Curse

GWplayer745 · Nov 12, 2005, 06:09 AM // 06:09

I'm trying to get together a nice prot monk for use in Competition Arenas/Team Arenas. The build I have so far essentially allows my allies to avoid getting (ie. spells such as Guardian and the likes of it.)

I find that with the health bonus I get from Divine Favor and Divine Boon, I can adequately keep my allies alive, as I heal for +120 per spell and can keep them out of harm's way with several of my other Prot spells.

So, what's my problem? My problem is that although I can keep everyone alive, I can only do so as long as I have energy. Energy management! Argh. Well, because I constantly maintain 3-4 enchantments, my energy regen (if any) rarely helps me much. So one of my sources for energy is from Blessed Signet. I've tried other spells, such as Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond, and skills from other professions as well but I have not yet found anything that works well. I'm open to all suggestions for what I could do to better manage my energy.

Thanks in advance.

Eonwe · Nov 12, 2005, 06:10 AM // 06:10

Offering of Blood, hands down. 9 or 10 spec is fine.

GWplayer745 · Nov 12, 2005, 06:17 AM // 06:17

I've thought of Offering of Blood, but I'm looking for a non-elite skill, or a set of non-elites that complement each other. I've already used up my elite slot, but have 2-3 slots open for energy management

Eonwe · Nov 12, 2005, 06:26 AM // 06:26

Go /mesmer then and bring Drain enchantment, inspired hex, and possibly power drain if you can hit it consistently.

Ristaron · Nov 12, 2005, 08:33 PM // 20:33

Inspire Hex and Power Drain being the best two there. IMO, hexes are much more of a bother than enchantments. And Restore Condition can deal with anything else they get...

and wow, I just got titled Ministry of Knowledge. Go me.

mortalis doleo · Nov 12, 2005, 09:27 PM // 21:27

by far, the best E management a prot can have, is life bonding...

you say you have 2/3 slots for management...
1. life bond
2. balthasar's spirit
3. blessed sig

you get the three team-mates with life bond and yourself with balth...
you now have no E regen, but you gain 1 energy everytime someone gets hit phisically.
you can also use blessed sig at any point, for a nice 12 energy (offering of blood's got nothing on this).
if you use divine boon too, you will have 1 degen, but you wont notice it...

you can use the remaining four slots for condition removal, res (if u want) and prot spells.

this is how i like to prot anyway...

edit:
if u use boon, u get 15 energy from blessed sig...

NatalieD · Nov 12, 2005, 09:36 PM // 21:36

The problem I've seen with that approach, mortalis, is that if you die and then get rezzed, you're somewhat useless. Starting with 25% energy, it'll take forever and a day to get all your enchantments back up. Whereas a Mo/N can just hit OoB and be back in business.

mortalis doleo · Nov 12, 2005, 10:10 PM // 22:10

well... it's more of a tombs aproach, i agree... but you only have four enchantements to re-apply...
you don't really have to re-apply them anyway. you can survive for a while without the energy management of it... and when you have time, you can start life bonding again.
with OoB, you only gain aprox 8 energy (-5 for spell, +13 for E gain). with this aproach, you gain 15 energy + constant 1 energy gains, and you also protect well in this way, halving the damage from any phisical attack...

if you are going for TA, you could also get a X/mo that can slap a healing seed on you. this provides constant health gain for you and anyone around you, since you are constantly "attacked".

but nvm... it works for me, it might not for you... i personally don't see what's so amazing about OoB...

John.Whorfin · Nov 12, 2005, 11:05 PM // 23:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by mortalis doleo

by far, the best E management a prot can have, is life bonding...

you say you have 2/3 slots for management...
1. life bond
2. balthasar's spirit
3. blessed sig

This works great, until you hit a caster heavy team. Nothing like three usless skills on your bar

dansamy · Nov 12, 2005, 11:43 PM // 23:43

If you are going to life bond, blessed sig + mantra of inscriptions is all I've ever needed.

Shen Xi · Nov 13, 2005, 12:02 AM // 00:02

your options are basically going the mes secondary route as stated or offering of blood.

Yamat · Nov 13, 2005, 12:02 AM // 00:02

IMO, using OoB in PvP is like saying "kill me please, I'm down to 25 energy."

Shen Xi · Nov 13, 2005, 02:08 AM // 02:08

oook then...

Age · Nov 13, 2005, 02:27 AM // 02:27

If you are concerned about energy I would get a good focus icon and a good wand as well.The traditional protection Monk is Mo/W and use a weapon and a focus icon as well no shield.There is one already in PvP as premade and it is a good one use it and look at what energy you get when selecting the Icon and wand or even a staff but stick to wand.

kar052 · Nov 13, 2005, 02:44 AM // 02:44

I havn't been using the enchantments - just prot spells for the first 4 skills and then mantra of recall for my energy management. Do you guys think that offering of blood is better? Mantra of recall seems to work pretty well so far. What are the advantages of OoB?

NatalieD · Nov 13, 2005, 03:12 AM // 03:12

Offering of Blood is, well, it's just better than Mantra of Recall. Energy on demand, every 15 seconds. Mantra only works well when you keep casting it every 20 seconds - if that cycle gets broken, it can take a while before you can afford to invest the 10e again.

You should only be taking Mantra of Recall, IMO, if you're also using other mesmer skills, or if you want more Contemplation-of-Purity-fodder. Which are perfectly good reasons. But in a straight 1-on-1 comparison, Offering of Blood wins hands down.

twicky_kid · Nov 13, 2005, 04:30 AM // 04:30

for CA and teams i'd use this monk.

healing 16
pro 9
divine 10
earth 7

healing hands
orison
breeze
mend ailment
armor of earth
balth spirit
life bond
blessed sig

bond your team mates and balth spirit yourself. now every attack your entire party takes turns into 1 energy for you. this build is an energy machine. i usually end up spamming breeze on entire party for duration of the match. you got a team that has to deal with 4 characters all with +9 hp regen, dmg to your entire party from attacks is cut in half including yourself.

every time i go into CA with this monk i get 10 wins and take any pug with me. then i usually at least go another 5 in teams with a CA group. i've gone 20+ from CA groups consistantly. great for faction farming.

Morganas · Nov 13, 2005, 05:31 AM // 05:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatalieD

Offering of Blood is, well, it's just better than Mantra of Recall. Energy on demand, every 15 seconds. Mantra only works well when you keep casting it every 20 seconds - if that cycle gets broken, it can take a while before you can afford to invest the 10e again.

You should only be taking Mantra of Recall, IMO, if you're also using other mesmer skills, or if you want more Contemplation-of-Purity-fodder. Which are perfectly good reasons. But in a straight 1-on-1 comparison, Offering of Blood wins hands down.

No, mantra of recall is a much better counter to good energy denial than OoB. A fear me warrior or a mes/nec can keep a monk below 5 energy pretty easily, with mantra of recall you can use your energy gain spell immediately after you get the energy from it, so it can't be shutdown.

kar052 · Nov 13, 2005, 05:49 AM // 05:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by NatalieD

Offering of Blood is, well, it's just better than Mantra of Recall. Energy on demand, every 15 seconds. Mantra only works well when you keep casting it every 20 seconds - if that cycle gets broken, it can take a while before you can afford to invest the 10e again.

You should only be taking Mantra of Recall, IMO, if you're also using other mesmer skills, or if you want more Contemplation-of-Purity-fodder. Which are perfectly good reasons. But in a straight 1-on-1 comparison, Offering of Blood wins hands down.

Yea I know what you mean about it being hard to get the cycle going again if it gets shutdown or you use mantra for contemplation of purity. However, I thought that OoB would just make me easier to kill (by sacrificing health) and that going /mes would give extra skills that can be used like channeling. Anyway I'm going to go and cap OoB to try it out..

Zeru · Nov 13, 2005, 05:53 AM // 05:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morganas

No, mantra of recall is a much better counter to good energy denial than OoB. A fear me warrior or a mes/nec can keep a monk below 5 energy pretty easily, with mantra of recall you can use your energy gain spell immediately after you get the energy from it, so it can't be shutdown.

Ever heard of focus switching? You can switch back to your staff at any time for +10 energy that they can't get at. You can never keep someone smart unable to cast a 5e spell unless you have a fear me spam engine somehow.

Offering is the best non-primary energy management skill (prodigy is very good now) since it requires 1 slot, and gives more energy unconditionally compared to mantra of recall even without the enchanting piece. Power Drain is really the only reason to go for /mes imo in gvg but the amount of concentration and risk is pretty sick against the very top teams where you have to be watching and doing so many things at once(channeling in tombs is excellent though).