Curse

Bront · Apr 09, 2008, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antithesis

HSR is much more useful in PvE than HCT. Most Monk skills are quick to cast.

I guess it will have to do till I get something better then. I'm sure I could do worse.

Anything out there with 20/20 HSR for Prot and Heal?

Antithesis · Apr 09, 2008, 01:01 AM // 01:01

A 20/20 Heal Wand and 20/20 Prot Focus, or vise-versa.

Bront · Apr 09, 2008, 01:03 AM // 01:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antithesis

A 20/20 Heal Wand and 20/20 Prot Focus, or vise-versa.

Quiet you, I don't need easy obvious answers

Yeah, I should have thought of that.

Kwan Xi · Apr 09, 2008, 02:50 AM // 02:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bront

I'm ashamed to admit I died in pre-searing

Don't worry expect this to happen a lot. Like I said your going to be the MVP/Punching Bag in this game. HAVE FUN!

Bront · Apr 09, 2008, 04:54 AM // 04:54

Question:
Hex and Condition removal.

Any skills that are good to look for or good to stay away from?

For my heroes, I've liked Extinquish for party removal of conditions, but it's expensive (though highly useful vs area burning or disease). I've generaly not found an anti-hex spell I've felt was worth taking in PvE, but Cure Hex looks promising as a Heal that just happens to cure a hex.

I the Spotless spells are listed on the Healer's Covenant build, is that to trigger Dwayna's Kiss?

Kale Ironfist · Apr 09, 2008, 06:10 AM // 06:10

Hex Removal:
Remove Hex (consider this the baseline)
Cure Hex (longer recharge, heals on hex removal)
Smite Hex (longer recharge, deals damage on hex removal)
Holy Veil (Pre-veiling, longer recharge)
Spotless Mind (Can remove more than one hex, is an enchantment [for better or worse], fast cast, longer recharge, cannot target self)

Condition Removal
Mend Ailment (consider this the baseline, heals for conditions left on target after use)
Mend Condition (always heals, faster recharge, cannot target self)
Dismiss Condition (conditional stronger heal than Mend Condition, faster recharge than Mend Ailment, can target self)
Spotless Soul (fast cast, can remove more than one condition, is an enchantment [for better or worse], very long recharge, cannot target self)

If you're still trying to get the hang of things, I'd go with the baseline skills I've listed above (Remove Hex and Mend Ailment). They're able to deal with what you want, can target yourself, with no extras (though Mend Ailment is quite strong as a heal if you're in a condition heavy area).

The spotless skills rely a bit more on teamwork, so you might want to stay away from them. Any other hex/condition removal skills are too unwieldy for general use on a Monk.

Antithesis · Apr 09, 2008, 06:10 AM // 06:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bront

I the Spotless spells are listed on the Healer's Covenant build, is that to trigger Dwayna's Kiss?

That and it's a lazy Monk's spell and i'm a lazy, lazy Monk.

Cure Hex / Remove Hex would be the preferred option on a more traditional WoH bar.

Bront · Apr 09, 2008, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kale Ironfist

Any other hex/condition removal skills are too unwieldy for general use on a Monk.

So you discourage Extinguish on a monk bar?

Antithesis · Apr 09, 2008, 06:22 AM // 06:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bront

So you discourage Extinguish on a monk bar?

Extinguish is useful in only a couple of zones like Sacnoth. It's energy-heavy and any condition affecting the whole party is usually degen and non-threatening. Spot condition removal on blind, dazed etc is far more important.

Keekles · Apr 09, 2008, 06:22 AM // 06:22

I would stay away from extinguish on a monk bar. There are certain situations that extinguish is great in... but generally I'd stick with dismiss/mend

Kale Ironfist · Apr 09, 2008, 06:37 AM // 06:37

Extinguish is best used on an off-monk, typically Necromancer and Elementalist primaries, due to the fact that they tend to have skill slots for utility, and the energy management.

Whisper Evenstar · Apr 09, 2008, 07:03 PM // 19:03

I throw extinguish on my mm hero... works great as they typically have the energy to use it when its needed...

Burst Cancel · Apr 09, 2008, 07:36 PM // 19:36

Bah, I'm too late to the party. I would have strongly recommended a Factions start, as it has much faster character progression and the learning curve is trial-by-fire. The Afflicted are very rough on newbie monks, which should give you a good idea about whether this whole "red bars go up" thing is for you.

Bront · Apr 10, 2008, 01:06 AM // 01:06

Well, I got run to YB after Post Searing (Hoping to catch a ride to LA soon), but I stoped to try the Asceleon RA.

That was a lot of fun. With only Pre-searing skills, running a Monk/ME, I managed to help my team win 10 in a row before I had to go to bed (I was dead tired). The first 4 were with a leacher, and I was only level 6. (Had an L4 W/Mo who leveled durring round 5, an L9 Me/N, and the L8 N/Me who left to use the bathroom durring the first 4 rounds).

I did it with the lovely bar of:
Healing Breeze
Orison of Healing
Reversal of Fortune
Healing Breeze
Conjure Phantom
Bane Signet
Banish
Res Signet

Now, I was speced with points in Healing, Prot, and Div favor only, and limited myself to the first 4 skills unless we were down to 1 Op, where I'd throw in a smite to help finish off. It was good practice, and I got better as I went. Of course, after a few rounds, i got targeted finaly, and I did die on occasion, but usually, if they were targeting me, the damage dealers on my team usually took out the others, and got me ressed quickly.

I had a lot of fun. More fun than I thought I might actually (as I usually like to be the one doing the killing), and I'm looking forward to learning to do this better.

I'm going to stop into the YB Arena at some point (mostly to map it, but I do find these things a lot of fun). But my goal is to get to LA, pick up the NF heroes, and head back to Ascelon to quest, get skills, and practice.

I don't mind being under 20th and leveling up. Sometimes, the fun is to get there. My Mesmer is my only 20th level character, though I have an L18 Paragon and Rit, and an L19 Warrior who'll make 20 with maybe 15 minutes of work. I enjoy swaping characters, and a good change of pace, and this has been a fun change of pace.

Anyone know where I can get a few cheep green monk items? I was doing some shopping in the greens to see what would work, and saw 2 DF Enchanting staves that looked nice, had a 20/20/20/20 focus/wand set picked out, and a high energy set. The bonus shield should be good enough for a shield setup, just need an item to go with it (sword or use the wand from the 20/20 setup). Right now I'm just using the Cane (It's extra energy) and DF Focus from the GOTY edition. I probably should also grab the shield and setup a second weapon setup and learn to swap.

Anyway, thanks for the help so far, and feel free to continue to offer advice

(Hopefully the info in this thread can help others)

Trvth Jvstice · Apr 10, 2008, 02:43 AM // 02:43

My advise, go to Thunderhead Keep, pick up the first PUG that invites, give NO instructions - keep them alive. In that mission you have a lot of spike dmg, tons of hexes, tons of disenchants via the Heretics, several occasions when an over aggroing warrior can wipe the team (the king dies). I've yet to see a Mission as frustrating and chaotic than when you monk for a bad PUG in THK. There's one thing for sure though, it will teach you energy management, and which skill to use when - aka prioritizing heals.

Yichi · Apr 10, 2008, 05:25 AM // 05:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trvth Jvstice

I've yet to see a Mission as frustrating and chaotic than when you monk for a bad PUG in THK.

PuG Gate of Madness...

the ruloes · Apr 10, 2008, 03:21 PM // 15:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bront

Anyone know where I can get a few cheep green monk items? I was doing some shopping in the greens to see what would work, and saw 2 DF Enchanting staves that looked nice, had a 20/20/20/20 focus/wand set picked out, and a high energy set. The bonus shield should be good enough for a shield setup, just need an item to go with it (sword or use the wand from the 20/20 setup). Right now I'm just using the Cane (It's extra energy) and DF Focus from the GOTY edition. I probably should also grab the shield and setup a second weapon setup and learn to swap.

The weapon that I use is Kepkhet's Refuge. It's a very good weapon to use if you're not good at weaponswapping, since it has all of the things you'd want from a single weaponset (HCT, HSR, enchanting and +energy). You should be able to find someone selling it at Augury rock (you'll have to have one of your other characters get it though, you won't be at the desert for a while!) for a few plat each.

Once you get more advanced in monking, you might want to try out the weaponswapping techniques, but from my experience, there isn't an actual need for that in most PvE.

As for your skillbar, it's reasonably good, although you'll probably be forced to switch some of your skills out once you acquire more. It's a good thing that you spent most of your time not using the damaging skills you brought, though. Spending 5 energy on keeping your team alive is much more effecient than spending 5 on killing the enemy (at least as a monk primary).

It's a good idea that you're going to fetch heroes, although you might have a hard time doing so with your low level. Being level 6, you will be the first target for any AI due to your low amount of life. Doing the quest to get NF unlocked might be hard unless you've got a friend/guildie helping you.

Seeing as you're going to stop by Lion's Arch anyways, picking up an armour set form there will be a very good idea. Upping your armour does a tremendous part at keeping you alive. If you've got the time and money, you might want to get a droks run from Beacon's Perch, although getting 60 armour in post-searing will generally be overkill. At that point, the most damage done to you will be so low that you'll hardly need to heal up anything anyways.

Also, if you've still got your basic armour (the one you started out with), it will be a good idea saving that, in case you want to make a 600 monk at one point.

Keekles · Apr 10, 2008, 03:59 PM // 15:59

If he's also going to NF he might as well get to consulate docks as well to get a set of max armor.

[what I'd do at least]

the ruloes · Apr 10, 2008, 04:24 PM // 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keekles

If he's also going to NF he might as well get to consulate docks as well to get a set of max armor.

[what I'd do at least]

Ah yes, I forgot about the armour in other campaigns. In that case, I'd actually recommend taking the factions branch first since it doesn't require any fighting (you can just run through the docks), gets him started on the factions campaign and allows him to buy/capture the regular/elite skills of factions much sooner.

MasterSasori · Apr 10, 2008, 06:12 PM // 18:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yichi

PuG Gate of Madness...

I'd also add Gate of Pain and Grand Court of Sebelkeh to that list.