gw2 pvp gear explained

PvP Gear Explained

  • Last updated: September 25, 2020

sPvP is best described as a game within a game, in many ways it exists in a bubble outside the regular ruleset of GW2. Perhaps what sets it apart from PvE the most is how gear and levels work, which is what we’re going to dive into here.

PvE Doesn’t Matter

First of all you can play sPvP from level 1 in all white gear and missing pieces, it doesn’t make a difference. Once you enter the PvP lobby your character is scaled up to level 80 and its PvE stat template is replaced by the PvP stat system.

Every skill and trait is temporarily unlocked for your character while it’s participating in PvP, everyone is on even footing.

Toggle icon for PvP gear

PvP Toggle

You can set your PvP gear in the same UI where you find your PvE gear. There is a toggle next to the head slot which switches the view from PvE to PvP.

Slots To Fill

While the quality of your gear and the stats on it don’t matter, you MUST fill the following slots in the PvE panel in order to gain maximum armor value in PvP :

  • Chest
  • Leg
  • Boots

This is to prevent people from playing PvP naked. A level 1 character already has these slots filled so you don’t have to do anything.

Required gear slots to fill in GW2 PvP

How It Works

The PvP gear system has 4 components:

  • Amulet
  • Rune
  • Sigils
  • Weapons
PvP gear as seen in the UI
PvP Amulet selection

Amulet

The amulet holds 90%+ of your stats in PvP and you get to select one based on a stat combination like Marauder or Celestial. Unlike in PvE, you don’t get to mix different stats together.

Rune

In a similar fashion to amulets and stats, you can’t mix runes in PvP. You select a rune and get its entire 6 piece bonus. Runes have their own stats, providing you with some customization on top of your amulet.

PvP rune selection

Weapons

Just like the armor, you’ll have to fill these slots with PvE items. Again, stats don’t matter, these are merely weapon skill sticks you have to equip in order to fill the left side of the skill bar.

PvP weapons and sigils in GW2 as seen in the UI

Sigils

These work very much like their PvE counterparts. They have various categories (on-swap, passive, proc, etc.) and each weapon set has exactly 2 sigil slots. Sigils aren’t stackable, you can’t have 2 of the exact same sigils (no double energy or double purging).

Merchants

If you’re in need of armor or weapons to fill your slots, you can buy them from merchants in the PvP lobby for a couple of coppers per piece. 

Here’s the waypoint chatcode for the merchants: [&BNgJAAA=]

Insert it into your chat and click it to automatically be directed there.

Location of GW2 PvP lobby merchants