Curse

Shaad0w · Aug 10, 2011, 09:10 AM // 09:10

Hey!

Yesterday I decided to take up Guild Wars again to try and get some more titles for my HoM. I've been away for quite a long time now, must be at least 2-3 years, and I've forgotten a lot. I had a look at the PvX site for a new build and I found this;

*Image is from PvXDecoder website along with my template code.
**Couldn't get the PvXDecoder to work, so I got you an image instead, hope you don't mind.

Along with this I'm using Wenslauss' Faith and a Kurzick Elite Armor with the following runes/insignias;

Head - +1 Healing Prayers
Chest - +3 Energy, +1 Healing Prayers
Hands - +1 Divine Favor, +10 Armor (vs. ele dmg)
Legs - +1 Divine Favor, +2 Energy, +1 Energy recovery
Feet - +2 Energy, +5 Health, +1 Energy recovery

So, finally at the summary of it all. I'm simply looking for improvements to my build and/or armor, since I've already cleared normal mode on all campaigns I'm mostly looking for hard mode improvements - where I seem to struggle atm.

Thanks for your time,
Cheers!

Tess80 · Aug 10, 2011, 09:41 AM // 09:41

I'm not a monk, so I'm sure other people can offer better tips, but here's a few thoughts.

The first 5 skills are awesome and a staple on all UA builds for good reason.
For the last 3 skills, I'd take Divine Healing, Heaven's Delight and an e-management skill like Selfless Spirit.
Vigorous Spirit is really only worth it if you have melee heroes, and even then I'd prefer a nice groupheal.
An option is to lose one of the groupheals and bring Tryptophan Signet which passively mitigates enough damage to make it worth it.

Still, the bar you have now should be good enough to do HM missions. If you struggle, I don't think it's the player build that needs to be looked at.

Your armor can use an upgrade though. Remember that skill runes do not stack. Equipping two minor runes of Divine Favor will not give you +2 Divine Favor; the second rune will simply be wasted. Other than that, get a rune of Vigor for more health and make a clear choice between all Radiant (energy) or Survivor (health) for all armor pieces.

Milennin · Aug 10, 2011, 10:45 AM // 10:45

^ Pretty much what he said.
I'd replace Party Heal with Divine Healing. And Vigorous Spirit with something cheap to cast in case of being at low energy (Signet of Rejuvenation). Auspicious replaced with Selfless Spirit.

Your Healing and Divine Favor runes don't stack, so no need to have 2 of both. Also your +10 Armor vs Elements will have only a small chance on working if applied on the gloves only. If you want extra health do something like:

Head - Survivor insignia + Healing Prayer rune
Chest - Survivor insignia + Divine Favor rune
Legs - Survivor insignia + Vigor rune (best one you can afford)
Boots - Survivor insignia + Vitae rune
Gloves - Survivor insignia + Vitae rune

Outerworld · Aug 10, 2011, 01:48 PM // 13:48

Heal Party is way to slow on a UA and I hope you're using this along side something with Prot. If not then it may explain why you struggle.

HigherMinion · Aug 10, 2011, 02:33 PM // 14:33

Drop: Patient Spirit, Dwayna's Kiss, Heal Party, Cure Hex, Auspicious Incantation, Vig Spirit.

Add: Protective Spirit, Gift of Health, Deny Hexes, Divine Healing/Heaven's Delight, GoLE.

Selfless Spirit probably won't be worth the slot for e-management, but you could try it instead of GoLE. You need prot to survive heavy spikes, and Gift is as strong as WoH, but the bar is now compressed so you have one spot heal and two party heals (as the UA's job really is, otherwise just run WoH). Deny Hexes to abuse all your divine favour skills and remove hex stacks in tough areas.

yw.

Premium Unleaded · Aug 10, 2011, 03:07 PM // 15:07

Do you really need an instant res, or even a res on the bar? Running a hybrid build is much better when centred around healing burst or woh, as ua doesn't give much benefit to prot skills.

I Hate Chips · Aug 10, 2011, 03:54 PM // 15:54

Well U gave us a gwpvx build rigt here. And u say u are struggling. With what? Maybe u need to improve ur heroes more, U should have 1 ER prot, or something like it. And then u can go redbarring. that should give u enough defense. Then UA is not that good, it drains ur energy way too hard. And IMO if ur team is dieing that fast, then there is something else wrong

So just go for WoH (or something else, but I still prefer WoH). And add some hard-rezzes to the heroes.

LifeInfusion · Aug 10, 2011, 04:30 PM // 16:30

That bar is only marginal if you're with a defensive team with spirits and crap to slowdown the incoming damage. People use it with cons (so that they have a 100HP buffer and +10 armor, among other things) and speed-clear teams because they just need to spot heal the party in radar range (Divine Healing and Heaven's Delight are earshot). Vigorous Spirit is basically only for FOWSC to counter spiteful spirit, or in Random Arenas to make use of autoattacks on physicals.

Auspicious Incantation/Glyph of Lesser Energy + 0.75 aftercast + Heal Party = 3.75 seconds cast time

Divine Healing/Heaven's Delight = 1 second , 2.75 if you need to cast both

Gift+Deny+Dismiss is better if you're not the only healer, but if you are then you need Cure hex, D-Kiss and patient. (Patient is garbage when you need to save someone and there's no damage mitigation.)

I usually run:
12+1+1=14DF, 11+1+3=16DF (swap for UA cast)
11+1=12 Heal --> can swap to 11+1+1=13 for more spot heal power when there is very little AoE or degen and you have another spot healer
6+1 Prot
Blessed Insignias (UA should always be up...)
* Furious Spear of Defense + Shield of Fortitude (with +10 to type)
* Wand + Focus (42 max energy)
* +15/-1 regen wand + 20% HSR focus (57 max energy)
* +15/-1 regen wand , focus (to bump you to 72 max energy)

UA (+63% with hat swap)
DH (Divine Healing) =93HP , 103 if still in superior DF
HD (Heaven's Delight) =93HP , 103 if still in superior DF
Seed of Life =+28 , +32 if on Superior DF
Prot Spirit =~13seconds
D-Kiss (Dwayna's Kiss) =54+32/hex=88+52/hex+DF
Patient Spirit =102*1.63=176+DF
Cure Hex =102*1.63=176+DF

Basically you want to avoid using the spot heals unless you have to and disregard hexes unless they are dangerous or you need to get an instant heal (patient is slow). In your mind, you should have Cure Hex as a heal first and a vital hex remover second. UA monks without energy management can only cast one 5 energy spell every 5 seconds if they ant to break even, so Gift of Health+Dismiss is better for keeping the rhythm than D-Kiss+Patient.

Going the partyheal route...
12+1+3 DF
9+1 Prot
9+1 Heal

Enchanting spear

UA
DH
HD
[email protected], [email protected] (after UA) --> same as patient spirit with 12Heal
Dismiss=90+DF (if target is enchanted)
SoA/Deny
Prot Spirit
Seed

----------------------------------------------------------------------
I really like Healing Burst these days though:
12+1+1=14 Heal
10+1=11DF
8+1=9 Prot (for aegis)
Survivor Insignias / Disciple's in condition heavy areas

* Spear of Defense + Shield
* Spear of Enchanting + Shield
* 20HSR wand+focus Healing set
* +15/-1 regen wand + focus

Healing Burst
D-Kiss (can't use patient with enchanting mods) / RoF (Reversal of Fortune)
Seed of Life
Cure hex
Prot Spirit
Aegis
Selfless Spirit
SoA (Shield of Absorption) / Dismiss / Draw Conditions
(bring Res scroll so people don't moan about you not having resurrection chant)

The difference between Healing Burst and UA is that UA can res people that it can't save. The Healing Burst bar can stop a truckload of damage although it doesn't deal with AoEs as well (Rodgort's Invocation or Invoke Lightning for example).

P.S. Avatar of Dwayna is a better party healer than a UA monk and can actually kill things instead of sitting around. (see http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...8&postcount=19 , http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...7&postcount=27 , http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...0&postcount=36)

HigherMinion · Aug 10, 2011, 04:47 PM // 16:47

I prefer the powerful spotheal from WoH more than Burst. I run the same as you, Life, but with WoH, RoF and GoLE. Much nicer than UA; which all it does is stall for time until someone dies and UA has recharged again so you can res.

Xenomortis · Aug 10, 2011, 05:22 PM // 17:22

Christ PvX sucks at Monk bars. Why do people think Heal Party with Unyielding Aura is a good idea?

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeInfusion

P.S. Avatar of Dwayna is a better party healer than a UA monk and can actually kill things instead of sitting around. (see http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...8&postcount=19 , http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...7&postcount=27 , http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...0&postcount=36)

Healer's Boon + Heal Party doesn't do the same job as AoD+enchants or a Rit that maintains Recuperation and Rejuvenation.

For what it's worth, Healer's Boon or UA bars are fine so long as you pack the sensible party heal option and do some other job so long as your party has adequate protection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Hate Chips

Well U gave us a gwpvx build rigt here. And u say u are struggling. With what?

I don't blame him for having a hard time if he's running that crap, especially if it's with heroes.

LifeInfusion · Aug 10, 2011, 08:23 PM // 20:23

My reasoning:If you fire off 2-3 flash enchants, it's the same as +108 Healer's Boon heal party...

Since that's the only reason to use Healer's Boon over Healing Burst or UA (besides D-Kiss under both HB and UA), I don't see why it's not a replacement for the party heal.

Then again running a monk healer or rit healer with heros is a terrible idea since they go nuts when you don't target.

Side note: UA doesn't make a build good, see this template I got from the monk on my team... OwYU0Yn8CITlENgbEgEeEdRMEIDA

khezial tahr · Aug 10, 2011, 11:54 PM // 23:54

I agree with LifeInfusion. I run a hybrid bar that is a variation of his (not intentional, just a coincidence). I take a rez most times (I still play with PUGS at times), but that's personal preference. And healing burst has become a favorite of mine. WoH is great too if you don't have it. Try both and see which you like better.