Player versus player

Overview
Playing Guild Wars can generally be split into two more or less separate parts: Player versus Player (PvP) and Player versus Environment (PvE).

While in PvE human players fight cooperative together against computer-controlled foes, PvP is a competitive game mode where human players fight against each other in teams. Only in PvP can faction, fame, rank and guild rating be gained.

There are three different PvP modes:


 * Arena battles
 * The Tournament in the Tomb of the Primeval Kings
 * Guild vs Guild battles

Unlike PvE, the PvP part of the game does not have a strict separation along the lines of territories. Regardless of your home territory, you will meet teams and guilds from all territories while playing PvP.

PvP Characters
Every PvE character can take part in PvP matches, providing he has already reached the location where the battle takes place. However there is another way to participate in PvP matches: Creating a PvP Character. These Characters are level 20 with customized level 20 armor and weapons. They can take part in all PvP matches (except the low level arenas), even if no PvE character on that account has reached the starting place yet.

Arena Battles
Arena battles pit two teams or 4 human players against each other. The winning objective is to kill each member of the opposing team. The losing team drops out, while the winning team stays in the battle and awaits the next opposing team.

Arena battles can be divided into two sub-categories:
 * Competition Arena battles
 * Team Arena battles

The difference between these battles lies in the way teams are set up: In the Team Arena, parties are formed like in the PvE part of the game. In Competition Arenas, the teams are set up randomly by Guild Wars.

Notes:
 * Arena battles are very fast paced. Fights are usually over in less than 3 minutes.
 * Competition Arenas are often used by many players as a "quick fix" of PvP. Other than a few points of Faction there is nothing at stake and there are no lengthy party forming periods, which can often take up a huge amount of time in Tournament Battles and GvG.
 * Leaving the party after the battle/mission has started is looked down upon in all parts of Guild Wars. However in Arena Battles, missing party members get replaced by a new player between battles. So if you need to leave, do so after your party won the battle, but before the new map is loaded and your party will get a replacement.

Tournament Battles
The tournament is only accessible through the Tomb of the Primeval Kings. It requires a team of 8 players, with no more than 4 henchmen. The tournament consists of several consecutive maps. The losers drop out, the winners advance to the next round. Different types of maps are implemented, many of them consisting of more than 2 teams. However, only one team will advance to the next round.

The different types of maps include different winning objectives:


 * Death Match
 * Death Match with resurrection shrine
 * Capture the Relic (Capture the flag)
 * King of the Hill

Winning in the final round of the tournament, called Hall of Heroes, affects the PvE world as it determines which territory has the Favor of the Gods. The winners also get a random drop of high class loot. The Hall of Heroes loot is the only source of sigils in the game.

Winning matches in the tournament if the only source of fame, which in turn determines a player's rank.

Notes:
 * The competition is much harder in the Tombs, and achieving a Hall of Heroes win is something many long time Guild Wars players have not yet managed.
 * Teams taking part in the tournament often use very elaborate builds, which depend on various interactions between different players' skills and actions.
 * Getting to the Hall of Heroes can often take a very long time. Experimenting with different builds and finding a winning strategy will probably take many hours, days or weeks!

Guild vs Guild Battles
Guild Battles are the highest form of PvP in Guild Wars. Very elaborate builds and tactics are used during guild matches. They are the only source of guild rating, which determines the guilds rank on the guild ladder. For more detail, see the article: Guild vs Guild.