The Eye of the North expansion to Guild Wars introduced two new races, the Norn and the Asura. Players who bought the pre-release pack were able to play Eye of the North over the Sneak Peek weekend, as a final test before the expansion went live. Since most people will encounter the Norn first when entering the Far Shiverpeaks, we'll be covering them in this article.
The Norn are a race of giant Viking-like hunters and warriors. The bear on the Eye of the North box makes sense - Norn warriors can transform into bears during battle, which can make them handy allies. In each explorable area in Eye of the North, Resurrection Shrines are dotted around the landscape.
Norn NPCs by each Resurrection Shrine will give out the Norn Hunting Party blessing. With the new race comes a new Title Track - the Norn Title Track grants special quests and skills, as well as unlocking secial Norn items.
Until you reach Rank 1, you will not be able to talk to any Norn NPCs in any outposts. Rank 3 is required to craft consumables. At Rank 4, you can use the Norn weapon crafters. Once at Rank 5 you can use the Norn armour crafters.
As the Norn are suspicious of strangers, each time you talk to a new Norn NPC, they will challenge you to single combat. Most parties will find such combat very easy. Once you have the Norn Hunting Party blessing, you will receive one Norn Reputation Point for each creature you kill. For each level of the Norn Hunting Party blessing, you receive one extra Reputation Point per kill.
Once you have spoken to an NPC they will not give out any more bonuses. Keep an eye on the map to keep track of where you have travelled - Resurrection Shrines appear on your Eye of the North map, and you can travel back to them to pick up NPC bonuses.
Strength of the Norn is a random enchantment bonus you can gain, which will last for 60 seconds. While active you gain +100 health, and when the enchantment runs out you are healed for 100 health. These bonuses are very helpful when exploring the Guild Wars maps and completing difficult quests and missions.
Norn NPCs in towns and outposts will only give out certain missions and quests if you have reached a certain Rank in the Norn Title Track. As you progress, it's worth revisiting outposts to see if any NPCs have new dialogues available since you were last there.
