MOnks...the best leaders?

One thing I have noticed about myself as a monk is my propensity to get blindsided by a baddy that has slipped by the front lines and is beating the ever living snot out of me.

All of a sudden I'm thinking to myself, "WOW! That person's really getting smacked" and I flash out "Heal Other" and have it say "Invalid Target" then realize it's ME getting beaten to a pulp!

But you have very sound thinking, Gogo. The Monk, just by nature of what he/she does, gives him/her a broader perspective than other classes. Is it better? No, no one is saying that. It is just unique.

I can say that I am sure that the few numbers of monks in higher levels is due to the fact that it is a VERY high stress "job". While most other characters only have themselves to worry about (oh yeah and the monsters hehe), the monk worries about everyone. *takes some Xanax and prepares to go "monk" on line*

Considering your other posts, I'm pretty sure you're not trying to belittle how much effort to effectively use non-monk professions, are you?

But anyways, it's true that a competent monk has to be vigilant and keep an eye on eveyone's health. The same can be said to other profession as well. A competent ranger has to keep an eye on the field and look for windows of opportunities to distrupt or lay traps. At times, rush in the middle of the chaos to lay a trap or two, then rush out before the aggro eyes him/her instead. Well played warriors need to position and (at times) constantly re-position themselves properly to take the blunt of the attack. Other profession have similar responsibilites. All professions should heal themselves as well whenever they can. It seems to me that all the professions have to constantly be aware of what's going on if they want to play their role properly, it's just that each would focus on a different aspect of the battle.

Capability. Multitasking is fine, and there are times for it, but in the midst of an important battle I'm not capable of doing anything other than keeping my team safe without diminishing my ability to keep the team safe.

I could spend 80% of my time worrying about health bars and 20% attacking mobs, but that generally means there's a 20% greater chance I can screw up and someone ends up dead, and I don't think my puny wand does enough damage to justify it.

It's a personal call, though...just the way I play. I also don't have any offensive skills on my bar.

I am certainly NOT belittling other professions at all! In fact, my first and so far only ascended character is the little-respected Me/Mo. I understand all too well how terribly difficult any character is to play. I also have a warrior/monk and a ranger/warrior that I play so I have covered alot of ground class-wise.

What I -have- noticed is that I have to pay much more attention to the other players and less attention to myself and to monsters. That's pretty much all I'm driving at here.

For me, and of course I can only speak for myself, playing a monk is much more "work" than other classes that I, personally, have played.

I like it when the Warrior calls the target -- the warrior is the only class that is melee based; so it's harder for them to move around; and if they've setup a good cluster of baddies around them, you don't want them following targets. It's best if they stay put and call a good target that is close to them.

That said, when my Monk calls a target, it is for a different reason. I use it to signal that I'm in trouble and that I'm healing _myself_ and running -- and that I might not be able to heal you. In a poor PUG, someone dies about 5-7 seconds after I call a target. People should use their own self-heals at that point, and do what they can to relieve the pressure. After two people go down (because I'm busy healing myself, or low on energy), I sprint away unless it's clear we are making good progress.

That monks are good leaders is pretty much bullshit.

Okay monks are team introverted, they know what the own team is doing.
But if you dot know that you shall be screwed anyways, no matter what class you are.

Mesmers are Skill-extroverted, they know most of the spells of the game (using all of them) and know what spells the opponent team uses.
Same thing, better know all the spells no matter what class you are.

Necros are the true tactical leaders of the game, of course you must play one to know what i mean.
A necro analizes a weak spot in the oponent team and thats it...

haha.............................................. .................................................. .................................................. ................................

While I love my Me/Mo and she's fully ascended, I can't imagine her as a leader. O.o My Mo/R isn't a leader either.

I do agree, though, that both characters are the 'heart and soul' of a group based on their wider knowledge of what everyone else is doing.....

*ponders* Maybe they're just nosey.

i hate leading when i play my monk.

happened today again that i joined a pickup grp and when the fight started no one was calling.
we were starting to lose because everyone was attacking another target so i started calling and we could change the tide of battle and win.

in the next fight again no one called and this time i refused to do it.

it`s really way too hard to keep an eye on all healthbars, heal and remove conditions/hexes, trying to stay alive while get beaten perhaps running arouind and on top of that watch what all enemies do and call targets ...

i can call way better when playing ele or warrior.

monks really shouldn´t have to do the target calling ...

Yabba...before I go on...do you have other chars named Dabba and Doo?

But, back on topic. I agree, monks are lousy at calling targets. They can be leaders, however, by stopping the group -before- the mission begins and designating things like "aggro lead", "target caller", etc.

not in GW.

my savage in daoc was named Yabbadabba Doo and i usually make in mmorpgs one char with that name (sometimes just Yabbadabba or Yabba) - but in GW it didn`t fit to any of my chars

A good healing/protection monk can never be the best leader during actual combat (unless everyother teammate is very incompetant, which is a lost cause anyway) but they can strategize and make suggestions just as good, if not better, than any other class or role.

Don't underestimate the wand, but it's not always best to use on called targets. As a monk, it's easy to see when trappers are in the opposing team (sudden and multiple conditions) and this is perhaps the best use a monk wand can be put to. Since trappers have to get close to your team do much of anything, it's just as safe as standing there and not wanding. It's pretty funny, as a monk, saying you comepletely shutdown a character without diverting attention form healing (Good trappers will use stances, but you're forcing them to spend time/energy getting those stances up, and it still might get through).

It's also helpful to use your wand on Nature Spirits, since they have such low hp/armor, you can contribute fairly well to the damage.

I will also wand lone casters that are near me. It will eventually do enoguh damage to require a heal, and it might be mistaken for a new called target (a few wand/melee attacks usually precedes a spike) in which case enchantments may be dumped on them.

Monks can't lead. They're too busy keeping people alive. Normally they have to watch the battlefield AND health bars, they can't be expected to strategize and call the shots too.

Get your team leaders to play something that doesn't take too much attention to use effectively.

In PvE, Monks are great leaders. It helps the team A LOT if I can dictate what we're going to do. In PvP, against a challenging team, I don't have the time. Like others have said, someone who is well aware of the entire battlefield, including both friends and enemies, would be the best choice for a leader.

NO! I'd rather have a ranger leader...scratch that, I'd rather have a non-n00b leader anyday. But Rangers are good a pulling and calling targets. They look out for enemies, setting traps, luring them into the group, careful not to aggro, they tell Tanks where to wall, and casters wheres to stand.

Monks NEVER look at the enemy and have NO idea of what going on in the batte. At best they are just running around trying to surviive. Monks are not Quarter backs. They can't take a hit from a 300lbs Defensive Lineman worth CRAP!

Let Rangers quarterback and let Monks pass out the Gatorade!

I'd actually say something like a Necro is probably a best class for a tactical leader. Mainly because of where they stand is usually at the back with the Monks, casting away, but also because once you cast something, you don't have to worry about it too much.

Rangers and Warriors are probably the best callers as the rangers can see things from a distance and Warriors are up in the fray and can see what's coming. Elementalists are too busy blowing up their target and wasting energy with a massive amount of spells.

The Monk is probably the best person to dictate a retreat or a fall back.

The Mesmer probably acts slightly independantly, keeping the opposition pinned down at whatever opportunity they see, so I don't think a Mesmer is one to follow the called target.

Yeah, Sekkira you nailed it on the head.

I play both Necro and Monk. I'm a pretty good leader. I usually Call target and tell what to attack and what not too attack.

And I say I'm a pretty good leader, because I have found that as long as people follow my lead. The group I'm in have around 90% chance of success in a mission.

it doesn't matter what class you play with yor character that tell if that player is a good leader, is the Person that are controlling the character in front of the screen that tell if he or she is a good leader or not

I believe it is the person behinde the character that made a class a good leader...

any class can be good at watching the opponent movements... it is just up to whether the player is watching or not...

If you really want to say class... I would say ranger... as they got farthest range, which means they can watch from the widest view... and especially when they usually go up hill for damage bonus. While they are also less likely to be targeted first (so far back, who want to bother going all the way up? of course, unless everyone else is dead), that means he can be a steady target caller at the same time. While being a survivor, that means he won't have too much distraction from opponent attacks (too busy healing yourself, too busy moving around etc) allowing the ranger to think more calmly and logically. So, with all these... ranger are the easiest class to be leader with, it can be done with less training than the other class.

i would say any class that constantly switches targets and is easy to play should be the leader. if they make their char easy to play, they can keep a better lead on things.
necro's, rangers sound like good targetcallers/leaders, since they are not top priority kill and overview battleground.
a monk is switching targets between your team, and running. i don't see how a monk can overview the battle enough to lead.