Fast Casting

Fast Casting is the Mesmer primary attribute, which means that only characters which have chosen to be a primary Mesmer can put points into this skill. While Fast Casting only has one skill linked to it, the passive benefits it provides is more then enough all by itself.

Effects of Fast Casting
Fast casting reduces the amount of time required for casting spells according to the following formula: (Cast time) = (base time) * 2^(-attribute/15)

Because of the severe diminishing returns, the "sweet spot" is 7-9 points total in Fast Casting. 7 points reduces casting time by 28%, while 9 points takes 33% off. Since many Mesmer skills require that you place a hex on them at a critical moment (for example casting Backfire just before an enemy casts a spell), having the ability to cast Backfire in less then a second when it would ordinarily take two is an extraordinary advantage.

Below are tables listing the cast times of spells in ascending order from one to five seconds. The times in this table are rounded to the nearest 1/100th of a second, however it is unknown where Guild Wars does its rounding. Keep in mind that the table headings indicate the time the spell would take to cast with no points in Fast Casting.

One Second
Fast Cast Time 0	1.00 1	0.95 2	0.91 3	0.87 4	0.83 5	0.79 6	0.76 7	0.72 8	0.69 9	0.66 10	0.63 11	0.60 12	0.57 13	0.55 14	0.52 15	0.50 16	0.48

Two Seconds
Fast Cast Time 0	2.00 1	1.91 2	1.82 3	1.74 4	1.66 5	1.59 6	1.52 7	1.45 8	1.38 9	1.32 10	1.26 11	1.20 12	1.15 13	1.10 14	1.05 15	1.00 16	0.95

Three Seconds
Fast Cast Time 0	3.00 1	2.86 2	2.74 3	2.61 4	2.49 5	2.38 6	2.27 7	2.17 8	2.07 9	1.98 10	1.89 11	1.80 12	1.72 13	1.65 14	1.57 15	1.50 16	1.43

Four Seconds
Fast Cast Time 0	4.00 1	3.82 2	3.65 3	3.48 4	3.32 5	3.17 6	3.03 7	2.89 8	2.76 9	2.64 10	2.52 11	2.41 12	2.30 13	2.19 14	2.09 15	2.00 16	1.91

Five Seconds
Fast Cast Time 0	5.00 1	4.77 2	4.56 3	4.35 4	4.16 5	3.97 6	3.79 7	3.62 8	3.45 9	3.30 10	3.15 11	3.01 12	2.87 13	2.74 14	2.62 15	2.50 16	2.39