Game updates/20060119

Update - Thursday, January 19
Attention citizens.

The Tomb of the Primeval Kings has been overrun by the enemies of Balthazar. The Zaishen Order recognizes that many of you may wish to help conquer this foe. While this is admirable, only those truly devoted to the teachings of Balthazar should attempt to enter the Tombs.

Those wishing to become as great as we, the Zaishen, should take heart. Members of our order await your arrival at the Great Temple of Balthazar. We will train you in the ways of war, so you may continue the personal squabbles that seem to consume so much of your daily routine.

If you truly wish to better yourself, take the ship to the Great Temple, and hone your skills with the Zaishen.

May the blessings of Balthazar follow you on your journey.

-Commander Kuro of the Zaishen Order

Guild Wars: Factions Free-For-All PvP Weekend

With this update, we roll out the first parts of Guild Wars: Factions, including the new login and character selection/creation screens, boat travel between continents, and a weekend sneak preview of the two new professions. (The weekend event lasts from Friday January 20 8:00 am GMT to Monday January 23 7:59 am GMT.)

All high-level PvP has been moved to the Battle Isles, which can be reached using the ship off the coast of Lion's Arch. On the Battle Isles, you'll find a new explorable area with Training Arenas, NPCs who can help you test all aspects of your character's build, updates to existing PvP Arenas, and all-new Zaishen Challenges, where you and your friends can practice against teams of computer AI opponents. All of this content is now organized into a natural progression, so that players can experience the basics of PvP before moving on to advanced challenges.

New computer AI challenges:


 * Training Arenas: a series of four maps designed to teach the basics of PvP and Arena Combat. Beat all four maps to unlock the Zaishen Challenge on your account.
 * Zaishen Challenge: an Arena where you can play the computer AI team of your choice on the map of your choice. Beat five different computer AI teams to unlock the Zaishen Elite Challenge.
 * Zaishen Elite Challenge: the ultimate AI challenge. See how far you can get in a series of random Arena matches against increasingly difficult AI teams.

New unlocking of existing PvP types:


 * Win five-in-a-row in the Random Arenas to unlock the Team Arenas on your account. (Existing accounts have the Team Arenas unlocked already.)
 * Win five total games in the Team Arenas to unlock the Tournament (Heroes' Ascent) on your account. (Existing accounts have the Tournament unlocked already.)

Changes to Guild Combat mechanics:


 * Five minutes after Victory or Death starts, both teams' Guild Lords will now rush out of their base to engage in combat.
 * In the Burning Isle guild hall, NPCs now take the high path to avoid lava when Victory or Death occurs, and Flame Cursed Sentinals no longer drop loot.
 * The Guild Lord's Amulet of Protection now interacts correctly with Deep Wound. (See Fansite Friday #62 for more information about the Guild Lord's Amulet of Protection.)

Miscellaneous improvements:


 * When a party leader uses map travel in a town or outpost, his entire party travels with him to the new map.
 * During PvP matches, the Party window now displays your team color.
 * Skill icons for Enchantment and Hex spells are now displayed with a small marker in their upper-right corner.
 * Text descriptions and icons of various magic item upgrades have been improved.
 * The location and visibility of hint popup windows can now be modified using the Customize Layout interface.
 * Equiment labels have been improved. Effects that are stacking or non-stacking have been identified as well as exact values of rune effects.

Miscellaneous fixes:


 * Ghosts in The Underworld are no longer considered fleshy and will not leave exploitable corpses.

GuildWiki Notes
This update installed many changes in preparation for chapter two of the game "Guild Wars: Factions" and also provided some teasers as to what the new professions will look like.

Game Changes
PvP Changes:
 * All PvP areas have been moved off the traditional Tyria map and onto a separate Battle Isles map. This makes them equally accessible from either chapter, regardless of whether the other chapter is owned or not. To travel to the Battle Isles from the Tyria map, players click on the new ship icon that appears next to Lion's Arch. The Battle Isles now contain all arenas, the Guild Hall and a new town called the Great Temple of Balthazar.
 * Introduction of a new set of PvP quests and missions called the Zaishen Challenges in the Battle Isles. While these are PvE in nature (players fight computer controlled opponents), they are designed to train players in the various challenges and tactics of PvP. This also includes the introcution of a new explorable area called Isle of the Nameless where players can practice the different aspects of fighting in the game.
 * The various arenas have now been consolidated by type. Therefore, there are now only three types of Arenas: Random Arena, Team Arena and the tournament which is now called Hero's Ascent.
 * New Accounts will need to advance through the different arena types. No longer will players be able simply create a PvP account and go straight for the tournament. Now players will need to win 5 in a row in the lower arena type to advance to the higher type. This does not apply to new characters made on existing accounts, only new accounts.

PvE Changes:
 * Introduction of a set of four new explorable areas in place of what used to be the Tomb of the Primeval Kings mission. Now there is a dark portal at the tombs and upon entering, players are taken through the Underworld, Scarred Earth, Courtyard and Hall of Heroes maps of the old tournament, but they are now overtaken by creatures from the Underworld. Clearing the monsters in each level advances the party to the next level. In the final level, upon defeating the three new boss monsters (called The Darknesses), new unique items will drop for the party.

General Changes:
 * Now item descriptions are a lot more specific as to what a weapon upgrade or rune will actually do. So, instead of an item description saying it improves casting speed (which was calculated by players to mean that it halves the casting speed), the game now specifies that the item halves the casting speed.