Barrier

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Barrier health is the yellow section of the health orb.

Barrier is a combat mechanic that provides a temporary health buffer, absorbing damage before it affects a character’s actual health. Barrier disappears 5 seconds after being applied. If a new barrier is applied while one is already active, their values stack, but the original barrier will still expire 5 seconds after its initial application. The amount of barrier generated is based on the caster's healing power attribute, and is capped at 50% of the recipient's maximum health.

Similar to healing, the barrier total a skill applies can be calculated using the following formula, where Coefficient and Base Value are parameters of the skill:

(Coefficient * Healing Power) + Base Value

It is not affected by outgoing healing modifiers.

In the user interface, barrier appears as a yellow section in the upper part of the health orb. Damage dealt to an enemy's barrier appears as yellow floating damage numbers, while the barrier applied to allies appears as light-blue "healing" numbers. Barrier will not reduce fall damage. This mechanic was first introduced in the Path of Fire expansion.

Related skills[edit]

Weapon skills that grant barrier

Bundle skills that grant barrier

Transform skills that grant barrier

Healing skills that grant barrier

Utility skills that grant barrier

Profession mechanic skills that grant barrier

Mount Engage skills that grant barrier[edit]

Bundle skills that deals bonus damage while having barrier[edit]

Related traits[edit]

Traits that grant barrier

Trait skills that grant barrier

Traits that improve barrier

Related equipment[edit]

Relics that grant barrier[edit]

Relics that benefit from barrier[edit]

Version history[edit]

Patch Changes
February 11, 2025
  • Reduced the barrier cap from 50% of maximum health to 25% of maximum health in WvW only.
October 01, 2019
  • Updated the visual effects of this effect to be less profession specific.
August 28, 2018
  • Barrier is now displayed in light-blue text when applied.
  • Additionally, granting and receiving barrier is now displayed in the combat log.
December 12, 2017
  • The application of the barrier effect no longer resets the delay or decay of existing barriers.
  • Barrier no longer decays over time; each application now disappears after 5 seconds, and all skills that grant barrier now give 15% more barrier.
November 07, 2017
  • The duration before decay begins has been increased from 1 second to 2 seconds.
  • The time for the barrier to decay has been reduced from 4 seconds to 3 seconds.
September 22, 2017 Path of Fire release:
  • Barrier has been added to the game.