Hero

''This article is about a Guild Wars Nightfall NPC type named Hero. However, the game often also refers to the player's character as a hero. For information on the game interface panel named Hero, see Hero Panel.''

A hero is a new kind of computer-controlled party NPC introduced in the Guild Wars Nightfall campaign. Unlike the henchmen of Prophecies or Factions, a hero is customizable by the player, including the hero's weapons and armor1, and most importantly the hero's skills.

A player can have at most three heroes under his control. It is not known at this time if the three hero limit is per instance, per character or per account.

In addition to the customizability, players will be able to command their heroes to "attack", "defend", "stay back", and so forth. A player may even take his heroes with him to PvP in a new form of competitive mission called Hero versus Hero.

List of heroes
These are some of the 12+ heroes that are available:


 * Koss, member of the Order of the Sunspears
 * Acolyte Jin, member of the Zaishen Order
 * Dunkoro, advisor of the Order of the Sunspears
 * Master of Whispers
 * Acolyte Sousuke, member of the Zaishen Order
 * Zhed Shadowhoof, a centaur
 * Zenmai
 * Morgahn, former general of the Kourna army
 * Goren
 * Margrid, a corsair mercenary
 * Melonni
 * Norgu
 * Tahlkora, a young runaway

Recruiting a hero
From the official heroes guide:


 * "The story also includes opportunities to recruit long-term allies: heroic non-player characters who play an ongoing role in the story. Completing specific quests allows you to recruit these unique heroic NPCs, commonly known as Heroes.
 * Heroes typically join your party as part of a quest. Sometimes the rewards for a quest include a chance to ally with that Hero: the NPC is recruited for your current character. (Some Heroes are exclusive; completing the quest to gain one makes you ineligible for the quest required to gain another.)"

Forming a party with a hero
From the official heroes guide:


 * "After you've recruited a Hero for your storyline (usually as a reward for a quest), you have the option of adding that Hero to your party whenever you're in a town or outpost. If you have room in your party, you can add up to three Heroes you've recruited. (Your Party panel shows the current list of characters, Heroes, and henchmen in your party; open or close that panel by pressing "P.") Look for the words "Add a Hero" on a drop-down menu in the Party panel, and then scroll down to the name of the Hero you want to add. You can use the same panel to kick one of your Heroes from your party."

Developing a hero
From the official heroes guide:


 * "A Hero in your party gains experience and levels, just as a character does. A Hero can never have a higher level than the character working with that Hero. If a Hero is lower level than the player who controls it, the Hero gains XP from kills at a vastly accelerated rate. Heroes in your party receive XP for quests and missions when you complete them."


 * "Heroes gain experience points for finishing quests, completing missions, and defeating enemies. Like henchmen, they take their share of gold and loot when defeating enemies. Players can improve a Heroes' weapon, shield, and focus item as that NPC gains levels; the Hero's armor improves automatically each time that Hero levels up."

Skills, attributes and secondary profession
From the official heroes guide:


 * "Press "K" to open (or close) your Skills and Attributes panel. You can use this panel to adjust the skills and attributes of your character or any of your Heroes. Before making these adjustments, you can select the character or Hero you want to adjust on the top of the panel.


 * Attributes are listed on the top half of the panel, along with a display of unspent attribute points. (When you add a Hero to your party for the first time, you may want to check to see how that Hero's attribute points have been spent.) Next to each attribute, there are arrows for increasing and decreasing the number of points spent on that attribute. While you're in a town or outpost, you can increase or decrease the number of attribute points spent one each one. Outside a town or outpost, you can increase attributes by allocating unspent attribute points, but you cannot decrease them.


 * The bottom half of the panel shows a skill list. In previous campaigns, you chose skills for your character by dragging them from a Skill List panel to the Skill Bar at the bottom of your screen. In Nightfall, you choose skills by dragging them from the skill list to a small skill bar at the bottom of the Skills and Attributes panel. As in previous games, you can only alter your build of skills while in a town or outpost. Each Hero begins play with a build of skills. By using the Skills and Attribute panel, you can alter that build whenever you're in a town or outpost.


 * A drop-down menu near the top of the panel also allows you to change the secondary profession of that Hero. When you do, that Hero's attributes change, and you can adjust attribute points as described above. When you choose a secondary profession for a Hero, you may want to change that Hero's build to include skills from the profession you've chosen. In the retail version of the game, you can save that additional build of skills by creating a template."

Armor and weapons
From the official heroes guide:


 * to be added shortly

Controlling a hero in battle
From the official heroes guide:


 * to be added shortly