Crafting PvP Armor and Weapons at the Mystic Forge

If you already run PvP in Guild Wars 2 or you’re interested in doing so, you might be wondering how to get better looking gear. You can do this in a variety of ways which include spending your Glory to buy chests, winning Tournaments and crafting your own gear at the Mystic Forge. Glory vendors are important in this process since they sell the necessary items needed to craft armor at the Mystic Forge. In this article we will break down all of the the different ways you can go about getting your new gear for PvP. One thing to note is that this gear is not better stat wise but it sure looks a lot better then what you have on right now!

What is Glory and PvP Rank?

There are a few important things that we should clear up before we get started. First, this gear is only for PvP and there is no stat boost. It is simply for looks. You can earn Glory in PvP which is similar to Karma in that you can buy items from vendors. The vendors that you will visit are based on your PvP rank which is similar to your level in PvE. There is a Glory vendor you can visit from level 1 all the way up to level 80 in increments of 10. This will not be an easy task, even with all your character’s sharing the same PvP rank. Unlike your PvE level your PvP level is for you (yes you) as a player. So since you play all of your characters they will all contribute to your rank. You can see your PvP rank and a breakdown of each profession’s play time in the PvP menu. Just hit (H) and click the PvP icon (Crossed Swords) while you are in the Heart of the Mists. Refer to the image below for an example.

Why should I play Casual PvP?

The first step to getting your PvP gear is playing casual PvP. You can do this by visiting the Tournament browser in the Heart of the Mists. If you need more info on how to join PvP, read this article. Playing casual PvP will help you in a number of ways. First, it will give you Glory which is as a trade currency used with Glory Vendors. Second, you will start increasing your PvP level.  As mentioned above, this will allow you to see the next tier of vendors for better items. Last and more importantly, it will help you figure out how to play your character and create strategies for each map. You can also begin to form relationships with other players you are winning with. The better you become, the more glory and chests you will be able to earn so start practicing and get ready for the next step in structured PvP.

When should I join tournaments?

Once you feel comfortable with your build and gear choices you are ready for some more skilled opponents. It will help to have formed a team with your friends or guild members. You should already have some strategies developed from casual PvP and you should all be familiar with your build. To get a better advantage over the enemies, you should all be using a communication program whether it be TeamSpeak or Ventrillo. This will let you coordinate a lot easier and faster then if you had to type something out. Communication is key to winning a tournament and without it you will find yourself on the losing side more often then not. If you can place in the tournament you will get some loot which includes Coin, Glory and PvP gear that you can keep or salvage.

How do I craft PvP Armor at the Mystic Forge?

Once you have a decent amount of Glory built up, you can visit the Glory Vendor in the Heart of the Mists for your specific rank. Refer to the image above for the locations. Each vendor increases on a scale of 10 levels so when you hit 10 you will have your next tier vendor. These vendors are marked with a purple trophy icon and all of them sell chests that are used to discover PvP items. In addition to the chests, they also sell PvP salvage kits used to breakdown unwanted gear. Each of them also sells armor and weapon tokens which are used in the Mystic Forge to craft a certain item which we will get to. The Mystic Forge is located to the right of the PvP Tournament signup area.

Now that you started getting PvP gear from the tournaments and glory chests, you can start filling up that empty PvP Locker you have been looking at. The first thing I do when I get some new gear is hit Deposit Collectibles  from your bags menu. This will deposit any collectible PvP item you have in your bags to your PvP Locker, if that item isn’t already in your locker. So now whatever is left in your bag is either a duplicate or not a collectible. This is where the PvP salvage kits come into play. Purchase some of these from the PvP vendor when you have duplicate pieces of gear. Salvage these items and deposit the materials into your bank just as you did with the armor.

Once you build up some materials for crafting from salvaging armor, you can begin to craft your own PvP gear at the Mystic Forge. This is pretty random and the only thing that’s definite is what piece of armor you will be getting. That’s because you have to buy the Armor Token from the PvP vendor to make a certain piece. The Mystic Forge will need four items before it can craft a new piece.  Say you have a lot of leg armor pieces missing, use the leg armor token to fill that void. The next item you will need is the token for the rank gear you want. The ranks in PvP are all named after animals so first you start as a bunny then you move up to a deer. You will acquire Bunny Tokens, Deer Tokens and so on through the chests. These are also collectibles so they will be sent to your bank with the rest of your collectible items. The last two items you need are in the form of Arcane. There are currently four types of arcane items:  Arcane Powder, Arcane Orb, Arcane Crystal and Arcane Silver. You now have the four slots filled in the Mystic Forge and are ready to craft your first piece of PvP armor. Refer to the image above for guidance, if you are missing one piece it will not work. You can mix and match these items for different results and eventually you will have your whole PvP Locker filled with each collectible set.

You now know the basic blueprint for crafting at the Mystic Forge in the Heart of the Mists. If you continue to use this method, you should be able to discover new, cool gear as you continue to rank up. Just remember to go to the higher tiered vendor in order to get the better gear. You will also have a better chance of uncovering something uncommon if you buy the more expensive chests, spending more Glory. Also don’t forget to use the runes and sigils once you get new armor to increase your stats, just as you would with any other armor. If you have any other tips or questions leave a comment below. Enjoy your crafting journey and good luck!