Curse

serpentdragon · Dec 20, 2007, 11:26 PM // 23:26

Protection - 16
Divine Favor - 13

Skills
Reversal of Fortune
Dismiss Condition
Zealous Benediction (Elite)
Protective Spirit
Glyph of Lesser Energy
Aegis
Holy Veil
Rebirth

Max armor with Radiant Insignias
Runes of Minor Divine Favor, Superior Protection Prayers, Superior Vigor

This build is strictly PvE. What are your thoughts on the skills and the choice of runes?

Age · Dec 20, 2007, 11:57 PM // 23:57

Looks good to me for pve I even the radiants are ok most would go with survivors.

Faer · Dec 21, 2007, 12:21 AM // 00:21

Drop the Radiants for Survivors, and replace the Superior Protection rune with a Minor. Monster AI has this neat little bit of coding that says "go for the people with the least health first1!11!!lOLOl!!1!". You could also drop Divine Favor to 10, replace Rebirth with Gift of Health, and put everything you can into Healing Prayers (gives you a nice, cheap power heal).

ZB is kind of lackluster these days, but it's still okay for PvE.

Div · Dec 21, 2007, 06:33 AM // 06:33

Why do people like to title their thread "Mo/X, thoughts?" It's not very informative. But whatever, decent enough build after making faer's changes.

TEB Elite · Dec 21, 2007, 12:23 PM // 12:23

You may even consider dropping the ele secondary and replacing gole for [skill]Divine Spirit[/skill]

Then you could drop rebirth, and use a better secondary for a more useful skill (mesmer, para mebe)

Wakka · Dec 21, 2007, 12:25 PM // 12:25

GoLE is godly dont drop it

NinjaKai · Dec 21, 2007, 01:52 PM // 13:52

I have to agree. If your build had many 5e skills then Divine Spirit would be perfect. But given the number of 10e spells you have, keep GoLE.

ender6 · Dec 21, 2007, 03:15 PM // 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wakka

GoLE is godly dont drop it

GoLE is overrated. Nevertheless for a novice monk it can be a godsend.

ender6 · Dec 21, 2007, 05:57 PM // 17:57

To elaborate on what I said:

I believe there truly isn't a need for GoLE. Every skill on your bar should provide an active function (by this I simply mean, have an actual effect on a player character prot/heal/remove hex). If used properly you should have no energy problems.--is this always the case? Of course not, people make mistakes and GoLE is a nice skill to have when you are trying to manage energy. However, GoLE should become less necessary as you get more proficient at monking. This is my firm belief.

Wakka · Dec 21, 2007, 06:39 PM // 18:39

Quote:

I believe there truly isn't a need for GoLE. Every skill on your bar should provide an active function (by this I simply mean, have an actual effect on a player character prot/heal/remove hex). If used properly you should have no energy problems.--is this always the case? Of course not, people make mistakes and GoLE is a nice skill to have when you are trying to manage energy. However, GoLE should become less necessary as you get more proficient at monking. This is my firm belief.

Although this is true, it still doesn't explain why GoLE is overrated?

ender6 · Dec 21, 2007, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wakka

Although this is true, it still doesn't explain why GoLE is overrated?

I think it is overrated because monks consider it a must if they have skills like [skill]protective spirit[/skill] and [skill]aegis[/skill] on their bar.

Wakka · Dec 21, 2007, 06:49 PM // 18:49

Wouldn't make it overrated tbh.

Check any of the skill usage charts for any top GvG monthly game

you'll find GoLE there. So its not only for low skilled players ^_^

Wakka · Dec 21, 2007, 07:22 PM // 19:22

Quote:

Perhaps I should have said that GoLE is over used, or perhaps relied on too heavily

I dont see any problems with that tbh. I mean look at RoF, its one of the most overused skills in the game.

If a skill is overused there is a reason for that lol it tends to be good.

Age · Dec 21, 2007, 10:22 PM // 22:22

Yeah would drop the superior didn't see it at first and go for a minor.

Melody Cross · Dec 21, 2007, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wakka

Wouldn't make it overrated tbh.

Check any of the skill usage charts for any top GvG monthly game

you'll find GoLE there. So its not only for low skilled players ^_^

This, imo, is why its overrated in PvE. A skill or set of skills that work well in a PvP environment may not work as well (I say as well) in a PvE one. What you need to take to counter RL players and what AI will let you get away with are worlds apart. Therefor, your builds can be much more flexible.

GoLE is not a bad skill by any means, and monks should use it if it fits their bar (in the OPs case, it fits alright). But its way too easy to fall into the "its meta" trap and end up copying builds skill for skill from obs...which means you run something thats not comfortable for your playstyle, or effective in your area. Or (much worse, imho) you run something without understanding why its on your bar in the first place. There are several reasons why goLE sees play in GvG. Acting as an energy manager is only one of them.

I may get flamed for saying this but...GvG is not PvE. Not everything that is godly there, is godly here.

For the OP: ZB is...not the best choice unless you're solo backline with a small group. Its great in RA/TA/AB/4-man/6-man because you have general control over which way the red bars are falling. But if you have another monk (even a hero monk) I usually recommend WoH for healing and hybrid healing builds. If your other monk is a hero, I suggest giving them the WoH and you can handle SoD (they like to make red bars go up; you'll be better suited keeping them from going down). If running with friends, hybrid WoH is a solid choice for most pressure situations. If one of you takes PS and the other takes SB, you can handle just about all the pressure that gets past your tank.

Veil is also not my first choice for PvE. Remove Hex has better recycle, so I tend to bring that. If running an energy manager, I do tend to use Divine Spirit, so that I can fuel Deny Hexes. Last is Cure Hex for Hybrid healing builds, since I tend to have a 40/40 set lying around and it gets the proc. Pre-Veiling is the last thing I usually consider for PvE. The double cast time is very nice when the tank can use it well, but enchant strips are everywhere, cheap, and regularly used (HM particularly).

Backlines should have 1 hard rez for missions, and that rez should be Rebirth. But only one--one!--hard rez. The other monk, probably a hybrid WoH hero if you take my suggestions, can roll a full 8-skill bar and feel comfortable knowing that if things go to pot, you can get out of trouble through heavy self prots and get the team back up. On a forum, 2-monk backlines can handle everything thats thrown at them and laugh in the face of every mob/player/boss. In game, I tend to find most players like seeing Rebirth (aka "plan B") on the monk. I'm not saying that some people here have a tendency to exaggerate their skill level...I'm not saying that at all

A nice trick to use with GoLE and Rebirth is to swap to a low energy set, cast GoLE and spam off two Rebirths quick as you can. Thats two corpsepulls back to back. With proper energy spacment throughout your sets (wand/offhand; staff; emergency) you can get most of your team up and regenerating in a little over 30 seconds. Now, remind me here: how long is the recycle on GoLE?

Also: I have become less and less a fan of Dismiss. Sure its a good skill, but Mend Condition in a 2-monk backline is better, imo. It does what you need it to and heals when you need it to. Dismiss is a self heal that removes conditions. Its good at that, but its not so hot when keeping up against poison/blind/weakness spam or trying to clear off burning when faced with a couple of SF eles (when was the last time you saw one of those in serious PvP?). Take Dismiss when you split, for all--what--five missions/quests in the game where you might need to.

Lastly: I don't diss Superiors in PvE and kinda LoL at the players that do. I'm old school enough to remember one thing that was uber-pwnage that every other player seem to forget:ARMOR CAN BE SWAPPED

So its fine to run a Superior rune, but I recommend you keep it on your head and keep a minor rune on a backup headpiece. You never know when you'll want that extra 75 HP, but its nice to know you can have your cake and eat it too, neh?

GGs

Age · Dec 21, 2007, 11:18 PM // 23:18

When you but it that way Melody I tend to agree with you on GoLE as I used 10 e skill as/W.I can see where SoD would be better than ZB.I like Dismiss because it is much like mend ailment before it got balance to 5 recharge instead of just keeping it to 2.I would probably use withdraw conditions as I get a heal out of it.I guess you could use superior along with a minor.

Grammar · Dec 22, 2007, 12:04 AM // 00:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by ender6

I believe there truly isn't a need for GoLE. Every skill on your bar should provide an active function (by this I simply mean, have an actual effect on a player character prot/heal/remove hex). If used properly you should have no energy problems.

I'll come to your defense and agree with you here.
I'm not a fan of GoLE in PvE; it's just a dead slot on your bar that doesn't add any functionability, and on top of that it's clunky as hell.

If you're high set isn't enough energy for you in a PvE fight, then you and/or your party is probably doing something wrong.
I will never understand why people take GoLE over something like Aegis in PvE. Aegis not only save lives, but will probably save you more energy than GoLE will anyway, as it's just about the most efficient use of 10e imaginable against melee heavy mobs.

My advice to the OP: drop GoLE and add Shield of Absorption .

NinjaKai · Dec 22, 2007, 12:57 AM // 00:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grammar

I'll come to your defense and agree with you here.
I'm not a fan of GoLE in PvE; it's just a dead slot on your bar that doesn't add any functionability, and on top of that it's clunky as hell.

If you're high set isn't enough energy for you in a PvE fight, then you and/or your party is probably doing something wrong.
I will never understand why people take GoLE over something like Aegis in PvE. Aegis not only save lives, but will probably save you more energy than GoLE will anyway, as it's just about the most efficient use of 10e imaginable against melee heavy mobs.

My advice to the OP: drop GoLE and add Shield of Absorption .

I have to agree aswell. With proper energy management you won't run into energy problems. (First character was a mesmer so I learned how to manage my energy.)

I do realise this contradicts my earlier post. But upon inspection of my own builds I find that none of them actually use GoLE. Of course that is due to the skills I use mainly being 5 energy skills and the odd signet making GoLE useless to me.

Burst Cancel · Dec 22, 2007, 02:19 PM // 14:19

The real issue here: put in WoH for ZB, and drop GoLE.

LightningHell · Dec 22, 2007, 03:31 PM // 15:31

Stop the catfighting.

Quote:

I may get flamed for saying this but...GvG is not PvE. Not everything that is godly there, is godly here.

I'd agree. However, do note that everything in GvG can be run in with reasonable effectiveness in PvE, as they are optimized for difficult opponents.

Of which, I'd be inclined to agree that GoLE is somewhat overrated, but it is at least somewhat useful. Although I'd disagree with the word "overrated".

I tend to bring it out of habit anyway, so I'm not really in a position to say anything.