Curse

Cebe · Dec 08, 2006, 11:24 AM // 11:24

So, I started a monk in Nightfall..got her to the end of the game, through Factions and then left it at that. I used Orison of Healing all the way through. I'm wondering exactly why Orison of Healing and Healing Breeze are hated so much. I don't personally use Healing Breeze, but from what I understand, people hate Orison because it doesn't heal for much. Thing is, I bought Ethereal Light and, although this heals for more, you can get 2 Orisons off in the time it takes Ethereal to recharge.

Why are some Monk skills utterly hated by some people...sometimes to the extent that they will kick a monk for taking a certain skill. Are there any others? I know Orison and Breeze seem to be the main ones...

Ok, onto a few more points I'm just not so sure about.

Protection sounds interesting but...what's it all about? I hear words floating around like "Boon Protect" and Guildwiki just leaves me more confusled! What types of protection monk are there and where are they best used? (I'm assuming there is not 'one protection build fits all' scenario).

After a little playing about I have devised this build for my monk when she goes Healing...how does this look and should I make any changes?
1. Holy Haste
2. Jamei's Gaze
3. Signet of Devotion
4. Ethereal Light
5. Light of Deliverance {E} or Blessed Light {E} (whichever seems more needed)
6. Words of Comfort
7. Mend Ailment
8. Resurrection Chant.

Was considering sticking in Power Drain instead of Words of Confort because I don't seem to use it too much. Also Holy Haste + HCT on my staff = 2 second Res Chant.

So yea, I'd like to play about a bit with protection but protection builds just leave me baffled as to how they work.

Can anyone help?

Anarion Silverhand · Dec 08, 2006, 12:58 PM // 12:58

I haven't heard of any Orison Of Healing hate. Ever. People do tend to hate Healing Breeze. I'm not a big fan either, because, like mending, it gives a fake sense of security. In my opinion.

As for the boon prot(ector)

It's not used as much as before, seeing as Divine Boon, which was the cornerstone of this build, got a nerf. It doesn't heal for as much as it used to.
The idea of the build was using protection spells, while healing at the same time. Reversal of Fortune was an awesome heal, and due to the fast cast times of the spells used, people preferred to run this over straight healing prayers builds. Both in PvE and PvP.

Personlly, I like to run hybrid builds, especially Blessed Light.

This is the build I'm using. For PvE.

Reversal of Fortune
Gift of Health
Protective Spirit / Spirit Bond depending on the area
Signet of Devotion
Blessed Light
Power Drain
Skill of your choice
Rebirth

Attributes are:
Divine Favor 14 (scalp + sup rune)
Protection Prayers 11 (minor rune)
Healing Prayers 9 (minor rune)
Leftover points in inspiration.

It takes some practice to get used to using Power Drain, but it's a very nice boost in energy if you get it right. Use Signet of Devotion to save energy RoF and Gift of Health are your primary heals, use Blessed Light to remove hexes, and heal of course.

I hope this was of any help.

Effendi Westland · Dec 08, 2006, 01:54 PM // 13:54

I've read some hate for Orison in this section of the forums... wouldn't know why tho...

As for Heal Breeze I can understand why it is hated. It's to easy to overheal with this spell, wasting energy.

Apart from that... I'm not the best monk. But if I go pure heal I always work Healing Seed and Vigorous spirit in.

Silk Weaver · Dec 08, 2006, 02:07 PM // 14:07

Healing Whisper heals for more and recharges faster at the same time~

Yeah, I hate orison, but I use it too. I use it ONLY because I have healer's Boon, and ONLY when ethereal and whispers cannot be used.

LightningHell · Dec 08, 2006, 02:31 PM // 14:31

Why use Orison when you can use Gift of Health and go Protection?

Yanman.be · Dec 08, 2006, 02:36 PM // 14:36

Orison of healing is like the ranger of healing. It's a jack of all trades, but never excells at anything ( don't be angry about the ranger part )

In a spike, there's a better heal (infuse health ). For energy management, there's a better heal (...) . For a big heal, there's a better heal( Dwayna's Kiss, Heal Other . Orison is something you take because it'll fit all categories, but it'll be less effective.

Pick Me · Dec 08, 2006, 03:00 PM // 15:00

I like Orison of Healing. It heals, fast cast, fast recharge. On its own, its not very useful. With Divine Favor, it heals quite well.

I used to use Healing Breeze, that was until I read why it wasn't very good. The cost, the shattering, the requirements to make it heal well, etc.

Boon Protect and Bonders rely on Protection spells rather than healing (makes sense right?)

People say Boon Protects heal more than actual healers, because there is less damage to heal, thus you most likely won't see people asking for healing. Protection spells are for negating damage, rather than healing over damage.

You really don't want to bond or protect when you are in areas where enchantment removals are in abundance.

makosi · Dec 08, 2006, 03:08 PM // 15:08

I detest Orison of Healing. Its a pathetic heal. I know its only 5 energy, quick recharge and casting time but its weak and isn't a substantial healing skill for a monk. When the average monster from the Desolation onwards does 150dmg+ per hit, it makes Orison virtually redundant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LightningHell

Why use Orison when you can use Gift of Health and go Protection?

QFT.

Cebe · Dec 08, 2006, 03:30 PM // 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick Me

Boon Protect and Bonders rely on Protection spells rather than healing (makes sense right?)

People say Boon Protects heal more than actual healers, because there is less damage to heal, thus you most likely won't see people asking for healing. Protection spells are for negating damage, rather than healing over damage.

I think this is quite possibly the word which is throwing me..."Boon". What does it mean? Where did it come from?

Sophitia Leafblade · Dec 08, 2006, 03:34 PM // 15:34

Boon -A term generally meaning "benefit" or "boost."

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/boon

Boon in gw build sense being named after the skills that use the words boon, eg: healers boon, Divine boon

Healbreeze while not the best skill available has its uses like all skills, its a good way of countering degen or to help heal on someone while ur using larger heals on other party members.

As for orison, its the meat and pototoes of the monk along with reversal, yes there are better skills, but when it does its job nicly and fits into most heal builds and isnt conditional, it makes up for its lack of large heal amounts

Cebe · Dec 08, 2006, 03:39 PM // 15:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sophitia Leafblade

Boon in gw build sense being named after the skills that use the words boon, eg: healers boon, Divine boon

ooook, kinda with you now.

XvArchonvX · Dec 08, 2006, 03:56 PM // 15:56

Meh, for PvE, Orison is generally fine, although there are usually better alternatives in terms of amount healed per energy spent. Healing breeze is doesn't provide much healing per energy cost either. I don't think it's really that bad of a skill for a PvE healer, but 9 times out of 10 it's just spammed at the wrong time. The advantage it has is that it can be a passive heal to hold over one teammate taking damage to a certain degree while you heal other allies. With this said, I would still argue that it is best for low to mid level areas in PvE.

Protection can be very powerful if for nothing else, then the ability to use skills like Protective Spirit. It doesn't matter how much your healing skills can do or how fast they recharge if your ally gets hit with a spike of lethal damage before you can cast anything. It does take a bit of skill to use many protections skills wisely however. You will generally want to watch your enemies and anticipate when an ally will suffer a spike of damage. This requires keeping your eyes on the battlefield as well as on the red health bars.

GoH on a prot build can make a good balanced monk, but I do see times when a full heal monk can still be worth it's merit. However, in general, when playing in areas that have strong enemies or in PvE, you are probably best off using a prot build that has some healing ability to it (i.e. Blessed Light or Zealous Benediction).

It kind of comes to a balance. A prot monk can still have a limit as to how much they can actually heal damaged allies, even after damage has been reduced, but having a defense that is based solely on recompensating for lost health rather than reducing damage taken will stretch a healing monk too thin. A good balance of health regen and damage reduction from the monk backline is the key to a solid defense imho.

Cartoonhero · Dec 08, 2006, 03:59 PM // 15:59

i hate running heal, i'd rather run prot w/ gift of health in almost any situation. the only time ill run heal is if i use a healers boon build(healers boonis a new nf elite0. but as many said the original 'boon protector'(that used the divine favor based skill divine boon) got a nerf awhile back, so people run regular prot now. good skills to consider include:

sheild of absorption
spirit bond
reversal of fortune
gift of health(healing spell, works best on a prot bar cause it disables healing spells, usually arond 9 in heal on a prot build for this)
protective spirit
dismiss condition
signet of devotion(divine favor based,free heal, use it whenever you can!)
divert hexes[E]-awesome prot spell in hex heavy areas, as it takes off conditions too, and heals..all conditional on if there are hexes though, useless without hexes.
Restore Condition[E]-as is probably apparent, awesome for condition heavy areas, bring mending touch for yourself, as its target other ally.
blessed light[E]-good choice in most areas.
Zealous benediction[E]- if you can get consistent at healing at or below that 50 mark, its a free 10e heal.

i love prot builds like this because you can negate large amounts of damage instead of trying to power heal through all the damage.

dont forget how much a secondary can help out, check out what secondaries other monks use, i personally use /me or /a alot latley.

oh and yes, i've never really seen much hate for orison, whenever i do run a heal build, its in there...especially now with healers boon. healing breeze is just ick in most situations though.

ubard · Dec 08, 2006, 04:01 PM // 16:01

before factions, the boon prot was THE gvg monk. During factions, many used both Blessed light and Boonprot. Now with the release of even more nice protection spells. (the booner uses elite emangement), and the nerf of inspiration magic, the boon prot has all but dissapeared.

Divine Favor: 11+1+(whatever rune)
Prot: 10+1
Inspiration Magic: 10

Reversal of Fortune
Shield of Absorption
Protective Spirit
Signet of Devotion
Dismiss Condition / Mend Condition / Mend Ailment
Inspired Hex / Holy Veil
Energy Drain [E] / Mantra of Recall
Divine Boon

This is what the booner would be to me now. The original boon prot used the skill Offering of Blood as energy management.

Many like Contemplation of Purity, worth checking out.

This build still does work in RA, it's just nothing on a ZB protector.

Effigy · Dec 08, 2006, 06:34 PM // 18:34

Like others have said, Orison and Breeze just aren't very efficient. Orison isn't as bad as Breeze, but there isn't much reason to be using either of them beyond the early stages of the game. I think GoH+prot is generally the most effective combo, but even if you want to play a pure healer there are better skills out there: Whisper, Ethereal Light, Dwayna's Kiss, Signet of Rejuvenation, Signet of Devotion, etc.

Heal Other is another bad skill. It's about on par with Orison, only with doubled the cost and roughly doubled the healing output. However, it only gains the DF bonus heal once as opposed to just casting two 5e heals, making it even worse.

Celain · Dec 08, 2006, 08:06 PM // 20:06

Orison made a healers skill bar simply for the fact that it could be used on yourself. Between it and Healing Touch, you had decent self healing. This may not be the case now; I haven't really played my monk much since Prophecies.

Age · Dec 09, 2006, 12:30 AM // 00:30

I still say that orisons is still a good spell at healing and I use it on my healing build all the time and regardles of what other ppl say in groups it will be awhile untill they can get another Monk agian.I got mine in pre and I am not about to buy a skill I really don't need sure Other and GoH is great but they are for alley not target meaning yourself.That is what I like about Orisons when it come to breeze it a decent self heal untill you get touch.

There is still nothing wrong with boon/protects in pve and there isn't the type of spike damege that there is in pvp.Boon/Protect is a special build.

Ensign · Dec 09, 2006, 01:37 AM // 01:37

Orison is the least efficient heal you can put on your bar, and there's nothing you can do with it to make it more efficient. It's also the slowest heal you can use. The low recharge is fool's gold - the more energy you pump into Orison of Healing, the weaker and less efficient your character becomes.

The only time Orison is ok is in situations where the skill that you use to heal is largely irrelevant. That is, low pressure, no spike, just topping off bars as they go down. In those situations, any moron can push the Orison button over again to top off bars. But, as I said, you can use any combination of skills to do that same job, skills that will perform better or serve critical purposes in situations of stress.

As you get better at playing a healing Monk (or at playing Monk in general) you will find yourself casting Orison less and less, making use of more efficient heals situationally, and eventually noticing that the topping off bars function of Orison is pointless. Eventually you stop using Orison entirely, or having it sit there only as a reserve in case everything else is stuck recharging. In Ch1 only, Orison was at least minimally useful for that...with two more chapters in the mix, there's no reason to ever run Orison on a serious bar.

Healing Breeze gets a bad (but deserved) rep for how easy it is to overheal with it. It becomes even worse when playing with Orison Monks who insist on topping off every bar, even when there's a Breeze up. Unfortunately the skill isn't very efficient even if it does heal for full every time. There's really no reason to ever run it on a Monk primary...you'll see it used in GvG for split situations on an E/Mo, where damage and healing are much more controlled (meaning it will heal for full every time) and, realistically, there aren't any better options.

But, straight up, Orison is a well-deserved bad player detector. If you see a Monk using Orison you know you're in for a rough ride if the party ever starts taking meaningful amounts of damage.

Peace,
-CxE

pingu666 · Dec 09, 2006, 03:18 AM // 03:18

i use orison because its a jack of all trades, its the benchmark heal skill really, most other skills that are "better" have downsides, (easily interuptable, target other etc..

the spell which would replace orison for me, is words of comfort, maybe etheral light too, being easily interuptable means any hit will interupt u, which is bad :/

healing breeze heals over time, can target anyone, downside is its a enchantment (which might also be good sometimes). its a nice cover heal, it someone is taking some damage, but not huge amounts, cast it on them and itll cover them nicely, or if res someone in a dicey area, u can cast it on yourself, res them, and cast it on them..., mitigating you from some damage..

i can see why some dont like it, but also why some really like it, it has its uses..

on my monk i use the 2 healing sigs, orison, heal party, blessed light, healing breeze and res chant. one free slot

currently using revealed hex or whatever, mesmer skill

14 (or 16) on healing
13 on divine

i think pvp is different, more favourable of conditional stuff, ive been critised by a pvp player for not healing her enough, while they played there fire ele as a frontline fighter, about 70% of my healing went on her, as fast as i could cast. i think only sup runes or infuse health 2-3 times would of healed for more. maybe some enchanment which boosts healing perhaps (divine boon)

Amok Affinity · Dec 09, 2006, 04:54 AM // 04:54

orison is crap, crap crap crap. learned that quick dragging my poor, tattered monk across all creation.

but it wouldn't be very nice to dismiss a skill without offering an equivalent/replacement, so here's something you can even treat it almost exactly like orison!:

reversal of fortune! yes damnit, yes! spec some out of DF or HP or whatever (you dont need a ton of df anyhow, 'round 10 is sweetness imho) and throw it into prot if you arent specced for prot anyhoo. if you can wedge it up to a 50ish negation youve got what, 2 orisons? worth of mitigation in one spammable 5e spell.

other goodies:
dwayna's kiss! - Huge cheap conditional heal. beautiful.

healing whisper - for your caster buddies sitting beside you when theyre getting spiked down by pesky ranger mobs or somesuch i guess

signet of rejuvenation - no one likes this thing for some reason! but then again straight hp isnt very popular so meh. i like to use it, if im running LoD or something, to heal mm's after saccing and during animations since those take a damn year to get off as well as the ocassional ailing absurdly-long-cast-time ele. good on melee as youll nearly always meet the condition for the attractive portion of the sig

quick edit: before bashing LoD, check out its freaking range. you can heal the entire area of the radar with that bastard