Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 264 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 185 out of 264
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 264
  3. Negative: 63 out of 264

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  1. Thaksin
    Apr 12, 2022
    9
    Let's be honest, shall we? The plot, great, for an MMO, in many ways better than even some single games! Gameplay remains on par, elite professions, interesting! Maunts?! Better mounts than in any game, in principle! The best behavior on horseback, wherever it was and not the main thing are the mounts are different from each other, not just skins, as in other games.
  2. TerterBG
    Mar 14, 2022
    10
    Story is awesome.
    The mounts are the best in MMOs.
    A lot of quality of life has been added.
  3. kimi1775
    Nov 9, 2020
    9
    ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎
  4. Angenix
    Sep 7, 2020
    10
    Cool story. Mounts are incredible. Loved environment. Metas are not good as HoT, but still cool.
  5. alceste007
    Jul 18, 2020
    9
    I am really impressed with the mounts and other gameplay elements added in this expansion. The story was also very interesting.
  6. JamesCZ
    Mar 3, 2020
    10
    As someone who is writing the review almost 3 years later after seeing the content age I still think its a very good expansion. Especially if i count that there also came 6 more content updates (Living World) .
  7. Blackmoor
    Dec 30, 2018
    9
    A lot of people forget that Guild wars 2 expansions not only include the base expansion maps but the added Living world season maps, which extend the narrative by quite a lot and are free if you log in when they are released if you own PoE. Even though it has flaws, PoF brings 9 new class specializations which are incredibly well done, a mount system that it's not only a speed buff with aA lot of people forget that Guild wars 2 expansions not only include the base expansion maps but the added Living world season maps, which extend the narrative by quite a lot and are free if you log in when they are released if you own PoE. Even though it has flaws, PoF brings 9 new class specializations which are incredibly well done, a mount system that it's not only a speed buff with a skin, hunts for epic bosses and a decent story for an MMORPG which in my opinion they are usually lacking. New content and balance patches had been released over the span of the expansion lifetime and probably more will come. There had been already 5 patches since expansion launch (1 year from now) with a lot of new content and balancing. All around it's a lot of buck taking into account the asking price is only 30$ and no subscription.… Expand
  8. Jmaconpc
    Jun 5, 2018
    8
    Fun game
    Great customer support!
    Friends required i think
    It's a big commitment to start a new mmo ha
  9. TIZ
    May 30, 2018
    10
    Great expansion! Slightly less lore driven and detailed as HoT expansion. However, very nostalgic with many GW1 references and far more fun and a better story overall. So glad this MMO just keeps getting better as it matures. Definitely updated enough to stay modern in 2018! The new living world content released every 4 months also keeps breathing fresh life into it.
  10. Foxtina
    Jan 29, 2018
    8
    This second expansion of Guild Wars 2 is my favorite so far! All mounts are so great to have.
  11. Cell1e
    Jan 5, 2018
    10
    This is a lovely expansion. I am loving the mounts, I didn't think I would but they are great fun and really unique to any mounts in any other mmo I have played.
    I love that the maps are doable solo. Thanks so much Arena Net. I love the freedom to explore in my own time and at my own pace and I feel I can with these new maps. The story was good, a little bit tricky in places but mostly    This is a lovely expansion. I am loving the mounts, I didn't think I would but they are great fun and really unique to any mounts in any other mmo I have played.
    I love that the maps are doable solo. Thanks so much Arena Net. I love the freedom to explore in my own time and at my own pace and I feel I can with these new maps. The story was good, a little bit tricky in places but mostly quite manageable for
    a noob like me. (You know I think I noticed the companions like Rytlock, Canach and Kasmeer were being a lot more effective in battles than they have been in previous story missions. Is that my imagination I wonder?)
    I have only unlocked a few elites skills so I cant really comment on them now but I am happy there is more choice and weapons to learn about. :)
    The reward armors are lovely, I especially like the light and medium ones the best, lovely fabrics and details like tassels and draping.
    Overall I think this expansion deserves a solid 9 from an average casual player like me. :)    … Expand
  12. madsong
    Nov 29, 2017
    9
    An MMO that actually care about story, about crafting a world. No gear treadmill, no Pay to Win, just playing the game. Sure, the PVP and WvW (three way server battles) could have some more time given to them, but for a beautiful PVE experience you cant do better than this game.
  13. IazeCode
    Nov 24, 2017
    9
    This expansion is great. It is simply good. Lots of contents, sight seeings to do, mobs aren't overly powered as it did in HoT expansion. Mounting is a plus! and talk about story
    The expansion story was amazing, it could be seen as a little long but that's only if you want to finish it in one or two days. Take a week to finish the story, its worth it.
  14. whatever523
    Nov 15, 2017
    9
    Great addon. Good maps and content, exploration is fun, decent enough story, great mounts that all play very differently.

    I have to give a deduction for the loot box like skin system Anet introduced for the mounts. It's a rip off, plain and simple. The end game content consists more and more of gold farming to buy gems to buy visual upgrades. The gem store, that was once only a    Great addon. Good maps and content, exploration is fun, decent enough story, great mounts that all play very differently.

    I have to give a deduction for the loot box like skin system Anet introduced for the mounts. It's a rip off, plain and simple.

    The end game content consists more and more of gold farming to buy gems to buy visual upgrades. The gem store, that was once only a quicker way to get stuff, has now become the only way to get a lot of things and at this point it's barely better than the DLC crap in other games.    … Expand
  15. TheoL
    Nov 6, 2017
    10
    This is how you make an expansion : Mounts, new maps that I enjoyed to explore, new bosses, new spec, and the story got way better than ever before. Know I hope that Path of fire is only a first step leading to a ton of updates with the same quality.
  16. bthomas
    Oct 12, 2017
    8
    After enduring the convoluted, confusing maps and endless grinding for masteries in HoT, PoF brings a a feeling of renewed freedom to Tyria.

    The new specializations bring freshness to playstyles, and mounts are an interesting addition to the game.
  17. Verthiss
    Oct 11, 2017
    10
    It's weird and funny to see that now, after five years, Guild Wars 2 has finally reached the "MMO with great endgame" state. The design philosophy ANet always had only now bears fruit. With HoT we got promised that level cap won't be ever increased so the old content will still be challenging and worth playing, but it was meaningless because the only endgame content we really had was 4 HoTIt's weird and funny to see that now, after five years, Guild Wars 2 has finally reached the "MMO with great endgame" state. The design philosophy ANet always had only now bears fruit. With HoT we got promised that level cap won't be ever increased so the old content will still be challenging and worth playing, but it was meaningless because the only endgame content we really had was 4 HoT maps. Now we have HoT, LWS3, HoT Raids AND PoF and soon we will have LWS4 and PoF Raids to play.
    New elite specs are amazing and feel like whole new classess, even more so than HoT specs that were already good.
    Mounts are the only big new feature, but boy they are fun to use. I never wanted them in GW2 but now I can't go back, I love them and NEED them. New maps are beautiful and fun to explore.
    I liked HoT but because it was so feature-focused, it lacked content. With PoF, we see a payoff of the decision ANet made back then. We have amazing features and a lot of amazing content. Good job, keep it up.    … Expand
  18. RazJUK
    Oct 3, 2017
    10
    Path of Fire maps, even though set in the desert, look beautiful and varied. Definitely a step up from previous maps,and expensive too with the new mounts.
    The new mounts are fantastic, and I could not go back to GW2 without them. Going back to core Tyria in the new mounts are a pure pleasure. Gliding down rivers and across lakes on the skimmer is pure joy.
    The new elite specs are a    Path of Fire maps, even though set in the desert, look beautiful and varied. Definitely a step up from previous maps,and expensive too with the new mounts.
    The new mounts are fantastic, and I could not go back to GW2 without them. Going back to core Tyria in the new mounts are a pure pleasure. Gliding down rivers and across lakes on the skimmer is pure joy.
    The new elite specs are a lovely addition too, giving a greater variety in builds.    … Expand
  19. potot2
    Oct 3, 2017
    9
    Its great!

    pros:
    Mounts are distinct from mounts in other mmorpgs , are fun too use and don't ruin the flow of the game.
    the new maps are beautiful and huge offering plenty of enjoyable content.
    cons:
    player population limit per map instance is still the same in the newer maps which are much bigger and so spread players out more.
    pvp and wvw mostly not expanded upon.
  20. Cadhor
    Oct 1, 2017
    10
    I bought gw2 on release 5 years ago, I played now and then taking some breaks, before last month when I saw pof xpac and came back to playing I had been almost a year without playing the game at all.
    The thing with this game is every hour you put in is always worth, most other MMORPG would have made my comeback quite boring since I would have needed to grind all over the new content to    I bought gw2 on release 5 years ago, I played now and then taking some breaks, before last month when I saw pof xpac and came back to playing I had been almost a year without playing the game at all.
    The thing with this game is every hour you put in is always worth, most other MMORPG would have made my comeback quite boring since I would have needed to grind all over the new content to get top tier armors and weapons. Not on gw2, once I got the grip and practised my mechanics again I was as good as I ever was, no repetitive grind.
    Other games, MOBAS like LoL or DotA you usually end up feeling as if you lost your time when you lose a game. This isn't what happens playing gw2 everything I do I know it's useful and will be even if I stop playing and come back 2 years later, which I doubt since the new xpac pof has been a blast to me, I've been playing a lot since PoF was released and I'm still shoched at how beautiful the maps are, story has been improved and the mounts have raised the whole game, even core to a new level of fun discovering maps.

    I'm waiting paciently til the xpac raid is released (it's been stated to be a few weeks after release since it contains spoilers story related) because I had usually been just a raider in gw2, playing the weekly raid and that's it. Not anymore, I'm having crazy fun playing regular PvE and I doubt it stops soon, 100% worth every penny.    … Expand
  21. Latorn
    Oct 1, 2017
    10
    TL;DR: Amazing expansion!

    Pros: Mount exploration and mounts themselves are incredibly well done! Amazing maps! Story is fantastic! Minor Cons: Replayability of story and other things (Why isn't the sous chef minigame a replayable adventure? Why does the campaign award all skins on one playthrough, leaving limited rewards for multiple playthroughs- unlike HoT which was    TL;DR: Amazing expansion!

    Pros:

    Mount exploration and mounts themselves are incredibly well done!

    Amazing maps!

    Story is fantastic!

    Minor Cons:

    Replayability of story and other things (Why isn't the sous chef minigame a replayable adventure? Why does the campaign award all skins on one playthrough, leaving limited rewards for multiple playthroughs- unlike HoT which was great with rewarding Auric/Chak weps, etc.).

    While there are plenty of events, there is a lack of event chains and event achievements.

    Mastery exp is too easily gained (Down from 13.5mil to complete a track in HoT, to 2.5mil to complete a track in PoF? Need a happy medium).

    Once again, I overall loved this expansion and highly recommend it!    … Expand
  22. queru
    Sep 30, 2017
    10
    GW2 is nowadays a totally different game thant at launch in 2012. Especially if you own both expansions.

    PoF is located in wounderfully crafted vast area where you can explore all different types of desert landscapes, take part in lot of events and hunt powerful creatures during bounty hunting. The story is a good step forward from what it was before, there are amazing mounts that each    GW2 is nowadays a totally different game thant at launch in 2012. Especially if you own both expansions.

    PoF is located in wounderfully crafted vast area where you can explore all different types of desert landscapes, take part in lot of events and hunt powerful creatures during bounty hunting. The story is a good step forward from what it was before, there are amazing mounts that each of them has special abilities and functions like springer that takes you to higher locations or jackal that allows you to teleport through sand portals across the map. And another huge feature is a new set of elite specialisations for each core proffesion which allows you to expand your playstyle with tons of new skills. Again if you have old expansion then you have 2 elite specs per profession for different playstyles. You can also play core builds which are also viable in lot of game areas.

    Another great point is that with PoF comes a new living world season (which happens between expansions) - this means that every 2-3 months we'll get new episode of story and stuff to do. Last season gave one map per episode, so we can expect this to happen as well. This brings a huuuuuge open world zones to explore and fresh content to fill time between expac releases.

    Come, see it for yourself. It's a great experience! Join the guild, spend time with people chasing bounties, discover tombs of ancient kings, find lost treasures!

    I strongly recommend to also try HoT. But be aware that HoT has a bit more challenging open world than PoF (which means hard to traverse maps and powerful mobs that easily kill you. But when you get use to how to kill them it's a lot of fun actually).    … Expand
  23. Cneertse
    Sep 29, 2017
    10
    Path of Fire continues an epic journey to stay a raging God in the Crystal Desert, a beloved region of Tyria that pays homage to original Guild Wars.

    This expansion does everything well that Heart of Thorns failed to deliver on, namely, a meaty story, copious amounts of content, and the ability for the new player to dive right in. Pros: - 5 Visually captivating maps that are more    Path of Fire continues an epic journey to stay a raging God in the Crystal Desert, a beloved region of Tyria that pays homage to original Guild Wars.

    This expansion does everything well that Heart of Thorns failed to deliver on, namely, a meaty story, copious amounts of content, and the ability for the new player to dive right in.

    Pros:
    - 5 Visually captivating maps that are more than three times the size of previous installments
    - Mounts that stray from conformity by having abilities and individual advantages over the others
    - Story is captivating with top tier voice over work, HD cutscenes that calls back to the lore of GW1
    - Diverse content for casuals and diehards
    - Living World Episodes reoccurring 2 months later
    - No Sub Fee
    - Low expansion price for the sheer amount of content
    - New Elite Specializations

    Cons:
    Lack of map-wide Meta events have left some wanting
    Lack of antagonist's character development    … Expand
  24. yugas42
    Sep 29, 2017
    9
    Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire provides a more coherent story than Heart of Thorns, and shows a greater amount of development time going towards narrative than engine upgrades and new game infrastructure. The expansion is a throwback to Guild Wars: Nightfall, having the player return to Elona for the first time in over 200 years. For any original Guild Wars players, this expansion is somethingGuild Wars 2: Path of Fire provides a more coherent story than Heart of Thorns, and shows a greater amount of development time going towards narrative than engine upgrades and new game infrastructure. The expansion is a throwback to Guild Wars: Nightfall, having the player return to Elona for the first time in over 200 years. For any original Guild Wars players, this expansion is something you should definitely own. The new content is appealing to players of more traditional MMO's as well, with the long speculated introduction of a mount system that can be used in vanilla maps as well.

    Further new content includes 9 new elite specializations for the existing 9 classes, which can be unlocked through the new maps, or with skill point currency the player already owns. This makes character progression quick and much more enjoyable than most games. There are numerous new collections available which grant items and achievement points, many more than Heart of Thorns launched with. Arenanet has also introduced the bounty board system, which is an open-world group content system with repeatable contracts that allow you to hunt down a specific enemy for rewards greater than those you would find just by running through the maps blindly. These bounty targets have randomized effects attached to them akin to Diablo 3 elite prefixes. Because of this each bounty target has to be fought in a slightly different way.

    With Living World Season 4 launching in about 3 months, players can expect more content to come soon, with at least 4 major content patches scheduled next year, provided Arenanet can keep their 3 month release cadence. With the base game just passing two years of free-to-play status, Guild Wars 2 is still one of the best western MMO's on the market, and has much more content scheduled into the coming years.    … Expand
  25. VeXeV
    Sep 29, 2017
    10
    Path of Fire is the beginning of a new life cycle for Guild Wars 2. I want to speak to some of the negative reviews, and then I have a lot of my own thoughts. People have said:

    Q: No new Raids, Dungeons, Fractals, sPvP, WvW? A: The releases of Raids and Fractals have always come with Living world on a release by release bases, Dungeons have not been touched in many years and have been    Path of Fire is the beginning of a new life cycle for Guild Wars 2. I want to speak to some of the negative reviews, and then I have a lot of my own thoughts. People have said:

    Q: No new Raids, Dungeons, Fractals, sPvP, WvW?
    A: The releases of Raids and Fractals have always come with Living world on a release by release
    bases, Dungeons have not been touched in many years and have been replaced by fractals, so to
    expect new ones is crazy and unproductive. Arenanet has stated many times before that sPvP
    and WvW releases always come on their own cadence, as balance and other changes or
    additions won't wait for a major release such as an expansion.

    Q: No Meta events or bosses like the ones in HoT?
    A: It is true that PoF does not have the same style of meta events as HoT did, and to some this may be a big problem, many of the HoT metas required huge numbers of people and could take hours to complete, for some this was great for others it was a nightmare. PoF metas are often shorter and don't require an entire map of people to work together for their completion, Not having the same large metas does two very important things for the game. 1: players who don't have the time or means to gather with a huge group of people and do a meta for two hours don't need to, and 2: PoF metas don't instantly override the need for HoT ones, this means that the Hot metas will still have players in them for a long time to come.

    Q: Less Content than HoT?
    A: NO! I don't understand this thought at all, if you look at the size of the maps, number of events, items, achievements, secrets, bounties, and other new additions PoF has way more actual content than HoT did, just because you could do the Dragon Stand Meta event for 1000 hours doesn't mean that equates to more content.

    Guild Wars 2 Path of Fire is an amazing expansion and it lays the ground work for a new season of living world that will start 2 - 3 months from now. Arenanet has made huge comprehensive maps that need to be explored to find everything that they have to offer, this exploration is added by the addition of Mounts to the game, but these aren't your grandmas mounts, each of the mounts has a unique feel and skills that allow you to explore a traverse different areas of the maps. These new mounts are tied to the mastery system which makes much of the exploration feel Metroidvania like, as you see that thing in the distance that you can't get to yet but with that new mount or new skill it will be within your reach.

    With PoF Arenanet has added 9 new Elite professions which change the feel and style of each class in the game, these changes equate to even more variety and choice when creating your class and choosing how you want to play.

    I can't recommend Guild Wars 2 PoF enough for the cost of this expansion, you get a huge amount of new and enjoyable content, and you get an entire season of new content and story released every 2 - 3 months.    … Expand
  26. RPGLife
    Sep 28, 2017
    8
    Characterization and dialogue is a bit shallow and unimpressive. Seems like the story writers are fans of tropes. Story had potential though. Characters do offer some humorous moments. NPC dialogue is polished. Do note that Path of Fire's story doesn't end with the expansion itself. Living Story is Guild Wars 2's take on limited time free DLC, and season 4 of the Living Story will continueCharacterization and dialogue is a bit shallow and unimpressive. Seems like the story writers are fans of tropes. Story had potential though. Characters do offer some humorous moments. NPC dialogue is polished. Do note that Path of Fire's story doesn't end with the expansion itself. Living Story is Guild Wars 2's take on limited time free DLC, and season 4 of the Living Story will continue the story of the expansion.

    Classes get an additional "specialization", which adds or changes some of the class' mechanics. Whereas Heart of Thorns (1st expansion) focuses on map "verticality", which is sort of like multi-level map layout, Path of FIre emphasizes map "horizontality", that is it has new maps that are expansive and have diverse terrain. To help emphasize the experience, Path of Fire introduces a unique take on mounts. Mounts have innate abilities that help traverse certain terrain. Masteries are also included in this game, particularly for the mount system. Masteries are account wide progression that functions similar to a skill training system of some RPGs.

    Addendum 1: I forgot to mention it also added a bounty system, similar to hunting special monsters in the Monster Hunter series. Bounties offer a challenge for players who would like to defeat monsters with unique abilities and mechanics, similar to a raid level boss. Bounties could be done solo or with a group of players.    … Expand
  27. MagicFind
    Sep 28, 2017
    9
    I am a long time Guild Wars franchise follower, started back in 2006 with Factions and have played it all since. Why I took the time to make an account and write this review is because Path of Fire finally gave the original fans something meaningful in ArenaNet's sequel, Guild Wars 2. Yes the maps are fun, the mounts give us something new to experience, but the story is what I loved inI am a long time Guild Wars franchise follower, started back in 2006 with Factions and have played it all since. Why I took the time to make an account and write this review is because Path of Fire finally gave the original fans something meaningful in ArenaNet's sequel, Guild Wars 2. Yes the maps are fun, the mounts give us something new to experience, but the story is what I loved in this expansion.

    I'm talking about deep references, even things that hardcore GW1 fans might have missed their first time through.

    So if you are like me and cared about the story ArenaNet were making way back in the mid-2000's, give this game a go now. It has come a long way from its initial launch.    … Expand
  28. georgerock
    Sep 28, 2017
    10
    The story is absolutely amazing for what it is (we all know we can't hold mmo's to the same standard as single player games). It's more cinematic than ever before, with interesting and engaging boss mechanics, a lot of "I can't believe that just happened" moments. There is a healthy dose of well-done humor too.
    The new maps are huge and filled with content (i`m a bit sad that there are no    The story is absolutely amazing for what it is (we all know we can't hold mmo's to the same standard as single player games). It's more cinematic than ever before, with interesting and engaging boss mechanics, a lot of "I can't believe that just happened" moments. There is a healthy dose of well-done humor too.
    The new maps are huge and filled with content (i`m a bit sad that there are no new map-wide metas, but heart of thorns was full of them, this now strikes a nice balance between exploration maps and meta maps). There are things waiting for you around every corner, you will have a blast exploring them.
    The new enemies are cool and interesting both visually and mechanically, would have been nice if a bit more work went in creating new branded enemy types, but overall that's a small detail.
    The mounts are AWESOME, each one has a different movement ability that lets you go to places you couldn't without them (for instance one mount jumps long distances forwards, one jumps up really high, one can "run" (kind of glide) over surfaces that would otherwise kill you, like quick sand, and one can use portals scattered around the maps.
    The new elite specs are also really cool, much more detailed than the heart of thorns ones, and some of them are so different that it feels like you are playing a totally new class. Balance is a bit off at the moment, since there are basically 9 new classes added, but that will be worked out with future content releases.
    Also, for anyone reading this review wondering if you should buy it, take into consideration that if you get it early enough, you will also get living world season 4 for free as it releases, all in the same price.
    Overall, I think pof is excellent and would recommend buying it any day    … Expand
  29. monzesandrea
    Sep 28, 2017
    10
    This expansion is a pure joy for the eyes. Wonderful and beautifully detailed areas full of events and players. Superb Dialogues, History Changing Depending on Choices Made, Gorgeous Background Music and Fuc*ing AWESOME MOUNTS.
    POF is simply a great expansion that made GW2 one of the best (if not the best) mmo one can play nowadays. =)
  30. monzese
    Sep 28, 2017
    10
    Path Of Fire is not only an awesome expansion but made the core game and Hearth of Thorns even more immersive thanks to the new mount system.
    Anet did a really great job making GW2 a truly jewel in the MMO universe.
    A must buy for me... but if you can't afford try it with a f2P account, you'll never regret the time spent in the game.
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Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Best PC Game of 2017
40
#40 Most Discussed PC Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 10, 2018
    85
    A trip to the vast Crystal Desert is worth every penny if you’re mainly into PvE (the new maps are one-time affairs though due to lack of meta events), but it does not offer much to those who prefer PvP or WvW. [13/2017, p.44]
  2. PC Gamer
    Dec 15, 2017
    80
    Not the most inventive MMO expansion, but a robust chunk of new maps that flesh out the best MMO around. [Christmas 2017, p.66]
  3. Wccftech
    Nov 27, 2017
    75
    Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire manages to do just enough to keep fans interested in visiting the world of Tyria by adding much needed features like mounts. The new class specializations also provide new and interesting ways to play your typical MMO class archetypes. Still, Path of Fire probably won't convince anyone who wasn't already enthralled with ArenaNet's MMORPG.
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