World of Warcraft Equipment Color Scheme
Have you noticed how some items' names are a different color? Wondering why some item's names appear in gray, white, green, and other colors? In other games, the color of an item name describes its suitability, i.e. a "white" item suits someone of your level, but you're beginning to outgrow a "green" item. Not so in World of Warcraft, where the equipment color scheme describes the quality of the item for its fixed level range. For example, a "blue" item found in a level 20 instance is uber at level 20, but at level 60, that same item will be just as blue but pretty poor compared to even inferior, "gray" equipment at that level.
So how does WoW's equipment color system work?
Color |
Descriptor |
Explanation |
Gold |
Artifact |
Borrowing a term from "Dungeons and Dragons", artifacts in WoW are considerably rarer than their DnD counterparts. So rare, in fact, that to my knowledge, no one has come across an artifact item in World of Warcraft yet, making WoW players say "artifact" with a sigh of awe and wonder in their voice. Artifacts are part of the WoW mythos, along with "the awesome pick-up group" and "5 local messages in 'The Barrens' without a complaint." |
Orange |
Legendary |
Just a handful of legendary items drop in WoW, and these in high level instances like, you guessed it, Molten Core. The drop rate on legendary items is horrible, and these items are entirely BoA. This means that your chances of finding and winning a legendary item are slim to squat. |
Purple |
Epic |
Superior is to standard as epic gear is to superior. Epic gear is most commonly found as high-end PvP rewards, but can drop in instances and as a rare drop from extremely rare monsters as well. Epic (and better) gear not only boasts great stats, but also usually includes a bonus "clickable" ability with a cooldown timer. As a downside, everything epic or better is BoA (Bind on Acquisition - the item will become soulbound when you take possession of it, and cannot be traded to another player, only sold at the vendor). |
Blue |
Superior |
You probably won't see much blue equipment until your late teens / early 20s. Your group might walk out of an instance (or away from a dead rare monster) with a blue piece or two, but instance runs in your level range and finding rare spawns are never a given. Blues can easily sell for ten times the price of standard items of comparable level, so consider carefully before you equip that BoE blue item. Speaking of which, most blues are BoE, but there are some blues that are BoA. Look before you roll "need"! |
Green |
Good |
Usually a quest reward, green equipment (whose minimum level is 3-5 levels below your current level) should make up the bulk of most characters' loadout from the late teens on. Be aware that most equipment from here on up is BoA or BoE (Bind on Equip - same idea as BoA, but will only become soulbound when you equip the item from your inventory). |
White |
Standard |
Standard equipment often drops from common mobs. Its decent enough to wear until you find something better, and can sell for a decent buck at the auction house. |
Grey |
Inferior |
Past your formative noob levels, you'll want to sell rather than equip grey equipment. Reason being, it's underpowered for its minimum level requirement. Thus, players commonly refer to grey equipment as "vendor trash." |
Have more questions about equipment?
Check out our class guides for suggestions on how to kit out your character:
- Druid Guide
- Hunter Guide
- Mage Guide
- Paladin Guide
- Priest Guide
- Rogue Guide
- Shaman Guide
- Warlock Guide
- Warrior Guide
Also, check out our Weapons Guide for what's what in the damage-dealing department!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.
