Curse

Slooty Booty · Jul 13, 2006, 06:53 AM // 06:53

Here are some of the most common Boon Prot skills used in the current GvG metagame with a short analysis and description of effective use. Feel free to expand on this with more info and additional skills as I consider this a discussion. I also left out energy management as that topic is already discussed HERE

Reversal of Fortune:
A staple of every boon prot build. This is the booner’s ultimate spam skill. Use this to heal and prevent damage from one attack. The 1/4 second cast time allows you to use this skill to catch spikes (both caster and adren). Set this skill in an easy place to reach as you will be using it a lot. The spell only negates damage up to how much it heals, so at 11 prot it will negate up to 63 damage and heal up to 63 hp. This means that if an ally is hit by massive damage (from a catapult, etc) the damage negation + the heal will not keep them alive. An attack of 127 will deal a net total of 1 damage, 128 a total of 2, etc. A heal from Reversal will look something like this: 70(boon)+48(divine favor)+X(Say 63 for reversal taking exactly max damage) = 181. Minimum heal: 70(boon)+48(divine favor)+1(reversal negating/healing 1 damage) = 119

Pros – Inexpensive, heal and damage negation, fast recharge, 1/4 second cast very hard to interrupt.

Cons – As an enchantment, spikes covered with Shadow Shroud cannot be caught with reversal.

Mend Condition:
After the nerf on the recharge time of Mend Ailment, Mend Condition has taken over as the most popular condition removal for a boon prot. The extra heal for removing a condition adds a nice spike heal (70[boon]+48[divine favor]+53[mend condition] = 171 with 11 prot and 15 divine). A 2 second recharge results in the ability to spam removals. However, this skill should be accompanied by a larger condition removal on a support character in the midline. Unlike Mend Ailment, you cannot use this skill on yourself, making a split more difficult to run (without CoP or removals on another character).

Pros – Quick recharge, only 1 condition required for spike heal.

Cons – Cannot be used on self, removes 1 condition at a time.

Mend Ailment:
Mend Ailment still retains its benefits over Mend Condition and is still widely used, most effectively by boon prots on split teams with no Contemplation of Purity. The heal from Mend Ailment is very noticeable when an ally is suffering from 3 or more conditions. With 3 conditions: 70(boon)+48(divine favor)+53*2(mend ailment with 2 remaining conditions) = 224. With only 1 condition: 70(boon)+48(divine favor)+0(mend ailment) = 118. During a split, the ability to remove conditions from yourself can save you from being crippled and killed.

Pros – Big spike heal when ally is suffering from 3 or more conditions. Can be used on self, making it useful for when monks are out of range of each other.

Cons – Long 5 second recharge, spike heal is conditional, removes 1 condition at a time.

Guardian:
Guardian should be used as a boost to kiting. Watch the warriors of the other team, cast guardian on the teammate they’re running towards. If they come at you, throw up guardian and begin to kite before they can get a hit on you. Keeping your head up and watching where the offense is headed will help you use this skill to help the backline kite before they can feel the sharp side of an unload.

Pros – Great help with kiting, strong vs warriors and ranger spike.

Cons – Useless against casters, lasts only 5 seconds.

Protective Spirit:
Possibly the strongest monk skill in the game. Massive damage mitigation from any source that would take off more than 10% health. Use this to mitigate damage from unloads. Use this as the primary spike defense, but to do it correctly you must watch the other team’s offense. You want to be able to read the game well enough to pre-prot targets before eviscerate or other unloads hit a teammate. Keep your head up and use this skill liberally.

Pros – Huge damage mitigation, kills effectiveness of spikes, 1/4 second cast hard to interrupt, long enchantment time, cool animation :P

Cons – Requires an attack to hit for more than 10% of ally's health (ranger spike attacks do not). Life stealing does not trigger Prot Spirit. As an enchantment, spikes covered with Shadow Shroud cannot be mitigated by Protective Spirit.

Spirit Bond:
The 3-way love child of Healing Seed, Reversal of Fortune, and Protective Spirit, Spirit Bond prevents damage by offering a heal when you suffer from >60 damage. When used with Protective Spirit, Spirit Bond boosts the protection even further as it triggers before Protective Spirit. So, even if damage (say, from a catapult) is negated all the way to 10% of ally’s health, Spirit Bond will activate and heal that ally. This spell should be used like Protective Spirit in that you should always be watching the opponents’ damage dealers in order to cast on allies before damage hits them.

Pros – Activates before Protective Spirit. 1/4 second cast hard to interrupt. Quick 2 second recharge makes it strong against rapid or multiple unloads.

Cons – Shorter enchantment time than Prot Spirit. Conditional on a 60+ damage attack. As an enchantment, spikes covered with Shadow Shroud cannot be mitigated.

Signet of Devotion:
A great skill to use in between reversals and prot spirits, Signet of Devotion is a nifty way to continue healing without spending energy. This signet is strong against the slower offense of a degen build, and is a great follow-up heal after catching an unload. A key to using this skill well is knowing when you have time to cast it, and knowing when to cancel it quickly to save an ally who is being spiked faster than the signet can heal. It’s important not to use this skill when you are under pressure from warriors and should be kiting, as the cast time will plant you in one place for 2 seconds, which in competitive terms is a rather long time.

Pros – No mana cost which makes it great for energy management, quick (for a signet) 5 second recharge, decent sized heal (100 at 15 divine, 89 at 13 divine). Can be cast through energy denial.

Cons – 2 second cast time means it must be used wisely, no divine favor heal alongside the skill heal.

Contemplation of Purity:
Contemplation of Purity (CoP) is the most versatile self-survival skill a boon prot can bring. This skill can counter stacks of hexes and conditions and the degen that come with them, all for 5 energy (plus the energy required to put on enchantments). With only 2 enchantments on yourself, you can heal yourself for 160 health (15 divine), remove 2 hexes and 2 conditions. A boon prot with CoP on his bar is very hard to shut down and even harder to kill with an unload. CoP removes Shame without triggering it, but Diversion can give it a hefty cool down. A wise monk running both CoP and Mantra of Recall will not use CoP to gain energy from canceling Mantra, but will use it as an extra enchantment when needed.

Pros – Most versatile self-survival skill for a boon prot. Only 5 energy cast. Prevents hex stacking. Removes conditions if you’re not running mend ailment and have split from other monk/utility character. Best skill for removing Shame.

Cons – Updated to 10 second recharge, at 10 inspiration you receive 3 net energy if you use CoP on Mantra of Recall. Effected by diversion, which can lead to hex stacking. A selfish choice as it only works on yourself.

Gift of Health:
Another Factions skill that has made its mark on the boon prot bar, Gift of Health offers a very nice spike heal for little energy. What’s more is that it doesn’t require a large sacrifice in other attributes to create this spike heal. With just 7 in healing: 78(gift) + 70 (boon) +48(divine) = 196. Since this skill is not an enchantment (like many skills on the boon prot bar) it has the ability to catch spikes or unloads which Shadow Shroud covers.

Pros – Large spike heal for little energy. Doesn’t require much in healing. Can catch Shadow Shroud unloads.

Cons – Cannot target self. Does require points in healing. 3/4 second cast not super quick for catching unloads.

Distortion:
Another great compliment to kiting, Distortion blocks 75% of melee attacks as long as it’s active. A monk with distortion activated can dodge axes and arrows and still /taunt. However, the skill has its price. One must pump many precious attribute points into illusion in order to be able to use it without losing too much energy. With 8 inspiration you will be able to dodge attacks at the cost of -2 energy per dodge. This makes the skill more suited to a compliment to kiting or emergency healing rather than a way to disparage the opposition with your brutal /taunting. As a stance you can use it to counter unloads which include a prelude of knockdowns and enchantment removals.

Pros – Great defense against warriors and rangers. Stance, which cannot be stripped with enchantment removal, and can be used when hexed, knocked down, and otherwise meddled (other than blackout, diversion).

Cons – Requires attribute points in illusion to get the penalty down to 2 energy per dodged attack. Selfish skill which can only be used on yourself. Useless against caster attacks.

Hex Breaker:
A skill that has recently emerged as an extremely popular pick in high level play, hex breaker is an easy way to keep pesky hexes off yourself. The ease of use and minimal attribute sacrefice (usually only about 2-6 points in domination needed) are some of the reasons of its newfound popularity. Also, as a stance, it is much harder to remove than an enchantment. Hex Breaker is especially strong against diversion, another popular skill in the current metagame which is otherwise very difficult to deal with. As a stance, no time is required to cast and can be activated while casting other skills.

Pros – Easy to use. Strong against hexes such as diversion as it blocks them before they’re cast. Not an enchantment so it cannot be stripped with an enchantment removal.

Cons – Selfish skill as it can only be used to keep hexes of yourself. Requires a couple precious attribute points to keep it running 24/7. Not an enchantment so it doesn’t trigger the armor benefit from Acolytes armor (for GvG monk builds without boon).

Holy Veil:
The fast recharge and the ability to use the technique called “pre-veiling” to keep hexes off yourself and teammates makes this a strong single hex removal tool. Pre-veiling means casting veil on an ally before a hex is on them, then removing it as quickly as possible when one is cast. This renders certain hexes (most notably diversion and to a lesser extent migrane as it’s rarely brought into GvG in the current metagame). To maximize effeicency of use, it’s wise to set up you HUD in such a way that makes it easy to remove as quickly as possible. I have my skill bar set vertically against my party window so my mouse doesn’t have far to move.

Pros – Faster than Inspired Hex/Revealed Hex. Pre-veiling can keep hexes off you or anyone on your party window (unlike hex breaker). Triggers Divine Boon.

Cons – No energy benefit. Takes speed to use adeptly. Can be diverted and triggers Shame. As an enchantment, it cannot remove Shadow Shroud. No Attribute means no 20/20 items will help the cast/recharge (only 10/10).

Inspired Hex/Revealed Hex:
One of the incredibly popular skills found on most every boon prot bar, inspired hex not only removes a hex and becomes that hex for 20 seconds, but it gives you energy, making it a skill that’s brought for both its practical use and energy management capabilities. At 10 Inspiration you gain 11 energy, with a net gain of 9. This extra energy gain allows you to spam your 10 energy skills more often in between Mantra of Recall/Energy Drain. Faster recharge does not effect Inspired/Revealed hex as the skill becomes the removed hex for an unconditional 20 seconds. This recharge is fairly long compared to Holy Veil or Blessed Light. One of the best applications of this skill is that you can negate diversion by removing another hex as Inspired/Revealed will become the hex rather than being diverted.

Pros – Energy! Not an enchantment, so it can remove Shadow Shroud. Fun to throw hexes back at the caster. Can negate Diversion.

Cons – 20 second recharge.

Byron · Jul 13, 2006, 08:39 AM // 08:39

A pretty good overview IMO, though there are a few skills I think should be added to a general overview:

Infuse Health. Yes, even on a boon.

Divine Intervention. Recharge makes it scary, but cast time and effectiveness are top-notch.

Distortion. If it makes just one eviscerate miss, it is worth it.

Thom · Jul 13, 2006, 08:49 AM // 08:49

Two notes I would have:
1)Protective spirit is fairly useless against several popular spikes because of how damage is calculated. Ranger spike, blood spikes, soul barb spikes, etc all avoid prot spirit, which leaves you with elementalist spike. Since good spikers will kill enchantments pre-cast, I'd rather try to beat most spikes with a either reversal or divine intervention. Players tend to go with higher health armors if they are facing spike, so protective spirit is less effective. Protective spirit is actually quite nice against hammer warriors and adreniline spikes.

2) Do booners still use Divine Intervention?

kryshnysh · Jul 13, 2006, 03:32 PM // 15:32

Nice article.

Four nitpicks.

1) Mend Condition is a 2 second recharge, and a 3/4 second cast.

2) Contemplation of Purity has no worry about triggering Shame (it probably goes through after it would trigger shame, but it can't trigger shame), because its a skill and shame only effects spells.

3) To negate diversion, you might want to mention you have to remove another hex (not the diversion) with Inspired/Revealed Hex.

4) Distortion is only 75% chance of evade. Not guaranteed, but it works even if you are using emotes, etc.

I'm not sure I see a lot of Shadow Shroud current metagame, its been over a month since I last saw it.

Slooty Booty · Jul 13, 2006, 05:21 PM // 17:21

I've updated with corrections, thanks! As for adding skills like Infuse and Divine Intervention, be my guest!

SaintGreg · Jul 14, 2006, 12:20 AM // 00:20

Decent thread, except you are a bit wordy and get off topic a bit sometimes. The worst part of the article is that you say "selfish skill" like its a bad thing, some of those self-only skills are the strongest you can take as a monk.

A couple pointers:

- Reversal of Fortune heals for the amount of damage it negates, up to the max listed. This means if you get hit for 11 damage, you will see a -0 and a +11 in addition to the divine favor and divine boon heals (unless the skill is bugged in some way I don't know about)

- Spirit bond does not need high protection to make it worth it. It increases by only 4 health every level of protection prayers, hardly enough to make you want to increase protection. Secondly, not triggering on low damage attacks isn't really a con, its the same situation as with prot spirit.

- Guardian doesn't help against ranger spike. Its 1 second casting time makes it useless there, unless you maintain it on someone - which requires 4 pips of energy alone, and it isn't even very effective then because of its low block % - that person with dp you are trying to keep alive will still probably die anyways.

- You cannot use offering of blood with inspired hex on a monk.

- What Byron said about Infuse Health, add in Healing touch on the same bar sometimes as well.

Slooty Booty · Jul 14, 2006, 01:16 AM // 01:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintGreg

Decent thread, except you are a bit wordy and get off topic a bit sometimes. The worst part of the article is that you say "selfish skill" like its a bad thing, some of those self-only skills are the strongest you can take as a monk.

I agree with you that these skills are very strong and would be incredibly overpowered if they could be cast on an ally. I mean selfish as in your teammates will not benefit from these skills beyond the protection they provide against pressure on you from the opposing team. Usually this will more than justify their place on your bar.

Quote:

- Reversal of Fortune heals for the amount of damage it negates, up to the max listed. This means if you get hit for 11 damage, you will see a -0 and a +11 in addition to the divine favor and divine boon heals (unless the skill is bugged in some way I don't know about)

You're right, my description was very confusing. I've updated it, hopefully it is more clear.

Quote:

- Spirit bond does not need high protection to make it worth it. It increases by only 4 health every level of protection prayers, hardly enough to make you want to increase protection. Secondly, not triggering on low damage attacks isn't really a con, its the same situation as with prot spirit.

I should have said mitigated COMPLETELY, but I just removed it since at an attack of 118 and 9 prot the net damage is only 42. And you're right about prot spirit so I added this to the con for that.

Quote:

- Guardian doesn't help against ranger spike. Its 1 second casting time makes it useless there, unless you maintain it on someone - which requires 4 pips of energy alone, and it isn't even very effective then because of its low block % - that person with dp you are trying to keep alive will still probably die anyways.

I like to toss up a guardian the second I see an enchant being removed. Most of the time this is on myself.

Quote:

- You cannot use offering of blood with inspired hex on a monk.

DUH! *slaps head* -edited-

Byron · Jul 14, 2006, 03:46 AM // 03:46

Ah - feel free to put this in the article.

Infuse Health. Yes, even on a boon. Even with little spec in healing prayers, this skill is still the best way to foil an enemy spike in progress (sometimes prot skills don't cut it).

Pros: Biggest single target heal in the game, fastest cast time in the game.

Cons: Lose half health, which means it is detrimental while under pressure. Ten energy cost means 12 energy cost to use while under boon, which is a big commitment.

Slit Wrists · Jul 14, 2006, 07:40 AM // 07:40

Of course, i know that you can´t run this skill on a booner, but dwayna´s kiss is pretty usefull these days.
Thanks to that skill, you can easily counter SB/RI spikes. So if you ever run a 1 boon/1blessed light healer or a 3 monks build, you really need to bring it.

JR · Jul 14, 2006, 05:53 PM // 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slit Wrists

Of course, i know that you can´t run this skill on a booner, but dwayna´s kiss is pretty usefull these days.
Thanks to that skill, you can easily counter SB/RI spikes. So if you ever run a 1 boon/1blessed light healer or a 3 monks build, you really need to bring it.

I'm pretty sure iB ran Dwayna's Kiss on Boon Prots in the play offs.

Red Locust · Jul 14, 2006, 11:36 PM // 23:36

I'd guess that dwayna's kiss and expel hexes combined would be able to stop SB/RI spike pretty reliably, provided the target kites back to slow down the number of hexes flying at him. You wouldn't need a lot in healing either, the health bonus scales up very nicely with lots of hexes.

Slooty Booty · Jul 15, 2006, 12:08 AM // 00:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Locust

You wouldn't need a lot in healing either, the health bonus scales up very nicely with lots of hexes.

And the enchants from the boon prots. Not a bad idea at all.