Curse

horseradish · Nov 04, 2007, 03:01 AM // 03:01

[skill]Protective Spirit[/skill] [skill]Spirit Bond[/skill]

I've been switch these skills around on my monk bar depending where i go, since i know for a fact that they have different purposes in different builds.

However....i don't know their niche exactly, and it annoys me. :P

So, im asking you guys if you can enlighten me on the correct way to use these two skills. thx

karunpav · Nov 04, 2007, 03:07 AM // 03:07

PS for ele/rit bosses in HM that deal 300 damage a spell
SB for packets of 80-100 damage hits

those are the basics right there.

Burst Cancel · Nov 04, 2007, 03:47 AM // 03:47

You can work out the math to determine which prevents more damage for different ranges of damage. To simplify the math, I'll assume that you have 600 health so that PS and SB both begin 'triggering' at 61 damage.

PS prevents: damage - 0.1*maxHealth
SB prevents: SBHeal

Therefore, SB heals/prevents more damage than PS for:
damage < SBHeal + 0.1*maxHealth

So, using typical numbers of maxHealth = 600 and SBHeal = 80 (10 prot), SB is better for:
damage < 80 + 60 = 140.

Verify: (damage = 140)
PS prevents: 140 - 60 = 80
SB prevents: 80

PS clearly outclasses SB in two situations: 1) the damage comes in big packets (generally anything 150~200+), and 2) damage is consistently and significantly over 10% of your max health. In the first situation, PS is better simply because it prevents more damage per hit, period. In the second situation, PS is better even if it prevents less damage per hit, simply because it lasts for much longer than SB will, and will therefore prevent more damage in the long run.

SB is generally stronger in PvP, because damage tends to fall into that sweet spot where SB pretty much nullifies or heals through the damage. Its lower duration is less of an issue because direct damage tends to be 'spiky', so you only need it to stay on for a few hits.

PS is stronger in higher-end PvE because a lot of monsters can hit 100+ pretty consistently against 60AL, and when there's a pack of them you'll want a prot that stays on for a good duration to prevent damage over a long period. Also, PS prevents lvl28~30 bosses from 2-hit killing you with their overpowered double-damage skills (Channeled Strike, I'm looking at you). That said, SB is still useful to save targets that are about to die, and SB+PS on the same ally = invulnerability + free heals for 10 hits.

Neither prot is really useful for damage = 60 or below, though SB is most efficient at exactly 61 damage.

Turbobusa · Nov 04, 2007, 10:04 AM // 10:04

Burst cancel said it all, PS for PvE, SB for PvP.

moko · Nov 04, 2007, 10:24 AM // 10:24

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...4&postcount=12

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...85&postcount=5

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...0&postcount=4i

horseradish · Nov 04, 2007, 07:05 PM // 19:05

whoo! wow thx guys