Guide to fame farming

The Fame Game
Fame are special points which are earned by winning Battles in Heroes' Ascent. These points are charted up in the Hero title track and having a large number of Fame points is a sign of your ability in one of the most difficult tournaments in Guild Wars. Heroes' Ascent is a very difficult tournament, but it rewards players with personal glory if they succeed.

Fame is earned by winning matches in Heroes' Ascent. Winning consecutive battles will earn you more fame. The following chart shows how much fame you will earn based on how many consecutive victories you have obtained:

In this guide I will try to share with you some of my tips for earning Fame.

''Note: Heroes' Ascent is by no means easy. Do not expect to read this article and find a way to gain free fame through a glitch or exploit.''

Identifying Builds

 * Before you try your skills in HA it is important that you study what builds other people run. Note the popular builds and what skills they are running. Get to know the layout for each of the maps and the objectives for winning - this will save you some embarrassment in the future.
 * Visit official fan site PvP sections and forums. Read articles by high ranked players to gain insight into this game type.
 * Open Observer mode and watch top rated Heroes' Ascent and Hall of Heroes battles and watch particular players. Note what skills they use and watch how they respond to any given situation.
 * Never be afraid to ask in Observer Mode for Attributes and Skills for certain builds.
 * If you do not know anything about mainstream builds used in HA, watch the public chat. If you see someone going "Build:W/E Shock Axe LFG" ask him about his build (attributes, skills etc.)

Identify your means of gaining Fame
Below are some of the popular methods new players use to get started:

Friends List/Guildies
The most powerful way to gain fame is to maintain a solid friends list and to be in an active guild. People that know of your skill and PvP expertise will readily invite you into groups even if you do not meet that group leader's rank requirement. This means you have a better chance of getting into organized teams, which generally have a much better success rate inside HA. Building a solid contact list is a difficult thing to accomplish, but once you have a few good contacts getting more becomes easier.

The best method to getting started would be to get into an active guild that at least on occasion will venture into HA. The second best method would be to roll a popular build and join a Pick Up Group (PUG) that does not require rank. In either case, when you win a few rounds add the leader of that group to your friends list and next time you are ready to venture into HA send a whisper to that person and ask if he is forming a group. In addition to adding group leaders to your friends list, add exceptional players and ask them if you can join their group later. By building your friends list with solid contacts you will have a much easier time joining successful groups and gaining the required rank.

Henchway
Since the update of HA from 8 man teams to 6 man teams henchway has become an increasingly popular build. They pack a decent spike for a henchway group and generally do ok. Henchway still requires at least 2 people to enter.

Some points to remember with henchway:
 * For an effective henchway team you need to call targets and spike them, henchmen have poor performance as lone fighters.
 * There is only one Healer Henchman. one of the human players may need to run a Monk or a hero monk may be required.
 * Create builds which complement the henchmen. The henchmen will pile all their damage on a called target or whatever target you are currently attacking. Bringing skills that supplement the skills of the henchmen (such as enchantment removal) can lead to a higher success rate.
 * Use Control+shift+space to target a foe. All the henchmen will attack that target. Try not to push on the target too long if he does not die.
 * The key to henchway is persistence. You will lose a lot more than you win, but if you keep at it the fame will slowly add up.
 * Generally this is a poor and slow method to gain fame. It is unlikely you will defeat the majority of teams that enter Heroes' Ascent with a henchway team.

PUGs
PUGs are often disorganized. Especially PUGs which are below Rank 3. If you decide to join a PUG make sure they are organized in some way. Make sure they have a solid team build or possibly voice communication such as Teamspeak Or Ventrilo.

Some players are of the opinion that the only real PUG Groups which do well are un-ranked Vimway, Build:Team - Dual Smite, IWAY, Build:Team - Blood Spike, Condition Pressure or good balanced groups. This can be determined by having a good knowledge of mainstream builds such as Blight, Infuse/WoH, Build:W/E Shock Axe) or Star Burst Ele. Note: This is not a comprehensive list of mainstream builds!


 * Unlike henchway, PUGS normally dis form after the first few losses.
 * If PUG groups are not around try and create your own. It does take some leadership skills and you will need to determine which players are capable and which are not.
 * PUGs almost always run a popular build that is seen in Observer Mode, or a FotM build. Knowing these builds will help when you are trying to find a group.

Heroes
Heroes are a new addition to Guild Wars with the release of Nightfall. They are basically henchmen which you have the option of customizing with runes, attributes, skills and secondary profession. Heroes are a better choice than henchmen as they give players greater control over builds, allowing for better skill synergy. The Heroes are still AI and behave in a similar way to henchmen, but you can control some aspects of their behaviour such as what skills they use and where they move. Another new feature is the ability to enter Heroes' Ascent alone if you have heroes. This makes fame farming especially easy and removes the pressure of finding another person or group.


 * Heroes can also be merged with henchmen to make a team of heroes and henchmen.
 * Heroes have incredible interrupting abilities as they are AI. It is generally a good idea to use interruption in your heroes' builds.
 * At the current time, you can not get more then 2 heroes of the same class per player.
 * A team of Heroes and Henchmen have a great disadvantage against real player groups as real players can make quick, sensible decisions which can determine the outcome of a battle, whereas the henchmen are bound by the limits of their AI.

Generally, Heroes or henchway teams cannot win Hall of Heroes or win many consecutive battles without major difficulty.

Rank 3
Rank 3 is the first stepping stone in your Fame quest. Once you reach Rank 3 more groups open up to you with more diverse and organized teams. You are expected to play with a certain level of skill for your rank. It is difficult to get to rank 3 with no connections or experience, but persist and eventually you will attain this coveted stepping stone. At rank 3 you are also capable of showing your title to the world, and have access to the deer emote by typing /rank or /fame in chat.

Be sure to keep up with the ever changing builds in Heroes' Ascent, the meta game is constantly changing over time and it is important to keep up with a variety of changing builds. Always be prepared by having popular builds ready to go when you are looking for a group.