Guild Wars 2 Junkies is proud to present our first episode of the GW2 Podcast. Listen to hosts Draegan and Clementine discuss the topics of the week along with a weekly update of W3 discussion. Draegan is the owner and editor of Guild Wars 2 Junkies and Clementine is a guild officer of PRX who is also kicks ass for the Titan Alliance; which dominates Henge of Denravi.

Listen to us each weeks as we give you the latest drama and news from WvW servers around the world. Each week we’ll also round up the news of the week while dropping wisdom. We’ll also try to bring on guests from different Alliances and Guilds from all over the world.

We’re also beginning a contest to name our show. If you’ve got a great idea for a name send it to [email protected] with the subject line: “GW2 Junkies Podcast Naming Contest”. The winner will receive either a free copy of the game or $50 in Diamonds. This contest is open ended and will end once we have a name we like the best.

If you have any ideas for topics or have any tips for us you’d like to hear on the show send an email to [email protected].

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Coming soon on iTunes!

Yesterday we discussed exploring the world of Tyria and getting rewarded by planting flags farther and farther away from other flags. We also got a hint that there will be treasure maps as well! Well here’s another screenshot from Curse’s database of a treasure map that plops down an X on your map and you’re left to find it and then an event starts as soon as you get there.

Just another example of something cool that Arenanet is creating for us!

There is now an ongoing Ask Me Anything on Reddit right now. Jump in and participate and find out what has already been asked. Stay tuned for when the AMA ends and we’ll have a final tally of the whole Q&A for your reading pleasure.

Hi, everyone.
This is Mike O’Brien, and I’m the President of ArenaNet. We’re working on a game called Guild Wars 2. We have a Beta Weekend Event coming up this week from June 8 – 10, and I’d like to take this opportunity to answer your questions about the game and the upcoming beta event.
I’ll also be joined by ArenaNet designers and developers and we’ll be here to answer as many of your questions as we can in the next three hours.
Here’s who will be participating (and our sigs):
Mike O’Brien – President/Founder – MO
Chris Whiteside – Lead Producer – Chris
Mike Zadorojny‎‎ – Content Designer – z
Mike Ferguson – WvW Designer – Ferg
Peter Giuntoli – Programmer – Peter
Jon Peters – Systems Designer – Jon
Isaiah Cartwright – Lead Systems Designer – Izzy
So without further ado, AMA!
~ Mike O’Brien

Today we were made aware of a financial report put out by KDB Daewood Securities in regards to their future outlook of NCSoft. According to their speculation, they have confirmed that Guild Wars 2 will be released in the US and Europe before the Thanksgiving holiday.

We reiterate our Buy call on NCsoft with a target price of W510,000. We were able to confirm the company’s plans to launch Blade & Soul domestically in 1H and GuildWars 2 in the Us and Europe in 2H. … And we anticipate that Guild Wars 2 will be rolled out in the US and Europe before the Thanksgiving holiday.

These dates are not confirmed by Arenanet or NCSoft and all we have are these financial documents of this Korean based financial firm. Take them with a grain of salt. You can find the original document here.

These speculations match up with most prognosticators; even though there are rumors of an internal ongoing Beta Test, Arenanet has only completed one BWE that has only showcased three out of the five playable races, level capped of 30 out of 80, and the storyline quests are stopped early. We do know, from Arenanet, that the game will be launched this year. It is often speculated that this game will launch this fall and these reports match up with that guess.

Check out more beta footage, this time from one of GW2′s dungeons.

Youtube user wetwillyhip released a Guild Wars 2 trailer stitched together using clips of released game footage he has found online.

With incredible editing and a perfect song this trailer is nothing short of epic. If you weren’t already anticipating the release of Guild Wars 2, you will be now.

Mechanics

Weapons
A mesmer can use a variety of magical, ranged, and melee weapons, including:

Main Hand: Sword, Scepter
Off Hand: Focus, Pistol, Sword, Torch
Two-Handed: Staff, Greatsword
Confused Condition
The mesmer introduces a new condition to our set called confusion. An enemy with confusion on them takes damage each time they activate a skill. This condition stacks in intensity, so the more confusion an enemy has, the greater the damage.

Shattering
The mesmer has special abilities that can shatter illusions. Shattering will destroy all illusions and create a secondary effect. There are four different shatter skills:

Mind Wrack—Destroys your illusions and does damage to opponents near them.
Cry of Frustration—Destroys your illusions and gives the confused condition to nearby foes.
Diversion—Destroys your illusions and stuns nearby foes.
Reflection—Destroys your illusions and places a barrier around the mesmer, which reflects enemy projectiles.