A question regarding the length of the campaigns - Guild Wars Forums

Lycanthropy · Jun 14, 2009, 11:42 PM // 23:42

well, how long are they? ^^ how many hours on average each one of them takes to finish and see it all? (including Eye of the north)
also how did you finish them or how they should be finished? by order? (I mean first finishing prophecies, then finishing factions, then nightfall...) are the very last missions of the campaigns need a players group? or they can be done by yourself with henchmen/heroes and such...trying to know anything I can about the campaigns, planning my time ahead ^^ would like recommends and such on what is the best way to finish them all...thanks in advance!

samerkablamer · Jun 15, 2009, 12:18 AM // 00:18

EotN can be finished in 3 hours, factions can easily be finished in <10-15 hours, prophecies will be much long if you do all of the primary quests, probably around the range of 30 or 35 hours, and nightfall is around 20 hours I'd say. The best way to complete them is to unlock travel to EotN, level yourself in kilroy stonekins lair, then beat eotn in order to unlock many over-powered pve only skills, then go through nightfall to get all the heroes. Next to factions so you can get more pve skills once you get to kurzick/luxon territory and then do prophecies last once you have all of the amazing skills and heroes.

The entire game can be done hero/hench even in HM but it gets boring fast just speeding through each campaign without friends or guildies

Faure · Jun 15, 2009, 12:45 AM // 00:45

Best way is with a guild, so you have human parties throughout the game. Even if they are high level and overpowered it's more fun then H/H because imo it sucks to play a -->massive multiplayer<--orpg on your own.
Also they will be able to help you for parts where you are lost etc.

Apart from that, most of the stuff is doable with hero and henchmen, but some quests or missions might take longer since sometimes you have to carry stuff, and if you're the only one able to... jech.

Hanma l · Jun 15, 2009, 12:59 AM // 00:59

The way i do it whenever i start a new character is assuming that you have all campaigns + expansion get to lvl 20 asap, either by doing kilroy's or power leveling.

Go over to Prophecies and get Olias, then move over to EoTN get a run to Gadd's Encampment and do (Finding the Bloodstone) quest, this will get you another necro hero.

Move over back to Night Fall and finish it, on average it takes me 12 hours or so, doing this will get you the last necro hero.

After that finish the others, EoTN (6 hours doing all quests ), Factions ( 12 hours just like NF ) & Prophecies (this depends as you might get stuck in some quests ) in that order.

The purpose of getting the necro heroes right off the bat is to run Discord Spam Team build, you will steam-roll through PvE using this set up and you can find it here -> http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:Team_-_Discord_Spam

Hope this helps if you have any questions you are free to pm me IG

<-- IGN

Lycanthropy · Jun 15, 2009, 08:33 PM // 20:33

well thanks guys, I'm actully new to the game, never got to finish any of the campaigns before, and wondering what im supposed to look forward for.

Smarty · Jun 15, 2009, 09:16 PM // 21:16

If you want to enjoy the storyline and to experience the game as close to how it was originally intended as possible, yes complete them in order Prophecies -> Factions -> Nightfall -> Eye of the North. If you want to play the game as quickly and efficiently as possible, follow the advice in the posts above. Either is a valid choice, it depends entirely on what you're looking for.

refer · Jun 15, 2009, 09:21 PM // 21:21

I don't try to rush through them. It takes the fun out and feels like some mad dash only for completion, not playing them to have fun or see the story happen.

Lycanthropy · Jun 16, 2009, 12:40 AM // 00:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister Smartypants

If you want to enjoy the storyline and to experience the game as close to how it was originally intended as possible, yes complete them in order Prophecies -> Factions -> Nightfall -> Eye of the North. If you want to play the game as quickly and efficiently as possible, follow the advice in the posts above. Either is a valid choice, it depends entirely on what you're looking for.

thanks for the advice, actully I do look forward to making it as it was intended to and experiencing the story to its fullest, even if it might take more time, but is it possible to finish the campaigns by order by yourself? just cause I'm not sure if I'll have a guild or people I will be able to finish it with, so is it able to be finished it by yourself and henchmen and without the good EoTN skills and heroes?

toord · Jun 16, 2009, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faure

Best way is with a guild, so you have human parties throughout the game. Even if they are high level and overpowered it's more fun then H/H because imo it sucks to play a -->massive multiplayer<--orpg on your own.
Also they will be able to help you for parts where you are lost etc.

Apart from that, most of the stuff is doable with hero and henchmen, but some quests or missions might take longer since sometimes you have to carry stuff, and if you're the only one able to... jech.

Absolutely. On one hand, as a person who only plays 2-3 hours/night, I enjoy being able to do most missions and quests on my own (with stock henchmen); however, on the other hand, I like grouping with real humans (as you said, it's the whole reason they are MMOs). Pick-up groups are very, very hit-or-miss and highly depend on the age of the group members. Have grouped with older folks and it's all smooth and professional. Have grouped with a bunch of teeny-boppers and has been, mostly, horrible: lots of 1337 txt and can't stop talking about how ewber their builds are. So, if you like grouping, find a guild with similar interest as yours (age group, casual/powergamer, etc.) and you'll enjoy the game 10-fold.

Peace.

BrettM · Jun 16, 2009, 10:56 AM // 10:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lycanthropy

thanks for the advice, actully I do look forward to making it as it was intended to and experiencing the story to its fullest, even if it might take more time, but is it possible to finish the campaigns by order by yourself? just cause I'm not sure if I'll have a guild or people I will be able to finish it with, so is it able to be finished it by yourself and henchmen and without the good EoTN skills and heroes?

I applaud your decision. I've never really understood how some can approach GW with a "beat the game" mentality more appropriate to an FPS or arcade game. There are so many sights to see and stories to learn, and it seems a shame to miss all that by trying to steamroll to the end.

You can certainly do Prophecies and Factions with just henchmen, and the PvE skills from EotN are not needed. However, you might want to consider compromising just to make things a bit easier. When you get to LA (assuming you start in Prophecies), a quick side trip to EotN to pick up the first three heroes (monk, ele, and mesmer) doesn't spoil any of the story. I did that, returned to LA, and used those heroes through the rest of Prophecies and all of Factions before starting Nightfall. At that time I also found that it wouldn't have spoiled Nightfall if I had made a quick side trip to Kamadan to pick up the first few heroes there (2 monks, warrior, dervish, and either ranger or ele) before continuing Prophecies.

ogre_jd · Jun 16, 2009, 01:10 PM // 13:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by samerkablamer

EotN can be finished in 3 hours, factions can easily be finished in <10-15 hours, prophecies will be much long if you do all of the primary quests, probably around the range of 30 or 35 hours, and nightfall is around 20 hours I'd say.

That, of course, is only if you do only the primary quests and missions, don't watch the cutscenes (ie, miss half the story) and get run through everywhere rather than playing. Or if you've already been through them several times and have well-tuned builds and twink the character out from the beginning.

If you actually *play* the game, it'll take a *LOT* longer. For instance, my current Necromancer is my fastest character - he started in Factions and reached Vizunah Square, doing all quests along the way (amazing how easy Bukdek Byway and Wajjun Bazaar are with the right combo of quests active, especially the latter), has walked up to Gunnar's Hold (EotN), and done the questline up to Consulate Docks in Nightfall (to get Sunspear armor, the NF Heroes, and Olias & Zenmai). 22h39m, using only henchidiots and heroes.

My Elementalist just passed the 50 hour mark and reached the Amnoon Oasis (Prophecies), Gunnar's Hold (EotN), Vizunah Square (Factions; not done the mission and haven't done many of the BB/WJ quests yet), and the quests to set up the Command Post (Nightfall; out of tasks there, so it'll be time to rescue Koss).

So, yeah, your numbers are a *VAST* underestimate, especially for normal play.

toord · Jun 16, 2009, 03:09 PM // 15:09

Personally I like to RP, after all this is a RPG. I also enjoy story-driven games. The only times I've had to skip cinematic cut scenes is when I've hitched a ride in a PUG. But even then I usually re-run the mission either by myself or with a friend and then watch the cut scenes. They are actually pretty good.

As for sights and sounds I've to say that this game has PLENTY of it. More than any other MMORPG I've played. What I like the most about this game is the fact is that content in instanced. There's nothing worse, IMO, to a story-driven game than to see mobs re-spawning and random people killing stuff you already killed next to you. I also like the fact that this game and even the missions are NOT kill based (i.e. you can complete the mission by just killing only as many mobs as necessary).

Of course, if you are a power gamer, you don't give a chinchilla's ass about story-line, RPG, and sights and sounds -- which begs the question, if you are a power gamer why bother with an RPG game? *shrugs*

Jun 14, 2009, 11:42 PM // 23:42	#1
Lycanthropy Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2009	A question regarding the length of the campaigns well, how long are they? ^^ how many hours on average each one of them takes to finish and see it all? (including Eye of the north) also how did you finish them or how they should be finished? by order? (I mean first finishing prophecies, then finishing factions, then nightfall...) are the very last missions of the campaigns need a players group? or they can be done by yourself with henchmen/heroes and such...trying to know anything I can about the campaigns, planning my time ahead ^^ would like recommends and such on what is the best way to finish them all...thanks in advance! Last edited by Lycanthropy; Jun 15, 2009 at 12:13 AM // 00:13..

Jun 15, 2009, 12:18 AM // 00:18	#2
samerkablamer Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Dec 2006 Guild: The Mirror of Reason [SNOW] Profession: P/W	EotN can be finished in 3 hours, factions can easily be finished in <10-15 hours, prophecies will be much long if you do all of the primary quests, probably around the range of 30 or 35 hours, and nightfall is around 20 hours I'd say. The best way to complete them is to unlock travel to EotN, level yourself in kilroy stonekins lair, then beat eotn in order to unlock many over-powered pve only skills, then go through nightfall to get all the heroes. Next to factions so you can get more pve skills once you get to kurzick/luxon territory and then do prophecies last once you have all of the amazing skills and heroes. The entire game can be done hero/hench even in HM but it gets boring fast just speeding through each campaign without friends or guildies

Jun 15, 2009, 12:45 AM // 00:45	#3
Faure Krytan Explorer Join Date: Feb 2006 Guild: Mystic Spiral [MYST] Profession: R/	Best way is with a guild, so you have human parties throughout the game. Even if they are high level and overpowered it's more fun then H/H because imo it sucks to play a -->massive multiplayer<--orpg on your own. Also they will be able to help you for parts where you are lost etc. Apart from that, most of the stuff is doable with hero and henchmen, but some quests or missions might take longer since sometimes you have to carry stuff, and if you're the only one able to... jech.

Jun 15, 2009, 12:59 AM // 00:59	#4
Hanma l Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: WPB, Fl Profession: W/	The way i do it whenever i start a new character is assuming that you have all campaigns + expansion get to lvl 20 asap, either by doing kilroy's or power leveling. Go over to Prophecies and get Olias, then move over to EoTN get a run to Gadd's Encampment and do (Finding the Bloodstone) quest, this will get you another necro hero. Move over back to Night Fall and finish it, on average it takes me 12 hours or so, doing this will get you the last necro hero. After that finish the others, EoTN (6 hours doing all quests ), Factions ( 12 hours just like NF ) & Prophecies (this depends as you might get stuck in some quests ) in that order. The purpose of getting the necro heroes right off the bat is to run Discord Spam Team build, you will steam-roll through PvE using this set up and you can find it here -> http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:Team_-_Discord_Spam Hope this helps if you have any questions you are free to pm me IG <-- IGN

Jun 15, 2009, 08:33 PM // 20:33	#5
Lycanthropy Ascalonian Squire Join Date: May 2009	well thanks guys, I'm actully new to the game, never got to finish any of the campaigns before, and wondering what im supposed to look forward for.

Jun 15, 2009, 09:16 PM // 21:16	#6
Smarty Krytan Explorer Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: England Profession: Me/	If you want to enjoy the storyline and to experience the game as close to how it was originally intended as possible, yes complete them in order Prophecies -> Factions -> Nightfall -> Eye of the North. If you want to play the game as quickly and efficiently as possible, follow the advice in the posts above. Either is a valid choice, it depends entirely on what you're looking for.

Jun 15, 2009, 09:21 PM // 21:21	#7
refer Jungle Guide Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: US	I don't try to rush through them. It takes the fun out and feels like some mad dash only for completion, not playing them to have fun or see the story happen.

Jun 16, 2009, 03:09 PM // 15:09	#12
toord Ascalonian Squire Join Date: Jun 2009 Profession: E/N	Personally I like to RP, after all this is a RPG. I also enjoy story-driven games. The only times I've had to skip cinematic cut scenes is when I've hitched a ride in a PUG. But even then I usually re-run the mission either by myself or with a friend and then watch the cut scenes. They are actually pretty good. As for sights and sounds I've to say that this game has PLENTY of it. More than any other MMORPG I've played. What I like the most about this game is the fact is that content in instanced. There's nothing worse, IMO, to a story-driven game than to see mobs re-spawning and random people killing stuff you already killed next to you. I also like the fact that this game and even the missions are NOT kill based (i.e. you can complete the mission by just killing only as many mobs as necessary). Of course, if you are a power gamer, you don't give a chinchilla's ass about story-line, RPG, and sights and sounds -- which begs the question, if you are a power gamer why bother with an RPG game? shrugs