Essence of Animated Sand

Fire an arrow equipped with a payload that explodes enchanted sand on impact, granting barrier and might to allies. Chain Reaction. The next short-bow skill in the radius will grant additional might to allies. — In-game description

Essence of Animated Sand

Profession

Engineer (skill list)

Weapon

Short bow

Type

Chain Reaction

Game link

API

72052

“

0.75¾  8  

Essence of Animated Sand

Fire an arrow equipped with a payload that explodes enchanted sand on impact, granting barrier and might to allies.

Chain Reaction. The next short-bow skill in the radius will grant additional might to allies.

 Damage: 367 (1.0)^?

 Damage: 220 (0.6)^?

 Barrier: 1,285 (1.0)^?

 Barrier: 645 (0.5)^?

 Barrier: 805 (1.0)^?

₅ Might (8s): 150 Condition Damage, 150 Power

 Might (5s): 30 Condition Damage, 30 Power

₂ Might (8s): 60 Condition Damage, 60 Power

₃ Chain Reaction Might (8s): 90 Condition Damage, 90 Power

₂ Chain Reaction Might (8s): 60 Condition Damage, 60 Power

 Number of Targets: 5

 Chain Reaction Availability Window: 4 seconds

 Radius: 240

 Combo Finisher: Blast

 Range: 1,200

— In-game description

Related traits

Firearms

• Juggernaut — Gain might while wielding a flamethrower. Might applied to you gains increased duration. Napalm grants you stability and a fire aura.

Alchemy

• Compounding Chemicals — Heal yourself when you grant yourself a boon. Remove a condition from yourself when you use an elixir skill. Gain increased concentration.
• Chain Reactivity — Gain barrier when you successfully finish a combo field with a leap or a blast. Every third successful finish grants you might and a larger barrier that is shared with allies.

Scrapper

• Kinetic Accelerators — Grant boons to nearby allies when you successfully combo a field with a blast, leap, or whirl finisher. Your function gyro is now a blast finisher. Whirl finishers can only trigger this trait once per interval.
• Applied Force — Gain stability when you gain might at or above the threshold. Might grants bonus power.

Mechanist

• Mech Frame: Channeling Conduits — Unlocks the Mech Command skill Crisis Zone. When you or your mech apply barrier, also grant a boon to the affected target. Your mech gains a greater percentage of your concentration and healing power stats.

Amalgam

• Innervating Alloy — Heal every second while you have barrier. Heal when you evolve.

Version history

For a detailed skill history, see here.

Patch	Changes
June 02, 2026	Reduced the base barrier from 1,285 to 805 in PvP only.
November 18, 2025	Reduced the power coefficient from 1.0 to 0.6 in PvP only.
April 15, 2025	Reduced the initial might stacks from 2 to 1 and the chain-reaction might stacks from 3 to 2 WvW only.
February 11, 2025	Reduced the might duration from 8 seconds to 5 seconds in WvW only. Reduced the base barrier from 1,285 to 645 in WvW only.
April 16, 2024	(Competitive split) Reduced the barrier healing power coefficient from 1.0 to 0.5 in WvW only. Reduced the initial might from 5 stacks to 2 stacks in WvW and PvP.
February 27, 2024	Essence of Animated Sand has been added to the game. This skill has been reworked. Fire an arrow equipped with a payload that explodes enchanted sand on impact, granting barrier and might to allies. Chain Reaction: The next short-bow skill in the radius will grant additional might to allies.
November 28, 2023	Essence of Animated Sand was available during the Expanded Weapon Proficiency Beta Event.