Curse

Henchman · May 17, 2007, 03:57 PM // 15:57

[skill]Zealous Benediction[/skill]
Why is Zealous Benediction a Protection Spell, and not a Healing Prayer?
This is a question I've pondered upon ever since I first saw the skill.
ZB is a pure healing spell, and has nothing to do with protection.
The skill is pretty much "Heal Other" with a tax deduction, providing your target elligable. Placing it in the protection line is about the same as creating a water spell that causes burning.
As the game stands today, protection monks are apparently more popular then healing monks. This skill is even more powerfull than most healing spells(its even more powerful than Keystone Signet!!

), and allows a protection monk to act as a healing monk as well, making them even more superior than healing monks.
I think ZB should be moved to healing prayers, where it rightfully belongs.
Who thinks the same?

I'll even throw it a moving away party, you're all invited (except mesmers, I hate mesmers)

(Don't take me seriously on that last sentance..)

Stupid Shizno · May 17, 2007, 04:05 PM // 16:05

most likley because theres only a few elites used as monks in the prot line for pvp, and ZB opens it up a bit more for creativity. im glad its in prot

Lurid · May 17, 2007, 06:31 PM // 18:31

Actually I see far more elite skills from the Protection Prayers line being used in PvP than Healing Prayers line. I dislike this skill, very much so. Why you might ask? If you're running prot, you're almost certainly going to be running a high Divine Favor. This skill's second effect only triggers when the target is below 50% health, Divine Favor bonuses are applied before this skill's second effect. Therefore your target has to be low enough on health that the Divine Favor bonus won't cause the target to go over 50% health, which means waiting longer before you heal / prot, which increases the chances of the target dieing.

If you don't wait then it more or less becomes a "Heal Other" type spell in the Protection Prayers line, not necessary a bad thing, but I can think of several elites that I would rather be carrying.

Raven Nebula · May 17, 2007, 06:45 PM // 18:45

Or you lower your points in divine favor to make the skill more useful. It works well this way if you then have high prot and decently high healing as well with GoH as another decent heal so you're not relying on divine favor to heal. In my opinion this is the best way to run a ZB monk. But no matter how you use it, ZB isn't an elite that you spam (or at least unless your team is getting raped >.> in which case you aren't protting efficiently in the first place). The +7e isn't as good as the old 10, but it beats 0.

In regards to the original post - I am not quite sure. Only thing I can think of is that the dev team decided the prot line needed a good strong heal so that if you were to run straight prot you could be efficient. I am happy it is prot because I like my ZB builds. On the other hand, I think it would have made more sense to made the two attribute areas have a more clear distinction. I have that problem with a lot of skills in GW. Some classes have very clearcut attributes, like a warrior or ele. An axe skill falls obviously into one attribute. However, others are more fuzzy. But, that would go in my list of complaints with things like shield mods that have a % to block and rangers having two weapons, not just a bow, but also arrows that they can mod. Oh well....

Raven Nebula · May 17, 2007, 06:45 PM // 18:45

Or you lower your points in divine favor to make the skill more useful. It works well this way if you then have high prot and decently high healing as well with GoH as another decent heal so you're not relying on divine favor to heal. In my opinion this is the best way to run a ZB monk. But no matter how you use it, ZB isn't an elite that you spam (or at least unless your team is getting raped >.> in which case you aren't protting efficiently in the first place). The +7e isn't as good as the old 10, but it beats 0.

In regards to the original post - I am not quite sure. Only thing I can think of is that the dev team decided the prot line needed a good strong heal so that if you were to run straight prot you could be efficient. I am happy it is prot because I like my ZB builds. On the other hand, I think it would have made more sense to made the two attribute areas have a more clear distinction. I have that problem with a lot of skills in GW. Some classes have very clearcut attributes, like a warrior or ele. An axe skill falls obviously into one attribute. However, others are more fuzzy. But, that would go in my list of complaints with things like shield mods that have a % to block and rangers having two weapons, not just a bow, but also arrows that they can mod. Oh well....

Dr Strangelove · May 17, 2007, 07:08 PM // 19:08

It's because if it were in healing prayers, no one would use it.

olly123 · May 17, 2007, 07:16 PM // 19:16

there was ththread in the sedejestion forum when NF first came out, but i believe its cos with protect u end up nogatiating the damage but theres stil lthat damage that slips through so u need to heal up, and with gift imo never ment for protect builds its anets way of saying dont use gift use this supadupa elite, i like it, but ive gone off it on to divert. so tbh it does look a bit more to do with healing but id prefer it to stay in prot

moko · May 17, 2007, 07:26 PM // 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lurid

Actually I see far more elite skills from the Protection Prayers line being used in PvP than Healing Prayers line. I dislike this skill, very much so. Why you might ask? If you're running prot, you're almost certainly going to be running a high Divine Favor. This skill's second effect only triggers when the target is below 50% health, Divine Favor bonuses are applied before this skill's second effect. Therefore your target has to be low enough on health that the Divine Favor bonus won't cause the target to go over 50% health, which means waiting longer before you heal / prot, which increases the chances of the target dieing.

WRONG! please, do not spread FALSE information. go to the battle isles, infuse something, then use a vamp weapon for a second (so you are BELOW 50%, not at exactly 50%) with HIGH DF and you WILL get the energy bonus.

it's been prooven ages ago as well..

ZB is in the prot line because .. it is. :P it would be too bad as healing spell.

protection lacked some heal up, and it got it with ZB.

but in the end, who cares? there's better elites to use, for prot and healing, even if it was healing, so meh.

Blow Up Doll · May 17, 2007, 08:40 PM // 20:40

The idea of a prot is to stop the damage ever happening...all a healer is there for is to clear up where the prot has 'missed a spot'. Perfect protting negates the need for all healing however that isnt always possible. Sig of devotion or gift of health are usually what people use to clear up thier mistakes. zB is just a 'suped' up version of these (with more energy management potential than gift).
Looking at it from a pvp perspective...in 4man teams it allows your monk to be a prot (because what else would they want to be?) but they have much more survivability (big free self-heal), more margin for error (easier to clean up mistakes made in protting etc. For 8man teams...people used to run boon prots. They got nerfed. Then blessed light prots (it is a nice heal and gives hex/condition removal ofc - generally nice elite). zB is along the same lines. 2 good prots with such elites that give decent healing also can do the job of a 3monk backline freeing up for space in the team for offence.
In short - prot > heal. zB makes it much easier to mop up mistakes (sig of devotion won't always keep those bars up) allowing you to run pure prots without having to spec in heal and waste points.
In fact it was so good that they nerfed it...still nice though.

+all of what moko said (a much as i have said zB is good...it is but there are other better elites ...divert hexes)

Lurid · May 17, 2007, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

WRONG! please, do not spread FALSE information. go to the battle isles, infuse something, then use a vamp weapon for a second (so you are BELOW 50%, not at exactly 50%) with HIGH DF and you WILL get the energy bonus.

it's been prooven ages ago as well..

ZB is in the prot line because .. it is. :P it would be too bad as healing spell.

protection lacked some heal up, and it got it with ZB.

but in the end, who cares? there's better elites to use, for prot and healing, even if it was healing, so meh.

You might want to tell the people who update the wiki otherwise:

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Zealous_Benediction

This skill now considers the 50% mark after the Divine Favor bonus is applied. If you are explicitly seeking to meet the conditional requirement, waiting for your target to be at 45% health before casting is more reliable.

lacasner · May 17, 2007, 08:49 PM // 20:49

Because Anet favors prot monks?

Patrick Smit · May 17, 2007, 09:07 PM // 21:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lurid

You might want to tell the people who update the wiki otherwise:

It was described as Mokone said, however a recent update appearantly changed that. I verified this on battle isle, and am unhappy with it. I really dislike the change and cannot recalll it being reported. The word of healing mechanic was shite as well, then they changed that to being applied before DF bonus, now they make an inconsistent move by applying ZB after DF bonus. Rationale in mechanics is unfortunately difficult to maintain at the "nerf" department.

Racthoh · May 17, 2007, 10:01 PM // 22:01

It's a Protection spell because the Protection line requires you to know how to use your skills to their best effect. The Healing line, however, is a simple thought process of "you're missing x health and y spell will for less than x health" for the majority of their skills. You can play with ZB on your bar and play with it like it is a Healing Prayers spell; using it whenever someone is short that x health to bring the bar close to the top. But like a pure healer vs. a pure prot monk, you'll find your energy reserves dropping very quickly if all you can do is top off the red bars.

Healing Light has a similar clause; gain x energy if y is met. But, if something is needing healing, it probably has a prot or some kind of enchantment on it already to slow their demise.

Grammar · May 17, 2007, 10:01 PM // 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henchman

Why is Zealous Benediction a Protection Spell, and not a Healing Prayer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henchman

ZB is a pure healing spell, and has nothing to do with protection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Henchman

[...]and allows a protection monk to act as a healing monk as well, making them even more superior than healing monks.

Shhhh, quiet! Anet might hear you! (ZB in prot line FTW!)

But yeah, it sounds like they secretly nerfed ZB by adding the DF bonus before it checks for the 50%, just like Word of Healing did back in the day.
I say "sounds like" because that's what everyone has been telling me. I've been far too lazy lately to go test it myself.

Someone feel like giving it a test and posting some screenies?

Age · May 17, 2007, 10:32 PM // 22:32

It is in portect because most monks in PvP use protect unless you are an LoD infuser.This gives you a good spike healer similiar to infuse health.They Anet are trying to make Monks use thier own elites instead of others.

moko · May 17, 2007, 10:47 PM // 22:47

you guys are silly. =P

weaponset one- vampiric
weaponset two- non vampiric

first screens, i infused, zb with sundering axe. no bonus.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8536/gw355sy8.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1300/gw356wy0.jpg

in these, i infused, switched to vampiric, gained energy.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8457/gw358ut8.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2443/gw359tg9.jpg

as you can see, i run divine favor.

silly people. :P someone fix the wiki now!

Quote:

most monks in PvP use protect unless you are an LoD infuser.

LoD Infuse uses protection also.

Quote:

Because Anet favors prot monks?

really funny, lol. ^_^

Age · May 17, 2007, 11:07 PM // 23:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

you guys are silly. =P

weaponset one- vampiric
weaponset two- non vampiric

first screens, i infused, zb with sundering axe. no bonus.

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/8536/gw355sy8.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1300/gw356wy0.jpg

in these, i infused, switched to vampiric, gained energy.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8457/gw358ut8.jpg
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2443/gw359tg9.jpg

as you can see, i run divine favor.

silly people. :P someone fix the wiki now!

LoD Infuse uses protection also.

really funny, lol. ^_^

Yeah I know LoD infuses use protect as well ike the Mo/W build I download before the wiki wiped the builds.What is that build a resser build wth lots of resses?

ZenRgy · May 17, 2007, 11:13 PM // 23:13

Because Anet needed to give people a reason not to use healing because it's so crap compared to healing.

XvArchonvX · May 17, 2007, 11:13 PM // 23:13

Why is [skill]Dark Bond[/skill] in blood magic? Not all skills act exactly like their attribute would lead you to believe...

Lurid · May 17, 2007, 11:37 PM // 23:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Smit

It was described as Mokone said, however a recent update appearantly changed that. I verified this on battle isle, and am unhappy with it. I really dislike the change and cannot recalll it being reported. The word of healing mechanic was shite as well, then they changed that to being applied before DF bonus, now they make an inconsistent move by applying ZB after DF bonus. Rationale in mechanics is unfortunately difficult to maintain at the "nerf" department.

Oh I don't dispute it, I was just showing where I had gotten my information from. I don't think my post was spreading quite as much false information as the wiki article