Skill type

Skill Type
Skills come in a number of types. Some Skills or game mechanics interact with only certain types of Skills. The following shows the skill type hierarchy tree.


 * Skill - The most basic Skill type. Pure skills are hard to counter, because their casting Time is usually very low and their effects instantaneous, which makes them hard to prevent or cancel. Few Skills can interrupt pure skills directly.
 * Attack - Attacks on an enemy with any weapon.
 * Bow Attack - Requires the use of a bow.
 * Melee Attack - Requires the use of any melee weapon (bare hands do not count as melee weapons).
 * Axe Attack - Requires the use of an Axe.
 * Dagger Attack - Requires the use of a pair of Daggers.
 * Lead Attack
 * Off-Hand Attack
 * Dual Attack
 * Hammer Attack - Requires the use of a Hammer.
 * Sword Attack - Requires the use of a Sword
 * Pet Attack - Requires a pet.
 * Binding Ritual - Creates a Spirit creature that affects affects allies or harms enemies.
 * Glyph - Affects the next spell you cast. At most one Glyph at a time can be active.
 * Nature Ritual - Creates a Spirit creature that affects all creatures, allies and enemies, in its area.
 * Preparation - Enhances your attacks for a certain time span. At most one preparation at a time can be active.
 * Shout - Instantly affects either nearby allies or nearby foes.
 * Signet - Has no energy cost but long casting time and/or recharge time.
 * Spell
 * Enchantment Spell - Puts positive effects on an ally.
 * Item Spell - Summons ashes that grant the caster an effect while being held or when dropped.
 * Hex Spell - Puts a negative, duration-based effect on one or more enemies.
 * Well Spell - Exploits a corpse to create a temporary area effect around it.
 * Ward Spell - Creates a defensive area effect around the caster.
 * Weapon Spell - Puts positive effects on an ally.
 * Stance - Affects only the caster. At most one Stance at a time can be active.
 * Trap - Covers the area around a Ranger.

Elite Skills
Skills can also be classified as Elite skill. Each skill is Elite or non-Elite, in addition to any classifications. A player may only have one elite skill equipped at a time, except when they capture additional ones, or copy another elite skill (with Mesmer skills like Arcane Mimicry).