.. another "monk awareness" thread.

[Evil Hypnotist]

Nice post Studio Ghibli, I planned on doing this exact thing a long time ago but never got round to it!

Just a few things I would have added:

- As with any caster, monks are constrained by spell recharge times, if the group is taking a lot of damage then people can end up dead no matter how good the monk is. Decent monks always have an eye on the party window, they never let characters die on purpose so don't flame them like they did!

- Try and stay close to your monk, if you go out of his/her range and take damage you can't be healed obviously. Yes monks should keep up as well as they can but on the by and large they aren't normally the ones running about in front (or shouldn't be anyway! )

- Non-warrior professions should not be aggroing! Normally the targeted monsters will attack the first character to attack them or come into their aggro circle, only warriors (and to a lesser extent rangers) have the armor and health to do this effectively, hence the nickname 'tank'. Help your monk by helping yourself, stay at the back if you're a caster, the amount of tanking eles I have seen is ridiculous (and almost everyone of them has blamed the monk for not doing a good enough job).

My piece of advice, which has been mentioned earlier, if you are a healing monk and getting verbal abuse from other players then just warn them you will not heal them if they continue. If they do then carry out your threat, they will change their tune once they die (probably a lot more quickly too). A general PUG needs you much more than you need them, get out and find another group if you have to. NOTHING should stop you enjoying this game, especially people who have never even tried being a monk flaming you But also play like you would want other people to play, don't be a jerk because you think you're untouchable. Thats why monk henchies are popular

[xxSilhouette]

/signed

I was in the wilds mission with my monk and one character decided that they wanted to go a differnet way to earn more exp, they died after we were WAAAY past them, and they then started yelling at me beacuse i wouldn't go back and rez them.

[draxynnic]

Originally Posted by Brother Andicus

All you need to do is play PvE for a while, and you see a full spectrum of muppets, from warriors with holy rods to rangers with eruption. Unfortunately, the same applies to many monks.

Actually, warriors with holy rods isn't so dumb, under the right circumstances. My warrior spent most of Hell's Precipice with a fire wand until there were Hands/Fists to beat up on (we had Winter available, and there's no point in standing next to a Titan and being set on fire when you can deal damage from a distance).

But yes, the proverb about walking a mile certainly applies here. I have a baby monk (hasn't reached Kryta yet) and playing one certainly gives you a certain degree of respect for those who do it well (I suspect I'm in the 75%, but hopefully I won't be by the time he finishes the game).

[baz777]

Originally Posted by Marodac Evilbane

But just like a monk should say thank you to someone removing that foe from their back

If that ever happens I will definitely thank them

[Skuld]

My warrior uses an earth wand at times, he drops wards and the +5 energy comes in useful

[FalconDance]

Zehnchu, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing! Agreed, been there and had it said!

merty, even 55s are not invincible. Have one die and see what happens. Full rez or nothing.

Me (low on egy); Cait Nic Cailleach is using Signet of Devotion on (player)
Him: WTF is that! That didn't do sh*t.
Him: Heal me, n00b!
Me: Devotion heals you for 77 while my energy regens.
Me: Cait Nic Cailleach uses Heal Other on (player)
Me: Cait Nic Cailleach uses Signet of Devotion on (player)
Him: N00b! If you didn't waste your energy, you wouldn't be low.
Me: If you didn't aggro after I asked for regen from the last battle, you wouldn't be dying.

I was a smiting monk for a while, especially in Kryta. Cait is now nearly pure heal with Spiteful Spirit to 'soften' up a nasty foe or boss for the tanks and a couple other curses for her defense. My blood necro can heal nearly as well as a monk(better than some and has been party healer on several quests and missions), however, if given the chance with Well of Blood. But everyone expects cookie-cutter builds: healer monk, MM necros, stance tanks, etc. Pfft.

[Indian]

Originally Posted by Makkert

I remember using Unyielding once. Most fun I ever had with my monk.

~Riverside Mission~
3 guildies meet up
guildie1(g1): Do we want PuP's or Henchies?
g2: henchies. usually better.
me: PuP's. I feel like being entertained.
g2: and then be screwed over by an idiot?
me: I'll pack Unyielding to be sure.
g1: ok.
~invites a few pup's~
warrior pup runs off like a chicken without a head, and gets killed.
I res with Unyielding
war: wtf? Unyielding? Don't you know how this game works?
me: I do. that's why you are placed under unyielding
~ next fight war almost succeeds in dragging back to much aggro to the party, a quick doubleclick prevents this and he falls dead ~
war: wtf?
me: be a good boy now

after a little time he got it, and we didn't have any troubles after. I could savely res him with the other res spell i also had.

now thats just classic

[saphir]

hey don't forget the bad monks.. there are so many of them in tombs uw these days it seems. one bad monk in a 2 monk party can make both monks look bad, especially if the group is highly unintelligent aggro-wise.

i had this one monk who had no idea when to cast SB. i told him to cast it before the warrior ran in to aggro, but he never would. then he'd stand around and spam orison which i'm sure all monks know how well that keeps an ele or ranger alive who's hp will drop 2/3 from one grasping attack.
then the war would go on about how he didn't want any enchants on him whenever sb was put on him. and this monk would always just be standing next to the war at the front lines of aggro.

or the other monk i got really pissed off at for yelling "wtf, heal me! monk!" on level 2 of tombs uw. in the area surrounded by 2 terrorwebs on each side, and 3 in front. the monk is at full hp, then 1/4 then dead in less than a second. fireball spikes. so i click on his name in the party window to find out where he is. lo and behold, his corpse lies in front of all the other party members at base of the chained soul. being the only other monk on the team, i was like, "wtf is the monk doing up there in the front?" thinking maybe he lagged up there or something.

his reply is "i was attacking and doing damage"
he's up there wanding 3 terrorwebs.... and he's a monk, he should have been intellilgent enough to keep himself alive if he was going to do that. not expect the other monk to heal his idiocy.
"um no, you're a monk, you're supposed to be back here healing, not attacking."
also i told him that "i don't heal stupidity"

after that i think he just didn't bother healing much because the party supported me and not him. all in all a bad monk, he nearly killed our tank several times by repeatedly throwing healing breeze and other enchants on him around packs of dreamriders.

and he kept repeatedly dying.. just didn't know when to stay back..
good thing i have no problems as the only monk in 6 man groups.. because this monk was gimped


so while many players aren't aware of what a monk goes through on the job, it's even less apparent (often to monks themselves) when the other monk(s) aren't pulling their own weight or just outright suck

[FrogDevourer]

Originally Posted by Studio Ghibli

Just because I've suffered another awful run with newblets, I feel compelled to make this post, a post I've seen a number of times over already.

Old topic indeed, but such a reminder seems necessary. Your first post reminds me why I rarely play in random groups anymore. PvE henchmen are always happy with my healing, and they're good enough to go through all missions & capture runs, as well as most quests. To be honest, they're much better and smarter than the average pick-up player. For tougher places or PvP, I'll join a Guild (or friend) group.

Concerning noob management, playing as a monk is a great way to control the most stupid players. Makkert mentioned unyielding aura which is the ultimate noob emergency button. Once you've gone through all basic explanations (don't aggro, focus fire, wait for patrol, pull...), plain threat is your best ally: "wait for patrols or you get no heal until the end of this mission", "next time casters aggro everything they'll spend the rest of this mission with their face on the ground", "keep using caps in party channel, and I'll bail out", "if you keep running out of healing range, we'll see if you can self-heal and stay alive".

You wouldn't believe how smarter a palanoob can become once his group has successfully killed the toughest opponents while he was waiting to be resurrected.

Concerning bad monks, there are very few PvE areas where two good healers are needed. Most of the time one human monk (and a hench in groups of 8) will be more than enough (at least in decent groups). So if you're struggling to keep everybody alive (energy problem is the classic symptom), either you're playing in a tough area (UW/SF come to mind), or your group sucks badly (bail out a.s.a.p and look for a better one), or the other monk is doing nothing, or your own monking needs to get better (that's something most monks never consider).

[Monk of The Light]

Thx Studio for finnally made ppl aware of all the torments (and joys) of being a monk. It could not have been said better!

[Lord Sojar]

Originally Posted by Sekkira

It goes both ways. Warriors can't take the aggro if the back and mid line are right next to them.

Monk: Stop using sprint and rushing into battle!
Me: Would you prefer being attacked instead, because you don't seem to know how to shake off aggro or anything about positioning. I can arrange it if you feel the need to play meatshield.

Monk: Stop charging into battle my energy is low!
Me: I am a warrior, I usually have full energy, you are not indicating to me that your energy is low and I couldn't know otherwise.
Monk. My energy is 12 of 74.
Me: Learn some energy management then get back to me.

Ok, first off... monks don't have 74 energy unless they are using -energy regen items... which is just retarded as hell. Second, your a warrior, you WILL listen to the monks, or, well, IMHO, I'll just let you die. I really don't play these games with warriors. Argue with me, fine, enjoy dying. Argue with me more, enjoy eating dirt. Don't bite the hand that feeds. Warriors are mostly pathetic excuses for players... oh look, AMITY in pvp, OWNED. PvE, you are just giant meatbags, nothing more. Do your job and STFU about it. You are there to get the shit beaten out of you, that's all. You don't even need to talk when we get right down to it. And BTW, I have a warrior, and he is a QUIET good boy who does as he is told, and has patience. So, you can take that comment on ENERGY MANAGEMENT and shove it where the sun doesn't shine, because you don't want to see my ways of energy management... it's called, SCREW YOU WAMMO JACKASS, no healing for you.

[Linsys]

In general I would sign this thread... but honestly I've never had someone be nasty to me..

Although I useto ONLY play Smite Monk before the AoE nerf.. I rarely played healer... Smite was soooo powerfull...

I think most monks have no clue what they are doing.. I especially love the ones who bring Rebirth and Restore Life... and then mix prot and heal and smite (gotta love the Heal/Smite/Prot Monks)... and think they are good... I spend all my time actually healing the team and they are doing god knows what..

When I run with my guild and I play warrior or Necro we always get the henchies it isn't worth trying to pick up a monk...

When I go with PUGs I've never been told I was a crappy monk...

I rarely attack since I pack an HoD sword... never been questioned about it before.. my want does little dmg I rather get the enchantment boost from my sword..

[Tijger]

Originally Posted by Linsys

I rarely attack since I pack an HoD sword... never been questioned about it before.. my want does little dmg I rather get the enchantment boost from my sword..

Try a Yakslapper, +10 energy over the HoD sword and the same bonus to enchantments.

Wielding a melee weapon on a non-smiting/i-monk is just..well..odd.

[Linsys]

The Yak is a 2 handed weapon is it not? This doesn't compare to my Bhron's Staff & Stoneheart or the HoD & Soneheart..

[FalconDance]

Rahja, witha max +/- egy offhand and a + egy^50 weap, I boost my reserves to 64 with +3 regen (could gain five more if I went full tats). Even throwing SS at a boss, using Sig of Devotion as in-between heals, I seldom run dry even with the degen *unless* another group is aggro'd before any of the casters (including me) have had time to catch their breath (or degen skills are thrown at me/it's a degen zone such as Dragon's Lair where I switch to a regular max ankh for full regen but lower energy).

In the first instance, more care needs to be taken by the party warriors (or whomever aggro'd). In the other, simple energy management skills come into play just like any other caster profession.......something that not many seem to realize or be able/willing to do, it seems.

[MSecorsky]

Built a monk to see what the fuss is about. Now addicted to monking. It's a whole different feel to the game when you spend most of the time watching red bars shrink and grow. It's gets so involved that there are times I find spells not working only to realize that I'm trying to heal myself with a 'heal other ally' type spell... character identities gets lost, it's solely heal bars that need attention. Been spending a lot of time in the underworld lately. Here's a quick thought or two...

Warriors... if you're the one doing the aggro and getting Spell Breaker cast on you... do NOT immediately run back to the group when they see you. Stay put and suck it up. I get a real kick out of hearing the rapid fire chirps of failed spells and they won't hurt you. Besides, there's at least two monks watching your health bar. Be brave, we have your back.

The 'heal me' 'rez me' thing... most true. I can see if your health is low or absent. Trust me.

For the love of Dwayna, if there's more than one warrior and SB is cast on warrior "A", the second warrior should not run past the first and get the attention of the casters. It wastes SB and possibly yourself.

Well, 'nuff for now.

[Esprit]

Don't forget about the 'blind invites' when you are in a town, especially if it's a mission. When I went through the game with my monk, I avoided any group that did a blind invite.

Monks will usually pick a group when they are good and ready.

Oh, and a note towards the popularity of monks. Sunday early afternoon, there was a grand total of TWO monks in Hell's Precipice. The Superbowl pre-game stuff was hours away too.

[Kool Pajamas]

I agree with everything except the "Player X is dead" thing. Usually when I click that I'm just goofin. I know everyone knows I'm dead. (Except a few times where they did forget...)....Anyway.... When I play monk I dont mind that, its the "rez plz" or "heal me" that I really hate. Whenever someone says that I tell them to not ask for healing and I'll rez after battle.

I might try the "kill now plz" when/if I play monk again. But usually the only time I play monk now, is for farming and occasionaly to help guildies on missions. Healing is so boring.

[Studio Ghibli]

Unyielding Aura.

Beautiful.

[Studio Ghibli]

Originally Posted by Kool Pajamas

I agree with everything except the "Player X is dead" thing. Usually when I click that I'm just goofin. I know everyone knows I'm dead. (Except a few times where they did forget...)....Anyway.... When I play monk I dont mind that, its the "rez plz" or "heal me" that I really hate. Whenever someone says that I tell them to not ask for healing and I'll rez after battle.

I might try the "kill now plz" when/if I play monk again. But usually the only time I play monk now, is for farming and occasionaly to help guildies on missions. Healing is so boring.

I enjoy the "Player X is dead" thing. It's cute. But when a player is going out of his way to inform you that he's dead, and you -know- he's being an ass about it, then..

Peh.

As for "healing is so boring," it's.. interesting. It's like a game in and of itself. Kind of like an old 386 game back in the day. KEEP THE BARS FILLED!