Signet

“

The gods, in their wisdom, dispersed their magic throughout Tyria. Magic was dissipated, so that none may be too tempted by its power. We know that we can draw and contain magic through intense study and the use of certain materials—'signets'—and also with the blessing of all the Five. Have the Orrian people simply internalized these lessons? Is the land there so magical that all are born with the ability to use magic without the need for education? My theory will require more research...

— A research paper with the heading, "Signets"

A Signet is a type of slot skills that grants a passive effect while equipped and additional benefits when activated. During recharge, the character loses the benefits of the passive effects.

All professions except the engineer and revenant have access to a class-specific training line containing at least four signets. Engineers require the mechanist Elite Specialization in order to use signets. Revenants have their own take on signets in the form of herald Facets, which feature skill icon artwork in the style of that of signets, but require activation and an energy upkeep cost to provide the passive bonus.

List of signet skills

Skill				Description
Guardian
Signet of Resolve		1	25	Signet Passive: Remove a condition from yourself every few seconds. Signet Active: Heal yourself and remove conditions.
Bane Signet		0.75¾	20	Signet Passive: Improved Power Signet Active: Knock down and damage your foe.
Signet of Judgment			20	Signet Passive: Reduces all incoming damage. Signet Active: Grant resolution and protection to nearby allies and burn nearby enemies.
Signet of Mercy		2	50	Signet Passive: Improves concentration. Signet Active: Revive a nearby downed ally.
Signet of Wrath		0.75¾	18	Signet Passive: Grants you increased condition damage. Signet Active: Immobilize your target.
Signet of Courage		20.5½	60	Signet Passive: Periodically heal allies in an area around you while in combat. Signet Active: Channel healing and boons in a large area around you, concluding with a large heal if this skill is not interrupted.
Warrior
Healing Signet		10.25¼	20	Signet Passive: Regenerate health. Signet Active: Heal yourself, and grant yourself resistance.
Dolyak Signet			25	Signet Passive: Reduces incoming damage. Signet Active: Heal yourself and gain stability.
Signet of Fury			16	Signet Passive: Improves precision. Signet Active: Gain adrenaline and improve your precision and ferocity.
Signet of Might			20	Signet Passive: Improves power. Signet Active: Attacks are unblockable and you gain might.
Signet of Stamina			20	Signet Passive: Faster endurance regeneration. Signet Active: Cure all conditions and gain endurance. Gain additional endurance for each condition cured.
Signet of Rage		0.25¼	40	Signet Passive: Grants adrenaline while in combat. Signet Active: Gain fury, might, and swiftness.
Mechanist
Rectifier Signet		0.75¾	30	Signet Passive: Heal yourself and your mech every second. Signet Active: Heal yourself and your mech.
Barrier Signet		0.5½	30	Signet Passive: Incoming strike and condition damage is reduced. Signet Active: Create a projectile-blocking dome around yourself. You and allies inside the dome gain barrier every second. If your mech is active, the dome is centered on it and is larger. The mech does not count against the target count for this skill.
Force Signet		0.75¾	30	Signet Passive: Increases strike damage dealt. Signet Active: Knock foes away from yourself and away from your mech.
Shift Signet			25	Signet Passive: Increases movement speed. Boons you gain are copied to your mech. Signet Active: You and your mech shadowstep to the target location. Removes conditions on you and your mech.
Superconducting Signet		0.75¾	30	Signet Passive: Increases condition damage dealt. Signet Active: Creates a damaging field around you that applies conditions to nearby foes. If you mech is active, the field instead radiates from and follows the mech.
Overclock Signet			90	Signet Passive: Reduces recharge of other signets. Signet Active: Order your mech to fire its ultimate weapon, the jade buster cannon. If your mech is not present, instead your mech is summoned, even if Crash Down is on cooldown.
Ranger
Signet of Renewal			20	Signet Passive: You and your pet recover health. Signet Active: Grant resistance and resolution to your pet; it pulls conditions from nearby allies to itself.
Signet of Stone			30	Signet Passive: Improves toughness for you and your pet. Signet Active: You and your pet take no damage from attacks. You and your pet are still susceptible to conditions and control effects.
Signet of the Hunt			20	Signet Passive: Grants 25% increased movement speed to you and your pet. Signet Active: Attacks from you and your pet become unblockable, and you both gain superspeed.
Signet of the Wild		0.75¾	30	Signet Passive: Increases the ferocity of you and your pet. Signet Active: Tap into the land to root foes around you.
Thief
Signet of Malice		10.25¼	12	Signet Passive: Heals when you attack. Signet Active: Gain health.
Assassin's Signet			20	Signet Passive: Grants increased power. Signet Active: Power is massively increased for a short duration.
Infiltrator's Signet			20	Signet Passive: Regenerates one extra initiative every ten seconds. Signet Active: Shadowstep to your foe.
Signet of Agility			30	Signet Passive: Grants increased precision. Signet Active: Refill endurance and cleanse conditions from nearby allies.
Signet of Shadows			16	Signet Passive: Grants a 25% increase in movement speed. Signet Active: Apply conditions to foes near your target.
Elementalist
Signet of Restoration		1	20	Signet Passive: Grants health every time you cast a spell. Signet Active: Heal yourself.
Signet of Air			20	Signet Passive: Grants a 25% increase in movement speed. Signet Active: Blind your target and nearby foes.
Signet of Earth		0.5½	15	Signet Passive: Improves toughness. Signet Active: Immobilize and bleed your foe.
Signet of Fire		0.5½	12	Signet Passive: Improves critical chance. Signet Active: Burn your target and nearby foes.
Signet of Water		0.5½	20	Signet Passive: Reduces incoming condition duration. Signet Active: Damage and chill foes while healing and reviving allies in an area.
Mesmer
Signet of the Ether		1	30	Signet Passive: Heal yourself whenever you summon an illusion. Signet Active: Heal yourself and reduce the recharge of phantasm skills. Virtuoso: Passive triggers when stocking a blade.
Signet of Domination		0.25¼	45	Signet Passive: Improved condition damage. Signet Active: Stun your foe.
Signet of Illusions		10.25¼	60	Signet Passive: Creates a clone every few seconds. Signet Active: Recharges shatter skills.
Signet of Inspiration		0.75¾	20	Signet Passive: Grant swiftness and an additional random boon every ten seconds. Signet Active: Extends the duration of all boons on yourself.
Signet of Midnight			20	Signet Passive: Improves expertise. Signet Active: Blind nearby foes and stealth yourself.
Signet of Humility		1	60	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.)
Necromancer
Signet of Vampirism		0.75¾	24	Signet Passive: Steal health from nearby foes while in combat. Signet Active: Heal yourself and mark a foe. Allied players will siphon life from the marked enemy.
Plague Signet			20	Signet Passive: Reduce incoming condition damage. Signet Active: Send your conditions to a foe.
Signet of Spite		0.75¾	40	Signet Passive: Improves power. Signet Active: Inflict bleeding, blindness, crippled, poison, vulnerability, and weakness on your foe.
Signet of Undeath		10.5½	75	Signet Passive: Generates life force while in combat. Signet Active: Sacrifice health to revive one downed ally in a target area.
Signet of the Locust		0.75¾	20	Signet Passive: Your movement speed is increased. Signet Active: [sic]Strike and remove boons from nearby foes. Heal for each foe you strike and for each boon removed.

Related traits

Trait skills that have the type signet

•   Lesser Signet of Wrath (Wrath of Justice) — Signet. Immobilize your target.
•   Lesser Signet of Might (Signet Mastery) — Signet. Your attacks become unblockable.
•   Lesser Signet of Stone (Stoneform) — Signet. You and your pet take no damage from attacks. You and your pet are still susceptible to conditions and control effects.
•   Lesser Signet of Vampirism (Blood Bond) — Signet Active: Mark a foe. Allied players will siphon life from that enemy.

Traits that improve signet skills

• Perfect Inscriptions (Radiance) — Signets gain improved passive effects and continue to grant their passive bonuses while recharging.
• Signet Mastery (Arms) — Signets grant a stacking ferocity boon on use. Cast Lesser Signet of Might when striking a foe below the health threshold.
• Mech Core: J-Drive (Mechanist) — Gain access to the Mech Command skill Sky Circus. While dismissed or away for repairs, your mech supports you with an occasional aerial bombardment. Signet skills gain improved passive effects and continue to grant their passive bonuses while recharging.
• Brutish Seals (Marksmanship) — Activating a Signet grants might and fury to nearby allies.
• Signets of Power (Critical Strikes) — Signets grant initiative.
• Written in Stone (Earth) — Signets continue to grant their passive bonuses while recharging. Gain an aura when you use a signet skill.
• Blurred Inscriptions (Inspiration) — Signets have improved active effects, and activating one grants you distortion.
• Signets of Suffering (Spite) — Signets steal health and remove boons from affected foes. Siphon healing is reduced for each target struck beyond the first.

Related equipment

• Relic of the Astral Ward — Gain a Signet of the Astral Ward after using a signet skill. Using a signet skill while this signet is active consumes it to remove conditions from nearby allies and grant them resistance.

Gallery

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  Guardian signet training

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  Warrior signet training

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  Ranger signet training

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  Thief signet training

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  Elementalist signet training

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  Mesmer signet training

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  Necromancer signet training

Version history

Patch	Changes
October 15, 2013	Signet passive buffs are now properly applied upon entering a PvP map.
August 06, 2013	All signet skills now play their overhead bang effect at the start of the skill to help telegraph these skills.
February 26, 2013	Signets will no longer lose their passive effects when changing slots on the utility bar.
January 30, 2013	Fixed a bug where signets would lose their passive buffs at the start of PvP matches.
August 28, 2012	Game release: Signets have been added to the game.

Trivia

The Guild Wars Wiki has an article on Signet.

• Signets as skills derive from the original signet ring concept of skills in Guild Wars. Characters had one skill for each primary finger (leading to the original skill bar size of 8), and gained their skills from skill gems dropped by bosses. This system was eventually scrapped before the game was released.

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Skill types and profession mechanics