Levels 18-20
You now arrive in Amnoon Oasis. Have a look around town and grab the quest
here. There’s an Armor Crafter here and if you have the money and materials then I
would suggest upgrading. The mobs in this area primarily deal earth damage and fire
damage. So you have the option of making a Pyromancer/Geomancer suit. The majority
of caster damage is earth, so crafting the Geomancer robe is a good move. You may
want to craft Pyromancer pants, but the mission mobs specialize in Earth while the nonmission
area mobs (namely hydras) specialize in Fire Magic. Therefore doing the
Geomancer robe/pants combination is likely a wiser choice for missions; a Pyromancer
one being better for farming. As far as the gloves and boots are concerned, doing
Pyromancer would be helpful, but not particularly needed. You may want to explore a bit
and test the damage yourself before making any final decisions.
Before giving you directions, I’ll mention there are collectors here in the desert with
top-level items. The stats are not shown by the collectors, but the items are the best you
can get. So save all of those collectors’ items you find. For more information, please
refer to section 8.
Now, once you’re ready, zone out in Prophet’s Path and head east and north. This
will lead you to a zone wall for the Salt Flats. Once there head north and west and you’ll
come across a little outpost known as Seeker’s Passage. Grab the quest here and zone
back out. Head south and zone back into Prophet’s Path, then east; this will land you in
Augury Rock. Grab the quests here and zone back out into Prophet’s Path. This time,
head west and south; before long you’ll find another outpost named Hero’s Audience.
Grab the quest here and once again, zone into Prophet’s Path and head east. Staying
along the southern border of the zone will lead you to the zone wall for Vulture Drifts.
Once here, head south and slightly west and keep and eye out for the zone wall for the
Dunes of Despair. Now that you have the Dunes mission mapped, travel back to Augury
Rock. From Augury, zone into Skyward Reach and head east and a little north – following
the road mostly – and this will lead you to the last outpost called Destiny’s Gorge. Grab
the quest here and then zone into The Scar. Now you’ll head south through this zone (it’s
a long walk) until you reach the next mission point, The Thirsty River. Now that that’s
mapped for you, travel back to Destiny’s Gorge. From the Gorge, zone back into Skyward
Reach and head south through the Losaru and then west — dying is actually the fastest
route — either way you’ll find the zone wall for Diviner’s Ascend. This zone is really fun for
leveling and farming. The drakes here aren’t too hard to kill if the group is patient and the
drops are decent. Making your way northward, you’ll come across a teleporter – take it.
Once you port over, head north a little, and then dead west and you’ll run into the final
mission zone known as Elona Reach.
You now have everything mapped out and it’s time to start working through the
missions – some of which will have you pulling your hair out.
Archive for March, 2010
This is the easiest of all three ascension quests. Make your way through the
beginning and don’t worry too much about the siege wurms. Once you slaughter all of the
Losaru and a boss, you’ll get a cut scene and have a new enemy. This part is mostly just
holding out and doing your best not to get killed as the Forgotten come at you in waves.
Positioning yourself in the hallway is a good advantage, as you can Meteor Shower and
keep them knocked down, and your other AoEs will help destroy them quickly. Once
you’re finished with those waves, rest up and slaughter the other ghost guy. It’s about to
get a bit harder.
Once he begins doing his thing, a timer will pop up. The first group that’ll attack
will come from your left and both mobs will be Forgotten Arcanists. As quickly as
possible, kill those two and by now another pair is on the right and another coming down
the middle. Try to wipe these two groups out together if at all possible. Once you’ve done
that, you’ll have time to rest. Pull back a little to the ramp and rest up. After a couple of
minutes, you’ll be attacked by Forgotten again, including a boss. Take them out and one
more wave of Forgotten will come. After that, it’s just a matter of waiting until the timer
ticks down. You’re done with mission one.
12-16
Here in Lion’s arch there’s another skill trainer and a few quests to pick up.
There’s also a new armor crafter here. I suggest buying the new Pyromancer or
Aeromancer, but that is really only if you have the money to spend and want to be the
best you can. The Fire Imps outside will unleash immolation and other Fire Magic spells;
the undead in the area hit you with Air Magic. An idea that will work fairly well is to buy
the Aeromancer robe, Pyromancer leggings, and then one of each for the hands and feet
(i.e. either Pyromancer gloves and Aeromancer boots or Aeromancer gloves and
Pyromancer boots).
Once you gather your quests and are ready, head outside and follow the road
eastward. After a little bridge, the road will curve north. Take that road and when it forks,
take the left. Continue on northward and you will eventually come into the Ascalon
Settlement. Here there is a “hidden” skill trainer that has some very valuable spells to
teach.
From Ascalon Settlement, head westward and you’ll find the zone wall for Nebo
Terrace. Once through, head northeast and stick along the north border; you will
eventually come across the zone wall for Beetletun. Yet another skill trainer can be found
here. On the south/southeast side of Nebo Terrace is the Bergen Hot Springs. Another
point of interest is back in the North Kryta Province. From the Lion’s Arch zone wall, head
across the little bridge and to the fork again, but this time go right. This will lead you into
the swamp area and if you roam around out here killing skales and such, you will find an
NPC standing on a little altar-type platform. He offers a quest in which you have to protect
him. Complete the quest and you get a couple more skills.
This swamp area is a good place to kill large amounts of skales which drop, well,
skales; and the skales can be salvaged into scales – quite a bit of work to change one
letter. So this is a good place to stock up on those for armor or whatnot if you need to.
Now regarding the quest Firstwatch Sergio gives you called “The Villainy of
Galrath,” I suggest not doing this quest until a little later in the game. The foes associated
with this quest are around level 18 and fairly difficult to handle. The quest gives a good
4,000 experience and a couple of items (just vendor fodder) and if you include the
experience from the mobs, it turns into some decent numbers.
Other zones worth mentioning are: Scoundrel’s Rise to the northeast of North
Kryta Province, the Cursed Lands on the southwest end of Nebo Terrace, the Black
Curtain on the west side of the Cursed Lands, and The Temple of Ages to the north in the
Black Curtain.
Once you’re ready to further the storyline, head to Lion’s Arch and zone back to
North Kryta Province. Head back across the bridge, then east. This will lead you to the
D’alessio Seaboard mission, and then to the Divinity Coast mission. After finishing these
two quests you’ll appear in a new and lusher area.
Levels 16-18
This area begins in Druid’s Overlook. Have a look around and grab the quest and
zone out into the Sage Lands. Heading westward you’ll come into the Mamnoon Lagoon
zone; westward beyond that is Silverwood, where Quarrel Falls is located in the center of
the zone, roughly. There’s an Armor crafter here and a skill trainer. Your choice if you
want new armor. I wouldn’t recommend it, but that’s for money-saving reasons. A new
armor crafter will be showing up before too much longer.
There’s an Optional quest in the Sage Lands named The Wilds. It’s to the
northwest from Druid’s Overlook and is an alternate route to Quarrel Falls. It’s a difficult
quest to complete with an unruly group or when solo, but yields decent drops and
experience. Not to mention it’s another skill point and 1,000 experience upon completion.
To the southwest of Silverwood is the zone wall for Ettin’s Back. Once you zone
over, head to your right and follow the road, it will lead you to Ventari’s Refuge where
some new quests can be found, including a storyline advancement one.
To the Northeast of Ventari’s Refuge is the zone wall for the Aurora Glade mission.
This mission is difficult to do solo and with an unruly group as well. Because of this, some
people have serious issues completing it. You can bypass it if need be by going south
from the zone wall in Ettin’s Back and a little west. Going this way will put you in Dry Top;
head southeast and you’ll pop out in Tangle Root. From here, head south and follow the
road east. You’ll stumble across Maguuma Stade. Once done here, zone out and head
east; then work your way north along the trails. After that long walk you’ll eventually arrive
at Henge of Denravi. Yet another trainer is here (Master Scout Kiera) but she offers the
same skills as Sorim in Quarrel Falls.
Either travel back to Maguuma Stade or zone out and start walking south and east
until you come to an NPC named Old Joness. Choose the bottom option, then the next
option that appears, then the top option.
Now you’ll appear in the Riverside Province mission. This is a neat little stealthy
mission. The only thing you really need to be careful of is the guard towers. Aside from
that it’s merely a series of non-chaotic pulls. Toward the end of the mission, don’t worry a
whole lot about being caught; be sure to not pull unless your group is ready. It’s not worth
dying at this point because your group panics. After this mission you’ll be at Sanctum
Clay. This is a very annoying mission and although it can be done solo, I’d suggest taking
a group. The main part of this mission that can be very frustrating is the end where you
must protect the vizier. If you’re group gets into serious trouble, have someone just run
around and try not to get her/himself killed until the boat arrives. Then s/he can run on
and the entire party will complete the mission. Now it’s time for a warmer climate and the
most maddening point in the game.
Levels 9-12
You now appear in Yak’s Bend. There’s another skill trainer in this area (Captain
Osiric) and he offers a couple more fire spells. Again, an armor trainer is located here and
offers the Hydromancer armor. I’d suggest getting this once you gather the materials and
can afford it.
The merchant here offers a new type of kit known as the Expert Salvage Kit.
These are a bit pricy, but when used on certain items, there is a chance you will receive
rare crafting materials or that you can salvage upgrade components or runes. For more
information about salvaging and rare materials, please refer to section 8.
Gather all the quests in town and head out into Traveler’s Vale. To the left is a
character named Cynn and she offers another quest. Finish up all the quests in Traveler’s
Vale and then head northward and you’ll find a quest or two more as well as the zone wall
for the Iron Horse Mine. To the very west of this zone is the Anvil Rock zone. And in this
zone is Ice Tooth Cave where a skill trainer is located.
Once you finish your exploring and questing, head back to Yak’s Bend to sell and
take care of what you need to. Once finished, head outside and southeast to Borlis Pass.
This will start a string of missions that will lead you through the Frost Gate and Gates of
Kryta.
The Gates of Kryta quest is a bit difficult towards the end. My suggestion for
wiping out the final groups of undead is to pull them back to the NPCs, namely the
healers, and kill them there. This way you are, for the most part, out of the poison swamp
water. Those NPCs will keep you and your party healed nicely and will give you the
opportunity to much more easily complete the mission. Once you’ve tackled those, you’ll
show up in a new area.
Levels 5-9
Now that you’ve made it to the real Ascalon, it’s time to get the real adventure
started. Explore the town a bit and learn where everything is located. There’s a skill
trainer here as well with a few things to offer, but I doubt you’ll need anything. If you didn’t
manage to get Glyph of Lesser Energy, I strongly suggest that.
Be sure to stop by the Armor Crafter and take note of what you need in order to
craft the Pyromancer armor. I suggest this over elementalist armor since you’ll be facing
the Charr, some of which deal fire damage. The armor looks pretty cool and is a worthy
investment. Be sure to keep an identification kit and salvage kit around to identify those
blues and purples as well as salvage the materials you’ll need.
Be sure to save all the Charr Hides you find during your travels. Four of these can
be turned into the collector in Ascalon for one fur square. This is a very nice way to make
some money to help your armor funding.
Grab all the quests you can find and head outside to Old Ascalon. Heading west
you’ll find a couple more NPCs with quests (including an elementalist one) and continuing
southwest you’ll find a zone called Sardelac Sanitarium, which I suggest zoning into just to
give you another travel point. The Regent Valley area is southeast of the Sanitarium, and
Fort Ranik is to the very northeast corner of Regent.
To the north of Old Ascalon is The Breach, inside which you will find Piken Square
in the northeast. Some of the quests offered in Piken reward handsomely, but will require
you to group with decent level players to complete. To the west of the zone is the Diessa
Lowlands. Here you will find the Greendich Courthouse, which is located to the northwest
of the zone wall — just follow the road northeast and you will eventually run into it. The
trainer there offers a couple more fire spells for you.
There isn’t much to do in this area aside form the Primary quests. Be sure to do all
of those and the storyline will take you through the Great Northern Wall, Ruins of Surmia,
and Nolani Academy missions. Time for the next area — I hope you dressed warm.
After creating your avatar, he or she will pop out in Ascalon. After grabbing that
first quest, it’ll direct you to the zone wall into Lakeside County; you may want to try to
locate someone in town that’s willing to group for you for the resurrection signet quest,
since it requires you have a party member with you. Once you zone into Lakeside, Lina is
to the left (the Resurrection Signet quest giver) and almost directly in front of you should
be someone with a quest for you. Follow these quest and eventually it will lead to a few in
the Wizard’s Folly and Foble’s Fair area. These quests will give you the basic spells of an
elementalist and help you gain a basic understanding of how the class functions in
general.
I suggest specializing in the Fire Magic line at this point since it will allow you to
gain the full potential of your newfound spells. You may also wish to simply rove around
igniting any helpless foe that is unfortunate enough to cross your path. Roaming around
and doing such is a great way to learn when to cast certain spells and just how little
tanking you need to be doing.
I will also mention the availability of a second profession here. Certain trainers are
scattered throughout the areas that are willing to train you in a second class of your
choice. Armin Saberlin on the East side of town will give you a quest for a second
profession and will point you in the direction of the trainer that teaches that profession. I
suggest Monk as a secondary if you’re relatively new to the Guild Wars experience or
simply caster classes in general. The Monk is a great, well-rounded secondary for both
solo-minded players as well as group-minded ones. And in the event you choose any
secondary class and find you dislike it, you can change it later in the game.
Once you’ve finished messing around here and gained a few levels (I suggest
being level 5 or so), you can talk to Sir Tydus and enter into a storyline mission. This will
take you to a PvP arena. Don’t worry too much about winning or losing at this point, just
have fun and use it as a little learning experience as to what you can somewhat expect on
a larger scale later. Once the match is over, win or lose, you will be in another mission.
After the NPCs finish talking you can start killing things. After finishing up this mission,
you’ll get a cut-scene and then pop up in Post-Searing Ascalon.
4.1. Introduction
Here you will find tips and advice divided by area. This section isn’t a walkthrough,
but rather suggestions on the best way to save your money and level the
quickest; while still being able to have fun. A few areas are a bit more in-depth where
appropriate, such as Amnoon. Fire Magic is the quickest way to level and therefore I
would suggest specializing in that during the first few areas. The average amount of time
for a player to level to 20 is 80 hours, or about two weeks, depending on the amount of
free time. Afterwards you’ll have enough spells at your disposal and a good enough feel
for your character to know what will and won’t work — even if it’s by trial and error.
This section will answer any questions you may have regarding the creation of
your character and offer some starter suggestions to those less knowledgeable about the
beginning of the game.
Unlike the majority of MMORPGs, the character creation process has no bearing
on the functionality of your class. What’s the difference between the four-foot tall, bluehaired
man and the seven-foot tall, red-haired woman? None. So just have fun and find
the look that suits you best without any worries as to how it will affect you.