Guild Wars 2's First Expansion Heart of Thorns Announced

Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet has announced Heart of Thorns, the first expansion pack for the MMO.

The expansion will let players explore the Heart of Maguuma, a brand new jungle area. The Heart of Maguuma is made up of three distinct biomes, and ArenaNet says it's one of the largest areas it ever built.

Guild Wars 2 game director Colin Johanson announced the news at the company's "Guild Wars 2: Beyond the Point of No Return" panel at PAX South.

The expansion will add the Mastery system, an endgame, account-based PvP progression system. Players will earn mastery points as they explore the map, complete missions, and other activities, which they'll be able to spend them on abilities available across characters for your PVP account. For example, players will be able to buy the hand gliding ability, and improve it to reach hard to reach locations.

Johanson also introduces Specializations, which will give existing classes access to new skills and weapons, the new Revenant profession, a new World vs. World Borderland map, and the competitive PvP Stronghold mode, where players fight for control of supplies, recruit troops, and attack the enemy stronghold.

Players in the audience were especially excited to hear about the addition of Guild Halls, a space for your guild to meet, progress your Guild Hall, and organize for guild missions.

For more on Guild Wars 2, check out our previous coverage.