Did you know that you can unlock new skills in Guild Wars 2 by completing something called a Hero Challenge? Well, in this guide, we will cover what are those challenges, and how to get hero points to unlock Elite Specializations and new skills and traits.
What are Hero Points in Guild Wars 2?
A Hero Point (previously known as Skill Point) is a soul-bound currency that is used to unlock new traits, skills, and Elite Specializations.
- To unlock a class’s core traits, you need 98 Points.
- To unlock all Core Specialization traits, you need 300 Points.
- To unlock all skills and traits for an Elite Specialization, you need 250 Points.
How to get Hero Points
There are three ways to get Hero Points in Guild Wars 2, either level up a character, complete a hero challenge, or purchase Notarized Scrolls from World vs. World. In this guide, we will go over all three methods.
Hero Challenges
Hero Challenges are spread all over Core Tyria, Cantha, and the Crystal Desert.
| Location | Total Hero Points |
|---|---|
| Central Tyria and Maguuma Wastes | 200 Points |
| Heart of Maguuma (Heart of Thorns) | 400 Points |
| Crystal Desert (Path of Fire) | 290 Points |
| Cantha (End of Dragons) | 310 Points |
Each challenge in the Core Tyria maps will reward you with 1 Hero Point upon completion, whereas the challenges in the expansions will give you 10 Hero Points each upon completion.
Notarized Scrolls
If you prefer to play WvW, and don’t enjoy doing PvE content but still want to unlock Elite Specializations, then you can head over to any Heroics Notary in any of the WvW maps and purchase Notarized Scrolls.
There is one Notarized Scroll for Central Tyria and one for each expansion that exists in the game except Secrets of the Obscure. You have to purchase and use the Notarized Scroll to complete a random Hero Challenge in the region that the scroll belongs to.
For example, if you purchase and use a Notarized Scroll of Maguuma Heroics, then you will complete a random challenge from any of the Heart of Thorns maps, and earn 10 hero points.
Here is a list of available Notarized Scrolls:
| Notarized Scroll | 
|
Hero Challenges From |
|---|---|---|
| Notarized Scroll of Central Tyrian Heroics | 1 Testimony of Jade Heroics | Central Tyria maps |
| Notarized Scroll of Maguuma Heroics | 10 Testimony of Jade Heroics | Heart of Thorns maps |
| Notarized Scroll of Desert Heroics | 10 Testimony of Jade Heroics | Path of Fire maps |
| Notarized Scroll of Jade Heroics | 10 Testimony of Jade Heroics | End of Dragons maps |
You can get Testimony of Jade Heroics by leveling up in WvW.
Leveling
As you level up your character, certain milestones will reward you with a set number of Hero Points. By the time you reach level 80, you will have accumulated 398 Points just from leveling up.
| Level | 
|
Level |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 5 | 47 | 12 |
| 13 | 5 | 49 | 12 |
| 15 | 5 | 51 | 12 |
| 17 | 5 | 53 | 12 |
| 19 | 6 | 55 | 14 |
| 21 | 6 | 57 | 14 |
| 23 | 6 | 59 | 14 |
| 25 | 6 | 61 | 14 |
| 27 | 8 | 63 | 14 |
| 29 | 8 | 65 | 16 |
| 31 | 8 | 67 | 16 |
| 33 | 8 | 69 | Â 16 |
| 35 | 10 | 71 | Â 16 |
| 37 | 10 | 73 | Â 16 |
| 39 | 10 | 75 | Â 18 |
| 41 | 10 | 77 | Â 18 |
| 43 | 10 | 79 | 26 |
| 45 | 12 | – | – |
Note that you will have a surplus of Points by the time you complete all the challenges. In other words, you don’t need to complete every challenge in the game to unlock all the skills of a character.
End of Dragons Hero Points
There is a total of 30 Hero Challenges that can be unlocked in End of Dragons. This means that you will end up with 300 Points by the time you complete all of them. Those challenges have a medium difficulty as you can stumble upon Elites, Veterans, and sometimes unprotected places of power.
| Map | Challenges |
|---|---|
| Seitung Province | 9 |
| New Kaineng City | 9 |
| The Echovald Wilds | 6 |
| Dragon’s End | 6 |
Guild Wars 2: Dragon’s End Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: The Echovald Wilds Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: New Kaineng City Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Seitung Province Hero Points Guide
Path of Fire Hero Points
There is a total of 29 Hero Challenges that can be unlocked in Path of Fire. Completing all of them will net you 290 Points to unlock any Elite Specialization, and the challenges in the PoF maps are more on the easier side as you won’t be facing any champions, or even Elites for that matter. Most of the challenges will be Places of Power or Veterans.
| Map | Challenges |
|---|---|
| Crystal Oasis | 5 |
| Desert Highlands | 7 |
| Elon Riverlands | 8 |
| The Desolation | 6 |
| Domain of Vabbi | 3 |
Guild Wars 2: The Desolation Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Elon Riverlands Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Desert Highlands Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Crystal Oasis Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Domain of Vabbi Hero Points Guide
Heart of Thorns Hero Points
There is a total of 40 Hero Challenges that can be unlocked in Heart of Thorns. This means you will have a total of 400 Points on your character after obtaining all of them. Keep note though that the Hero Points in Heart of Thorns are the most challenging among all the expansions as you will be fighting Champions in most of them.
| Map | Challenges |
|---|---|
| Verdant Brink | 11 |
| Auric Basin | 11 |
| Tangled Depths | 11 |
| Dragon’s Stand | 7 |
Guild Wars 2: Dragon’s Stand Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Tangled Depths Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Auric Basin Hero Points Guide
Guild Wars 2: Verdant Brink Hero Points Guide
Make sure to unlock your Glider before taking on any of the Hero Challenges in HoT. Moreover, unlocking a mount or two can go a very long way to cutting your time short while exploring the jungle.
