Curse

Jam Jar · May 15, 2009, 08:24 AM // 08:24

Do not just rely on your heals. Being able to use prots can negate tons more damage while gaining back energy.

Wish Swiftdeath · May 15, 2009, 08:41 AM // 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by cataphract

Good positioning, kiting and common sense all negate the need for a defensive set.

Use them.

If anything else, you'll look better and more capable than standing around with your voltaic spear and tormented shield. Defensive set doesn't make you capable or leet or pro no matter how many screenshots of monks in defensive sets people post.

Good positioning and kiting is all well and good and helps mitigate alot of damage but in PvP(I know it's campfire but w/e) you need to shieldswap as well.

Good positioning is more important but you ideally need all three (i shieldswap on my PvP monk on my alt account even when it has crappy basic skins).

glacialphoenix · May 15, 2009, 12:51 PM // 12:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish Swiftdeath

(i shieldswap on my PvP monk on my alt account even when it has crappy basic skins)

I shieldswap in PvE. That +10 vs fire helped in Charr areas.

Avatar of Healing · May 15, 2009, 03:26 PM // 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish Swiftdeath

Shieldswap

Straight after you cast a spell, cancel(escape if you haven't bound it to something else) and then swap back to your shield set, saves you alot of time taken to swap and means you don't get blown up in your caster set.

ive tried canceling but it doesnt seem to work. midspell, after spell, it doesnt matter. does it help a lot to learn how to?

JDRyder · May 15, 2009, 06:42 PM // 18:42

I would teach them how to use this build in Pve missions

Aura of Faith
Signet of Devotion
Guardian
Protective spirit
Shield of Absorption
Revealed Hex
Purge Signet
Divine Boon

OwUTMs3C5hgUSEI1DOyJJDeXBA

"sorry the build code thing does not seem to be working"

Anyway, Is it the best build? No. Does it work? Yes. I think this build smartens people up in a few ways. Purge signet better beat weapon switching in to their heads "which is the only reason its in the build" and any boon prot build forces the player to think about what they are doing other than just spamming skills like with any HB build.

The lack of energy management is a problem but its a good thing in this case because its forcing the player to learn to manage energy with prots and its forcing them to make life or death choices with every skill they use. This build beats good monking tactics in to new players heads. They will fail a few times but they are learning, not spamming.

glacialphoenix · May 15, 2009, 09:46 PM // 21:46

^

Learnt that way. Not that bar, of course, but back when I started monking I had something like ~750 ping, a sucky computer, bought the equivalent of a full Survivor's set - you know, before insigs came out - and spent 2 campaigns wondering why people were asking why I didn't buy an energy armour set. 45 was enough, after all... Actually, I find making myself run on a low energy set helps - it's easy to take it for granted when you think you have a lot of energy at your disposal, which may be partly why new monks run out of energy insanely fast.

JoeKnowMo · May 15, 2009, 11:11 PM // 23:11

That's a good idea, JD. I'd suggest Life Sheath instead of AoF. Makes you think about whether you should use it on an ally being wanded vs. an ally being attacked by spells/physicals.

JDRyder · May 16, 2009, 03:03 AM // 03:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeKnowMo

That's a good idea, JD. I'd suggest Life Sheath instead of AoF. Makes you think about whether you should use it on an ally being wanded vs. an ally being attacked by spells/physicals.

Funny you should say Life Sheath. When I was making that bar I started with that, but went with AoF because they would not need to use Purge sig with LS really. So I went with AoF, It should add a good heal to SoD for people using it with AoF. Taking out AoF/purge and adding LS and adding E management would make the build better but the point of it is to beat crap in to new monk heads, not be the best build.

Wish Swiftdeath · May 16, 2009, 06:05 AM // 06:05

Yeah I'd never recommend running attunements. They're trash.

For cancelling: when you know a ranger/mesmer is camping you and YOU HAVE TO get a spell off then use your 40/40 set. You press the button at the time it takes to get halfway, if it's HCT then it goes through, if it's not you baited the interrupt.

As for cancelling most players just slam the interrupt as soon as they see the icon so as long as you don't cancel in the first 1/8 of a second it shouldn't go to waste.

A safer option would be to cast something like guardian when not facing melee/rangers, bad players will use dshot on it allowing you to use your other skills without fear of dshot for 10 seconds.

TempestBrewer · May 19, 2009, 02:12 PM // 14:12

#1 Rule of Monking: Heal order

Heal yourself first
Heal your fellow monks/healers
Heal everyone else

PS: I love Life Sheath, even if it gets me kicked out of groups because it's not HB. lol

Grammar · May 19, 2009, 02:58 PM // 14:58

Use proper aggro management and you cannot fail in PvE, regardless of build or player skill.

This goes for any class, not just monks.

Jaigoda · May 19, 2009, 04:06 PM // 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by TempestBrewer

#1 Rule of Monking: Heal order

Heal yourself first
Heal your fellow monks/healers
Heal everyone else

PS: I love Life Sheath, even if it gets me kicked out of groups because it's not HB. lol

False (though if you're sarcastic, disregard this whole post). You should choose your target by whoever is actually under pressure, not the one who has the lowest health. It doesn't matter if someone sits at 50% the whole match if no one tries to attack them. Thus, there is no specific order in which you should heal targets, but instead target whoever actually needs to be healed.

XrRydr · May 20, 2009, 05:02 AM // 05:02

New monk here, I've got a question. I've seen many builds that don't have a res. I'm not too familiar with pvp, but I know in pve it definitely helps to have a res incase someone dies. Ideally you can keep everyone alive, but sometimes things go wrong. Also, most people I've played with expect the monk to be able to revive players, what's the current attitude on effective monking and reviving?

glacialphoenix · May 20, 2009, 05:48 AM // 05:48

^

Controversial, but my personal stance is: if you're playing with people like guildies and such who probably won't need you to rez, you can afford not to take it, which frees up a slot for something that you can use to keep them alive. The rezzes should be on other characters who can afford to stop in battle and revive a downed teammate. You can't afford to do that, because you have to keep healing and protting.

PUGs, by and large, will expect you to take one. (I generally pack one with PUGs anyway, for safety's sake.)

Don't rez in midbattle - I generally pack Rebirth as the last ditch rez, or to rez some enthusiastic fellow who's run into a nice pack of mobs - Rebirth will teleport him to me and out of harm's way, most other rezzes won't. If you're using Rebirth, switch to lowest energy set you have on hand, and call it so people know you'll be short of energy.

If you're running Unyielding Aura, all of this is of course moot, since it functions as a rez as well - and if you're running HB, some people prefer you to take Resurrection Chant.

JDRyder · May 20, 2009, 06:01 PM // 18:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by XrRydr

New monk here, I've got a question. I've seen many builds that don't have a res. I'm not too familiar with pvp, but I know in pve it definitely helps to have a res incase someone dies. Ideally you can keep everyone alive, but sometimes things go wrong. Also, most people I've played with expect the monk to be able to revive players, what's the current attitude on effective monking and reviving?

I don't take a rez, ever. That one skill could be why your team wiped. I also pack my builds with a lot of stuff so I never have room. Most the time I don't have anyone die in pugs but I find that just about everyone else has a hard rez. If things start going bad I'd just focus on whoever has the hard rez and make sure he does not die.

If you want to take a rez, take rebirth. I know a lot of people say its bad for monks but its not like your using it in combat anyway so I don't see the problem.

Welthas · May 21, 2009, 12:00 PM // 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by cataphract

Good positioning, kiting and common sense all negate the need for a defensive set.

Use them.

If anything else, you'll look better and more capable than standing around with your voltaic spear and tormented shield. Defensive set doesn't make you capable or leet or pro no matter how many screenshots of monks in defensive sets people post.

kiting?

noob q IK

Cebe · May 21, 2009, 02:04 PM // 14:04

Only heal an ally when they're on less than about 75% of their HP. If you heal up tiny little amounts of splash damage with 5-energy heals your energy will deplete faster.

Wish Swiftdeath · May 21, 2009, 02:18 PM // 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by glacialphoenix

^

Controversial, but my personal stance is: if you're playing with people like guildies and such who probably won't need you to rez, you can afford not to take it, which frees up a slot for something that you can use to keep them alive. The rezzes should be on other characters who can afford to stop in battle and revive a downed teammate. You can't afford to do that, because you have to keep healing and protting.

PUGs, by and large, will expect you to take one. (I generally pack one with PUGs anyway, for safety's sake.)

Don't rez in midbattle - I generally pack Rebirth as the last ditch rez, or to rez some enthusiastic fellow who's run into a nice pack of mobs - Rebirth will teleport him to me and out of harm's way, most other rezzes won't. If you're using Rebirth, switch to lowest energy set you have on hand, and call it so people know you'll be short of energy.

If you're running Unyielding Aura, all of this is of course moot, since it functions as a rez as well - and if you're running HB, some people prefer you to take Resurrection Chant.

Bring a res scroll, saves you the bother. You don't have to use it, if the pug is especially bad just leave.

Grammar · May 21, 2009, 02:27 PM // 14:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by XrRydr

New monk here, I've got a question. I've seen many builds that don't have a res. I'm not too familiar with pvp, but I know in pve it definitely helps to have a res incase someone dies. Ideally you can keep everyone alive, but sometimes things go wrong. Also, most people I've played with expect the monk to be able to revive players, what's the current attitude on effective monking and reviving?

Simple answer: Ask

When playing with heroes/henchmen or guildmates, there's no need to carry one (that's what heroes/non-monk guildmates are for).
But when playing with other players you don't know, simply ask if they want you to carry a rez.

If the group is a skilled group, they'll say no don't bring one, they've got it covered. The 8th slot on a monk's bar is by far more valuable than the 8th slot on any other class's bar. Therefore, if the group is skilled and experienced, they'll know that every person in the group takes a rez except the monks.

But it's unfair and naive to assume that every group you'll ever group with is a skilled and experienced group. It's also unfair and naive to assume that you can't still have fun playing with groups what aren't quite as skilled as others, because PvE in Guild Wars is easy and accessible enough that EVERYONE can play the game and have a good time.

So just ask. If they say "yes, rez please", the group obviously isn't a hardcore group, and that's fine. There's no need to be an elitist jerk and argue with them and call them n00bs or rage quite or whatever. Just suck it up, find room for Rebirth, and go have a good time.

Just don't go rezzing someone in the middle of battle when you should be healing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish Swiftdeath

Bring a res scroll, saves you the bother

Or that, lol.

Welthas · May 21, 2009, 03:26 PM // 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish Swiftdeath

Bring a res scroll, saves you the bother. You don't have to use it, if the pug is especially bad just leave.

Good idea :P