Impotant note: if you want a name that can be used in-game, remember that the character limit is 19, spaces included!
Here's the in-depth step by step guide for creating lore-friendly asuran names:
Keysmash!
Play around with the result!
Keep the single name to 1 or 2 syllables! (3 are fairly rare)
Double letters are encouraged!
Check Wiktionary and Google the name!!! (to make sure it doesn't have any accidental meaning you don't like)
Make it unique by adding a title, krewe name, honorific or whatever you like!
Alt versions for step 1
1a. Use Guild Wars 2 Name Generator to get starting ideas!
1b. Pick a word or name you like!
1c. Pick a random word!
On a more serious note, here's the info we have, taken from the Asura page on the GW2 Wiki
An asura's name often consists of a short, sharp first name with one or two syllables.
Feminine asura names typically end in -i or -a vowel sounds, but are not required to do so.
Masculine names often end in a consonant sound.
Both male and female asura often have two of the same letter in a row somewhere in their name, this being a cultural norm, but it is certainly not required.
Asura do not have a last name, instead opting to use job titles, a krewe name, or honorifics to differentiate themselves.
Those who choose to take a last name of a style similar to humans are rare and are considered eccentrics, and their surname is often ignored by other asura.
To recap:
• Short and sharp names made of 1 or 2 syllables. 3 syllables are possible but quite rare (Batanga, Belanna, Edella, Jordekka, Ikkita, Nicarus, Maroola, Viraddi, Rowloona, etc).
• The indicated norms for gendered names are usually respected (most female asura's names end with -a/-i vowel sounds, and most male ones end with consonant sounds), but absolutely not mandatory (Kudu, Zee, Gyra are male asura, while Trixx, Blinx, Mordd are female asura).
• Having 2 of the same letters in a row (Snaff, Zojja, Arkk, Gorrik) is culturally encouraged, but not required (Taimi, Blish, Phlunt, Ludo).
• Job titles, krewe names, honorifics and whatever else are the way to go to make the name unique (and let's be real, good luck finding an available short name in-game).
• Human-like last names are seen as weird (I can't find any in-game, but word of god mentions them).
Last-minute Addition
There is one case (that I found) of an asura with two names, Davo Zes, a Collector of Unusual Coins in Bava Nisos's starting area.
However, given he appeared so recently and is likely a member of the Astral Ward, his name is probably a quirky exception and does not signify much for asuran naming schemes as a whole.
The only other double-named asura is in Gw1, Gni Neproc.
For all we know, one of the two words could be a title in asuran, but objectively it was just a reference to one of the devs.
Resources
Asura NPC list (contains ALL asura NPCs in the game, so it's very long
GW1 Asura NPC list
Disclaimer: what is written here is derived from attentive observation of what's seen in-game and strives to be as lore-compliant and close to canon as possible.
Impotant note: if you want a name that can be used in-game, remember that the character limit is 19, spaces included!
FIRST NAMES
Can be pretty much anything you want, though there are some general guidelines.
Traditionally, first names are usually:
- of Latin or Greek origin (Crecia, Galina, Vitus, Scylla, etc)
- regular nouns (Ember, Rage, Talon, Flint, Snarl, etc)
- simply made up for the sound (Rytlock, etc)
Exceptions are pretty common nowadays, with names taken also from other races, as a charr named Simon Blackgut is poked fun at for his human-sounding name.
Masculine names tend to have sharper sounds, while feminine sound smoother.
WARBAND NAMES
The name is picked when the warband is formed.
While that usually happens in the fahrar, warbands can form and dissolve for any reason and at any point.
Any charr who later joins the warband must change their last name to one that includes the warband's name.
On certain occasions (death of the Legionnaire, their removal from the position, or events of importance to the warband), the name can be changed.
Warband names are not unique, and multiple warbands can have the same name even within the same Legion.
Warbands' names tend to indicate either their primary skills or line of duty (Net for fishers, Pick for miners, Welder for builders, etc), but some can be more generic or refer to different aspects shared by its members (Dawn, Paw, Heart, etc).
Some warbands formed to fulfill a highly-specific duty might pick an otherwise "incorrect" name directly related to it (Ogre is a warband tasked with pushing back ogres).
Some warbands pick their name as a way to honor fallen soldiers or pay tribute to historical figures (the Scorch warband with Kalla Scorchrazor, Bhuer Goreblade with the Gore warband after his sire cleaned the tainted legacy of the name Gore).
Ash, Blood, Iron and Flame are not strictly off-limits as warband names, as there appear to be at least a Blood warband and an Iron warband seen in game.
Regardless, individuals regularly pick them for their personal part of the last name.
[Note: the lore about the "Primus warbands" and Imperators needing to be part of them (or descendants of the Khan-Ur) seems to have been completely abandoned, other than the High Legion's names being implied to be derived from the warbands of the sons of the Khan-Ur]
LAST NAMES
The last name of a charr belonging to a warband is made of two words.
One is the warband's chosen name, while the other is more descriptive of the individual (personality, appearance, ideals, history, occupation, etc).
Important: nouns, base form verbs and adjectives only.
No adverbs, no comparatives.
The two words can be in either order, though they have to make grammatical sense and "sound right" (Shotfierce and Keepersoul don't really work, while Fierceshot and Soulkeeper do. Stoneglow and Glowstone work in either case.)
Nouns and verbs can be used in either position, while adjectives tend to be used for the first word (Fierceshot, Crimsonfist, Heavyblade, etc).
Most verbs can also be used as suffixes in their derivative noun form (chase/chaser, crack/cracker, gut/gutter, etc), and they can also be warband names.
Note that the word used for the warband can't be altered in personal names (a member of the Welder warband can't change it to Weld, and so a member of the Weld warband can't use Welder).
Words used in warband and last names are singular.
There are rare exceptions, usually for things that come in pairs or multiple (Haunteyes).
Last names can be compound words (Brimstone is both another name for sulphur and brim+stone), but compound words can't be used as part of surnames (Brimstoneblade wouldn't work, as they're effectively 3 words).
Words tend to be short, usually not longer than 7-8 characters.
Given their martial and industrial culture, charr are unlikely to pick peaceful, cutesy and weak-sounding words for their name, especially when combined.
However, such words can still be worked with depending on the warband name (Sweetflower wouldn't be used, but both Sweetpoison and Flowerblade could be chosen by the right charr in the Poison and Blade warband respectively).
Likewise, names related to food, other species (animals or races), plants and the "beautiful/nicer" parts of nature are rare, usually coming down to the individual's duty or particular skills (there's a charr named Drakecatcher who could be part of either the Drake or Catcher warband, while Hawkslayer and Skaleslayer are found in the same map and could be both part of the Slayer warband).
[Note: titles and names like those are more typical of norn and kodan.]
Despite their military-based culture, words that indicate ranks (both inside and outside of the Legions) are not used, likely due to the risk of mixing them up with actual ranks (boss, master, rookie, captain, general, soldier, tribune, etc).
Words used should be things reasonably known by the charr and especially Tyria as a whole (things that don't exist in Tyria like "horse", "bleach", "digital", etc).
That said, some charr might end up using previously "off-limits" words after certain discoveries ("Holo" is unlikely to be used before the tech spread around Tyria after Personal Story, while "Jade" can be used for its other meanings but never in reference to Canthan tech prior to EoD) or mingling with other races ("Cable", "golem" and "aether" are common words for asura, but charr are unlikely to pick them unless they specialize in that kind of tech).
While not a rule per se, charr are quite unlikely to use technical or "fancy" words for their name, instead opting for more common and generic ones ("Coal" is more likely than "Carbon", "Salt" instead of "Sodium", "Iron/Steel/Metal" instead of more specific metals, etc).
It's important to note that not all charr regularly use a last name tied to their warband or even feel the need to have one.
Some stick to their titles (Smodur the Unflinching, Erracus the Wise, Howl the Brazen, etc) or only their first name (usually gladia who renounce their previous last name or those born outside of the Legions who never had a warband).
Last but not least, keep in mind that most charr decide their names when they're cubs or teenagers, so don't be afraid to have fun and be cringe with them! :3
Other useful resources
→ Charr Name List ←
Made by me. Hopefully includes all words used for names found in the game, plus a whole lot more that make sense for the average charr.
I'll try to keep it updated/adding to it.
From the GW2 Wiki
- Names section in the Charr page
- List of known warbands on the Warband page (only includes mentioned warbands, leaving out all the NPCs that don't appear with someone who shares part of the name)
- Charr NPC list (contains ALL charr NPCs in the game, so it's very long)
- GW1 Charr NPC list
My fave name site, which has categories (Roman and Greek for charr specifically, but Italian might help too) and provides actual meanings, pronounciations and variants of names!
Guild Wars 2 Name Generator by newms34 (very good generator for all playable races if you quickly want ideas to start from, not extremely varied but still a great aid)
What you need:
- a number randomizer of your choice (random.org is my go-to)
- a character/story/whatever you want to subject to randomization
- a vague idea of what you want to find out
- the will to piece info back together
The base idea is that you have to come up with questions to ask as if you were trying to extract info from someone, and this someone wants you to guess it all instead of just telling you things directly (think "Twenty Questions", but with the randomizer as the stand-in for the character/other person you're playing with).
You ask a question, roll for the answer, ask a follow-up question, roll, and so on until you have the answers you need.
The exercise includes trying to find different angles to get the answers you need to continue, because the questions might have to be more specific than the previous ones to get a useful answer (example: character can answer Yes to knowing how to fight, Yes to having a job that involves it, No to being a mercenary, No to being a soldier, No to being a guard, but then Yes to being a bodyguard).
There's no one set of questions for this, as it all just depends on what you want to find out and how deep you wanna go.
You can approach it from a broad angle and "zoom in" into the specifics, or go directly for the specific questions and then work backwards from there, or go scattershot. You do you!
One fun thing to do is to return on previous topics to "confirm the character's version" or explore things that weren't clear or interesting on the first round of questions.
You'll probably mix types of randomization depending on the most useful kind of questions you can ask.
Also, you don't have to write the questions down beforehand, you can just think them or say them out loud, but I suggest having cliffnotes for them written if you plan to do it with multiple characters.
Still, do take quick notes of the important answers as you go though, before you forget them!
The fun part of this story/character-building exercise is to commit to the results you got.
That said, nothing is stopping you from redoing it if you're not liking the direction it has taken or if it ends up not making sense (sometimes you'll exhaust the possible questions or end up with answers that can't work together, so you either go back and ask things again to find the "lies" in what was said, or you just give up and retry).
You could also just do more than one round of questions to brainstorm and explore different scenarios, so you can pick your favorite!
Type 1 - Yes/No
Set the randomizer to Min: 1 and Max: 2
1 = Yes | 2 = No
Good for receiving cut and dry answers, not much for depth.
Can also be used for A/B questions, especially when one answer precludes the other.
Example of chain:
- Does the character like all food? > No
- Do they hate just one type of food in particular? >Yes
- Is it vegetables? >No
- Is it desserts? >Yes
- Is it just one (or all)? >No (implied they dislike all)
- Is it because they don't like sugary things? >Yes
- Does it apply to fruits as well? >No
- Do they hate something else? >No [technically this was not necessary because it was answered by the second, but it can be good to clarify questions too broad when you use yes/no]
Result: You now know that the character doesn't like desserts because they're too sugary for their taste, but you also discovered they don't mind the sweetness of fruits.
• • • • • •
Type 2 - Nuance
Set the randomizer to Min: 1 and Max: 3.
1 = Yes | 2 = No | 3 = Nuance (pick the most appropriate flavor for the question: It's complicated, Somewhere in between, Both, Unclear, Mixed, Unsure, etc)
This is what I use as default unless I need a direct answer, as it allows for more nuance and a greater range/depth of results.
Example of nuanced chain for two characters who work together:
- Does A like B? >Nuance
- Does B like A? >Yes
- Are they friends? Nuance
- Was there ever something romantic between them? >No
- Was there ever hate between them? >Nuance
- Is A the one who feels mixed things about B? >Yes
- Is it related to their job? >Yes
- Does B feel the same? >No
- Is B aware? >No
- Is it causing issues? >No
Result: You now know that A and B have a neutral relationship, and you discovered that A feels some conflicted/negative way about B due to work-related reasons, while B isn't aware of any issue and actually likes A.
You can fill in the blanks and nuanced parts how you prefer, or continue to dig deeper.
• • • • • •
Type 3 - Options
This is for more complex questions where you want to pick between predetermined options.
Assign a number to your options beforehand (or just count how many there are), then randomize between Min: 1 and Max: [number of options]
Example using GW2's character creation:
- Which race is my character? [by Race Selection order, 1-5] >5 (sylvari)
- Are they using the male or female model? [1-2] > 2 (female)
- Which profession are they? [1-9] >6 (ranger)
- [you can do physical randomization with this method if you want to]
- Which pet is their first? [1-3] >2 (jungle stalker)
- What personality do they have?[1-3] >3 (ferocity)
- What did they dream of? [1-3] >2 (green knight)
- What teaching is the most important to them? [1-3] >3 (where life goes)
- When did they awake? [1-4] >2 (noon)
Quick Guide for a Smooth and Quick Toypocalypse ⛄️
Just a quick guide so that Toypocalypse can a bit faster and hopefully more enjoyable for everyone involved~
General Strategy
Every player should pick a different zone to focus on, so that there's no need to struggle for resources and the whole map gets covered by clusters of catapults!
Here's a map of the best spots:
The areas in red are secondary spots where you can expand or move to if an area is already covered.
You CAN cover a whole map with properly built Labyrinth, Hoelbrak and Village, so you can team up to do those!
You want to pick spots that are close enough to be in reach of other people's catapults, but not so close that you have to fight for resources. See what your party is doing and act accordingly.
For your own zone, you want to pick a good spot to build your Catapults (high, good view over the map) and then surround them with a few Snowmen and the occasional Ballista.
Soon, your Catapults will be able to nearly one-shot enemy waves that spawn close enough, while the rest will take care of those that get too close during reload.
Properly set up clusters are more effective than randomly placed toys!
Clusters focus enemies in a few spots and catapults' barrages can clear them even at their spawn.
Stray toys will spread enemies around the map and Catapults may not even reach them :(
There's a cap AND a decay timer for siege toys!
Old toys will despawn if you place too many or after 15 minutes with no upgrading! Try to place them with intention from the start, then after round 4 it's best to start upgrading what you've already placed.
Your strategy should be to aggro enemy waves away from the center and clear them fast!
While you want to drop a few toys on the central platform to defend the dolyaks (pretty useful in the first waves and for extra security), only place them on the outer edges and don't overdo it!
Enemies will aggro on siege toys, and if they're too close to the dolyaks... well, that kinda defeats their defensive purpose, and it'll hurt a lot if it's Toxx's turn.
Focus on Toxx as soon as she spawns (every 2 rounds, after a few waves of regular toys) and try to break her CC bar asap!
You don't want her to destroy your hard work, but be careful of her attacks, especially the one where she spins and reflects projectiles (you can get oneshot if you use the rifle).
Siege Toys and Weapons
Catapults are your best friends and Snowmen are their buddies!
Let the Snowmen do damage, aggro and chill enemies, so that Catapults can reach them over long distances by firing in an arc. (a full barrage from is extremely satisfying to witness)
Ballistas and Walls are not bad, but should be used sparingly.
Ballistas attack faster than Catapults, but unlike them they are single-target and can only hit enemies that are in a straight line in front of them.
Walls should be used only as a way to block or bottleneck specific areas, as toys will usually ignore them if something else is around.
Siege toys do more than any weapon skill!
Pistol is kinda useless after the very first wave, while Rifle and Smasher are overall better. They mostly matter during Toxx fights.
Remember: a few upgraded toys are better than many base toys.
While you can build in a cluster, you're better off leaving at least some space between them so that you can have an easier time upgrading them later.
(This example for the two points above is a bad example: FAR too many toys for one spot + extreme lack of space between them)
If you know spawn points, you can place a single sacrificial Snowman (you'll have plenty of snow anyway) in there to immediately aggro enemies and give your Catapults extra time to clear the wave where it spawns.
Tips & Tricks
When holding Snow or Scraps, you can use your 3rd skill to run faster!
You can gather extra gifts after every Toxx on the left side of the map! (Round 2, 4, 6 and 8. Round 10 gives its own reward in the bouncy chest.)
You can regen health by hanging out with the dolyaks for a few seconds, and if they're hurt you can heal them using Hay!
If you want extra security for the dolyaks, there are 4 Skritt Mercenaries on the sides of the map that can be hired for 3 Scraps each.
Resources respawn after a few rounds, so do try to use your first round of resources responsibly!
If you're doing fine with your numbers, upgrade early or maybe even bring some of your Scraps to party members that are struggling to set up!
Siege toys are built right on the spot your camera/mouse cursor is aiming, and you can take advantage of it to build more precisely! Also, if you're building against a wall, it'll be placed above it!
(In this example of my fave Labyrinth configuration: toys are built by aiming on the pole at the intersections and end up on top of them + walls block the entrances)
As a note, the Wiki has already a pretty decent guide, but I wanted to sum things up and add to it!
