being a protector monk...

I am now a level 15 protector monk/ele, and its primary attributes are protection prayers and earth magic. In hoh, i have noticed a need for protector monks, however for quests and missions protectors seem to be not needed. I have had times where i got kicked out because i am not a primry healer, and people ask me what monks don't heal? and crap like that I was just wondering if any of you ever encountered people like that, or is it jsut me. I just have the feeling people out htere dont really know how useul protector monks can be and healing monks arent the best. And i guess, the final question is do good prot monks also need healing skills?

You tend to need a healing monk to support you if you want to go protections. A pure protections monk can't directly keep someone alive like a pure healer can, but he can mitigate a lot more damage than a healer could possibly heal.

Since there aren't a lot of monks around most of the time, you will probably end up alone a lot. In general, it's just easier to be a healer in PvE unless you're with a group you know and the healing slot is filled already.

Well, any protection Monk needs Divine Favor, so that he can heal with his Protection spells. If you take Divine Boon, then you can be a primary healer, without having to put any points into Healing. As for PvE, Protection Monks just aren't necessary earlier in the game. You only have 6 slots in your party and one of those has to be a healer. Mobs aren't so dangerous that you need Protective Spirit or Aegis to survive. However, later in the game, Protection is very useful. Mobs in the Fissure of Woe can sometimes take half of a Warrior's life in a second or two. I go DF/Heal/Prot with my Monk, and I carry as many Protection spells as Healing spells. Also, let me just say that Lina, the Protection Monk, is my favorite henchmen.

I was going for protection/smiting when too many didn't want to run with me anymore, so then I switched to healing/smiting.

I actually want to do some crazy smiting mo/me that focuses on backfire and smiting damage. Most people don't look at monks as being competent damage dealers, but it can work.

If possible, could someone tell me what protection spells are useful? I recently added protection to my arsenal of my monk (Mo/W20) but so far the only decent protections (that don't nerf my mana) are shielding hands and of course aegis. What other non mana nerfing prot spells are good?

In reply to the topic though, its not hard to switch over to healing to help people during a mission or quest and as we all know, monks are welcome everywhere.

Reversal of Fortune is great. Protective Spirit is essential in some of the higher level areas.

Reversal of Fortune is good, but if you're doing PvP, you have to spam it a LOT. Not worth it. Life bond costs a regen, but definitely worth it in the long run. Sometimes it overrated, but it's still good.

Don't forget Aegis, one of the most useful protection spells.

one question i have about life bond is whether it works against spells or not...because its worded poorly...it says 'damage from attacks' but attack spells are still 'attacks' in my mind, but ive heard that its only physical damage. Any confirmations either way?

I need to know if i need to use life barrier over life bond...id prefer to use bond over barrier but it all depends on if bond will take attack spell damage or not.

nope, life bond only works vs melee & ranged attacks, not spells.