Day and night

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Day and night are two environment states which affect certain gameplay mechanics, including schedule of some dynamic events, fishing, and several cosmetic effects, like appearance of specific weapons or sylvari's glow. It can be tracked by enabling "Show Time of Day" in the General Options panel to display Tyrian time of day (dawn, day, dusk, or night) next to the in-game clock.

In most areas of the game, day and night alternate according to the day-night cycle, sometimes referred to in-game as Tyrian Time. Any zone or instance that does not follow the cycle will be permanently frozen at a particular time. The day-night mechanic is intended as an element of realism in the game; for example, the day-night cycle mimics the passage of real time, and the night state of many underground dungeons reflects the darker feeling of those locations.

Day-night cycle[edit]

Previous 2 hoursNext 2 hours
00:00 UTC

Schedule[edit]

A single day-night cycle lasts for 2 hours in real time, though in-universe it is considered to take 24 hours. Thus, one hour of Tyrian Time corresponds to five minutes of real time, and one minute of Tyrian Time corresponds to five seconds of real time. The cycle is split into four stages:

Stage Length (real time) Tyrian Time
Day 70 minutes 06:00–20:00
Dusk 5 minutes 20:00–21:00
Night 40 minutes 21:00–05:00
Dawn 5 minutes 05:00–06:00

Open world maps in Cantha are on a slightly different day/night cycle in which both day and night have the same duration.[1] It breaks down as follows:

Stage Length (real time) Tyrian Time
Day 55 minutes 08:00–19:00
Dusk 5 minutes 19:00–20:00
Night 55 minutes 20:00–07:00
Dawn 5 minutes 07:00–08:00

For the purposes of mechanics that can't transition smoothly between day and night behaviors, dawn is usually considered night and dusk is considered day. Food and Fishing are exceptions: Food will treat dawn as day and dusk as night, and Fishing will treat dawn and dusk as both day and night at the same time.

All zones with the day-night cycle are synchronized to the same schedule. Tyrian Time may be tracked via the in-game clock, which can be turned on via the Options panel; alternatively it can be checked via the chat command /time. Note that this can only be checked within zones with the day-night cycle active, as zones not on the cycle will permanently display the time they are frozen at.

List of locations with day-night cycle[edit]

List of zones not on cycle[edit]

Context Name Status Tyrian Time
City Lion's Arch (only during Halloween) Night 00:00
City Mistlock Sanctuary Day 11:00
City Thousand Seas Pavilion Day 12:00
Dungeon Ascalonian Catacombs Night 22:00
Dungeon Caudecus's Manor Day 07:00
Dungeon Twilight Arbor Night 22:00
Dungeon Sorrow's Embrace Night 22:00
Dungeon Citadel of Flame Night 22:00
Dungeon Honor of the Waves Day 07:00
Dungeon Crucible of Eternity (story mode) Day 12:00
Dungeon Crucible of Eternity (explorable mode) Night 22:00
Dungeon The Ruined City of Arah Day 07:00
Fractal Mistlock Observatory Day 12:00
Fractal Aetherblade Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Aquatic Ruins Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Chaos Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Cliffside Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Deepstone Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Molten Boss Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Molten Furnace Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Nightmare Fractal Day 08:00
Fractal Shattered Observatory Fractal (normal mode) Day 12:00
Fractal Shattered Observatory Fractal (challenge mode) Varies Varies
Fractal Silent Surf Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Siren's Reef Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Snowblind Fractal Night 22:00
Fractal Solid Ocean Fractal Night 22:00
Fractal Sunqua Peak Fractal (normal mode) Day 12:00
Fractal Sunqua Peak Fractal (challenge mode) Night 05:00
Fractal Swampland Fractal Night 22:00
Fractal Thaumanova Reactor Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Twilight Oasis Fractal Night 00:00
Fractal Uncategorized Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Underground Facility Fractal Night 22:00
Fractal Urban Battleground Fractal Day 12:00
Fractal Volcanic Fractal Night 22:00
Instance Dragonstorm Day 12:00
Instance Personal story instances Varies Varies
Instance The Nightmare Incarnate Night 01:00
Instance The Twisted Marionette Night 00:00
Raid Spirit Vale Day 07:00
Raid Salvation Pass Day 07:00
Raid Stronghold of the Faithful Day 07:00
Raid Bastion of the Penitent Day 12:00
Raid Hall of Chains Day 07:00
Raid Mythwright Gambit Day 07:00
Raid The Key of Ahdashim Day 07:00
Region Mad King's Realm Night 02:00
Strike Mission Shiverpeaks Pass Night 00:00
Strike Mission Voice and Claw of the Fallen Day 12:00
Strike Mission Fraenir of Jormag Day 12:00
Strike Mission Boneskinner Day 12:00
Strike Mission Whisper of Jormag Dusk 20:00
Strike Mission Forging Steel Day 12:00
Strike Mission Cold War Dusk 20:00
Strike Mission Aetherblade Hideout Day 12:00
Strike Mission Kaineng Overlook Night 00:00
Strike Mission Harvest Temple Night 00:00
Strike Mission Temple of Febe Day
Structured PvP Asura Arena Day 08:00
Structured PvP Auric Span Night 22:00
Structured PvP Battle of Champion's Dusk Night 22:00
Structured PvP Battle of Kyhlo Night 22:00
Structured PvP Courtyard Night 22:00
Structured PvP Djinn's Dominion Day 08:00
Structured PvP Eternal Coliseum Day 12:00
Structured PvP Forest of Niflhel Night 22:00
Structured PvP Hall of the Mists Night 22:00
Structured PvP Legacy of the Foefire Day 12:00
Structured PvP Revenge of the Capricorn Night 22:00
Structured PvP Skyhammer Day 12:00
Structured PvP Spirit Watch Day 10:00
Structured PvP Temple of the Silent Storm Night 22:00
Zone Bitterfrost Frontier (during the storm; see above) Night 21:00
Zone Draconis Mons Day 09:00
Zone Edge of the Mists Day 07:00

The following encounters start at the tyrian (or canthan for XJJ) time that the instance was created at, and freezes until the instance is closed.

Game elements affected by day-night state[edit]

Dynamic events, NPCs, and enemies[edit]

Sigil of the Night[edit]

Primary article: Sigil of the Night

Sigils of the Night are weapon sigils that increase outgoing damage during the night state. Neither dawn nor dusk is considered night for the purposes of this mechanic.

Sigil of the Night Rarity Level Bonus
Minor Sigil of the Night.pngMinor Sigil of the Night Masterwork 20 Outgoing damage is increased by 1% with an additional 3% at night.
Major Sigil of the Night.pngMajor Sigil of the Night Rare 40 Outgoing damage is increased by 2% with an additional 5% at night.
Superior Sigil of the Night.pngSuperior Sigil of the Night Exotic 60 Outgoing damage is increased by 3% with an additional 7% at night.

Fishing[edit]

Primary article: Fishing

Some fish can only be caught during specific times of day.

Daytime/Nighttime Fish can still be caught during Dusk/Dawn Time Periods.

Food[edit]

Primary article: Food

The following foods confer different bonuses depending on whether it is day or night. Dawn is considered day and dusk is considered night for the purposes of this mechanic.

Level Duration Item Effect
10 30m Chili Pepper Popper.pngChili Pepper Popper Day: 8% Chance to gain might on crit
20 30m Bowl of Fancy Bean Chili.pngBowl of Fancy Bean Chili +20 Ferocity
Day: 8% Chance to cause Burning on Critical Hit
Night: 8% Chance to Steal Life on Critical Hit
20 30m Stuffed Pepper.pngStuffed Pepper Day: 16% Chance to gain might on crit
30 30m Stuffed Zucchini.pngStuffed Zucchini Day: 24% Chance to gain might on crit
Night: 24% Chance to cause chill on crit
35 30m Bowl of Zucchini Chili.pngBowl of Zucchini Chili +30 Ferocity
Day: 12% Chance to cause Burning on Critical Hit
Night: 12% Chance to Steal Life on Critical Hit
46 60m Bowl of Spiced Meat and Cabbage Stew.pngBowl of Degun Shun Stew +30 Ferocity
Day: 12% Chance to Burn on Critical Hit
Night: 12% Chance to Steal Life on Critical Hit
+10% Experience from Kills
50 30m Bowl of Hummus.pngBowl of Hummus Day: 28% Chance to gain might on crit
Night: 28% Chance to cause chill on crit
50 30m Bowl of Spiced Veggie Chili.pngBowl of Spiced Veggie Chili +20 Ferocity
Day: 14% Chance to cause Burning on Critical Hit
Night: 14% Chance to Steal Life on Critical Hit
65 30m Roasted Artichoke.pngRoasted Artichoke Day: 36% Chance to gain might on crit
Night: 36% Chance to cause chill on crit
70 30m Bowl of Spicy Veggie Chili.pngBowl of Spicy Veggie Chili +40 Ferocity
Day: 18% Chance to cause Burning on Critical Hit
Night: 18% Chance to Steal Life on Critical Hit
80 30m Ghost Pepper Popper.pngGhost Pepper Popper Day: 40% Chance to gain might on crit
Night: 40% Chance to cause chill on crit
80 30m Bowl of Fire Veggie Chili.pngBowl of Fire Veggie Chili +50 Ferocity
Day: 20% Chance to cause Burning on Critical Hit
Night: 20% Chance to Steal Life on Critical Hit

Cosmetics affected by day-night state[edit]

Mount appearances[edit]

The following mount skins have different appearances during day and night states:

Weapon appearances[edit]

The following weapons have different appearances during day and night states:

In some zones, the weapon appearances will not automatically change state when day changes to night or vice versa. Reentering the zone will cause the weapon to display the correct state.

Sylvari glow[edit]

Primary article: Physical appearance/Sylvari

Sylvari will glow when in the night state. This glow appears gradually during dusk, and disappears gradually during dawn. For playable characters, the color and intensity of the glow is set during character creation.

Music[edit]

Primary article: Customized soundtrack

For players who customize their in-game music, many explorable zones that use the default Ambient playlist during the day state will switch to the NightTime playlist in the night state.

Trivia[edit]

  • Though the day-night cycle has been present in the game since launch, "Tyrian Time" was not introduced until September 2019, when it was added as part of Prologue: Bound by Blood. Tyrian Time was added as an option to the in-game clock as part of the October 1, 2019 update.
  • Kraitkin, the legendary trident, was originally assumed to have a different appearance at night, as its eels would become petrified and emit a faint but noticeable light-green glow, along with an aura of bubbles that would appear around the whole trident. This was eventually removed, and later confirmed to be a bug.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Comment by Rubi Bayer, en-forum.guildwars2.com
  2. ^ Comment by mattp, reddit.com