| Name | An Introduction to Heroes' Ascent |
| Category | General |
Getting Started / Am I Ready?
How do you know if you are really ready to start trying to do Heroes’ Ascent? Here are a few things to take into consideration.
Do not go to Heroes’ Ascent if:
- You do not have a high number of skills unlocked already.
- You tend to be an idiot.
- Your spelling is atrocious.
- You are unable to use Ventrillo or Team Speak.
- You take rude or offensive comments too seriously.
- You plan to post senseless threads on the forums regarding how some guy did not accept you into their group and that rank means nothing.
You have killed countless Charr, but never another player.
If this is the case then Heroes’ Ascent is not for you just yet. The first thing you want to do is wet your feet in the random arenas. Here you can run any build you want to. Play long enough and you will begin to learn what does and does not work. You will begin to see which builds stand out as efficient, you will gain some faction and you will begin to see how different a PvP environment is to a PvE environment. The most important lesson to be learnt here, is that you are effectively playing a completely different game and being good at one does not make you good at the other.
So you are a Random Arena Champion!
Then you are probably ready to Team Arena fight. Random Arenas reward players with the ability to pick out efficient skills with some synergy, Team Arenas reward a synergy and communication between characters. It is your first step into organized PvP and good teams will tell you which skills to take. It is the team leader’s choice now, not yours. This is because your build needs to work with the rest of the builds on the team. You will need to start learning the popular character builds, why they're popular, how to play them and what skills you're required to unlock.
Team Arena is where PvP as a whole begins to get competitive, and thus rewards those players who put in the time and effort to learn the real game, learn the popular builds, learn their counter attacks and strategies and so on.
If you really want to get into the PVP side of things, I suggest you begin leading your own teams. Do not stick to one build that works for you, learn how to play all professions and mix things up. If you are going to be a team leader you are going to need to know how everyone else’s build works, not just your own. It is those players with the ability to lead who really go places in the game.
So you are a Rank 3 gladiator but you cannot find a Heroe’s Ascent group. Why?
Because Heroes’ Ascent is a whole new ball game. The first thing to do when starting out in Heroes’ Ascent is to realize that it has its own mechanics. It is not Team Arenas, it is certainly not Random Arenas and so your experience in those areas - while obviously a good thing in terms of learning the basics of PvP – pretty much means nothing in this situation. It is time to set aside your pride, your rank 3 gladiator title; your protector of Tyria title. You need to get into the mindset to learn. You aren't going to achieve a shiny emote straight away. It requires some dedication.
If you are new to Heroes’ Ascent, you have three options.
- You can join unranked groups.
- Attempt to join ranked groups.
- Form your own group.
The first thing I suggest you do is forget option 1. We all know unranked groups are a train wreck waiting to happen, let us not pretend otherwise. Sure there are some good players out there without a rank, but those are a minority. Being good at Guild Versus Guild / Team Arenas / Random Arenas as we discussed, does not make you good at Heroes’ Ascent and thus those are not the people you want to learn from. So how do we go about attempting options 2 and 3?
If you are trying to join an already ranked group or guild, here are some tips:
- Smooth Talk - You want to sound intelligent and well spoken. A lot of ranked groups do not actually care about a players rank; they limit themselves to ranked players in an attempt to avoid idiots.
- Do Not Lie - If a team asks what rank you are, tell them the truth. If you are intelligent and respectful they will help you out and tell you what you need to improve on.
- Learn how to promote yourself properly - First of all, ranked groups are used to playing with players who are capable of playing any role, they have most skills unlocked and will specialize to any role in the team if they have to. Keep it short and elegant. "Experienced Monk looking to gain practice with a ranked team" or similar. Second, ranked groups assume you have Ventrillo or Team Speak so do not advertise yourself as having them.
- Do not be afraid to ask for help - Responding to an ad with "I'm not rank 6 but I have a great deal of experience as an X" and asking if they could help you learn the maps is not a bad idea. Some people will be unwilling, but keep trying.
- Spend a lot of time in observer - You need to know what builds are popular right now and you need to have the skills unlocked to play them. You need the variations of those builds unlocked also, and you should not expect to stay in a ranked team if you do not have a skill they require.
- Do not spam players who ignore you - Some people who advertise for rank 6 + people or rank 9 + people want just that, with no exceptions to the rule. Sometimes when asking for rank 6 + players team leaders are whispered by ten or so unranked players asking for a shot. Expecting them to respond to every single person is a bit much.
Starting Your Own Heroes’ Ascent Group:
This has to be the best way around the rank requirements of Heroes’ Ascent, no one asks the group leaders rank, so as long as you are competent enough you can pretty much pick up players of any rank. However ranked players have enough experienced to spot a leader who does not know what he or she is doing from a mile away. Good teams are lead, they are not so much a big democracy, and if you are going to go down this route you need to do that leading.
You need to know the build you propose to run inside out, you need to know the skills on every characters bar, and you need to know what you plan to do on every map. While playing a copy cat build will aid you in finding players faster, the quality of those players will probably be lower. A lot of Rank 9 + players are no longer concerned about rank or gaining fame and are instead looking for builds that are innovative or fun to play. Not only that but you might actually learn something if you are not spamming the same skills over and over again.
Again, while leading a team be prepared to speak non stop on Ventrillo or Team Speak, as there is no hiding in the back when you take this job, no occasionally giving orders or such. It is your job to direct the team now, in its entirety. Tell everyone where and how to move, where to throw up wards, where to throw the damage, and so on. You have got to be confident to do this but it is potentially the fastest way to a rank and the fastest way of getting some really good players on your friend’s list.
So, how do you get to Heroes’ Ascent?
First you have to map travel to the Battle Isles (Great Temple of Balthazar) from Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, or Kamadan.
Second you need to enter the Random Arenas by talking to the Canthan Ferry Captain on the Isle of the Nameless
Third on the list is to fight in the Random Arenas and win 5 consecutive matches. This will "unlock" the Team Arenas for all characters of the same account.
Fourth thing will be to fight in the Team Arenas and win 5 matches (not necessarily consecutive). This will "unlock" Heroes' Ascent for all characters of the same account.
Finally, now that everything is unlocked this way, you can map travel to Heroes' Ascent any time.
The party size in the Ascent is 8. There are 4 henchmen to recruit; however, since a specific previous update, parties must have a minimum of six human players. The introduction of Nightfall allows players to form a team consisting partly of Heroes. If a player drops out at any time during play, from the next map on they will be replaced with a henchman (unless they drop during the countdown before loading the next map, in which case the team must play short a player on that map and will receive a henchman afterwards).
There are several different game types with their own objectives:
Annihilation or Priest Annihilation - Annihilation is one of the match types used in many PvP battles in various Arenas and Challenges. The winning objective is very simple: Kill all members of the opposing team(s), including NPCs if there are any. In some Annihilation matches, teams do have a Resurrection Shrine tended by a Priest. This is for the Priest Annihilation variation. The Priest will resurrect all dead party members every 2 minutes. To win, the opposing team must be dead and their Priest killed as well. The Priest cannot be resurrected.
Capture the Relic - Capture the Relic is the Guild Wars version of the capture the flag type of PvP game. Each team, on their own side of the map, has a Ghostly Hero (who will not move or follow players), a relic, and resurrection shrine. The goal of the game is to pick up the enemy's relic and take it back to your own Ghostly Hero to score points while preventing the enemy from doing the same. Players and Ghostly Heroes respawn every two minutes. Capture the relic maps have a ten minute time limit. The last team to capture a relic will have a star next to their score. There are four ways to win. You can capture three more relics than the enemy, have more captures when time runs out, have a star when time runs out and score is tied, or if the other team resigns or drops out.
King of the Hill - In King of the hill, also called altar battles matches two or three teams fight for control of the hill. The hill is a circular altar at the center of the map. The winning objective is to hold the center when time runs out after 4 minutes. To capture the altar, lead the Ghostly Hero there. He will use a skill called Claim Resource to capture the altar. The altar can not be captured while an enemy Ghostly hero that holds it is still alive. Matches last 4:00. To win, the Ghostly Hero doesn't need to be alive when time runs out. It is enough to have been the last team to capture the altar. Teams can also win early by killing every enemy on the map (including Ghostly Heroes and Priests). The team that holds the center gets a Morale Boost of 10% after holding for 2 minutes. Furthermore, all its dead team members (and Ghostly Hero, if also dead) get resurrected at the altar at 2:00. The Ghostly Hero cannot be resurrected by normal spells, but he will be brought back to life by the Priest tending the Resurrection shrine or by the Resurrection orb.
Capture Points - Capture Points consists of several points that can be captured on the map. The capturing method is the same as Alliance Battles, in that you must have more of your own than there are of the enemy to capture the point. When capturing shrines, remember that the Ghostly Hero counts as four players so a common strategy is send one player off the with him to expedite capping.
Relic Offerings - In this type of match, the team's goal is to get as many of their own relics to the center platform as possible. This is best done with two people as runners, spaced exactly evenly, as the relic instantly respawns the minute it is taken to the platform. It is possible to cause a player to "block" the relic.
Upon entering the mission, a team is always placed in the first map, an Annihilation match against NPC Zaishen. Depending on how fast a team beats the Zaishen, they will receive a certain percentage morale boost. See Heroes' Ascent (Tournament Map) for details.
After this, teams progress forward through the maps as they win. Depending on how many other teams are playing in the tournament and their positions in the map list, a team may skip forward over any number of maps. It is common that a team will not traverse through the full list of maps, even if they reach the Hall of Heroes. However, it is impossible to skip right to Hall of Heroes after beating the Zaishen. The first map Underworld, is always played. If you win a match in the Hall of Heroes, your team will play again in the Hall as the blue team.
When a team loses, they are returned to the Heroes' Ascent staging area and may immediately enter agian if they desire.
Maps
There are several Heroes’ Ascent maps as follows:
1. Heroes' Ascent (PvE - 1 team)
2. The Underworld (annihilation - 2 teams)
3. Fetid River (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
4. Burial Mounds (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
5. Unholy Temples (capture the relic - 2 teams)
6. Forgotten Shrines (control point - 2 teams)
7. Golden Gates (priest annihilation - 2 teams)
8. Courtyard (king of the hill - 2-3 teams)
9. Antechamber (control point - 2 teams)
10. The Vault (waiting area for the Hall of Heroes - 1 team)
11. The Hall of Heroes (king of the hill, capture points, or relic run - 2-3 teams)
HEROES' ASCENT
This is the first match of the Global Tournament. To proceed to the actual PvP tournament, the party first has to defeat a group of Zaishen:
- Zaishen Monks (Word of Healing, Healing Touch, Protective Spirit, Reversal of Fortune, Divine Intervention)
- Zaishen Mesmers (Diversion, Backfire, Clumsiness, Ineptitude, Energy Tap)
- Zaishen Warriors (Healing Signet, Power Attack, Skull Crack, Griffon's Sweep, "To the Limit!", Resurrection Signet)
- Zaishen Rangers (Dust Trap, Dual Shot, Power Shot, Kindle Arrows, Resurrection Signet, Healing Spring)
- Zaishen Necromancers (Life Transfer, Rend Enchantments, Vampiric Gaze, Plague Touch, Putrid Explosion)
- Zaishen Elementalists (Ward Against Harm, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Frozen Burst, Ward Against Melee, Obsidian Flame, Maelstrom)
The group consists of a number of Zaishen. The Monks and Elementlist will always appear. The others are a mix with a casters in front of the monks.
While fighting the Zaishen, the party has a Ghostly Hero. The hero will stay out of the way though and thus is not involved in the battle.
Defeating the Zaishen fast enough gives the Party a Morale Boost:
- Under 30 seconds: 10%
- Under 60 seconds: 8%
- Under 80 seconds: 6%
- Under 100 seconds: 4%
- Under 120 seconds: 2%
The timer does not start right away, giving teams time to organize, set up enchantments, or set up spirits if they want. It will start when any player moves forward far enough. The line that a player must cross to start the timer is around where the stone platform first merges into the ground, the "eye". This means that if a player walks to the tip of the projection at the center of the platform, the timer will start. Teams will usually tell people when to go. If you are in Heroes Ascent it is a good idea to ask your team first.
Duly note that a player with a longbow or flatbow can productively attack the nearest Zaishen from the eye without starting the timer. This will allow players with pets to send them in first and to charge adrenaline without starting the timer.
THE UNDERWORLD
The Underworld is normally the first regular PvP map in the Global Tournament. It is a simple annihilation map with 2 teams and no special features. The layout consists of each party's starting area (and starting location for their Ghostly Hero), and a set of bridges which lead from the group to a central area, and then off to an overlooking side plateau.
In the Underworld, each team has a Ghostly Hero which is for Morale Boost purposes only.
FETID RIVER
This map is relatively small and consists of two bridges on either end. Each bridge ends in a dead end however so players must cross a small river running across the map to reach the enemies' Resurrection Shrine and Priest.
Players resurrect every two minutes at their resurrection shrine. You may kill the enemy Priest to disable his resurrection shrine. You may also kill an enemy Ghostly Hero to receive a morale boost.
BURIAL MOUNDS
Burial Mounds is an annihilation map originally designed for 6 teams, but after its redesign, only 2 teams meet on this map.
Each team has a Ghostly Hero and a Resurrection Shrine that is tended by a Priest. The Ghostly Hero on this map is used only for Morale Boost purposes. There is also an Obelisk flag stand which will strike foes of the team who claims it with Obelisk Lightning. You may kill the enemy Priest to disable his resurrection shrine. You may also kill an enemy Ghostly Hero to receive a morale boost. You can additionally claim Obelisks using your flag.
UNHOLY TEMPLES
The Unholy Temples are normally the fourth PvP map in the Global Tournament. It is a "Capture the Relic" map with 2 teams. To win this map, a team must capture the Relic at least one more time than the opposing team before the time runs out after 10 minutes. To capture the relic, you simple pick up the Relic at the other teams starting place and hand it to your Ghostly Hero. The map can also be won early by handing in three more Relics than the opposing team has. The Ghostly Hero will not follow you like in other match types, but he will attack enemies close to his temple and can be killed. Ghostly Hero will be resurrected automatically every even numbered 2 minutes. The last team to hand in a relic has a star displayed near its score. In the event of a tie, the team with the star wins the map.
FORGOTTEN SHRINES
This map consists of five Capture Points in the shape of an 'A' throughout the map. Two opposing teams begin at the base of the 'A' and move upward to the top most point. Players along with the Ghostly Hero will resurrect at the two shrines closest to the spawn points. Like all Capture Points maps in the Heroes’ Ascent Global Tournament, the Ghostly Hero counts as four players when capturing a shrine.
Every 30 seconds you gain one point for each capture point you are holding. When time runs out, the team with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, whichever team scored the last kill wins. If you kill an enemy Ghostly Hero you get a morale boost. When a team scores 20 more points than its opponent, the game ends and that team wins.
GOLDEN GATES
Golden Gates is a death match map with 2 teams. Each team has a Ghostly Hero and a Resurrection Shrine tended by a Priest. At the beginning of the match, most opposing teams engage in what is frequently referred to as a "Priest swap" where they ignore each other until they have killed the opposing Priest.
THE COURTYARD
The Courtyard is a "King of the Hill" map with 3 teams, though in rare cases only 2. Teams start on three opposing sides of the map. There is an altar in the center of the map. The team that has more points when the timer runs out wins. It is simple enough.
To claim the center, place your Ghostly Hero on the altar and allow him to use Claim Resource. The Gates can be opened and closed by a lever on the center side. The team holding the center gets a point every 30 seconds. Each team, along with their Priest, if dead, will resurrect in two minutes at the center if their team is holding it. Otherwise, they will resurrect at their resurrection shrine provided that their priest is still alive. The three sides are not actually identical; yellow has a slightly longer route to the centre. Teams jumping from lower steps of the Heroes' Ascent often spawn on the yellow side for some reason.
ANTECHAMBER
This map Consists of five Capture Points lined up along the center of the map with gates around the midpoint Capture Point. Dead players and the Ghostly Hero respawn at the bottom most capture points. Each team may use a lever left of their second shrine in order to more directly access the center shrine.
THE VAULT
The Vault is a waiting hall where teams who successfully made it through all other qualifying maps of the Global Tournament wait to advance to the Hall of Heroes, the final battle. There is no opposing team and nothing to do in The Vault. However, you can get Death Penalty on this map.
THE HALL OF HEROES
This is the final of the Heroes' Ascent tournament in Guild Wars, where the best teams fight for the treasures that are waiting for the finally victorious heroes.
The Hall of Heroes is a king of the hill, Capture Points, or Murder Ball (randomly chosen) map for 2 - 3 teams that lasts eight minutes. The defending team that last won the Hall of Heroes starts in the middle next to the altar. Up to two more attacking teams start in two separate halls.
If four or more attacking teams reach the Hall of Heroes at the same time, they first join a waiting room called The Vault, as seen above.
In the Hall of Heroes, each team has a Ghostly Hero and a Resurrection Shrine. Each team gets resurrected every minute and there is no death penalty. The team holding the Altar also gains a Morale Boost every two minutes.
Winners of the Hall of Heroes can get a drop of high quality loot or one of two Celestial Sigils from the Chest that spawns after the battle has finished. The chest is also the limited source of some weapons and the miniature Ghostly Hero.
A party winning the Hall of Heroes more than a few times continues to gain more Fame. After a party has won the Hall of Heroes, the name of the party leader or the name of the Guild the majority of party members belongs to is displayed in green text to all players of Guild Wars announcing their victory.
What will winning do for you?
As mentioned, a team that wins in the Hall gets a Zaishen Key and a random drop of high class loot consisting of Celestial Sigils, Flames of Balthazar, a Mini Ghostly Hero, and gold items. You can also earn the hero title by earning rank through fame. For winning any battle (PvP) in the Heroes Ascent you gain faction and fame points. Later maps in the tournament provide more faction for wins than the earlier ones and bonus faction is awarded for a flawless victory. The amount of fame is based on the number of consecutive wins achieved and the amount of faction on the map and whether your win was faultless or not.
Consecutive Wins : Fame Earned for that Win
1 = 1
2 = 2
3 = 3
4 = 4
5 = 6
6 = 8
7 = 12
8 = 16
9 = 20
10 = 24
11 = 28
12 = 32
13 = 36
14 + = 40
In other words, if you choose to do the math like this, you can see how much fame you will earn for consecutive wins.
For one win in a row, you get 1.
For two in a row, you get 3.
For three in a row, you get 6.
For four in a row, you get 10.
For five in a row, you get 16.
For six in a row, you get 24.
For seven in a row, you get 36.
For eight in a row, you get 52.
For nine in a row, you get 72.
For ten in a row, you get 96.
For eleven in a row, you get 124.
For twelve in a row, you get 156.
For thirteen in a row, you get 192.
For fourteen or more in a row, you get 192 + 40 x times how many additional wins.
Fame, and what it is used for
Well you see, Rank is gained through fame and describes the success in the Heroes' Ascent tournament. It is communal between all characters on the same account. When a certain amount of fame points are attained a new rank is granted to the player as well. The amount of fame points needed for each rank is listed in the following table. When rank 3 and above is reached a new emote is unlocked every 3 ranks which reflects the current rank. This makes it possible to show other players the rank that you have. Another way of showing the rank is to go in the Hero screen into the Title tab, and check for the Title you want to be displayed. The "Title" option is available for display when you have achieved rank 3 or higher.
The emotes are shown using the commands /fame and /rank.
Rank - Fame - Emote – Title
1 - 25 - None - Hero
2 - 75 - None - Fierce Hero
3 - 180 - Deer 1 - Mighty Hero
4 - 360 - Deer 1 - Deadly Hero
5 - 600 - Deer 1 - Terrifying Hero
6 - 1,000 - Wolf - Conquering Hero
7 - 1,680 - Wolf - Subjugating Hero
8 - 2,800 - Wolf - Vanquishing Hero
9 - 4,665 - Tiger 2 - Renowned Hero
10 - 7,750 - Tiger 2 - Illustrious Hero
11 - 12,960 - Tiger 2 - Eminent Hero
12 - 21,600 - Phoenix - King's Hero
13 - 36,000 - Phoenix - Emperor's Hero
14 - 60,000 - Phoenix - Balthazar's Hero
15 - 100,000 - Unknown - Legendary Hero
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