Towns
Originally Published by Spooky
The world of Tyria is a dangerous place. Lurking seemingly around ever corner are both man and beast that would like nothing better to ensure that you die a tragically young death. However, you'll find a safe haven in the few towns that there are to come across in the game. You can identify towns by their symbol on the world map, as they look like this:
First, let's take a look at the types of NPCs you may encounter in town. It is important to remember that towns are often very crowded places. If you're having trouble locating NPCs, then hold down the 'Alt' key on your keyboard. It will highlight only the names of NPCs (and some objects, such as route / area markers) thus making it considerably easier to find your way around.
The Outfitter: This is an NPC you're likely to find yourself talking to frequently, on a daily basis. The Outfitter can sell you a few basic necessities, such as Salvage Kits (used to gain crafting materials from salvage items, or upgrades from weapons) and Identification Kits (used to ID the special properties on some items.) Perhaps more importantly though, the Outfitter is the NPC you want to sell items to. Almost all of the gold that you're going to be making by selling stuff you've picked up, is going to be coming from him. First, let's take a look at the Outfitter's "Buy" window.
The items that the Outfitter has available to sell can be seen in the main part of the window. Next to them, the price of the item is listed. If it's in gold, you can afford it. If the price is listed in red, however, you do not have enough money to afford that item. When you select an item, more information about it. You can use the up or down arrows here to change the quantity that you wish to buy. Lastly, there's the option to "Buy" or just say "Goodbye" if you've decided you'd rather hang onto your hard spent cash.
Next up, the "Sell" window:
This one is a little more involved than the 'Buy' window. You'll notice that the window with the items available remains the same, but there's a few extra options above it. The five boxes to the left of the "Your Gold" information represent your character's storage. The first represents the equipment you are currently wearing. The next represent your Belt Pouch, and lastly, your two Bags. By checking or unchecking these boxes, you can change whether or not the items in that container are available as a sale option. For example, if you only wanted to sell something in your belt, you could quickly click off the other boxes, so you don't need to sort past them.
Next to the items, a sell value is listed. The value represents the total value, for items that are stacked, not their individual sale value. When an item is selected, the option appears below to change the quantity you wish to sell (if it is a stackable item.)
The Skills Trainer: Another NPC that'll play an important role in your character's life. Skill Trainers have a set number of skills that they can teach your characters and you can find a full list of where you can learn what, here. Sometimes these characters will have proper names (such as Firstwatch Sergio used in the example here), in other places, they may simply be called a Skill Trainer. If you're having trouble finding the NPC who can teach you, talk to a few of them and you'll probably find what you're looking for. Now let's take a look at their interface:
Up at the top, there's a drop down menu that has a few options by which you can sort the skills available. In this example, we're sorting them by name, but you can also have options like cast time or energy cost. Next is the actual listing of Skills available - a trainer will offer you skills both for your Primary profesion, and your Secondary. Along the left column is a small icon of the skill's graphic, and next to it are the skill's name, and a column with a few numbers. The numbers represent, from left to right, Energy Cost, Casting Time, and Recast Time. Selecting a skill brings up more detailed information about what it does below. If you've decided you wish to purchase that skill, drag its icon to the empty box at the bottom right, and hit "Buy" .. note that you must have enough gold to buy the skill, and a free skill point to learn it with. Skill points are earned at level up, and when completing missions.
The Crafter: Servicing all your character's Armor related needs, the Crafter is who you want to talk to when you're in need of new or better armor. Unlike other games where armor can be dropped, in Guild Wars, it must be crafted, so this is an important NPC to visit. Here's an image of their interface:
You can see the listing of all the items that the Crafter has available, and next to them are the item's name (in gold) and the resources required to craft it (in white.) The first example here, the Bonelace Tunic, requires 12 Hides, 3 Bones, and 150 gold to create. By mousing over the icon for the equipment, you can learn more about its properties, as almost all armor sets have their own modifiers associated with them. If you have all the components necessary to make a piece of armor or item, then drag it down to one of the open boxes at the bottom of the screen, and hit "Buy." When Armor is created, it is customized for your character, that means no one else can use it. Keep that in mind, and don't trade for someone elses armor, or sell someone yours, because no one will be able to use it except the person who created it.
The Weaponsmith: An NPC that you'll be visiting fairly often if you play a character that has an emphasis on weapon use, such as a Warrior or Ranger. The Weaponsmith can customize any weapons that you might find on your adventures, tailoring them specifically to your character. What this does is tack on a 20% damage bonus when using the weapon, but it also makes it so no one else will ever be able to use it (hence, you can't trade it.) Here's a look at the Weaponsmith's interface:
By now, this setup probably seems familiar, right? If an item appears in white, you can customize it, but if it's in grey you cannot. Such is the case with the examples here, as they were already customized.
Quest NPCs: You might notice a few people standing around town with giant, glowing, floating green exclamation points over their heads. Try talking to them and see what happens - who knows what adventures they might end up sending you on?
That is mostly it for the NPCs that you will find from town to town. There are a few that we will cover seperately (such as Guild Registrars) so instead, let's move on to the Human aspect of towns. Just what is it that makes people gather here?
Towns are easy places to find other people, whether you may be looking for a party to travel with, a Guild to join (or someone to join your Guild) or if you're looking to trade off the incredible item you just found, or buy a new one for yourself.
Towns are linked to Explorable Areas - sometimes necessary to find your way to the next mission - so chances are, if you're looking to head out into the untamed wilds, you'll also find like minded individuals hanging out around town. If there aren't any to be had, or you're just more of a lone wolf, you'll also find Henchmen (A.I. stand in players) that can be taken with you instead.
Also note that Towns are divided into "Districts" .. a District is an identical copy of a town, and a new one is created each time an old district reaches the capacity of users it can support. What that means is that by changing districts (available in the upper left corner) the town will remain the same, but you'll run into entirely new people.
Hopefully this has been of some use to you, and makes your next visit to the 'big city' a little less confusing, and a little more productive.
First, let's take a look at the types of NPCs you may encounter in town. It is important to remember that towns are often very crowded places. If you're having trouble locating NPCs, then hold down the 'Alt' key on your keyboard. It will highlight only the names of NPCs (and some objects, such as route / area markers) thus making it considerably easier to find your way around.
The Outfitter: This is an NPC you're likely to find yourself talking to frequently, on a daily basis. The Outfitter can sell you a few basic necessities, such as Salvage Kits (used to gain crafting materials from salvage items, or upgrades from weapons) and Identification Kits (used to ID the special properties on some items.) Perhaps more importantly though, the Outfitter is the NPC you want to sell items to. Almost all of the gold that you're going to be making by selling stuff you've picked up, is going to be coming from him. First, let's take a look at the Outfitter's "Buy" window.
The items that the Outfitter has available to sell can be seen in the main part of the window. Next to them, the price of the item is listed. If it's in gold, you can afford it. If the price is listed in red, however, you do not have enough money to afford that item. When you select an item, more information about it. You can use the up or down arrows here to change the quantity that you wish to buy. Lastly, there's the option to "Buy" or just say "Goodbye" if you've decided you'd rather hang onto your hard spent cash.
Next up, the "Sell" window:
This one is a little more involved than the 'Buy' window. You'll notice that the window with the items available remains the same, but there's a few extra options above it. The five boxes to the left of the "Your Gold" information represent your character's storage. The first represents the equipment you are currently wearing. The next represent your Belt Pouch, and lastly, your two Bags. By checking or unchecking these boxes, you can change whether or not the items in that container are available as a sale option. For example, if you only wanted to sell something in your belt, you could quickly click off the other boxes, so you don't need to sort past them.
Next to the items, a sell value is listed. The value represents the total value, for items that are stacked, not their individual sale value. When an item is selected, the option appears below to change the quantity you wish to sell (if it is a stackable item.)
The Skills Trainer: Another NPC that'll play an important role in your character's life. Skill Trainers have a set number of skills that they can teach your characters and you can find a full list of where you can learn what, here. Sometimes these characters will have proper names (such as Firstwatch Sergio used in the example here), in other places, they may simply be called a Skill Trainer. If you're having trouble finding the NPC who can teach you, talk to a few of them and you'll probably find what you're looking for. Now let's take a look at their interface:
Up at the top, there's a drop down menu that has a few options by which you can sort the skills available. In this example, we're sorting them by name, but you can also have options like cast time or energy cost. Next is the actual listing of Skills available - a trainer will offer you skills both for your Primary profesion, and your Secondary. Along the left column is a small icon of the skill's graphic, and next to it are the skill's name, and a column with a few numbers. The numbers represent, from left to right, Energy Cost, Casting Time, and Recast Time. Selecting a skill brings up more detailed information about what it does below. If you've decided you wish to purchase that skill, drag its icon to the empty box at the bottom right, and hit "Buy" .. note that you must have enough gold to buy the skill, and a free skill point to learn it with. Skill points are earned at level up, and when completing missions.
The Crafter: Servicing all your character's Armor related needs, the Crafter is who you want to talk to when you're in need of new or better armor. Unlike other games where armor can be dropped, in Guild Wars, it must be crafted, so this is an important NPC to visit. Here's an image of their interface:
You can see the listing of all the items that the Crafter has available, and next to them are the item's name (in gold) and the resources required to craft it (in white.) The first example here, the Bonelace Tunic, requires 12 Hides, 3 Bones, and 150 gold to create. By mousing over the icon for the equipment, you can learn more about its properties, as almost all armor sets have their own modifiers associated with them. If you have all the components necessary to make a piece of armor or item, then drag it down to one of the open boxes at the bottom of the screen, and hit "Buy." When Armor is created, it is customized for your character, that means no one else can use it. Keep that in mind, and don't trade for someone elses armor, or sell someone yours, because no one will be able to use it except the person who created it.
The Weaponsmith: An NPC that you'll be visiting fairly often if you play a character that has an emphasis on weapon use, such as a Warrior or Ranger. The Weaponsmith can customize any weapons that you might find on your adventures, tailoring them specifically to your character. What this does is tack on a 20% damage bonus when using the weapon, but it also makes it so no one else will ever be able to use it (hence, you can't trade it.) Here's a look at the Weaponsmith's interface:
By now, this setup probably seems familiar, right? If an item appears in white, you can customize it, but if it's in grey you cannot. Such is the case with the examples here, as they were already customized.
Quest NPCs: You might notice a few people standing around town with giant, glowing, floating green exclamation points over their heads. Try talking to them and see what happens - who knows what adventures they might end up sending you on?
That is mostly it for the NPCs that you will find from town to town. There are a few that we will cover seperately (such as Guild Registrars) so instead, let's move on to the Human aspect of towns. Just what is it that makes people gather here?
Towns are easy places to find other people, whether you may be looking for a party to travel with, a Guild to join (or someone to join your Guild) or if you're looking to trade off the incredible item you just found, or buy a new one for yourself.
Towns are linked to Explorable Areas - sometimes necessary to find your way to the next mission - so chances are, if you're looking to head out into the untamed wilds, you'll also find like minded individuals hanging out around town. If there aren't any to be had, or you're just more of a lone wolf, you'll also find Henchmen (A.I. stand in players) that can be taken with you instead.
Also note that Towns are divided into "Districts" .. a District is an identical copy of a town, and a new one is created each time an old district reaches the capacity of users it can support. What that means is that by changing districts (available in the upper left corner) the town will remain the same, but you'll run into entirely new people.
Hopefully this has been of some use to you, and makes your next visit to the 'big city' a little less confusing, and a little more productive.
MMO Guru Network
