Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W) (2024)

This article is about the equipment. For the attribute, see Armor (attribute).

Asura armor gallery
Female	Light	Medium	Heavy
Male	Light	Medium	Heavy

Charr armor gallery
Female	Light	Medium	Heavy
Male	Light	Medium	Heavy

Human armor gallery
Female	Light	Medium	Heavy
Male	Light	Medium	Heavy

Norn armor gallery
Female	Light	Medium	Heavy
Male	Light	Medium	Heavy

Sylvari armor gallery
Female	Light	Medium	Heavy
Male	Light	Medium	Heavy

Armor is equipment that is worn to provide defense against strike damage in combat and to provide attribute bonuses through its attribute combinations and upgrade components. Armor provides no protection against conditions. Armor is divided into three armor classes, which correspond to the three profession types; scholars wear light armor, adventurers wear medium armor, and soldiers wear heavy armor. Most armor is part of an armor set.

1 Acquisition
2 Armor slots
3 Armor lists
4 Appearance
- 4.1 Armor set
- 4.2 Skins
- 4.3 Dye
5 Defense rating
6 Attributes
7 Upgrade slot
- 7.1 Runes
- 7.2 Universal upgrade
8 Concept art
9 See also

Acquisition[edit]

The method of acquisition of armor varies depending on the type of armor. All players are given a set of starting armor when they create a character. Beyond that, some common methods of acquisition are:

Dropped by foes as loot
Purchased from an NPC such as Armorsmiths, Renown Hearts, etc...
Crafting armor as an armorsmith, leatherworker, or tailor
Purchased from other players via the Trading Post
As a reward for completing certain steps of your personal story
As a reward for completing some Collections
As a reward for completing some Living World episodes

Armor slots[edit]

There are six standard slots for armor, covering the head, shoulders, chest, hands, legs, and feet. There are also the aquatic headgear, which replaces headgear when the player enters underwater mode.

Headgear, shoulders and gloves can all be set to be hidden to not display their appearances.

Slot	Can be hidden?	List of equipment
Headgear	Yes	Light headgear Medium headgear Heavy headgear
Shoulders	Yes	Light shoulders Medium shoulders Heavy shoulders
Chest	No	Light chests Medium chests Heavy chests
Gloves	Yes	Light gloves Medium gloves Heavy gloves
Leggings	No	Light leggings Medium leggings Heavy leggings
Boots	No	Light boots Medium boots Heavy boots
Aquatic Headgear	No	Aquatic Headgear

Armor lists[edit]

Armor set — for list of armor sets
List of non-set armor pieces — for list of armor pieces not in a set
Equipment query — a tool used to help search the wiki database for equippable items, including armor, back items, trinkets and weapons

Appearance[edit]

The Equipment tab of the Hero panel.

Armor set[edit]

Primary article: Armor set

An armor set is a group of armor pieces that are designed to go together and which have a common appearance, name, and method of acquisition. Most pieces of armor are part of an armor set that has an appearance unique to that armor set. Sometimes, however, a piece of armor can be part of an armor set, but have a skin that is not unique to that armor set. An example of this is Yakkington's Helm. It is part of the armor set Yakkington's armor as but it uses the skin for Scallywag armor. In cases such as this, the item name indicates its armor set, and the skin name used in the wardrobe indicates its skin set.

The counterpart to armor sets are non-set armor pieces: these are unique skins (such as Fanatic's Mantle) or slots (such as Aquatic Headgear) which are never found as part of a set.

Skins[edit]

The skin of a piece of armor is separate from the stats, and can be changed. Players can do this using the wardrobe. Any unlocked armor skin can be selected in the wardrobe, which will apply that skin to the piece of armor the player is currently wearing in the same slot. At first this is only a preview, and players can then apply the changes by clicking the "apply" button. Doing this will cost Transmutation Charges, one charge for every slot that is changed. Transmutation Charges can be obtained from the Gem Store, Black Lion Chests, or map completion.

There are also skin items, a consumable item that can be used to apply that skin to a piece of armor for free. Skin items are most commonly encountered as rewards for Living World participation, from the Gem Store, and from the Armor Master in WvW. Skin items are single use, and when they are used, they will apply the skin and also unlock the skin in the player's wardrobe for later use. Once unlocked, applying the skin via the wardrobe will cost a Transmutation Charge as usual. If the skin item can be obtained more than once, re-obtaining the skin will allow for another free use. Some skins, such as Heritage armor skins, can be applied for free even when using the wardrobe.

Dye[edit]

Primary article: Dye

Players can use dyes to change the color of their armor. Each piece of armor has one to four dye channels, or different areas that can be dyed. If a piece of armor has just one dye channel, the entire piece can only be colored one color. If there are three channels, it can be three different colors, with each color confined to a specific area. Dyes can also be removed using the dye remover, which will color the set of armor its default color. Once a piece of armor is dyed, the dye scheme is remembered and will be retained if it is taken off and put back on.

Defense rating[edit]

The defense rating of armor is based on the armor class, armor type, level, and rarity of the armor. The following table indicates defense ratings for level 80 armor

Armor Piece	Basic			Fine			Masterwork			Rare			Exotic			Ascended
Armor Piece	Light	Medium	Heavy	Light	Medium	Heavy	Light	Medium	Heavy	Light	Medium	Heavy	Light	Medium	Heavy	Light	Medium	Heavy
Headgear	44	59	73	55	74	92	60	80	100	65	86	107	73	97	121	77	102	127
Shoulders	44	59	73	55	74	92	60	80	100	65	86	107	73	97	121	77	102	127
Chest	190	205	219	238	257	275	258	278	298	278	299	321	314	338	363	330	355	381
Gloves	81	95	110	101	119	138	109	129	149	118	139	161	133	157	182	140	165	191
Leggings	117	132	146	147	165	184	159	179	199	171	193	214	194	218	242	203	229	254
Boots	81	95	110	101	119	138	109	129	149	118	139	161	133	157	182	140	165	191
Totals	557	645	731	697	808	919	755	875	995	815	942	1071	920	1064	1211	967	1118	1271

Attributes[edit]

Primary article: Attribute

See also: Attribute combinations#Attribute bonuses at level 80

In addition to defense, armor also provides bonuses to attributes. The value of this bonus depends on the level, slot, and rarity only. Different armor weights do not offer different attribute bonuses like they do defense ratings. The attribute bonuses given depends on the prefix of the armor. Some prefixes have both a major and one or more minor bonuses. Quadruple-attribute armor was introduced with Heart of Thorns, and are available only as level 80 exotic and ascended varieties. Celestial (or nonuple-attribute) armor is also available only as level 80 exotic and ascended, and offers smaller bonuses to nine attributes.

The following tables indicate attribute bonus values for triple-, quadruple-, and Celestial level 80 armor:

Equipment Slot	Basic	Fine	Masterwork	Rare	Exotic	Ascended
Major	Minor	Major	Minor	Major	Minor	Major	Minor	Major	Minor	Major	Minor
Headgear	36	26	45	32	49	35	53	38	60	43	63	45
Shoulders	27	19	34	24	37	26	40	28	45	32	47	34
Chest	81	58	102	73	110	79	119	85	134	96	141	101
Gloves	27	19	34	24	37	26	40	28	45	32	47	34
Leggings	54	39	68	48	73	52	79	57	90	64	94	67
Boots	27	19	34	24	37	26	40	28	45	32	47	34
Totals	252	180	317	225	343	244	371	264	419	299	439	315

Equipment Slot	Rare	Exotic	Ascended
Major	Minor	Celestial	Major	Minor	Celestial	Major	Minor	Celestial
Headgear	45	25	25	51	28	28	54	30	30
Shoulders	34	19	19	38	21	21	40	22	22
Chest	102	56	56	115	63	63	121	67	67
Gloves	34	19	19	38	21	21	40	22	22
Leggings	68	37	37	77	42	42	81	44	44
Boots	34	19	19	38	21	21	40	22	22
Totals	317	175	175	357	196	196	376	207	207

Upgrade slot[edit]

Every piece of armor comes with an upgrade slot where an upgrade component can be placed. Upgrade components provide attribute bonuses and other effects. The upgrade components that can be placed in armor are runes and universal upgrades. Only one upgrade component can be in an upgrade slot, and applying a new upgrade component will destroy the previous upgrade component. When armor is salvaged, players have a chance to get the upgrade component back instead of destroying it. The probability of this depends on the quality of the kit used, and ranges from 5% with a Crude Salvage Kit to 100% with a Black Lion Salvage Kit

Runes[edit]

Primary article: Rune

Runes are a type of upgrade component that can only be applied to armor, including aquatic headgear, but not back pieces. Runes have tiered bonuses that increase for each of the same type of rune equipped. Minor runes have two tiers of bonuses, major runes have 4 tiers, and superior runes have six tiers. The bonuses are not only to attributes, but can also have special effects. A limitation of runes is that equipping more runes than the rune has tiers will not give any additional bonuses.

Universal upgrade[edit]

Primary article: Universal upgrade

Universal upgrades can be placed in armor, weapons, and trinkets. Universal upgrades only provide attribute bonuses in combinations that match established prefixes. Gemstones are the most commonly used universal upgrade.

Concept art[edit]

See Also
Heavy armor - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)

	Light	Medium	Heavy
Asura	Female•Male	Female•Male	Female•Male
Charr	Female•Male	Female•Male	Female•Male
Human	Female•Male	Female•Male	Female•Male
Norn	Female•Male	Female•Male	Female•Male
Sylvari	Female•Male	Female•Male	Female•Male