Game Update 2026-08-26

New items for sale

The Purveyor [Bonus Merchant]

The Purveyor [Bonus Merchant] is a new merchant in Ascalon City, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, Kamadan, and the Great Temple of Balthazar. The Purveyor buys and sells some normal items, but also provides access to new account upgrades that are purchasable through the in-game store or via the Guild Wars web store.

• Infinite Identification and Salvage Kit Bundle - $9.99 USD - If you have this account upgrade, the Purveyor will provide you Infinite Identification and Infinite Salvage kits. Both items never run out of charges.

• Merchant Summoning Item - Purveyor's Bell - $6.99 USD - If you have this account upgrade, the Purveyor will provide you the Purveyor's Bell, which allows you to summon the Purveyor in any explorable area, giving you access to merchant services out in the field. With this upgrade, the Purveyor will provide you a Reforged Coin once daily, which is redeemable with the Purveyor for a variety of useful items (items redeemable with Reforged Coins are subject to change).

Account upgrade bundles

Two new account upgrade bundles are purchasable through the in-game store or via the Guild Wars web store.

• Reforged Starter Bundle - $14.99 USD - Adds two additional character slots and two additional storage panes in the Xunlai storage chest.

• Reforged Costume Bundle - $29.99 USD - Unlocks all purchasable costumes that exist so far!

Cartographer title tuning changes

The cartographer title has had difficult edge cases since it launched. We've been working on the balance of it to make it more accessible while retaining the challenge of completely exploring maps. In this release, we've modified the calculation of 'completeness' to account for the very difficult to uncover map tiles that exist in some maps. We intend to sell this item in the future and it will be identical to the version that is dropped in-game. Before we sell it in the shop we want it dialed in as best as we can.

Skill balance pass philosophy

The August update features over 150 skill changes across all ten professions. Here's the philosophy that went into today's update.

We continue to try to highlight underutilized skills with real potential to increase build versatility, flexibility, and variety. We saw some encouraging movement in our key metrics for skill usage after the June update and we are looking to build on that while adjusting some skills that were pushed into over/under-powered territory.

For PvE casual and speedclear players, our high-level goal is driving interesting varieties of viable builds with the potential for fun new discoveries. This increases as underutilized skills become increasingly viable. We also want the meta builds reasonable and not too powerful/dominant which would trivialize content.

For PvP our goal is to tone down dominant builds until we get into an interesting meta rotation where there are no "best at everything" builds that cannot be countered. We want players to constantly be coming up with clever ways to use the massive set of skills to keep their opponents on their toes.

Most of this update is focused on buffs—cheaper costs, faster recharges, and quality-of-life improvements—aimed at skills and attribute lines that are not seeing much play. When we do nerf a skill, we are targeting specific skills that are suppressing build creativity. They do so by creating strategies so dominant that it doesn't make sense to use anything else. In the case of PvP, there isn't compelling counterplay. When we make those adjustments, they are targeted at the environment where the problem actually lives (PvE or PvP generally). There are also several skills that have seen significant functionality rework to increase the spectrum of builds. Some of the changes create a more clear identity for those skills while reinforcing the core profession fantasy.

We're incredibly grateful to the community for providing a wealth of excellent feedback and detailed notes/suggestions after the June balance patch and we look forward to seeing what y'all think about this one!

We try to keep the update notes as accurate as possible, but we are live updating these skills based on testing and sometimes miss updating the notes. We love reading your notes on the build. We can make emergency adjustments where they are needed with small hotfixes, but generally we are going to let the meta play out for a while to see where further adjustments are needed.

That said, this is likely to be last really big balance update this year.

Other adjustments

• Costume maker and Shrine to Godly Accoutrements are now available in Ascalon City.

Skill bug fixes

• Ebon Hawk - Fix an issue where Weakness was being applied for 20 seconds regardless of the caster's Earth attribute, now appropriately scales based on the attribute.

• Renewing Surge - Hex correctly triggers its end effect when the target dies.

• Sand Shards - Recasting while the enchantment is already active correctly refreshes the number of strikes.

Skill AI adjustments

• Splinter Weapon: Casters target allies again, but only if they are in range AND in your team display (NPC allies), minions, pets, and summons. Party is prioritized first.

• Strength of Honor: Casters no longer drop a third maintained enchantment instantly and can sustain this on 3 melee characters. No longer drop the enchant if weapon is changed from melee.

Pet AI adjustments

• Pets in guard no longer attack close-range targets unless the targets are hostile.

• Pets in guard no longer automatically attack their player's target unless the player calls the target or sets it as a locked target.

• Pets in guard updated targeting priority: 1. Locked target 2. Called target 3. AI choice.

• Increased responsiveness when a higher-priority target is set by the player.

Known issues

• Several skills received updated text after our localization deadline and are missing localized text. These will be fixed in our next localization pass.

Skill update details

Assassin

Sharpen the opportunist identity of the profession—deadly against isolated targets, unmatched mobility, in and out before anyone knows you were there. Utility and lead-in attack tools are generally cheaper and several projectiles have been sped up to make hitting more consistent, so ambush and split play cost less to attempt. In exchange, PvP versions of a couple of mobility and shutdown outliers now ask for real investment—incredible mobility should be a significant part of your build choice, not a freebie.

[list=1]

• Aura of Displacement - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Black Lotus Strike - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Black Spider Strike - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Caltrops - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5, add Bleeding.

• Crippling Dagger - Double projectile speed.

• Dancing Daggers - Double projectile speed, increase damage from 5..35 to 10..40.

• Dash (SPLIT BOTH) - Moved to Shadow Arts. (PvP) Recharge increased from 8 to 12. Rework: "For 3 seconds, you run 50% faster. Every 2 points in Shadow Arts lowers recharge by 1 second (max 6 seconds).

• Disrupting Dagger - Double projectile speed.

• Expunge Enchantments - Reduce skill disable from 10..5 to 8..4.

• Mantis Touch - Reduce recharge from 20 to 10.

• Recall - Reduce energy cost from 15 to 10, reduce skill disable when the enchantment ends from 10 to 3 seconds.

• Seeping Wound - Change activation range from half to full.

• Shadow Meld - Reduce recharge from 20 to 10.

• Shadow Prison - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Shadow Shroud (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce duration from 3..9 to 2..7.

• Sharpen Daggers - Reduce activation from 1 to 0.5.

Dervish

Still looking to rein in Dervishes a bit on the PvP side of things. The overall efficiency of many of their skills is significantly higher than other professions and the jack-of-all-trades nature of a lot of their kit makes counterplay frustrating (if it is possible at all). On the PvE side of things, we're working on a few buffs to open up some options and an overhaul to Mirage Cloak that retains its core identity while opening up interesting new synergies with other skills and professions.

[list=1]

• Aura Slicer (SPLIT PvP) - Increase adrenaline cost from 4 to 5.

• Fleeting Stability (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce duration from 4..10 to 2..8. (BOTH) Reduce recharge from 15 to 10.

• Grenth's Grasp - Remove the cold-weapon requirement.

• Harrier's Grasp (SPLIT PvP) - Rework: "(5..20 second[s].) Melee attacks on moving foes also Cripple them…".

• Mirage Cloak (SPLIT PvE) - Increase energy cost from 10 to 15, increase duration from 1..7 to 20, increase recharge from 15 to 24, rework: "For 20 seconds, you have a 40% chance to block and an additional 10% for each enchantment (max 80%). Each time an enchantment is removed from you, all nearby foes are struck for 10..40 earth damage."

• Mystic Corruption (SPLIT PvP) - Adjust Disease duration from 1..10 to 2..6.

• Mystic Regeneration (PvP) - Increase recharge from 12 to 15.

• Mystic Sandstorm - Increase unconditional damage per second from 10..20 to 10..40.

• Pious Restoration (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 8 to 15, reduce hexes removed from 1..3 to 1.

• Signet of Pious Restraint (PvP) - Increase recharge from 10 to 16.

• Test of Faith - Reduce activation from 0.75 to 0.5, increase Daze duration from 1..4 to 2..6.

• Whirling Charge (SPLIT PvE) - Decrease recharge from 10 to 8, increase damage from 10..50 to 10..60.

Elementalist

Mainly looking to bring the Water attribute up with this update—with several skills getting adjustments to increase their utility in addition to generally being significantly cheaper and faster. On the Air front, a few of June's adjustments cut deeper than we wanted, so we are readjusting those to restore their overall efficiency. A couple of adjustments to energy managements skills rounds out the package along with the game's first new skill in a while. We are experimenting with a new—PvE-only—skill that gives players a new tool to manage Overcast in an interesting way. Our goal is to use this version of the skill for community testing to determine if it is viable for PvP as well. Please share your feedback on the skill as you figure out interesting builds with it.

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• Aftershock - Adjust both damage amounts from 26..10/10..68 (respectively) to 15..85 (reduces the unconditional damage, increases conditional knockdown damage, increases overall damage).

• Conjure Flame/Frost/Lightning - Reduce recharge from 45 to 30.

• Elemental Attunement - Change energy refund to "…you gain 1 Energy plus 50% of the base cost".

• Icy Prism - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Lightning Orb (BOTH) - Reduce energy cost from 15 to 10.

• Lightning Strike - Increase damage from 5..40 to 10..60, increase Overcast conditional damage from 5..40 to 20..40.

• Lightning Surge - Decrease energy cost from 15 to 10. Cracked armor happens before damage.

• Lightning Touch - Reduce recharge from 10 to 5.

• Maelstrom - Reduce energy cost from 25 to 15, reduce activation from 2 to 1.5, reduce recharge from 30 to 20.

• Master of Magic - Change energy refund to "…and you gain 1 Energy plus 30% of the cost when you use an elemental skill."

• Over the Limit - Cast time bonus increased from 15..20 to 20..50, recharge bonus increased from 15..50 to 40..80. Increased amount of Overcast generated from 1 to 3.

• Ride the Lightning (BOTH) - Reduce energy cost from 10/15 (respectively) to 5.

• Rust - Increase damage from 10..70 to 10..85.

• Shatterstone - Add "…moves 66% slower, and is hexed…"

• Soul Ignition (new skill, PvE only) - "While you maintain this enchantment, reduce overcast at a rate of 1..2 per second. You and all adjacent foes are afflicted with burning while this enchantment is active." Recharge 30, cast time 0.5. Energy Storage. PvE only to start. [list=1]

• Skill can be obtained from Dakk (Ember Light Camp), Zenaida (Harvest Temple), or Zendeht (Gate of Torment).

• Steam - Add "…and they take an additional 20..60 fire damage" to the "on fire" condition.

• Ward Against Harm (PvP) - Reduce recharge from 30 to 20.

Mesmer

Focused on bringing up Illusion and Inspiration to try to increase the profession's utility options and see if we can get some build variety outside of Domination.

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• Blackout - Increase duration from 2..6 to 2..8.

• Channeling - Reduce recharge from 15 to 10.

• Ethereal Burden - Change effect duration from 10 to 6..12.

• Fevered Dreams (PvP) - Reduce recharge from 20 to 15.

• Fragility (PvP) - Give the PvE functionality of affecting adjacent foes.

• Illusionary Weaponry (BOTH) - Reduce recharge from 15 to 10, increase damage from 16..50 to 20..60.

• Kitah's Burden - Change effect duration from 10 to 6..12.

• Mirror of Disenchantment (PvP) - Reduce energy cost from 15 to 10.

• Phantom Pain - Reduce recharge from 15 to 10.

• Symbols of Inspiration - Change from "Elite spells" to "Elite skills" using your Fast Casting attribute, reduce recharge from 15 to 10, increase duration from 1..31 to 6..40.

• Sum of All Fears - Increase duration from 1..10 to 4..12.

• Tease (SPLIT PvE) - Reduce recharge from 20 to 15.

• Time Ward - Increase duration from 3..15 to 6..20.

• Wastrel's Demise (PvE) - Reduce recharge from 5 to 4.

• Wastrel's Worry (SPLIT PvE) - Reduce recharge from 4 to 2.

Monk

Increase the viability of non-elite healing options while trying to get a couple of alternative elites up to a level that makes them competitive for the top spot in healing builds. Some light buffs for Smiting to increase variety. On the PvP side, looking to tone down the efficiency of a couple of defensive skills.

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• Aegis (PvE) - Increase effect duration from 5..11 to 6..15.

• Bane Signet - Increase damage from 26..56 to 30..60, reduce recharge from 20 to 15.

• Banish - Increase damage from 20..56 to 20..65.

• Blessed Light - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5, reduce healing from 10..140 to 10..120, increase recharge from 3 to 5.

• Castigation Signet - Reduce recharge from 20 to 15, increase energy gain from 1..10 to 4..14.

• Defender's Zeal - Increase effect duration from 5..25 to 10..30.

• Dwayna's Kiss - Increase unconditional healing from 15..60 to 20..65, increase per-enchantment/hex healing from 10..35 to 15..40.

• Heal Party (PvP) - Reduce recharge from 20 to 10.

• Healing Light - Reduce activation from 1 to 0.75, increase healing from 40..100 to 40..120.

• Healing Touch - Increase healing from 16..60 to 20..80.

• Holy Haste - Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Kirin's Wrath - Reduce activation from 2 to 1, reduce recharge from 30 to 10.

• Light of Deliverance (PvP) - Reduce recharge from 10 to 8.

• Orison of Healing - Increase healing from 20..70 to 30..80.

• Peace and Harmony (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 10 to 15, reduce hex and condition removal from 0..9 to 0..4.

• Shield Guardian (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 20 to 25, reduce healing from 10..40 to 10..35. (PvE) Increase effect time from 1..4 to 2..6.

• Signet of Devotion - Increase healing from 14..100 to 20..120.

• Words of Comfort - Increase unconditional healing from 15..60 to 20..65, conditional healing from 15..45 to 20..50.

Necromancer

Targeted buffs to bring Blood and Curses more into play along with some reworks to skills to increase their utility and potential synergies.

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• Animate Flesh Golem - Increase exploitable corpses left on the golem's death from 1 to 1..4.

• Barbs - Reduce activation from 2 to 1, increase damage from 1..15 to 4..16.

• Contagion - Reduce recharge from 20 to 10.

• Corrupt Enchantment - Reduce recharge from 10 to 5.

• Cultist's Fervor - Reduce recharge from 25 to 15.

• Dark Pact - Increase damage from 10..48 to 20..60.

• Envenom Enchantments - Reduce recharge from 20 to 15.

• Faintheartedness - Increase duration from 3..16 to 4..18, increase health degeneration from 0..3 to 1..3.

• Foul Feast - Increase energy gain from 0..2 to 2..4.

• Insidious Parasite - Reduce energy cost from 15 to 10, reduce recharge from 12 to 8.

• Necrotic Traversal - Rework: "Exploit a random corpse or sacrifice 30..20% health to teleport to target foe's location. You become Diseased for 6 seconds and all nearby foes become Poisoned for 5..20 second[s]."

• Putrid Bile - Increase duration from 5..20 to 5..25.

• Reaper's Mark - Reduce recharge from 15 to 10.

• Soul Barbs - Reduce recharge from 20 to 10.

• Ulcerous Lungs - Increase duration from 10..25 to 10..30, increase Bleeding duration from 3..15 to 5..20.

• Well of Power - Reduce recharge from 15 to 10, increase duration from 8..20 to 10..30.

Paragon

Paragons deserve real damage, but! A couple spear attacks got a little too much, and the biggest abusers were the Warriors borrowing them. We're adjusting a few spear skills to align them with their current power levels while ensuring that Paragons get to keep their new offensive identity.

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• Anthem of Flame - Increase Burning duration from 1..3 to 1..5.

• Anthem of Fury - Increase adrenaline gain from 1..4 to 2..5.

• Blazing Finale (PvP) - Increase Burning duration from 1..3 to 1..5.

• "Can't Touch This!" (BOTH) - Reduce recharge from 20 to 10.

• Crippling Anthem - Reduce adrenaline cost from 4 to 3.

• Defensive Anthem (BOTH) - Reduce recharge from 25 to 15.

• Focused Anger - Reduce recharge from 60 to 45.

• Hasty Refrain - Increase duration from 3..15 to 8..20.

• Lyric of Zeal - Reduce recharge from 5 to 0.

• Mighty Throw (BOTH) - Increase adrenaline cost from 2 to 4. (PvP) Reduce recharge from 2 to 1.

• Natural Temper - Increase duration from 4..10 to 4..15.

• Signet of Return (BOTH) - Reduce activation from 5 to 4, increase Health per party member from 5..15% to 5..20%.

• Spear of Lightning - Rework: "Strikes all foes between you and your target, deals +10..20 lightning damage, 25% armor penetration".

• Unblockable Throw - Increase adrenaline cost from 4 to 6.

Ranger

Reducing the super long-range spirits. The increase in their original distance was generally good, but it produced key frustrating situations—in PvP, spirits could influence fights from total safety and in PvE, enemy spirit effects were so large they were causing some unintended group crossover dynamics. The range is still increased from the original, but splitting the difference should tone down those frustrating, unintended situations. Some PvP adjustments to tone down a few build synergies that have been a bit too dominant in the recent meta. On the buff side of things, PvP rangers can now bring their pets along without having to take Charm Animal and there are some general buffs to bow attack skills.

[list=1]

• Burning Arrow - Increase Burning duration from 1..7 to 2..8.

• Comfort Animal (BOTH) - Increase health gain from 20..104 to 40..120. (PvP) Add "If you have Comfort Animal equipped, your animal companion will travel with you."

• Crippling Shot (SPLIT BOTH) - Increase Cripple duration from 1..12 to 4..14. (PvE) Reduce energy cost from 10 to 5.

• Enraged Lunge (PvP) - Reduce maximum damage cap from 80 to 60.

• Focused Shot - Increase recharge from 2 to 8. Increase skill disable from 5..3 to 8..4. Rework: "This shot moves three times faster, cannot be blocked, and strikes for +10..40 damage but all of your other attack skills are disabled for 8..4 seconds."

• Glass Arrows (PvP) - Increase damage from +5..12 to +6..18. (PvE) Increase damage from 5..20 to 6..20.

• Infuriating Heat (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 15 to 30, reduce adrenaline gain from double to an additional 33..66%.

• Keen Arrow (PvP) - Increase unconditional damage from +1..5 to +5..15.

• Melandru's Shot (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 8 to 12.

• Nature Spirits - Reduce range of nature spirits from 3500 to 3000. Affected skills: Brambles, Conflagration, Edge of Extinction, Energizing Wind, Equinox, Famine, Favorable Winds, Fertile Season, Frozen Soil, Greater Conflagration, Infuriating Heat (BOTH), Lacerate, Muddy Terrain, Nature's Renewal (BOTH), Pestilence, Predatory Season, Primal Echoes, Quickening Zephyr, Quicksand, Roaring Winds, Symbiosis, Toxicity, Tranquility (BOTH), Winnowing, Winter.

• Nature's Renewal (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce enchantment/hex casting penalty from 200% to 50..75%.

• Otyugh's Cry (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce duration from 10..25 to 5..15.

• Penetrating Attack/Sundering Attack (PvP) - Increase damage from +3..10 to +5..15.

• Tranquility (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce enchantment expiration speed increase from 20..50% to 10..30%.

Ritualist

The big highlight is an overhaul to Soul Twisting in PvP. The goal there is to keep the skill useful without it being quite as oppressive as it is currently. Buffs to a range of other skills trying to increase potential build variety and profession utility.

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• Ancestors' Rage (PvP) - Increase damage from 1..41 to 4..50.

• Caretaker's Charge - Increase energy gain from 5 to 7, increase damage from 20..75 to 20..85.

• Disenchantment (PvP) - Reduce activation from 5 to 3, increase duration from 10..35 to 15..40, reduce recharge from 45 to 30.

• Earthbind (PvP) - Reduce activation from 5 to 3, reduce recharge from 60 to 45.

• Flesh of My Flesh (PvP) - Reduce recharge from 10 to 6.

• Guided Weapon (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 5 to 12.

• Mending Grip - Increase healing from 20..80 to 30..90.

• Protective Was Kaolai (BOTH) - Increase armor bonus from +10 to +20, increase healing from 10..85 to 20..95.

• Soul Twisting (SPLIT BOTH) - Minimum threshold reduced from 10 to 5. (PvP) Change "…and recharge instantly" to "…and recharge 25..50% faster".

• Splinter Weapon (PvP) - Increase damage from 5..30 to 5..40.

• Wanderlust (PvP) - Reduce activation time from 5 to 3.

• Wielder's Strike - Increase unconditional damage from 5..50 to 10..60, increase conditional weapon spell bonus damage from 10..40 to 10..50.

Warrior

The main goal is to highlight the profession's role as a versatile melee attacker. Sword and axe lines get cheaper and hit harder, Tactics-adjacent tools improve, and a couple of key stances have been overhauled to tie them to Strength and decrease their drawback based on how much you're willing to pump into them. In PvP, we've toned down hammer's focus on a few over-efficient staples.

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• Auspicious Blow (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce energy gain from 3..8 to 2..4.

• Axe Rake - Increase additional damage from 1..10 to 4..16.

• Axe Twist - Increase additional damage from 1..20 to 5..25.

• Charging Strike (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce damage from 10..90 to 10..80.

• "Coward!" (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 2 to 4.

• Decapitate - Add unblockable, add "if target foe is killed by this attack, nearby enemies are Weakened for 8 seconds."

• Disrupting Chop - Reduce recharge from 1 to 0, reduce adrenaline cost from 6 to 5.

• Enraged Smash (PvP) - Reduce adrenaline gain from 1..4 to 1..3.

• Executioner's Strike - Reduce adrenaline cost from 8 to 7, increase additional damage from 10..40 to 15..45.

• Final Thrust - Increase damage from 1..40 to 5..40, reduce adrenaline cost from 10 to 8.

• Flail (SPLIT PvP) - Add "Flail ends if you use a ranged attack skill."

• Frenzy (SPLIT BOTH) - Rework: "For 8 seconds, you attack 33% faster but take (PvE) 175..125% (PvP) 200..150% damage." Moved to Strength.

• Hundred Blades (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce damage from 10..35 to 10..30.

• Penetrating Blow/Penetrating Chop - Increase additional damage from 5..20 to 10..25.

• Primal Rage (SPLIT BOTH) - Rework: "For 1..9 second[s], you attack 33% faster and move 33% faster, but you take (PvE) 150..125% (PvP) 200..150% damage."

• Protector's Defense (SPLIT PvP) - Reduce duration from 5..11 to 4..8.

• Protector's Strike (SPLIT PvP) - Increase recharge from 3 to 6.

• Shield Bash - Trigger changes from "attack skill" to "melee attack skill" so the skill is no longer triggered by ranged attack skills.

• Shove - Rework: "Target touched foe takes 15..75 damage, their stance ends, and they are knocked down."

• Sword adrenaline reductions: Sever Artery from 4 to 3, Gash from 6 to 5, Crippling Slash from 6 to 5, Dragon Slash from 8 to 7, Galrath Slash from 8 to 7, Silverwing Slash from 8 to 7, Steelfang Slash from 8 to 7, Quivering Blade from 5 to 4.

Hotfix

• Fixed the speed bug with Primal Rage.

• Fixed an occasional server crash with pet AI when a pet transitions to passive.

• Fixed a "skill consider" AI crash when AI tried to use necrotic traversal on itself.

Hotfix #2

• Fixed a bug where the wrong number number of Xunlai panes were displayed.

For more game information, visit the Guild Wars Wiki