Armor types

Basics
Sometimes the difference between a few intense seconds of near-death in combat and a -15% death penalty is just in the kind of armor you wrap around yourself. Your primary profession determines what sorts of armor you can wear. Listed here are the types of armor available to each class, as well as where to get it, how much it costs, and what it does. Note that, with a few exceptions, most armor effects do NOT stack. There is a fixed percentage that a particular attack will hit your head, chest, leg etc. Wearing a super sturdy helm is not going to help you much when an attacker stabs you in the chest. For reference:

Head - 12.5% of physical attacks (this goes up if the enemy is on higher ground than you.)

Chest - 37.5% of physical attacks, as well as all direct damage spells.

Hands/Feet - 12.5% of physical attacks (each)

Legs - 25% of physical attacks.

Each profession has access to a "Standard" Armor, as well as Armor Sets. For example, the Ranger's Standard Armor is the Leather Armor, which provides +30 AL against elemental attacks. For further bonuses, Armor Sets are available. For example, a Ranger can purchase a Drakescale Vest, Gloves, Leggings, and Boots, known collectively as Drakescale Armor (or the Drakescale Set). This Armor provides a bonus aginst fire damage, in addition to the +30 AL against elemental attacks from the base armor.

Most armor sets do not have a corresponding headgear. Typically, each class has a "standard" piece of headgear that has the same armor characteristics of their Standard Armor. In place of set headgear that provides various bonuses (such as +AL against piercing, +AL against lightning damage, etc.), each character has a selection of headgear that provides a +1 to a single attribute. For example, there are five pieces of Mesmer Headgear available: The standard mask, and a mask for each of the four Mesmer attributes: +1 Domination Magic, +1 Fast Casting, +1 Illusion Magic, and +1 Inspiration Magic. The sole exception is the warriors, who have both attribute headgears and set headgears for most sets (which also provide attribute boosts on top of the set bonuses).

Finally, there are some independant armor items available for Necromancers and Warriors. Necromancers can purchase Bloodstained Boots, which decrease the casting time of corpse-exploitation skills. Warriors can purchase Stonefist Gauntlets, which increase knockdown time.

If you're interested in what a particular set of armor looks like, a good way to check is by creating a PvP character and playing with the equipment selection available. This won't have nearly all the armors available, but it will have at least three varieties to check out. Many of these pictures are available in the armor listings (designated by camera icon).

Armor are either purchased (crafted) by Armor Crafter NPCs in a city, or obtained from collectors.

Collector Armor
Collector Armor can be obtained by trading with collectors. You provide the collector with a certain number of a specific item to obtain the armor. Collector Armor has the same statistics as the Standard Armor for a character, but does not confer any of the bonuses found in Armor Sets. However, Collector Armor does have a unique look to differentiate it from the Standard Armor.

For a list of armor collectors and their locations, see here.

Crafting Armor
For crafting armor, you need to pay the Armor Crafter some gold and you have to bring him the necessary common and in some cases rare crafting materials.

For crafting standard armor, the cost is between 150g and 1500g per piece, plus various material depending on the type of armor.

For crafting "15k" armor, the cost is either 8000g or 15000g per piece. These have the same stats as those with 1/10 the cost, but they have a distinguished appearence. Crafters for "15k armor" are located in Marhan's Grotto and the Granite Citadel in the Southern Shiverpeaks.

For crafting "Fissure" armor, the cost is either 8000g or 15000g per piece, and Ectoplasm and/or Obsidian Shards are required. The crafter for these sets of armor is in The Fissure of Woe. This armor has the same stats as the 15k armor of its type, but looks even more distinguished.

Types of Armor
Note: Energy and Energy Regeneration modifications are summed over all four pieces of armor in the same set (the pieces contribute unequally), whereas AL bonuses are for each piece of armor (unless otherwise noted). {| width="100%" style="background: transparent;"
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[[Image:Elementalist-icon.png]] Elementalist Sets
Basic Elementalist Armor provides +10 energy, +2 energy regen, and up to 60 AL.
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[[Image:Mesmer-icon.png]] Mesmer Sets
Basic Mesmer Armor provides +10 energy, +2 energy regen, and up to 60 AL.
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[[Image:Monk-icon.png]] Monk Sets
Basic Monk Armor provides +10 energy, +2 energy regen, and up to 60 AL.
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[[Image:Necromancer-icon.png]] Necromancer Sets
Basic Necromancer Armor provides +10 energy, +2 energy regen, and up to 60 AL.
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[[Image:Ranger-icon.png]] Ranger Sets
Basic Ranger Armor provides +5 energy, +1 energy regen, +30 AL vs Elemental, and up to 70 AL.
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[[Image:Warrior-icon.png]] Warrior Sets
Basic Warrior Armor provides +20 AL vs Physical and up to 80 AL. * This bonus is global, meaning only one piece of armor is needed for the bonus to be applied to the whole body. Equipping more than one piece will not increase the bonus effect.
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Discontinued Sets
These armor sets can be found at some fansites, but I believe that they have all been discontinued. They are listed here for historical purposes, and to eliminate confusion, when comparing this list to those on other sites.
 * Adept's Armor (Elementalist)
 * Regal Armor (Mesmer)
 * Silk Armor (Monk)
 * Blasphemer's Armor (Necromancer)
 * Pagan Armor (Necromancer)

PvP Armor
All Armors available for PvP only characters are listed at PvP Armor. They are already included in the list abve.