Snowball Mayhem Guide

Man in snowy woods about to throw a snowball

Snowball Mayhem is a GW2 capture-the-flag PVP Wintersday activity which is required for Winter’s Presence, and is fun for those who like PVP. For those of us who don’t like PVP, it’s a bit of a chore, but Winter’s Presence is pretty great, right? This guide teaches you the best strategies to finish Snowball Mayhem without too much drama or rage.

Snowball Mayhem Basics

You will be automatically assigned to one of two teams: Red or Blue.

The goal is to grab a present when it spawns in the center of the map, and return this present to the designated drop spot on your base.

The game ends when a team reaches 500 points and wins. Each retrieved present is worth 100 points for your team. Each player kill is only worth 5 points for your team. You need to kill 20 players to earn the equivalent of one present. Therefore, the winning strategy is to focus on presents, not kills.

Snowball Mayhem Classes

When you enter the match, you will need to speak to the snowman to pick a class: Supporter, Heavy Gunner, or Scout. Scout is definitely best left to the experienced players who enjoy playing this class. In a typical meta, the Heavy Gunner picks up the present and carries it, while the Supporter heals the carrier and uses Snowroll and Icy Ground to keep enemies away.

I find Supporter to be the easiest class to play. The other role of Heavy Gunner is to shoot people, but doing so locks you into a very slow movement which I find frustrating.

Snowball Mayhem Tips

  • Focus your attention on presents: getting them, keeping them, and stealing them from the other team.
  • Only fight other players in the context of grabbing the present from them. Otherwise, don’t waste your time. You’re here to get those presents back to your base.
  • However, fighting other players can be a good way to draw their attention away from your team carrying the present.

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

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