Guild Wars Information
Builds
Your character build is what makes your character. There are limits to
your build - 8 skill slots, what primary profession/secondary profession
you are, and what skills your character has learned. Within those limits,
you can design your build however you want. Each profession has 4-5 attribute
lines, and your secondary profession grants you all of that professions attributes
with the exception of the primary attribute.
Primary attributes are primary profession specific attributes. Some affect skills
in your secondary profession or have global effects. For example, Expertise, for Rangers,
reduces the energy cost of all skills with the exception of hexes, enchantments
and spells. Energy Storage, for Elementalists, gives you a larger energy pool
which can be used by any skill from any profession. Some are more limiting, such as
Divine Favor for Monks, which adds additional healing power to any Monk spells cast
on a friendly character.
Considering that you only have 8 skills to use, builds are better off focussing on a specific
role, instead of trying to play all roles, with a couple of flavor skills mixed in. For example,
an Axe Warrior, is generally going to have 4 attack skills, a speed buff skill,
a self healing skill, a ressurection signet (cornerstone #8 skill on most builds) and a
form of knockdown. Below are some sample builds. To use them, simply copy the build string
and paste it into template code in game. It's easier to make sure you have the skills first,
otherwise you'll have to go hunting for them.
Shock Axe Warrior/elementalist
Skill List: [Elite] Eviscerate, Executioners Strike, Critical Chop, Shock, Frenzy, Sprint, Healing signet, Ressurection Signet
Template Code: OQYTETJXzRqAV0rnDtSXJAIAAA
Crippling Shot Ranger/Monk
Skill List: [Elite] Crippling Shot, Savage Shot, Distracting Shot, Apply poison, Mending Touch, Troll Unguent, Natural Stride,
Ressurection Signet
Template Code: AyMxlxZOnEjq5xMbyr+mftAA
Blessed Light Monk/Assassin
Skill List: Reversal of Fortune, Gift of Health, Signet of Devotion, Protective Spirit, [Elite] Blessed Light,
Dismiss Condition, Dark Escape, Return
Template Code: AzRRDfIk/3MTCjlk6RrbT3AFYA
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The Level Cap
Guild Wars utilises a low level cap of 20. In Guild Wars Prophecies, this is
reached relatively late in the campaign, about 3/4 of the way through in fact.
It also has a new player friendly area set 3 years before the main game, where you get
to around level 10 before moving on to the main game. Then you leave, you cannot go back.
In Guild Wars Factions and Guild Wars Nightfall, there are islands on the worldmap used
for the same purpose. However, they get you to around level 15-20, with the rest of the
campaign designed for character already at level 20. You can go back to these islands at will.
The level cap was put in place to keep PvP combat balanced. It makes sure anyone competing in
competitive pvP will have the sme health levels and amount of attribute points to
use, so no one is any more powerful than anyone else. This seems restrictive to new players
who are used to having a higher level cap, but the whole games skill and combat system
is designed around this level cap as well. Level 20 is where you can really start
experimenting with builds.
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Martial Weapons
Swords all have the same attack speed regardless of appearance, as well as hammers, Axes,
Daggers and Spears - though each weapon type has it's own attack speed. The only difference
is some weapon skins do difference damage types. Scythes all do slashing damage. Swords
all do slashing damage with the exception of the Jitte, which does blunt damage. Axes all
do slashing damage with a few exceptions dealing piercing damage, same with Daggers. Hammers all
deal blunt damage with the exception of the Collosal Pick, which does piercing damage.
Shields are used on the off hand when you are using an Axe, Spear or Sword. A shield can add up
to 16 to your base armour level, as well as have it's own bonuses like extra health, even more
armour, reduced condition durations on you, etc. Shields are also commonly used on casters who, even
if they do not meet the shields requirement, gain an additional 8 armour and the bonuses that the shield
carries.
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Bows
Short bows have the fastest fire rate, but have a very short range. Longbows have a medium fire
rate, and have range longer than your aggro radius. Recurve bows have the same fire rate as a long bow
but have a shorter range, but also have a very fast flight time, meaning they miss less. Hornbows
have the longest fire time, and a slow flight time, but also have an additional 10% armour penetration.
Flatbows have the same fire rate as a short bow, the range of a long bow, but a very slow flight time and
a high fire arc, meaning they miss a lot. Each bow type is good in it's own situation.
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Caster Weapons
Caster weapons differ from other weapons. Their damage is very low, and very few skills actually utilise
the weapon as a weapon. The come in 3 types - Staves (Staff), Wands/Rods, and Foci (Focus). The main
purpose of a caster weapon is to augment the skillbar in a different way. Caster weapons are used to
reduce casting times/recharge times of spells, which allows the caster to use their skills
more often and/or faster. They also have large energy additions. A focus can add up to 12 energy to
your energy pool, a Staff up to 10. Staffs also always have an additional up to 20% chance to
halve the recharge on all spells regardless of their attribute line.
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Modifications
Weapons all carry at least one modification, or mod, slot, some have 2. Martial weapons and staves carry 2
slots, and offhand items, shields and foci, carry one. Each weapon type has it's own modification list, and
modifications are not global. An Axe Grip of Fortitude, for example, adding +30 health you your character,
cannot be placed on a Sword. Modifications are best used when they compliment your build.
A Warrior, for example, would want 3-4 weapons to swap between when he is fighting. A Vampiric weapon for damage,
which adds between 3-5 damage per strike that ignores all forms of protection and also heals the user.
It has a life draining effect, but the damage boost more than makes up for it. Sundering is another popular
modification, which can add up to 20% armour penetration to a strike, but only triggers 20% of the time, making
it unreliable. However, it has no life draining effect. A warrior also commonly uses a Zealou weapon for faster energy
regeneration and an elemental weapon for attacking other warriors.
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Inscriptions
Most weapons dropped in Nightfall will carry what is called an Inscription slot. In other campaigns, these
inscriptions are bound to the weapon and cannot be removed or replaced. Weapons in Nightfall, however, can
have them removed and replaced at will. This makes finding good weapons a lot easier. If you find a weapon
you like but it does not have the inscription you want, you can remove it or replace it. Be careful, however,
for removing an inscripion, like a modification, can destroy the weapon.
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Requirement
All weapons will carry a requirement. This is the attribute level you must meet for the weapon to get it's full
effect. However, there's a few tricks to requirement. Meeting a requirement only affects what the requirement
it is on the same line as. On a martial weapon, this will be the damage, same with staves and foci. Shields will
have it with the armour level, foci with the energy bonus. All mods and inscriptions on the weapon are
unaffected by requirement.
Also, meeting the qeapons requirement will make it do the maximum base damage for the weapon, wether it's
requirement 7 or 13. The only difference a lower requirement makes is you don't need as much in the
attribute to get the weapons maximum base damage. However, with weapons that deal damage, the higher your
attribute level is, the better chance you have to critical hit, thus increasing your overall damage. Meeting
the requirement is all you need to get the maximum damage out of a weapon, exceeding it gives you a higher
chance to score a critical hit. Lower requirement weapons (such as 7-8) are collected for prestige, but side from
a little more build flexibilty, aren't better than a requirement 13 weapon of the same type.
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Armour
Armour in Guild Wars is, again, like levels and weapons, capped. When you reach level 20, you'll have
armour available to you with that professions highest armour level. All armour is generic when
purchased, and is upgraded to have special bonuses with things called 'Insignia'. These are bought
from other players, found, or bought from the rune trader. There are profession specific insignia and
generic insignia. Generic insignia offer bonuses like +10 armour vs physical damage, extra health or
additional energy for your energy pool.
Profession specific insignia offer better bonuses while under a condition that the profession is
likely to be under, like extra armour on a Necromancer while controlling minions, or considerably
higher armour on a Warrior with a high strength attribute. Below is a list of the maximum base
armour level per profession.
- Warrior: 80
- Elementalist: 60
- Mesmer: 60
- Ranger: 70
- Monk: 60
- Necromancer: 60
- Assassin: 70
- Ritualist: 60
- Paragon: 80
- Dervish: 70
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If you have any questions, please feel free to ask on our forums. We have a lot of friendly members who
will gladly give advice and answer questions.
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