Guild Wars 2: Is This Old MMORPG Still Worth Your Time?
Author – Waydot
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Guild Wars 2 in 2025: Is It Still Worth Your Time?
Guild Wars 2 has been a staple in the MMO world since its 2012 launch, offering a massive, free-to-play base game, a unique blend of action and tab-target combat, and a progression system that dares to defy the genre’s norms. Over a decade later, with five expansions behind it and a seventh on the horizon, the question stands: is Guild Wars 2 still worth playing in 2025?
Horizontal Progression Done Right
One of Guild Wars 2’s biggest selling points is its horizontal progression. Unlike vertical systems—where each expansion makes old gear obsolete—GW2’s top-tier equipment from its early years is still competitive today. That means you can take your time with content without worrying about your hard-earned rewards becoming irrelevant.
Guild Wars 2 is basically the king of horizontal progression when it comes to MMORPGs, the only 2 close.. Sort of competitors are ESO and potentially Runescape.. But really GW2 takes the cake in this regard mostly just due to its staggering amount of horizontal content.. For example reaching the max level of 80 in guild wars 2 is widely considered to just be the tutorial if you will, this takes you through most if not all of the base game zones as well as the entire base game story.
But once you’re level 80 you’re still working on a horizontal system known as masteries, and your characters will acquire mastery points which are account wide. Within this mastery system you’ll find a plethora of unlocks almost similar to something you might find in a single player rpg, these can be completely game changing with things like housing systems and flying mounts and sailing and fishing basically an account that has maxed out every mastery versus a fresh level 80 account is pretty much playing an entirely different game.
Just within the game currently there are 36 different mastery tracks with over 700 obtainable mastery points that you can put into these mastery tracks… completing this entire endeavor would take most likely thousands of hours and this is only set to increase with the new expansion coming out in just a couple of months.
The Base Game: Free, Massive, and Alive
The base game alone offers hundreds of hours of story, exploration, and world events—at no cost. While it may feel less flashy than the expansions, ArenaNet’s design ensures that older zones remain relevant. Thanks to the dynamic event system and an always-updated event timer, you’ll rarely find yourself alone, even in early maps.
New players should note that mounts are locked behind expansions—specifically Path of Fire. But even without one, the sheer scale of Tyria and its living world is worth experiencing.
The Expansions: Each a Game-Changer
Every expansion changes how you play:
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Heart of Thorns (2015) – Introduced the Mastery system and the glider, plus massive vertical maps like the Heart of Maguuma.
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Path of Fire (2017) – Added mounts, each with unique movement abilities. The raptor alone makes this expansion worth buying early.
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End of Dragons (2022) – Brought fishing, skiffs, jade bots, and the Cantha region’s rich atmosphere.
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Secrets of the Obscure (2023) – Added the Skyscale, GW2’s first true flying mount, and a lucrative meta-event.
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Janthir Wilds (2024) – Introduced land spears, expanded the Warclaw mount, and—finally—player housing.
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Visions of Eternity (coming October 28, 2025) – Promises new elite specializations, the Castora zone, homestead upgrades, and an enhanced skimmer mount.
ArenaNet’s approach means each expansion not only adds content, but also changes how you experience all previous content.
PvP, Events, and the MMO That Keeps Giving
Now there’s plenty more to guild wars 2 outside of the expansions of course, the holiday events are always particularly exciting, the world vs world PVP system is one of the only MMO PVP systems that I genuinely find myself craving to go play again and again, you team up and basically take on a mix of PVP and PVE while trying to dominate sections of the map and this results in some pretty great rewards..
You also don’t necessarily need to find a guild or specific people to play with as oftentimes you can just hop into the world vs world map and join one of the groups already going.
GW2’s World vs. World PvP mode blends large-scale battles with PvE objectives, creating a competitive experience that’s as persistent as its PvE world. Seasonal events—Halloween, Wintersday, Lunar New Year—add fresh rewards and activities throughout the year.
Best of all, the game is generous with free level-80 character boosts, making it easy to try new professions without starting from scratch.
So… Is It Worth Playing in 2025?
Absolutely.
In my opinion Guild Wars 2 is one of the single best MMORPGs to play right now, between this game and ESO I have completely fallen in love with horizontal progression systems in a way that I never knew I would prior to trying them myself.
I really hope moving forward Arenanet takes some of the best parts of both Guild Wars 1 and 2, and applies them to Guild Wars 3 while adding something new and innovative, not only am I optimistic about Guild Wars 2, but I’m optimistic about the franchise, and I don’t think I can really attribute that same praise to any other MMO on the market.
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