Obsidian Armour
After a brief attempt at sunshine early on, it rained constantly for most of the day. It suited my mood - my annual leave is coming to an end. Manfully resisting the urge to cry quietly in a corner, I distracted myself with a gaming marathon and accomplished great things in one of my favourite haunts, Guild Wars 2. I completed the long and grindy quest to make a set of legendary armour for Lucius Foestabber, one of my main characters, who features in today’s blip.
The acquisition of expensive, good-looking gear is one of the game's main objectives – it is nicknamed Fashion Wars for a reason. This is easier for some characters than others; case in point, the fierce chap pictured here is a Charr necromancer – a spell-casting profession that requires ‘light armour’, which mostly entails a variety of foppish robes and silky gowns. For the Charr, a race of extremely warlike predators, most of the offerings just don’t cut the mustard. So slim pickings on the cool armour front, until now… this set of newly minted Suffused Obsidian Armour fits the bill perfectly.
A feline-inspired race in the Guild Wars franchise, the Charr have drawn from a variety of fictional and cultural sources. Among the confirmed influences is the visual similarity between the Charr and the Beast from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This connection is primarily observed in the body structure of male Charr, who share the long, hyena-like build and short legs characteristic of the Beast. Additionally, the developers of the Charr have confirmed that their design was inspired by the human fear of being devoured by large cats, combined with demonic features to create the fearsome, fire-wielding "hell cats."
Other fictional races and characters may have indirectly influenced the Charr, though these connections remain speculative. Some have compared the Charr to the Khajiit from The Elder Scrolls series, as both are feline humanoid races. The Charr, however, maintain a more distinctive visual style. Similarly, the feline races in EverQuest, such as the Vah Shir and Kerra, share some characteristics, but the Charr are widely regarded as more original. The Charr are also frequently compared to other "beast" races in fantasy settings, though their design and cultural elements distinguish them from these counterparts.
The Charr’s cultural and historical inspirations are evident in their societal and aesthetic design. Mongolian culture, particularly pre-revolutionary society, has influenced their societal structure, while Roman culture is evident in their military organisation and naming conventions. Additionally, the Charr’s post-revolution technological development bears clear hallmarks of steampunk aesthetics, adding another layer of complexity to their design.
While there are potential similarities between the Charr and other fictional races, such as Larry Niven’s Kzinti, there is no direct evidence to suggest that the Charr were based on these precedents. The Charr seem to emerge as a unique creation, blending various influences from fiction, culture, and history into a distinctive race within the Guild Wars universe.
Obsidian Legendary Armour, added with Guild Wars 2’s Secrets of the Obscure expansion, is the game’s first legendary armour set that can be earned entirely through open‑world play. Earlier legendary sets were locked behind raids, PvP, or WvW—Perfected Envoy from raid Legendary Insights, Mistforged Glorious Hero’s from PvP currencies and titles, and Mistforged Triumphant Hero’s from high WvW ranks—so Obsidian represents a deliberate shift towards giving explorers and meta‑event regulars their own prestige route.
The set followed the expansion’s quarterly cadence. Tier 1 Obsidian armour arrived on 27 February 2024 with the Realm of Dreams update, providing full legendary functionality but a relatively restrained visual profile. Tier 2, the Suffused Obsidian set, landed on 21 May 2024 with Midnight King, adding more elaborate effects and a separate achievement chain for the upgrade. This two‑step structure mirrors earlier legendary journeys: a long, multi‑stage process that gives you something functional partway through, then asks you to go further if you want the flashier version.
Unlock requirements engage deeply with Secrets of the Obscure’s systems. To craft the base Obsidian set, you need the expansion story finished, three associated collections completed (Rift Hunter, Astral Ward, Oneiros‑Spun), and the Astral Ward mastery line maxed. The material ask is substantial: hundreds of Provisioner Tokens, Mystic Clovers, and Onyx‑aligned essences across all three tiers, plus Gifts such as Mighty Prosperity, Expertise, and Stormy Skies, and a crafting discipline at 500 or a trip to the Legendary Forge near Lyhr. That puts it on par with other legendary grinds in time and resources, but without forcing you into competitive modes.
Upgrading to Suffused Obsidian is gated by the “Tier 2 Legendary Armour: Suffused Obsidian” achievement, which tracks a spread of tasks: gathering rift energy, defeating legendary Convergence bosses, doing event quotas on each SotO map, empowering starlight lanterns, and clearing a handful of world bosses and meta‑events while carrying a Runestone of Suffusion. Completion grants Imbued Runes of Suffusion that you trade to Junior Archivist’s Aide Conri for the upgraded pieces, and also unlocks a slumbering cosmetic variant for those who like the look but not the combat effects.
The “Obsidian” name nods back to Guild Wars 1’s famously rare Obsidian armour, but the GW2 version does not copy those silhouettes. Instead, it is tied closely to Secrets of the Obscure’s Astral Ward: runic lines, sigils referencing the Heart of the Obscure, and a general “wizard‑knight” feel that matches the expansion’s wizard‑tower framing. Heavy Obsidian reads as a paladin‑like harness with solid plates and glowing inlays, medium leans into sleeker, lighter shapes that suit rangers and thieves, and light favours a fitted robe‑and‑plate blend with sharper accents. The Suffused tier overlays all of these with floating stones, brighter dyeable glows, and subtle combat halos, giving legendary armour the kind of moment‑to‑moment presence players have come to expect.
One of the set’s most important effects has been on Charr armour design. Since launch, Charr models—with their hunched posture, digitigrade legs, tails, and horns—have suffered from stretched textures, floating shoulders, tail clipping, and helmets that hide horns rather than accommodate them. For Obsidian, ArenaNet invested extra time in Charr‑specific geometry: helmets include proper horn and ear cut‑outs, heavy armour gains better neck coverage and integrated claws on boots, and trousers across weights are cut to fit around tails with less “ballooning”. Rubi Bayer confirmed in early 2024 that some of these adjustments were rolled in response to feedback, with additional stealth fixes appearing in later updates.
Player response has been broadly positive, especially among those who prefer open‑world content and Charr mains who finally see a high‑end set made with their silhouette in mind. However, some clipping and pose‑related distortion remain. Debate continues around the Suffused tier’s optional gold‑bypass and the overall time investment, but Obsidian has largely been received as a successful proof that legendary rewards do not have to be tied exclusively to instanced or competitive content. By combining a GW1‑evoking name, a lore‑anchored visual identity, and real work on race fit, it has become both a showcase for Secrets of the Obscure’s design priorities and a reference point for how future legendary sets might better accommodate Tyria’s varied body shapes.
