Difference between revisions of "Winds of Change"

Revision as of 22:32, 30 September 2011

Winds of Change is a Guild Wars storyline telling the events in Cantha seven years after the end of the Factions storyline. Winds of Change will take place in three phases throughout the rest of 2011. The first phase was released on July 7, 2011. The second phase was released on September 29, 2011.

Getting started

To begin the story, speak with the Ministry of Purity's Initiate Zei Ri, who can be found on the lower level of Kaineng Center. (See also: the walkthrough.)

Foe changes: As soon as you complete the first quest, spawns of some areas in Cantha will change to fit the new story: Some players consider these updated areas to be significantly more challenging than their Factions counterparts. As of yet, there is no way to change them back to their default. (See Changes to explorable areas, below.)

Lore background

Setting

Kaineng Rooftops concept art

Main article: An Empire Divided

“

The defeat of Shiro Tagachi ended the plague that had afflicted Cantha. However, it took adventurers and members of the imperial guard a few grueling years to track down all of the Afflicted and the remnants of the Shiro'ken army that the Betrayer had unleashed in his final attempt to destroy the empire.

Over the past few years, life has begun to spring up in Echovald Forest as many areas have seen new growth take hold. Some even claim to have seen a change in the Jade Sea—small pools of water forming or even waves moving beneath the frozen surface—but these reports are unsubstantiated rumors at best.

Life has returned to normal for most Canthan residents. Kaineng still struggles under the burdens of bureaucracy, overpopulation, and crime, while the Kurzicks and Luxons remain locked in a never-ending battle over scant resources. Shing Jea Island remains an oasis of pristine valleys and beautiful vistas. Monks come to the island regularly for scholarly pursuits, while the general populace descends in droves for every festival held within the safe confines of Shing Jea Monastery.

Commerce returned to a brisk pace once the Affliction ended, and since then, many Canthans have sought to re-establish old trade routes to Elona and Kryta as well as locate new opportunities farther north. However, recent reports of earthquakes and giant cracks opening in the middle of urban Cantha have some believing this time of relative peace and prosperity has now come to an end.

— The Guild Wars Eye of the North Manuscript

History

See also: The Tengu Accords

Winds of Change content

Winds of Change content is available only to characters who have completed the Factions campaign. In order to do Rescue at Minister Cho's Estate and Cleansing Zen Daijun, foreign characters must also complete the Minister Cho's Estate and Zen Daijun missions, respectively.

Enemies

Various enemies received new skill bars for Winds of Change, along with the addition of new foes. These foes do not appear outside of quests until the explorable area is altered through completion of certain quests. These foes include:

• Afflicted
• Am Fah
• Jade Brotherhood
• Ministry of Purity
• Scavenger

Quests

Main article: Winds of Change walkthrough

Winds of Change's main story follows a chain of seventeen quests (and their hard mode equivalents), which is begun by Initiate Zei Ri. This quest chain has quests given by Initiate Tsuriai in Seitung Harbor and Xan Hei in Xaquang Skyway.

Lei Jeng has a separate chain of three quests, which become available after completing the first of Zei Ri's quests.

The second part main story quest chain is started by Herald of Purity. This quest chain has quests given by Guardsman Qao Lin in Kaineng Center, Miku in Shenzun Tunnels and Soar Honorclaw in Kinya Province.

Changes to explorable areas

After completing the first quest (Cleansing Bukdek Byway), all of the areas listed below will change to include new foes, suitable to the new story. As you work your way through Winds of Change, each of those areas will see further changes (e.g. after purging the Afflicted from the zone, you will see other types of foes when you return). At the present time, once you have started Winds of Change, there is no way to return the areas to the way they were during Factions.

Explorable area	Cleansing Quest	Prior to quest completion	After cleansing
Bukdek Byway	Bukdek Byway	WoC-builds for Afflicted, Am Fah, and Jade.	Afflicted replaced with Am Fah.
Shadow's Passage	Shadow's Passage		Afflicted replaced with Jade Brotherhood
Shenzun Tunnels	Shenzun Tunnels
The Undercity	Undercity
Sunjiang District	Sunjiang District
Pongmei Valley	Pongmei Valley	Am Fah with WoC-builds in the area near Sunjiang District.
Minister Cho's Estate	Rescue	Afflicted with WoC-builds.	Afflicted replaced with Scavengers; over twice as many foes as before.
Haiju Lagoon	Haiju Lagoon
Zen Daijun	Zen Daijun
Rhea's Crater	Rhea's Crater
Silent Surf	Silent Surf
Morostav Trail	Morostav Trail

Encounters

Main article: Winds of Change encounters

As the storyline progresses, new encounters will be viewable throughout Cantha.

Items

• Ministerial Commendations, can be redeemed for Weapons of Purity
• Imperial Guard Requisition Orders, no known use yet
• Unique item drops from Ministry of Purity foes

Notes

• ArenaNet will release phase three of Winds of Change over the coming months. During that time period, they'll continue their normal game updates as well.
• While there are not any special titles tied to the new Winds of Change content, players will be able to acquire weapons from two new sets. Weapons of Purity are available now, the "never before seen" Imperial weapons will be added in a later phase.
• Completing the first quest in Winds of Change permanently alters the foes one will encounter in the explorable areas affected by its storyline. Most players find that most of the new spawns are more challenging to combat than the original ones.
  • Currently, players have not found any mechanism that allows one to return the areas to their Factions-story defaults.
  • However, players may still capture the same elite skills in each of the areas: new bosses appear in the same explorable areas and have the same elites as the original bosses.

Bug.Even if your party includes players who have yet to start Winds of Change, the explorable areas do not return to their pre-WoC status. Typically, the player with the least amount of progress through the storyline determines which spawns appear.

External links

• The official Winds of Change page