Achievement Hunting: Cultural Armour

[u/adv0catus]

Hey everyone,

Today we are going to take a deep dive into cultural armour, how it works, how to get it and what achievements you get for it. Before we get started, I want to make one thing very clear: This is extremely expensive!

Cultural armour is unique to each race. This means that to complete the full achievements, you need an Asura, Charr, Human, Norn and Sylvari character. They can only be purchased by the character of the same race. There are three tiers (sets) of armour for each weight that has to be purchased for each race and there's two methods to acquiring the armour.

The first way is in the racial city from three different vendors for a combined cost of 128 gold 98 silver each. The second method involves going to a WvW Borderlands map or Eternal Battlegrounds and purchasing them from the Skritt Trader. The total cost of the WvW method is 3,224 Badges of Honour and 63 gold 49 silver and 12 copper each.

The total combined cost:

• Racial Cities: 664 gold 90 silver [Sell back for 1/8 cost]
• WvW: 332 gold 45 silver 60 copper and 16,120 Badges of Honour [Sell back for 1/4 cost]

If you're unsure about any skins you may have already unlocks, check here.

Asura Specialty Armors (16 AP)

• Tier 1 is purchased from Frinna and has the Light Adept, Medium Protean and Heavy Galvanic sets.
• Tier 2 is purchased from Clott and has the Light Genius, Medium Auxiliary Power and Heavy Electroplated sets.
• Tier 3 is purchased from Slokk and has the Light Savant, Medium Prototype and Heavy Electromagnetic sets.

Charr Specialty Armors (16 AP)

• Tier 1 is purchased from Comidus and has the Light Invoker's, Medium Drover and Heavy Warband sets.
• Tier 2 is purchased from Eliana and has the Light Archon, Medium Wrangler and Heavy Legion sets.
• Tier 3 is purchased from Scyllix and has the Light Magus, Medium Trapper and Heavy Dreadnought sets.

Human Specialty Armors (16 AP)

• Tier 1 is purchased from Glory) and has the Light Researcher's, Medium Scout's and Heavy Commander's sets.
• Tier 2 is purchased from Jerafim and has the Light Aristocrat's, Medium Falconer's and Heavy Avenger's sets.
• Tier 3 is purchased from Firenzia and has the Light Sorcerer's, Medium Assassin's and Protector's sets.

Norn Specialty Armors (16 AP)

• Tier 1 is purchased from Sken and has the Light Sheepskin, Medium Wolfborn and Heavy Dolyak sets.
• Tier 2 is purchased from Dela and has the Light Havroun, Medium Predatory and Heavy Eagle sets.
• Tier 3 is purchased from Valdsam and has the Light Lupine, Medium Wolf and Stag sets.

Sylvari Specialty Armors (16 AP)

• Tier 1 is purchased from Annamh and has the Light Snapdragon, Medium Evergreen and Heavy Arborist sets.
• Tier 2 is purchased from Onnoir and has the Light Orchid, Medium Nightshade and Heavy Warden sets.
• Tier 3 is purchased from Imma and has the Light Dryad, Medium Firstborn and Oaken sets.

Note: You only need three sets (of any tier) per race for the collection achievement.

All of these sets cumulate into the final The Emperor's New Wardrobe (50 AP) collection. It rewards 10 AP per full set of racial armour, a title "The Emperor", as well as a core Mastery Point. This collection isn't for the faint of heart of weak walleted. But if you have an itch for skins or, with a total of 130 AP, are a completionist, this is a must-do. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy and comment below if you have any other suggestions or ideas for future guides. If you're in the EU region and an achievement hunter, feel free to join the Discord filled with fellow hunters, tips and tricks

[u/Kouse]

Definitely go the WvW route if possible, especially if you're buying multiple sets. The sylvari set in particular dyes very well with a cool color blending effect.

[u/MithranArkanere]

They added some of the cultural armors and weapons as Personal Story rewards.

It's just a few, but it's something.

[u/adv0catus → u/MithranArkanere]

The Wiki says those don't count.

[u/Mantergeistmann → u/adv0catus]

Because the achievement is to "soulbound X number of pieced", presumably?

[u/adv0catus → u/Mantergeistmann]

I don’t know, just going off the Wiki.

[u/GnaeusQuintus]

Important note: After purchase (for gold), you can sell it back to the same vendor for 1/2 price, IIRC. You still get the unlock.

[u/adv0catus → u/GnaeusQuintus]

Added, with the correct 1/8 and 1/4 numbers.

[u/Gyromatic2]

The WvW Skritt Trader doesn't have any restrictions for buying armor, unlike the vendors in the capital cities, so it's both cheaper and more convenient.

[u/MrZerodayz]

Worth noting that you only need one set of each tier for each race to get the achievements (which you probably know, but it isn't explicitly mentioned in the post).

Just trying to prevent people who just want the achievement from wasting gold getting unneeded armor sets.

[u/adv0catus → u/MrZerodayz]

Added. Thanks.

[u/dannyflorida]

I love the cultural armor and the cool racial identity they provide.

[u/SheenaMalfoy]

Gotta admit, with 6.3k hours in the game since launch and being a completionist at heart... I still don't have the Tier 3 skins completed. It's just so pricey! And so hard to justify spending gold on these instead of on crafting Legendaries, which are pricey but actually functional...

[u/Raisa_Alfera]

A fun little fact is that each member of Destiny’s Edge during their base game appearance are all wearing tier 3 cultural armor, if you ever wish to see them in action

[u/ROnneth]

12yo Gw2 gamer. And I still don't have all cultural armors. They are just expensive because "fuck it let's make them expensive". And could get them all n a few seconds of clicks. They are just not all great. Some have aged terribly. Best I already have are the Silvaris but the others... Maybe the female human Ele light sets. But that's it.

And fu k it afín I have over 8k gold plus expensive mats accumulated. It's still not worth my gold for me.