Green

Guild Wars Factions recently concluded another one of its special weekends. I suppose these events are meant to maintain player interest before ArenaNet switches its focus to the next campaign, Nightfall.

Last weekend was Green Drop Weekend during which bosses in Cantha were thrice as likely to drop green items (basically items with desirable attributes) when killed.

This sounds delightful until you discover just how difficult it is to get green items in the first place. As one wag put it, three times 0.01% is still only 0.03%.

Players coveting green items needed to grind for them and were often left frustrated as bosses would drop everything but green. Those put off by the effort necessary to obtain the items probably resigned themselves to buying green items if they wanted them.

The problem is green items usually go for five digit amounts.

Dosh-eaters

Earning money is probably the toughest aspect of Guild Wars for me. There are various money sinks in the game (for instance, armour, weapon crafting and dyes) but the main reason my characters are frequently broke is skills cost money. Characters are given some basic skills at the outset but additional skills cost money. If you enjoy experimenting with different skills and builds (as I do), you will quickly find yourself running out of gold.

There are ways of making filthy amounts of money but these require investments of time and patience. I, for one, do not enjoy standing around Lion’s Arch or Kaineng Center announcing my wares in the hopes that someone will bite.

This would be less of a problem if merchants paid out roughly the same amount another player would but they don’t. I don’t understand why runes and dyes are priced dynamically according to supply and demand while weapons and other items aren’t.

I was heartened when ArenaNet announced it was working on an auction house to simplify player-to-player trade but there hasn’t been any mention of the feature for the past few months. I really hope it hasn’t been scratched off the live team’s to-do list.

Ghial’s gone wild

Although bosses are found throughout Cantha, the place to be during the weekend was Xaquang Skyway, home of a Necromancer boss called Ghial the Bone Dancer. Ghial’s green item, Ghial’s Staff, is considered the best in-game item for a Necromancer running the minion master build.

Ghial’s Staff is arguably the most desired green item at the moment because the minion master is now a very common PvE build. This wasn’t always the case. When I first started playing over a year ago, minion masters and blood necros weren’t part of the holy trinity of Warrior-Healer-Nuker and were usually overlooked when PUGs were formed.

It all changed when ArenaNet changed AI behaviour so that foes scattered when taking AoE damage. This meant the nuker was less devastating in PvE and players soon looked for alternatives. That was how the minion master rose to prominence in PvE.

A minion master may not be essential for PvE groups but one will make things much, much easier for the rest of the group. PUGs seeking Master’s Rewards for Factions missions almost always leave a spot open for a minion master since a level 26 Flesh Golem backed up by nine level 18 Bone Fiends will help the group steamroll over every mob quickly. Aside from pure damage, the minions also serve as an undead wall to shield vulnerable casters in the group from opposing warriors.

It should be mentioned you don’t need green items like Ghial’s Staff to beat the game. My minion master managed to beat Prophecies and Factions equipped with a modded collector staff. But Ghial’s Staff does offer an advantage.

By the end of the weekend, I managed to get two Ghial’s staves and a Tarnen’s Shield. It’s a poor haul compared to some but I’m satisfied with it. One Ghial’s Staff is now in my Necro’s possession while the other greens will be sold off to fund my new Nightfall characters.