A Ferry or a Taxi is a person who agrees to transport lower-level characters to map locations that those characters have not yet unlocked. This is distinct from a Runner, who will take people to areas of the game they could physically reach, but which cross difficult terrain with powerful monsters. A ferry, by contrast, simply creates a party with the other characters in it, then map travels to the location in question. The entire party, including the "locked" characters, end up in the new location.
Note that ferries only work in certain areas of the game. In most cases, if a player has not unlocked a location and the party leader tries to map travel there, the other player will simply be booted out of the party.
Elite Factions Missions[]
A ferry can be a member of an alliance that controls Cavalon or House zu Heltzer who agrees to transport people from outside the controlling alliance to the Elite Mission outposts from the respective capitals. The member of the controlling alliance, who has direct access to the restricted areas, teams up with the players from outside the alliance desiring to be transported, and enters the Elite Mission staging area. This transports everyone in the party, including the outside members. Prior to the addition of Passage Scrolls in the April 19th, 2007 update, ferrying was the primary way of accessing the Factions Elite Missions.
Some alliances ferry people for a fee; others do it for free or tips. ArenaNet has made their position on ferrying fees known in a forum posting on guildwarsguru.com. They believe it is up to the alliances that control the cities to charge for ferrying or not, as they see fit.
For other ways of accessing Elite Missions, see the Elite Mission article.
Ferries in Elona[]
The Consulate Docks mission town is a short, peaceful walk from Kamadan, but it is not accessible to players who have not completed the quest called The Time is Nigh. The Consulate Docks employ the best armorer in Istan, so low-level characters often ask to be ferried there so they can purchase high-quality armor from him. Once inside the Docks, Ferries with the Terror in Tyria or Plague in Cantha quests may then offer ferry services to those respective regions for players who have not progressed far enough to unlock the quests on their own.
- Characters wishing to provide ferry services can accept the quest The Time is Nigh, serve as a ferry for other characters, abandon the quest before accepting the quest reward, and then re-take the quest as many times as they like. It is a bit time-consuming, since the character had to listen to a tedious speech by Kormir in Churrhir Fields each time he or she wanted to serve as a ferry, but it offers a chance to make a bit of money on ferry fees and/or tips.
Historic Note[]
- Until the May 25, 2007 update, a method to reach Tyria from Elona was to take a party via the Canthan Ambassador in Kamadan to the Warrior's Isle Guild Hall. The Canthan Ferry Captain at the other end could take the party "back to Lion's Arch". The Canthan Ferry Captain is no longer there.