Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W) (2024)

“

"Volatile powers, all at my fingertips..."

The Harbinger is a gunslinger and an alchemist, empowering their pistol and utilizing elixirs imbued with dark energies. But strength comes at a cost, and the Harbinger must balance on a knife's edge between power and corruption.

— In-game description

Harbinger is an elite specialization for the necromancer unlocked with the End of Dragons expansion. Harbingers combine magic and alchemy, extracting ancient energy from the Dragonjade to empower their magic. Instead of using life force as a second health pool, harbinger’s Harbinger Shroud does not protect against incoming attacks, becoming a far more aggressive transformation with ranged attacks and mobility. These gunslingers walk the fine edge between life and death, afflicting themselves with Blight to reduce their vitality in exchange for more damage.

They learn how to concoct elixirs, beverages that they throw to provide allies with boons, and damage enemies. They can wield pistols in their main hand, firing corrosive, noxious bullets. Harbingers focus on damage dealing, but can opt to also provide important boons to their allies.

List of harbinger skills[edit]

See also: List of necromancer skills

Profession mechanic[edit]

Harbingers replace Death Shroud with Harbinger Shroud, which applies Blight to the harbinger every second while in shroud.

#	Skill			Description
F1	Harbinger Shroud		10	Enter Harbinger Shroud, granting powerful offensive skills but leaving you vulnerable to attack. As you remain in Harbinger Shroud, you accumulate blight over time. Blight decreases your maximum health.
F1	Exit Harbinger Shroud			Leave Harbinger Shroud and return to your normal form.
Harbinger Shroud
1	Tainted Bolts	½		Fire quick bolts of dark energy that explode on impact, inflicting torment to enemies in the area.
2	Dark Barrage	¾	6	Fire six bolts of tormenting energy that fan out from you, piercing all enemies in their path.
3	Devouring Cut	1	8	Channel twisted energy to launch yourself at your foe, damaging nearby enemies on impact. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and torment struck foes.
4	Voracious Arc	¾	10	Leap to your destination, evading through the air. Daze enemies near your impact point. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and torment struck foes.
5	Vital Draw	1	20	Twist the souls of nearby enemies, suspending them in the air while you siphon their life force. Gain life force for each target struck.

Weapon skills[edit]

#	Skill			Description
Pistol[edit]
1	Vicious Shot	½		Fire a tormenting bullet that bounces between nearby foes.
2	Weeping Shots	1¼	6	Pierce your enemies with a series of corrosive bullets, inflicting torment and vulnerability. Gain life force for the first target hit by each bullet.
3	Vile Blast	¾	12	Fire a dart that shatters on impact, releasing noxious liquid that stuns, weakens, and poisons foes in the area. Gain life force for each target struck.

Slot skills[edit]

Healing[edit]

Skill				Description
Elixir of Promise		½	25	Elixir. Infuse an elixir with the promise of good health, healing yourself and gaining regeneration, and then toss the elixir at the targeted area, poisoning foes. If you are in the splash area of the elixir, gain Blight. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double damage and condition duration.

Utility[edit]

Skill				Description
Elixir of Risk		½	25	Elixir. Infuse the magical essence of risk into an elixir, gaining might and fury, and then toss the elixir at the targeted area, inflicting weakness on foes. If you are in the splash area of the elixir, gain Blight. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and condition duration.
Elixir of Anguish		½	25	Elixir. Infuse the magical essence of anguish into an elixir, gaining swiftness and quickness, and then toss the elixir at the targeted area, inflicting cripple on foes. If you are in the splash area of the elixir, gain Blight. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and condition duration
Elixir of Bliss		½	25	Elixir. Infuse the magical essence of bliss into an elixir, gaining resolution and converting conditions on yourself into life force, and then toss the elixir at the targeted area, corrupting a boon on targets into a condition. If you are in the splash area of the elixir, gain Blight. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and corrupt an additional boon on targets
Elixir of Ignorance		½	24	Elixir. Infuse the magical essence of ignorance into an elixir, gaining resistance and breaking stuns, and then toss the elixir at the targeted area, inflicting blindness on foes. If you are in the splash area of the elixir, gain Blight. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and condition duration.

Elite[edit]

Skill				Description
Elixir of Ambition		½	60	Elixir. Infuse your boundless ambition into an elixir, gaining every possible boon, and then toss the elixir at the targeted area, inflicting all damaging conditions on foes. If you are in the splash area of the elixir, gain Blight. If you are at or above the Blight threshold when you activate this skill, consume that amount of Blight to double the damage and condition duration.

List of harbinger traits[edit]

See also: List of necromancer traits

Tier	Trait		Description
Minor Proficiency	Pistol Proficiency		You can wield pistols.
Minor Adept	Dark Disciple		Death Shroud is replaced with Harbinger Shroud, granting powerful offensive skills but leaving you vulnerable to attack. As you remain in Harbinger Shroud, you accumulate stacking Blight. Blight decreases your maximum health.
Major Adept	Wicked Corruption		Deal increased strike damage for each stack of blight you have. Critical strikes deal increased damage to targets with torment.
Major Adept	Vile Vials		Elixir skills inflict vulnerability on nearby enemies.
Major Adept	Septic Corruption		Deal increased condition damage for each stack of blight you have. Shroud 2 skill also inflicts poison.
Minor Master	Alchemic Vigor		Gain increased vitality. Heal each second for each stack of blight you have.
Major Master	Implacable Foe		Gain stability when entering Harbinger Shroud. Gain ferocity based on your vitality.
Major Master	Twisted Medicine		Elixir skills also grant their boons to allies within the elixir impact radius. Gain concentration based on your vitality.
Major Master	Dark Gunslinger		Pistol skills gain reduced recharge. Gain expertise based on your vitality.
Minor Grandmaster	Corrupted Talent		Gain life force when you enter Harbinger Shroud.
Major Grandmaster	Cascading Corruption		Your power is increased. While in Harbinger Shroud, you gain an aura that pulses each interval to damage and cripple nearby enemies.
Major Grandmaster	Deathly Haste		While in Harbinger Shroud, gain an aura that pulses each interval to grant quickness to yourself and nearby allies.
Major Grandmaster	Doom Approaches		Your condition damage is increased. While in Harbinger Shroud, you gain an aura that pulses each interval to torment and weaken nearby enemies.

Lore[edit]

“

A harbinger makes no clean kills, wielding a pistol to devastate their enemies with noxious, corrosive bullets. These skilled alchemists have developed elixirs to inflict Blight on themselves, converting their own pain into power. In Harbinger Shroud, they gain devastating abilities while suffering from Blight.

— Official site

“

The harbinger borrows a dash of old west gunslinger, and mixes it with a splash of wandering apothecary, expressed by their elixir skills and related support traits. The result is a fast-paced, frenetic combat style that rewards skill, risk, and biting off exactly as much as you can chew (but no more) while subverting the traditional, more methodically-paced gameplay of Necromancer.

— Elite specialization lore^[1]

“

In Cantha people have discovered, that you can extract ancient magic from the jade (as a result of the jade wind), and the Harbingers who are also very adept alchemists have realised that they can take that energy and imbue it into their elixirs as well as their bullets (for their main hand pistol) and the result is incredibly deadly and noxious

— Indigo Boock

Notable Harbingers[edit]

• Ankka

Associated items[edit]

• Quietus
• Harbinger's Pistol
• Corrosive Touch

Related achievements[edit]

• Specializations: Adept Harbinger — Begin training the necromancer's harbinger elite specialization.(5)
• Specializations: Master Harbinger — Completely train the necromancer's harbinger elite specialization.(10)
• Specialization Collections: Quietus — Collect these 14 items and skins to receive the harbinger's pistol, Quietus.(3)

Gallery[edit]

Promotional material

• 

  Teaser

• 

  Revealed concept art

  See Also

  Who is the strongest Archon in Genshin Impact? Ranked

• 

  Still frame from the reveal video

• 

  Still frame from the reveal video

• 

  Promotional official icon

Icons

• 

  Official icon

• 

  Official icon

• 

  Wiki icon

Notes[edit]

• Equipping a pistol with unique projectiles will cause the Harbinger projectiles to be overridden. This effect will also apply in Shroud.
• The Harbinger NPC is Yuryong^[2], found in the Kaineng Ruins.
• In the concept art, the Harbinger wears the Minister's Hat.

External links[edit]

Section-stub. This key section of the article is incomplete. You can help the Guild Wars 2 Wiki by expanding it.

• Harbinger spotlight on YouTube

References[edit]

Necromancer

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Specializations	Spite•Curses•Death Magic•Blood Magic•Soul Reaping Reaper• Scourge• Harbinger
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