Curse

Stubb · Nov 27, 2006, 04:29 PM // 16:29

I'm rejoining GW after an eight-month hiatus. I left the scene literally the week before Factions was released, after giving away all my neato green gear (figured it'd be worthless when people started craving the new stuff from Factions). After the hiatus, I have several questions.

My favorite character was a Mo/N that ran a boon healing build. While it wasn't the most bomber build out there, it worked well enough for PvE throughout the game (I could keep reasonably competent groups healthy in the Fire Islands by myself, for example). With the advent of the new skill set brought on by Factions, is this build busted, or can I still run it with some degree of efficacy?

When I logged on moments ago, I was auto-routed to LA dist. 1, and quickly realized that the core campaign is a ghost town with the exception of the exception of cities, War Camp, and the like. Is this the standard level of activity, meaning I should pretty much default to buying Factions, or will activity pick up in the evenings?

The saddest part of logging on was finding out that the guild I was in had disbanded (or given me the boot, understandably). Assuming all my former buddies are either AWOL like I was or won't let me join up in their guild, what's a good way to go about marketing myself as a PvE-favoring monk? (I assume guilds are as PvP-oriented as they were when I left the scene). Thanks lots, folks.

olly123 · Nov 27, 2006, 05:19 PM // 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stubb

My favorite character was a Mo/N that ran a boon healing build. While it wasn't the most bomber build out there, it worked well enough for PvE throughout the game (I could keep reasonably competent groups healthy in the Fire Islands by myself, for example). With the advent of the new skill set brought on by Factions, is this build busted, or can I still run it with some degree of efficacy?

ok, i run a boon protect, witch i take it is what u mean, i wouldnt go mo/n now because of the nerf on OoB, to 20 sacrafice%, go /Mes for EDrain, or manor of recall, with is a nice 20e every 20 secs.

Quote:

When I logged on moments ago, I was auto-routed to LA dist. 1, and quickly realized that the core campaign is a ghost town with the exception of the exception of cities, War Camp, and the like. Is this the standard level of activity, meaning I should pretty much default to buying Factions, or will activity pick up in the evenings?

ok i have no idea why u where logged into LA, maby last place u visited??. but yes tyria is a bit empty now, dont bother with factions, go straign for nightfall, over croweded, and better game than factions, more people should come back to tyria in a few months when the Nightfall buz has carmed down, and yes normaly its busyer around 8pm (GMT)

Quote:

The saddest part of logging on was finding out that the guild I was in had disbanded (or given me the boot, understandably). Assuming all my former buddies are either AWOL like I was or won't let me join up in their guild, what's a good way to go about marketing myself as a PvE-favoring monk? (I assume guilds are as PvP-oriented as they were when I left the scene). Thanks lots, folks.

ok, my guild rule is if ur AFK, for 1 month and no post on forum part for going away then ur out, so they could be like my guild. also yes i find thta 80% of guilds are PVP based, my however isnt, and if ur intrested ( im not sur eif this alwoed on this forum, sorry if its not) u could join us so long as ur mature

hope im helpfull

olly123

ubard · Nov 27, 2006, 05:21 PM // 17:21

first of all, i advise getting nightfall and not factions if your going to choose which to get first (or at all.)

the PvE monking game hasn't changed much, besides the use of new elites in nightfall.

PvP monk metagame has pretty much fully shifted from Mo/Me, Mo/A's and Mo/W's run rampant. This is due to the nerf of both divine boon and inspiration magic. (booners still work however.)

moko · Nov 27, 2006, 05:51 PM // 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by ubard

first of all, i advise getting nightfall and not factions if your going to choose which to get first (or at all.)

the PvE monking game hasn't changed much, besides the use of new elites in nightfall.

PvP monk metagame has pretty much fully shifted from Mo/Me, Mo/A's and Mo/W's run rampant. This is due to the nerf of both divine boon and inspiration magic. (booners still work however.)

Mo/Me, Mo/A, Mo/R, Mo/D, Mo/W, Mo/E - if you wanna have the proper list of whats being used mostly.

boon prots aint really that nice anymore; i think they would fail in PVE now.

about the guild; duh no wonder, after that long time lol. id be surprised if they still knew you :P whats AWOL btw? never figured out. ;p

hum, towns are idd rather desolated;

i advice going for nightfall first, then factions if you dont wanna miss out; but that will probably be dead, so load on heroes from nightfall and breeze through factions by your own.

and lastly, welcome back!

arcady · Nov 27, 2006, 07:03 PM // 19:03

You logged in around 8am PST, and LA was empty...

That really isn't very surprising, if by dist 1 you meant American district. Americans are coming off of a long holiday and either at work or in school or on their way, or, if in Hawaii, still asleep.

Monday morning after a holiday is not the best time to judge things. Ch1 may not be busy 24/7 anymore, but it is usually busy when I go in to it.

Try it again in the evening. The bulk of traffic is moving into the newer chapters, logically, but not all if it has done so.

Effigy · Nov 27, 2006, 09:41 PM // 21:41

Factions and Nightfall both have nice things to offer, but if you're only going to buy one I'd suggest Nightfall.

Stubb · Nov 27, 2006, 09:47 PM // 21:47

Quote:

ok, i run a boon protect, witch i take it is what u mean, i wouldnt go mo/n now because of the nerf on OoB, to 20 sacrafice%, go /Mes for EDrain, or manor of recall, with is a nice 20e every 20 secs.

That's precisely what I wanted to know regarding skills, which I guess means it's time for a new build.

Quote:

about the guild; duh no wonder, after that long time lol. id be surprised if they still knew you :P whats AWOL btw? never figured out. ;p

I guess it was dumb for me to expect the guild to keep me on, but they were really nice guys and all, so it didn't hurt to hope. AWOL, by my understanding, stands for "Away WithOut Leave".

Guess I'm gonna go pick up Nightfall and start a new build. Many thanks for your advice, folks.

Effigy · Nov 27, 2006, 10:19 PM // 22:19

Absent Without Leave, but basically the same idea.

Boon prot still works, despite the nerfs. However, it's no longer "the" monk build to use. There are several other good options, in particular the old standby WoH pure healer (for PvE anyway), Light of Deliverance healer, as well as Blessed Light and Zealous Benediction builds, either as heal/prot hybrid or pure prot.

Offering of Blood did get nerfed pretty hard with the doubling of its sacrifice cost. Consequently, it's rarely used anymore on monks due to the inefficiency and potential liability of losing 1/5 of your health every 15 seconds. Instead, boon prots now tend to use Energy Drain or Mantra of Recall instead, as one poster mentioned.

So, try out a few different things and see what you like best. My current favorite for PvE is a ZB pure prot build, for which you would need to buy NF. Blessed Light is a Factions elite.