Curse

Darth The Xx · Mar 10, 2009, 04:20 AM // 04:20

I feel you ever since the stances got nerfed its not so easy to be almost invulnerable. But as mentioned before you should not be using them when dealing with normal pressure.

My suggestion is Mo/A with [Return] or [Dash] and [Smoke Powder Defense]. I don't have a problem staying alive with no stances, the main thing I used them for was avoiding melee KDs like PS sins and Hammer Wars and avoiding ranger interupts. Now I can still do this a little differently with Mo/A, [Smoke Powder Defense] for melee spikers works awesome, even better than disc stance because you still don't get hit by unblockable stuff / screwed over by [Wild Strike]. Rangers are a little trickier, [Return] usually works pretty good for dodging arrows however I usually save this for when [Smoke Powder Defense] is on CD and i need to escape melee. You can also blind rangers if they are standing next to you. [Dash] is very nice when it comes to dodging anything reallu just another utility, lets you escape very fast.

I dont really like using [Dark Escape], the dmg reduction is nice but it still doesn't prevent the KDs and interupts that will ultimately be the reason you can't heal your team.

Just my 2 cents

Hanging Man · Mar 10, 2009, 05:06 AM // 05:06

running a mo/z Zb hybrid pro/heal with a couple sin skills nagged me a few glad points.

now keep in mind i suck at monking so it probably will work better for you.
stances I used were [skill]return[/skill] and [skill]heart of shadow[/skill]
both have relatively short recharges on them so if you use sparring you can stay alive lil long.
ha gl

*edit*
the icon for heart of shadow displays the enchantment symbol of an arrow, it is only a spell.

Cammy · Mar 10, 2009, 05:36 AM // 05:36

Just disciplined still works fine if you use it correctly with guardian:

Swap to your 40/40/20 staff to maximize your guardians and try for fast casts.

Tab around and watch rangers/mesmers to see when they use their interrupts so you can safely use guardian.

Hide behind walls/stairs/etc. to break line of sight in order to cast guardian.

Pre-cast guardian when you see warriors coming for you.

Cast guardian on your necro so s/he can hex the ranger, thus giving you more breathing room to cast guardian.

When to use disciplined stance?

-If you're having a bad day and missing your guardians and eating bulls.

-When you are KD'ed. Be smart about this. If it's a W/E and you get bullsed, unless he unloads his adren skills on you, don't pop your stance. If he doesn't immediately spike, he probably doesn't have enough adrenaline and is going to build adren, quarter-shock you, then unload. Use disciplined on the quarter-shock. On the other hand, if you see him unloading dismember/evis, use your stance.

-Hammer attacks come slowly enough that if you see them running towards you, tab them and twitch their lead kd with disciplined.

-If a ranger is training you, it may be acceptable to pop your stance, heal something, then use the tail end of the stance to guardian yourself to give yourself a better chance vs. the ranger in the short run. This is also useful vs. RaO Axe thumpers with a 2-3 fast building interrupts.

-If you don't have guardian up and a palm strike sin tries to combo you. Use disciplined after palm strike hits to prevent the trampling KD. Use the block time to mend touch or let your necro draw you.

-If for some reason you're bad and can't avoid Broad head or stunning strike, it's acceptable to pop disciplined to mend touch, try for fast cast WoH or patient, or let your necro draw you.

-If your team is under severe pressure and you need a guaranteed WoH to save someone. This is still iffy if the ranger has magebane, but if you're under this much pressure you might as well take the risk. Pop your stance and hope for a fast cast WoH. At worst you get magebaned and lose, which you're already going to anyways. At best, you block savage/dshot/savage slash/dchop and give your team a last fighting chance.

Return is fine if you have perfect field awareness, perfect guardians, and never get bullsed or shocked. Otherwise it's quite simple for any decent melee to train you to death.

TL;DR

Smart use of Guardian is still your best bet. You should not be running around constantly under a stance. Use disciplined wisely, usually as your last resort.

Edit: This is more TA oriented but if you can do well in TA, RA and AB should be easy and require less than half the brain cells and micro.

Luminarus · Mar 10, 2009, 05:41 AM // 05:41

Whenever I monk in RA/AB its always been Mo/A... [Dark Escape][Dash][Return] and [Smoke Powder Defense] are better imo, but I can see the attractiveness of the stances.

On the other hand, Balanced Stance and Shield Bash are still very powerful at eliminating melee threats.

MasterSasori · Mar 10, 2009, 06:49 PM // 18:49

Problem with most Mo/W is that they are too quick on their stances.

Now they are in even shorter duration, it will be even more difficult to use.

I like Mo/A ever since BA Turret was nerfed to hell. Makes my life so much easier.

Return is so good so long as you're not clumsy and make good guardians.

Age · Mar 11, 2009, 06:57 AM // 06:57

Mo/A doesn't have anythng to prevent KD Mo/W does.

I D E L E T E D I · Mar 11, 2009, 10:46 AM // 10:46

Shield Bash + Guardian is all I have ever needed. Just be good at using them.

Avatar of Healing · Mar 11, 2009, 06:26 PM // 18:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by I D E L E T E D I

Shield Bash + Guardian is all I have ever needed. Just be good at using them.

same here, you can throw in SoA or another prot if you dont want to put in another stance. i dont run /A or /R because then I dont have the +16 armor from my shield.

willrockformilk · Mar 11, 2009, 07:21 PM // 19:21

yeah i dont think they killed stances for monks. i just think they just took stances away from being the focal point of the survival of the monk. [guardian] is great for keeping a monk alive. not only that, but you can cast it on other people. [guardian]+[disciplined stance]/[shield bash] when used at the right time should be a very balanced way to stay alive.

Battery Power Heal · Mar 11, 2009, 10:34 PM // 22:34

At the time of posting my thread I was just having a bad day. I am a terrifying gladiator (5) so I know how to monk.

I've used mo/r, mo/a, and mo/w. After the nerf to stances I still think mo/w is the best secondary out there for dealing with kd's and interupts. I've learned to just be smarter in using my stances.

Darth The Xx · Mar 12, 2009, 02:53 AM // 02:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Age

Mo/A doesn't have anythng to prevent KD Mo/W does.

[Smoke Powder Defense]

Wish Swiftdeath · Mar 12, 2009, 05:08 AM // 05:08

A very underrated skill is balanced stance.

It's not as godly as it was before primal nerf (No crits/kd's) but it's still great against alot of knocklock chains and spikes.

With regard to stances, a good monk will almost ALWAYS have at least one stance ready to use in emergency's.

Fleeting · Mar 27, 2009, 07:00 AM // 07:00

[Balanced Stance] makes it so much easier to heal/prot through Assassins. I tend to also run [Shield Bash] just because of how many things it can be used for.

Trinity Fire Angel · Mar 30, 2009, 02:24 AM // 02:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by willrockformilk

yeah i dont think they killed stances for monks. i just think they just took stances away from being the focal point of the survival of the monk. [guardian] is great for keeping a monk alive. not only that, but you can cast it on other people. [guardian]+[disciplined stance]/[shield bash] when used at the right time should be a very balanced way to stay alive.

these 3 skills are all i have ever needed in AB/RA/TA when running a WoH Hybrid Shieldbash monk. [disciplined stance] and [shield bash] are a staple. they are really there to cover you if you don;t get guardian on in time or it is interrupted or diverted or you find yourself on the ground after a meteor or signet or something.

oh, and you really should run 20% cripple mod on ya sheild and a 20% cripple rune.... Face Palm has little or no effect on you after the aftercast has worn off in nearly all cases.

Jessica Pariah · Apr 17, 2009, 07:53 AM // 07:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by zling

it's by no means perfect and if you run into a hardcore hex team you're going to be in trouble, at least if the hexers have half a brain, but that's the most you can do...

And that's exactly what we have the overpowered [peace and harmony] for, isn't it?

Fleeting · Apr 17, 2009, 10:55 AM // 10:55

There are so many ways you can counter people in RA/AB that you really shouldn't have much of a problem. I'm just going to list a few.

/Warrior:

[Shield Bash] You can get quite creative with this one, don't limit yourself to stopping melee.

/Assassin

[Dark Escape] [Return] Both of these help you avoid damage and get away from the damage, both also take a little bit of practice to use well.

Monk

[Guardian] Melee pressure ceases to exist on w/e target you choose. Just remember to pre-prot.