Blog Title

Happy 10 Years Marked Souls!

2017-11-30T00:00:00Z

Time to celebrate! Marked Souls is 10 years old! Have fun celebrating and congratulations to everyone that's helped get us here!

Raid Encounter: Xera

2017-10-26T00:00:00Z

Xera is the third encounter of Raid 1 Wing 3 (also known as Forsaken Thicket's Stronghold of the Faithful). Below is a curated list of resources that our guild thinks are the most useful for Xera.

Recommended Video Guide

Xera Tanking

Xera Kiting Guide by DEKeyz: https://imgur.com/a/blPPc

Xera Tanking Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4p4fkt/a_little_guide_how_to_tank_xera_stronghold_of_the/

For more information, please see Dulfy's text guide: http://dulfy.net/2016/06/15/gw2-xera-raid-boss-guide/

Twisted Castle

Twisted Castle is the lead up to Xera and the following image is a pretty good guide on how to get thru it.

Discord Server

2015-10-23T00:00:00Z

Marked Souls has decided to move to Discord for our voice communication platform. It also allows us a way to communicate out of game so there's no need for an additional forum.

Invites to our Discord server are open, so just ask any member!

Global Guilds

2014-09-02T00:00:00Z

Marked Souls has a fully upgraded guild on SBI and Kaineng. We're getting all kinds of influence back!!!

More information: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/continued-improvements-to-the-megaserver-system/

Nekkid Run

2013-03-01T00:00:00Z

The rules are simple. You have to take off at least one item of armor and the first piece has to be your chest piece. As you can see, some members took off a lot more.

Wintersday 2012

2012-12-28T00:00:00Z

Wintersday Kick-Off Guild Banquet

Taking Wintersday Guild Screenshots

Guide to Class Selection

2012-10-12T00:00:00Z

We have had a lot of players struggle with choosing a main profession. This guide will hopefully help you have a much easier time that some of our players.

Forget everything you’ve ever known about professions and classes in other games.

Everyone’s become so familiar with the typical profession archetypes in MMOs. Forget all of that for Guild Wars 2. The classes are built around play styles. The old archetypes have been dismantled and the old parts were used to create all of the classes. You’ll find bits and pieces of them across all of the classes.

Forget everything you’ve ever known about DPS meters and skill rotations.

Guild Wars 2 is a dynamic game with fluid combat and all of the classes embrace this. Skills aren’t meant to be spammed (outside of the #1 skills of course). ANET wants you to think about using your skills. This can be seen even in the Warrior’s skill sets. Let’s use the Warrior’s greatsword as our example. Hundred Blades does a lot of damage on a sort recharge but if you don’t set it up correctly you’ll do no damage since you can’t move while using it. Bladetrail is another situational skill due to the cripple. It’s something you’ll want to use to help control or gap close. Rush and Whirlwind Attack are both gap closers. The entire bar is filled with very useful skills that become near useless if spammed. But the warrior is supposed to be the easiest class to play? Play, yes. Play well, no. No class in Guild Wars 2 is easy to play well because there are no set skill rotations in Guild Wars 2.

Forget everything you’ve ever known about armor classes.

Guild Wars 2 has 3 armor classes: light, medium, and heavy. They mean next to nothing in this game. Take the thief class for example. They are a medium armor class but they come with some amazing evasion and escape abilities allowing them to take less damage than heavy armor melee classes in some cases. The thief can also run double pistol or short bow and kite enemies to death to avoid damage. In Guild Wars 2, how you build and play your class is the most important aspect.

Pick a class in which the entire play style of the class appeals to you.

Pick a class in which you like the overall game play of the class. That means finding a class that you’ll like playing with almost all of the weapons the class has available to it. Guild Wars 2 forces you to choose the best weapon for the situation. You'll be hindering yourself and your teammates if you try and play the weapon set that you want to of the time instead of what works best in the situation. If you pick a class that you like playing across multiple weapon sets, you’ll ensure yourself a good time no matter what situation you or your party find yourselves in.

Research, research, and more research.

Here’s where we start talking about how you do all of the above. The best place to start is the official Guild Wars 2 Wiki. I know the site’s really lacking in some places but it really shines for skills and traits. You should be able to get a pretty good understanding of how the different classes are going to play and what their capabilities are by reading through the skills and traits on the wiki. You can also start imagining some viable builds for your potential class or classes.

Play through the classes that appeal to you the most.

Finally, once you’ve done your research and you have your list narrowed down, it’s time to put those classes to the test. Play each class that you’ve selected to at least level 15 but my suggestion would be to go as high as 30. Level 30 will give you access to your first elite but more importantly it will give you access to your first dungeon. Playing through the first dungeon will give you a really good idea on how the class will play in dungeons throughout the game. You may also not want to delete any of the characters that you’ve played to level 30 so that you can easily come back to them.

Nekkid Run

2012-09-26T00:00:00Z

The rules are simple. You have to take off at least one item of armor and the first piece has to be your chest piece. As you can see, some members took off a lot more.

Nekkid Run

2012-09-14T00:00:00Z

The rules are simple. You have to take off at least one item of armor and the first piece has to be your chest piece. As you can see, some members took off a lot more.

Dancing in Lion's Arch

2012-09-14T00:00:00Z

So the guild decided to create a dance video. Enjoy!

Release Server and Information

2012-08-19T00:00:00Z

Head start and launch are this weekend! It's finally here and below is all the information you'll need to hit the ground running.

1) Server

Marked Souls will be rolling on: Stormbluff Isle!

We've talked to other guilds on Stormbluff Isle for WvW planning and we want the server to have a real feel of community. If you would like to start socializing with the Stormbluff Isle community, please visit and join http://www.stormbluffisle.com/.

Stormbluff Isle links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StormbluffIsle
Twitter: http://twitter.com/StormbluffIsle
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/stormbluffisle

2) Get into the Guild

To get into the guild on release, contact an officer through in game mail or whisper. We'll also have a presence on TeamSpeak so you can request access on TS as well. Officers will also be checking their friends list for players that played the beta.

3) Represent

Once you're in the guild, you'll have to ensure that your are representing Marked Souls. By representing Marked Souls, you'll gain access to guild chat and storage as well as contribute influence points to the guild by playing the game. These influence points will let us upgrade the guild and gain bonuses like extra experience, karma, influence, and magic find.

Every new character you create will be created without any representation. If you choose to put your alt characters in Marked Souls, you'll have to ensure you click represent each time you create a new character.

4) Use Your Tome

If you ordered either the digital deluxe or collector's edition, you will get a Tome of Influence. This one time use item allows you to boost your guild's influence once. If you'd like to use your Tome to boost the influence of Marked Souls, we'd like to thank you in advanced and remind you to ensure you're representing when you use it.

Separate Game and Voice Communication Sounds

2012-07-19T00:00:00Z

I play with my game sounds through my speakers and all voice communication sounds through my headset. I've had a few guild members ask how this is done so I decided to just do a video tutorial.

GW2 Launch Date

2012-06-28T00:00:00Z

Earlier this year I told you that 2012 would be the Year of the Dragon, and that the next few betas would help us nail down our actual launch date. Well, after the results of our latest stress test, I’m happy to announce that we’re ready to nail down that date. Guild Wars 2 will officially launch on Tuesday, August 28th.

Well it's finally here. We have an official release date from ANET! Read more about the release date and final beta: http://www.arena.net/blog/announcing-the-guild-wars-2-launch-date

Announcing GW2 BWE2

2012-05-29T00:00:00Z

The next Beta Weekend Event for Guild Wars 2 has been announced!

Beta Weekend Event 2 will begin on Friday, June 8th, at noon PDT (GMT-7) and will run until Sunday, June 10th, at 11:59 p.m. PDT (GMT-7).

Hope to see everyone there!

More information: http://www.arena.net/blog/announcing-the-next-guild-wars-2-beta-weekend

New Marked Souls Logo

2012-05-08T00:00:00Z

We have a new logo! Thanks to Ren for the work he put into creating it. I'm sure you've seen the logo since it's been placed into our website themes but here is a high resolution shot of the logo so that everyone can get a good look.

7th Year Anniversary Celebration

2012-04-25T00:00:00Z

The Year of the Dragon marks seven sensational years of Guild Wars, and we want you to join us for our biggest anniversary party ever.

It’s time once again to throw open the Shing Jea Boardwalk, rev up the Rollerbeetles, and don our party hats for two weeks of festive fun from April 24th to May 8th. In addition to the usual games and gifts, we’re packing this party with drops and activities never before seen in an anniversary celebration!

Besides the normal festival drops, this year the prize is a new charmable pet, the Hound of Balthazar.

For more information, read the following links:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Seventh_Year_Anniversary_Celebration

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Hound_of_Balthazar

Beta Weekend Events Starting!

2012-04-19T00:00:00Z

Pre-purchase players get ready. The semi-public BWE's will be starting on April 27, 2012. These will be the first events that are not under NDA so expect to see a lot more content than the previous closed betas.

We’re counting the days until the first public Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event, which begins on Friday, April 27, at noon PDT (GMT-8) and ends on Sunday, April 29, at 11:59 p.m. PDT (GMT-8). Hundreds of thousands of players from around the world will get their first taste of Guild Wars 2—and rest assured, we’ll be playing alongside them!

For more information, you can read the official blog post at: http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-weekend-event-is-coming

GW2 Pre-Purchases Announced

2012-03-13T00:00:00Z

ArenaNet has announced a pre-purchase date of April 10th. They've also announced all of the editions and their contents. More information can be found at the official Link: https://buy.guildwars2.com/

Looks like all pre-purchases will get you 3 things: 1) access to all GW2 Beta Weekend Events, 2) three days of headstart access at release, and 3) a Hero's Band in game item.

I had to find pricing for the Standard and Digital Deluxe editions at another site. The Guild Wars 2 Collector’s Edition retails at $150 /€149.99/£129.99, the Digital Deluxe at $69.99/€74.99/£64.99 and the Standard Edition at $49.99/€54.99/£49.99. Source: http://www.gamezone.com/products/guild-wars-2/news/pre-order-guild-wars-2-and-get-access-to-all-beta-events

GW2 Multi-Guild Policy

2012-02-24T00:00:00Z

For those that haven't heard about it, players in Guild Wars 2 will be able to associate their accounts to multiple guilds. You can choose to represent any guild you belong to at any time. They haven't released much more information than that about guilds. Anything else can be found at: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild

There seems to be a lot of very heated conversation going on GW2 fan sites and I'd like to make it well known where the Marked Souls leadership stands on this subject.

I love what ArenaNet is doing with the guilds in GW2. If you've been around for a while, you may have heard a few conversations we've had about this topic on TeamSpeak because we knew it would be a hot topic from the moment they announced it.

I think that the perception of more member turnover is just that: a perception. In reality, I believe that the ability to be in multiple guilds will be a boon for established communities such as ourselves.

We all know that cliques form within all guilds both large and small. We saw it in Aion. We had close to max guild size but the player base, outside of our core group, was constantly changing. Cliques would leave to start their own guild, players would leave for a legion that focused on more of what they wanted to do, etc. I believe that in the Guild Wars 2 system, there is no reason to ever leave a guild where there are players you like playing with. You just represent the guild you're playing with at the time.

That's all we will ask of our guild members. Represent Marked Souls when you're playing with Marked Souls.

Players will be rewarded based on representation and participation. If Guild Wars 2 offers an influence and guild storage audit system, we can easily base promotions, awards, etc on what each player gives to the guild. You also must be representing the guild to access influence purchased items and rewards.

A Guide to Tactical Decision Making

2011-11-29T00:00:00Z

Every moment you're engaged in combat you're making decisions. You're deciding what weapon or skill to use, where to move to, whether or not to dodge, etc. Through practice, you'll come to make these decisions without thinking. But what about making decisions for a team?

Team based decision making is quite different. There are many aspects of gameplay that leaders must examine to make decisions for the team. The decisions a leader makes during battle such as changing targets, pushing forward, pulling back, retreating, etc. can significantly impact the outcome of a battle.

Influencing Factors

There are many different factors that leaders consider when making decisions. Team leaders should consider: the hostiles, their team, their environment, and the flow of the battle.

Factor 1: Hostiles

This factor includes what or who you are fighting. For example, the decisions made against a group of long ranged enemies will be completely different from the decisions made in a battle with melee enemies.

Factor 2: Team

This includes 2 sections: 1) class makeup of team and 2) people on the team.

First, let's look at the class makeup of your team. Each class has certain strengths and weaknesses that must be incorporated into your decision process. Your next thought is "Wait does that mean I need to learn about all of the classes?" Yes. If you're determined to lead a team, you must know the capabilities of each member. This could mean creating one of every class to learn but that can take a lot of time. Your primary source of information on classes you don’t play should come from friends, guild members, etc. They’ll have insights that reading articles, wiki pages, etc. will not give you.

Secondly, you need to know the people on your team. Each person on your team has certain preferences, strengths and weaknesses, etc. Unfortunately, these factors can only be learned by playing with and getting to know your teammates. Once you do learn these, you can then apply the right people to each task. I’ll use a Guild Wars PvP example. You don’t want your best relic runner to be playing a healer.

Factor 3: Environment

As Herni Ducard (Ra's al Ghul) said in Batman Begins, "Always mind your surroundings." Always know where you are on the battlefield and the areas the where the battle could potentially move. Where are all of your players? Where are all of the hostiles? Can you move the enemy team into a small area to make your team’s AoE more effective? Can you move your team into a larger area and spread out to make enemy AoE less effective? The list of potential environmental questions is far too immense for this guide but these examples illustrate the types of questions leaders should consider when making decisions related to their environment.

Factor 4: Ebb and Flow

Battles have a rhythm to them. They ebb and flow. Knowing where you are in the cycle at all times is paramount. Battlefield awareness and communication help you answer questions such as: What are the hostiles doing? When should I push in or pull back? When should I use skill XYZ versus skill ABC? Recognizing the stages of a battle comes only with experience and practice.

Tips

The following is a list of tips that will hopefully give you some advantages when making tactical decisions.

Tip 1: Knowledge is Power

Decision making is situational. Unfortunately, that means there is no one right answer. Practice both leading and following. This will allow you to learn from both your mistakes as well as fellow leaders. When a fellow leader decides something that you do not understand, ask why. The more you learn about the game, your fellow players, and the hostiles you're playing against the better prepared you will be to make the right decision for your situation.

Tip 2: Communication

Communication is absolutely essential. There is a lot going on in any battle and its hard for one person to see it all. The team needs to feel comfortable communicating changes to the leader. Make sure your team knows to keep the line free from chatter but that they are free to communicate battle related information.

Tip 3: Advantages

Always look for the decision that will give you the largest advantage. If you've ever prioritized the enemy healer, you have already done this. Without a healer, an enemy can be killed much more easily. This gives your party an advantage whenever the enemy healer is out of battle.

Tip 4: Adaptation

Battle tactics must be fluid. A leader must always be re-evaluating the influencing factors and adjusting their tactics accordingly. If something isn't working for you, do not wait to change it. If the enemy changes their tactics to combat your tactics, don't be afraid to change yours again. Remember that some tactics produce slower results than others. Leaders must learn to recognize this as well. Unfortunately, this is another skill that can only be learned through practice.

Tip 5: Think Ahead

Once you have tips one through four down, you can start working on planning ahead and out thinking your opponents. In most PvE, this becomes quite easy after extensive play. Players can learn the patterns of the AI and begin making decisions based on what they know the AI will do next. In PvP and in newer games where computer AI is more dynamic, this may not be the case but the basic premise is the same.

Instead of figuring out opponent patterns over time, you have to learn to recognize patterns during each individual battle. Recognizing even the smallest pattern can give your team information to use again the opponent. For example, a teammate realizes that an opponent always seems to use his strongest attack after skill ABC. You can then have someone with the ability to interrupt ready the next time his pattern emerges.

Embark Beach and Heroes Update

2011-03-04T00:00:00Z

Embark Beach

Added the Embark Beach location to the Battle Isles.

Added new Zaishen Vanquish quests to Embark Beach.

Heroes

Mercenary Hero Slots are available for purchase from the In-Game Store and the NCsoft Store.

Added Mercenary Registrars to the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion’s Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan, Jewel of Istan.

Raised the party maximum on Heroes from three to seven.

Title Updates

The Drunkard title now awards points based upon the number and strength of drinks consumed.

The Survivor title now awards rank based upon the most experience gained between deaths.

UI Updates

Added an online status drop-down box to the character select screen.

Added a "Ready" status drop-down box to the party window.

Guild Wars Wiki notes

This build also introduced the minion UI. Which can be seen by pressing the "Y" key

Heroes are now sorted by profession in selection dropdown menu and party search window.

For more information: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Feedback:Game_updates/20110303

Canthan New Year 2011

2011-02-04T00:00:00Z

The Year of the Rabbit is upon us—it's time for the annual Canthan New Year's Festival! Help honor the Celestial Rabbit, a heavenly hare that will descend from the sky to bestow good luck upon the populace for all of 2011—but only if the traditional New Year's feast meets the tiny beast's high standards! — Official website

The 2011 Canthan New Year is an event which will run from noon Pacific (-8 GMT) on Thursday, 3 February 2011 and will end at noon Pacific (-8 GMT) on Monday, 7 February 2011. On Sunday, February 6th, the Celestial Rabbit will arrive every three hours to sample Canthan cuisine in Shing Jea Monastery.

Wintersday 2010

2010-12-17T00:00:00Z

For centuries, the goddess of life, Dwayna, who welcomes the coming of spring, has struggled with the god of death, Grenth, for control of Wintersday. This year, the god of war, Balthazar, has thrown his support behind Grenth, who vehemently believes that Wintersday should be a somber time of reflection on the inevitability of death. The Priests of Balthazar feel that the merriment of Wintersday is a glaring example of the weakness of humanity, and have vowed to aid Grenth with his seasonal shenanigans. In response, the goddess of nature, Melandru, has come to Dwayna’s assistance for fear of an endless winter destroying the delicate balance of nature!

Join the heated battle for the fate of this chilly holiday with our striking new Melandru and Balthazar costumes and our brand-new Wintersday challenge. As always, the towns of Lion's Arch, Droknar's Forge, Ascalon City, Kamadan, and the Eye of the North will be decked out in Wintersday decorations. Visitors to Lion's Arch, Kamadan, and the Eye of the North will be invited to participate in holiday quests, missions, and games, all with their own rewards.

It's that time of year again. Wintersday is coming to Guild Wars. It will run between December 16th 2010 until January 4th, 2011. The Wintersday grand finale runs every 3 hours starting at 12:01 am PST on Saturday, January 1st, 2011, and ending 12:01 am PST on Sunday, January 2nd, 2011,

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Wintersday\_2010

Fortresses and Artifacts Guide

2009-12-31T00:00:00Z

Lets start with the artifacts, the tide turners of a battle, and this is true without a doubt that having these make numbers meaningless, make the powerful powerless, and have the capability to turn the weak into the strong.

A list of what artifacts do what can be found in the link below. http://www.aiondatabase.com/artifactcastle/list

In the above link, names of artifacts, the area of effect that artifact affects, the effect itself, and the cooldown time. Along with that, the abilities that are bestowed upon a faction after a fortress has been taken over are listed as well. Note the table doesn't include the cooldown time of the artifact after it is taken, which from what I've seen on most artifacts are 5-10 minutes.

There are 9 fortresses in total, three on the bottom layer of Reshanta (The abyss), five on the top layer, and one in the core.

Names and Descriptions:

Siel's Eastern Fortress

The Siel's fortresses are on a set of islands adjacent to each other known as Siel's Wings, often making for a very intense battle if both factions control one each. Siel's Eastern Fortress is the more difficult fortress to take of the two, as the boss is deep in the bottom of the fortress as opposed to it's sibling fortress. The front door of Siel's Eastern is a "T" like structure with a corridor that has pros and cons to attacking through it. The con is how restrictive the corridor is, if there are ranged attackers attacking a force moving through the corridor, they can have a field day with AoEs. The pro here is that there is a form of a hood over the actual door, so melee attackers beating on the door are protected by obstructed line of sight from enemy ranged attackers. There is also an alternate door on the north side with no corridor, but also no hood to cover melee attackers, attacking from this door means you have the choice of flight. There is yet a third door, known as the backdoor, or bottom, or asscrack of the fortress, this door has no actual fortress gate that needs to be broken down, but there are Hero rank mobs, roughly 6-8 between the entrence to the backdoor and the ramp leading to the bottom. The backdoor itself is located along the side of the continent itself, and can be found by flying between the two fortresses, landing on the small floating rock, and looking directly towards the fortress, and you will see it. The boss is located in the bottom room, the only way to reach him is by going down the ramp, which can be reached from any of the three doors.

Siel's Western Fortress

This is the little brother to Siel's Eastern, an easier fortress to take, but is more open to be attacked by the enemy faction. If you go through either the south or north door, which are similar in design, no obstruction or corridor, you will walk right through the doorway and run right into the boss, as he spawns on the top floor of this fortress, as opposed to the lower room. There is also a backdoor/bottom/asscrack to this fortress, and can be found the same way as shown above, but from my experience, the easiest way to get in is from one of the doors, because going through the backdoor in this forterss puts you at the bottom floor and you have to fight your entire way up to the top floor. Siel's Western has a special vantage point located along the wall in a corner.

Sulfer Fortress

Sulfer is a pretty beastly fortress to take in comparison to either of the Siel's, as this fortress is guarded with at least twice the amount of NPC power, as well as five artifacts that include it in their area of effect. On the top level of Sulfer there are regular guard mobs and guard towers all around the outside of the fortress wall. The front door, identifiable with the two trees that sit ontop of it, has a Hero rank golem-like beast as well as two level 40 guard towers guarding it. The alternate door is much easier to get through as it has less NPC power guarding it. There is a backdoor/bottom/asscrack that is similar to Siel's, it is located underneath Sulfer on its directly north side, you will have to find the small hole that you have to fly up into. I discourage entering through the backdoor because of two floating platforms that have a number of snipers on it, next to the hole are sentry eyes, air mines, and inside the backdoor are Hero ranked mobs. On the top floor, after you pass through the gate, there is what looks to be a massive hole in the floor that leads straight to the boss room which allows you to skip the ramp completely. As an extra little note, you can cut off enemy reenforcements by killing the teleporter located on the top floor before moving into the boss room.

More to come...

Templar Cooking Items

2009-12-01T00:00:00Z

The following are recommended Food and Drink items for Templars with cooking level and description next to each. I have placed a star (*) next to my personal favorite within each category.

Foods

Starturtle Aether Steak (420) - Physical Attack increases by 10 and Maximum HP increase by 200 points, and Flight Time also increases by 10 seconds for 30 min.
Starturtle Steak (395) - Physical Attack increases by 10 and Maximum HP increase by 200 points for 30 min.
Calydon Meat Dumpling * (385) - Physical Crit increases by 50 and Accuracy increase by 50 points for 30 min.

Drinks

Lunime Cocktail (385) - Natural Healing increases by 10 and Natural Mana Treatment increase by 15 points for 30 min.
Cellatu Porridge * (365) - Natural Healing and Natural Mana Treatment increase by 12 and 18 points respectively for 30 min. There is a low chance of getting a stomach ache due to the poison of Cellatu. (If you're going to run this be sure to have healing potions to remove the possible debuff.)

The benefits of cooking may not be well known to you now but these foods can give buffs valuable in both PvE and PvP scenarios.

Templar: Severe Blow Skills

2009-11-10T00:00:00Z

There has been a lot of discussion about which one of the Severe Blow skills is "the best" for Templars to be using. I'm kind of disappointed in our Templar community with their responses so I decided to write this post. What was their response you ask? Blunting Severe Blow is the default response of the community. The problem I have with this is that they simply leave it at that. Blunting is a good skill but the other two are much better in certain situations. To get the most out of your Templar, you have to choose 1 of the 3 skills based on the current situation your Templar is facing.

The Three Skills

Let's start by taking a look at each skill individually.

Blunting Severe Blow is an an Accuracy and Evasion debuff which can only be done by Templars. The skill reads "Deals 73~77 physical damage to the target and decreases its Accuracy by 200 and Evasion by 200 for 12 sec".

Weakening Severe Blow is a Physical Defense debuff which doesn't stack with Chanter debuff and can also be used by Gladiators. The skill reads "Inflicts 71~75 physical damage on the target, and decreases its Physical Def by 500 for 6 sec".

Dazing Severe Blow is an Attack Speed debuff which doesn't stack with Spirit Master or Chanter debuff. It has two versions and the speed debuff is said to be 20% for version I and 40% for version II. The skill reads "Deals 62~66 physical damage to the target. The target's attack speed decreases for 12 sec.". This skill also has the fastest animation of the three.

Situational Use

Without knowing what you're fighting, you can see just from the above information that there are things to be taken into account before you choose which one of these skills to use. Do I have a Chanter, Spiritmaster, or Gladiator in party? If I have a Gladiator in party, does he/she actually use Weakening?

PvE Tanking

While tanking, I tend to lean towards Dazing to slow down the damage coming in which in turn gives my healer a break. Blunting can also mitigate some damage but there is a huge BUT that goes along with Blunting while tanking. Blunting increases your chances of Dodge or Parry. People quickly jump in here and say this is great! Not completely. Dodge and Parry come in play Block in terms of game mechanics. That means the more you Dodge or Parry the less you Block and the less your shield skills can be used. This includes Provoking Shield Counter which is one of the best Templar enmity building skills. After getting Dazing II, the competition between the two lessens even more in favor of Dazing.

Also, I tend to use Weakening once a mob is down to about 1/8-1/4 of their health if we only have 1 or 2 mobs aggro'd and the party has at least 2 other physical damagers (glad, sorc, sin).

PvE Greatsword

When using a greatsword, I lean towards Blunting. All the negatives of Blunting as a damage mitigation tool go away the second you swap to greatsword. Unless a mob is 2-3+ levels higher, I usually stick with Blunting. On higher mobs, I tend to use Dazing since Blunting is harder to get applied and there the chance Evade/Parry diminishes on higher mobs.

PvP

Here I tend to lean towards Blunting on melee and Weakening on casters. Every now and then I'll throw Dazing on a melee class picking on our healers to lower the pressure.

Conclusion

I'm sure I could write for hours about all the different situations I would pull each one of these skills out but I think you get the picture. I'm not arguing that the way I'm using the 3 skills is the best. These were just some examples and I know that in time I will find more uses for each one of these skills. The point of this post is to get my fellow Templars to realize that all 3 of these skills can shine if you switch depending on the situation you're playing within.

Aion Performance Tweaks

2009-11-02T00:00:00Z

Here are some tips, tricks, and tweaks found by Marked Souls members on other forums, through experimentation, etc. Enjoy!

Cut Your Ping In Half

I tried this fix and I went from an average 130ms to never above 30ms all night.
Think this only applies to vista/7 users. http://jasdemi.com/aion/waysto-reduce-your-aion-ping/

Fixed FPS Option

ok, so for the past 7months in Caion and now NaAion i have been running with lowest possible graphics and still lag like a nyerk. I also had the fixed fps option turned off. Then, by some cahnce I decided to see how game would look with full graphics and said why not turn this little option on and see what happens. little did I know that it would make the difference between lag and no lag/rubberbanding. I can also play with full graphics now. WTF...Everybody turn on fixed FPS it will make your day.

it keeps u at a certain fps by minimizing graphix output for certain images. so, unless can handle loading all frames data extremely fast, you should have it on. I have a ****** graphix card so i have to have on.

Tips and Tricks To Prevent Crashing

I along with many others have problems with crashing in game during siege.

There are a couple problems that usually cause this:

x64 Operating Systems .dll crash (cry engine problem, it will tell you this explicitly in the error if this is your problem)

For the x64 type crashes, the game usually just freezes entirely. You will have to use task manager more than likely to kill Aion when this happens. Often times, it will leave aion.bin open in your active processes as well, which you have to kill manually. The best way to keep this from happening is to turn all graphics settings to low, bloom effect and glow effect off, and anti-aliasing off (x0). Then shut down Aion and do a fresh restart on your computer. This minimizes any memory leaks from using up excess RAM (the primary reason x64 makes Aion crash is overuse of memory). After the siege you can turn your setting back up and restart Aion. Doing this has made me go from crashing about every 5 minutes to maybe once a night max.

The cry engine crash has only been fixed one way that I have found. Depending on your version of windows and sound car etc, you need to turn your sound accelerations down and/or off. Typically in most windows OS's you can hit Start->Run and type dxdiag. Go to the sound tab and turn the slider for acceleration all the way off. If you use an integrated sound card (it's part of your motherboard), you may have to do this in the Sound category in your Control Panel in Windows. More on this later.

Regardless of both of these fixes, push Shift-F12 when you start PVP. This makes all characters disappear off your screen except those in your party. If you disconnect or crash, you will have to push it again, as it is not default.

Aion Release Server: Triniel

2009-09-16T00:00:00Z

Marked Souls will call Triniel it's home in Aion.

See you in game!

Aion Legion Beta Server: Nezekan

2009-08-07T00:00:00Z

That's right we've decided on a server for open beta: Nezekan.

It's looking like Nezekan will be the 2nd most populated Elyos server and it does have a few notable legions already.

Collectables: To Keep or Not to Keep

2009-05-14T00:00:00Z

This article is not to tell you whether or not to keep items but to help you in deciding what collectable drops you think are worth keeping.

Profitable Rewards

These rewards once traded for will make you more gold than selling the collectable items themselves.

The entire list of profitable rewards can be found: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Category:Profitable_trophies. It's a pretty handy list to have bookmarked with the new storage upgrades.

Rewards Worth Keeping

* Alphabetized by Collectable Item

Blobs of Ooze x 7 = Refined Jelly (1 Sweet Tooth Point)
Charr Hide x 4 = Fur Square (Rare Crafting Material)
Destroyer Core x 250 =Destroyer Gauntlets (Armor)
Diessa Chalice x 50 = Blindfold (Armor)
Dredge Manifesto x 5 =Scroll of Hero's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)
Enslavement Stone x 5 =Scroll of Adventurer's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)
Glacial Stone x 100 = Glacial Gauntlets (Armor)
Golden Rin Relic x 25 = Dread Mask (Armor)
Kurzick Baubles x 5 = Scroll of Adventure's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll), Scroll of Rampager's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll), or Scroll of Hunter's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)
Luxon Pendant x 5 = Scroll of Adventure's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll), Scroll of Rampager's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll), or Scroll of Hunter's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)
Mahgo Claw x 3 =Scroll of Berserker's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)
Mandragor Roots x 3 = Mandragor Root Cake (1 Sweet Tooth Point)
Seared Ribcages x 12 = Scroll of Slayer's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)
Sentient Spores x 5 = Bottle of Vabbian Wine (1 Drunkard Intoxication Level)
Stone Grawl Necklaces x 8 = Honeycomb (1 Sweet Tooth Point)
Superb Charr Carving x 250 = Mask of the Mo Zing (Armor)
Unctuous Remains x 7 = Scroll of Hero's Insight (Exp Bonus Scroll)

Holiday Event Collectors

At both of the above links you will find collector items that give items that will aid in Sweet Tooth, Party Animal, and Drunkard titles.

If you'd like to do more research, a complete list of collectable drops can be found: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Category:Trophies

Cathedral of Flames (CoF) Farming Run

2008-09-23T00:00:00Z

Contrary to popular belief, this dungeon can be run by any number of primary classes.

Major discussions are being held as to who is more preferable for this farming dungeon, whether it’s the official wiki, Guild Wars Guru or others.

If you were to ask me, I would tell you to choose whomever you are more comfortable & speedy with.Additionally, I am also one of those folks who will completely disagree with you if you say that an (hour and a half) cof run is acceptable.CoF should be ran within 35-40 minutes /with all chests and hidden’s opened, assuming your customers can keep your smite hero/real smiter alive.

This article will cover the essentials of a 600 monk tank!

What is a 600 Monk? –Simply put, with reference to the armor and health attributes, it is a monk at or near 600 HP, with the lowest possible armor stats, (15 armor).Use Vitae and Survivor Insignias on all of your armor pieces except your chest piece.That piece will either need a +30 or +50 Non-Stacking Vigor Rune and a Survivor Insignia.

The lowest armor can be bought at Ascalon City in Tyria from the Armor Crafter (Banoit), whom is located just below the Xunlai Storage Chests.

Onwards…

If you are wondering who else is capable of running CoF without very much difficulty, here is a brief overview of classes available for that: (Me/Mo, N/Mo, Rt/Mo, A/Mo), Once I have a solid grouping of builds for each of these, I will include them here.

Unfortunately due to different folks e-mailing me and telling me that their cof aggro, pulling and positioning tactics are different, I will not include an elaborate step by step analysis of each section and level of the CoF dungeon.

However, if you are still curious as to how I approach my form of gaming tactics, you can always e-mail or ask me directly on the blog.

Lets get the basics down:

1 a) Builds:

600 Monk: OwUTMmHD5BgIP0H1DtYE5uGBAA
Smiter Monk: OwQDQjzPH35kpMk5je4TmA

Above me is a sample of what I like to use on my hero or smiter colleague as running builds.Please note: (These builds are general and can be modified to suit your specific timing and effectiveness needs).An example of that would be a Ritualist with a skill called Vengeful Was Khanhei, whom will be able to exert much more damage to enemies attacking.However you keep yourself open to Hexes and Enchantment stripping now that you have replaced “Spell Breaker” (Divine Favor Elite) for VWK.If you bring another monk hero you can have your hero enchant you with SB to maintain your invulnerability to spells.

I do not believe I have enough characters for this blog post to explain all the details on how to run class based builds, so I will not.If you do have questions after this, please ask away.

1 b) Basic Walkthrough:

Dungeon Level 1

a) Every group you tank will require (Spell Breaker) and a Mantra of Resolve, as a mandatory requirement.(Note: Some folks CAN do it without the Mantra, and I do certainly congratulate them)Mantra of Resolve defends against interrupts, but takes anywhere from 8-9 energy (3-5 attribute points in Inspiration Magic).Considering how much energy you will be getting from group damage, it very well validates the energy it takes.

b) Clearing out the entire dungeon takes 2 minutes longer, so there is no excuse a 600 would skip everything to the right of the boss just to make the run faster.I also do realize that the first level hidden chests don’t drop a whole lot of gold, maximum 99gold, but the reason you kill all of the charr is for the points some people need for their delver track.Be courteous and help out.

c) When you get to Faze Magekiller – Elite: Power Block (who can drop the “Magekiller” Mesmer Domination Staff“best domination staff in guild wars” *stats wise*), make sure you prot yourself up quickly and maintain your mantra as he will most likely take more than 15-16 seconds of Spell Breaker time to kill.

d) Once you proceed down the opened dungeon gate, if you time it right you can get all 4 groups of crypt wraiths and shock phantoms at the same time.If you are experienced enough you can kill all 4 of them at the same time. This saves you quiet a bit of time.

e) The Bosslike Ghost Group – The Keeper – Elite: Life Transfer (who can drop the Scepter of the Keeper – Necro Blood Magic or an Elite Necro Tome) which I’ve seen a lot of people die from, even experienced players. He is actually a piece of cake.Apply Spell Breaker on yourself move into the aggro just a tad, apply SoA (Shield of Absorption) then SB (Spirit Bond) and run right to him and his casters.Within about 5-6 seconds worth of SoA’s duration you will kill about half of his group, the rest can be restlessly tanked with just SB (Spirit Bond).The rest after this is pretty self – explanatory.Don’t zone until everyone gets their drops, and the hidden chests that appear either to the left of the zoning area or in the back corridor, sometimes 2, one at the front and one at the back.

LoD’s (Light of Deldrimor)

(Why are 600 typically picky out ghostly hero’s?) Is it because they are distracting? Yes! Why? They tend to focus the enemy fire onto themselves if they do aggro within the area of the 600.The other problem is they sometimes pull aggro and run back to the smiter and the rest of the players, which will result in a catastrophe, with usually the smiter dying and a whole whack-load of problems for the group trying to salvage the situation.So to avoid that, don’t grab ghostly hero when a group specifically draws and (X) on the map and types “don’t LoD there. “I guess we can start writing in other languages too, for cross compatibility.

DO NOT grab the LoD beside the first charr group to the very north of the beginning.
DO NOT grab the LoD when you enter the 2nd corridor with the big pillars as the support.This lod is located between the first two 2 pillars as you enter the area.
The rest of the lod’s you encounter are completely safe to be popped.

Dungeon Level 2

a) Be sure to prot up first before going into tank mode dear 600’s.I’ve ran with so many other monk tanks who forget to notice that their enchantments have been dropped due to zoning.

b) The best way to approach the beginning group is to use something called “timing”. Yes I do realize this is a largely confusing tactic, but it does guarantee a fast and efficient run, still guaranteeing your customers maximum availability for popup chests and other various excursions.The trick if, IF there you have a charr sword warrior at the beginning is to prot yourself up, run in, grab his attention, throw up spell breaker and grab both of the first wraith groups.The charr warrior will meet his demise in less than 2 seconds and soon you will rid yourself of 2 bothersome groups of wraiths.

c) If someone lod’s you might have a couple chests to your immediate right and or left.If people ping both sides, be sure you clean up both of them, and grab the hiddens, on which can drop anything from lock picks to ruby’s.Advice: (If you see a Charr Flameshielder, Hexreaper or Dominator, be sure you have Spell breaker on you before tankage.The dominator will put some heavy mesmer hexes on you that will make life difficult, on top of disenchantment.The Flameshielder will consequently Meter Shower and Fire Storm you, and the Hexreaper will love to degen your life.Any level of experience you have will ultimately result in a death without Spell Breaker on groups with a combination or those.

d) The enchanted weapons are truly a piece of cake if you can time your spells accordingly.Here is how I approach say a group of 2 daggers, 2 hammers, and the rest are bows:Hammers as you know now can do knockdown using “ Hammer bash “ and not relying on Irresistible blow if you happen to dodge their attack, in which case your build isn’t designed to do dodging, so it never worked. Apply Prot Spirit and Mantra of Resolve before grabbing your groups.Mantra will stop the first Wild Strike against you, if you mistake your timing, but will leave you vulnerable to the 2nd dagger if you don’t time your casting right.Wild Strike by the way will remove your stance, which is what the Mantra is.

As you pull the group towards you, immediately apply Spirit Bond you, to protect against the bow damage, and quickly apply SoA just as the Meele get to you, then re-apply with Spirit Bond because the bows will have probably hit you more than 10 times by now, thus needed a re-apply to negate the damage to 0 from SoA.The main reason I approach this method is because SoA in 5-6 seconds will kill the daggers, allowing you to not have to worry about getting interrupted again, and quickly focusing your attention to the knockdown capable Hammers. Just as your SoA is about to flicker away, place Spirit Bond on yourself again, as the hammers knock you down. This will buy you enough time to get off the group again, and do your thing.(Note: This step does in fact require a little bit of practice to master)Before you aggro the groups is often suggested to see what you will be up against before you run in.This way if need be you can hug a wall while you take care of the meele first before moving onto the long range foes.

e) Watch for pop-ups after the first poison geyser, which usually consists of Crypt Ghouls (who can also interrupt with Savage Slash**),** a couple Crypt Banshee’s and maybe 1 or 2 Ash or Shock Phantoms.By that I mean place Spell Breaker on yourself just as you pop the group.

f) After you kill the popup group, get the enchanted weapons, and if you still are having difficulty, refer to step d).

g) After you kill the group, proceed straight ahead which will have a loner charr warrior (most of the time) asking to die.You can prot yourself up, run past him, apply Spell Breaker, run over the next set of Geyser’s and pop the group, and immediately run to the 2nd group to the right of you, which would be coming towards you anyways if you nailed your timing right.

h) Moving along to the 2nd Boss group with Tyndir Flamecaller Elite: Ether Prodigy.Prot yourself up, Spell Breaker, run in, Throw up Spirit Bond, immediately followed by SoA, then Spirit Bond again to make up the negation time it takes for SoA to reduce the dmg down to 0.This boss just like the first boss, Faze Magekiller will more than likely take longer to kill than Spell Breakers duration, so be sure to watch as he casts Meter Shower.

i) Ok so he’s dead, awesome. To the left or right of you, folks might have noticed Lod’s, so go kill the spider popups.The first corridor to the right has two popup groups, so make sure you kill both, in case some goof runs to the very back of the room.

j) Vraxx the Condemned Elite: Soldiers Fury is next with his group.(He drops Shield of the Condemned, Aegis of the Condemned, Bastion of the Condemned.)

k) Drop down the little hill.This part can be done in 2 ways. You can grab both the crypt, ghoul, ash and shock groups with the enchanted weapons if you are mad or skilled enough, or you can grab the first 2 groups, then move onto the enchanted weapons.

l) Ahh yes, now The Master – Elite: Jagged Bones; This boss will kill even the most experienced players, if you do not time your skills right.He in fact can be killed way before your Spell Breaker Expires if you get close enough to him, as he wands you.Here’s the rundown:1) Throw up Spell breaker, Prot Spirit and Mantra First… that’s 35 energy, you should still have about 7-10 energy left if you decide to run with 1 or 2 energy runes which is fine, if you prefer it that way.2) Once those are applied, just nick the side of your aggro bubble so they start running over to ya, apply SoA immediately, 3) followed by Spirit Bond which you should have enough energy as the wanders hit you a bunch of time by now. The Jagged Bones can wipe a 600 monk with prot spirit on because on occasion they do below 60 damage, and if 5-6 go off it might result in 350-380 dmg, and if you don’t time your re-applying of prots, the others hitting will eventually leave you hugging the dirt.This is one of the Ghost based Bosses who will eventually test a 600’s ability to watch their prots and and re-apply when needed.

Dungeon Level 3

First and foremost, on this dungeon, if an Lod is picked up, it is NOT DEPENDANT ON KILLING THE FIRST GROUPS.I seriously don’t know who came up with that idea.But the wiki clearly states it’s a bug and its needing a fix.At first my speculation of it being a 50/50 was wrong too, until I re-confirmed it was a bug.

So Folks, the first LoD *IF* if comes up, and doesn’t respond, is A BUG!

It has NOTHING to do with the groups that are close to it.

Lets clear that up on our after months of arguments in game.

a) Same deal, kill everything move down the corridor into the Burning Tree Hall.If folks picked up the lod in the right hand tunnel from the north of burning tree hall, go get it.

b) Look for Dungeon Level 2 step d) if you require any suggestions with the enchanted weapons.

c) Keep an eye on the lod’s as if your group is luck can get as many 8 hiddens on this level.

d) The group just as of you are coming to the first dungeon door (whose key should have dropped form the Keymaster) is a very tricky group consisting of at least 5-6 enchanted bows 1 hammer or 2 daggers.If you are experienced enough to take them head on as they can do HA Ranger Spikes, good for you, otherwise what some 600’s do is, they handle the melee first before engaging the bows.Either way is fine.You won’t be saving or wasting time or if you do it one way or another.

e) Murakai’s Steward – Elite: Corrupt Enchantment.Some folks panic on this guy when he does corrupt enchantment or Artophy.Relax, and lure him past the first geyser and tank it out.When he’s done unless the group explicitly demands it, you can grab his key, without aggroing the central popups and head on out.

f) Long story short, you made it to Murakai, good stuff.Kill the 4 side groups as they can drop some really good stuff.

g) Tanking Murakai – Lady Of The Night, without getting to her activate the Consumption,She actually doesn’t activate her Consumption every 20 seconds, but rather 13-14 seconds, so be sure to plan putting on your Spell Breaker during the interval between that time if you can.Also luring her into the FIRE:I’ve been getting e-mails upon e-mails to show people how to do it, it’s a piece of cake really, and when my video comes out, you’ll see it for yourself.Basically as you pull her and her servants, you run along the side of the heart shaped magma pool and slowly but firmly pull her back near the flame, if she quickly starts to run back, run back to her, to get her attention again, and try it again.It takes a little bit of practice.The flame also burns her for 50 dmg per second and it adds up if you want to kill her fast.That with the proper timing of applying SB won’t even have charge the consumption to half way.

That’s it! Let me know if I missed something or if you'd like to see additional information.

What to expect next: SoO - Shards of Orr Farming Ooze Pit - Farming Catabombs of Kathandrax - Farming UW/Fow - Farming

Links and Refrences:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Cof

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Cof#Notes – Look here for Official Bugs and Hiddens.

Desktop Shortcut Tricks

2008-05-30T00:00:00Z

Warning: This post will get a bit techie. :)

Today I’d like to talk about some really useful tricks and tricks that you can do using the Guild Wars shortcut on your desktop.

Before I get into the tricks, let’s take a quick look at how and where we’ll be making changes. Right click on the shortcut and then click on “Properties” in the menu that pops up. A box that looks like the following should appear:

The “Target” box that is outlined in red above is where we’ll be working our magic. The picture shows the default installation path of GW if you did not customize your installation. Now let’s move on to the fun.

High Quality Screenshots

By default, GW takes screenshots as .jpg files but the game can also store pictures as .bmp files. The .bmp files that GW can create are much larger than their .jpg file counterparts but they are also of a much higher quality. To force GW to use .bmp files, edit the “Target” box above by adding ‘-bmp’ to the end. The final target should look like:

"C:Program FilesGuild WarsGw.exe" -bmp

Click Apply and OK, then double click your newly edited shortcut. Once you’re in the game proceed to snap a few screenshots and then go to your screenshots folder to view your now high quality GW screenshots.

Speedy Loading Screens

We’ve all sat in front of loading screens while the game downloaded any new files or game updates. By creating a new shortcut and doing a little editing of that shortcut, you can vastly improve your load times with respect to downloads. The game has an option that will force a complete update of the game. That means every file will be downloaded whether you’ve been to an area or not.

First, create a new shortcut by simply copying the current desktop shortcut and pasting it to your desktop. You should now have 2 shortcuts on your desktop for GW. Rename the copied shortcut to something like “Guild Wars Updater”, “Guild Wars –image”, etc.

Now that you have both of your shortcuts, right click the new shortcut and click on properties in the menu. Remove anything after "C:Program FilesGuild WarsGw.exe" and simply add ‘-image’ to the end. If done correctly, the “Target” should look like:

"C:Program FilesGuild WarsGw.exe" –image

The –image command/option is a very useful command but be aware that on new installations of GW the update that this tool does can take hours so it is advisable to do this update over night whenever possible. Also, note that when using the –image command GW will not open up after the update is complete. This tool is meant to be an update only.

Want to do more?

Other useful command line options include the ability to add your email and password to the shortcut to allow auto-login. Unfortunately, this is VERY unsafe if anyone has access to your computer. The email and password are just plain text and can easily be read (and stolen) by knowledgeable prying eyes.

The following links can be used if you'd like to do more with your desktop shortcuts or for the techies out there, the command line.

Links:

Guild Defeats Mallyx!

2008-01-31T00:00:00Z

The members of Marked Souls [MkS] have defeated the atrocety known as Mallyx the Unyielding! After traversing the Domain of Anguish, a party consisting of four supporting monks and four members running Ursan Blessing were able to overpower the beast.

Template Folders

2008-01-14T00:00:00Z

A great feature within Guild Wars goes unnoticed by most. You can organize your templates in folders!

There are 2 ways to accomplish this.

While in game, typing "folderName/templateName" into the template name. The slash (/) will tell the game to create the folder. Of course, you could also do something like: folderName/subFolderName/templateName. This would allow you to create folders and sub folders.

When outside of the game, you have to find the Template folder on your computer and create the directories (aka: folders) that you wish to use.

In Vista: C:\Users\(your user name here)\Documents\Guild Wars\Templates\Skills
In XP: C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Templates\Skills

You cannot remove or organize folders through the game interface.

Enjoy!

Tips on Saving Gold for Non Farmers

2007-10-22T00:00:00Z

Do you wish you could have more gold sitting at your disposal but don’t want to farm, etc to get it?. Here are the tips I’ve learned to follow over my time playing Guild Wars. I hope they can help you get your hands on that item or items you’ve got your eye on!

Tips:

Do not spend unnecessary gold.
Pick up everything.
ID everything.
Do not salvage items.
Do not buy keys ever.
Wait to purchase armor/items.
Play the markets.

Do Not Spend Unnecessary Gold

When you are just starting out, use collector weapons until you find the items you want or a friend is kind enough to give it to you.

Another huge money sink to avoid is armor. Try not to change armors with every campaign. You will be tempted to as some of the armors as you move through the game will be very tempting but stand firm. It gets expensive upgrading every character every time a new campaign comes out or whenever you get to a new armor that you like. That is especially true if you are switching between elite sets. With armor stats being the same, my advice is to choose the 1.5K armor that you like the most and use that until you’ve completed all of the campaigns (or have looked at all of the armors on a website, etc). That way when you buy your elite set you only have to buy one set to know you’ll be happy with it for a long time.

Pick Up Everything

I see so many people complain that they don't have money for this or that but yet they are the same people that leave every non-colored item on the ground. If it isn’t blue, purple, gold, or green they won’t pick it up. If those same people knew how much money I've made over my play time by picking up every single item drop they'd be sick to their stomach. I suggest keeping one Superior Identification Kit and one or two regular salvage kits in inventory at all times.

ID Everything

Yes everything, including all those whites I just told you to pick up. Even common items can increase from a base 50g to 70g-90g just by ID'n them. Let’s say that on average you increase the cost of your items by 10g. That means with a superior id kit costs which 500g and gives you 100 uses you make a profit of 500g. I've found it averages more like 10-20 so it's more like 500g-1500g profit per superior ID kit.

Do Not Salvage Items

Even if you are just starting out there are very few reasons to salvage for crafting materials now. Two years ago salvaging for crafting material was a great way to make cash but now it is the exact opposite. Material prices at the NPCs are so low that it does not pay to salvage to sell anymore. In fact, depending on prices at the time it may be more profitable to sell all items instead of salvaging and then use the cash to buy the crafting materials needed. My suggestion is to sell everything that drops for you except for materials and salvage nothing. Save all materials that drop. You should be able to acquire quite a collection of materials by just keeping materials that drop.

Do Not Buy Keys Ever

ducks for cover I'm going to get criticized for this but keys (lockpicks included) are the biggest gold sink in the game. Yes they promise great items and even a title but what's the return really. You'll have to spend well over 100k to find that 1 gold that may be worth 75k. If you are hurting for gold you should at no time buy a key or lockpick. I would suggest using them when you find them otherwise forget they exist until you have what you consider to be enough money. If you use keys, just think about how much you've spent on keys and you'll see why you can't afford to continue. By the way, if you want the title then a sincere good luck but it is one of the most expensive in the game and it rarely pays for itself so I cannot advocate it for those wanting to save up their money. (same with drunkard and sweet tooth).

Play the Markets

The materials crafter in Kaineng is a great place to make some cash if you've got some stacks of wood or dust lying around. Check on the prices of what you'll be crafting to make sure you'll make some money off of the transactions. I don't do this much but I've made 50k-75k easily over my time in GW during downtime when friends aren’t on, I have 10-15 minutes to wait on a friend to get out of something, etc.

Wait to Purchase Armor/Items

Need materials for armor? Wait to purchase the armor/items until you amass the materials through adventuring. There is no reason you need it now. Wait until you find the materials, find a free way, or create a plan to save for it. When I wanted Kurzick armor, I AB'd or Faction farmed to trade for the free amber instead of buying it. I've wanted FoW armor for Kousei for a while now so I created a savings plan. Whenever I have over 250k in storage, I spend anything over 250k on shards and ecto while also trying to get into UW or FoW at least once a week.

Conclusion

While the above tips won't make you as infinitely rich as the farmers out there, they are extremely good at amassing the gold/materials needed to achieve your in game goals during casual play. Good luck, have fun, and I hope these help!

Duncan Defeated!

2007-10-12T00:00:00Z

So last night, I finally defeated Duncan. Third times a charm as they say. Of course, I had help so thank to my three friends who helped out.

One warrior (me), 2 eles (1 human 1 hero), 2 monks (1 human 1 hero) , 1 human ritualist, and 2 hero rangers. Our human ele was running endless meteor shower, the hero ele was running fire aoe spammer, the ritualist was spirit spam, 1 hero ranger was running burning arrow with apply poison, the second hero ranger was running broad head arrow, the hero monk was running LoD, and the human monk was running bonder. I was running a crazy build with Defy Pain as my elite (full build below).

We used an Armor of Salvation, an Essence of Celerity, a Grail of Might, and a Powerstone of Courage. We overdid it just a bit but it worked wonders.

Art and Science of Aggro Control

2007-08-27T00:00:00Z

Aggro control is probably one of those strategies in the game that everyone's heard of but few actually fully understand. The reason is simple. To understand aggro control, you have to experience it from both sides and contrary to popular belief the characters that are not tanking have just as much control over a good aggro as the tank does. Hopefully this guide can help those of you who just want to play your [insert favorite class here] and not worry about the other classes.

What is Aggro Control?

To aggro is to get the attention of a group or groups of enemies. Aggro control is directing the enemy's movements, etc. for your party's benefit.

What are the benefits of Aggro Control?

The major benefit of aggro control is that if used correctly it can keep your party members safe. As melee attackers are the easiest to control during an aggro proper aggro control can stop most if not all melee enemies from getting to your party.

The second benefit of aggro control is the increased effectiveness of AoE, or area of effect, skills. Some AoE skills can be detrimental to good aggro control as they cause monsters to flee thus enabling them to reevaluate their targets. Skills such as Firestorm, Balthazar's Aura, Mark of Pain, and Breath of Fire should be avoided if you are on a team that intends to control aggro. AoE skills that can work extremely well on an aggro control team include Spiteful Spirit, Liquid Flame, Rodgort's Invocation, Suffering, Ancestor's Rage, and Spirit Rift.

The Tank's Role

The tank is whatever character your party decides will be acquiring and holding aggro. When about to aggro, announce it and move out of everyone's aggro (they will be outside of yours). Be sure to keep communication open. You must tell everyone what you plan to do if you expect them to follow along. Once you have enemies attracted to you, try and position yourself between all of them and the backline. A good technique is to leave some room between yourself and your party so that you can back up to manipulate the aggro. Most of the time simply backing up will better group the aggro.

If there is a corner available, you should try and use it to your advantage. Once you announce which corner you will be using and where your party should stand during the initial aggro. You will not want to pull to the corner right away unless the aggro groups extremely well before getting to you. If they don't, step up acquire aggro and back them to the corner then announce to your group that you have aggro.

If a corner is not available, then you will have to attempt an open area aggro. Pull the aggro, manipulate them until you have them to where they form a straight line between them, yourself, and your party. Finally, announce that you have aggro and tell your party to move in straight behind you.

If there is a flat wall available, you can also use this to your advantage. It is not as advantageous as a corner aggro but it can be very effective. You would use the same tactics as an open area pull when attempting a flat wall aggro.

In all situations, the tank's lack of movement are crucial once they have announced that they have aggro. During a corner aggro, the tank may move once other party members engage only if the angle is great enough to keep enemies from acquiring another target and only one step at a time backward. During either open area or wall aggro, the tank should plant their feet and prepare not to move.

Not moving is harder than it seems. The fact that most characters tanking will be using melee attacks makes not moving more complicated than most people think. The second an enemy tries to drop back you will be pulled to it. To avoid this, continually press C and Spacebar. This technique will make sure that you are only targeting the closest target to you and that you don't go following a fleeing enemy and break up the aggro you have worked so hard to control.

As the tank, you should be running some skills that will give you time to manipulate your aggro while not being too heavily damaged. Skills that tanks can use to prevent damage include Arcane Echo'd Shadow Form, Gladiator's Defense, Deadly Riposte, Dolyak's Signet, Vow of Silence, Conviction, Armor of Earth, Obsidian Flesh, Stoneflesh Aura, etc. Find the tank build that works for you but you will probably want some combination of damage prevention, damage reduction, and self heal.

Support Roles

All characters that will not be holding aggro, including melee characters not chosen to tank, are extremely important when trying to hold a good aggro. When the tank is acquiring aggro, make sure to be outside of his aggro bubble (he/she will be outside of yours). It only takes one person to be out of place and form an aggro bridge which monsters can use to rush past the tank and straight for the backline. The key is to stay back until the tank announces that he has aggro for if you move in too early there is a chance the monsters have not aggro'd tightly to the tank and will run straight to the backline. Once the tank has communicated that he has aggro, then it is all about positioning.

Positioning as a support character on a aggro control team is crucial. During a corner aggro, stay at as much of an angle as possible to the enemy. To spread out due to AoE, you should spread out in the area behind the tank close to the wall. During a wall or open area aggro, you should stand directly behind the tank forming a straight line between the enemies, the tank, and yourselves. Party members can run up and down the line to avoid enemy fire, AoE, etc. while giving the tank the greatest chance to keep aggro. Try to keep the tank on the outer half of your aggro bubble though as in wall and open area pulls getting too close will cause monsters to retarget.

Casters should know that their spells, unless otherwise noted, can be cast from outside of aggro bubble range. For example, an Elementalist casting meteor shower can target the closest enemy of the aggro then move until he is just out of aggro then cast MS without ever being in aggro range. Also, be aware of which spell you have cause aggro breaking. Many damage per second area of effect spells cause aggro breaking (firestorm, mark of pain, etc). If you know that you will be in a party using aggro control try and minimize the amount of these skills on your bar. During open area and wall pulls, it is extremely important that no spells triggering the AoE run be used. It is possible to get away with using such spells during a corner pull if the party knows about it and can stand as close to the wall as possible during the spells duration.

Warriors, Assassins, and Dervishs should hold back until the tank gathers aggro then move along the safest path to begin attacking. In the open, move in from straight behind the tank. If the tank is using a corner, move in along the wall. In any instance, Warriors and Dervishs should stand shoulder to shoulder with the tank to decrease the chance of an aggro break.

Rangers and Paragons need line of sight but make sure to stand at the harshest angle possible to get that line. Stand no further out than necessary to use your weapon. This means when using a corner only move away from the wall far enough to use your weapon and if necessary move closer to the tank along the wall. When in the open, the harshest angle possible is where the tank is directly between yourself and the aggro.

Ritualists and Rangers need to aware of where they are placing their spirits. Support spirits (Winnowing, Union, etc) should be placed as outside of aggro range while offensive spirits (Pain, Bloodsong, etc) should be placed using the same strategy as Rangers and Paragons. Use a staff to find the harshest angle in which you are not obstructed then cast your offensive spirit. But offensive spirits are supposed to be spread out right? Yes, and to accomplish this once you find the harshest angle place spirits along that line closer or farther from the tank.

Minion Masters and Beastmasters should only get close enough for minion/pet aggro once the tank has acquired a good aggro. This will allow the minions or pets to move in and help surround the aggro without breaking that aggro.

Heroes

A quick note about heroes. Due to their erratic nature, it is not advised that heroes be used as tanks. As a human tank, it is possible to successfully complete the above strategies by pinning heroes strategically but be advised that heroes will cause aggro break due to bad positioning often.

Closing

I hope after reading this that you've found it helpful. If you put this into practice, you can keep your backline and support characters much safer. You can expect a few enemies to stray every now and then, especially on open area and wall aggros, but for the most part you can control the way the enemies get to move in the game.

Evil forces in Fissure destroyed!

2007-07-07T00:00:00Z

In an incredible expedition on the evening of July 5, 2007, eight adventurers successfully pushed the forces of evil out of the Fissure of Woe. Every foe was defeated and every quest completed. The ardent adventures did not go unrewarded for their efforts. The group was awarded with 25 obsidian shards, 6 non-chest gold drops, 4 obsidian keys, 1 Passage Scroll to the Fissure of Woe, 1 sapphire, and an undisclosed amount of gold. Rumor has it that a single member of the expedition deposited over 5 platinum into his storage account.

Underworld Excursion

2007-06-22T00:00:00Z

This week our guild’s high-end PVE excursion was to the Underworld. Our group walked away with 15 ecto! (3 for me :)). We decimated the Labyrinth, the Chaos Plains, the Bone Pits, the Forgotten Vale, and the Spawning Pools. We completed Clear the Chamber, Wrathful Spirits, Terrorweb Queen, and then it got late and we got adventurous. We then returned to the Chaos Planes to try The Four Horsemen (none of us knew what we were in for)… We killed a few Terrorwebs out of 1 of the 4 Banished Rider boss Horsemen groups and then it all went south. Not knowing the quest we setup badly, the other groups rushed the Reaper, and even though our Ritualist was doing an awesome job spirit spamming we couldn’t get back to help him and the Reaper deal with the other Horsemen and their Terrorweb groups…

It really was an excellent run though and it was actually Kousei’s greatest and most far reaching excursion into the Underworld. I had never even been to Chaos Plains, Bone Pits, and Spawning Pools with any character before last night.

Thanks to all who were in the party!

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