The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (I)

While I was writing today's Flameseeker Chronicles, I noticed something: It was about twice as long as my normal columns, and yet I'd barely skimmed the surface. Many players in the Guild Wars community went inactive over the past few years while waiting for Guild Wars 2. Now that we know all the details of the strongest link between the two games, hundreds if not thousands of players are coming out of retirement to max out their Halls.

Today's Flameseeker Chronicles was a generalized guide to reaching 30 points on the calculator. That number will get you every reward on the scale, but so many veteran players and completionists are chasing 50 points that I wanted to do something for them too. The Road to 50 is a feature that will run for five days this week, each day focusing on a different monument. I'll give tips, suggestions, and guides for obtaining a "full score" in each one.

Today's focus is Miniatures, so follow along after the jump to see how to get your hands on 50 of your little friends.

My first piece of advice on this one is to see what you already have. This is the only monument that does not have a specific list of unobtained items, so it's up to you. The easiest way to do this, of course, is to visit the wiki list of existing miniatures and copy it out. Check out your Hall of Monuments, see what you already have dedicated (if anything), cross them off the list. Don't forget to raid your alt characters and alt accounts for undedicated minis and add them to your list.

Once you've gone over what you already have, it's time to look over what you still need. This is the point at which I remind you that you have time. It's fantastic to see so many people back in game, so stick around for a while and have some fun! You don't need to get all of this done this week, I promise. You might have to buy some minis in Kamadan to finish things off, so you may as well wait for the market to settle down -- it's a little crazy right now.

I hope I don't need to remind you to be careful when buying and selling at this point. Scams are everywhere, and minis are no exception. If you're selling, take a moment to check the amount of money you're being given carefully. If you're buying, make sure the thing is undedicated and that it's exactly what you are expecting. For now, let's just take a look at what you can obtain on your own -- that will keep you plenty busy until things calm down and you can buy for a little less.

There will probably come a point when you'll have to buy from or trade with other players and rely on the generosity of your guildmates to max out your points here, but there is plenty you can do on your own, so let's look at that.

There are a total of eight possible points in the Monument to Devotion. You get one point each for having a unique (green), rare (gold), and uncommon (purple) mini in your hall, so let's focus on those. If you don't already have a green mini and don't have your heart set on a particular one, I highly recommend chasing the Black Moa Chick. It's a fun scavenger hunt and an opportunity to revisit some parts of the game you likely haven't seen in a while. Plus you'll pick up some extra gold in your travels. The wiki has a great step-by-step guide to obtaining it.

There are several other options for green minipets in addition to the Moa or buying from other players. Miniature Dhuum was added to the Underworld end chest last year, and you can still get a Miniature Mallyx from a Coffer of Whispers. Nicholas the Traveler offers a Miniature Yakkington and a Miniature Gwen Doll, both green, so it may be worthwhile to spend some time fetching for him. Finally, if you've set the War in Kryta events in motion, the White Mantle that are a part of that arc have the chance to drop any of three green miniatures.

I've spent a lot of time addressing the green miniatures because they are oddly easier to obtain on your own than most of the gold and purple ones. There are a very few gold miniatures that you can obtain on your own -- otherwise you're going to have to rely on birthday presents and purchasing them from other players. Nicholas the Traveler keeps a gold Brown Rabbit minipet in his pack along with the two green miniatures. Running errands for Nick, especially on the weeks when he asks for something easy to acquire, can be very profitable.

I mentioned earlier that the White Mantle in War in Kryta can drop minis, and the good guys have some on their side too. Queen Salma (still Princess Salma during the arc) will give you Royal Gifts in exchange for your help. Those gifts can contain all sorts of items, among them a Miniature Evennia, Miniature Salma, and Miniature Livia, all gold minis. Royal Gifts can also be obtained from a trader in Lion's Arch Keep in exchange for 15 War Supplies. While I personally suggest using War Supplies to obtain Medals of Honor instead, they are another way to get a few more gifts.

Finally, the Underworld end chest has a chance to drop a gold Miniature Smite Crawler.

Now we're down to purples and whites, and this is where you have both a lot more freedom and a lot less ability to gain them on your own. They're only obtainable through birthday presents, which gives you exactly two options: your own presents or other players. The calculator gives you a bit of flexibility in that you have to have a minimum of one gold and one green pet, but the other 48 can be anything and still count. So if you have all five golds and all eight greens, they'll all count toward your overall total.

This is a definite option if you're set on getting as much as you can on your own. Once you've exhausted all of those other possibilities, you'll find a lot of players with duplicate undedicated pets that they're looking to unload. If you've got duplicates of your own to trade, so much the better. Kamadan is your best bet outside of your own guild or alliance, but like I said before, I suggest you wait a bit until the market settles down.

You have one other option, if you're looking to trade duplicates. I took the sound advice of a Guildcast listener and have arranged for a minipet swap meet at the end of the week. Round up your extra undedicated minipets and meet us this Saturday the 16th at 3:00 p.m. EDT in Lion's Arch Japanese District 1. This isn't going to be a huge complicated process with rules, regulations, and timetables. It's simply a place for everyone to meet and trade their extra minis -- this is a great chance for the community to work together and benefit everyone. I'll be hanging out on my character Rubi Djinn, so take a moment to say hello! (Please note that I did not say this is a place for everyone to show up and beg for minis. Don't do that.)

With that, I'll wrap up this first installment of The Road to 50. Tomorrow I'll address the Monument to Fellowship, one of the most entertaining Monuments to max out in my opinion. I'll see you then!