Guild Wars 2

I bought a bunch of skins, each of which are exclusive to one particular armor weight, from WvW vendors. I then found out that while I’m on a character, I can only unlock skins for the armor weight that character wears, so I put the rest in the bank and went to character select. When I got to the bank on another character, I couldn’t take the items out because they’re soulbound. How does that make sense? I thought all soulbound skin items were made account bound, and now my bank and one character’s inventory are full of items I can’t do anything with, and I’m out of badges of honor. Is there any way I can get the items unlocked somehow so I can distribute them to the characters that can use them?

On a tangentially related note, I’ve obtained a number of one-time skin items from living story events and such that I eventually had to delete because I was desperate for bank space. Are those now lost to me forever? There should be a way to reclaim skins we’ve had but lost prior to the wardrobe system, especially ones that can no longer be obtained through any means. (I always thought account binding was stupid in the first place, but nothing I say is going to get rid of that, so I try to work with what I can…)

Pretty certain that even if your character can’t equip an item, you should be able to right-click-Unlock Skin on the character whom it’s soulbound to.

The actual items are soulbound but when you purchased them from the vendor it would’ve unlocked the skins in your account wardrobe. Did you check the wardrobe to transmute the skin?

It’s interesting that you can’t unlock a skin in the wardrobe whether or not the character you’re using can equip it — especially if it’s soulbound. I know the feeling though, sort of. I got some WvW armour on my mesmer but accidentally got medium pieces instead of light. They’ve been sitting in my bank for over a year in the vain hope I might be able to transfer them to another character one day, or gasp salvage them.

As for deleted items, unless you did it recently I think you’re out of luck. I’ve heard of some cases of people being fortunate with support tickets when accidentally destroying precursors, so you could try. What have you got to lose? :p

Kestin.2368:

…snipWhen I got to the bank on another character, I couldn’t take the items out because they’re soulbound. How does that make sense? I thought all soulbound skin items were made account bound, and now my bank and one character’s inventory are full of items I can’t do anything with, and I’m out of badges of honor.…snip

You are going to have to point to the game update you are referencing where all soulbound skin items were made account bound. I’m fairly certain the update you’re thinking of clearly stated that all ascended items were made account bound because of the material and time cost involved and because people lobbied for it. Anything else, nope, still normal ole soulbound. I’m pretty sure that’s where you got your wires crossed. https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/account-bound-wxp-legendaries-and-ascended-gear/

I unlocked a whole bunch of soulbound skin weights on the “wrong” character, that were bought in WvW. I don’t remember if they unlocked on purchase or if I manually unlocked them using right-click. I am positive they were unlocked on the wrong character for the weight of the armor.

The skins you purchase from the WvW Weapon Master are unlocked in your Wardrobe as soon as you buy them. However, the skins themselves might possibly be soulbound (not sure. I’d have to check) to the character you bought them on. If this is the case, then yes, you’ll have to waste a Transmutation Charge instead of just using the skin.

Destroying any item unlocks the skin, as well.

How do I unlock skins with the Wardrobe system?

Equipping, salvaging, or destroying a piece of gear or a skin will add the skin to your Wardrobe if you have not already unlocked it. You can also right-click the item and select “Unlock Skin” as well. This option will be greyed out and not selectable if the skin is already unlocked in your Wardrobe.

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/46419166-Wardrobe

There’s a bug with one medium head piece from WvW vendor – it simply won’t unlock, regardless on what character you’d buy it. Maybe it is the problem you ran into?

Astralporing.1957:

There’s a bug with one medium head piece from WvW vendor – it simply won’t unlock, regardless on what character you’d buy it. Maybe it is the problem you ran into?

Mentioned it in another thread somewhere, related to how Rogue and Marauder skins got mixed up in the database somewhere.

The right-click “Unlock Skin” option should work on those. If not, then not sure. I was under the impression once you purchased the WvW skins, regardless of armor weight, it unlocks in the wardrobe.

WvW armor and armor skins work like karma purchases. They become soulbound on acquire. And if you’re, say, on a light armor character and try to buy a piece that’s heavy armor, a notice will pop up and inform you that you’re about to SOULBIND a piece that your character’s class cannot use.

Since the wvw items are immediately soulbound, they’re immediately unlocked in your account-bound wardrobe. So, they’ll be there without you having to manually choose to unlock them.