Account Upgrades...?

I've had the game for about 2-3 weeks now and I'd like to get a few upgrades from the store, but I'm confused about the skill packs and which would benefit me the most.

1) Is there any reason to buy the 2008 upgrade? The 1 Million Edition seems to include the same pet + more and is the same price?

2) I only own Prophecies and EotN and play as a hybrid MM / Fire Ele. The two skill packs that apply would be the Core Skills Pack and Prophecies skill pack. The main reason I want to buy these is to unlock skills for the heroes I collected in EotN. I know I can create alt's and level them but I'd rather just pay the $10. Which would be the better purchase?

3) What's the 4-quest lore pack (don't remember what its called) like? The quests start in LA and sound intriguing. Thoughts / opinions?

I realize this may be pre-emptive but I've already made it to the desert and only have a few missions left in the zones I've explored (Ascalon and all the way left, except the high level winter zone and firey island). I mostly run missions with friends and I'm looking for some extra content to keep me busy when their not around. I don't have a lot of skill options with my heroes either. The only quest I did in EotN was to get Vekk and Ogden, do they collect skills quickly once I actually start the expansion? I'm worried with their limited skill set I'll have trouble when I get into the harder parts of the game.

Thanks in advance!

The Core Skill Pack only supplies you with the Core skills (241 in total) and include no skills for dervish, assassin, paragon or ritualist. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Skill page has a grid showing the skill distribution.

You can get new skills for your heroes by purchasing them from the Hero Skill Trainers http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/List_...skill_trainers using Hero Skill Points.

any skill you unlock for the account(buy it from a skill trainer, hero skill trainer, get it from a skill quest, or unlock it with balthazar factions from the priest) will become available for your heroes.

there is no need to buy them really, just got to pvxwiki and get some build for watever heros you want just buy or get the skills from a hero skill trainer/skill quest and put them in. only do this with heros you use regularly such as monks or necros thus saving you money. and if u wanna fill time dont worry bout eotn ur attributes, skills and health change accordingly with the effect that changes u to lv20 effectively.

I think I'll wait on getting the Skills Packs and see how it goes once I actually start playing EotN.

Has anyone played the Guild Wars Bonus Mission Pack? Impressions? How long did it take to beat them?

The Fire Imp looks pretty snazzy so I think for now I'll just get the 1 Million Edition upgrade and the Bonus Mission Pack.

Thanks for the replies!

The fire imp upgrade? You don't see that option unless you already own the GoTY edition, which is essentially the One Million edition. The fire imp also only works when you are under lvl 20.

Up to you. Check the wiki skill lists to compare which skills you'd rather unlock.

Good lore, relatively short. Free unlimited max inscribable weapons as rewards.

They are only able to use the skills you have unlocked on your account, they don't gain any skills by themselves.

I love the BMP, especially as a source of nice, free, gold weapons for me and my heroes. As a lover of lore, I enjoy the stories greatly, though they often raise as many questions as they answer.

You play each story as the central character of the story, with a special weapon set and skill bar. For example, you play Turai's story as Turai Ossa, carrying his sword and shield, and using his skill bar (which also has some unique skills or variants of regular skills) to defeat Palawa Joko at the Battle of Jahai. That can be a fun challenge if the character is of a class that you haven't played before.

For me, it usually took a couple of tries to beat each story, but each can generally be done in under 30 minutes. The first victory unlocks the bonus mode, and it can take several tries to achieve those. (I still haven't managed to save all the Tengu in Togo's story, though I've run it frequently to get weapons.) The bonus objectives often require more exploration, and thus more time, to achieve. However, a couple of the stories have a bonus for minimum completion time. Turai's story, for example, can be done in 12 minutes with practice.

Saul D'Alessio's story and Gwen's story will have the most meaning for those who own Prophecies. Togo's story for owners of Factions. Turai's story for owners of Nightfall. However, even if you don't own the connected campaign, the stories are a nice way to get the flavor of it and decide whether you want to add it. They don't really spoil anything, though Saul's story might best be saved until after you've met the Mursaat yourself in the regular game, just to improve your understanding of what's going on.

I don't think you'll regret getting the BMP.

On your other questions:

I don't know anything about the skill packs, so I can't help you there.

For Prophecies elites, you don't even begin to get access to them until the Crystal Desert, and most are captured in the S. Shiverpeaks and Ring of Fire Islands. However, the elites in the Crystal Desert missions are a very good place to start. For example, Word of Healing is a great elite for a monk or monk hero. All three of the Crystal Desert missions offer the same set of elites, one for each core profession, so you can cap them wherever it is easiest for you. Obviously you will need to Ascend and unlock all of your secondary professions before you can go back and cap most of them.

For regular skills in Prophecies, you must reach the skill trainer in Ember Light Camp to have access to all core and Prophecies skills, but you will be able to build pretty good bars with the skills available before then. In EotN, all of the skill trainers will have all of the non-PvE skills from the expansion. Just get to the Eye, which is an easy walk from Boreal Station, and you can get any regular EotN skill you need. (PvE skills in EotN are obtained as quest rewards, not from a skill trainer.)

You don't have to make "alts" to get the skills, just change your secondary to whatever class you want skills for, and then buy them from the skills NPCs. Check the hero skill NPCs in EotN too.
You can also combine this with capping elite skills.

BrettM, you just sold me on it. I don't think I'll bother with the 1 Million Edition upgrade, I'm already level 20 so if I can't actually use the pet there isn't much point. I imagine I could have him follow me around in cities but that's not really worth $5.

I'll try changing my secondary tonight. I have about 35 skill points (I didn't realize I was accumulating them until a few days ago) and that should be enough for what I need right now.

Thanks again!

One last question, one of my friends that got me playing wants to get it now too, are these solo missions or can you group for them? I know you play as the person from the story, but can someone else join you? I know the answer is probably no but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

no they are solo.

Thanks, that's what I thought. Shame though I was hoping we could do them together.