Unlock

How locked, unlocked, and known skills appear at a skill trainer.

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When you learn new skills, gain new weapon components, or find new runes you will receive a message that tells you that you have unlocked that skill/component/rune. Not only does this mean that your character can make use of that which you have unlocked, it also opens the unlock across your entire account making it usable on any PvP character that you create from that point forward. Should you decide to compete in PvP, you can also earn faction that allows you to unlock further skills, components, and runes for you account.

— Tablet of Wisdom

In the game, the term unlock means to make available for all PvP-only characters and heroes on a game account to use. Skills, upgrade components, runes, heroes, and charmable animals can be unlocked. This gives PvP-only characters a greater flexibility, as they have access to anything any character on the account has unlocked.

Anything, except for charmable animals, can be unlocked by exchanging Balthazar faction with a Priest of Balthazar, provided the account has the required campaign. All charmable animals can be unlocked by exchanging Zaishen Coin and gold, or Balthazar faction with Helena, provided the account has the required campaign. Skill Unlock Packs, Pet Unlock Pack, PvP Access Kit, and PvP Item Unlock Pack can be bought. It is also possible to unlock anything through PvE play by:

• Learning skills through skill quests, skill trainers, hero skill trainers or using a Signet of Capture.
• Identifying items with upgrade components or runes.
• Obtaining a hero.
• Using Charm Animal on a charmable animal and bringing it to Emryd the Tamer.

Roleplaying characters

Unlocking benefits roleplaying (PvE) characters less than PvP characters since they must still learn skills (even if skill tomes can be used) and obtain all items and heroes individually, regardless of what has been unlocked on the account. Notably, none of the PvE-only skills can be unlocked. However:

• Unlocked skills can be used by heroes, which is very important for teambuilding.
• Unlocked non-elite skills will become available from all skill trainers of the appropriate campaign (except Halbrik in pre-Searing), allowing you to buy any non-elite, non PvE-only skill of a campaign earlier.
• Unlocked skills can be learned by using a skill tome
• Unlocked pets can be charmed at the Zaishen Menagerie

Unlocking

Heroes

If an account has access to Nightfall or Eye of the North, heroes can be unlocked via PvE quests or for Balthazar faction.

Name	Balthazar faction
Acolyte Jin, Acolyte Sousuke, Anton, Dunkoro, General Morgahn, Gwen, Hayda, Jora, Kahmu, Koss, Livia, Melonni, Norgu, Olias, Ogden Stonehealer, Pyre Fierceshot, Vekk, Xandra, Zenmai	3,000
Goren, Margrid the Sly, Master of Whispers, Tahlkora, Razah, Zhed Shadowhoof	6,000
Keiran Thackeray	7,777

Heroes were previously used in the PvP game-mode called Hero Battles (which was removed in the October 22, 2009 update), but heroes currently have no use in PvP (with the exception of Training Arena). Unlocking a hero also unlocks their default skills. M.O.X., Miku and Zei Ri cannot be unlocked via Balthazar faction.

Items

Some items in the list are not considered core and will not be available to accounts without at least one of Factions, Nightfall or Eye of the North.

Name	Balthazar faction
Insignia	1,000
Common rune	1,000
Minor rune of <attribute>	1,000
Major rune of <attribute>1	1,500
Superior rune of <attribute>1	2,000
Weapon upgrade2	1,000
Inscription2	1,000

¹ Superior and major runes can only be unlocked with faction after unlocking the lesser versions. Identifying runes in PvE will unlock only that specific level of rune, and it cannot be created for PvP equipment without first unlocking all lesser runes of that attribute.

² Many weapon upgrades and inscriptions have degrees of quality that use the same entry in the list (ie: a perfect/maximum and a less than perfect/maximum level). The perfect/maximum will only appear in the list once the lesser degree has been unlocked. For weapon upgrades and inscriptions, only the highest quality unlocked will be available in the PvP Equipment panel.

Skills

Name	Balthazar faction
Non-elite skill	1,000
Elite skill	3,000

Animals

Tier unlock	Coins1	Balthazar faction1		Animal unlock	Coins1	Balthazar faction1
1 → 2	1 , 100	1,000		Each common animal	1 , 100	1,000
2 → 3	1 , 100	1,000		White Moa2, Racing Beetle4	1 , 100	10,000
3 → 4	2 , 100	1,500		Jingle Bear2, White Jingle Moa4	2 , 100	20,000
4 → 5	2 , 100	1,500		Black Moa3, Phoenix3	3 , 100	30,000
5 → 6	3 , 100	2,000		Black Widow4, Moss Spider4	5 , 100	50,000
6 → 7	3 , 100	2,000		Rainbow Phoenix2, Panda4	15 , 100	80,000
-	-	-		Hound of Balthazar4	20 , 100	100,000

¹Pay either with coins or with Balthazar faction       ²Prestige Tyrian Animal   ³Prestige Canthan Animal   ⁴Prestige Exotic Animal

Notes

• UAS refers to an account or character that has Unlocked All Skills.
• UAX means that everything has been unlocked on an account.
• Festival hats can be unlocked on an account by showing a new festival hat to a festival hat maker. Costumes can be unlocked on an account by buying them from the Guild Wars Online Store.