Favor of the Gods

When adventurers accomplish heroic deeds, the gods grant blessings to their world, known as favor of the gods. The favor of the gods affects all players in the game world, regardless of where they live in the real world. The special command /favor displays the amount of time remaining in the current blessing or, if the world is without favor, the number of feats required before it is granted.

Benefits of favor

Blessings in explorable areas

When the world gains the gods' favor, statues to the gods light up and characters can summon the relevant god's avatar by kneeling before them. Speaking to the avatar allows the player to exchange gold for a bonus that lasts as long as you remain in the explorable area (surviving even death). If the world loses favor while you remain in the explorable area, the statues are struck by lightning and lose their special effect, e.g. Balthazar's shrine loses fire. Possible bonuses include: Morale Boosts, Health, or Regeneration.

Most areas do not have statues to any of the gods, while a few have more than one. Almost all of the statues are located near a resurrection shrine or a portal to another area.

Access to special realms

While the world has the favor of the gods, parties can travel to two special realms after paying 1 to the god's representative. To reach the Underworld, summon the Voice of Grenth at the statue of Grenth. To reach the Fissure of Woe, summon the Champion of Balthazar at the statue of Balthazar. In both cases, party members must be Ascended, Weh no Su, or have completed the quest Hunted! — heroes always qualify, but henchmen do not.

• Both statues
  • Temple of the Ages (Tyria)
  • Zin Ku Corridor (Cantha)
  • Chantry of Secrets (Elona)

• Other Grenth statues
  • Temple of Grenth, at the southern end of Lornar's Pass in the Southern Shiverpeaks.

Favor mechanics

Favor is granted based on how often characters obtain the maximum rank in a qualifying title. Each time this happens, the game announces the achievement via the chat window in the three outposts that provide access to special realms (listed above) and the four intercontinental ports.

• After twenty announcements, the gods will grant favor for 60 minutes.
• While the world has favor, each additional announcement extends the duration by three more minutes.

Qualifying titles

Character-based	Account-wide
Connoisseur of Confectionaries (2) Incorrigible Ale-Hound (2) Legendary Cartographer (1) Legendary Defender of Ascalon (1) Legendary Guardian (1) Legendary Master of the North (6) Legendary Skill Hunter (1) Legendary Survivor (3) Legendary Vanquisher (1) Life of the Party (2) God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals (6)	Blessed by Fate (6) Cursed by Fate (7) Gamer (12) Grandmaster Treasure Hunter (7) Legendary Champion (12) Legendary Gladiator (12) Legendary Hero (15) Legendary Hero of the Zaishen (12) Savior of the Kurzicks (12) Savior of the Luxons (12) Source of Wisdom (7)

Notes

• Favor is capped at 34,999 minutes (~24 days), the equivalent of 11,667 achievements. Maintaining a constant level of favor requires a new achievement every three minutes.
• Players wishing to enter the Underworld or the Fissure of Woe using Passage Scrolls do not require favor.

Trivia

• During the weekend of March 23, 2007, a special event was held where both FoW and UW were opened to players at all times, without the requirement of favor of the gods.
• Prior to the August 9, 2007 update, favor was granted per territory and depended on events in the Hall of Heroes; when teams of a single region defended the Hall five consecutive times, all players in their region gained favor.
• The Treasure Hunter and Wisdom titles did not count towards earning favor between the November 13, 2008 update (which made these titles account-based) and the June 11, 2009 update.
• Prior to the November 13, 2008 update, the Sunspear and Lightbringer titles counted towards favor.
• The October 22, 2009 update removed Hero Battles from the game. It is now no longer possible to gain ranks in the Commander title track.