Guild Wars 3 Playable Species: Humans, Asura, Kodan — and One Mystery

Guild Wars 3 launches with four playable species: humans, asura, kodan — playable for the first time in the franchise — and a fourth ArenaNet is deliberately keeping in its pocket. That's straight from the studio's early-August dev diary, signed by Game Director Colin Johanson himself. Here's what each pick means, and what got ruled out.

"Species," not "races" — and no stat differences

Two design decisions sit above the roster. First, ArenaNet now says playable species, retiring "races" for the franchise going forward. Second, and the one that matters for your build: no statistical or mechanical differences between species. Your kodan won't tank better than your asura. Pick the silhouette you want to look at for a thousand hours — the math is identical. That's continuity with GW2's philosophy, stated explicitly for GW3.

For context, the diary lays out the lineage: original Guild Wars (and its Reforged remaster) shipped humans only; GW2 had five — humans, asura, norn, charr, sylvari. Four at launch is fewer than GW2, and ArenaNet chose depth per species over roster width.

Humans: newcomers to a god-run world

The follow-up spotlight (by writer Danny Barnes) reframes humanity for this era. A thousand years before GW1, humans are the new species — "curious, driven, and resourceful people hailing from a realm beyond the Mists," brought to Tyria by their Six Gods roughly 700 years before the game starts. Cantha, Elona, and Ascalon already exist as human centers, and regions are held by the Margonites — yes, the same name Nightfall veterans just flinched at, here in their pre-Abaddon days as a living human culture.

The spotlight also nails down guild context: the Vaelwardens are the player's originating guild, and the Order of the Vael is the oldest guild in Orr.

Kodan: the first-timer

The sapient polar-bear seafarers GW2 players know from the Far Shiverpeaks (and, more recently, the lowland kodan) become playable for the first time. Lore-watchers had ammunition for this pick: GW3's timeframe long predates the kodan's GW2-era sanctuary fleets, and the setting diary's lore anchors already name-checked lowland kodan. What a kodan society looks like in ancient Orr is exactly the kind of question the next spotlight diary will answer — we'll cover it same-day.

Asura: the returning fan favorite

Asura return from GW2 — notable because in this era they're a surface species question: GW1 lore had them underground until the Great Destroyer forced them up in Eye of the North. The GW3-era wiki already lists surface asura and Rata Pten among the setting's lore anchors, so ArenaNet has clearly built its answer into the era. Expect the asura spotlight to spell it out.

The fourth species: unrevealed (and one door closed)

ArenaNet confirmed the fourth slot is "a new species" — new as in not from the GW2 roster. One candidate got explicitly killed in the diary: the Forgotten, the serpentine servants of the gods, ruled out because "four arms and a serpentine body" break armor, animation, and mount rigs. Norn, charr, and sylvari are all conspicuously absent from the launch four as well — sylvari famously don't even exist yet in this era.

Community shortlists (speculation, not sourced to ArenaNet): dwarves, who are alive and un-stoned in this era; tengu, the eternal almost-playable pick; or something genuinely invented for GW3 like the Vael-adjacent spirits. We track the guessing game in the rumor tracker.

FAQ

What races are in Guild Wars 3?

Four playable species at launch: humans, asura, kodan, and one unrevealed new species. ArenaNet uses "species" rather than "races."

Do species have different stats in GW3?

No. ArenaNet confirmed there are no statistical or mechanical differences between playable species.

Can you play charr, norn, or sylvari in Guild Wars 3?

Not at launch. The confirmed four are humans, asura, kodan, and a new species. Sylvari don't exist in this era at all.

Are the Forgotten playable in Guild Wars 3?

No — ArenaNet explicitly ruled them out, citing their four arms and serpentine bodies as incompatible with gear and animation systems.