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Skills and attacks all have a certain range. A character trying to attack or activate a skill must be within range of the target before the attack begins or the skill starts to activate. In most cases, issuing such a command from out of range will have the character attempt to move to within range in order to perform the action.

Range chart[]

Area of Effect

The testing circles at the Isle of the Nameless

Area of Effect Birdseye

A view closer to top-down

RadarRanges

A color-coded view of ranges on the in game compass

Action or weapon Range Image legend
Danger zone radii Testing circle radii Additional description
enchantment maintenance, party effect range1, selection     slightly greater than the compass black
soul reaping, spirit passive effect ~2.3   half compass range orange
flatbow2, longbow2, spirit attack skill ~1.35     cyan
100', recurve bow2, staff2, targeted skills, wand2 ~1.2     magenta
shortbow2, spear2 slightly larger than 1     blue
within earshot 1 9 aggro bubble/danger zone radius white
half range ~2/3 6 (1 dia.)  
in the area, location, ward, well ~1/3 3   purple
near, nearby   2   red
adjacent, melee, touch   1   yellow
adjacent to foe/target   0   green
self   0  

1 Some skills do not have a specific target but affect the entire party. Those skills will actually only affect party members in selection range.

2 Projectile weapon ranges given here assume the target is at the same height as the attacker.

In some game updates, ArenaNet has referred to compass range which is the same as selection range.

Tips[]

  • For a visual reference in the heat of battle, it is useful to note that the shadow cast by your character is roughly the same size as the innermost testing circle (i.e. adjacent to self).
  • The automatic path-finding mechanisms direct your character closer than the intended ranged action strictly requires to succeed. For example, a player can issue an attack command from out of range and their character will run closer and attack. However, that character will be able to back up slightly and still attack if an attack command is issued from there.
  • Height only factors into range calculations for projectiles, not including those from: spells, staves, or wands.

Notes[]

Anomaly Anomaly! Disregard comments about range listed in The Guild Wars official website and the game manual for Factions. They both contain sections on range with measurements in feet. That information is inconsistent with the game, e.g. it claims touch range is much shorter than melee range, e.g. they state that flatbow range equals aggro range.
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