Ascalon (pre-Searing)

This article is about Ascalon before the Searing. For the current state of Ascalon, see Ascalon.

Ascalon
Continent	Tyria
Town	None
Neighbor(s)	None
Campaign	Prophecies
Images
Loading screen
Interactive Map of Pre-Searing.
An unexplored map of pre-Searing Ascalon. Other non-interactive maps
Ascalon signpost.
Ascalon waymarker.

“

Once, Ascalon was a beautiful, fertile land of rolling green countryside and magnificent cities. Her people were viewed as a bit grim by their neighbors, but this was perhaps to be expected, given their never-ending war against the Charr. Indeed, it was their unfailing vigilance, their Great Northern Wall, and the blood they shed each year to defend it that had protected not only Ascalon, but also Kryta and Orr through the ages.

— The Guild Wars Manuscripts

Ascalon was once a land filled with wheat fields, blossoming flowers, and natural irrigation throughout the fertile landscape. Ascalon is located between the Shiverpeak Mountains and the Blazeridge Mountains.

During the last Guild War, the people of Rin looked to Adelbern to lead them; he was crowned king due to his feats and popularity. Duke Barradin was the next heir to the throne before Adelbern was crowned and, as such, some of his supporters were not happy when a soldier was named instead. Some royalists, including nobles and members of the court, became bandits and took to the countryside.

Even though Ascalon is a beautiful place, it is riddled with threats from Skale, Grawl, bandits, and the Charr.

Getting there

Newly created Prophecies characters start in this region; it is the only way to access this region.

Towns and outposts

• Ascalon City
• Ashford Abbey
• Foible's Fair
• Fort Ranik
• The Barradin Estate

Missions

• Ascalon Academy

Arenas

• Ascalon Academy

Explorable areas

• Green Hills County
• Lakeside County
• Regent Valley
• The Catacombs
• The Northlands
• Wizard's Folly

Landmarks

• Barradin's Vineyard
• Althea's Actors Stage
• Ashford
• Devourer cave
• Fishing village
• King's Watch
• Wizard's Folly tower
• The secret garden
• Apple orchard
• Cauldron of Cataclysm
• Piken Square (pre-Searing)
• Green Hills caravan
• Ruined Temple of Balthazar
• Healing Spring (landmark)

Soundtracks

• Guilds at War
• Autumn in Ascalon (plays during The Searing cinematic)
• [untitled] (in The Catacombs)
• Ascension Song (only in The Catacombs)
• Eye of the Storm
• Gwen's Theme

Gallery

Screenshots

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Concept Art

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Notes

Chronology

• Pre-Searing Ascalon takes place two years before the rest of the Prophecies campaign and is the course of a single day. As a result, it exists outside the scope of the rest of the Guild Wars world:
  • Once a character enters the Ascalon Academy (PvP battle) and the following Ascalon Academy mission, it leaves this region and cannot ever return.
    • Characters who never leave the area are called Permanent pre-Searing characters.
    • Logging out during the countdown right before entering Ascalon Academy (PvP battle) will cancel the process, but once the loading screen has appeared, there is no possible return.
    • One can only enter Ascalon Academy (PvP battle) once, there is no accessible and repeatable PvP arena in pre-Searing.
  • Items cannot be transferred into pre-Searing Ascalon from any other part of the game; there is no access to the Xunlai storage and no guild hall. Items can still be exported from pre into post by any character leaving the region. Enterprising players create mule characters for this one purpose.

Tutorial area

• Pre-Searing Ascalon has always been meant as a tutorial area. In that regard:
  • The skill pool is extremely reduced (13-17 skills). Skill tomes and Elite skill tomes are also not available. Though several NPCs can use them, elite skills are not available to players.
  • Characters cannot ascend in pre-Searing. It is also not possible to get the last 30 attribute points there.
  • Party size is limited to two players. There are no henchmen in any of the outposts.
    • Prior to the June 6, 2018 update, five quests required the assistance of another player, four of which take place in The Northlands. Now only Adventure with an Ally requires another player.
    • The maximum number of allies is six: two players, two pets (when both players are primary or secondary Rangers), one summoned Fire Imp, one quest ally (e.g. Prince Rurik during Charr at the Gate only, Ben Wolfson in the Northlands). Minion masters with 14 Death Magic can also have up to 9 minions with them.
    • Three henchmen will join your party upon leaving the area via the Ascalon Academy mission if no human players are available.
  • There is no hard mode and no death penalty; however, you still gain a morale boost from killing bosses and from using consumables (Honeycombs most notably).
  • The highest level of non-quest related foes is 10. If the character is above level 16, only three ways to earn experience still exist: quest rewards, death leveling and (since the March 3rd, 2011 update) killing foes which spawn during the daily vanguard quests.
    • Getting experience in pre is much slower than in post, but your character will earn the Defender of Ascalon title if they reach level 20 here.
  • Some items are not available at merchants and substitute, exclusive items can only be dropped from Charr bosses:
    • There's no perfect, superior or expert salvage kits but gold Charr Salvage Kits with 5 uses.
    • There's no bag nor Rune of Holding but green Charr Bags with 10 slots.
  • Aside from Promotional weapons and because of the low level of foes, no gold weapon is available and weapons that can be dropped or acquired as quest rewards are never perfect. Purple Weapons, which only drop from Charr in the Northlands are the only weapons able to grant maximum damage/armor/energy/damage bonus in pre-Searing, but are still below the maximum value that can be reached in post.
  • Armor salvage items (which can be salvaged for runes and insignias) only drop from Charr in the Northlands and can only be salvaged for minor Runes and most insignias. Major runes, superior runes, Bloodstained Insignia, Lieutenant's Insignia, Sentinel's Insignia and Stonefist Insignia are not available.
  • There are statues of the Gods of Tyria in this area, but kneeling before them will not summon avatars.
    • You cannot obtain blessings.
    • The statues are animated even when the world does not have favor of the gods.
  • Pet deaths do not cause temporary skill blackout or adrenaline loss for their owner.
  • Enemies will not scatter automatically due to recurrent AoE damage from skills such as Fire Storm or Symbol of Wrath.

Miscellaneous

• Feather is the only common crafting material that can't be obtained in pre-Searing.
  • Skeletons are the only foes that directly drop crafting materials here, namely Bone and Dust. Everything else comes from salvaging.
• It's possible to obtain certain rare crafting materials such as Bolt of Silk or Steel Ingot with the help of a Charr Salvage Kit, although there's no actual use for them here. Some players do collect them however due to their rare nature.
• Black Dye (BD) is often used as a currency by players in pre-Searing especially for trades that exceed 100 platinum, much like how Glob of Ectoplasm is used in post-Searing.
• Birthday Cupcake is the only source of movement speed boost here (not counting sugar rush).

Trivia

• Pre-Searing Ascalon was designed after post-Searing Ascalon during development, and each explorable area was designed around a certain profession.
  • The Catacombs for Necromancers.
  • Regent Valley for Rangers.
  • Wizard's Folly for Elementalists.
  • Green Hills County for Warriors.
  • Lakeside County for Mesmers and for Monks.
• Reaching the Northlands used to require the aid of another player. One member of the group would pull the lever above the gate, another would cross into the Northlands once the door was open. This gave birth to the Gate monkeys, players who'd sell gate opening services in exchange for gold. The June 6, 2018 update extended the duration during which the gate remains open, making it possible to enter the Northlands without help, rendering Gate monkeys obsolete.

See also

• Permanent pre-Searing character
• Guide to Ascalon (pre-Searing)
• List of armor collectors in Ascalon (pre-Searing)
• List of Ascalon (pre-Searing) skills
• List of Ascalon (pre-Searing) skill quest givers
• List of Ascalon (pre-Searing) quests
• List of general collectors in Ascalon (pre-Searing)
• Pre-Searing community forum

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