Getting skills - Guild Wars Forums

nizaru · Mar 31, 2010, 11:02 AM // 11:02

Hello all, first of all I'd like to say how happy I am for signing up to this forum

Secondly, I would like to share my desperation with you guys: Skills.
I play with my main character on Factions and then move to the other campaigns with him if I won't get bored of it. Now the problem is getting skills. So far I remember only 2-3 quests which rewarded me with skills and now I just buy them - this is wrong in some way I think because for buying a skill I need to pay 900g (Imagine what would be in more 10 skill buys), and I don't think I can afford this...
Another question would be : after getting signet of capture does it stay on my skills list? or it will be gone after I use it?

**Marty Silverblade** · Mar 31, 2010, 11:10 AM // 11:10

*The skill cost for buying skill caps at 1k (1000g).
*I recommend only buying the skills you need for now, or playing in Prophecies (if you have it) since there are a lot more skill quests there.
*A cheaper option would be unlocking the skills and buying tomes. For some professions, they cost as little as 250-400g. http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unlock
*When a Signet of Capture is used, it will be replaced permanently by the skill it captured. You will need to buy more when you've used all the ones you have.

PS: This belongs in Q&A.

Yasmine · Mar 31, 2010, 11:13 AM // 11:13

First of all: welcome. Second: wrong forum section, this should be in Q&A imo :P
Third: considering you can only have 8 skills at any given time, buying them is not usually a big problem. just because a skill is on a skill trainer list, you don't have to feel obligated to buy it. Buy only those that you plan to use. Also, in eotn and nf you can use hero skill points to unlock some skills from hero skill trainers. Depending on your profession, you might prefer to unlock (for example by using balthazar faction) skills and learn them on your char by buying a tome (some profession tomes -ex. sin ~ 200g - are way cheaper then others -ex. rits ~ 800g). Signet of capture, when used, is substitued by the elite skill you captured, so, to get another elite skill, you will have to buy another one.
EDIT: ninjaed

Iuris · Mar 31, 2010, 11:18 AM // 11:18

Oookaaay.

First, Factions don't have many quests that award skills. Mostly, you get gold and skill points instead, and are expected to actually buy skills. And yes, 1000 gold per skill gets to cost a lot eventually.

Second, signet of capture is one use only. You'll actually see how many signets you have left in your skills menu. So, yes, it costs a bunch eventually.

Third, while Factions quests don't award skills, Prophecies quests often do, so for skills that are not Assassin or Ritualist, you can get quite a few for quests there.

Fourth, once you get to Kaineng city, Michiko will have practically all factions skills, so you'll be able to get a final build at that point.

Fifth, if you have Nightfall and/or Eye of the north, hero skill points that you get for gaining ranks in some titles will let you get more skills for free.

Last, zaishen quests and bounties are a great source of money for these purposes, IF you can do them (you're at the far enough in the appropriate campaign).

nizaru · Mar 31, 2010, 01:08 PM // 13:08

Thank you guys!
Well, I'm worried about the skills mainly because some of the builds request skills that I don't have, and I try to avoid such situations. However, like some of you said, I don't need all of the skills, only those I am really going to use.
That explains why I am kinda poor (because I havn't got that..)
About the Capture, so if someone tries to get the Elite skills title he would have to pay so much that imo it doesn't worth it...Doesn't it?

P.S : Sorry about where I posted that thread.

MagmaRed · Mar 31, 2010, 01:21 PM // 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by nizaru

About the Capture, so if someone tries to get the Elite skills title he would have to pay so much that imo it doesn't worth it...Doesn't it?

P.S : Sorry about where I posted that thread.

It depends. If you are working on God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals (GWAMM) then it is definitely worth it. It isn't a hard title compared to others, and it is not by a long shot the most expensive. If you were payign 1k per Signet of Capture, it would cost a total of 290k. Expensive yes, but not hard to acquire if you are diligent at selling any drops that you get and not spending money on things you don't need.

Quaker · Mar 31, 2010, 03:17 PM // 15:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by nizaru

About the Capture, so if someone tries to get the Elite skills title he would have to pay so much that imo it doesn't worth it...Doesn't it?

Firstly, to sort of answer your original post - there are only a relative few skills you can get from quests. Buying skills is the "normal" way to get them. It may seem expensive now, but as you go through the game, gold becomes easier and easier to get - and that (among other things) is what the gold is for.

It's not, generally speaking, normal to use a Signet of Capture to cap non-elite skills, unless you really want a particular skill and it's available as a cap before it's available from a [skills] NPC. Once you cap a skill, the Signet is gone - however, you can "use" the Signet to see what's available from a dead boss and hit cancel if there's none you want. The Signet is still good until you actually capture a skill with it.

In regard to builds - don't get overly caught up in the need to have a "build". Until you are doing things in Hard Mode, your build can be almost anything as long as it doesn't absolutely fail. In Normal Mode you can easily succeed with just the skills available to you at the time. There is usually lots of room for variation in most builds.

So:
As with anything else in GW, the "expense" of doing something becomes less of a problem over time. It does require a fair bit of gold to buy enough Cap Signets to get all the elite skills, but, then again, as I said, gold becomes easier to get as the game goes on. Foes drop more gold, you get more valuable item drops, and quests/missions/dungeons have greater gold rewards.

BrettM · Mar 31, 2010, 05:36 PM // 17:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by nizaru

Well, I'm worried about the skills mainly because some of the builds request skills that I don't have

Builds on sites such as PvXwiki are generally intended for level 20 players who are far advanced in the campaigns or have completed them, with access to skill trainers and bosses deep in each campaign. They just aren't meant for newer players who are getting started, and it will simply be frustrating to pick up a build like that and try to direct your play to get the skills to fill in the bar.

Even if you could do this easily, all you would have is a bar full of skills that you don't fully understand that may be overpowered for the early areas of the game. That will simply make it harder to learn some of the things that the game is trying to teach you.

It is far more important early on to use the skills you get to learn about the different kinds of skills (spells, hexes, shouts, attack, etc.) and how they may be countered, as well as learning the basic elements of PvE strategy (pulling, use of terrain, patrol patterns, splitting, point defense, etc.). Many of the early quests -- and not just the training quests -- are very clever about introducing important concepts and giving you practice at carrying them out, but they were designed with the expectation that the player would have a certain restricted skill set to work with. A player who gets ahold of a powerful elite early on can roll over everything, learning nothing, and then have a difficult time once reaching later areas that can't be rolled over.

tl;dr: Starting out by trying to set up a build is putting the cart before the horse.

*Darcy* · Mar 31, 2010, 07:07 PM // 19:07

You haven't said what profession your character is using, but you could check out the Campfire section's sub forums to see what recommendations they have for early builds, and which elites are the most important to get. This info would be in the stickied Basics thread in each sub forum.

And Welcome to Guru. Glad to hear you like the forum.

Allamorph · Mar 31, 2010, 07:52 PM // 19:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by nizaru

Thank you guys!About the Capture, so if someone tries to get the Elite skills title he would have to pay so much that imo it doesn't worth it...Doesn't it?

Identifying all the white drops you get from explorable/mission runs can significantly increase your normal gold intake. (Won't make it amazing, but it'll bolster things.) Other than that, just be patient about it.

Or farm. That's always an option, even if it's somewhat boring.

nizaru · Mar 31, 2010, 07:59 PM // 19:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darcy

You haven't said what profession your character is using, but you could check out the Campfire section's sub forums to see what recommendations they have for early builds, and which elites are the most important to get. This info would be in the stickied Basics thread in each sub forum.

And Welcome to Guru. Glad to hear you like the forum.

I am a warrior with ranger as a secondary proff. In addition I found my best friend in GW - GW wiki. So even though I rather your answers than this site, it help a lot. I play on Factions and I am on the middle of the campaign ( on Mission's sight ).

Anyways, thanks a lot to all of you!

imnotyourmother · Apr 01, 2010, 02:37 PM // 14:37

The Skills hunter titles is mostly based for players that have been around for a bit. I have a 3 year old toon that I am just starting to get the titles now because I focused on getting wealthy first.

Now that I am stinking rich, I decided to get the Skills Hunter title. I have Prophecies done and just 4 skills left for Faction. 3 of the Faction Elites I will buy the Elite Tomes cause of somethign called Raptor farming I can get the Assassin Elite Tome for like 800g Each off of a Guildie.

People talk about unlocking skills on your account first and buying the tomes off of players so I will get into that cause this is exactly what I do.

In FACTIONs there is an area called JADE QUARRY. You can get to it with a PvP toon in the Great Temple of Balthazar.

So, I made a PvP ONLY toon and then went to JQ and play LUX side.
Why lux? Because they play more often. The wait time is greatly reduced so you get more faction.

There are 2 professions that are FANTASTIC at MAXING Balt faction they are, Necro and Elementalist. I have both. The Necro Bomber is Fantastic and so is my Ele build that I made myself.

The object is to kill as many NPC's as you can as fast as you can. This is NOT the objective of JQ but MY Objective to gain Balt faction as "winning" only gives you Lux or Kur faction.

You get some skills when you creat your characture so even if you have only 4 skills do not let this stop you from playing JQ. Every 2 games you play should net you over 3K Balt Faction. That 3K will buy you the Elite Skill for your PVP toon. You do not NEED Tomes to use the skills that you unlock on you PvP player.

So averaging 3K every 2 games you should have your PvP build in just 6 games of JQ on the Lux Side. Then start to play with your PvP build (I can ping you my builds if you like, just PM Im Not Your Mother). Save up your Balt faction to "unlock" the skills you WANT for your PvE characture. Then save up 5K balt faction for a Z-KEY. You can SELL THE Z-KEY for 5,000g and buy the Elite Tomes that you need.

I can average 2-3 Z-Keys a day playing the KUR side cause i am going for the Kur Title cause I am in a Kur Guild. But if I went LUX side I can get wayyyyy more z-keys

ALSO.. Pay attention to the Z-COMBAT dude in The Great Temple Of Baltazar. He gives a Quest for 3 wins in JQ some times. On them days I run LUX cause you get COINS that you can TRADE for TOMES!!! Just get 3 wins and cash it in. Before you sign off for the day make sure that you have the quest active so that you can get 9 wins and maximize the rewards as the quest is not offered every day.

I would hope that these suggestions are good for you. It sounds like Gold is an issue as you are worried about paying so much for the skills.

the z-key suggestion WILL net you enough Gold to get you the "Skills Build" you need/want for your PvE toon without you pulling your hair out.

Mar 31, 2010, 11:02 AM // 11:02	#1
nizaru Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2009	Getting skills Hello all, first of all I'd like to say how happy I am for signing up to this forum Secondly, I would like to share my desperation with you guys: Skills. I play with my main character on Factions and then move to the other campaigns with him if I won't get bored of it. Now the problem is getting skills. So far I remember only 2-3 quests which rewarded me with skills and now I just buy them - this is wrong in some way I think because for buying a skill I need to pay 900g (Imagine what would be in more 10 skill buys), and I don't think I can afford this... Another question would be : after getting signet of capture does it stay on my skills list? or it will be gone after I use it?

Mar 31, 2010, 11:10 AM // 11:10	#2
Marty Silverblade Administrator Join Date: Jun 2006	The skill cost for buying skill caps at 1k (1000g). I recommend only buying the skills you need for now, or playing in Prophecies (if you have it) since there are a lot more skill quests there. A cheaper option would be unlocking the skills and buying tomes. For some professions, they cost as little as 250-400g. http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unlock When a Signet of Capture is used, it will be replaced permanently by the skill it captured. You will need to buy more when you've used all the ones you have. PS: This belongs in Q&A. __________________

Mar 31, 2010, 07:07 PM // 19:07	#9
Darcy Never Too Old Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rhode Island where there are no GW contests Guild: Order of First Profession: W/R	You haven't said what profession your character is using, but you could check out the Campfire section's sub forums to see what recommendations they have for early builds, and which elites are the most important to get. This info would be in the stickied Basics thread in each sub forum. And Welcome to Guru. Glad to hear you like the forum. __________________ That's me, the old stick-in-the-mud non-fun moderator. (and non-understanding, also)

Mar 31, 2010, 11:13 AM // 11:13	#3
Yasmine Wilds Pathfinder Join Date: Nov 2007 Guild: The Lost Souls Of Jugdement [KJCD]	First of all: welcome. Second: wrong forum section, this should be in Q&A imo :P Third: considering you can only have 8 skills at any given time, buying them is not usually a big problem. just because a skill is on a skill trainer list, you don't have to feel obligated to buy it. Buy only those that you plan to use. Also, in eotn and nf you can use hero skill points to unlock some skills from hero skill trainers. Depending on your profession, you might prefer to unlock (for example by using balthazar faction) skills and learn them on your char by buying a tome (some profession tomes -ex. sin ~ 200g - are way cheaper then others -ex. rits ~ 800g). Signet of capture, when used, is substitued by the elite skill you captured, so, to get another elite skill, you will have to buy another one. EDIT: ninjaed

Mar 31, 2010, 11:18 AM // 11:18	#4
Iuris Forge Runner Join Date: Nov 2006 Guild: Crazy ducks from the Forest Profession: W/	Oookaaay. First, Factions don't have many quests that award skills. Mostly, you get gold and skill points instead, and are expected to actually buy skills. And yes, 1000 gold per skill gets to cost a lot eventually. Second, signet of capture is one use only. You'll actually see how many signets you have left in your skills menu. So, yes, it costs a bunch eventually. Third, while Factions quests don't award skills, Prophecies quests often do, so for skills that are not Assassin or Ritualist, you can get quite a few for quests there. Fourth, once you get to Kaineng city, Michiko will have practically all factions skills, so you'll be able to get a final build at that point. Fifth, if you have Nightfall and/or Eye of the north, hero skill points that you get for gaining ranks in some titles will let you get more skills for free. Last, zaishen quests and bounties are a great source of money for these purposes, IF you can do them (you're at the far enough in the appropriate campaign).

Mar 31, 2010, 01:08 PM // 13:08	#5
nizaru Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Mar 2009	Thank you guys! Well, I'm worried about the skills mainly because some of the builds request skills that I don't have, and I try to avoid such situations. However, like some of you said, I don't need all of the skills, only those I am really going to use. That explains why I am kinda poor (because I havn't got that..) About the Capture, so if someone tries to get the Elite skills title he would have to pay so much that imo it doesn't worth it...Doesn't it? P.S : Sorry about where I posted that thread.

Apr 01, 2010, 02:37 PM // 14:37	#12
imnotyourmother Desert Nomad Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: in a house Guild: The Knitters Guild Profession: W/R	The Skills hunter titles is mostly based for players that have been around for a bit. I have a 3 year old toon that I am just starting to get the titles now because I focused on getting wealthy first. Now that I am stinking rich, I decided to get the Skills Hunter title. I have Prophecies done and just 4 skills left for Faction. 3 of the Faction Elites I will buy the Elite Tomes cause of somethign called Raptor farming I can get the Assassin Elite Tome for like 800g Each off of a Guildie. People talk about unlocking skills on your account first and buying the tomes off of players so I will get into that cause this is exactly what I do. In FACTIONs there is an area called JADE QUARRY. You can get to it with a PvP toon in the Great Temple of Balthazar. So, I made a PvP ONLY toon and then went to JQ and play LUX side. Why lux? Because they play more often. The wait time is greatly reduced so you get more faction. There are 2 professions that are FANTASTIC at MAXING Balt faction they are, Necro and Elementalist. I have both. The Necro Bomber is Fantastic and so is my Ele build that I made myself. The object is to kill as many NPC's as you can as fast as you can. This is NOT the objective of JQ but MY Objective to gain Balt faction as "winning" only gives you Lux or Kur faction. You get some skills when you creat your characture so even if you have only 4 skills do not let this stop you from playing JQ. Every 2 games you play should net you over 3K Balt Faction. That 3K will buy you the Elite Skill for your PVP toon. You do not NEED Tomes to use the skills that you unlock on you PvP player. So averaging 3K every 2 games you should have your PvP build in just 6 games of JQ on the Lux Side. Then start to play with your PvP build (I can ping you my builds if you like, just PM Im Not Your Mother). Save up your Balt faction to "unlock" the skills you WANT for your PvE characture. Then save up 5K balt faction for a Z-KEY. You can SELL THE Z-KEY for 5,000g and buy the Elite Tomes that you need. I can average 2-3 Z-Keys a day playing the KUR side cause i am going for the Kur Title cause I am in a Kur Guild. But if I went LUX side I can get wayyyyy more z-keys ALSO.. Pay attention to the Z-COMBAT dude in The Great Temple Of Baltazar. He gives a Quest for 3 wins in JQ some times. On them days I run LUX cause you get COINS that you can TRADE for TOMES!!! Just get 3 wins and cash it in. Before you sign off for the day make sure that you have the quest active so that you can get 9 wins and maximize the rewards as the quest is not offered every day. I would hope that these suggestions are good for you. It sounds like Gold is an issue as you are worried about paying so much for the skills. the z-key suggestion WILL net you enough Gold to get you the "Skills Build" you need/want for your PvE toon without you pulling your hair out.