Random Arenas

This article is about a mission. This name is also used for an outpost and a Zaishen mission quest.

The Random Arenas (or RA) are a group of Player versus Player arenas where two teams of four people battle each other across thirteen different maps. Both the teams that are generated and the maps themselves are chosen randomly. Because forming parties is done automatically, RA has the shortest waiting period for entering PvP matches among all of the areas. Characters must be level 20 to be able to participate in these arenas.

Objectives

Each map will have one of the following objectives that teams need to meet in order to win a match:

Normal Annihilation

Most of these matches contain Environmental Effects that are dependent on the map that the team is on. Other than that, it's a straightforward destroy-all-enemies objective.

• Maps: Ascalon Arena, D'Alessio Arena, Fort Koga, Amnoon Arena, Shiverpeak Arena, Shing Jea Arena, Petrified Arena, Sunspear Arena, and Churranu Island Arena.
• Time Limit: 8 minutes
• Victory Condition: All players on the opposing team must be defeated.
• Death Penalty: Yes
• Tiebreaker: Awarded to team with the least amount of DP after the time limit. If both teams have equal DP, then neither team wins.

Annihilation with Obelisk Flag Stand

In these maps, teams are given a Flag which is held as a bundle by players that carry it. When flags are placed on the flag stand, their team gains control over that stand. Enemies in range of the controlled flag stand will take Obelisk Lightning damage every so often. When a flag is placed on a stand, or it's picked up by the enemy, the item will re-spawn at the team's starting point.

• Maps: Heroes' Crypt and Brawler's Pit.
• Time Limit: 8 minutes
• Victory Condition: All players on the opposing team must be defeated.
• Death Penalty: Yes
• Tiebreaker: Awarded to team with the least amount of DP after the time limit. If both teams have equal DP, then neither team wins.

Annihilation with Priest

The Priest in this map will resurrect party members whose Death Penalty is less than 60% every two minutes from the start of the match. This NPC is also equipped with the skill Heal Area and will use it whenever he or other team mates are losing health. Be aware that this skill can also heal enemies.

• Map: Seabed Arena
• Time Limit: 12 minutes
• Victory Condition: All players on the opposing team, including the priest, must be defeated.
• Death Penalty: Yes
• Tiebreaker: Awarded to team with the least amount of DP after the time limit. If both teams have equal DP, then neither team wins.

Kill Count

There are two Resurrection Shrines allocated to each team at different parts of the map. Players that are slain can automatically resurrect at every 30 second interval from when the timer begins.

• Map: The Crag
• Time Limit: 3 minutes
• Victory Condition: Awarded to the team with the most kills.
• Death Penalty: No
• Tiebreaker: Where both teams have an equal number of kills after the time limit, Sudden Death will commence. Victory is awarded to the team with the first kill during this tiebreaker. Unlike the other matches, there is no time limit during Sudden Death.

Rewards

	Balthazar faction
Unique kill	40
Victory	50
Flawless	50
5 Consecutive	50 1 Gladiator's Zaishen Strongbox

Gladiator points after each win
2-4 wins	1
5-9 wins	2
10-14 wins	3
15-19 wins	4
20-25 wins	5
Bonus Gladiator points
5 wins	3
10 wins	3
15 wins	3
20 wins	3
25 wins	10
Total Gladiator points after 25 wins
100

• There is a 200 Gladiator points cap per day. The cap is doubled during the Random Arenas weekly bonus.
• There is a five Gladiator's Zaishen Strongboxes cap per day.

Notes

• Characters and animal companions acquire 15% Death Penalty each time that they die in all matches which do not have Kill Count objectives. Death Penalty can be reduced by 2% each time an opponent dies.
• When a player leaves or is disconnected during a match, that person will be replaced by a new player in the next match. When a player joins a party this way, they will not acquire the consecutive wins that were gained by the existing team - they will start at zero wins instead. Replacement players will not gain the same number of Gladiator points nor will they get them at the same time as the members of the party they joined; this also applies to parties who only have one party member who wins 25 consecutive rounds.
• Another rare tiebreaker can occur during Annihilation where the last party members of both sides die at roughly the same time. The game will calculate this as a draw and both teams will lose.
• Players who leave prematurely will be affected by dishonor.
• The randomness of Random Arenas can be influenced by a coordinated effort of pressing the "Enter Battle" button at the same time by 2 or more players, otherwise known as syncing.
• "Congratulations! Your team has earned Balthazar's favor by attaining the maximum number of consecutive wins for this arena!" appears in the chat window of all party members after a party member has won 25 consecutive.

Bug.Leaving after winning a match when the countdown timer is between 3 and 0 seconds will usually result in the team not receiving a new replacement for the next round.

Tips

• Know as much as possible about what is going on without distracting yourself. Tunnel-vision and target-fixation are serious weaknesses that can lead to being ganked or missing easy opportunities to finish off other enemies, among other things. A simple tab-roll through the enemy ranks when you have a second immediately tells you if any enemies are low HP and/or being spiked by a teammate, for example.
• Because the vast majority of rounds are Annihilation, players are strongly advised to bring some form of quick resurrection skill (with the notable exception of builds dedicated to keeping the party alive to begin with). It is more efficient to resurrect a player with 8 skills of his own (while preventing the loss of the match on Annihilation maps) than to bring along any other non-resurrection skill. Resurrection Signet is by far the most popular choice; those that bring a hard res tend to choose Death Pact Signet (PvP) for its short activation time, or Resurrection Chant for Mesmers with high Fast Casting.
• Use your resurrection skill immediately when a teammate drops, unless you can achieve a kill in a few seconds or prevent yourself from being killed.
• Characters in RA should try to take out mid-line low-armor soft high threat targets first, such as Mesmers or Elementalists. Leaving Warriors, Rangers, and other difficult-to-kill characters until last. Most good healers don't tend to bring resurrection skills, so a team can normally only resurrect the same damage dealer twice, but they could resurrect the healer three times (assuming no interrupts). Also a warrior chasing an enemy monk who kites does low damage while not cutting the damage and shutdown output of the enemy team, but a warrior chasing a fleeing enemy elementalist cuts the damage output of the enemy team. Similarly, if an elementalist does damage + knock down on an enemy elementalist or mesmer, it reduces the enemy team's damage while the enemy monk still has to use the same amount of energy to heal a similar amount of damage as if the elementalist attacked the monk instead. Even if the elementalist does no knockdown, the damage may cause the target to switch to a shield set and thus be less effective at dealing damage. If the elementalist/mesmer goes deeper to attack an enemy monk in the backline, it ends up in range of more enemies. That said, if a kill on the monk is easy or likely (no stance, bad positioning, etc.), it's fine to go for it. Do note that monks with Disciple's Insignia often have +15 AL.
• A basic player tactic that can be used to increase your lifespan in RA is kiting, try to learn this tactic as soon as possible. Kiting before a melee player starts attacking you will often make a huge difference, especially against competent melee that can sprint, snare or knockdown.
• Due to the randomness of RA, you will not always be paired with a healing character in your team. For this reason, it can be useful to have a self-heal with you. Bringing your own hex and/or condition removal can also be useful, even with a Monk on your team the chances are that conditions and hexes will be removed far more slowly than in organized PvP.
• Don't leave prematurely. Having a team with no Monk doesn't mean that you will lose the match, so don't leave when there is no healer on your side. Give your teammates some time to use their resurrection skills on you if you die, too. Leaving before a match ends will result in dishonor.
• Skills that can interrupt are valuable in RA, allowing you to shutdown key skills on the opposing team, for example self-heal skills, elite damage skills, Resurrection Signet, powerful attacks, etc.
• Always have a place for the party window on face screen (default key: "P"). This window will tell you quickly what the status of your teammates is and whether you might have to abandon your current activity to aid a teammate or resurrect them.
• Get to know the various arenas and use the arena-specific effects to your advantage. For example, a bow-carrying ranger has to have a line of sight in order to successfully attack you. (Note that numerous map bugs mean that line-of-fire is sometimes blocked when it is not immediately apparent; the bridges on the Jade map are notorious for this). A player who uses a melee attack while standing on Icy Ground will be slowed down for a couple of seconds, allowing you to get away.
• When you do not have a supportive character in your team, know that the Priest can help you when you do not have enough energy or time to increase your health. When the Priest notices an adjacent ally with less than ~80% health, he will try to cast Heal Area.
• Don't get frustrated if the battles seems repetitive, since sometimes a "flavor" is established: either change profession and/or make a build according to the flavor "established", either countering it or supporting it.
• Heavy hexing is a good way to shutdown foes, while causing pressure. During which time you can easily interrupt hex removal skills, especially - with hexes that increase casting times, such as Migraine (PvP). Or simply overpower hex removal entirely.
• Use the Score Chart (default key: "O") and click Morale to see how well your team is performing. The score chart is the prime indicator in determining the winner in the event of a tiebreak during Annihilation matches.

Trivia

• With March 26, 2024 update, reporting for leeching became disabled in this arena to prevent abuse by bots.
• Prior to the June 2, 2011 update, a player gained additional Gladiator points for each interval of 5 consecutive wins.
• Prior to the October 22, 2009 update, once a party member had won 10 consecutive matches in Random Arenas, that party would be moved to Team Arenas where they were pitted against teams who formed in the Team Arenas outpost or other teams that had a party member that won 10 consecutive matches in Random Arenas.
• Prior to the September 27, 2007 update, a player had to reach 10 consecutive wins to earn 1 Gladiator point.

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