Guild Wars: Eye of the North

Wintersday - in July!

admin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:21:54 +0000

Unfortunately I’ve been away and missed out on the Dragon Festival this year - but it seems the Guild Wars community managers have taken pity on me - because they’ve organised a Wintersday festival - in July!

Things will be kicking off at 7pm GMT on Friday 17th July, and the fun will continue through until 7am GMT on Monday 20th July.

The Snowball Arena is being re-opened, and if you talk to a Wintersday Priest in Ascalon City, Droknar’s Forge, the Great Temple of Balthazar, Kamadan, or Lion’s Arch you’ll be transported to the arena.

Collect Candy Cane Shards to exchange for special Wintersday items, and stock up on your favourites to boost your Title Tracks:

	Frosty Tonic Don’t just build a snowman, be a snowman!
	Snowman Summoner Need an instant snowman? This gift is for you.
	Eggnog Thick, rich, and delicious, it’s the holiday season’s staple drink.
	Fruitcake Another essential holiday treat that’s sure to put a spring in your step.
	Candy Cane Shards Earn these colorful fragments by competing in the Snowball Arena.
	Wintersday Gift Earn Candy Cane Shards in the Snowball Arena and trade them in for these special surprises.

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The latest Guild Wars update

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:37:53 +0000

Normally I don’t post about Guild Wars game updates, but today’s one fixes some long standing AI issues with heroes, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been driven mad by some of these.

From the changes log:

Assassin

Heroes are more likely to use offensive Shadow Step skills before their Health reaches 50%.
Heroes will now use Black Lotus Strike against non-hexed foes when appropriate.

Dervish

Heroes are more likely to use Attacker’s Insight during combat.

Elementalist

Heroes are more likely to use attunement skills during combat.

Mesmer

Heroes will now more appropriately use hex spells that require an interrupt to take effect.
Heroes will now maintain Mantra of Inscriptions both in and out of combat.

Monk

Heroes are more likely to scatter appropriately when affected by Ray of Judgment.
Heroes will now use Life Sheath to remove conditions out of combat.
Heroes will now use Boon Signet more frequently.
Heroes are now more likely to use Spotless Mind and Spotless Soul in conjunction with other hex and condition removal skills.
Heroes are now more likely to use Restore Condition if their target is suffering from multiple conditions.
Heroes will now use Dwayna’s Kiss more frequently when hexes and enchantments are present on the target.
Heroes will now use Words of Comfort more frequently on characters suffering from conditions.
Fixed a bug where the AI only used Healing Burst as a self-targeting spell.
Fixed a bug where the AI did not recognize Unyielding Aura as a hard resurrection skill.

Necromancer

Heroes can now cast Lingering Curse off-target.
Heroes will now use Blood is Power and Blood Ritual on casters holding bundle items.
Heroes will now maintain Aura of the Lich in and out of combat.

Paragon

Heroes will now check if Angelic Bond is active on all party members before using the skill.
Heroes will only activate Angelic Bond if a party member is under 50% Health.
Heroes are more likely to use “Incoming!” outside of combat.
Heroes will only use Chest Thumper against foes that are suffering from Cracked Armor.
Heroes will now use “Never Surrender!” both in and out of combat.

Ritualist

Heroes will now use Resilient Weapon, Spirit Light Weapon, and Weapon of Warding to overwrite non-defensive weapon spells when the target’s Health is at critical levels.
Heroes will now use Offering of Spirit more frequently and will now use it out of combat.
Heroes will now use Mending Grip as a self-targeting spell.
Heroes will now only use Brutal Weapon on targets who are engaged in combat.
Heroes will now cast Weapon of Quickening on spell-casting classes regardless of weapon type equipped.
Fixed a bug where the AI would not use Renewing Memories while holding a bundle item.

Warrior

Heroes are more likely to use Defy Pain at 95% Health to make better use of its damage-reduction feature.
Heroes will use “or Great Justice!” as is appropriate for their weapon type.
Heroes are less likely to overwrite Rush with other stances.
Heroes are less likely to overwrite Frenzy with other stances unless Health is low.

General

Fixed a bug where Heroes would not use zero-Energy skills when low on Energy.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug that would cause GvG matches to end in a tie if a Guild Lord died when the tiebreaker triggered. All Guild Lords will now become non-combatants when the match ends after 28 minutes according to the server clock. Note that this time may differ slightly from your client’s timer.
Fixed a bug that prevented Depravity and Ether Phantom from displaying Energy loss.
Fixed a bug that caused Depravity to affect all nearby foes.
Fixed a bug that caused the following Ritualist skills to use an incorrect casting animation: Agony, Anguish, Empowerment, Gaze of Fury, Recovery, and Rejuvenation.

Miscellaneous

Xunlai Tournament Agents now offer prizes for the May tournament. These agents can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion’s Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan.
Reduced the amount of wins needed for the base objective and second bonus objective on the Random Arenas Zaishen quest.
Increased the Zaishen Coin rewards for all Zaishen Mission quests and Zaishen Bounty quests.

Like all Guild Wars updates, this is a live change that will download when you start the client.

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Six million copies sold!

admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:19:57 +0000

Just in time for the fourth anniversary celebrations, ArenaNet have announced they have sold six million copies of Guild Wars.

Pretty impressive, and shows just how well the casual “pay once, play online forever” model can work when twinned with a slick, compelling game.

With the run away success of Guild Wars here’s hoping that we’ll continue to see more content appear in the game - and that Guild Wars 2 will soon be entering beta.

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Huge content update is now live

admin — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 09:05:36 +0000

You may have noticed the extra download time when starting your client, but if you haven’t logged in today yet, now is the time to fire up Guild Wars. The extra content to celebrate Guild Wars‘ fourth anniversary is now live, and it’s pretty impressive.

The first thing you’ll want to do is claim your free Xunlai storage slot. This is time limited so you’ll need to get in quick. To unlock the free upgrade, you’ll need to:

- Go to the Guild Wars section of the NCsoft Store, select Xunlai Storage Pane and click on the Buy Now button.

- You will go to the Xunlai Storage Pane information page—click on the Buy Now button again.

- You will be prompted to log in to your NCsoft account (NOTE: This is different from your Guild Wars account). If you do not already have one, please click the Create Account button and follow the prompts.

- Once you have logged in, select the Guild Wars account that will receive this upgrade. If you have not already linked your Guild Wars account to your NCsoft Master Account, you will have an option to link your Guild Wars account now.

- Once you’ve selected your Guild Wars account, you will see a screen where you can enter a coupon code. Please enter FREESTORAGE and click the Apply Coupon button.

- You will receive a page confirming that you were charged $0.00 for your storage pane. Please click on the Continue button.

- Congratulations! You should now have a new pane of Xunlai account storage for your account. If you were logged in to Guild Wars during this process, please make sure you log out and back in for this upgrade to apply.

I’ve previously posted about the Guild Wars fourth anniversary content update, but ArenaNet kept a few things back. This is almost an entire expansion, with a lot of new features aimed at all different types of players.

For the full list of these updates, head over to the Guild Wars game update summary.

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Guild Wars 4th anniversary: lots of goodies coming

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:00:38 +0000

We’re quickly approaching the fourth anniversary of Guild Wars. ArenaNet took a bit of a risk at launch - an MMO with no monthly fees? Buy once and play free forever? Regular new content updates and expansions? Committed support from the developer for the future?

Madness. But they made a great game, and not only is Guild Wars still here, it continues to grow. To celebrate the fourth anniversary, ArenaNet have announced some new content for us all.

Along with the standard birthday gifts of special miniature pets, ArenaNet will also be delivering a Guild Wars update which will give us:

Storage upgrades! Four more slots to store weapons and armour, along with a special fifth slot which can only be obtained during the fourth anniversary celebrations
Zaishen Menagerie - a place to store your pets. You can also unlock new pets, get full stats, and ask the Zaishen to evolve your existing pets. Run your own zoo and show off the bizarre creatures you’ve tamed from across the world
Zaishen Challenge Quests: Mission, Bounty, and PvP. Head to the Great Temple of Balthazar to replay specific missions and quests from the three Guild Wars campaigns. Or hunt down a boss within dungeons, or expand on the existing Zaishen PvP battles.

The celebrations will start on April 23rd, with the opening of the Shing Jea Boardwalk, and the return of everyone’s favourite games and challenges across the three campaigns.

More content for Guild Wars will be coming through April - keep on eye on ArenaNet’s fourth annniversary page for more information. The birthday event calendar also has the full run of events over the fourth anniversary weekend.

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Double Faction points this weekend

admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:24:12 +0000

If you’ve got a copy of Guild Wars: Factions you’ll be wanting to login from 7pm GMT this Friday. All competitive battles will award double Faction points throughout the weekend - this is a great chance to boost your Kurzick or Luxon Title Tracks, and to claim some of the great items that will bring.

The Double Faction points reward will run through until 7am GMT on Monday 30th March.

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February tournament results are in

admin — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:36:01 +0000

The results for the Guild Wars February automated tournaments are in. It looks like Rebel Rising are continuing their domination of the GvG tournaments, this time round defeating Seppo Hovi Action Team. In the 1v1 tournament, Saint Luvs Hero defeated Romain Kaiser to take the title.

Full tournament results and more information can be found here. Will March see Rebel Rising finally toppled from their Guild vs Guild throne?

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Guild Wars storybook - Shiro’s Return

admin — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:24:47 +0000

The Guild Wars storybook Shiro’s Return covers the missions from Guild Wars: Factions, from when your character leaves the Shing Jea Monastery with Master Togo, through to the final climatic battle with Shiro.

Again - sadly - if you’ve already completed the missions, you’ll need to go back and do them again. However, just as with Eye of the North, this gives a good opportunity to build up some faction rewards and increase your standing, as well as boosting those Title Tracks.

As with all the storybooks in Guild Wars, two are available - one in Normal Mode, and one for Hard Mode missions, for those who like a real challenge.

You can gain the two Shiro’s Return storybooks by talking to either Anja (Luxon Bard) Gorani (Kurzick Poet) in Kaineng Center.

	Vizunah Square We arrived in Kaineng Center to find pockets of plagued citizens fighting guards and other occupants around the city. Mindless abominations rove in packs, killing any unfortunate enough to get caught in their wake. Master Togo, Mhenlo, and I met up and set out to find the source of the plague. Deep within Vizunah Square we found a spirit bound to the service of the dead traitor, Shiro Tagachi, which seemed to be causing the plague to spread. After we neutralized the spirit, Shiro Tagachi himself manifested and struck us down down in one fell stroke. After Shiro left our corpses lying in the dirt, strange beings called Envoys appeared and restored us to life. They told us that Shiro was also an Envoy, one who ferries the souls of the dead to the afterlife, but that he had been abusing his sacred powers. These Envoys did not have the power to stop the traitor, but in exchange for our restored lives, we all vowed to put an end to Shiro’s evil machinations.
	Nahpui Quarter Before the Envoys left, they advised us to become Weh no Su, or “Closer to the Stars,” which would help us fight these beings from the spirit realm. To begin this process, Togo sent me to see Nika, a descendant of the assassin Vizu who was instrumental in the battle against the traitorous Shiro two hundred years earlier in the Harvest Temple. Once I proved my worthiness to Nika, she directed us to Nahpui Quarter where I had to fight Celestial creatures representing the four major human vices. Suun the Oracle of the Mists did not think I would succeed, but I passed his test, so he sent us to Tahnnakai Temple where we might gain wisdom and guidance from the spirits of the ancient heroes of Cantha.
	Tahnnakai Temple By the time we reached Tahnnakai Temple it was too late. Shiro had already overwhelmed the spirits of the sacred temple and they were bound to do his evil bidding. Only Vizu resisted the immense power of Shiro’s will. Mhenlo, Togo, and I raced through the temple, freeing the spirits from their bindings. We just barely made it to Vizu before she was fully consumed by the traitor. Vizu’s grateful spirit told us of the time when she fought Shiro alongside the Luxon and Kurzick heroes, Archemorous and Viktor. Vizu informed us that if we truly wished to turn the tide on Shiro’s evil we would need to gain the cooperation of the Luxons and Kurzicks. She was adamant that we would need the power to wield the powerful Spear of Archemorous and the ability to harness the protection of the Urn of Saint Viktor to defeat Shiro.
	Arborstone We traveled to the land of the Kurzicks with Brother Mhenlo, and the Countess Danika zu Heltzer brought us straight to her father. Count zu Heltzer agreed to let Danika help us retrieve the Urn of saint Viktor from where it was ensconced in the Cathedral zu Heltzer. Unfortunately, the protections cast on the Cathedral had long since faded, leaving the structure unstable and its inhabitants crazed and unable to recognize their Kurzick masters. With Danika’s guidance, we retrieved the Urn and escaped without any serious unjury due in large part to the Urn’s protective power.

	Boreas Seabed Shortly after our success in Arborstone, Master Togo returned with news of a tournament that could put the Spear of Archemorous in our hands. We left immediately for Boreas Seabed where the Luxon clans had gathered for the great convocation. Elder Rhea presided over each round of the tournament. These were some of the toughest fights of my life, but in the end I defeated the opposing clans and claimed the honor of slaying Zhu Hanuku with the Spear of Archemorous. We then battled the great Kraken, and I marveled at the destructive power of the ancient Spear. Our celebrations were short-lived, though. Mhenlo returned with word of a massive afflicted army marching on Kaineng City. With our prizes safely in hand, we ran back to help turn the tide of battle.
	Sunjiang District In Sunjiang District we confronted Shiro again, this time employing the same strategies used to defeat him two hundred years before. We fought our way through the district, closing the rifts Shiro had created to bind spirits to his army. These spirits were more powerful than the previous ones we had fought, but we prevailed and battled our way to Shiro in the center. When he saw that we possessed the powerful relics of his mortal enemies, Shiro merged with his bound sprirts and attacked. We emerged from the skirmish victorious, but Shiro was nowhere to be seen. The Envoys appeared again and told us that the relics were no longer powerful enough to defeat Shiro, that the conflict between the Luxons and Kurxicks had caused the power of relics to fade. To restore the relics to their former glory, we would have to unite these two warring people. We decided to split up. Master Togo went back to the Luxons in Cavalon, while Mhenlo returned to the Kurzicks of zu Heltzer. I had to decide which to accompany.
	The Eternal Grove befriended the Kurzicks and they have opened up and shown me the customs of their people. To better become acquainted with one of their most sacred rituals, I escorted three volunteers to the Eternal Grove and stood watch over them as they went through the transformation into Juggernauts. Luxon raiders attacked the sacred grove during the ritual but we repelled the attack long enough to keep the transforming Juggernauts safe. In the end, the Luxons surrendered when a horde of afflicted approached the grove. Then an amazing thing happened! The Luxons and Kurzicks banded together to beat back the afflicted. In the end, this battle proved to both sides that the only way to prevail against Shiro was to pool our combined strengths.
	Gyala Hatchery I just befriended the Luxons, and they allowed me to help them recover giant turtle eggs stolen by raiding Kurzicks. We retrieved the eggs and brought them straight away to the Gyala Hatchery just in time to catch a party of Luxons preparing to escort a batch of young turtles to the Leviathan Pits. We joined them and helped fight off more Kurzick raiders. As we neared the pits, the Kurzick attacks intensified. A massive battle raged over the destiny of the baby turtles until a horde of afflicted appeared behind the Kurzick lines. Caught in the middle, the raiders chose to join forces with the Luxon defenders and fight back this common enemy. Together the Luxons and Kurzicks defeated the afflicted and came to realize that they must put aside their differences to have any chance to defeat Shiro once and for all.
	Unwaking Waters Both Luxons and Kurzicks traveled with us to the Harvest Temple to seek an audience with the ancient dragon Kuunavang. Again Shiro beat us to it. Kuunavang had gone crazy from Shiro’s affliction, forcing us to fight her. We managed to beat her back into the temple, whereupon Kuunavang regained control of herself and stopped attacking. The Envoys appeared again and revealed Shiro’s true intentions. Shiro had been traveling across the land, corrupting everything in his wake, in a desperate attempt to find the components to a spell that would make him flesh once more. According to the Envoys, Shiro now had everything he needed except the blood of a member of the Imperial family, and he was headed for the Imperial Palace. I prayed to the gods that we would make it to the palace in time.
	Raisu Palace All of Raisu Palace was covered in Shiro’ken, the army of spirits bound to Shiro’s will. Kuunavang had provided us with her celestial powers, which allowed us to wade through the horde of afflicted and Shiro’ken, but not in time. Shiro made it to the Imperial Sanctum ahead of us. As we entered, the traitor was poised to spill the blood of Emperor Kisu, but in a burst of speed, Togo rushed to his brother’s defense, thrusting his body between Kisu and Shiro’s blade. As I watched, Togo took a fatal blow meant for the emperor. Our sadness at his death was profound but brief, for Togo also had Imperial blood coursing through his body, and Togo’s death meant we now had to face Shiro in a battle to save all of Cantha without the headmaster’s wisdom or strength. I must prepare.
	Imperial Sanctum Our battle with Shiro was intense, but with the support of all Cantha, Brother Mhenlo, and the great dragon Kuunavang, we found a way to defeat the ancient foe of the Dragon Empire. Somehow our victory felt somewhat hollow knowing that the cost was so high. Master Togo was a true hero of Cantha and he will forever be remembered for his sacrifice. All of Cantha was thrown into mourning for the emperor’s brother. I suppose I could go home and settle down but this adventure had[sic] opened my eyes to new horizons. I have decided I will continue my travels and see where they take me.

You don’t have to completely fill a storybook to get the rewards - however, you do need to complete at least 6 of the pages (by doing the relevant missions) and obviously, the more missions you complete the greater your rewards will be.

Shiro’s Return (Normal Mode)
Pages	Faction Title Points	Experience Points	gold
6	10,000	10,000	1,000
7	12,000	12,000	1,200
8	16,000	16,000	1,600
9	22,000	22,000	2,200
10	30,000	30,000	3,000
11	40,000	40,000	4,000

Shiro’s Return (Hard Mode)
Pages	Faction Title Points	Experience Points	gold
6	30,000	15,000	1,500
7	36,000	18,000	1,800
8	48,000	24,000	2,400
9	66,000	33,000	3,300
10	90,000	45,000	4,500
11	120,000	60,000	6,000

Shiro’s Return can be handed in to any Faction representative - it doesn’t matter who gave it to you. This gives you some flexibility in working your Friend of the Kurzicks/Luxons Title Tracks. You should also be aware that the Faction you gain when handing in a book is added directly to the Title Track - you don’t get Faction points to spend as you normally would when completing a mission.

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Cantha New Year - this weekend

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:13:27 +0000

Celebrate the Year of the Ox with the Canthan New Year! Starting this Friday 30th January at 8pm GMT, and carrying through until 8pm GMT on Monday 2nd February, the Canthan New Year celebrations will be kicking off in Shing Jea Monastery.

The traditional Shing Jea Boardwalk returns, with Rollerbeetle Racing and the Dragon Arena. Special quests will give out food items, which must be submitted to the Celestial Chefs, who will be preparing sumptuous meals, to be offered up to the Celestial Ox.

The Celestial Ox will be visiting every three hours, on Sunday 1st February, awarding special Miniature Pets, as well as prizes to all participants if the Celestial Chef’s offerings are found pleasing.

New for this year will be smaller celebrations at Lion’s Arch and Kamadan, so players with Nightfall and Prophecies can join with the Canthan ex-pats for smaller New Year’s celebrations.

Make sure you visit the fortune tellers, who can tell what your future holds over the New Year.

Canthan New Year is always a good laugh, and is definitely my favourite Guild Wars event. If you’ve haven’t bought Factions, now is the time to grab a copy and join in with the fun. See you there!

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Brief downtime

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:38:15 +0000

You may notice some brief downtime on 28th-29th January - I’m moving the site to a new hosting provider, and there’s going to be some delays and timeouts while the DNS changes propogate.

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