Guild Wars 2's Escape from Lion's Arch update will bring the central city under attack

Guild Wars 2's main city of Lion's Arch has seen plenty of drama across the Living Story. Over the last year, there's been an assassination attempt, an election, and a hidden pirate airship. Mostly, though, there's been those two jerks by the Leatherworking station endlessly repeating their infuriating conversation about outhouses and sewage disposal. Why, if I had my way, I'd burn the whole damn place to the ground.

With the Escape from Lion's Arch update, the city will be beset by pirates, krait, dredge, and the general menagerie of Scarlet's axis of evil. It's not yet clear how the siege will play out - and the extent to which ArenaNet are prepared to disrupt the city's status as the neutral ground for the game's many players. Will the city's trade functions be disrupted as forces attack the zone, or will the carnage be shifted off to an instance, to be neatly resolved at the end of a quest?

Normally I'd expect the latter, but this is the penultimate update of the Living Story's first season, and it would be nice to think ArenaNet have something significant planned for the finale. Entirely destroying the city might be a little too significant, but I would happily settle for the brutal murder of every ambient dialogue-spouting NPC.

Escape from Lion's Arch will be live in Guild Wars 2 from the 16th February.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.