Tyrian Chronicle: Wonderful Wintersday Guide .

Happy Holidays!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for MMO players. Oh sure, there’s the fun real-life celebrations like Christmas and Hanukkah and New Years, and I guess those are pretty okay. But even the sternest MMOs go all out for the holidays, filling cities with quest-giving elves and festive hats and piles of presents under things that sort of resemble trees. It’s a pretty great time to be in an MMO!

Guild Wars 2 is no exception of course, and the patch on December 15th kicked off Wintersday, Tyria’s holiday celebration. This year the festivities are limited to the city of Divinity’s Reach (instead of all major cities), but they are no less shiny than previous years.

With Wintersday comes a ton of new events, collections, armor and weapons skins, minis, and more. If you’ve completed everything in previous years there’s not a lot that’s brand new in the 2015 version, but for most of us there’s still plenty to see and do.

Achievements, Minis, and Collections

Some of the things that are new this year are a few of the achievements associated with Wintersday. There are 23 achievements associated with the holiday! Some are quite easy – donating 1 silver to Ho-Ho-Tron, for example – and then there’s Festive Imbiber, which asks you to consume 10,000 Wintersday drinks. 10,000! I hope you’re thirsty…

The meta achievement is Seasoned Toymaker, and it requires you to complete 18 of the 23 smaller achievements. Finishing the meta awards players 40 achievement points, the title of “Seasoned Toymaker”, and a Tixx’s Toybox which gives you the choice of a toy miniature or a Generous Wintersday Gift.

There are five minis available in 2015, some new and some returning classics. The Mini Gift Skritt is a rare drop from Wintersday Gifts, and also a material for the Mystic Forge recipe for a Mini Charitable Gift Skritt. The Charitable version in turn is one of the materials needed to Forge a Mini Munificent Gift Skritt. (If you have your eyes on the latter, I recommend buying Mini Gift Skritts off the Trading Post rather than waiting for Gift RNG.)

The fourth mini is the return of a 2012 Gem Store item, the Mini Foostivoo the Merry. It’s also a Mystic Forge recipe that requires the rare Gift drop Mini Snowman and a whole pile of Flawless Snowflakes. Meanwhile, this year the Gem Store has a Mini Snow Flurry Dragon available for 500 gems.

There are three collections associated with Wintersday. The Wintersday Toy Weapons Collection items are usually available for cheap on the Trading Post, the Toy Tonic Tippler Collection requires an Artificer-crafted item, and the For the Children Collection is completed with items you obtain doing jumping puzzles and chests.

Events and Other Things to Do

Collecting and grinding achievements are all well and good, but what if you’re tired of farming and ready to be festive? Wintersday has a substantial number of activities to keep you jumping with joy (literally).

Once you head to the front door of Divinity’s Reach, a portal will be right inside the entrance ready to whisk you off to where all the action is. Look for the little red and white peppermint symbol on your map to find holiday vendors and additional activity portals.

Snowball Mayhem Wintersday is a PvP activity where players play a Supporter, Heavy Gunner, or Scout, all armed with snowballs and snow-related skills. The goal is for your team to carry a gift from the center of the map to your home base. Do this five times, and you’ve won the game!

If PvP isn’t your style, try the Bell Choir activity. This Rock Band-style game has you pressing keys in time to create music. Miss too many notes, and you’ll take damage and eventually be kicked off the “stage”. (Here’s a hint: get your fingers ready on the 1-4 and 5-9 keys .. you’ll need them!)
The Toypocalypse is great for people ready to spend a little quality time with Guild Wars 2, as completing all 10 rounds takes about an hour. This is a large PvE event where players work together to protect malfunctioning toys from waves of attackers. There are custom weapons, defenses, and tactical considerations in each round, and defeating all 10 waves can award about 30 Wintersday Gifts.

And of course you can always try the Winter Wonderland jumping puzzle! This sprawling terror has three different paths that each feature disappearing snowflakes, exploding presents, and giant rolling snowballs that will knock you into the abyss. And as if that wasn’t enough, jumping players get a Frostbite debuff that ticks away health. Jump fast, or you’ll die and have to restart! The puzzle takes about two minutes to complete, but it feels a lot longer.

 

Skins and Fun Things

There are a huge number of skins available from various Wintersday vendors – check in with the holiday vendors in Divinity’s Reach to try them all on.

New this year is the Timekeeper Weapon skins, which can be purchased for a single Black Lion Ticket each. As the name indicates, each of these skins incorporates a clock face in some way, and have a unique look with brass and crystal.

This year also introduces the Winter’s Presence Shoulders, a recipe that creates invisible shoulders which gives your character their own permanent snowstorm. The recipe is available from a holiday vendor, and requires completing many of the Wintersday achievements and throwing a lot of crafting materials into the Mystic Forge.

If you’re just looking to add a little festiveness to your Guild Hall, Reddit poster Priapus_Unbound posted this jumping puzzle he created with the snow pile item:

No matter how you want to spend your Wintersaday – crafting, collecting, jumping, forging, and more — it seems that ArenaNet has included a little something for everyone in this year’s event.

Happy Holidays, everyone, in Tyria and in real life.

Related: Event (In Game), Guides, Guild Wars 2, The Tyrian Chronicle, Winter Event