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.

Tempest is a close-range specialization capable of blasting out damage, healing and support abilities, including ‘Eye of the Storm’ which allows players to call down a storm on their characters and allies. Eye of the Storm breaks stun on anyone affected in a short radius and grants them super speed for a short time; there’s also ‘Aftershock’, an ability which cripples nearby enemies with earthen force.

The tempest also possesses the Overload ability which allows players to call in the forces of either fire, water, air and earth to benefit the player and their allies, depending on their attunement.

While the elementalist has mastered the elements of fire, water, air, and earth, the tempest looks to extend the boundaries. With the design of this elite specialization, we’re aiming to add a more direct frontline support option that rewards precise positioning and the ability to turn a fight with sound decision making and deft blows.

Remaining attuned to an element for a period of time will now allow you the option to overload that attunement for a short while. Once you’ve attained a singularity with the attunement, you can reactivate it to perform a special channeled ability. These abilities are so chaotic and draining that they exhaust your current attunement, locking you out of it for a period of time should you move to another element. Before you ask, yes, the Fresh Air trait will refresh your exhausted air attunement and allow you to overload it much sooner.

Each attunement will obtain its own overload ability, and here’s how they’ll work:

• Overload Fire: Allow flames to leak out from your essence, building an infernal tornado over time that continuously damages and burns enemies while granting allies might. Successfully completing the ability leaves the tornado at your current location for a period of time.
• Overload Water: Pull water into an aquatic bubble around you as you regenerate and cleanse conditions from yourself and nearby allies. At the end of the ability, your water bubble pops to give a larger heal to nearby allies.
• Overload Air: Become a conduit of electricity, creating a nimbus cloud above you that repeatedly strikes nearby enemies, rending their armor. Successfully completing this ability leaves a lightning field at your location that strikes enemies in its vicinity.
• Overload Earth: Rend the earth, bend it to your will, and take a ride on it, granting protection to nearby allies and crippling enemies. When you return to earth, deliver a tremendous immobilizing blast.

Specializing as a tempest will allow you to use eight new abilities as you wield their newest weapon—the warhorn. These abilities will assist in helping you both support your allies and create disruptive areas for enemies. While in water attunement, you’ll be able to unleash a moving water field that heals allies. Air attunement’s cyclone will pull enemies to a point, while its lightning orb will fire projectiles at all enemies within its path. Along with these and other skills, using a warhorn will also unlock the elementalist’s latent potential to share boons and extend their durations among allies.

With newfound abilities in audio mastery, you’ll gain the ability to use shout skills as utilities. Here’s the list of healing, utility, and elite skills you’ll have access to as a tempest:

Healing:

• “Wash the Pain Away!”: Heal allies, and cleanse conditions from them. This healing skill is a bit more unique, as it heals allies for the same amount that you are healed for outside of the initial healing when activating the skill.

Utility:

• “Feel the Burn!”: Sear your voice into the ground and cause continually growing flames to emit from that location.
• “Eye of the Storm!”: Call the storm down on yourself and nearby allies, breaking stun on anyone affected and granting them superspeed for a time.
• “Aftershock!”: Emanate a powerful earthen force around yourself, crippling enemies. After a short delay, an aftershock ripples forth, immobilizing enemies in its wake.
• “Flash Freeze!”: Command the air around your foes to cool and harden, damaging and chilling your foes for a period of time.

Elite:

• “Rebound!”: This is the only arcane aspect available to the tempest. Using this arcane shout will affect allies in the area around you, causing the next ability they use to have a 25% reduced recharge.

The elite specialization’s traits will have multiple options to promote defense, support, and overloading your attunements. Let’s delve a little into the tempest’s minor traits and a couple of major traits you’ll see.

• Minor Trait One—Singularity: This minor trait unlocks the ability to overload your attunements. You’ll see multiple traits that beef up your overload abilities, such as Unstable Conduit, which grants an aura specific to your attunement when you successfully complete an overload ability.
• Minor Trait Two—Speedy Conduit: You’ll gain swiftness while overloading an attunement, allowing you to move more easily around the battlefield. You can enhance this movement by equipping the Lucid Singularity trait, which cleanses and then reduces the duration of incoming inhibiting conditions by 100%.
• Minor Trait Three—Hardy Conduit: Gain protection when beginning an overload ability. In order to use these channeling skills for damage and support, you’ll occasionally need to soak up a little extra damage yourself. If you so choose, this trait can be bolstered by a specific major trait in the line called Earthen Proxy. The effects of protection on you will be increased from 33% to 40% damage reduction.

Elementalists, you are called upon to unleash the inferno, drive the uncontrollable torrents, rain hell and lightning upon your foes, and harness the earth and ride it into victory. The tempest cannot be stopped; your enemies cannot endure. Press forward!