Guild Wars 2 developer and publisher ArenaNet was at this year's PAX Prime offering new details and media for the MMORPG's upcoming expansion, Heart of Thorns. Chief amongst the reveals was that of the expansion's release date as October 23, 2015 for both North America and Europe. Heart of Thorns will be available as a buy-to-play game without subscription fees, with the base game now available for free.

The original MMORPG offered episodic content updates, titled Living Worlds, and the feature will also be present in Heart of Thorns. This extra content will be provided free to charge to all those who purchase the expansion, with a pre-purchase program to be offered that will provide unique items and access to Beta Weekend Events.

ArenaNet also unveiled raids for Heart of Thorns during its presentation. Raids offer end-game content for players who have reached the max level of 80, with a new Mastery system offering a different method of progression and its own set of abilities. Raids will be made up of ten-player instanced scenarios culminating in a challenging boss fight. The first raid will be released in three parts, or "wings", shortly after the expansion. Heart of Thorns also features a new profession, the revenant, as well as new elite specialisations for each professional currently in the game and new progression features for groups, such as guild halls.

Click here to view more raid screenshots.