Failing to open your glider and falling to your death in front of nine ArenaNet developers isn’t my finest gaming moment, but it certainly set the tone for our future endeavours against Gorseval the Multifarious: abject failure.

I’ve always felt that raid encounters are at their finest when the mechanics surrounding them are simple, but the margin for error is so small that a single step wrong will wipe your entire party. Raid encounters don’t need to be complex to be difficult, but instead they can quite often rely on human error to ensure they remain a challenge. Did we fail to dodge properly? Did we miss the break bar? Did we forget to avoid X, and bumped into Y? These are all questions that Guild Wars 2 players be asking themselves over the coming weeks as they enter the Spirit Vale and after my time with Gorseval, those questions might even include a fair amount of profanity.

Gorseval. He's a beauty.

Gorseval the Multifarious from afar is a daunting figure. Made up of twisted limbs and teeth, his design is reminiscent of something you might find in Pan’s Labyrinth, straight from the mind of Guillermo Del Toro. Made up of three distinct phases, and whilst I won’t spoil them or any core mechanics here, they each require a unique approach. Unlike the first raid boss players encountered during the final Beta weekend, it’s immediately apparent just how different compositions and skills will have to be between raid bosses. I asked Steven Waller, Associate Game Director at ArenaNet, as to whether the difficulty on Gorseval was intentionally higher than that of the first raid boss, “I think we’re looking to achieve a sense of progression between each boss, across the wing. Ideally we want the final boss to be an epic finish to the wing. It’s a good idea to build up over the wing to build up a degree of difficulty.” he adds, “I think the first encounter is definitely a little bit easier - it’s still very difficult and challenging content that primarily requires a lot of good coordination with your party - the first one will be a little bit easier. Over the course of this wing we’re expecting an increase in the difficulty.”

With the first raid boss requiring a mix of power and condition based builds, as well as a healthy dose of boon stripping, Gorseval is very much about control and speed. Quickness, hard crowd control and a keen eye to prevent him bolstering his strength through the phases is absolutely paramount. One wrong move and your entire party will wipe, restarting the entire encounter. Even with an experienced team of developers, we failed the first stage time and time again: minor errors cost us dearly. What I found particularly exciting about this encounter is the fact that each phase continues to speed up, piling the pressure on players and further increasing the chances of them making a mistake. Whilst the opening section could be considered leisurely, with a need to damage Gorseval and destroy his breakbar, by the time you reach phase three and as he summons a variety of spirits to his aid, it becomes fairly frantic.

Even though we weren’t successful in killing Gorseval (not without a helping hand from some developer cheat codes), I wanted to ask Steven about the rewards if you manage to bring him and other raid bosses down. “I think there’s a number of parts that play into what rewards players. There is gold and experience - a good chunk of it - you’re also going to be guaranteed an exotic and a rare. You’ll also gain the map currency, the magnetite shards, which you’ll be able to use over time at a vendor that will have items available that you can buy if you don’t get the drops you want.” and what about ascended items and gold gain? “You get a chance drop at ascended, specialty minis and other gear specific to that boss. All of those things are part of the reward and in addition to that, we’re giving a buff so that when the encounter is live, experience and gold gain will be doubled. You’re looking at around 4 gold per boss, two big chunks of experience and the magnetized shards. We want to make this one of the more rewarding activities in Guild Wars 2 but you also have to consider not blowing the economy up.”

Running for your life is a common theme.

Although we don’t know of the chance for ascended drops, I think the monetary gain, the inclusion of magnetite shards and heavy dose of experience will offer more than enough incentive for experienced players to participate in raids. But what about those new to Guild Wars 2 or those not typically involved in player versus enemy encounters? “I think there’s two things. These encounters are fun and are designed mechanically to showcase what’s great about Guild Wars 2’s combat system. The second part, tied to that, is that it’s a great way for our community - we believe one of the best out there - to play with other people. To talk to other people, coordinate group composition, it builds a great community. Overcoming these challenges and working together to eventually succeed is a really great accomplishment for players to achieve.”

Irrespective of the rewards available, raids have to offer a challenge to the existing playerbase above that what already exists. Whether or not their difficulty matches that of other games in the genre is also largely irrelevant as there will always be guilds and groups of players capable of defeating even the hardest encounter within 24 hours. What really matters is whether it offers the masses a focus a long term goal and a means of obtaining additional wealth and items. There’s no doubting that raids in Guild Wars 2 achieve this in spades. Gorseval the Multifarious is a simple yet clever encounter that rewards focus and coordination but still punishes those who slip up: that’s a very good thing.

Like a great number of people, later today I’ll be eagerly awaiting the update for Guild Wars 2 so that my guild and I can venture into the Spirit Vale. For anyone new to raids or playing them in Guild Wars 2 for the first time, just remember that when everything begins to go horribly wrong, shout: “be dynamic!”*.

Spirit Vale is the latest update for Guild Wars 2 that arrives hot on the heels of Heart of Thorns. Available later today, be sure to read more over on the official website to read more. Ten Ton Hammer would also like to thank Elizabeth Stewart and Steven Waller for taking the time out of their busy schedules to allow us this preview.

*ArenaNet’s internal mantra when disaster strikes.