Supply and Demand
Did you know that the prices of dye and crafting materials is directly dependant on how players influence the economy? The more of an item you sell to NPC traders, the more they have in stock, the lower the price becomes. Likewise, items that rarely get sold to NPCs become more expensive. This is why black dye, for example, is continually getting more expensive, hardly anyone sells it to the dye trader. You can help the economy by selling dyes that only bring 10 gold to a merchant instead of the dye trader. |
Easy starting money
To get a good start into Chapter 1, gather as many Skale Fins in the Prelude as possible. Those salvage into scales, and scales are a rare commodity in Old Ascalon, and therefore worth a lot of money. You can sell them to the materials trader, or if you have the patience, sell them to other player for even more money. Selling to other players will also keep the materials trader from lowering the price of scales so that others may use this trick in the future |
| Familiar HenchmenReyna, Alesia, Orion (remember him? you had to find him for his sister, Sandre Elek), and Stefan have become your standard NPCs, which BETAtesters are familiar with. As you progress, there will be more henchmen types, among them some old friends. Little Thom, for example, is the available Brawler Henchman starting in Yak's Bend, and the types Cultist and Enchanter can also be taken along on your adventures. Rumor has it that later in the game, NPCs like Tydus and Aziure will take the mercenary path and offer their services as well |
Gods of Ascalon
The game doesn't touch much on religion in the world, apart from the religious order the White Mantle in Chapter 1.5 and a bit of attention in the Temple of the Ages, but even then the game is unclear on the definition of beliefs or deities. The only things we have to go by are statues and a few meager mentionings from NPCs. I've done my best to put together an analysis of the religions of Ascalon.
Dwayna
Dwayna seems to be the goddess of healing and protection, all those aspects that are generally viewed as "white magic", and can therefore be closest associated with the monk profession. She appears as a winged goddess, giving her an angelic aura. Being a sort of "monk" goddess, it seems logical that she is also a sort of goddess of holiness and the natural order (explaining the devastating effects of holy magic on unnatural beings such as undead). This would also make her a likely revered deity to many rangers as well. Of course being a goddess of air as equally as being a goddess of life, elementalists who tend towards air magic may be drawn to her.
Balthazar
Balthazar's aspect is clearly defined as a god of war and warriors. He appears as a massive figure in armor holding a giant sword, and is usually engulfed in fire. Legends tell of his appearances on the fields of war to lead the soldiers of Ascalon to victory. Elementalists who tend towards fire magic may also revere Balthazar, and monks call upon Balthazar to invoke smiting prayers.
Lyssa
Lyssa is a kind goddess of illusion, beauty, harmony, and balance. Mesmers will be drawn to revere Lyssa most of all, and of all gods she seems to have the closest affinities with magic, which would make her attractive to many elementalists as well
Melandru
The mother of earth and nature. Melandru is a very druidic goddess, among her affinities lie all plant and animal life. Above all, rangers will be drawn to her, but earth elementalists and monks may easily find reverence in her too
Grenth
Above all Grenth is the god of the undead, and only his followers have the powers to create and control such creatures. You could say necromancers are, in some way, his priesthood. He is a god of vengeance and anger who exists in a kind of opposition to gods such as Lyssa, Melandru, and Dwayna. On another aspect, he is the god of cold and ice, and is therefore a very likely deity to be revered by water elementalists |
Cons, Scams, and Urban Legends
- Glowing/Shiney Dye
- Rumor has that there are glowing dyes out there to make your armor glow visibly. Some of the methods to achieve this special mixture include mixing 3 dyes of the same color, or using certain color dyes in a certain order. Here and now is the final confirmation: Glowing Dyes Are A Myth. Don't waste your valuable gold and dyes on trying to make them or on other players claiming to sell them.
- Thanks to Valdir Steel for helping me solve that little mystery
- Trading Real Money For Ingame Items or Gold
- I sincerely hope you accredit yourself with enough rudimentary intelligence to NEVER NEVER EVER give someone real money in exchange for items or gold. For one thing you cannot in any way enforce them to hold up their end of the bargain. It is also a serious violation of both the EULA and Rules of Conduct, and BOTH participants of the trade, not just the one selling ingame materials for money, will be dealt with for the offense. You can read more on this subject in our forum here
- Armor for Sale!
- Not everyone knows it: armor is non-transferable. That means the armor of one player can NEVER be worn by another player, not even if the other player has the exact same name (ie was deleted and remade). It just isn't possible. When you get a piece of armor it is automatically customized to you, and only you. Hence, the only way to get armor upgraded is to get it done yourself. Don't ask other people to give you armor, and don't fall for players who want to sell you their old armor
- Discount Quest Items
- With exceptions that exists primarily in the Prelude, quest items are non-transferable. Sure, you can buy them from other players, but in most cases they won't do you any good. In order to actually be able to use a quest item, you must update your quest log by collecting the quest item yourself in the proper way. For those items that ARE transferable, such as Althea's Ashes, to settle the heated debates raging across Piken Square: Trading transferable quest items is perfectly legit. While the roleplayer in me cringes at this total disregard of plot continuity, according to Arenanet, this practice is perfectly alright. Good advice nonetheless, if you aren't absolutely sure the item is transferable, don't risk being scammed. Show some self-esteem and go do the quest yourself
- Mundane Items with Magical Powers
- A practice to watch out for is players who hoard newly added items to the game to sell them to newcomers, claiming they have powers and benefits. I've seen Dwarven Ale, for example, being sold in Ascalon City as a high-level armor and damage upgrade
- Sigils Dirt Cheap
- There are two types of sigils in the game. A Celestial Sigil, which you can use to buy a guild hall, and a collectible item called Family Sigil. Some scammers have been making use of the name similarity by selling "Sigils" for up to 10 platinum. Players eager for a good deal on a guild hall are being sold family sigils, which are worth next to nothing. Always be wary of what you are paying for, never accept without mousing over the item first to see what you are being offered
- Some General Guidelines to Protect Yourself
- Always buy in towns or outposts, don't party with people and follow them outside to trade items there. When buying items from another player, ALWAYS mouse over the item you are buying in the trade window before clicking accept. Do this to read the item description, and if the description does not include something the seller claims it does, then you are being lied to. Cancel the trade and walk away. Last but not least, NEVER buy quest items
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A History of Groups and Parties
The term "Party" for a band of adventurers or heroes in an RPG setting originates in 1972 in the game Dungeons and Dragons, the grandpappy of all RPGs, be they tabletop or online environments. In following RPGs that appeared, "Party" remained the standard definition. It wasn't until not so long ago that the computergame series Everquest, in its attempt to seperate itself from the norm, decided to do away with the default term and just use the plain and simple term "Group". In this environment the LFG feature originated. Players could activate LFG mode to signify that they are looking for a group. Though other games like GuildWars continue to use the original term "Party", the abbreviation LFG has become very widespread and can be seen used often, although technically LFP would be correct. "Party" is still the term used by "hardcore" or "die-hard" roleplayers, and predictably always will be |
The Shape of The Land (SPOILER)
Some may not have noticed that the landscape of Ascalon in Chapter 1 is almost identical to the Prelude? Lakeside County becomes old Ascalon, and now include the ruins of Ascalon City. Remember the lake in Ascalon City? The new Ascalon City is now down in that very dried-up lake. That huge rock outcropping west of the city gates, if you look closely, is the Actor's Stage, or what's left of it. Ashford Abbey becomes Sardelac Sanitarium, the village of Ashford is nothing but a meteor surrounded by burning rubble (though you can still make out the prized warthogs' pen, and the dried-up waterfalls reveal a cave beneath. Green Hills county is now blocked to the south and the Baradin Estate becomes unreachable (the way through the Catacombs is also impassable, as the Catacombs have collapsed) and the gate in the north wall that was once blocked by natrual rock on overgrowth is now wide open. You'll also notice familiarities in regent valley, like the destroyed Melandru's statue |
| Old Friends (SPOILER)Many of the people you meet in the Prelude also appear in following chapters. Prince Rurik, of course, is a constant figure up until the end of Chapter 1, but Ambassador Zain is already a forshadow of the enemy you will be faced with in Chapter 2, the White Mantle. The elementalist trainer Ralena Stormbringer has become deathly ill and is in the care of mesmer trainer Vassar. Little Thom (you may have brought him a bearskin cloak) has deserted and is now an outsider. Farrah Cappo has taken a personal offense to this and is now on the lookout for him. Necromancer trainer Oberan the Reviled leaves the order and begins amassing a kingdom of the dead, and mesmer trainer Lady Althea, who is also Duke Barradin's daughter and Prince Rurik's betrothed, has been burned alive by the Charr and now haunts the place of her death in the Diessa Lowlands. Monks may remember helping Paulus through the poison waters in the catacombs. He should have learned not to go off alone, you'll find him lying dead outside Fort Ranik. |
| The Catacombs map on this site took me 6 hours and 112 screenshots to make. |
Tips, Tricks, Trivia
The Wishing Well
The Chronicler
The Market (Item Database)
Getting To Know Your Henchmen
