Balthazar faction

Balthazar faction points are awarded to players in PvP battles. Faction is spent at a Priest of Balthazar who unlocks skills, weapon upgrades and runes to be used by PvP characters on the account.

Faction can also be spent in the Zaishen Menagerie at Helena to unlock various pets.

Once a player has unlocked every pet, skill, rune, insignia and weapon upgrade, the only things left on which to use Balthazar Faction are Tournament Tokens and Zaishen Keys.

Faction is recorded per account and can only be kept up to a limited cap, initially 10,000 faction. Once the cap is met the account stops earning faction. The cap may be increased by gaining ranks in the Gladiator, Hero, Champion, Commander or Codex title tracks.

Maximum faction cap is 250,000 = 10,000 (initial) + 60,000 (max Gladiator) + 60,000 (max Hero) + 60,000 (max Champion) + 60,000 (max Commander or max Codex).

You can see how much faction you have towards your cap by pressing the "H" key in game. By hovering the mouse pointer over the faction bar you can see how much faction you have earned — this total does not include any faction you may have earned while at the faction cap.

Earning faction
Each of the different PvP types offered in Guild Wars has different faction rewards for unique kill and victory. Additional faction is awarded for flawless and, in some cases, consecutive victories.

Items
There are also two tradeable items that award Balthazar faction when used:
 * Flame of Balthazar: 1,000 faction
 * Golden Flame of Balthazar: 3,000 faction

Unlocking items
Faction can be spent to unlock the following:


 * Heroes:
 * No cost: Acolyte Jin, Koss, Dunkoro: Unknown, can be unlocked for free after completing the training arenas
 * 3,000 faction: Norgu, Acolyte Sousuke, Melonni, General Morgahn, Zenmai, Olias, & all Eye of the North heroes
 * 6,000 faction: Goren, Tahlkora, Master of Whispers, Zhed Shadowhoof, Margrid the Sly, Razah
 * 7,777 faction: Keiran Thackeray


 * Runes
 * Minor runes: 1,000 faction each
 * Major runes: 1,500 faction each
 * Superior runes: 2,000 faction each


 * Weapon upgrades:
 * Lowest levels: 1,000 faction each
 * Highest levels: 1,000 faction each


 * Skills
 * Standard skills: 1,000 faction each
 * Elite skills: 3,000 faction each

Acquiring items
Faction can be spent to obtain the following:
 * Tournament Token: 1,000 faction each
 * Zaishen Key: 5,000 faction each

Trivia

 * After intense player feedback, faction was added to the game in June 2005 to allow PvP players to unlock skills without engaging in PvE play. Many game updates have since altered the rate and the sources for earning faction.


 * Balthazar is the god of war and fire in Guild Wars.