ArenaNet revealed details on Guild Wars 2’s Hall of Monuments just before this year’s New York ComicCon kicked off and needless to say both fans of the original Guild Wars and the upcoming Guild Wars 2 were stirred into a bit of a frenzy discussing the various attainable rewards and the best ways to get them.
Me? I freaked out. You see, I’m a bit obsessive compulsive. I’m not an achievement-whore, but when I play most games I really try to squeeze every (tangible) drop out of them whether it be MMOs or single player RPGs. My first play-through of Dragon Age: Origins clocked in at 90 hours and earning the “Easily Sidetracked” achievement (75% of all side quests complete) had me laughing pretty good. Easily sidetracked is a serious understatement for me in most games. A more recent example would be the way I played Fallout: New Vegas; I ended up exploring every single landmark and doing every single side activity I could find before I even set foot in the Strip. Not getting into spoilers, but the ending setup in the game involves you accomplishing certain tasks, all of which I’d already completed, allowing me to inform my quest giver that I’d already completed several series of tasks all in the same conversation I was given them.
I’m pretty nuts that way, I suppose.
It should be pretty obvious by now that I’d be pursuing the coveted 30/50 Hall of Monuments points for Guild Wars 2 in order to unlock all the neat rewards, but there’s one problem: I’m only at 3/50. These points being the token three points you get for simply linking your Guild Wars account to Guild Wars 2.
While I am really stoked for Guild Wars 2, my experiences with the original game have been scattershot to say the least. I first played the game in beta and I remember my eyes being seared by the super intense bloom the game had (exacerbated by the fact I started on the white sands of a beach) and truth be told this (along with my inability to jump and the invisible walls I encountered) was enough to turn me away from the game for some time. Over the past few years I’ve checked out the game in small doses but I’ve never really committed to it.
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This would all soon change; I must have my shinies in Guild Wars 2. To that end, I went ahead and conscripted my friends (as well as my girlfriend) to join me in Guild Wars to pursue the 30/50 goal together. Coming back to the game after several years of not really caring for it, I found it actually be a lot more fun than I’d originally given it credit for. I created a Ranger in the Prophecies campaign despite the fact that most players will tell you it’s probably quicker to go through Factions or Nightfall first (Nightfall for the Heroes and Factions for the better XP), but I wanted to take in the storyline and so off we went. My “OCD” kicked in immediately and I ended up spending several days just playing in Pre-Searing Ascalon doing all the side quests I could find and going through the tedious task of farming Red Iris flowers in order to complete my Pre-Searing Ranger armor set. Ugh! I do look damn cool, though.
I’m still only level 10 and just out of Pre-Searing on my Ranger, no doubt the result of being distracted by the mountain of games that have come out as part of the Fall rush. I’ll be jumping back in real soon, but I wanted to go ahead and share my game plan for hitting 30/50 with all of you today.
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I’m no expert on the original Guild Wars, but this build came as the result of discussing the easiest ways to hit 30/50 with a friend of mine who has been playing the original game for several years now. It may very well not be the best or easiest way to hit 30/50, but it looks pretty solid to me.
With that said, and this is one of the main reasons I’ve penned this column this week, I’d like to hear your ideas for the best ways to hit 30/50. Share and discuss your builds in the comments below!
