Guild Wars Arena Play 101

Due to the recent fun ladder event, you might want to get a piece of the action from the arenas in Guild Wars. Wait. You don’t know what the arena is? Highly improbable though, for experienced Guild Wars players. Well, just in case there are amateur players here, here’s a quick lowdown for you.

Arenas are where you go for some PvP (Player vs. Player) action. Basically, you just kill other people here. Your first kill will get you 20 Faction points for Balthazar. However, succeeding kills will not grant you further Faction points. Unless…

• your team wins the match (which is equal to 25 Faction points)
• nobody dies from your team (another 25)
• you win consecutively (five victories are equal to 25 Balthazar faction points, while ten straight wins will give you a “Gladiator point.” 25 Gladiator points will make you a “gladiator,” which you could flaunt all over Tyria in all your glory).

Guild Wars Arena 101 continues after the jump!

Due to the recent fun ladder event, you might want to get a piece of the action from the arenas in Guild Wars. Wait. You don’t know what the arena is? Highly improbable though, for experienced Guild Wars players. Well, just in case there are amateur players here, here’s a quick lowdown for you.

Arenas are where you go for some PvP (Player vs. Player) action. Basically, you just kill other people here. Your first kill will get you 20 Faction points for Balthazar. However, succeeding kills will not grant you further Faction points. Unless…

• your team wins the match (which is equal to 25 Faction points)
• nobody dies from your team (another 25)
• you win consecutively (five victories are equal to 25 Balthazar faction points, while ten straight wins will give you a “Gladiator point.” 25 Gladiator points will make you a “gladiator,” which you could flaunt all over Tyria in all your glory).

Now, there are two kinds of arenas: Random Arenas and Team Arenas. In the first one, you will be grouped randomly with four other people. If you win straight wins, you will be automatically transported to the Team Arena, which will be discussed shortly later. You might want to use good, old smashing and bashing fun, but having a strategy helps a lot, too. Difficulties might arise with each terrain, so you might want to take note of the geography:

• Fort Koga – Read: deathmatch. Some players like to hide on the corner bushes so you might want to check those out. 
• Shiverpeak Arena – The ice could be somewhat a drag, as pausing will make you 70% for five seconds. But, cheer up, you can run on the ice without penalty as long as you do not start and stop on the river. 
• D’Alessio Arena – The poisonous water may give you a health degeneration, so you might want to take note of that. 
• Ascalon Arena – Tarpits??? Whee!!! Slower movement speed if you’re on the tarpit? Boo! 
• Seabed Arena –  A nifty priest is provided here for your team. But be cautious of the spiked corals: they deal 25 damage to anyone who moves through them.
• Brawler’s Pit – Here, each team is given one flag at the start of the game, while the flag stand sits nicely on the middle of the map. To get it, pick up the flag, run to the middle of the map and click the flag stand. Statues along the wall then will shoot fireballs at all enemies in the map.
• Heroes’ Crypt – Pretty much like the Brawler’s Pit, except there’s no flag stand to capture and the flags are instead used to capture the Obelisk at the center of the map. If you get the Obelisk first, it will fire regularly at foes within its range.
• Petrified Arena – Giant Mushroom Stone Spores give you 50% chance to miss attacks, spells will take twice as long to cast and will have 50% chance of being interrupted. However, if you get to the enchanted water at the lower half of the arena, your enchantments will last 20% longer.
• Shing Jae Arena – Walking along Miasma patches will give you 10% health degeneration. But you might want to spread the “disease” by keeping in close contact with other players (evil wink).
• The Crag – Here, you have to get as many wins as you can in 3 minutes. If the scores are tied between two teams, Sudden death will come into play. Oh yeah, walking on the lava will set you on fire, too.

Team Arenas, on the other hand, are similar to random arenas except that you have the freedom to choose your own team members. Team Arenas also have the maps listed above, plus another one, the Deldrimor Arena, where you also have your own priest to resurrect dead teammates so long as he’s alive.

Remember, the Resurrection signet is invaluable in every arena, so you might want to include it in your skills. Moreover, choose your skills wisely. Skills that will give you the ability to heal yourself are quite helpful. For a bit of organization, show your allies which player you are targetting by pressing Ctrl+space. Be wary of traps or else your enemy might get to you first. And our most important advice: have fun!

Via MMORPG.com