Guild Race

Start position for a Guild Race.

“

Test your skills with a mad dash over harrowing terrain, traps, and other hidden dangers. Just remember, there’s safety in numbers!

— Official website

Guild Races are open world guild missions where players are transformed (for example, into a chicken or a bear) and then required to pass through a series of markers before reaching a finish line within a given time limit. Non-transformed players can assist them by clearing or distracting mobs from their path and using boons such as swiftness.

Mechanics

Any player with the 'Mission Control' permission for their Guild Rank can trigger the race from the Missions tab of the guild panel. Once begun, 15 racers must cross the finish line within the time limit or the race is failed. The racers do not need to be members in the guild which activated the race. Multiple guilds can gain credit from the same race by activating their own Guild Race in the Missions tab, interacting with the in-progress banner, and then having at least one member complete the race within the time limit.

Transformation

During the race, participants are under the  Guild Race effect, which transforms participants into a specific animal associated with each type of race. The skills in the skill bar are replaced with a new set of three skills. The first skill is always Search, which detects nearby traps for you and other transformed members, but the other two are specific to that particular race. Other players can remain in their normal form and attempt to escort the transformed players, but credit is only given to players that have crossed the finish line while transformed. If a transformed player starts getting too close to the edges of a race, they will gain the  Magic Fading effect to warn them.

Difficulty

The difficulty determines the time limit, recommended number of players and rewards for both the guild and members.

Difficulty	Time Limit	Recommended
Easy	31 minutes	5 Players
Medium	21 minutes	10 Players
Hard	11 minutes	15 Players

Traps

There are two types of traps present in every race: spike traps and falling rocks. Using the Search skill (#1) will display all traps within range for all nearby racers. These traps are always up, but take a few seconds to reset after being triggered. They only affect transformed racers.

Spike traps are smaller red circles, but are abundant, usually seen in batches of 2-3 or more. They do a medium amount of damage and cause cripple/bleeding when triggered. Hitting one won't cause you to be defeated, but racers should avoid further traps until they regain their health.

Falling rocks are larger circles that can easily kill players, but only appear a few times in the course. When triggered, they take a couple seconds to cause damage, allowing most racers to leave the area. However, the effect lasts several seconds and can easily catch players a little behind the first.

Rewards

• On successful completion, received via a bouncy chest above the minimap.
• Completion is achieved when 15 racers successfully run the course and either:
  • The timer runs out, or
  • An authorized guild member (usually a Guild Leader or Officer) speaks with a representative that appears at the end of the course upon successful completion and opts to end the guild mission early and receive credit.
• You do not have to be one of the first 15 to get these rewards.
• Players do not need to be on the map to receive these rewards. ^{[verification requested]}
• If the UI prompts you to go to a new map you will want to say yes. If you don't you may not get rewards^{[verification requested]}.
• If you or the guild fails the event then you only get the event rewards.
• Some members who joined the race may occasionally receive their rewards early (before the timer runs out or an authorized member opts to end the mission early)

Member rewards

Members of a guild that successfully finish the race receive the following rewards:

• 70  to 80  (depending on Difficulty Tier)
• Guild Commendation (1-2) (depending on Difficulty Tier)
• Piece of Rare Unidentified Gear (1-2) or better equipment (depending on Difficulty Tier)
• Dragonite Ore (25)
• Resonating Sliver (5)
• There is also a chance to receive an ascended accessory.

Guild rewards

Guilds that successfully complete a Race will receive the appropriate level of favor, being 300, 400, or 500. (And a 10% bonus if the guild has not chosen to specialize.)

Non-guild member rewards

Normal Event rewards.

Reward caps

• Each member can only receive the individual rewards once per week. If a guild member has received their rewards for a guild mission, the small chest icon beside that mission slot will display as open and glowing gold from within.
• The guild can only earn favor from this mission once per week, per Difficulty Tier. If a guild has successfully completed and earned rewards for a guild mission, the small shield icon beside that mission slot will appear filled in and glowing gold.

Bug:

If someone has recently passed the finish line it may not count you and you will have to go though the finish flag again.

Strategies

General

• Take your time when you're not in danger. Despite the name, racing quickly along the course is a sure way to stumble upon multiple traps and die quickly, forcing you to start over.
• Use the Search skill (#1) continuously, press Ctrl + Right Click to turn it into an autoattack. Traps are your main enemy along the course, and hitting two traps in a row will quickly cause you to go back to the beginning. Waiting a couple seconds for it to come off cooldown, in a safe location, is usually preferable to blindly wandering into a spike trap.
• While most forms cannot jump during the race, you can still dodge.
• If you're near other players, try to time the search skill a few seconds after another player's Search skill. The traps are the same for everyone and by following in the footsteps of a player who is avoiding a trap, you will avoid it as well.
• Every single set of guild flags around the course must be passed through in order to be rewarded at the end of the race. The next flag is always displayed in your mini-map as a blue flag icon, so make sure you pass through them all even if there's a quicker path to the end.
• Falling rock traps are triggered by someone passing through them, but are more deadly to those passing behind them. Wait until the 2-3 pulses of falling rocks are done before passing through them, as they can easily kill you.
• Make use of escorts whenever possible, unless you want a challenge. If you're an escort, remember that players pausing every so often can easily be them trying to avoid traps (that you cannot see), instead of them not knowing where to go.

Escorts

Most of these races can be made easier by the use of "escorts": non-transformed guild members who help out the transformed guild members during the race. Escorts can make things easier by using supportive abilities (such as healing skills or swiftness boons), providing guideposts to point out where to go, or distracting and clearing out events/mobs that would otherwise defeat their fellow guild members. Depending on the difficulty level, there may be ample time to allow the escorts and racers to swap places to allow all members to get their individual rewards. In addition, as guild members complete the race, they can become escorts to help all those remaining.

There are generally two ways to use escorts, depending on the specific race:

• Escorts can be stationed throughout the course to take out mobs as they spawn and help passing racers, similar to player-made checkpoints. This can usually be done before the race begins and will allow them to keep the paths clear of hostile mobs for racers, as well as point out dangerous areas or where the path becomes difficult to navigate and provide occasional boosts.
• Escorts can accompany and guide the transformed racers throughout the path as far as possible, providing more immediate and frequent supporting abilities such as heals or swiftness, aid from mobs, or more personalized help in figuring out where to go. This can be extremely helpful for new players who have trouble getting past the traps and mobs without being able to attack and heal themselves.

Guilds do not have to use escorts at all to succeed (although it can significantly increase the difficulty), or they can use both at the same time provided they have the numbers. Some races are limited in what escorts can do by design, as many mobs may only be hostile to transformed players and not to the escorts (preventing the escorts from defending the racers against them).

Possible routes

Race	Zone	Area	Closest Waypoint	Map	Notes
Bear Lope	Lornar's Pass	Posternus Caverns	Durmand Priory Waypoint		Head southeast down the hallway, turn slight right at end toward balcony. Go over balcony edge to reach race start point.
Chicken Run	Fields of Ruin	Flameroot Caverns	Fangfury Watch Waypoint		Technically Deathblade's Watch waypoint is closer, but can be contested
Crab Scuttle	Southsun Cove	Southsun Shoals	Kiel's Outpost Waypoint		Otherwise accessed from Lion's Arch
Devourer Burrow	Diessa Plateau	Spider Nest Cavern	Manbane's Waypoint
Ghost Wolf Run	Harathi Hinterlands	Bonerattler Caverns	Faun's Waypoint
Quaggan Paddle	Frostgorge Sound	Talabaroop Waves	Twoloop Waypoint
Spider Scurry	Dredgehaunt Cliffs	Dostoev Sky Peak	Hessdallen Kenning Waypoint

Trivia

• Prior to the Heart of Thorns expansion, Guild Race was called Guild Rush and there was a lootable splendid chest at the end.
• Guild Races were introduced in the Flame and Frost: The Gathering Storm update on February 26th, 2013.
• Player is able to allow their "Bank" guild to gain credit for the race, after the race has been successfully completed. Representing the "Bank" guild and activating the mission from that guild's missions tab, talk to the NPC at the end of the race and accept credit. So long as the timer has not run out, 15/15 players have finished the race, and the player attempting to claim credit has successfully completed the race, the "Bank" guild will receive guild completion rewards.

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Guild missions