flyingchong1
Rookie
In Guild Wars one of the things that keeps this game separate from traditional MMORPGs is the simple fact that one of the game developer's main focus is on the player vs. player system. Why else would the game be called Guild Wars if you couldn't directly compete against other guilds? In this guide I am going to take you through all the different aspects of PvP in Guild Wars, including rules, tactics, and the places where you can participate. Please keep in mind that this guide is not the say all of PvP, in fact I am fairly new to this aspect of gaming. If you would like to add, or find I wrote something wrong, or just to talk about PvP in general, please visit our forum we have dedicated to this guide and to player vs. player information. Also bear in mind that ArenaNet is still adding new features to it's PVP system, of course, this guide will be updated as soon as possible (and when allowed) when these updates occur.
Now onto the guide.
Right now there are three different places you can go to to participate in PvP. These are located at The Gladiator's Arena, The Tomb of Primeval Kings, and the Guild Hall (if you're part of a guild). These locations are presented on the map below. You can get to them by opening your map, zooming in on the pin of the area you wish to join and clicking the icon. You can enter these areas by creating RPG characters or pre-made competitive characters. It's recommended you make a level 20 pre-made competitive character if you want to get into the action fast and have good armor and weapons to start out with. You only get to start out with 8 skills with this option though. If you want a real challenge, try making a RPG character and earning your skills, weapon, and armor on your own before you head out to battle.
Now before I get into each battle scenario, there is one thing you must know before particpating in PvP in Guild Wars. It's the most fundamental tactic and the one that if you don't follow, you will NOT win.
ALWAYS... and I mean ALWAYS stick together as a group. If you wander away from your allies and try to fight by yourself, you will more than likely die and your team will NOT win. You must work together as a team in order to be successful in battle, it is very essential that everyone (especially if you're new, heck, even if you're a veteran) to follow this rule of thumb. With that out of the way, let's have a break down of the battles.
The Gladiator's Arena (Competitive Mission)
Teams: 4 vs. 4
How teams are formed: Random computer picked
Objective: Kill the other team, if you win, you move onto the next battle and continue on with your team until you lose a battle.
What do you earn if you win: Nothing. Arena is a good way to practice your skills, it's more for the casual PvPer.
Arena is simply the quickest way to jump into a battle and start fighting and a great way to fight if your friends aren't online or you don't feel like searching for a team. When you enter the Gladiator's Arena, you'll see a bunch of players standing around, appearing, and disappearing. Here you can go ahead and tweak your skills if you wish before you head to battle, but you'll also notice a button that says "Enter Mission". You won't be able to form a team in this area. You simply click the button and a countdown timer begins as the computer starts picking your team and choosing the team you will be playing against. Each team is generated by those that chose to enter the mission around the same time you did.
You will then enter the mission arena with your other three teammates. You don't have a whole lot of time to discuss tactics as almost immmediately the fight is ready to start. The other team spawns on the opposite end of the map from you. You can run right or left or go down into the courtyard area to fight. Either way as I mentioned above, stick together. If you are a healer or have a resurrection skill, make sure you use it if a team member falls (and it's possible for you to keep alive by doing it). Once a team member falls you will have a 4 vs. 3 disadvantage and the fight could very well be close to over. It's hard to give good advice on tactics in arena for the simple fact you'll never have the same team each time you play. If you start out with a decent team and win a few battles, it'll become harder and harder for you to lose simply because you'll start learning each other's tactics. Also if a team member leaves after a won battle, the next time you start that team member will be replaced by someone else who is in the queue to enter the mission. Great system so you don't keep losing team members later on to real life.
Arena is good for practicing your character's abilities and skills in a PVP setting with several different templates available and several different enemies to fight. It's also fun to see how many in a row your team can win.
Guild Battle
Teams: 8 vs. 8
How teams are formed: From members in your guild that are part of the team to enter the guild battle (you can also choose henchmen to round out a team but it's not recommended)
Objective: Break into the other team's Guild Hall with your Guild Theif and kill the other team's Guild Lord.
What do you earn if you win: Higher ranking in the Guild Ladder System and fame.
You enter into the Guild Battle by getting several guild members in your guild hall and joining a team. You must have at least 8 members to join a guild battle. You can round out your team with henchmen if needed but it's not really recommended since the AI isn't as smart as a human player.
You begin in your guild hall. You have a guild thief and a guild lord. The object is to make sure your guild lord survives and you must kill the other guild's guild lord. Whoever kills the other team's guild lord wins the match. Your Guild Hall is protected by footmen, archers, and arcanes which are quite powerful to be honest and takes close to a whole team to take them out fully. A flag is in your base in front of where you spawn. If you grab this flag and take it out your front door to the center of the map you will see a flag stand to place it on.
The team that captures the middle ground with their flag gets a morale bonus. This means your health and energy are increased. This gives a big advantage to whichever guild owns the center. It's very important to guard this area if you control it.
There is a broken trebuchet outside of each guild hall. You must find the repair kit on the map and bring it back to bring the trebuchet back to working order. You can use the one near the opposing team's base to launch missiles into their hall. The hit is very powerful and could outright kill some on one hit. BE CAREFUL though. You do NOT want to launch a missile into the base if your players are heading in. That's a very effective way of killing your team.
To enter the other team's hall you must have the guild thief with you. A member of your team must click the guild thief and have them follow you. Go to the front door of the base and click on the gate lever. The guild thief will then start to unlock the gate and let you in. At this time you can enter their hall and start killing the archers and arcanes that are inside. Toward the back of their hall you will find the Guild Lord to attack and kill. After doing this you will win the match.
Now onto the guide.
Right now there are three different places you can go to to participate in PvP. These are located at The Gladiator's Arena, The Tomb of Primeval Kings, and the Guild Hall (if you're part of a guild). These locations are presented on the map below. You can get to them by opening your map, zooming in on the pin of the area you wish to join and clicking the icon. You can enter these areas by creating RPG characters or pre-made competitive characters. It's recommended you make a level 20 pre-made competitive character if you want to get into the action fast and have good armor and weapons to start out with. You only get to start out with 8 skills with this option though. If you want a real challenge, try making a RPG character and earning your skills, weapon, and armor on your own before you head out to battle.
Now before I get into each battle scenario, there is one thing you must know before particpating in PvP in Guild Wars. It's the most fundamental tactic and the one that if you don't follow, you will NOT win.
ALWAYS... and I mean ALWAYS stick together as a group. If you wander away from your allies and try to fight by yourself, you will more than likely die and your team will NOT win. You must work together as a team in order to be successful in battle, it is very essential that everyone (especially if you're new, heck, even if you're a veteran) to follow this rule of thumb. With that out of the way, let's have a break down of the battles.
The Gladiator's Arena (Competitive Mission)
Teams: 4 vs. 4
How teams are formed: Random computer picked
Objective: Kill the other team, if you win, you move onto the next battle and continue on with your team until you lose a battle.
What do you earn if you win: Nothing. Arena is a good way to practice your skills, it's more for the casual PvPer.
Arena is simply the quickest way to jump into a battle and start fighting and a great way to fight if your friends aren't online or you don't feel like searching for a team. When you enter the Gladiator's Arena, you'll see a bunch of players standing around, appearing, and disappearing. Here you can go ahead and tweak your skills if you wish before you head to battle, but you'll also notice a button that says "Enter Mission". You won't be able to form a team in this area. You simply click the button and a countdown timer begins as the computer starts picking your team and choosing the team you will be playing against. Each team is generated by those that chose to enter the mission around the same time you did.
You will then enter the mission arena with your other three teammates. You don't have a whole lot of time to discuss tactics as almost immmediately the fight is ready to start. The other team spawns on the opposite end of the map from you. You can run right or left or go down into the courtyard area to fight. Either way as I mentioned above, stick together. If you are a healer or have a resurrection skill, make sure you use it if a team member falls (and it's possible for you to keep alive by doing it). Once a team member falls you will have a 4 vs. 3 disadvantage and the fight could very well be close to over. It's hard to give good advice on tactics in arena for the simple fact you'll never have the same team each time you play. If you start out with a decent team and win a few battles, it'll become harder and harder for you to lose simply because you'll start learning each other's tactics. Also if a team member leaves after a won battle, the next time you start that team member will be replaced by someone else who is in the queue to enter the mission. Great system so you don't keep losing team members later on to real life.
Arena is good for practicing your character's abilities and skills in a PVP setting with several different templates available and several different enemies to fight. It's also fun to see how many in a row your team can win.
Guild Battle
Teams: 8 vs. 8
How teams are formed: From members in your guild that are part of the team to enter the guild battle (you can also choose henchmen to round out a team but it's not recommended)
Objective: Break into the other team's Guild Hall with your Guild Theif and kill the other team's Guild Lord.
What do you earn if you win: Higher ranking in the Guild Ladder System and fame.
You enter into the Guild Battle by getting several guild members in your guild hall and joining a team. You must have at least 8 members to join a guild battle. You can round out your team with henchmen if needed but it's not really recommended since the AI isn't as smart as a human player.
You begin in your guild hall. You have a guild thief and a guild lord. The object is to make sure your guild lord survives and you must kill the other guild's guild lord. Whoever kills the other team's guild lord wins the match. Your Guild Hall is protected by footmen, archers, and arcanes which are quite powerful to be honest and takes close to a whole team to take them out fully. A flag is in your base in front of where you spawn. If you grab this flag and take it out your front door to the center of the map you will see a flag stand to place it on.
The team that captures the middle ground with their flag gets a morale bonus. This means your health and energy are increased. This gives a big advantage to whichever guild owns the center. It's very important to guard this area if you control it.
There is a broken trebuchet outside of each guild hall. You must find the repair kit on the map and bring it back to bring the trebuchet back to working order. You can use the one near the opposing team's base to launch missiles into their hall. The hit is very powerful and could outright kill some on one hit. BE CAREFUL though. You do NOT want to launch a missile into the base if your players are heading in. That's a very effective way of killing your team.
To enter the other team's hall you must have the guild thief with you. A member of your team must click the guild thief and have them follow you. Go to the front door of the base and click on the gate lever. The guild thief will then start to unlock the gate and let you in. At this time you can enter their hall and start killing the archers and arcanes that are inside. Toward the back of their hall you will find the Guild Lord to attack and kill. After doing this you will win the match.
