Fast Casting

Fast Casting is the primary attribute of Mesmers.

“

Fast Casting decreases the activation time of your Spells and Signets. (No effect for non-Mesmer skills with an activation time less than 2 seconds.) In PvE, each rank of Fast Casting decreases the recharge time for your Mesmer Spells by 3%.

— In-game description

Inherent effect

Spells
Fast Casting	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Casting time	100%	95%	91%	87%	83%	79%	76%	72%	69%	66%	63%	60%	57%	55%	52%	50%	48%	46%	44%	42%	41%
Casting speed	100%	105%	110%	115%	120%	126%	132%	138%	145%	152%	159%	166%	174%	182%	191%	200%	209%	219%	229%	240%	251%
Recharge time (PvE)	100%	97%	94%	91%	88%	85%	82%	79%	76%	73%	70%	67%	64%	61%	58%	55%	52%	49%	46%	43%	40%

Signets
Fast Casting	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Activation time	100%	97%	94%	91%	88%	85%	82%	79%	76%	73%	70%	67%	64%	61%	58%	55%	52%	49%	46%	43%	40%

All values are rounded to the nearest percentage point.

Notes

• Fast Casting increases casting speed by ~4.73% per rank, increasing exponentially so that at rank 15, Mesmers take only half the time to cast spells as everyone else.
  • The casting time is reduced to 0.955^^Rank = 0.5½^^(Rank/15).
  • The percentages used in the table above have been rounded to whole numbers; the game uses full precision when calculating the casting times, rounding the results to the nearest millisecond.

• Casting time reduction for Signets progresses additively, rather than multiplicatively (as it does for spells), e.g. at Rank 5, activation time for Signets is 85% of the stated time while spells take only 79% of the time to cast.

• Items and skills that improve skill activation time cannot stack higher than 25%. Single effects that improve skill activation over 25% can exceed this cap. (Fast Casting is not included in this cap.)

• Fast Casting applies to all Mesmer-specific PvE-only skills (e.g. Ether Nightmare or Celestial Haste) and as expected to any other PvE-skills (i.e. only to those with activations times of at least two seconds).

• The Mesmer of Lyssa blessing increases Fast Casting by 1, even if your character's primary profession is not Mesmer.

Fast Casting skills

Icon	Name	Description						Campaign
	Arcane Languor	Elite Hex Spell. (1...8...10 second[s].) Target foe's spells cause 10 Overcast.	0	10	2	15		Factions
	Keystone Signet	Elite Signet. (20 seconds.) Your next 0...5...6 signets interrupt and deal 15...51...60 damage to other foes adjacent to your target. Initial effect: recharges all of your other signets.	0	0	1	15		Prophecies
	Mantra of Recovery	Elite Stance. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your spells recharge 33% faster.	0	5	0	15		Core
	Persistence of Memory	Enchantment Spell. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your interrupted spells recharge instantly.	0	10	1	20		Nightfall
	Power Return	Spell. Interrupts a spell or chant. Interruption effect: target foe gains 10...6...5 Energy.	0	5	0.25¼	7		Factions
	Psychic Instability	Elite Spell. Interrupts an action. Interruption effect: if the action is a skill, cause knockdown for 2...4...4 seconds on target foe and all nearby foes. 50% failure chance unless Fast Casting 5 or higher.	0	5	0.25¼	12		Factions
	Psychic Instability (PvP)	Elite Spell. Interrupts an action. Interruption effect: if the action is a skill, causes knockdown for 2...3...3 seconds on target foe and all adjacent foes. 50% failure chance unless Fast Casting 5 or higher.	0	5	0.25¼	12		Factions
	Stolen Speed	Elite Hex Spell. Also hexes adjacent foes (1...8...10 seconds). Doubles spell casting time. Spells cast by you or your allies have -50% casting times.	0	5	1	12		Factions
	Stolen Speed (PvP)	Elite Hex Spell. Also hexes adjacent foes (1...8...10 second[s]). Doubles spell casting time. Spells you cast on hexed foes have -50% casting time.	0	5	1	12		Factions
	Symbolic Celerity	Enchantment Spell. (36...55...60 seconds.) Your signets use your Fast Casting attribute.	0	15	1	30		Nightfall
	Symbolic Posture	Stance. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your next signet recharges 20...68...80% faster.	0	10	0	20		Nightfall
	Symbols of Inspiration	Elite Skill. (1...25...31 seconds.) This skill becomes the Elite of target foe. Elite spells you cast use your Fast Casting attribute instead of their normal attributes.	0	5	1	15		Nightfall