Durability in games like this is pretty much used for RP purposes, aka, making your player feel like their gear has value and can be broken, which immerses them in the experience and their own story in their head.
Free mobile repairs break this immersion. If there will be mobile repairs, it should:
-require materials based on the weapon -require skill points in either a "repair" skill, or if you're going full on crafting (blacksmithing, bowmaking, yadayada) it should require the skill for making the weapon they want to repair. -and the repair hammer item should be removed, repairing should be something anyone with the skill can do at any point if they have the materials.
if the mobile repairs are changed this way, there should be a reliable blacksmith (Nebora) who can repair your equipment, the cost being based on the level/rarity of the item and the durability missing.
Basically repairs should always take something the player cares about if they are going to be in the game. Players don't care about random hammers or tongs, they care about money and their skill points. Removing durability is always an option, but just changing it to have more impact will work just as well. It's not that players hate durability they just hate that it has no impact.
