Curse

twicky_kid · Nov 17, 2006, 03:24 PM // 15:24

Right now there is nothing that can compare to blight for a monk elite. Its 3 effects packed into 1 skill with very little drawbacks. No other monk elite skill can say that.

The energy cost is the only problem with blight and that's even a real problem. If you heal a target and remove 1 condition or hex that alone would have cost you 10e through 2 other skills. If you remove 1 condition and hex but the target didn't really need healing again equals the 10e cost through other means. If you needed all 3 affects (which is not that uncommon) blight more than pays for itself.

Monks are all utility and this skill is like a swiss army knife. Everything a monk needs is packed into 1 skill. With a limited 8 skill bar that is going to be more valuable then a potential free 150+ heal.

I'd go as far to say that blight needs to be toned down a little. Increase the recharge only. Between 2 blight monks with purge sig no hex or condition is going to stick very long to even make that much of an impact. Now with energizing finale giving just about unlimited energy the energy cost is not even an issue anymore.

ZB gets my honorable mention. If blight didn't exist ZB would never leave my bar. As the previous comment: blight for gvg ZB for arenas.

Nivryx · Nov 17, 2006, 10:14 PM // 22:14

zb is always in my bar for RA (yes im an ra newb). The biggest problem with zb is when there are two monks with zb on the same team, one will get the heal at no cost and the other will lose 10e.

moko · Nov 17, 2006, 10:38 PM // 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nivryx

zb is always in my bar for RA (yes im an ra newb). The biggest problem with zb is when there are two monks with zb on the same team, one will get the heal at no cost and the other will lose 10e.

just dont use zb then; only on your other monk. tell him not to hard heal himself (or herself) beforehand; and only use goh as heal for others. there shouldnt be problems with 2 monks in RA anyways.

XvArchonvX · Nov 18, 2006, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

just dont use zb then; only on your other monk. tell him not to hard heal himself (or herself) beforehand; and only use goh as heal for others. there shouldnt be problems with 2 monks in RA anyways.

Unfortunately since you don't always know the other monk you can't trust if he will use ZB on that ally that is dying since he might have the same mentality that you will use your ZB and he might as well conserve his energy. While communication can smooth these problems, there are still a lot of people out there who either never pay attention to team chat or simply don't listen.

I also run ZB in RA (yay for RA noobs) and when another ZB ends up in my group, I agree communication is important, but 2 monk RA groups often have too much defense and not enough offense, so it's usually just a matter of failing and finding a new group.

Ensign · Nov 18, 2006, 10:11 PM // 22:11

I quit out of two Monk teams anyway, so I wouldn't use the terrible synergy with a second Monk as any sort of problem in RA. In 8v8, it is a problem, but not any moreso than double Mending, overhealing from both people throwing Gift, and similar inefficiencies that Monks that play together often learn to work out.

Peace,
-CxE

kade · Nov 20, 2006, 07:23 AM // 07:23

On a stricly RA/TA single monk situation i find that there is simply no contest with ZB. even tho it lacks the condition/hex removal of blight, its a 200pt free heal when used correctly...which gives plenty of time and energy to remove things afterwards.

Just my 2 cents, Blight simply cannot withstand heavy hex/condition teams for prolonged periods of time...ZB can.

Akhilleus · Nov 21, 2006, 11:41 PM // 23:41

the fact that blessed light runs off of divine, which both heal AND prot monks use, makes it, overall, far, far better...since it allows for versatility. you can use it in a heal build, or a protection build, with equally good effect. and because it removes a hex, thats one less hex-removal you need to carry with you...allowing for an additional skill. that, also, carries a certain value with it.

Kaida the Heartless · Nov 22, 2006, 04:43 AM // 04:43

I'm just waiting for hexpressure to make a return so we see many more Zealous / Divert Hexes Monk Teams.

moko · Nov 22, 2006, 07:35 AM // 07:35

Kaida the Heartless: with the new RaO madness, people are already running a lot of hexes.

Spoil Victor, Reapers Mark, [Soul Leech] - however, this might just puff Blight, because those teams usually mess me over as ZB - the constant pressure is too much, and the team isnt killing fast enough, especially with Reapers Mark slowing down melee. not sure if Blight would really help more there...maybe ill try Divert Hexes. (:

Quote:

the fact that blessed light runs off of divine, which both heal AND prot monks use, makes it, overall, far, far better...since it allows for versatility. you can use it in a heal build, or a protection build, with equally good effect. and because it removes a hex, thats one less hex-removal you need to carry with you...allowing for an additional skill. that, also, carries a certain value with it.

the thing is, you dont really need an additional skill.

the bar fine, just like the Blight one.

ddark624 · Nov 22, 2006, 01:54 PM // 13:54

BENADICTION FTW xD helps wid energy problems

Div · Nov 27, 2006, 08:18 AM // 08:18

ZB is usually a lot more preferred for pve areas, as you simply can't keep up spamming blight to get rid of hexes and conditions that the mobs keep placing on the team. Both have their plusses for gvg, since blight can be the all-around utility and zb can be the primary heal especially when mixed with gift and/or sig of dev

aubray1741 · Nov 27, 2006, 05:23 PM // 17:23

The point of Blessed Light is to NOT spam it, and to use it to maximize your energy. It is not just a heal, and it is most DEFINELY NOT just a hex or condition removal when your target has full health. You save energy with Light by meeting several of the conditions at once; otherwise it's a waste to cast it to do only one. ZB is just a heal, but a heavier spike heal, which may be better for RA, but not GvG, where BL shines. They're actually unrelated skills.

Most people like ZB more because, frankly, it takes a skilled monk to play BL and, even more, it takes a skilled TEAM. Blessed Light monks cannot respond to the crazy pressure presented by uncorrelated teams in RA getting whacked by other uncorrelated teams. Light requires at least SOME team help.

ZB shines in RA because it provides exactly what you need, to have more health (healing) than the other team so you kill them before they kill you.

And as a final note, if you find your monk starved for energy wherever you go, and you don't have a mesmer breathing down your neck, you have bigger problems than your elite.

Akhilleus · Dec 02, 2006, 04:36 AM // 04:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by holymasamune

ZB is usually a lot more preferred for pve areas, as you simply can't keep up spamming blight to get rid of hexes and conditions that the mobs keep placing on the team. Both have their plusses for gvg, since blight can be the all-around utility and zb can be the primary heal especially when mixed with gift and/or sig of dev

i agree that DL is not to be spammed, so in pve, you'd probbaly have etter luck with WoH as an elite, using BL only as a DF prot monk, or as a seccondary healer. for a primary, you'd be better off using dwaynas and WoH.

ive said it once, ill say it again.
if you cant beat em, join em.
fighting hexes on a hex by hex basis will accomplish nothing but blasting your energy out of the water like the great depression stock-market.
blight, in pve, unless on the skillbar of a DF prot monk, is a total and utter waste of time and energy (the latter in a literal sense).
no healer in pve should be using BL when they can use dwaynas/remove hex or dwaynas/holy veil.
dwaynas kiss solves the problem, with half the energy, and without a skillslot. if one of your allies is getting mauld by hexes, a single dwaynas can often provide a larger heal (and by often, i mean more often than not) than heal other, or even life infusion. quite frankly, if dwaynas could be caste on yourself it would deserve the elite slot, imo.

RandomEngy · Dec 06, 2006, 05:03 PM // 17:03

Watched QQ do GvG the other day. They were running a Divert/Infuse and ZB monk. I thought it was pretty cute how they got the free healing after an infuse.

twicky_kid · Dec 06, 2006, 05:15 PM // 17:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomEngy

Watched QQ do GvG the other day. They were running a Divert/Infuse and ZB monk. I thought it was pretty cute how they got the free healing after an infuse.

That only reason that worked is because both their wars had mending touch. Their team was designed to deal with hex and condition removal from other sources than the monk.

You also have to set up your life total on an odd number. If its on an even number you will not be <50%. Moral boost and DP can affect your life total so you will not always get that 10e back.

ubard · Dec 06, 2006, 07:52 PM // 19:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by twicky_kid

That only reason that worked is because both their wars had mending touch. Their team was designed to deal with hex and condition removal from other sources than the monk.

You also have to set up your life total on an odd number. If its on an even number you will not be <50%. Moral boost and DP can affect your life total so you will not always get that 10e back.

odd number of health doesn't help at all. (unless it just doesn't work when ZBing your self or something)

just nab a vamp weapon. hatcha!

Rera · Dec 06, 2006, 08:44 PM // 20:44

IIRC ZB's condition is applied after divine favor, so the only way I see for Infuse-ZB to be reliable is if the infuser is infusing at less than full health (say, 80~90%?). Even dual vamp is too slow when you consider that most DF bonuses are ~30 points or so.

The problem with Blight is that it's an inefficient skill when it's only serving one function, so you can't use it as primary heal, primary hex removal, or primary condition removal. You aren't going to be using Blight to remove conditions, so you're going to have to run mend and draw in the build anyway. Mend Condition heals for 66 at 14 prot for 5e, whereas Blight heals for 108 at 14 divine for 10e - inefficient. Holy Veil or Hex Breaker can stop Diversion for 5e, Blight does it for 10e and is itself in danger of being Diverted or Shame'd. In order for Blight to work, you have to use it on people who need a condition and a hex removed, or someone who needs hex removal and a heal (for people that need a condition removed and a heal, it's more efficient to use Mend Condition).

Blight builds also tend to lack serious emgt, and dual-blight backlines suffer tremendously under debil/esurge teams (as QQ demonstrated last season). Blight was more viable earlier this season due to less emphasis on hex/condition stacking, and the introduction of Energizing Finale as external emgt. In general I tend to think that ZB/Divert or ZB/RC forms a more solid backline - although they are also more susceptible to Sig of Humility.

Shai-hulud · Dec 14, 2006, 12:45 AM // 00:45

As guildwiki sais:
The advantages of BL are that:
-It's in the divine favor three, therefor puting points in here will make all of your other spells more effective
-It's very efficient at removing a hex and healing, tho it should not be used for condition removal, or at least I see that just as a bonus

The advantages of ZB would be:
-It's in the protection three, thus making protection spells like RoF better, investing only in protection prayers could still make a great monk with this skill
-It actually does exactly the same as Heal Other except it can be used on yourself as well (about the same comparison as with WoH)
-It's free if target was below 50% - HOWEVER -as mentioned- this may encourage monks to hold till health drops below 50% where it could be to late

Al with al I think you can't really compare these skills. BL still is the most efficient spell but as I seem to fail at handling it's energy management, I think I'll stick with ZB for now

moko · Dec 14, 2006, 10:45 AM // 10:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shai-hulud

As guildwiki sais:
The advantages of BL are that:
-It's in the divine favor three, therefor puting points in here will make all of your other spells more effective
-It's very efficient at removing a hex and healing, tho it should not be used for condition removal, or at least I see that just as a bonus

The advantages of ZB would be:
-It's in the protection three, thus making protection spells like RoF better, investing only in protection prayers could still make a great monk with this skill
-It actually does exactly the same as Heal Other except it can be used on yourself as well (about the same comparison as with WoH)
-It's free if target was below 50% - HOWEVER -as mentioned- this may encourage monks to hold till health drops below 50% where it could be to late

Al with al I think you can't really compare these skills. BL still is the most efficient spell but as I seem to fail at handling it's energy management, I think I'll stick with ZB for now

no, blight is not. if you dont use blight to remove conditions, you can just go with Divert Hexes, which is A LOT better than BL. 3 hexes + bigger heal + 3 possible conditions > 1 hex, crappy heal, 1 condition.

divert > zb > blight

]SK[ · Dec 14, 2006, 11:46 AM // 11:46

My PvE Point of View

I like ZB but, as I said before elsewhere, when someone is at <50% health its normally cause I am out of energy.
I would like to see it cost 5 energy and because of this maybe lower the amount of healing and possibly energy gained? I find this after Rebirth is the least used spell unless I use it on a MM's minions. It won't happen though since PvP decides how spells are configured.

I've been using...

Reversal of Fortune
Gift of Healing
Mend Condition
Zealous Benediction
Protective Spirit
Signet of Devotion
Remove Hex
Rebirth

As others state, when you get your fellow monk heal before you pull out ZB you waste 10 energy which can be devastating.