For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this term boonprot refers to monk builds utilizing the maintained divine favor enchantment [skill=text]Divine boon[/skill], in conjunction with protection spells. The main thing this accomplishes is the ability for a monk to both protect and heal simultaneously with one spell. Protection spells mitigate damage delt this is often more effective and efficient than simply healing. However, protection alone is not by itself enough to keep allies alive. BoonProt builds were in the past primarily used to allow protection with heal and low cast times by combining [skill=text]Reversal of Fortune[/skill] or other 1/4 cast prot spells with [skill=text]Divine boon[/skill] to create a fast 1/4 cast heal spell.
**end boonprot explanation**
After the April 6 guild wars update/skill balance i have noticed and interesting trend of increasing popularity of boon prot builds. I cannot ever remember seeing BoonProt's in high end gvg back-lines since the last divine boon, contemplation of purity, and inspiration Nerf's. However things seem to have changed.
For me it seems to have started when i observed Awowa running a Restore conditions Boonprot in gvg. Tommy appears to be running a RC boonprot as well however i do not know who came up with idea or who started running it first but that is irrelevant. There are few boonprot bars i would like to discuss so i will start with the first one which is what i recall Awowa and Tommy as using. *may not be exactly accurate*
[skill]restore condition[/skill][skill]Reversal of fortune[/skill][skill]spirit bond[/skill][skill]signet of devotion[/skill][skill]leech signet[/skill][skill]ether signet[/skill][skill]divine boon[/skill][skill]holy veil[/skill]
One of the main things that makes this bar viable is the April 6 buff to ether signet from 60 to 45 recharge. Restore conditions is already an excellent commonly used elite. With the Nerf to ZB back-line protection monks have been moving toward RC. However an RC prot monk by himself would often not have enough healing power even with gift without his LOD/healer's boon buddy. Boon RC allows for more self sufficiency, and flexibility. If you need the extra heal power turn on boon if there is a lot of spread out condition pressure you can choose to turn off boon and just runs straight prot.
The nice thing about ether signet and leech signet is mainly that they are of course signets. You can use them while in negative energy with your low energy weapon set with no need to swap up. They have no major drawback either, if you miss a leechsig you loose nothing, miss a power drain and you are out 5 energy. Plus there is nothing more satisfying that leech sig'ing that damn mesmer's diversion
This does take a lot of skill to run effectively. It is very easy to burn through you energy quickly and be left in a bad situation. Being able to switch from healing to finding a leech signet target interrupt him and go back to healing in a few seconds takes a lot of battle awareness and experience. If you are able to pull this off consistently the rewards are great and thus we see highly skilled monks utilizing boonprot builds.
The next bar i would like to discuss is what i have read Soul wedding is said to use or have used.
[skill]reversal of fortune[/skill][skill]mend condition[/skill][skill]gift of health[/skill][skill]signet of devotion[/skill][skill]remedy signet[/skill][skill]scribe's insight[/skill][skill]divine boon[/skill][skill]contemplation of purity[/skill]
Main difference here of course is the method of energy management. Scribes insight in conjunction with remedy signet and signet of devotion spam provides an almost identical amount of energy as the ether sig, leech sig combo at approximately ~2 pips. A big advantage to the scribes insight build is that you do not have to spec out of protection or divine favor allowing you to run 13 prot for more potent spells. Removal of dazed is also very easy with remedy signet. Furthermore having 2 enchants up at all times allows for a potent contemplation of purity as an effective panic button. This build however, at least from my experience has been that it has a tendency to fall apart when the user is under mele pressure. in order to keep your energy you you are essentially always casting signets hindering the amount of kiting you can do. Extended kiting often leaves you gasping for energy so it's really up to the rest of your team to mitigate the amount of kiting you have to do.
Next build is one i have been running in random arena with much success.
[skill]reversal of fortune[/skill][skill]dismiss condition[/skill][skill]guardian[/skill][skill]leech signet[/skill][skill]ether signet[/skill][skill]mantra of recall[/skill][skill]divine boon[/skill][skill]contemplation of purity[/skill]
In RA i have to often constantly kite thus a scribes insight build is kinda out the window. RC although a great skill is often unnecessary in RA. Furthermore, the amount of damage you typically have to heal through can be significant as your teammates often do little to mitigate it. Thus, additional energy management is necessary. Protective spirit or spirit bond although useful are overkill for the kind of damage you have to deal with in randoms. Mantra of recall also ensures i have 2 enchants up at all times ready to be COP'd if necessary, this proves invaluable for handling Dazed covered by another condition.
In conclusion i was wondering what people's opinions were on these "new breeds" of boon prot builds and whether this is something that is here to stay or simply a passing experiment.
After the April 6 guild wars update/skill balance i have noticed and interesting trend of increasing popularity of boon prot builds. I cannot ever remember seeing BoonProt's in high end gvg back-lines since the last divine boon, contemplation of purity, and inspiration Nerf's. However things seem to have changed.
For me it seems to have started when i observed Awowa running a Restore conditions Boonprot in gvg. Tommy appears to be running a RC boonprot as well however i do not know who came up with idea or who started running it first but that is irrelevant. There are few boonprot bars i would like to discuss so i will start with the first one which is what i recall Awowa and Tommy as using. *may not be exactly accurate*
[skill]restore condition[/skill][skill]Reversal of fortune[/skill][skill]spirit bond[/skill][skill]signet of devotion[/skill][skill]leech signet[/skill][skill]ether signet[/skill][skill]divine boon[/skill][skill]holy veil[/skill]
One of the main things that makes this bar viable is the April 6 buff to ether signet from 60 to 45 recharge. Restore conditions is already an excellent commonly used elite. With the Nerf to ZB back-line protection monks have been moving toward RC. However an RC prot monk by himself would often not have enough healing power even with gift without his LOD/healer's boon buddy. Boon RC allows for more self sufficiency, and flexibility. If you need the extra heal power turn on boon if there is a lot of spread out condition pressure you can choose to turn off boon and just runs straight prot.
The nice thing about ether signet and leech signet is mainly that they are of course signets. You can use them while in negative energy with your low energy weapon set with no need to swap up. They have no major drawback either, if you miss a leechsig you loose nothing, miss a power drain and you are out 5 energy. Plus there is nothing more satisfying that leech sig'ing that damn mesmer's diversion
This does take a lot of skill to run effectively. It is very easy to burn through you energy quickly and be left in a bad situation. Being able to switch from healing to finding a leech signet target interrupt him and go back to healing in a few seconds takes a lot of battle awareness and experience. If you are able to pull this off consistently the rewards are great and thus we see highly skilled monks utilizing boonprot builds.
The next bar i would like to discuss is what i have read Soul wedding is said to use or have used.
[skill]reversal of fortune[/skill][skill]mend condition[/skill][skill]gift of health[/skill][skill]signet of devotion[/skill][skill]remedy signet[/skill][skill]scribe's insight[/skill][skill]divine boon[/skill][skill]contemplation of purity[/skill]
Main difference here of course is the method of energy management. Scribes insight in conjunction with remedy signet and signet of devotion spam provides an almost identical amount of energy as the ether sig, leech sig combo at approximately ~2 pips. A big advantage to the scribes insight build is that you do not have to spec out of protection or divine favor allowing you to run 13 prot for more potent spells. Removal of dazed is also very easy with remedy signet. Furthermore having 2 enchants up at all times allows for a potent contemplation of purity as an effective panic button. This build however, at least from my experience has been that it has a tendency to fall apart when the user is under mele pressure. in order to keep your energy you you are essentially always casting signets hindering the amount of kiting you can do. Extended kiting often leaves you gasping for energy so it's really up to the rest of your team to mitigate the amount of kiting you have to do.
Next build is one i have been running in random arena with much success.
[skill]reversal of fortune[/skill][skill]dismiss condition[/skill][skill]guardian[/skill][skill]leech signet[/skill][skill]ether signet[/skill][skill]mantra of recall[/skill][skill]divine boon[/skill][skill]contemplation of purity[/skill]
In RA i have to often constantly kite thus a scribes insight build is kinda out the window. RC although a great skill is often unnecessary in RA. Furthermore, the amount of damage you typically have to heal through can be significant as your teammates often do little to mitigate it. Thus, additional energy management is necessary. Protective spirit or spirit bond although useful are overkill for the kind of damage you have to deal with in randoms. Mantra of recall also ensures i have 2 enchants up at all times ready to be COP'd if necessary, this proves invaluable for handling Dazed covered by another condition.
In conclusion i was wondering what people's opinions were on these "new breeds" of boon prot builds and whether this is something that is here to stay or simply a passing experiment.
