Guild of the Week: The Shattered Hand (TSH)

Formed in the midst of the haze of summer days past, The Shattered Hand began with a group of longtime friends. Many TSH players have been with Guild Wars since the World Preview Event, and the guild was at first formed as a means of hanging out and partying up. From these simple origins,The Shattered Hand expanded and evolved into the competitive guild it is today.

TSH is currently comprised of members - with many dedicated competitive players as well as those that enjoy the cooperative aspects of the game. The guild as a whole prefers the battlefields of guild versus guild matches above all others. While they may occasionally be seen in Heroes Ascent, their main focus remains winning and having fun in guild battles. Aiming to keep their battles honest, TSH uses no secondary or "smurf" guilds, keeping all of their wins and losses on their main guild record. All of the guild's members that wish to participate in guild versus guild battles are rotated in as well, rather than keeping to a strict team of eight. With the advent of Guild Wars Factions, TSH looks forward to even greater battles to come.

PvP Strategy: Split-Team Build Discussion

• Warrior/Elementalist "A/G Warrior"
  Strength: 11 (9+2), Axe Mastery: 16 (12+4), Air Magic: 9
  Eviscerate, Swift Chop, Executioner's Strike, Endure Pain, Frenzy, Sprint, Gale, Resurrection Signet
• Ranger/Warrior "Bunny Thumper"
  Expertise: 8 (7+1), Beast Mastery: 12 (9+3), Wilderness Survival: 8 (6+2)
  Hammer Mastery: 12; Irresistible Blow, Backbreaker, Crushing Blow, Hammer Bash, Tiger's Fury, "For Great Justice!", Storm Chaser, Resurrection Signet
• Elementalist/Monk "Ice Ice Baby"
  Energy Storage: 12 (10+2), Water Magic: 16 (12+4), Healing Prayers: 2
  Protection Prayers: 8; Ice Spikes, Shard Storm, Ice Prison, Armor of Mist, Water Attunement, Restore Conditions, Convert Hexes, Restore Life
• Monk/Warrior "Tactics Monk"
  Divine Favor: 10 (8+2), Healing Prayers: 15 (12+3), Protection Prayers: 3 (2+1), Tactics: 10
  Word of Healing, Vigorous Spirit, Healing Touch, Dwayna's Kiss, Holy Veil, Watch Yourself, Balanced Stance, "Shields Up!"
• Ranger/Mesmer "Crip Shot Ranger"
  Expertise: 15 (11+4), Wilderness Survival: 9 (8+1), Marksmanship: 12 (10+2), Domination: 6
  Crippling Shot, Savage Shot, Hunter's Shot, Distracting Shot, Muddy Terrain, Apply Poison, Arcane Thievery, Resurrection Signet
• Elementalist/Monk "Kwame"
  Energy Storage: 10 (8+2), Earth Magic: 16 (12+4), Healing Prayers: 10
  Obsidian Flame, Stoning, Iron Mist, Earth Attunement, Ward Against Foes, Heal Party, Glyph of Energy, Resurrection Signet
• Monk/Necromancer "Boon Prot"
  Divine Favor: 14 (12+2), Protection Prayers: 12 (8+4), Blood Magic: 10
  Reversal of Fortune, Guardian, Protective Spirit, Mend Ailment, Holy Veil, Contemplation of Purity, Divine Boon, Order of Blood
• Ranger/Monk "Runner"
  Expertise: 11 (10+1), Wilderness Survival: 11 (10+1), Marksmanship: 15 (11+4)
  Crippling Shot, Hunters Shot, Apply Poison, Distracting Shot, Storm Chaser, Troll Unguent, Mend Ailment/Holy Veil, Resurrection Signet

Playing the TSH Split-Team Build

One of TSH's more recent team builds; Split-Team is designed with two separate teams that work together along two different paths to victory. The teams are divided as follows:

Infiltration Team:

• A/G Warrior
• Bunny Thumper
• Ice Ice Baby
• Tactics Monk

Flag Stand Team:

• Crippling Shot Ranger
• Kwame
• Boon Prot
• Flag Runner (When he does not need to go back for another flag)

Strategy

The Infiltration team will take the Guild Thief (if applicable.) They can then proceed to make constant backdoor raids on the enemy base to eliminate NPCs, split up the enemy, and make the Guild Lord vulnerable. With the emphasis on speed boosts the team is capable of making rapid retreats with minimal losses.

The Flag Stand team has the opposite role. Their job is to use abilities such as Wards, Crippling Shot, Iron Mist, and Muddy Terrain to slow down and body block the enemy flag-runner. The ultimate goal of this group is to secure morale boosts for the team.

After several incarnations of the build, the players of TSH find this version works the best. The build sees particular success on the Burning Isle, though it may run into problems against teams that use a lot of Conditions or Hexes.

Character Breakdown:

• A/G Warrior: This is a fairly standard build in the current metagame. Gale has many uses and the axe skills are the standard high damage variety.
• Bunny Thumper: The main highlight of this character is that it uses high Expertise and Beast Mastery to spam Irresistible Blow and Tiger's Fury while building up for his/her knockdowns.
• Ice Ice Baby: This character is both offensive and defensive in nature. Its' snares can be used in a retreat or to slow a high priority target. It handles conditions for the Infiltration team as well.
• Tactics Monk: This is an odd monk that utilizes low cost but efficient healing spells as its form of Energy-management. It avoids personal damage through the use of various stances. Balanced Stance is to block the knockdowns of enemy Gale Warriors, while the other stances are used as damage reducers. This Monk with a sword and shield can have its armor level approach the low 100's. If extra Energy is needed it carries two or three other sets of plus-to-Energy staffs and focuses, and switches to them.
• Crippling Shot Ranger: This character's job is to harass people either by slowing down movement or interrupting skills. He/she should spam Muddy Terrain while their team is in control of the flag stand, and make sure that whenever the enemy flag-runner is in the area it is Crippled. Arcane Thievery is for disabling Gale/Shock on enemy Warriors, both of which have become extremely common and can be very destructive.
• Kwame: His job is both offensive and defensive. He attacks weak targets with Obsidian Flame and Stoning, while setting up wards for the Boon Prot to kite thru. Iron Mist is utilized as a defensive tool on aggressive Warriors or the enemy flag-runner.
• Boon Prot: Another standard that just about every team has seen or used.
• Runner: Yet another standard character build.

GvG Tips

Knowledge is power. The more you know about different builds, maps, skills, etc., the less things will surprise you in an actual match. Do research into each guild hall and what the current FoTM's are, and then plan for them.

"What now, Brain?" With every build your team runs, you should have an ideal way to run the build. But if the enemy reacts in a way that prevents you from executing your ideal plan, you should have one or two more plans to fall back on.

It's home, exploit it! Some guilds make the mistake of picking a guild hall simply because it looks cool. While aesthetics are important, in PvP your guild hall should give your build/team some exploitable advantage against the enemy.

Hug it out. After any loss you should always wait a minute before going back in. This way you can discuss what went wrong and where, so that you don't make the same mistakes again. Never blame one person for the loss—it's a team game!

Don't Give Up. Even if a match looks lost, do not give up until a Guild Lord falls. It is quite possible to make seemingly impossible comebacks even in the worst of situations.

Member Profiles

• Handle: Sentience
  Location: Kentucky, US
  Gaming Backround: Diverse
  Preferred Character: My first character ever was a Ranger, and still to this day I prefer Ranger the most, with Warrior coming second. All builds of Rangers appeal to me, but in GvG I am almost always our flag-runner. The whole "Army of One" thing really appeals to me. While I can play most all classes/builds effectively, shooting people with arrows and hacking away at targets with cold steel never gets old.
• Handle: Irae
  Location: Pennsylvania, US
  Gaming Backround: RTS & MMO
  Preferred Character: I enjoy playing everything but most of the times I'm in an offensive role. It used to be a Warrior but now I'm a Mesmer. I enjoy every profession but I'm really looking forward to the Assassin and Ritualist.
• Handle: Celestic
  Location: California, US
  Gaming Backround: RTS, RPGs, and FPS
  Preferred Character: The Monk. Playing as a Monk gives me a sense of exhilaration, because holding a team up for a long period of time is no easy task. I also enjoy the reward that comes after a battle knowing that I helped my team survive as long as possible so they can concentrate on their tactics on the battlefield without worrying about their Health.
• Handle: Sorin
  Location: US
  Gaming Background: MMOs, RPGs, FPS
  Preferred Character: My favorite profession right now is Healing Monk. It's addictive. I feel that once you play Monk, it's hard to go back because you're no longer saving your own life, but instead entrusting it to someone else. I also play the occasional Warrior and Elementalist in Random Arenas for faction as well.
• Handle: Ashton
  Location: Florida
  Gaming Background: FPSs and PvP focused RPGs
  Preferred Character: In GvG my favorite role is the Water Elementalist. It requires me to be aware of my surrounding as well as the condition of my team mates. I also like to play any kind of Mesmer or Necromancer, especially if it includes interrupts and a lot of Hexes.
• Handle: Twiztid
  Location: North Carolina, US
  Gaming Background: Diverse, but I tend to lean towards PVP.
  Preferred Character: My first character was a Mesmer which I really enjoyed playing through the game. I still love Mesmer but I find that I am best at playing the Elementalist role. I love Air-spiking as an E/R with Serpent's Quickness in the build. I am also very versatile and able to play any role my team might need. I enjoy playing all of the professions.
• Handle: Sapper V
  Location: Texas, US
  Gaming Background: FPS, PvP-oriented RPGs
  Preferred Character: Monk or Mesmer. I enjoy playing Monk because of the sheer pressure to keep your team alive. It really gives you a sense of importance to the team. A team can't win without good Monks. Also, after playing Monk so many times I started to notice techniques Mesmers used to totally shut me down, so I started to love playing the Mesmer class. With firsthand Monk experience, I'm frequently able to read a Monk's mind and stay one step ahead of them. The Domination skill line is amazing. Multiple Monks can be shut down by one Mesmer with a steady chain of Diversions, Backfire, Blackout, Shame, etc.
• Handle: Aberz
  Location: Texas, US
  Gaming Background: RPGs, MMOs
  Preferred Character: I love Ranger because it requires fast action and good observation. I can play all kind of Rangers,from interrupt specialists to Trappers. My recent Ranger is the kiting Ranger, with a "hit and run" play style using the combo of Hunter's shot, Crippling Shot and Apply Poison. Besides Ranger, Monk is a good bet. I also can play Necromancer and Mesmer if needed.
• Handle: kharlamov
  Location: Utah
  Gaming Background: FPS
  Preferred Character: I prefer to play Ranger, though I still don't know why. I have this incredible talent for to Poisoning people and then watching them die slowly. As much as I love to use Poison though, whenever I get the chance I use traps, especially in the Underworld. Overall, I enjoy PvE because I get to see all the stunning environments in the game.
• Handle: They Call Me Monky
  Location: Victoria, Australia
  Gaming Background: RPGs
  Preferred Character: They call me Monky for a reason, because if it's one thing I play, it's Monk. Monks are great fun and generally the lifeblood of the team, though they are by no means invincible. I think it is as much a responsibility for each player in the team to keep themselves alive as it is the Monk's to ensure the team's survival.
• Handle: Hag Z
  Location: Canada
  Gaming Backround: RTS, RPGs
  Preferred Character: I'm a well rounded player but my absolute favorite is Interrupter Ranger. I can play pretty much whatever the team needs.