Curse

Dyne · May 23, 2007, 02:21 AM // 02:21

Has anyone ever run a Smiting / Protecting Prayers line Monk? I'm one to use builds that are rarely used ( in this case Smiting ). Of course I plan to have some healing spells for back-up, but the main objective is to lower damage as much as possible while dealing moderate damage. I'm a total newb to Guild Wars and only have Prophecies so... help please?

I'm not too sure how effective it is ( doubt it's that effective ) and not sure which secondary I should use, if applicable. Ah, and please no "dat be n00b go heal bomb all lolz!oneone11!" I'd prefer just some tips or help on a Smiting / Protective Monk.

PS: Reason why I'm choosing this build is because I suck at healing no matter what game, and this is my first time making a Monk.

Pick Me · May 23, 2007, 12:34 PM // 12:34

A lot of people used to run the Smite + Protect Monk. It's called 55 Monk.

It was created when only Prophecies was available.

Using Shield of Judgement, Protective Spirit and some other protective and smiting spells (I think Balthazar & or Essence Bond).

The enemy is enchantment removal enemies. Otherwise, you could kill with great ease. The change to the computer AI may affect the 55 monk, but not by much I don't think.

Also, the only way to get better at something is to stick with it and keep trying.

Hope this helps.

Dyne · May 23, 2007, 11:31 PM // 23:31

I'll keep on trying to heal for awhile, but I'm rather slow at it heh. I'll probably just heal .. kinda until I get used to playing GW. Thanks.

TheDriftingSoul · May 23, 2007, 11:45 PM // 23:45

I have a pure smiting build that I use any time that I am out runnin around doing PvE stuff with just Heros/Hench. I love smiting.
Usually something like this:
Smite:16
Communing:12
Signet of Judgement
Bane Signet
Banish
*Spear of Light
Smite/Lightbringers Gaze
*Union
*Shelter
Any Rez you want

Just throw down the spirits and go at at it with some heavy damage smites. Pretty straight forward.

Edit: Sry, I just noticed you only had Proph. so this will not be a build you can totally do. I guess you'd just have to find some other skills to fill those I have marked with a "*".

Batou of Nine · May 24, 2007, 03:30 AM // 03:30

For fun Smite build::

[skill]Signet of Judgment[/skill][skill]Bane Signet[/skill][skill]Signet of Rage[/skill][skill]Mantra of Inscriptions[/skill][skill]Reversal of Damage[/skill][skill]Balthazar's Aura[/skill][skill]Power Drain[/skill] -And- Any Ressurection -OR- Any more Dmg/inspiration skills.

Smiting: 16 (12+3+1)
Inspiration: 12

So you got Mantra that cuts your signet recharges to about half, so you can alternate ur smiting signets often. Balth's Aura for pressure dmg or to trigger AoE around backline, and RoD for a bit of protection as well as damage. Energy is not in high demand cause of mostly signet usage, RoD spam is easy enough with 4 pips, and Power Drain is available for a large energy regain after/before Balth's Aura usage.

Other skills to consider::
[skill]Auspicious Incantation[/skill] (for Balth's mainly), [skill]Signet of Humility[/skill], [skill]Spirit of Failure[/skill], [skill]Ether Feast[/skill] (if self heal is needed), [skill]Spear of Light[/skill]

Lastly, i been experimenting with Defender's Zeal (e). It is interesting to use when spammed on the correct targets, it can fuel lots of energy smite skills quite well. I find however, it is heavily limited once physical attackers are gone...

Just a few thoughts! Hope you enjoy them!
cheers.

EDIT:: OOPS!! also just realized you only have Prophecies. Not to worry, my build is overall still usable, just cannot use Reversal of Damage or Signet of Rage... and a few of my suggested skills. Past that, i would sub in any other smite/inspiration skill you see as useful.

Dyne · May 24, 2007, 05:18 AM // 05:18

Ah, great! The more ideas for me the better. I've actually been planning on getting Factions or NF soon so I have a bigger range on skills so no prob. on the suggestions.
I'm gonna try a Mo/E build for awhile. After that I'll try that Mo/Me build since that Mo/Rt ( I think ) build is harder to do without Factions / NF.
Thanks for all the help! Much appreciated.

strcpy · May 24, 2007, 05:56 AM // 05:56

I get my 55monk to all her places with a smite/prot build. It's not the "best" in terms of killing power, however I enjoy it and the hench/heroes do not complain.

I normally set up most builds with the following format: 4 attack, 3 buff, and a rez (rebirth for PvE is probably the best). There are some classes that are different than this, but it works well for this build (note, this is for normal mode). I'll just give you a list of skills that get swapped around instead of a build, they are not all prophecies only. You can mix and match as you like.

attack skills:

Balthazar's Aura is a staple. Decent AoE damage and I cast it on the "tank" that is in the middle of a group of enemies. This is usually my main damage skill and is on nearly all of my smite builds.

Bane Signet - OK damage, knockdown, and isn't a spell (later on you get a lot of critters with spell breaker) and cost no energy to cast. It is usually somewhere on my bar.

Signet of Rage - decent damage, lots of damage against adrenaline warriors. You need to know the area you are in and if you will fight them or not.

spear of light and smite - both decent skills if used against an attacking enemy.

Scourge healing - good if you know you are going to be up against a healer boss that is hard to kill.

and finally Zealot's Fire - if you are going to be protting quite a bit this adds a decent amount of AoE damage. Look to spam things like Reversal of fortune|damage.

There are a small handful of more specific PvE applications, such as "banish" - just stay away from anything that needs "touch" range and stay with ranged attacks/spells. As long as you do that it should work out OK.

Now, as to the buff section:

protective spirit - always nice and works fine at lower protection.

Reversal of Fortune - nice spammable prot, works well with Zealot's fire

Reversal of Damage - nice spammable skill. It is in the smite line so you ought to have 16 in that line, also works well with Zealot's fire.

Aegis - OK, while it is better off left to the full time prot monks you still get most of the duration at 10 prot. Plus you do not get a prot monk until the desert in Prophecies and this works VERY well when you party is under heavy melee pressure.

Hex removal - too many skills to list. Always a good thing to bring.

As to a secondary I prefer one of two things - a dervish or a mesmer. Echo works well with things like Balth's Aura and they have some good e-management spells if you are having energy issues. A dervish has three really good skills that are all in the same line - mystic regen, fleeting stability, and mirage cloak. Depending on the situation I like all of them and there is nothing wrong with a pure monk - you have plenty of healing there also

Switch around, play with the skills, and see what you like. If a skill is going to be too far away to get, look at playing the PvP tutorial. It is against AI so you already know how to beat it and you can unlock two skills per day with it, all unlocked non-elite skills are available for purchase at a skill trader.

Dyne · May 24, 2007, 06:19 AM // 06:19

Yet another helpful post.

Thanks for the suggestions and the skill bar set-up. Looks good to me.
Didn't know about the PvP Tutorial thing. I think I'll do that now for free skills. Once again, thanks to all.

Destinyy · May 24, 2007, 07:41 AM // 07:41

I'm kinda benefitting from this too as I too am busy getting my monk through the 3 campaigns and don't wanna sit and watch little red bars the whole way through...

I currently use:
(Elite skill does damage to all adjacent enemies, can't think of its name)
Spear of Light
Banish
Sig of Rage
Reversal of Damage
Reversal of Fortune
Bonetti's Defense
Res

It's worked out pretty good so far for me, the 2 revesals are for my own protection, but I can use them on teamies if needed...

Bonetti's is cool for Energy if you get attacked (Which happens alot).

Get the other 2 campaigns tho dude, it will make your GW experience a whole lot better...

Ensign · May 24, 2007, 12:02 PM // 12:02

Prot/Smite hybrids were epitomized by the Air of Enchantment Smiters that popped up with Factions. That character used Air of Enchantment to spam cheap protection enchantments on a target while maintaining Zealot's Fire on himself, simultaneously hardening his ally and damaging anyone attacking him. The template was all sorts of effective and has taken several nerfs, but is still viable.

A modern version might look something like:

Air of Enchantment
Reversal of Fortune
Guardian
Balthazar's Aura
Zealot's Fire
Smite Hex
Auspicious Incantation
Channeling

12+3 Smiting Prayers
8+1 Protection Prayers
10 Inspiration

Peace,
-CxE

catharsis · May 24, 2007, 12:29 PM // 12:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batou of Nine

So you got Mantra that cuts your signet recharges to about half, so you can alternate ur smiting signets often. Balth's Aura for pressure dmg or to trigger AoE around backline, and RoD for a bit of protection as well as damage. Energy is not in high demand cause of mostly signet usage, RoD spam is easy enough with 4 pips, and Power Drain is available for a large energy regain after/before Balth's Aura usage.

If you're going to use Mantra of Inscriptions, why not pack Leech Signet instead of PD? You'd be gaining 13 energy every 15ish seconds instead of 20 every 25, with the option to interrupt a Troll's Unguent or other pesky non-spells.

fenix · May 24, 2007, 12:41 PM // 12:41

I like this build:

E/Mo: 12 Smite, 9+2+1 Energy Storage, leftovers in Prot

Master of Magic [E]
Reversal of Fortune
Draw Conditions
Reversal of Damage
Balthazar's Aura
Judges Insight/Aegis
Zealots Fire
Res Chant/Res Sig

MoM gives 2 energy for every recharging skill, so cast Reversal of Damage, Balths, Judges/Aegis and Zealots on recharge, and you're getting 8-10 energy for every RoF and Draw

Renegade26 · May 24, 2007, 01:46 PM // 13:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by fenix

I like this build:

E/Mo: 12 Smite, 9+2+1 Energy Storage, leftovers in Prot

Master of Magic [E]
Reversal of Fortune
Draw Conditions
Reversal of Damage
Balthazar's Aura
Judges Insight/Aegis
Zealots Fire
Res Chant/Res Sig

MoM gives 2 energy for every recharging skill, so cast Reversal of Damage, Balths, Judges/Aegis and Zealots on recharge, and you're getting 8-10 energy for every RoF and Draw

He is a pve monk not an ele.

phool · May 24, 2007, 05:11 PM // 17:11

I would recommend a build using the old (and Prophecies) l[skill]Blessed Signet[/skill]+[skill]life bond[/skill]+[skill]Balthazar's Spirit[/skill] combo, then adding some smiting. Don't bond everyone just the stuff getting attacked, generally this will mean about 3-5 players even if using hench, and you may want to maintain a strength of honor or judge's insight or both on a few players - while SoH isn't that great in itself, it does stack with orders and conjures unlike other integer boosts which tend to be mutually exclusive, preperations like glass arrows aside. And Judge's Insight is very worthwhile in its own right combined with the right builds and skills even when not facing undead(shattering assault, vow of strength dervishes in particular benefit). Blessed Aura fits into a build with bonds as well and can help with Judge's Insight and Balthazar's Aura for some yellow numbers.

Pyro maniac · May 24, 2007, 05:18 PM // 17:18

[skill]holy wrath[/skill][skill]signet of devotion[/skill][skill]bane signet[/skill][skill]signet of judgment[/skill][skill]signet of humility[/skill][skill]ressurrection signet[/skill]

Dyne · May 24, 2007, 11:04 PM // 23:04

Since a few of the Smiting skills have knockdown like [skill]Signet of Judgment[/skill] and [skill]Bane Signet[/skill] I was thinking of putting in [skill]Holy Strike[/skill] for the extra knockdown damage.
And what about [skill]Aftershock[/skill]? Assuming I were to make Mo/E.

All of your suggestions / advice is very helpful. More ideas are popping into my head. Sadly I can't get on GW right now.

Pick Me · May 25, 2007, 01:26 PM // 13:26

They are nice in theory, or in practice against 1 monster, but against a bunch of monsters, it isn't all that great. 1) need to be in melee range to use holy strike or aftershock. 2) Bane signet is conditional to kd. 3) soJ takes a while to kd, so interupting isn't even considered really.

I've tried them, as I am a Mo/E.

I sometimes get hammered if there are too many monsters, as I'm in melee range to do Aftershock/holy strike or faction's equivalent.

Div · May 25, 2007, 03:37 PM // 15:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyne

Since a few of the Smiting skills have knockdown like [skill]Signet of Judgment[/skill] and [skill]Bane Signet[/skill] I was thinking of putting in [skill]Holy Strike[/skill] for the extra knockdown damage.
And what about [skill]Aftershock[/skill]? Assuming I were to make Mo/E.

All of your suggestions / advice is very helpful. More ideas are popping into my head. Sadly I can't get on GW right now.

Only problem is that you'll have to be up there in front of the enemy if you want to hit enemy caster. This can become a decent defensive build where you knock down and kill incoming warriors, etc.

Dyne · May 28, 2007, 06:09 AM // 06:09

Ah, thanks for the info. Didn't know that 'cause I'm a major newb and haven't been able to play GW at all.

Nagorak · May 28, 2007, 06:33 AM // 06:33

I think Smite monks work really well in PvE. If you play it right using skills like SoJ you can do damage, while also helping protect your party. If someone is getting hammered, SoJ can shut that down in a hurry. Someone gets hexed? Well, take that off and deal almost 100 damage to everyone around him (works great if it's the warrior).

For the most part the touch range spells are not that useful, but the ones from range are pretty good. Against high armor level foes you can sometimes outdamage other damage classes, but the other side of that is that against low armor stuff you never do anymore damage.

Balthazar's Aura is definitely Smite's bread and butter, and it helps if you have a +19-20% enchantment on your weapon. SoJ is also very good. And, of course against Undead there is just no comparison.