Halloween

...

“

At Noon Pacific (-7 GMT) on October 18th, Tyria gets a little eerier as the Halloween celebration begins. Join in for spooky quests, creepy consumables, and the annual Costume Brawl. Mad King Thorn himself will appear every three hours on October 31st, starting at 12:01 AM Pacific. For more information, visit www.guildwars.com.

— Login screen announcements

“

Get ready for two whole weeks of mischief and mayhem in Tyria, courtesy of Mad King Thorn and his Lunatic Court. The madness escalates to the final event on October 31, when the Mad King himself appears every three hours—join if you dare!

— Official website

Halloween or Mad King's Day is a special event that occurs annually from October 18, 19:00, to November 2, 08:01 UTC (source), which celebrates the return of Mad King Thorn from the Underworld. Some outposts celebrate Halloween by decorating them to have an appropriately ghoulish and ghostly appearance. Preceded by his undead herald, Bruce the Herald, and his undead horsemen entourage, the populace is warned of the Mad King's arrival.

Schedule

Last update
Sunday, 09:50 UTC

PDT (UTC-7)	UTC / GMT (24 hr format)
12:01 am	07:01
3:01 am	10:01
6:01 am	13:01
9:01 am	16:01
12:01 pm	19:01
3:01 pm	22:01
6:01 pm	01:01 November 1
9:01 pm	04:01 November 1
12:01 am November 1	07:01 November 1

Date	Activity
October 18	Lion's Arch, Kamadan, Droknar's Forge, and Tomb of the Primeval Kings are decorated in the Halloween spirit. All Halloween NPCs appear. Costume Brawl, Scarred Psyche challenge mission, and all Halloween quests become available. PvE foes start dropping Trick-or-Treat Bags. Guild versus Guild begins to have altered NPC models and Trick-or-Treat Bags as an additional reward. All starting at 19:00 UTC.
October 31	Mad King Thorn makes appearances every three hours throughout the day in Lion's Arch and Kamadan. His first appearance will take place at 07:01 UTC and his final appearance will begin on November 1 at 07:01 UTC.
November 2	Festivities conclude at 08:01 UTC.
November 8	Ghoulish Accessory Token-related NPCs (Gul Terror, Malavaka, Aahtan, and Erulis) continue to appear in Lion's Arch and Kamadan until 20:00 UTC.

Finale

Mad King Thorn will appear in the circle of ghostly flowers every three hours starting at October 31, 07:01 UTC, and the finale will only affect those in the circle. Throughout the finale, Thorn will shout commands and rewards those who do them with an item (in 2005 and 2006, it was a random item, from 2007 on it is a Trick-or-Treat Bag). Those who fail will be killed. Deaths do not increase the death count. A Minutely Mad King Tonic is added to the inventory of every character who stands in the circle at the end of each finale.

Decorated outposts

Lion's Arch, Droknar's Forge, Kamadan, Jewel of Istan and Tomb of the Primeval Kings are all redecorated in a suitably festive (dark) style.

Quests

Lion's Arch and Kamadan

Given by Mad King's Steward

• Something Wicked This Way Comes
  • Don't Fear the Reapers
    • Stemming the Skeletal Tide
      • Every Bit Helps
      • The Waiting Game

Lion's Arch

Given by Gul Terror

• Better You Than Me

Given by The Countess of Hakewood

• An Ingenious Plan
• Commandeering a Mortal Vessel
• Evil Residents
  • Evil Residents Code: Harmonica
• Heirlooms of the Mad King

Kamadan

Given by Malavaka

• Double Your Pleasure and RUN!

Given by Emissary of King Thorn of Kryta

• Mad Little Pony
• Open the Flood Gates of Death
• The Killing Joke
• Til Death Do Us Part...

Other festivities

Each Halloween will make the Costume Brawl and Scarred Psyche available for use as well. Trick-or-Treat Bags will also drop from PvE foes for the duration of the event.

Guild versus Guild

NPCs in Guild versus Guild have their models altered as follows; they are still considered humans (e.g. they are fleshy and do not take double holy damage):

Archer	Bodyguard	Footman and Knight	Guild Lord

The opposing Guild Lord drops 10 Trick-or-Treat Bags for each player of the winning team when he dies. To prevent exploitation, no rewards are offered if (a) the match ends after 28 minutes without either side killing a Guild Lord or (b) the battle ends in under 5 minutes (e.g. due to one team resigning or zoning).

Items

Candy Apple	Pumpkin Cookie
Candy Corn	Spooky Tonic
Ghost-in-the-Box	Squash Serum
Ghoulish Accessory Token	Transmogrifier Tonic
Ghoulish Grab Bag	Trick-or-Treat Bag
Minutely Mad King Tonic	Vial of Absinthe
Phantasmal Tonic	Witch's Brew

Headgear

Starting with Halloween 2012, each Halloween festival hat from Lion's Arch and Kamadan can be obtained from Erulis and Aahtan, respectively, for one Ghoulish Accessory Token.

Year	Lion's Arch	Kamadan
2005	Pumpkin Crown
2006	Furious Pumpkin Crown	Wicked Hat
2007	Scarecrow Mask	Mummy Mask
2008	Zombie Face Paint	Lupine Mask
2009	Charr Hat	Skeleton Face Paint
2010	Furrocious Ears	Spectercles
2011	Tricorne	Reaper's Hood

NPCs

Lion's Arch

• Bobby (Costume Brawl)
• Bruce the Herald
• Buried corpse
• Erulis
• Ghosts
• Gul Terror
• Mad King Thorn (during finale events)
• Mad King's Guard
• Mad King's Steward
• The Countess of Hakewood
• The Sorceress of Kessex
• Transformed Krytans

Droknar's Forge

• Bobby (Costume Brawl)
• Nameless Lich

Great Temple of Balthazar

• Bobby (Costume Brawl)

Kamadan, Jewel of Istan

• Aahtan
• Bobby (Costume Brawl)
• Bruce the Herald
• Buried corpse
• Emissary of King Thorn of Kryta
• Mad King Thorn (during finale events)
• Mad King's Guard
• Mad King's Steward
• Malavaka
• The Harbinger of King Thorn
• Transformed Elonians

Collectors

Halloween collectors offer Witch's Brew, Ghosts-in-the-Box, Squash Serum, and Vials of Absinthe. Some^§ also offer Transmogrifier Tonics.

Name	Location	Collects	Campaign
Horseman Naramor	Kamadan, Jewel of Istan	2 Mandragor Carapaces	Nightfall
Horseman Garthim§	Kamadan, Jewel of Istan	3 Sentient Roots	Nightfall
Horseman Aramon	Kamadan, Jewel of Istan	3 Juvenile Termite Legs	Nightfall
Horseman Maxilus	Sunspear Great Hall	2 Mandragor Carapaces	Nightfall
Horseman Nuher§	Sunspear Great Hall	3 Sentient Roots	Nightfall
Horseman Jaysin	Champion's Dawn	3 Copper Shillings	Nightfall
Horseman Bishma§	Champion's Dawn	3 Fledgling Skree Wings	Nightfall
Horseman Kronar	Kodlonu Hamlet	3 Silver Bullion Coins	Nightfall
Horseman Vadir§	Kodlonu Hamlet	1 Chunk of Drake Flesh	Nightfall
Horseman Vulgamor	Lion's Arch	3 Decayed Orr Emblems	Prophecies
Horseman Malfein	Lion's Arch	2 Glowing Hearts	Prophecies
Horseman Sorcein	Lion's Arch	1 Feathered Caromi Scalp	Prophecies
Horseman Nurmangor	Ascalon City	3 Charr Carvings	Prophecies
Horseman Irimund	Ascalon City	2 Ornate Grawl Necklaces	Prophecies
Horseman Saralim	Henge of Denravi	2 Maguuma Manes	Prophecies
Horseman Darelum	Henge of Denravi	1 White Mantle Emblem	Prophecies
Horseman Calstein	Droknar's Forge	2 Stone Summit Badges	Prophecies
Horseman Vilneous	Droknar's Forge	1 Feathered Avicara Scalp	Prophecies

Notes

• Cantha does not celebrate this festival.

Anomaly.From 2014 onward, from the end of the event on November 2 until 20:00 UTC on November 8:

• Transformed Krytans and Elonians continue to only appear in America district 1 of Lion's Arch and Kamadan, respectively
• Horseman collectors continue to only appear in America district 1 of Lion's Arch, Henge of Denravi, Ascalon City and Kamadan.
• Mad King's Guards continue to only appear (and can be added as henchmen by selecting them or selecting their name(s) in Party Search panel) in America district 1 of Lion's Arch and Kamadan; however, a number of them will begin appearing in other territories and/or districts if they are added to a party and then that party map travels to a territory and/or district where Mad King's Guards no longer appear.
  • E.g. Mad King's Guards will not appear in America district 2 nor International district 1 of Lion's Arch and Kamadan unless one or more Mad King's Guards are added to a party in America district 1 of Lion's Arch or Kamadan and then that party map travels to America district 2 or International district 1 of Lion's Arch or Kamadan. The number of Mad King's Guards that will begin appearing in America district 2 or International district 1 of Lion's Arch or Kamadan is dependent on the number of Mad King's Guards in the party (e.g. map traveling to Kamadan International district 1 from Lion's Arch America district 1 with two Mad King's Guards in the party will cause two Mad King's Guards to begin appearing in Kamadan International district 1).

Previously held festivals

• Halloween 2013
• Halloween 2012
• Halloween 2011 — Introduced new costumes, Costume Brawl disguises, and Scarred Psyche (a new challenge mission); the rewards for GvG were reduced. About two weeks after the end of the event, two Halloween 2011 hat givers, Aahtan and Erulis, were introduced and appeared for one week.
• Halloween 2010 — Added Tyrian and Elonian quest chains; introduced new costumes, Costume Brawl disguises, and a Costume Brawl map; added Trick-or-Treat Bag rewards and new NPC disguises to GvG.
• Halloween 2009 — Added Underworld quest chain.
• Halloween 2008 Redux
• Halloween 2008 — Added a new map to Costume Brawl.
• Halloween 2007 — Added Costume Brawl and Trick-or-Treat Bags
• Halloween 2006 — Added a finale, decorations, and collectors to Kamadan
• Halloween 2005 — Introduced Halloween; initial decorations were in Lion's Arch, Droknar's Forge, and the Tomb of the Primeval Kings; initial collectors across Tyria; original finale in Lion's Arch.

Trivia

• There was a corresponding Halloween Art Contest for each Halloween from 2005 to 2011.

External links

• Halloween on the official Guild Wars website

---