Curse

mercblue33 · Feb 28, 2011, 01:35 AM // 01:35

Hello everyone,
I have been thinking about trying a Monk class again. I have been playing GWs on and off for 3ish years now and have numerous Ele primaries (Factions/Nightfall) and Ele secondaries. (all 3 expansions) I don't know which kind of Monk I'd like to play (Prophecies), but I read here that Monks are not always the best damage deals on occasion. (when compared to Ele's) Plus, I read Monks are losing their popularity rather quickly as well.

So, I was wondering, can anyone tell me if a Monk can be an interesting class to play? I would like to use a Smiter with a little protection and heals if possible. (I realize the NPC Monk can do all three at times) I don't mind if I don't do as much damage as the Ele, but being I play 5-6 Ele's already, Monk could be a change of pace, I think. I haven't decided on a secondary yet, but if anything, Ele would probably be it. (Since I'm accustomed to using it by now).

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

MB33

Age · Feb 28, 2011, 02:24 AM // 02:24

I would suggest that you learn how to play Monk properly as in heal/protect first.I would start off in Prophecies much slower learning curve and you get your skills for free.I would say it is the best place to learn how to play the prof other than the old team arenas.

I wouldn't get into smiting at first untill you learn above when all said and done then you can.I wouldn't say the profession is gaining less popular although the quality is not there as much.There is no hard in trying.

hope this helps.

mercblue33 · Feb 28, 2011, 03:10 AM // 03:10

Hello Age,
Thanks for the reply and suggestions, I really appreciate it. Yea, I understand Monk is built pretty much for healing/protection rather then smiting, I have a few secondary Monks on my other characters. But, I guess I was wanting to try out a 'true Monk' (if such a thing exists) by this time using the class as a primary rather then secondary.

So, I will give the Monk/Ele class a try and do as you said, start off as a healer/protector before moving on to smiting. Would you recommend I at least have 1 or 2 smiting powers though? (So I would have something to protect myself from enemies?) By the way, I only plan on playing PVE as I'm not much of a PVP/GVG player.

Thanks,

MB33

turbo234 · Feb 28, 2011, 03:40 AM // 03:40

monk really isnt too much of a pve profession. ele is more versatile in pve.
in pvp however monk is a staple in every team out there. and occasionally eles are needed to fill the gap.
if you're strictly pve go with an ele.

mercblue33 · Feb 28, 2011, 03:45 AM // 03:45

Hello Turbo,
Thanks for the reply and suggestion. I kind of suspected that Monk was more a PVP set since its built more around support then soloing and what you say makes sense. But, I don't want to get trapped into a Monk class it its specifically meant for PVP and wont be useful in PVE. I'll wait and see what others say before making my decision on whether or not to go Monk or Ele as a primary.

Thanks again,

MB33

MithranArkanere · Feb 28, 2011, 04:05 AM // 04:05

These are the three builds that I use the most.
[Mo_any WoH Hybrid II;OwATA12+0RjUPurCkNyme6jGB]
I use this one to heal in areas with party size of 4 or 6 when I'm the only healer.

[Mo_any UA Protector PvE;OwAT0mHDZihoeQg4uKHcTb6D0DA]
This one I use to support other healers, good spike prevention.

[Mo_E RoJ Smithealer;OwYSAZHPIDf2+w6jXp+ukqP]
And this I use when I go H/H or when dealing with undead.
People usually echo RoJ, but I that takes 20 more energy, and since lately I've been using this to kill the 3 Wanted bosses in Kessex, those ten to run around and heal themselves a lot, so scourge healing works better. 10..20 min, and Destor, Amylin and Marron are dead.
With the double divine favor, you can heal allies over 80 while also dealing 80 damage to enemies and preventing damage, so Reversal of Damage is a skill I like a lot along Smiter's Boon.

I am not a fan of using secondary profession skills, but I must admit that smiting is a bit... lacking so I had to resort to them.

As long as you don't go around telling people that you are going smiter and don't have any intention to do anything else, you'll never have problems finding parties.

With elementalists I had much more fun. And they can do many things if you know what you are doing...
They have some support skills, but be wary that damage in HM is quite limited to exploit elemental weaknesses in enemies (if they have any), and Air Magic.

In HM I like to spread conditions and damage with Air Magic.
In NM I tend to go more Fire.

Cuilan · Feb 28, 2011, 04:09 AM // 04:09

Monks are very common in PvE as they're they profession most players look for when looking for a healing or protecting player. Elementalists have a couple specific builds that allow them to heal and use protection spells as an Ele/Monk, but those builds are a bit advanced for a brand new player. Monking is a bit rough because you play a very crucial role in the groups success, so there's less room for slip ups.

Elementalists are a bit simple till you get more skills and hard mode, I suggest trying them out and moving on to something else if you find them dull.

mercblue33 · Feb 28, 2011, 05:37 AM // 05:37

Hello guys,
Thanks for the comments and suggestions, I really appreciate it. I originally had deleted my lvl 10 Ele/Monk earlier tonight to try playing a Monk as a primary. But after ready the few comments everyone made here, I have decided to just go back to Ele and use Mes as a secondary instead.

Monk seems like a great class, but for those who know what they are doing. And being I have little to no experience with Monk, I don't think trying it would be beneficial to me, since I solo pretty much all the time with my NPCs.

I do have Monks as a secondary that have a few heals/protections/smites here and there (WAR & RNG), but they just dont have the energy to keep up with using my primary attacks. (I just got Monk there to try something different)

Elemental/Mesmer sounds like fun, so, I'll just take that and when I do more research into the pros/cons of Monk, I'll decide if I want to try learning the class at that time.

Thanks again everyone for your insights,

MB33

HigherMinion · Feb 28, 2011, 09:04 AM // 09:04

They're both quite similar.

The monk has powerful smiting skills to nuke enemies
The elementalist has powerful protection spells....

Oh wait.

Taurean · Feb 28, 2011, 10:51 AM // 10:51

If you wanna heal your team and be a supporter, go with monk primary. If you wanna deal damage for the most part, go with elementalist. Easy!

And all classes are viable for pvm, it all depends on how you want to play.

Xenomortis · Feb 28, 2011, 11:05 AM // 11:05

The only interesting Monk builds to play are heal-prot hybrids whilst propping up PUGs for whatever Zaishen Bounty or Mission they're attempting.
It's the only real fun I've had with the character (until perhaps I give that melee Mo/W idea I've had for a while a try), but it is one of the few sources of fun left for me in PvE.

BrettM · Feb 28, 2011, 01:25 PM // 13:25

In counterpoint to most of the previous replies, I have one monk character that has been a smiter right from the beginning, and I enjoy playing him very much. He has no trouble doing HM missions, vanquishes, WiK bounties, etc., and is well on the way towards GWAMM if I decide to bother making another.

Prior experience in healing and protting is not of any benefit if you just want to play your monk as a straight damage dealer, and I've never run a healer character of any profession. The experience would be useful only if you want to make a hybrid or run a bar with ally-targeted smites. But I'd rather bring a monk hero along if I want ally-targeted smiting skills and keep my focus on the bad guys.

If you enjoy pugging, this isn't for you, because pugs just won't usually take smiting monks of any stripe. But, for play with H&H, it works just fine and you may find you like it.

DeanBB · Feb 28, 2011, 01:34 PM // 13:34

If you run with heroes and henchies then just go for the smiting monk. I'd go mesmer 2nd and either use arcane echo on Ray of Judgment or add in some domination spells. PvE isn't so demanding that you must have the optimum skill bar, assuming you bring the right mix of H/H and their skills.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercblue33

have numerous Ele primaries

Am I understanding that you have multiple elementalist primaries? May I ask why? You do know that you can change your 2nd profession as desired, right? That said, I do have some duplicate professions, but there's a specific reason for that and one of them is always the "main".

Age · Feb 28, 2011, 08:24 PM // 20:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercblue33

Hello Age,
Thanks for the reply and suggestions, I really appreciate it. Yea, I understand Monk is built pretty much for healing/protection rather then smiting, I have a few secondary Monks on my other characters. But, I guess I was wanting to try out a 'true Monk' (if such a thing exists) by this time using the class as a primary rather then secondary.

So, I will give the Monk/Ele class a try and do as you said, start off as a healer/protector before moving on to smiting. Would you recommend I at least have 1 or 2 smiting powers though? (So I would have something to protect myself from enemies?) By the way, I only plan on playing PVE as I'm not much of a PVP/GVG player.

Thanks,

MB33

You will have several skill available to protect yourself going heal/protect hybrid.I wouldn't worry about protecting yourself to much.It is best to start off with an easy bar 2 heal 3 or 4 protects at the lower levels.

The way I really learn how to play the Monk though was in beta in the Halls of Heros not in pve.

Kunder · Feb 28, 2011, 08:40 PM // 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

They're both quite similar.

The monk has powerful smiting skills to nuke enemies
The elementalist has powerful protection spells....

Oh wait.

Too true. PvE is fcked up man.

Smite monks are pretty good (much better than eles in HM), but its really one dimensional so I don't know if you would want to play the same build 100% of the time. There aren't many good direct damage dealing skills in smite other than Ray of Judgment, sadly. Lots of good support available though, other (smart) players will love you if you bring stuff that buffs them or smites hexes/conditions and stuff.

Heal/Prot monks are always in demand for filling up party positions, but when you run with heroes/henchmen (which will probably be 75-90% of the time) its not that effective since the henchmen have adequate healing builds but absolutely horrible damage-dealing builds, so its best to run a damage dealing build yourself and leave the healing/protting to the henchmen. Its not that playing a defensive build won't work, but relying on H/H for damage means you will be a lot slower clearing areas.

Eles have great damage in Normal mode, but mediocre to horrible damage in most Hard Mode areas because enemy armor goes up so fast and none of the elemental skill ignore armor. The few elemental skills that partially bypass armor aren't great either because they are all single target or limited to a max of 3 enemies hit, which defeats the point of nuking in the first place.

Ele healers can abuse Ether Renewal to get on the order of +15-20 energy and +150-200 health every time they use a spell, which allows them to spam otherwise ridiculous amounts of healing and prot spells indefinitely as long as enchantment removal isn't a concern.

Vazze · Feb 28, 2011, 08:54 PM // 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

They're both quite similar.

The monk has powerful smiting skills to nuke enemies
The elementalist has powerful protection spells....

Oh wait.

Sad but true. If you wanna heal/prot, play ele, if you want dps (in HM), go monk. Or wait for an update that will fix or f*ck things up even more.

mercblue33 · Mar 01, 2011, 03:31 AM // 03:31

Hello all,
Thanks for all the great replies. To answer Dean's question, I have multiple Ele's because I wanted one Ele on one of each expansions, because I thought that each one gains different skills. (I could be wrong on this one) I just like playing different characters and sklls combinations. (I have 10 chars, yes, I'm an altaholic!)

I have decided to just decided to play an Ele/Mes and have gotten her to 5. I enjoy Ele's best and have begun to understand the true power of Mesmer recently. (I really like some of the aoe Mes Skills early on). I plan on going Air/Earth/Mes with this character as from past experiences, Teinai's Wind & Aftershock as a 1-2 punch. Yes, I know this is probably a risky combo since the are PBAOE and Ele's shouldn't be that close to the action, but I find the combo works well so far. Any comments on this?

As much as I would like to try a Monk for a PVE run, it seems that its not a good thing for a beginning to do. Sure, Heals/Protection skills are important, but I'd like to do some damage as well. So,. I'll hold off on the Monk for the meantime.

Thanks again everyone,

MB33

**Marty Silverblade** · Mar 01, 2011, 03:44 AM // 03:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercblue33

Hello all,
Thanks for all the great replies. To answer Dean's question, I have multiple Ele's because I wanted one Ele on one of each expansions, because I thought that each one gains different skills. (I could be wrong on this one) I just like playing different characters and sklls combinations. (I have 10 chars, yes, I'm an altaholic!)

There are some skills that are unique to each campaign (as well as some that are common to all campaigns) but these can be obtained on any character by simply getting your character over to the relevant campaign. So a Prophecies Ele could obtain Nightfall exclusive skills by getting to Lion's Arch, jumping over to Kamadan, and buying them there. Other skill acquistion methods, like tomes (which won't require you to be in any specific campaign), work also.

maxxfury · Mar 01, 2011, 03:55 AM // 03:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Silverblade

There are some skills that are unique to each campaign (as well as some that are common to all campaigns) but these can be obtained on any character by simply getting your character over to the relevant campaign. So a Prophecies Ele could obtain Nightfall exclusive skills by getting to Lion's Arch, jumping over to Kamadan, and buying them there. Other skill acquistion methods, like tomes (which won't require you to be in any specific campaign), work also.

providing you linked your chapters! and arent playing them separately ofc! had a friend not link his and was goin nuts trying to move continents

i issued a forced self face palm

Sounds like something you would do :P <--yes Calista :P *rollseyes*

BrettM · Mar 01, 2011, 10:38 AM // 10:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercblue33

As much as I would like to try a Monk for a PVE run, it seems that its not a good thing for a beginning to do. Sure, Heals/Protection skills are important, but I'd like to do some damage as well.

I would stack the damage done by my smiting monk up against most anything my ele can do, and more in some cases. My ele, for example, is a bit helpless against a foe with Spell Breaker or Vow of Silence up, but my smiter's signets still work, so he's not totally sidelined. Granted, RoJ is the only powerful AoE available to the smiter, but don't discount the armor-ignoring damage of the single-target spells and signets. And RoJ is more spammable than anything of similar power available to an ele, particularly if you use Arcane Echo or Serpent's Quickness to increase its availability. (I prefer Serpent's Quickness, myself, since it also speeds the recharge of every other skill on the bar, making them all more spammable.)

Furthermore, damage-oriented smiting synergizes well with a couple of other professions -- me, ra, and rt in particular -- since you don't need to put any attribute points in Divine Favor. You can always put 12 points in some secondary attribute, whether it's domination, wilderness survival, or channeling. That gives you a great deal of flexibility for different situations.