Curse

Wacky · Oct 24, 2006, 09:49 AM // 09:49

Warning: Build is untested**

I want a good non-solo smite build for PVE, so I came up with this idea. It does looks good on paper, since it provides good damage and massive heals but I'd like to hear from you all first, before I waste any plat and skillpoints.

Without further ado:

The Build:

Mo/A
13 Divine Favour (10+1+2)
13 Smiting Prayers (11 + 1 + 2)
10 Deadly Arts (10)

Divine Healing / Heaven's Delight
??
??
Spear of Light
Assassin's Promise (Elite)
Iron Palm
Holy/Stonesoul Strike
Rebirth

For the ?? slots I'm thinking Divine Boon and Dismiss Condition/Mend Ailment, OR Signet of Devotion and Smite Hex OR Divine Intervention and Smite Hex

Equipment:
Armor: +10 Enchanted (if using divine boon) or +10 vs Physical (if not)
Collector shield with -2/45 Enchanted (if using divine boon), or -5/30 (if not)##
One handed weapon with +5 AL

Usage notes:

Basically, use Assassin's Promise to recharge all those really powerful skills with extra long recharge.

If you target an attacking foe and unleash your combo, you will deal
(52+54) Spear of Light
(35) Iron Palm
(49+49) Holy Strike
= 239 damage.

And assuming you have a team to back you up, the foe will die and assassin's promise will recharge all you slow-recharging smiting skills.

Energy should not be a problem given that your attack chain costs 20 energy and returns 15.

A monk should never go pure smite, so this build offers some pretty solid healing. Divine Healing will get you a 227 point heal to anyone in the area, and serves as your self heal most of the time (it heals you for 227 + 42 = 269).

You have to get into touch range to kill things, and so you'll be right where the action (and damage is), so the restriction to in the area should not be too bad.

Finally, you have two skill points to put in targeted heals, because... it's good to have in case the real healers run out of energy.

Discussion:

I think divine intervention might have a place in this build, because your healing is only supposed to be spamming divine healing and being a backup if something bad happens. Signet of Devotion is not so good for this purposes.

Background (rant)

I am looking for a good PVE smiting build. In PUGs, all the smiters I see advertise themselves as real monk, then spam Life Siphon and deal pathetic pathetic damage.

It was sorta hard to play a monk in PUGS in PVE Factions relative to an MM say, because:

1. PUGs have a deathwish, so it's not possible to heal them forever,
2. But they also suck at dealing damage, so things don't die fast enough. (if you were an MM, you could make things die, so that is not so much of a problem)
3. Even if you are a good monk, you still aren't that much better than Alesia in healing output (maybe.. double?), whereas MMs could deal many times more damage than Su [Vile Henchman].

But if you go with pure henchmen, they sort of act confused unless you wand and call stuff, which is a bit too much to do while healing.

So smite seems like the way to go, but finding a good PVE smite build is another matter.

Your thoughts on this build?

**, because my monk is stuck in Urgoz and is not going to come out until I use up all those keys. Considering the average skill of a PUG and how much I hate monking for PUGs in someplace as hard as Urgoz, this will probably never happen.

##: Although you don't meet the req you still get 8 AL and the bonuses out of it.

Edit: Improved Formatting

cerb · Oct 24, 2006, 04:01 PM // 16:01

Next step is finding a party that wants a smiter!

Toxic RD · Oct 24, 2006, 04:10 PM // 16:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerb

Next step is finding a party that wants a smiter!

i second that

Rera · Oct 25, 2006, 12:22 AM // 00:22

I think you'd probably get better overall damage output maintaining Judge's Insight, Strength of Honor, and Retribution on the warriors, with the occasional Smite Hex. Of course, that's probably not all that fun.

I also agree with the belief that no group is going to take a smite monk.

xiao1985 · Oct 25, 2006, 07:47 AM // 07:47

and using Mo/A is better than A/Mo because?!

artay · Oct 25, 2006, 09:56 AM // 09:56

This is a monk forum???

Wacky · Oct 25, 2006, 09:58 AM // 09:58

Mo/A because of support, runes for the touch smiting skills, and better self heals:

Divine Healing = 220 point heal to yourself and in the area party members, and you can run divine boon and still go around healing people using AP as energy management. Assassins can't do any of that.

Pick Me · Oct 25, 2006, 01:16 PM // 13:16

Your attributes don't work.

You can't have 10+1+2 in one and 11+1+2 in another. You can have 10+1+2 in one and 11+3 in another.

The damage you do doesn't seem like much.

Iron Palm - 5 - 41 damage (kd if target is hexed or has a condition) recharge in 20

Assassin's Promise (e) - hex that lasts 5 - 13 seconds; gives you energy if enemy dies within that time; recharge in 45

Holy Strike - 10 - 46 damage; recharge in 8; additional 10 - 48 if enemy is kd (touch range)

Spear of Light - 26 - 50 damage; +15 - 51 if strikes an attacking foe

Basically, you will be in melee range to do this, which unfortunately will not be looked kindly on by the rest of your group.

You stated 239 total damage (+ whatever your party does). As a monk, I shake my head when I see a spellcaster run into the fray. Elementalists do it, Necromancers do it, Ritualists do it, even Rangers do it. Monks (smiting or otherwise) should not endanger themselves unnecessarily.

I've been in groups where I was a smiting monk (we had 4 monks in the group, 2 healing, 1 prot, and me - we had others for a caping in Mineral Springs). We had no problem (I never went into melee range either).

Wacky · Oct 25, 2006, 02:42 PM // 14:42

That was only supposed to be 13: (11+2) instead of 13: (11+1+2)

About the casters in melee range: with the right equipment you can get 88AL and -2 vs physical damage, which is more armor than your average assassin with nightstalkers, so it's not that bad, compared to the average person who rushes into melee range.

And you missed that Assassin's Promise recharges all your skills and itself.

Still, I'd agree that the damage is a bit low - it's about the same as a popular PVE assassin build on another forum, only without a deep wound which probably makes a considerable difference.

What kind of smiting build did you use?

jesh · Oct 29, 2006, 10:57 AM // 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick Me

Basically, you will be in melee range to do this, which unfortunately will not be looked kindly on by the rest of your group.

He could use return with a crippling mod. He has energy management built in, and a rechargable "combo". I don't really see a problem here if he plays well. Dash also works fine, no attributes needed.
If you want more damage, put in stonesoul strike also. DW on an average target (450ish hp) is about 90 dmg, which you can easily replicate with stonesoul. =p

Anyways, fun idea. Come up with a build as nice as this that I can use Ray of Judgement in and I'll bake you cookies.