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Next week on August 7, ArenaNet will kick off a special beta weekend for Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns for those that pre-order the expansion. Plus, if you happen to attend Gamescom 2015, you will be able to try out the new expansion starting on August 5. Read on for the full details.
The studio will debut a demo showcasing a portion of the content that’s playable in the beta test on the show floor starting on gamescom’s opening day on Wednesday, August 5, and running until the show ends on Sunday, August 9. ArenaNet is partnered with Twitch at gamescom and will have demo stations open to all attendees at the Twitch booth (Hall 9, Booth A-060).

For the Beta Weekend Event, players around the world who purchase Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns will be able to play all of the content in the beta test using their existing Guild Wars 2 accounts starting at 12:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, August 7, and running until 12:00 p.m. PDT on Monday, August 10. ArenaNet announced access to Beta Weekend Events as one of the perks for anyone who pre-purchases Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns, the upcoming expansion to Guild Wars 2. In this first test, players will have a chance to experience the first story instances in the expansion’s new area, the Heart of Maguuma Jungle, as well as playtest the revenant, an all-new profession with attacks and abilities that draw their powers from legends of Guild Wars lore. They will be among the first to try out the new elite specializations that introduce new weapons and skills for each profession in the game. They also get to test the new masteries system, a new endgame progression system that replaces linear leveling and gives players choices in the new skills, abilities and rewards they pursue.

Beyond this, ArenaNet will allow the beta participants to save their progress during that special test weekend and carry it on to future beta events for Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns. You can find out a bit more about the Gamescom event and the special beta weekend in this blog entry by game director Colin Johanson.