How to Win at Missions in Guild Wars

Missions are a series of main battles as you go through the campaign. They reveal key elements to the story and get harder the further you travel. They tend to be harder than quests and sometimes take some planning and tactics to complete. There are four different types of missions.

• Cooperative Missions get you through the story line.
• Competitive Missions are Luxon and Kurzick teams battling it out.
• Challenge Missions are played for faction points (Balthazar, Imperial, Luxon and Kurzick).
• Elite Missions are played for their specialized drops and Honor statues that go into your Hall Of Monuments. They are the hardest missions of all and require some planning ahead.

Whichever mission you're on, this guide will give you some ideas and tips on how to get you and your team through it.

Guild Wars Wiki and Guild Wars Wikia are two fantastic resources to find out what to expect from the mission you're about to do. The pages are very similar in information, but sometimes one will have tips that the other doesn't, so it's best to look them both up.

It's good to know what you're up against. Find out what foes there are in the area. What class are they, what kind of skills they use and you can tailor your build on that. Knowing who's out there and what they are also indicates who you should be bringing with you. You'll know what classes and skills work best against the enemy.

If you're on a time-based mission, take a look at the maps and walkthroughs. Factions and Nightfall's cooperative missions expect you to finish within a certain time to get the master's reward. This gets you the highest reward of XP, Gold and Skill points. Completing all of the Canthan and Elona missions with Master's reward gets you the Protector title of said campaign.

Bring the appropriate skills for this mission. This too goes along with looking up who your foes are and what skills they use. If you're a Minion Master and in a place where there's not many fleshy corpses to exploit, you won't find yourself to be much help to the team, so prepare yourself accordingly. The same goes for the heroes, henchies or other players you bring along with you. Bring a good mix of classes. You don't want a team of 8 with 6 healers who can't fight, or 6 minion masters fighting over corpses.

Sometimes, the quests you have active can change the foes in the area. It could create more trouble than you need, making more foes for you in a place that is already difficult enough. Finish or abandon quests that bring on more foes.

Depending on what campaign you're in, have the right track title selected for an extra buff.

These are The Deldrimore rank, which gives "Stout Hearted" When you use skills against a destroyer, it takes more damage than usual and you gain health. Ebon Vanguard gives "Rebel Yell" which gives you armour against the Charr, it gives adrenaline when you hit a Charr, and you receive +2 energy when a Charr dies. Lightbringer rank gives "Lightbringer" which lets you deal more damage, and a damage reduction from Abaddon and his servants. Deldrimor gives you "Heart of the Norn" which is a nice heath boost in Norn territory. Asuran is "Edification" that gives you an energy boost in any Asuran territory. None of these are effective in Prophecies, and it depends on which mission you may be doing, but this is something to consider having up, since every little bit counts.

If after checking through all of these tips, you still find yourself having trouble completing a certain mission, then it's time to turn to buffer ups. The better ones that work on the entire team (even henchies and heroes) are:

• "Essence of Celerity" which give members 20% faster movement and attack speeds, and to reduce their skill activation and recharge times by 20% for the next 30 minutes.

• "Armor of Salvation" gives members immunity to 50% of critical hits, +10 armor, +1 Health regeneration, and damage reduction of 5 for the next 30 minutes.

• "The Grail of Might" grants your party members +100 maximum health, +10 maximum energy, and +1 to all of their attributes for 30 minutes. "The Powerstone of Courage" removes all Death Penalty from your party. Your entire party then receives a 10% Morale Boost. Other items that fix death penalty are Elixir of Valor, Four-Leaf Clovers, Honeycombs and Rainbow Candy Canes. These all work on the entire party. Peppermint Candy Canes, Pumpkin Cookies, Refined Jelly, Shining Blade Rations and Wintergreen Candy Canes also fix Death Penalty, however they only affect the player consuming them.

Players use some of these things together as something you call a consumable set, or a "Conset". This is a combination of an Essence of Celerity, an Armor of Salvation, and a Grail of Might. These are used especially in Elite Missions. After consuming these three items, your entire party will have:

+1 to all attributes

+100 maximum Health

+10 maximum Energy

+10 armor

+1 Health regeneration

50% immunity to critical hits

Damage reduction of 5

20% faster movement and attack speeds

20% reduction in skill activation and recharge times

• "Resurrection Scrolls" are handy if your entire party dies except for you or another player. It resurrects all dead party members within earshot at 25% Health and Energy.