Gone are the days when solo online gaming was a thing. Once you have a taste of ArenaNet’s groundbreaking Guild Wars 2, you’ll never want to go back. It’s a breathtaking Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that blows the competition away.

However, nothing good ever comes without a few issues.

For Guild Wars 2, players have been experiencing instances of high ping (which means a delay in communicating with the gaming servers). That means, in combat situations, you easily end up dead, since your reaction time is reduced. Plus, many other operations go out of whack.

But hardly any problem is unsolvable, and this is no exception. Based on an understating of the underlying reasons, you can easily overcome the issue.

Here are the possible causes and solutions.

What Causes High Ping in Guild Wars 2?

First, you need to understand the difference between high ping and lag.

If you’re experiencing lag in Guild Wars 2, it’s more likely a problem in your gaming rig. However, high ping is likely related to your Internet connection.

One of the typical scenarios where you’ll likely experience high ping is when your ISP isn’t offering a reliable service. Perhaps you are having high latency, slower connection speeds or network connection interruptions.

All those issues work together to cause high ping.

It may also be a fault on your end – not the ISP’s. Perhaps you’re sharing your network with too many other users. Having too many people using the same network would mean more data packets being transmitted in the same network.

That can cause congestion

Or there could be certain environmental elements interrupting your Internet connection:

  • Are there any obstacles between your router and gaming device?
  • Are you experiencing rough weather conditions?
  • Are there pests in your building interfering with your network cables?
  • Is your Internet infrastructure old or damaged?

The problem can go as far as the Guild Wars 2 servers. Considering that it’s a massively multiplayer online game, there could be a chance that a large number of players contributes to the high ping issue.

How to Fix High Ping in Guild Wars on Windows 10?

Considering the wide array of potential causes, it’s wise to start solving the issue from the simplest aspects before you get into costly replacements.

Follow this smart process.

Reset Your Internet Connection

Since this is an Internet connection issue, the first aspect to consider is your Internet connection.

You can start by resetting your router and modem. Perhaps, all you need is to reboot your modem, and the problem will disappear. This is especially so if the issue started recently and hadn’t been there before.

Resetting is beneficial since it clears out problematic issues stored in the memory of your router or modem.

Before you reconnect your Internet, try bypassing the routers, switches, and hubs first. Connect directly to the modem to see how your game performs. If you see an improvement, the problem could lie in the hubs, switches, and routers.

While you’re at it, also reboot your computer

Just like resetting your modem, rebooting your PC clears out any issues stored in memory. You can even go ahead and scan your computer for viruses. Viruses can not only interfere with your Internet connection but also damage your software and hardware.

Check and Close Background Programs

If you have background programs using your Internet connection, they are increasing the amount of data packets passing through your connection. That only leads to clogging up your Internet connection.

Perhaps, you’re downloading torrents, streaming video, or updating Windows 10 in the background. It may even be an application which you don’t know that is hogging your connection.

So you need to figure out what applications are running in the background.

Follow these steps to do that:

  1. Right-click on your Windows taskbar.
  2. Select Task Manager.
  3. On the Task Manager window, you’ll see the programs currently running on your PC.
  4. Identify the ones using up your network connection and close them.
  5. You can also close the ones using up too much CPU memory to get rid of lag.

Shift from Wireless to Wired Connection

Wired connections are a fail-safe solution. Obstacles are less likely to interrupt a wired connection as can happen with a wireless one. This means more reliable Internet.

Also, the latency in a wired connection is far lower than in a wireless one. This means lower ping.

While at it, check for any environmental factors affecting your Internet connection. Replace old or spoilt devices. Make sure your Internet devices are shielded from environmental aspects and cannot be interfered with by pests.

Diagnose and Deal with CPU Performance Issues


Although high ping isn’t really a hardware or software issue, your computer’s software and settings can play a role. When you have low performance on your CPU, it will affect the applications you’re running, including online gaming.

Therefore, you must diagnose where the performance issues are and sort them out.

Issues that affect performance include junk files, fragmented disks, and poor computer settings. Fortunately, you can conveniently eliminate such problems, using Auslogics BoostSpeed. The application automates your computer cleanup process to boost your computer performance.

Check Your Windows Firewall Settings

If your Internet connection is fine, nothing is affecting your network connection, and you are sure your computer performance is good, then something could be keeping your online game from properly accessing the Internet.

Check whether other online games or programs have ping issues. If they are all working just fine but only Guild Wars 2 has the problem, there could be something on your computer keeping it from functioning properly.

One likely scenario could be that your Windows firewall is set to block Guild Wars 2.

Follow these steps to change your firewall settings:

  1. Go to Windows search box, and type Windows Firewall. Hit Enter.
  2. Go to the part labeled ‘Allow an app through Windows Firewall.’
  3. Click on the ‘Change Settings’ button.
  4. Locate Guild Wars 2 and check the box near it.
  5. Now click OK.

Once that is done, you might also need to check your antivirus software.

Maybe your anti-virus is blocking Guild Wars 2 from accessing the Internet. Try disabling the anti-virus software momentarily just to see if your online game will work. If it works, you might consider contacting the anti-virus company concerning the issue. If it can’t be resolved, you’ll probably have to replace the anti-virus program with another one.

Conclusion

After sorting out the problem, take note of the issues that caused it to avoid future problems. After all, prevention is better than cure.