Guild Wars 2

Anyone else having a problem with this skill?

About 1 out of 5 times I cast it I don’t get swiftness, if I change direction while in the symbol I don’t get swiftness.

Why is swiftness activated at the opposite side of the symbol where you enter instead of as soon as you enter the circle?

It simply pulses every second for the duration, so it’s possible for you to cross the symbol between pulses. Apparently there is a sweet-spot to casting it ahead of yourself, but I’ve never been able to get it down, personally.

There are 2 things happening:
1. You can pass through a symbol between the pulses. So you won’t get it.
2. When you already have swiftness that you have given yourself and you try to apply swiftness again (as in first shout “Retreat” and then put down symbol of swiftness), it will only add 1 second to the timer. You can’t apply swiftness 2 times yourself on yourself. If you have swiftness already from your own and someone else gives you swiftness it works. EXCEPT when it’s the same skill (symbol of swiftness yourself, symbol of swiftness from someone else.
The one second add and last EXCEPT i’ve only seen happening on the symbol of swiftness and also not always.
The one second adding is also documented on the wiki: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Symbol_of_Swiftness

This is honestly the most annoying thing about staff, which is a solid weapon. The pulsing field applying swiftness only when run through correctly is annoying and I’ve always assumed the minor amount of added swiftness was a bug.

Running with Writ of Exultation can help avoid running through in-between the pulses.

But if you can’t work it into your build then it’s just a case of getting a feel of where to place it – it’ll grant swiftness the moment it is placed, so you want to be in it’s circle when it lands for best effect ( and this usually means casting it just in-front of you if you are running )

To avoid the symbol cancelling your existing swiftness, make sure you cast after it expires. If you use “Retreat!” then make sure you only cast it after applying the symbol, then it will stack correctly

A good way to make it work 100% is to cast it directly on top of you, Im pretty sure you get the full duration regardlesss

I don’t mind this, but the fact I have to stand still to channel Empower is very annoying. Usually I want it on people as we hit the enemy zerg for max effect. I start channeling it, and either move (breaking it), or noobs run past me and miss the whole thing, or people get it too early so some has worn off by the time we engage, or I cast it too late such that I’m getting wailed on by the opposition by the time it finishes.

Also, it makes my guard look like he’s straining, and a constipated 8 foot norn does NOT look nice.

Despite these frustrations it is still a great skill, just a pain in the kitten to get it right (from the animation it seems this is literally the case!).