End of Dragons' elite specializations are available in its first beta event

A couple of days ago, we showed you a video that gives some insight into what the new elite specializations coming to Guild Wars 2 can do. Harbinger, Virtuoso, and Willbender are just three of the nine new elite specializations that players will have available when the End of Dragons expansion is released. Each of them offers a unique gameplay style for every profession in the game, allowing them to use weapons that they couldn't before. In some cases, that also comes with a change in the role of a particular class, for example, as Scourge did with Necromancers in the past, allowing them to become a powerhouse able to deal damage while fulfilling a support role by casting massive shields on friendly targets.

If you want to try the new elite specializations, an End of Dragons beta event is currently running in Guild Wars 2. No matter the expansions they own, any player has access to special character slots and can create up to three characters and automatically level them up to 80 and unlock any of the said three new elite specializations. Each of the specs introduces new gameplay mechanics, so you will have to adjust your playstyle if you are an experienced Mesmer, Necromancer, or Guardian.

Even though we don't have any information about the other six elite specializations in End of Dragons yet, we are sure that ArenaNet will surprise the players with exciting additions. How about a greatsword-wielding Elementalist or a Ranger able to use guns? Whatever the studio comes up with, it's likely to change the current meta of Guild Wars 2 from February 22, when End of Dragons becomes available.

The current beta event will be running until August 21, when the trial characters will be deleted along with any of their progress. There are two other beta events scheduled for September 21 and October 23, and it seems like we will have access to three different new specializations in each of them.