Disable

To disable a skill is to make that skill unavailable to use by adding recharge time to it. A skill can be disabled permanently or temporarily based on the skill's description and your circumstances. Knowing which skills cause your other skills or themselves to be disabled will help you put together your build effectively. Also, knowing what skills disable a foe's skill(s) will help you in putting together a good shutdown build.

All skills have very specific wording to describe exactly what they do. Disable is a specific term that differs from other similar terms (such as fail, interrupt, and the term cannot). Another similar term that skills refer to is recharge time. A quick note: skills that decrease recharge time do not affect disabled skills.

The following information refers to skills with the specific word disable in their description.

Cause and effect of disabled skills
A skill can be disabled due to the following:
 * Circumstances or location (you)
 * Effects of a skill on a foe
 * Effects of a skill on your other skills
 * Effects of a skill on itself

Circumstances or location

 * If your skill bar contains a PvE only skill and you enter a PvP arena, that skill will appear grayed out.
 * If an adrenal skill is disabled, that skill's adrenaline will be lost. While an adrenal skill is disabled, it cannot gain adrenaline until it has recharged.
 * If you equip a skill that requires a specific weapon and do not equip the correct weapon, that skill will be grayed out. For example:  You cannot use Savage Slash (a Sword Attack) while wielding a staff. This is different than the normal "disable" mechanic, as such skills do not enter recharge and do not lose accumulated adrenaline. This is used by Warriors to build adrenaline for their melee skills using a spear, for instance.

Effects of a skill on a foe
Some skills cause a foe's skills to be disabled for a certain amount of time. If the skill specifically mentions that it will disable a foe's skill for an "additional amount of time," then that time will be added to the normal recharge time of the disabled skill.

Effects of a skill on your other skills
Some skills cause your other equipped skills to be disabled for a certain amount of time.

Effects of a skill on itself
Some skills, notably Dervish Avatars, will disable themselves for a certain amount of time after they are activated. This differs from normal skill recharge in that it is not subject to reduction by other effects (e.g. Quickening Zephyr), but does not trigger if the skill does not successfully activate.

Skills that disable
Disabling skills either disable another skill or themselves.