Curse

MrFinklestein · Nov 06, 2007, 04:56 AM // 04:56

I am new to monk. I was wondering what is easier for a beginner: protection or healing. I've looked at builds and I was thinking that bonding would be easy. I might be totally wrong so any help would be greatly appreciated.

horseradish · Nov 06, 2007, 05:20 AM // 05:20

healing is much easier than protecting in terms of using the right skill.

Bonding, i've heard, is easy depending where you are...there are mobs with enchant removal, but considering you're a new monk, you won't need to worry about that till later. Bonding has the potential to be a bitch to manage though.

Protecting is more necessary in PvP than PvE, but, nonetheless, very helpful in both aspects of the game.

Always keep [skill]reversal of fortune[/skill] on your bar. you get it way early in the game and it kicks arse. Practice with it. it will become ur best friend.

[skill]healing breeze[/skill] is good until a certain point. It's great in the beginning, but try to get rid of it as soon as possible. There are much better skills.

But do what you want as long as you're having fun.

PS: don't believe people when they say you're in charge of keeping everyone alive, because that is soooooo not true when the elementalist leeroys into the thick of the mob and aggros everything.

You're responsible for keeping people alive to a certain extent. You only have so much energy.

good luck.

RhanoctJocosa · Nov 06, 2007, 05:35 AM // 05:35

Bonding is terrible and teaches you nothing as to how to monk- don't do it. I'd suggest you run a healing build (like the ones you've probably seen) and learn to manage your energy before you focus on protting and such.

arcady · Nov 06, 2007, 07:18 AM // 07:18

Experiment with all three - Healing, Prot, and Bonding. Keep with the one you find yourself doing best in.

I prefer Prot, even in early game. I've learned to just shrug at the people who say I should be running heal or hybrid early one. What I'm running works when I run it, and that's all that really matters.

As long as you are not doing Smite, PUGs and freind groups alike will welcome you. Leave Smite for when you solo, or when the situation calls for it. But always clear it with your group before bringing a Smite monk.

the_jos · Nov 06, 2007, 11:51 AM // 11:51

Early in the game?
I'd say healing is the better choice there.
Add Reversal of Fortune if you can spare some points in protection.
Protection will become more important during the game, when the damage just gets too much to handle with healing. You'll notice when you reach that point.

MrFinklestein · Nov 07, 2007, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Thanks for all of the replies everyone.

Jaigoda · Nov 08, 2007, 05:18 AM // 05:18

In my opinion from a Prophecies standpoint (don't do much monking elsewhere), the only place where damage is too much for healing... is Hell's Precipice. Actually, I did beat Hell's with a healer, but it was damn hard, and I'd run out of energy every mob (compared to little to no energy problems anywhere elsewhere). Of course, healing does get outstripped by prot in Ring of Fire Island areas (and UW too; those Aatxes hit for 200+ on squishies), but healing is still strong enough to get you through without too many problems. But actually, I've taken quite a liking to prot lately, and I'd say I prefer it over healing, which gets boring after a while. But whatever floats your boat will work in PvE. I would just suggest at least starting with heal just to get the basics before considering going into prot.

By the way, this is only for Proph, where there are no ele bosses that have a 300 damage Fireball, and I know it's easier than a lot of Factions and Nightfall.

holababe · Nov 08, 2007, 07:35 AM // 07:35

Basic healbar works well for a newbie.
Orison + WoH + Breeze is the foundation of a basic monk bar for the start of a game.

Abbel Calima · Nov 08, 2007, 09:41 AM // 09:41

In the beginnen u will most likely want go heal, later on the game when u reach about lvl 20 you will want to go hybrid.

Jaigoda · Nov 08, 2007, 07:06 PM // 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by holababe

Basic healbar works well for a newbie.
Orison + WoH + Breeze is the foundation of a basic monk bar for the start of a game.

Word of Healing is in the Desert... By the time you get there, you should have long dropped Healing Breeze. It's not horrible before the Desert (which is where you start experiencing enchant removal), though it's still not worth the 10 energy, and Heal Other's better. I do have to admit it's probably easier to use and whatever, and it's not bad when you're taking small packets damage, but when there's small packets of damage, wait a sec for the to drop to 70-80%, and use a cheap burst heal (Orison, Healing Whisper, Dwayna's Kiss, or WoH if you have it, which you should wait till either just below 50% or around 70%). Dwayna's Kiss is ten times better than Healing Breeze, hell, even Vigorous Spirit is better. Let HB be used by farmers.