How game artist Chelsea Mills shapes the legendary props of Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 is a strange beast. On the one hand, it’s a painterly MMO that feels like concept art come to life. On the other hand, it’s a fashion sandbox where players obsess over gliders, capes, and shinier-than-thou legendary weapons. Holding those two worlds together? Artists like Chelsea Mills, Advanced Prop Artist, although, as she points out in our interview, that title’s a bit misleading.

“I’m a bit unusual in that my role goes way beyond props,” she laughs. “One day it’s a weapon, the next it’s a chair, then a creature or armour set. I’ll often take something from sketch to physics setup, rigging, texturing, and even minor effects. Basically, everything but the big FX.”

It’s a Swiss Army skillset that lets Chelsea leave her mark on the game's sprawling world of Tyria in ways most players don’t even realise, until they zoom in on the stitching of a leather strap or spot the logo on a humble apple crate. It’s here, inside the hidden art of Guild Wars 2, that her craft really comes alive.

Filling fashion gaps in Tyria

Forget lore for a second, Chelsea’s starting point is often fashion. “I’m always looking to fill gaps,” she explains. “Do we have good options for holy knights? For sinister mages? Is this weapon type underrepresented in a certain colour?”

From there, she digs into her bottomless inspiration folders. And sometimes, those references spark a technical gamble. Take Xiuquatl, the legendary scepter with a snake-like creature that follows you around. Sounds straightforward. Except followers weren’t an option in the system.

“So I faked it,” Chelsea grins. “It’s actually dangling from a hilariously long skeleton rig with physics applied. Totally bodged, but it worked, and it looked amazing.”

Stylised or realistic? It’s the age-old game art debate. For Guild Wars 2, the answer is: both, but make it feel like a human actually crafted it.

“We want the world to look like it’s been made with the tools and magic of Tyria, not technology,” says Chelsea. “Materials should feel distinct, suede versus shiny leather, for instance. But hyperrealism? That snaps you out of the fantasy.”

It’s why even filler props come loaded with lore. Remember that cutscene podium that made Asura characters vanish behind it? Mills could’ve dropped in a bland stone block. Instead, she built a wooden apple crate stamped North Krytan Orchards, implying a whole trade history across continents. All that, just to give players a step stool, and another reminder of why Guild Wars 2 remains an artistically unique game.

From Maya to magic

Tool debates can get heated (Maya vs Blender, anyone?), but Chelsea is practical. Maya is her ride-or-die, partly pipeline, partly muscle memory. “It’s what I first learned, and honestly, I never stopped,” she admits. It’s a tool that still ranks among the best 3D modelling software choices for game artists today.

ZBrush is her go-to for organic sculpts, Substance Painter does the heavy lifting on textures, Photoshop still earns its keep, and RizomUV swoops in when Maya throws a UV tantrum. Each package plays its part in what reads like the best digital art software ecosystem for production work.

Workflows flex depending on the asset. A sword? Straight into Maya. A glider shaped like a demon serpent (the legendary Orrax Manifested) needed a little more work and imagination to get right. It required months of mockups, animation headaches, and more iterations than she’d care to count. “I had to animate the player to match the serpent’s movement, not the other way around. It nearly broke my brain.”

Legendaries, limits, and happy accidents

Ask Chelsea what excites her most, and she doesn’t hesitate: making the impossible possible. The shapeshifting greatsword Exordium, which morphs into entirely different weapons mid-attack, is a prime example. “I had a giant spreadsheet just to track how every class skill would affect its shape,” she says. “It was mad, but also one of my favourite things I’ve ever made.”

Constraints, in her view, are fewer walls and more springboards. A cape that had to be split into strips to work properly? “It ended up draping better around Charr tails, a happy accident.”

It’s this mindset that makes even the tiniest prop a playground. “I see it as a challenge to one-up myself every time, no matter if it’s a legendary weapon or a podium step for an Asura.”

Advice for the next generation

If you’re an aspiring 3D artist dreaming of your first big gig, Chelsea has one golden rule: don’t get precious. “Iteration and feedback are constant. If you can’t take critique, you’ll crumble. But don’t just blindly follow it either, understand it, question it, add it to your toolbox.”

It’s an attitude that makes sense for someone who spends her days making apple crates as carefully as world-breaking legendaries. Every prop tells a story, every texture has a purpose, and every limitation is an excuse to try something new. And in Tyria, that’s the real magic.

Visit the Guild Wars 2 site for more info and details on the latest expansion, Visions of Eternity.