Q. What is the best (class combination/build)?
A. There is no such thing as a “best build”.  Guild Wars is balanced as such
that any class combination can be successful in general circumstances.  While
specific situations may call for specific character types (for example, Healing
is usually left to the Monk class, with Necromancers in 2nd place because of
Well of Blood), for general situations like questing, farming, PvP battles, and
others, each class has ways to be successful or contribute to the group as a
whole.

Q. How do I change my Secondary class?
A. In the Crystal Desert, there are a series of quests in the outpost
non-mission towns, one for every class.  To access these quests, you must first
receive The Hero’s Journey quest from Vanyi in Droknar’s Forge.

If you complete the requirements of the quest, then you can freely change to
that secondary class at any time.  You do not lose any skills for changing your
class, you simply switch over to the new secondary class.  Note that if you
want to change back to your original Secondary, you’ll have to complete that
Secondary’s quest as well.  Also, you won’t ever get the quest that corresponds
to your Primary class, obviously.

The quests are:
* The Elementalist’s Path - Cembrien in Heroes’ Audience
* The Mesmer’s Path - Eulenias in Destiny’s Gorge
* The Monk’s Path - Nausuan in Seeker’s Passage
* The Necromancer’s Path - Kratha Kor in Heroes’ Audience
* The Ranger’s Path - Telius in Seeker’s Passage
* The Warrior’s Path - Agastos the Brave in Destiny’s Gorge

Elite Skills and Bosses
=======================
Q. What is an Elite skill?
A. Guild Wars characters can only have ONE Elite skill in their skillbars,
making the selection of such skills a careful decision in most builds.  In
general, Elite skills are Elite because they are either more powerful than
other similar skills or they can be combined with other Elite skills in
devastating ways (thus Elite skills are balanced, because they can’t be used in
combos on any single character). You can only capture Elite skills from Boss
monsters using the Signet of Capture.

Q. Where can I find a Signet of Capture?
A. Signets of Capture are first found in Lion’s Arch, as the quest reward for
the second quest given by Magi Malaquire (the first quest is called Orrian
Excavation).  After you complete that quest (which is simply to capture a
skill), he gives you another one (and some XP). After that, you can purchase
Signets of Capture for one skill point and a handful of gold from him.  You can
also purchase a Signet of Capture at any skill trainer AFTER Lion’s Arch. You
can purchase as many Signets as you have skill points to spend, so be sure to
purchase at least 4 or 5 to capture all of the Elites that you want.

Q. Why can’t I get (insert Elite skill here) from (insert Boss)?
A. There are no Elite skills before the Crystal Desert in the game.  All of the
Elites that used to be on earlier creatures were removed.  Most of the fansites
out there have outdated information from the last Beta and the first month of
release, back when pre-Crystal Desert bosses had Elite skills.

Q. Where is (insert Boss here)? I can’t find him!
A. Many of the bosses actually have random spawn locations, and thus do not
consistently spawn in the same area every time, and sometimes do not spawn at
all.  However, there are a few key spots where a Boss of some kind will always
spawn, and you can often find your Boss by visiting all of these spots.  It’s a
bit tedious at times, but you’ll find the Boss eventually.

Elementalist Questions
======================
Q. Where is Harn Coldstone? I found Maxine Coldstone, but she’s a Ranger!
A. Maxine and Harn Coldstone (siblings? marriage?) wander around Perdition Rock
in a wide circle that covers almost the entire island.  However, typically you
will only meet either one or the other, but not both.  If you see Harn, you’ll
probably not run into Maxine on Perdition Rock, and vice versa.

Q. Why can’t I use Arcane Echo with Shock?
A. Shock is a generic skill, not a spell.  Arcane Echo can only copy spells. In
general, all “touch-based” attacks are skills rather than spells.

Mesmer Questions
=======[========
Q. When you “borrow” a skill through Arcane Thievery, Inspired Hex, Inspired
Enchantment, and Arcane Mimicry, what attributes are used for damage, duration,
etc.?
A. The borrowed skill uses your own attributes.  Thus, borrowed skills often
will have the equivalent attribute rating of 0, unless you happen to have
points in that attribute.

Q. Why can’t I use Arcane Echo with Blackout?
A. Blackout is a generic skill, not a spell.  Arcane Echo can only copy spells.
In general, all “touch-based” attacks are skills rather than spells.

Q. Where is Confusion/Unnatural Signet/? They aren’t on your
list.
A. There were many skills from the Beta Weekend Events that were tweaked or cut
from the final release of Guild Wars.  Here is a partial list of Mesmer skills
that were removed before the final release:
* Confusion
* Disappear
* Mantra of Distortion - Changed to “Distortion”
* Mantra of Hex Reflection
* Mantra of Hex Shattering - Changed to “Hex Breaker”
* Mirror of Delusions
* Mimic - Changed to “Echo”?
* Signet of Illusions
* Unnatural Signet

Monk Questions
==============

Necromancer Questions
=====================
Q. I noticed that after some time, my minions start to lose Health.  What is
the rate of Health lost?
A. From what I’ve tested, your Minions get 1 “pip” of degeneration every 20
seconds. Each pip is -2 Health per second.  Thus, at 20 seconds after creation,
the minion loses -2 Health per second.  At 40 seconds after creation, the minion
loses -4 Health per second, and so on.

Q. Why can’t I use Arcane Echo with Vampiric Touch?
A. Vampiric Touch is a generic skill, not a spell.  Arcane Echo can only copy
spells. In general, all “touch-based” attacks are skills rather than spells.

Q. Are there any skills associated with Soul Reaping?
A. There are no skills associated with Soul Reaping at this time.

Ranger Questions
================
Q. I killed Markis, but the mission ended! How am I supposed to get Barrage?
A. The mission ends when you kill Markis AND his Jade Armor bodyguards. Thus,
you either have to lure him away from the Jade Armor towers that he is near, or
you have to get the rest of your team to kill Markis first, and distract the
Jade Armor guards while you capture the skill, being careful not to kill the
Jade Armors until you are finished.

Q. Where is Maxine Coldstone? I found Harn Coldstone, but he’s an Elementalist!
A. Maxine and Harn Coldstone (siblings? marriage?) wander around Perdition Rock
in a wide circle that covers almost the entire island.  However, typically you
will only meet either one or the other, but not both.  If you see Harn, you’ll
probably not run into Maxine on Perdition Rock, and vice versa.

Q. Do the skills Serpent’s Quickness and Quickening Zephyr stack? What about
Energizing Wind?
A. I tested this with Troll Unguent, Quickening Zephyr, Energizing Wind, and
Serpent’s Quickness, looking at a watch for timing the cooldowns:
* Troll Unguent alone - 10 seconds
* Troll Unguent with Quickening Zephyr - 5 seconds
* Troll Unguent with Serpent’s Quickness - 7 seconds
* Troll Unguent with Energizing Wind - 12 seconds
* Troll Unguent with Serpent’s Quickness and Quickening Zephyr - 3 seconds.
* Troll Unguent with Quickening Zephyr and Energizing Wind - 6 seconds
* Troll Unguent with Serpent’s Quickness and Energizing Wind - 8 seconds
* Troll Unguent with all three - 4 seconds
So yes, they do stack, and it appears that the percentages are multiplied
together. I’d have to time it more precisely at a later date.

UPDATE: Mind Wallaby at GWOnline.net has done a video capture test, and the
numbers listed above are accurate.

Note that effects tend to be applied on a “First in/First out” basis.  Thus, the
first effect that was applied on you, listed on the leftmost place on the
default condition monitor, gets applied before all the rest.  This is important
when using Energizing Wind in concert with Quickening Zephyr, as you will want
to apply the Energizing Wind effect first (to cut down on the Energy cost)
before you apply the Quickening Zephyr.

Q. Where is Bow Parry/Conflagration/?
A. There were many skills during the Beta Weekend Events that were subsequently
tweaked or taken out completely. Here is a partial list of skills that no longer
exist in Guild Wars:
* Blizzard - Replaced by Winter
* Bow Parry - Replaced by Whirling Defense
* Call of Aggression
* Call of Brutality
* Call of Disruption - Replaced by Disrupting Lunge
* Call of Elemental Protection
* Call of Feeding - Replaced by Feral Lunge
* Call of Ferocity - Replaced by Call of Haste
* Call of Healing
* Call of Resilience
* Call of Vitality
* Conflagration
* Strider’s Reflexes - Replaced by Escape
* Tongue Biter - Replaced by Concussion Shot

Q. What are some of the known Ranger skill bugs?
A. Here’s a short list:
* The radius of the Nature’s Renewal hex/enchantment stripping effect appears to
  greatly exceed a typical spirit’s range.
* With Predatory Season, regular bow attacks appear to do two +4 Healing
  instead of a single +4 (+5, modified by 80% for Predatory Season). Rangers
  are effectively getting twice the benefit from it.
* Symbiotic Bond appears to just halve the damage done on the pet, as well as
  give higher than the stated amount of Health regen. No damage is redirected
  toward the Ranger, and it appears to NOT be a stance as listed.
* Revive Animal does not heal the stated amount on the skill.
* When a Distracting Shot hits a target that is already easily interruptible,
  from either a skill use like a trap or the Dazed condition, the extra 20
  seconds aren’t applied to the cooldown.
* Kindle Arrows appears to change your weapon’s damage to Fire (from whatever it
  was before).

Warrior Questions
=================
Q. Does Dolyak Signet or Balanced Stance cancel the knockdown effect of
Desperation Blow?
A. Yes, although a brief “knockdown” graphic similar to interrupting a spell
may show on the screen.

Technical Questions
===================
Q. How do I display the FPS on my screen?
A. You can see the Frames Per Second of your game by adding the parameter -perf
to the end of the command line shortcut.  In other words, right-click your
Guild Wars shortcut icon and choose Properties. Under “Target”, add -perf to
the end of the line, like so:
Target: “C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\gw.exe” -perf

Q. Is there a way to automatically enter my password into the Guild Wars client?
A. Yes, there is.  The parameter -password “YourPasswordHere” at the end of the
command line shortcut will automatically enter your password when you boot up
your Guild Wars client.  In other words, right-click your Guild Wars shortcut
icon and choose Properties.  Under “Target”, add -password “YourPasswordHere” to
the end of the line, like so:
Target: “C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\gw.exe” -password “YourPasswordHere”

Q. I see folks with unusual symbols in their chat text, like stars and hearts.
How can I do this?
A. The characters that you see are found in the Unicode character set, which is
supported internationally by most fonts, including the font used by Guild Wars.
You can put these in your chatbar by copying and pasting them from an outside
source, like the Character Map program available under Start > Programs >
Accessories > System Tools directory on Windows computers. You can also go to
these websites for a whole list of them:
http://unicode.coeurlumiere.com/
http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/search.htm

Simply select the character that you want, CTRL+C to copy them to your clipboard
and go into your Guild Wars game, click on your chatbar, and CTRL+V to paste the
character into your chatbar.  Note that only a handful of characters actually
work… most of the characters from Korean webpage encoding and Extended ASCII
sets work.