Day and night

Day and night refer to two environment states which affect certain gameplay mechanics, including the appearances of certain weapons and Sylvari glow.

In most areas of the game, day and night alternate according to the day-night cycle. Any zone or instance that does not follow the cycle will be permanently frozen in either the day state or the night state. The day-night mechanic is intended as an element of realism in the game; for example, the day-night cycle mimics the passage of real time, and the night state of many underground dungeons reflects the darker feeling of those locations.

Day–night cycle

A single day-night cycle lasts for 2 hours. It is broken into four stages: day, night, dawn and dusk.

The sky appears fairly static during the day and night stages. During the day, the sky is bright and the sun is visible. During the night, the sky is dark, and stars and the moon are visible. During dusk and dawn, the sky smoothly transitions between the day and night appearances.

While dawn and dusk uniquely affect the appearance of the sky, it should be noted that the game considers them both to be functionally "day". As such, effects that only activate during the night will not trigger during these transitionary stages.

Schedule

All zones obeying the day-night cycle are synchronized to the same daily schedule. The following table shows the current cycle and state:

Functional state	Cycle stage	Length	Begins at
Day	Dawn	5 minutes	00:25
	Day	70 minutes	00:30
	Dusk	5 minutes	01:40
Night	Night	40 minutes	01:45
Next cycle			02:25

Full Daily Schedule
Functional Day	Dawn	00:25	02:25	04:25	06:25	08:25	10:25	12:25	14:25	16:25	18:25	20:25	22:25
	Day	00:30	02:30	04:30	06:30	08:30	10:30	12:30	14:30	16:30	18:30	20:30	22:30
	Dusk	01:40	03:40	05:40	07:40	09:40	11:40	13:40	15:40	17:40	19:40	21:40	23:40
Functional Night	Night	01:45	03:45	05:45	07:45	09:45	11:45	13:45	15:45	17:45	19:45	21:45	23:45

List of locations with day-night cycle

• All explorable zones in Tyria
• Primary World versus World zones:
  • Eternal Battlegrounds
  • Borderlands
  • Obsidian Sanctum
• Chantry of Secrets
• Claw Island

List of zones not on cycle

Dungeons
Name	Status
Ascalonian Catacombs	Night
Caudecus's Manor	Day
Twilight Arbor	Night
Sorrow's Embrace	Night
Citadel of Flame	Night
Honor of the Waves	Day
Crucible of Eternity (story mode)	Day
Crucible of Eternity (explorable mode)	Night
The Ruined City of Arah	Day

Fractals of the Mists
Name	Status
Mistlock Observatory	Day
Aetherblade Fractal	Day
Aquatic Ruins Fractal	Day
Cliffside Fractal	Day
Molten Furnace Fractal	Day
Snowblind Fractal	Night
Swampland Fractal	Night
Thaumanova Reactor Fractal	Day
Uncategorized Fractal	Day
Underground Facility Fractal	Night
Urban Battlegrounds Fractal	Day
Volcanic Fractal	Night
Captain Mai Trin Boss Fractal	Day
Molten Boss Fractal	Day
Solid Ocean Fractal	Night

Structured PvP
Name	Status
Heart of the Mists	Night
Battle of Kyhlo	Night
Courtyard	Night
Forest of Niflhel	Night
Legacy of the Foefire	Day
Skyhammer	Day
Spirit Watch	Day
Temple of the Silent Storm	Night

Miscellaneous
Name	Status
Durmand Priory Basement	Day
Edge of the Mists	Day
Reconnaissance	Night*

Note: The Personal Story quest Reconnaissance starts out as Night; when the quest is completed, the instance turns to Day.

Game elements affected by day-night state

Dynamic events, NPCs, and enemies

Certain locations will have different dynamic events, non-player characters, and enemies available depending on day or night. For example, Shaemoor Cemetery will have a Priest of Grenth investigating a restless spirit in the day, who turns out to be Lady in White in Defeat the Lady in White at night. Bats are also found in the cemetery only at night.

Sigil of the Night

Основная статья: Sigil of the Night

Sigils of the Night are weapon sigils that increase outgoing damage during the night state.

Sigil of the Night	Редкость	Уровень	Бонус
Minor Sigil of the Night	Z		Исходящий урон увеличивается ночью на 5%.
Major Sigil of the Night	Z		Исходящий урон увеличивается ночью на 7%.
Superior Sigil of the Night	Z		Исходящий урон увеличивается ночью на 10%.

Food

Основная статья: Food

The following foods confer different bonuses depending on whether it is the day or night state.

Level	Duration	Item	Effect
10	30m	Chili Pepper Popper	Day: 8% Chance to gain might on crit
20	30m	Stuffed Pepper	Day: 16% Chance to gain might on crit
30	30m	35x35px Stuffed Zucchini	Day: 24% Chance to gain might on crit Night: 24% Chance to cause chill on crit
50	30m	35x35px Bowl of Hummus	Day: 28% Chance to gain might on crit Night: 28% Chance to cause chill on crit
65	30m	35x35px Roasted Artichoke	Day: 36% Chance to gain might on crit Night: 36% Chance to cause chill on crit
80	30m	Ghost Pepper Popper	Day: 40% Chance to gain might on crit Night: 40% Chance to cause chill on crit

Weapon appearances

The following weapons have different appearances between day and night states.

• Eternity
• Meteorlogicus
• Kraitkin
• Royal Ascalonian weapons

Баги:

• Eternity will incorrectly display the Twilight model during the dawn stage of the day-night cycle. The daytime aura will correctly appear.
• In some zones, the weapon appearances will not automatically change state when day changes to night or vice versa. Reentering the zone will cause the weapon to display the correct state.
• Kraitkin's day/night effects work incorrectly, showing daytime effects during night and only showing nighttime effects shortly after skill use.
• Howler originally featured unique day/night appearances. However, a game patch removed the nighttime effects.

Sylvari glow

Основная статья: Physical appearance/Sylvari

All Sylvari characters will glow when in the night state. For playable characters, the color and intensity of the glow is set during character creation.

Music

Основная статья: Customized soundtrack

For players who customize their in-game music, many explorable zones that use the default Ambient playlist during the day state will switch to the NightTime playlist in the night state.

Notes

• Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns will feature a new Outpost meta event system which involves building up defenses during the initial "day" phase to prepare to survive enemy attacks in the following "night" phase. It is currently unknown whether the Outpost system will use the existing day-night cycle, will use a separate cycle, or will result in the existing cycle being modified.