New Races in Guild Wars: Eye of The North - The Norn

The Eye of the North expansion to Guild Wars introduced two new races, the Norn and the Asura. Players who bought the pre-release pack were able to play Eye of the North over the Sneak Peek weekend, as a final test before the expansion went live.

The only Primary Quests you could undertake during the Sneak Peek weekend were those of the Norn. Since most people will encounter the Norn first, we'll be covering them in this article.

The Norn are giant Viking-like warriors who live in the Far Shiverpeaks. Compared to your character they are around 8-9 feet tall. They are skilled hunters who have a close relationship with nature, with the ability to transform into giant bears in battle.

In each explorable area in Eye of the North, Resurrection Shrines are dotted around the landscape. Standing next to each of these shrines are NPCs, who will give you a bonus of 1 Reputation Point for each creature you kill.

This feature was first introduced in Guild Wars: Nightfall, as a way to progress along several new Title Tracks that had been introduced. Building on this idea, in Eye of the North you can also gain random bonuses and an increase in the number of Reputation Points for each kill.

Along with the Norn comes the Norn Title Track, which is used to gain access to Norn NPCs, their quests, and special Norn skills. Until you reach Rank 1, you will not be able to talk to any Norn NPCs in any outposts. At Rank 3 you can get Norn NPCs to craft consumables for you. At Rank 4, you can use the Norn weapon crafters, and at Rank 5 you can use the Norn armour crafters.

Norn Reputation Points are gained from completing Norn quests, missions and dungeons, and killing creatures in explorable areas while under the Norn Hunting Party blessing, which is granted by Norn NPCs near Resurrection Shrines.

As the Norn are suspicious of strangers, each time you talk to a new Norn NPC, they will challenge you to single combat. Only once you have defeated them (a relatively easy task with an 8 person party) will they talk to you.

Once you have the Norn Hunting Party blessing, you will recieve one Norn Reputation Point for each creature you kill. After 25 kills, you will gain a random bonus, which can range from short term boosts in strength or abilities, or extra bonus points while you keep defeating monsters.

The chat area will tell you each time you've killed another 5 monsters, giving you a running total. For each multiple of 25 kills, you can talk to a new Norn NPC, who will give you a random bonus. This ranges from extra Reputation Points, time limited bonuses, or an increase in your Norn Hunting Party level, giving more Reputation Points per kill.

It's important to note that you can only get Reputation Points and bonuses from NPCs once. Once you have spoken to an NPC they will not give out any more bonuses. Keep an eye on the map to keep track of where you have travelled - Resurrection Shrines appear on your map, and you can travel back to them to pick up NPC bonuses.

One of the best random bonuses an NPC can give is Strength of the Norn, which is an enchantment spell lasting for 60 seconds. When active you recieve +100 health, and after the 60 seconds are up, you're healed for 100 health.

For each level of the Norn Hunting Party blessing, you recieve one extra Reputation Point per kill. For example, Norn Hunting Party Level 3 adds an extra 3 Reputation Points per kill.

Norn NPCs in towns and outposts will only give out certain missions and quests if you have reached a certain Rank in the Norn Title Track. As you progress, it's worth revisiting outposts to see if any NPCs have new dialogues available.

The new races in Eye of the North, and the associated Title Tracks and bonuses, add another level of depth and involvement to the expansion. Players eager to prove their skill and unlock new and exciting missions.

About The Author-- Tom Kranz is an keen and experienced games player, and has been playing Guild Wars since the beta and it's UK release. He runs a Guild Wars blog about Eye of the North at http://eyeofthenorth-gw.blogspot.com/

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