released prior to End of Dragons are referred to as Living World. Excluding the free Season 1, these are additional purchases separate from expansions that also require the corresponding expansion to purchase and access the content. Similar to expansions, Living World introduces new content exclusive to them while continuing existing stories and systems from the preceding expansion to then setup the following expansion. Under this content release model, major expansions are released every two to four years with seasons of Living World releases between them.

As of February 28, 2022 with the release of End of Dragons, the Living World content model was discontinued. Post-expansion content were previously separate and not included with expansion purchase. They were instead permanently unlocked for free upon logging into a character during the release period, or purchased with gems after the period if not claimed. Now, all future post-expansion content are included for free upon purchase of the respective expansion. Access to Living World remain unchanged, however, and are still standalone purchases. Under this content release model, smaller expansions are released annually at a slightly reduced price and free post-expansion content are released through quarterly updates every three to four months. The first release in each expansion cycle introduces a new story arc and expansion-level features that are further expanded upon by each quarterly update, with the final update completing the expansion.

List of releases

Primary article: Release

This is a list of all major releases: the core game, expansions, Living World seasons, and post-expansion updates. These are ordered by their respective release dates as well as the story order.

Core Game

• Guild Wars 2 (Buy-to-Play: August 28, 2012; Free-to-play: August 29, 2015)
  • Living World Season 1 ― Scarlet's War (Original: January 28, 2013 – March 18, 2014; Free-to-play re-release: April 19, 2022 – November 8, 2022)
  • Living World Season 2 ― Glint's Prophecy (July 1, 2014 – January 13, 2015)

Elder Dragon Saga

• Expansion 1: Heart of Thorns (October 23, 2015; Free with Path of Fire: August 30, 2019)
  • Living World Season 3 ― Glint's Legacy (July 26, 2016 – July 25, 2017)

• Expansion 2: Path of Fire (September 22, 2017)
  • Living World Season 4 ― Rise of Kralkatorrik (November 28, 2017 – May 14, 2019)
  • Living World Season 5 ― The Icebrood Saga (September 17, 2019 – April 27, 2021)

• Expansion 3: End of Dragons (February 28, 2022)
  • What Lies Beneath, Deep Research, What Lies Within (February 28, 2023 - May 23, 2023)

Post-Elder Dragon Saga

• Expansion 4: Secrets of the Obscure (August 22, 2023)
  • Through the Veil, The Realm of Dreams, The Midnight King (November 7, 2023 - May 21, 2024)

• Expansion 5: Janthir Wilds (August 20, 2024)
  • Godspawn, Repentance, Absolution (November 19, 2024 - June 3, 2025)

• Expansion 6: Visions of Eternity (October 28, 2025)
  • Raids and Wardrobe, The Only Way, Quarterly Update 3 (February 3, 2026 - Ongoing)

Purchasing

See also: Account#Upgrade

Expansions may only be purchased with real-world money through approved retailers, however Living World and the digital deluxe upgrades of any owned expansion can be purchased with gems via the in-game Gem Store. Living World currently cannot be purchased with real-world money unless as part of specific expansion bundles.

Players must purchase expansions using the same distribution platform as their account. Paid content purchases made on a platform are not transferable to accounts created on a different platform.

Purchasing options are more limited for non-ArenaNet accounts. For instance, unlike Steam and Epic Games accounts, only ArenaNet accounts can purchase the deluxe and ultimate editions of an expansion with real-world money, with the latter edition exclusive to ArenaNet accounts. The below pages list the current and historical offerings for each platform:

• ArenaNet Store
• Steam Store
• Epic Games Store

Features overview

Owning the current expansion does not unlock all features from past content. Expansions are standalone and do not require owning past content to access their features (except for Homesteads); however, Living World (except Season 1) does require owning the respective expansions. The story follows one continuous narrative, but players can freely skip between owned content to unlock account-wide features.

Some features, such as mounts, have been added to other released content as a basic, full, or revamped version. Features are either immediately granted upon owning the respective expansion or fulfilling unlock requirements, such as achievement or story completion.

The below table lists the current features that are accessible upon owning the respective content:

Content	Free1	Open World Zones	Profession	Elite Specs	Weapons	Gliding	Mounts	Other main features
Elder Dragon Saga
Guild Wars 2 (Core) Buy-to-play: August 28, 2012 Free-to-play: August 29, 2015	1	36 (8 Hubs)		0	1	0	Basic2,3:	Fractals of the Mists Dungeons Player versus Player World versus World Activities & Festivals Dynamic Events HLegendary Equipment (most)
Living World Season 1 (LWS1) Core required Original: January 28, 2013 – March 18, 20144 Re-release: April 19, 2022 – November 8, 20224	1	1 Hub	0	0	0	0	0	Public Instances (3) Raid Encounter (1)
Living World Season 2 (LWS2) Core required July 1, 2014 – January 13, 20154	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	HLegendary Amulet5
Heart of Thorns (HoT) October 23, 2015	Included with (August 30, 2019)	4			: : : : : : :	Full	Basic3:	Raid Wings (4) Guild Halls (2) Bouncing Mushrooms Attribute Prefixes7 (9) HLegendary Armor HLegendary Weapons (all Gen 2)
Living World Season 3 (LWS3) HoT required July 26, 2016 – July 25, 20174	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	Downed Skill #5 GAscended Stat-Selectable Trinkets HLegendary Accessory HLegendary Amulet5
Path of Fire (PoF) September 22, 2017	0	5			: (m) (m) : (m/o) (m) : : : (m) (m) :	0	Basic: Full:	Raid Wings (3) Raid Encounters (7) Public Instance (1) Bounties Guild Hall (1) Attribute Prefixes7 (6) HLegendary Weapons (most Gen 2) HLegendary Ring
Living World Season 4 (LWS4) PoF required November 28, 2017 – May 14, 20194	0	6	0	0	0	0	Full:	Bounties Mount Skill #'s 6, 7, 8 GAscended Stat-Selectable Trinkets HLegendary Accessory HLegendary Amulet5
The Icebrood Saga (LWS5/IBS) PoF required September 17, 2019 – April 27, 20214	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	Dragon Response Missions (10) United Legions Waystations Mount Skill # 9 GAscended Stat-Selectable Trinkets HLegendary Amulet5
End of Dragons (EoD) February 28, 2022 – May 23, 20234	0	6 (1 Hub)			: (m) : : : (m) : (o) (m) : : (o)	Basic6	Basic3: Full:	Skiffs Fishing Jade Bots Raid Encounters (4) Guild Hall (1) Attribute Prefixes7 (2) HLegendary Weapons (Gen 3)
Post-Elder Dragon era
Secrets of the Obscure (SotO) August 22, 2023 – May 21, 20244	0	4 (1 Hub)	0	0	Unrestricted weapons New weapons: : (m) : (m/o) : (m) (m/o) : : (m) : : : (m/o)	Basic6	Basic3: Full3:	Raid Encounter (2) Rift Hunting Convergences (1) HLegendary Armor
Janthir Wilds (JW) August 20, 2024 – June 3, 20254	0	4	0	0	: All professions	Basic6	Basic3: Full3: (PvE only)	Homestead (1) Raid (1) Rift Hunting Convergences (1) Exclusive Relics7 HLegendary Spear HLegendary Backpack
Visions of Eternity (VoE) October 28, 2025 – TBA4	0	4	0		0	Basic6	Basic3: Full3:	Homestead10 (1) Raid Encounters (2) Convergence (1) Exclusive Relics7 HLegendary Weapons (3) HLegendary Accessories (2) HLegendary Aquabreather HLegendary Ring Full Wizard's Vault rewards9

1. Individual Living World episodes were previously unlocked for free by logging on to any character during the episode's original release or re-run window. Refer to each individual Living World Season for a history of free access dates.
2. Each character that reaches level 10 receives a 10-hour trial of the basic raptor mount, tracked by the  Mount Trial Active effect. Accounts that own any expansion will instead unlock the mount permanently.
3. An alternative mount acquisition method is available with this content; however, the mount mastery tracks still require owning the respective expansions. Training all of these mastery tracks may provide additional mount bonuses. Refer to the Mount page for more information.
4. Features are gradually delivered over the release period.
5. Requires all episodes of LWS2 through LWS4 to complete the Seasons of the Dragons achievement. However, players without LWS2 can still complete the LWS2 meta-achievements by partying with someone who both does and launches each story instance.
6. An alternative way to acquire gliding is available with this content; however, the gliding mastery track still requires owning HoT. Refer to the Gliding page for more information.
7. Stat-selectable equipment include all stats available based on the owned expansions. Legendary equipment have access to all attribute combinations regardless of expansion ownership.
8. Relics exclusive to JW and beyond must be unlocked to be selectible when using a Legendary relic.
9. Some Wizard's Vault rewards, such as the Legendary Weapon Starter Kits, require owning the most recent expansion to purchase. Pre-purchasing an expansion does not fulfill this requirement until it is officially released.
10. A new homestead is available with this content; however, accounts must also own JW to access it.

References

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Campaign.

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Guild Wars 2

Games	Guild Wars 2
Expansions	Heart of Thorns Path of Fire End of Dragons Secrets of the Obscure Janthir Wilds Visions of Eternity
Living World	Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 The Icebrood Saga
Other	Guild Wars Official Store Merchandise Promotions

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Expansion releases

Heart of Thorns Path of Fire End of Dragons Secrets of the Obscure Janthir Wilds Visions of Eternity