Curse

CaptainRansom · Jan 11, 2007, 08:27 AM // 08:27

I'm really having a hard time trying to decide on a primary profession to play. I've tried everything at one point or another, so I'm familiar with the basics at "entry-level" for each one. I should probably say that this is going to be primarily for PvE, maybe some PvP later down the line. I really enjoy the support role in groups - so I'm mostly torn between Ritualist and Monk.

Ritualist seems like a great choice - from browsing forums I can tell that they heal almost as well as a Monk, spirits are good support for the entire group though immobile, and they can dish out some decent damage with Channeling, and have great energy management without reliance on a secondary.

Monks, from my research, are good spike healers and good protection through enchantments (and much more mobile than spirits), but I was really underwhelmed with Smiting if I ever wanted to play with being a damage dealer.

So why do people choose to play Monks over Ritualists? I feel like Monks trade-off a lot of versatility in order to have a slight edge in healing capability. Maybe I'm missing something, and I'm totally wrong - but hey, that's why I'm asking. =)

ss1986v2 · Jan 11, 2007, 09:33 AM // 09:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainRansom

So why do people choose to play Monks over Ritualists? I feel like Monks trade-off a lot of versatility in order to have a slight edge in healing capability. Maybe I'm missing something, and I'm totally wrong - but hey, that's why I'm asking. =)

well, its pretty simple. ppl dont play monks to smite. they play them to heal/prot. and they do so better than a rit. so therefore, they chose monk. not that hard.

rits can heal, but they dont have much in large heals, plus their heals are conditional. see these:

[card]Mend Body and Soul[/card] [card]Spirit Light[/card] [card]Ghostmirror Light[/card] [card]Spirit Transfer[/card]

all of them need you to meet conditions in order for them to even come close to the power of a monk. if you dont, then your healer is rather gimped.

two more issue with the rit: they dont have any hex removal in their own lines, and weapon skills, for the most part, are either weak or worthless. i find healing rits work best using the elite attuned was songkai. it cuts down on your energy use, allowing you to spam your lower power heals and allows you to use weapons spells like weapon of warding to their fullest. but outside of a AwS build, they can be rather weak, at least when compared to a monk.

all this said, i love my rit. play him every day. i play it cause i enjoy it, not because its versatile. usually, powerful > versatile. monk should heal/prot, not other things. a warrior should tank and deal dmg, not other things. and so on. you dont get bonus points for being able to do multiple things at once if you do them all poorly.

Pick Me · Jan 11, 2007, 02:30 PM // 14:30

@ ss1986v2 - I agree with your assessment for monks, but I disagree with your assessment with Ritualists. They are better party healers than monks, but monks are better at healing individuals. Spirits are immovable, until you use Draw Spirit. Life and Recouperation are non-conditional heals.

@CaptainRansom - Ritualists cannot remove hexes, but they can remove conditions (more than just 1 at a time on self). They can increase their armor defense, steal life, remove 1 condition from others (must be near a spirit), and allow others to do more damage than normal (weapon spells). Also, weapon spells are not enchantments, thus they cannot be removed.

Why do people like Monks better than Rits? Well... they have better hard rez (rebirth, resurrection chant, etc.), hex removals, remove 1 condition from everyone in the party. Draw conditions, better damage mitigation, better healing elites, solo farming, nice tatoos, more people are used to monks, people hate to wait for a spirit to rise, etc.

I love my monk and my ritualist, so don't ask me to choose which I like better, as I love them both equally.

anshin · Jan 11, 2007, 02:35 PM // 14:35

ritualists look sooooo much better than monks... come on... they are blindfolded people who rely on spirits...

unfortunatly i don't have factions... but to me ritualist seems more versatile than monks... and rits can solo too... imho

ss1986v2 · Jan 11, 2007, 03:08 PM // 15:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick Me

@ ss1986v2 - I agree with your assessment for monks, but I disagree with your assessment with Ritualists. They are better party healers than monks, but monks are better at healing individuals. Spirits are immovable, until you use Draw Spirit. Life and Recouperation are non-conditional heals.

yes rits make very good party healers. but its still sort of conditional. life, for one, expires after 30 seconds and has a 30 second recharge, so its not an "on-demand" heal. yes its very strong, but its not waiting just a click away like say heal party. i think the best party healer are eles or necros in areas with high death counts. i love my rit, but if i wanted party wide heals, id still run a prodigy e/mo with hp and extinguish. although life does pack one heck of a punch, a potential 1200 hp heal!

rits were at there best pre boon-shelter nerf. running shelter, union, displacement, recup, and life all on the same bar was crazy. you essentially could do the job of two monks, with little to no effort. since then though, they have lost a lot of the power.

Jetdoc · Jan 11, 2007, 07:39 PM // 19:39

Honestly, if you want to play a primary support role and be beloved (and scorned) for it, monk is the way to go for you.

If you want to "be a little different" a play a role as a support healer (i.e. versus the primary healer) or to be one helluva good party protector, Ritualist is the way to go.

I personally prefer the ritualist, but monks purely get more PvE love (and are in much higher demand).

Pick Me · Jan 12, 2007, 02:49 PM // 14:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by ss1986v2

yes rits make very good party healers. but its still sort of conditional. life, for one, expires after 30 seconds and has a 30 second recharge, so its not an "on-demand" heal. yes its very strong, but its not waiting just a click away like say heal party. i think the best party healer are eles or necros in areas with high death counts. i love my rit, but if i wanted party wide heals, id still run a prodigy e/mo with hp and extinguish. although life does pack one heck of a punch, a potential 1200 hp heal!

rits were at there best pre boon-shelter nerf. running shelter, union, displacement, recup, and life all on the same bar was crazy. you essentially could do the job of two monks, with little to no effort. since then though, they have lost a lot of the power.

Minor typo there, its a potential 120 hp heal per person, not 1200 (that would be over heal).

I love the combo of Restoration + Draw Spirit + Spirit to Flesh.

Yeah, I'll grant you most of their spells take time to cast and are conditional (must be near spirit, must have a weapon spell on, etc.) but the bonuses you get with the conditions are met (which it should always be) are awesome.

But to each their own I guess. Low energy, quick casting on individuals, is great when you are a monk (divine favor is sweet). But I find a lack of DF is not good to keep a /Mo as a primary healer. Fast Casting Healer Me/Mo or more energy healer E/Mo just isn't the same for me.

LightningHell · Jan 12, 2007, 03:02 PM // 15:02

E/Mo Ether-Prod-Heal-Party is awesome, though. LoD is somewhat weaker, but you can bring that on an actual monk.

ss1986v2 · Jan 12, 2007, 10:59 PM // 22:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pick Me

Minor typo there, its a potential 120 hp heal per person, not 1200 (that would be over heal).

no, its no typo, i was referring to total healing potential. at 14 restoration and above, life heals for 5 points for each second its been up. if it lasts 30 seconds, it heals for 150 hp. then if all 8 people in your party are near the spirit, its a 1200 hp heal. again, this is under ideal conditions, but still an impressive heal if dropped in the middle of battle. (side note: it equates to about 3 heal partys at 8 healing prayers in total healing potential).

dont get me wrong, i love my rit. in pve and lower-tier pvp, they are amazing. because you can easily meet the conditions, thus boosting your healing potential up to and sometimes exceeding that of a monks. its just that ive yet to see a rit make a place for itself in any high end pvp as a healer. and i myself have never had any luck running them in that environment either.

Shadow of Light · Jan 13, 2007, 05:34 AM // 05:34

Hmmm... I have both a monk (my oldest char) and a rit. I have to say I get more enjoyment out of my rit, but it can be easier to play a monk because they're more popular. You'll almost always be able to get into PUGs.

Since getting Heroes I've been smiting quite often, and having fun with it. But while I personally believe Monks make better dedicated healers, I think Rits are the most fun and have a better range of abilities and versatility.

My 2 cents.