Curse

ender6 · May 28, 2006, 01:11 AM // 01:11

My current build: (RA/TA only)

RoF
CoP
Gaurdian
Mend Ailimet (or condition)
Holy Veil
Inspired Hex
Divine Boon
Mantra of Recall

Problem as always when I come across a team that has Assasin/Knock Down warrior combo, I can only last so long against them using Gaurdian/RoF/CoP. And of course my team-mates always seem preoccupied with offense that i am always left to fend for myself (not complaining just a fact). Now, Prot Spirit is wortheless here because Assasin combos are just non-stop low dmg. Even knock down combos never truly do devastating dmg in a single hit. It is the in-ability to utilize my skills that frustrates me. So I am thinking it would be nice to get distortion onto my skill bar, thoughts?

Second consideration that has an e-mangement problem: make my secondary Ele, and get ward against fores/or melee onto my skill bar--of course how do I account for e management?

Any constructive thoughts would be helpful...

no need to tell me to learn how to kite or use gaurdian, already have that covered.

PS if you are bent on moving this to Team Arenas I would suggest you didn't because i want my fellow monks' input. Thanks in advance.

Pillz_veritas · May 28, 2006, 03:59 AM // 03:59

Hmmmm... Interesting.... No clue on this one..

Terra Xin · May 28, 2006, 05:38 AM // 05:38

run.... that's what you do.... you run like you have an imitation of burning speed.

Maxiemonster · May 28, 2006, 06:36 AM // 06:36

Why would you want Distortion? :/

Guardian > Distortion
Kiting > Distortion
Guardian + Kiting >> Distortion

If you actually need Distortion, you're doing something wrong.

sno · May 28, 2006, 04:08 PM // 16:08

Boon prots have huge energy issues already. distortion would absolutely rape your energy. It'd be like turning every opposing warrior (or ranger) into a very good ed mesmer. Kiting and Guardian ftw, as maxie said.

Divineshadows · May 28, 2006, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by ender6

Problem as always when I come across a team that has Assasin/Knock Down warrior combo, I can only last so long against them using Gaurdian/RoF/CoP. And of course my team-mates always seem preoccupied with offense that i am always left to fend for myself (not complaining just a fact). Now, Prot Spirit is wortheless here because Assasin combos are just non-stop low dmg. Even knock down combos never truly do devastating dmg in a single hit. It is the in-ability to utilize my skills that frustrates me. So I am thinking it would be nice to get distortion onto my skill bar, thoughts?

It sounds as though you have a solid foundation for why and how you might wish to use distortion on your boonprot.

You've got another thing coming if you think prot spirit is useless against against a hammer warrior's knockdown combo. A hammer warrior's adrenal spike can kill someone at full health in 4 hits. A prot spirit ahead of time makes it take 10 and is much less damage for you to heal up. That said, I still prefer not to run prot spirit in TA. In GvG though, it is a very necessary skill to counter warrior adrenal spikes along with a myriad of other sources of damage and precious few builds would not contain prot spirit. Also, it helps keep a DPed person alive.

My recommendation to you is to try out distortion w/ 3 illusion on your boon prot to determine if it works for you. I would put it in place of CoP and make sure to have someone on your team with draw conditions so that you can use mend ailment instead of mend condition and to have someone else on your team with hex removal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sno

Boon prots have huge energy issues already. distortion would absolutely rape your energy. It'd be like turning every opposing warrior (or ranger) into a very good ed mesmer. Kiting and Guardian ftw, as maxie said.

Um...yeah...I'm going to have to sort of disagree with you there. Distortion used right (i.e. pretty much only during a warrior's adrenal spike when you just got knocked on your ass) is very useful and can not only keep you alive but prevent a lot of damage. Used in this way and not spammed, it does not rape your energy. I've tried distortion on my boon prot, but did not like it. Not due to the lack of effect, but rather for the opportunity cost of whatever skill I could have had there instead. In the end, pre-kiting and pre-protting the knockdown chain and having some teammates that are not fully preoccupied with offense (and actually offer you some assistance) is what I find to work best.

@JR -- Hex breaker is my new favorite skill on my boon prot.

fiery · May 28, 2006, 06:01 PM // 18:01

Prot sprit buddy, it has to be a must, may not think so but it helps alot.

makosi · May 28, 2006, 06:20 PM // 18:20

Guardian is pants. The % of supposed blockage and the reailty of blockage are different so melee foes seem to bypass it most of the time. Furthermore, thumpers will spam you with iressistible blow to KD you and increase their DPS temporarily. Distortion might be an option but can you afford to squesse the limited attribute points from Divine Favour, Inspiration and Protection Prayers to Illusion Magic too?

linh · May 28, 2006, 06:38 PM // 18:38

I think distortion is more useful to counter adrenaline spike or use when necessary. With an assassin or a warrior chase you, spamming distortion will kill your energy. Guardian and kiting is better choice.

Zui · May 28, 2006, 09:05 PM // 21:05

Wouldn't reccomend it, but if you really want to try it I'd put it in place of CoP or Veil. The fact is there are far better things that could be on your bar instead of Distortion(especialy since it can screw over your energy), examples would be the skills you're replacing to fit it on your bar.

As has already been said, Kiting + Guardian ftw.

pah01 · May 28, 2006, 10:42 PM // 22:42

Anyone who says that you are doing something worng if you need to use distortion is simply wrong.

Knockdown is so insanely powerful that distortion is a very good way to save yourself when you have been knocked down. In fact distortion is an awesome counter to teleporting assasins and warriors utlising knockdown.

Otherwise you probably want to take the ward of stability route that Last Pride have been using. They camp the wards so now they use channeling ^ ^ .

This is the reason I believe I see Sarus of IQ run this skill.

Sam

TheGuildWarsPenguin · May 29, 2006, 12:48 AM // 00:48

Assasins Ive fought in RA use horns of ox to knock you down, stay next to a party member to avoid the knockdown.

ender6 · May 30, 2006, 05:37 PM // 17:37

There is always a chance that I am doing something wrong, but I found those comments to be calous, and to say the least, worthless.

To those that simply think Gaurdian can handle a dual Asassin & Hammer warrior spike, you obviously haven't faced that level of assault by quality players.

Regardles, what I did find to be quite helpful and which no one suggested, was adding Physical Resistance to my skill bar. Only time I get into trouble using this skill is when I face an ele spike, espeically becuase I dropped Prot Spirit from my skill bar. But, no build can account for every situation, and the following build that I use has given me the best results:

Divine 13 / Prot 11 / Insp 10
Health 560

Mantra Of Recall
Inspired Hex
Mend Condition
RoF
CoP
Physical Resistance
Gaurdian
Divine Boon

Only skill I would consider changing would be adding Holy Veil for Inspired Hex. But I truly appreciate the extra energy I get from Inspired Hex. Of course it would be nice to be able to remove more hexes. Prot spirit, not today. I use to think it was a must, it is in PvE, but in PvP (4v4), I have to disagree.

Gaurdian + Kiting -- that's simply a given as stated in my original post. When Gaurdian gets interupted and you are being laid out on your butt non-stop, that advice does not apply. But thanks.

PS thank you for your input, espically regarding the potential pitfalls of Distortion and E mangement.

sno · May 30, 2006, 06:03 PM // 18:03

physical resistance is total pants vs GOOD teams (which are admittedly rare.) you don't have a cancel-stance for it, so if they have any sort of elemental damage (via weapon switching or an ele) you're absolutely screwed. I'd recommend phys res for RA, but not TA. The only time you'd be able to use it is when there is both no ele, and none of the other damage has elemental weapons. The chances of both of those happening in the same match are moderate, but not enough to warrant the spot on my skill-bar.

To catch spikes on myself in TA I use the combo: RoF->CoP->Boon repeat. If I have time I'll get a guardian in there too, but not if I'm under heavy pressure, as usually the 1s cast doesn't get off. Very few warriors can chain KD so well that you can't get at least one of those skills off since they're all 1/4s, and it's almost always enough to catch the spike on you long enough for you to get up and run away.

holden · May 30, 2006, 08:16 PM // 20:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divineshadows

Um...yeah...I'm going to have to sort of disagree with you there. Distortion used right (i.e. pretty much only during a warrior's adrenal spike when you just got knocked on your ass) is very useful and can not only keep you alive but prevent a lot of damage. Used in this way and not spammed, it does not rape your energy. I've tried distortion on my boon prot, but did not like it. Not due to the lack of effect, but rather for the opportunity cost of whatever skill I could have had there instead.

wtf

sno's right. it would be an awful idea. you're a boon prot. why the hell would you want a defensive skill you couldn't spam?

Divineshadows · May 30, 2006, 08:48 PM // 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by holden

wtf

sno's right. it would be an awful idea. you're a boon prot. why the hell would you want a defensive skill you couldn't spam?

Yeah, so I guess you missed the Office Space reference. The point of my post was not to disagree with sno, but to point out that I had tried it and found the opportunity cost too high because the skill was not useful as often as some other skills I could have had in its place.

Still, I think that the recharge on CoP from 5 to 10 seconds does have an impact on whether or not it should be brought. With mantra of recall, I would still use it only because it can heal for more (due to more enchantments) in those sticky situations. With energy drain (which I much prefer), I find CoP to not offer as much as I would like.

After reading some of JR's opinions, I now use and love hex breaker instead of CoP on my boon prot (assume inspired hex, heal other, and draw conditions are spread throughout the team):

Boon
Hex Breaker
Energy Drain
Drain Enchantment
Holy Veil
Mend Ailment
Reversal of Fortune
Guardian

holden · May 30, 2006, 08:59 PM // 20:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Divineshadows

Yeah, so I guess you missed the Office Space reference.

i did and im sorry.

someone must've pissed in my cheerios.

ender6 · May 31, 2006, 01:34 PM // 13:34

Sno, you're quite correct about any decent team being able to account for physical resistance, so that is now off of my skill bar. It certainly worked well against bad teams, and certainly worked poorly against good teams. And of course we create builds to be effective against good teams.

Holy Veil
Inspire Hex
mend condition
gaurdian
RoF
CoP
Mantra of Recall
CoP

Back where I started so long ago.

JR · May 31, 2006, 01:50 PM // 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by ender6

Sno, you're quite correct about any decent team being able to account for physical resistance, so that is now off of my skill bar. It certainly worked well against bad teams, and certainly worked poorly against good teams. And of course we create builds to be effective against good teams.

Holy Veil
Inspire Hex
mend condition
gaurdian
RoF
CoP
Mantra of Recall
CoP

Back where I started so long ago.

Two CoPs? Nice.

ender6 · May 31, 2006, 03:08 PM // 15:08

LOL

make that Divine Boon.

RoF
CoP
Gaurdian
Mend condition
Holy Veil
Inspired Hex
Divine Boon
Mantra of Recall