User:Adzma/Builds/Guild Wiki Builds/Monk

Mo / E SoA Sliver
This build is a branch of the Mo/any SoA Monk. It utilizes the quick killing power of Sliver Armor along with Shield of Absorption to stay alive. It was particularly useful in farming Bosses and has been known to kill in under 15.5 seconds before the latest game update.

Attributes and Skills

 * The Attributes listed above can be changed to fit your reaction time and/or computer speed. Because you only have about one second to click on SOA, the build above helps extend that time needed to click on it again. If your computer's (or your) reaction speed is not the best go with the current build. On the other side, if you are fast and your computer is as well, you can lower the Divine Favor down a point and add on to Earth Magic.


 * The most common choice for the optional slots is Essence Bond and Aftershock or Watchful Spirit (or any other regeneration skill). See the Variants section for other possibilities.

Equipment

 * Ascetic's Armor is recommended for a larger energy pool, max armor is not needed.


 * You will need five superior runes - at least one in Protection Prayers and one in Divine Favor, as well as one in the headpiece (see below) - to bring your health down to 105, The -50 hp Grim Cesta from the Cities of Ascalon quest is not needed, but can be used if you like.


 * Aquire two scalp designs, one for Protection Prayers with a Superior Protection Prayers and another for Divine Favor. (Note that both headpieces must have a superior rune) This is needed to achieve 15 Divine Favor to strengthen the power of Blessed Aura. This will be described more in the next section (Usage)


 * Any weapon / staff with an "Enchantments last 20% longer" modifier is needed. The Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor are common choices but any staff with the "Enchantments last 20% longer" mod will work as well. Kepkhet's Refuge is very useful if you are playing the 105 hp variant, as the halved casting and recharge can be very effective if it affects Sliver Armor or Shield of Absorption.


 * Hukhrah's Staff (or any other staff of Mastery in Divine Favor) is also helpful. This will also be explained in the Usage section.

Usage

 * First cast Balthazar's Spirit for energy gain.


 * Before you cast Blessed Aura, switch out your Protection Prayers scalp for the Divine Favor one bringing your Divine Favor up to 15. Cast Blessed Aura and then switch back to the Protection Prayers scalp, bringing your Protection Prayers back up to 14.


 * If you are using Hukhrah's Staff, equip it at the same time as the Divine Favor headpiece. Cast and re-cast Blessed Aura as many times as needed for the Divine Favor boost to kick in.


 * When all of the enchantments are cast start your run to your target. Before entering battle, cast Protective Spirit and Shield of Absorption. Keep them up at all times.


 * Aggro your enemies. You must continue to maintain Protective Spirit and Shield of Absorption; if the mobs contain interrupters, you will have to use Glyph of Concentration before SoA (which will always match exactly because of the recharge time).


 * To start damaging enemies activate Sliver Armor after Glyph of Concentration and SoA.


 * To avoid breaking aggro, hit the enemy targeted by Sliver Armor from time to time.

Counters

 * If Glyph of concentration gets interrupted and SoA afterwards gets interrupted, too, you will have to survive by healing with the Divine Favor bonus from spamming Protective Spirit. This can be really hard as you are going to aggro a lot of mobs to deal best possible damage with Sliver Armor.


 * Anything that counters a normal invincible monk will counter this one. These include health degeneration (to a certain point), enchantment removal, and damage that bypasses Protective Spirit.

Variants

 * Switch Balthazar's Spirit for Essence Bond, or put it in the optional slot. You should bring Blessed Signet if you do this to speed up energy regeneration, though when there are plenty of targets around attacking you (such as when farming Ghial the Bone Dancer) this becomes less necessary.


 * Mending, Watchful Spirit and Watchful Healing can help if you expect degeneration or monsters that can interrupt glyphs (e.g. Jade Brotherhood Mesmers if you are hexed).


 * If you are not afraid of being interrupted, swap out Glyph of Concentration for Glyph of Elemental Power or Glyph of Renewal.


 * Zealot's Fire and Shield of Judgment will both do constant damage; but due to the low smiting prayers, will not do much damage. If you bring Zealot's Fire, you must time when you cast your spells so there is at least a three second gap between them or your opponents will scatter. If you bring Shield of Judgment your energy flow will be slightly slowed, because the enemies will be knocked down and therefore attack you less often. This results in less activation of Balthazar's Spirit (or Essence Bond) and less damage dealing through Sliver Armor.


 * Fill the optional slot with any of the other skills mentioned on the Invincible Monk page. (Those mentioned above are some of the more important and/or useful skills found on that page.)


 * You can replace Shield of Absorption for Stoneflesh Aura, this will give you more room for error with casting time.


 * Also, Shield of Regeneration works if you time it right, as it will give you a +8...10 health regen as long as either Mending or Watchful Spirit is in the other optional slot


 * Shielding Hands is an easy way to avoid vulnerabilitiy if SoA can't be recast in time.

Using Spirit Bond
If you wanted to farm areas with health degeneration or life steal, the following build can be used. With the defensive power of SoA, and the massive healing from Spirit Bond, you can solo more bosses in more areas. This build uses the same attributes as the one listed above.

Armor:
 * Lowest armor, AL 15 or Starter armor will do.
 * 2 head pieces (as listed above) one for Divine Favor, one for Protection. Switch out when casting Blessed Aura.
 * One Vigor rune (the best you can afford) and the rest with Vitae ones (+10 health)

Weapons:
 * It is not needed, but recommended to acquire a -1 energy regeneration +15 energy offhand for either Protection, Divine Favor, or Earth Magic. This will help with the large amount of energy that will be used with this variant build.
 * Any weapon/off-hand can be used, as long as it does not subtract health.
 * Staves may be used as well if you like.

Usage:
 * The usage is the same as above with the following variant:
 * Cast Spirit Bond immediately after SoA to regain the Health lost until SoA has set the damage taken to 0. Also use Spirit Bond to recover from Degen.
 * Depending on degeneration keep Spirit Bond up as well as SoA and Prot. Spirit (which still have higher priority than Spirit Bond), but remember not to recast Spirit Bond before it has ended.

Bosses: (this variant build may also be used to solo all of the bosses listed below these)


 * Sun, the Quivering - Google Video
 * Xuekao, the Deceptive
 * Chung, the Attuned

Prophecies:
2 current mobs


 * Skyward Reach
 * Hydras - (due to the reduced number of enemies in this area, additional offensive skills such as Shield of Judgment are recommended)
 * Prophet's Path
 * Minotaurs - (better farmed in Elona Reach (Mission) - either avoid the traps near the start or go with 105 hp, Mending or Watchful Healing, additional damage is also suggested)

Factions:
15 current bosses


 * Bukdek Byway
 * Kenshi Steelhand - Medium (Huge mob, higher chance of interrupts)
 * Jin, the Purifier


 * Wajjun Bazaar
 * Lian, Dragon's Petal - (try to pull as many nearby enemies as you can)
 * Shen, the Magistrate


 * Xaquang Skyway
 * Ghial the Bone Dancer - (Mending is recommended due to his use of Faintheartedness)
 * Orosen, Tranquil Acolyte - Pull his and the other two mobs in range; otherwise he can outheal your damage even if you use Aftershock.


 * Mount Qinkai
 * Hukhrah Earthslove
 * Arrahhsh Mountainclub - (only if the quest Return of the Yeti is active)
 * Chehbaba Roottripper
 * Tomton Spiriteater
 * These four Yeti Bosses can easily be done in one run with 105hp, Glyph of Renewal instead of Glyph of Concentration and Watchful Healing to counter Poison.


 * Pongmei Valley
 * Arrahhsh Mountainclub - (Glyph of Renewal is recommended)


 * Maishang Hills
 * Sessk, Woe Spreader - (Bring along Watchful Spirit and Mending to counter Degeneration and Spam Protective Spirit for health gain. Oni may appear, but run past them. Interrupts are frequent while soloing him)


 * Archipelagos
 * Ssyn Coiled Grasp - Medium/Hard (Dazing will cause you to get interrupted frequently. To avoid this, use Glyph of Concentration for both Sliver Armor and SoA. 105hp is also needed.)


 * The Eternal Grove
 * The Scar Eater - Medium/Luck (Bring along Glyph of Elemental Power or Glyph of Renewal to speed up the killing. Bring Smite Hex or Spell Breaker as well, in case of Oni spawn. Regeneration Skills to counter Poison and Bleeding. This boss can only be soloed if the mobs around don't contain Skill Hungry Gakis as they create spirits of Disenchantment.)


 * Morostav Trail
 * Strongroot Tanglebranch (Watchful Spirit and Glyph of Renewal are advised.)

Nightfall:
10 current bosses


 * Marga Coast
 * Bubahl Icehands - (Watchful Healing is recommended due to the Kuskale Blighters' use of Rotting Flesh)
 * Chor the Bladed - (Watchful Healing and Mending are recommended due to the Mirage Ibogas' use of Conjure Phantasm and Crippling Anguish)


 * Yatendi Canyons
 * Hajok Earthguardian (Insect) - (Spell Breaker will make the way to him easier)


 * The Floodplain of Mahnkelon
 * Jerneh Nightbringer - Hard (Avoid the corsairs on the way, they can kill you. Also attempt to cast your already maintained enchantments to set off the Ridgeback Kuskales' Agonizing Chop and the Beast Sworn Hekets' Disrupting Lunge. Mending is recommended due to his use of Rotting Flesh.)


 * Resplendent Makuun
 * Jishol Darksong - (To counter Blazing Finale, go with 105hp and Watchful Healing.)


 * The Mirror of Lyss
 * Riktund the Vicious - (105 hp is recommended. Watchful Healing is recommended due to the Cobalt Shriekers' use of Blazing Finale. Also gather the Rock Beetle and Rain Beetle because they have a very high attack rate.)
 * Yammiron, Ether Lord - Hard/Very Hard (105 hp is a must. Use the same setup as for Riktund the Vicious.  Don't aggro the Behemoth Gravebanes and Scytheclaw Behemoths due the massive degen they can cause.  There will be energy denial due the Roaring Ethers.  But this shouldn't be too much of a problem if they keep attacking you. Note that Roaring Ethers use Resurrection Signet.)


 * The Hidden City of Ahdashim
 * Shakor Firespear
 * Leilon, Tranquil Water
 * Yammirvu, Ether Guardian - Very Hard
 * To kill these go with 105hp and bring Regeneration Skills or Condition removal against Burning. Switch out Glyph of Concentration for Glyph of Renewal.

Mo / Any SoA Monk
This build can be used in many solo farming areas and does not rely on healing prayers at all. This build can take on any number of monsters as you like without worrying about your health dropping below 55 health. Shield of Absorption reduces damage by 5, and this build has a maximum health of 55. With Protective Spirit, this means that every attack against you will do zero damage. This build will work with Death Penalty and with 1 health (unlike previous Invincible Monk builds). This means that you can tank as many monsters as you want, similar to the old Spirit Bond monk. See the Invincible Monk article for more information on both of these kinds of builds.

Attributes and Skills

 * See the Variants section for some skills to use in the optional slot.

Equipment

 * Ascetic's Armor for a larger energy pool, with a +1 Protection Prayers scalp design. You will need to upgrade your armor so as to bring your health down to 55 hp (as seen on this section of the Invincible Monk page).


 * Any Sword or Axe of Enchanting. The bonus must be +20%. Also, a +5 Energy modifier (or the inscription "I Have the Power") helps to increase the energy pool even more. The Totem Axe and Rajazan's Fervor are common choices for this. A two-handed weapon cannot be used or your health will be more than 55.


 * A 20/20 Insightful Protection Staff of Enchanting works just as well. Unlike using a sword or axe, the staff will help mitigate an enemy's death. Having 105hp doesn't adversely affect the builds effectiveness.


 * Consider bringing a scalp design that provides a bonus in Divine Favor and/or a staff of Mastery in Divine Favor.

Usage

 * First cast Watchful Spirit and Balthazar's Spirit. This will provide +2 health regeneration (in case Shield of Absorption slips) and energy management.
 * Then cast Blessed Aura. If you are using a Divine Favor headpiece and/or a staff of Mastery in Divine Favor, equip them now to maximize its effect. Note that if you are using a staff of Mastery, it may take multiple castings for the Divine Favor boost to kick in. Be sure to re-equip the Protection Prayers scalp and your sword/axe/offhand combo after you are satisfied with your cast.
 * Note: These three enchantments can be cast in any order according to preference.
 * After all of the enchantments are cast, head towards your enemies (but see Choosing Enemies, below).
 * Before entering battle cast Protective Spirit and Shield of Absorption. (You should do this no more than two seconds before you do the next step.)
 * Aggro your enemies. You must keep up Shield of Absorption (near-)continuously. Depending on how high your Divine Favor attribute was when you cast Blessed Aura, you can have as little as .5 seconds to recast it - or you may have as many as 1.85 seconds. Note that if you miss a recast by a few seconds, the health regeneration from Watchful Spirit combined with the damage reduction from Protective Spirit will help prevent death, but don't take your time about recasting it. (Be aware that larger mobs mean faster death in this situation.)
 * Use Shield of Judgment for damage. Your enemies should kill themselves by attacking you.
 * Use Blessed Signet for energy management - it can even be used in battle if you have a few seconds to spare.

Choosing Enemies
Only certain enemies will be effectively damaged by this build. Enemies that are knocked down by Shield of Judgment will scatter; enemies such as hydras cannot be knocked down and therefore will be damaged by this build. Before you use this or any other build with Shield of Judgment to farm monsters, do some research to see if they can be knocked down or not before deciding whether to bring Shield of Judgment.

Also, when considering choosing an area, try to find an area with abundant ranged attackers, such as Ranger or Paragon, who do not flee from damage as melee creatures do. Ice Imps and Siege Ice Golems are good enemies to farm outside Ice Caves of Sorrow.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal can be deadly if it hits Protective Spirit and/or Shield of Absorption. Because Necromancers and Mesmers have so many skills to do this, avoid them.
 * Major health degeneration will also kill you. Watchful Spirit will counter minor health degeneration, but even that inflicted by Bleeding or Faintheartedness can overwhelm it. Again, avoid places with Necromancers or Mesmers. (Note that minor health degeneration over Watchful Spirit may not necessarily be deadly as you will heal yourself every time you cast a spell on yourself due to the healing bonus from the Divine Favor attribute.)
 * If Shield of Absorption is interrupted, you could be in trouble. You will have to last ten seconds on the health regeneration from Watchful Spirit and the healing boost from casting Protective Spirit on yourself - although Protective Spirit has a five second recharge.

Variants

 * Watchful Spirit and Balthazar's Spirit can be easily replaced by Mending and Essence Bond, respectively, with absolutely no change in the way the build works. Additionally, either one could fill the optional slot.
 * Healing Breeze or Watchful Healing is useful when killing foes that cause -3 (or greater) health degeneration.
 * Zealot's Fire can provide relatively consistent AoE damage; you must be cautious as to how you time your spells so that there is at least three seconds between each of them, or you will cause your enemies to scatter.
 * If your enemies will scatter from Shield of Judgment (see below), consider bringing another elite or another damaging non-AoE spell instead of it. Spell Breaker is a good choice for defense.
 * Having only 55 max health is not necessary to maintain a nearly invulnerable monk - see the Mo/E SoA Sliver build, and look at the Spirit Bond variant of that build. It can be used to counter health degeneration, and to some extent, life stealing.
 * You may want to ensure survival by using Shielding Hands. Cast it before SoA wears off to stay invulnerable.


 * Additional skills are recommended depending on your secondary profession.

Warrior
 * Bonetti's Defense - for energy and +75% chance to block attacks, making you more resistant to melee interrupts such as Savage Slash.
 * Balanced Stance - to resist knockdowns and therefore some interruptions

Mesmer
 * Arcane Echo - for longer use of Shield of Judgment
 * Mantra of Resolve - to prevent interruptions (but not knockdowns)

Ranger
 * Brambles - for more damage from Shield of Judgment
 * Serpent's Quickness for quicker recharge time on all skills cast while it is active

Necromancer
 * Spiteful Spirit for a different skill with a faster recharge and more damage output.
 * Spoil Victor for farming most melee bosses (assassins, dervishes, and warriors)

Dervish
 * Fleeting Stability - to prevent knockdown

Elementalist
 * Sliver Armor - to do tremendous damage once surrounded by masses of monsters
 * Glyph of Concentration - to avoid interrupts
 * Ward of Stability - to prevent knockdown
 * Grasping Earth - to keep monsters from fleeing