Guild Wars Eye of the North Sneak Peek Weekend

Pre-order Note
The Eye of the North Sneak Peek Weekend is only available to those who have purchased the Guild Wars: Eye of the North pre-order pack from NCSoft/Arena.net, or other online and offline vendors. A serial key is included with the pack, which is registered to allow players to enter the Eye of the North Sneak Peek via a quest, available in one major city in each current campaign.

In all towns where the Quest into GW:EN is available, you must be level 20 to receive the quest. All members of the party must also be 20th level as well, except for Heroes and Henchmen.

Getting to the Far Shiverpeaks

 * Prophecies: Len Caldoron stands near the fountain in Lions Arch, and offers a quest called What Lies Beneath. You will have to defeat groups of Hellhounds and Grasping Ghouls at levels 11 to 16 before encountering a group of Dwarves led by Ogden Stonehealer who are trying to blow their way out through the tunnels.


 * Factions: See Minister of Maintenance Raiugyon in Kaineng Center for the quest. You must fight groups of three level 20 Am Fah Assasins and some groups of level 20 assorted Am Fah till you find Ogden Stonehealer.


 * Nightfall: Take the quest in Kamadan from Bendah (Hole of Istan) to enter a "fissure" not too far outside the city. When you go inside, you enter a large cave system.  You will have to defeat a few low level Corsair groups (levels 8-11) before encountering Ogden Stonehealer and co.

The encounter ends with meeting an Asura, Vekk and following him to outrun creatures called Destroyers who are all level 28. There is a 3 minute time limit, but don't battle unless you want to be torn apart by the Destroyers. Follow the green waypoints until you can get to a zone for an easy 2,500 Experience Points and take you to Boreal Station in the Far Shiverpeaks. Right before going into the station, there is a cutscene with the first encounter and conversation with a Norn. Completing this run will unlock Vekk, a level 20 Air/Water Elementalist, along with Ogden Stonehealer, a Dwarven Monk, for you to use as Heroes.

''Tip: having a running skill will help you after the cutscene. You may have to leave one or more hench or heros behind to slow down the mobs.''

Introduction to GW:EN mobs
Most of the early Norn mobs you fight in the wilderness are slow casters and/or interrupt mesmers and warriors. However, as a caster class you may find this experience frustrating, as combinations of interrupts, knockdowns, and dazes will keep you from properly executing your skill combos.

If you equip at least three of your party members with interrupt abilities, having Norgu and Gwen as interrupt/shutdown mesmers, and recruiting Zho as a Henchman, you will find encounters with these mobs, especially level 28 mesmer yetis to be considerably easier to deal with. Your last hero should be a hero monk, and Mhenlo will take the second healer role as a henchman. Your remaining two slots should be either tanking or DPS henchmen.

Sealed-off areas
During the preview weekend, the following portals are sealed:
 * The portal from Battledepths to Heart of the Shiverpeaks
 * The portal from Bjora Marches to Longeye's Ledge
 * The portal from Varajar Fells to Verdant Cascades

Known Bugs

 * In mission three, on their way to the Hall of Monuments, the one after viewing the cinematic featuring Jora and the Dwarves, the player's computer may randomly crash due to a memory dump error before promptly restarting the computer. This appears to be related to what graphics chip your computer uses, as users of certain Intel graphics chips report this most often. (Sometimes erroneously called the "Boot Camp" bug as the affected graphics chips are common on Intel-based Macintosh computers.)


 * Note: This bug also occurs not only on Macs but on other PCs as well.


 * Sometimes when you're in Kilroy Stonekin's tournament, you will be knocked down, and forced to return to the outpost; disregarding the "stand up" skill.

Integrated Graphics Cards & Crashing


 * Some players using integrated Intel graphics chips, Nvidia integrated graphics cards, and ATI Radeon integrated graphics processors have found that after loading Boreal Station, their client now crashes when under graphical stress. This is due to a driver failure, which requires a full system reboot and causes a message stating that the system has recovered from a serious system error. There is no known fix at the time, but keeping movements and camera rotations to a minimum when one's frame rate is low (during loading, etc.) minimizes the frequency of the error. Unlike the "boot camp" error, crashing can occur at virtually any time.[It should be noted that many Intel-based Macs use Intel graphics chips -- the graphics driver is the likely cause of both of these problems.
 * The following graphics cards experience frequent glitches/crashes during game play

Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 900, 945, 950, 965, Nvidia GeForce 6100, GeForce 6150,GeForce Fx 5200, ATI Radeon 9600 AGP, ATI Radeon 9100 IGP

Places known to crash with integrated graphics chips
 * Talking to 1st Norn.
 * Beside pool.
 * Outside Hall of Monuments.
 * Beside single NPC in Eye of the North.
 * Outside gate of Gunnar's Hold.
 * Drakkar lake portal.
 * The Great Norn Alemoot quest when talking to Sif Shadowhunter
 * When activating the Northen Proof of Duty in Sepulchre of Dragrimmar the game crashes.

Some Possible Solutions

Some people have reported success using different combinations of the "-dx8" and "-noshaders" command line options and turning on or off various Graphics options like "Best Texture Filtering".

On some computers, the Intel graphics chips problems can be resolved by redownloading and reinstalling the client using the new GW client builds. If it does not work, reinstall Windows, and/or Windows Boot Camp as well as the Mac partition by reintegrating it back into one volume, reformatting and reinstalling the Mac side (you can use the preserve data feature), and then reinstalling Boot Camp and Windows XP.

You can skip certain areas that cause the errors on your video card by passing through those troublesome areas using another computer, preferably using non-Intel graphics chips and then starting from there.

Beware
 * The quest Defend North Kryta Province should be complete or abondoned before doing the Eye Of The North quest from Len Caldoron in Lion's Arch. If the quest is active it will be harder to keep Captain Greywind alive against the Titans than the usual monsters.

Graphics Chips with Issues with GW:EN

 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Acer aspire 5602WLMi
 * Intel Integrated GMA 950/945G, Motherboards and the ordinary white MacBook 2006+
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Toshiba Satellite A100 - So far, it's only crashed in the Domain of Fear, and at any time in GW:EN -Second- Same chipset on a Satellite A105 I cannot run Guild Wars on anything but the lowest graphical settings and even then I still crash
 * Integrated Intel Media Accelerator 9000 Grapics, Dell Inspiron 6000
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, COMPAQ laptop, will freeze at any point in Guild Wars. Have no idea how to fix the problem
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, IBM Lenovo ThinkPad X60s - installed latest driver (7.14.10.1295) along with all previous versions available for Windows Vista from Intel's support page, but problem still persists. Windows Vista gives me the following message: "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered. Display driver igfx stopped responding and has successfully recovered."
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, HP dv2000 series
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Compaq NC4400
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Dell XPS M1210
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Dell Inspiron 640m
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Dell Inspiron E1705
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Dell Latitude D620
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Dell Inspiron 6400
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Dell Inspiron E1505 **Seconded. Problem is anywhere in Guild Wars. I was in Elona the last time of four times it crashed** ***Third-ed***
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, AMILO Pi 1505
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, AMILO Pro V8210 (completely updated XP, Drivers etc, random crashes both in GW:EN and in Elona, both in a town or outpost, or in area's)
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Gateway MX6956 - System crash anywhere in GW:EN, usually at scenes or between areas
 * Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family, Acer & HP laptop computers, gateway tablet pc
 * Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family, Dell Dimension DV051 - ****I second this graphics card entry, Spent hour and half on phone with dell to hear i had to purchase a graphics adapter****---Thirded---
 * Intel 82945g Express Chipset Family, Dell Optiplex (I installed older version of the drivers(6.14.10.4299) and issue has gone away, others should test to confirm.)
 * Intel 945 chipset hp media center pc when taking hench from eye to ice video driver causes crash. i found if i only take hero's it does not crash, no explanation i can think of for this.


 * Mobile Intel(R)945GM Express Chipset Family, BenQ S61 - Random system crashes in GWEN. Interim solution: Download and installed latest drivers from Intel (6.14.10.4859). In GW graphics options disable "use best texture filtering."
 * Mobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family, Alienware Sentia 3450 Mobile - random crashes. Crashed five times during the Norn Tournament.
 * ASUS N6600/TD/128 GeForce 6600 (NVIDIA Drivers) - started crashing during the Norn Tournament and is now crashing regularly outside of the tournament in any map. the colors go prismatic.

Many of the Mobile Intel(R) imbedded graphics chipsets do support dx9 but not have hardware shaders or hardware T&L. I experimented and found an optimal configuration of using -noshaders without -dx8 on the command line. I have a 915GM/GMS on my Samsung Q1 and can play GW:EN without any crashes on it.

According to this PlayNC support page, Intel Graphics Chips 915 and 945 series are currently supported: http://www.plaync.com/us/support/doc_2664.html?prod=48

Therefore there may be a fix shortly for those who have problems running the game on Intel integrated graphics.

Turning down the graphic option "Shader" to low signifigantly lowers lag and crashing. NOTE Windows Vista appears to correct any graphical errors it may encounter, allowing you to continue playing past the areas where errors occur. You should note, however, that there is a momentary screen flash while Windows does this, effectively causing problems if you're currently in battle.

Monuments

 * The Monument of Fellowship - contains big statues of your unlocked Heroes as well as you current and evolved pet. This will be a generic statue depicting a bear, wolf or cat. In order to add a hero statue to the monument, the hero must have access to armor upgrade and needs to be in your party when you enter the hall.
 * The Monument of Devotion - shows little statues of your minipets and collectibles that you have obtained.
 * The Monument of Honor - shows your titles and accomplishments. Kind Of A Big Deal and Gamer for PvE. All others for PvP.
 * The Monument of Valor - displays unlocked high-end weapons obtained from the Eye of the North expansion.
 * The Monument of Resilience - shows all your ascended armour sets.

Side Note: In order to activate a monument, you need to talk to Gwen, after the cut-scene. Gwen will give you a tapestry.

Once you have used a tapestry on the monument of your choice, then you can display the related items.

A second tapestry can be obtained by completing the quest "Northern Allies" so it is assumed the last two tapestries are unlocked by completing the main quest for each race (Dwarf/Norn, Asura and Ebon Vanguard).

Beware
 * Minipets added to the Monument of Devotion in GW:EN, will become customized to the owner of the Minipet. It is advised not to borrow Minipets from others, as they will become customized to you, and so can't be traded back and used by somebody else.
 * Adding a set of 15k Armor to the Hall of Monuments will show a placeholder for the armor set - some placeholders display the correct armor sets, others do not.

New Titles Available

 * Asura
 * Deldrimor
 * Ebon Vanguard
 * Master of the North
 * Norn

New Heroes Available

 * Gwen - Human Mesmer (unlocked at the Eye of the North)
 * Jora - Norn Warrior (unlocked after completing Curse of the Nornbear)
 * Kahmu - Human Dervish (unlocked via Norn Fighting Tournament)
 * Ogden Stonehealer - Dwarven Monk (unlocked after completing What Lies Beneath)
 * Vekk - Asuran Elementalist (unlocked after completing What Lies Beneath)
 * Xandra - Human Ritualist (unlocked via Norn Fighting Tournament)

New Pets

 * Black Wolf
 * Mountain Eagle
 * Polar Bear
 * White Moa
 * White Wolf

New Armor

 * Crown
 * Dervish Norn Armor
 * Elementalist Norn Armor
 * Glacial Gauntlets

New Weapon Skins
Note: This section also includes items that were previously only available as PvP rewards.

Sword

 * Aureate Blade
 * Bronze Edge
 * Dark Scimitar
 * Etched Sword
 * Gilded Edge
 * Greater Dark Scimitar
 * Greater Highlander Blade
 * Highlander Blade
 * Lesser Dark Scimitar
 * Mammoth Blade
 * Norn Sword
 * Platinum Broadsword
 * Sephis Sword
 * Steel Broadsword
 * Violet Edge

Axe

 * Charr Axe
 * Greater Summit Axe
 * Norn Axe

Hammer

 * Club of a Thousand Bears
 * Jormungand's Thunder
 * Norn Maul

Dagger

 * Arrowblade Daggers
 * Brass Knuckles
 * Crescent Daggers
 * Crude Daggers
 * Savage Daggers
 * Thunderfist Brass Knuckles

Spear

 * Demoncrest Spear
 * Draconic Spear
 * Forked Spear
 * Greater Guardian Spear
 * Lesser Guardian Spear
 * Ornate Spear
 * Serrated Spear

Scythe

 * Raven Scythe
 * Saurian Scythe
 * Tentacle Scythe

Bow

 * Forked Hornbow
 * Maplewood Longbow
 * Oaken Recurve Bow
 * Silverwing Recurve Bow

Shield

 * Ebonhand Aegis
 * Enameled Shield
 * Equine Aegis
 * Darkwing Defender
 * Militia Shield
 * Oaken Aegis
 * Plated Shield
 * Reinforced Aegis

Focus

 * The Bison Cup

Staff

 * Aureate Staff
 * Cobalt Staff
 * Dolyak Prod Staff
 * Dragon Spire Staff
 * Fuchsia Staff
 * Goldtouched Staff
 * Icicle Staff
 * Turquoise Staff

Green Items

 * Antiquated Focus
 * Antiquated Rod
 * Antiquated Staff
 * Asterius' Scythe
 * Avarr's Scepter
 * Axe of the Kinslayer
 * Baglorag's Maul
 * Bow of the Kinslayer
 * Claws of the Kinslayer
 * Destructive Blade
 * Destructive Shield
 * Destructive Focus
 * Earthbound Staff
 * Elsnil's Frigidheart
 * Fenrir's Bastion
 * Grelk's Hammer
 * Havok's Maul
 * Havok's Shield
 * Johon's Longbow
 * Korn's Hornbow
 * Lissah's Edge
 * Maul of the Kinslayer
 * Myish's Scythe
 * Nifling's Staff
 * Scepter of the Kinslayer
 * Scythe of the Kinslayer
 * Shield of the Kinslayer
 * Spear of Kinslayer
 * Staff of the Kinslayer
 * Sword of the Kinslayer
 * Taameh's Scythe
 * The Soulwailer
 * The Stonebreaker
 * Whiteout's Focus

Bosses

 * Asterius the Mighty
 * Baglorag Grunblesnor
 * Docu Kindleshot
 * Dvalinn Stonebreaker
 * Elmohr Snowmender
 * Elsnil Frigidheart
 * Fenrir
 * Grelk Icelash
 * Johon The Oxflinger
 * Kakei Stormcaller
 * Koren Wildrunner
 * Lissah the Packleader
 * Myish, Lady of the Lake
 * Nifling the Chained
 * Ssissth the Leviathan
 * Taahem The Frigid
 * Tenagg Flametroller
 * Whiteout

Quest Items

 * Top Left Map Piece
 * Top Right Map Piece
 * Bottom Left Map Piece
 * Bottom Right Map Piece
 * Encrypted Charr Battle Plans

Consumables

 * Armor of Salvation
 * Grail of Might
 * Honeycomb
 * Perfect Salvage Kit
 * Powerstone of Courage
 * Scroll of Resurrection
 * Star of Transference

Collectable Drops

 * Ashen Wurm Husk
 * Beserker Horn
 * Blob of Ooze
 * Chromatic Scale
 * Destroyer Core
 * Dredge Charm
 * Dryder Web
 * Frigid Mandragor Husk
 * Frozen Wurm Husk
 * Glacial Stone
 * Jotun Pelt
 * Modniir Mane
 * Mountain Root
 * Pile of Elemental Dust
 * Stone Summit Emblems
 * Superb Charr Carving
 * Undead Bone
 * Vaettir Essence