Guild Wars Nightfall: Progress Update Seven

While I've been concentrating on the snowballing I'm afraid my PvE progress has stalled. When last we left things I'd conquered the fifth mission – Ventara Cemetary – and been dumped unceremoniously back in Istan. After just escaping from that dungeon of noobiocrity for a brief, whirlwind tour of the new area of Elonia, I was a bit disappointed. Actually, fsucking pessid would be a better way of putting it - should get by the filter, anyway (I mean, I turn the language filter off because I'm not worried about filling my eyes with internets filth from the unscrubbed masses but if I want to get mothers to yank the cord out of the wall I'm going to have to learn how to get past that idiotic filter again.).

And, well, that's where I still remain. Haven't done anything since. However, with the upcoming megabonus skill capping weekend, I think it's time to get back at the treadmill. That sort of weekend is really bad for me. I know it's meant to be a fun way of getting people to keep playing and all and far be it from me to complain about getting more XP but, well, saying you're doubling the XP rate for the weekend is saying, to me, “You've got 72 hours to wring as much free XP out of the game as you possibly can. Better get at it.” It's a sickness, really, but I plan to grab as many elites as I can over the weekend – other plans I might have had be damned. Because, like the Snowball Arena and my mad dash to 300 wins, it's a chance that might not come around again anytime soon. So, I'm driven to make the most of it. This means that my focus shifts somewhat. Before I'd been racing ahead trying to get the primary quests and missions done so that I could progress along the storyline. Might seem odd what with all I talk about PvP and builds and such but I rather like the story and I want to see how it plays out. It's just a private thing, to me, like reading a book so there's really not too much to talk about (I mean, who gets anything to talk about from a story?). While PvP is the part of the game that I don't understand so it's actually interesting to talk about. Trust me, I might know how to sound like I know what I'm talking about but I actually don't – all the discussion and digressions about PvP that I've ever engaged in have only been to further my own knowledge of something that holds a sickening fascination for me. I really have no clue about how it's done.

Anyhow, wanting to gather elites means I'm not looking for progress so much as access. Access to those areas where the elites are kept with a character with enough skill points and money to get enough Signets of Capture to gather those skills. The two aren't mutually exclusive but they're not exactly the same, either. Practically, this means that I needed to backtrack a bit and search out as many outposts and the explorable areas they connect to as possible. And to scout out bosses to find their elite skills so that now that the weekend rolled around I know right where to go (Fortunately, bosses no longer randomly spawn or patrol the map as they used to in the first campaign. Always a pain to fight through half the map and wait until the boss cycled back around only to find out that the wrong one had spawned and you needed to zone and restart.) which is, obviously, is a lot of work. However, since I'm late to the game it's already been done for me. By checking out places like Guildwiki or Xennon's I can easily find out not only where those elite skills are but what they do. With maps and guides and a host of other stuff, I can prioritize and plan my time a lot more efficiently to maximize things. The sticking point is going to be that certain areas are closed off to me until I can advance further in the campaign – getting enough skill points and gold is trivial.

Anyhow, here's the skills I want and if I think I can get them.

Assassin

There's really only one Assassin elite to get. In Factions that was Aura of Displacement. In Nightfall it's...

Shadow Prison. Already unlocked this one with some faction but since I have an Assassin character I want it again (And I probably want it on my primary Warrior, too.). Awesome skill. But it's in the Desolation which, I'd think, is after Vabbi which I haven't even gotten to yet so probably not going to get to it any time soon.

Others around – those are Hidden Caltrops, and Shadow Meld but I don't rate those very highly.

Dervish

Because my Dervisher is farthest along in the NF campaign, he's got the best chance to get to things. And, fortunately, there's lots for him to get.

Avatar of Grenth. That's the other big Form that people like and it's easy to see why. I already have Avatar of Melandru and while that one's better for PvE play, GrenthForm should prove very nice. It's easily reachable from where my character is, too. Actually, all the Form skills are so I'll probably be picking them up. Balthazar should be great for running. Lyssa is nasty in PvE although I think having more energy actually hurts you if e-denial is strong (Doesn't look like it is at the moment, though). And Dwayna's ability to remove hexes could do to hex-based melee shutdown what Melandru does to condition ones – just doesn't work quite as hard at it, though.

Arcane Zeal. Looks very promising as e-management. But also looks like it's in a mission I won't get too for a while.

Ebon Dust Aura. I've seen some people put this to good use so I want it. It's somewhere in Vabbi which I'm close to getting to. I think I have an outside shot at capping it.

Vow of Strength: Could work wonders for a brute power scythe slinger – thinking of how mad the crits get with this up makes me happy. It's in an EA in Kourna but one I've never been to. Not sure if it's just in a corner I haven't visited of if I need to unlock it through the campaign first so I put this one down as a maybe.

There's also Reaper's Sweep which is somewhere in the Sunward Marches near the Sunspear Sanctuary that's the big Kournan hub – saw it on my way to Ventara but didn't have a spare SoC at the time. But I'm not a big fan of the Dervish Scythes elites – not when there's Avatar of Melandru and Wearying Strike around, anyway. Still, I'll get it if I can. That leaves just Onslaught, Vow of Silence, Wounding Strike, and Zealous Vow to get for the Dervish elites and none of those really thrills me.

Elementalist

Blinding Surge. Grabbed this one with faction because I love a good blind bot. It looks like it's burried somewhere I can't get to but I would if I could.

Master of Magic. Oooh, this is a sexy one. And, nicely enough, it's right in Consulate Docks for me to grab if I port over my Ele. I'm a little concerned that as an enchantment with a long recharge it's strip bait but in the right build this could be really nice for e-management.

Sandstorm. Great skill I'd grab it if I could. I just don't think I'll be able to this weekend.

Searing Flames. I've gone on about this one so you don't think if I see it I won't grab it? Could be hard to get to with my Ele but I'd march through rivers of blood to get it if I have to.

Mesmer

Nothing I can get to really thrills me. However, my Elementalist is typically an E/Me so I'll probably wind up getting Enchanter's Conundrum, Extend Conditions, and Simple Thievery if I see them.

Monk

Divert Hexes. Great hex removal skill. Blows Expel Hexes from Nightfall out of the water. But it's no where close to where I am so it's going to have to wait.

Zealous Benediction. Excellent heal. Really popular amongst Monks and easy to see why. It's in the next mission after Ventara Cemetary but I don't know if I can get my PvE W/Mo close enough to cap it in time.

Light of Deliverance. An elite heal party that's cheap and effective. Definitely one to grab and it should be within reach.

Signet of Removal. I can get there, it looks halfway decent, I'll get it if I can.

Necromancer

Ravenous Gaze. It's an elite version of Vamp Gaze. Not sure I like it but pretty sure I can find it.

Depravity. Not really to my liking but close enough to grab. Honestly, Necromancer's the profession that's about last on my list of priorities so I don't know.

Paragon

The thing here is that there aren't many Paragon elites I'd actually want to have. I'm not sure if it's because I'm missing things and don't understand the class at all or if it's that the profession's been nerfed into oblivion. But there's really not much to see that I like – the good stuff is the non-elite stuff (Which, you know, yay. But doesn't do me much good in finding free XP.) like Anthem of Flame. There's Angelic Bond which looks juicy (Although trapped in the Para para's primary attribute and, thus, useless for where I'd really want it.) but jack all beyond that. If I see one with my D/P I'll probably go ahead and capture it but, on the whole, meh.

There's Cautery Signet which is conveniently located both in Consulate Docks and an easily found EA in Kourna. I'll hunt that one out and it might actually be useful to remove a lot of conditions from the party. But since it takes longer and recharges slower it's objectively worse than Martyr for that purpose even when you throw out the self-imposed Burning. So I'm going to hate myself in the morning for it, I'm sure.

Ranger

Like Assassin there's one skill I really want and the rest are also-rans.

Rampage as One. Awesome for a Bunny Thumper. Also in a place I don't recognize so probably not going to get it soon enough. I'll probably want it on my Warrior, too, eventually, although I don't know if I'd ever use it like that.

Infuriating Heat. Looks like it could be nice with a lot of Warriors and Paragons in a party. However, since a lot of people use that it would probably hurt as much as it helped. But it's easy to reach so I'll grab it.

Burning Arrow. This one's like Poison Arrow but, you know, even nastier. It's in an EA in the early stages of Kourna and I've seen the boss so you can be sure if I can get there with a Ranger, it's mine.

Ritualist

Like the Paragon, there's not much here. Not because there's not good stuff, mind, but mostly because I generally can't make heads or tail of the Ritualist. Just really antithetical to my chosen style of play, generally, and I've only run one in PvP – the low-level Rit I tried for a bit was just a mess and I quickly stopped.

I've seen Destructive was Glaive (meh) and Weapon of Fury (looks nice) wandering around so I'll try and grab those if I can.

And Wielder's Zeal is in a Kournan EA so I might be able to find it, too.

Warrior

Decapitate. Reachable. And it's a somewhat credible alternative to Eviscerate. I'm sold.

Charging Strike. Pretty far away to get to with my Warrior but this could be a pretty nice little skill.

Rage of the Ntouka. Can get to it. That's about the only reason I'd get it at the moment.

Steady Stance. Another skill I've picked up through faction but I like enough to want to grab if I get the chance. It's really awesome combined with Desperation Blow and as that's a skill I use a lot when farming, could be very useful. Getting to it with my Warrior, though, could take a while.

You're All Alone!. The gold standard for ganking these days, or so I'm told, so I definitely want to get it. In an EA I don't recognize but looking at maps is not too far away from the Sunspear Sanctuary I think I can easily get all my characters to.

There's Magehunter Strike and Crippling Slash in reach, too, but neither makes my inner twink stand up and take notice.

So, got my work cut out for me as you can tell. I'm going to start with my Derv and then, if I have the time see about finding other profession's elites.

Also, Clamatius – heartless bastard that he, no doubt, is – has been pushing this whole Hero Battle thing on me. Since I was already considering it myself, it's an easy sell. But to compete you need, oddly enough, Heroes. At the moment I have only five – Carson, Dunk, Melly Mel, Powder, and (Jin and...) Juice (who got unlocked the first time I tried to turn in faction.). That gives me a Warrior, a Ranger, a Dervish, and two Monks to build a team with along with all the other characters that I can roll up with a PvP character – and since I'm UAX through Factions and my Nightfall skill list is getting shorter, that's quite a lot. There, too, places like guildwiki are an invaluable resource because I can look to see not only what other Heroes are available (I mean, I know from looking at the faction reward menu but I'd rather spend those points on hard to get skills rather than Heroes I'll unlock through completing this campaign.) but exactly what I have to do to get them. As was mentioned here, the dominant build seems to be designed simply to grab and hold the center. With two Monks, a Ritualist, and the player using a mobile Sin build that goes around and caps the shrines it's incredibly defensive. Reminds me a lot of builds that are made to hold the Hall in Tombs like bloodspike or your average spirit shitting squad. Not saying that they're bad builds just that if the design of the Hero Battles leads players to come up with builds that are more about not losing than winning then it's probably bad design. I mean, you don't want a heads-up deathmatch but dais maps? Argh. And as I responded here's two ways to go if I want to have a decent winning rate – either do what everyone's doing better than they are or do what it takes to trump what they're doing. I'll opt for the later option here. So I want a team that can beat up on a team that's very defensive – but that's going to take more Heroes than I currently have. At minimum I want an Elementalist, Necromancer, and Mesmer to play with and probably multiples of each. A Ritualist to give the defensive option a whirl wouldn't be bad, either. I'm figuring either AoE/hex pressure or some kind of weird bloodspike combined with a very mobile build – that I'll play – that can shut down those teleporting Assassins. And both of those take a lot more casters than I have now. Here's what I have:

Me

Koss (Warrior/*)

Meloni (Dervish/*)

Acolyte Jin (Ranger/*)

Dunkoro (Monk/*)

Tahlkora (Monk/*)

I'm a bit light on Dervish things but I have Avatar of Melandru and Wearying Strike – what more do I need, really? Absolutely jack all as far as Paragons are concerned but I don't have a henchie to do that stuff anyway and since I'll be operating on the split, for the most part, playing a Paragon who's your basic support bitch is not optimal.

Looking around guildwiki among other places, I can see that there are several Heroes nearby where Oreon or my other characters are that can be picked up easily enough. So here are the ones I want and how I rate my chances for getting them.

Acolyte Jin (Ranger) or Acolyte Soususke (Elementalist): Not sure how I missed these but I can choose one from a short series of quests in Istan. Since I already have Juice unlocked this is a no-brainer. And I'll be able to pick up a very valuable Elementalist I can use as a warder or for AoE or whatever I want, really.

Zhed Shadowhoof (Elementalist): Apparently, if I follow the plot along I'll get him sometime before the next mission. Having another Elementalist could be beneficial so I'll get them both, it's just a matter of which one's easier to get to and which one I bother to use first.

Olias (Necromancer): Available only to those who have both the Nightfall and Prophesies campaign, unfortunately which means... Oh wait! I've been playing this game for years now so I have all the boxes and everything associated with them. Still, the quest to pick him up is supposed to be annoyingly difficult with LA henchies so perhaps Oreon needs to take a quick trip to Tyria?

Zenmai (Assassin): Like Olias, if you've got Factions and Nightfall she's your introduction to the Hero system. If, you know, you don't just roll up a new character like I always do. The quest to get her seems easier but adding an Assassin to my team seems less useful than other options. Still, she's easy enough to pick up and there's XP for doing it so why not?

Master of Whispers (Necromancer) or Magrid the Sly (Ranger): Great names. Another pick 'em. I'll get one and then the other when I finish the campaign (Or, you know, do it again with another character and pick the other option). Might be able to bum rush the storyline and get to where these two are but I doubt it. The dilemma, though is that there's not only a choice between these two but it seems the next mission I'll do after the Zhed (I'm thinking a Pulp Fiction reference for that one... Zed's dead, baby, Zed's dead.) one is dependent on which of these pair I chose. My preference would be for another Necro to go along with Olias as I already have a useless Ranger unlocked, thanks, and one's not going to crack the roster if I only have 3 slots but I'll have to see which mission I'd prefer to do.

Nogru (Mesmer): Don't know where he's located at because I dont' recognize the locatin's name – which means I haven't been there yet and it's not near where I'm going so it must be further ahead in the campaign. Be nice to get but I doubt I'll be able to reach him any time soon.

Razah (Ritualist): Waaaaay in the back of the campaign. After it's all over, basically, and I'm onto the raid content-equivalent of the new Plane of Torment or whatever it's called. So it might be easier to just burn the faction and get this guy early.

The rest I don't care about or can wait until I advance far enough to get them. There's only two at the moment, anyway – another Warrior and a Paragon. So, yawn. Don't get why they wouldn't have a Paragon Hero earlier a lot earlier so people could play with both new professions, though. Or why Mesmers are the only core profession you can't double up on. Still, the nice thing about Heroes is now that the system's in place they can simply add more – even during a patch as they did with Razah – so I imagine there'll be more of them soon enough.

In any event, I'm off to see what I can't capture while the capping's good. Join me next time when I'll have a bunch to share, no doubt. And since I'm going to be delving heavily into the elite skills you can pretty much bet on a rant about the elite system and skill acquisition in general before too long.