The annual Halloween festival for Guild Wars 2 will return on October 16, 2018, development studio ArenaNet announced. The event features a number of new additions this year.

The Shadow of the Mad King event is largely the same event that was live last year, but this year's edition will contain various new pieces of content to keep players entertained.

The most significant addition is the reintroduction of Reaper's Rumble, the PvP mode where players compete to recover pumpkins and spawn hordes of skeletons to attack the enemy team's base. The mode was only available during the game's first Halloween festival in 2012.

This year's edition will feature three new acquirable weapons; dagger the Cure, sword the Soul Conductor, and axe Revenge.

Those who have completed episode 3 of the current Living World season will be able to "delve into ancient rivalry" between Mad King Thorn and Palawa Joko through a new collection achievement. Whether this achievement will provide a significant addition to the original Mad King story is still unknown.

The festival also features a new Roller Beetle Mount race titled Mad King's Raceway, which will take place on the Reaper's Rumble map.

Guild Wars 2 The Shadow of the Mad King starts on October 16, 2018.