You're a level 20 Monk... how's your energy? - Page 2 - Guild Wars Forums

Fyre Brand · Jan 24, 2006, 03:34 AM // 03:34

You need to decide your role. Just thinking pure heal or maybe heal/smite it's more about skill build than anything else. If you are heal, don't worry about damage. Sometimes I don't even get in aggro range and just heal, especially in places like Fissure of Woe or even Sorrows Furnace where I don't want to have any aggro on me at all if possible. The more I'm running and healing myself the less I am healing my party.

Armour ~ While other armours look neat, the ugly tats are the work clothes. Don't do judges chest or any other junk to protect yourself. It's the tanks job to take the hits. Use Tattoos. If you want "pretty" energy armour get fissure armour.

Weapon/Offhand ~ Get a small variety of weapons / offhands for different build styles. Have a staff (Yaks is good among others) that lengthens enchants. Have a couple rods. One rod that is fast cast/recharge for healing prayers, one for smiting, and one for protection. A collectors offhand for divine or healing is good. Again get fast cast/recharge on the offhand. Fast cast/recharge is very underated vs. the +20% enchant mod. Enchant duration mostly shines for protection. You will be surprised how nice it is when you fast cast Heal Party or avoid interupt on a heal or your Shield of Judgement recharges in half the time.

Skill Set ~ Look really close on what skills cost and what returns you get from them. It's all on what makes you feel comfortable keeping your party alive and that can just take practice and time. But I will give you some skills I use and why. I learned from a really good healer (Louden the Super Healing Freak!!

many thanks.) who taught me the virtues of the "5 energy healing spam" build. Basically look at your 5e skills and you would be surprised what you can line up that works good.

Orison ~ 5E - A staple and pretty self expanatory. Good
Dwayna's Kiss ~ 5E - heals almost as good as orison and really shines under conditions/hexes.
Word of Healing ~ 5E - Elite. Used right it rocks. Sometimes though Dwaynas is just as good or better and doesn't take an elite slot.
Vigorous Spirit ~ 5E - This is great on almost anyone but especially your warriors and rangers. This is also a great cover enchant for more valuable or long recharge enchants.
Healing Breeze ~ 10E - Many people knock this because it's not as efficient as some heals, but it's plus is that it is a cast and move on heal. It's also great for countering degen and works great with vigorous. Often this is the only self heal I bring and I save it for emergencies.
Mend Ailment ~ 5E - Wait this is a prot spell. Well I bring it for 2 reasons. I usually have a couple points left over for protection prayers, but even if not the divine bonus heals and it gets rid of a condition.
Heal Party ~ 15E - Hey this is an expensive spell and totally under rated. If you have to heal a lot of your party this is the spell. Use it sparingly. If you have spike healed 3 people in your party and your heals are still recharging and there are still 3 or more people to heal, then this is the skill to use.
Smite Hex ~ Removing a hex can be better than healing the effects.
Well of Power ~ Necro Elite. This can make your life and the lives of fellow casters heaven. This helps your energy management and those around you.

Some things to keep in mind:
So the idea here is to minimize energy cost. Pay attention to how much your heals work for you so you don't cast too soon. Don't use -1 energy regen items. You lose out in the long run. You don't have to manage energy if you don't run out of it.

If your party is losing health at an alarming rate then there are bigger problems than you not being able to heal them. They need to look at strategy and builds themselves. A monk isn't there to provide infinite health, but to help keep it up. A good warrior or ranger brings some sort of self heal in pve.

Well I hope that helps. Long and wordy, but monking can be tricky. Just do what feels comfortable to you and experiment a little.

Bastard Son · Jan 24, 2006, 03:48 AM // 03:48

Thanks for all the responses, folks. I didn't think I'd get quite so many! Here's my setup for my PvE Monk/Mesmer (and my apologies if this is long):

Health 540
Energy 56 (+3 pips)
Illusion 0
Domination 0
Inspiration 7
Healing 11+1
Smiting 0+1
Protection 7+1
Divine 8+1

ARMOR
I currently wear the Maguuma collectors' quest armor (head to toe) which is AL51 for each piece (I get a total of +10 Energy, +2 Energy Recovery, and +30 Health with them combined). I know the Ascetic's Armor grants more energy and is something I'm looking forward to getting down the road, but right now I'm only in Riverside Province (haven't been level 20 for very long).

WEAPONS
My primary weapon is a Holy Rod (Fire DMG 7-13, DMG+10% when health above 50%, Energy+3 when health above 50%, and DMG+20% customized).

My offhand weapon is a Divine Symbol (Energy+8, Energy+15, Energy Regen-1, Health+30). I don't know why the energy bonus is listed in two separate entries like that. The -1 energy regen sucks, I know.

SKILLS
Heal Other (used when my teammates get seriously hurt)
Healing Breeze (gives +8 pips which is great for the frontline guys and on myself)
Orison of Healing (great for quick, little bursts of health and works on myself)
Mend Ailment (self explanatory)
Remove Hex (casts and recycles faster than other Hex removal skills I have)
Energy Tap (the way I get a little extra energy if I need it)
Restore Life (to res someone near me in the middle of battle)
Rebirth (to teleport someone away from a battle while res-ing them)

Moderators: please don't move this into the Builds section unless you absolutely need to. I'm more hoping others will answer the questions I asked in my original post, but I wanted to list my build in case someone can suggest a change. Thanks!

Hockster · Jan 24, 2006, 06:32 AM // 06:32

Draw Conditions is good. Use it on all with conditions then use Purge Conditions on yourself. I prefer Remove Hex over Smite Hex due to the shorter cooldown.

If you want to use a Necro elite, use Offering of Blood. With only a few points into Blood it's a good energy boost skill, and has a very short cooldown. You an also use Essence Bond on the tanks, assuming they know how to keep agro on themselves. A smart thank that can do that will keep you in more energy than you know what to do with.

Sister Spice · Jan 24, 2006, 08:43 AM // 08:43

I have only just capped OOB but have been playing a bond monk for a while and here's a couple of other energy management ideas for monks:
1. Blessed signet - works specifically with bond monks - maintain a bunch of enchantments and repeatedly use the signet - I tended to never run out of energy (unless I did something stupid in an emergency)

2. Balthazars - works if you are redirecting damage to you (ie with bond) and works even if the redirected damage ='s 0 points.

Both of these were very effective energy management in pure monk builds in PVE - but I would emphasise that the build specifically fed them - not so good for more standard heal/ prot builds

Spicecat

Bastard Son · Jan 24, 2006, 12:59 PM // 12:59

I keep seeing the Yakslapper mentioned in a lot of the posts above. What is this item? An offhand item? What sorts of stats does it have? I tried to do a search on this site, but it says that it's disabled.

I also see some people have mentioned Inspired Hex when using a Mesmer Secondary, but doesn't that get replaced with the original caster's hex for 20 seconds (or however long)? And if so, wouldn't that effectively disable your ability to remove a hex on your teammate for that duration of time?

With what I have described for my character (in the long Post#22 above), can you make any suggestions for skill/attribute/weapon/armor change insofar as Energy management and/or conservation is concerned?

Kaguya · Jan 24, 2006, 01:08 PM // 13:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastard Son

I keep seeing the Yakslapper mentioned in a lot of the posts above. What is this item? An offhand item? What sorts of stats does it have? I tried to do a search on this site, but it says that it's disabled.

The Yakkslapper is a green unique item, a staff. The Yakslapper at GuildWiki

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastard Son

I also see some people have mentioned Inspired Hex when using a Mesmer Secondary, but doesn't that get replaced with the original caster's hex for 20 seconds (or however long)? And if so, wouldn't that effectively disable your ability to remove a hex on your teammate for that duration of time?

Yes, it does. So in effect you can remove one hex per 20 seconds, though you can throw the captured hex at mobs at will.. Not very useful tho since there probably isn't any points in that attribute to make it effective... But it's cheap and fast casting, and gives some energy.

Sir Iceman · Jan 24, 2006, 01:21 PM // 13:21

IMHO Energy Regen is more important than Energy reserves. I have a lvl 20 pure healing Monk with 52 energy. I use the Tatoo armor from the forge, And a 20/20 Collector’s Divine staff with 15 energy & 30 health. ( I added the 5 Energy & 30 Health ) I use ‘Peace & Harmony’ as my Elite skill. This will allow me to regen at 5 pips. I have 16 in Healing & 15 in Divine. I don’t use my 2nd class at all. This has served our guild quite well. I’ve used this build to backstop us all the way through the PvE campaign.

Every now and then you will face enemies that can make a mess out of your Energy. Mesmers & Necros come to mind. On those occasions it is a good idea to have a back-up plan. Now I also carry a wand with 15 energy at –1 regen & an offhand item with 27 energy at –1 regen. This will kill my Regen. But for a short period, I have quite the boost in Energy. This should give you the reserves you need for the short time it takes the damage dealer to finish their job.

There is a document located on this site that discusses Energy Management. It is good reading and quite helpful.

Iceman

baz777 · Jan 24, 2006, 01:43 PM // 13:43

I dislike minus regen and have full ascetics tattoo???s, +12 20/20 collectors healing ankh and +5^50% rod with 18% fast cast on blood magic and use OOB.

Unless I???m the only monk and it really gets frantic I very rarely have energy problems.

Doctor Death · Jan 24, 2006, 01:58 PM // 13:58

In most PvE areas I find that using essence bond on the tank or whoever has most agrro (mostly me in PvP) to gain more energy than I need.

If running a life bonder I like to use Balthazars Spirt to convert the damage being directed to me into energy.

Ok these are not to good in areas with heavy enchant removal but they are instant choices for me in all other areas because I dont have to invest lots of points into my secondry proffesion to get good energy return.

rugal nuker · Jan 24, 2006, 01:58 PM // 13:58

maybe a +5 energy staff head and +20% enchantment duaration wrapping would help you some of this

Yichi · Jan 24, 2006, 02:54 PM // 14:54

go nec secondary and use offering of blood for your elite. get the 20% recharge wand and focus for your weapon switch for the fast cast recharge on offering. When you can get all your monk spells spammable, gg

Darkpower Alchemist · Jan 24, 2006, 04:05 PM // 16:05

I have 2 monks,a Mo/E and a Mo/W, both have a Yakslapper.This is a green Staff requiring a 9 in Divine Favor. It has +5 to energy and +20% to enchantment lengths.Also,it has recharge 20% for protection prayers(not to take away from the 20% faster recovery from a deep wound).This is perfect for a protection/bonder or even a healer monk. I wear sacred armor AL 60 from Droknars on my Mo/W and Censor Armor with Ascetic Tats on my arms for my Mo/E. The Mo/E with Yakslapper has 43 energy and my Mo/W has 45.I always carry smite skills and equip them with Sup Smiting runes(All warriors can not defend there monks!).Personally,I use the cheaper heal spells like Orison and Healing Breeze in conjunction with Divine boon and a high Divine Favor.Heal Party is very useful when Divine Boon is employed,Giving healing from Healing Prayers,Div Fav,and Divine Boon all in one shot.I,personally have little problems energywise in PvE situations,but I have had to deal with poor company with bad armor as well.This will put a tremendous burden on a monk's energy pool.Take into account, that with a high enough Div Fav,All monk spells are now heal spells.This goes for Smiting spells such as Balthazar's Aura and SoJ.Mesmer is still a bit new to me,but monkwise,I say that energy management is all in the build and the team you are playing with.If their builds are horrible,you will know it really fast.If they can't keep aggro away from you,no smites will put you on the run for sure.Monks,in general,lack attack power without smite skills.However,as energy goes, you can use essence bond on all members of your party that will take aggro and bring Blessed Signet along with you.Another offered similar advice already,but I'm siding with his course of action.Yet,if your group is worth their salt, you will find that they will be more than willing to accomodate their casters with spells and skills that will keep your energy up.I usually never let Div fav be lower than 10(12 is ideal IMO),and with a Zealot scalp and a smiting sup rune that's a starting point of 4 in Smiting Prayers. Even if you don't smite yourself,though I usually end up doing just that,you can now cast such smiting spells on your tanks so as they will kill faster and need you to heal them less often.The faster the enemies die,the less healing you will have to do.Also,play selective healer.If you have a W/Mo in your group,he will more than likely have a self heal on him to use.E/Mes on the other hand is more than likely pure Damage dealer,thus making the E/Mes your healing priority.I don't always carry removal spells in PvE,since most monsters spells and conditions can be counteracted by using things like Healing breeze(Poison,Degen via Necro or Mesmer)through most of the game.Divine Boon is one heck of a help,and Bleesed Aura will not only work on Protection spells,but on smites like SoJ and B Aura,as well as Healing breeze as they are all enchantments.Blessed Aura increases enchantment length by 27% with Di Fav at 10.This,with a Yakslapper increases the enchantments length to +47%,makeing Breeze heal longer and SoJ and B Aura smite longer.Try it out.

Kaguya · Jan 24, 2006, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Needs.. more.. paragraphs...

TalonTheCat · Jan 24, 2006, 05:12 PM // 17:12

This thread has been really interesting - one question : I only have 14 max healing - but I only have minor healing on my armor. Is the -75 health worth the +2 for the supieror?

Fyre Brand · Jan 25, 2006, 05:53 AM // 05:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastard Son

Thanks for all the responses, folks. I didn't think I'd get quite so many! Here's my setup for my PvE Monk/Mesmer (and my apologies if this is long):

Health 540
Energy 56 (+3 pips)
Illusion 0
Domination 0
Inspiration 7
Healing 11+1
Smiting 0+1
Protection 7+1
Divine 8+1

You robbing yourself here. You don't need the points you are putting into prot prayers. You have two prot line spells and your job is healing. Mend Ailment and Rebirth aren't really even prot spells. That is you are not actively protecting. The effect you get from this isn't returning what you are spending on it. Spend enough points in healing prayers to get to 13 or 14. Spend points to Divine up to 9. Spend the last couple in inspiration if you want but I'm not a big fan of Energy Tap overall (thats just my preference), but if it's working for you then use it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastard Son

ARMOR
I currently wear the Maguuma collectors' quest armor (head to toe) which is AL51 for each piece (I get a total of +10 Energy, +2 Energy Recovery, and +30 Health with them combined). I know the Ascetic's Armor grants more energy and is something I'm looking forward to getting down the road, but right now I'm only in Riverside Province (haven't been level 20 for very long).

Like some others have said here get tatoos when you can. Other classes are designed to tank better. If you are taking hits run around and fire off fast heals when you can. Eventually the monster will target someone else. The nearest place you can get tats is right outside the portal of Sanctum Cay. These tattoos are just a few less armour level than Droknars Tats and the same energy. They are also cheaper. These will do you fine all the way through the desert.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastard Son

WEAPONS
My primary weapon is a Holy Rod (Fire DMG 7-13, DMG+10% when health above 50%, Energy+3 when health above 50%, and DMG+20% customized).

My offhand weapon is a Divine Symbol (Energy+8, Energy+15, Energy Regen-1, Health+30). I don't know why the energy bonus is listed in two separate entries like that. The -1 energy regen sucks, I know.

Your weapon is fine. I do have to say that max damage max mod collector weapons are fairly cheap and available. But the +3E for the rod isn't bad really. But, if I were you, I would save that offhand for emergency energy and get a primary offhand. Again collectors with fast cast/recharge +12E with a 9req (usually divine) is pretty cheap and available. 5 hydra claws in the desert will get you one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bastard Son

SKILLS
Heal Other (used when my teammates get seriously hurt)
Healing Breeze (gives +8 pips which is great for the frontline guys and on myself)
Orison of Healing (great for quick, little bursts of health and works on myself)
Mend Ailment (self explanatory)
Remove Hex (casts and recycles faster than other Hex removal skills I have)
Energy Tap (the way I get a little extra energy if I need it)
Restore Life (to res someone near me in the middle of battle)
Rebirth (to teleport someone away from a battle while res-ing them)

Like I said before use the skills that make you feel comfortable but there are couple suggestions or thoughts I would like to give.

1. You are bringing two rez spells. I would stick to rebirth. You really shouldn't be the first person rezzing. It's been said so many times but here it is again. When you are rezzing you aren't healing. Let another wamo with restore/rebirth to do it first. Or let the guy lie flat if the battle is under control and rez him when you know for sure it's safe. If you burn both those rezzes in the middle of battle other people are probably going down. In PvE our guild likes rebirth for a lot of reasons I won't go into, but just take one.

2. I generally bring breeze for degen conditions. I bring mend ailment a lot also since it's cheap and fast cast and it helps a lot to support this. For degen hexes I use breeze also (or just heal when the health bar gets low). Remove hex is a fine spell but it's a long cast and your point isn't to remove all hexes because generally they come too much. If you are mesmer then bring a damage enhancer to help the tanks. Save your shatter hex or smite hex for the tank or someone in real trouble.

3. You aren't really shining in any type of healing role. Bump up your healing prayers to 13 or 14. Focus on your healing spells. Even think of mend ailment as something that helps the health bar of your party.

Divine Elemental · Jan 25, 2006, 06:03 AM // 06:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by labsenpai

My energy management tips:
1) nab a wand with +5 EN, ones with high req are usually cheap.
2) maximize Divine Spirit usage.
3) wear tats on the limbs.
4) don't sink a ton of skill points into your secondary, unless 2 spots on your bar are better for it.
5) appeal to your party for extra defensive help; friendly buffs, wells, and some self-heals will keep you casting longer.

Divine Spirit ( 20% Enchant Stuff + Aura of Longer Encahnt

)
+
Glyph of Renewal
=
24/7 Divine Spirit = Amen

having that will surely manage your energy.. unless your a spam alot and break your numbers spamming healing...
all your spells are -5 Energy
the lowest is 1 energy pers spell..
so thats
orison
Dwaynas
Touch.
should be enough for 3 energy eh?

dawnrain · Jan 25, 2006, 01:41 PM // 13:41

For PvE, my general energy management philosophy is high divine favor combined with lots of 5e spells. And try NOT to heal people to max health (unless they've got a lot of DP and drop in 1 or 2 hits or you're at max energy). Don't heal anyone between battles, until you get to max energy.

High Max Energy or High Energy Regen? Have the best of both worlds. Create two weapon sets and only switch to the High Max Energy Set when your energy is at/near 0 and you need to cast spells. Use/swap to High Energy Regen set in all other instances.

Bastard Son · Jan 25, 2006, 02:37 PM // 14:37

DawnRain: thanks for the advice on the weapon sets. I'll have to figure out a good second set with higher regen.

Fyre Brand: Good points on the attribute adjustment. I'll try reducing Protection and increase Healing and Divine.

Just made it to Sanctum Cay for the first time and bought myself a set of the Ascetic's armor from the collector in the Cay/Fisherman's area (I think it's AL60, though I'm at work right now and can't check). My energy level is now at 63 with +3 regen.

I'll look into your weapon/offhand suggestions. I assume by "the desert" you mean the Crystal Desert? If so, I'm not quite there yet but will be after the Cay mission. I'll keep an eye out for the collector items there. I have yet to see a collector offhand or mainhand item with either as much straight energy bonuses or energy regen bonuses as the ones I have now. Perhaps I missed them or disregarded them. Again, keep in mind I *JUST* got to Sanctum Cay so I haven't seen any items that can be had from beyond that point.

About your multiple res comment: I only recently started carrying two and the reasons are many. I play almost solely with three others (grabbing henchmen to fill the rest of the party when available) and the only other one that brings a res is the Ele. If we are completely overwhelmed and the warrior in my group goes down (for instance), I'd rather be able to cast Restore Life to get them back up ASAP (they'll get a nice Health and Energy boost upon res). If we are so overwhelmed that everyone seems to go down, I'll do my best to stay alive and run away until the mobs stop chasing. Then, I use Rebirth in case my fallen party members are still within aggro range to get them and me (as I cast) out of danger.

So, I guess my role is Healer/Resser/Condition Mender. Wish there was a Remove Hex that worked more like Mend Ailment, but you're right... I use Breeze on the others for hex-based health degen countering as well and normally reserve the Remove Hex for myself (esp. if it prevents me from casting a spell or what-not) or for the Ele in the group (for the same reason).

Thanks for all the tips and help, folks. Keep up the chatter. I'd love to see what the rest of you monks do or can suggest for energy conservation and management. In my experience, this issue is REALLY important to being a successful monk.

Jan 24, 2006, 03:34 AM // 03:34	#21
Fyre Brand Krytan Explorer Join Date: Sep 2005 Guild: Shadowlight Order [SoR]	You need to decide your role. Just thinking pure heal or maybe heal/smite it's more about skill build than anything else. If you are heal, don't worry about damage. Sometimes I don't even get in aggro range and just heal, especially in places like Fissure of Woe or even Sorrows Furnace where I don't want to have any aggro on me at all if possible. The more I'm running and healing myself the less I am healing my party. Armour ~ While other armours look neat, the ugly tats are the work clothes. Don't do judges chest or any other junk to protect yourself. It's the tanks job to take the hits. Use Tattoos. If you want "pretty" energy armour get fissure armour. Weapon/Offhand ~ Get a small variety of weapons / offhands for different build styles. Have a staff (Yaks is good among others) that lengthens enchants. Have a couple rods. One rod that is fast cast/recharge for healing prayers, one for smiting, and one for protection. A collectors offhand for divine or healing is good. Again get fast cast/recharge on the offhand. Fast cast/recharge is very underated vs. the +20% enchant mod. Enchant duration mostly shines for protection. You will be surprised how nice it is when you fast cast Heal Party or avoid interupt on a heal or your Shield of Judgement recharges in half the time. Skill Set ~ Look really close on what skills cost and what returns you get from them. It's all on what makes you feel comfortable keeping your party alive and that can just take practice and time. But I will give you some skills I use and why. I learned from a really good healer (Louden the Super Healing Freak!! many thanks.) who taught me the virtues of the "5 energy healing spam" build. Basically look at your 5e skills and you would be surprised what you can line up that works good. Orison ~ 5E - A staple and pretty self expanatory. Good Dwayna's Kiss ~ 5E - heals almost as good as orison and really shines under conditions/hexes. Word of Healing ~ 5E - Elite. Used right it rocks. Sometimes though Dwaynas is just as good or better and doesn't take an elite slot. Vigorous Spirit ~ 5E - This is great on almost anyone but especially your warriors and rangers. This is also a great cover enchant for more valuable or long recharge enchants. Healing Breeze ~ 10E - Many people knock this because it's not as efficient as some heals, but it's plus is that it is a cast and move on heal. It's also great for countering degen and works great with vigorous. Often this is the only self heal I bring and I save it for emergencies. Mend Ailment ~ 5E - Wait this is a prot spell. Well I bring it for 2 reasons. I usually have a couple points left over for protection prayers, but even if not the divine bonus heals and it gets rid of a condition. Heal Party ~ 15E - Hey this is an expensive spell and totally under rated. If you have to heal a lot of your party this is the spell. Use it sparingly. If you have spike healed 3 people in your party and your heals are still recharging and there are still 3 or more people to heal, then this is the skill to use. Smite Hex ~ Removing a hex can be better than healing the effects. Well of Power ~ Necro Elite. This can make your life and the lives of fellow casters heaven. This helps your energy management and those around you. Some things to keep in mind: So the idea here is to minimize energy cost. Pay attention to how much your heals work for you so you don't cast too soon. Don't use -1 energy regen items. You lose out in the long run. You don't have to manage energy if you don't run out of it. If your party is losing health at an alarming rate then there are bigger problems than you not being able to heal them. They need to look at strategy and builds themselves. A monk isn't there to provide infinite health, but to help keep it up. A good warrior or ranger brings some sort of self heal in pve. Well I hope that helps. Long and wordy, but monking can be tricky. Just do what feels comfortable to you and experiment a little.

Jan 24, 2006, 03:48 AM // 03:48	#22
Bastard Son Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Upstate NY Guild: Bastahd Sons of Zeus	Thanks for all the responses, folks. I didn't think I'd get quite so many! Here's my setup for my PvE Monk/Mesmer (and my apologies if this is long): Health 540 Energy 56 (+3 pips) Illusion 0 Domination 0 Inspiration 7 Healing 11+1 Smiting 0+1 Protection 7+1 Divine 8+1 ARMOR I currently wear the Maguuma collectors' quest armor (head to toe) which is AL51 for each piece (I get a total of +10 Energy, +2 Energy Recovery, and +30 Health with them combined). I know the Ascetic's Armor grants more energy and is something I'm looking forward to getting down the road, but right now I'm only in Riverside Province (haven't been level 20 for very long). WEAPONS My primary weapon is a Holy Rod (Fire DMG 7-13, DMG+10% when health above 50%, Energy+3 when health above 50%, and DMG+20% customized). My offhand weapon is a Divine Symbol (Energy+8, Energy+15, Energy Regen-1, Health+30). I don't know why the energy bonus is listed in two separate entries like that. The -1 energy regen sucks, I know. SKILLS Heal Other (used when my teammates get seriously hurt) Healing Breeze (gives +8 pips which is great for the frontline guys and on myself) Orison of Healing (great for quick, little bursts of health and works on myself) Mend Ailment (self explanatory) Remove Hex (casts and recycles faster than other Hex removal skills I have) Energy Tap (the way I get a little extra energy if I need it) Restore Life (to res someone near me in the middle of battle) Rebirth (to teleport someone away from a battle while res-ing them) Moderators: please don't move this into the Builds section unless you absolutely need to. I'm more hoping others will answer the questions I asked in my original post, but I wanted to list my build in case someone can suggest a change. Thanks!

Jan 24, 2006, 06:32 AM // 06:32	#23
Hockster Banned Join Date: Jul 2005	Draw Conditions is good. Use it on all with conditions then use Purge Conditions on yourself. I prefer Remove Hex over Smite Hex due to the shorter cooldown. If you want to use a Necro elite, use Offering of Blood. With only a few points into Blood it's a good energy boost skill, and has a very short cooldown. You an also use Essence Bond on the tanks, assuming they know how to keep agro on themselves. A smart thank that can do that will keep you in more energy than you know what to do with.

Jan 24, 2006, 08:43 AM // 08:43	#24
Sister Spice Academy Page Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Guild: Dracos Paladin Profession: Mo/	I have only just capped OOB but have been playing a bond monk for a while and here's a couple of other energy management ideas for monks: 1. Blessed signet - works specifically with bond monks - maintain a bunch of enchantments and repeatedly use the signet - I tended to never run out of energy (unless I did something stupid in an emergency) 2. Balthazars - works if you are redirecting damage to you (ie with bond) and works even if the redirected damage ='s 0 points. Both of these were very effective energy management in pure monk builds in PVE - but I would emphasise that the build specifically fed them - not so good for more standard heal/ prot builds Spicecat

Jan 24, 2006, 12:59 PM // 12:59	#25
Bastard Son Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Upstate NY Guild: Bastahd Sons of Zeus	I keep seeing the Yakslapper mentioned in a lot of the posts above. What is this item? An offhand item? What sorts of stats does it have? I tried to do a search on this site, but it says that it's disabled. I also see some people have mentioned Inspired Hex when using a Mesmer Secondary, but doesn't that get replaced with the original caster's hex for 20 seconds (or however long)? And if so, wouldn't that effectively disable your ability to remove a hex on your teammate for that duration of time? With what I have described for my character (in the long Post#22 above), can you make any suggestions for skill/attribute/weapon/armor change insofar as Energy management and/or conservation is concerned?

Jan 24, 2006, 01:21 PM // 13:21	#27
Sir Iceman Academy Page Join Date: Aug 2005 Guild: Kaos Organized Sykotically Profession: W/Mo	IMHO Energy Regen is more important than Energy reserves. I have a lvl 20 pure healing Monk with 52 energy. I use the Tatoo armor from the forge, And a 20/20 Collector’s Divine staff with 15 energy & 30 health. ( I added the 5 Energy & 30 Health ) I use ‘Peace & Harmony’ as my Elite skill. This will allow me to regen at 5 pips. I have 16 in Healing & 15 in Divine. I don’t use my 2nd class at all. This has served our guild quite well. I’ve used this build to backstop us all the way through the PvE campaign. Every now and then you will face enemies that can make a mess out of your Energy. Mesmers & Necros come to mind. On those occasions it is a good idea to have a back-up plan. Now I also carry a wand with 15 energy at –1 regen & an offhand item with 27 energy at –1 regen. This will kill my Regen. But for a short period, I have quite the boost in Energy. This should give you the reserves you need for the short time it takes the damage dealer to finish their job. There is a document located on this site that discusses Energy Management. It is good reading and quite helpful. Iceman

Jan 24, 2006, 01:43 PM // 13:43	#28
baz777 Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: South East England Guild: Leader: Lady Hairy Armpits S[mell] Profession: E/	I dislike minus regen and have full ascetics tattoo???s, +12 20/20 collectors healing ankh and +5^50% rod with 18% fast cast on blood magic and use OOB. Unless I???m the only monk and it really gets frantic I very rarely have energy problems.

Jan 24, 2006, 01:58 PM // 13:58	#29
Doctor Death Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Manchester, UK Guild: Currently Guildless Profession: W/N	In most PvE areas I find that using essence bond on the tank or whoever has most agrro (mostly me in PvP) to gain more energy than I need. If running a life bonder I like to use Balthazars Spirt to convert the damage being directed to me into energy. Ok these are not to good in areas with heavy enchant removal but they are instant choices for me in all other areas because I dont have to invest lots of points into my secondry proffesion to get good energy return.

Jan 24, 2006, 01:58 PM // 13:58	#30
rugal nuker Lion's Arch Merchant Join Date: Sep 2005 Profession: E/Mo	maybe a +5 energy staff head and +20% enchantment duaration wrapping would help you some of this

Jan 24, 2006, 02:54 PM // 14:54	#31
Yichi Furnace Stoker Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Guild Hall, Vent, Guesting, PvE, or the occasional HA match... Guild: Dark Alley [dR]	go nec secondary and use offering of blood for your elite. get the 20% recharge wand and focus for your weapon switch for the fast cast recharge on offering. When you can get all your monk spells spammable, gg

Jan 24, 2006, 04:05 PM // 16:05	#32
Darkpower Alchemist Jungle Guide Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NYC Guild: The Circle Of Nine[NINE] Profession: E/N	I have 2 monks,a Mo/E and a Mo/W, both have a Yakslapper.This is a green Staff requiring a 9 in Divine Favor. It has +5 to energy and +20% to enchantment lengths.Also,it has recharge 20% for protection prayers(not to take away from the 20% faster recovery from a deep wound).This is perfect for a protection/bonder or even a healer monk. I wear sacred armor AL 60 from Droknars on my Mo/W and Censor Armor with Ascetic Tats on my arms for my Mo/E. The Mo/E with Yakslapper has 43 energy and my Mo/W has 45.I always carry smite skills and equip them with Sup Smiting runes(All warriors can not defend there monks!).Personally,I use the cheaper heal spells like Orison and Healing Breeze in conjunction with Divine boon and a high Divine Favor.Heal Party is very useful when Divine Boon is employed,Giving healing from Healing Prayers,Div Fav,and Divine Boon all in one shot.I,personally have little problems energywise in PvE situations,but I have had to deal with poor company with bad armor as well.This will put a tremendous burden on a monk's energy pool.Take into account, that with a high enough Div Fav,All monk spells are now heal spells.This goes for Smiting spells such as Balthazar's Aura and SoJ.Mesmer is still a bit new to me,but monkwise,I say that energy management is all in the build and the team you are playing with.If their builds are horrible,you will know it really fast.If they can't keep aggro away from you,no smites will put you on the run for sure.Monks,in general,lack attack power without smite skills.However,as energy goes, you can use essence bond on all members of your party that will take aggro and bring Blessed Signet along with you.Another offered similar advice already,but I'm siding with his course of action.Yet,if your group is worth their salt, you will find that they will be more than willing to accomodate their casters with spells and skills that will keep your energy up.I usually never let Div fav be lower than 10(12 is ideal IMO),and with a Zealot scalp and a smiting sup rune that's a starting point of 4 in Smiting Prayers. Even if you don't smite yourself,though I usually end up doing just that,you can now cast such smiting spells on your tanks so as they will kill faster and need you to heal them less often.The faster the enemies die,the less healing you will have to do.Also,play selective healer.If you have a W/Mo in your group,he will more than likely have a self heal on him to use.E/Mes on the other hand is more than likely pure Damage dealer,thus making the E/Mes your healing priority.I don't always carry removal spells in PvE,since most monsters spells and conditions can be counteracted by using things like Healing breeze(Poison,Degen via Necro or Mesmer)through most of the game.Divine Boon is one heck of a help,and Bleesed Aura will not only work on Protection spells,but on smites like SoJ and B Aura,as well as Healing breeze as they are all enchantments.Blessed Aura increases enchantment length by 27% with Di Fav at 10.This,with a Yakslapper increases the enchantments length to +47%,makeing Breeze heal longer and SoJ and B Aura smite longer.Try it out.

Jan 24, 2006, 04:21 PM // 16:21	#33
Kaguya Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Moon Profession: Mo/	Needs.. more.. paragraphs...

Jan 24, 2006, 05:12 PM // 17:12	#34
TalonTheCat Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: USA Guild: Black Cat Guild Profession: Mo/	This thread has been really interesting - one question : I only have 14 max healing - but I only have minor healing on my armor. Is the -75 health worth the +2 for the supieror?

Jan 25, 2006, 01:41 PM // 13:41	#37
dawnrain Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Nov 2005	For PvE, my general energy management philosophy is high divine favor combined with lots of 5e spells. And try NOT to heal people to max health (unless they've got a lot of DP and drop in 1 or 2 hits or you're at max energy). Don't heal anyone between battles, until you get to max energy. High Max Energy or High Energy Regen? Have the best of both worlds. Create two weapon sets and only switch to the High Max Energy Set when your energy is at/near 0 and you need to cast spells. Use/swap to High Energy Regen set in all other instances.

Jan 25, 2006, 02:37 PM // 14:37	#38
Bastard Son Frost Gate Guardian Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Upstate NY Guild: Bastahd Sons of Zeus	DawnRain: thanks for the advice on the weapon sets. I'll have to figure out a good second set with higher regen. Fyre Brand: Good points on the attribute adjustment. I'll try reducing Protection and increase Healing and Divine. Just made it to Sanctum Cay for the first time and bought myself a set of the Ascetic's armor from the collector in the Cay/Fisherman's area (I think it's AL60, though I'm at work right now and can't check). My energy level is now at 63 with +3 regen. I'll look into your weapon/offhand suggestions. I assume by "the desert" you mean the Crystal Desert? If so, I'm not quite there yet but will be after the Cay mission. I'll keep an eye out for the collector items there. I have yet to see a collector offhand or mainhand item with either as much straight energy bonuses or energy regen bonuses as the ones I have now. Perhaps I missed them or disregarded them. Again, keep in mind I JUST got to Sanctum Cay so I haven't seen any items that can be had from beyond that point. About your multiple res comment: I only recently started carrying two and the reasons are many. I play almost solely with three others (grabbing henchmen to fill the rest of the party when available) and the only other one that brings a res is the Ele. If we are completely overwhelmed and the warrior in my group goes down (for instance), I'd rather be able to cast Restore Life to get them back up ASAP (they'll get a nice Health and Energy boost upon res). If we are so overwhelmed that everyone seems to go down, I'll do my best to stay alive and run away until the mobs stop chasing. Then, I use Rebirth in case my fallen party members are still within aggro range to get them and me (as I cast) out of danger. So, I guess my role is Healer/Resser/Condition Mender. Wish there was a Remove Hex that worked more like Mend Ailment, but you're right... I use Breeze on the others for hex-based health degen countering as well and normally reserve the Remove Hex for myself (esp. if it prevents me from casting a spell or what-not) or for the Ele in the group (for the same reason). Thanks for all the tips and help, folks. Keep up the chatter. I'd love to see what the rest of you monks do or can suggest for energy conservation and management. In my experience, this issue is REALLY important to being a successful monk.