It's that time of year again, everyone! The fan favorite classic Super Adventure Box has returned to Guild Wars 2, and is sure to have you jumping for joy! Or jumping in to a horrific and pixel explosion of a death. Super Adventure Box is an April Fools festival that has become an annual part of Guild Wars 2, and is without doubt the most popular festival in the game.
First introduced in 2013, the Super Adventure Box takes players in to a virtual world designed by the Asuran Moto, a world of smiling clouds, rainbows and beautiful green fields. Beautiful, of course, if you're in to 8-bit pixel lands with monkeys and flying bumble bee dogs. The player embarks on an epic quest with their 'Master Sword' pointy stick to rescue the Princess, and sets off across the glorious pixel world, and encounters many challenges both from the enemies and the maps themselves.
The game mode is essentially a platformer, with some of the most difficult jumping Guild Wars 2 has to offer, and does not use any of the profession's own skills or traits. Instead, players have skills that exist just inside the box, and can unlock more weapon skills, along with items like bombs and the shovel, to further enhance their ability to progress through the world. The entire thing has a unique retro style that gamers seem to love, and the easily accessible gameplay and generally fantastic art work always leave players wanting more.
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There are three difficulties for Super Adventure Box. Infantile, where plays can skip over most of the harder jumps via an expressway formed by a smiling cloud's backside. Normal mode, which players have to complete all the regular jumps and puzzles. And then there's Tribulation mode, which has traps, impossible jumps and brutal enemies. Rewards increase across the modes, coming in the form of the game's currency Bauble Bubbles, which are traded in for unique skins and rewards, and has its own dailies which help significantly and are extremely rewarding.
This is definitely a festival that doesn't require you to farm it to have fun, and even just casual play is rewarding. But if you do want to farm, to either buy Super Weapon skins or get the rare and expensive colour variants of these skins, then here's a quick guide on what to do. If its just super skins you're after, and maybe a couple of the Kaiser Snake (orange) skins (depending on whether or not new ones are released that could take the place of the Kaiser) then the Super Adventure Festival dailies are your best bet.
Doing 3 out of 5 daily achievements contributes to the Course Work: Super Adventure Festival achievement, and also grants great rewards per achievement completed in the form of Bauble Bubbles. Completing this eight times will get you a Kaiser weapon skin, and can be repeated throughout the festival. The dailies involve completing certain worlds, finding hidden chests and rooms, or finding certain Easter eggs, including in the main hub of the world.
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If you are a hardcore platformer that is ready to die a LOT in the box, then you'll find the best farm in Tribulation Mode. Tribulation mode is extremely difficult, and not for the faint of heart, with the majority of the community opting out completely from doing it at all. The main reward comes in the form of collections, with World One rewarding the King Toad's (green) skins, World Two rewarding the Storm Wizard's (yellow) skins, and the Kaiser Snake (orange) coming from achievements completed in this mode. Even more profitable, in the sense of flat gold, is selling a Tribulation Mode run, where players pay you to carry them through the worlds for achievements and skins, and can net you huge amounts of gold.
While there's a million more things to say about it, like the decorations, gem store items and hidden game references, but the best way to enjoy this festival is to go and enjoy it in game. There's something for every type of player, and is certain to give a good time. The festival starts on the 30th of March and ends April 20th, so plenty of time to enjoy the pixelated world of the Super Adventure Box!
