Map

Unexplored Map

Explored Map

This article is about the user interface element. For the explorable locations in the world, see Zone.

The map (M) is the full-screen user interface element used to orient players and to enable instant travel using waypoints. The map shows a character-centered overhead view, presenting general information and markers that indicate nearby locations, events, and the character's most recent travel path. Characters can continue to move while the map is open.

The compass (minimap) shares much of the same information as the map as part of the heads-up display. Players can communicate with party members by drawing on the map or the compass (Hold SHIFT+Right-click), or display a red 'alert' marker (SHIFT+Left-click); you can also add your own personal markers (ALT+Left-click, which can be removed by a further Left-click on them). Commanders can place additional markers.

Each zone has its own set of waypoints, hero challenges, vistas, renown hearts and points of interest. Hovering the mouse pointer over a zone's name will display a popup with your completition track for this zone. If the player successfully discovers all of them in a zone, they are rewarded with a map completion bonus, giving them an item gift (usually a Transmutation Charge [or, rarely, a Black Lion Key]), a number of experience points, a bonus in coins (not given to players for completing major cities' maps), two random Masterwork / Rare / Exotic items, and 40 of a useful, zone-level appropriate, crafting material. When the player has completely explored all of the zones, they are awarded with 2 Gifts of Exploration, an item required for the creation of a legendary weapon.

The legends at the top left corner show the remaining points for world completion and completion of the current map. Moving the mouse pointer over each entry in the legend will make any revealed point or scout pointing to not yet revealed renown hearts flash on the map, making them much easier to find. Some points do not appear unless the map is zoomed in enough, so the map must be zoomed in enough for those to be highlighted.

When the map is up on screen, the player cannot toggle the user interface (HUD) with CTRL+SHIFT+H. When the display (HUD) is hidden, the ability to double-click waypoints on the map is disabled.

Map icons[edit]

When you explore the world of Tyria, the map will show you various information in the form of map icons.

Note: Certain map icons are hidden until the level requirement is reached. Once unlocked, they will be visible to all characters on the account regardless of level. See Level rewards.

Map compasss[edit]

The map compass, accessed via the World map, will upon use quicky move the map towards the selected region.

Icon	Description
	Central Tyria. The region is accessed via Guild Wars 2.
	Heart of Maguuma. The region is accessed via Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns.
	Crystal Desert. The region is accessed via Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire.
	Cantha. The region is accessed via Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons.
	Horn of Maguuma. The region is accessed via Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure.

The compass that appears on the map to aid in finding certain regions.

Basic icons[edit]

Icon	Description
	This icon indicates the position of your character on the map. The dotted path behind this icon indicates the movement of the character through the zone, fading over time.
	Party members and allies show up as these blue dots.
	Non-party allies in World versus World will show up as green dots.
	Guild members will show up as these yellow dots.
	Icon for fallen allies npcs or players.
	Your personal story is marked on the map with these green icons. The star shows your next destination, the arrows indicate a path you could take to reach this destination, the swirl icon indicates a map exit portal you could use to reach this destination.
	Dynamic events appear in every explorable zone in Tyria. These icons are often accompanied by orange outlines and arrows painted on the map to indicate the scope or the direction of an event. The icon broadly describes the nature of the event, from fighting a certain enemy, claiming a location, protecting a person/item or gathering something.
	These icons show where Crafting materials can be gathered, if you have the right tools.
	Personal waypoints are there to mark certain locations on the map for party members. However, some NPCs will place personal waypoints on your map to point out certain landmarks or other interesting places.

Map completion[edit]

The following map icons show your progress towards map completion. Icons on the left indicate how many objectives you have completed in the zone you are currently in, and in the world. These are the only map icons that appear when outside a zone.

An empty icon means that there is still something to find. A filled icon means that you have completed the task or already visited the location.

Icon	Description
	Renown Hearts or Hearts for short indicate NPCs that are in need of assistance, and which can offer services to characters that have helped them.
	Points of interest are locations that can be discovered through exploration. All you need to do is approach the point of interest to get the credit.
	Waypoints are unlocked like points of interest. Once unlocked you can teleport yourself to the waypoint for a small fee.
	Hero challenges are locations where challenges can be completed to earn hero points.
	Vistas are interactive objects located in the world which trigger an associated cinematic. They appear as a column of light with a map of Tyria floating near the ground. Vistas are usually hard to reach.

NPC services[edit]

Major cities usually offer every service available in the game, except for scouting of course. Settlements and outposts, which can be found all across the world, may offer some but usually not all services. Certain icons (such as ) do not appear before a character reaches an appropriate level.

Icon	Description
	Scouts are NPCs which will temporarily unfog parts of the map and mark nearby hearts and other map icons.
	Master craftsmen are found in all major cities as well as smaller settlements around Tyria. The icon represents what crafting profession the NPC will teach and what kind of crafting material you can buy there. Usually all eight different master craftsmen stand together and a corresponding crafting station is right next to each of them.
	Vendors are found almost everywhere around the world, they accept coins or karma and sell various goods depending on the icon. A helm indicates an armor merchant, sword a weapon merchant. The other symbols do not indicate that these vendors sell anything specific, but you often can buy gathering tools and salvage kits from them.
	Dungeon Merchant is a special vendor that trades dungeon currencies for weapons, armor, upgrade components, and crafting materials.
	Ectoplasm vendors are special vendors that accept Globs of Ectoplasm as currency.
	Festival Merchants are NPCs that exchange Festive materials and Festival Tokens for a variety of items.
	Laurel vendors are special vendors that accept Laurels as currency. Laurels are rewarded on certain days of the login rewards system.
	Reinforce Armor NPCs and anvils are found around the world and even in dungeons. Here you have the opportunity to obtain or refresh the duration of Reinforced Armor.
	Trading post NPCs allows you to pick up items and coin you've bought or earned from the Black Lion Trading Company.
	Banker let you access the account vault which can also be accessed via a crafting station.
	The Mystic Forge lets you combine items into something new.
	Commander Trainers sell the Commander's Compendium which allows the consumer to become a Squad Commander.
	This icon indicates an NPC who can help you with a collection achievement.

Guild Services[edit]

The services listed here are NPC services which are related to guilds. Some guild services (Guild Armorer and Guild Weaponsmith) do not have map icons, but may be found near those that do.

Icon	Description
	Guild Registrars allow you to create and manage guilds.
	Guild Hall Explorers allow you to claim Guild halls
	Guild Banker let you access the Guild Vault from the guild you are currently representing if you have permission to use it. In WvW, the is displayed.
	Guild Commendation Trader exchanges a combination of coins and guild commendations for a variety of items.
	Sigurlina Jonsdottir allows you to trade guild commendations for a different selection of items every day.
	Nathan the Bartender lets you claim one of the boosts that your guild has unlocked.
	Kresh Defttalon sells special guild miniatures.
	Shard Collector

Central Tyria[edit]

Some map icons are only found in areas that are part of the Central Tyria.

Icon	Description
	Central Tyria Mastery Insights give you a Mastery point when you commune with the place.
	Dungeons are instances based around team play.
	Temples are found instead of Hearts in the Ruins of Orr. Near the temple marker certain meta events occur and a karma merchant will sell exotic gear.

Heart of Thorns[edit]

Some map icons are only found in areas that are part of the Heart of Thorns expansion.

Icon	Description
	Maguuma Mastery Insights give you a Mastery point when you commune with the place.
	Nuhoch Wallows can be used as shortcuts to travel around the map if you have the Nuhoch Wallows Mastery.
	Outpost icons indicate the progress of local event chains.
	Pact Choppers can take players up into Verdant Brink's canopy during the Night and the Enemy meta event.
	These icons show where zone or region specific Crafting materials can be gathered.

Path of Fire[edit]

Some map icons are only found in areas that are part of the Path of Fire expansion.

Icon	Description
	Path of Fire Mastery Insights give you a mastery point when you commune with the place.
	Most zones contain a mount that can be obtained and later used in any area.
	Bounty boards provide events where players can track down and kill champion and legendary foes.
	Contact Point for communication with Taimi.
	These icons show where zone or region specific Crafting materials can be gathered.

End of Dragons[edit]

Some map icons are only found in areas that are part of the End of Dragons expansion.

Icon	Description
	End of Dragons Mastery Insights give you a mastery point when you commune with the place.
	Certain zones contain a method of gaining a mount that can be obtained and later used in any area.
	Jade Bot Personal Waypoints can be summoned to temporarily provide the same function as a waypoint in the open world.
	Raptor Taxi is a raptor that you can hire for free to take you to various places around Seitung Province or New Kaineng City.
	Jade Bot Workbench
	Zip Line

Secrets of the Obscure[edit]

Section-stub. This key section of the article is incomplete. You can help the Guild Wars 2 Wiki by expanding it.

Some map icons are only found in areas that are part of the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.

Icon	Description
	Secrets of the Obscure Mastery Insights give you a mastery point when you commune with the place.
	Certain zones contain a method of gaining a mount that can be obtained and later used in any area.

Janthir Wilds[edit]

Section-stub. This key section of the article is incomplete. You can help the Guild Wars 2 Wiki by expanding it.

Some map icons are only found in areas that are part of the Janthir Wilds expansion.

Icon	Description
	Janthir Wilds Mastery Insights give you a mastery point when you commune with the place.
	These icons show where zone or region specific Crafting materials can be gathered.

World and Structured PvP[edit]

There are some map icons which are only found in PvP areas especially the Heart of the Mists.

Icon	Description
	The PvP Browser allows you to join Structured PvP matches.
	The Tournament Master allows you to join PvP tournaments and also accepts your Tournament Tickets.
	The PvP Instructor works like a scout. He will point out important locations and persons.
	The WvW Instructor guides the player through the map, pointing nearby goals and landmarks and teaching basic strategies.
	The Combat Masters in the Heart of the Mists are marking training opportunities. The Underwater Combat Master is in charge of underwater training. The Siege Master will allow Siege Weapon training.
	Capture points can be found in World versus World PvP as well as Conquest maps. These icons change their color to indicate which team currently holds the point. If no team holds the point it is neutral and the color is grey.

Other map icons[edit]

Icon	Description
	Closest undiscovered area.
	Fractals of the Mists is a special Dungeon containing a series of mini-dungeons of increasing difficulty.
	Adventures are mini games found in the Heart of Maguuma. Nearby events sometimes make them unavailable.
	Raids are 10-player instances designed to be more challenging than dungeons or fractals.
	Asura gates are permanent features that allow free, fast travel around Tyria. Every major city has at least one asura gate and they are sometimes found in explorable zones.
	Asura gate to starting area when under level 10. Also to show where the portal to the next zone when you have completed a zone.
	Repeatable Renown Hearts. After completing the heart once for map completion, the icon changes to indicate it can be completed again.
	Repeatable hero challenges.
	Skritt Tunnels can be used to travel around The Silverwastes.
	Waypoints, dungeons and temples may become contested. This could be due to a dynamic event, a battle, or anything that makes it a dangerous place to spawn. As long as something is contested the associated functionality will not be available for the player until the area is clear again.
	Shrines and Teleport Beacons encountered in some zones and instances, which function similarly to waypoints.
	Thermal Tubes allow you to launch yourself large distances across the map if you have the Thermal Propulsion Mastery.
	Activities are mini games which can be found in Lion's Arch and other locations. 4 are part of a daily rotation (Crab Toss, Sanctum Sprint, Southsun Survival and Keg Brawl). Belcher's Bluff is in home instances. Others are only available for a limited time.
	Commanders can display one of nine different colored icons to show where they are on the map. There is also a catmander tag that shows a cat instead of the regular commander icon.
	The Mentoring Badge can also be used by players to show where they are on the map.
	Tunnels, elevators, ramps, and stairs that lead upwards or downwards are noted with these icons in cities or dungeons.
	Special events are marked by a golden star. These events are only available for a limited time and may be reoccurring or one time only events. Festivals however are marked with a symbol associated with that specific holiday.
	Transport Facilitators were only found during certain special events. They allowed free, fast travel between the docks in Lion's Arch and the event's location.
	Shows the location of a collection that can be started
	Shows the location of a collection in progress or a related NPC/object.
	Strike Mission Entrance

Layer visibility[edit]

With the world map open, clicking on the eye symbol () displays a small menu allowing the user to toggle the visibility of certain groups of map icons. This may be useful in locations where several different icons overlap each other, or if you are looking for a specific icon and wish to hide the others.

Section	Icons included
Commerce	Banker Trading Post Guild Banker
Crafting	Armorsmith Artificer Chef Huntsman Jeweler Leatherworker Tailor Weaponsmith
Navigation	Cave Elevator Ramp Stairs
Services	Guild Registrar Armor Repair Trainers
Vendor	Armorsmith Weaponsmith Merchant
World Completion	Vistas Hero Challenges Renown Hearts Points of Interest