WvW Basics

What is WvW?

World vs. World is a large-scale combat mode where three teams fight for objectives across several maps.

You fight other players while travelling through large maps and dealing with NPC defenders. Groups of dozens of players attack and defend fortifications together.

• Three teams: red, blue, and green compete in week-long matches.
• Objective control: capture and defend camps, towers, keeps, and the castle to earn score.
• Guild-based teams: teams are rebuilt at each region's WvW reset on the first Friday of the month. Select your Battle Guild in advance. Weekly reset is around Saturday 02:00 UTC for NA and Friday 18:00 UTC for EU; reopening the maps can take several more minutes.
• Use your own equipment: WvW does not standardize gear through the sPvP equipment system. Start at level 80 with exotic gear and a WvW build suited to your role.

How do I enter?

Press B to open the WvW panel, then select a map to enter.

Entry requirements

• Paid accounts: level 31 or higher.
• Free accounts: reaching level 60 on one character unlocks the WvW panel across the account.

Playing on the same team as friends

Join the same guild, then both select it as your Battle Guild in B → Matchmaking. You will be placed together at the next team creation. Make your selection before the end-of-season lockout shown in that panel.

The five WvW panel tabs

Press B to open the WvW panel and its five tabs.

• Mist War, the first tab, is the one you will use most to move between maps and check the battle.
• Select a Battle Guild in Matchmaking for the next team creation. Choose the same guild as your friends and check the selection deadline.

Which maps are available?

The four main maps are Eternal Battlegrounds and three Borderlands. Edge of the Mists is a separate map.

What are objectives?

Teams capture and defend objectives. Under normal scoring rules, held objectives grant points every five minutes according to their type and upgrade tier. The values below use those normal rules; War Score beta events can use different calculations.

Objective tiers and upgrades

Automatic upgrades advance through successful dolyak deliveries. Camps gain progress when their dolyaks reach a destination; towers, keeps, and the castle gain it when receiving deliveries. This is separate from the timed unlocks for guild-claiming slots.

PPT by upgrade tier

A Tier 3 keep provides 2.5 times its base score. Holding upgraded objectives matters as well as capturing new ones.

What is supply, and why does it matter?

Supply is a core WvW resource used to build siege weapons and repair walls and gates. Maintaining supply supports both attacks and defense.

The basics

• Each character can carry ten supply by default.
• Training Supply Capacity raises that to 15. A guild's supply aura raises it to 20; Presence of the Keep doubles that aura for a maximum of 25.
• Collect supply from Supply Depots inside allied objectives.

How supply moves

Why supply matters

• Capturing an enemy camp cuts off its outgoing supply routes.
• An objective with no supply cannot repair defenses or build siege without players bringing more.
• Defeating enemy dolyaks interrupts their supply deliveries.

Walls and gates

Fortifications have two types of defensive structure: walls and gates.

Repairing defenses

Interact near a damaged wall or gate to repair it with your carried supply. Each supply restores 1,750 health. Repair Master lets you spend several supply at once to repair faster.

Siege weapons

Siege weapons help attack and defend objectives. Building them costs supply.

What should I do after entering?

A useful first step is to find and follow a commander tag.

Your first steps

If there is no commander tag

Ask team chat which map has a public tag, or check the other main maps. You can also take part in the following activities on your own.

• Camp flipping: capture an enemy camp alone or with a small group.
• Scouting: report enemy movements in team chat.
• Dolyak hunting: intercept enemy supply caravans.
• Roaming: travel the map and engage in small fights.

Commanders and tags

A commander leads a large group, or zerg. Their triangular map icon is a useful place for beginners to head toward.

Tag visibility

• PUG, short for pick-up group, refers to players joining a public group rather than a fixed roster. A public tag is a natural starting point.
• Unlocking commander: 300 gold and 250 Badges of Honor. You do not need to buy it to follow a commander.
• Tags have nine colors: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, magenta, and white.

Choosing gear and a build

Choose a WvW build for either following a zerg or roaming in a small group. Equipment, traits, and utility skills depend on the role, even within one profession. Copying a PvE build and changing only its gear is not enough preparation.

Key differences

• Your equipment matters: exotic gear is a suitable starting point. Match the build's stats, runes, and sigils before upgrading rarity.
• Survival matters: a large enemy group can focus you at once, so staying alive is essential to contributing.
• Berserker gear is also used for offensive WvW roles. How much defensive gear to add depends on the build; check its zerg or roaming equipment setup.
• Check WvW skills and traits: prepare the stun breaks, condition removal, Stability, movement skills, and other survival tools your role needs.

Warclaw and gliding

The warclaw is the mount available in WvW. Other PvE mounts, including the raptor and skyscale, cannot be used there. The warclaw itself is also available in PvE.

Unlocking the warclaw

• With Path of Fire: enter WvW to unlock the warclaw, then spend one World Ability Point in Rank and Abilities → Warclaw Mastery on each character that will use it.
• Janthir Wilds PvE unlock: complete the objective to give the warclaw medicine in Unknown Territory. Using it in WvW still requires Path of Fire and one point in Warclaw Mastery.

Gliding in WvW

WvW gliding is unlocked separately through War Gliding Mastery, even if you have trained gliding in PvE.

• Requires Heart of Thorns.
• Spend three World Ability Points on the first rank of War Gliding Mastery for each character.
• Territory restriction: glide only in allied territory. Crossing into enemy or neutral territory produces a warning before closing your glider.
• Watch your footing on high ground; falling without a glider can kill you.

What rewards can I earn?

WvW has two reward-track systems.

Selected WvW Reward Track

Choose the reward track you want to progress.

• Select it in B → Reward Tracks, the third tab.
• Points arrive every five minutes according to participation. Capture or defend objectives and defeat enemies to maintain the maximum Tier 6. Merely moving does not maintain participation.
• Complete a track at 20,000 points: eight tiers and 40 rewards.
• At Tier 6, the base 195 points per five minutes takes about eight hours and 35 minutes on its own. Instant progress from skirmish chests and boosters can shorten that time.
• Changing tracks preserves your progress.
• Repeatable tracks can be completed again. Some tracks are one-time only, so check the repeat indicator.

Skirmish Reward Track

This weekly track progresses automatically. Maintain participation Tier 3 or higher on one of the four main maps to earn pips every five minutes. Pips advance you through seven reward tiers.

• Completing Diamond requires a total of 1,450 pips.
• This track awards 365 WvW Skirmish Claim Tickets per week. Tickets from weekly achievements and other sources are separate.
• Spend tickets on WvW ascended and legendary equipment.
• Other rewards include Memories of Battle, Mystic Coins, and Grandmaster Mark Shards.

WvW glossary