Guild Wars 3 shows action-style combat — works at small groups, not traditional raid scale

Arenanet demonstrated that combat in Guild Wars 3 combines free movement with action-game mechanics: characters can wall-run, deploy a glider from height and use falling momentum to amplify attacks. In the demo lead combat designer Kevin Stocker and studio head Colin Johanson showed sequences in Ancient Orr where a character sprints to a cliff, jumps, opens a glider and lands a high-momentum strike that increases damage and radius.

The presentation included cooperative examples: Stocker raises a shield that Johanson jumps onto, launching Johanson over an enemy so he can strike a vulnerable spot and quickly kill the foe. The studio presents such ability combinations as central to the new combat, with movement and player skills interacting more dynamically than in traditional MMOs.

Developers say implementing the system required rebuilding parts of the game: Stocker says they have discussed the approach for a long time and started the project with that goal. Johanson adds that talks about combining free movement and combat in an MMO began in 2015 while working on Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns expansion.

The reporter notes the style resembles action titles like Prince of Persia or Breath of the Wild (Johanson points out Guild Wars introduced gliders earlier), rather than conventional MMO combat with ability bars and cooldowns. The team also says the change in movement and combat has broader implications: Guild Wars 2 focused on large-scale collaboration, whereas the new system better fits smaller-scale, tight cooperation.

Other systems — mounts, professions, dynamic world events, shops and the economy — were not revealed during the presentation; the studio says it will discuss those features later.