Costume Brawl (2008)

Overview
The Costume Brawl is a part of the Halloween festivals. It allows players to join a PvP match looking like a notable person of the Guild Wars storyline of the same profession and gender of the character.

Obtained from
 * Bobby in Lion's Arch, Kamadan, Droknar's Forge or Great Temple of Balthazar

Quotes
 * "After you speak with Bobby, you will enter the outpost for the Costume Brawl already dressed in your costume, with your skills selected. If you forgot a weapon, one will be spawned at your feet. From there, you will join the combat in one of three brand new arenas or two favorites from the Hero Battle series. Each brawl is free of Death Penalty, and each round will last ten minutes. At the end of a match, every player on the winning team will receive a prize."

Prize

 * 5 Trick-or-Treat Bags
 * 9 Gamer Points + 1 point for each previous win in the streak (so the second consecutive win gives 11, the third 12, and so on, maximum of 41).
 * 40 Balthazar Faction for the first kill of each member of the opposing team, 20 Faction every time your team earns a point, and an additional 5 Faction per point for a victory.

Disguises
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Skills used

 * Each profession uses their corresponded skills listed below.
 * Gender of the character does not change these skills.

Warrior
Strength: 13, Axe Mastery: 14

Ranger
Marksmanship: 12, Wilderness Survival: 12, Expertise: 11

Monk
Smiting Prayers: 14, Healing Prayers: 11, Divine Favor: 9

Necromancer
Soul Reaping: 14, Curses: 13

Elementalist
Water Magic: 14, Energy Storage: 11, Fire Magic: 9

Mesmer
Fast Casting: 9, Domination Magic: 14, Inspiration Magic: 11

Ritualist
Spawning Power: 9, Channeling Magic: 13, Restoration Magic: 12

Assassin
Dagger Mastery: 14, Deadly Arts: 4, Shadow Arts: 11, Critical Strikes: 9

Paragon
Spear Mastery: 14, Leadership: 11, Command: 9

Dervish
Scythe Mastery: 14, Wind Prayers: 10, Mysticism: 9, Earth Prayers: 6

Warrior

 * Spiked Axe
 * Slashing Dmg: 6-28 (Requires 12 Axe Mastery)
 * Damage +15% (while Health is above 50%)
 * Damage +20%


 * Shield of the Lion
 * Armor: 16 (Requires 9 Strength)

Ranger

 * Sturdy Recurve Bow
 * Piercing Dmg: 15-28 (Requires 12 Marksmanship)
 * Damage +15% (while Health is above 50%)
 * Damage +20%

Monk

 * Smiting Staff
 * Holy Dmg: 11-22 (Requires 12 Smiting Prayers)
 * Halves skill recharges of spells (Chance: 20%)
 * Halves casting time of spells (Chance: 10%)
 * Damage +20%

Necromancer

 * Soul Spire
 * Dark Dmg: 11-22 (Requires 12 Soul Reaping)
 * Halves skill recharges of spells (Chance: 20%)
 * Halves casting time of spells (Chance: 10%)
 * Damage +20%

Mesmer

 * Ensorcelling Staff
 * Chaos Dmg: 11-22 (Requires 12 Domination)
 * Halves skill recharges of spells (Chance: 20%)
 * Halves casting time of spells (Chance: 10%)
 * Damage +20%

Elementalist

 * Water Staff
 * Cold Dmg: 11-22 (Requires 12 Water Magic)
 * Halves skill recharge of spells (Chance: 20%)
 * Halves casting time of spells (Chance: 10%)
 * Damage +20%

Ritualist

 * Channeling Staff
 * Lightning Dmg: 11-22 (Requires 12 Communing)
 * Halves skill recharges of spells (Chance: 20%)
 * Halves casting time of spells (Chance: 10%)
 * Damage +20%

Assassin

 * Bronze Daggers
 * Piercing Dmg: 7-17 (Requires 12 Dagger Mastery)
 * Damage +15% (while Health is above 50%)
 * Damage +20%

Paragon

 * Suntouched Spear
 * Piercing Dmg: 14-27 (Requires 12 Spear Mastery)
 * Damage +15% (while Health is above 50%)
 * Damage +20%


 * Heraldic Shield
 * Armor: 16 (Requires 9 Command)

Dervish

 * Suntouched Scythe
 * Slashing Dmg: 9-41 (Requires 12 Scythe Mastery)
 * Damage +15% (while health is above 50%)
 * Damage +20%

Maps and Strategies
There are three maps and each has capture points; the objective of both maps is to be the first team to score 20 points. Points are accumulated by killing opponents (1 point each kill) and capturing shrines, which fill up the team's "Morale" bar and consequently grants points each time it fills up completely. Holding more capture points increases the rate at which the Morale bar fills up.

Depending on the map, the following shrines may be encountered:


 * Battle Cry Shrine: Grants Battle Cry effect, increasing movement, attack and skill recharge speed by 15%
 * Health Shrine: Gives +120 maximum health
 * Energy Shrine: Reduces energy cost of skills by 20%
 * Morale Shrine: Increases morale speed by twice as much as other shrines and also gives all nearby creatures the "To the Pain!" buff. While under this effect, you deal 10% more damage but healing is reduced by 10%.

Unlike Alliance Battles, capturing shrines is not the key to victory, as shrines will only add to the morale speed rather than adding points directly. However, the teams that neglect shrines will be faced with both a tactical disadvantage and may not be able to kill faster than the opposing team is gaining points from shrines. Teams should therefore balance shrine-holding and killing while preventing deaths.

If you decide to break off from your team alone or with a partner, make sure you know the advantages and disadvantages of your own team's professions as well as you know the other team's. Safety in numbers can be beneficial, but knowing how classes match up can allow your team to take a more spread out approach, allowing you to cap more shrines with less wasted effort and sometimes allowing you to split up the enemy team as well to pick them off.

It is often smart to split up at the very beginning to cap more shrines, since 4 people cap at the same speed as 5, and you won't be running into any enemies in the first 15 seconds of the game anyways.

Keep in mind that every death from your team gives the opponent a point, so make sure you know when to retreat from battle and when to lay on pressure. In general, don't allow yourself to be outnumbered if you can help it. Additionally, if your opponent is able to outrun or snare you, it may be best to turn around and cause them as much trouble as possible.