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

Day five! This is the last day in our Road to 50 series, and we're going to look at the final segment of the Hall of Monuments: the Monument to Valor. This is where you'll dedicate all of your most prestigious weapons, and there has been a lot of discussion among players regarding what they think should be included.

In the end, though, you have three choices: Tormented, Oppressor's, and Destroyer weapons. You need to have a total of 15 weapons displayed in any combination, but you have to have at least one of each type for full points. The process of getting them isn't as bad as you might think, particularly if you take your time. It's just a matter of knowing where to look, so follow along after the jump and we'll go through them!

Oppressor's weapons

If you've completed the War in Kryta arc, Oppressor's weapons are going to be a snap to get in comparison to the others. After you complete the last quest (Battle for Lion's Arch), you'll see a group of NPCs in the northwest area of Lion's Arch Keep labeled "Lionguard [Oppressor Weapons]." Each of these NPCs has a different type of Oppressor's weapon available in exchange for 10 Medals of Honor.

The Medals accumulate pretty quickly as you progress through WiK, so you've probably got a few hanging around anyway. You can gain more pretty quickly by checking the Wanted by the Shining Blade bounty inside Lion's Arch Keep every day. Those bounties award War Supplies, which can be exchanged for more Medals. Don't forget that Confessor's Orders, which are dropped by WiK White Mantle foes, can be exchanged for War Supplies. So make sure you hang on to your War Supplies and Confessor's Orders to get more medals.

This is all well and good, but what if you've not finished War in Kryta, or even started? I know it looks like a huge undertaking, and I beg you not to start by looking at the flowchart. Don't get me wrong; it's a fantastic piece of work and a good reference if you need to check your progress after you've started. I referred to it more than once when I was getting my characters through and couldn't figure out what was halting my progress.

Unfortunately, when you are trying to get started in the first place, it's horribly daunting. My suggestion is that you go to the step-by-step walkthrough that is written in list form. Confessor's Orders, War Supplies, and Medals of Honor will roll in, along with a fair amount of gold and other goodies.

Finally, while you've got the War in Kryta arc active, don't forget to watch for Courier Falken any time you leave an outpost in Kryta. He'll spawn and immediately start Leeroying for the nearest town. Mantle will spawn and try to kill him, but if you can get him safely to the next town he'll reward you with some War Supplies. (Don't forget to watch for his hilarious skill, Falken Punch.)

As with several other areas of the Hall of Monuments, it's all about making sure you've got the foundation. I recommend that everyone go through the War in Kryta arc at least once anyway, since it's a huge part of what's linking us to Guild Wars 2. When you finish, you'll find yourself with a nice stash of Medals of Honor and the ability to accumulate more fairly quickly.

Destroyer weapons

Destroyer weapons caused what I see as one of the most interesting changes in the player market this week. Diamonds and Onyx Gemstones are required to make them, and just last week the things were considered extremely common. The players in my guild and alliance -- and I assume in most others -- expressed irritation and received sympathy when one of those items dropped from a dungeon end chest.

The market has since been turned on its ear. Destroyer weapons are the only HoM weapons that can be crafted simply by purchasing the materials and running to a crafter. In theory, you can get almost all of your Monument to Valor points with one fairly expensive visit to the materials and rare materials traders.

I say "in theory" because at this point, there is not a diamond to be had for sale. The rare materials trader has been sold out all week -- presumably because so many players have done exactly what I just suggested -- and it's rare at this point to find any for sale in the player market.

So how on earth are you supposed to get the things? Well, you're not completely out of luck -- there are several options, especially for diamonds. Diamonds can be obtained by giving Trade Contracts to the Nightfall collector that I mentioned yesterday, so be sure you're not missing out on any quests that give those. The Eye of the North quest Attack on Jalis' Camp will reward you with one diamond, so if you've not done that, make sure you do.

Onyx Gemstones are a bit harder to come by, because Trade Contracts are not an option. The In the Service of Revenge quest awards one, so make sure you do that if you haven't yet.

You have a chance to acquire both items in Eye of the North dungeons as well. They drop with some regularity from end chests, and checking Hidden Treasures with Light of Deldrimor as you go gives a few extra chances here and there. The end chests in The Fissure of Woe and The Underworld have also been known to drop them, but not with any regularity.

At this point in time, my suggestion is to spend your efforts gaining the items through Trade Contracts and quests right now. As always, let the market settle down before you buy from other players. You've got plenty to do until then, between these quests, acquiring Trade Contracts, the War in Kryta, and getting your Armbrace of Truth.

Wait, Armbrace of Truth? Yep, it's time to look at the final part of our Monument to Valor.

Tormented weapons

You get Tormented weapons in Nightfall, from the Deacon of Whispers in exchange for one Armbrace of Truth, so all you have to do is get an Armbrace!

Unfortunately, saying that is like saying "Kill Abaddon" when you're about halfway through Nightfall. It's much more easily said than done. To acquire an Armbrace, you need 15 each of Margonite, Stygian, Torment, and Titan Gemstones. These only drop in the Domain of Anguish, and if you've never been, the concept itself is fairly simple.

There are four areas in the Domain of Angush (or DoA), and each one has an Anguish Gemstone unique to it. They drop from monsters and from the quest reward chests. This is all part of the overarching Mallyx the Unyielding quest line in which your final challenge is to take down Mallyx. Once you do that, your reward includes one of each type of Anguish Gemstones.

Of course, this is a very simplified version of events in DoA. It's one of the harder areas in the game, and you're going to have to work the learning curve for a bit before you really start succeeding. Check the fan forums of your choice for suggestions and builds, and dive in! For our purposes, this is simply a guide to where in game you obtain the gemstones for your Armbrace.

There is one other way to get your armbrace, and while I love playing in DoA, this is honestly my preferred method: purchasing armbraces in Kamadan from other players. There are a lot of team builds that veteran players use to play through Domain of Anguish rapidly, and they add to their profits from it by selling their armbraces in Kamadan in exchange for Globs of Ectoplasm. The market is pretty volatile, especially now, but the 20-25 ecto range is considered reasonable at the moment.

This might be a method to check out if you're a player who likes a lot of variety. If you're playing through the game, or jumping all over to play with guildmates, the money will roll in and the gemstones won't -- this is certainly an option to consider.

And with that, we reach the end of The Road to 50. I hope you guys enjoyed the guides this week and that they prove helpful. I'll see you all in game!