Guild Wars 2 Sky Pirates of Tyria update coming next week

The ever-changing MMO is still going at it with the monthly updates and this June the Sky Pirates of Tyria will be introduced to the people of Tyria. The update will include a dungeon just for the event, new items for the gem store, new rewards, a new jumping puzzle, a new scavenger hunt, introduction of the torment condition, and a revamp of certain traits and skills. Arenanet is one busy studio.

Even before Guild Wars 2 was released, the studio announced that they will be rolling out content every month for free. So far, they have kept their promise and were already in June. The Dragon Bash event, another event that included added content, will end on the 25th. With one event over, another begins, Sky Pirates of Tyria will go live on the June 25. Here's what's included:

New Story Dungeon: Aetherblade Retreat – Find the hidden entrance to the Aetherblade base and take the fight to the pirates. It’ll take skill, courage, and no small measure of agility to battle through to the Aetherblade Captain and First Mate.

Sea of Sorrows Scavenger Hunt – In this new, permanent content, players search for clues to the locations of 12 plaques that have been set up to honor the history of the city and its founder, in the novel Sea of Sorrows by our very own Ree Soesbee, narrative designer, ArenaNet, hitting store shelves and Amazon on Tuesday, June 25.

New Rewards – A variety of new rewards are available, including Aetherblade caches, a First Mate Horrik miniature companion, a stylish monocle and more.

Skill and Trait Balance Update – The largest balance patch ever is being introduced in this build, which includes significant updates to traits and skills to introduce more viable build diversity. Every profession trait line is seeing changes. Updates also have been made to some less popular skills to improve their effectiveness.

Custom Arenas and Spectator Mode leaves Beta – Custom PvP arenas allow players to host private matches, and customize their map settings. This feature is leaving beta, which means that Custom Arena Starter Kits will be available for anyone to purchase in the Gem Store. Spectator Mode also is officially out of beta. Together, these two features allow for practice, competitive play and tournaments.

Mortar Mastery Joins the Growing List of World vs. World Abilities – Players can increase their mortar effectiveness by training in Mortar Mastery. Improvements in this line include increasing mortar blast radius, beefing up on damage, reducing skill recharge, and even adding a new skill, Mortar Barrage.

I've been playing Guild Wars 2 since day one and I'm surprised on how the game has changed. Every now and then I jump back into my Charr Engineer and I'm always introduced to new mechanics and content to explore. The game was already amazing at launch, and the constant updates can keeps us grounded in the world of Tyria.

Hopefully they keep with this monthly free update, because this is one practice I wish other studios can implement as well.

[Source: Guild Wars 2 site]