Curse

Sli Ander · Aug 08, 2006, 06:50 PM // 18:50

Didn't see this anywhere, so I thought I'd ask. A good few of the healing spells do some good healing at cost of range. Healing touch, for example, does double divine favor, Healing whisper has half the range, etc. So what I want to know(from people who do more healing than I) is how useful would Assassin be to do this?

Heres what I was thinking:
Shadow of Haste(its non-elite because of time constraints) or Aura of displacement to get in close
Healing Touch
Restore Life? I'm putting it here cause its a touch skill, though with its cast time it probably wouldn't be best.
Divine Healing? Seems to have a shorter range than Heal party, so it could benefit.
Any normal Healing spells.

The healing monk is safest left in the caster line, kiting and keeping baddies at a distance, so wouldn't it be useful to shadow step in, heal someone who needs it badly, and shadow step out? It keeps you at a distance for your normal distanced healing spells while allowing you to jump in momentarily for a bigger health boost.
I don't heal that much, so I thought I'd just toss this out here. Thought it an interesting idea, so any comments on why it would or wouldn't work would be appreciated.

ubermancer · Aug 08, 2006, 07:16 PM // 19:16

Dark Escape.

Sli Ander · Aug 08, 2006, 07:25 PM // 19:25

Dark Escape would work pretty well, but I'm trying to take advantage of the 'teleport' angle. That way you only have to run one way, which lessens damage by sheer fact you're not around long enough to be hit as much. It would definitely be a viable skill to use in such a build though

Pick Me · Aug 08, 2006, 08:12 PM // 20:12

Return - cast on assassin/warrior/touch ranger
when they are in trouble, remove Return. Poof, you are basically in the fray ready to touch and heal party.

If you have a rit with you, cast spirit walk and poof, you are next to the spirit (out of harms way).

You can also cast that spell that teleports you to an enemy (the one that your party is fighting). Cast your healing spells, then activate Return (cast it on another monk or rit or ele - whomever is out of the fray). You'll be back safe and sound.

Sli Ander · Aug 08, 2006, 08:22 PM // 20:22

@ Pick Me-the only reason I didn't pick return was because you'd then be stuck in the fray. I wanted a general teleport, but all that kinda thing would be worked out in individual builds/situations.
Love the idea to use the teleport to enemy one. It would require return, but if you're already using it the way you mentioned before, it wouldn't take up extra space. Plus there is a teleport to enemy that heals yourself, so its a bonus. Thanks for the input.

Carth` · Aug 09, 2006, 08:44 AM // 08:44

I tried this, the only use I could find was to cast recall on a monk who was very cautious and staying back. So I healed everyone in the fray, and if I started getting beating on, return to the other caster and the aggro is gone from me.

Effigy · Aug 09, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Mo/A certainly has potential, but all things in GW are relative. Dark Escape is a perfect defensive skill for a monk, and things like Viper's Defense, Heart of Shadow, etc could potentially be useful in some formats like AB. Recall and Return might be better suited tomore organized formats like HA and GvG, though I don't have great experience with these.

However, by choosing to go /A you are giving up energy management skills that could be offered by /Me, /N, or even /E. Usually energy management is a big issue for monks, so in most cases the costs outweigh the benefits with an assassin secondary.

Job Ox · Aug 09, 2006, 02:18 PM // 14:18

In PVE, I've run an Assassin's Promise Mo/A with some success, using AP as the main energy management skill. Unfortunately, it only works well with teams that can gank called targets quickly, i.e. hench teams, guild teams, or the rare well-oiled PUG.

Put 8 or so points in Deadly Arts. Run whatever Monk build u feel comfortable with. When a target is called, select it and when it looks like its gonna die within 5-6 seconds, hex the target with AP. Target dies, and BAM, you have mass energy regen and all your skills are recharged, including AP. Rinse and repeat.

Two major drawbacks though. One, if the target doesn't die before AP runs out or is removed then you get no energy back and AP then takes 45 secs to recharge, thus completely disabling your energy management. Two, AP's use requires constant attention, making sure you are always choosing correct targets and casting in a timely manner - if you aren't used to it, it can get a little hairy.

But, when it works, it works great. And its great fun to play with a near constant stream of energy provided by your dead enemies - kind of like soul reaping for Monks.

Effigy · Aug 09, 2006, 02:40 PM // 14:40

Wow, I hadn't even though of using AP on a monk. Sounds like it would take some skill to pull off, but it may be worth it.

This sounds like it would work especially well if you throw in a couple powerful but long recharge skills, most of which are in the prot and DF lines, so it might work best as an active prot build. With good timing, you could probably keep Divine Spirit up most of the time, which, combined with energy management from AP, would allow you to spam expensive skills like Convert Hexes, Aegis, Extinguish, etc.

ender6 · Aug 09, 2006, 07:28 PM // 19:28

AP has several key drawbacks that would make me very hesitant about throwing on my skill bar.

-To get the full advantage of the +12e (5-17e gained - 5 it costs to cast) you would have to max out dagger mastery. To commit that many skill points to one attribute for one skill is simply a waste. In the end you are forced to thin out other attributes which really leads to a decrease of effieceny which I will equate with a diminishment of energy management.

-Rechage time is 45 seconds. That's simple to long.

-It's an elite. True Mantra of Resolve or Edrain are elites, but the recharge time, and the energy return makes them viable elites.

-Lastly, what happens if for some reason the enemy you hex doesn't die? Woah, now that's a gamble. You juste wasted 5 energy, and have to wait a full 45+ seconds to get another stab at it. Too unreliable for my taste.

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Back to the op's consideration, is Assasin a viable secondary for a monk? I know there are some amazingly powerful smite builds that use Assasin as a secondary, but as for healing I'd have to wager no. The concept of teleporting in and giving a nice healing and then zipping out is just too inefficeient and too unreliable for my taste. Shadow of Haste will cost you 10 energy. You've comitted several of your heal skills to this form of proximity healing. Further when you move in close you open yourself up to an additional form of interrupts, melee. Nevertheless I am sure it would be fun.

Effigy · Aug 09, 2006, 07:46 PM // 19:46

Out of curiosity, do you know what the basis of the Mo/A smite build(s) is? I don't think I've heard of them.

You're probably right about AP, at least in terms of PvP. For PvE though, it seems like a possibility. It's not very hard to tell when mobs are going to die, so you could just hex one right before it drops. Also, it wouldn't be necessary to max out Dagger, just as you wouldn't max out Inspiration if you were using MoR or Edrain. AP might not return as much energy per cast, but if you are good at timing it you'll be able to cast it a lot and the skill recharge part sounds pretty tempting. All things considered, though, I'm sure it won't become a mainstream build.

Job Ox · Aug 09, 2006, 09:42 PM // 21:42

Yeak, AP definitetly has serious drawbacks as an energy management skill, Ender. I pointed a couple out in my post. And like Effigy said, I doubt this will EVER become a mainstrean PVE monk build.

But, Effigy has the right idea. In a good PC team where targets are called or a hench team where you are calling targets for focused fire, it is relatively easy to cycle AP very rapidly as it recharges itself everytime a target drops in the alloted time. At Deadly 8, you are getting 8 net energy per use. At Deadly 10, its 10 energy. Although you aren't getting the big pop from MoR or E-Drain, you ARE getting a very steady and quick stream of energy as long as targets are dropping in a timely manner.

Dont get me wrong, I still run Mo/Me more often than not. But sometimes, its fun just to change things up a bit. And in the right situation with the right team, it is a BLAST.

sno · Aug 12, 2006, 11:27 AM // 11:27

Return is actually a very powerful skill that's overlooked by many because of its weirdness. Think about if you're a monk being chased by 2-3 frenzied warriors who all want you to taste their eviscerate. casting return on another backline caster will not only get you out of harms way, but will also cripple all of them leaving them useless as long as the cripple stays on. This slows down their offense (and thus their pressure on your monks) as well as puts more pressure on their monks to remove the cripples. It's a very multi-functional skill, and at 5 energy, 1/4s cast and 15s recharge, it's quite usable and nearly spamable.