Armor types

Appearance vs Functionality
In the Prophecies campaign, each armor type is distinctive in both appearance and bonuses. For example, the warrior Gladiator's Armor offers energy bonuses, while the Wyvern Armor has higher armor against elemental damage. Both have distinct looks and you can be sure of the inherent bonus.

In the Factions campaign, however, functionality and appearance have been decoupled. One can craft armors of all functional types with any art style. For example, for any one profession, all armors crafted by Tateos in Cavalon will look exactly the same (the "Luxon Armor" style), regardless of their bonus.

In the Nightfall campaign, armor appearance has been further distanced from its functionality. Armor of a particular appearance is available from various crafters throughout the game, and is crafted without any bonus statistics (other than the statistics that each profession gains by default). Specific bonuses are gained by purchasing or salvaging Insignias which grant the bonuses that can be chosen at the crafter in other campaigns.

Insignias are not available for use on Factions or Prophecies armor sets at this time.

You can mix armors from any source as you see fit. For example, you can equip chest armor from Tyria, leggings from Cantha and gloves from Elona.

Prestige art
Many armor sets have their corresponding "ascended", or "15k", types, which have the same functionality as their "normal" counterparts, but have different appearances. They are available only to PvE characters, and only from towns that are deep into the campaign plot. Ascended armor comes with a much higher price tag in terms of both gold and materials.

Each profession also has a single Obsidian art style. Obsidian armor is profoundly expensive, requiring Ectoplasm and Obsidian Shards, in addition to other rare and common crafting materials. Obsidian armor is only available from the Eternal Forgemaster in the Fissure of Woe, and requires a lengthy set of prerequisite quests before the forge can be opened.

Special Event Headgear
All special event armor is headgear with 0 armor and no bonuses. Unlike other armor, some types of special event headgear are dyed by default.
 * Pumpkin Crown - Halloween 2005
 * Yule Cap - Wintersday 2005 (Dwayna)
 * Horns of Grenth - Wintersday 2005 (Grenth)
 * Tengu Mask - Day of the Tengu 2006
 * Dragon Mask - Dragon Festival 2006
 * Furious Pumpkin Crown - Halloween 2006 (Lion's Arch)
 * Wicked Hat - Halloween 2006 (Kamadan)
 * Stylish Yule Cap - Wintersday 2006 (Lion's Arch, Dwayna)
 * Great Horns of Grenth - Wintersday 2006 (Lion's Arch, Grenth)
 * Freezie Crown - Wintersday 2006 (Kamadan, Dwayna)
 * Jester's Cap - Wintersday 2006 (Kamadan, Grenth)

Discontinued Sets
These armor sets can be found at some fansites, but they have been discontinued. They are listed here for historical purposes, and to eliminate confusion when comparing this list to those on other sites. Most were either only around during the beta, or are the orginal names of some of the current armors. The names might be reused in future campaign releases.
 * Adept's Armor (Elementalist)
 * Hunter's Armor (Ranger)
 * Regal Armor (Mesmer)
 * Silk Armor (Monk)
 * Blasphemer's Armor (Necromancer)
 * Pagan Armor (Necromancer)
 * Empyrean Armor (Paragon, art renamed to Sunspear Armor, functional removed)
 * Overseer's Armor (Paragon, art renamed to Istani Armor, functional replaced with Survivor Insignia)
 * Radiant Armor (Paragon, art renamed to Elonian Armor, functional removed)
 * Templar's Armor (Paragon, art renamed to Istani Armor, functional replaced with Radiant Insignia)
 * Dunewalker's Armor (Dervish, art renamed to Vabbian Armor, functional removed, name retained for Earth Prayers headgear functional)
 * Nomad's Armor (Dervish, art renamed to Elonian Armor, functional replaced with Survivor Insignia)
 * Soothsayer's Armor (Dervish, art renamed to Istani Armor, functional replaced with Radiant Insignia)
 * Windwalker's Armor (Dervish, art renamed to Ancient Armor, functional removed, name retained for Wind Prayers headgear functional)