Guild Wars Wiki Guide

Arena Overview


Where you fight has a big bearing on how you fight. Apart from different rules and team sizes, the arenas also have different layouts than the other places you can PvP (player versus player combat). The Arenas have a more “public server fps” (first person shooter) feel to them. There is usually less pressure here and you can go to the arena and be fighting in less than 30 seconds, which is great if you don’t have much time to play. 

Teamwork in the random arenas is usually more accidental than deliberate since you are grouped with 3 other random people and have little time to plan and most people don’t talk. However, if you survive a round, you can refine your strategy while you wait for your next match as you get to keep your current team. Your team usually gets more verbose after 1 win as well. The arenas are a good place to learn to PvP to get you ready for the more competitive fighting areas like guild vs. guild, or the Tombs of Primeval Kings, since there is no accountability. If you perform badly in the arenas it will definitely be more noticeable to you, and perhaps your team, as the teams are smaller than the other areas. However, use it as a learning experience. No one can really blame you for losing, as a large part of the arenas is luck; you have to be lucky enough to get a team that works well together. The biggest problem of the arena is also the lack of accountability. You might end up facing a lot of people who quit the battle mid fight, which can be irritating. 

Arena fights give out the lowest amount of total Faction points (which can be redeemed to unlock skills, rune or equipment upgrades) and experience (only because the battles are on a smaller scale) of the places where you can do player versus player combat. However, they are also the quickest to get organized and the quickest to finish in most cases. If you understand the nature of the arena, you can have a lot of fun here as well. 


· For your first round, one person should draw the general strategy on the map if necessary and someone should call targets. If your team complies, your chances of survival already went up. Since you have little time to discuss strategy, you need a quick general plan. 

· When setting up your skills for the arenas, you should pick the more generic skills of your classes and try to be as self sufficient as possible. There is no guarantee that your team will include a healer or that someone else can combo well with your skills. You could also be a team of 4 healers. Generally, everyone will want at least 1 damage causing skill (including healers) and 1 self heal. A resurrection spell is also nice if you can fit one in there. 

· Take into account that both teams have 4 players. Therefore, that makes it easier to maintain 1 enchantment on everyone on your team and to maintain a hex (like life siphon) or condition (like poison) on everyone in their team. 

· Area of effect spells have less potential targets when there are fewer players, which make them slightly less efficient. However, direct damage and focus fire is a very good idea, since dropping one member of their team is equivalent to dropping 25% of their team instead of the 12% equivalent in the tombs or in guild vs. guild maps. Skills that disable someone, like backfire, skull crack, pacifism, concussion shot, signet of midnight, blackout, blinding flash, etc., are also useful here as they disable a larger percentage of their team and there is less likely to be someone on their team with a counter to them. 

· You should pay attention to the terrain as higher ground gives your arrows more damage. Also, anyone can also make use of cover sometimes. Some maps also have bogs, which slow down anyone (or anything) that enters them. There are also poisonous swamps to worry about. Since most people will avoid this terrain, you can surprise them by attacking through it. Just be ready to deal with the consequences of this move. 


This arena is accessed by talking to the guard by a closed gate. It is pretty straightforward and perfect for beginners, as the max level is restricted to level 10. However, since you gain experience every time someone dies, you can be “kicked out” if you go past the level limit. 

The map is basically a bowl shaped strip with both teams being on opposite edges. A bog that slows down movement is found in the middle of the arena. The starting area can also be used to hide from concentrated fire or recover from a resurrection. Since this area is pretty open, your main source of “cover” from concentrated fire is being at the back of your team. With no chokepoints, getting the enemy bunched up for an area of effect spell is trickier here. However, people usually fight outside the bog which limits their movement somewhat. You can exploit this if you are feeling brave by having one person attack from the opposite side of your main force, or even through the bog. This person will likely be outside of healing range though, so they need to be self-sufficient. If you cut them off from behind, you can cut off their access to the safe den behind them so that people who get resurrected have nowhere to run. If you box them into their starting area, they have nowhere to run –and- they will die easily to area of effect spells. Spell casters or pretty much everyone except a warrior can hide in the bog. The bog is black so this makes you less visible and warriors take a longer time to reach you. However, you also run away slower. If you have movement spells or teleportation spells though, this should be easily to counter. 


Similar to Ascalon’s arena in that no level 20s can come here and you are therefore safe from pvp premades. You can be up to level 17 here so you will see a more diverse set of skills used. This map does not really have any distinctive features other than the part between both sides dips in the middle like a V shape. Therefore, the team on the offense is fighting uphill while the defenders have a slight height advantage. 


This arena is found close to Denravi and has the same rules as Ascalon, except there are no level limits, so expect a lot of level 20 participants. The maps here are also on rotation. One of them is a pretty standard arena, the other one has a beach, a big bridge crossing over the middle and a poisonous swamp, and the last one is an elimination map with automatic revives at every minute mark where the team with the most points when the time runs out wins. 


The map is circular and the middle is lower than the rest of the map. You can access the middle of the map through some slopes near the starting areas. The outer rim, which can be considered the main part of the map, has some parts that are narrower than others. They can be used as chokepoints and are of particular interest if you are using area of effect spells. The starting area is not an enclosed space here; if you need to hide, the center is good for this. There you may hide beneath some bridges or among the debris. Keep in mind that, given the circular nature of this map, you should bring a skill to stop runners as they can run forever if you don’t. You can also use the circular arena to your advantage by attacking from more than one direction. This denies the other team the safety of their rear and it might split them up. If you have 2 or 3 enemies attacking one teammate and that person can survive it (defensive skills are key for this role) the rest of your team can kill the others. The best person to draw the attention of multiple foes is, of course, a monk primary. Make sure the plan doesn’t backfire and that the enemy you are focusing on doesn’t outlast your decoy/teammate. 


This map isn’t too different from the last one except there is definitely an area where you can have the high ground and there is hazardous terrain in the form of a poison swamp. To get the high ground you need to enter the bridge at either extremities and one of them is through the poisonous swamp. This makes this map favourable to trappers and archers. However, the enemy can kill your teammates while you are doing this and your height advantage will not be enough to save you. It is easier to be separated on this map so keep an eye on the battle flow with your radar. 


This map has 2 areas separated by a lava river. There are 2 bridges at opposing ends of the river, and these bridges are close to one side’s resurrection pad. The objective of this map is to get more kills than the opposing team in a set amount of time. If the score is tied when time runs out, the next team to get a kill wins. This means you can either wait out the timer and then get a kill, or get a lead then avoid combat. A lot of teams will try to lure you to their side so that their friends will be resurrected near the battle at the minute intervals giving them an advantage. The best way to counter this is to kill 1 person (or get the lead, if some of your team falls) then run back to your side. They will have to follow you or they will lose. The lava can be walked across but it burns as well as cripples you, which means you will take a significant amount of damage and will be quite vulnerable to range attacks. Near the bridges that are not near your resurrection shrine, you can get a height advantage and the other team has to wrap around the hill to get on top. This can give you extra time to attack them with ranged attacks before they get to you. 


Team arenas allow you to experience 4vs4 fighting without having to deal with the randomness of your teammates. You can therefore expect to face teams that are more organized or flavoured after a certain theme. This also means that it can take slightly longer to get started, as you need to assemble a team before going in. Random arena teams can also end up here after winning 10 times in a row. This is a good place to fight if you have a few friends but not the 8 required for the “Tombs” or Guild Vs Guild Battles. You can also try some basic synergy before having to worry about 8 people’s skills. 


The only map unique to the team arenas is this map. Basically you have narrow paths that are covered with ice, ledges along the side that are not, and each side has a priest that resurrects the fallen at certain time intervals. This is like some of the more common “Tombs” maps but on a lesser scale. To win you need to disable the enemy priest or get their death penalty so low that they cannot revive anymore. The way ice works is that if you come to a full stop and begin walking again, you will be slowed down until you pick up momentum. This makes running away and chasing harder and you can use some long range knockdown skills to slow someone you are chasing or trying to get away from. The most sound way to win this map is to kill 2 or 3 of the opposing team and then go after the priest. If you go too early, either your priest will also be attacked or you will be attacked while attacking the priest, putting you at a disadvantage. If you wait too long, the enemies you have killed will come back. Keep an eye on the clock and you can make sound strategies. 

This concludes the overview of the arenas. Try to figure out the nuances of each map and come up with your own tactics to take advantage of terrain. Good luck!