Skimmer
“The graceful movements of the skimmer allow it to float above land and water, which is especially useful on the Elon River and other hazardous parts of the desert.
— In-game description
The Skimmer is one of the mounts first introduced in the Crystal Desert in Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire. It is a manta-like creature with undulating wings which hovers over ground, allowing it and its rider to safely traverse otherwise hazardous areas, or to swiftly skim over water. Its movement ability lifts it significantly higher, so it can cross dangerous areas, reach ledges, and avoid attacks. You can hold down the hotkey to remain in the lifted state as long as you have sufficient endurance.
Upgrades to the skimmer mount through Path of Fire mastery tracks increases the height of the hover movement ability, add additional effects to its engage skill Barrel Roll, such as granting boons and healing downed allies when used, as well as the ability to dive underwater.
Unlocking[edit]
- Unlock the Raptor's Canyon Jumping mastery.
- This is required to reach and unlock the Renown Heart mentioned later.
- Head to the Skimmer Ranch in center-western Elon Riverlands.
- The ranch is surrounded by quicksand from the north and east. Traverse across using a raptor with the Canyon Jumping mastery, or through other means.
- Complete Help out around Highjump Ranch (80).
- Purchase the Skimmer item from Skimmer Trainer Ardra for 50 Trade Contracts and 4 .
Mechanics[edit]
- A skimmer has 8892 base health.
- It is the only mount that can be mounted while surfaced or submerged in water.
- Does not take any fall damage, as it gently floats down to the ground rather than falling.
- If the float ability is used while jumping off a high outcropping, it will act as a glider until running out of endurance. This does not consume more endurance.
- The Skimmer regenerates its entire endurance bar in 5 seconds.
- Moves significantly faster while traveling over water or certain hazards: quicksand, sulfurous haze.
- Many ledges that are too tall to climb without Ride the Wind can still be climbed by using the regular hover, then dismounting in the air while rubbing up against the ledge. The jump that comes with dismounting gives the player an additional boost in height.
Related masteries[edit]
Skimmer Mount[edit]
Mastery | XP required | Points | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Nimble Recovery | 381,000 | 2 | Learn to nimbly recover after being knocked off the skimmer and after engaging foes by using Barrel Roll. The skimmer will now grant you protection and swiftness when you're recovering. |
Rejuvenating Revival | 457,200 | 3 | Learn to enhance the rejuvenating properties of Barrel Roll to also heal downed allies. |
Ride the Wind | 558,800 | 4 | Learn to ride the wind and increase the height of the hover movement ability to conquer new challenges. |
Nimble Benevolence | 1,222,375 | 5 | Master the skimmer and learn to share the bonus from Nimble Recovery with all mounts. |
Skimming the Depths | 2,000,000 | 8 | Use all you've learned to teach your skimmer to dive underwater. |
Total | 4,619,375 | 22 |
Other masteries[edit]
- Ravenous Discipline: Increase damage when using an engage skill.
- Masterful Descent: Decrease fall damage while mounted by 75%.
- Adroit Evasion: Evade when using endurance during a mount movement skill.
- Bond of Life: Unlocks the Bond of Life mount healing skill.
- Bond of Vigor: Unlocks the Bond of Vigor mount utility skill.
- Bond of Faith: Unlocks the Bond of Faith mount utility skill.
- Sharing Is Caring: Increase maximum mount health by 50%.
- Well Rested: Increase endurance regeneration by 20%.
Skills[edit]
# | Skill | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Skimmer | Summon and mount your skimmer. | |||
1 | Barrel Roll | 2 | Engage. Barrel roll forward, damaging foes and healing allies that you pass though [sic]. | |
4 | Dive | Press when over deep water to dive under the surface. Hold while in water to descend. | ||
5 | Hover High | Hold to increase hover height. | ||
Dismount | Dismount your mount |
Lore[edit]
“Skimmers are graceful creatures native to the Elon River. They live above water, breathing through large air sacs as they float above the surface. While they cannot truly fly, they can hover for short distances at a height of several norn, making them indispensable for crossing large areas of treacherous quicksand or sulfur.
List of Skimmer skins[edit]
- See also: Gallery of Skimmer skins
(*) The mounts in the marked rows either don't appear in API:2/account/mounts/skins and API:2/mounts/skins and/or don't have an ID set. Therefore it cannot be checked if they have been unlocked.
Gallery[edit]
Notes[edit]
- On August 10th, 2020, a new ability for the Skimmer was announced, the ability to travel underwater, and then released on August 25th, 2020 update.
Trivia[edit]
- While idle, the Skimmer will perform several animations:
- The Skimmer will poke your character on their back with its tail; your character will confusedly look around.
- The Skimmer will spin around in a full circle.
- The Skimmer will do a little waggle in air.
- When dyed, the whiskers and edges of the fins and tail get colored, as well as parts of the head and the underside of the fins.
- During the race in Amnoon, the children will comment on the skimmer mount:
- I love the skimmer. They're so floaty.
- I don't understand the skimmer. They don't even have legs!
- The Skimmer's theme is known as "Desert Skimming" in the Path of Fire soundtrack.
Related achievements[edit]
- Crystal Desert: Finding Sibaha (11 )
- Crystal Desert: Skimming the Surface — Unlock the skimmer by completing the Skimmer Ranch task region in the Elon Riverlands and purchasing a skimmer saddle from Ardra. (5)
- Elon Riverlands: Skimmer Search — Use your newly earned skimmer to help those in need throughout the Elon Riverlands. (5)
- Festival of the Four Winds: Slalom Skimmer — Finish the Skimmer Slalom race in the Labyrinthine Cliffs within 2 minutes and 30 seconds. (5 )
- Prologue: Bound by Blood: Crater Circuit: Silver Challenge — Finish the Crater Circuit within the Silver Challenge time limit. (2 )
- Prologue: Bound by Blood: Crater Circuit: Gold Challenge — Finish the Crater Circuit within the gold challenge time limit. (3 )
- Prologue: Bound by Blood: Crater Circuit: Top Three — Finish the Crater Circuit in the top three. (3 )
External links[edit]
- Dive into Adventure with Your Skimmer, Guildwars2.com
- Guild Wars 2's Skimmer mounts are going underwater, pcgamer.com