The Lion's Arch Aerodrome functions as a lobby for organizing a raid squad and includes portals to all raid wings. Most raid areas appear on the world map and have entrances from the neighboring zones. While corresponding wings tell a progressing story in a specific order, each wing can be entered and completed independently and in any order. Raids are split into multiple wings, each in a separate instance and with different encounters. There are three difficulty tiers, Emboldened mode, Normal mode, and for select bosses a Challenge mode, offered for players who want to test their skills even further. Downed allies can be revived or rally, but defeated allies cannot be revived during the encounters and Revive Orbs are disabled, along with other similar consumables such as boosters. Certain masteries may also be required for some encounters to complete.

Many encounters include an enrage timer: if the encounter isn't finished by the time it runs out, the incoming damage will greatly increase. Each raid encounter typically utilises multiple phases with several unique mechanics, which test the squad's coordination, damage output and positioning, as well as the player's builds. They are the most challenging core pillar of Guild Wars 2's endgame. Raids are 10 player squad-based PvE instances focusing on challenging combat and mechanics, designed for level 80 characters.

Soulless masteries