Curse

Nytrix · Aug 11, 2009, 05:43 AM // 05:43

So ive been doing some pvp on my monk and been seeing people with Sheild + Spear sets and other people talking about 40/40 wands. Would anyone explain what these mean and what mods are usually on them?

subarucar · Aug 11, 2009, 06:59 AM // 06:59

Usually people have a Spear/sword/axe with a 15% damage -5 Energy mod, so they can "hide" energy, Monks usually have a lengthens enchant mod on this, while most other professions take +hp mod. They will also have s spear/sword/axe with +5 energy, so they have a reasonable amount of energy while still in a defensive set.

Most PvP'ers carry multiple shields, each having +hp and each will have a different +armour bonus (vs fire, vs piercing etc).

The 40/40 set uses a 20/20 wand and a 20/20 focus. These give you a chance of halving the casting time and/or recharge time of your spells.
The 20/20 wands have an Aptitude not Attitude inscription, with a wrapping of Memory.
The 20/20 Focuses have a Forget Me Not inscription and an Aptitude focus core.

Still Number One · Aug 11, 2009, 08:34 AM // 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by subarucar

Monks usually have a lengthens enchant mod on this, while most other professions take +hp mod.

Even on a monk having 20% enchant on a sword or spear isn't the best option. Everyone I know either uses +30 health or +5 armor. Your prot staff is for enchantments. Your shield set is for staying alive and hiding energy (although hiding energy isn't a huge deal anymore since dom mesmers pretty much aren't used).

GuLLinda · Aug 11, 2009, 08:53 AM // 08:53

Short:

1. 40/40 or 20%ench +5 energy with 20/20
2. +5 +30hp + shield with different mods.
3. High energy staff.

All depends much on the build though, there is no final answer what to use but for me is this most default.

Haxor · Aug 11, 2009, 02:18 PM // 14:18

20/20 means 20% chance of half casting time, 20% chance of half recharge time. 40/40 means having 20/20 on both your offhand, and your wand. 15/-1 means having the inscription that gives +15 energy, but takes off 1 energy regen.

As for what I usually carry when monking:

Staffs:
40/20 Heal staff of enchanting (20%)
40/20 Prot staff of enchanting (20%)

Wand/offhands:
20/20 Heal wand + 20/20 Heal offhand
15/-1 Heal wand + 15/-1 Heal offhand
(Consider adding the same for Prot/Divine, depending on the bar you're running.)

Martial weapons:
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +30hp
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +7 vs Elemental
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +7 vs Physical
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +20% enchant
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +30hp
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +7 vs Elemental
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +7 vs Physical
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +20% enchant
(Consider swapping Cripple for Adrenaline, depending on whether you're Mo/A or Mo/W)

Shields:
+10 vs Fire, +30hp
+10 vs Cold, +30hp
+10 vs Earth, +30hp
+10 vs Lightning, +30hp
+10 vs Slashing, +30hp
+10v vs Blunt, +30hp
+10 vs Piercing, +30hp
-20% Cripple, +30hp
-20% Daze, +30hp
-20% Deep Wound, +30hp

I think that covers it.

deluxe · Aug 11, 2009, 02:32 PM // 14:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Still Number One

Even on a monk having 20% enchant on a sword or spear isn't the best option. Everyone I know either uses +30 health or +5 armor. Your prot staff is for enchantments. Your shield set is for staying alive and hiding energy (although hiding energy isn't a huge deal anymore since dom mesmers pretty much aren't used).

Edenial in the form of Ether Phantom/Drain Delusions is very much played atm, and most rangers carry debilitating shot.

Trylo · Aug 11, 2009, 06:08 PM // 18:08

you dont need everything haxor said. you need the staffs and the wands, not so much the -20% [condition] mods or the specialized spear mods. unless you somehow magically got 10 weapon slots for easy changing, having all of those is usually not going to help. obviously it could never hurt, but you should start off slow and see what you should be doing.

at the start of a match, size up the other team and see who will being dealing the most damage to you. if its a fire ele, switch to your fire shield. if its a sin, switch to your piercing shield. in HA you shouldnt really need more than fire (mathway), piercing (bbway/PS sins), and slashing (iway) shields. obviusly it will not hurt to have more.

having different spears is nice, but again you probably wont have much time to swap mid battle if it isnt already on a preset weapon swap. when running WoH, i generally end up having a +30/-2 set on f1, a prot staff 40/20/20% on f2, a 40/40 heal set on f3, and a shield set on f4. if going only prot or only heal, then you can drop one of the spellcasting slots and bring a more specialized set, such as a +7 vs elements spear and a +10 fire shield or edenial set (if against say mathway/SF, otherwise +5 al is better). also, i would suggest switching the f1-4 shortcuts to something easy for you to reach when monking, i use shift, ctrl, and 2 mouse buttons.

honestly, i dont run an edenial set because i use a 10% HRT mod on my spear and not a +5e mod. +5e seems really worthless to me. +5e does not help you in any way other than simply extending your energy pool while on a shield set, which overall is not a huge benefit seeing how easy it is to switch weapon sets. HRT at least helps with things such as AoS, veil, and possibly SB. or you could start in a -5e set and see how that works out.

Revelations · Aug 11, 2009, 06:22 PM // 18:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haxor

Martial weapons:
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +30hp
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +7 vs Elemental
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +7 vs Physical
+33% Cripple, +5 energy, +20% enchant
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +30hp
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +7 vs Elemental
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +7 vs Physical
+33% Cripple, -5 energy, +20% enchant
(Consider swapping Cripple for Adrenaline, depending on whether you're Mo/A or Mo/W)

Despite +phys/+ele martial weapon mods having a slightly higher addition to armor vs their given type, you'll probably find that +5 universal ends up preventing a lot more damage against relatively balanced teams. I'd only use the +7 vs type against various gimmicks, and only if I was in something of a pedantic mood at the time.

Reverend Dr · Aug 11, 2009, 10:13 PM // 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haxor

I think that covers it.

Don't forget

shield -3 physical damage (while hexed), +60hp (while hexed)

Obviously don't run it if you have deep hex removal, but if you are getting barbs trained, I can think of nothing better.

Morgan Crowe · Aug 12, 2009, 03:49 PM // 15:49

Quote:

Staffs:
40/20 Heal staff of enchanting (20%)

That's kinda useless - it's only effective when running spotless. -20% Dazed and -20% Deep Wound are also a bad choice. You'd do better running a slashing/blunt shield vs sword/axe or hammerwars.

Reverend Dr · Aug 12, 2009, 06:56 PM // 18:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morgan Crowe

-20% Dazed and -20% Deep Wound are also a bad choice.

How could they be a bad choice if you can swap shields as needed? Okay they are a bad choice if you are going to sit in a single shield set the whole match, which sitting in a single shield and not swapping as appropriate for the match is bad in its own respect.

Still Number One · Aug 12, 2009, 07:03 PM // 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by deluxe

Edenial in the form of Ether Phantom/Drain Delusions is very much played atm, and most rangers carry debilitating shot.

Thanks for clearing that up. I haven't played since May and those two things were used but seemed like they were getting more rare. Good to know some forms of e-denial are still around.

Trylo · Aug 12, 2009, 11:47 PM // 23:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reverend Dr

How could they be a bad choice if you can swap shields as needed? Okay they are a bad choice if you are going to sit in a single shield set the whole match, which sitting in a single shield and not swapping as appropriate for the match is bad in its own respect.

if i absolutely need my other four slots for buffing skill effects, then honestly who is going to be opening their inventory midmatch and double clicking the right shield for ~1 or 2 seconds off daze? i would rather be kiting. also losing 60 health is quite a hefty spike if you get hex removal, and i kinda doubt the -3 damage is better than +10 vs slashing but i could be wrong there.

Reverend Dr · Aug 13, 2009, 01:55 AM // 01:55

In answer to your question, a player that would do that is the type of player that will do whatever they can to get an advantage. Hell as a warrior I keep my slots reserved for weapon swaps and switch offhand exclusively via inventory.

As I said, don't run +60 hexed if you are running deep hex removal (purge, convert, P&H). As a monk you should know where your spot removals (holy veil, cure hex) are going. You will lose the 60 when you know you are going to lose the 60, either when you cast hex removal, you call for hex removal, or the hexes wear off.

Sun Fired Blank · Aug 13, 2009, 07:35 AM // 07:35

Quote:

Staffs:
40/20 Heal staff of enchanting (20%)

That's kinda useless - it's only effective when running spotless.

Not even. HSR% on a stave is universal; enchanting is also universal. The only benefit versus casting it on a prot stave is 40% HCT, and that's not very useful on a .25 second cast.

superraptors · Aug 13, 2009, 10:49 PM // 22:49

full disciples insignias and and armor spear with shield set and your set

Haxor · Aug 14, 2009, 03:32 PM // 15:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morgan Crowe

That's kinda useless - it's only effective when running spotless. -20% Dazed and -20% Deep Wound are also a bad choice. You'd do better running a slashing/blunt shield vs sword/axe or hammerwars.

I'll concede that the healing staff is actually quite useless, and I never really noticed that. The -20% Daze/DW however are for when I'm running draw conditions. Which, in RA, is pretty much always. Just 'cause I have a condition doesn't mean I'm getting hit, and I like to save mendtouch for when it's really needed.

Oh, and I have my inventory open at all times, shield or spear swapping from it takes only an instant once you get used to it.

jaximus · Aug 14, 2009, 05:40 PM // 17:40

the sets i use are 40/40 heal set, +5armor 10%hct sword/shields(some prefer spears over swords so you can c + space to avoid bulls, or to build adren for bonettis in arenas, but i like the sword so i dont accidently attack and cancel warding if there is one), 40/20 20%ench prot staff, and a 30/-2 high set. i have full disciples with +1 df, +1 prot, +1+1 heal, +50hp, +10hp so i have 570 hps on my def set/540 on casting sets but with disciples and q7/8 shields with 15/16 al, you take very little damage. i have a fire/cold/lightning, pierce/slash/blunt, cripple shield. mainly in the arenas/ab i sit on the pierce or fire because they are the least predictable damage types(aka sin tele spikes, or ranger int spam), or in the case of fire, they spam on you. you can easily enough kite/guardian/d stance out of slash/blunt damage or change as you see necessary. i play frontline a lot, and watch shields/wep sets on targets so if you see that are changing a shield just for you (vamp says HEY IM USING PHYSICAL XXX DAMAGE) then they may go elemental damage and negate your +10. so if you have money, get at least one q7 15, or a q8 16 and camp that one the most(obviously, having a full set would be ideal)(one below your att spec is the best for weakness so then you dont lose the +7/8 and gain the 15 from disciples). ive been collecting for a while, so i have all q7s, 8s so by swapping i have more to gain. and as for the +7 v phys/elem its just best to go with +5 always. the little bit you gain with the +2 is lost with the -5 unless its a very single dimensional team/gimmic. also for the martial i carry +5ar/10% hct, +30hp/10% hct, +5ar/-5e, +30hp/-5e. generally as a rule of thumb, sit on the +5 armor to start matches unless its b spam because it helps to prevent damage/deaths but once you get ~30%dp if you have full disciples, your hp is getting into that range where you are susceptible to being spiked even with high armor, so swap to the +30hp. i dont personally like the +5 energy martials because then there isnt enough discrepancy between your def set and casting sets so you are more vulnerable to e denial. also running at 30 energy on your def set makes you play smart and efficiently.

Jam Jar · Aug 15, 2009, 08:05 AM // 08:05

I'd thought I interject and ask a question, I've been seeing a lot of players use wand/shield sets or martial/focus sets, and I have no idea why. Any ideas? Or is this just plain stupid?

Revelations · Aug 15, 2009, 08:21 AM // 08:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jam Jar

I'd thought I interject and ask a question, I've been seeing a lot of players use wand/shield sets or martial/focus sets, and I have no idea why. Any ideas? Or is this just plain stupid?

As far as I can tell, most of the players who do this are just bad. The wand/shield is oft' used in RA as a single set by people who are too lazy/don't know how to swap.

Not entirely sure on the usual thinking behind martial/focus set - though I have used something like it for Divine Spirit on occasion. As far as I can tell, that sort of set is only useful for long recharge quick cast spells that you really want to get a HSR on. Though observing other players with this sort of set usually reveals a similar lack of swapping, so my conclusion is that the players who cart these around are just bad also.