Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns continues the storyline that has the game world of Tyria facing off against the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. As the storyline unfolded through the game’s Living World updates, players had speculated about one possible casualty in the war with Mordremoth. In one cliffhanger, Tyria’s iconic hero Rytlock disappeared into a mysterious void as he chased the weapon to end the curse of the Foefire and drive the ghosts of Ascalon away for good.

In Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, Rytlock not only makes a triumphant return from the mysterious Mists, he comes back with an all-new set of abilities. His return sets the stage for one of the expansion’s most exciting additions, the introduction of an all-new profession called the Revenant that channels powers from some of the Guild Wars universe’s most legendary heroes.

In addition to these features, ArenaNet showcased every key new feature the expansion brings to the core game, covering additions to both PvE and competitive PvP and World vs. World modes.  The trailer showcases each feature set, and set the stage for an ongoing series of updates now through launch that would delve much deeper into what each will bring to the expansion.

Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns' new PvP mode will be playable in the live game for all current Guild Wars 2 players in North America and Europe as part of an upcoming public beta test.

The Stronghold public beta will start Tuesday, June 2 at 9 pm CEST (8pm BST) and ends on Wednesday, June 3 at 9 pm CEST (8pm BST). Stronghold mode is an exciting new competitive mode coming to Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns that blends deep strategy, role-based play, and immersive story elements into PvP. Like previous Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns beta events, players are free to capture video, screenshots and even livestream their performance in Stronghold mode so even non-Guild Wars 2 players can witness the in-game fun.