Curse

Elythor · May 10, 2005, 06:23 PM // 18:23

While I appreciate my monks in my guild....some pick-up monks surely don't know what they are doing.

"Hey guys! I'm a monk! I'm gonna tank!"

doh!

And one more annoying thing...sometimes people from PUG have played a mission already. But they don't seem to gain any intelligence...and seem to expect the rest of the team to run off with them to hit/pull mobs that are not important. (think riverside or cave of sorrows). And in the end, the team got hammered from multiple directions and die

IxChel · May 10, 2005, 07:09 PM // 19:09

This needs to be a writeup that we can post a link to...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chev of Hardass

1) Press "C" this selects the closest target
2) Press TAB until the target you want is targeted. TAB picks a new target one MOB further away.
3) Press CTRL+Space this brings up "I am attacking super long-horned wild-a-pig", on the chat box
4) Your team presses T for target and they now have the same target.
5) When that target is dead you start over at 1.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chev of Hardass

Warriors make terrible target callers, because they are tied up staying alive while tanking, and most importantly, they are not in the place to see the whole battle.

Yes, IMHO, a good Ranger will make the best target callers. Also, if the monk should also call targets -- but only when they are in trouble and need assistance. If a[*] goes up by your monk... quickly help him/her out.

A word on henchmen and group size. For a 6 slot group, in a pick-up group, I've found 3 humans to be optimal. Getting 6 humans on the same page is very difficult; too difficult. Furthermore, humans tend to disconnect and to go-off and do their own thing, making the whole experience frustrating. Humans have egos, and when you have two ego-maniacs in the group, it can get ugly. On 4 occasions now, I've asked one or two of the humans to leave; and they were kind enough to storm off with a "FINE YOU FCKN N00B". On 3 of those 4 occasions, the remaining group of 5 finished without any problems. If you only have 3 humans, and if one of them is a supreme jerk; you can probably finish by /msg to the sane human how to compensate. The jerk thinks they are doing great, and is surprised when he gets kicked in the next area.

I've found, with 6 slots, the optimal PvE pick up group is 3 humans with two warriors, and the healer henchmen. You need one human monk, and it really doesn't matter what the other humans are -- as long as they arn't warriors (who, by and large tend not to think tactically, and therefore are usually a liability more than an asset).

By contrast, warrior henchmen are very good, especially when running with an experienced ranger and healer. They always engage when you want, attack the targets you call, follow you closely, and never disconnect. With a primary healer, the henchmen monk is very good. She spams orson of healing very efficiently at the worst-off team members. Unfortunately, she gets a bit too close; but if you keep her buffed, you can stay _way_ back and engage more tactically with the enemy. If she dies, it is a signal to the group to disengage, because people start dropping like flys without constant healing. The only bone I have to pick with her is her decision to ressurect -- I wish she _never_ did resurrect except after the battle is over. I've had bad battles turn _horrible_ when the AI bot decided to raise a fallen spell-caster who is surrounded by enemy tanks. That said, I've found the other henchmen almost useless. Spell-casters and rangers need to be far more tactical, and this requires some thought. So, I almost never grab the elementalist, necromancer, or mesmer. Certainly you _can_ find better pick-up groups, but they are rare, and chances are 3 humans is more controllable and more likely to be successful.

But, as the poster I quoted remarked -- calling targets is essential, especially with henchmen who don't engage (or engage in a random way) unless you have called a target.

Epinephrine · May 10, 2005, 07:25 PM // 19:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elythor

While I appreciate my monks in my guild....some pick-up monks surely don't know what they are doing.

"Hey guys! I'm a monk! I'm gonna tank!"

Yeah, being able to heal doesn't mean that tanking is advised - that said, there are reasons both for and against it.

Pros - monk tanking:
1. Takes a lot less skill - if they can keep up with the damage, that's great - they don't need to monitor 7 (or more - pets etc) other lifebars if thery are taking most of the damage. Monitoring 1 health bar is easier, and inexperienced players might actually be doing an overall better job at healing if they only have to watch one - at lest that damage isn't on the rest of the party (till he dies...)
2. Smiting monk build - a channeling monk with zealot's fire, symbol of wrath and a balthazar's aura who wades in to tank is doing a very useful thing. He deals damage while healing while draining energy from the enemy. That's good work. To a lesser extent, running in to plant a symbol of wrath is nice, and channeling can be useful if you can get in close.

Cons - monk tanking:
1. Monks have worse armour. For the sake of efficiency you want the person with the best armour taking the damage - that makes the healing most efficient and the damage least efficint - now, if the monk is part elementalist, is running Armour of Earth, Kinetic Armour and so on he might well be the best one for the role, but in general if the monk ends up tanking he spends more energy in terms of heals per atack than he would if it were a warrior tanking, which makes it a worse setup.
2. It is very distracting and has bad visibility - if you are being pounded on from all sides you probably aren't keeping an eye on other people's health. You aren't as aware of others who need your health, so even when you can save them you may miss the opportunity.
3. There may not be another healer. You are quite possibly the only Monk, and perhaps the only one with an actual resurrect. Yes, others may have signets with them, but those are finite - a monk who dies a lot is a real problem, using up the res signets and eventually perhaps dooming the party if the only resurrectors go down.

TalonSlayer · May 10, 2005, 07:38 PM // 19:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by IxChel

Also, if the monk should also call targets -- but only when they are in trouble and need assistance. If a[*] goes up by your monk... quickly help him/her out.[/IMG]

Quoted for emphasis. I never thought of that. Thank you.