Flameseeker Chronicles: A little help

This was an exciting week for Massively's Guild Wars guild. We've bid farewell to Old Ascalon and worked our way through the northern Shiverpeaks. Thursday night we saw the death of Rurik, who managed to get himself killed before he ever raised the promised pint of dwarven ale in our honor. We lit beacons, dragged broken gear levers all over the place, laughed at a minion who insisted on being front and center for every cutscene, and eventually arrived in Kryta -- a sight for sore eyes after the scorched landscape of Old Ascalon.

We also joined the Kurzick faction and became the tenth guild in the Guild Wars Online [GWO] alliance. The alliance has already given [MVOP] a warm welcome, but if you're a guild member who is so inclined, stop by the forums and say hello. This is a good time to mention that the Massively guild has its very own Picasa gallery -- thanks to reader Tanek -- and you can find some gorgeous screenshots added by our members. If you're a member of [MVOP] and would like to add your own screenshots, all you need is a Gmail address. Send that address to Tanek at bncom1[at]gmail[dot]com and he'll set you up with access.

This week we will be doing the Gates of Kryta mission to get to Lion's Arch. After some of us go on a frantic skill-buying spree, we'll pick up the primary quest from Armen the Guide and move on to D'Alessio Seaboard. From there, it's on to Divinity Coast where we will bathe in a fountain and drag a giant floating eye around behind us.

If you're interested in joining up with [MVOP], keep an eye out for my IGN Rubi Djinn for a guild invitation. Feel free to send your IGN to me at Rubi at Massively dot com as well, and I'll watch for you in game.

So what else is happening in Tyria? We've got a brand-new War in Kryta event, and small-but-valuable public service announcement, so follow along after the jump.

"A Little Help From Above"

This new quest from Princess Salma sends us back to the secret river passage and the hidden asura lab to take out another White Mantle Leader. This time we're chasing Aily the Innocent, a Mursaat boss hiding out in the Divinity Coast explorable. If you leave from Temple of the Ages, it's a quick trip to Talmark Wilderness and the secret river passage -- with the exception of the inevitable Shining Blade ally just outside ToA, who leaps from a tree to "help" you by aggroing an entire herd of Reed Stalkers and bringing them to you.

Once you've cleared that minor annoyance and arrived at the asura lab, talk to Livia for instructions on how to proceed. Zinn is making a weapon for you, but needs a little more time to finish it, so Livia will send you to kill Cairn the Berserker. Cairn is a Jade Construct boss who holds the key to unlock the gate protecting Aily.

Honestly, the fetching and carrying is the hardest part of this quest -- the paths that you need to take are pretty circuitous and there's a lot of back and forth. The advantage of all this running around is that the landscape is truly beautiful. Take some time to look around between battles and enjoy the scenery. There is no additional reward for hard mode in this quest, so there's no reason to beat your head against that particular brick wall unless you just want to. Be prepared for the quest to become progressively more difficult as you approach Shaemoor. Careful pulling is key here -- no reason to dash headlong into three or four groups at once.

Once you've killed Cairn, you'll backtrack and return to the asura lab. Take your time, though. Just because you cleared the path on the way up does not mean you've got clear sailing on the way back. You'll encounter frequent White Mantle spawns along the way, and they will usually be practically under your nose, so be prepared. Zinn's got your weapon ready, so check out what he has to say, and then it's off to slay Aily! Note that Zinn's weapon can only be used once, and if you want a second one you have to trek all the way back to the lab, so hang onto it until you're under heavy aggro -- save it for Shaemoor if you can. Once you've cleared Shaemoor, unlocked the gate, and killed Aily, you'll be transported back to Talmark Wilderness, where you can resign to Lion's Arch and pick up your reward.

A little help from me

I know many players have either recently begun playing Guild Wars, or are returning after a long absence, so I want to remind everyone about the fallout from the Xunlai Tournament House. I covered the entire series of events in a previous Flameseeker Chronicles, but I want to be sure that nobody is missing out on a freebie. Due to the problems with the Xunlai Tournament House, every Guild Wars account is entitled to 50 free tournament points.

Now, why should you care about this? Essentially, it's free gold. There are a few scams floating around that involve this, so hopefully this will help some people avoid them. You'll need to take a character to the Great Temple of Balthazar. Speak with Tolkano and register your account. Once you've done that, head over to High Priest Zhang and listen to his (extremely amusing) rant about Kun Shao. You now have 50 tournament points.

Back you go to Tolkano, who will offer to sell various PvP rewards in exchange for your points. He will also offer to sell you a Zaishen Key for five points. The keys are what I want to focus on here -- they're a quick sell if you want some gold. Get your 10 keys, and use the "search" button to sell them to other players. At 4.5 platinum they'll go almost immediately, or you can hang around a bit and try for 5 platinum each if you're patient.

Of course, this isn't the only option for tournament points. Keep the keys and use them, or even exchange your points for a PvP item if you're so inclined. But that's arguably the most popular use for those 50 free points, and there are more than a few scammers running around out there benefiting from this, so I thought I'd address it.

See you next week!