Ok past these few months I've noticed something :
-> A lot of people came to get 30/50 in HoM.
When I've seen this I've also noticed a lot of questions coming from these people
. So as I've achieved my 30/50 I thought I would make this guide so others benefit from it and stop posting question.
So let's start.
I. Starting point :
Okay before you buy or closely after buying Guild Wars you should check out some forums. That is what I did! Check out the forums for everything, classes, tips for new players and so on. Also watching some gamplay videos on the game itself or various classes will have it's use.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE CAMPAIGNS!!!
Usually it doesn't really matter where you start, BUT Prophecies and Factions would be the best place to start.
Why? It's simple let's take them seperatly and see the reasons :
A) Prophecies is probably the best one for new players to start. Not only do you start in the Pre-Searing / Old Ascalon, which is a very helpful area, and will help you termendously to get used to the game mechanics but will also get you to a decent level and give you some nice skills for some classes.
B) Factions. What you need to understand is that Factions provides the fastest way to level 20, which is the cap (meaning you can not level from 20 to 21. You can still level up, however you will only get a skill point from it!). Seriously, I reached level 20 before I left Shing Jea Island, However the missions seemed a tad harder than the missions in Prophecies.
II. Progress :
Don't bother with HoM as soon as you started. Just play the game and make sure you finish all three major campaigns (Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall) with Protector title.
What is the Protector title? The Protector title will be granted to you automatically when you finish the missions of a major campaign WITH THE BONUSES!!!
How will I know how to get the bonus? Have no fear Wikipedia is always there for you.
->http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/List_...primary_quests
->http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/List_...primary_quests
->http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/List_...primary_quests
WIKIPEDIA IS YOUR FRIEND!! ALWAYS USE IT!
After you finish the three major campaigns go and finish EotN (Eye of the North). It is quite fast, fun and easy
.III. Building your HoM - Armors :
Okay after each campaign you complete you should receive quite a sum of money. Mainly you should receive enough for one armor each campaing you finish.
MATERIALS :
1) Ok first of all you should know something. Farming might be a way to make money BUT you should really Identify and Salvage everything. It can get you quite a nice sum a money each mission / dungeon run.
2) Keep the Tanned Hide Squares you will need a lot of them if you plan on adding armors.
EotN has the cheapest armors, however you need Rank 5 in each title. It isn't really hard to get it. Just by playing EotN and turning in the story books should give more than enough to get the titles.
Also armors can be dedicated with just four pieces : Shoes, Legs, Gauntlets, Chest. This info is useful because you will need to dedicate Kurzick/Luxon and Vabbian armors, and the headpiece will save you quite some money.
EotN armors are :
A) Monument (you need Ebon Vanguard title Rank 5 or Shadow Agent);
B) Norn (you need Norn Title Track Rank 5 or Slayer of Wurms);
C) Asuran (you need Asura Rank Title Track Rank 5 or Not Too Annoying).
This will be 3 armors. Also choose one of the armors and keep it as your armor forever (dedicate it but don't salvage it). Also for the armor you choose craft the head piece too.
IF YOU DEDICATE YOUR ARMOR, YOU CAN SALVAGE IT, BUT NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. FIRST DEDICATE YOUR ARMORS THAN SALVAGE IT IF YOU WANT TO TAKE SOME OF THE MONEY SPENT ON IT BACK.
Good we reached the hard part.
Kurzick/Luxon armor. The fastest way to get Kurzick armor is to farm JQ (Jade Quarry). You get 4000 Imperial factions if you win, which you can convert in 4000 Kurzick/Luxon Faction. An Amber/Jadeite Shard costs 5000 Kurzick/Luxon Faction. So every 5 won games you get 4 Amber/Jadeite Shard.
Vabbian. Okay, Vabbian is probably the second most expensive armor in game. You need 14 Rubies + 14 Sapphires which are each around 10k each. To avoid this price get Trade Contracts from Nightfall. Each 7 Trade Contracts means 1 Ruby/Sapphire. Also see http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Treasure . You can get good items from searching through each chest and you can even get Rubies or Sapphire. However it is character bound for 30 days or so (meaning that if you open a chest from the trasures you can't open it for another 30 days or so). FARM GEODE!!! : http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Geode Buy an expert/perfect salvage kit and salvage GEODES.
Good we finished the armors section. By now you should have 6 HoM points just from the armors.
IV. Building your HoM -Weapons :
Good this is actually easy and fast. From here you should get 2 points in your HoM and some pocket money.
How? Simple! Guild Wars : Beyond. Guild Wars : Beyond is exactly what it writes. It's a bunch of quests that continue the Guild Wars storyline and form a bridge to Guild Wars 2 story.
The first GW: Beyond story you should be interested in is War In Kryta (or WiK). FINISH ALL CAMPAIGNS (EOTN TOO) BEFORE YOU START ANY GW : BEYOND!!
You will start WiK from Murro in Lion's Arch! Also when you get in Lion's Arch Keep you should take as many bounties as you can and finish them in Hard Mode (HM)! It's not that hard since by now you should have A LOT of heroes.
Your interest in WiK should be in Medals of Honor. DO NOT TRADE WAR SUPPLIES FOR ROYAL GIFTS, TRADE THEM FOR MEDALS OF HONOR!!! Check this link : http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/War_in_Kryta !
Okay after you finish WiK you should have one Opressor Weapon to dedicate which means 2 points in your HoM.
Also after you finish WiK get Hearts of the North (another GW : Beyond storyline that comes after WiK)! you should have around 8 Medals of Honor after you complete Hearts of the North, which with some War Supllies farming for another 2 Medals of Honor means another opressor weapon (do not dedicate this one!!!) which you should get around 80k from it (spend it on minis/armors).
Check this link : http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Hearts_of_the_North
V. Building your HoM -Heroes :
Okay by now you should have gotten quite a few heroes. But for a new player the budget might sometimes be tight. So let's see the cheap and smart choices.
Don't buy armors for your heroes until you have Black Moa, Imperial Pheonix and an animal companion of your choice dedicated in your HoM. The Black Moa and the Imperial Pheonix can be both aquired in Cantha.
Just follow the Kurzick chain quest to figure out it's location and finish Factions to get Imperial Pheonix (after you finish the game don't hurry take your time and explore the palace).
An animal companion is just that nothing more, nothing less. You can charm a bear or a rat or whatever you wish.
Now you need 17 more statues. How to get them? Simple! From EotN (which by now you should've have completed) you should get 10 heroes :
1. Jora
2. Gwen
3. Ogden Stonehealer
4. Anton
5. Vekk
6. Pyre Fierceshot
7. Xandra
8. Livia
9. Hayda
10. Kahmu
Good so there are 10 heroes. Which armor should you get for them? Cloth of the Brotherhood. Don't buy them, farm it. Cloth of the Brotherhood is around 4k each. No sense in wasting 40k on something you can do yourself eh? Finish Glint's Challage : http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Glint's_Challenge.
The next will be Stolen Sunspear armor. Like Cloth of the Brotherhood they can be farmed easily. And I mean really easy. You only need 5 Stolen Sunspear armors since only a few heroes can wear it :
1. Koss
2. Melonni
3. Dunkoro
4. Acolyte Jin
5. Acolyte Souske
By now you should have 18 dedicated heroe statues. And from now you have a lot of options.
A good idea might be to find a group and venture in the Underworld (UW). You can get nice cash ($.$) out of it and a statue AND Black Widow Spider.
Another thing to do would be to buy/farm Primeval Armor Renmants for the rest of the heroes : http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Primeval_Armor_Remnants
VI. Building your HoM -Miniatures :
Okay here is the part that sucks for new players. If you are new, getting miniatures will be though. The best method will be to buy cheap common ones : http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Miniature .
However do not despair! You can get an unique miniature AND get a statue while you do it.
FINISH SORROW'S FURNACE!!!http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Black_Moa_Chick
Okay you should farm JQ (Jade Quarry) and exchange Imperial Faction in Balthazar Faction and than trade the Balthazar Faction for Z-keys (Zaishen Keys).
Personally I farmed enough for a rare miniature and some more to get 30. BUT the points can be replaced, it's just that I recommend getting 30 miniatures.
VII. Building your HoM -Statues :
If you took my previous adivice seriously than you should already have 6 Statues. Three form protectors and three for just completing the storylines (Hero of X).
If you are doing the Black Moa Chick make sure you finish Sorrow's Furnace statue. http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Sorrow's_Furnace .
Okay by now you should have 7 statues
and you are almost done. If you farmed JQ for the Kurzick/Luxon armor you should already be on your way to get Ally of The Kurzicks/Luxon. IMPORTANT!! GET THE STORY BOOKS FROM ALL THE CAMPAIGNS YOU FINISH.
By filling out the story books you should get a nice income of Kurzick/Luxon points.
If you started in Cantha you should already be at 75%+ in the Cartographers title track.
You can also find a party and finish Urgoz Warren, The Deep, Underworld, Fissure of Woe so you get easy statues.
Also if you want to skip some points in the miniature department, Vanquishing and Cartographer can both be done at the same time so you get a nice 8 statues. You can than get Skill hunter and so on.
Good well by now if you followed my guide you should be somewhere at 30/50.
VIII. Tricks :
Ok the following trick works one time only, as you can only do it one time per account
. Go to GToB (Great Temple of Balthazar)!
Now go to Tolkano!
And choose Register Your Account!
Now choose your main character (the one you play most) and confirm it.
Good now walk the stairs to High Priest Zhang and talk to him.
You should get 50 Tournament points, which you will go to Tolkano and spend them on Z-Keys (Zaishen Keys)!
Each key means 5 points so you will have 10 free keys which means 55-60k for free
!