Curse

dolphinmoo · Sep 10, 2007, 09:49 PM // 21:49

I am trying to rack up some glad points in RA and I would need some advise from you guys.

Here's the skills I use:
Reverse of Fortune
Zealous Benediction
Dismiss Condition
Blessed Signet
Life Bond
Balthazar's Spirit

I have 2 skill slots open, so I am thinking of getting a hex removal and a dmg prevention skill.

For hex removal, I usually go with Reverse Hex. Is there any better hex removal skill that would fit better for my build?

I also bring Protective Spirit or Spirit Bond. I find that it is easier to manage with Protective Spirit. However, I still die to spikes and degens. Is it a better idea to bring Guardian or Aegis?

Thanks for helping out!

LightningHell · Sep 11, 2007, 05:16 AM // 05:16

Active protection generally outdoes passive protection in PvP. Throw away Life Bond and Balthazar's Spirit and Blessed Signet, as the energy management provided does not outweigh losing three skill slots and two pips of energy, as well as needing to waste 1/6 of your time activating Blessed Signet.

Gift of Health would be nice. You could use Holy Veil as a hex removal, or maybe the new 1s cast Remove Hex. I also would bring Spirit Bond.

Excuse me if anything is wrong, but I haven't played for quite a while...

Divine Favor: 10 +1
Protection Prayers: 11 +1 +1
Healing Prayers: 10 +1

Zealous Benediction {E}
Gift of Health
Reversal of Fortune
Dismiss Condition
Spirit Bond
Holy Veil
(Skill
(Skill)

The blank skill combinations include Dark Escape/Return, Glyph of Lesser Energy/(Insert Monk skill here), Shield Bash/Balanced Stance, etc.

Usually spikes are handled by putting Spirit Bond on the victim, or if Spirit Bond is recharging, a quick RoF to save the target, then followed with Gift of Health/Zealous Benediction.

matti90 · Sep 11, 2007, 06:34 AM // 06:34

Quote:

Zealous Benediction {E}
Gift of Health

Zb and goh on the same bar is useless, you've already got a 3 energy heal(provided you use it right) which heals for a ton.

caeleth · Sep 11, 2007, 09:14 AM // 09:14

ZB and GoH complement eachother nicely. ZB has a fairly long recharge, which means that a second heal is sometimes necessary, or if youre up against a team which spikes you may not want to wait till theyre down below 50% health..

moko · Sep 11, 2007, 12:00 PM // 12:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by caeleth

ZB and GoH complement eachother nicely. ZB has a fairly long recharge, which means that a second heal is sometimes necessary, or if youre up against a team which spikes you may not want to wait till theyre down below 50% health..

sorry, learn to prot. it's ra; it's near impossible that as a good prot big amount of damage comes in.

reasoning:

players dont targetswap
players have bad builds
players stomp you

ANYWAYS

happy farming;

Zealous Benediction
Reversal of Fortune
Shielding Hands
Divine Spirit
Draw Conditions
Mending Touch
Holy Veil
Natural Stride

happy draw+rof+zb spamming while DF is up. 4 seconds of natural stride, you pretty much can't die.

lazuli · Sep 11, 2007, 12:09 PM // 12:09

personally i use:

Reversal o' Fortune
Gift of Health
Zeal. Benediction
Protective Spirit
Mend Cond
Mend Touch
Frenzied Defense
Holy Veil

advice?
frenzied defense+ PS for antimelee+damage limiting
(watch out for mes shatters/lyssa's balance/shattering assault with expose defenses)
(you NEED something that can counter melee/break assassin chains-more often than not guardian is too slow)

uh, don't kite into enemy traps (I can do some amazingly dumb things sometimes when I don't have enough coffee and theres rangers on both teams)

if you're healing yourself from an incoming assassin spike (since PS should always be up) cast reversal before mending touch and then ZB last if you need it if you are somehow unable to block their attacks. better just to hit frenzy def as soon as they come and laugh at them, but sometimes thats not viable if theres a mes sitting on you (shatter+anything damage will own you)

i use 2 cond removals because mend touch is an amazing self heal (plus its nice to use with frenzy def if you get dazed somehow) and mend cond is the only way i can keep up the team's demands for cond removal at times.

learn your anticast hex icons (mark of subversion gets a lot of zb monks when they're attempting to cast big self heals like zb)

since you only got one hex removal, learn to compromise. if its a hex like diversion, wait it out. if its backfire, limit the damage with prot spirit and keep truckin.

pre-veil and layer your enchants (PS+RoF) when you first encounter a mes (theres no way they'll bother breaking that many just to get to your veil) so you can control which hex you wanna drop.

nighthawk329 · Sep 13, 2007, 09:48 PM // 21:48

I've had a lot of success with this build (Mo/Me):

Zealous Benediction (great heal, generally all you need since your allies should have self heals)

Protective Spirit (dont spam, or else you will lose your energy fast)

Reversal of Fortune (enough said)

Guardian (works like a charm. GREAT against warriors/sins/rangers, which are like 90% of what you will be up against.)

Shield of Absorption/Shielding Hands (decent support, can be replaced with res sig or Gift of Health if you want another heal)

Dismiss Condition (very good condition removal + heal)

Inspired Hex (pretty good hex removal for energy management; can replace with Holy Veil or other preferred hex removal)

Channeling (your energy management skill: Enemies love to be near you, so more free energy. and a constant enchantment for dismiss condition)

Age · Sep 13, 2007, 11:34 PM // 23:34

The above build would be good for HA but not RA where Sins live.

nighthawk329 · Sep 14, 2007, 01:02 AM // 01:02

Maybe I've just been lucky only meeting bad sins, but I have had no problems dealing with them. If there's an assassin on the enemy team, I just keep guardian up way before we meet so that I'm ready if one shadow steps. It always messes up their combo.

Sword · Sep 14, 2007, 07:10 AM // 07:10

1) dont run bonds
2) Take your eyes off the health bars and watch melee targets on the screen ...use guardian, best skill non elite skill in RA.
3) use a shield set with enchanting mod as your main set. If you fight a team with alot of degen use a 40 40 prot set for zb if needed. If melee want to chase u , then kite away and prot yourself as necessary (ie guardian). Kiting > RA
4) Use a rune of restoration(is this the name? the one that reduces dazed duration)...Kite when u have dazed. If you havent preprotted yourself before dazed dont be afraid to use a rof - ull get it off alot even if u are dazed. Use sig devo if u are dazed(and spam it throughout the match...free heal), if u are dazed from broadhead run behind a nearby obstruction and use dismiss.
5)Have shields rolled vs all damage types. ie +30 hp +10 armor vs xxxxx. Before the match decide which shield to use. If you see a conjure lightning war use a lightning shield; vs sins use piercing shields etc.
6) Always expect sins to pop in and try to spike you when you engage.... pre guardian yourself as you engage.

Here is the bar I use when I monk in RA - almost always results in a glad point:

Rof
ZB
guardian
sig devo
spirit bond
dismiss cond
return
dark escape

7) NEVER run anything besides a minor rune on a monk. In this build run minor prot.

Personally I run 8 shadow arts as it yields a nice long 10 second dark escape and a 6(+33%)=8 second cripple on return.(Crippling xxxx of enchanting)

I find hex removal unnecessary as almost all hexers run hexes that any non elite hex removal spell can keep up with. Similarly there are almost always cover hexes (ie parasitic). Also bad hexes on you can simply be countered with proper prots and usage of dark escape. IE use sbond and or dark escape if u get backfire put on you. Dont be afraid to diversion a skill that isnt necssary for u to keep ur team alive if you need to save some1 or urself from dying.

Age · Sep 14, 2007, 09:32 PM // 21:32

You could go /W if you do shield bash is nice along with disiplned stance or sprint.You could try retreat as well.

Drinky · Sep 14, 2007, 10:02 PM // 22:02

Love the stances.

I have noticed how assasins use Shadow Shroud alot, and how mesmers love diversion, not to time it, but just to spam it, so usally what i go is:

ZB, Signet Of Devotion, Reversal Of Fortune, Spirit Bond, Holy Veil, Dissmiss Conditions, Smoke Powder Defenses, Return

i USED to use deny hexes, and use sig of devotion to get of 2 hexes off, but with Shadow Shroud and divertion i like veil.

I try to use smoke powder the second a melee characher jumps on me or if a burning arrow ranger acctully is any good with his interupts. I use signet of devotion as a energy free heal also if i get shadow shroud on me. I find that brining a signet for heals is very effective even with its 2 sec cast. I use spirit bond as a panic heal, if ZB is recharing or if i need to badly remove a hex from the wammo that wont stop attacking with Reckless Haste on him. I try getting behind obsticales making me hard to get for a melee class, and when he gets close, i teleport away, and do it over. Only use ZB when under 50% for the 3 energy heal, always pre-protting softies (ele, mesmer, rit etc) i prefer not to use guardian since if i can only get Spirit Bond or reversal to prevent dmg blocking is nice, dont get me wrong, but i like not to waste a skill spot on it. I have:

12 + 1 +1 prot
11 + 1 divine
6 shadowarts

I relly recommend you forget all about the bonds, i mean you have 0 regen, you have to use blessed sig, it can be interupted, you are the teams healer/protmonk/bonder, focus on being their heal/prot-monk but not using the healing attribute, use the prot/divine-attribute to heal you will find that your prots heal for alot, its the divine favor :P A RoF can indeed outpreform gift of health.

zling · Sep 18, 2007, 02:00 AM // 02:00

why does everyone use ZB these days? at least for RA?
what happened to all the other GOOD monk elites?
SoD, SoR, LoD, etc are all good and viable elites? why doesnt anybody suggest using 1 of those...?

jimmyboveto · Sep 18, 2007, 03:11 AM // 03:11

Personally, i love shield bash in RA, as 50% of the foes are sins. If used properly, it can effectively shut down an assassin. The problem I have is getting owned by thumpers, even when i put guardian up on myself, i still seem to get kd a lot=/.

Rutabaga · Sep 20, 2007, 01:35 AM // 01:35

-sor
-gole
-shielding hand
-holy veil
-balthazar spirit
-life bond
-dismiss condition
-blessed signet

shine in RA

moko · Sep 20, 2007, 12:05 PM // 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutabaga

-sor
-gole
-shielding hand
-holy veil
-balthazar spirit
-life bond
-dismiss condition
-blessed signet

shine in RA

baed.

Quote:

why does everyone use ZB these days? at least for RA?
what happened to all the other GOOD monk elites?
SoD, SoR, LoD, etc are all good and viable elites? why doesnt anybody suggest using 1 of those...?

SoD isn't really needed anymore with the Guardian Buff, SoR is still trash imo for arenas, LoD on 4 members? LOL

Tab · Sep 20, 2007, 02:17 PM // 14:17

Run Balth's Pendulum IMO.

Age · Sep 20, 2007, 10:45 PM // 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by zling

why does everyone use ZB these days? at least for RA?
what happened to all the other GOOD monk elites?
SoD, SoR, LoD, etc are all good and viable elites? why doesnt anybody suggest using 1 of those...?

LoD is more for GvG or HA.

Div · Sep 20, 2007, 11:11 PM // 23:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutabaga

-sor
-gole
-shielding hand
-holy veil
-balthazar spirit
-life bond
-dismiss condition
-blessed signet

shine in RA

Shine amongst noobs in RA, and never learn to monk with that bar! Hurray!

Good bar to run if you're eating and playing with only one hand though.

Snow Bunny · Sep 20, 2007, 11:17 PM // 23:17

Just take Mokone's build.

If you guys die, it's probably not your fault.

Unless you /fail at monking.