Guild Wars 2 Living World Season 3 Trailer

ArenaNet has announced Guild Wars 2 Living World Season 3 – arriving July 26.

The first episode of the Living World Season 3 will be titled Out of the Shadows and will release on July 26, and it will pick up where Heart of Thorns left off.

Just in case you need a refresher on the story so far, the important plot points are below. Otherwise feel free to skip to the next paragraph!

• The Elder Dragon Mordremoth, which unleashed its hordes of minions across all of Tyria and all but destroyed the world’s united military force, is dead, but the cost of victory was high. Tyria as a whole has a lot of regrouping to do to figure out how to move forward.
• Elder Dragons feed on magical energy. When Mordremoth was killed, a burst of that magic flooded back out into the world, and some of it settled into the magical Bloodstone deep in the jungle. There’s an excess of magic now that’s bringing a lot of factions out to try to take advantage of it.
• The White Mantle, a group of religious zealots who worship an ancient magical race called the mursaat, have been stirring up trouble both in Kryta and in the Maguuma Jungle – the area introduced in Heart of Thorns. The latest raid showed that they were trying to harness the power of the Bloodstone in an attempt to resurrect one of their gods.
• Taimi, a young asuran researcher, was left in the subterranean city of Rata Novus, a long-lost headquarters for intelligence on the Elder Dragons and how to destroy them. With Zhaitan and Mordremoth already defeated, she’s turning her prodigious intellect towards uncovering the weaknesses of the remaining threats to Tyria.
• During the course of Heart of Thorns, players found and protected a dragon egg – which is rare enough on its own, but this egg comes from Glint, a former servant of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik who rebelled against her master and tried to protect the races of Tyria. The future of this egg is a big question mark: will it take after its mother? Did the power released on Mordremoth’s death affect it? Will it be an ally or an enemy of the races of Tyria?

In order to play Season 3 episodes, players will need to own Heart of Thorns. A level 80 character will also be necessary, and an instant level-80 boost is included with every purchase of Heart of Thorns so players can get right into the action. Players will not need to have completed the Heart of Thorns story to unlock and play the new episodes. Episodes are unlocked by logging into the game while the current episode is active, and it will remain permanently unlocked for players to enjoy. Players who do not yet own Heart of Thorns can “bank” an episode by logging in while the episode is live, but they will not be able to play until they have purchased Heart of Thorns.