Curse

Thorinfire · Jun 27, 2006, 03:16 PM // 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowcrown

Monks, I love 'em. Try to never play without one, when I can find one. I respect them too and for the month or so I have been playing the game have learned there is good and bad in everything, even Monks.

I have two characters, a W/R 14 and an E/Mo 14. When I play the W in a group and there is a Monk I always ask if the build is a smiting or healing Monk. I have died more than once while the Monk was off battling instead of healing. Because my W is expected to be in the middle of skirmishes I always advertise my health and energy stats before jumping into the next battle. My Warrior needs precious energy too and a good healing Monk if the party is to survive.

Knowledgable, perhaps older or more experienced, players understand the team concept and what it takes to succeed as a team and lose as a team. Both happen and can be a learning experience. It's easy to blame someone else for your failure and not always easy to accept responsibility. The bottom line for me is that it's still just a game and a good way to learn about people in general.

I've been playing video games since the first Pong was introduced (oops my age is showing) and have been addicted ever since. The Diablo series was by far my favorite but lost it's charm when my lvl 98 Amazon was nerfed by a patch and the chat areas were filled with spam and profanity.

If one of you Monks is ever looking for a friendly team member for a group I'd love to join. Look for Sire Blackadder or Dame Lusty Wench in the evenings (EDT). Just got to Borlis with both and I've never even seen LA or any of the more advanced areas. Maybe one of you could help me with my builds so I can learn and play the game better.

Great post takes me back to the days when Guild Wars was all new to me, I can't even remember the last time I thought LA was an "advanced area"

Great attitude, you will do great in this game. My Monk is in Maguma right now (almost lvl 17) so if you get caught up look me up in game (Aragost Elessar) Ill probably be on quite a bit over the upcoming American Holiday Weekend.

Swinging Fists · Jun 27, 2006, 04:07 PM // 16:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moa Bird Cultist

I have 2 monks, 1 healer and 1 smiter.

Why ? Just swap armor... Are you going to buy a new character slot for each of your builds ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moa Bird Cultist

Thirdly, we do not have a god-given right to totally refuse any assassins when forming a party.

Well, I don't know about god-given, but we do have the right to decide who we decide to form parties with, regardless of our profession. If I chose to not party with any assassins ( or any other profession for that matter ), I can do that. It IS my choice how I wish to play the game. I personally do not exclude assassins from my parties simply because they are assassins, but make no mistake, I am selective of my groups, as I have every right to be.

saphir · Jul 08, 2006, 02:06 AM // 02:06

wow, hard to believe this thread is still around

about pets.. i had an interesting party in fow the other day
me and another monk who seemed to be mostly prot, who was pretty good at keeping out of aggro.

ranger zones in w/ a lvl 9 pet. lovely. a level 9 pet in fow. i don't mind though. that is until after his pet repeatedly dies from shadow warriors and shadow ele spikes, he starts complaining that the monks aren't healing his pet. honestly, i wasn't really healing his pet except when it was doing a good tanknig job and not moving (i would throw seed on it), but the other monk wasn't even bothering with his pet. I think we were both too busy keeping the warriors w/ spiteful spirit alive, and the eles that would get spiked by multiples fireballs. it's a little bit hard to have a spare skill lying around recharged to waste on a pet that will lose just as much hp the second its healed.

in the end, after putting with much crap every time about how us monks sucked, how come hit pet kept dying, etc, etc, i told him it was either going to be his pet dies, or he dies. thereafter, said ranger ran off and attempted to aggro all the mobs in fow and run them back to us. the saddest part was he wasn't any good at that and would keep losing aggro on them. in the end we all died though when the first abysmal was killed and balthazar ran to his death.

pets.. i'll heal them, but not at the expense of the party. although sometimes pets make better uw than the warriors on the team, because they don't run off and hide behind the casters everytime a bladed aatxe hits them!

half the time for monks it's not an energy problem, it's a recharge problem. players often seem to think we always have word of healing, rof or any number of heal skills charged and ready to go. for the eles, necros and other who think they can tank while the monk keeps them healed doesn't realize that we often need to spam faster than the skills can recharge

Xenrath · Jul 08, 2006, 02:26 AM // 02:26

Hadn't really played my monk in some time now (months?) at least not in PUGs. Just did so recently to get around Cantha... my god the rubbish have to put up with compared to any other class, it's just as bad as ever lol

The classical example: useless warrior/tank, or in this case ranger/warrior (with a hammer no less) tanking away, running ahead not giving any time for me to catch up... I'm the only monk in the party of 8. Useless Canthan healer hench as well that didn't count. Wannabe ranger tank gets killed, while I'm being interrupted by mesmers. Decides to make sarcastic comments about it, so I point out the mesmers, and that because the party was spread out I'm having to run back and forward to heal everything - and that I spend most of the time looking at red bars, meaning don't have time to keep looking where everyone is on screen...

Eventually just blatantly stated "if you're going to whine about it, I can always go back to town you know" at which point they kind of shut up

Another example, a guildmate was nice enough to come along and Boon Prot... he even states during the mission he's a boon prot monk. Tanking ele in quest. Need I say more? Tanking ele dies, complains about what kind of healing monk is my guildy (even though guildmate made it clear he was a boon prot). Long story short it's suggested to tanking ele to feel free to quit. The guy decides to stick around long enough to get the bonus and then quits eventually, much to the relief of the rest of the party. Who then go on to complete mission (including with one leecher, who also happened to be an ele)

Now I remember what led me to play monk less and less in PUGs... you simply don't get this crap with other classes.

Puebert · Jul 08, 2006, 02:36 AM // 02:36

I have a monk.

And I get many blind invites into groups. (Surprise surprise)

And before I can say 'ready' or wait, the party is jumped into the mission/quest.

It is usually during this time that an Ele or Assassin decides he/she shall run away from a group a Warrior is tanking and go tank his/her own. And of course I do not follow him to heal him and neith does the other Monk.

At which point he/she calls both of the Monks n00bs and demands us to res him.

It is here that I am faced with two options.

1. Res him/her.

2. Leave him and continue with the mission without having to heal him/her.

I choose the latter.

Even though Monks get called names they have still have much control on the players' life.

thor hammerbane · Jul 08, 2006, 03:47 AM // 03:47

I cant beleive this thread is still alive..Monks who whine give monks a bad name on the whole..I monk and I dont see that we get abused more than the other classes..I've seen as many necros and wars called noobs for doing completeing nothing as much as the monks..Stop crying

Silent Kitty · Jul 08, 2006, 07:59 AM // 07:59

I have became very weary of monks. The last few tries, I lost a chance on the "survivor" title because the monk was not healing. I always run back to the monk when I'm at 10% of my health, but that doesn't seem to work. They either have no ambition keeping people alive or they spam breeze all the time. When I play for survivor, I rather have no healer in the team, so I know what to expect.

Hidden in the Mist · Jul 08, 2006, 08:06 AM // 08:06

Most PvE Monk Healers I see use Healing Breeze to heal. It saddens me.

Silent Kitty · Jul 08, 2006, 08:33 AM // 08:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hidden in the Mist

Most PvE Monk Healers I see use Healing Breeze to heal. It saddens me.

Healing breeze is nice to fight degen, but because many think that is serves to heal as well, they even cast it when monsters are pounding on you.
My own monk is still going for survivor, but I'm very reluctant to join people. My monk's ambition is to keep everybody at 100% health, but not all of the players care to have a good armour. They rather wait for Kaineng Center or Droks, to finally buy some.

My motto is: "When you want survivor title, don't trust the monk!"

Takkun · Jul 08, 2006, 09:10 AM // 09:10

Im sorry guys, you are 8 months or so late for the monk abuse strike in Thunderhead keep.

Draco Hunt · Jul 08, 2006, 09:11 AM // 09:11

Hey Kitty i meet you evrywhere dont i.
Well to the point.

There should be a common respect to any player. They do there best at what they do. I know it is uterly anoying that for instance ele's somehow like to play tank these days(yes even the unexperienced players) And allot of the tanks freak out when hit by a load of spells(thats your job tanky boys

)
The monk needs allot of respect thats true because the chance of suviving without one is slim to non(not including solo's and stuff but you know what i mean). My advise is to all new players to start with a monk. They learn you the most(next to mesmer) about paying attention to your skills and energy management. Also the advantage is they finaly see why monks dont join parties that fast

.

But all professions have there "i dont get respected" or "i cant get a party"threads. Somehow people still make it trough the game so and are apreciated more then they personaly know. It just doesnt have to be by the whole party you play with but doesnt it feel good when someone says "good healing"or "nice interupting"at the end of the fight

.

FalconDance · Jul 08, 2006, 04:15 PM // 16:15

Yesterday I retired Cait, my Tyrian monk who'd finished Prophecies. She'd done her part, I felt, and I recreated my smiter. It will be a challenge because the smiting skills used to be sooooo much better. I'm sure it will be a nasty surprise for a party to learn (in advance) that I only carry the most basic heals and otherwise deal only damage

. Truly, I expect more than a few to drop me in a fit of pique since they won't want to be responsible primarily for themselves.

Silent Kitty · Jul 08, 2006, 05:16 PM // 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by FalconDance

Yesterday I retired Cait, my Tyrian monk who'd finished Prophecies. She'd done her part, I felt, and I recreated my smiter. It will be a challenge because the smiting skills used to be sooooo much better. I'm sure it will be a nasty surprise for a party to learn (in advance) that I only carry the most basic heals and otherwise deal only damage

. Truly, I expect more than a few to drop me in a fit of pique since they won't want to be responsible primarily for themselves.

More power to you! Monks have the right to smite, but don't say it before the party starts, or they'll eject you

chippxero · Jul 08, 2006, 05:16 PM // 17:16

I find smiting a lot easier now that factions is out, you get 2 of some skills so recharge isn't a factor and some new range ones, I don' get to play smiter msot fo the time though as everyone just wants a healer.

Silent Kitty · Jul 08, 2006, 05:22 PM // 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by chippxero

I find smiting a lot easier now that factions is out, you get 2 of some skills so recharge isn't a factor and some new range ones, I don' get to play smiter msot fo the time though as everyone just wants a healer.

You can become a smite/healer with:

Quote:

Balthazar's Aura
For 10 seconds, foes adjacent to target ally take 10-22 holy damage each second.

Quote:

Shield of Judgement Elite Skill
For 8-20 seconds, anyone striking target ally with an attack is knocked down and suffers 5-50 damage.

Quote:

Smite Hex
Remove a hex from target ally. Foes near that ally suffer 10-70 damage.

and

Quote:

Zealot's Fire
For 60 seconds, whenever you use a skill on an ally, all foes adjacent to your target are struck for 5-35 fire damage.

Works for me. Just tell them you are a healer

Age · Jul 08, 2006, 09:57 PM // 21:57

I hate to say this but I have seen my fair share of bad Monks.These are the ones that get ran through the game and don't play it properly and learn their skills .I know that those who get ran through the game just to make 55 Monk and I see level 2s at Amnoon and Droks I know what they are doing there and I even seen as low as level 5 at Thirsty River.The only reason they are thier is to ascend.

Then they turn towards normal Monking and want to to start to heal or protect well they won't be that great at it infact they will run around with thier heads cuts off like I see at THK.This is why I am totally oppossed to low levels making 55 Monks and those who just want to make one up for farming.This gives Monks a bad name and needs to stop.

The only ones who should be making 55 Monks are those who have beaten the game and got all thier 200 attribute points and mostt of thier skills and elites.

mattjones527 · Jul 08, 2006, 10:00 PM // 22:00

I've played my monk over 837 hrs over the past 12 months(only 2.6mil xp so I dont use him as just a farming char) and to be honest I think alot of the monks deserve abuse.

I have been in countless groups where the other monk has little to absolutly no energy managment and loves to spam healing breeze. I have nothing agaisnt breeze for countering degen but it is NOT a direct heal. Personally it really bothers me when the other monk is incompetent, in those cases I think the monk does deserve to be told. If a warrior runs out an aggro's ten groups then you can bet the group will let him know he messed up, it shouldnt be any different for monks.

On the flip side of that there are alot of jerks out there who will blatantly insult monks when it wasnt the monks mistake. If my monking gets insulted and it was my fault then I will take it. However if its a caster trying to tank(with out any defensive buffs) or a warrior using the dreaded frenzy/heal sig combo and they insult me, then they can lay there dead for all I care.

On the issue of pets I dont even bother healing them unless im sitting on full energy and no one is really taking dmg.

Oh and I noticed a few of you mentioning mixing smiting in. In my opinion the average GW group accepts a monk when they want someone to heal not to do damage. There is by no means anything wrong with smiting IF its ok with your group. But in most cases a half smiting monk isnt usefull to the group. Also a smiter healer has little to no room on their bar for energy management.
And when 2/8 players are monks and 1 monk is half smiting, thats alot of work for the second monk.

Silent Kitty · Jul 08, 2006, 10:10 PM // 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattjones527

Oh and I noticed a few of you mentioning mixing smiting in. In my opinion the average GW group accepts a monk when they want someone to heal not to do damage. There is by no means anything wrong with smiting IF its ok with your group. But in most cases a half smiting monk isnt usefull to the group. Also a smiter healer has little to no room on their bar for energy management.
And when 2/8 players are monks and 1 monk is half smiting, thats alot of work for the second monk.

That is all very nice, but when you mention that you are a smiter, people will want you to change your build or be ejected. It is not stated that blunt, but it's reality. There are not many healers around, so many are desperate. When I have 13 in healing and 9 in Divine, I put the rest in smiting, wether they like it or not. I rather just say that I heal, and not mention the smiting part. As Mo/Me I hardily ever run out of energy, unless there is a noob tank still fighting in novice armour and some squishy not knowing when to kite. That is mostly the only reason why I run out of energy.

inscribed · Jul 08, 2006, 10:16 PM // 22:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silent Kitty

More power to you! Monks have the right to smite, but don't say it before the party starts, or they'll eject you

This is why you always check and double check that the monks in a PUG are healing/protecting monks. Yes, a smiting monk will get ejected from a PUG, as well they should. Any class can deal damage, and most can do it alot better than a smiting monk can. Healing and protection, on the other hand, are limited to a monk, and its the only reason they get into a PUG.

FalconDance · Jul 08, 2006, 10:19 PM // 22:19

<grins> On the subject of novice armor and the squishy factor:

I was just in Ascalon at lvl 8 (just lvled) with my Smiter when the monk I'd helped briefly in pre popped in for a chat. She asked me why I "wasted" my money on Wanderer's armor when I should save for Drok's. (Because we all know there are no foe and no quests between Ascalon and there) She then merrily rattled off all the places she'd already been (at lvl 7).....Yak's, LA (I think), the Grotto. When I said I only had Ascalon on my map so far,she was boggled. I reiterated that I play the game, not get run through.

She still thought I should just go get Forge armor

.