City

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Cities are special open-world zones characterized by a total lack of hostile NPCs. They focus on providing access to various services instead, such as vendors, crafting or portals to faraway places. Fast traveling to the zone's waypoints is free while in the city. Special dynamic events can still occur in cities, such as during Wintersday or Halloween.

List of cities[edit]

Major cities[edit]

Each of the playable races has a capital city, which is the first city that characters of each respective race will visit during their personal story. Large portion of every character's story plays in their capital city, often within their own home instance located inside.

In addition to the capital cities of the playable races, there is also Lion's Arch, the central trade and cultural hub of Tyria. Lion's Arch contains unique features that are not found in other cities.

Map completion of a major city rewards experience based on the character's level and 1 transmutation charge.

Loading screen City Mechanical region Geographical region Notes
Black Citadel loading screen.jpg Black Citadel Ascalon Ascalon Capital city of the charr.
Home of the Iron Legion and base of operations of the three High Legions in Ascalon.
Divinity's Reach loading screen.jpg Divinity's Reach Kryta Kryta Capital city of the humans.
The royal seat of Kryta and largest human settlement in northern Tyria ever since the flooding of Lion's Arch.
Hoelbrak loading screen.jpg Hoelbrak Shiverpeak Mountains Shiverpeak Mountains Capital city of the norn.
Originally established by the legendary norn hero Asgeir Dragonrender, the great lodges here serve as home, refuge and trade hub for many norn.
Lion's Arch loading screen.jpg Lion's Arch Kryta Kryta Central hub for Tyria.
Rata Sum loading screen.jpg Rata Sum Maguuma Jungle Tarnished Coast Capital city of the asura.
The greatest above-ground city of the asura, a magical construction that floats high above Maguuma Jungle.
The Grove loading screen.jpg The Grove Maguuma Jungle Tarnished Coast Capital city of the sylvari.
A city built in the trunk of the Pale Tree, mother of sylvari in Tyria.

Lobbies and outposts[edit]

While the term "city" is typically reserved for non-combat areas from the original game's release, many expansions and other releases also added similar zones over time. These tend to be smaller, they usually don't have their own map completion rewards. and they often serve as staging points for specific game modes or activities. They are sometimes referred to as "lobbies", "outposts" or "hubs". Lobbies are small zones focused on a specific game mode, while outposts and hubs tend to serve a broader purpose and act as a central hub for a given expansion or Living World season. However, this distinction isn't official or exact.

Loading screen Lobby Access requirement Mechanical region Geographical region Notes
Heart of the Mists loading screen.jpg Heart of the Mists None The Mists The Mists Lobby for structured PvP.
Super Adventure Box loading screen.jpg Hub Super Adventure Box Virtual reality,
Tarnished Coast
Lobby and staging ground for Super Adventure Box.
Fractals of the Mists loading screen.jpg Mistlock Observatory None Fractals of the Mists The Mists,
Fractals of the Mists
Lobby and entrance to the Fractals of the Mists dungeon.
Memory of Old Lion's Arch loading screen.png Memory of Old Lion's Arch
Living World logo.png
Lion's Pride from the Rare Collections.png Lion's Memory achievement
(Released in Living World Season 1 re-release)
Kryta Kryta Vision of the version of Lion's Arch from the game's launch.
Dragon's Stand loading screen.jpg Dragon's Stand (Heart of Thorns) Heart of Maguuma Heart of Maguuma Lobby for the final Heart of Thorns story mission.
Lion's Arch Aerodrome Loading Screen.jpg Lion's Arch Aerodrome
Living World Season 3 logo.png
None
(Released before Living World Season 3)
Kryta Kryta Lobby and staging ground for raids.
Eye of the North loading screen.jpg Eye of the North
Living World Season 5 logo.png
None
(Released in The Icebrood Saga)
Shiverpeak Mountains Far Shiverpeaks Staging ground for the story, strike missions and dragon response missions in the Icebrood Saga and group instances from Living World Season 1.
Can be upgraded by purchases through vendors.
Arborstone loading screen.png Arborstone Cantha The Echovald Forest Hub for Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons and staging ground for related strike missions.
Can be upgraded by training the Arborstone Revitalization mastery track, and it has an associated achievement category Arborstone.png Arborstone.
The Wizard's Tower loading screen.png The Wizard's Tower Horn of Maguuma Horn of Maguuma Hub for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure and staging ground for related strike missions.
Has map completion rewards. Can be slightly upgraded by training the Astral Ward mastery track, and it has an associated achievement category The Wizard's Tower.png The Wizard's Tower.

Lounges[edit]

Primary article: Lounge

Lounges are exclusive areas that feature multiple conveniences usually found throughout cities, all within an efficiently compact space. They may only be accessed by players in possession of a pass item; in most cases, these can only be obtained via the Gem Store or Black Lion Statuettes, though there are some exceptions.

Other establishments[edit]

There are many other establishments located throughout the world of Tyria that don't have their own zones or that mostly function as cities in lore and not mechanically, from small villages to entire city regions. The most notable examples include: