Vial of Dye

Basics

A Vial of Dye can be used to change the color of Items, notably armor and weapons. Dyeing is completely optional and provides only aesthetic benefits; it has no practical application. Dye comes in the following colors:

Gray	Blue	Green	Purple	Red	Yellow	Brown	Orange	Silver	Black	White	Pink§

^§ Pink dye was added to the game in preparation for Pink Day in LA, a player-sponsored event in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.

Usage

To apply dye to an item, double-click the Vial and then click on the item you wish to dye. This brings up the Dye Preview panel. You can mix colors by dragging up to 3 more dyes to the window.

In addition to armor and weapons, backpacks, belt pouches and bags can also be dyed to change their default brown color. However, these items only take a single color (which is applied immediately, without benefit of a preview window) and the color is only visible in the inventory or bag windows; the new color does not change the outward appearance of a character.

Mixing Dye

You can mix dye effects in the dye preview screen by dragging the dyes you wish to mix into the appropriate slots. Once you have the color you want click apply and the mix is applied directly to your armor. Adding multiple vials of the same dye creates a richer tone, but you will not be able to apply it unless you use at least one other color in the mix.

Tips

• Examine the results in the preview window carefully before applying dye; once used, the dye is gone forever and cannot be salvaged or removed. The only cure for a bad dye job is to dye it again.
• The effects depend substantially on the material being dyed:
  • Dye does not produce the exact same color on all equipment. Purple dye shows up purple on Mesmer armor, but a light lavender on Elementalist armor.
  • Silver has a metallic shine effect on metals, but not on other materials. For example, dying Elementalist Elite Stormforged armor will turn the cloth parts a light gray.
  • Silver can be used to darken or lighten a chosen color.
• The initial color used to open the preview window has no effect on the resulting color.
• There is no need to dye your equipment gray before dyeing it what you want.

Items that cannot be dyed

• Some weapons and armor will not accept dyes, including
  • Most Common armor pieces;
  • Eternal Shields and Elementalist Headgear
  • Unique, such as Zehtuka's Pack, Charr Bags, and Totem Axes. (The exceptions are: Straw Effigies and the Traveler's Bo Staff).
  • Hero Armor
  • Some Festival hats.
• Some items accept dye but do not change appearance when dyed, e.g. the Eternal Bow and the Necromancer Elite Scar Pattern armor for Males.

Pink dye

There are special restrictions on Pink dye for a variety of reasons:

• It must be purchased for 100 from Rosa Salvitas in Lion's Arch; it does not drop from foes.
• Like other dyes, in can be stacked or stored in a Xunlai Chest; however, it cannot be traded to other players.
• It is only available at limited times.

Notes

• The drop rate for dyes is tracked on Drop rate/Dye.
• Some dyes are considered valuable and players try to farm vials.
  • In particular, black and white dyes drop very rarely. Check prices at the Dye trader before selling to another player. And try not to sell dye in pre-Searing unless you can get a reliable price check (see dye scams for details).
• It can be difficult to dye an off-hand weapon while wielding a two-handed one.
• The default color of many items does not correspond to any particular dye color, making it difficult to restore its original color.
• Black dye is often used in pre-searing Ascalon as a form of substitute currency, e.g. to store or trade items worth more than 100.

Speculative note: Some players believe that dye drops more frequently in Pre-Searing (see Dye farming guide (Pre-Searing)).

External Links

• Post-Update Dye Guide at Guild Wars Guru