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Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 Expansions Features: Mounts, Gliding, Elite Specs, and Story

Learn which GW2 expansion features affect story access, gliding, purchases, and horizontal progression before you buy.

The MMO Codex editorial deskEditorial desk
3 min read

What expansion purchases change

The source material separates expansion purchases from Living World story unlocks and notes that Guild Wars 2 PvE uses horizontal progression. The purchase-related details to plan around are:

  • Story continuity through Living World seasons, which sit between major expansions.
  • Unlocks such as War Gliding and the Warclaw Mastery route for World versus World, which should require some expansions.
  • Separate purchase routes for expansions and Living World stories.
  • A PvE progression model built around horizontal progression instead of repeated level resets.

Living World story access

prerequisites

  • Use Living World seasons if you want the story between major expansions to make sense.
  • Plan for gems before unlocking Living World stories, because those stories are bought through the in-game gem store.
  • Treat Living World seasons as separate story access from the expansion purchase itself.

Living World seasons bridge the gaps between major expansions. If you are following the plot, they are essential story updates rather than optional background.

The gem store is part of the in-game cash shop, and Living World stories are unlocked there with gems.

Expansion and Living World purchase locations

comparison

Expansions

Buy expansions through Steam or the main Guild Wars 2 website.

Living World stories

Buy gems, then unlock the Living World stories from the in-game shop.

Keep those two purchase paths separate when budgeting. Expansion access and Living World story access are not handled through the same purchase flow.

Is it worth buying GW2 expansions?

Buy expansions when the unlocks match how you play

Choose expansions when you want major-release content access, expansion-required conveniences such as War Gliding, and a PvE structure where new updates add playable content without forcing a constant player-level climb.

If your main goal is full story continuity, include Living World seasons in the cost, because those bridge the story gaps between expansions and are unlocked separately with gems.

War Gliding and mastery pick order

steps

  • Unlock Warclaw Mastery if you want access to a mount in World versus World.
  • Take War Gliding after that if you want to glide in your own territory.
  • Expect Warclaw Mastery and War Gliding to require some expansions.
  • If you want a fixed early mastery route after those unlocks, pick Provisions Master first.
  • Pick Supply Capacity second.
  • Pick Supply Master third.
  • Pick Repair Master fourth.
  • Pick Build Master fifth.
  • Pick Siege Bunker sixth.

After that early route, the remaining picks can be more open-ended.

Horizontal PvE progression

Guild Wars 2 PvE is designed around horizontal progression. Instead of constantly increasing your player level and having that level invalidated every few months, you can get your character completely decked out and keep playing new content as it arrives.

New content introduced through updates is available to play whenever you want. That structure makes expansion and story purchases more about access to content and systems than about staying current in a vertical gear or level treadmill.

If I take a break, will I be left behind?

FAQ

FAQ

If I take a break from Guild Wars 2, will I be left behind? No. Guild Wars 2 is often a game people take long breaks from, and you can return to pick up where you left off.

What changes while I am away? You may come back to a lot of new available content, but the horizontal progression model means the main issue is having more to play through, not being hopelessly behind on player level.

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