Defender Of Ascalon Guide

Right here it is, all the info I have collected and figured out whilst doing this ridiculous title.

First of the obvious start make a character. The most common characters, people go whilst going for the Defender title, are Ranger, Warrior, Elementalist or Necro.
Rangers because of highly useful bow skills and Troll U for regen. As well as being able to use your Pet as fodder whilst you shoot from a safe spot.
Warriors for their obvious Tanking capabilities, Monk being the obvious second prof for the healing & protection spells though some take Ranger for troll u.
Elementalists are harder than most to hunt Charr with for their obvious weaknesses in close combat, however their damage output is quite good with Rain of Fire, making an Ele very handy in solo charr hunting.
Necromancers, I can't really comment much since I've had very little experience with Necro skills and builds. But I have hunted Charr with a few and minions come in very handy. After a few hunts it's easy to build up a small army of minions, but with no Blood of the Master skill and very little in the way of healing spells you have to be quick before all your minions die!
Mesmers, not many Mesmers about in Pre, I haven't noticed many and hunted with few. Those that I have hunted with are quite good, if they stayed at the back out of harms way!
Monks are highly useful in Pre, being the only class with access to Healing Breeze, a very useful skill when hunting Charr.

Now you've chose your profession lets get you started, however when you start the game you begin with absolute bupkis!
So we need to get equipped A.S.A.H.P.!
First of grab the first couple of quests and if you want, do the Res Signet quest, though it is advised that you collect don't collect quest rewards until your around level 19. All your Experience is going to come from Farming monsters.
Now leave Ascalon City and kill a few Skales and trade them to the collector next to the Shrine for a Belt Pouch, some people sell these for 50 or 60g but if you actually take 2 minutes to collect the skales, which drop from level 0 monsters, you'll get it for free and probably end up making money in the process.

You'll also need better armour which can't be bought in Pre, you'll have to find the Collectors. Each collector will have a different armour pieces and require different items in trade, usually Spider Legs, Unnatural Seeds, Gargoyle Skulls, Grawl Necklaces, etc.
As you look for the Armour Collectors explore everywhere or as much as you are willing to do, including the catacombs, theres lots of monsters and you can explore on your own even when low level, it might take a bit longer but the Xp and loot rewards are worth it, seeing as Dyes drop more regularly in Pre than anywhere else in the game, so I'm lead to believe.

Weapons in Pre don't do much damage and on average have crap enchantments on them. Just use the best one, each time you find a better weapon equip it and use it. Don't bother customizing weapons early on, it's a waste of money as you'll find a better weapon eventually. The other option for the Legendary Defender title hunters is to use the Bonus items. You can only get access to these if you bought a Bonus Pack or the Eye of the North preview pack. If you have either of these type the Emote /bonus and they will appear in your inventory. These are max weapons, customized for that character, they cannot be salvaged, sold, dyed or taken out of you inventory in any way, however they can be put in the trash.

Leveling up shouldn't be so hard if you explore all regions and through farming alone you should reach around level 7 or 8.
From levels 1 to 3 you can run about outside Ascalon City and gain Xp from the low level monsters there.
Levels 3 to 8 look for monsters level 3 and higher, Ice Golems north of Foibles Fair are a prime candidate, as well as the Zombies in the Catacombs.

The next step is Charr Hunting, Over the Wall in the Northlands.
It's highly recommended that you pair up with someone experienced at hunting Charr if your only around level 7 or 8 and solo hunting is out of the question at this point.
Generally what you will see on the "All" channel is "LFP level 10+ for charr hunting", as low level characters have a habit of dieing a lot when hunting Charr. Don't be put off there are people who will take lower level players, stay behind them and do as they do, there is a trick to it.

All the good drops are to be found in the Northlands, which include Puprle equipable items, Charr Bags, Charr Salvage Kits, Salvageable Runes and Insignias. There is much profit to be made from farming the Northlands, Purple weapons with bonus damage to Charr can fetch a nice price. The price of Bags fluctuates from around 500g to 1k and the price of Kits depend on how many uses are left in it.
I'll post up a Pre-Searing price guide at a later date.

Through hunting Charr you will jump from around level 7 to level 13, this is when the process starts to slow down and your left with two choices.

Choice 1. Continue hunting Charr, however, once you reach level 14 you will only receive Xp from the four Charr bosses and will take a long time to reach level 15 and even longer to reach level 16!

Choice 2. Start Death Leveling! Very tricky and takes time depending on which level you are currently at, as it'll take time to death level charr to higher levels even though they start off at level 8, who are much more attractive for Death Leveling than Moss Spiders and Striders are, as they start at level 1!


::A work in progress, more details to follow::