Guild Wars 2’s Expanded Weapon Proficiency beta is now open, letting all testers get a taste of upcoming additional build options like pistol Elementalist, or sword Necromancer.

All nine professions will get at least one new weapon option and a number of skills to go along with it. The options on the table are ways to expand build options and to even fill some gaps in viable ways to play. The beta will run until 10:00 p.m. Pacific Time on December 3rd, giving every player with an account in good standing a chance to try out the new  weapon styles. To take part look in your character slots and you will see beta character slots present. create a character with any profession and explore the open world or do things like take part in WvW, structured PvP, or even Fractals of The Mists group content. 

The GW2 team will then look at all the data they collected and incorporate changes and feedback, which you can leave in dedicated beta feedback forum threads for each profession. The team wants to know what you like or didn’t like about the new options, and whether they got something right or missed the mark. It might sound strange for a Mesmer to be wielding a rifle, but the beta is the chance to get to see how it all feels. And importantly, how the balance plays out. 

The new weapon proficiency options will debut in the next major update for Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure. It will be the second major update for the new expansion, and when the final update is out, you’ll need to own the expansion to enjoy all the new options.

Speaking of balance, there’s also a new update out for the live game as well. The update features balance changes, along with some adjustments to content from Secrets of the Obscure’s requirements and goals. See the patch notes over at Guild Wars 2.