How can I change my secondary profession?

Question

I recently starting playing Guild Wars again after a lengthy hiatus, however, I can no longer recall how I change my secondary profession.

How can I change my secondary profession?

Answer 1

The requirements for changing your Secondary Profession are different, depending on which campaign you do it in and from which campaign your character originates. I'll be linking to the official Guild Wars Wiki, as it's an invaluable resource that isn't at risk of going going down anytime soon, and anyone playing the game should use it judiciously, as there's a ton of information.

I'll refer to campaign characters as coming from their continents of origin, so it will be as follows:

• Characters originally rolled in Prophecies are Native Tyrians. Acquiring your Secondary Profession in Tyria requires becoming Ascended.
• Characters originally rolled in Factions are Native Canthans. Acquiring your Secondary Profession in Cantha requires becoming Weh no Su.
• Characters originally rolled in Nightfall are Native Elonians Acquiring your Secondary Profession in Elona requires finishing the quest Hunted!

In addition to acquiring the ability to change your Secondary Profession, you will also be allowed to enter the Realms of the Gods, aka The Underworld and the Fissure of Woe, which are elite areas in the game. You must be Ascended in order to enter these areas (in addition to the world needing the Favor of the Gods and having to pay 1 plat to enter).

Characters are allowed to complete the ascension quests of other continents, but some may not receive the benefits of Realm of the Gods access and Secondary Profession changing. I'll outline that further on in each campaign section. Ascension with a capital "A" refers to Tyrian Ascension specifically, while lowercase "a" ascension refers to the process of acquiring those benefits.

A note about running: It's not uncommon in Guild Wars to have people run you places for ingame money (platinum, commonly abbreviated as "plat"). This involves having people use specialized movement speed builds in order to get you from one outpost to another, skipping the usual order that you would take to naturally complete the game. As I am neither a runner nor do I have people run me places, I won't be taking running into account for these comparisons, but you should know that it is an option if you choose to do so. Going rates vary though, depending on which route you're paying for, how long it is, and whether or not patches nerf builds, so you'll have to do your own research on that.

Prophecies

Acquiring Ascension benefits in Prophecies takes the most amount of time out of all the campaigns when comparing how long it is from rolling your character to how long it takes to get to the missions you need. Prophecies is also the slowest paced of the 3 campaigns. You will be stuck with your current Secondary Prof for about 2/3 of the campaign.

Ascension Requirements

Quests

• Elona Reach
• Dunes of Despair
• Thirsty River
  • The above 3 can be completed in any order.
• Augury Rock

Location in storyline: The 15th-18th out of 25 missions. They're located in the Crystal Desert. You're transported to the major outpost there, Amnoon Oasis after completing the Sanctum Cay mission.

Ascension-exclusive benefits

There are a few quests/locations that you can only get access to if you complete the above 4 quests for Tyrian Ascension. These include:

• Dragon's Lair mission - Part of the main storyline, so you must be Ascended to complete the Prophecies campaign.
• Vision of Glint missions - Missions that occur after the Prophecies campaign.
• Tomb of the Primeval Kings outpost - Allows access to The Underworld explorable area, which is different from the Underworld area you must be pay to access, but no one really goes here anymore because its drop rewards were nerfed due to excessive farming.
• The Hero's Challenge, the second quest that gives you extra Primary Attribute points (native Tyrians only)

Secondary Profession Access

In Prophecies, after completing Augury Rock, you can do one of two things:

• Map to the Great Temple of Balthazar and speak to the Profession Changer. You pay a one time fee of 500g for each profession you want to unlock. So if you're an Elementalist/Necromancer and want to open up /Warrior, you pay 500g to open up Warrior. If you want to unlock /Ranger, you pay another 500g and so on.

• Alternatively, you can complete your choice of 4 of the 6 missions (obviously the ones for your current primary/secondary are excluded) to unlock the various secondaries for free. These are located in the following outposts in the Crystal Desert area:

  • Seeker's Passage outpost
    • The Monk's Path
    • The Ranger's Path
  • Heroes' Audience outpost
    • The Elementalist's Path
    • The Necromancer's Path
  • Destiny's Gorge outpost
    • The Warrior's Path
    • The Mesmer's Path

The path you choose to take depends on which you value more, your time or your money. The quests aren't necessarily super long or difficult, but you do need to have access to the various outposts, which requires running around and opening them up.

Native Character Benefits

• Native Tyrians - Yes
  • can still acquire 50k experience bonus from Augury Rock after completing Hunted!
• Native Canthans - Yes
  • can acquire non-exclusive ascension benefits before becoming Weh no Su
  • can still acquire the 50k experience bonus from Augury Rock after completing Hunted!
• Native Elonians - Yes
  • can acquire non-exclusive ascension benefits before completing Hunted!

Factions

Factions is the fastest paced campaign where you'll hit level 20 before leaving the starter island. People who level PvE characters and don't want to wait until getting through Prophecies to be able to access the Realms of the Gods will often travel to Cantha to become Weh no Su.

Weh no Su Requirements

Quest

• Nahpui Quarter

Location in storyline: The 4th of 12-13 (number is variable because the story branches at one point, but you can go choose to do the other mission if you want) campaign missions. You arrive here after completing the Vizunah Square mission, then the Finding the Oracle and Closer to the Stars Primary Quests.

Secondary Profession Access

• After completing Nahpui Quarter, you are taken to the outpost Senji's Corner where you can speak with Senji to change your profession. There is no free option in Factions. You can only pay 500g per profession to unlock them, like in the Great Temple of Balthazar.
• You still have the option to visit the Profession changer in the Great Temple of Balthazar if you want

Native Character Benefits

• Native Tyrians - Yes
  • can gain non-exclusive ascension benefits before beating Augury Rock
• Native Canthans - Yes
• Native Elonians - Yes
  • can acquire non-exclusive ascension benefits before completing Hunted!

Nightfall

The pace of Nightfall falls in between Prophecies and Factions, but you still get access to Secondary Professions much earlier than Prophecies.

Hunted! Requirements

Quests

• Hunted! (obviously)

Location in storyline: Received after Consulate Docks, the 4th of 18-20 missions (like Factions, the story branches, so some missions are optional).

Secondary Profession Access

• Completion of "Hunted!" will take you to the Sunspear Sanctuary. Take the quest The Command Post from Lonai, which will have 3 parts to it. You must complete the first part, Building the Base: Prisoners of War in order for the Profession Changer NPC Zuwarah to show up in the Command Post.
• You may also access the Secondary Profession changer at the Great Temple of Balthazar.

Native Character Benefits

• Native Tyrian - No
• Native Canthan - No
  • If you are a foreign character, while you can complete the quest Hunted!, you cannot gain ascension benefits from it. Because of this, in order to use Zuwarah, foreign characters must have ascended in another campaign.
• Native Elonian - Yes

An Important Note

One thing some people don't notice is that you do not need to revisit Profession Changers to change your secondary again if you already have the profession unlocked! When you are in an outpost, simply open your Skills window (K by default).

Simply click on this highlighted area and it will open a dropdown for you to choose from the various Primary/Secondary profession combinations you have unlocked.

Changing Secondaries for Heroes and PvP Characters

This doesn't require any quest completion. You can change these at any time in an outpost (the same way as above) to any Secondary that your account has access to. The requirements are: - Prophecies for the 6 core professions, Warrior, Ranger, Monk, Elementalist, Necromancer, and Mesmer - Factions for Assassin and Ritualist - Nightfall for Dervish and Paragon