The latest content patch is now live with patch notes long enough to be a novel.

The January content patch for Guild Wars 2 was suppose to be a small patch to Prelude the larger February and March content patch. At first glance of the patch notes however, you would think this patch is anything but small. You can check out the teaser page overview we put up last week for the basics. I won't be repeating anything already listed there but adding the new information to try and keep this as short as possible.

Living Story -- Name for the category of events tied to this new story arch that will continue in later patches.

• Living Story Achievement Category: First achievement, Refugee Volunteer, obtainable this patch. Rewards Volunteer Title and Karma Rewards.
• Living Story events added to Wayfarer Foothills and Diessa Plateau.
• Heralds will appear in all cities directing players to active Living Story events.
• Persistent world content added to Wayfarer, Diessa, Black Citadel, and Hoelbrak.

Daily/Monthly Achievements

• Earn 1 Laurel for completion of the daily bar, 10 for the monthly bar.
• Laurel vendors located in all major cities and have over 90 items.
• Crafting starter kits, New boosters, advanced harvesting tool, and crafting trophy bags join the list of known items available for Laurels.
• Achievement tracking UI provides info on daily and monthly achievements. Allows quick access to full achievement panel.

Dungeons

• Removed the ability to use waypoints while any players is in combat. (Removes Rez Rushing)
• Attribute calculations for dynamic level scaling have been rebalanced. Means weaker when adjusted down, stronger when adjusted up.
• Multiple fixes and rebalancing to fights in most of the dungeons. (Caudecus's Manor not listed in patch notes.)
• Fractals of the Mist: Disconnect fix and Fractal Level admissions and reward changes outline in blog last month

Guesting -- Same info from blog post. Guild influence goes to home server even while guesting, guild benefits (buffs and guild vault) carry over with you from your home world.

 UI improvements

• Attributes section of Hero Panel changed to cleanly display more information
• PvP dialogs no longer take focus away from chat. (Before the dialogs would take focus away which would cause players to open multiple windows via shortcut hotkeys instead of typing the message.)
• Preview for weapons and armors the character could now equip now functions properly.

sPvP -- Same information from teaser overview.

• 1v1 Paid Tournaments cost 3 Tourney Tickets per player instead of the usual 5.
• Skillbars now have team-colored backgrounds in sPvP.

WvW

• Preloaded placeholder models instantly load while the full model is loaded
• Affinity culling back: seperate loading caps for allies and enemies means that culling won't only show enemies or allies but a mixture of both.
• Golem in a Box has a 20-second recharge and is disabled in WvW
• Siege no longer usable inside the WvW Jumping Puzzle
• Terrain adjustments to prevent players from bypassing wall and gates

Orr

• Added uncontested waypoint to Cursed Shore and Straits of Devastation. Will not affect completion for characters that have already finished those maps.
• Small statues across Orr now have Map Icons and a visual effect displaying their influence range.
• Difficulty of events to claim the Temples and Gates to Arah now scale better for larger numbers of players.
• Fixed bug with Arah dungeon and waypoint being contested when they shouldn't be.
• Multiple Event Fixes
• New Orrian Jewelry Box added to karma vendors in Orr.
• Heavy Moldy bag drops more frequently
• Various Risen creatures had their loot table updated to provide varied crafting materials.
• Karma vendors at end of Temple Chains offer new exotic wares.

Items and Rewards

• Loot that is uncommon rarity or higher will spawn a chest that contains the loot. Lower rarity items still loot from the creature/bag of loot. Happens in both PvE and WvW.
• Mystic Forge Recipe added to improve the Triforge Pendant into an Ascended version.
• Plush Quaggan Backpack Cover in the Gem Store for 300 gems. Can be worn as is with no stats or applied (transmuted without a stone) to another backpack piece.
• Riding Broom in the Gem Store for 250 gems
• Evon Gnashblade's Box o' Fnn revamped. Price also lower to 1 for 80 gems, 5 for 320 gems.
• Weapon and armor skins (Consumable skins) can be converted into PvP skins now. Doing so consumes the item. Applies to all released consumable skins to date.

Multiple Profession Balance Changes

Other

• Renown Regions now reward karma upon completion.
• Weapons grat bonus stats when bundles are equipped.
• Bundles from player skills (engineer kits, elementalist conjured weapons, warrior banners) now have a base damage consistent with the highest rarity weapons for the player's current level.
• Lionguard Lyns now accepts Captain's Commendations again. No longer has Black Lion Keys. Will be removed completely at the end of February.
• Rich Orichalcum Node in Southsun Cove is now just a regular Orichalcum Node.

Matt "Mattsta" Adams