GuildWiki:Style and formatting/Bestiary

This article provides information on starting, expanding on and completing articles about Creatures in Guild Wars.

Syntax and example
{| / /

Description
Orcs are green skinned and smell bad. The Brawlers are often seen wielding big clubs.

Location

 * Mines of Moria
 * Upper Levels (Level 1)
 * Mines of Moria (Mission) (Level 5)
 * Mordor (Level 1 and 5)

Items dropped

 * Orc Bracers

Categorization
Following Categories should be listed (in this order): Note that a creature should only be in the most specific species/faction category that is applicable. I.e. a White Mantle Knight should only be in Category:White Mantle and not also in Category:Humans. If the neither the race nor the faction is a proper subset of each other, both may be included, in which case the faction shall be listed before the species. if the race/faction is not possible to determine (and only in this case!), the creature should be placed directly in Category:Bestiary.
 * 1) The creature's species/faction or " bosses" for bosses.
 * 2) The creature's profession or " bosses" for bosses.
 * 3) The location(s) where it can be found.

BeastInfo template
Use the Template:BeastInfo to create the info box. Unknown information should be left blank. It is not necessary to specifically mark it as "Unknown" or with question marks. The template accepts 6 parameters: name, image, species, prof, icon, and level. Due to the way the template was created, none of them should be omitted, with the exception of name. Example usage:


 * name : The name of the creature in question. If omitted, it will automatically default to the name of the page. May be omitted.
 * image : The image of the creature in question. If omitted, it will default to a ".jpg" image file that bears the same name as the page. Remember that spaces and underscore characters are treated the same. It is not recommended to omit this value, since the image link will fail should the page in question get moved. The image used should preferably show the creature without any obstruction by player characters, henchmen, or skill effects. Read the helpful tips on screen capture.
 * species : This is compulsory. Please link to the appropriate base species of all creatures, like [Dwarf]] for all Dwarves (including those in the Stone Summit). If unknown, leave it empty but do not omit it. Example: "... | species = | ..."
 * prof : This is compulsory. Supply the name of the profession as a link. If unknown, leave it empty but do not omit it. Example: "... | prof = | ..."
 * icon : This is compulsory and tied to prof. If unknown, leave it empty but do not omit it. For each profession, there is an associated icon to use. In the example usage above, simply replace the "Monk" part of the icon file name with the profession required. Examples: "... | icon = | ..." or "... | icon = [[Image:Ranger-icon.png]] | ..."
 * level : This is compulsory. Use a single number, comma-separated numbers or a range of numbers as appropriate. If unknown, leave it empty but do not omit it. Examples: "... | level = | ..." or "... | level = 10, 20 | ..." or  "... | level = 5...20 | ...". Use parentheses to indicate levels when appearing in Hard Mode.
 * map1 : This is optional. Use this to include a map to where the creature in question can be found. It is recommended setting a thumbnail size of 160px (pixels) to achieve a consistent appearance.
 * map1-text : This is optional. This should be a short explanation of what the map is of, for example "Location in Mordor", these should not be wikified (as a link for locations will already appear in the main article).
 * map2...5 : (see map1 above)
 * map2...5-text : (see map1-text above)

Preferably, stick to the order shown above for consistency.

Description
Enter a short description of this creature. Include looks, patterns of movement, signs to spot them. Do not include notes and tips on fighting here (see Notes below).

It's important to always establish context and define what the creature is.

An example of a good definition is: ''Sand Wurms are giant wurms that emerge suddenly from the ground, knocking everyone down and targeting one target with a vicious melee attack. They are heavily armored and take a long time to take down. They also are very hard to shake-off.''

An example of a bad definition is: Unlike Siege Wurms, these guys follow you around. This definition defines Sand Wurms as not being Siege Wurms. They assume the reader knows Siege Wurms which may not be true.

It's also important to be mindful of the other sections. Rehashing something that will be stated in the other sections is not a good definition. Example: Siege wurms are found in Dunes of Despair and use Wurm Siege.

If you cannot find anything to say, simply leave this section blank.

Location
List all explorable areas and/or missions where this creature can be found. Group by geographical region where applicable. If the creature only appears as part of a quest (like Gulnar Irontoe only showing up with Kilroy Stonekin), make note of it.

Note: For creatures of high interest (like bosses who have an elite skill that can be captured or a unique item) a map should be added that shows in detail all possible locations where this creature can be found or a detailed text description of the location can be written. The image should be thumbnailed and aligned to the right so that it shows below the BeastInfo box (see Alana Pekpek for an example).

Skills used
List all skills the creature has in alphabetical order using the Skill icon template. Skills like Shouts use double quotes. As a general rule, punctuation marks are sorted before "A".

Bosses with elite skills should have those marked with (elite) after the elite skill. Bosses of the same creature type and profession often (but not always) have the same set of skills like the basic creatures, so you can use a Signet of Capture to get a reference point.

Creatures that use monster skills should use the Monster skill icon template instead.

Skill listings for bosses that are confirmed with a Signet of Capture should be marked in the talk page with the date of the check.

Items dropped
List items that are dropped by this creature in alphabetical order. The general rules for what is and isn't listed are:


 * Weapons - No, don't list (the exceptions are Unique items, and weapons only dropped by that species like the Magmas Shield for titans).
 * Crafting materials - Yes, list common and rare crafting material drops (but only list the ones that you yourself have actually seen, do not make assumptions and don't necessarily believe what the Prima Guide says). However, Rubies and Sapphires drop from all monsters in the game, so don't list those.
 * Collectable drops - Yes, list.
 * Gold - No, just about everything will drop that.
 * Dye - No, see Gold.
 * Scrolls - No, all bosses have a chance to drop these.
 * Salvage Items - Yes, see Crafting materials for rules.
 * Unique items - Yes, mark them with (Unique).
 * Quest items - Yes, note in parenthesis if the item only drops when the quest is active.
 * Keys - No, those have a small chance of being dropped by any creature in the area that the keys are used.
 * Lockpicks - No, all monsters in hard mode and Eye of the North have a chance to drop these.
 * Tomes and Elite Tomes - No, all monsters in hard mode have a chance of dropping a tome of their corresponding profession.