There are a ton of guild upgrades in Guild Wars 2. Some apply for PvE, others focus on PvP. Today we’re going to talk about some of the PvP options on the table. There are four main categories to consider: objectives, improvements, tactics, and automatic upgrades. Each of these offers its own unique benefits to the guild. Most often, they’re focused on unlocking new content and buffing players in PvP who are members. PvP Guild upgrades in particular are much more varied and apply within the PvP modes like WvW.
Objectives
You’ll notice a pop-up on the left of your screen when you accept an objective. Typically, guilds with the most people get the first shot at an objective, and this will grant you a passive buff to unlock inside your guildhall. Objectives also open up the use of improvements and tactics, which we’ll discuss below.
The first thing you will notice about objectives is that they are pretty common. Guild Claiming is built to be a system that you invest a lot of time in, so it makes sense. When you see an objective pop up on the screen, you are supposed to help your guildmates work towards it. Each objective claimed will give you a variety of boons based on the Tier of the objective. and you also need to take more time to capture higher-tier objectives.
- Tier 1 – 10 Minute capture time
- Tier 2 – 30 Minute capture time
- Tier 3 – 60 Minute capture time
You can open the Guild Claiming Panel at any time during a match to see the status of various objectives. The Guild Claiming panel allows guilds to claim a captured objective (resource camps, towers, keeps or castles) in World versus World. You can also call it up via the Objectives icon on your map.
That menu will also lead to the other items we’re going to talk about, Tactics and Improvements. If no guild has claimed a structure following its capture, a claim button will be shown instead of the normal guild name of the current controlling guild.
Tactics
Active upgrades for the objectives you capture can be applied as either Tactics or Improvements. The active variant is called Tactics. The active upgrades can be swapped in and out, and must be activated by placing them in the Guild Claiming UI element for that objective. This will confer various boons to your side, and scales in impact with the tier of the objective.
| Tier | Tactic | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 (Hold for 10min) |
Minor Supply Drop | All objectives | Activate this Tactic to have 100 supply deposited at the objective. |
| Chilling Fog | All objectives | Activate this Tactic to temporarily summon chill inducers that will chill invaders at the objective. | |
| Invulnerable Dolyaks | Camps | Activate this Tactic to make the next set of dolyaks invincible, guaranteeing that they will reach their destination. | |
| Dune Roller | Camps | Activate this tactic to summon a dune roller at your objective. The user is transformed into a car, granting them increased mobility and siege damage. | |
 (Hold for 30min) |
Centaur Banner | Walled objectives | Summon a Centaur Banner at your objective. This banner provides the wielder access to powerful offensive skills, as well as a break bar. |
| Turtle Banner | Walled objectives | Summon a Turtle Banner at your objective. This banner provides the wielder access to powerful defensive skills, as well as a break bar. | |
| Dragon Banner | Walled objectives | Summon a Dragon Banner at your objective. This banner provides the wielder access to powerful offensive skills, as well as a break bar. | |
 (Hold for 60min) |
Emergency Waypoint | Walled objectives | Activate this tactic to temporarily create a uncontestable waypoint at the objective. |
| Invulnerable Fortifications | Walled objectives | Activate this tactic to temporarily make all walls and gates at the objective invulnerable. | |
| Airship Defense | Stonemist Castle | Activate this tactic to temporarily summon a fleet of airships to protect the castle from invaders. |
Improvements
As you engage in the capturing of various objectives, you can earn various rewards based on the objective and the tier it has reached. The difference here is that the Improvements are set when you capture, and you don’t have to slot them in. Unlike tactics, you won’t have to activate these each time you want to use their benefits. you can gain boosts like better defenses or faster supply chains, among much more.
| Tier | Tactic | Availability | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
(Hold for 10min) |
Sabotage Depot | All objectives | Deploy bombs at the supply depot that will explode if the objective is captured by an enemy team. The explosion will destroy all remaining supply at the objective. |
| Hardened Gates | Walled Objectives | Gates can only be damaged by siege weapons. | |
| Armored Dolyaks | Camps | Dolyaks gain increased health and toughness. | |
| Packed Dolyaks | Camps | Dolyaks now carry twice as much supply. | |
| Speedy Dolyaks | Camps | Dolyaks gain superspeed. | |
(Hold for 30min) |
Iron Guards | All objectives | Guards gain Iron Hide, reducing incoming damage by 50%. |
| Hardened Siege | Walled objectives | Greatly reduces non-siege weapon damage to cannons, mortars, and oil pots. | |
(Hold for 60min) |
Auto Turrets | Walled objectives | Automatic turrets deployed above the objective’s gates. |
| Watchtower | Towers | A spy balloon is deployed above the tower, which will mark nearby enemies on the map. | |
| Presence of the Keep | Keeps | Allied players gain double the effectiveness of the keep’s objective aura while within the perimeter of the keep. | |
| Cloaking Waters | Stonemist Castle | The fountains in the castle’s courtyard grant stealth to allies. |
All of this just the tip of the iceberg though, as the game has a ton more to offer guilds who take part in the PvP and PvE activities in the game. Auras are some of the powerful buffs that are granted to guilds who capture certain objectives. these grant various boons for the players in them. Keep in mind that these are not shown via the Guild Claiming interface.
- Objective Aura 1- Objective Aura: Magic Find (effect) — Magic Find +20%
- Objective Aura 2- Objective Aura: WvW Experience (effect) — WvW Experience +10%
- Objective Aura 3- Objective Aura: Movement Speed (effect) — Movement speed +25%
- Objective Aura 4- Objective Aura: Power (effect) — Power +100
- Objective Aura 5- Objective Aura: Precision (effect) — Precision +100
- Objective Aura 6- Objective Aura: Toughness (effect) — Toughness +100
- Objective Aura 7- Objective Aura: Vitality (effect) — Vitality +100
- Objective Aura 8- Objective Aura: Supply Capacity (effect) — Max Supply +5
