It follows the player's character as they join the Order of the Sunspears and uncover the desire of Warmarshal Varesh to return a long forgotten god to the world through an event called Nightfall.

Heroes can be acquired by all characters (Tyrian, Canthan, Elonan) and used in battle if the player has a Nightfall or Eye of the North account.

Further benefits of title tracks have also been integrated into the game since; for example, the player's ranks in the Lucky/Unlucky (gained by playing various in-game gambling activities) and Treasure Hunter (gained by attaining "rare" items from chests) title tracks aid the player's chances of lockpicks not breaking when opening chests and reducing the chances of an item being destroyed when salvaging upgrade components (such as runes, which increase attributes).

PvE has been expanded when compared to the previous chapters; some parts of the game draw parallels to single player RPGs such as Knights of the Old Republic or Baldur's Gate.

Another example is a mini-mission that involves the player acting as a lawyer in a court case, where choosing the right line of argument will alter the outcome of the trial.

Heroes also allow more freedom when playing as a single player with only computer controlled party members since they can be given more commands than ordinary henchmen and their skills can be tailored to specific situations.

The hero system has also led to many Guild Wars players highly recommending Nightfall as a good starter campaign for newcomers to the game, as it encourages more strategic thinking and also makes playing PvE more straightforward (as especially in the earlier stages of the game, heroes may be of a higher level than henchmen and offer a better degree of survivability).

Two of these pairs are selected depending on which hero was added to the party early on, while the third mission split offers a choice to the player.

ArenaNet observed this occurring and, after warning players they would be banned for fixing match results, removed the Arena from play.

The player's character is recruited as a junior officer in Elona's independent guardian force, the Order of the Sunspears - they are led by their Spearmarshal, Kormir.

The strange deaths of a dig team excavating a long abandoned city, information about an event called Nightfall and its ties to the return of a forgotten fallen god, Abaddon, start to cause concern for the Sunspears.

During a hearing with the elder council, Kormir - who had temporarily left in order to seek allies in Cantha and Tyria - returns, citing that similar occurrences have happened elsewhere.

Upon breaking through their heavy defenses, Varesh plays her trump card, summoning the demons of Abaddon which rout the Sunspear troops.

With the help of agents from a mysterious Elonian organization called the Order of Whispers, the Sunspears travel to Vabbi to convince the three Princes of the region that Varesh represents a threat to all of Elona.

Although the princes use the power of Djinn in conjunction with help from the Order of Whispers to protect their people, she has already summoned Abaddon's demons, the Margonites, to fight alongside her own military.

After a Chaos Rift appears and sucks Kormir into the Realm of Torment, a part of the Underworld where only the most wicked souls go, the Sunspears decide they must pursue Varesh into The Desolation to stop her from completing the rites to return Abaddon to the world.

To pursue Varesh to the northern part of The Desolation, where Abaddon's link to the world is the strongest, the players release the undead lord Palawa Joko, a tyrant who at one point waged war against Elona.

He reveals to the Sunspears that the only way to traverse the sulfurous wastes is to tame the Junundu - giant desert wurms, one of the few creatures in Elona that can survive the toxic atmosphere.

They also discover that two of Abaddon's main generals are none other than the Undead Lich and Shiro Tagachi, the primary antagonists from the previous campaigns.

When defeated Abaddon's power grows out of control and his Realm of Torment threatens to merge with Elona causing Nightfall without him.

Thinking quickly, Spearmarshal Kormir sacrifices herself by running into the mouth of Abaddon, hoping to control or stop his energies.

It includes a game trial key, an additional character slot, weapons for the new professions and a CD containing bonus materials.

The Collector's Edition has the same content as the standard edition but is also known to include a behind-the-scenes DVD, unique Dervish and Paragon in-game emotes, a Varesh Ossa Minipet (Miniature NPC that follows the player), an art book, skill pins, a Varesh Ossa mini-standee, a map of Elona, a code to unlock extra in-game music and the Nightfall soundtrack CD.

[5][9] Many commented that it seemed that the game was now more solo player focused than previous installments,[5][7] Eurogamer suggested heroes bring "Guild Wars closer to the party-based RPGs of old ... instead of the solo-but-with-people RPG that it had initially delivered.

Several critics noted that existing characters from previous campaigns had to grind for Sunspear points to advance the storyline.

"[10] It was also felt that Guild Wars is becoming an increasingly complex game due to the vast number of skill interactions.