Heroes' Ascent (mission)

The tournament (former location being Tomb of the Primeval Kings) is a continuous knockout tournament consisting of battles of teams from all territories which starts in the Heroes' Ascent. Winning matches in the tournament is the only source of fame, which in turn determines a player's rank. The tournament is also the only source of Celestial Sigil drops in the game. As with other PvP areas, defeating opponents and winning maps awards you Balthazar faction.

Getting there

 * 1) Map travel to the Battle Isles (Great Temple of Balthazar) from Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, or Kamadan.
 * 2) Enter the Random Arenas by talking to the Canthan Ferry Captain on the Isle of the Nameless
 * 3) Fight in the Random Arenas and win 5 consecutive matches. This will "unlock" the Team Arenas for all characters of the same account.
 * 4) Fight in the Team Arenas and win 5 matches (not necessarily consecutive). This will "unlock" Heroes' Ascent for all characters of the same account.
 * 5) Once unlocked this way, you can map travel to Heroes' Ascent any time.

The tournament
The party size in the Ascent is 8. There are 4 henchmen to recruit; however, since the August 3rd, 2007 update, parties must have a minimum of six human players. The introduction of Nightfall allows players to form a team consisting partly of Heroes. If a player drops out at any time during play, from the next map on they will be replaced with a henchman (unless they drop during the countdown before loading the next map, in which case the team must play short a player on that map and will receive a henchman afterwards).

There are several different game types with their own objectives:


 * Annihilation or Priest Annihilation
 * Capture the Relic
 * King of the Hill
 * Capture Points
 * Relic Offerings

Upon entering the mission, a team is always placed in the first map, an annihilation match against NPC Zaishen. Depending on how fast a team beats the Zaishen, they will receive a certain percentage morale boost. See Heroes' Ascent (Tournament Map) for details.

After this, teams progress forward through the maps as they win. Depending on how many other teams are playing in the tournament and their positions in the map list, a team may skip forward over any number of maps. It's common that a team won't traverse through the full list of maps, even if they reach the Hall of Heroes. In the most extreme case, a team may go straight to the Hall after defeating the Zaishen. If you win a match in the Hall of Heroes, your team will play again in the Hall as the blue team.

When a team loses, they are returned to the Heroes' Ascent staging area and may immediately re-enter if they desire.

Heroes' Ascent maps

 * 1) Heroes' Ascent (PvE - 1 team)
 * 2) The Underworld (annihilation - 2 teams)
 * 3) Fetid River (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
 * 4) Unholy Temples (capture the relic - 2 teams)
 * 5) Forgotten Shrines (control point - 2 teams)
 * 6) Golden Gates (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
 * 7) Courtyard (king of the hill - 2-3 teams)
 * 8) Antechamber (control point - 2 teams)
 * 9) The Vault (waiting area for the Hall of Heroes - 1 team)
 * 10) The Hall of Heroes (king of the hill, capture points, or relic run - 2-3 teams)

Out of rotation maps
The following maps are currently out of rotation, but may be re-added in the future:
 * Scarred Earth (annihilation - designed for 6 teams)
 * Burial Mounds (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
 * Broken Tower (kill count - 2-3 teams)
 * Sacred Temples (relic run)

Winning
For winning any battle in the Heroes Ascent you gain faction and fame points. Later maps in the tournament provide more faction for wins than earlier ones and bonus faction is awarded for a flawless victory. The amount of fame is based on the number of consecutive wins achieved and the amount of faction on the map and whether your win was flawless or not.

You can also earn the hero title by earning rank through fame.

Winning in the final round of the tournament, the Hall of Heroes, used to affect the PvE world by determining which territory had the Favor of the Gods. When teams of a single territory managed to win five consecutive games in the Hall, their territory would be granted the Favor. This is now untrue as of the August 9th Update. A team that wins in the Hall also gets a random drop of high class loot consisting of Celestial Sigils and gold items