Curse

Reine Stormshroud · Nov 21, 2006, 01:36 AM // 01:36

Your concept is nice, but I think a Mo/A's defenses still prevails over a Mo/E with Sliver. Even a Mo/D. As Skuld said, yeah, it will just get waited out.

[Hey Eilsys, lol.]

fatboyslimerr · Nov 24, 2006, 11:01 PM // 23:01

I love the vital boon + conviction combo atm for monks. Used with a high armor set: axe with +5 armor, shield (+5armor) with 45hp while enchanted and -3dmg reduction while enchanted.

This gives you 60+5+5+24(from conviction)= 94 armor. Plus about 650 health and a wooping great big heal when vital boon ends. Imo this is the ultimate anti spike monk but then you leave yourself weak against other forms or attack like monk shutdown.

Give it a whirl at least

Seamus Finn · Nov 25, 2006, 09:46 AM // 09:46

If losing the mobility of /A doesn't bother you, I would go /W and bring balanced and shield bash. Why? becuase most spikes have KDs in them. Dark Escape can help stop a spike on you very well by halving the damage, but staying on your feet gives 2 monks to stop a monk spike as well as losing crits and shield bash which can also destroy any adren spike. I even saw a bloodspike galing the nontargeted monk so again, balanced is very useful... moreso than any other combo I've tried, which include the Dervish combo, which is nice as well. However, /A is still VERY nice because it provides great melee hate and HUGE mobility over any other monk sub known(and it's great fun).

phasola · Nov 25, 2006, 11:10 AM // 11:10

options :
#1 : dp the pets
#2 : kill the thumpers
#3 : take +10 vs blunt shield

Mithie · Nov 28, 2006, 07:37 PM // 19:37

Go Mo/E with glyph of lesser with ward v melee or Aegis.

Div · Dec 03, 2006, 09:54 AM // 09:54

Uhh...going mo/e just to put in a ward against melee is a pretty bad idea if you want to avoid getting creamed by warriors. what are you going to do, try to waste a second casting ward after already getting hit by shock, 2 eviscerate, and 2 energy burns? Not to mention even after it goes up, 1 of the 2 executioners will still pound for 80 damage.

Seamus Finn · Dec 03, 2006, 09:59 AM // 09:59

The aegis or melee idea on the Mo/E neve rreally impressed me. The two free casts though is quite strong in the right build. Of course, that is way off topic...

Patccmoi · Dec 03, 2006, 03:07 PM // 15:07

We often had monks using Balanced Stance and Shield Bash. One also used Shield Bash/Deadly Riposte sometimes and it didn't take long that melee just left him alone. Mo/W seems like a pretty solid combination overall that has strength and weaknesses compared to /A options, i think that the efficiency of each depends on the rest of the build.

I saw some pretty good Mo/D too with Conviction. Conviction has the advantage of just being always active if you're enchanted and can be kept up 100% of the time with 6 in Earth. Good combo with Healer's Boon for heal monks.

VODA... · Dec 07, 2006, 10:13 AM // 10:13

How about bringing Frigid Armor??

Might not be the best idea, cause there's enough better defensive options, but if enough points are spent in water, it might have potential:

- can be kept up 24/7
- Nice armor rating boost
- 100% Protection against searing Flames.

Never tried this, and i know there are lots of better options, but thought this might be worth mentioning. Could be an option if one was going with the ele secondary prof anyway, wanting to bring Glyph of lesser E.

VODA...

sir lockt · Dec 07, 2006, 10:28 AM // 10:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by phasola

options :
#1 : dp the pets
#2 : kill the thumpers
#3 : take +10 vs blunt shield

Some sensible suggestions here... dont use a skill for countering them.. just bring a shield..and play smart...

#4 : I guess in most builds still some blinding options is present...so you might want to use it here?

Lady Callingwell · Dec 07, 2006, 12:04 PM // 12:04

blind for pressure relief is crap, it'll just be drawn while the characters with blinds often also include skills like heal party and extinguish which are far more valuable against pressure.

Yue · Dec 07, 2006, 02:15 PM // 14:15

Balanced stance+deadly riposte is a pretty solid monk build. I've been running it over mo/a because it's more fun to riposte a frenzy warrior for 100+ dmg than it is to...return. I've actually killed several warriors with it at vod...it's such a spammable skill. Against spike, usually the first melee skill is the most important to land (think evisc, dismember, dev hammer, etc). As such, blocking the first reduces alot of the spike. Against thumpway, the mo/w build is pretty nice since balanced stance...keeps you balanced. It's nice not to get kd'd every 5 seconds.

Shield bash is pretty popular.

But...if you want to have some fun, you could go with some more unorthodox builds. For example:

Mo/A with disrupting dagger+ dark escape
Mo/W with distracting blow+bonetti's
Mo/W with wildblow+deadly riposte
Mo/R with distracting shot (bow on low set. As stupid as it sounds, busting out a bow for random interrupts every 10 seconds is actually pretty fun. You can usually land an aegis or heal party or something. As a secondary stance I went with storm chaser. With the searingway meta, it's like a big hot dog battery)

Bonetti's defense is also ftw.

And I actually wouldn't recommend anyone trying any of that stuff unless you're used to running fruity stuff for your monk. I've done alot of it in real gvgs, and it really depends on your play style since like...not everyone can run shield bash like tommy. And also, I don't want to get QQed at with people saying "wow yue you're a retard."

Because I am. I fail. GG!

Byron · Dec 07, 2006, 04:32 PM // 16:32

Not at all Yue - Since gift of health has given the flexibility of monk builds, I've tried some pretty odd things. Mo/W with YAA is especially terrific in a 4v4 arena, especially since the shadow prison fad. And deadly riposte is especially appealing against assassins.

JR · Dec 07, 2006, 05:40 PM // 17:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Byron

Not at all Yue - Since gift of health has given the flexibility of monk builds, I've tried some pretty odd things. Mo/W with YAA is especially terrific in a 4v4 arena, especially since the shadow prison fad. And deadly riposte is especially appealing against assassins.

Yup. With Gift, your Elite skill really is just a bonus and not a core part of your build. The key skills are:

Reversal of Fortune
Spirit Bond/Prot Spirit/Shield of Absorption
Gift of Health
Dismiss Condition/Mend Condition

I've tried some pretty wacky stuff. Mo/W with "Charge!" and Soldiers Defense... Mo/Me with Signet of Midnight... Mo/W with Auspicious Parry... Mo/D with Avatar of Balthazar...

Mostly just messing around for fun, but it goes to show how flexible you can be with Gift. Which is why the Core/Nightfall only play-offs suck for Monks.

romO · Dec 07, 2006, 10:23 PM // 22:23

Mo/W with Counter Blow and Bull's Strike.

TheOneMephisto · Dec 07, 2006, 10:30 PM // 22:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by romO

Mo/W with Counter Blow and Bull's Strike.

Is it possible to catch a warrior that's chasing you with bull's strike?

Jetai12 · Dec 08, 2006, 12:03 AM // 00:03

if your gvg build has a mesmer and you can free up one slot, might as well bring ancestors/sympathetic visage.... gg thumpers...

phasola · Dec 08, 2006, 12:58 AM // 00:58

Quote:

if your gvg build has a mesmer and you can free up one slot, might as well bring ancestors/sympathetic visage.... gg thumpers...

Thumpers have only 1 adrenal skill.

Lady Callingwell · Dec 08, 2006, 01:26 AM // 01:26

But a bit more back on topic, for me still nothing beats the mobillity provided by the assasin; nothing is as nice as return when moving around and pressured, and while shiled bash is awesome against adrenal spikes dark escape is usefull against all kinds of spikes and pressure.

DieInBasra · Dec 08, 2006, 02:16 AM // 02:16

Quote:

Thumpers have only 1 adrenal skill.

And thier deep wound depends on that skill. Not that i'm advocating SV, it's just that it's bad for other reasons.