Woohoo!

It begins!!

Tried to link to the comment on the forum post, but it's not working:

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/134203-relics-bring-new-equipment-to-guild-wars-2-secrets-of-the-obscure/?do=findComment&comment=1948158

2 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:
Hello all and happy Friday! I've been keeping an eye on this thread and have been working with members of several development teams to round up answers to frequently asked questions that I've seen. (Huge thanks to everyone on the team who helped me with answers!) Answers are below, but I've also added them to my original post so they're easy to find and share. I'm going to get caught up on the thread this morning and while there are things we can't discuss right now, if I see more questions that can be answered I'll work with the team on those and try to provide more replies.

As always, thank you all for continuing to discuss and provide feedback--we appreciate it!

FAQ:

What happens to rune slot 6?
Slot 6 will be another stat bonus. Some runes already have a stat bonus here, and those that don’t will have one added.

Can I equip 5 runes and +1 of another set?
You can, as you can now, but this will be giving up the 6-slot bonus of one rune set for the 1 slot bonus of another.

Will relics that launch cover all the special effect from each 6-rune set?
Not all existing 6-slot rune bonuses will be available as relics at launch. We will continue adding additional core relics over time as part of our ongoing commitment to improving our core game features.

Can you explain the note about “choice of three core relics”?
When we say "your choice of three relics,” we mean that you’ll get to choose a total of three relics (exact number subject to change, but that’s our current plan) from among the available core relics.

There are runes that have the same exact stat combinations up to 5 runes and then the 6th rune is different. For example, the runes of the pack, fireworks and surging. Now the rune of the pack actually gives stats (+125 precision) for the 6th rune. But the other two only have the special ability and give no stat bonus. Or does the 25% increase in movement speed count as a stat increase?
In cases like this, we’ll be making sure that runes with duplicate 1-5 bonuses have unique 6 slot stats. In this example, 25% movement speed will count as a stat increase and will be seen on a handful of rune 6 pieces.

Will you be retiring any runes (due to duplicates or otherwise)?
No. All of the existing rune sets will have unique stat combinations and none of them will be removed.

What will happen for rune sets with a special ability on rune 2 and 4?
Unique 2 and 4 slot bonuses will become raw stats. (Boon and condition duration increases are not considered unique and will not be removed from runes.)

Do we need 7 or will 6 that everyone crafted be enough towards the progress?
We recognize most players will have only crafted up to 6 runes, but for players that have crafted seven, the extra effort will be recognized. That said, there is no requirement to make 7 legendary runes.

Why only "progress towards," rather than rewarding the relic itself?
The relic will need to be unlocked separately because relics will have new abilities beyond those covered by runes previously, and the legendary relic will be capable of expanding with new relic releases.

Is the relic choice box granted to each character over level 60, or do you get one per account?
The relic choice box is granted per character.

Rubi Bayer.8493
ArenaNet Staff
Posted 28 minutes ago

Hi all, I want to share an update related to graphics-related processes we’ve been working on.

Following up on our news earlier this year, we have completed the rollout of DX11 support and removed support of DX9. We have also discontinued Coherent support as part of our move to Chromium Embedded Framework. This means that the -usecoherent, -dx9, and -dx11 command line options are no longer functional. They will be removed in a future update.

We are continuing to track and investigate bugs related to these updates, so please keep reporting bugs that you find—we really appreciate it! Please note that the more information you share, the better. The first thing we have to do when investigating a bug report is recreate the problem for ourselves in order to take a close look at it, and the details in your bug reports are very helpful for that.

Thank you!

While the Guild Wars 2 community is currently and understandably bubbling over about the launch of Secrets of the Obscure expansion next month, ArenaNet is still patiently making its way through its summer roadmap – and that includes the Festival of the Four Winds, which rolls out next week.

“Festival of the Four Winds arrives to #GuildWars2 in one week!” tweeted the studio last night. “From July 18 until August 8, visit the Labyrinthine Cliffs and Crown Pavilion to join the festivities!”

Readers will surely recall that back in 2018, ArenaNet revived the festival after four years of hibernation, and it’s been back every summer since with updates. Last year’s event, for example, added new weapons and fishing contests since it was the first one since End of Dragons’ launch. We streamed it too if you want a lil preview!

If anyone has Amazon Prime gaming, there is an in-game code available that rewards one each of the following BL dye kits:

Frost Dye Kit Deathly Dye Kit Metallurgic Dye Kit Glint’s Winter Dye Kit Lion’s Arch Rebuild Dye Kit

Highlights:

• Story update with Aurene. Guessing it's just a visit for a chat.
• New fractal: Silent Surf
• Fractal scale adjustments, which was to be expected
• New Gyala Delve weapon collections
• Balance update
• Bug fixes
• A few cost and drop rate adjustments in WvW

With the release of Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure, you’ll receive new objectives to complete daily, weekly, and with each quarterly release. As you complete objectives you’ll earn Astral Acclaim, a new account-wide currency, which can be exchanged for rewards of your choosing, such as new weapons and armor skins, a small selection of items previously exclusive to the gem store, crafting materials, gold, mystic coins, legendary crafting starter kits, and more. Those rewards will refresh on a quarterly basis...

The highlight of this article is the announcement of a new method to the skyscale, as well as the introduction of a collection to earn a skyscale skin IN GAME. Yes - a mount skin earned IN GAME. Shook.

Includes weaponsmaster training, rune reworking, and a new "relic" slot, with future changes to weapons proficiencies to come.

Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure launches August 22, 2023, at approximately 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7). At launch, the first arc of the expansion’s epic story, as well as two new maps, will allow players to explore the skies while putting many of the new gameplay features to the test. Major updates, coming out roughly once a quarter following the expansion, will continue the experience with additional story chapters, a new map, and more features and content.