Game updates/20070831

Update 2 - Friday, August 31, 2007

Skill Changes

• Rebel Yell: armor bonus is now received when taking damage from Charr instead of fire.
• Seed of Life: reduced Energy cost to 5; reduced casting time to .25 seconds.

Miscellaneous

• Corrected sizing restrictions on the Party panel.
• Expanding or collapsing the Allies or Pets sections of your Party panel now causes the panel to resize.
• Changed the casting time of the creature skill “Monkey See, Monkey Do” from 2 seconds to 0.25 seconds.
• Changed the casting time of the creature skill “Berserk” from 3 seconds to .25 seconds.

Guild Wars Wiki notes

• Players must re-accept the EULA.
• This update appears to have fixed a number of clipping issues with shields on female monks.

Update - Friday, August 31, 2007

The Far Shiverpeaks Await!

Guild Wars: Eye of the North is now available for purchase at retail stores, at PlayNC.com, and through the Guild Wars in-game store. Players who purchase Guild Wars: Eye of the North may now bring existing level 20 PvE (roleplaying) characters to the expansion’s four new regions to acquire new skills, armor, and weapons, to recruit new Heroes, and to explore numerous multi-level dungeons!

• Guild Wars: Eye of the North is compatible with each of the three campaigns in the Guild Wars franchise (Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, and Guild Wars Nightfall).
• To access the expansion’s content, players must complete an introductory quest. After completion of this quest, characters may travel quickly and easily using the World Map.
  • Characters from the original Guild Wars campaign wishing to travel to the Far Shiverpeaks for the first time should seek out Len Caldoron in Lion's Arch and accept the “What Lies Beneath” quest.
  • Factions characters wishing to travel to the Far Shiverpeaks for the first time should seek out Minister of Maintenance Raiugyon in Kaineng Center and accept the “I Feel the Earth Move Under Cantha's Feet” quest.
  • Nightfall characters wishing to travel to the Far Shiverpeaks for the first time should seek out Bendah in Kamadan and accept the “Hole of Istan” quest.

Heroes

• Heroes are NPC party members who can join your party, level up with your character, and use weapons, armor, and skills of your choosing. You can recruit ten new Eye of the North Heroes by completing certain quests and adventures throughout the expansion.
• You can only bring three Heroes into your party at any given time. Since you and a friend can each bring three Heroes into a group, two players can now complete any challenge created for up to eight players.
• After recruiting a Hero, you can use the “Add a Hero” interface in the Party Formation panel to invite the Hero into your party whenever you’re standing in a town or outpost. You can also add a Hero through the Hero tab in the Party Search panel (press P on your keyboard).
• If you and another player both invite the same Hero, one of them will be the “real” Hero, who will interact with NPCs in cinematics and other scripted events, and the other will be an “imposter,” who will use a generic name for the duration of the sequence.
• Whenever you control a Hero, you will see a button next to the Hero’s name, which you can click to bring up the Hero Control panel. This panel provides advanced options for direct control of the Hero. You can use it to adjust the Hero’s AI mode between fight, guard, or avoid combat. You can also use it to order the Hero to focus his attention on a specific target, to cast a certain skill, or to not use specific skills unless directed to do so by you.
• Whenever you control at least one Hero, you will also see a button on the Compass that you can use to give orders to the Hero. To use it, simply click the numbered button that corresponds to the desired Hero, then click anywhere in the Compass or in the world where you would like the Hero to walk. To remove a Hero’s orders, you can either double click that Hero’s numbered button or click the “Cancel” button on the Compass.
• Whenever you recruit a Hero while playing through the expansion, that Hero becomes unlocked for use with your PvP characters. Heroes that you recruit also come with skills, and those skills become unlocked on your account when you recruit the Hero.
• Heroes don't maintain their own inventory of skills. Instead, they are able to use any skill that you have unlocked on your account.
• Heroes don't maintain their own backpack or inventory of items. Instead, you can drag items from your inventory onto a Hero to equip him. Your Heroes can use weapons that you have customized for yourself.
• Hero Trainers, located in various locations around the Far Shiverpeaks, will teach you a skill (and unlock it on your account for use by your Heroes) in return for a Hero Skill Point. You get a Hero Skill Point each time you gain a new rank of the Asura, Deldrimor, Ebon Vanguard, or Norn titles.
• Hero Armor NPCs, located in the town of Gunnar's Hold and the outpost of the Central Transfer Chamber, can craft upgraded armor for your Heroes in return for certain items that you can acquire inside the Elite Dungeon (Slaver's Exile) and the Challenge Mission (Glint's Challenge).

Asura, Deldrimor, Ebon Vanguard, and Norn Titles

Players can now earn ranks in the new Asura, Deldrimor, Ebon Vanguard, and Norn title tracks by completing quests, participating in bounty hunts, competing in three brand new mini-games, and performing a variety of other activities. Attaining higher ranks in these titles gives players the following benefits:

• Rank 3: Access to a special item crafter. Each group has a single item crafter who provides unique and powerful items. You must spend a Skill Point to have these items crafted for you.
• Rank 4: Access to an exclusive weapon crafter. Each group has a single weapon crafter who provides unique weapons, such as the Raven Scythe and the Charrslayer Axe.
• Rank 5: Access to an exclusive armor crafter. Each group has a single armor crafter who provides single unique armor pieces, such as the Dread Mask or the Magma Gauntlets [sic].
• All ranks: The 50 PvE-only skills and passive bonuses provided by these groups become more powerful with each title rank.

Hall of Monuments

Players who travel to the Eye of the North now have access to a personalized Hall of Monuments that will contain the following five special monuments used to commemorate character accomplishments earned across all Guild Wars campaigns:

• Honor – The Monument to Honor displays a character’s title-related accomplishments and major PvE achievements, such as completing a campaign or elite mission. Character-based titles must be maximum rank to be displayed. The restrictions for account-based titles vary by title.
• Resilience – The Monument to Resilience displays all Ascended armor sets acquired by a character. To display a new armor set, the character must have the coat, leggings, gloves, and boots for that set.
• Valor – The Monument to Valor displays all Eye of the North end-game weapons acquired by a character. Displaying a weapon customizes it so that only that specific character may use that weapon.
• Devotion – The Monument to Devotion can display any miniatures collected by a character. Displaying a miniature customizes it so that only that specific character may use that miniature.
• Fellowship – The Monument to Fellowship displays a character’s Heroes and animal companions. In order to register a Hero on this monument, that Hero must have at least one armor upgrade. In order to register an animal companion, the animal companion must be level 20.

Initially, all Hall of Monuments will have open access to the Monument of Honor. Players can then choose to upgrade their Hall of Monuments by obtaining special Monumental Tapestries from major quests. These tapestries can be used in the main hall to unlock access to each of the remaining four monuments.

The Hall of Monuments is character based rather than account based. This allows players to store accomplishments for each individual level 20 PvE character on their account. Titles that are account based will be applied to the Hall of Monuments of each character on an account.