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The great Guild Wars 2 gear merger – or the way PvP works now

ArenaNet were once hot on the idea of Guild Wars 2 PvP as an eSport. But it never quite materialised.

ArenaNet have always made a thing of letting you reach the upper levels of Guild Wars your own way – whether that be through questing, World vs World, PvP, or pulling root vegetables out of the earth on the outskirts of Lion’s Arch.

But they haven’t always been so good at letting you swap paths midway through. PvP gear has been nothing but heavy junk in PvE, for instance, and vice versa.

Until now. As our Fraser mentioned in his Guild Wars 2 April Feature Pack preview, the arbitrary division of equipment has come to an end. Here’s how that’s going to work.

All existing PvP equipment has now become unequippable – and it’s become impossible to obtain new sets of PvP-specific armour, weaponry, amulets and the like.

Upon entering Heart of the Mists to prepare for PvP, players will now have all of their (useless) PvP items swiped from their inventory, PvP locker, account bank, and the backs of their characters. If they’re particularly keen on the aesthetics of any of those items, however, they’ll be able to apply their appearance via the account wardrobe.

The new system is simple: characters in PvP will use the same armour and weapons they do in PvE. In the interests of maintaining a level playing field, their equipment will be stripped of PvE attribute, rune, sigil and infusion bonuses for the duration of their battling – and function as level 80 exotic-quality items by default.

Chest, leg, and boot armour will still contribute to your total defense value, however – and PvP gear will have its own unique rune, sigil and amulet slots. Check the full patch notes for more.

What do you lot make of the changes? Is it simplification for the better, or would you rather divide and conquer?

Ta, Shacknews.