Curse

so_cal_forever · Jun 02, 2005, 04:44 PM // 16:44

Yes, I do realize this is about the 100th thread about monks. But jeez!

My character is a Mo/W. Instead of using healing skills like a typical monk, I combine high sword attacks and powerful smiting skills to kill enemies quickly.

What's wrong with this? Everything, apparently.

I've hardly gotten into any groups because of this. The second they find out, they either kick me or start screaming at me because "MONKS ARE SUPPOSED TO STAY IN THE BACK AND HEAL, NOTHING ELSE!" I've seriously heard variations of this comment way too many times.

So today, I decided that the only way to progress further was to change over to a healing skill set. This should get me through, right? WRONG!

Since I've tried this I've been called a noob for doing my job: healing. If anyone makes a mistake, it's because "the monk didnt heal me!" When in fact I was healing them and their other party members. To be honest, I've gotten farther in this mission with henchmen than I have with the group I was with today. I will say that being new to healing, there were a couple of errors on my part. However, I received more backlashing than was to be credited to my fault.

So now I'm stuck at this mission and I have to get more experience so I can reset my attributes to how they were before, so that I can grab some henchmen because they seem to be the only group that doesnt call you a noob for doing your job.

To be honest, the healer dillema is a very rough part of this game. I think the healer henchmen should be better so that players who cant always get into groups can actually weather the crystal desert quests. I dunno about everyone else, but my understanding when this game was released is that it would be possible to do quests without the aid of human characters because the henchmen were decent enough.

Sorry if at any point in my ranting I sounded bitchy, but this just takes the cake.

relientK_fan · Jun 02, 2005, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Yeah, what's wrong with a monk wanting to do damage? Smiting does a lot of damage if you max it, and it cuts straight through armor. I think anyone who thinks a Monk can't do damage is retarded. Smiting monks make great monk protectors in PvP, and in PvE they're powerful. But if you're the only monk in the group, expect to get yelled at, because they expect you to heal them.

Darkest Dawn · Jun 02, 2005, 04:59 PM // 16:59

I agree! My 13th level monk has lvl 7 smiting as well as 7th level healing. This way I can keep everyone alive, but have two or three slots filled with smiting prayers to help in the fighting department. Especially in fighting undead, a monk's smiting is simply kickin' !

relientK_fan · Jun 02, 2005, 05:04 PM // 17:04

Yeah, my W/Mo used to be sword/strength/smite in Kryta /just/ because of the undead. I could do 50 damage with Banish at lvl 4 smiting I think. 'Twas awesome.

Darkest Dawn · Jun 02, 2005, 05:18 PM // 17:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by relientK_fan

Yeah, my W/Mo used to be sword/strength/smite in Kryta /just/ because of the undead. I could do 50 damage with Banish at lvl 4 smiting I think. 'Twas awesome.

Yeah, my lvl 7 does around 80, I think.

Keira Darkwind · Jun 02, 2005, 05:27 PM // 17:27

For one, there's nothing wrong with a smiting monk. You play your character as you want to, you paid you money and no one has the right to tell you how to play. Of course there is a but: if you are a smiter and you get invited to a group where you are obviously going to be the primary healer, you should tell your teammates how you are built upfront.

As for healing, I've played a pure healing monk for 19 levels and it's not easy. You have a limited energy bar. A lot of teams seem to think that monk on the team equals invincibility. They think they can go running off in all directions fighting different foes and I can keep them alive. Having a monk on the team improves the overall team survivability, it does not guarantee that no one will ever lose health or die.

People can be very rude to a monk. I can say that I never experienced this until reaching the desert, but now it seems to be happening a lot. Today, I had someone call me Monk throughout a mission. I asked for a quick afk as my child needed attention and I was ignored, the team carried on and I got a "CMON, MONK"
Then when we had a tough fight and someone died, as usual waited until after the fight to rez them and carried on healing the team, while the fight was ongoing this same person shouted REZ REZ REZ then MONK, THINK ABOUT REZZING!!111!!one!!!11!! Some times when you are a monk, you want to have a list called "Do Not Heal"

Some people are very rude, and being a healer is a thankless task.

Flatliner · Jun 02, 2005, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Nothing wrong at all, just make sure you let the party know when you are invited. Theres nothing worse than a party only grabbing 1 monk in hoping they will heal for the team, then die because they have no healing.

Smiters are good, the parties just need a little heads up.

Aug · Jun 02, 2005, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Why did you go Mo/W if you aren't using Divine Favor? You'd get a lot less hate if you weren't a Mo primary without healing abilities. It sort of defeats the whole purpose of playing a Mo primary if you don't plan to heal or use protection enchants (which will heal with Divine Favor).

I don't fault groups for thinking you should be healing if you're a Monk. You should be. The profession is designed to be a healer. Smiting is certainly a viable line, but not as the only line for a Monk primary.

And yes, people can be very nasty when Monks 'fail' at their job. Which blows my mind, considering you should be thankful you have someone to do the job at all, no matter how poorly they do it, since so few people actually WILL do it (or at least attempt to).

Galatea · Jun 02, 2005, 05:43 PM // 17:43

I think it's just the 'stereotype' that monks = healers. But really, there are so many builds that can be created from the class combinations and skills, that there isn't just one type. Like, every elementalist isn't an AOE damage dealer, or ever ranger doesn't set traps. I believe the same should be that ever monk doesn't need to be a healer. I'm sorry you got stuck with a group of people who you could not agree with, but I'm sure there are many others that would be happy to have a damage dealing monk in their group.

toastgodsupreme · Jun 02, 2005, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aug

Why did you go Mo/W if you aren't using Divine Favor?

I went Mo/W so I could change to ele after ascension. And because monk goes good with many classes.

Valerius · Jun 02, 2005, 05:44 PM // 17:44

Monks are either blamed and yelled at for not healing...

or loved and cherished by all for their healing

Zilm · Jun 02, 2005, 05:47 PM // 17:47

Welcome to the world of Monking!

Don't let any of the silly crap bother you. It will become very clear when your in a good group versus a bad group. When they have good armor and when it is weak. Good players appreciate good teamwork, and realize failures are due to the team not one individual (except the dumbass aggroing all the mobs!).

If a group doesn't call targets it's gonna be trouble. They kinda scatter and the situation rapidly falls apart. They die and the monk gets the verbal attack. Been there many times.

Weak armor becomes very clear in the first encounter. From this point on I know who to keep an eye on and who may need the heavier heals versus a better armored player.

I currently have a LVL20 Mo 12 Heal, 11 Smite and 10 Divine and only have one Minor Rune of Smiting. I can throw heavy heals or Smite the piss out of them. A little protection would be nice but Balthazar's Aura and Zealots Fire are just too much fun!

What I have found are the people who flame the monks the most are consistently the worst team/strategy players in the game. Even a less than average monk can keep a group alive if they play the map in a smart manner.

Fissue and Underworld are a different story. You better be on top of your Monk game!

Loki69 · Jun 02, 2005, 05:58 PM // 17:58

In all honesty the problem lies not with you, but in others expectations. In the majority of PuGs I have been on folks state that it is all but impossible to complete tasks with out a monk or even multiple monks. The expectation from these folks in most cases (IMO) is to be able to act foolishly in battle and not pay the consequences since the monk will be spamming heals on them.

If you find a good group that understands tactics and does not mind taking their time they can often succeed even without a primary healing monk and having a good healer is just a better chance at surviving those tough fights.

Bottom line - play the character as you prefer and hope you can find some people to add to your friends list that understand how to play the game intelligently. What it comes down to in the end is enjoying yourself.

Good luck to you.

Darkest Dawn · Jun 02, 2005, 06:08 PM // 18:08

Another thought is that if you are going solo with henchies, then you can smite all you want, as well as in some groups where there is plenty of healing. Then, if you want to join a party of peeps who need a primary healer monk, you can switch your skills and allocated points around to fit that type of situation assuming you have refund points accrued. We monks can be, in fact, either or depending on the need.

Aug · Jun 02, 2005, 06:14 PM // 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by toastgodsupreme

I went Mo/W so I could change to ele after ascension. And because monk goes good with many classes.

Monk does go well with many classes. As a secondary. What do you plan to do as a Mo/E? Do you plan to heal after you ascend? If not, I still fail to see why you chose Monk primary.

All a Monk primary is good for is healing/protecting (and solo farming, which also largely revolves around healing/protecting, just with Zealot's Fire running). If you aren't healing/protecting, you should've chosen a different primary class, and gone Monk as a secondary.

Trenchsoul · Jun 02, 2005, 06:25 PM // 18:25

There aren't enough monks around for players to accept that monks want to do damage. I'll tell you what's wrong with monks doing damage, there is one healing class: monks. Every other class in the game is a damage dealing class in some form or another. Why did you go Mo/W? That's backwards. If you're a monk primary then you need to heal, that is what divine favor is for. If you wanted to do damage with smiting skills W/Mo would have been the way to go. If there were multiple healing classes or other ways to get healing then yes, you could be a smiting monk. Since there aren't though, too bad.

I very much despise having a healer class in games. It limits what you can do in groups, and nobody will go without a healer. In every MMO I've played I've always had to wait around for the one class every group needs and nobody wants to play.

Macievelli · Jun 02, 2005, 06:36 PM // 18:36

Have you hugged your Monk today?

There's nothing quite like the experience of having a good bunch of players in a PUG. When it all comes together, it feels like the first time I played and makes me love the game all over again. It even takes away some of the frustration that all the bad PUG teams cause.

This applies particularly to monks. When I've just finished a mission or a PvP/GvG battle, I make a point of personally thanking the people that made it possible, whether they are strangers or guild members (like so_cal_forever - my bro. WOOT). With the ever incresing demand for healers as a mission-critical element of any team, it seems to get harder and harder to find a good PUG. It is unfortunate to see droppers, AFK'ers, etc. so prevalent in the game. Don't get me started on the mercenaries-for-hire crowd (i.e. "I'll get you through this mission for 3k"). Friggin' leeches. I guess it takes all kinds, and the world of Tyria is a microcosm of the real one.

I'd like to see more comradery amongst the in-game community. Spread the love, say thank you when somebody kicks arse and helps you do your job. Hug a monk.

Myodato · Jun 02, 2005, 07:00 PM // 19:00

Some of the responses here show how stereotyped monks are. People think monk = healer, and I don't think there's a huge amount you can do to change that. Personally I think smiting monks are fantastic, and thoroughly underestimated by most. Mo/W isa great combination to play aswell, even without divine favour. Personally I would choose Mo/W over W/Mo just for the extra energy and recharge; who cares about primary attributes and armour ?

The only problem you really have here is with PUGs. If you shout Mo/X lfg, people are expecting a healer. People shouldn't assume, but you know they're going to, so if you join up without letting them know you're not a healer, then you shouldn't be surprised if they're annoyed by that.

Flatliner · Jun 02, 2005, 07:13 PM // 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aug

Why did you go Mo/W if you aren't using Divine Favor?

Simple, */mo can't use smiting runes.

so_cal_forever · Jun 02, 2005, 07:30 PM // 19:30

Trust me, you even say "Smiting Mo/W LFG" and you're f'ed. Then someone will invite you to their group, say "Do you have any healing spells?" A simple "Just ressurection" and you're kicked from the group.

This isnt what I expected to see much, really.