When it comes to End of Dragons, it's time to talk legendaries. ArenaNet is sharing a new behind the scenes peek at the legendary weapons coming for the Guild Wars 2 expansion and what to expect when the expansion is out.
Senior prop artist Chelsea Mills notes the creative process. With the new expansion come new lands and new lore, so just like before there are narrative inspirations in equipment. Your gear will not be like what you’ve seen before, since these 16 Legendaries are themed around the Elder Dragon Aurene.
The lore for Aurene includes her being a prismatic dragon. Because she’s able to absorb and refract all types of dragon magic, this legendary set will reflect that. After asking questions about how to present this prismatic shift, they decided that each weapon will have six variations. Only the core set will be available on launch day, but eventually all the sets will be out. Because there are six sets, the team created 96 weapon models. Because there was so much to do in reflecting Aurene’s dragon magic, they decided to just go for it.
Senior visual effects artist Nathaniel Hubbel also contributed information on the visual effects for all the legendary‘s. These weapons have dozens of individual effects but primarily they want to capture the essence of which elder dragon they represent. They also have to suit the races of Tyria as well as the aforementioned six versions of each weapon. One example is that when you consider the death blow it should emphasize the elder dragons with their affects so Aurene’s death blow is built around the extended rainbow streak, which is common in her set.
For all of the behind the scenes rundown of what to expect from the legendary weapons, how to get them all, and more once End of Dragons drops, see this update on Guild Wars 2.
