Curse

Konkadonk · May 12, 2009, 02:34 PM // 14:34

Hi. I recently hit 20 on my monk and kitted him out with some nice armor and such. I started playing som RA (which I made the monk for) and I get destroyed in absolutely no time. I'm using the WoH build on PvX but I have really low energy and I run out all the time. I'm also having problems with melee classes ganking me.

I see alot of monks in RA healing effortlessly. Why is this not the case for me? Any input would help as well as strategies that monks use in RA. Thanks for any help you can offer!

ajc2123 · May 12, 2009, 02:52 PM // 14:52

Monking is extremly hard.

You need to observe the field, your team, and your health/energy at the same time.

All i can suggest is more practice, make sure you have low/high energy sets, shields spears and whatnot, and guardian and balanced stance will be your best friend for a while.

gl

iToasterHD · May 12, 2009, 02:57 PM // 14:57

The best thing you can do is not to give up. A lot of people over look the fact that this game requires practice, especially with builds that you didn't originally make. Read over PvX and pay special attention to the section "Usage." Practice is definitely vital and can make a seemingly impossible build to become amazingly effective. Good luck.

Parson Brown · May 12, 2009, 03:07 PM // 15:07

Some advice would be first to avoid overhealing. Many new monks want to cast a heal as soon as they see the red line budge. Know how much your spells heal (including Divine Favor bonus) and try never to use a skill that will heal more than the total damage on another character.

-It probably goes without saying, but NEVER use WoH unless your target meets the <50% health bonus.

-Use prots and watch the field. All new monks will catch themselves staring at the red bars, not the action on the field. Try to predict who will be taking damage and throw Reversal, Guardian, Protective Spirit, or some prot on them. That one prot cast could end up saving you 3 heals down the line.

-Avoid expensive spells. You shouldn't have more than 1-2 10-e spells, and no 15e unless you also bring Glyph of Lesser Energy. Aegis and Heal Party lose a lot in 4 v 4 when probably only 1-2 people need the benefit.

-Bring a defensive stance. Practice kiting. Don't just throw up the stance and stand there waiting for it to end.

-You can't do everything, but in RA, you should at least bring a 1 hex removal and 1 condition remover. Save them for big ones, Spiteful Spirit, Backfire, etc. Don't waste them on short hexes like Clumsiness that would end 1-2 seconds after your cast anyway. And really, daze on casters and blindness on melee are the only conditions worth removing.

-Communicate. Tell your party to ping "big" hexes and important conditions. I've been playing a long time and I still can't tell every effect just by looking at the animation (although it is a very good idea to be able to do that).

GL/HF

Thats Too Bad · May 12, 2009, 03:11 PM // 15:11

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10371299

Its my guide for TA. Although it is for TA, it'll help you alot.

Well, its... in experienced-players-speak, soz

Konkadonk · May 12, 2009, 03:44 PM // 15:44

One more thing. I don't understand the importance of switching between weapon sets. When do I use x/shield and when do I use staff?

Zodiac Meteor · May 12, 2009, 04:51 PM // 16:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konkadonk

One more thing. I don't understand the importance of switching between weapon sets. When do I use x/shield and when do I use staff?

1 set for high energy
When use: fight about to end and your teams health is low.
Type: +30 energy focus and offhand

2 set for slashing damage
When use: Any melee not using a hammer.
Type: +10 against slashing shield

3 set for fast cast
When use: Start with this at beginning of match, know your enemies then switch if you need to.
Type: 40/40 wand and focus

4 set for conditions
When use: Some one is hitting you with cripple/daze pull this out.
Type: Reduce X by 20% shield

Thats Too Bad · May 12, 2009, 05:38 PM // 17:38

40/40 fast cast, two of em if u are running guardian, which u SHOULD have.
To avoid interrupts

shield + spear def set
provides armor and higher health

low set/high set if you can
to avoid total energy loss from energy denial skills as well as an advantage upon death, or you need to sacrifice hidden energy to avoid losing, which can turn out to be good or bad in the long run.

staff? old school in RA.

Icy The Mage · May 12, 2009, 08:02 PM // 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thats Too Bad

40/40 fast cast, two of em if u are running guardian, which u SHOULD have.
To avoid interrupts

shield + spear def set
provides armor and higher health

low set/high set if you can
to avoid total energy loss from energy denial skills as well as an advantage upon death, or you need to sacrifice hidden energy to avoid losing, which can turn out to be good or bad in the long run.

staff? old school in RA.

Staff = 40% Half-casting time of protection prayers spells, 20% enchantment-lengthening duration: to cast guardian on to help prevent interrupts and to make it last longer.

Jaigoda · May 13, 2009, 04:12 AM // 04:12

Most of the stuff said already is good. Just remember, one of the most important things is to not get tunnel vision and watch only the red bars. If you're getting ganked by physicals, it was probably because you were staring at the health bars and not seeing the Assassin jogging over to you. It takes a lot of practice, but this is one of the most crucial things for any profession.

Also, for weapon switching: Essentially if you weapon swap you can get the best benefits possible for each cast. Casting a heal? Switch to your 40/40 set so you can get it off and recharge it faster. Protting? Use your 40/20 enchant staff so they last longer and cast faster. And while you're not doing anything, switch to your shield set so you take less damage and have to heal less overall. And if you run out of energy, swap to your high energy for a single cast or two, and immediately switch back so you don't lose too much extra energy.

Make sure to choose your casts wisely. Each cast is going to drain your energy, so a misused prot or heal will mean you might not be able to cast that vital Word when your teammate's about to die. Overhealing and not using prots properly will make your blue bar go down a lot faster than the red bars. This brings me to prot usage; While big red-bar-up skills will be extremely attractive at first, they're not the best in every situation. Sure, you could slap a Patient on that guy getting whacked PS 'Sin, but a Guardian will probably prevent more damage than Patient will ever heal.

Oh, and one thing I had some troubles with for a while: Conditions and hexes can take a back burner, especially when that's not the only means of pressure. Blind, Dazed, and Deep Wound (because of the -100 hp and -20% heals) are the only priority conditions. While Bleeding and Poison can look menacing, they're so easily spread it's usually not worth it trying to keep people clean. A good Ranger will keep poison on everyone and there's nothing you can really do about it. You'd just be wasting the 5 energy trying to get the thing off. Same thing with hexes; if someone's got Parasitic Bond on them, or you know has a hex covering the priority one, then there's not much point trying to remove it.

It all comes down to watching what's going on an planning accordingly, and choosing which skill to use in each situaition. Hope this helps somewhat.

JDRyder · May 14, 2009, 09:10 PM // 21:10

One think I didn't see "from the post I've read" sometimes its just your teams fault. People can blame the monk all they want but If you have a mesmer, hammer warrior and necro they need to do their jobs too. Why didn't the mesmer shut down that caster? Why didn't that hammer warrior attack their monk or kill something other than attacking that ranger with nothing but block skills? Why didn't that Necro hex the assassin killing you instead of putting Faintheartedness on their mesmer? How come when you got killed because everyone was attacking the same target who has over 9000 prots on them no one rezed you?

As far as melee ganking you I never really had problems with melee. If you kite in circles melee should never catch up to you unless they have their speed boost up or your snared. My problems always been with hexes/shutdown, which I just bring along hex breaker and I'm good to go. Having a stance that you can use KDed is nice but I don't plan on being knocked down for long or I will have pre-proted myself so meh.

Wish Swiftdeath · May 15, 2009, 08:59 AM // 08:59

From RA i've learned never to trust anyone, most of the time those players are just damage magnets.

Although pretty much everything has been covered by everyone else i would suggest remapping your skills and interface(smaller skill bar - bigger compass) to make the game easier to see. Skills and party members etc should be bound to different keys.

I will point out a couple mistakes people tend to make:

1. Prioritising, against good teams it's unlikely you will flawless, you will have to make a call. You can't save everyone - prot the kiting mesmer instead of the mending wammo outside of your aggro bubble (this is an extreme case, other times you will have to decide by analyzing the match situation).

2. Going for too much, if it's likely you'll die (woh dshot, guardian diverted and you're low on health for example) swap to shield set and take a death. Too many times i've seen monks swapping to their high sets spamming patient and dying - when you get rezzed you'll have little to no energy and this will usually result in a lost game.

3. Conserving energy, if you fight against lingering necro's it's likely that everyone will be under some sort of degen, watch the fight so you're able to heal the targets that need it. If you guardian the ranger which has already activated a stance, that's a waste energy. It should be used on the elementalist which is now getting attacked by the other team.

4. Learning the builds, after a couple weeks you should know most (not all since there are some pretty random ones) of the builds that are used around RA/TA. Learn what makes them work and how to stop them, some builds will use augury for a big spike so make sure that your health doesn't go under half (if it does use balanced stance/dark escape) otherwise you'll probably die. Know which of your teammates are the most dangerous to the opposition and which are likely to get attacked first (usually in RA it's the monk but it can also be the mesmer).

It's all about practice really, almost every monk started off as an orison spammer in presearing.

Edit: Try to have your defensive skills available as often as possible, keep them for emergencies.

Example: you're playing against a good warrior, he uses bulls strike on you knocking you down(if you screw up). You activate stance he goes and beats on someone else - you use guardian on that person, he comes back and unloads spike on you - dead monk. Instead wait for him to use his skills, if he just auto attacks don't bother throwing up the stance. Stances have no cast time so you can twitch it if you see him using his spike (guaranteeing that he can't unload it on someone else).

Cancel casting can be useful against good rangers but is risky in arena's (only used if you know they are camping you) often someone else is dying while you're cancel casting - using 40/40's, patient and/or good positioning is much more effective).

Snorph · May 26, 2009, 08:41 AM // 08:41

I have a pvp monk, and high/low energy sets with a prot staff and sword and shield. Yet I can't keep myself alive nor my team. I die very quickly. I zoom out, and watch the field and only heal/prot as needed 50% or below to save my energy.

But again, I die alot.

maxxfury · May 26, 2009, 09:35 AM // 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snorph

I have a pvp monk, and high/low energy sets with a prot staff and sword and shield. Yet I can't keep myself alive nor my team. I die very quickly. I zoom out, and watch the field and only heal/prot as needed 50% or below to save my energy.

But again, I die alot.

Prot BEFORE the damage comes, example. A warrior is converging on your mes, drop guardian on him/her before the warrior starts slapping them around.

Been strict and only healin at 50% isnt such a good idea, heal when they need it.

Div · May 27, 2009, 01:43 AM // 01:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by JDRyder

One think I didn't see "from the post I've read" sometimes its just your teams fault. People can blame the monk all they want but If you have a mesmer, hammer warrior and necro they need to do their jobs too. Why didn't the mesmer shut down that caster? Why didn't that hammer warrior attack their monk or kill something other than attacking that ranger with nothing but block skills? Why didn't that Necro hex the assassin killing you instead of putting Faintheartedness on their mesmer? How come when you got killed because everyone was attacking the same target who has over 9000 prots on them no one rezed you?

As far as melee ganking you I never really had problems with melee. If you kite in circles melee should never catch up to you unless they have their speed boost up or your snared. My problems always been with hexes/shutdown, which I just bring along hex breaker and I'm good to go. Having a stance that you can use KDed is nice but I don't plan on being knocked down for long or I will have pre-proted myself so meh.

That basically sums it up.

snaek · May 27, 2009, 01:51 AM // 01:51

overhealing and not protting the right targets can be the reasons of lack of energy

@jdyrder
while a monk will not win every battle in ra... he/she can delay the time of loss significantly even if your team is complete crap. you can blame your teamates for losing, but if you cant even last 1 minute (thats what i assume from op's choice of word, i.e. "destroyed") then its likely an error on your part.

thats one of the reasons i stopped monking... i'd play 7+ minute matches only to lose because my teamates can't kill anything

Shyft the Pyro · May 28, 2009, 01:37 AM // 01:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaek

thats one of the reasons i stopped monking... i'd play 7+ minute matches only to lose because my teamates can't kill anything

Which is why I finished off my r3 Guardian with a Rit rather than a monk: my heals actually contributed to party damage by stealing attacker HP

But before that, way back in the day, I'd RA with a prot build based on Glyph of Renewal + Divine Spirit - 5e spam ftw! Sure, Diversion and Distracting Shot hurt, but how often do you see good people in RA?

JDRyder · May 28, 2009, 02:49 AM // 02:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by snaek

overhealing and not protting the right targets can be the reasons of lack of energy

@jdyrder
while a monk will not win every battle in ra... he/she can delay the time of loss significantly even if your team is complete crap. you can blame your teamates for losing, but if you cant even last 1 minute (thats what i assume from op's choice of word, i.e. "destroyed") then its likely an error on your part.

thats one of the reasons i stopped monking... i'd play 7+ minute matches only to lose because my teamates can't kill anything

If you have a shut down mesmer, a water ele and a hammer warrior on you theres not a lot you can do if your team does not do anything about it.

In RA just about everyone goes for the monk 1st, sometimes you can survive but sometimes the other team gets lucky and gets a team with just what is needed to F you up. Not always the case, but it happens and even the best monks in GW will be killed.

Wish Swiftdeath · May 29, 2009, 12:30 AM // 00:30

HAHA yeah, I was playing international dist's RA and i got absolutely destroyed by some korean mesmer in under 2 minutes

.

Monking is based alot on judgement and good decisions being made, also be aware that monking is the hardest part of the game - it's normal to find it difficult.

_Nihilist_ · May 29, 2009, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Monk-stomping rules RA. If you have any half-decent Ranger/Mesmer camping you, have fun, it only makes it worse.