Curse

romO · Mar 05, 2006, 05:37 AM // 05:37

Hi there! I hope everyone enjoyed the new balances that the update brought about (I know I sure did). They brought along with them the disappearance of many previously popular skills as well as new skills that people might want to look at to shift the metagame. However, one of the most important and controversial changes that was brought about was the skills changes involving energy management skills for monks, namely Energy Drain and Offering of Blood. OoB had been the standard for monks for a long time, and Edrain was considered a joke. Mantra of Recall had long been a dark horse, as it was difficult and sometimes inefficient to use, but still gave great results if used properly. The reason for changes in the energy management situation has both positive and negative motivation. The buff of Edrain by a small amount as well as the small nerf of OoB has tweaked energy management aspects in their respective directions. MoR was unchanged, but must again be reexamined as a viable possibility due to the decline of its greatest competitor.

What brought me around to writing this article was actually a statement by one of the most respected forum contributors and Guild Wars players, which rather surprised me. I thought that after seeing the list of changes, it should be clear which form of energy management should become prevalent, but then I saw one (oh, I know we aren’t supposed to post names, but this isn’t a bad thing and everyone is going to love him anyway) Charlie “x” Ensign posting that OoB may be painful, but it is still the sole choice for monks. I was alarmed by that comment and felt compelled to come out with some great alternatives, as well as why they are so.

The first calculations involve the basic stand-alone energy management skills. This means that weapons and offhands are not factored in. The most important thing to keep in mind as I make all of these calculations is that I am assuming ideal conditions, that is, using the skills as soon as it recharges, always having enough energy to use it as soon as it recharges, and always gaining full possible energy from the skill. These confounds will be discussed later in a final evaluation of each of the three skills. Another important note to make here for those who are not familiar with abbreviations is that I will refer to Offering of Blood as OoB, Energy Drain as Edrain, and Mantra of Recall as MoR.

Here are the basics of each skill:

Edrain 5e 1c 25r

@ 9 insp gives 16 energy (11 net gain)
Of the three skills being spotlighted here, Edrain is the only one which requires only 9 points in its specified attribute, as it has the same effect at 9 inspiration as it does at 10 inspiration. This means that one may place additional points in divine favor, prot, healing, etc.

OoB 5e 1/4c 15r 20s

@ 10 blood gives 16 energy (11 net gain)
After factoring in heals to make up for sacrifice, there is a 6.5 energy net gain per use of OoB. There is an assumption of 4.5 energy needed to heal after 20% sacrifice because we are using the numbers from the average heal touch, which is the most energy efficient self heal. For that healing touch, we are assuming 14 healing and 9 divine favor, which is one of the most common attribute setups for OoB healers. It is slightly more efficient at 13 healing and 11 divine favor, but with the 4.5 number, I am rounding down anyway and using the absolute in energy efficiency, so it is more than gracious. It is important to note that one can never use an exactly 4.5 energy heal, but we can assume that he is getting the full heal because he is generally never at completely maximum life anyway. The 4.5 energy will only make up for the sacrifice from OoB and the additional heal/energy will be to make up what he was already missing.

MoR 10e 1c 20r

@ 10 insp gives 23 energy (13 net gain)
The only thing to mention here is that MoR should never be used with a 20% enchanting staff or HoD sword, because it is an enchantment, and with that upgrade, its effective recharge is boosted to 24 seconds. The other possibility is that one could forget to wait the additional two seconds and recast it once it recharges, which would result in the enchantment being maintained for a longer period of time, and in zero energy gain.

Basic energy restored each minute:

Edrain: 26.40 (19.2 energy killed)

OoB: 25.60

MoR: 39.00

These are just straight figures without factoring in equipment. Before the last patch, OoB and MoR looked very close to one another without equipment, but what gave OoB the upper hand was its effectiveness after factoring equipment and its simplicity to use. For the following section, I will be assuming that each character will be using the most efficient weapons, which all happen to be unique (green) items. With pvp or collectors items, the differences will still exist, and with very little variance from the unique items, as they will net only a slightly larger net energy gain. It should also be noted that players have different preferences on what weapons, offhands, and upgrades to use, but I will only be considering those which result in maximum energy gain.

In these calculations, I have used 100 simulations where the exact expected number of fast recharges has occurred. This is purely for simplicity and to obtain an exact average.

Factoring in Gardoc’s needle and hook blood for OoB

32% double recharge, 4% one-fourth recharge
+1 blood (20%)
+3 energy

For 100 uses:

960 secs (64 * 15) + 240 secs (7.5 * 32) + 15 secs (3.75 * 4) = 1215 secs

520 energy (80 * 6.5) + 150 energy (20 * 7.5) = 670 energy

(670 energy / 1215 seconds) * 60 seconds/minute

33.09 energy per minute

Factoring in Garbock’s wand and chalice for Edrain

32% double recharge, 4% one-fourth recharge
+1 insp (20%)
20% half cast length
*no additional energy*

For 100 uses:

1600 secs (64 * 25) + 400 secs (32 * 12.5) + 25 secs (4 * 6.25) = 2025 secs

1100 energy (100 * 11) [Edrain at 10 insp gives the same results as 9 insp]

(1100 energy / 2025 seconds) * 60 seconds/minute

32.59 energy per minute

With the greater number of uses also comes greater volumes of energy killed per minute.

2025 secs kept constant

800 energy killed (100 * 8)

(800 energy killed / 2025 seconds) * 60 seconds/minute

23.70 energy killed per minute

It is commonly assumed that one of the downfalls of MoR is that it cannot be used with faster recharge items to gain more energy per minute (for the same reason it cannot be used with 20% longer enchanting items). However, that is a false assumption because if recharge items are used in conjunction with Contemplation of Purity (CoP), the resulting energy gain is still greater than letting it run its natural course without fast recharge. It should be pointed, however, that this is often not the case with boon prots. Many times, you will have to recast boon as well, and it yields less energy, regardless of the faster recharge. So if boon is the weapon of choice, sticking to the 20 second recharge is the best bet.

Factoring in Garbock’s wand and chalice for MoR (include CoP when quick recharge occurs)

32% double recharge, 4% one-fourth recharge
+1 insp (20%)
20% half cast length
*no additional energy*

For 100 uses:

1280 secs (64 * 20) + 320 secs (32 * 10) + 20 secs (4 * 5) = 1620 secs

Important to factor in +1 insp (20%) at this point because the extra one energy will be acquired whether or not there is a fast recharge and we do not want the CoP calculations to take away any energy from this gain. The average energy gain per usage of MoR will be therefore set at 13.2 energy.

844.8 energy (64 * 13.2) + 295.2 energy (36 * 8.2) = 1140 energy

(1140 energy / 1620 seconds) * 60 seconds/minute

42.22 energy per minute

In terms of the equipment situation presented, the blood set gets the advantage because of the +3 energy, but that will not play too large a part in the final result, and the inspiration set also adds a 20% chance of half casting time, which is important for the one second cast times of Edrain and MoR.

Summary:

Under ideal conditions, the following results are:

Edrain: 26.40 energy per minute (19.2 energy killed per minute); 32.59 energy per minute (23.70 energy killed per minute) with recharge wand and focus

OoB: 25.60 energy per minute; 33.09 energy per minute with recharge wand and focus

MoR: 39.00 energy per minute; 42.22 energy per minute with recharge wand and focus

Looking at these final numbers, OoB only offers .5 energy per minute more than Edrain. In terms of pure energy management purposes, it is ever so barely better, and comes with more confounds. Edrain also has an offensive element to it. There are many intangibles which weigh in favor of OoB, but the same is true for Edrain, and those will be covered later.

The difference in Edrain and OoB based on equipment (Edrain is better with standard equipment and OoB is better with recharge items) is due to the +1 (20% chance), as OoB has a faster recharge, and so, will benefit from the additional one energy given more often. Edrain will not benefit from this mod on the chalice because an extra one inspiration makes no difference.

Okay, now its time to see what that energy destruction by Edrain is really capable of. For this, we will assume that each team has two monks. The two monks on our team are both using Edrain at 9 insp and the two monks on the other team are using MoR at 10 insp. If they were to be using Edrain as well, the effect would cancel out. We are also giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are using the most efficient energy management skill with perfect equipment and using it to its full potential. Now we need to measure the net energy gain for each team’s monks. We are also going to be assuming that each of our monks will be using their Edrain on one of the opposing team’s monks.

Our net energy (two monks with Edrain): (32.59 * 2) = 65.18 energy gained per minute

Their net energy (two monks with MoR): (42.22 * 2) – (23.70 * 2) = 37.04 energy gained per minute

Divide these quantities by two to find the effect on each individual monk if you are interested. The opposing team’s monks will only be gaining 18.52 energy per minute while yours will be unaffected.

The results versus OoB monks is even more staggering. Once again, maintain the same ideal conditions, but versus OoB monks.

Our net energy (two monks with Edrain): (32.59 * 2) = 65.18 energy gained per minute

Their net energy (two monks with OoB): (33.09 * 2) – (23.70 * 2) = 18.48 energy gained per minute

That’s 9.24 energy gained per minute for each of their monks. That doesn’t seem like an awful lot, now, does it? Especially considering the metagame of boon prot monks. They have to deal with a mere three pips of regen as well as using a minimum of seven energy to cast each spell.

Okay, now, I have to admit, that whole “net energy gain per team per minute” gimmick was kind of a cheap shot. I had tried to make this article unbiased up until that point, but I really couldn’t help myself. Clearly that whole “monks draining monks” situation will not always be the case. It will be impossible for your monks to always drain your opposing team’s monks, but it will often be the case, and it was simply meant to display the destruction potential of energy drain.

All of the numbers are there for you above, but it’s now time to discuss the intangibles of each skill, which sometimes play a greater role in choosing one skill over another than the actual math does. Many confounds have already been discussed, but those which have not will be taken care of here.

~~~OoB is a ¼ seconds cast skill while Edrain and MoR are each one second casts. This adds to greater self-sufficiency, as if a monk needs energy now, he or she can get it with OoB. While speaking of self-sufficiency, it must be noted that OoB can just be used to gain energy immediately while Edrain needs to find a target, evaluate its energy pool, and then use the skill and MoR needs to wait or use CoP for a lesser energy gain (assuming there was no fast recharge). However, if a monk is alone and receiving all of the pressure, which is most often the case in the current metagame of attempting to blast the monks, OoB may help to add to the spike and help the monk apply greater pressure to him or herself, resulting in more frequent deaths.

~~~When a monk is at full health and he sacrifices 20% health with OoB, there is often the chance that he will need to be healed with a spell that will cost more than 4.5 energy, which was our assumption. Especially in the metagame of boon prot monks, it is very likely that such a heal will come from a reversal of fortune, which will heal to full, but lose seven energy. This results in overhealing or overlapping heals, and is detrimental to the energy management situation. A solution to this problem is bringing Signet of Devotion, as one SoD will make up for all of the life lost. However, the problem with that is that SoD is a two second cast, which a monk often doesn’t have to spare, especially if he or she is the target. It also forces him or her to exchange a skill out of the skillbar in favor of SoD.

~~~Scourge sacrifice has been mentioned a number of times in various places as gaining popularity in GvG, and if it ever works its way into the metagame, OoB will take huge hits from it and result in a net energy gain of two per use.

~~~Bring one of the skills from the inspiration line (Edrain or MoR) opens the door to bringing along Drain Enchantment, which provides much greater energy gain, kills a number of enchantments over time, and is also effected greatly by the recharge items. The blood line, on the other hand, generally doesn’t have any skills that would prove useful to monks.

~~~MoR was not used before the update because it was so difficult to use. Making sure that you use it at the right time to get the full energy back is difficult, as is getting the energy at the right time to help keep your team up. Of course, practice helps this, but it will never be perfect each time. This problem is accentuated with faster recharge items plus CoP. You need to spam your skills even faster to waste the energy in order to be ready for the big gain at the end of MoR. Another reason it is so difficult to use is because it costs 10 energy rather than the 5 of OoB and Edrain. There are many times when one is out of energy and does not have 10 to put MoR up. Even if he or she is able to use the skill, it drops them down to zero energy and makes them wait another 20 seconds, during which their team is incredibly vulnerable. OoB was great versus energy denial, and still is, but MoR is the complete opposite, since they often keep monks under 10 energy and they cannot cast MoR. Focus swapping is one solution to this problem, but it leads a monk to either have no energy reserves or such a great one that skills need to be spammed before the reserve is drained.

~~~The big fright with Edrain is that one will drain a target without energy and gain no benefit from it. Choosing targets must be done carefully, but more times than not, if it is done carefully, will result in full energy gain. Edrain should generally not be used in a build with other drainers because targets could be drained and serve no gain for the monks. Of course, Edrain helps in energy denial builds to help with the theme and ensure further energy locking, but in order to run such a build, it must be carefully decided and executed in a manner which leaves one or two targets with some energy for strictly the monks to drain.

~~~Edrain and MoR are one second casts. If they become popular, then interrupts for these skills may become popular as well. This had previously been impossible (or at least not possible with skill) with OoB, and interrupting sole sources of energy management is detrimental.

Taking everything into account, my weapon of choice will surely be Edrain, as OoB only gives .5 energy per minute more, and it is not all too difficult to find a target and spare a one second cast. MoR is great in theory, but has too many complications and the timing will never and can never be perfect. The offensive benefit of Edrain is undeniable, and much more important in my opinion than the quick usage of OoB, which will often end up helping to get one spike down as a result. Many people have been cheering on the dawn of Mantra of Recall, but looking at these facts, it looks as history may repeat itself and bring Energy Drain monks back into popularity. If this does happen to become part of the metagame, it will likely result in both sides having less energy on their monks, as they will often drain each other. Elimination of energy management from both sides means huge offensive possibilities or perhaps a greater need for self-sufficient characters and defense. Either way, it may lead to those who persist in asking to “nerf the monks” to get their way.

I hope this has been informative, and if any flaws or other possible confounds are found in my logic, I welcome you to present them to me.

Love,

Tommy

wheel · Mar 05, 2006, 06:18 AM // 06:18

Skill recharges round to the nearest second. Because of this, your numbers are off slightly.

Joe Martin · Mar 05, 2006, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Numbers are all fine and dandy, but the fact of the matter is that numbers != real world situations. All of those other energy management systems are 100% situational, i.e. a pre-exsisting condition needs to be there for them to work. When running those energy management systems you are banking on the fact that there will be an enchantment to be stripped, that MoR will land when you need it to, that the target you are E-Draining actually has energy. Other factors apply too, such as the need to be near a target that has one of these conditions.

What made OoB such a great skill for monks to use is that it worked well under pressure, and that the only condition it had was that you needed 5 energy. Monks are constantly under pressure, whether it be for energy or for health, lots of times it's both. We don't have the time to find a suitable target to drain an enchantment/hex/energy off of while trying to keep ourselves and our teammates alive.

MoR can sort of be used actively, by putting it on and then stripping it off manually with CoP if need be, but then you're looking at a net energy gain of about 1 (that's after the cost of MoR + CoP + re-application of Boon) @ 10 inspiration. Outside of that, if a monk is being pressured, it doesn't need energy 20 seconds from when they ask for it, it needs it then. And I don't care how good you are, you can't read minds. You have no idea when you or the team may be under serious pressure and you'll need the energy, so it is effectually impossible time it well all the time. It would function well under lax periods of casual team maintainence, but as soon as pressure hits the best you can do is pray.

Ensign is more or less right. OoB is the only truely 100% effective energy management skill for monks. We'll just have to be more careful how we use it these days.

Greedy Gus · Mar 05, 2006, 06:26 AM // 06:26

The main reason his numbers are off slightly is that romo forgot/didn't know that skill recharges don't start until you finish casting the spell, not when you start casting it. So there is no "timing" issue with MoR that you kept referring to without fast casting, it ends right when it's recharged. This also means that if ED is 25 sec recharge and 1 sec cast, you can cast ED every 26 seconds, not every 25 seconds as your numbers say.

I think the reason people say that OoB is still king is that realistically you don't have to heal the life sac every time, most of the time it will be mopped up by heal parties, natural regen, whatever.

Personally I feel that MoR is the superior choice right now, just for sheer amount of energy created per minute. I don't understand how you came to your conclusion....it looks like you really wanted to compare ED to OoB, and their pros and cons while being similar energy per minute. But with MoR almost 15 more energy per minute, I'd say that's the skill to beat.

romO · Mar 05, 2006, 06:35 AM // 06:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheel

Skill recharges round to the nearest second. Because of this, your numbers are off slightly.

Oh darn it, thats such a silly mistake for me to make. Yeah, you're right, and thanks for pointing that out. I will redo the recharge figures in the morning because its already late.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Martin

Numbers are all fine and dandy, but the fact of the matter is that numbers != real world situations. All of those other energy management systems are 100% situational, i.e. a pre-exsisting condition needs to be there for them to work. When running those energy management systems you are banking on the fact that there will be an enchantment to be stripped, that MoR will land when you need it to, that the target you are E-Draining actually has energy. Other factors apply too, such as the need to be near a target that has one of these conditions.

What made OoB such a great skill for monks to use is that it worked well under pressure, and that the only condition it had was that you needed 5 energy. Monks are constantly under pressure, whether it be for energy or for health, lots of times it's both. We don't have the time to find a suitable target to drain an enchantment/hex/energy off of while trying to keep ourselves and our teammates alive.

MoR can sort of be used actively, by putting it on and then stripping it off manually with CoP if need be, but then you're looking at a net energy gain of about 1 (that's after the cost of MoR + CoP + re-application of Boon) @ 10 inspiration. Outside of that, if a monk is being pressured, it doesn't need energy 20 seconds from when they ask for it, it needs it then. And I don't care how good you are, you can't read minds. You have no idea when you or the team may be under serious pressure and you'll need the energy, so it is effectually impossible time it well all the time. It would function well under lax periods of casual team maintainence, but as soon as pressure hits the best you can do is pray.

Ensign is more or less right. OoB is the only truely 100% effective energy management skill for monks. We'll just have to be more careful how we use it these days.

Yes, I understand that, and that is why I'm not the biggest fan of MoR. OoB may provide the most security, but Edrain is not too much more difficult to use. If youre in a rush, you can do some simple target tabbing until you find an ele and use Edrain on them, which wont take more than a second or so. Of course, theres always the possibility of lacking energy, but the chances are that the target will have at least some energy (if not 8, which really isnt all too much to begin with), and its a risk, but so is OoB. Personally I am less worried about a target that I am draining not having energy than I am using OoB when I am drained of energy and have a warrior pounding on me. I also dread having the other monk overlap heals with me or overheal in some way due to it, which eliminates the purpose of energy management to begin with. It may seem that OoB is self-reliant, but its situational as well, as there are many times when im sure you wouldnt dare use it. They are both risks, and it just seems that Edrain is the one that is more worth taking because the only threat is that you will get 10 energy back instead of 16 whereas with OoB you may be spiked shortly after or be overhealed to waste more energy (which could be equivalent to getting short energy off of a drain).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greedy Gus

The main reason his numbers are off slightly is that romo forgot/didn't know that skill recharges don't start until you finish casting the spell, not when you start casting it. So there is no "timing" issue with MoR that you kept referring to without fast casting, it ends right when it's recharged. This also means that if ED is 25 sec recharge and 1 sec cast, you can cast ED every 26 seconds, not every 25 seconds as your numbers say.

I apologize if I wasn't clear, but I understand that and it isn't the problem I was refering to. I was referring to recharge. If you are using a 20% enchant weapon, it is possible to overlap MoR and get no benefit from it because it will be recharged when your previous MoR is still up because it gains four seconds. This problem also occurs with faster recharge wands and focuses. Sorry for the confusion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greedy Gus

Personally I feel that MoR is the superior choice right now, just for sheer amount of energy created per minute. I don't understand how you came to your conclusion....it looks like you really wanted to compare ED to OoB, and their pros and cons while being similar energy per minute. But with MoR almost 15 more energy per minute, I'd say that's the skill to beat.

Well, first of all, it's nine energy per minute under ideal conditions for each skill (which is a lot harder to manage with MoR). Also, the insecurity of MoR is just impossible to deal with. You end of spamming heals all too often just because you want to get the full energy back, and you never get a choice as to when the energy comes. You cant just say "I want energy now because I need it", as you can often times with OoB and Edrain. MoR doesn't seem to be worth it because it is hard to maintain, insecure, doesn't always get the full effect, and domination mesmers can roll all over those builds.

wheel · Mar 05, 2006, 06:38 AM // 06:38

Yeah, another thing you forgot is factoring in recycle vs recharge. You need to add the cast times onto the recharge times in calculating the energy gain over time.

Fix your numbers, please.

JR · Mar 05, 2006, 05:28 PM // 17:28

Nice work Tommy, most interesting. A shame the numbers are a little off, as has been pointed out, but it's still a good read.

zoozoc · Mar 05, 2006, 05:43 PM // 17:43

What this update did was essentially give you 3 choices for energy managment instead of just OoB. They all have their pros and cons, and what it will usually come down to is what build you are running it with and what kind of playing style you prefer.

Roza · Mar 05, 2006, 09:10 PM // 21:10

Ever consider a renewal prot boon monk? With Guardian and RoF etc costing 3 instead of 7, you may actually be saving more energy than MoR, OoB or E-drain can give you. But it takes energy and time to maintain and can be stripped and disrupted, of course.

romO · Mar 05, 2006, 09:18 PM // 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roza

Ever consider a renewal prot boon monk? With Guardian and RoF etc costing 3 instead of 7, you may actually be saving more energy than MoR, OoB or E-drain can give you. But it takes energy and time to maintain and can be stripped and disrupted, of course.

Yes, I have considered it and tried it, but the glyph of renewal plus divine spirit recast costs about as much energy as you regen during that time. Therefore, if you want to keep them up constantly, you only have about as much energy to use as is in your initial pool before you are drained because the recasts basically negate your energy regen. You do get the cheaper casts, but if you have 45 energy and each spell costs 3 energy, that means that once you cast 15 spells, you will not be able to keep casting prots/heals or maintain the divine spirit. Once that occurs, you will be forced to boon prot without any energy management. It works great at the start but once you are forced to maintain it for long periods of time, it begins to lose its effectiveness. It also requires you to be very careful because if you are recasting divine spirit and forget the renewal, you lose it for 60 seconds.

Y.T. · Mar 05, 2006, 10:30 PM // 22:30

great article, i was looking for smth like that

but what about draw conditions+melandru's resilence combo? i agree it can be situational but still...
MR is a stance so it cant be stripped, but can be removed by 1 of warriors skill (wild blow if i remember corrctly) - but if i manage to draw 3-5 conditions on me my enrgy regen will be awesome...

what do u think?

edit: MRs recharge time's bugging me alittle - 30 sec is eternity in some situations... stance is not a skill right? so universal faster recharge mod's not going to affect it...

varyag · Mar 06, 2006, 03:27 AM // 03:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheel

Yeah, another thing you forgot is factoring in recycle vs recharge. You need to add the cast times onto the recharge times in calculating the energy gain over time.

Fix your numbers, please.

And for the love of kittens, skip the pre-history and very long sentances that use too many words for their own good but require everyone to finish reading them in hopes of not-losing andimportant point.

Why reference to an un-edited post with badly manipulated numbers and droning instead of rewriting one?
I see no use in this.

wheel · Mar 06, 2006, 07:18 AM // 07:18

Also in your calculations (and this is just a mathematical thing I'd like to correct you on), it's not necessary to calculate it over 100 uses. It's unnecessarily superfluous (Note the redundancy in the previous phrase. English is so fun.). Anyway, clean up your numbers please. I don't like having incorrect statistics on the forum, even if the numbers are only slightly off.

Chazeah · Mar 06, 2006, 07:38 AM // 07:38

personally, i find that conservative healing with Word of Healing is all that i need.

since it's equivolent to Heal Other when it triggers under 50%, i save 5 energy every time i cast it ona low health ally.

with a recharge of 4 seconds, i can realistically cast it 3-4 times every 20 seconds.

if 3 outta my 4 trigger at below 50%, that's 15 energy saved.

15 energy every 20 seconds comes out to 2.25 pips i think, or 45 energy per minute.
even if only 2 trigger, thats still 1.5 pips.

sounds pretty good to me.

but more importantly, ive already done my healing. If you use OoB, MoR, Edrain, whatever, you're still left with a wounded ally. great, you just got 10 energy from oob, but now you have to heal yourself and heal an ally. now you got squat. MoR gives you 2-3 heals, but doesnt it make sense to heal your allies AND save energy?

yeah, <50% is a sketchy situation, but nothing too bad. besides, it helps you learn to not overheal. its really not that hard to get used to.

also, going the straight up healing route gives you access to healing touch, a great self heal, and allows you to stay within 2 attributes if desired. (Healing and Divine)

----

another great thing is channeling. god damn this spell is underappreciated. dont give me that bogus "if you're near enemies as a monk you're already dead" line, because it is simply 100% not true. if monks automatically dropped dead when a warrior charged them there would be no monks of any type.

Having even just one enemy around you makes this skill viable. it in effect reduces the costs of your skills to 4, that is after it has paid for itself.

costs 5 to put up, and then lasts between 36-48 seconds, depending on attributes and staff mods. ill go with 40 seoncds, as that is base level 10 inspiration with no mods.

going from my previous example with WoH, let's say i cast once every 3 seconds.

in 15 seconds it will pay for itself, and in the next 25 seconds it will net +13.33 energy, or 1.6 pips, or 32 energy per minute.

imagine that doubling, tripling, for every enemy. it's ridiculous.

the aoe is great to, and by positioning yourself you can easily hit 3 players.

i have had personal experience in tombs where you actualy GAIN energy every cast. it triggers for pets, minions, ghostly, NPCS - it has ridiculous potential. it freakin rocks against iway with all their pets.

yes, its an enchant, but whatever. it is still passive, and since you already have points in inspiration, you could always take inspired hex, drain enchant, hell in MoR if you felt so inclined.

and its not an elite!

---

word of healing and channeling are the best imho. be conservative, dont let yourself fall into sticky situations with no energy, use tons of offhand switching, and you cant go wrong.

i love this combo as well because of no maintained enchants, and it is relatively simple. you dont have to think about energy management. you dont have to cast CoP at the right time, you dont have to worry what your health is when you cast, you dont have to cycle to enemies: just heal

isnt that your just anyways?

peace!

Funko

p.s. romo your calculations are awesome. thanks

tafy69 · Mar 06, 2006, 07:51 AM // 07:51

Oh dear, WoH monks that wait until someone is under 50% HP are not good!

But taking a healing or prot elite with Drain enchant and inspired hex works good and sometimes better than taking energy elite.

wheel · Mar 06, 2006, 08:01 AM // 08:01

It's true though, that channeling is complete trash. It's conditional upon being within ward range of enemies, which means that to get any type of energy out of it, you'll have to be very close to their offense or defense. In either case, it places you far away from where you want to be, because it destroys any concept of positioning you ever had.

The reason behind this? Their team has less space to travel to get to you. Thus, instead of having to put their offense in risk by moving away from their own monks, they can attack you at will in the safety of their monk's cast range.

JR · Mar 06, 2006, 08:52 AM // 08:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by tafy69

Oh dear, WoH monks that wait until someone is under 50% HP are not good!

It has nothing to do with waiting for someone to drop below 50%. Unless you are facing an absolutely terrile guild, people will consistantly drop below 50%. You can do your best to try and prevent it with Orisons... Partys... but once they do, you are equipped to deal with it.

Guillaume De Sonoma · Mar 06, 2006, 09:14 AM // 09:14

I was in Random Arenas one day and saw a Mo/R Boon Proting but for energy manegement he used Draw Conditions and Melandu's Resiliance. I wonder how effectiveit can be considering it is condition dependant, but melandru's resiliance did get a boost from the recent update.

Looking at your post I would say that monks would still run OoB because of the 1/4 second cast time. I would rather go for E-drain and take something like inspired hex for additional energy. The only problem is that you could be interupted which will hurt and if some Dom mesmer sneaks Power Leak into his build you are going to lose 20+ energy which hurts. Also distracting shot would put it out for 20 seconds before you could castit again, and most likely get interupted again. That is ofcourse if they carry interupts, which atleast one person should and wheen they catch on your in trouble. MoR is unreliable in timing and the health from OoB with little extra energy isn't worth it. But anything I just said you stated in your article.

I would say that you did very very good with this and it seems pretty unbiased, to me. All the information is there and you have listed the advantages/drawbacks very well.

Edit: wow it got late

tafy69 · Mar 06, 2006, 09:54 AM // 09:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by JR-

It has nothing to do with waiting for someone to drop below 50%. Unless you are facing an absolutely terrile guild, people will consistantly drop below 50%. You can do your best to try and prevent it with Orisons... Partys... but once they do, you are equipped to deal with it.

Yes but some people and the guy sounded like 1 of them, wait until the target is under 50% HP then use WoH

WoH is a decent elite but if people start using it to save energy by waiting for someone to drop under 50% hp then your in trouble.

The only place i can see it doing ok is if you know their team has no spike power then you could let them drop under 50%. I wouldnt want a monk like that on my team imo.

neoflame · Mar 06, 2006, 11:16 PM // 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by tafy69

Yes but some people and the guy sounded like 1 of them, wait until the target is under 50% HP then use WoH

WoH is a decent elite but if people start using it to save energy by waiting for someone to drop under 50% hp then your in trouble.

The only place i can see it doing ok is if you know their team has no spike power then you could let them drop under 50%. I wouldnt want a monk like that on my team imo.

You need to go back and learn how to monk.