Talk:Signet of Capture

Capturing known skills
Can you capture a skill which you already know (so that you can have >1 elite skills on your bar even if you have unlocked all skills)? Kidburla 06:41, 10 April 2006 (CDT)
 * Negative. -PanSola 10:09, 10 April 2006 (CDT)

Necessity of History
I think the "Historic Usage" section is unnecessary. --Tetris L 17:42, 19 Jul 2005 (EST)
 * And in July 2005, the "Historic Usage" section went away. Alas, it was resurrected in 2007 under the misleading section title "Methods of Skill Capture".  Different name, same pointless content.  At best, this is trivia.  Maybe make a trivia section for the page and including the historic usage notes there?
 * If that's done, we should at least be complete about it, noting that SoC's used to actually be loot drops before they became something you got from a quest or skill trainer (this was back during the WPE/BWE days). And originally you had to use it while the skill you wanted to capture was being used (making it impossible to capture a stance and near impossible to capture short activation time skills).  THEN it was altered to capture the last used skill, even if it was done being cast, and only after that was it finally modified to work after the boss was dead, giving the menu as now.
 * Oh, and of course, if we do that, we should also be consistent, adding a complete history to the Trivia section of every skill that's ever changed, noting how it used to work. I'm thinking not...  --68.187.144.197 10:49, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, I was thinking "not", but apparently Warwick disagrees. Okay folks, time to hit every skill page and add a section describing how the skill used to work!  Because, as Warwick says, where else are people going to get that vital bit of information (other than the "history" tab on the skill page, of course, that apparently doesn't count).  --68.187.144.197 10:58, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
 * History tab is a kind of pointless, possibly we could put it in a show/hide box, to save people who dont want it there from having to look at it. --[[Image:Warwick sig.JPG]] Warwick (Talk)/(Contr. ) 11:11, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
 * How is the history tab pointless? I use it all the time when I want to see how a skill has changed (usually after reading Game Updates, or while reading a Talk page when what they're saying seems to indicate that the skill then worked differently than it does now).  It already automatically keeps a complete record of how skills have changed over time, and in such a way that it's immediately accessible to anyone interested (if I want to see how SoC worked in June 2005, I hit the history tab and go to one of the pages from June 2005), while being out of the way for people who really don't care how the skilled worked in 2005.  (Why would they?)
 * Note that this is how it is done on every other skill page (I've seen plenty of edits removing from the notes comments like "This skill used to provide a 50% reduction but was changed on Feb 1"), why should this skill be treated differently? What is it about how this skill worked in early 2005 that is relevant today in a way that how other skills worked in early 2005 isn't relevant today?  --68.187.144.197 11:35, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I suppose you do have a fair enough point. --[[Image:Warwick sig.JPG]] Warwick (Talk)/(Contr. ) 11:42, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Criteria for keeping elite skills after capture
Whenever I had two Elites as a result of a capture, I would end up with the regular one (the one I had before cap) staying and the new one being taken off when I got to an outpost or zoned out. I have experienced the opposite of what was mentioned so I removed that bit. Can anyone confirm if its one way or the other? --Karlos 18:15, 19 Jul 2005 (EST)
 * My observation was that the leftmost elite stays and the rest get removed from your bar. --Fyren 18:15, 19 Jul 2005 (EST)


 * Yes, that's my experience, too. --84.175.117.50 18:17, 19 Jul 2005 (EST)


 * That would definitely explain my experience. I always put Sig of Cap on one of the higher numbers (5-7) on my skills and my elite at a lower number (1-3). If we hear nothing different, I will change it to reflect that. --Karlos 20:30, 19 Jul 2005 (EST)


 * I can also confirm from my experience that the leftmost elite skill on the skill bar stays, the rest is moved to skill inventory (K key) when you zone out. --Tetris L 17:08, 20 Jul 2005 (EST)


 * This has been reverted in a update not to long ago193.90.59.204 18:31, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

Purchasing Signets of Capture
"Alternatively, you can purchase it (regardless of completed quests) at the skill trainer in Quarrel Falls, the Amnoon Oasis, or Port Sledge." <- I checked a few and it seems that nowadays you can purchase an SoC from ALL skill trainers, except the ones in Ascalon and the Northern Shiverpeaks. --Tetris L 17:08, 20 Jul 2005 (EST)

Does anyone know if there is an upper limit on the price a skill trainer charges? Each SoC costs 50 gold more than the last and with 90 needed for Title there's the potential to be paying 4.5k for one. And is it always one skill point or does that go up at some point? --RNFR 04:08, 18 November 2006 (CST)
 * Cap is one plat, always one SP. Kessel 09:57, 6 December 2006 (CST)

Elite Skill Regions
Also, wasn't there something on TV about moving all elite skills to Crystal Desert or beyond? Can someone confirm so we can mention it? --Karlos 17:59, 20 Jul 2005 (EST)


 * Yes, all Elite Skills have been removed from Bosses prior to Crystal Desert. This was already discussed on some other talk page. I can't remember on the top of my head where and whether this is already mentioned in an article. But I'm also not quite sure whether the Signet of Capture is the right place for this information. It should rather be mentioned on the new Elite Skill Locations page. --84.175.121.123 18:39, 20 Jul 2005 (EST)

XP Reward After Capture
Originally, there was no experience reward for capturing an elite skill. Many players captured *MANY* elite skills during this time (I personally captured over 40 before the XP reward was implemented).

Haven't those players effectively lost out on 5000XP *TIMES* the number of elites that they've already captured? In my case: 5000x40 = 200,000 experience! 200,000 / 15,000 = Thirteen levels = Thirteen skill points!

Perhaps I overlooked some retroactive fix, so please correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't these characters gotten the shaft?
 * Don't go crying for skill points, charr doodoo happens &mdash; Skuld  07:38, 22 July 2006 (CDT)

Do Scrolls affect on XP gained by capping an Elite skill? --DragonLord 07:08, 6 January 2007 (CST)


 * Scrolls do not affect how much experience you gain from capturing Elite Skills. Also, as a reply to the guy whining about the loss Experience... How about the guys who got to lvl 20 in pre-searing ascalon and didn't get the title, or guys who got to lvl 20, 50, or even 100 without dying, but didn't get the title? I don't see them complaining... --ChristopherRodrigues 15:52, 20 April 2007 (CDT)

No XP reward for unlocked Tyrian skills capped by Canthan character?
I used Balthazar faction to unlock most of the Prophecies skills on my account before this XP bonus was introduced, and before Factions was released. Now I'm taking a Canthan ranger through Tyria but noticed I'm not receiving the XP bonus for capping Tyrian elites! Is this because my character is Canthan or because I already unlocked the skill using faction?
 * i can confirm canthan characters get points for tyrian skills, and i can confirm you also get exp for previously unlocked elites, because my new canthan monk capped Word of Healing and made level 20 with the capture exp a while back. perhaps they introduced a bug with the nightfall combat weekend? --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 09:29, 9 August 2006 (CDT)

XP Table
I just added a bit of lore, information on the EXP bonus, as well as a basic table of how much experience gained. I only did levels 15-20, as it's unlikely to see anyone lower in the places where elite skills become available for capture. If someone feels we should update the table to list all levels, by all means, go ahead. Ordin 20:40, 23 September 2006 (CDT)

Minimum boss level for elites?
I just tried to cap Light of Deliverance from Chineh Soaring Light. Although the boss has the skill (I saw the boss use it several times), it does not show up on the list. I suspect that Signet of Capture can only capture elites from bosses over a certain level. -- Gordon Ecker 20:53, 27 October 2006 (CDT)

New image for SoC
Does anyone get a new image for SoC? I have the usual signet but a lock with a Guild Wars helmet is overlayed on top. Kind of transparent. Is this new? --Vortexsam 21:08, 28 October 2006 (CDT)
 * I have the same old one. Can you use it?  Sounds to me like you haven't unlocked it.  --Rainith 21:11, 28 October 2006 (CDT)
 * IIRC that icon appears when you are in a PvP area, to indicate a skill locked for that area. Kessel 00:03, 20 November 2006 (CST)

Where can you get your first SoC in Elona? --Shady 14:01, 30 October 2006 (CST)


 * All the skill trainers on the mainland offer them. There's also an SoC quest in the Ronjok, the village in the northeast corner of Marga Coast just outside of Sunspear Sanctuary. -- Gordon Ecker 07:04, 2 November 2006 (CST)


 * Skill trainer in Guild Hall. :) — Jyro X [[Image:Darkgrin.jpg|25px]] 10:03, 6 December 2006 (CST)

Elona?!
And where can you get the Signet of Capture in Elona?! 86.195.14.144 09:26, 18 November 2006 (CST)
 * Look at "acquisition" in the article. --Fyren 18:04, 18 November 2006 (CST)

Disappearing Sig Caps
I sometimes buy multiple Sig of Caps and a few times i have to log out knowing that i havent used all of my Caps but when I logged back in, the Caps that I haven't used are gone in my Skill Selection Panel. Is it really like that?
 * I've never heard of this happening or had it happen to me. I usually buy 5 or so at a time, and sometimes go for days w/o using them.  --Rainith 22:24, 22 November 2006 (CST)
 * I agree, i have never seen that happen, i have cap sigs on my guys that were from when the cap sigs cost was changed. Xeon 09:59, 6 December 2006 (CST)

i agree. i have seen this happen MANY times. i now have to limit myself to 5 SoC at once otherwise i end up losing them when i relog. its not every time, its random. if i can be bothered i should submit a bug report because its seriously not fair that i am losing upwards of 10k for no reason (i regularly buy 15-30 at a time) 82.17.95.20 21:42, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Weird, never happened to me either, and I used to buy like 30-40 at a time, currently still some 10 in my skills tab. It's pretty annoying having to travel around instead of just changing secondary and diving into the explorable again. Breintje 10:11, 22 October 2008 (UTC)


 * When I got my Skillhunter, I bought (amount of skills needed)-100=~150(?) SoCs, saved up another 100k and bought the rest. I never had a SoC disappear on me. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  12:43, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Free SoC
Is it possible to take a quest that gives you signet of capture, use the SoC then abandon the quest to then get another SoC meaning unlimited SoCs for free ?
 * No, I tried this with one character for the Tyrian quest, and did not receive a new signet after abandoning the quest. I actually had to purchase a signet to cap a skill with in order to complete the quest. Once completed I did get another sig as part of the reward as listed. HanokOdbrook 00:14, 15 January 2007 (CST)

Echo
What happens if you "Echo" this skill?

Nothing. Echo simply won't trigger for it. See the talkpage for Echo.24.6.147.36 23:16, 19 December 2006 (CST)

Skill Trainers
I tried to purchase a Signet of Capture from Vernados in Vasburg Armory and found that he did not have it, contrary to the statement about Skill Trianers in this page. Can someone else help confirm which skill trainers on the Canthan mainland don't have it, before we go ahead and change the page? Schweizer Kaese 20:16, 4 February 2007 (CST)
 * Hmm it really isnt there, someone should check the luxon side, the rest of the kuz side have SoC 58.107.53.89 20:27, 4 February 2007 (CST)
 * I can confirm that Vernados does not offer Cap Sig, Nicodemus in Leviathan Pits (pretty much the Luxon equivalent of Vasburg Armory does offer Cap Sig. Steig in Camp Rankor does not offer Cap Sog, which is ironic since he is in the prime Capping zone for Tyria. --Heurist 12:30, 3 March 2007 (CST)

Capturing skils from campaigns you don't have
I see three possibilities. The unavailable skills are hidden like skills from other professions and monster-only skills, the unavailable skills are shown, but cannot be captured, or the unavailable skills are shown and can be captured and "unlocked", but are disabled until you get the campaign like skills from other campaigns which were obtained using a trial key that has expired. -- Gordon Ecker 05:25, 3 March 2007 (CST)
 * They show as locked (according to someone I've asked who capped such a skill). --Fyren 05:32, 3 March 2007 (CST)

Symbolic Celerity and SoC
Does Symbolic Celerity decrease the casting time of SoC? Would you be able to cap elites from Apocrypha then? Misfate 21:55, 24 April 2007 (CDT)
 * It does affect it (it being a signet like any other), but the mission goes to a cutscene at the moment when the Apocrphya hits 0 HP. [[Image:ShidoSig_moebius2.gif]] 22:18, 24 April 2007 (CDT)

Set on fire
I think it'd be funny to have the player be set on fire every few captures as Malaquire suggests might happen.
 * Well, that was random as hell. Readem (talk *contribs ) 05:34, 3 June 2007 (CDT)
 * But amazing!Shadowshear 12:50, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

PvE only
Why does this skill takes place in my skill bar as one of the three PvE only skill you can equip???
 * Because Anet fails. --Macros 17:02, 26 August 2007 (CDT)

This:
I've been capping skills and I noticed that my rightmost one stays, might be cause its the newest one (sig of cap is normally 7 or 8, normal elite is 1)
 * only the leftmost (lowest numbered) elite skill on your skill bar will remain equipped. The other elite skills will be unavailable until you re-equip, and blank spaces will replace them in your skill bar


 * I had thesame. Is this ninja'ed by ANet? For what purpose? --84.24.206.123 16:11, 12 September 2007 (CDT)
 * Change for change's sake. It could be unintentional when they limited your bar to 3 PvE skills. Sirocco 16:23, 12 September 2007 (CDT)
 * changing (Btw, was me the first time, forgot to sign) Darknight 03:13, 23 September 2007 (CDT)

You can equipt a maximum of three.
As many skill hunters will have noticed you can have no more than three SoCs equipped at any one time. The article doesn't note this and I think it should be added.
 * Ah, that makes sense. There was a change/nerf thing recently which made it so that you could only have up to 3 PvE-only skills equipped at a time. Since SoC is a PvE skill, you can only have three at once. Also, and this is perhaps more important, it counts towards that number, so if you are running some build which relies heavily on PvE-only skills, SoC could break your bar. Worse than it normally does anyways. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 18:13, 12 September 2007 (CDT)
 * TEH SUXXORS! [[Image:PaintballerSig.jpg]] The Paintballer (T/C) 18:44, 12 September 2007 (CDT)

Diolouge box corrupt
While capturing some skills i noticed that the white words no longer fit in the box, yet ran across the screen. possible bug.--Patch 17:15, 17 September 2007 (CDT)

10,000 exp for elite captures
I seem to notice that the event for 2x exp for elite captures seems to occur right regularly. Has anyone noted if there is a set period of time for the 2x exp from elite captures to repeat or does it just occur when they seem to "bend with the wind?"Manos Lijeros 21:20, 24 September 2007 (CDT)


 * I only notice those events when they are actually announced...I was not aware that they occurred randomly. This must be a new undocumented change. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 21:24, 24 September 2007 (CDT)


 * Not sure if they ARE random. I was thinking they occurred at set intervals...  Anyone?Manos Lijeros 22:29, 24 September 2007 (CDT)I see the 2x weekend is scheduled for 9 November 2007 through 11 November 2007.  I recommend we try to see if these events are random or occur every three or four months as many use them to obtain the Legendary Survivor Title.--Manos Lijeros 01:54, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

Here is the History I have found: 9 November 2007 18 July 2007 9 January 2007 26 September 2006

Other "Events" are located .--Manos Lijeros 17:02, 12 November 2007 (UTC)This page has been removed68.209.179.48


 * No pattern I can see, its just one of the things they do when nothing else is going on, I think. [[Image:Entrea Sumatae.png]]  Entrea Sumatae 17:14, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Explanation of "permanent replacement" needed
I had written: ''* The Signet of Capture is the only skill in Guild Wars that is used up when it is used, i.e. it disappears from both your skill bar and your Skills and Attributes panel when you use it. If you want to use it again, you have to buy another one from the skill trainer, who will never list it as (Known). This means it is pointless to use the Signet of Capture to aquire a skill that you can buy directly from a skill trainer as the cost is exactly the same.'' I reasoned that the wording had me confused at first, so it needed clarifying.

Flechette reverted, stating revert, it clearly states that the capture is permanant, also some skills are only available from later game trainers, making statement false.

To state that Signet of Capture is permanently replaced by that skill does not clearly imply that the signet disappears from the list of known skills as well; it seemed to imply to me when I read it that the signet would be permanently replaced only on my skill bar, but I thought I could just re-equip it again when I got back into town. However, as we both now know, I was mistaken.

If you read closely, my third sentence is not false either, because a skill that is available from later game trainers is not a skill that I can buy directly from a skill trainer if I don't have access to that trainer. It provides an explanation why discussion of SoC usually centers around capturing elites. However, it is possible to rephrase that sentence to This means it is pointless to use the Signet of Capture to aquire a skill when you can buy it directly from a skill trainer as the cost is exactly the same.

Please consider re-adding that paragraph. 84.128.202.101 23:11, 18 October 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm sorry, but "Permanently replaced" is perfectly clear, it's not like it says "replaced until you go into a town". Permanent means permanent, end of story. [[Image:Entrea Sumatae.png]]  Entrea Sumatae 17:08, 12 November 2007 (UTC)


 * If it was perfectly clear, then how could I have misunderstood?
 * As a counterexample, when a teacher NPC gives you a skill, and you have a full skill bar, you can select a skill that will then be replaced with the newly learned skill. This replacement is permanent in your sense as it "won't go away when you go into a town" and it won't change unless you edit your skill bar, but the skill that was kicked is still in your list of known skills and can be reequipped in any town or outpost at no extra cost. Signet of Capture's replacement is permanent in a different way.
 * It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't totally counterintuitive. If a skill is knowledge, you cannot unlearn it. If a skill is a ring, as the Skill Bar article indicates, then why should my signet of capture disappear when I remove the ring from a boss? Its behavior is unique as no other skill in GW behaves like this, yet the article glosses over that and expects the reader to extrapolate all of this from the use of "permanently".
 * This is fine when you're looking at it from the perspective of an experienced player, but for someone who wants to learn about the signet before first buying and using one, it's just not sufficient. Why can't we have a 3-sentence note about it? 84.128.193.156 13:28, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Two elite skills in skill bar
Cant you have 2 elite skills in your skill bar if u use signet of capture on an elite skill while you already have an elite skill on you?
 * Yes --Blue.rellik 05:36, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
 * You can have up to four Elite Skills on your bar at once, if you had one already and brought three Signet of Capture. If that elite was Echo and you also took Arcane Mimicry and Arcane Echo, you could have up to 7 Elite Skills on your bar at the same time. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 05:41, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Then use Inspired Hex as soon as an ally gets something like SS thrown on them and ping take a screenshot for posterity. -- mechasoupx 06:15, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Wouldn't Echo not work as 7th Elite since it is an Elite and becomes another Elite, therefore not increasing the number? Simple Thievery should do the trick, though. 84.128.193.156 23:55, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
 * You would echo Arcane Mimicry to obtain more elites. --Shadowcrest 00:01, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Is this actually possible? To find 3 elites in the same area. and a 4th elite hex not already on a boss in the area. (not to mention you would get a limited amount of tries for this, the areas with multiple of the same class elites aren't very common)

Unlocked
If you capture an elite skill with one character is it unlocked for your other PvE characters or just PvP? Eirlys 05:19, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Unlocked for all, only usable til captured by a PvE player or when a PvE player uses an Elite Tome. To the PvP player, it's usable directly after capturing it.--Powersurge360 05:30, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

right or left stays
They notes say the rightmost elite stays if you have multiple elites when you zone from one explorable area to the next. I have no proof of this now, but I've had this happen many times, and I'm pretty certain it's the leftmost elite that stays. If a second person can back me up on this, please go ahead and change it. --Mooseyfate 17:36, 16 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Nope, its right. It used to be left, but it was changed. The most annoying thing ever, imo. --Shadowcrest 17:38, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

Dead Capture
If you activate signet of capture before you die you can capture the skill when you're dead. (also removes death penalty) 193.90.142.66 13:01, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect Notes
"Although it's possible to capture skills from a campaign your account doesn't have access to, the skills will be "locked" and cannot actually be used until the campaign of the captured skill is unlocked on your account." This is completely wrong. I am sitting here trying to capture Headbutt off Molotov Rocktail and it will not let me because I do not own Nightfall ("You cannot capture Headbutt because your account does not have access to Guild Wars Nightfall" is the message that appears when I hover over the greyed out 'Capture' button). I will provide screenshots, if necessary. The skills CANNOT be captured to begin with. I reverted it, because it is wrong. King Neoterikos 23:44, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Could you give one please? It's just kinda strange that they changed this at some point and never mentioned it in the update notes --Gimmethegepgun 02:24, 28 September 2008 (UTC)


 * It's indeed changed then. I fondly recall seeing some dude running around with a locked Elite. Took us 5 minutes to explain to him why he couldn't use it. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  08:56, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Common problem
The second anomaly stated in the notes section is not exclusive to the signet of capture. If you use ANY skill while being resurrected, the skill will take effect before the animation finishes. Since it's a general error, and not specific to this skill, I'm removing the note until otherwise persuaded.-- (Talk) (Contr.) 01:15, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

max number of sigs
i want to get every single skill, elite and otherwise, in the game learned by my ele (yes i know that is expensive and impractical) and i was wondering if i got every skill in the game, would i still be able to buy more cap sigs? or more to the point, would there be a chance of accidentally buying too many and i have a permanent 13 cap sigs i can't use in my skill window. this doesn't seem like an easy/cheap thing to test, and i find it unlikely that i'll get an answer until i do it myself, but it usually doesn't hurt to ask. tnx in advance. Akbaroth 00:00, 2 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't think there will be anything preventing you from buying too many cap sigs. When I was doing my treasure hunter, there were times when I had 20-30 cap sigs in my skill list, because I bought them in bulk, so there doesn't seem to be a limit on how many of them you can have at once.  I'm also trying to learn every skill in the game on my necro (only 180 left! :D), but I use tomes for the non-elite skills, much cheaper that way, unless you don't have them unlocked.  Anyway, this is such an uncommon thing to do for a PvE character that I doubt that the developers put in any kind of code to prevent you from buying too many cap sigs.  For example, after I learned every skill for a specific profession, I could still double-click and "use" a skill tome, even though there were no skills left for me to learn for that profession, so I would just have to cancel out of the menu.  If you don't get a solid tested answer by the time I get my last 180, I will test it for you, because a cap sig itself is still a skill, and I must have one, even if I know every other skill in the game. :P  RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.png]] 05:47, 2 August 2009 (UTC)
 * i thought as much. i was hoping you'd answer this, kali. a few days after i decided i wanted all skills on one guy i noticed on your page that ur doing the same thing. btw grats on the 180 left!Akbaroth 06:48, 4 August 2009 (UTC)