Curse

knives · Jul 18, 2005, 03:07 PM // 15:07

I've got a monk in PvE and I want it to become a protection monk. I also want to do the life bond build, but only know some certain skills to bring along.

Life Bond
Healing Seed
Balthazars Spirit
Blessed Signet

These are the four that seem to be the core of the life bond build. Maybe use the elite life barrier to even further reduce the damage. These are the skills I am considering..

Essence Bond
Aegis
Protective Spirit
Reversal of Fortune
Rebirth*
Mend Ailment/Condition*
Dwaynas Kiss*
Watchful Spirit
Blessed Aura

The ones with asterisks by them are the ones I am considering the most. If anyone can give me a skillset that could prove useful I would appreciate it. Dwaynas Kiss could heal for alot because warriors usualy use mending, so mending + bond + seed + one more would equal major healing. My main ways of gaining energy (with all the degen) is by using balthazars spirit on myself because the tanks are getting hit, and if I feel like maintaining things on the castors, I will.

silvertemplar · Jul 18, 2005, 03:54 PM // 15:54

Well, im not an expert just wondering how you plan to distribute your attrib points. Balthazar being Smiting means you will have to spread points in all 4 monk attribs [to both heal + protect + regen energy].

Also, the short while i played protection i actually enjoyed the "Draw Conditions" spell more than the Mend Ailmend/Condition one. Mainly because it's much faster and draw ALL conditions [instead of 1] in a single cast + instant recharge. Although have not determined if it "stacks" [i.e. if im already bleeding/blind and draw bleeding on top of it from someone]. Then again i was combining it with Divine Boon + regens like watchful spirit and/or mending to cover the poison/bleeding..so dunno.

Jelloblimp · Jul 18, 2005, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Healing seed:For 8 seconds, whenever target other ally takes damage, that ally and all adjacent allies gain 3-25 health.

Shielding Hands (PP) is also usefull since Life Bond is only for physical attacks, not spells (& you can cast it on yourself if too much damage from Life Bonds come thruu).
Signet of Devotion can be used since its DivineP.
For Balthazar's Spirit you get 1 energy per hit regardless of attribute so put only leftover points there.

(I usually used healing breeze + seed & dwaynas kiss for my healing monk.)
Heal Area can be usefull even at low HealingP if team consists of ranged people & pets.

byoo511 · Jul 18, 2005, 04:44 PM // 16:44

If i ever run a life bonding monk in pve, i use these skills:

reversal of fortune
life bond
balthazar's spirit
mend condition
rebirth
prot spirit
orison of healing
blessed signet

you'll want to max out divine favor and protection. Whatever's left over you can just put it in healing (or your 2nd profession).

Start off by putting life bond on everyone and balth's spirit on yourself. once you enter into battle, you'll have almost infinite energy because the life bond's "damage" (even if it's 0) goes to you and then balth's aura gives you energy. Run blessed signet every once and between battles to recover mana.

As you can see, there's only one spell from the healing line. You can replace it with whatever (i don't ahve hex removal there, so you can put one in there).

Also, there is no elite. you can put whatever you want in there.

Personally, the life bonding monk is really boring, because if you have really high protection and your teammates have decent armor, you're rarely gonna take any damage. it's just a pain always running blessed signet just to recharge your energy. But, that's just me

Bry-Guy · Jul 18, 2005, 04:52 PM // 16:52

u gave the best suggestion in your own post, use life barrier. i personally am not a huge fan of bond, i like to halve all the damage my comrades are taking, and not just damage from attacks. not to mention life barrier wont end up harming you when that warrior lands that 120 damage eviscerate. and with most of the damage halved on alot of your teammates, your monks should have no problem keeping you above 50% health. i ran a barrierer, and by just using blessed signet, i had plenty of energy to throw out guardians, condition and hex removers

supperman · Jul 18, 2005, 05:26 PM // 17:26

For my Life Bond build, instead of using spamming prot spells, I prefer to use Aegis and Ward against Melee because with 6 enchantments, you're going to have to negative pips and it's easy to get so caught up in spamming that you forgot to keep up the enchantments. Aegis and Ward allows for better time management, and if someone's bond got shattered, you should have enough juice to cast it out again.

Also, I prefer Shield of Regeneration/Spell Breaker instead for the elite, since these can potentially shut down ANY dmg, instead of halving it.

So here's my build:

Prot Spirit
Blessed Signet
Ward against Melee
Aegis
Balthazar's Spirit
Life Bond
Rebirth
Shield of Regen/Spell breaker (Depends on circumstances)

theclam · Jul 18, 2005, 05:35 PM // 17:35

Here's what I do:

Offering of Blood {E}
Life Bond
Balthazar's Spirit
Blessed Signet
Signet of Devotion
Mend Ailment/Reversal of Fortune
Remove Hex/Reversal of Fortune
Rebirth

Scaphism · Jul 18, 2005, 06:19 PM // 18:19

As jelloblimp pointed out, healing seed is target other ally only. You need someone else to cast it on you.

Here's an idea to try:
Mo/R

Life Bond
Blessed Signet
Balthazar's Spirit
Divine Boon
Mend Ailment
Reversal Of Fortune
Serpent's Quickness
Spell Breaker {E}

I'd probably run with a
12+3+1 DF, 11+1 Protection, 6 WS

Spell Breaker means you wont have to worry about having your own enchantments (like Balth's Spirit) shattered by Wind Riders, nor worry about meteors from Hydras and such. It's just a good spell to have, and even better with Serpent's Quickness.
That brings up part 2: Serpent's Quickness + Blessed Signet allows you to speed up your energy gain. True, you'll spend more time casting it, but it will give you the power to fuel Divine Boon when you need it.

With Divine Boon you can actually provide powerful burst healing, which signet of devotion doesn't allow, and it's great cover for Spell Breaker when you're fighting monsters with chillblains (Scarabs in the crystal desert).