Guild Wars has dozens of titles your characters can earn and one of those is the survivor title. To earn this title you have to do something extremely hard and totally nuts - you need to get a character from creation through to level 20 without dieing once. Yup, not even once.
This article is for those who like to do things that are extremely hard and totally nuts and perhaps after reading this, you'll see it's not that hard to do. It will still remain nuts but. :) I'm going to reveal the technique I used to get not one, but two characters to survivor status and I'll say up front - by using my technique, you can do it all solo, with henchmen. You don't need any uber level 20 guild mates to help you along the way.
For me - the only non-suicidal way to do this is by using Factions. Factions is engineered so players level faster - which means you get your title quicker. It is true that the missions are proportionately tougher, but compared to Prophecies or Nightfall, you need a much lower number of engagements to reach your title, and for Survivor-Wanna-Be's, that's a good thing.
You can still use the techniques and tips in this article to make a Prophecy or Nightfall Survivor but you'll find it a tough and long road filled with despair, frustration and many false starts. Remember... if you die, just once, it means deleting your character and starting again. There is no second chance.
Factions is engineered so players level faster
Factions is engineered so players level faster
The Build
When I planned out my first Survivor character I considered which class has the greatest chance of staying alive. For me, the choice was easy. Minion Master. These are the necromancers that raise the ugly monsters from the corpses around them. We've all seen them - hordes of undead beasties running around laying waste to all within agro range. I reasoned that a minion master in Factions would be the easiest and fastest way to claim a Survivor title and this is how I did it :-if you die, just once, it means deleting your character and starting again. There is no second chance.
if you die, just once, it means deleting your character and starting again. There is no second chance.
Necromancer/Monk
Attributes
These attributes are from my level 20 survivor. Obviously you can't get these values when you start at level one but I put these here to give you an idea of where I put my emphasis. As you level up, you'll need to spread your attributes around but as you do, try to get the same emphasis I have displayed here. Death and Blood Magic gives you minion-power and life re-gen while Soul Reaping at level 6 gives you +6 energy every time someone dies. Notice the 3 points in Healing Prayers? I strongly suggest you invest exactly 3 points in Healing as/when you can afford to - I'll explain why in a tick.
Skills
Again, these are my level 20 skills. You'll have to unlock and purchase these skills as you progress your character through the levels. If you can't get these skills exactly, get something close to it or use some old fashioned creativity. In the lowest levels, your choices are next to none. Just remember when given the choice keep monk as your secondary profession. Resist the temptation to play with the other classes.
Life Siphon - drains the bad guys while healing yourself. With Blood set at 10, this gives +2 health regen. If you cast this on 2 bad guys, you get +4 regen. That's pretty neat for someone needing to stay alive
Animate Bone Minions - this raises two bone minions from each corpse. These monsters aren't real effective in combat but when your Death Magic is set to 13, you can raise up to 8 of these critters. That means there are 8 bodies drawing damage away from you - a survivor essential!!
Blood of the Master and Verata's Sacrifice - these are both stock standard Minion Master spells that you cast over and over again to keep your pack of 8 minions alive.
Healing Breeze - +4 health regen. Say no more.
Orison of Healing - +30 health. Rarely used.
Mending - this is an important spell that is really a must with this type of build. It's an enchantment that gives +2 health regen when your Healing Prayers is set to 3. A constant +2 health regen is vital when you're constantly using Blood of the Master and Verata's Sacrifice as these two spells constantly drain your health points. Take it - it's non-negotiable.
Mending - this is an important spell that is really a must with this type of build. It's an enchantment that gives +2 health regen when your Healing Prayers is set to 3. A constant +2 health regen is vital when you're constantly using Blood of the Master and Verata's Sacrifice as these two spells constantly drain your health points. Take it - it's non-negotiable.
Ressurect - you may be a survivor but you can bet the henchmen you take with you won't be!
The skills I use constantly are Animate Bone Minions, Blood of the Master, Verata's Sacrifice and Mending. 4 skills really - that's all I use. The rest are really backup and I use those in emergencies but lets face it, if you're shooting for a survivor title and you need to use plan B, then something has gone very wrong.
Equipment
Your equipment is almost irrelevant damage wise. Your spells and your minions will do all the work. You do need to look out for weapons and off-hand items that increase your health, armour and energy. These things are vital for Survivor candidates. It will take some time to get a weapon that is moderately useful to your class and as for armour - don't worry about it so much. Armour is only useful for those that get hit. I suggest you just don't get hit. Your equipment is almost irrelevant damage wise. Your spells and your minions will do all the work.
Your equipment is almost irrelevant damage wise. Your spells and your minions will do all the work.
The Technique
There are a few tips you need to remember when you're in the badlands. You have to understand that your principle source of XP is from completing quests. It's not from killing monsters. You need to finish the quests and the missions. Of course you need to kill monsters to finish the quests but don't get distracted by mobs of monsters that are not important to the quest. If you can go around them then do that. Why risk death on monsters that might deliver you 45 XP when there is a quest waiting worth 3000 XP.
Mending - have mending on you always. Ignore this rule and you won't survive.
When engaging in combat, send your henchmen in first. Use your green flag under your radar/compass to place the henchmen into the fray. There are two good reasons for this a) if you go first you'll get spiked and you increase your chances of death b) if the henchmen die, you can use their corpses to raise minions.
Oh. Minions. Raise them often and keep them alive. They don't do much damage but they draw fire from your own team (and you) and they form a physical barrier so that monsters can't get close to you. For this reason, you should always be at the rear of the pack raising minion after minion and trying to keep them alive with Blood of the Master or Verata's Sacrifice. Being at the back also means you get to escape first if the battle turns bad. :)
Final tip - as you do quests, you will earn Monastery Credits (in Factions). You can use these credits to buy Scrolls of Adventurer's Insight off the Quartermaster. These scrolls give you +50% XP from combat for a full 10 minutes. I've already mentioned that the XP you gain from combat is insignificant but when you have these credits going to waste, why not buy some scrolls and milk as much XP out of each quest as you can.
The Result
You can see here I gained over 140 000 XP without dying once. I did this in under 12 hours of game time (not in one session) by raising lots of minions and letting my flock of beasties do all the work. Most of the time I was never hit during combat. I now have 180 000 XP and I'm working my way towards my Survivor (2) title.
For the astute amongst us, you'll notice I have no runes (just the natural bonus from the head gear), and no maxed out weapon. You can't see it here but for much of the time, I didn't even have maxed out armour.
Isn't using a Minion Master kinda like cheating?
I hear the sceptics out there saying that using a MM necromancer is taking the easy way out. If you try my build or you've used a Minion Master before, you'll see how easy it is to walk over mob after mob of monsters. If you've never tried a survivor title, or you've never tried to use a MM build, I suggest you start here.
If you want to truly impress the hardcore veteran Guild Wars player and show them you're no phoney, stay tuned for my next edition of Guild Wars Banter where I take the hardest class to keep alive, and make a Survivor at of that.
Factions is engineered so players level faster 
