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)	Depths of Tyria
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 invading 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
• Piken Square (only in Reforged Mode)
• 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

Dungeon entrances

• Forsaken Tunnels (The Northlands) (only in Reforged Mode)

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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  Early designs before settling on medieval Europe design.

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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.
    • Players who unlock Devona as a hero can equip her with any skills unlocked on their account, unless their character is upholding Melandru's Accord. Devona is also equipped with an elite skill, Earth Shaker, by default.
  • Characters cannot ascend in pre-Searing. It is also not possible to get the last 30 attribute points there.
  • Party size is limited to four 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.
    • Prior to the December 18, 2025 update, party size was limited to two players.
    • Since the April 1, 2026 update, pre-Searing characters in Reforged Mode can unlock Devona as a hero.
    • Two summon items are available: the Ascalonian War Horn obtained rarely from Maz's Chest, and the Igneous Summoning Stone available from the /bonus command to accounts with Eye of the North unlocked.
    • The maximum number of allies is thirteen: four party members, four pets (when all party members are primary or secondary Rangers), Bock and Vell summoned by an Ascalonian War Horn, and three quest allies (during A Bastion In the North only). Minion masters with 14 Death Magic can also have up to 9 minions with them.
    • Up to three henchmen will join your party upon leaving the area via the Ascalon Academy mission if not enough human players are available to create a full party.
  • 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 four ways to earn experience still exist: quest rewards, death leveling, (since the March 3rd, 2011 update) killing foes which spawn during the daily vanguard quests, and (since the April 1st, 2026 update) killing foes in the Forsaken Tunnels in Reforged Mode.
    • 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 are no perfect, superior or expert salvage kits, but gold Charr Salvage Kits with 5 uses can be dropped.
    • There's no bag nor Rune of Holding, but green Charr Bags with 10 slots can be dropped.
  • 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 enemies in the Northlands and the Forsaken Tunnels, provide the highest damage/armor/energy/damage bonus available in pre-Searing without Reforged Mode, but are still below the maximum value that can be reached in post.
    • Inscribable gold weapons from Maz's Chest in the Forsaken Tunnels have the same maximum damage/armor/energy values as weapons in post-Searing, and can have perfect modifiers and upgrade components. These weapons can only be obtained in Reforged Mode, or by trading with other players.
    • Some components, such as Vampiric or Of the (Profession), are found only with gold weapons and are therefore only available from Maz's Chest.
  • 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, other uncommon 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.
• Many believe that dyes have a higher drop rate in pre-Searing, but most of the evidence is anecdotal and extensive research has never been conducted on this.
  • It is possible that the drop rate is indeed higher in this area. Plausible explanations include the developers wanting to make dyes easier to obtain here since there's no dye trader for easy access, or they may have intended for new players to discover this side of the game early.
  • It's also possible that this notion is entirely based on perception and party sizes. Since there are no henchmen in pre-Searing, most players are essentially solo farming wherever they go, leading to more personal loot than they would otherwise see with a full group in post-Searing. Players who aren't familiar with how the loot system works might have mistakenly attributed the difference to the zone, not the party size, thus giving birth to an urban legend of higher dye drop chances.
• Birthday Cupcake is the only source of movement speed boost here (not counting sugar rush).

Trivia

• Pre-Searing is called "Eden" internally, according to the Direct Song list of tokens that specifies on which map a piece of music is attached to play. This was later reconfirmed by Colin Johanson in one of the ArenaNet's 2025 "Extra Life" charity streams, in which people could donate money and in return ask a question that the developers had to answer.
• 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.
• Warrior used to be the only core profession not represented amongst the Charr bosses in pre-Searing. This was later remedied with the introduction of Blazefiend Griefblade when Vanguard quests were added to the game.
  • There was a Warrior boss however, the undead Skullreaver.

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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