Shadow of the Mad King
Since 2012, the deranged Mad King Thorn emerges around Halloween to remind the world of his nasty tricks and cruel jokes. Every year, as the date approaches, the veil between the mortal world and the ghostly Mad Realm thins, allowing all the spine-chilling nasties to spill forth into Tyria for a short time.
“This year, you’ll be able to collect a mini-pet for completing all the annual achievements, plus three new weapons, all of which have been inspired by long-standing horror tropes, including a syringe that functions as a dagger, called The Cure, a lightning rod players can wield as a sword named Soul Conductor, and a butcher knife players can use as an axe, called Revenge.”
– Alex Youngblood, a designer on Guild Wars 2 at ArenaNet
Meanwhile, players who’ve experienced Episode 3 of the Living World story will also enjoy the chance to learn more about another undead king, Palawa Joko, and his long rivalry with Mad King Thorn. This Halloween will delve more into his history, while also sending you to recover artifacts to present to King Thorn, which will “prove his superiority as the preeminent immortal ruler.”
GW2 Festival Events
All events are located in Lion’s Arch or entered through a door in Lion’s Arch
- Mad King’s Labyrinth – Bloody Prince Edrick has taken over parts of the Mad King’s Labyrinth and is controlling the undead armies in the Mad King’s Realm. The Skeletal Lich, Grand High Viscount of Candy Corn, and the Labyrinthine Horror lie in wait. Run around the Labyrinth and defeat these creatures to gain a ton of Halloween goodies.
- Labyrinth Race – Take part in a race through the Labyrinth on your mounts. (Occurs roughly every 20 minutes)
- Mad King’s Clock Tower – Tyria’s most maddening jumping puzzle.
- Ascent to Madness – Fight against the Mad King Thorn himself, as he trades in his usual jokes and pranks to face you head on.
- Mad King Says – Join Mad King Thorn as he commands you to perform actions, or attempts to trick you.
- Lunatic Inquisition – Attempt to survive the night as a villager while the Lunatic Courtiers hunt you down.
- Reaper’s Rumble – Playable for the first time since the original GW2 Halloween celebration, a fast-paced PvP format where players compete to recover pumpkins and spawn hordes of skeletons to attack the enemy team’s base.
- Mad King’s Raceway – the track was built on the same map as Reaper’s Rumble that showcases the star mount of the current Living Story, the Roller Beetle.
- Players who have completed Episode 3 of Season 4 of the living story can delve into the ancient rivalry between Mad King Thorn and Palawa Joko through a new collection achievement.
New weapon skins and equipment
Other
MIST Festival Events
- Mysterious Emissary – A screenshot contest where you track down the Tyrians Jess Ter spoke with.
- Trick or Treat – Head to the Guild Hall and say Trick or Treat to one of our Officers to get some treats or tricks.
- Costume Contest – Dress up for Halloween and showcase your work. Our judges will determine the winner, while our Flamingos get to vote for the FLAMINGO Choice Award Winner.
- Lottery – See below for details. Winners to be determined once the festival ends.
- Bloody Prince Scavenger Hunt – Can you collect all the items on the list before time runs out? See below for details.
- Donation Drive – You’ll be put in Tonic Teams and have 1 hour to promote your case in the home cities to get various donations. Each item has a point value, the team with the most points, wins! See below for details.
Lottery
Tickets are 1 gold each and are available from October 16th to November 5th.
To Purchase: send an in game mail to Cisu.6980 (Jess) with the Subject Line: Lottery Ticket
Draw will take place on November 6th. Best of luck to all!
Tickets
1-10: Ninjazzy
11-20: Dr. Clutch McSwag Daddy
Bloody Prince Scavenger Hunt
Collect all the items on the list. Take a screenshot of the items in your inventory, (showing your character beside it) and be entered to win!
Items
Coming soon
Donation Drive
Make your way through the various home cities of Tyria and promote your Charity Case in order to receive donations from generous players.
Each team will start in a different home city and have 10 minutes to promote their case before rotating to a new city. After all 5 home cities have been visited, you’ll beg together in Lion’s Arch. Promote your case or smear your competitors, the choice is yours.
Rules
- You must remain in the specified tonic form at all times
- You can only use Say chat to ask for donations. No map chat allowed!
- No buying items off the Trading Post
- When the time is up, you must switch to the next City
- You must be as creative as possible when asking for donations.
City Rotation
Rata Sum -> Grove -> Divinity’s Reach -> Hoelbrak -> Black Citadel
Donation Item Point Value
- Piece of Candy Corn – 1 point
- Chattering Skull – 1 points
- Nougat Center – 1 points
- Plastic Fangs – 1 points
- Candy Corn Cob – 1000 points
- Gibbering Skull – 1000 points
- Tyria’s Best Nougat – 1000 points
- High-Quality Plastic Fangs – 1000 points
- Trick or Treat Bag – 10 points
- Tonic – 2 points
- Food Item – 2 points
- Pumpkin Oil – 5 points
TEAMS
Plastic Spider

Charity Cause:
Team Members
Candy Corn Elemental

Charity Cause:
Team Members
Glow-in-the-Dark Skeletons

Charity Cause:
Team Members
Mummy

Charity Cause:
Team Members