Post by Sir Smeg on May 27, 2006 16:27:34 GMT
Many of you bunnies will remeber recieving a lecture from me on the virtues of originality and the evils of farming and the brainwashing of prescribed builds. You might remember me complimenting the flexibility of character creation and stat allocation. What I have not done is prove that I follow my own mantras. I hope to remedy that mistake with this very post.
Most of you will know that Reg the Righteous is my oldest character; the first I ever created in fact. Thus he has been around a fair bit, experiencing what the world of Guildwars has to offer.
In the beginning life was simple. Reg was presented with a few basic skills and told to 'get on with it'. He explored pre-searing armed with a small selection of healing, protective, smiting AND fire spells and was not punished for it. But things changed after the Charr-induced cataclysm.
The world was now a dangerous place - whole parties of FNG adventurers could be outwitted and beaten up by ever more dangerous monsters. Giant insects poisoned, charr firecallers burned and wind walkers got inside people's heads. The support classes became instrumental in the formation of combat effective parties. (LF Monk 4 party 7/8!!!111)
Reg initially responded the only way he knew how. He put two and two together and realised that if that little red bar he was required to stare at was reduced to 'zero' he had failed in his job. So the natural solution was to keep the little red bar full in order to avoid nasty abuse. Thus Reg became a healer. He healed chunks of health, he healed health over time, he healed the many and he healed the few. But all the time he was wondering if there wasn't something more to life...
And so Reg experimented with protection. He realised that stopping the little red bar from moving down was often more efficient than simply replenishing it when it did. Soon the axes, swords and arrows of Reg's foes were simply bouncing off the skins of his protectees. But still he felt there must be something more...
I have told you that I value originality. This eqautes to meaning 'I value being an individual'. I took a long hard look at myself and the other players of Guildwars and asked myself 'What is the rarest breed of player in this game?' The smiting monk, obviously. People viewed this class as cumbersome to use, with very much lower damage output than other magical classes. I knew that these divine magics channelling the wrath of the gods had their place in the world, so I set out to make my own breed of monk; one who could act as a primary support character, yet also act as a righteous heavenly sword.
So here it is, refined over 8 months of Guildwars, continually changed and improved until it reached its current standard. It is not rigid, and may continue to change, but it will always be known as [glow=red,2,300]'Reggie's Protecto-smiting'[/glow]!
Initially you will want to set your points in three disciplines. Smiting magic, Protection magic and Divine favour. I have them in an exact balance (12 points in each thanks to runes), but this can be altered if I chose to have more offense or defense.
So, there it is. Reggie's guide to [glow=red,2,300]Protective Monktastic Smiting [/glow](PMS). Users are fully capable protectors with the added bonus of occasional monsters to add to their killcount. The only thing to be careful of is not to get carried away and spend all available energy. But I'm sure you're all responsible enough bunnies ^_^
~Note: Humans may take skills cutaneously. Inhuman monsters must take via suppository. No exceptions.
Frequent exposure to skills may result in Halitosis, IBS and Finding Religion. Always read the label.~
Reg out.
Most of you will know that Reg the Righteous is my oldest character; the first I ever created in fact. Thus he has been around a fair bit, experiencing what the world of Guildwars has to offer.
In the beginning life was simple. Reg was presented with a few basic skills and told to 'get on with it'. He explored pre-searing armed with a small selection of healing, protective, smiting AND fire spells and was not punished for it. But things changed after the Charr-induced cataclysm.
The world was now a dangerous place - whole parties of FNG adventurers could be outwitted and beaten up by ever more dangerous monsters. Giant insects poisoned, charr firecallers burned and wind walkers got inside people's heads. The support classes became instrumental in the formation of combat effective parties. (LF Monk 4 party 7/8!!!111)
Reg initially responded the only way he knew how. He put two and two together and realised that if that little red bar he was required to stare at was reduced to 'zero' he had failed in his job. So the natural solution was to keep the little red bar full in order to avoid nasty abuse. Thus Reg became a healer. He healed chunks of health, he healed health over time, he healed the many and he healed the few. But all the time he was wondering if there wasn't something more to life...
And so Reg experimented with protection. He realised that stopping the little red bar from moving down was often more efficient than simply replenishing it when it did. Soon the axes, swords and arrows of Reg's foes were simply bouncing off the skins of his protectees. But still he felt there must be something more...
I have told you that I value originality. This eqautes to meaning 'I value being an individual'. I took a long hard look at myself and the other players of Guildwars and asked myself 'What is the rarest breed of player in this game?' The smiting monk, obviously. People viewed this class as cumbersome to use, with very much lower damage output than other magical classes. I knew that these divine magics channelling the wrath of the gods had their place in the world, so I set out to make my own breed of monk; one who could act as a primary support character, yet also act as a righteous heavenly sword.
So here it is, refined over 8 months of Guildwars, continually changed and improved until it reached its current standard. It is not rigid, and may continue to change, but it will always be known as [glow=red,2,300]'Reggie's Protecto-smiting'[/glow]!
Initially you will want to set your points in three disciplines. Smiting magic, Protection magic and Divine favour. I have them in an exact balance (12 points in each thanks to runes), but this can be altered if I chose to have more offense or defense.
- The first skill (One I feel I can never do without) is 'Protective Spirit'. I have already spent a long time in Kevin's thread talking about how wonderful it is to be able to reduce vast quantities of damage into manageable chunks. It is, to me, the ultimate protection prayer, and it lasts a helluva long time too.
- In my second slot I have my elite skill - 'Shield of Judgement'. This may cost 15 energy to fire and has a recharge of 45 seconds, but it is a worthy choice, especially for this build. It is a combination of superb protection for a single party member (including yourself) as well as a punishing smiting spell. Any monster who lands an attack on your protectee will be instantly knocked down and suffer moderate (41 with 12 smiting) holy damage. Most PvE monsters don't ever learn, and you'd be surprised how often real human players will carry on striking your shielded target and knocking themselves over. The very best aspect of the skill is how long it lasts. At 12 smiting preyers it lasts for 18 seconds, a fairly collossal amount of time for a skill that just keeps on damaging the enemy.
- In my third slot I hold 'Shielding Hands' It's cheap, and though it has a longish recharge it lasts long enough on your protectee to be useful. At 12 protection your target will be taking 15 less damage from attacks, which can really take the sting out of melee warriors and AoE spells. All this for 5 energy.
- Slot four holds 'Mend Condition', a useful little skill. It's very cheap and it heals about as much as Orizon if its successful, though its obvious selling point is the fact that it is able to remove any condition almost instantly from a deserving ally. This can bring blinded warriors back into the fight, or bleeding mages away from death's door. 5 energy every two seconds... I can handle that.
- Slot 5 is another staple. 'Reversal of Fortune' is the little brother of 'Protective Spirit'. For 8 seconds the next attack to strike your protectee is completely negated, with a lot of the damage being traded for health recovery. With good timing the most destructive mage attacks can be completely averted and your reputation as the best damn monk ever is assured. All that for 5 energy? Every two seconds? Bitchin'.
- In slot 6 is another useful restorative - 'Smite Hex'. But whereas condition removal heals your target substantially, 'Smite Hex' deals heavy holy damage to any monsters in the nearby area of your target as well as removing one pesky piece of Hex magic (as a bonus, you can also target yourself). Best used on a Warrior plunging into the thick of things at the start of a battle, or on a mage who has been singled out by a mob of melee monsters, this skill will be inflicting large amounts of damage every 15 seconds if timed correctly.
- Slot seven is what this build is all about; 'Zealot's Fire'. On its own this skill is worthless, but when coupled with everything else in your skillbar you can make monsters wish you'd never been born. An innocuous little spell, it only costs 10 energy and stays quietly with you (the caster) for 60 seconds (It has a recharge of 30). This is also useful if you are holding any +HP/EP (while enchanted) items. The skill fires every time you successfully target an ally with one of your monk spells and does a small amount of fire damage to every nearby opponent. Now, the actual damage output is fairly small, but look back over the rest of the build. Cheap spells, fast recharge times? Oh, I see.
When I use this build, the AI retreats away from the source of damage as if it were in the presence of an AoE spell. That's how frequent the pain is. And when you realise that there is no limit to the number of monsters that can be hit, the numbers begin to add up. You're fulfilling your role as a cheater of death, yet at the same time you're handing out liberal punishment. Especially if you use 'Smite Hex' - The holy damage and the fire damage stack up. - Finally, every monk needs a resurrection spell, and that spell needs to be 'Rebirth'. 'Nuff said.
So, there it is. Reggie's guide to [glow=red,2,300]Protective Monktastic Smiting [/glow](PMS). Users are fully capable protectors with the added bonus of occasional monsters to add to their killcount. The only thing to be careful of is not to get carried away and spend all available energy. But I'm sure you're all responsible enough bunnies ^_^
~Note: Humans may take skills cutaneously. Inhuman monsters must take via suppository. No exceptions.
Frequent exposure to skills may result in Halitosis, IBS and Finding Religion. Always read the label.~
Reg out.
