Introduction
Player Vs. Player in Guild Wars 2 is an exciting game-type that pits you against other players from across the world in the ultimate test of skill. Whether you’re looking for casual skull-cracking or competitive domination – we’ve got you covered.
There are four main avenues to choose from to participate in PvP in Guild Wars 2.
- Hot-Join – The go-to place to get your feet wet. This is the most casual form of PvP in Guild Wars 2 – great for learning.
- Custom Arenas – Duel your friends or setup scrimmages with competing teams!
- Solo Arena – Ready to get a taste of rated play and get your name on the leaderboards?
- Team Arena – Feeling brave? Jump in against other teams and fight for bragging rights!
Conquest
In Conquest, two teams are matched up against each other. The objective is to be the first team to reach 500 points. Points are awarded through holding capture points and kills. There are 3 capture points on the map, and when captured, each location grants one point every two seconds. Each player kill grants five points. If neither team reaches 500 points, the team with the most points will be declared the winner after the 15 minute time limit.
Each map (listed below) also has a secondary objective:
- Forest of Niflhel – NPC monsters spawn after some time and then after every 3 minutes in the north-western and north-eastern corner. Defeating them grants your team 25 points and a short-time buff (+50 to all stats).
- Legacy of the Foefire – NPC guards and ‘guild lords’ spawn at the beginning of each match in the starting zones of their respective team. In order to get to the guild lord, the enemy team has to take down a wall first. Walls can only be damaged by direct damage. Defeating the Lord grants 150 points.
- Battle of Khylo – Each team has access to a trebuchet which can bombard any enemy or area on the battlefield. It causes massive damage to enemy players and causes knockback to players who get caught in the area of effect. It does no friendly-fire damage or knockback.
- Temple of the Silent Storm – Four ‘meditations’ spawn periodically through the map. After completing the channelling for each meditation, the respective team acquires the buff granted by that meditation.
- Spirit Watch – Capture the Orb of Ascension and bring it to any of the three shrines for bonus points.
- Raid on the Capricorn – Hostile sharks roam the waters of the map, but when a team captures the Ruins point they turn friendly toward them and will attack the opposing team.
- Skyhammer – Calibrate the Skyhammer to your team to do massive damage to the areas you select.
Rewards
As you participate in PvP you accumulate glory, rank points, and gold.
Rank – There are 80 ranks available separated into 8 tiers.
- 1-10 – Rabbit
- 10-19 – Deer
- 20-29 – Dolyak
- 30-39 – Wolf
- 40-49 – Tiger
- 50-59 – Bear
- 60-69 – Shark
- 70-79 – Phoenix
- 80 – Dragon
Gold/Glory Rates
- Hot-Join/Custom Arenas
- Win: 15 Silver, 200 glory | Loss: 10 Silver, 125 glory
- Solo Arena
- Win: 25 Silver, 250 glory | Loss: 12.5 Silver, 150 glory
- Team Arena
- Win: 30 Silver, 300 glory | Loss: 15 Silver, 175 glory
Gold and glory can be used to purchase Tomes of Knowledge to level your character, armor, and other exciting rewards! Head to Heart of the Mists to find out more.
Bragging rights should probably be in the list somewhere as well.
How do I participate?
The Heart of the Mists is the central hub for all things PvP-related. Here you can find armor and weapon vendors, other PvP players, and PvP rewards vendors.
- To access Heart of the Mists, click the crossed sword icon in the top left-hand corner of your in-game interface.
- In the top left-hand corner of the PvP window, select “Go to Heart of the Mists”.
What now? Builds and beyond!
Now that you’re in Heart of the Mists, you need to setup a build for your profession. The Guild Wars 2 trait system allows for incredible customization, letting you to play your character exactly the way you want to. Before we get into that, allow me to explain the basic profession roles in Conquest.
- Bunker – As a bunker, your main role is to support your teammates and to keep control over capture points. Players accomplish this by building very defensively, either through large health-pool, high-healing power, or builds that focus on evasion.
- Roamer – The roamer is a mobile damage-orientated player, focused on moving between capture points and helping his allies where needed. He moves quickly and strikes quickly.
- Far-Point Assaulter – This player’s role is to constantly assault the enemy team’s capture point and to keep them distracted. This player is usually very defensive and can hold off multiple opponents at once.
- Home Defender – The Home Defender’s job is to make sure that nobody takes their home capture point. I mean nobody! This is usually a very mobile profession or very tanky.
Grouch, give me a build, yo! (Courtesy of Ostrich)
Elementalist:
Basic Fresh Air Burst Build
Basic Rock Solid Soldier’s Build
Engineer:
Bomb/nade
Chaith’s power nade
Guardian:
Ctang’s DPS guardian
“Basic Bunker Guardian Build ":http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fUAQNApeSlUgqCnFyMEf4ES2jRCBTQsHYEH1RXFcIA-TsAgzCtIySllLLTWyssZNaY9x8DA
Arken’s DPS Guardian Build
Mesmer:
Supcutie’s Shatter
Countless’ Clone Kill
Helseth’s Halting Strike/Shatter
Necromancer:
Basic Necromancer Condi Build
Basic Necromancer Power Well Build
Ranger:
Basic Spirit Ranger Build
Basic Trap Ranger Build
Thief:
Jumper Double s/d
Caed’s D/P
Warrior:
Tarcis’ Hammer Longbow
The ‘Ham’ Build
Basic Bunker Warrior Build
You’re geared up and ready to roll. Let’s rock.
PvP in any game has a fairly steep learning curve. Don’t get discouraged if you get owned the first couple of matches you play – you’ll get better!
Note: This guide is a WIP!