I completed the 25th and final mission in Guild Wars a few days ago. This marks the end of the story for the first chapter of Guild Wars and I’ll have to wait for the 2006 expansion to see who’ll make life in Tyria miserable next.
I might eventually create another character — perhaps a Monk or a Warrior/Necromancer to sample a different combat experience — but there’s still quite a bit left to do with my first character. There are still skills to acquire, mission bonuses to complete and a couple of towns and outposts to visit.
There’s also the PvP aspect of the game but I don’t expect I’ll spend a lot of time on that. My few attempts in the Arena at Droknar’s Forge were, shall we say, less than successful. It’s just too fast and frenetic for me and besides, playing in a typically uncoordinated PUG is a recipe for frequent defeat.
Tick, tick, tick, tick … BOOM
The main draw for me right now is exploring the tactical skillset of a Necromancer in PvE. There’s quite a varied experience to sample simply from one profession, and switching skills and attributes often makes a huge difference.
To cite just one example, I was getting (as the kids say) “pwn’d” by the Stone Summit and Avicara Tengu patrols while I was attempting to defeat Nhy Darkclaw in Mineral Springs. (I was keen on acquiring Well of Power from the Avicara Necromancer boss.) I had twice tried it with PUGs but the entire group didn’t even manage to survive five minutes outside the Granite Citadel.
I then went with henchmen but I still found the bow-wielding Avicara Fierce in Mineral Springs lethal in large numbers and the large Stone Summit patrols in Talus Chute were giving me DP as well.
(DP in Guild Wars isn’t the same thing as DP in porn but when you get down to it, it’s effectively the same thing since getting a huge DP in Guild Wars means you are quite screwed.)
After a few failed attempts, I switched skills and went with a minion bomber build based on Animate Bone Minions, Death Nova and Taste of Death. Once a corpse presented itself during combat, I’d raise two Bone Minions and as soon as they engaged the nearest enemy, I’d cast Death Nova and Taste of Death on them in quick succession.
In one fell swoop, the opponent would be seriously hurt and poisoned while I received a major infusion of health and a boost of energy thanks to Soul Reaping.
Thanks to this build, I BOOMBOOMBOOM’d through Mineral Springs with such ease that only two of the NPC henchmen had died by the end of my quest.
