Elite skill

This article is about the skill type. For the specific NPC/enemy rank, see NPC rank. For elite specializations, see specialization.

Elite skills are especially powerful skills designed to be used infrequently and have a dramatic effect on the tide of a battle. The last slot on the skill bar is reserved for elite skills. Elite skills typically have much longer recharge times compared to normal utility skills — very few recharge in less than 60 seconds, and some can take up to 4 minutes.

Acquisition

Elite skills become available when a character reaches level 31. Elite skills associated with an elite specialization become available when a character reaches level 80 and has access to Heart of Thorns or Path of Fire content. Most characters will have access to seven or more elite skills, three of them determined by profession, three determined by race and the remaining one by elite specialization. Some races (e.g. norn) have more elite skills than others, balanced by a smaller pool of racial utility skills. Racial elite skills are only usable in PvE and World versus World, and not in Structured PvP.

Characters must unlock Healing skills and Utility skills of a determined skill type before unlocking elite skills. Racial elite skills and Mistfire Wolf unlock automatically at level 31.

While in Heart of the Mists, all characters have access to all skills excluding racial elite skills and Mistfire Wolf. This allows lower level characters to experiment with different skills and see which elite skills they want to unlock first. Some professions only have one elite skill which can be used while in underwater mode. None of the racial elite skills can be used underwater. While it is possible to equip two different elite skills, one during underwater mode and one on the ground, using an elite skill will still cause the slot to be in recharge for the elite skill used, even if using a different elite skill underwater or while on land.

Profession elite skills

Skill				Description
Guardian
"Feel My Wrath!"		0.25¼	30	Shout. Grant fury and quickness to nearby allies. The duration of the quickness you grant yourself is doubled.
Renewed Focus		2	90	Meditation. Focus, making yourself invulnerable and recharging your virtues.
Signet of Courage		20.5½	90	Signet Passive: Periodically heal allies in an area around you while in combat. Signet Active: Fully heal nearby allies.
Dragonhunter
Dragon's Maw		0.5½	75	Trap. Lay a trap that pulls enemies and creates a barrier that holds them in.
Firebrand
Mantra of Liberation		20.75¾	40	Mantra. Echo remnants of an ancient pamphlet from Vabbi that urged Elonians to freedom. Grant stability and swiftness to allies while breaking stun. The final charge of this ability is more powerful.
Portent of Freedom			1	Hints of freedom echo around, stabilizing and breaking stuns on you and your allies.
Unhindered Delivery			1	Final Charge. Your whispers guard your allies, stabilizing and breaking stuns on them while weakening enemies.
Revenant
Embrace the Darkness		0.5½	3	Legendary Demon. Summon the power of the legendary demon to transform into a powerful avatar. Pulse torment to nearby foes. Using skills that cost energy increases the torment applied on the next pulse.
Resist the Darkness				Legendary Demon. End Embrace the Darkness early.
Energy Expulsion			2	Legendary Centaur. Force energy to erupt from the tablet, knocking back nearby foes and leaving behind healing fragments that heal allies who pick them up. Lose all remaining energy and remove conditions from allies based on the amount of energy lost.
Jade Winds		1	5	Legendary Assassin. Call upon the Jade Wind to turn nearby enemies into jade, stunning them for a short duration.
Rite of the Great Dwarf		10.25¼		Legendary Dwarf. Channel the power of the Rite of the Great Dwarf to turn yourself and nearby allies to stone to reduce incoming damage.
Herald
Facet of Chaos				Legendary Dragon. Facet. Place the Facet of Chaos on yourself to grant nearby allies protection every few seconds.
Chaotic Release		0.75¾	20	Legendary Dragon. Consume. Consume Facet of Chaos, releasing chaotic winds damaging and knocking back foes while granting superspeed to allies. Facet of Chaos will be disabled while this skill is recharging.
Renegade
Soulcleave's Summit		1	3	Legendary Renegade. Summon Lieutenant Ofela Soulcleave to grant your allies' strikes incredible bloodthirst, inflicting damage and restoring health. Lieutenant Soulcleave can only empower players.
Dismiss Lieutenant Soulcleave				Order Ofela Soulcleave to leave the field.
Warrior
Battle Standard		2	180	Banner. Place a battle standard that revives fallen allies and finishes downed foes. Once placed, the banner periodically grants boons to allies. Picking up the banner reduces the recharge of this skill.
Rampage		1	120	Physical. Take the form of a massive juggernaut, reducing the damage you take and the duration of incoming movement-impeding conditions.
Signet of Rage		1	60	Signet Passive: Grants adrenaline. Signet Active: Gain fury, might, and swiftness.
Berserker
Head Butt		0.75¾	20	Rage. Stun your target and stun yourself. Gain adrenaline and extend berserk duration if you hit. This skill removes all stability and deals increased damage if stability was removed.
Spellbreaker
Winds of Disenchantment		10.5½	90	Meditation. Create an area of calm where foes cannot receive boons and lose boons every interval. Enemy missiles entering this area are blocked.
Engineer
Elite Mortar Kit				Engineering Kit. Equip the mortar kit.
Elixir X		1	105	Elixir. Drink Elixir X to become a rampaging brute or whirling tornado. Underwater, become either a withering plague or a whirlpool.
Supply Crate		1	120	Turret. Request a supply drop of turrets. Turrets overcharge when they are first dropped.
Supply Crate		1	120	Turret. Request a supply drop of turrets. Turrets overcharge when they are first dropped.
Scrapper
Sneak Gyro		0.75¾	45	Well. Deploy a sneak gyro to provide stealth to nearby allies.
Holosmith
Prime Light Beam		10.25¼	60	Exceed. Charge up and fire an explosive beam of light in front of you. When activated above the heat threshold, this attack leaves behind a burning holographic field.
Ranger
Entangle		0.75¾	60	Survival. Entangle foes around you with vines. Entangled foes bleed and are immobilized until the vines are destroyed.
"Strength of the Pack!"		1	75	Command. Rampage with your pet, gaining stability, fury, and swiftness. You and your pet also grant might to each other when you attack.
Spirit of Nature		10.5½	120	Spirit. Summon a spirit that heals allies. Command the spirit to revive and cure conditions on nearby allies. Spirits lose health when their passive activates and die if the summoner moves out of range.
Nature's Renewal		0.25¼	40	Your spirit of nature teleports to your location and then sacrifices its health to revive and cure the conditions of nearby downed allies. Health is only sacrificed if an ally is revived.
Druid
Glyph of the Stars			60	Glyph. Channel the power of the stars to prevent harm to your allies.
Soulbeast
One Wolf Pack		0.25¼	60	Stance. Your successful attacks will trigger a second strike while in this stance. This effect can occur once per interval.
Thief
Basilisk Venom		1	40	Venom. Your attacks are unblockable and turn foes to stone.
Dagger Storm		20.75¾	90	Trick. Spin around, reflecting projectiles and throwing daggers that cripple and bleed nearby foes. You can move while spinning.
Thieves Guild		10.5½	120	Deception. Call more thieves to support you in combat.
Daredevil
Impact Strike		0.5½	40	Physical. Strike your enemy and stun[sic] them.
Uppercut		0.75¾		Deal a heavy blow with your fist, sending enemies flying.
Finishing Blow		10.5½		Deal a downward strike on your foe. Downed enemies struck with this ability are finished.
Deadeye
Shadow Meld		0.5½	5	Cantrip. Remove revealed and stealth yourself.
Elementalist
Conjure Fiery Greatsword		1	180	Conjure. Manifest a fiery greatsword in your hands and at the target location. When it lands, it damages and burns foes. Wielders of this weapon gain increased power and condition damage and cast Lesser Fiery Eruption at regular intervals on random enemies.
Glyph of Elementals		10.25¼	40	Glyph. Summon an elemental based on your attunement.
Tornado		1	150	Cantrip. Gain stability and shape-shift into a tornado that damages and launches foes.
Whirlpool		10.25¼	180	Cantrip. Shape-shift into a swirling maelstrom that pulls foes into its destructive vortex.
Tempest
"Rebound!"		0.25¼	75	Shout. Shout and infuse your allies with arcane energy. Allies who would take lethal damage while this is active ignore the deathblow and are healed instead. If the effect expires naturally, grant an aura based on your current attunement.
Weaver
Weave Self		0.75¾	90	Stance. Temporarily reduce the recharge time of attunements while gaining bonuses for attuning to new elements. Successfully attuning to all elements ends this stance and grants Perfect Weave.
Tailored Victory		0.75¾		Release all of your woven elements and end your Weave Self stance, causing gravity itself to unravel around you.
Mesmer
Mass Invisibility		10.25¼	60	Manipulation. You and all your allies gain stealth for a short time.
Signet of Humility		1	120	Signet Passive: Reduces duration of incoming stuns, dazes, fears, and taunts. Signet Active: Transform your foe into a moa bird. (Defiant foes will have their defiant bar reduced instead.)
Time Warp		0.25¼	180	Glamour. Create an area that warps time, granting you and your allies quickness. Enemies in the field are slowed.
Chronomancer
Gravity Well		1	90	Well. Create a powerful well that warps space in an area, knocking down, floating, and pulling foes caught in its event horizon. When it expires, foes still inside the well take heavy damage.
Mirage
Jaunt			0.5½	Deception. Shadowstep to a target location and confuse nearby foes.
Necromancer
Lich Form		1	150	Spectral. Assume the form of a lich for a brief time. Entering this form removes all other spectral effects. Gain life force when this skill ends.
Plaguelands		1	90	Corruption. Create a virulent cloud that inflicts conditions on foes in its area. This plague inflicts additional conditions every second it persists. Inflict bleeding on yourself.
Summon Flesh Golem		10.5½	48	Minion. Summon a flesh golem to attack foes with crippling claws.
Charge		0.75¾	40	Command your flesh golem to gain stability and charge a foe, knocking down or launching enemies in its path.
Reaper
"Chilled to the Bone!"		10.25¼	90	Shout. Freeze all enemies around you, inflicting conditions on them. Gain boons for each foe you freeze.
Scourge
Ghastly Breach		0.75¾	75	Punishment. Breach into the realm of torment for a brief time, granting might to allies and slowing enemies. Convert a boon on enemies into torment and cripple each pulse.

Racial elite skills

Skill				Description
Asura
Summon 7-Series Golem		2	180	Summon a 7-Series attacking golem to fight for you.
Summon D-Series Golem		2	180	Summon a D-Series defensive golem.
Summon Power Suit		2	240	Summon a Power Suit which you or your allies can enter and use to combat foes.
Charr
Artillery Barrage		2	240	Call down an artillery barrage at target location, damaging foes.
Charrzooka		0.5½	180	Pull out a powerful charrzooka that shoots rockets.
Warband Support		10.5½	240	Call in members of your warband to assist you.
Human
Avatar of Melandru			180	Transform into an Avatar of Melandru.
Hounds of Balthazar		1	240	Summon two Hounds of Balthazar to fight at your side.
Reaper of Grenth		1	180	Become a Reaper of Grenth, chilling and poisoning nearby foes.
Norn
Become the Bear		0.25¼	240	Shape-shift into norn bear form.
Become the Raven		0.5½	240	Shape-shift into norn raven form.
Become the Snow Leopard		0.5½	240	Shape-shift into norn snow leopard form.
Become the Wolf		0.5½	240	Shape-shift into norn wolf form.
Sylvari
Summon Druid Spirit		20.75¾	240	Summon a Druid Spirit to fight at your side.
Summon Sylvan Hound		2	180	Summon a sylvan hound to fight at your side.
Take Root		3	150	Take root at your current location, becoming immobile, but causing several turrets to grow nearby.

Common elite skills

Skill				Description
Mistfire Wolf		1	150	Summon a Mistfire Wolf to fight at your side.

Mistfire Wolf is available to any character on any pre-purchased Digital Deluxe or Collector's Edition account.

Related traits

• Spiritual Reckoning (Retribution) — Gain retaliation when you use an elite skill.
• Expose Defenses (Devastation) — Your first attack when entering combat applies vulnerability. This ability is refreshed when you use an elite skill.
• Notoriety (Devastation) — Might grants you more power and less condition damage. Gain might when using a legendary stance skill.
• Power Wrench (Tools) — Reduces recharge of your tool-kit skills. Reduce the recharge of your elite skill when you dodge.
• Payback (Deadeye) — When Renewing Gaze triggers, this trait restores a portion of the recharge time needed by your healing, utility, and elite skills. Excludes racial skills.

Related equipment

Runes

•   Superior Rune of Altruism - transfer a condition from nearby allies to yourself
•   Superior Rune of the Citadel - call an   Artillery Barrage at your position
•   Superior Rune of the Firebrand - inflict  Burning to nearby enemies
•   Superior Rune of the Ice - inflict  Chill to nearby enemies
•   Superior Rune of the Krait - inflict  Bleeding,  Poison, and  Torment to nearby enemies
•   Superior Rune of Leadership - convert conditions to boons on nearby allies
•   Superior Rune of Lyssa - convert conditions to boons on yourself
•   Superior Rune of the Mad King - cast   Hunter's Call on nearby enemies
•   Superior Rune of the Nightmare - inflict  Blind and transfer a condition to nearby enemies
•   Superior Rune of Resistance - gain  Resistance
•   Superior Rune of the Sunless - inflict  Poison and  Fear on nearby enemies
•   Superior Rune of Surging - gain  Shocking Aura

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Skill types and profession mechanics