What is a good second profesion for a monk?

xoxogirl2

what is a good second proffesion for a monk?

freakerd

Hi, I always use mesmer as secondary, because of the great hex removals and energy management spells, such as channeling Mantra of Recall and Energy Drain.

Truemode2

Well I agree with the post just above.Mesmer is a Great secendery profestions for monks and otheres for pvp.Iv also seen Monks/assinssan build witch was pretty good  the guys keept Teleporting all over the place wen i was trying to attack him so that was also a good build.In pve iv seen a loads of Monk/warriors couse of there Defisve skills.This Monk/Warrior is also used for 55hp build(you will find out wat that is later).My adivce is to go Monk/mesmers couse there whole lot more out there and very affective.I Would also adivce u to test othere proffestion with a monk and see wat type of build u can come up u may come up.You will never know friend it maybe a afective build you will never know till you try

hadz

Monk/Elementalist is great! Use earth magic for extra armor (kinetic or earth) and the wards, and you're safe as houses...you can keep healing while anyone is pounding on you...you don't even have to run. (Talking PvE here)

Serling

IMHO, secondary for a monk is only important in the early stages of the game.

By the time you get to the Southern Shiverpeaks (Prophecies) or Kaineng Center (Factions), if you're going to be an effective monk (healer or protector), you're going to have to put your aps in divine favor and healing and/or protection. Smiters can take a little more liberty with their offensive builds, but a monk's role isn't (and IMHO shouldn't be) about offense. Believe me: there are other professions that are way better at offense. No one wants smiters on a team unless you know you're going up against a lot of undead foes, and even then, an elementalist or SS necro will make quicker work of them.

Teams want healers/protectors, so by the time you get to that point in the game (higher levels), your secondary won't matter because there aren't enough aps to put into it and be good at it AND your primary role. Furthermore, because you only get to take 8 skills/spells with you, it's far better to be an ace of one trade than a jack of all trades.

With that in mind, I took a mesmer secondary for my monk and used illusion spells for offense until I got to about level 16, at which point I committed to being a full-time healer, and now I don't use a single mesmer spell from my secondary set.

As far as energy management goes, the key to successful team healing isn't spamming heal party until you run out of energy (after about 3 uses), but selecting those low-cost healing spells (orison, word of healing [elite], heal other, etc.) and working up and down the list on individual allies. And knowing that using a spell like healing breeze in the presence of enchantment-shattering necros and mesmers is counter-productive. You'll actually assist in killing your teammates sooner.

Using strategy noted above allowed my monk to solo heal a full team of eight in Thunderhead Keep mission with only one death during the entire mission: a Necro who thought he was a tank.

As I have never played a bonder or protector build, maybe someone else can address energy management with them.

BTW, a 55 monk (Mo/W) is worthless on mission teams and is only good for farming the Fissure of Woe and the Underworld. If I'm running a mission team and see a join request from an Mo/W, I'll ask if they're a 55 build before accepting them. If so, I won't take them. They're a waste of space on a mission team.

And just to let you know: 55 refers to the amount of health points a "55" monk has. By carrying a superior rune on every piece of armor and using a -50 hp grim cesta you get as a reward for the Cities of Ascalon quest, you can get your hp down to 55. This is only effective against certain foes (those that specialize in physical or spike damage), but not degeners or enchantment-shattering builds.

Because most missions have a mixed bag of monsters with which to deal, 55 monks die fast and die often while contributing nothing of substance to a mission team. Their damage output sucks and they don't heal or protect anyone but themselves using certain spells and bonds designed to mitigate damage against them. They are used for aggro control in Underworld/FOW 2-man farming teams with SS necros who have mesmer secondary.

Serling

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Monk/Elementalist is great! Use earth magic for extra armor (kinetic or earth) and the wards, and you're safe as houses

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On the other hand, if you're working with warriors and other professions that understand aggro management, you should never have to use that ward or extra armor. Ever.

The biggest mistake I see warriors make is pursuing an opponent so deep into an enemy group, that to follow him to heal him gets a monk (and other teammates) into the middle of the aggro! When that happens, you're going to need more than the few aps on earth magic wards or armor are going to give you to survive.

Once you get drawn into spamming "heal party" to save a tank that's gone on full pursuit, you'll quickly run out of energy and lose most - if not all - of the team.

IMHO, better to use your aps and energy performing the role most teams want and need: healing or protecting.

VGJustice

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Originally posted by Serling

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Monk/Elementalist is great! Use earth magic for extra armor (kinetic or earth) and the wards, and you're safe as houses

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On the other hand, if you're working with warriors and other professions that understand aggro management, you should never have to use that ward or extra armor. Ever.

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Dead on. I actually find it's a better idea to use some DoT AoE Ele spell to make the monsters not wanna stand around you (lava font comes to mind).

And, while I agree that a well done Mo/A could teleport all over the place and never take a hit, I'd like to point out that every time the Monk 'ports, they interrupt their own magic. That mean limited heals for the rest of the group if any at all. That could be disastrous.

Mo/Me is only ever really needed if you're running under heavy energy drain. Beyond that, the Mesmer skills may not help you very much.

Mo/W is good if you have stupid Warriors, but most groups won't accept you anymore for fear of you being a "55".

Mo/R is also good, especially early on, but if you bring your pet along on a high level mission you're likely to get mass ragequits (OMFG N00B MONK Y U BRING PET??? *quit*)

I like Mo/N still. Only problem with that is energy management, and OoB cuts HARD these days. And woe upon you if you spawn a minion. (OMFG N00B MONK Y U MM????? *quit*)

Yeah.... really, anything will *work* for a Monk, especially in PvE, but most prefer the Mo/Me combo, which is still extremely useful.

Archangel999

Monk/Necro can be a lethal combination if your looking to save the money to create and invinci monk

Vertex1980

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Originally posted by hadz

Monk/Elementalist is great! Use earth magic for extra armor (kinetic or earth) and the wards, and you're safe as houses...you can keep healing while anyone is pounding on you...you don't even have to run. (Talking PvE here)

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Monk/Ele is not that wonderful in PvP though.

ruegon

If u use a Monk/elementalist the only thing youll use is the glyghs like glyph of lesser energy before you use heal party or some other high mana cost spell. all of your skill points will need to go in healing or protection + divine favor. its a nice build.