Curse

urania · May 03, 2007, 10:55 PM // 22:55

every good team spikes in TA, if their build allows it.

moko · May 04, 2007, 09:12 AM // 09:12

DON'T FORGET RITSPIKES :PPPP -_-

and yes, people do spike in TA. i've seen attempts of an eurospike, a rainbow spike, assaspikes, ritspikes, necspikes (many), mesmer spikes, rangerspikes, the list goes on, and just random teams that totally have no clue how to build a team tried to spike as well...or maybe it was just the monkstomp......

but yeah, overall, people spike a lot.

Genova · May 04, 2007, 11:49 AM // 11:49

I definitely love this topic, and I agree that most teams tend to spike, even if it is in the form of basic monk stomping at regular intervals.

Question 1.
I hope that there are non-monks reading this thread, because I'd like some piece of advice. How do you know when the opposite monk is about to break ? Do you look at his weapon sets, wait for key interrupts, or for your skills to recharge before monkstomping againg ? If I know what you think, it could help me to hide these obvious signs of weakness.

Question 2.
As I improve my understanding of playing a monk, something happened today. I'm used to lead our GvGs (as a monk most often then not), and our TA group. My guild leader, even though he doesn't know much about pvp, was playing a shadow prison sin. After some time he asked for another spike on a called target. As I was becoming very low on energy, I asked for a break : "I can't assist you anymore, please come back". Then he just tells me : "You have to, just do it". So did I and we won

.

Even if I know that we would win nethertheless, this brings me to the questions : "How do you know as a monk, what to do under pressure ? Do you rely on your team's leader/caller ? Do you plan ahead the use of the last resurrection signet mid-battle ?". I feel like it is something that can't be teached and is just about experience, but I hope that there are general rules to follow to maximize the odds of win.

Attempt of answer
Since you are the one who keeps the team alive, you may need to know who died in the other team to make the good choice. Letting the b-surge ele die when there is two attackers left seems to be a mistake. Generally, I choose to die first at all cost to beneficiate from the energy bonus when resurrected on my shield set and let the pressure go on the other monk's energy. If I perform well, with the last rez signet used, my teammates can continue the fight while I'm dead and time a hard rez latter (more health ensure that they don't die while attempting a rez). Is this the right thing to do (and I begin to have some hero complex), or just plain wrong

?

moko · May 04, 2007, 01:34 PM // 13:34

about the first, looking at the weaponsets is generally a good idea. if you see a shield at the start, swapping to a focus, and possibly a wand after that, get on the monk right away.

you can also look at the skills, for example if they do nothing but spam their signet due to energy lack, or if stuff is about to die.

the last thing is when the other monk runs around excessively, or backs up a lot, most likely desperately pinging while his team won't listen.

Quote:

"How do you know as a monk, what to do under pressure ?

it's a hard one. it depends on your team. guess it's a matter of experience with eachother within the teams. they will know how you play, you know how they play and react the appropriate way over time. there's just one basic role what to do while under pressure -- don't panic.

if there is someone about to die, yes, you gotta make a good choice. don't let your utility die. protect the one with the fewest self surviveability. if you have a hammer warrior, don't let them die, they might land a well timed KD for protection, and of course, keep those alive that still have sigs.

but in the end, there's no set rule, depends on build & situation.

Genova · May 07, 2007, 07:04 PM // 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

don't panic

That is the best piece of advice you could have given me so far, thank you very much. It helped me a lot to calm down and plan ahead. I feel I can't improve much without a team with good communication now. The thing is that since I am the one who define the strategy and see the weaknesses in the other team's build, I should stop to play monk and bring back my mesmer.

What do you think ? Are there any leaders out there that play monk ? I think most are warriors, rangers or maybe mesmers, though interrupting require so much attention you can't do anything else.

John cant monk · May 07, 2007, 10:01 PM // 22:01

Quote:

Are there any leaders out there that play monk ? I think most are warriors, rangers or maybe mesmers

It tends to be the frontline players that call tactics / spikes. For advice i would say keep soft targets under prot spirit, pre-veil yourself and melee characters if they have necro's or mesmers and kite

fb2000 · May 09, 2007, 12:27 PM // 12:27

getting used to watch your energy is something that was hardest for me. if you feel you suck at it, just take your -energy set and use it as often as you can. I stay at 32 energy most of the time now (its a -5 energy +5al sword, and a req8 shield i meet the req of with +10 vs slashing on it). it sure helps boost your efficiency a lot

Genova · May 09, 2007, 07:25 PM // 19:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by fb2000

getting used to watch your energy is something that was hardest for me. if you feel you suck at it, just take your -energy set and use it as often as you can. I stay at 32 energy most of the time now (its a -5 energy +5al sword, and a req8 shield i meet the req of with +10 vs slashing on it). it sure helps boost your efficiency a lot

I have set up my energy bar near the group panel and it is so big that I can't miss it lol (1/3 screen height). Same goes for maintained enchantments, I tend to never look at my hp since it is already in the group panel. The tricky thing is to chain cast while switching weapons, with lag I mess it up completely and I end not casting at all or staying too long on the set with low regen.

S H I M A R O · May 19, 2007, 07:37 PM // 19:37

I have been playing GW Monk, for two years, recently returned 2 months ago, (old shcool monking ftw :P).

Your right, Monking SKILLS are quite standard from monk to monk, But it does depend on what your doing, For exampl, TA and HA Require very different builds

Also to become a GOOD monk, is knowladge. Know when to run when youv eben targeted by a noob party who focus all damage on you, or when tehre spliting daamge, Knowlladge is the next step

Good luck

TheOneMephisto · May 20, 2007, 01:54 AM // 01:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by urania

every good team spikes in TA, if their build allows it.

I miss the days of coordinating rapid spikes with you're blindbot and dom mes while on an evis warrior...

Dzan · May 20, 2007, 02:44 PM // 14:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheOneMephisto

I miss the days of coordinating rapid spikes with you're blindbot and dom mes while on an evis warrior...

Back when most casters ran 435 health and 60 armor.

TheOneMephisto · May 20, 2007, 03:40 PM // 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dzan

Back when most casters ran 435 health and 60 armor.

lol yea. SP sins woulda rocked people back then.

Cammy · May 21, 2007, 06:07 AM // 06:07

So I saw a lot of posts out there that knock prot spirit + frenzied defense b/c prot spirit is supposedly less efficient than spirit bond in the arenas. But wouldn't spirit bond + frenzied defense work as well?

Spirit bond and frenzied defense have the same duration so they cover each other quite well, plus spirit bond activates on any attack over 60, so you no longer have to lower your health to take advantage of prot spirit (spirit bond > prot spirit @ 600+ health). Furthermore, with spirit bond you no longer bring in prot spirit just to cover yourself, since spirit bond is useful on allies as well.

IMO, after looking at all the tactics skills you could use for defense on a monk, if you can find some way to reduce damage (i.e. prot spirit/spirit bond), frenzied defense provides the highest block percentage, works on all attacks (attack skills + wanding + bows), lasts the longest, and recharges more quickly than disciplined stance, shield bash, deadly riposte, etc.

About the only negative I can come up with for spiritbond+frenzieddefense is that spirit bond is expensive, has a short duration, and high energy. But if you manage your energy well passivley with sig of devo and ZB it should be all right.

Anyways, I'm just trying to monk, and I'm not very good at it so please don't flame me if this post is total garbage. XD

<3

the_deSKtructor · May 21, 2007, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cammy

So I saw a lot of posts out there that knock prot spirit + frenzied defense b/c prot spirit is supposedly less efficient than spirit bond in the arenas. But wouldn't spirit bond + frenzied defense work as well?

Spirit bond and frenzied defense have the same duration so they cover each other quite well, plus spirit bond activates on any attack over 60, so you no longer have to lower your health to take advantage of prot spirit (spirit bond > prot spirit @ 600+ health). Furthermore, with spirit bond you no longer bring in prot spirit just to cover yourself, since spirit bond is useful on allies as well.

IMO, after looking at all the tactics skills you could use for defense on a monk, if you can find some way to reduce damage (i.e. prot spirit/spirit bond), frenzied defense provides the highest block percentage, works on all attacks (attack skills + wanding + bows), lasts the longest, and recharges more quickly than disciplined stance, shield bash, deadly riposte, etc.

About the only negative I can come up with for spiritbond+frenzieddefense is that spirit bond is expensive, has a short duration, and high energy. But if you manage your energy well passivley with sig of devo and ZB it should be all right.

Anyways, I'm just trying to monk, and I'm not very good at it so please don't flame me if this post is total garbage. XD

<3

spirit bond + frenzied defence is crap, they don't stack like u would.

urania · May 21, 2007, 06:50 AM // 06:50

in other words...bond willl only trigger if the ORIGINAL (ie damage dealt while not in frenzied) would be over 60. so you can still get easily hit for 120 while in frenzied and bond will not trigger and that kinda sucks

.

moko · May 21, 2007, 02:03 PM // 14:03

isn't that determined through the order of skill usage?

frenzied -> sb != sb -> frenzied?

but still, the recharge on frenzied does not matter, any smart person will attack you, you use your 15E combo and targetswap and you wasted energy. your stance should mainly be there for a dazed counter/spikes (melee spikes, nothing that includes casters), or possibly even a speedboost. that's why i've been liking natural stride so much lately. while with other stances, it's only 5E, plus the recharges are worse and therefore you cannot waste as much energy as you would do with frenzied.

*EDIT*

Base Damage - Wielder's Strike
Spirit bond -> Frenzied - no heal
Frenzied -> Spirit bond - heal

note; the order of the display icons (Spirit bond first, Frenzied second) is the same in both cases because stances are generally being displayed last -- so do not let this confuse you.

urania · May 21, 2007, 04:26 PM // 16:26

nice, I didn't know that, moko :]

Cammy · May 21, 2007, 09:53 PM // 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

isn't that determined through the order of skill usage?

frenzied -> sb != sb -> frenzied?

but still, the recharge on frenzied does not matter, any smart person will attack you, you use your 15E combo and targetswap and you wasted energy. your stance should mainly be there for a dazed counter/spikes (melee spikes, nothing that includes casters), or possibly even a speedboost. that's why i've been liking natural stride so much lately. while with other stances, it's only 5E, plus the recharges are worse and therefore you cannot waste as much energy as you would do with frenzied.

*EDIT*

Base Damage - Wielder's Strike
Spirit bond -> Frenzied - no heal
Frenzied -> Spirit bond - heal

note; the order of the display icons (Spirit bond first, Frenzied second) is the same in both cases because stances are generally being displayed last -- so do not let this confuse you.

If your stance is supposed to be in there for daze-counter/spikes, frenzied defense and prot spirit work great. Prot spirit is hard to interrupt with 1/4 activation time and frenzied defense is instantaneous, so if you're dazed, just prot spirit => frenzied d => mending touch, with only 25% chance of being interrupted by rangers/sins/warriors.

On spikes, prot spirit probably isn't as good as spirit bond, as mokone pointed out in that other thread, but it still does an adequate job of protecting you and allies from huge spikes and it's a minor tradeoff for the excellent defense from prot spirit + frenzied d. Plus, Prot spirit + RoF + sig of devo seems to work great.

Ah well w/e lol. Whatever makes you happy ^_^

LOL btw I love the guild chat in your screens mokone

Sounds like something I would do -.-

Edit by Mokone:

no double posting please. :P

Edit by Cammy:

Sorry!!! T_T

Divineshadows · May 22, 2007, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cammy

If your stance is supposed to be in there for daze-counter/spikes, frenzied defense and prot spirit work great. Prot spirit is hard to interrupt with 1/4 activation time and frenzied defense is instantaneous, so if you're dazed, just prot spirit => frenzied d => mending touch, with only 25% chance of being interrupted by rangers/sins/warriors.

Disciplined stance also gives you a 25% chance of being interrupted (per swing/arrow) on your mending touch without the drawback of being a crappy skill (i.e. frenzied defense) that forces you to bring prot spirit instead of the superior spirit bond.

TheOneMephisto · May 22, 2007, 12:24 AM // 00:24

Having an off-monk purge/draw beats any defensive stance for removing daze.