Item rarity

In Guild Wars, the rarer an item is, the more valuable and powerful it can be. There are five levels of item rarity. They are, in ascending rarity:
 * 1) White: Common items.
 * 2) Light Blue: Upgraded item, or item with modifier.
 * 3) Purple: Uncommon items.
 * 4) Gold: Rare items.
 * 5) Green: Unique items. Items that are dropped by a boss or mobs in a certain area (see index of unique item lists for where to find them). These items don't technically have a place on the rarity spectrum.

On weapons, Focus Items and shields the chance for a weapon modifier or upgrade, as well as the quality of the modifier or upgrade, increases with rarity. White items will have no upgrades or modifiers, Blue items mostly have one modifier (crafted armor) or upgrade (weapons), and Purple or Gold items have usually more than one modifier or upgrade. Salvaged weapon upgrades are always blue, and adding an upgrade to a weapon or adding a rune to a piece of armor does not change the item's color.

On salvage items the chance for a minor, major or superior Rune increases with rarity. White salvage items have no runes applied; Blue salvage items indicate that a Minor rune is applied, Purple salvage items indicate a Major rune, and Gold salvage items indicate a Superior rune.

Despite their name and rarity, the names of rare crafting materials are white like common items. The names of dyes are also white regardless of rarity.

White Items

 * Weapons:
 * No innate modifiers of any kind.
 * No upgrades applied.
 * Will change to Blue if an upgrade is applied.


 * Armor:
 * All basic and +Additional Energy armor without any other modifier(s) is white.
 * Will become Blue if any rune is applied


 * Salvage Items:
 * No runes can be salvaged from White salvage items.


 * Quest Items:
 * All quest items are white.

Blue Items
The "blue item" category is different from the other categories. There are special circumstances for an item that is blue.


 * Weapons:
 * Always blue with an innate modifier.
 * Can change from White to Blue if an Upgrade is applied.
 * Only blue weapons can have modifiers of "Precious" and "Highly Salvagable"


 * Runes:
 * All minor runes are blue.


 * Armor:
 * An extra line of an innate modifier (+additional energy does not make the piece of armor blue).
 * Armor piece with any rune (not just minor) applied to it will become blue (regardless of previous rarity level).


 * Salvage Items:
 * Blue salvage items are found as loot, and cannot be re-modded.
 * If a rune is salvaged, it is always minor


 * Weapon Upgrades:
 * All weapon upgrades are blue.


 * Insight Scrolls:
 * Blue Insight Scrolls cannot be acquired from a Rare Scroll Trader.
 * Can be purchased from Merchants from the Crystal Desert and on.

Purple Items

 * Weapons:
 * Higher chance of Upgrades and Innate Modifier than Blue Items.
 * Always have either one of, or both Upgrades and Modifiers.


 * Salvage Items:
 * Rune Salvages are always Major runes.


 * Runes:
 * All purple runes are Major.

Purple items have a 2x multiplier on their sell value to merchants compared to white items.

Gold Items

 * Weapons:
 * Highest chance of Upgrades and innate modifier of all other levels (greens are the exception).
 * Highest chance of receiving a "perfect" weapon upgrade.
 * Highest chance of receiving a "perfect" innate modifier.


 * Item Upgrades:
 * While you can unlock "gold item upgrades" from a Rewards NPC, physically there is no gold item upgrade.


 * Salvage Items:
 * Salvage Armors that are gold can only salvage a Superior rune, if a rune is salvaged.


 * Insight Scrolls:
 * Unlike Blue insight scrolls, Rare ones cannot be bought from a Merchant anywhere.
 * Can be acquired from a Rare Scroll Trader.
 * Sell for exceptionally more gold than a Blue insight Scroll.

Gold items, except scrolls, have a 4x multiplier applied to their merchant sell price.

Green Items

 * They predominantly drop from bosses, with certain exceptions.
 * All green items are weapons or offhands. (Excluding mini pets).
 * Always have the maximum number of innate modifiers.
 * Innate modifiers are always Perfect (except for green items from Shing Jea Island).
 * Always have the maximum number of Upgrades (on items that are upgradable).
 * Item Upgrades are always perfect (except for green items from Shing Jea Island).
 * Cannot replace or salvage the upgrade.
 * Cannot be dyed or salvaged (with few exceptions, such as the Straw Effigy variants in the Canthan endgame).