Seeing so many people asking about how to earn money, what build to use on heros, what weapons etc, inspires me to share with everyone my 2nd choiced method of earning money: Mission Running. Basically what you can find in this guide are:
1) Builds, Attributes, Equipments for some of the common heros builds
2) Some of the missions which are more popular in my mission running experience
3) Some tips and tricks to run the missions
4) Dos and Don'ts for running a mission service
5) Miscellaneous Stuffs
All the builds and methods posted are what works for me. They are not the best way to do it, feel free to tweak it anyway to suit your style. I have played all classes before, though i currently only have 9/10 of all characters, without a mesmer.
I run mission with my 3 main characters, namely Warrior, Elementalist and Ranger. This guide is more catered to people who are going to run mission for guildies or customers for profit, so I am assuming that you are 1) lvl 20, 2) have at least some lvl 20 heros, 3) Able to at least mod the heros with some basic runes and weapons and 4) Have unlocked the common useful skills.
Please also note that this is only for Normal Mode.
Hero Builds
Please note that none of this builds are created by me. They are mostly effective builds posted by the various talented build creators of GW, with minor adjustments here and there to suit my own play style. I do encourage you to change it to whatever suits you too.
Searing Flames Elementalist
[skill]searing flames[/skill][skill]glowing gaze[/skill][skill]deep freeze[/skill][skill]glyph of lesser energy[/skill][skill]power drain[/skill][skill]leech signet[/skill][skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]
Blessed Insignias x 5
Fire 16 | ES 11| Inspiration 8
Weapon: Any cheap greens eg Exoru's Will (3-5k)
MinionMancer
[skill]Animate Bone Fiend[/skill][skill]animate bone horror[/skill][skill]blood of the master[/skill][skill]signet of lost souls[/skill][skill]Aura of the lich[/skill][skill]dark bond[/skill][skill]mystic regeneration[/skill]Masochism
MinionMancer Insignia x4 + BloodStained Insignia x1
Death 16 | SR 11 | Earth prayers 8
Weapon: Ghial's Staff / The Nightbringer (5-10k)
MinionBomber (from sabway)
[skill]Jagged Bones[/skill][skill]Animate Bone Minions[/skill][skill]Death Nova[/skill][skill]Blood of the Master[/skill][skill]dismiss condition[/skill][skill]Protective Spirit[/skill][skill]Aegis[/skill][skill]Signet of Lost Souls[/skill]
MinionMancer Insignia x4 + Bloodstained Insignia x1
Death 16 | SR 10 | Prot 9
SS Necro (from sabway)
[skill]Spiteful Spirit[/skill][skill]Reckless Haste[/skill][skill]Enfeebling Blood[/skill][skill]Barbs[/skill][skill]Rip Enchantment[/skill][skill]Mark of Pain[/skill][skill]Signet of Lost Souls[/skill][skill]Death Pact Signet[/skill]
Tormentor Insignia x5
Curse 16 | SR 13
Weapon: Any green curse staff eg Stonereaper | Modti's Depravation (3-5k)
Splinter BP Ranger
[skill]Barrage[/skill][skill]savage shot[/skill][skill]distracting shot[/skill][skill]splinter weapon[/skill][skill]Favorable Winds[/skill][skill]comfort animal[/skill][skill]charm animal[/skill][skill]death pact signet[/skill]
[skill]Barrage[/skill][skill]savage shot[/skill][skill]distracting shot[/skill][skill]splinter weapon[/skill][skill]winnowing[/skill][skill]comfort animal[/skill][skill]charm animal[/skill][skill]death pact signet[/skill]
Radiant Insignia x5
Marks 16 | Channeling 10 | Expertise 9 | WS 3
Weapon: End game green longbow (10k) or Zelnehlun's Longbow (1-2k)
BP Orders Necros
[skill]animate bone fiend[/skill][skill]animate bone horror[/skill][skill]blood of the master[/skill][skill]Order of the Vampire[/skill][skill]Dismiss condition[/skill][skill]signet of lost souls[/skill][skill]dark bond[/skill][skill]resurrection chant[/skill]
MinionMancer Insignia x4 + Bloodstained Insignia x1
Death 16 | Blood 11 | SR 9
Weapon: Ghial Staff / The Nightbringer
[skill]order of the vampire[/skill][skill]mark of pain[/skill][skill]barbs[/skill][skill]enfeebling blood[/skill][skill]shadow of fear[/skill][skill]well of blood[/skill][skill]signet of lost souls[/skill][skill]resurrection chant[/skill]
Tormentor Insignia x 5
Blood 16 | Curse 11 | SR 9
Weapon: Kole's Torment (1-3k)
Build Combinations
It really depends on what class you are playing, the area you are using the build on. For eg, for areas with very little corpse, it would be rather useless to bring a MM hero with you.
Generally, this is what I normally run:
Warrior: 2 SF eles + 1 MM
Elementalist: 2 SF eles + 1 MM
Ranger: 2 BP + Orders MM
In places with minimum corpses, you can replace it with another SF ele, or a SS. Strength of SF eles will increase as you have more of them in your team. Notice I did not bring any monk heros. For Normal Mode at least, killing stuffs is generally more important than being able to sustain long fights. Leave the monking to hench monks.
Missions
Here are some of the run through for some of the more demanded missions:
Prophecies
Ring of Fire Mission
- Corpse are not in abundance here so bringing a MM will not be too effective. My suggestion will be to run 2 SF and a SS Necro or a 3rd SF ele. Bring the 2 hench monks and another hench of your liking. I generally just go the front route, save me time and I don't enconter any troubles.
- Just remember that when you are fighting the seals, be sure to let your team regen abit before going for another seal.
- Try not to fight mursaats or jades whenever there is a seal around, you are just making your life more miserable. Pull them away from the seals. Other than that, the mission is a breeze.
- 1 point to take note when you are bringing rangers is that make sure you are at the front of the seal before you fire at it. The arrows will be obstructed if you are firing from any directions other than front.
Abaddon's Mouth
- Same thing here, bring 2 SF and SS/3rd SF. At the first part, to make your life easier, nuke those on the top of the platform before you get the seal.
- Clear the area before activating the bonus. Check wiki for the maps and routes the npc will be taking. At the end part, each time you destroy a seal, seal guards will spawn. So be sure to take them one at a time. And get rid of the mursaat guard as they spawn. Other than this, this place is rather easy.
Hell Precipice
- I use rangers with an orders necro for this mission normally. Though SF eles are still usable, the rangers will benefit from the elemental resistance they have.
- Not a hard mission at the start. Get rid of the Sparks of Titan first. It is better to space your heros and hench away from each other using the flag before facing the sparks of titan or other tougher enemies.
- For bonus, do not rush to the seer. Take down the group before going for the Titan near the seer.
- At the portal area, flag your heros and hench nicely in position. Pull the titans group by group. There is a large patrol which is made up of one random boss, 2 sparks, 2 titan and a Risen Ashen Hulk. Pull that group, killing the sparks first, and take down the rest one by one. You shouldn't face any problems if your party are not cluttering together.
- Rurik should not pose much of a problem here. Just make sure to flag your party far enough, and start pulling the mobs.
- Lich is suprisingly easy here to be honest. Just remember to flag your party. It is important that you do flag them. This is to prevent them from running to you if lich teleport you to the lava. Kill lich when he is on the bloodstone. If he resurrect, just kill him again.
Factions
Unwaking Waters
- Bring 2 BP rangers and the orders MM hero
- Bring the domination and 2 monk henchmen
- When facing the afflicted, just take down the rit > monk > casters > melee/rangers, in this order
- Mission should be a breeze
Boreas Seabed
- Same as unwaking waters, bring 2 BP rangers and order MM hero
- Kill Argo first when facing his group
- The rest should be easy
Gyala Hatchery
- I usually run 2 SF and a MM here
- Run pass the the tutles and clear the entire map
- Beware that certain groups will spawn more kurzicks, so be prepared to run to one side if they do. Do not panic if there is no where to run, as they are not that powerful to wipe your party
- After clearing the map, run back to the tutles. Juggernauts will spawn and get rid of them as quickly as possible. Flag your heros and hench around the turtles after that. Get the Smoke Canisters from petras and drop them around the turtles. It will be a good idea to manually heal the turtles if you or your heros have any heal or prot spells.
- Escort the turtles and be prepared to kill any enemies that you might missed
Raisu Palace
- 2 SF and 1 MM hero
- Take Talon and Danika with you and do remember to bring the celestial skills
- Beware of the first group, it is generally the toughest group due to the lack of minions to absorb damage. Don't hold back if you feel the need to use your celestial skills here
- The general rule for using celestial skills is to use it before a killing a boss. A boss kill will recharge the celestial skill
- The only boss that might pose a problem is Star Ancient Koosun. Just be careful not to aggro it and the rangers together. If you do aggro them all, just spam your celestial skills at Star Ancient Koosun and get rid of him first.
- The rest is a breeze. Spam celestial skills at the final 3 bosses.
Imperium Sanctum
- Bring 2 necro heros, 1 SS and 1 SV with other anti melee hexes like insideous parasite, reckless haste etc
- Fill the rest of the party with warrior, ele and necro henchmen (henchmen have celestial skills)
- Kill the spawns whenever they appear, it will recharge the celestial skills.
- Shiro should be down within 2 mins or so. If you fail, just repeat.
Nightfall
Jennur's Horde
- It will be a breeze if you can bring 2 MM here. Its not required, but why not, if it makes life easier
- Koss is a requirement here. Either bring him yourself or get your customer to bring him if he don't mind bringing.
- The only thing that might bother you here is the patrols. The good thing about them is that they arrive in constant time intervals
- Move your way up, taking down one group, then the patrol, and another group
- Do not be impatient and take more than 1 group + patrol if you are inexperienced. Once your army of minions is up, you can aggro as many as you like.
- When clearing the bonus mobs, a good way is to flag your hero down the steps and pull the mobs to them. This is to ensure that you have enough time to intercept the patrol when they come
- Once bonus is done, bring 2 Lights of Seborhin and place them near the Harbinger of Nightfall. Grab another one and bring your party to fight the mobs near the harbinger of nightfall. Drop the lights one by one on him.
Dzagonur Bastion
- 2 MM heros is recommended here too, but not required
- Direct 2 groups of the npc to the east, and the last group to the centre
- There is no need to split your party for the entire mission. Stay around the west area. Killing the mobs and building your army.
- When the bosses spawn, get the 2nd boss from west (General Nimtak). Once the boss is down, kill all the mobs around here and rush to the west bombard to kill the mobs there. Feel free to let the minions clean up small groups of mobs remaining and move on to the next group.
- Take down the west most boss next (General Doriah) and his mobs
- Run across to the east side skipping the middle boss and group
- Work from the west bombard to the west most boss (General Tirraj)
- Lastly, get the last boss (General Kumtash)
Gate of Pain
- I usually bring 2 rangers bp heros and 1 orders MM. Broadhead arrow is good here but not necessary.
- The first group is the hardest, once you get them down, and a healthy army of minions is up, the other mobs are easy.
- Watch up for meteor shower from the Terrorwebs. If you can interupt, be sure to cycle targets to ensure none of them get the MS off.
- Flagging your party apart is recommended when facing the bonus groups and Tortureweb Dryder.
- The temple like area is the only area which might pose a problems. Be patient and pull the groups one by one. Be sure that there is line of sight for the rangers. Do not flee at the first minute of danger, be ready to run and rebirth, but before you do, take down as many as you can.
Gate of Madness
- MM is not recommended here. However a hybrid MM might be of some use here if you want to. SF are not recommended here as Shiro at the end will spread conditions back to you, and without burning = no damage
- Bring a SS/SV necro hero with you, whichever fits the team build you are playing
- The way to the portals is relatively easy. There are many routes you can take. The titans route should be the fastest if you can take them down without much problem
- For the Margonites mobs, take down the priest > warlocks > Casters > others.
- For the torment demons, take down the Rain of Terror (deep freeze on your party is not funny) > Shadow of Fear > Casters > Melee > Arm of Insanity
- There is a trick to skip fighting shirokens. When you clear the torment claws and the spawn, flag your party as far away as possible (within radar range of course) without aggroing any mobs you skipped. Move forward up the slope to activate Shiro's speech. Run back to join your party, readjust your position as required. When the shirokens have passed, run pass them into the opened gate.
- Portals should not be a problem. Beware of Portal Wraiths as they will cast eruptions that will cause blind for 10 secs if you are hit.
- Pull the mobs, especially the titans if required.
- When you are done with the portals, go to lich and shiro. Dispose off lich first, then cap the shrines. I usually do it counter-clockwise. Ignore shiro all this time. When capping, flag your entire party right next to the shrine so you can cap as you kill them. Move on when you are done with each shrine.
- When you are done with all shrines, run back out from where you came in. Shiro should follow you. If he doesn't, flag your heros and hench apart outside the gate, and pull shiro. When he is out, fight him near outside the gate. In case of a near wipe, you can always run away and rez your party when shiro disengage. He will not chase you if you run away from the gate.
Dos and Don'ts in Mission Running
If you want to run a mission service, you can always start a thread here on guru service threads. Come up with a price list for the missions and whatever you want to inform your customers eg. Time you are on, method of payment, whether you need your customer to help etc. There are some guidelines, which you don't have to follow, but I feel it might help in some way or other. Here they are:
1) Do make sure you can do the mission before you provide the Service
2) Do be polite and courteous. You are running a mission service, a satisfied customer will recommend more customers to you.
3) Reputation is EVERYTHING for mission running, do ANYTHING to uphold it.
4) Do not Scam
5) If you are scammed, do not be too bothered by it. Being scammed is common in mission running. One way to prevent scamming is to come out with some sort of payment scheme where both the customer and you share the risk.
6) Do not be afraid to share your builds with your customer. There is no need to be afraid they might steal your builds and your business. These builds are no secrets and are posted everywhere, everyone can access them easily.
7) Do not be afraid to fail. We are humans afterall and we tend to make mistakes. If you do fail, apologise for it, and ask if the customer wish to give you another chance. Give some discounts at least, if you fail more than once.
8) Do not blame the customers if you do fail, even if they aggroed everything. If their participation caused the failure, nicely ask them to follow your calls and let you attack first before they do.
Final Note
I have ran missions for many customers. I do get good feedbacks and they recommended more customers to me. Many of these customers eventually became good friends of mine till today. I hope that this guide will prove to be useful to whoever is reading it.
I have to emphasize that this guide is not perfect, it is what I ran and it works for me. Do feel free to make any changes as you deem fit.
I wish you all the best in your mission running business
These do seem like good builds. I look forward to trying them out. The only mission in all of the campaigns I have never been able to hero/hench is the final one in Factions, no matter what toon I am playing. 
But there are always PUGs and guildies and runners for that one.
), so these builds should be particularly helpful, along with the mission advice.
