# “20 players is the sweet spot”: Guild Wars 3’s action game combat is a first for MMOs, but it doesn’t work at traditional raid scale

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/20-players-is-the-sweet-spot-guild-wars-3s-action-game-combat-is-a-first-for-mmos-but-it-doesnt-work-at-traditional-raid-scale/
- Published: 2026-09-08T11:09:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-08T11:33:52+00:00
- Original publisher: Rock Paper Shotgun
- Original article: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/20-players-is-the-sweet-spot-guild-wars-3s-action-game-combat-is-a-first-for-mmos-but-it-doesnt-work-at-traditional-raid-scale
- Topics: Business, Software, Technology

## Key points

- Guild Wars 3's action combat only works well with about 20 players
- Combat features wall-running, gliding and momentum-based attacks
- Idea originated in 2015 during Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns development

## Summary

At Gamescom, Arenanet showed off Guild Wars 3, revealing that its signature action-combat system—featuring wall-running, gliding and momentum-based attacks—only works properly with groups of around 20 players, rather than the larger raid sizes typical of traditional MMOs. This matters because it marks a significant departure from genre conventions: rather than the taskbar-and-cooldown combat familiar from games like World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 3 borrows movement mechanics more associated with action titles such as Prince of Persia or Breath of the Wild, built from the ground up to support fluid, physical combat.

Combat designer Kevin Stocker demonstrated the system in the Ancient Orr region, sprinting up walls, gliding off cliffs and chaining momentum-based attacks such as diving strikes and kicks that send enemies into terrain for extra damage. Studio head Colin Johanson said the idea dates back to 2015, during development of Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns expansion, calling it "a very long journey." Much of the game remains under wraps, with Arenanet declining to discuss mounts, professions, dynamic world events, shops or the economy, and the sequel is set more than 1,200 years before the original Guild Wars.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.