The Hall of Heroes

This is the crown of the Heroes' Ascent tournament in Guild Wars, where the best teams fight for the Favor of the Gods, representing their territory in the global contest (this has since changed due to the update on August 9th, 2007; Favor of the Gods will not be gained due to victory in the Hall of Heroes).

The Hall of Heroes is a king of the hill, Capture Points, or Murder Ball (randomly chosen) map for 2-3 teams that lasts 8 minutes. The defending team that last won the Hall of Heroes starts in the middle next to the altar. Up to 2 more attacking teams start in 2 separated halls.

If 4 or more attacking teams reach the Hall of Heroes at the same time they join a waiting room first called The Vault.

In the Hall of Heroes, each team has a Ghostly Hero and a Resurrection Shrine. Each team gets resurrected every minute and there is no death penalty. The team holding the Altar also gains a Morale Boost every 2 minutes.

Winners
Winners of the Hall of Heroes can gain or defend the Favor of the Gods for their territory (This was removed in the August 9th 2007 Update in favor of Player Title based Favor of the Gods). Additionally, for each victory they can get a drop of high quality loot or one of 2 Celestial Sigils from the Chest that spawns after the battle has finished. The Hall of Heroes is currently the only source of new Sigils in the game. The chest is also the exclusive source of some weapons and the miniature Ghostly Hero.

A Party winning the Hall of Heroes several times continues to gain more Fame. After a party has won the Hall of Heroes, the name of the party leader or the name of the Guild the majority of party members belongs to is displayed in green text to all players of Guild Wars announcing their victory.

''Note: It takes 5 consecutive wins by teams from one territory in The Hall of Heroes to gain the favor of the gods for that territory

Connections
The Hall of Heroes is most obviously connected with PvP gaming, however there are also direct links to the PvE portion of the game. The outposts Temple of the Ages (for Prophecies players), Zin Ku Corridor (for Factions players), or the Chantry of Secrets (for Nightfall players) reflects the Favor of Gods, since it is from here that players access The Underworld or The Fissure of Woe. When the player's territory does not "have favor", gaining access to these areas is impossible without the use of passage scrolls.

Lore
The Hall of Heroes is believed to be located deep within the Mists and to be the place where the universe of Guild Wars was first created. As Turai Ossa describes it: It is the center of all things. The Gods of Tyria themselves observe the duels that take place there and grant their favor to the territory whose champions impress them the most. There are only three known portals to the Hall Of Heroes, two of which are currently inaccessible.
 * Heroes' Ascent - currently the only accessible portal.
 * Tomb of the Primeval Kings - corrupted by the Darkness.
 * Tombs of Drascir - deep inside Charr territory.