Guild Wars 2

Can you use Name Change Contracts to SWAP names between characters on your account?

Let’s say I have two Necromancers. I like the animations and voice on one, but I like the name on the other. What’s the easiest way to get Name 1 onto Character 2?

Do NCCs put a character in “limbo” until a new name is chosen? If so, I can just pop the NCC on both characters and swap them. If I HAVE to have a new name at the time I pop the NCC, though, there has to be a third character to shuffle the name to!

I don’t want to have to pull the Globetrotters into the mix just to land the name I like on the character I want. Name Change Contracts are EXPENSIVE (not to mention a new character slot), so I’d like to know how everything works before I pull the trigger.

Thanks.

You’ll need two contracts. The names are reserved for you for like 24 hours.

Edit:

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/27626227-Character-Name-Changes

To get the name from character 1 on character 2 you would first have to rename character 1. Once character 1’s name is changed that will free up their old name and secure it for your account for 24 hours. (After 24 hours anyone can grab it). So you would then need to use another name change contract on character 2 to give it character 1’s old name.

Thanks for the quick responses, folks!

So to SWAP names, I’d need three contracts?

C1 → temp. name
C2 → N1
C1 → N2

Klaugh.7415:

Thanks for the quick responses, folks!

So to SWAP names, I’d need three contracts?

C1 -> temp. name
C2 -> N1
C1 -> N2

No. Just two.

Actually, just thought about it some more. Yes, you would need three. I was forgetting the placeholder for the first character.

Swapping names will require three contracts, not two. There is no way to simply swap names equal to the number of characters interested in a swap. You can’t name a character the same as another one you already have.

Character 1 changes to a brand new name, different from character 2. Character 1’s initial name is reserved.

Character 2 renames to Character 1’s initial name. Character 2’s name is also reserved, and the reservation ends from character 1’s initial name, since it’s now on another character on the same account.

Character 1 now must change again to character 2’s initial name.

Klaugh.7415:

Thanks for the quick responses, folks!

So to SWAP names, I’d need three contracts?

C1 -> temp. name
C2 -> N1
C1 -> N2

Yes three

I don’t understand your description of how you think it will work, so I might be repeating it, but here’s a summary:

You can only use a contract on one character at a time and the new name you give them has to be available when you use the contract – meaning it can’t be used by another character on your account.

There are two ways to transfer a name to another character. To make the descriptions simpler I’m going to call the character with the name you like Alice and the one you want to rename Brenna.

Option 1: Delete Alice. The name will be reserved for your account for 24 hours so there’s no risk of someone taking it while you’re doing this. Then use a name change contract on Brenna and change her name to Alice. Then, if you want to re-create the original Alice with a new name.

Options 2: Use a name change contract on Alice and change her name to anything that’s available. As in option 1 the name will be reserved for you. Then use a name change contract on Brenna and change her name to Alice.

If you want to literally swap the names, so Alice becomes Brenna and Brenna becomes Alice you will need 3 name change contracts. (Unless you really don’t want to lose either character option 1 is cheaper here.)

If one of the characters is a secondary character or one you don’t play much, I do recommend the process of deleting it and just using one name change contract if you can afford to move its gear/re-gear it and have things like Tomes of Knowledge available to instant-80 it.

Thanks, everyone.

That’s a huge bummer; I’d be happy to spend two NCCs to swap names, but that third step is making me rethink how much money I want to spend on this!