Curse

jaximus · Jan 09, 2010, 01:18 AM // 01:18

i usually run a mo/w woh hybrid, [OwEU04HCvKSzF1ErFTfbaNgaECEA] [bal stance, veil, shield bash, cure hex, dismiss, patient, woh, guardian] [df=7, tact=8, prot=8, heal=14] no minor runes aside the heal on the head, full disciple. usually we run honorbalanced ab, so theres m touch on the ranger to help with deep condi stacks, and try to bash the deep wound or bash to stop d shots on your woh. the only thing im scared of getting p blocked is the cure hex usually, cuz i pew pew wohs on 40/40 usually cuz im ocd when it comes to wep swaps. i think that comes from playing mesmer too much.

as for the p block thing, i usually run [OQhkAoC8AGKgGFpCRZcRBeA] [empathy, shatter, e burn, drain ench, p drain, power spike, p block, diversion] insp=8, fc=10, dom=14, no minor runes, full prodigy insigs. makes for a pretty intense bit of damage output between the p spikes, e burns, shatters and with the recharges you get a fairly good +armor spec. i throw p block around a lot cuz i have the shortish recharge of p spike there to cover my a$$ is i miss, but usually i dont.

martyn10011 · Jan 09, 2010, 09:51 AM // 09:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reverend Dr

It also doesn't take a genius to see that a full healing or prot spec is going to have pblock hurt more than a hybrid spec, which has far more relevance to the argument than SH or SoA.

The argument of using SoA or SH in an already hybrid build? If you looked below you, the reason why it was getting discussed...

Quote:

Originally Posted by icedwhitemocha

hardest monk build to kill is:
woh, patient, guardian, m touch, draw, veil, balanced, shielding hands
14/9/9/7 with a 15al r7 shield

have a hard time seeing the merits of changing a single skill on that bar

Then people brought up the SoA over SH argument. I was really only trying to say, that the one second cast time can make SoA risky to use (this can be for any interrupt, not just Pblock). If you want to quote me and start telling me not taking ZB for buildwars purposes in AB, then go ahead. However, that had absolutely nothing to do with me and rather one sentence in the entire thread probably meant as a passing statement. It wasn't relevant at all.

Seanybabes · Jan 09, 2010, 01:02 PM // 13:02

SH ova SoA cos only 9 in prot and has set active time (8secs) while SoA is 5secs? Plus SH got buffed with the heal.
And why are people talking about ZB being bad because it can be pblocked??
It's bad even if you're not against a pblock. Getting rupt by anything on 10e spell is not tasty esp. if it's a pleak or shame, then yeah gg. Try faking with ZB. I'm assuming you'll be ZBing someone with less than 50% hp and if that fails it's gonna be hard to keep it up. Furthermore, getting diverted will be quite amusing. And yeah, pblock on guardian, soa or zb is game over. Although pblock is a waste in AB.

bungusmaximus · Jan 09, 2010, 01:07 PM // 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seanybabes

Although pblock is a waste in AB.

I find it quite useful for making teams crack quickly, whichis convenient in AB imho. with pblock and cry of frustration on your bar you will be dangerous. Cry for mels shot, sin attacks, hammer attacks, and pblock for shrine npcs, eles and monks.

Seanybabes · Jan 09, 2010, 01:09 PM // 13:09

I think VoR is much better. But cry is good.

bungusmaximus · Jan 09, 2010, 05:10 PM // 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaximus

me, and umm, me. any of the mesmers from my guild, FouR, run p block and i feel quite safe in saying that they could land p blocks about whenever. i havent been online in the past few weeks cuz its my winter break and i lack functional internet at my house, but ill be back at the end of january

Had my pblock pblocked today, no joke

Seanybabes · Jan 09, 2010, 06:07 PM // 18:07

should've invested more in fast cast

Bobby2 · Jan 09, 2010, 06:47 PM // 18:47

I thought you all ran 12+1+1 Dom., 10+1 FC, 8+1 Insp.?

jaximus · Jan 11, 2010, 06:15 PM // 18:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby2

I thought you all ran 12+1+1 Dom., 10+1 FC, 8+1 Insp.?

i used to run 3 minors when i ran full survivors on my mez. since i changed to full prodigy insigs, i felt it was better to drop the 2 minors in favor of 2 vitaes and give me a bit of my hp back. i also have a q8 insp offhand, so i dont get a drop in energy when i swap to my insp set for drain ench and p drains. i never really have energy troubles because i p drain mostly on my insp set and make sure its a spell i can hit comfortably (1sec ++). always make sure you use drain enchant on your insp set. as for the difference in 11 or 10 fc, its very little, i did notice the dif between 11 and 9 when i was trying out some different att spreads though. i think in most gvg formats, people run 8 fc and 10 insp, but i dont understand that at all. id rather have the faster cast.

as for the use of p block in ab, i find it invaluable. its just too good in a 4v4 situation where theres only one healer. knock that out and the team explodes in you have a capable frontline, and in FouR, we have that in excess. granted i like to think i make stuff blow up much faster when im on frontline with evis as compared to ray/tele on hammer. with p block, you pretty much know the monk is gonna be a woh hybrid so its not even bad to oops p block a guardian. its one of the skills i put highest priority on when i mez. its the first to get drained/shattered off if its in the way of my frontline and then drop a diversion on the monk and they are either gonna suffer a death or get woh/patient diverted.

xenosagafreak · Jan 11, 2010, 07:26 PM // 19:26

Wow, such bad advice in this thread.

Just run a standard relatively standard build like WoH, PS, Guardian, Prot Spirit/SB, Dismiss Condition, Cure Hex, Sprint (or a secondary hex removal), and Balanced Stance; speccing 8 into tactics while utilizing purely q7 shields with 10AL vs popular damage types (Slashing, Fire, Piercing) and Conditions (mostly just Daze). Swap out the hard prot if you're brave for SoA/SH/other soft prots.

ZB/LS prot/PnH prot builds in AB crack easily under pressure due to bar compression, skill uniformity, and energy problems in clusterRED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO situations. Also, even noob PBers spamming their 'rupts will mess you up bad. But if you're brave and manly, who's gonna tell you otherwise?

jaximus · Jan 13, 2010, 08:59 PM // 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenosagafreak

Wow, such bad advice in this thread.

Prot Spirit/SB

id agree that most of the stuff people say in favor of or against things are pretty wishy washy buildwars thinking, but i dont so much agree that you need prot spirit/spirit bond. if you have a team that has the proper armor insignias and plays well (since its ab and you can pick your teams, usually guild/alliance, that should be the case) you shouldnt need either of those. as for the argument that its useful vs the ele shrines, have your warrior (sentinels + defense wep+lightning shield run up and see the tiny little numbers), eles wear blessed, mesmers with prodigy, monks with disciples, rangers with whatever, survivors or radiant, paras with centurians, necs with tormentors, etc. you just never see damage high enough to utilize spirit bond or ps. they only carry spirit bond in gvgs because of the chance you face omegaspike.

xenosagafreak · Jan 14, 2010, 01:35 AM // 01:35

Well, I usually play with PR's, so in the event they're being stupid/being baed, i.e. LOLCANCELSTANCES, slapping a prot on them's a measure of security.

But yeah, it's not really needed. But it's nice with pugs.

Darth The Xx · Jan 14, 2010, 03:48 AM // 03:48

I agree, hard prots are not needed, but if you want to take one take SB, not PS. Also don't take dismiss, Draw is far superior.

jaximus · Jan 15, 2010, 08:06 PM // 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenosagafreak

Well, I usually play with PR's, so in the event they're being stupid/being baed, i.e. LOLCANCELSTANCES, slapping a prot on them's a measure of security.

But yeah, it's not really needed. But it's nice with pugs.

first, yes, sb is nice with pugs

im pretty sure my opinion on PR is quite well known, but yes, i understand whyd youd be more compelled to bring spirit bond while playing with them. usually my wars are hammer or in the event i play war, its evis with enraging<3, im so micro intense that with 2 cancel stances i never take large(any) damage in frenzy and still apply huge pressure+kills. with the teams i play on also, i end up making sure people have the proper insignias/armor/wep mods (mostly by whining on vent and/or pointing out every tiny little mistake/thing that could be prevented by doing what i say) basically im very persausive/annoying

so when it comes to monk bars, if i had to choose between shielding hands and soa, with the damage reduction from the passive stuff (armor/insigs/weps) you are pretty close to ranges where shielding hands is far superior cuz it basically nullifies everything right away. proper kiting also makes soa even a bit less useful. soa helps against minion masters, but shielding hands + a blunt shield (minions do blunt damage aside fiends) mitigates nearly all of it also.

also, a little tip people may or may not play with, not sure, but i find it very helpful. with the availability of the equipment packs, you can stash most of your crap there, and take the bags+ belt pouch off of your character. this way, only your backpack shows up when you have your inventory(just bags, f9 by default, but i use the little hotbutton thingers instead (just drag them off the menu) open and it only covers a tiny bit of the screen. by doing this, you can leave your inventory up during the whole match without missing stuff and easily swap shields to prevent damage. i have nearly identical sets of shields on every character with the same shield skin preventing the same damage type. this way its super easy and fast to swap and it takes very little extra effort to do so. also camp a +5 armor onhand most of the time, but make sure your +30 onhand is by your shields, so if youre very near death with degen and your monks a tiny bit out of range or its about to wear off, swap quick to the +30 to save yourself. little things like this will make your monks have to work much less, and by having the right shield up, you save a couple triggers of soa if you use it, or make shielding hands nearly nullify all the damage you would take.

Darth The Xx · Jan 15, 2010, 09:23 PM // 21:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaximus

snip

How do you do this equipment bag business, I have all my shield in a line in my inventory but your way sounds better

Can you post a screenie?

jaximus · Jan 15, 2010, 09:47 PM // 21:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth The Xx

Can you post a screenie?

hopefully this will help, but i have a pretty crazy interface so i dunno how useful it is to the default settings.

Darth The Xx · Jan 15, 2010, 09:53 PM // 21:53

I don't suppose there's a way to have just the belt pouch pop up?

jaximus · Jan 15, 2010, 09:55 PM // 21:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darth The Xx

I don't suppose there's a way to have just the belt pouch pop up?

i wish, but sadly no, you cant take the backpack off. also, by belt pouch, i hope you mean 10 slot bag, so that you could have all the +10 shields, a cripple shield, and a +30 onhand.

xenosagafreak · Jan 15, 2010, 10:05 PM // 22:05

So you basically dragged most of the F9 inventory off the screen?

jaximus · Jan 15, 2010, 10:07 PM // 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenosagafreak

So you basically dragged most of the F9 inventory off the screen?

nop, if you open up your inventory with the picture of your character, right underneath, theres the little bag icons, if you pull them off and put them in storage/your backpack, they dont expand on your screen. they are grayed out on the screenshot because the 2 bags are in my backback.