Curse

LuckyGiant · Aug 12, 2006, 06:38 AM // 06:38

Hi, after becoming a great ranger, sin and warrior I wanted to try something different so becoming a monk it was. I'm finding parts of it quite hard.
I soon found that you can't use the mouse to heal effectively and after trying a few key combinations I'm still yet to find an effective one. (I do blessed light or boon-prot if it makes a difference)

I was just wondering what everyone uses to select party members and execute your skills quickly? (like mouse buttons or which keyboard keys?)

SaladFork · Aug 12, 2006, 07:04 AM // 07:04

I have my mouse hovering over the party window, with my eyes on in constantly. I don't even watch the party windows, I just spent all my time staring at those red bars.

Then by clicking the mouse on a name, I target that person, and with a quick click of my left hand (which was hovering over the numpad), I cast the appropriate spell. After a while, you don't have to think about which spell to cast, it all just becomes instinct, and your fingers work away without you worrying.

Quite scary, really.

~Salad

sno · Aug 12, 2006, 11:22 AM // 11:22

Higher level monks will tell you that staring at the party bar isn't the way to becoming a good monk. As with all classes, you want to always maintain a firm handle on what's going on on the battlefield, where everyone is and what they're doing. Knowing who is going to take damage before they actually do is key, and can be the difference between healing them in time or not.

I use a fairly default button setup, mostly because I play on a laptop without the luxury of a numpad. I have my skills set on the number keys 1-8, and I use my mouse to click party members. I also use my mouse to move usually, but also "qwse" to strafe around, especially when near rangers or kiting warriors.

xiao1985 · Aug 12, 2006, 11:53 AM // 11:53

i have my eyes hover between party red bars , my left little finger on shift (so shift click won't make me dash towards them) and my other fingers on left hand hover on 1-8 for appropriate spells...

once you get used to it, even looking at the battle field you can see which member is short on hp and you can quickly shift click and cast spell... then at the time the spell it being cast, you can look at battle field again...

also, i reconfig the effect box to near my party member box, so i can keep a track of what i am under the influence of...

Zui · Aug 12, 2006, 01:09 PM // 13:09

First, you don't want to just stare at the little red bars. Anticipating damage(and reacting to it) is what seperates the good monks, from the bad monks. Watch the battle a good amount of the time, watch postitioning, and what the other players on their team are doing. If you notice an E/Mo facing a guy and using Lightning Orb, and a Warrior running towards him too, for example, there's a good chance that guy will be spiked(this is a simplification, but I think it conveys the point). If you watch the party bar, you're playing reactively, if you watch the battle, you can see what's going to happen 1s or more in advance, and have all that extra time to react to it.

Learn casting animations and sounds too, this is also very helpful.

As for your control setups, here's what I use:

I have A, D, and F bound to my 5, 6, and 7 keys, which is where I put my most used spells. For boonprot I usualy have Mend Condition on "F", RoF on "D" and Guardian/Prot Spirit/Spirit Bond on "A" depending. I have Divine Boon and Mantra of Recall on a mouse macro because I have a 7 button mouse, MoR is in slot 8, boon in slot 1. You can just set MoR to another key on your keyboard like "R" or "X" though.

This way, I never have to hit anything past the 4 key, so my hand can stay on movement, and I don't have to lift my hand to use anything.

I slots 2-4 usualy rotate, but I *usualy* have 4 on Hex Breaker, or Guardian, or Signet of Devotion, 3 on Contemplation of Purity, and 2 on Inspired/Revealed Hex

For Blessed Light, I have the same key setup, but I have different things on my button assignment(Remember there are a ton of blessed light variations, so these skills may not always be the ones you're running)

Blessed Light is usualy set to "D" Healing Touch is set to "F" and Gift of Health is set to "A" I usualy have 3 or 4 set to Draw Conditions, and 2, 3, or 4, set to Inspired Hex and Revealed Hex or Inspired Hex and Hex Breaker for Mesmser. If I'm going /Assassin, that obviously changes with whatever Assassin skills like Return and Dark Escape replacing the Mesmer Skills. But since this build is so flexible on what skills you can bring, I'm not going to ramble on anymore.

Note: Even though you can't use WASD, you can still hold the right mouse button down to get movements just like the A and D keys. Alot of other players I know have Q, E, and F or R as their spell hotkeys, and use the right mouse button to immitate the strafe from Q and E. Either way works, and works well.

bigo688 · Aug 12, 2006, 09:24 PM // 21:24

ya staring just at the bars is bad and ill give you an example. Lets say your playing halls and your vs a spike team and your the infuser. If you watching them you can actually see the spike coming and be ready for it before it cause dmg.

Age · Aug 12, 2006, 09:54 PM // 21:54

I do what sno says as I don't watch the party widow constantly and yes I am a high level Monk beat both games.I just keep my eyes on the screen and on the radar as well.I just glance at the party window sort of like looking at your rearview mirror.The worst thing about looking at the party window is you don"t know who is going to attack you.

I wouldn't use boon without a good enrgy skill like MoR or E Drain.

Kuja · Aug 13, 2006, 03:15 AM // 03:15

Well don't let people think you shouldnt ever be looking at party window, people are reinforcing the fact you need to be looking at what's actually happening rather than just keep healing when the red go bye bye .

Age · Aug 13, 2006, 09:19 PM // 21:19

That is not what we are saying we are saying don't stare it just glane at it and learn how to kite.I am still learning my kiting skills.

Warpy · Aug 14, 2006, 03:51 AM // 03:51

I tend to watch the players, make an assumption as to who will cop the most damage, have my trigger finger rdy then when they are in absolute need of a health boon I give it to em. My pref is not to allow anyones health hit below 40% I get nervous when they reach those levels.

I never seem to run out of energy either these days. Unless I am the only monk in a 8 man group in Ring Of Fire!

TimTimTimma · Aug 14, 2006, 08:08 PM // 20:08

I recently purchased a Speedpad n52 by Belkin and its amazing how much faster I monk then before.

I have my left hand to control what skills I use, and I am just starting to get to the point where don't even need to watch what skills I am using like "SaladFork" said, its becoming Instinct.

I use my mouse to target party members and to move around on the field. This is a good setup because to move with the mouse your fored to constantly watch whats going on during the battle, and it increases your ability to pre-kite immensly and affectively. Like "Zui" said though, anticipating damage is very important in saving party members. I ahve learned every skill animation and its sound so even if i don't see it, I can hear it. I can hear a warrior wacking a ally and see someones bar taking little hits, I know a warior is on him and a guardian will do (unless of course spike dmg is coming and then its prot spirit/spirit bond) Here are some tips on becoming a better monk:

1: As silly as this sounds I find kiting the warriors on nameless isle VERY affective for a few reasons. 1 they don't make mistakes when chasing you, so avoiding critical strikes is alot more difficult then with a spacebar spamming warrior who can easily be caught on corners and such things. The axe warrior is good for starters, then the hammer to kick it up cause he has knockdowns. And if you are feeling extra confident aggro them both at once and kite between the two. A few other forms of good practice with kiting is to kite the "Master of Lightning" as he sends orbs and Javelins that are easily dodged, and take yourself and one friend to the Zaichen Challenge and go up against IWAY.

2. You are going to need to learn how to keep someone at about 85-90% HP, you never want to spend energy to put someone at full health because then your just wasting energy and valuable heals!! A great way to learn to conserve heals is to go into Randoms with Infuse Health, Healing Touch, and Divine Healing only. (I know this sounds really silly but the stuff works!)

3. And of course always listen, I find hearing the sounds of actions is VERYYYYYYYYY helpful to me, sometimes more then actually seeing it. If you can learn to listen up for skills or actions being used then you are half way to anticipating damage/spikes.

4. If you happen to be interested in infusing then take yourself and a friend or two to the Zaichen Challenge, and go up against the Obsidian Flame Spike team and practice there! There spike can sometimes be easy to catch or sometimes it can be damn near un-infusable.

5. Healing/Protecting/Kiting against spikes is one thing, maintaining your cool while under pressure is another. Take yourself and 2 others (or 3 if you find it alittle to difficult) to the Zaichen Challenge, and take on the Degen/Pressure Team

This is by no means a complete guild to becoming a better monk but it will certainly get you started on the right path!