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 and Signets
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%

Mesmer Spells (in PvE)
Fast Casting	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Recharge time	100%	97%	94%	91%	88%	85%	82%	79%	76%	73%	70%	67%	64%	61%	58%	55%	52%	49%	46%	43%	40%
Base recharge 1s	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Base recharge 2s	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Base recharge 3s	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1
Base recharge 5s	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2
Base recharge 6s	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	2
Base recharge 7s	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	3	3
Base recharge 8s	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	4	3	3
Base recharge 10s	10	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	4	4
Base recharge 12s	12	12	11	11	11	10	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	6	6	6	5	5
Base recharge 15s	15	15	14	14	13	13	12	12	11	11	10	10	10	9	9	8	8	7	7	6	6
Base recharge 20s	20	19	19	18	18	17	16	16	15	15	14	13	13	12	12	11	10	10	9	9	8
Base recharge 25s	25	24	24	23	22	21	20	20	19	18	18	17	16	15	14	14	13	12	12	11	10
Base recharge 30s	30	29	28	27	26	26	25	24	23	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	16	15	14	13	12

Recharge times are rounded half to even.

Game Mechanics

Activation time

• 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 and signets as everyone else.
  • Spell and signet 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 mechanics uses full precision when calculating the casting times, rounding the results to the nearest millisecond.

• 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.)

Recharge time

• Recharge time reduction rounds to the nearest decimal number, e.g. at Rank 12, recharge time for a spell with a base 15 second Recharge becomes 9.6 which rounds to 10, while at Rank 13, a base 15 second Recharge becomes 9.15 which rounds to 9.
• Fast Casting isn't taken into account in the 50% recharge time reduction cap.

PvE gameplay

• 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.

Equipment

• Swiftspell's Staff is the only weapon (or offhand) to grant Fast Casting +1 (20% chance while using skills). However, as with all Of Mastery effects, the +1 does not affect Fast Casting's inherent benefits.

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	1010	02.002	01515		Factions
	Keystone Signet	Elite Signet. (20 seconds.) Your next 0...5...6 signet[s] interrupt [sic] and deal 15...51...60 damage to other foes adjacent to your target. Initial Effect: [sic] recharges all of your other signets.	0	0	01.001	01515		Prophecies
	Mantra of Recovery	Elite Stance. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your spells recharge 33% faster.	0	055	0	01515		Core
	Persistence of Memory	Enchantment Spell. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your interrupted spells recharge instantly.	0	1010	01.001	02020		Nightfall
	Power Return	Spell. Interrupts a spell or chant. Interruption effect: target foe gains 10...6...5 Energy.	0	055	00.250.25¼	0077		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	055	00.250.25¼	01212		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	055	00.250.25¼	01212		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	055	01.001	01212		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	055	01.001	01212		Factions
	Symbolic Celerity	Enchantment Spell. (36...55...60 seconds.) Your signets use your Fast Casting attribute.	0	1515	01.001	03030		Nightfall
	Symbolic Posture	Stance. (5...17...20 seconds.) Your next signet recharges 20...68...80% faster.	0	1010	0	02020		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	055	01.001	01515		Nightfall
	Time Ward	Elite Ward Spell. (3...13...15 seconds.) Allies in this ward cast spells 15...19...20% faster and recharge skills 15...19...20% faster. Allied spirits are not affected. PvE Skill	0	1010	02.002	03030		Core