Curse

willrockformilk · Mar 12, 2009, 03:47 PM // 15:47

ok i know. i suck at monking.

now that we covered that....

so for the longest time i simply clicked on the name of the person i wanted to heal. this generally worked in pve. since i have picked up pvping. it is probably the most inefficient thing ever and i intend to change it. here is what i am thinking:

skill 1 = 1
skill 2 = 2
skill 3 = 3
skill 4 = 4
skill 5 = q
skill 6 = w
skill 7 = e
skill 8 = r

move forward = numpad 8
move backwards = numpad 5
strafe left = numpad 4
strafe right = numpad 6
turn left = numpad 7
turn right = numpad 9

cycle friendly targets = numpad /
cycle un-friendly targets = numpad *
self-target = ` (the ~ key)

target party member 1 = f1
target party member 2 = f2
target party member 3 = f3
target party member 4 = f4

weapon set 1 = numpad 1
weapon set 2 = numpad 2
weapon set 3 = numpad 3

ill worry about expanding it to a 8 man party later. for now im just trying to hone my skills a bit in RA. also i only have 3 weapon sets as of right now. ill work on expanding that later.

i think i sacrifice mobility with this key setup a little bit. but i think i would heal much better like this.

Any suggestions? tips?

what do you guys use?

and btw i did do a forum search for this. nothing came up for monking specifically.

Loki Seiguro · Mar 12, 2009, 05:10 PM // 17:10

1st off...if you think as a monk you can sacrafice mobility in pvp you are dead wrong. Monks are th first to be targeted and killed. So the monks always have to "kite" which means run around. Yet while doing that you have to be able to keep your party alive. In HA and GvG none of the other members bring healing skills which means they depend on you and only you and your prot/heal/PnH monk(s) partner.

You can see why monks are sometimes hard to find in pvp and if you are recognized as a good monk you will be called on regularly by the good players to come with them on runs.

As for my monking ability, which I believe is more then capable, I don't use hotkeys or anything of the sort. I just click on the party bar to heal with my mouse. Movement is still WASD and the skills are 1-8. I don't have to switch weapons as much (monking = primary set and then a high energy set with maybe a few shield sets for spikes).

Your current set up seems to be for a 4 man party so when you get to HA with 8 man teams that might be hard to scroll through the party like that and heal or prot the right guy as you might get nerveous or have to catch a fast spike.

My suggestion is just do what feels right to you. And don't use a pve monk when practicing cuase youll have to go out and buy new weapons ever time. Go pvp and just make the weapons. Practice with the universalbars, HB infuse, WoH infuse, pnh, RC, LS.

glacialphoenix · Mar 12, 2009, 05:55 PM // 17:55

Let me add to that. I know AB is not considered PvP by lots of people, but if you do go into that, you'll find that you can see the red bars - and thus tab through - only four out of twelve people. What are you going to do about the other eight?

You've got your skills set up for your team, sure, but for the other eight people whose bars you can't see, you are going to have to click on them.

Quote:

1st off...if you think as a monk you can sacrafice mobility in pvp you are dead wrong. Monks are th first to be targeted and killed. So the monks always have to "kite" which means run around. Yet while doing that you have to be able to keep your party alive.

Agreed.

_Nihilist_ · Mar 12, 2009, 07:08 PM // 19:08

As low-end on the PvP scale AB is, I have found that only having 4 red bars to watch while being EXPECTED (yeah, low-end PvP - they expect me to cover EVERYONE - 1 Monk for 12 people who didn't bring a healer, or even hex/condi removal - /facepalm) makes me despise red bars and watching them to be effective (even though I am the definition of a n00b when it comes to Monking outside of Farming PvE).

Maybe I'm just an odd one out of the bunch, but I feel like a douche if I have teammates (whether or not they show up in my Party Menu, tyvm) who (erroneously or not) are expecting support from me as a Monk and don't get it because I feel too lazy to do anything besides watch redbars in my Party Menu. I don't like waste, which includes shitty e-mgmt through late/misplaced Prots, overhealing, or crossfire-focus (when another Monk on my team pops a Heal/Prot/Condi or Hex removal 1/4sec before I do on my target).

Crossfire-focus I don't have control over. If another allied Monk (or Healer/Prot/Support/whatever) decides that he/she is going to fire off a spell/sig @ the ally I am current supporting, that's their call. Again, this is AB, so at MOST I'm going to have 3 of the other 11 ppl on Vent with me, usually 1 or 2. If I happen to notice some of the key factors like facing direction, field position, casting animations, etc. and catch that they are about to sling supportive spellfire @ that ally, I'll let it go. I can afford one 5e crossfire cast. If the other support caster continues to camp that ally, I just swap off. It doesn't do anyone a bit of good to have 2 Monks camping them while 5 other people could really use Prot or Healing.

Ok, I've rambled and swung out onto a tangent (or 3, sue me), but my point is, I LIKE not having the Party Menu to gimp my awareness. It's so easy to redbar... redbar goes down > apply heal > redbar goes up > yellow arrow means enchanted > pink arrow means hexed > grey arrow means conditioned > redbars go up, amirite? > redbars go UP, AMIRITE?! > F'ING FOTHERMUCKER I SEZ REDBARRRRRZ GOE UUUUUUUP!!!!!>!>!>!>!??!?!? WTF REDBARRZ NOE GOEZ DAOWWWWN!!!!11!1 n00b.... grrrr... Sure, I leave my Party menu up (I still gimp myself slightly - I like to know if my wife is in radar range - she has a tendency to poof/disappear and head out to solo cap shrines Party menu is like a homing beacon) for a few key things, but learning to watch field position + movement of the action on the battlefield + spell/effect animations has greatly improved my ability to support my teams in just a few battles. Sure my skills would get me, and whatever team I was on, nowhere but the trash heap in high-end GvG. I have no problems admitting that, but, whereas I used to watch redbars for everything, I now have better awareness, which in turn helps me to be a better monk...

/endtangentsofdoom

I guess mebbe simplified it all means - a Monk setup is fine, but if you watch teammates and target them by field movements rather than redbars you'll become a better Monk/support caster in general? Mebbe? I AM new to this, remember that...

/endsecondexplanation

kedde · Mar 12, 2009, 08:07 PM // 20:07

While what I use might not be considered to be truly optimal I find it the best one for myself, personally.

skills 1-8:1234qwer

Movement:
strafeL, forward, backward, strafeR: asdf

Weaponsets 1-4: F1-F4

Called target: caps
nearest foe: t
next foe: g
next ally: tab
target self: shift
highlight enemies: ctrl
highlight allies/items: x
target nearest item: z
ventrilo: v
cancel action: Alt

I, of course use both mouse and keyboard for movement depending on the situation. Movement keys will seem awkward to most people, my hand just fits with that due to several other games I've played.

Using a setup close to korean with only mouse movement is brave and takes a lot to get used to.
It can be very good if you can have players be on the same spots, be practiced with it and have people call their numbers if you face spikes.

Otherwise, just try different things yourself until you find some kind of setup you feel comfortable with.
That took me close to 2 years.

MoNkIn · Mar 12, 2009, 08:23 PM // 20:23

My setup
Skill1:A
2:S
3: D
4:E
5:C
6:Mouse Button
7:Mouse Button
8:usually my least used skill set it to skill slot 8 and just click it

Weapon Sets:
F1,F2,F3,4

Cancel Action:CapsLock
Vent:Left Shift
Next foe:Tab
It's also nice if you can set a mouse button to the double click feature so you can drop veils much faster
Q is set to open all bags so i can easily switch shields/weapons

I click to move as i am more comfortable with that than WASD

Age · Mar 12, 2009, 11:23 PM // 23:23

Your set up will work good for a right hander but not a left hander.It is best to use to your mouse to kite along with wasd and have for me anyway keys 1,2,3,4,E=5,R=6,T=7 and Q=8 for your skill keys.I find this set up works best for me.

glacialphoenix · Mar 13, 2009, 02:52 AM // 02:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrael Eveningsong

snip

I'm not saying he should redbar, I'm just pointing out you can only see the red bars of four people. And it's nice to find someone who shares my view of AB.

That being said, I've been in that position before, which is why I brought it up. You can't click on the party names of eight other people, much less cycle through them. You have to watch and click on their names in field. As a result I'm pretty loath to cycle through party names the way OP wants them to. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's gimping himself that way, especially since he's sacrificing mobility.

the_jos · Mar 13, 2009, 12:28 PM // 12:28

In general I mix between mouse clicking on players and clicking on red bar.
Red bar to heal up someone, mouse click on someone to prot.
Movement mostly by mouse, skills at 1-8.
Most important (and still learning) is watching around. Who is getting hit, who is safe.
Someone with low red bar but out of danger can wait for a heal when someone else is in danger and needs fast attention.

willrockformilk · Mar 13, 2009, 01:16 PM // 13:16

yeah ive taken the advice here.

i use:

1234qerf = skills
` = self target
f1f2f3f4 = party members 1-4
numpad 123 = weapons sets
tab = cycle party members

i can heal pretty effectively with that and kite pretty well.

ive also started looking at the field more. which i end up looking at the red bars still. its a bad habit ill have to break.

but hey, if i was already a god at monking then it would be any fun. learning and getting better is what makes the game fun.

its just really difficult against good mesmers. they will get [backfire] on me and then usually cover it with something so i cant remove it. and i pretty much just die after that.

is there a way to have my party health bars above their head constantly. other than constantly holding down left ctrl?

Wish Swiftdeath · Mar 14, 2009, 02:25 AM // 02:25

I'm pretty weird

i use 12345tgh for party members
qwerasdf for skills

f1-f4 for weaponsets (I have long fingers).

As for mesmers, watch what they cast - you can see incoming spells and prepare much better. Also quite often they will follow up a big hex with wastrels, either wait it out or burn a skill (like a stance since the war will most likely be following up) and then use the opportunity to remove backfire and recast veil depending on the mesmer, good ones will most likely interrupt veil so you should be out of range or cancel cast a bit.

Also don't ever redbar, if you see yourself redbarring turn off the party bar (and chat bar if you want

). Now you are forced to watch the enemy, what they are doing and who they are attacking. Persevere and in a couple days you'll be twice the monk you are right now.

You can always set it back once you think you have 'disciplined' yourself to only glance once every 5-6 seconds.

subarucar · Mar 14, 2009, 02:34 AM // 02:34

My setup:

WASD: Move
1,2,3,4,5,6,R,T - Party Members
Q - Self
Click for skills
F - Stance/Return etc
E - Infuse if running it
Z,X,C,V - Weapon sets

_Nihilist_ · Mar 18, 2009, 09:35 PM // 21:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wish Swiftdeath

You can always set it back once you think you have 'disciplined' yourself to only glance once every 5-6 seconds.

I use the Party Menu to make sure that teammates are in radar range on larger maps, that's about it. When I find myself trying to redbar, the 'P' key is quickly pressed to squash that annoying habit.