King size skill icons

Endrosz

Endrosz

Academy Page

Join Date: Jul 2007

Budapest, Hungary

Unga Bunga Clan [UNG]

Rt/

Some people from the community have been long been aware that Guild Wars skill icons are available in a much better resolution than the in-game icons. The so-called skill sheets, prepared for sealed play tournaments contain the treasure. Now, as several people pointed out in other threads and forums, "someone" needed to cut them from the sheets, name them properly, arrange them into galleries and downloadable compressed versions.

I'm a little bit surprised that a community this big didn't have a volunteer for so many months - if I'm wrong, correct me -, but here I am, with the job done to the best of my abilities. Here's a little sample of the stuff.





Galleries

Warrior
Ranger
Monk
Necromancer
Mesmer
Elementalist
Assassin
Ritualist
Paragon
Dervish

Packages

Assassin - Mesmer (~7 MB)
Monk - Paragon (~6 MB)
Ranger - Warrior (~7 MB)

(GSites doesn't allow files bigger than 10 MB)

Ancients, errors, and oddities

There were many issues I had to deal with while going through the grind. I will list them all, so that no will blame me for looking at a picture s/he didn't expect.

Wrong name

Some Eye of the North skills still had their preview weekend names. This had no impact on the end result, it was a simple renaming issue. However, if someone were to print out the skill sheets as it was envisioned, then it would become a problem.
  • Aura of Stability is listed as Steadfast Aura
  • Way of the Master is listed as Way of the Warrior
  • Maiming Spear is listed as Nonsensical Spear
Horizontally flipped pictures

It was easy to match the in-game version with no loss in quality.
  • Belly Smash
  • Penetrating Attack
Wrong picture

Some skills had the wrong picture. Some of these were, I think, intentional, putting the cool Factions art in place of the old Prophecies art for a few duplicate skills, while others were a mistake.
  • Galrath Slash <- Silverwing Slash
  • Pure Strike <- Jaizhenju Strike
  • Bestial Pounce <- Savage Pounce
  • Dodge <- Zojun's Haste
  • Point Blank Shot <- Zojun's Shot
  • Savage Pounce <- Bestial Mauling
  • Tiger's Fury <- Bestial Fury
  • Zojun's Haste <- Dodge
  • Zojun's Shot <- Point Blank Shot
  • Shield Guardian <- Stonesoul Strike
Accidentally exchanged pictures were easy to put into place. For the others, I had to enlarge the in-game icons, which look ugly at this resolution.

Alternative picture

The most curious issue I encountered was that some skills had a totally different art. Most of them look cooler than the original, even! However, for the sake of correctness, I provided the enlarged in-game icons (still very ugly) as the default art, and a link below the picture shows you the alternative. In the downloadable version, the "unseen" art is named "<skill name>_alt.jpg".
  • Crude Swing
  • Crushing Blow
  • Deflect Arrows
  • Riposte
  • Rush
  • Pestilence
  • Power Flux
  • Visions of Regret
  • Maiming Spear

Vow of Silence has another, smaller issue. There is only a small difference between the two versions: the in-game dervish only raises one finger to her lips, while the skill sheet version shows her putting all of her fingers to seal her lips. The gallery and the package contain only the skill sheet version.

The Ancients, including the untrimmed ones

I suppose, though I can't tell for sure, that for some very old icons, no high-res art exists. Some icons were obviously enlarged from the in-game icons, and yes, they are ugly. As someone who went through this process multiple times, I know that one step is to trim the icon, it has a few pixels wide black border. Now, the person in charge of providing the pictures missed this step on many occassions, resulting in an even uglier picture.

I won't list all of the Ancients, that would be too long, but I will list the ones where the border was still present, and I had to do the trimming, even-more-enlarging myself. If you have a keen eye, you will notice that these pictures miss the about two pixel wide gray border which is present on the sheet originals.
  • Feral Lunge
  • Oath Shot
  • Smite
  • Crytal Wave
  • Earthquake
  • Flame Burst
  • Ice Prison
  • Searing Heat
  • Whirlwind
  • Windborne Speed
Project information

I will list the necessary info for cutting. Now, why would someone do this job again when it's already done? First, I'm hoping that some day, we will have an entirely correct version of the skill sheets, so cutting might be needed later. Second, the pictures I provided to you were compressed again into JPEGs to have reasonable sizes. I randomly checked them against the originals on the skill sheets, and I would say the the difference is noticeable to the trained eye in many cases, if not every time. So if you want the maximum you can get from the originals, you need to do the cutting for yourself, and save them as bitmaps or another lossless format.

The skill sheets have an array of 3x3 skills on them - the last one for each profession has a few blanks, of course.

1,1 - 62,145
1,2 - 912, 145
1,3 - 1762, 145

2,1 - 62, 1245
2,2 - 912, 1245
2,3 - 1762, 1245

3,1 - 62, 2345
3,2 - 912, 2345
3,3 - 1762, 2345

The size is 254x254, though in my image manipulation tool, I had to set the cutting size to 255x255 to get what I wanted.

Copyright notice

Even though ArenaNet provided the skill sheets as free downloads, I do not have the right to alter and re-distribute them. I most sincerely hope that the result of my "labour of love" - I spent about 25 hours on this project, all told - will not be considered a copyright infringement, and will be left alone for the viewing pleasure of the Guild Wars community.

Corrections, please? Pretty please, with cherry on top?

I know that the skills sheets and sealed play in general are just a little side project that has probably very low priority inside ArenaNet's working schedule (they are updated irregularly, that much I know). However, if someone who knows the right person to talk to were to see this message: please tell them correct the errors I listed in this message.

And if we could have the PvE skills listed in an eleventh package, that would be soooooo great. O.O As the sealed play page states, the rules are just guidelines, so why not provide the players with the PvE skills as well, they will know what to do with them.

Merry viewing, everyone! ^_^

TheGuildWarsPenguin

TheGuildWarsPenguin

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Los Angeles, California

Picnic Pioneers

E/

Nice

Except the website is in another language.

Covah

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Ontario, Canada

Catching Jellyfish With [소N트T ]

Me/Rt

These are awsome. Thanks ^^

Paul thy god

Paul thy god

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2007

N/Rt

Nice, i love the necro ones, some i could just never figure out what they were

MMSDome

MMSDome

Raged Out

Join Date: Sep 2005

very nice that someone took the time to do this

obsidian ectoplasm

obsidian ectoplasm

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2008

Wow.... this is really cool

Sleeper Service

Sleeper Service

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

CULT

sir i commend you on your effort!
thanks a bunch this is awesome. =]

Tatile

Tatile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2007

Stygian Disciples of Tenebrasus

N/Me

Sure are a few Necromancers in those icons o.O
Sloth Hunter's looks painful when it's big.

It's nice to see what the icons are meant to look like. I always though Healing Seed had an image of a woman holding a water urn >.<

Haldibarn

Haldibarn

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2007

Hungary

Night Watchers Hun

D/

Very nice job, and thanks for sharing with the community.

Sethellington

Sethellington

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2005

nn

N/



Love that one ! These are awesome.. I like the detail on air of enchantment too

EDIT:

drool

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

Very nice indeed. Some artwork on the icons is simply stunning, it's a shame the ingame-icons are too vague.

Thanks for all the work you put in!

blurmedia

Banned

Join Date: Sep 2007

UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE [moko]



Gaile Gray

Shawn The Divine

Shawn The Divine

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2006

Nova Scotia

My Other Healer Is Lvl Eighty

Mo/W

Amazing, after three years of playing this game, I'm only realizing what the hell is going on in some of the skill icons now. Had no idea Gash was a picture of a body, it always looked like another sword pic to me, like to Sever Artery. Magehunter's Strike looks amazing, too. Pity the skill itself sucks. : /

Huge kudos to you, Endrosz.

BenjZee

BenjZee

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2006

The Overacheivers [Club]

Mo/

haha there great, i only just ntoiced some of my favourite skills and what they are actually of

icedwhitemocha

icedwhitemocha

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2006

Ancestral/Grenz

[CneX]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn The Divine
Amazing, after three years of playing this game, I'm only realizing what the hell is going on in some of the skill icons now.
Same here.

"You Will Die!" looks like a straight up photomanip.

Oh, and sloth hunter's shot is hilarious.

One more... Discord looks like some famous actor.. dunno.

xDusT II

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2006

Melbourne

Oh wow, never noticed the [skill]masochism[/skill] skill depicts someone fish-hooking themselves...

I also never noticed the face in [skill]empathy[/skill], and the detail on [skill]castigation signet[/skill] is fantastic.

It's amazing how much effort goes into these skill icons which many of u don't stop and think twice about, really great of you to post these.

Sethellington

Sethellington

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2005

nn

N/

never knew that [tranquility] was a waterfall... so much is lost here... the skills actually look really nice !

Lawliet Kira

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2006

E/Me

Didnt notice the face in the middle of the shield in SoA

Very nice

White Lies

White Lies

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2007

This is brilliant. Sheer brilliance. I looked at it and thought 'this is perfect'. Even the 'ancient' ones as you put it are brilliant. I love it. This is.... brilliant.
/awed.

MrGuildBoi

MrGuildBoi

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2006

A/

The guild wars Vow of Silence is different from the king-size one =o

[Morkai]

[Morkai]

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2007

Heroes of Elonia [HE]

W/Rt

Awesome! Downloading full pack now

Sethellington

Sethellington

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2005

nn

N/

[never give up!]

that icon is cool! never saw the female nec with fow armour in that !

Puebert

Puebert

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

Mo/

Wow, these are great.

Good job. =]

exist1874

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2008

Mo/

Thanks for this. I knew these were in the Sealed Play thing but those were sort of hard to browse through.

I like how some of the EotN icons have some Aztec influence on them, probably leftovers from Utopia.

itsvictor

itsvictor

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2008

Wow they look really cool.

AscalonWarrior

AscalonWarrior

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2006

Kokkola, Finland

Mo/


Body Shot

WHY MONK?

Nadasee

Nadasee

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

These are great!

I never under my 3 Years in GW seen that the woman on "Gladiators Defence" wear a Gladiator armor haha. Same goes for the face on the Mesmer skill "Fragility"

Great!

Abonai Laguna

Abonai Laguna

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2006

Isle of the Dead [CoC] GH

Company Of Corpses [CoC]

E/

Awesome work o.0
I cannot wait till they all are in full package downloads

JONO51

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2006

P/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sethellington
[never give up!]

that icon is cool! never saw the female nec with fow armour in that !
Yeah, I was surprised by that. Quite a few of the Para skils had female nec's in for some reason 0.o

Tatile

Tatile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2007

Stygian Disciples of Tenebrasus

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by JONO51
female nec's in for some reason 0.o
Some reason: they're hot. I may be biased though.

Rhamia Darigaz

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2008

WOW. these skill icons look amazing. i especially like the fragility art, wow.
i've also never heard of the sealed play thing o.O yet another reason to compare gw to mtg

Trenixz

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2008

A/

I think it's funny that the image for drunken blow shows a warrior with an armor combo that only a drunk would choose.

bebe

bebe

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

http://tinyurl.com/4g5ueb8

Put the peanut in the peanut hole!

Those are really nice!!

Divisor

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

Vesuvian Doppelgankers [VoD]

W/

The king size versions of
[Wounding Strike][Rending Touch][Zealous Sweep][Reap Impurities]
look brutal

stretchs

stretchs

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2007

Untimely Demise [Err了] - SOHK

The entire mesmer collection looks just like the class is, a headache!! Great job on all this work. The images really are amazing, I have always wondered what many of them were

malko050987

malko050987

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2007

Arad, Romania

The Arctic Marauders [TAM] - now recruiting!

R/

Wow. Just wow. Thanks for all the work you did. Necro ones look like stuff from nightmares... >.>

Taisayacho

Taisayacho

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2007

England (GMT)

The Imperial Guards of Istan [TIGI]

R/

wow! Fragility has to be my favorite from what I've looked at so far

JoeKnowMo

JoeKnowMo

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2005

Wessst Siiide, USA

Mo/

I put together a texmod file using these high-res icons for just monk skills. Click here.

Maybe this will spur others to work on similar texmods for other professions *hint hint*

Thanks to Endrosz for making these icons usable. Thanks to Shawn the Divine for answering my questions about texmod.

Edit. Here's a pic showing the default vs. the new icons. The default icons are on top, the hi-res icons are below. Clicky.

The newer icons are more zoomed in and therefore look better with a cleaner UI. Try Clearskills Blue or Green by Shawn.

Edit 2: Alternate links.
Texmod file.
Comparison image. (Default icons on top, new icons on bottom).

Waldir

Waldir

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

---------------

Mo/Me

Did anyone notice this?


=>

joshuarodger

joshuarodger

Unbanned

Join Date: Jan 2008

Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] -- IGN: Swirly

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Waldir
Did anyone notice this?
-snip
holy crap, nice find. there isn't much arguing that. think one of the devs has a thing for Mila Kunis??