Curse

Nightspear · Nov 21, 2005, 07:49 AM // 07:49

I would like your critique (both pos. and neg.) on my PvE build. My total energy is 64. I were Citadel Tat's and carry a healing ankh that adds 27 to energy but reduces regen by 1.

Attributes:

Healing: 12
Protection: 9
Divine Favor: 10
Inspiration Magic: remainder

Skills: (energy)

Rebirth (10)
Inspired Hex (5)
Mend Ailment (5)
Healling Seed (10)
Orsion of Healing (5)
Dwayna's Kiss/Reversal of Fortune (5/5)
Word of Healing (5)
Healing Breaze (10)

JR · Nov 21, 2005, 08:44 AM // 08:44

First off, the -1 regen healing ankh really isn't worth it. In sustained battles you're gonna find yourself running dry a lot faster.

Other than that, the build seems solid. I would probobly drop prot, and bump healing up to 16 though. And take Heal Other instead of Breeze, and drop RoF and use Dwayna's.

Attribute wise I would think something like:

Healing: 16
Divine: 10
Inspiration:8

Allthough thats just roughly worked out in my head, so not so sure on the rune juggling.

nakama · Nov 21, 2005, 12:48 PM // 12:48

JR is right about the -1 regen healing ankh. I'd go for the 20/20 healing ankh. A fast cast/recharge on your WoH is a very nice thing to have because Word is your primary gun.
In my experience a Healer monk doesn't need a very big energy pool, allthough it helps. I use censor's outfit, which even cripples my energy to 38. Most of the times my energy doesn't come below 15. (I'm not saying censor's is the best monk outfit, but it does help in teaching you how to manage your energy efficiently)

His point about being hybrid heal/prot is also true. Especially in 8-men parties you'll have a protector to do protection, so you can focus solely on healing. Mend ailment is something you could bring with few points in protection. Blinded warriors will like your for it.

Anyway the thing with any build incorporating Word of Healing is that you spam it and use your other skills only when needed, or will do a better job in the given situation. Your other skills should be a combination of skills that you feel comfortable with, complement your style of playing and situational skills.

My Mo/Me healing build usually looks something like this:

- Word of Healing
- Orision of Healing or Dwayna's kiss (depending on amount of enchantments used)
- Healing Touch
- Heal Other
- Inspired Hex
- Rebirth

Optionals:
- Channeling (Be cautious with this one, remember to stay in the back. It will help you when aggro goes bad)
- Infuse Health (Infuse is a pretty inefficient heal, but it's my personal panic button, the other spells in the healing line are so slow casting)
- Healing seed
- Vigorous Spirit (I like it combo'd with dwaynas, I only take it in warrior/ranger intensive parties)
- Heal Party (energy killer, but can be usefull after for example a fireball was lobbed into the group)
- Mend Ailment (As stated to cure blind or other debilitating conditions)
- Healing Breeze (Be watchfull for enchant removal though)

Seems like our builds are pretty similar.

Ugh... Shouldn't be writing this much and playing some more

... Hope this has been helpful!

Yamat · Nov 21, 2005, 08:53 PM // 20:53

What nakama said.

If you wait until the optimum moment to use WoH all the time, you won't need active energy management. The beauty of PvE is you rarely see spike damage; just be prepared when fighting hydra and sand elementals though, because those suckers can spike your warrior big-time!

I wouldn't take Dwayna's Kiss and Orison... they both do the same thing. Take Dwayna's if the party is enchant heavy, or if you will be fighting in Grenth's/Sorrows, where there are hexes everywhere... not that you should be using it much anyway

In fact, don't even bother trying to remove most hexes in Grenth's/Sorrows, since most of the time it's Conjure Phantasm. Just Breeze the person hit and move on. Tell people to call out when they have a particularly nasty hex on them and then use your Inspired hex.

One more thing... as JR said, don't use the -1 regen healing ankh, but put it in your weapon slot so you can easily switch to it if your energy gets low.

Nightspear · Nov 22, 2005, 12:31 AM // 00:31

Thanks every one. I am glad that it is a decent build, I only wish I could take all the credit for it. I will be sure to make the changes you all suggest. I will let you all know my out come. Thanks again.

ecirbaf · Dec 06, 2005, 06:12 PM // 18:12

I also play a Monk / Mesmer.

Can you expand on the use of Inspired Hex ? It's nice to get Energy back, but then the skill is replaced by the enemy's Hex for 20 seconds, is that really useful ?

Vexed Arcanist · Dec 06, 2005, 07:32 PM // 19:32

As most have stated if you take the 5e build approach you really don't need energy management and certainly not negative energy regen items. If you want some energy management I recommend Channeling in PvE. A ward sized area of effect centered on you and it can greatly reduce the cost of your 5e spells.

I don't care for hex removal (outside of FoW) in PvE and a 20 second hex removal that could net you some energy isn't all that great compared to Channeling.

jesh · Dec 06, 2005, 07:40 PM // 19:40

Pretty much it's only a source of energy. If you have a smart team, I guess you could use it to remove a key enemy hex, but it's not really that great of a hex removal tool.

Yamat · Dec 06, 2005, 08:43 PM // 20:43

^^ agreed... it's just for those times when you or the ele/mes/nec get backfired!

Vexed Arcanist · Dec 06, 2005, 09:20 PM // 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yamat

^^ agreed... it's just for those times when you or the ele/mes/nec get backfired!

I don't recall ever being Backfired in PvE.

Masseur · Dec 06, 2005, 10:37 PM // 22:37

I would just add that I use Monk/Mesmer as well and I use Energy Zap and/or Drain to get extra energy when needed. So it's hard to run out of energy.

ecirbaf · Dec 12, 2005, 10:09 PM // 22:09

First off, the guy was talking about PvE.

As a Protection/Healing Monk/Mesmer, you DO need some energy management. I did Thunderhead Keep the other day, a decent group, and two monks. As a Prot/healing Monk using Channeling I was able to cast Aegis whenever the spell was ready. And I believe it really helped, because I was casting almost non stop. I cant see how I would have done without Channeling. That said it's the first time I got the hang of it, and maybe it worked just great in THK because of so many 5+ monster encounters.

My philosophy is try to prevent damage. Also imho, a pure-healing build might be good for pvp, but for PvE it's too plain and boring. Preventing damage is more strategic, and more efficient overall I believe with a good group.

My current setup is :

Healing Prayers 12 (+2)
Protection Prayers 12 (+2)
Divine Favor 10 (+1)
Inspiration 7

1-Word of Healing
2-Orison of Healing (for self, mostly)
3-Shielding Hands
4-Vigorous Spirit
5-Aegis
6-Channeling
7-Lifebond
8-Rebirth

1: "emergency" healing
2: used for self-healing mostly, I found I rarely needed it on party with protective spells

I alternate Shielding Hands and Vig. Spirit on tanks, but also Vigorous Spirit on the other monk, casters and rangers occasionally as they get heals for cating. Vigorous Spirit lasts 30 seconds, and takes the stress away from party members who are still above 50% health. Plus.. I like the idea that it makes players aware that they are selfhealing at that point.. just encourages them to use their attacks/spells.

5- mostly for melee intensive encounters, especially useful if only 1-2tanks and they DO manage to keep the attention of the mobs

6- Channeling. Imho, this is much easier to use than the 'drain' kind of spells. At just 7 points you get a nice round 30 second duration. You can just cast it and forget about it for half a minute. Most efficient at the start of an encounter , when casting Aegis and the protection spells on party. Really smoothes the energy costs early on, especially with a monk using mostly 5 energy spells. As a healer, you HAVE to stay close to your party anyway, I'm sure you've had the occasional missed emergency heal, because you have to walk just a step to get in range, and miss the WoH just by that half a second ? The only real problem with monster proximity is the damned 'ranger' type monsters. Everything else is cake especially if you use Aegis.

7-Lifebond : I like this more and more.. especially useful for PUGs when an elementalist or ranger gets too much attention from mobs. But I always remove it as soon as I can not to encourage the player to tank when they should not. This is something you sue after watching the battlefield, not while watching people's health bar, because its a little long to cast. Usually I cast it when said 'squishy' character types are getting just under 50% health. With Channeling I found I could keep one at all times if I wanted to. It's nice to keep the other monk Lifebond'ed in intense battles.

I'm really happy with this build so far.. but I'm looking to replace Orison of Healing.

I'll probably go for Healing Touch, but have to experiment with it.

Any suggestions ?

ghezbora · Dec 12, 2005, 10:54 PM // 22:54

Hmm, I have a few comments.

1) I'm not sure why you would run a Heal/Prot mix without running MoP, but maybe that's just me.

2) The OP's build has points in prot and the only prot skill is Mend Ailment (rebirth doesnt really matter), which doesn't really need points in prot (Mend Condition improves with points in prot, but Mend Ailment usually won't trigger the healing anyway), so that's a waste.

3) The previous poster uses OoH for himself, but Healing Touch is better for that.

4) I almost never run OoH, Dwayna's Kiss is better. It's almost as good with no enchants, and can rapidly become MUCH, MUCH better (we've all had those times with 4 hexes and 5 enchants... thats a lotta healing for 5e).

5) Life Bond is its own strategy, really. I find that trying to mix that into an otherwise "active" build (i.e. based on spamming spells) really annihilates any hope of energy management.

ecirbaf · Dec 12, 2005, 11:48 PM // 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vexed Arcanist

I don't recall ever being Backfired in PvE.

If you want to have some fun, try exiting from Destiny's Gorge into Skyward Reach. I once needed to collect 5 Losaru Manes there. The bugger Losaru Windcasters call Diversion and Backfire... very nasty. Me and henchies were getting wiped at the 3rd group because you come out of a small 'trench', tanks can not get to the mob groups on the sides, and you draw lots of aggro from archers... very nasty. As a monk with henches at least I thought it was hard, but that made me appreciate the value of Diversion

And yes, you can clear the hexes.. but they come back very quick.

ecirbaf · Dec 13, 2005, 12:01 AM // 00:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghezbora

Hmm, I have a few comments.

1) I'm not sure why you would run a Heal/Prot mix without running MoP, but maybe that's just me.

2) The OP's build has points in prot and the only prot skill is Mend Ailment (rebirth doesnt really matter), which doesn't really need points in prot (Mend Condition improves with points in prot, but Mend Ailment usually won't trigger the healing anyway), so that's a waste.

3) The previous poster uses OoH for himself, but Healing Touch is better for that.

4) I almost never run OoH, Dwayna's Kiss is better. It's almost as good with no enchants, and can rapidly become MUCH, MUCH better (we've all had those times with 4 hexes and 5 enchants... thats a lotta healing for 5e).

5) Life Bond is its own strategy, really. I find that trying to mix that into an otherwise "active" build (i.e. based on spamming spells) really annihilates any hope of energy management.

1) I'm not sure either, maybe you can explain ? All I'm seeing is 45 secs recharge time which seems far too much. Again, this is for PvE, and you're not guaranteed to be paired up with another healer monk at all times.

...

5) Just because someone makes a "bonder" build doesnt make this skill any less efficient in another well balanced build, especially a monk who can manage energy regeneration.

I admit that Lifebond feels redundant with Shielding Hands, I see it as a better Shielding Hands in fact. Not sure why, but it seems to work better. Though given the description they both reduce "damage from an attack". Lifebond just seems to make a better job when a 'squishy' ally is suddenly the target of 3+ Azure Shadows or other nasties, it really helps to put Lifebond and then heal. Just from experience, I have rarely had someone die when I had Lifebond on them.

It's not absolutely necessary though, I would drop it for something else that would complement my skill bar, but I'm short of ideas at the moment.

ghezbora · Dec 13, 2005, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecirbaf

1) I'm not sure either, maybe you can explain ? All I'm seeing is 45 secs recharge time which seems far too much. Again, this is for PvE, and you're not guaranteed to be paired up with another healer monk at all times.

MoP is the ultimate "oh ---- that guy's about to die" spell, and if you're mixed heal/prot the 10 sec timeout isn't so bad. I almost always bring that if I'm mixing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecirbaf

5) Just because someone makes a "bonder" build doesnt make this skill any less efficient in another well balanced build, especially a monk who can manage energy regeneration.

I admit that Lifebond feels redundant with Shielding Hands, I see it as a better Shielding Hands in fact. Not sure why, but it seems to work better. Though given the description they both reduce "damage from an attack". Lifebond just seems to make a better job when a 'squishy' ally is suddenly the target of 3+ Azure Shadows or other nasties, it really helps to put Lifebond and then heal. Just from experience, I have rarely had someone die when I had Lifebond on them.

It's not absolutely necessary though, I would drop it for something else that would complement my skill bar, but I'm short of ideas at the moment.

I'm sure it can be done, I just usually find it better to go all or nothing with the maintained enchants. But I could just be doing it wrong

to each his own