Guild Wars Factions

Introduction
Guild Wars Factions, globally released on April 28, 2006, is the official product title of ArenaNet's campaign to the Guild Wars world. It is also commonly referred to as Chapter Two, Campaign Two, Factions Campaign, or just Factions.


 * Note: This happens to be exactly one year after release of Chapter 1.

Relationship with other Guild Wars campaigns
Guild Wars Factions is a stand alone product and doesn't require the player to already own the original Guild Wars (Prophecies Campaign). However, the two campaigns can be linked by adding the Factions retail key to an already existing Prophecies account and players from both campaigns will be able to interact. They will be able to compete in PvP and players who own both campaigns are able to take any Ascended Prophecies characters that have reached Lion's Arch over to the lands of Factions.

The stories of the Prophecies Campaign and the Factions Campaign link at Lion's Arch, where Canthan merchants were already present in the Prophecies Campaign.

Story
The Factions Campaign takes place in Cantha, the home continent of the sailing merchants empire, with an Asian theme.

The backstory revolves around the antagonist Shiro Tagachi, a former bodyguard of the righteous emperor of Cantha 200 years ago. Shiro murdered his master and was killed for it. At his death Shiro Tagachi let out a horrible ghostly wail that turned the seas into solid jade and petrified the forests. And even worse, 200 years after his execution he returns from his grave to pester the Canthans yet again. The main task of the players is to ultimately defeat Shiro and send him back to his grave for good.

Furthermore the story focuses on the two factions of the Luxon and the Kurzick who compete with each other for resources in Cantha.

Past Events

 * Day of the Tengu – 2006 Apr 27, in-game headstart event.
 * Factions Preview Event (March 24-26).
 * Guild Wars Factions Global Free-for-All PvP Weekend (January 20-22, 2006)

Current Available Editions
The game is currently available in two editions:
 * Guild Wars Factions Collector's Edition, containing extra Factions themed items and a special dance emote for assassins and ritualists, and an exclusive Miniature of the Great Dragon Kuunavang.
 * Guild Wars Factions, also called the standard edition.

Features Released with this Chapter
The following features were released with Guild Wars Factions:
 * New Region: Cantha - featuring an Asia themed world.
 * New towns and areas For a list of Factions locations see: Locations (Factions)
 * 4 new mission types:
 * Challenge Missions
 * Elite Missions
 * Competitive Missions
 * Alliance Battles
 * 13 new missions These missions will have a three-tier ranking system rather than the two-tier (normal/bonus) system in the Prophecies Campaign.
 * New quests For a list of Factions quests see: Quests (Factions)
 * New tutorial area Shing Jea Monastery (similar to Pre-Searing for the Prophecies Campaign)
 * Two new Factions that play into both PvE and PvP elements of the game:
 * The Luxon
 * The Kurzick
 * 2 new professions (along with the original six core professions):
 * Assassin
 * Ritualist
 * New henchmen with the new professions
 * More character slots
 * Four slots total for a stand-alone Factions Campaign account.
 * Six slots total if a Factions account is combined with a Prophecies account
 * More purchasable character slots (to be rolled out soon after the Factions release)
 * 300 new Skills, incl. 90 new Elite Skills:
 * 75 skills for each new profession
 * 25 skills for each core profession
 * additionally 5 duplicate skills for each old profession
 * New equipment:
 * 6 new armor types for each of the new and the old professions - again featuring an Asian theme
 * New weapons and items
 * New Green Items
 * New creatures:
 * 100+ new monsters
 * New NPCs
 * New pets for Rangers
 * At least two different tigers (Bengal Tiger, White Tiger), two different crabs (blue, red), a crane, a black Moa Bird, and a Phoenix.
 * New PvP/GvG features:
 * 4 New Guild Halls
 * Guild Hall Services
 * Guild Alliances (max 10 guilds per alliance)
 * New rating system
 * New guild emblems