how does arcane mimicry work?

I went out with my Mesmer last night for the first time with arcane mimicry, and I can't figure how to get this skill to work.

It is supposed to mimic a skill of a target ally for a certain amount of seconds. I got it to do something by targetting a party member (for example the elementalist) and then clicking on the skill icon. But instead of the icon becoming that of the copied skill (as with arcane thievery or arcane echo), the icon immediately went into the skill-recharge animation.

Can anyone with a Mesmer explain what I am seeing here? Am I doing something wrong? How is this skill supposed to be used?

Thanks!

Arcane Mimicry copies a team members elite skill. If they don't have an elite equipped there's nothing to copy and the skill goes into recharge mode. Works best if you talk to team members before hand so you know who to copy to get a useful elite.

Oh, ok! Thanks! I didn't know it was only for elite skills. Thought it was like arcane thievery or echo which works on any skill (thievery being random).

That explains why it went into recharge mode - I was out with a team of henchies only, and they don't have elite skills. (Actually, I wanted to go out with arcane echo but underway found out I grabbed the mimicry by mistake, heh heh).

I did that to myself a couple of times. The muttering going on was really quite profane.