Weapon

Weapon set concept from GDC 2010 slideshow.

Weapons are a type of equipment that characters wield in combat. When equipped, they determine the first five skills on the skill bar. Like most equipment, weapons provide bonus attributes to the character through attribute combinations and upgrade components. There are a total of 19 different types of weapons, and each profession has access to a specific selection of them.

Each profession utilizes weapons differently, which enables a wide scope of playstyles. A warrior's use of the axe, for example, focuses on building adrenaline quickly and spiking for high amounts of damage, while the ranger uses axes as throwing hatchets for ranged attacks.

Mechanics

Equipping

Character weapons are divided into four primary categories based on how they are held:

• Two-handed — requires both hands to wield it.
• One-handed — can be wielded in either the main hand, the off hand, or one in each hand, depending on the profession.
• Off-hand — can only be used in the off hand.
• Aquatic — two-handed weapons that can only be used in underwater mode.

Every profession has three types of weapon slots:

The main hand slot can hold one one-handed weapon or a two-handed weapon.

The off hand slot can hold one off-hand weapon or, depending on the profession, a one-handed weapon, but can not be used when a two-handed weapon is equipped.

The aquatic weapon slot can hold one aquatic weapon.

All professions have two sets of weapon slots, each with a main hand and an off hand slot. Most professions also have two aquatic weapon slots, except for the elementalist and the engineer, who have only one slot.

Weapon swap

Primary article: Weapon swap

All professions have the ability to switch between the two weapon sets while in combat, with the exception of elementalist and engineer who can only weapon swap when out of combat. However, the elementalist's attunements give them the equivalent of four weapon sets to choose from, and the engineer has engineering kits which grant access to a wide range of additional skills.

It is possible to use partial sets of weapons, for example, equipping two weapons in one set, and only an off-hand weapon in a another set. In that case, only the skills from the off-hand weapon will be swapped when changing between sets. Various combinations of this method can be used to benefit from the effects triggered by the weapon swap while using fewer equipped weapons.

A weapon can be wielded or stowed, where it is visible on the back or hip of the character. Weapon is wielded automatically when the character enters combat, and is stowed after a short time when out of combat. It is possible to manually do this by using the "Stow/Draw Weapons" keybind in Control Options. Stowing away a weapon can be used to stop an action, e.g. an auto-attack chain, or cancel any skill from being cast during its activation time.

Upgrades

Sigils are the specialized upgrade components for weapons of the DMasterwork rarity and higher, while universal upgrades can be used in all types of equipment. GAscended and HLegendary weapons can also be upgraded with infusions.

Weapon strength

Primary article: Weapon Strength

All weapons have a range of weapon strength which, in combination with Power and the opponent's armor, affects the strike damage dealt with that weapon's skills. In addition, a weapon can provide up to 4 attribute bonuses (there are also items that provide small bonuses for 7 attributes) based on its prefix, and often includes a slot for an upgrade component.

The amount of weapon strength and attribute bonuses depend on the weapon's required level and rarity. Weapon strength is always the same for a given weapon type at a particular level and quality (for example, all masterwork shields with a level requirement of 35 have 279-314 weapon strength), but damage might still vary depending on which attributes the weapon improves (e.g. a weapon that improves power will end up dealing more damage than a weapon that improves toughness).

For the same level requirement, strength improves with the grade of weapon rarity.

Rarity	Strength	Increase	Attributes	Increase
BBasic	551 – 609	n/a	72 Power, 52 Precision, 52 Ferocity	n/a
CFine	690 – 762	25.17%	91 Power, 65 Precision, 65 Ferocity	25.57%
DMasterwork	745 – 823	7.99%	98 Power, 70 Precision, 70 Ferocity	7.69%
ERare	802 – 886	7.65%	106 Power, 75 Precision, 75 Ferocity	7.56%
FExotic	905 – 1000	12.86%	120 Power, 85 Precision, 85 Ferocity	13.28%
GAscended	950 – 1050	4.99%	125 Power, 90 Precision, 90 Ferocity	5.17%
HLegendary	950 – 1050	0%	125 Power, 90 Precision, 90 Ferocity	0%

Notes

Acquisition

Weapons can be acquired in many different ways:

• Starting equipment.
• Purchased from a vendor.
• Purchased from the Trading Post.
• Crafted through the disciplines of weaponsmith, huntsman, and artificer.
• Crafted in the Mystic Forge.
• Looted from a monster or a chest.
• Reward from completing parts of the story.
• Reward from completing a dungeon's story mode.
• Reward for killing a raid boss.
• Reward from certain PvP Reward Tracks.
• Reward from certain WvW Reward Tracks.
• Reward from leveling up.

See also: Equipment acquisition by stats

Customization

Skins

Weapon skins can be transmuted to alter their original appearance in the Wardrobe. Weapons are classified in two categories depending on their skin:

• Weapon sets: Collections of weapon skins that share visual characteristics and name patterns.
• Standalone weapons: Weapon skins that aren't part of any weapon set.

Color

Weapons cannot be dyed.

Size

Weapons visually scale based on the size of the character wielding them, so the same weapon will be smaller for an asura compared to a norn. The scaling is proportional, so a large weapon will still seem relatively large when wielded by an asura.

Bundle

Bundles, such as a Boulder, also known as environmental weapons, are temporary weapons that can be obtained while adventuring. They are equipped by either picking them up off the ground or provided by an NPC. While equipped, they replace the weapon skills of the character with their own special abilities. Bundles are either one use only, have a time limit, or have a limited number of uses before they are destroyed. Bundles can be dropped either with the weapon swap button or their specific "Drop <Bundle>" key, which returns the character to the normal skill set.

Weapon usability by professions

• 1 The profession can use this weapon in this slot.
• 0 The profession cannot use this weapon in this slot.
• 0 The weapon cannot be used in this slot.
• Elite specialization icon: The shown elite specialization must be equipped or Weaponmaster Training (SotO expansion) must be unlocked on the account to use this weapon in this slot.
• The profession can use this weapon in this slot after unlocking Expanded Weapon Proficiency feature in the Secrets of the Obscure expansion.
• Each profession can use spear on land after training Lowland Spear Training mastery in the Janthir Wilds expansion.

Weapon		Guardian	Revenant	Warrior	Engineer	Ranger	Thief	Elementalist	Mesmer	Necromancer	Users
One-handed	Axe	0	01	11	00	11	0	00	0	10	4+3 = 7
	Dagger	00	00		00	1	11	11	0	11	4+2 = 6
	Mace	10	10	11	0		00	00	00	00	3+2 = 5
	Pistol		00	0	11	00	11	0	01	0	3+4 = 7
	Sword	1	11	11	0	10	10	0	11		6+3 = 9
Main hand only	Scepter	10	0	00	00	00	0	10	10	10	4+2 = 6
Off-hand only	Focus	01	00	00	00	00	00	01	01	01	4
	Shield	01	0	01	01	00	00	00	0	00	3+2 = 5
	Torch	01	00	0	00	01	00	00	01	0	3+2 = 5
	Warhorn	00	00	01	00	01	00	0	00	01	3+1 = 4
Two-handed	Greatsword	1		1	0	1	0	0	1		4+2 = 6
	Hammer	1	1	1			0		0	0	3+3 = 6
	Longbow		0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2+1 = 3
	Rifle	0	0	1	1	0		0		0	2+2 = 4
	Short bow	0		0		1	1	0	0	0	2+2 = 4
	Staff	1	1		0			1	1	1	5+3 = 8
	Spear										0+9 = 9
Aquatic		1	1	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	7
	Harpoon gun	0	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	4
	Trident	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	5
Number of usable weapons		11+4 = 15	7+5 = 12	11+6 = 16	4+5 = 9	10+4 = 14	6+5 = 11	5+5 = 10	9+5 = 14	8+5 = 13
Number of weapon skills 1		40+15	30+15	49+14(19)	17(52)+16	39+34(39)	37[40]+22(27)[29]	80(105)+95	34+22	30(39)+15(25)
Possible weapon combinations 2		14 (32)	8 (16)	21 (40)	4 (11)	13 (28)	9 (16)	6 (16)	12 (26)	12 (30)

• ¹ Chains and sequence skills are counted as one skill, but includes Unleashed Ambush, Stealth Attack, Dual Wield, Dual Attack and Ambush skills. The number in ( ) includes Gunsaber, Engineering Kit, Celestial Avatar, Shadow Shroud, Conjure, Death Shroud, Reaper's Shroud, Harbinger Shroud skills respectively. The number in [ ] includes dual wield skills with no off-hand equipped.
• ² Possible weapon combinations show core first, then total including all elites in ( ).

See also

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Weapon.

• Skills
• Skill bar
• Gallery of weapons
• Category:Item galleries by type

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Weapons

One-handed

Axe • Dagger • Mace • Pistol • Sword

Main-hand only

Scepter

Off-hand only

Focus • Shield • Torch • Warhorn

Two-handed

Greatsword • Hammer • Longbow • Rifle • Short bow • Staff

Amphibious

Spear

Aquatic only

Harpoon gun • Trident

Other

Bundles