Curse

zemelett · Jul 13, 2005, 05:29 PM // 17:29

I have toyed with the idea of haveing some sort of protection character however as I look over the list of monk protection skills I realize as a pure healer for 99% of the game I really have no idea where to even start. So I would be interested in some discusion of essential skills for a good protection build, also some ideas of what classes to use for a protection build like E/Mo, Mo/E, or Mo/?? what do you all think...

Del12 · Jul 13, 2005, 05:43 PM // 17:43

About a month or so ago I did the same thing. Took my long time healer and made him all protection. What I can tell you is a good healer > a good protector. Some may argue this but I really think healers have more of an effect overall. But anyways, you can do one of two things. 1) Run bonds (life bond, etc etc) which deplete you energy regen. There are several ways to generate energy regen or you can just use mainly signets so you don't need much energy at all. 2) Don't run bonds and just rely on protective spells. One of the most important is protective spirit. It's not obvious how effective it is, but get in a battle, cast it on urself, and watch the little red minus numbers (-45, etc etc ) and you'll see. Especially against large single target groups like the everpresent 'spike' group. Two other are reversal of fortune (which is just really another healing spell) and spellbreaker, which everyone seems to love but I'm not too crazy about. I don't think there's as many usefull protective spells as healing spells, so you may have a few open spots. So the protector can usually remove conditions or hexes or something like that. I like to hear anyone else advice too as I'm not terribly experienced at protecting yet either.

Acan Vishnu · Jul 13, 2005, 06:16 PM // 18:16

Maintained enchantments aren't really flexible enough, if the person that you have them on isn't being targeted, then your wasting your energy to do nothing.

Protection is one of those things that you have to tailor to your group's playing style, and the area that you are in. Without knowing the people that your playing with, and/or knowing the area... well, that can be very hard to do.

I'm curious, are you looking to play protection for PvE or PvP?

zemelett · Jul 13, 2005, 06:31 PM // 18:31

id mostly be interested in PvP, and specifically in the tombs, after all, now that my healer is finsihed with all the missions offered so far...i can change my secondary and unlock any skills that i want....

Acan Vishnu · Jul 13, 2005, 07:19 PM // 19:19

Protective Spirit is high on the list right now, spike teams are very trendy right now and that one spell has pretty darned good chances to kill their effectiveness. Its especially nice since most people target monks first you can put that on them and all you need is a healing breeze and the occasional orison and your good. You would be surprised how slow some spike teams are to switch targets.

My favorite elite in protection is Shield of Regeneration, at high levels you get 11-12secs of +10 health regen then add the +40AL and you've got a great focus-fire deterrent, BUT even if the enemy switches targets its not useless -- it will keep healing your target. It also helps if you want to run a 0 Healing Prayers build, as with that you can still chip in with some healing now and then.

Reversal of Fortune is pretty good, the only problem I have with it is the high chance that it will be knocked off by some little hit, but even then its not a bad skill.

I like Shielding Hands, the damage that it can reduce at the cost of 5en is impressive. At a 25sec recharge you'll get to use a several times in a fight, but it is definately worth it to me

I always bring Mend Ailment/Condition, Mend Ailment if nobody else has condition removal or Mend Condition of someone does.

Hex removal is another one that depends on the team, I like convert hexes if someone else has a way to kill hexes, but usually wind up bringing remove hex.

Signet of Devotion finds its way onto my skill bar now and then, its a nice stand-by heal, and can be used if your under alot of energy denial.

One thing that i have found to be effective is to use Blessed Aura with all of that, getting 30% extra effectiveness for -25% energy regen isn't a horrible idea, but what I find to be really nice is that the gap between your spells duration and their recharge time is that much narrower, so you can keep 'em out there a higher percentage of the time.

You might notice that I just outlined pretty much half of my skill options as enchantments, so you really, really need to watch out for anti-enchantment builds. The most popular right now is Nature's Renewal, which can really mess you up, but some people still like Shatter Enchantment and Rend Enchantments. So just be on the lookout for those.

The final thing that I consider is energy management. Mind you, I have done a healing/protector without any skills devoted to energy management and have done well, I found that because your able to carry more utility spells with you that you can counter your enemies more effectively and that in and of itself is a sort of energy management.

But, for energy management skills you've got a few options, all depending on your situation. I've found that using Bonetti's Defense with my mo/w can work literal wonders in almost every single Arena fight, but that it tapers a little in Tombs -- still good, but not as amazing as in the Arena. I like mo/me anywhere, you've got alot of options (many of them non-elite, which is especially nice) and you can contribute to hurting the other team while your at it. Mo/ne has pretty much got Offering of Blood, which is really good, but it does use up your elite slot. Or, if your team has a blood necro who's willing, you can ask him to use Blood Ritual.

Keep in mind that that is all my personal feelings and findings while playing various PvP roles with my monk and that your mileage will vary. Take everything with a grain of salt and try it out yourself.

Zeru · Jul 13, 2005, 07:31 PM // 19:31

prot spirit, reversal are essentials. guardian and aegis can work as well. Take a look at spellbreaker as well.

Take a look at ele as well. The 4 wards are just godly in efficiency; taking some of them is highly reccomended.

theclam · Jul 13, 2005, 07:49 PM // 19:49

Mend Ailment, Protective Spirit, and Reversal of Fortune are great Protection spells. I'd try a Mo/N Prot/Boon build. It's the perfect build to counter spikes and it's very efficient.