Guild Wars 2 is an entirely free-to-play MMO, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever played. Players pick from a wide array of classes like Necromancer and Mesmer that use magic as a weapon. Or if you want traditional MMO roles, those are there too. The developers, ArenaNet, have added tons of added content over the years. As you explore the amount of content you will see is staggering. There’s tons of crafting to do, hidden puzzles to find, and so much more.
If you’re into PVP, this is also a great choice. The WvW PVP is all about players fighting it out in massive battles for major rewards. The cool thing is that the PvP modes don’t rely on gear, but instead player skill. You all get the same gear and an open character build. How well you craft your build and use you skills determines how well you do in PvP. Very challenging.
If you’re after a new MMO to try, you can’t choose a better option for F2P games. You can download the full game for free, as well as the first Heart of Thorns expansion. You can also purchase addons including the Path of Fire expansion. There’s also a bunch of Living World seasons that are great content addons as part of the GW2 Gemstore. With four seasons of extra content packed into Guild Wars 2 since launch, it is widely considered among the best multiplayer RPGs.
The Guild Wars 2 system requirements can be found in this guide. There’s no doubt any modern gaming PC could handle it, but it’s still nice to know if the extreme budget rigs can get past the bar.
Guild Wars 2 is very CPU-dependent, but still very easy to run. The biggest slowdowns you will see are in the biggest areas with the most players in them. Since this game has been around a long time, there’s a wide range of rigs can run GW2. Use the lists below to find out if your rig can run this MMO.
There are two sets of Guild Wars 2 system requirements below. One applies for the base game, the other is the better to aim for, as it’s a bit more modern thanks to the Path of Fire expansion.
Guild Wars 2 System Requirements (Core Game/ Heart of Thorns)
- Operating System – Windows® XP Service Pack 3 or better
- CPU – Intel® Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz, Core i3 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 or better
- GPU – NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600GT or ATI Radeon HD 1900 XT or Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
- RAM – 4 GB RAM
- Storage – 50 GB available HDD space
- Internet– Broadband Internet connection
- Keyboard and mouse
- DirectX 9
Guild Wars 2 System Requirements (Path of Fire)
- Operating System – Windows® 7 or better (64 bit only)
- CPU – Intel® Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz, Core i3 or AMD Athlon 64 X2 or better
- GPU – NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTS or ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT or Intel Iris 5100 or better (512MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
- RAM – 4 GB RAM
- Storage – 50 GB available HDD space
- Internet– Broadband Internet connection
- Keyboard and mouse
- DirectX 9