Curse

Dr Strangelove · Jul 08, 2007, 07:50 AM // 07:50

I've had no luck with any of the posted monk builds. Lately my Tahlkora has been running this piece of complete crap, alongside a motivation para and the rit hench when available.

[skill]shield of absorption[/skill][skill]shielding hands[/skill][skill]watchful healing[/skill][skill]divine intervention[/skill][skill]mark of protection[/skill][skill]blessed aura[/skill][skill]blessed signet[/skill][skill]deny hexes[/skill]

I'm am extremely depressed to say that this it the most effective hero monk build I've run. It's also the worst piece of junk I think I've ever run on any character, but hey, can't argue with results.

Qwertyfied · Jul 09, 2007, 12:03 AM // 00:03

In Cantha as of yet i've done 25/33, ive done all of Shing Shea, and the Jade Sea, i found these v.easy, for Shing Shea just take a Rit, Healing Monk - with Protective Spirit ( for minor protection ), and 2 Ele's, or substitute an Ele for your prof. So far the hardest one for me has being Xaquang Skyway, those Jade Brotherhood can be tough. Other than that theres really being no slip ups.

Evilsod · Jul 09, 2007, 12:51 AM // 00:51

When your talking about a 4man team... hexes are more reliable than eles. Shutdown is nicer than trying to outdamage teams when they focus on damage more than survival.

I can only assume you haven't done Tahnnakai Temple yet Qwertyied

Cebe · Jul 09, 2007, 09:13 AM // 09:13

I'm 23/33 so far and got bored of Hard Mode about a month ago so never really did any more. I was considering trying to finish it off soon. Of what I've done, All of Shing Jea was easy...with the exception of Panjiang Peninsula...the Crimson Skull's Healing Burst heals for far too much...and with a very limited team size, fitting in skills such as Signet of Humility can prove tough.

The Archipelegos wasn't as hard as I was expecting. I thought I'd be slaughtered by Ssyn and Snapjaw but in actual fact KaySey Stormray was a little ****** to kill.

Pongmei was very easy...careful luring of the Assassin bos is essential though.

Raisu Palace isn't too bad...with the exception of the Shiro'Ken Rangers. They can prove exceptionally annoying to kill, especially with Necromancers around spamming Well of Weariness. Those Necros and Rangers work too well together...not to mention they have a great Ranger-Spike thing going on.

All other areas of the city with the exception of Tahnnakai Temple have been a breeze so far (just two areas left in the city)...Tahnnakai Temple was tough, but still doable without too much trouble.

Ferndale wasn't too bad. Providing you prepare yourself enough to take out the Monk boss it's fine.

I tried Rhea's Crater and failed when I was about three quarters of the way through...I found Wavecrest had wandered around to the Warrior boss...and got stuck...so we got completely and utterly pwnd.

I've not tried Silent Surf yet...anyone have any tips on that one?

bifter · Jul 09, 2007, 09:18 AM // 09:18

Tahnnakai Temple was an exercise in teeth-grinding tedium, but actually I think Mourning Veil Falls was harder for me. When I did Tahnnakai with two guildmates, we even managed to successfully tank - and beat - 3 jade brotherhood groups at once in one hideous overaggro. Effective bodyblocking and a curses nec makes those groups fairly easy, but it's extremely boring to have to micromanage every single fight in that way.

Henching Mourning Veil Falls while being an ele didn't help - those groups of wardens with two wardens of earth were a nightmare without an intelligent frontline to soak up the spells, any DP at all on a hench and a single churning earth will usually kill it before you can flag it somewhere out of the spell AoE. It's bizarre how easy jade sea was in comparison to echovald.

bifter · Jul 09, 2007, 09:28 AM // 09:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

I tried Rhea's Crater and failed when I was about three quarters of the way through...I found Wavecrest had wandered around to the Warrior boss...and got stuck...so we got completely and utterly pwnd.

Wavecrest wandered off and got killed by outcasts when I did Rhea's Crater.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

I've not tried Silent Surf yet...anyone have any tips on that one?

It's relatively tough, but lots of mobs are hostile to each other there - including boss groups. Try to let as many of them kill each other as possible. It's nice with the tougher bosses to join the fight near the end when the groups are weakened and finish them off. Try to get Amadis early - his group is a serious pain, and break up Kenrii's group as much as you can by luring out mobs with a bow - it IS splittable. The rest of mobs aren't too bad as long as you're reasonable well-practiced at flagging your stupid hench out of the radius of AOE spells.

Cebe · Jul 09, 2007, 11:26 AM // 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by bifter

Wavecrest wandered off and got killed by outcasts when I did Rhea's Crater.

No such luck...I caught up with Wavecrest as he finished PWNING the mesmer boss

Unfortunately he killed us...and waddled off to get stuck by the warrior boss.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bifter

It's relatively tough, but lots of mobs are hostile to each other there - including boss groups. Try to let as many of them kill each other as possible. It's nice with the tougher bosses to join the fight near the end when the groups are weakened and finish them off. Try to get Amadis early - his group is a serious pain, and break up Kenrii's group as much as you can by luring out mobs with a bow - it IS splittable. The rest of mobs aren't too bad as long as you're reasonable well-practiced at flagging your stupid hench out of the radius of AOE spells.

Hmm, I guess using their hostility to my advantage would be a good idea...I ventured out there once just to test the water...I got pwnd by Miella Lightwing's group faster than you could say "Look out! Turimachus is trying to steal your eggs!". Does Amadis not get killed like he usually does...he wanders past so many hostile groups I'd have thought he would have died at some point.

Athrun Feya · Jul 09, 2007, 11:29 AM // 11:29

I've finished 33/33

To do cantha, i generally had two or three real man teams (rest heros/hench). Obsidian Flesh ele tank was used mainly (this person did not lead the team and did not have heros following them [Note: it could be done where heros follow, but they would need to be flagged at every spawn]) - the rest were casters or ranged.

Simply, let the ele tank run in - keeping a distace of at least an aggro bubble away from the casters. Wait for aggro to be "settled" and then move in with the SS/SF/etc (one of these must be a human and the hench/heros must follow this person)

In harder areas it is nessecary to have a real monk - the human judgement is vital to keep the tank alive.

bifter · Jul 09, 2007, 11:45 AM // 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

Hmm, I guess using their hostility to my advantage would be a good idea...I ventured out there once just to test the water...I got pwnd by Miella Lightwing's group faster than you could say "Look out! Turimachus is trying to steal your eggs!".

Oh yeah - don't do Silent Surf if you have that quest active!

The rit lord boss and assorted fishies that spawn instead in that corner of the map are a nice easy way to work off DP - definitely handy to have them around.

I guess the other thing to note is to lure VERY carefully - patrols are fast and wide-ranging. Most of the saltspray dragons are in groups of 2, so you can easily lure them out and kill them one by one. Be sure to be patient and watch the patrol patterns though, so you don't get ambushed mid-fight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Celestial Beaver

Does Amadis not get killed like he usually does...he wanders past so many hostile groups I'd have thought he would have died at some point.

I don't remember him dying for me, even in NM. He does a nice job of pretending to be dead though - you wait for him for ages, assume he's fried and aggro another group to fight, then he turns up.

Happened to me during an early failed attempt on Silent Surf.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athrun Feya

To do cantha Obsidian Flesh ele tank was used mainly (this person did not lead the team and did not have heros following them [Note: it could be done where heros follow, but they would need to be flagged at every spawn]) - the rest were casters or ranged.

In harder areas it is nessecary to have a real monk - the human judgement is vital to keep the tank alive.

I went as geotank in a couple of areas (Xanjiang and Tahnnakai spring to mind - you probably need to take mantra of resolve with mes secondary, as Jade Brotherhood mesmers are completely pimped out with interrupts). There are definitely disadvantage with doing this with all heroes though - some do stupid things. MoW in particular likes to run up and stand next to you for some reason once the fight starts - not good against a mob of warriors using triple chop. In most areas I dispensed with melee altogether, and relied on the hero MM (although sometimes he seriously lets you down - spends 5 mins death nova'ing minions after the battle has started, only to run in after half your team is wiped

) I did 30 / 33 with heroes / hench, and don't think I had a human monk in any of them (although I will own up to buying off a bit of DP at shrines from time to time).

Melkorium · Jul 09, 2007, 12:24 PM // 12:24

I'm at 23/33 so far using just henchies. Still a third to go but I've cleared Mourning Veil Falls, Tahnakai and Rhea's Crater so I feel like I'm on the home straight

Only ones I'm worried about is Raisu and Sunjang. Not sure how H/H will hold up against mixed Shiro'ken groups. Any tips?

Oh and for Wavecrest in Rhea's I found starting from Seafarer's Rest meant he was walking towards you. So you can choose where and when to fight him. Just watch he doesen't sneak up at you.

bifter · Jul 09, 2007, 12:29 PM // 12:29

I henched Raisu Palace hard mode mission with 10 minutes to spare.

The explorable wasn't too bad either. I believe that is the other area that I went to with a geotank build. Lots of corners to bodyblock at, so holding aggro isn't too tough. I slipped in an enchant removal too to remove sliver armour when necessary. It was slow, but quite fun. Nice drops there too.

Sunjiang was a beast. Oddly, some of the non-boss groups are harder than the boss groups due to positioning and group composition. One group of 2 rits, 1 warrior, 3 assassins and 1 elementalist nearly stopped my group completing it. Take it slow, and don't take any chances when luring. Try to vanquish it when you have favour, so you can use blessings, and it'll probably be okay.

Evilsod · Jul 09, 2007, 01:46 PM // 13:46

Silent Surf is easy. The hardest part is the Saltspray/Jade Kirin mobs who are particularly deadly to henchman. Amadis... i don't even know what happened to him when i vanquished it. We saw him fighting, killed a mob, he ran off into the distance and we never saw him or his corpse ever again. 2 bosses in the northern section have a nice scrap so you can just sit back and watch, the victor was the Warrior boss... and 1 other Outcast... so he was fragbait.

If your going with real people try to get a Trapper for anything involving Shiro'ken and Afflicted. If theres 1 thing that completely owns them its traps, AoE Dazed/Blind and other mass conditions usually makes damn sure they can't scratch you, also makes the Shiro'ken Eles into kittens when they can't get a single spell off. They're normally in places that you can easily lure into choke points or along walls/corners so they're very easy to group up.

Melkorium · Jul 09, 2007, 02:06 PM // 14:06

Thanks for the tips guys, my vanquisher is a mesmer so I could potentially go make a pseudo-earth tank. I think I'll try and use my mesmer-iffic skills first though.

Qwertyfied · Jul 09, 2007, 07:20 PM // 19:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilsod

I can only assume you haven't done Tahnnakai Temple yet Qwertyied

Actually, i have done Tahnnakai, was one of the first dull, sorry i mean Kaineng area's i did.

Fionn Falaich · Jul 09, 2007, 08:04 PM // 20:04

I vanquished all of Cantha with heroes and hench playing as an ele (Blinding Surge air). For me, the hardest areas were Tahnnakai Temple, Mourning Veil Falls, and Morostav Trail (because of the warrior boss who lurks in that alcove with a really nasty mob of earth, summer, and spirit wardens). I described how I managed Tahnnakai Temple in the "Jade Brotherhood" thread in this forum (sorry, I don't know how to link it here). For Mourning Veil Falls and Morostav Trail, the biggest problem that I had with heroes/hench is that they stand around in Churning Earth and die quickly. So I took Dunkoro as a Life Barrier bonder, along with Danika and Prof. Gai, MoW as SS, Olias as MM, and finally Devona and Lukas. The bonding helps with the Churning Earth damage, but mostly I just ran around a lot and tried to keep them out of the damage areas.

Raisu Palace I found not too much harder than normal mode. I had been worried that the monks, rits, and monk boss would outheal any damage I could do, but it turned out not so. The monk boss's group can be lured from him and even broken apart. I did not use any bonding there, and only the two hench monks, along with SS, MM, and Dom Mes heroes, with Devona and Lukas. The Shiroken eles often can be dispatched before they get a chance to do too much damage to Devona/Lukas with Sliver Armor.

For Sunjiang, I did use Dunkoro as a bonder, along with Tai and Gai. I found the hardest part to be the Mesmer boss and his gang - there are two or three groups there that sometimes just will not separate. I went there as directly as I could, died a few times, but ultimately took care of that whole mob. I basically then worked off DP throughout the rest of the map. The ele boss's group can be pulled two at a time with a bow - very easy. As others have said, the terrain can be used for creative pulling (although I did that to separate mobs, rather than for traditional tanking).

For Silent Surf, the same basic story - Dunkoro as a bonder, two hench monks, SS and MM heroes, Talon and Daeman. The main thing that I had to worry about was again the H/H standing around in the Saltsprays' AOE spells (I forget what it is now, but it can take the hench down quickly if they stand around). So with me as the puller, I got them to waste those skills on me away from the group, then ran back to my team and the Saltsprays fell easily. I gave MoW an enchant removal for Miella, which made her no threat (I took out her group first, saved her till they were gone). Kenrii's group can be pulled apart. Watch for his group using Backfire on you or your casters. Also, for the eastern side in the Rit Lord's area, the fish groups will follow you for a long, long way, so they can be pulled far out of the patrol paths of other groups, which could be a problem if multiple groups are aggroed.

In Rhea's Crater, same exact setup. I started at the Mines and took out Milthuran first, then ran directly to Wavecrest before he got to any other groups. Again, enchant removal to take out his Aura of Restoration or whatever that is that keeps him alive so well. Once that dropped, he went down fairly easily, as well. The rest of the area was no problem. Blinding and weakness make the oni and the carp a breeze.

Outcast Rits who use VwK present a problem. I mostly ran into them in Unwaking Waters, but there are a few in Rhea's Crater, too, I think. The H/H will kill themselves on it. I don't really have a good solution, except to run around a lot while VwK is active (so that the H/H won't suicide on it), and then hit hard and hope to take them out before they can reactivate it.

Panjiang Peninsula I was able to get on my second try. The first try I failed in the Crimson Skull camp at the southern tip - just too many rits and monks in the spawn. The next time I tried it, there might have been one or two fewer rits/monks in that mob, and I was sure to go in there with a full complement of healthy minions. We were able to sweep through the area much more easily. My team was me as B-Surge air ele, Dunkoro as a basic healing build, nothing special, MoW as SS, and Olias as MM.

lazyrussian · Jul 09, 2007, 10:25 PM // 22:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Leeroy

BHA is [skill]Broad Head Arrow[/skill], basically it dazes casters and renders them quite useless. Even the most difficult Ele and Monk bosses are harmless against a BHA ranger.

This is what I used for the monks. The Atts were something like this.
10 Smite
12 Divine
9 Protection

[skill]Blessed Signet[/skill] [skill]Reversal of Fortune[/skill][skill]Reversal of Damage[/skill][skill]Defender's Zeal[/skill][skill]Balthazar's Aura[/skill][skill]Zealot's Fire[/skill][skill]Divine Boon[/skill][skill]Smite Hex[/skill]

[skill]Blessed Signet[/skill] [skill]Reversal of Fortune[/skill][skill]Reversal of Damage[/skill][skill]Defender's Zeal[/skill][skill]Balthazar's Aura[/skill][skill]Zealot's Fire[/skill][skill]Divine Boon[/skill][skill]Dismiss Condition[/skill]

* I dont put any res on my hero monks. My ranger packs it. In theory, since Im in the front line, my ranger has the easiest escape from battle.

** Thanks Evilsod ** brainfart at work, I will confirm the first skill when I get home. I can gaurantee the other 7 skills though.

*** Yes, Signet of Devotion should have been Blessed Signet. Thanks again.

I dont have access to HM yet, but wouldn't [skill]Peace and Harmony[/skill] be a better elite. It makes up for the 1-pip energy degeneration that occurs when using Vital Boon - just m opinion from my own PvE experiences while Monking.

lazyrussian · Jul 09, 2007, 10:27 PM // 22:27

oops, double post. I realize this is a smiting monk, but it doesn't look like he using any offense spelsl, unless he casts reversal of damage on himself, but I'm not sure if that counters the effects of Peace and Harmony.

Evilsod · Jul 09, 2007, 10:37 PM // 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazyrussian

I dont have access to HM yet, but wouldn't [skill]Peace and Harmony[/skill] be a better elite. It makes up for the 1-pip energy degeneration that occurs when using Vital Boon - just m opinion from my own PvE experiences while Monking.

Peace and Harmony sucks. You get 1e in 3 seconds and it takes 15 seconds to pay for itself. Defenders Zeal gets 2e in 1 second if its put on the right enemy.

Jeska · Jul 17, 2007, 11:58 AM // 11:58

i had elonas vanquisher only with heros, but in chanta i have some problems the jade brotherhood is pretty hard...big aoe dmg ...
btw i suggest one build for all who hasn't team m8s
heros:
razah:spirit spammer(full protective with shadowsong and lord ritual)
Ele: sf and a ward for melee attack
MM: with fg and deathnova

you: u must be a tank, whatever u are i'm playing as ranger (board head/wirling/dryders defense)

Bot: 2 monks(with the help of razahzah do their job)
1mesmer (interrupter) o Daeman
1dervish/1 war guardian

only try to find place where u can tank a bit (with the minions and u) and pull small groups
(for any suggestion contact me ingame , even if u need team m8s...)
p.s. im sorry for my bad engl..

Tahlia Tane · Jul 22, 2007, 01:48 PM // 13:48

I finally finished Panjiang Peninsula. I feel like a total noob after having spent over 2 hours trying to vanquish this area. Jesus.

I had one protector monk, one healer monk and Razah for spirits, some healing, and also Diversion.

Diversion is really for crucial Panjiang Peninsula. It can disable monks easily, and the area has a lot of spell/skill spammers.

I did die and so did my heroes. A few times. But that was because of bad aggro.