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Written by Fox
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Sunday, 02 July 2006 |
Prophecies Noob Tips
I can still remember the days I was knee high to a grasshopper. I was young and
green and yearning for adventure. I was in Prince Rurik's army and my loyalty to
Ascalon burned fiercely. I returned from the war against the Charr and found my
homeland in ruin. The Charr will be repaid - with interest!!
** SPOILERS in every paragraph - lots of tips but lots of spoilers **
... as soon as I work out this darn game.
I still remember my first run through the academy and trying to deal with the
transition from the nice green Ascalon to the burnt out and dead Ascalon. It was
mind-blowing. Really. I was totally confused. I hadn't fathomed what the
storyline was about. I wasn't entirely sure where I was. Sardelac Sanitarium?
WTF? Isn't a Sardelac something in Star Wars? In Australia, Sanitarium is a
breakfast food company - what the heck is going on with this game.
Don't get me wrong - I loved it. I was totally overwhelmed with the graphics and
the storyline and I was completely immersed and genuinely confused, just as the
storyline said I was. It was great. There aren't many games that have had that
effect on me but what to do next? I was level 7, wet behind the ears and I
didn't have anyone to turn to - my family were eaten by the Charr and my pet dog
Chubs had been turned into an Ogre (whom I had to slay as he rushed me). If
you're in this position, you have a few options - do what I did and muddle
through it and relish every confusing moment of it. Or, you can read on and get
some bare bones pointers. Now, bare with me while I say "The choice is
yours - I can show you the door but you need to walk through it." (love that
movie - crucify me later.)
First of all, if you haven't done the academy and moved to old Ascalon - which
is really the newer Ascalon *shrug* then you need to know a little bit about the
"Over the wall" quest. It's fun. Do it, but here's some pointers :
- You should be level 8 minimum and level 9 would be better. It's
a hard slog to reach this level but the Charr on the other side of
the wall are pretty unforgiving.
- It's a two player mission. No ifs or buts. You need one person to
open the gate while the other zones through the portal. And that's
ignoring the fact that you'd never handle the Charr on your own.
- Henchmen are not available in any part of green Ascalon so put
that thought out of your head. You have to PUG it (Pick Up Group) or
go with guildies.
- Death has no effect on you, other than a minor inconvenience. This
is good. Charr use to kill me a dozen times over and I'd keep going
back for more until those smelly SOB's were 6 feet under. * maniacal
laugh *
- you can get some nice colored drops by reducing Charr to ash but
don't bank on it and that's not reason enough to do it.
- try clearing the entire zone. It takes quite a long time but it's
pretty cool to say you've done it once (or ah-hem twice.)
- this is kind of obvious but if you don't do it prior to the
academy then you can't go back and do it later (unless you start a
new character).
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So that's out of the way - on to the burnt up, dry Ascalon - post academy
even.
Here are some tips in no particular order :
- you get your first taste of using henchmen. If you've read my
previous Guild Wars Banter articles you'll know it's best not to use
them so I'll say this here - try not to use them if you're keen on
power leveling.
- when you first arrive in Ascalon with your very first character,
turn on all the chat channels and sock up all that confusion - LOL.
There is a lot happening in Ascalon and if you're not ready for it
then roll with the punches and don't let it frustrate you. Turn off
all the chat channels except your guild channel. Your guild is your
friend. Ask the guild questions and learn. 99% of the busy-ness in
Ascalon is irrelevant and can be ignored.
- visit all the green people (NPC's) and work out what they do and
get a feel for the price of things.
- visit the storage agent and get your very first storage locker.
You'll learn to love these. Put items in there and share them
between multiple characters. Put your money there too. I think the
account has a one time fee of 50g or maybe 100g - do it.
- this is a big tip. When I first went to the Ascalon armorer I
couldn't afford the asking price so I waited thinking I'd find
better armor along the way to wherever I was going and I'd have more
cash by then. Well, I'd gotten all the way to Lions Arch and I was
still wearing starters armor waiting for something better to come
by. Moral of story - for the longest time, it doesn't get better
than the Ascalon armor. Buy it piece by piece if you have to - start
with the chest piece first.
- get an ID kit early but don't sell a kidney to do so. ID'ing items
before you sell them makes you more money and you can get skill
unlocks. This is a PvP thing you needn't worry about yet so take my
word for it, unlocks are good.
- don't salvage things until you understand how salvaging works. I
use to salvage every damn thing I found - I salvaged skulls into
bone and bows into wood - heck - I'd have salvaged rocks into
pebbles into dust if the game would let me but - NO - it's expensive
and unnecessary for beginning players. It can be fun and sometimes
even necessary but don't go down this road until you're ready.
- Quests: do them. Lots of them. They get you out of the house and
get you a tan. You might even make some friends - mostly enemies
but. If you head out of the main Ascalon gate and follow the road
all the way south, you get to a place all the Star Wars fans hang
out. That's a good place to get starter quests from. (That means you
level quickly.)
- bags: get them. Two actually. They increase your inventory space
so you can collect more garbage as you loot the decaying bodies of
the monsters you heartlessly slay. You'll also need two runes of
holding. These are a bit expensive so get them when you can. What's
that? I didn't tell you where to find them? Oh - my bad. You need to
find a place called Frontier Gate. You'll need to do two of the
storyline missions before you can get to this Charr hotspot.
- Storyline missions: They're great. They advance the story and take
you to places you dreamt of as a child. Prince Rurik is the hero of
Ascalon and he'll lead you into many historic battles after which
the denizens will recite many poems with your name in the chorus. In
light of this, please give your character a name that can be rhymed
with.
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That's enough for now. Most of my articles have been about the high-end of
Guild Wars so here are some pointers for those that are starting off and want
pointing in the right direction.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 March 2007 )
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