Guild Wars 2 skill comparison: recharge, range and stun breaks side by side
Compare two Guild Wars 2 skills fact by fact. The difference column shows which one recharges sooner, which one breaks stuns and which one finishes combos, in each fact's own unit.
A skill tooltip in Guild Wars 2 lists that skill's facts, from its range and recharge to the boons it applies and the combo finisher it carries. The game shows one tooltip at a time, so weighing two skills means hovering one, remembering its numbers, then hovering the other. Skill facts lines both tooltips up by fact type and states the difference in each fact's own unit.
How does the difference column read?
Each row is one fact type from the game's tooltip data, and the last column measures the second skill against the first. A signed value such as −12s is the second skill's number minus the first's. Same means both skills carry the fact with the same value. "Only" followed by a skill name means just that skill has the fact. The column never says which skill is better, because the game data holds no such verdict: a shorter recharge matters only next to what the skill does.
Worked example: Blink or Phase Retreat on a staff mesmer
Blink is a mesmer utility skill that teleports to a target location. Phase Retreat, the second skill of the mesmer staff, teleports away from the target. Both list a range of 1200, so the Range row reads Same. Phase Retreat recharges in 8s and Blink in 20s. Blink is the only one of the two that breaks stuns, and Phase Retreat is the only one with a Leap 100% combo finisher.
That settles a slot decision. A mesmer holding a staff already has a teleport on the weapon bar that comes back sooner, so a utility slot spent on Blink pays for its stun break rather than for the teleport. Open this comparison.
Why do some rows name a trait?
Some facts change when a trait is equipped. The game data records them as traited facts, and the comparison gives each one its own row, marked with the trait that enables it. Decoy stealths the mesmer for 3s; with Prismatic Understanding the Stealth row lasts 5s. Against Blink, the Range, Recharge and Stun Break rows all read Same, which leaves Stealth as the only difference between the two stun breaks. Open this comparison.
What does one skill on its own show?
With one skill chosen, the table lists that skill's facts, traited rows included, without a difference column. Signet of Inspiration shows a range of 600, a recharge of 20s, the boons it grants and a Number of Targets row that belongs to Blurred Inscriptions. The address of the page holds both choices, so any comparison can be shared as a link.