Guild Wars 2 Absolution patch notes (June 3): Janthir Wilds conclusion, character balance changes, fractals, legendary backpack, and more

The final major update for Guild Wars 2 - Janthir Wilds, titled Absolution, is upon us. The update brings the final story missions of the Janthir Wilds' storyline, a new fractal, a Legendary Backpack, relics, updates to Convergences and a Challenge mode, important class balance changes, and much-needed quality of life changes to Guild Wars 2.

Disclaimer: Patch notes mentioned here are based on ArenaNet's official Forum post.

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Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds - Absolution complete patch notes

Absolution

Bava Nisos awaits! With the immediate threat of the titans pushed back and revelations gleaned from memories of the mursaat who once inhabited the isles of Janthir, the wayfinder stands on the threshold of discovering the true nature of the threat to their new allies, the lowland kodan.

Between them and the answers they seek lies a magical barrier, constructed hundreds of years ago, that has kept out even the most powerful members of the Wizard's Court. Until now.

Release Highlights

• Conclusion to the Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds story
• New open-world map: Bava Nisos
• New map-wide meta-event
• New fractal: Kinfall
• New legendary back armor and glider combo: Orrax Manifested
• The Wizard's Portal Tome
• The Wizard's Gobbler
• Increased homestead decoration limits
• Rift essence can now be stored in the wallet as currency
• Ura joins the Convergence: Mount Balrior boss rotation
• Challenge mode for all Convergence: Mount Balrior bosses

Wizard's Vault

The Wizard's Vault's inventory has been updated for the new season! Last season's unique rewards are now available in the Legacy shop tab.

• New special objectives for the season have been added, and more will appear over the course of the season, including special objectives associated with bonus events and festivals.
• The Legendary Weapon Starter Key has been updated. Set 8 is now available, with two new legendary starter kits and two returning starter kits.

General

• Added the Jackal Rental Post to the homestead decoration racing storage category.
• Dragon Response Missions: The preparation phase event will now wait for a moment before completing to give its bonus objectives time to award a morale boost if one should have been earned.
• Fixed an issue in roller beetle races that caused stamina power-ups to disappear if the race's event completed while a player was midway through the adventure version.
• The Icebrood Saga: Removed an extra replay marker from the post-Dragonstorm entry point for the Champion's End mission.
• The Icebrood Saga: Fixed an issue that could prevent the Destroyer of the Last Forge boss from starting its spear phase.
• Fixed an issue that caused Mr. Quiggles to appear in Hearth's Glow even if the instance owner did not complete the Build-a-Quaggan achievement.
• Fixed an issue that caused some hallucinated creatures to appear to be wielding non-hallucinated weapons.
• Fixed an issue that caused some non-hallucinatory creatures to be labeled as hallucinations in the Tower of Nightmares.
• Objectives will no longer attempt to send players through blocked portals during the Battle for Lion's Arch mission. Exit-portal positioning and art have been adjusted to more clearly indicate how to leave the map.
• Fixed an issue that could cause skiff race adventure checkpoints to be briefly inactive when the associated skiff race event was ending.
• Added a portal connecting Janthir Syntri and Mistburned Barrens.
• Fixed an issue that caused the omnomberry resource node in Hearth's Glow to float.
• Fixed issue that caused the petrified stump resource node in Hearth's Glow to float.

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Open World

Janthir Syntri

• Fixed an issue that prevented the "Collect jars, fill them with lightning, and deposit them in the drop-off locations" event from being completed if the chain was interrupted by a world boss encounter.
• Fixed an issue affecting the rewards gained from the Janthir Syntri: Save Woodland Creatures adventure.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the "Kill the leviathan" event from starting a second time if the boss was killed too fast the first time it appeared.
• Fixed an issue that caused Rainless Meadow to appear in the wrong place for the Titan Researcher achievement.

Lowland Shore

• Edited some text for the Breeze Weaver conversation.
• Fixed an issue in the Journeykin Outpost renown heart achievements that showed the incorrect tiers.

Mistburned Barrens

• Fixed an issue that prevented damage from being properly logged when throwing coalesced Mists energy into enemies during the "Into the Valley of Agony" survey event chain.
• Fixed an issue that prevented enemies killed by coalesced Mists energy from dropping more coalesced Mists energy during the "Into the Valley of Agony" survey event chain.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Scouts Found counter from properly counting the final scout during the Mistburned Barrens: Search-and-Rescue Challenge adventure.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the "Collect lightning to keep the asura turrets charged" event to fail even when enough captured lightning had been collected.
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from earning the Hazardous Research: Bronze achievement if they earned a silver medal or higher in the Mistburned Barrens: Hazardous Research adventure.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the leaderboard rankings from displaying the proper ranking in the Mistburned Barrens: Hazardous Research adventure.

Kessex Hills

• Fixed an issue that prevented the "Defeat the toxic spider queen" event from starting properly.

Dragonfall

• Reduced the number of events needed to complete the My Beautiful Infrastructure achievement.

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Items

General

• The Dragon Bash vendor in Hooligan's Route now stocks a much greater number of Dragon Bash items to enjoy throughout the year, including recipes for homestead decorations.
• Fixed an issue that prevented a third logging strike from occurring when using some logging tools.
• The Personal Merchant Express no longer spawns a Black Lion merchant for the owner and instead opens a vendor window directly.
• Mini Warclaw Cubs have been renamed Mini Journeykin.
• Essence of luck text has been updated to include the rarity in the item name.
• The Convergences: Mount Balrior Wayfinder's Choice Chest has been renamed Convergence: Mount Balrior Commander's Choice Chest.
• The Knotted Rope Ring, Ring of the Crustacean, and Wood Rune Ring can now be attuned and infused.
• Increased the drop rate of the Mini Bog Queen from the "Defeat the Bog Queen before she floods the area with maggots" event.
• A new Bog Queen Combat Tonic can be acquired as a rare drop from the "Defeat the Bog Queen before she floods the area with maggots" event.
• Fixed an issue that allowed Dawn and Dusk to be used in the Mystic Forge as exotic greatswords. These weapons can be only used in their intended Mystic Forge recipes.
• Fixed an issue that prevented astral fluctuating masses from progressing the Gape into the Abyss achievement when opened in PvP maps.
• Fixed an issue that allowed the Victory Rock chair to sometimes be usable in combat or while defeated.
• The Endless Kodan Tonic novelty item now correctly uses dodge roll animations.
• Increased the purchase limit from 1 per day to 7 per week from provisioner token vendors in Central Tyria and Heart of Maguuma.
• Added the Bloodstone Infusion to the Mount Balrior raid merchant's inventory.

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Rewards

New rewards await you in this release.

Legendary Backpack: Orrax Manifested

A new legendary backpack and glider combo, Orrax Manifested, is now available. Visit Jorvik Jorundsson in Mantle's Arrival in Bava Nisos after completing the Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds story step Salvation's Cost to begin the legendary collection.

Crafting Orrax Manifested will unlock both the back armor and matching glider skin. Completing the precursor backpack will also award a matching homestead decoration.

Wizard's Portal Tome

The new Wizard's Portal Tome is available for all Guild Wars 2 players. This allows you to access the teleportation items you've earned in-game via a single item.

Work Hard for Now, the achievement that awards the Wizard's Portal Tome, can be found in the Side Stories category. A new Teleportation Gizmos Collector achievement tracks the portal devices you've earned through gameplay. Progress can be updated retroactively when visiting Lion's Arch and meeting certain conditions.

Wizard's Gobbler

A new Wizard's Gobbler is available for all Guild Wars 2 players. This allows you to access the gobbler and exchange items you've earned in-game via a single item.

The Wizard's Gobbler can be purchased from Gharr Leadclaw at Hooligan's Route in Lion's Arch. The new Gobblers and Exchanges Collector achievement tracks the gobbler and exchange items you've earned through gameplay. Progress can be updated retroactively when visiting Lion's Arch and meeting certain conditions.

Story Rewards

• Woodland Kodan Leather Shoulders

Convergence: Mount Balrior Challenge Mode Rewards

• New titles
• Mini Fumaroller

Bava Nisos Rewards

• Lightborne weapons
• Slumbering Lightborne weapons
• Askur Camping Cookout backpiece
• Four Mini Journeykit variants
• Mini Vigilant Geode

Fractal Rewards

• The Frost Legion Infusion is a possible drop in the new Kinfall fractal.

Homesteads

• Five homestead decoration limit increase upgrades can be purchased from Deft Lahar. Each will add 100 to your maximum decoration limit.

Mastery Updates

• Homesteading Mastery: Added the Grandmaster Handiworker Crafting tier, which allows you to craft level 500 decorations, improves rested bonuses, and increases your maximum decoration limit by 500.
• Mursaat Shadowcraft Mastery: Added the Janthir Beehive Mastery tier, which provides additional bonuses that are improved based on Masteries trained in previous expansions.

Achievements

• Added a new Master of Masteries: Janthir Wilds achievement to reward the player with a Mini Janthiri Floppy Fish and a new title.
• Added a new Mini Collection—Janthir Wilds achievement.
• Updated the six fishing achievements that award titles to count completion of fishing collections in Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure and Guild Wars 2: Janthir Wilds.
• Convergence challenge mode achievement icons have been updated in the Hero panel to help distinguish them from normal mode Convergence achievements.

New titles have been added to the game. Players will be able to display the following titles if they have already completed the achievement requirements:

• Always Tired: Title from the Queen of the Fire Islands achievement.
• Guiding Star: Title from the "A Star to Guide Us" Mastery achievement.
• Still Standing: Title from the To Kill a God achievement.

Shiny King M'takk has moved into Hooligan's Route in Lion's Arch and sells new titles for the players to use if they meet the requirements.

• Champion of Orr
• Lightbringer
• Magister
• This is my story.
• Warmaster

Rift Essence Update

• Fine, masterwork, and rare rift essence can now be consumed to convert them into a wallet currency.
• Rift Researcher Adam at Moon Camp Covert in Lowland Shore can convert rift essence in bulk at no extra charge.
• Rift Researcher Adam has been added to the Rift Hunter Lounge point of interest at the Wizard's Tower.
• Existing sources that previously awarded the material version of rift essence will now reward the wallet currency.
• Any vendors and recipes that previously required the material version of rift essence have been updated to use the wallet currency version instead.

Peer-Reviewed Research

A new recipe, Peer-Reviewed Research, is available to most crafting disciplines. Crafting this item immediately grants a large amount of research notes.

Commander's Choice Chests

The new Commander's Choice Chest item has been added to allow players to make bulk purchases of their choice of rewards.

• Hero's Choice Chests can be exchanged in bulk using the Portable Wizard's Tower Exchange or by speaking to Gharr Leadclaw in Dragon's Stand, Eye of the North, Arborstone, the Wizard's Tower, and Lowland Shore. These items give their guaranteed reward, such as pieces of unidentified gear and crafting materials, in addition to the respective Commander's Choice Chest. The Wayfinder Mastery is required to interact with Gharr Leadclaw in the Wizard's Tower.

Dungeons

• Twilight Arbor: Fixed an issue that could cause Cadeyrn's Cruel Transformation skill to put players in unexpected non-cat states.
• Honor of the Waves: Fixed an issue that could cause Hirvela the Lost's transformation to be repeatedly interruptible.
• Honor of the Waves: Reduced the knockback effect of ice bombs in the Butcher path.
• Dungeons should once again be listed by level order in the Looking for Group tool.

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Fractals

New Fractal: Kinfall

Become one of the only survivors of a devastated lowland hunting party. A bearkin gave their life to ensure that these last few kodan would make it out with a warning—if they don't, more hunters are about to follow them into a fatal trap.

• The Kinfall fractal is accessible through the Mistlock Observatory.
• The new Kinfall fractal achievement category has been added under the Fractals of the Mists achievement panel.
• Kinfall has been added to the fractal rotation list.

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Convergences

Mount Balrior

• The marker over Distant Memory's head has been updated.
• Decima should no longer be able to damage wisps.

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Raids

Mount Balrior

• Fixed an issue in normal and challenge mode that caused the final attack of Decima's Mainshock skill to hit twice.

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Strike Missions

Aetherblade Hideout

• Boons are now only stripped once at the start of the encounter.

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Personal Story

• Fixed an issue in the "Godspawn" story chapter Trial and Error that could cause multiple dialogues to overlap.
• Adjusted instance boundaries in the "Godspawn" story chapter Balrior Peak to prevent a story step from stalling.
• Fixed an issue in the "Godspawn" story chapter Balrior Peak that caused a channeling skill to end prematurely.
• Fixed an issue in the "Godspawn" story chapter Balrior Peak that prevented a portal from teleporting players as intended.
• Fixed an issue in the "Godspawn" story chapter Balrior Peak that prevented a boss skill from being deactivated when the fight concluded.
• Fixed an issue in the "Godspawn" story chapter Balrior Peak that caused one of Decima's conduits to spawn below the terrain.
• Fixed an issue in the "Repentance" story chapter A Legacy Damned that allowed players to sit inside a table.
• Fixed an issue in the "Repentance" story chapter A Legacy Damned that caused an interactive object to be visible before a prerequisite objective was completed.

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That concludes our foray into Guild Wars 2's Janthir Wilds - Absolution update.