From all the posts I am seeing here, it does not seem like a lot of people know what they plan is for repairing and maintaining their items. Here is a small part of the wiki page on Item Durability for what to expect in Phase 2 or 3.
- Item durability loss occurs on death.[3][1][4]
- Gear stored in a player's inventory (that is not equipped) does not lose durability when that player dies.[5]
- Materials are required in order to restore the performance of decayed items.[6][3][1][7][8]
- Item decay does not destroy items, but it acts as an materials sink.[9][3][2]
- **Zero percent durability will unequip an item, significantly increasing its repair costs.[10
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