I generally play Guild Wars accompanied by a NPC henchman or two but I hooked up with three other players to complete the Duke’s daughter quest in Piken Square earlier.

We completed the quest relatively easily. While I was grateful for the aid and direction provided by the other members, I can’t help feeling a little disappointed at how quickly we blazed through it. I mean, it was “LFG for duke’s daughter,” “OK I’m in” and then BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, we’re done.

I personally prefer to take my time, consider the overall tactical situation, plan my approach diligently and then, with all the skill and ability I can muster, die repeatedly.

Anyway, here we are at the end of the 2,000-XP quest. The Warrior/Monk is playing the lead air guitar, the Elementalist/Monk is playing the air drums, my Necromancer/Monk is playing rhythm air guitar and the Monk/Mesmer is, I believe, jiggling.

Just off the screen is a well-built half-naked guy thrusting his hips in time.

I have no explanation to offer for any of this.

One of the many things I like about Guild Wars is the way travel is handled. Travelling to a city or outpost you’ve been to previously is a simple matter of bringing up the map and double-clicking on the destination.

There might be occasions when you’d rather travel by foot in order to obtain XP and loot but I prefer using the insta-move option whenever possible. Discovering and exploring new areas is always fun but retreading the same old ground and triggering the exact same spawn encounters is not.

My Guild Wars “campaign” continues.

My Necromancer/Monk is at Level 9 now. I’ve finally managed to procure the Heal Area spell and this ought to keep my Bone Horror sidekicks from decomposing before they’re called into action.

I find myself being hamstrung by a lack of Energy in the heat of battle, though. I’m constantly firing off Deathly Swarm and Vampiric Gaze in combat and I often find myself lacking the energy to raise a Bone Horror when a corpse presents itself. I should probably add a few more attribute points to Soul Reaping.

Dye, dye, dye

I’m starting to see what the timesinks in this game are. Crafting armour requires raw materials which cost gold which in turn requires a lot of hunting and killing.

Fashionable players might be motivated to customise their newly-obtained armour with dyes and these, unsurprisingly, cost money as well. Not all colours are equal in Guild Wars. Yellow and Orange are cheap while Black and Silver cost a bomb.

A very expensive bomb.

And the thing with dyes is that each dye bottle is only good for a single piece of armour. If you’d like a colour-coordinated outfit (as opposed to looking like Garish McEyebleed, perennial winner of Ascalon City’s Eyesore competition) you’ll be spending a lot of time hunting and killing to acquire all the dyes you want.

Die, die, die

Combat is a bit unsatisfying at the moment. I usually play safe and venture out with a henchman, but the hostiles I’m currently facing are mostly in the Level 3 or Level 4 range. Battles tend to be so easy that dying would require remarkable incompetence on my part.

At this point, I should mention I’ve died 11 times.

Still, I’m getting better and hopefully, I’ll be sufficiently skilled to team up with fellow players without embarrassing myself soon.