On upgrading weapons . . .

I've read at one site that once a bow has a specialty string you can't put a new one in its place. Elsewhere I've read that the new string would take the place of the old string and the old string would be destroyed.

I'm also curious what the big difference is between purple and gold weapons if the weapons are both max damage? Sometimes the purple weapons have more or better mods, so why are gold ones better?

BTW, isn't it time for a mod to delete the "Search" thread that's pinned and locked at the top of this board, seeing as how even the direct link in the thread now goes to a page that says, "Searching has been disabled."

Any new mod you put on a weapon will destroy the one it replaces. If you put a poisonous bowstring on a bow with a vampiric string, you'll get a message warning you that the vampiric string will be lost forever. Same thing happens with axe hafts, staff wrappings, or any other mod.

As for the difference between Purple / Gold DROPPED weapons, it's usually the Mods or inherent traits of the weapon that make the difference. A max damage item that requires 13 isn't as good as one that requires 9 or 8, for example so they're usually purple. And I doubt that you'd find a Damage +15% ^50% health on a purple item. The AMOUNT of modifiers makes a difference, too. If you find something that adds energy, health, and improves skill recharge (by even 7or 8%), itcould be gold just for the fact that there's 4 upgrades, even if it's a so-so weapon.

Here is a nice page that shows you items that upgrade weapons

http://www.gwonline.net/page.php?p=125