I’ve been searching and searching, and I can’t find anywhere that provides information regarding how ITEM LEVEL vs CHARACTER LEVEL affects armor bonuses while downleveling (PvE) and upleveling (WvW).
So, my question is, how are gear bonuses affected by Dynamic Level Adjustments?
TLDR Version: Does having outdated gear penalize you in dynamic leveling, or are your formulated stats simply based on your level, and not affected by the level or quality of your gear?
It seems there are two major theories / formulas.
THEORY 1: Flat adjustment based on CHARACTER LEVEL relative to ZONE LEVEL
All of your attributes are added up, and the final numbers are multiplied by a set value based on your level relative to the zone. This theoretically results in ALL high level characters being considerably stronger while downleveled than any appropriate level characters in the zone (See Example C).
Example A: If you’re CHAR LVL 50, and you are wearing GEAR LVL 50 blue “Hearty” gear, and zone into WvW, you’d be relatively similar to a CHAR LVL 80 in all blue GEAR LVL 80 “Hearty” gear.
Example B: If you’re CHAR LVL 50, and you are wearing GEAR LVL 40 blue “Hearty” gear, when you zone into WvW, you’d be relatively similar to a CHAR LVL 80 in all blue “Hearty” gear of a lower level (ie, GEAR LVL 70, or GEAR LVL 65, based on the values of the dynamic leveling formula).
Example C: If you’re CHAR LVL 50, and you are wearing GEAR LVL 40 blue “Hearty” gear, when you zone down into a ZONE LVL 10 area, you’d be relatively similar to a CHAR LVL 10 in all blue “Hearty” gear of a lower level (ie, GEAR LVL 15, or GEAR LVL 20, based on the values of the dynamic leveling formula).
THEORY 2: GEAR LEVEL relative to CHARACTER LEVEL relative to ZONE LEVEL
All of your attributes are based off the quality of your armor relative to your level. This theoretically results in most high level characters being considerably stronger while downleveled than any appropriate level characters in the zone, but players with outdated gear could be barely stronger, or even theoretically weaker, if the gear is outdated badly enough (See Example C).
Example A: If you’re CHAR LVL 50, and you are wearing GEAR LVL 50 blue “Hearty” gear, and zone into WvW, you’d be relatively similar to a CHAR LVL 80 in all blue GEAR LVL 80 “Hearty” gear.
Example B: If you’re CHAR LVL 50, and you are wearing GEAR LVL 40 blue “Hearty” gear, when you zone into WvW, you’d be relatively similar to a CHAR LVL 80 in all blue “Hearty” gear of a lower level (ie, GEAR LVL 70, or GEAR LVL 65, based on the values of the dynamic leveling formula).
Example C: If you’re CHAR LVL 50, and you are wearing GEAR LVL 40 blue “Hearty” gear, when you zone down into a ZONE LVL 10 area, you’d be relatively similar to a CHAR LVL 10 in all blue “Hearty” gear of a lower level (ie, GEAR LVL 1, or GEAR LVL 5, based on the values of the dynamic leveling formula).