Why can't I dye a weapon?

samaka · August 2016

So, I was dying my Guardian Fighter's shield with a Veteran Dye Pack to match her overall blue theme and it looks great, then I selected my sword and selected a Bluefire Dye Pack... and it too looks great in the preview window, however, the 'Change' button won't light up so I can't actually change the appearance of my sword with a dye pack?

Why not? If the preview window will show the weapon as dyed why can't I actually proceed with the dying?

Now my sword looks totally out of place with my dyed armor and shield!

EDIT: Okay, this is strange, now when I try to dye my weapon I get an error in the chat window and at the top of my screen; "Weapons cannot be dyed". However, I totally had a very nicely dyed Ensorcelled Mulhorand Longsword in the preview window! It looked great too!

starkman · August 2016

If...if you dye it...you kill it!

(Sorry. I'm new, fried and have over-thought this game in all my research. Had to throw in some humor!)

samaka · August 2016

Well I did some research, which I probably should have done before posting... it looks like dying weapons was officially removed way back in Mod 2?!

Why, oh why, can't we dye our weapons? We have dyes, why can't we use them on weapons?

ichimaruginx · August 2016

Yup it's removed pretty early ingame unfortunately. Many players have been requesting for a comeback for dyeable weapons though.. so we can always hope....

tieashame · August 2016

Maybe it is because of the colors and effects we get from them weapon enchant thingies? If you dye it, it will not show the effects? Just my thoughts.

fastrean3 · August 2016

@tieashame, i would like to kick off the ugly effect, it ruin the weapon outfit

sameriker · August 2016

Short answer, This is NOT Guild Wars, you cannot dye your weapons here. :P

tieashame · August 2016

fastrean3 said:
@tieashame, i would like to kick off the ugly effect, it ruin the weapon outfit

Oh I understand totally! A good outfit is a must and not having matching accessories is not very pretty. Mine glows purple to match my outfit so I am happy about that.

samaka · August 2016

What does this not being GW2 have to do with anything? Obviously you *can* dye weapons, it was even in-game before apparently, and it totally works and looks great in the preview window!

I guess I'd like the choice to either show a dyed weapon or show a weapon enchant effect if a weapon is not dyed. You can simply use a dye remover to remove the dye and get the effect back if that is what you'd want.

Just seems silly to me to restrict our ability to dye things, unless it was causing some sort of game-breaking issue... but I can't find a single reason, as stated by a dev, anywhere online, just that it went away in Mod 2 with no explanation!

EDIT: Given how the game seems to allow dying of arbitrary colors, and given that even recent items can be dyed in the preview window if it glitches and lets you... including all three channels properly... I don't see how dying a weapon could mess up the weapon enchants. I am pretty sure the game itself simply uses the exact same dye system we use to color the stuff you get as random drops, or the named loot like the Ensorcelled items.

Perhaps some items just wouldn't dye well? If not then why not simply put an "Undyable" tag on those specific items and let the rest be dyable?

I just wanted a blue sword to match my blue armor and shield!

juleadream · August 2016

It does stink that you can't dye weapons... but if you really want a blue sword, you could go with a Plague Fire enchantment, if you can get one. The blue flames dancing off the blade looks really cool (in addition to the debuff and damage).

samaka · August 2016

I will keep that in mind, note that the character in question is only level 11 right now... would that enchant work at such a low level? I am using an Ensorcelled weapon, but I'd guess the enchant is also expensive?

nameexpired · August 2016

there were rumors that they removed dye-ability from weapons to make a cash grab out of it, like they actually did with making invisible armor.
There was never a given reason that I know of why they removed this ability.

mrgiggles651 · August 2016

samaka#2511 said:
What does this not being GW2 have to do with anything? Obviously you *can* dye weapons, it was even in-game before apparently, and it totally works and looks great in the preview window!

I guess I'd like the choice to either show a dyed weapon or show a weapon enchant effect if a weapon is not dyed. You can simply use a dye remover to remove the dye and get the effect back if that is what you'd want.

Just seems silly to me to restrict our ability to dye things, unless it was causing some sort of game-breaking issue... but I can't find a single reason, as stated by a dev, anywhere online, just that it went away in Mod 2 with no explanation!

EDIT: Given how the game seems to allow dying of arbitrary colors, and given that even recent items can be dyed in the preview window if it glitches and lets you... including all three channels properly... I don't see how dying a weapon could mess up the weapon enchants. I am pretty sure the game itself simply uses the exact same dye system we use to color the stuff you get as random drops, or the named loot like the Ensorcelled items.

Perhaps some items just wouldn't dye well? If not then why not simply put an "Undyable" tag on those specific items and let the rest be dyable?

I just wanted a blue sword to match my blue armor and shield!

They haven't figured out how to monetize it yet.

greywynd · August 2016

My GWF's armor is in Sunite Heart with a Shadowclad enchant. His sword is enchanted with Plague Fire. Overall the look matches.

beckylunatic · August 2016

nameexpired said:
there were rumors that they removed dye-ability from weapons to make a cash grab out of it, like they actually did with making invisible armor.
There was never a given reason that I know of why they removed this ability.

The only reason that makes any sense whatsoever is that if we can't custom-dye weapons, they can pump out re-colours of existing items as a "new" skin. This is the case with sparkling and glacial weapons, for example, though glacial has a transparency effect that we can't get from a dye anyway. The orb in the CW booster pack is the exact same kitten shape again, except in purple, so obviously totally new and worth buying.

Gilded weapons are just existing skins with a blessed gold dyepack dumped on them, and if we could just create that effect ourselves, they couldn't make us grind for it.

I am bitter about this. They haven't actually made available any weapons in colours I'd like to use and they ruined a bunch of old ones by automatically putting dungeon or questing dyepack on them which there is no way to get rid of.

samaka · August 2016

beckylunatic said:

nameexpired said:
there were rumors that they removed dye-ability from weapons to make a cash grab out of it, like they actually did with making invisible armor.
There was never a given reason that I know of why they removed this ability.
The only reason that makes any sense whatsoever is that if we can't custom-dye weapons, they can pump out re-colours of existing items as a "new" skin. This is the case with sparkling and glacial weapons, for example, though glacial has a transparency effect that we can't get from a dye anyway. The orb in the CW booster pack is the exact same kitten shape again, except in purple, so obviously totally new and worth buying.

Gilded weapons are just existing skins with a blessed gold dyepack dumped on them, and if we could just create that effect ourselves, they couldn't make us grind for it.

I am bitter about this. They haven't actually made available any weapons in colours I'd like to use and they ruined a bunch of old ones by automatically putting dungeon or questing dyepack on them which there is no way to get rid of.

You know, I think that does suck... I mean why have this great dye system they've implemented where anything can be literally dyed any color (well, okay that there is a dye pack for, but they could create any color they wanted at any time) and then limit us on weapon dying... I think we have a right to be bitter about that.

ESPECIALLY, since if the preview window glitches you can see the dyes actually would work on weapons, it just won't let you.

Ah well, I guess since this has been this way since Mod 2 it won't likely be changing any time soon and is just another thing I have to shake my head at... sigh.

It also irritates me that the dye packs are fixed channel, would it have been so hard to update the interface to let us assign the three colors in the pack to whatever channel we wanted? Sometimes the selected channels are just wrong for the item you are dying, but the colors themselves are exactly what you want. Again, sigh!

juleadream · August 2016

samaka#2511 said:
I will keep that in mind, note that the character in question is only level 11 right now... would that enchant work at such a low level? I am using an Ensorcelled weapon, but I'd guess the enchant is also expensive?

550k for a Greater. Not exactly cheap, but there are much more expensive Greater weapon enchants out there.

***edit to finish answering question due to low blood coffee content***
Yes, it will work fine in an Encorcelled weapon.

taevannya · August 2016

samaka#2511 said:
I will keep that in mind, note that the character in question is only level 11 right now... would that enchant work at such a low level? I am using an Ensorcelled weapon, but I'd guess the enchant is also expensive?

It'll work as long as you have a weapon that can hold the enchant. The weapons purchased from celestial coins from invoking level with you all the way to 70 and have an enchant slot. As for expense... depends on the rank and popularity of the enchant. The AH is a good place to check for prices

samaka · August 2016

I did check the AH and noticed the enchants had no level requirement. However, I don't think I want to pay 100k+ for an enchant for my lowbie, even if she does have an Ensorcelled Mulhorand Longsword.

greywynd · August 2016

Buy it, use it, stash it for later.

samaka · August 2016

Well it will be a goal eventually I am sure, however, I am not going to buy one just for the effect.

Also, since Tymora favored me with a Legendary mount during the Summer Event all my characters, and my partners too for that matter, have full Ensorcelled weapons and off-hands now... which is just amazing at the lower levels! >:)

greywynd · August 2016

Yeah. They are nice. Until you are in a reduced-level area. Their level matches yours, up or down.

Why can't I dye a weapon?

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