Fort Aspenwood

This article is about the competitive mission. For the quests and outposts, see Fort Aspenwood (disambiguation).

Fort Aspenwood
Campaign	Factions
Region	Echovald Forest
Type	Competitive
Party size	8

Fort Aspenwood (sometimes shortened to FA by players) is a Competitive Mission where the Luxons, led by a Luxon Commander are invading a Kurzick fortification, to prevent Master Architect Gunther from developing a weapon called Gods' Vengeance to be used against them.

Amber buttons: Amber Mines (for Luxons: resurrection shrines; for Kurzicks: sources of Amber Chunks)

Access

This mission can only be entered by level 20 characters from Fort Aspenwood (Kurzick) or Fort Aspenwood (Luxon).

Mission information

Objectives

Kurzick

Defend against the Luxon assault and keep Master Architect Gunther alive so that he can complete his weapon, Gods' Vengeance.

• Gather pieces of raw and refined amber to power the Gods' Vengeance. Bring them to Master Architect Gunther.
• Take control of the Luxon's command points.
• The Green Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Inner Orange Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Inner Purple Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Outer Orange Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Outer Purple Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• Gods' Vengeance is [0...100]% complete.

Luxon

Kill the Kurzicks' Master Architect.

• Order the Luxon gate commanders to dispatch troops to defeat the Kurzicks and their gate guards.
• Help thwart the completion of the Kurzicks' weapon, Gods' Vengeance, by preventing them from gathering amber.
• The Green Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Inner Orange Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Inner Purple Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Outer Orange Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• The Outer Purple Gate is currently [reinforced / breached].
• Gods' Vengeance is [0...100]% complete.

Rewards

• Imperial faction that is awarded at the end of a match:
  • The winning side receives an additional 1,000.
  • Kurzick players receive 30 times the completion percentage of Gods' Vengeance (a total of 4,000 to 4,060 for winning).
  • Luxon players receive 500 for each unique gate breached (a maximum of 3,500 for winning).
• Players receive 20 Imperial faction plus 10 Balthazar faction per kill in real time.

General mechanics

Fort Aspenwood is an invasion-type arena that is fought between Kurzicks and Luxons. For this mission, you are placed in random groups of 8. The Kurzicks (blue team) will be defending a fort with the aid of NPCs which include gate guards, while the Luxons (red team) will have an assortment of NPC troops and other guards to assist them with the invasion of the fort.

The Kurzicks will begin within a fort consisting of five gates that are guarded. These gates are called Outer Purple and Inner Purple for the left, with Outer Orange and Inner Orange to the right. There is also a Green gate at the center of the fort, which is the last guard point before reaching Master Architect Gunther. Inside the Green Gate are also two gate guards, who hold the role of repairing the gates should they be breached. If you bring either of the Gatekeepers Amber Chunks, they will immediately repair the gates of their respective color, with priority going to the Green Gate, and with the two outer gates repaired last. Master Architect Gunther will not repair any gates at any time during gameplay; instead he increases the progress of Gods' Vengeance by a percentage depending on the quality of Amber Chunk brought to him.

The Luxons begin with two assault posts and three Amber Mines, all guarded by NPCs. The assault posts are used to dispatch a squad of Luxon Warriors with Siege Turtle, which is capable of attacking with a large amount of area of effect (AoE) damage to breach gates.

Both sides begin with five control points.

Capturing

The three Amber Mines as well as the two command points can be controlled by either faction, but are initially given to the Luxons at the start of the match. In order to gain control over one of these areas, all enemy NPCs that are occupying that area will need to be killed. Once control has been gained, allied NPCs will spawn and guard that area. The gates can only be controlled by Kurzicks, but once a gate has been breached, the Kurzicks will not benefit from them until they are repaired.

While the Luxons control an Amber Mine, it will act as a resurrection point for them. Luxons will resurrect depending on how far they died, and what Amber Mine they control. If they do not control any mines, they will resurrect in their own base.

While the Kurzicks control an Amber Mine, it will provide them with a supply of Amber Chunks that they will carry as a Bundle, to be taken back to either a gatekeeper to repair gates, or given to Master Architect Gunther to speed up the Gods' Vengeance weapon by a percentage. If a Kurzick dies while carrying an Amber Chunk, it will disappear after 10 seconds, if a Luxon player picks it up it will disappear immediately. Be aware that Master Architect Gunther and the two Gate Guards will not take any delivered Amber Chunk if they are in combat with the enemy. Also be aware that high quality Refined Amber Chunks will not benefit the creation of a new gate, it will be repaired with the same quality as with Amber Chunk from raw amber mine.

The Kurzick side will win once Gods' Vengeance has reached its peak at 100% whereas the Luxon side wins as soon as Master Architect Gunther is killed. The bar for Gods' Vengeance progresses on its own at a rate of 1% per 6 seconds, but can be quickened by delivering Raw Amber Chunks from the Orange and Purple amber mines to Master Architect Gunther to add 2% to the total, or Refined Amber Chunks from the Green amber mine for a 4% addition to the weapon's completion.

Strategies

Kurzick

• Always maintain control of the two amber mines as it forces Luxons to respawn on the farther refined amber mine. This gives precious time for Kurzicks to regroup, and repair gates.
• Amber is a vital resource that can help you repair gates, however, pay attention to your team's needs and try to go out and get amber only when you think the fort will be able to hold on its own.
• Players are advised to bring builds that can deal damage but can also capture amber mines as you may need to alternate between those jobs during the battle.
• Killing a turtle will greatly ease the pressure on the front it was killed on (Purple or Orange). However, be aware of what is working and what isn't. Continuously failing to kill a turtle, due to a healer, will decrease not only your time, but the team's chance of winning. In this case it would be best if one would put damage pressure on the healer, while another deals damage to the turtle. Remember to bring blocks, or conditions that cause blindness or weakness to protect your self from the attacks of Luxon Warriors.
• When a turtle is killed try not to kill all the Luxon Warriors in its group, unless the progress bar is more than 70% ( less than 3 minutes left). This delays the spawning of a new turtle group (which spawns 30 seconds after the group is destroyed, and takes a few minutes to reach).
• Gunther does not repair gates. If the green gate is about to fall or has fallen, it is wiser to give any amber you have to the gatekeepers first.
• Use the fort to your advantage. Lure foes into the fort and let the NPCs aid you in killing the foe.
• Prioritize your foes. Certain Luxons have more devastating skill bars that can change the match.
• Siege Turtle Attacks cause a large amount area of effect earth damage and removes 1 enchantment on each foe struck. Be sure to cover critical enchantments.
• Turtles have 72 armor and significant damage reduction from Turtle Shell. Armor-ignoring damage, degeneration, life stealing, and heavy +damage bonuses from dagger attacks are effective at killing turtles.
• Turtles are resistant to interrupts; it may take up to 3 interrupts to stop a siege attack. Alternatively, a single knock down caused by a melee attack will stop a siege attack.
• Turtles cannot be knocked down, except with Juggernaut Toss. Any other knock downs will be counted as interrupts.
• Turtles' aggro range is between earshot and spirit range. Letting them attack you will halt their progress, as well as the progress of the Luxon Warriors traveling with them. This can keep pressure off your allies without having to kill the turtle, especially if you can't. Use walls or hills as obstacles to the turtle's line of sight to avoid taking too much damage with this strategy.
• If your team manages to kill both turtles, then the Luxon offensive should be halted for a short amount of time. Use this time to push back remaining Luxons or to grab amber.
• Keep Luxons away from Kurzick NPCs as much as possible. If players are chasing you, keep them distracted or make them chase you away from the base. Each second you keep enemies off crucial NPCs relieves pressure from your team.
• It is possible to take out the raw amber mines on the ledge accessible from the stairs between the outer and inner gates if you use a Longbow/Flatbow as its long range ensures the NPCs aren't able to fire back at you. Also you can attack the Turtle from either side at these points when it approaches the gates.

Luxon

• This is an offensive map for the Luxon side. There are two conflicting views regarding strategy.

1. If you are not attacking/healing within the Kurzick base, you are not likely helping your team win.
2. The speed at which a mine is captured will influence your team's ability to win. A mine under Kurzick control allows amber carriers to repair gates, so be sure to have it under your control as often as possible. As revised, by holding mines, you ensure that your allies will resurrect closer to the front lines, than they would be if they resurrected in the Luxon base. Some player builds are very ineffective at taking a mine. Builds which use area of effect damage skills are more effective in taking out mines and gates than single target builds. If your build can't take a mine let someone else do it; you aren't helpful if you die without killing the mine NPCs.

• Because Kurzick NPCs are overwhelmingly anti-physical, and walls and gates hinder direct line of sight, bringing any profession that relies on physical attacks is strongly discouraged. Elementalists (to kill NPCs/pressure healers), Monks (to heal/protect the turtles and players), Mesmers (to shutdown Kurzick healers/turtle stallers) and Necromancers (to remove enchantments/raise minions) are the most effective Luxon attackers. Tanks are the least effective, since stalling benefits the Kurzick players.
• Snare skills are effective in this mission, as they reduce the mobility of the other team, giving you more time to take down gates, and also slow down and kill Kurzicks running amber to repair gates.
• Don't always wait for the turtles to break down gates and kill NPCs - they are intentionally programmed to move slowly and are not effective at advancing. Attacking the gate NPCs, especially the Green Gate, will help increase chances of winning. Try to not rely on the turtle to do this.
• The pace of every game is different, you should be able to tell early on how fast your team is moving - if it is quickly moving in or slowly approaching.
  • If your team is moving quickly, then it is best to balance the team on both attacking turtle stallers/killers and NPCs starting with center first. This method has the largest change of preserving the squad and ensuring it makes it to the end as well as reducing pressure. Fast games are usually indicative of low Kurzick defense.
  • If your team is slow to advance then the Kurzick probably has a lot of defense. In this case you want to run a bit ahead of the turtle (but still as a pack) and attack green first instead of the center as a diversion, so the turtle will clear the center by itself while Green is protected.
• Counter bonders by attacking them directly to force them away from their charge, or bring counter-enchantment skills such as Well of the Profane or Air of Disenchantment.
• Should a command point fall to the Kurzicks, ensure that the currently advancing Siege Turtle survives for as long as possible. Ideally, you should only recapture the command point if the advancing turtle has been killed. By following this procedure, a Siege Turtle will spawn immediately once the command point has been recaptured.
• New squads respawn in 30 seconds. So when "Purple/Orange Squad destroyed!" message comes up, the next person dead (or in the area) should immediately go to that commander. By the time they get there, the squad will be back. Doing it this way leaves no wasted time when the squads aren't released as somebody will always be there as soon as they return.
• If you have a chance of breaching and breaking beyond Green Gate, use it. The Gatekeepers cannot repair gates while you are fighting them. This will likely cause Kurzicks to fall back and fight you once they revive at their base, removing pressure from your allies and helping Siege Turtles proceed. If you do enter the Green Gate to stop them from repairing or giving Gunther amber, make sure to aggro all of the NPCs. Somebody could still slip by and repair a gate or Green, locking you inside.
• Once a Gatekeeper is killed, gates of his color cannot be repaired again. A dead Gatekeeper is also incapable of healing Master Architect Gunther. The deaths of both Gatekeepers will improve your ability to kill Gunther.
• While in Gunther's chamber, do not blindly focus everything on Gunther. Take out the Gatekeepers first and analyze what opposing players there are. High damage monk killers, AoE and healers should be killed or, even better, disabled (via Insidious Parasite, Empathy, Backfire, or blocks). Most Kurzick players will immediately fall back at their base to defend Gunther, and if ignored they will quickly tear apart your team.
• Sacrifice yourself when the time is right only. Depending on how far you are in, and how many mines Kurzick has capped, the run back can be long and will leave your team (and the turtle) with men down. This can be ignored if clearing the center though, as that is a one time deal and should be done as fast as possible to get it out of the way.
• In Gunther's chamber it is advisable to snare or kill healers on the choke point near the resurrection point.

Watch the amber

Spotting other players with amber is a good habit for both sides to get in the routine of. Good players take advantage of those with amber.

• Kurzick
  • Look out for amber runners - if they die and drop their cargo, you can pick it up to avoid their trip being wasted.
  • Since most Luxons favor long range attacks, they will not be close enough to pickup amber unless they snare or knock down.
  • Non-martial players who would not be disadvantaged by holding a chunk of amber can keep holding it in case the Green Gate falls. It may be helpful to offer to take any amber that your healers may be holding, allowing them the full benefits of their weaponry.

• Luxon
  • Pick up any amber dropped by the Kurzicks to stop them from using it.
  • The quicker you spot amber runners, the quicker you can notify your team to take them down. Runners may be carrying speed boosts so it's even more essential to be quick about it.
  • Amber runners are vulnerable since they give up their weapon benefits, resulting in reduced health, armor, and energy. It is always worthwhile to target them.
    • Runners do not always activate skills, since doing so would slow them down. Thus, an opportunity for Wastrel's Worry/Demise. This is mostly true of opportunistic players who think they can get away with a quick grab of Amber.
  • Melee players will have plenty of opportunity to land critical hits on runners moving away from the mines.
  • You can attempt to follow runners into the Green Gate - if they aren't paying attention you may be able to run inside and thus divert the Kurzick's attention, allowing your team to push inside quicker. If the runner waits outside the gate, then you are successfully stalling them and you should try to kill them.

Skill recommendations

• In Fort Aspenwood, resurrection occurs approximately every 6 seconds, therefore it is advised not to bring any resurrection skills.

• The large number of corpses that you will encounter makes minion masters particularly effective. Consider bringing corpse denial skills such as Well of Blood.

• Both the Luxons (getting from their resurrection point to the fort) and the Kurzicks (running amber to the gatekeepers) are required to run significant distances. Bringing speed boosts is beneficial.

• Kurzick players using professions with low armor should consider bringing skills such as Elemental Resistance or Mantra of Earth so they may avoid being 1-shotted by Siege Turtles and thus be able to complete their tasks. Taking a shield with the "Like a Rolling Stone" inscription is advisable.

Kurzick

Professions that can attack at a distance on the Kurzick side will be far more effective than melee professions due to their capability to defend against turtles and Luxons from atop the walls near the gates. Additionally, melee professions are less effective due to the skill Carrier Defense used by the turtles. Melee professions however can help by putting pressure on healers, assaulting Luxon players, or by clearing the mines and running amber.

• Warrior: Warriors in the Kurzick side are advised to use run skills to carry amber. Skills like Sprint, Rush, and "Charge!" are useful speed boosts. "I Will Avenge You!" is incredibly effective due to the fact multiple Kurzick NPCs (and players) die when hit by Siege Turtle Attack. Builds designed to delay the turtle, or kill it even while under pressure from other NPCs and players, are effective in aiding your team. These types of builds usually make use of Defy Pain rather than a damage elite, to keep you alive under the pressure of the Luxon Warriors. Knock downs are particularly effective because, while the turtle cannot be knocked down by players, an attempted knockdown will interrupt it - something that is far more difficult to do with normal interrupts.

• Ranger: Rangers are advised to bring condition-based skills, as degeneration is usually more effective than straight attack damage at killing turtles (due to the effect of Turtle Shell). Apply Poison, Hunter's Shot and Burning Arrow are all relatively long-lasting condition skills. Pin Down and Melandru's Shot are also effective at snaring Luxon players and turtles, costing them precious time while attempting their objectives. Note that a Siege Turtle's attack usually takes about 3 interrupts before it gets interrupted - Magebane Shot, Distracting Shot, and Savage Shot (or other interrupts) easily satisfy this requirement while also being useful against players. Incendiary Arrows, Barrage, and Volley (particularly when combined with Splinter Weapon (PvP)) are effective at taking out the turtle squads while also being useful against mines and player groups.

• Monk: Monks are advised to bring high-strength heals such as Word of Healing, Healing Burst or Zealous Benediction. Monks can also use bonder builds to prevent gates from breaking the entire match - make sure to use a cover enchantment for Protective Spirit to prevent health loss from turtle attacks. Smiting is not advised due to the fact Kurzicks are the defending side and have a greater need for protection and heals than outright damage - Ray of Judgment, for instance, is inferior to a straight nuker elementalist due to the effect that enemy NPCs have to remain in it for the full duration to be killed, and it won't kill turtles alone.

• Necromancer: Necromancers are advised to bring AoE hexes and corpse exploiting skills. Life Transfer, coupled with Life Siphon as a cover if you wish, is very effective at destroying the turtle squad and keeping you alive under heavy degeneration (you get health regeneration for every affected foe). Lingering Curse and Suffering work well at preventing healing and then covering the effect. Parasitic Bond is also a very spammable cover hex. Be aware that minion masters are disadvantaged on the Kurzick side, due to the large AoE damage of the Siege Turtles. Instead, Necromancers can exploit Wells, such as Well of Blood, which will ensure any enemy minion masters will have a low supply of corpses for their own bars. Well of Blood is also supportive of your own NPCs, grouped as they are. Necros also can remove pressure from healers/bonders/etc with Blood Is Power or Blood Ritual, as death means very little with such a close respawn point. Orders builds, while very useful for supporting your team's damage, are not recommended, as there is no guarantee your teammates will be able to utilise the enchantments.

• Mesmer: Mesmers are effective at causing health degeneration, slowing down, and eliminating the turtles. Migraine (PvP) and Confusing Images double the activation time of Siege Attack so it's easier to interrupt; these skills can be covered with Conjure Nightmare, Conjure Phantasm, Phantom Pain and/or Shrinking Armor. These combos provides high degeneration with an end effect (and punishment for the enemy monks, if attempting to remove those hexes). Energy Surge and Energy Burn deal armor-ignoring damage to the turtle. Wastrel's Demise and Wastrel's Worry are both effective against the turtle, as it uses skills very infrequently. Empathy (PvP) and Backfire are also useful all-purpose fire-and-forget skills. Keep in mind that the turtle usually takes about 3 interrupt attempts before a skill will actually be interrupted, and the siege attack cannot be disabled as it is a monster skill. You'll need to bring several unconditional interrupts such as Psychic Distraction, Psychic Instability (PvP), Web of Disruption (PvP), and Leech Signet. Using Chaos Storm, Mind Wrack (PvP), and then Energy Surge offers a powerful AoE combination attack that can clear mines fast. Together with Diversion, Wastrel's Demise, Energy Burn, Ether Feast, and a protection skill against melee, such as Armor of Sanctity, the mesmer can very effectively deal with healers, offensive Luxons, and Siege Turtles.

• Elementalist: Elementalists are advised to bring AoE pressure skills. Skills like Searing Flames, Rodgort's Invocation, and Mark of Rodgort are practical to use - they provide both health degeneration and, in the case of the former two, AoE damage. Skills such as Water Trident, Winter's Embrace, Ward Against Foes, and Grasping Earth will help slow down the Luxon offensive, while Blinding Surge can be used to effectively neutralize the warriors traveling with the turtle (along with players), allowing your own attackers to safely approach. Be sure to bring Aura of Restoration (PvP) to cover any Attunement enchantments you might use.

• Assassin: Assassins are advised to bring blocking skills in order to bypass NPCs to get to vital targets. Skills like Flashing Blades, Shroud of Distress (PvP), and Critical Defenses are particularly useful but be aware that you need to bring a cover enchantment if you take the latter two (due to the turtle's attack). A scythe-wielding assassin (using Way of the Master) is effective at destroying the turtle squad as Turtle Shell doesn't reduce attack damage from critical hits. Make sure to bring a quick-recharge cover enchantment such as Vital Boon or Mystic Regeneration (PvP). Armor of Sanctity is also effective when going the critscythe route, as it can weaken all the warriors attacking you and provide considerable damage reduction.

• Ritualist: Ritualists are advised to bring healing skills in case no other healers are present. Xinrae's Weapon is particularly effective for holding gates because it prevents a large amount of the turtle's damage. Soothing Memories, Mend Body and Soul, Spirit Light, Spirit Transfer, Life (PvP), Recuperation (PvP), Recovery (PvP) and Protective Was Kaolai are all effective Restoration skills. One advantage that a ritualist healer has over a monk is that the turtle cannot strip weapon spells. Take advantage of this when creating your build. Quick-recharging damage skills, if you don't want to be a healer, are very useful, as your targets will also be under fire from other sources. Spirit Rift, Renewing Surge, and Ancestors' Rage (PvP) are all effective at applying pressure without need of spirits. Offensive spirit spammer builds are not recommended here as you will likely have to move around often, and the turtle can easily destroy all your spirits with a single attack. A useful tactic as a Ritualist involves employing Soul Twisting with an energy management skill such as Signet of Creation to maintain normally expensive defensive spirits, such as Shelter (PvP), Displacement (PvP), Recuperation (PvP) and Union (PvP), which provide unstrippable benefits and increase the durability of all allies within a wide radius, making it much more difficult for enemies to advance.

• Paragon: Paragons are advised to bring skills such as "Incoming!" (PvP) and "Fall Back!" (PvP) to speed up amber running. Try to bring condition based attacks like Cruel Spear, to apply Deep Wound, or Stunning Strike to daze enemy casters. Song of Restoration (PvP), Ballad of Restoration (PvP), and Aria of Restoration can help to reduce the pressure on allied monks, and are fairly effective if you can get a large number of party members together before using it. Otherwise try to bring general pressure skills such as Barbed Spear, Maiming Spear, Blazing Spear, and Merciless Spear.

• Dervish: Dervishes are fairly effective in Fort Aspenwood with their scythe attacks causing heavy damage to bunched-up NPCs. This enables a dervish to quickly clear amber mines. Highly damaging skills such as Reaper's Sweep, Wounding Strike (PvP), Chilling Victory, and Irresistible Sweep are recommended. Heart of Fury (PvP) and Mystic Regeneration (PvP) provide a good mix of offense and defense. Mirage Cloak is useful for protection against Luxon Warriors and Luxon Longbows. Skills such as Radiant Scythe and Zealous Sweep are useful for energy management and adrenaline management. Pious Haste and Featherfoot Grace are both effective and easily maintainable at running amber - Pious Haste is a +50% speed boost stance, but it removes enchantments; Featherfoot Grace is a +25% speed boost and easily strippable, but it reduces the duration of conditions on you (most importantly Cripple). Ally healing skills are also useful - Watchful Intervention, Imbue Health, Signet of Pious Light, and Mystic Healing (PvP) are all effective. Be wary of confronting a turtle and cover your enchantments when under attack by a Siege Turtle.

Luxon

Kurzick NPCs are anti-melee oriented. For this reason, Warriors, Dervishes, Assassins, Paragons, will have a hard time breaking into the fort. However, they can be very effective at killing Healers, the Kurzick Juggernaut, the Gatekeepers and Master Architect Gunther.

• Warrior: As stated above, the warrior's use is limited on the luxon side. Warriors should bring skills that can hit foes through blocks such as Hundred Blades or Whirling Axe. Additionally, you may want to carry a self-healing skill such as Lion's Comfort. Knock downs such as Bull's Strike will be useful to pressure enemy healers and amber runners.

• Ranger: A ranger should preferably bring a longbow or flatbow in order to snipe Kurzick NPCs without danger to themselves. Skills like Barrage and Incendiary Arrows are invaluable in hitting multiple targets and spreading conditions. Touchers are also effective here, due to high survivability and the ability to bypass protective enchantments via life stealing, but beware of Kurzick Mesmers who can interrupt your touch skills with Psychic Instability. Distracting Shot or Magebane Shot are good to shutdown healers.

• Monk: Monks are advised to bring a mixture of healing and protection skills to protect the turtle. Powerful heals like Word of Healing can help save allies near death. Degeneration and conditions are quite common, since Kurzick Necromancers have Plague Signet and degeneration is usually used to take out Turtles due to their high armor, so Healing Breeze and Life Sheath work very well. Some may choose to use Smiting Prayers instead, and can use Ray of Judgment to take out gates and mines (at 16 Smiting Prayers, the damage is just enough to break a gate or capture a mine). Scourge Enchantment and Scourge Healing can also pressure the healers. On the other hand, do be careful with this type of build because you'll be limited in your ability to keep the turtle alive.

• Necromancer: Necromancers are advised to bring skills like Aura of the Lich to fully utilize the amount of corpses that are available. If not using a minion master build, use skills such as Well of Blood, or Well of Suffering in order to aid your allies or hinder your enemies. Blood Bond is also useful with the squad and the players. Soul Bind can mess with any healers. Strip Enchantment or Rend Enchantments help defeat heavily bonded targets, and Well of the Profane can completely stop enchantments from being cast on your target. You can also aid allies with Foul Feast, and then transfer the conditions to foes via Plague Sending.

• Mesmer: Mesmers can quickly clear gates and cap mines by spamming Wastrel's Worry, Wastrel's Demise and an interrupt of your choice such as Cry of Frustration or Psychic Instability (PvP) (or Empathy (PvP) when appropriate) on NPCs because their skill activation is predictable and they will never stop attacking when not casting. Domination Magic can also counter bonders through Diversion, Shame, and Backfire, while Illusion Magic can counter it with Air of Disenchantment and long-lasting, armor-ignoring pressure such as Conjure Nightmare. Since NPCs always attack Images of Remorse can be triggered on them over and over and acts as a cover hex and additional degeneration as well. Mesmers have a number of useful enchantment removals, such as Drain Enchantment and Shatter Enchantment. Arcane Conundrum is a guaranteed +2, +5, or +8 energy skill in addition to slowdown if used at the beginning of taking on every gate; it also makes interrupting much easier.

• Elementalist: Elementalists are advised to bring a few area of effect skills. Skills like Searing Flames and Searing Heat are great at taking out gates without a turtle. Water Magic can help slow down amber runners, while Air Magic gives you good utility that can help you disable important Kurzicks. Earth Magic offers good skills with snares like Ward Against Foes and powerful AoE, such as Shockwave, which can be combined with Stoning to push kills.

• Assassin: Assassins are another limited profession on the Luxon side. They are advised to bring skills to cut down important targets quickly. Skills like Death's Charge can help you get to your enemy more swiftly. Wastrel's Collapse is another powerful chain starter. It is important to note assassins cannot shadow step through walls or gates. Chains involving Horns of the Ox are ill-advised due to the fact that important targets are likely to be adjacent to each other at all times - on the flip side, since enemies are near each other, Death Blossom (PvP) is incredibly powerful and can be used to quickly take down gates (provided you can hit at all through Reckless Haste, Sliver Armor and Ward Against Melee).

• Ritualist: Ritualists are advised to bring their own restoration skills to keep the turtle alive. Recovery (PvP) and Life (PvP) are both useful, as they have a large range that will enable you to help allies; Protective Was Kaolai can be useful. An offensive ritualist can use Destructive Was Glaive (PvP) or Grasping Was Kuurong to deal AoE damage; however, these skills will require you to get fairly close to your target, so don't rely on them too heavily. Spirit Rift can be invaluable, as the short recharge and long Cracked Armor duration will allow you to significantly increase your team's damage. Earthbind (PvP) will allow your allies to bypass the Kurzick Juggernaut's immunity to knock down.

• Paragon: Paragons can aid their team through the large amount of support skills they can take advantage of; however, the short spear range will prevent them from being useful in many situations due to the anti-attacker skills employed by Kurzick NPCs. Skills like "Incoming!" (PvP), "Fall Back!" (PvP) or "Make Haste!" give your allies and the turtle a great speed boost to rush back into battle.

• Dervish: Dervishes can be effective in Fort Aspenwood Luxon side, but can easily be countered by the Kurzick NPCs if they do not bring appropriate skills. In order to prevent your attacks from being blocked, consider a skill such as Guiding Hands (PvP) or Irresistible Sweep (PvP). Another way is to interrupt the anti-melee spells using skills like Lyssa's Haste (PvP) or Lyssa's Assault. A good self-heal skill to take is Pious Restoration as it can counter the anti-attacker hexes when a dervish enchantment is removed. Grenth's Aura can be useful for maintaining health when attacking gates since the npcs will often be standing close enough to hit more than one at once. Taking skills that can hit through blocking such as Vow of Strength can also be effective here. Make good use of cover conditions to put pressure on your enemies since fights here can last quite long. Due to the long duration of the fights taking energy management skills is also advised to make sure you can cast your flash enchantments. Skills that heal allies such as Imbue Health can be useful to support other party members and the Siege Turtles, but remember that you are on the offensive; without enough damage, your team will not win.

Player abuse

• Because teams are formed by random individuals of eight, it is possible that you will enter a match with a leecher. Because they do not contribute to the game's efforts, they can put you at a disadvantage for winning. Leeching players can be reported using /report. This can result in the player being temporarily banned from PvP activities via the Dishonorable Combatant System.
• Some players might enter and sabotage their own side to help out the opposition. This can be done, e.g. by opening gates allowing other players through.

NPCs

Kurzicks (Blue) Behind the green gate 24 Master Architect Gunther1 20 Gatekeeper Poletski1 (Purple) 20 Gatekeeper Radik1 (Orange) In front of the green gate 28 Kurzick Juggernaut 20 Kurzick Mesmer x2 20 Kurzick Elementalist Behind the inner orange and purple gates 20 Kurzick Warrior1 x2 (orange) 20 Kurzick Ranger1 x2 (center) 20 Kurzick Necromancer1 (center) 20 Kurzick Elementalist1 (center) 20 Kurzick Assassin1 x2 (purple) In front of the inner orange and purple gates 20 Kurzick Necromancer x2 20 Kurzick Elementalist Between the orange gates 20 Kurzick Ranger1 20 Kurzick Assassin1 x2 Between the purple gates 20 Kurzick Warrior1 20 Kurzick Mesmer1 x2 In front of the outer orange and purple gates 20 Kurzick Elementalist x2 Kurzick-controlled amber mines 20 Kurzick Elementalist (refined amber mine only) 20 Kurzick Mine Cleanser x2 Kurzick-controlled command points 20 Kurzick Ranger 20 Kurzick Necromancer

Luxons (Red) Orange and purple squads 20 Luxon Warrior x4 24 Siege Turtle Luxon-controlled command points 24 Orange Commander (orange command point only) 24 Purple Commander (purple command point only) 20 Luxon Priest Luxon-controlled amber mines 20 Luxon Longbow x2 20 Luxon Monk (refined amber mine only)

1. These NPCs do not respawn.

Notes

• Contrary to common belief, there are no hard caps on the amount of matches; simply the unbalanced amount of players entering the battle from either outpost will delay the other side from entering. This has been confirmed by Gaile Gray here.
• Sometimes a gatekeeper will follow Kurzick players outside the green room when an injured Kurzick opens the gate and runs away. If the gate closes the Gatekeeper often becomes trapped outside the green room becoming vulnerable to attack. Similarly, Luxon Priests trying to support injured Luxons can on rare occasions move away from their command points to within spell range of the outer purple and orange gates. Juggernaut can be lured in between the inner and the outer gate.
• If you give amber to Gunther after winning on the Kurzick side, he still asks for more of it. The NPCs can't tell total progress.
• With the exceptions of the Luxon Longbows (which have 330 health), all NPCs in this area have their health equivalent to their level (480 health at level 20, 560 at level 24, and 640 at level 28).
• As Kurzick, you can close the gates even when guards are behind them, the exception is the Kurzick Juggernaut; if it is behind the green gate, it cannot be closed.

Bug.Luxons do not win immediately after Master Architect Gunther is killed, there is a slight time delay (usually a few seconds), but Kurzicks win immediately when the progress bar reaches 100%. Because of this, if the timer is close to completion and Gunther is killed, the Kurzicks will occasionally win anyway.

Bug.Sometimes when a command point has been taken by the Kurzicks and re-taken by the Luxons, a team of 8 Luxon Warriors will spawn rather than the usual 4.

Bug.Sometimes the game will refer to the Refined Amber Mine as the Green Amber Mine, such as when it's capped.

Bug.Gods' Vengeance can reach over 100% by giving amber to Gunther right before 100% is reached, allowing Kurzick players to receive more than 4,000 (up to 4,060) Imperial faction for winning.

Bug.When the green gate has been broken, Luxon Warriors will occasionally stop moving or attacking if the turtle they are defending has died. This can result in reinforcements being unable to spawn if Kurzick players choose not to kill the Luxon Warriors.

Trivia

The Guild Wars 2 Wiki has an article on Aspenwood Gulch.

• When Factions was first released, there used to be cinematics: one before and one after the match, both of which were different for the Kurzick and Luxon sides. The Kurzick or Luxon cinematic before the match can now only be seen by talking to Master Architect Gunther or Luxon Commander in the Fort Aspenwood outposts, respectively.
• Prior to the February 16, 2012 update, one effective method was to pull Gunther out of the Green Gate away from healers and into the Siege Turtle and Luxon Warriors. This could be accomplished easily, when Gunther was autoattacking you with his wand, simply run (speed boost works well) out the Green Gate towards the two portals between Purple and Orange Gates. Gunther often follows and can be body blocked outside for an easy kill.
• Unlike the missions on the Battle Isles, you will not receive the message "Flawless Victory!" even if your team wins without any casualties.
• Fort Aspenwood began awarding Imperial faction instead of Kurzick or Luxon faction after the June 2, 2011 update.

---