Guild Wars 2 Rewards You for Ditching Your Mount

Guild Wars 2's latest patch adds raid challenge modes and the Dismount Rush event, which boosts magic find and XP for completing events without mounts.

When was the last time a game rewarded you for NOT using a feature? Guild Wars 2 is doing exactly that with its latest patch, which adds a new event that pays out for keeping your feet on the ground.

The event is called Dismount Rush, and it's all about earning rewards the old-fashioned way. By completing events in the Heart of Maguuma and Central Tyria without hopping on your mount, you'll build up a stacking boost to both magic find and experience. So the longer you resist the urge to saddle up, the better your loot and leveling gains get.

That's a fun twist on how most MMOs handle mounts. Usually, your ride is the fastest, most efficient way to get anywhere, and there's rarely a reason to leave it behind. Here, ArenaNet is flipping that logic and giving players a genuine incentive to slow down and take in the zones on foot.

But the mount-free event isn't the only thing in this patch. Guild Wars 2 has also added challenge modes for its recent raids, giving veteran players a tougher version of content they may have already cleared. If you've been looking for a reason to round up your squad and dive back in, this is a pretty direct invitation.

Between the two additions, the patch covers both ends of the player spectrum. Casual folks exploring Heart of Maguuma and Central Tyria get a fresh reason to roam around without their mounts, while hardcore raiders get a difficulty spike to sink their teeth into. It's a nice bit of balance for a game that's been running for years.

The stacking nature of the Dismount Rush boost is the detail worth paying attention to. Since magic find and experience both climb as you keep completing events without a mount, there's a real incentive to chain events together rather than doing one and calling it a night. The longer your streak, the more you get out of it.

So if you've been defaulting to your mount out of habit, this might be the week to try something different. And if you're a raider, there's new challenge waiting for you too.

Will you be ditching your mount for the Dismount Rush event, or are you jumping straight into the new raid challenge modes? Let us know in the comments.