Blog Details New Desert Borderlands WvW Map

A new developer blog has been posted by Guild Wars 2 game designer Tyler Bearce. In it, Bearce discusses the new WvW Desert Borderlands map and how it will bring new elements to PvP. The team, Bearce writes, has learned a lot about "what works and what doesn't in the time since releasing the original game." To that end, the team wanted to give players something really new that should give players new battlegrounds to master.

Bearce then goes into things that players can expect to find that will bring new elements to consider before rushing into battle including:

• Increased Verticality - the map is more layered and more vertical with a complex terrain
• Thematic Objectives - towers and keeps will feature unique architecture, guards and its own specialized Lord, each keeping to a theme of air, earth or fire
• More Strategic Layout - towers will become essential to success rather than isolated landmarks. They will wall off bigger portions of the map to create choke points. Gates and tougher to get through, curved walls create opportunities to attack from all sides
• Shrines - shrines will lie outside each elemental keep and match it. Control of the shrines gives a 'blessing" for five minutes that can either give a speed boost, attack damage increase, critical strike chance or defense. The more shrines controlled, the more strategic advantage the controlling team has
• Oasis - in the center of the map is an area with rough grounds, streams, walkways, a golden temple and dinosaurs -- a gankers paradise, according to Bearce. An energy cannon is on top of the temple and an event will kick off ever three hours for teams to battle for its control. With enough collected cores, the cannon is powered up and will begin firing at all enemy owned territory -- towers, gates, keeps
• Dolyaks and Sentries - players near dolyaks give it a Protected Caravan status that gives it a huge resistance boost to damage and conditions. Sentries can also damage enemy dolyaks for up to several minutes to slow them on their way to their objectives