User:Jasminethetender/builds/monk/pveonly

=Aggressive Totem 55= This build is a more aggressive version of the 55hp solo farmer builds. It adds speed to your killing power but sacrifices the safety and security of health regeneration and the energy management boost of the Blessed Signet. This build profits from the fact that many 55hp monks will be wielding an Axe of Enchanting for an added duration on Enchantments. This build turns the axe to a very formidable weapon and useful option.

The 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. 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 means that you can tank as many monsters as you want, similar to the old [Build:Mo/any Spirit Bonder|Spirit Bond monk]. See the Invincible Monk article for more information on these kinds of builds.

Equipment

 * Ascetic's Armor for a larger energy pool, with a +1 Smiting 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 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 is a good choice for this. A two-handed weapon cannot be used or your health will be more than 55.


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

Usage

 * First 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 Smiting Prayers scalp and your axe/offhand combo after you are satisfied with your cast.


 * Then cast Strength of Honor and Balthazar's Spirit. This will provide you with added melee damage, Adrenaline for your Lacerating Chop, and help your energy management.

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 gained from the Divine Favor Attribute alone and 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 and Knockdown.


 * Use Lacerating Chop and Cyclone Axe for damage. The steady supply of Adrenaline should help recharge your Lacerating Chop fast and if you pair it with the Knockdown effect of Shield of Judgment your target will start to bleed. A good strategy is cycling your targets for the Lacerating Chop thus getting more to suffer from Bleeding. Use the Cyclone Axe as long as your energy management is comfortable to strike all adjacent opponents.


 * Cycling targets is in generel a good idea - the longer you have the more enemies the better is your energy management and the adrenaline gain on which your Lacerating Chop thrives.

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.


 * Most health degeneration will also kill you as you only have the raw Divine Favor Attribute as your healing. Again, avoid places with Necromancers or Mesmers. (Note that minor health degeneration 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 with only the healing boost from casting Protective Spirit on yourself - although Protective Spirit has a five second recharge.

Variants

 * Healing Breeze 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.


 * Consider bringing Judge's Insight if farming undead, but beware that it can strain your energy management.


 * Consider changing the Axe skills to something causing various Conditions or one causing Interrupt to make you better suited at farming bosses. If centering on bosses, as oppossed to a mass of enemies, it might also be an idea to trade the Shield of Judgment in for another elite. Either an aggressive one to increase your damage or something to protect you from the bosses skills or spells. It doesn't really matter about the adrenaline cost, as your adrenaline is virtually infinite.

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

Choosing Enemies
Only certain enemies will be effectively damaged by this build. Enemies that are knocked down by Shield of Judgment are preferred even if they do scatter; enemies such as the Mountain Trolls at Talus Chute can be knocked down and therefore will be vulnerable to this build. It is also possible to take out a range of other groups in the Chute including the Blessed Griffons, the Azure Shadows and any group of Tengu as long as they have no Avicara Guile as they can strip your enchantments.

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. Shield of Judgment can cause scatter but the use of melee damage might be off-setting. And the added DPS of this build decreases the problem of scattering as they often die before getting away, or at least that they do not have to attack you to receive damage as with the builds depending on the Shield of Judgment alone. Your axe is your main damage dealer.

This build is also useful, and somewhat faster than less aggressive 55hp builds, on those monster that cannot be knocked down, but you'll forego the Bleeding and might consider another Adrenaline Axe Mastery skill in place of Lacerating Chop.

Also, when considering choosing an area, try to find an area with abundant melee attackers, who will be drawn close to your and the range of your axe.

Equipment

 * Max Radiant Armor with the above mentioned runes. Basically your normal prot gear, the minor smiting rune isn't even needed.
 * Whatever you want of enchanting. I prefer a staff of enchanting so I can do some additional damage myself. Another weapon of enchanting will also work but does less damage.

Usage

 * Maintain Blessed Aura, Balthazar's Spirit, and Essence Bond at all times.
 * Gather as many vermin as you feel like, you can tank an infinite number if used right.
 * Keep Fleeting Stability and Shield of Absorption up at all times, I find it smart to follow SoA with FS.
 * Use Mystic Regeneration to counter the health degen of the vermin.
 * Use Shield of Judgment to damage the vermin, follow it up with Balthazar's Aura. The knockdown for SoJ will allow BA to deal lots of damage without scattering the vermin. attack a vermin at all times so it keeps attacking you. Shreader should always be taken down first.

Counters

 * No real threats from Vermin, but Jade Brotherhood may be able to kill you.

Armor

 * Acolyte's Armor for its +10 armor (while enchanted) bonus - you will be under enchantments almost 100% of the time of your run.

Runes

 * Rune of Major or Superior Vigor

Weapons
Two weapon sets are optimal for this run, so that you can switch while running. This, of course, depends more or less on your personal style of running. One set for high energy, and faster recharge, and one for running through groups of Tundra Giants.

Weapon Set #1

 * Gardock's Staff

Weapon Set #2

 * Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor


 * Grognar's Defender

Note: The 20% longer enchantment mod helps to keep up the life-saving skill Divine Intervention longer which can be helpful when running through groups having this skill up.

General
The Running Sequence provides an almost constant speed boost. It is not gap-less, that is to say, there is a short pause between one Sprint and "Charge!" cycle. The Divine Favor Cycle provides the best quick-healing, and the Hex-Countering Mechanism the best anti-hex measurements.

Running Sequence

 * Use Sprint, and "Charge!" for a speed boost of 25%. Sprint and "Charge!" together do stack for a total boost of 33%.
 * Use Balanced Stance to counter knockdowns by Frost Wurms, Ice Golems, Tundra Giants, and Azure Shadows.

Note: Balanced Stance cancels Sprint and vice versa, for they are both stances. Never use them simultaneously if you don't want to lose either of them. Balanced Stance should be used with "Charge!" instead. Balanced Stance will outlast "Charge!" by 8 secs. Use Balanced Stance, wait 4-8 secs and activate "Charge!". It is better to be quicker in escape than in approach due to the aggro/ deaggro behavior of the NPCs.

Divine Favor Cycle

 * Activate Watchful Spirit (WS) when entering a new area.
 * Cancel Watchful Spirit whenever instant healing is necessary. Try to recast Watchful Spirit after that.
 * Use Divine Intervention (DI) as backup healing.

Note #1: Depending on your running abilities it is advised to use DI first before canceling WS in order to be still under the effect of the +2 health pips by WS.

Note #2 Your high Divine Favor attribute allows you to heal you from spells like Purge Conditions, and Smite Hex, too. Though, it might not be much healing but in case of little healing it is much better than canceling Watchful Spirit

Hex-Countering Mechanism
Note #1: Always use Smite Hex for removing a Hex before canceling Holy Veil. By not canceling Holy Veil first you make sure that the enemies still need twice as long to cast for their hexes.
 * Cast Holy Veil on yourself first as major hex-protecting mechanism.
 * Use Smite Hex as major hex-remover.

Note #2: For an extra hex remover cast Holy Veil and wait for it to recharge. By canceling it, recasting, and canceling it again, you can remove up to two hexes only with Holy Veil.

Conditions

 * Use Purge Conditions for an all-in-one conditions clean-up.

Note: Beware traps set by Pinesouls that cripple you for quite a long time. It is not unlikely that two traps are behind each other. Go on running crippled to check whether a second trap is about to ignite; only then use Purge Conditions to reduce the chance of getting trapped twice to a minimum. Alternatively, Mend Ailment can replace Purge Conditions for countering multi-traps.

Variants

 * Mend Ailment can replace Purge Conditions for countering multiple Barbed Traps.

Talus Chute
Due to the high damage output by the groups of Avicara, and the knockdowns by Azure Shadows, it is advised to modify the build for the final stage of the Droknar run. However, this is not needed if you have henchmen or real players as meatshields. Do not forget to put some attributes into Healing Prayers.
 * Activate Mending, Watchful Spirit, and Holy Veil (in this order).
 * Before encountering the first Azure Shadows cast Healing Breeze.
 * Activate Balanced Stance when the first Signet of Judgments are about to hit you.
 * Use "Charge!" in the first corner (left hand) near the Azure Shadow Boss.
 * Cancel Watchful Spirit whenever healing is required. Try to reapply it immediately.
 * Activate Divine Intervention as final life-saver skill when running through the groups of Avicara.

=UW Solo=

This build uses a scythe to hit multiple targets and to whittle away the hp of the target opponents. the original build is found here: http://guildwars.gameamp.com/guide/viewGuide/2546.php

Equipment

 * Full Ascetic's armor for a maximal energy pool.
 * 5 Superior runes, at least 1 Superior Protection Prayers and 1 Superior Divine Favor.
 * A Scythe with a 20% enchantment mod with the "I Have The Power" +5 energy inscription or similar bonus.

Usage
This build uses SOA and PS to tank and the Scythe's ability to attack more than one target, even with Illusionary Weaponry.
 * Use the maintained enchantments first. Switch to a +1 Divine Favor head gear when using Blessed Aura and keep using the +1 Protection Prayers head gear for fighting/tanking.
 * Before aggroing, cast PS>AV>SOA (Keep a Visage up at ALL times during an aggro).
 * Take the aggro and watch out for the nightmare. use power return to interrupt the spell cast by it and wand it with a backup staff/wand.
 * If a second nightmare pops, interrupt one and wand the second. if you die from the second nightmare, bad luck and try again.
 * When the aggro is under control and the mob has 0 energy and no adrenaline, cast IW and begin to slash away with the scythe. Make sure you attack the monster in the middle of the mob to hit the two beside it.
 * When dealing with mobs of 4+, just attack the same target until it is dead and the scythe will take care of the surrounding mob. If smites break, they will spam Reversal of Fortune, but DON'T WORRY, they won't be able to keep spamming it long enough to fully heal another smite.
 * If one smite won't die, switch to another smite.
 * Avoid coldfires at all times, this build has no way to kill them as interruption and slow is a pain.
 * You can counter the Dying Nightmares by just aggroing the Aatxe's and running behind the dead spirits the Aatxe won't hit you any more but the Dying Nightmares will use Rend Enchantments so you won't need to worry because the Aatxe's won't be hitting and you will just need to reenchant yourself and kill.

Counters

 * Death is a stand out counter.
 * A second nightmare popping up without you noticing, resulting in death.
 * Miscasting SOA, resulting in a death.
 * Bleeding at the beginning as it may degenerate your health quickly at 105 hp, resulting in death.
 * The recent changes to the skills Rend Enchantments and Shield of Absorption may have a significant effect on this builds stability. SoA is now fair game for Bladed Aatxe's interrupts, and Dying Nightmares are even more of a threat now with a 1 second cast time to Rend. More testing will be needed.(I suggest switching soa for Shielding Hands) resulting in death.

Armor
It is essential to wear infused armor for the run to Marhan's Grotto or Thunderhead Keep where many Mursaat and Jades with Spectral Agony would instantly kill you without Infusion. Other than that, consider the following armor types for additional protection:
 * Acolyte's Armor for its +10 armor (while enchanted) bonus.
 * Wanderer's Armor for its +10 armor (vs. elemental damage) bonus.

Weapons
A weapon with 20% longer Enchantments is essential for lengthening the duration of Spell Breaker, and shortening the recast gap between 2x Spell Breaker. Divine Favor Skill Recharge bonus is helpful but not strictly required for this build to work. Options:
 * A weapon such as Gardock's Staff offers 20% Skill Recharge for Divine Favor and 20% longer enchantments.
 * A Totem Axe or a Rajazan's Fervor and the Divine Symbol from collector Cinder Linnwood in the Diviner's Ascent
 * The weaponsmiths Gertrud (Vasburg Armory) and Telamon (Leviathan Pits) also craft the same item.
 * There are also many other Divine Symbols available throughout the campaigns that provide beneficial bonuses.
 * A Holy Staff obtained from collector Rylan Paval in Skyward Reach, upgraded with:
 * a perfect Insightful Staff Head (+5)
 * a perfect Staff Wrapping of Enchanting (20%)

Usage
Maintain the following casting orders when running.

Enchantment Sequence

 * Activate Blessed Aura and Watchful Spirit (in this order).

Note: Watchful Spirit, though providing only a Health recovery of +2, can quick-heal you for 160 Hit Points (12 Divine Favor) or even 190 (Divine Favor of 16) when canceled by double-clicking on it. Recover your Energy bar after that. Therefore, in emergency situations (Avicara Rangers, Jade Bows) cancel this skill, if you need immediate health. Blessed Aura helps keep up Spell Breaker - your only insurance of not dying right away.

Running Sequence

 * Activate Serpent's Quickness, Spell Breaker, and Storm Chaser (in this order).

Note #1: With Serpent's Quickness you initate your running sequence. It will give Spell Breaker a minimal advantage to recover faster. Try to keep up Spell Breaker at any given moment. Blessed Aura (supported by your weapon with +20% longer enchantments), and Serpent's Quickness guarantee that Spell Breaker will get recharged within 18,5 secs or less if you delay the activation of Storm Chaser (which cancels Serpent's Quickness' Quick-Recharge-Skill ability) (See Bug: Serpent's Quickness under Specific Hints No. #6). Eventually, Storm Chaser will boost your speed for 18 secs, the same period of time Spell Breaker is being active (with Divine Favor of 16). If there aren't any Hex-casting enemies on your route, you, of course, are free not to use Spell Breaker.

Note #2: As soon as Spell Breaker fades away, recast it, and use Storm Chaser again. You can do the Running Sequence twice, without a gap between 2x Spell Breaker.

Variants

 * It is possible to use Dryder's Defenses instead of Dodge in order to start aggroing multiple Rangers (Jade Bows, etc.) since Dryder's Defenses is one of the evasion stances that is not tied to Expertise unlike Dodge.
 * Zojun's Haste can replace Dodge, as it is a Factions duplicate skill.
 * Holy Veil can replace Smite Hex, as both are generally one-second cast Hex removal skills, and you will not have to stop to remove a hex if you pre-cast it where needed.
 * Divine Intervention for fatal situations can replace Smite Hex but be aware of the missing hex remover in emergency situations (unforeseen aggroing) where you simply aggroed enemies w/o Spell Breaker being active. Be aware of the long skill recharge of 30 secs.
 * Healing Touch can replace Smite Hex when in need of healing, but don't want to cancel Watchful Spirit. With 16 in divine and 3 in Healing Prayers, Healing Touch will heal for about 25+102 HP for the cost of 5 energy.
 * Dodge can also be replaced with other running skills, such as Storm's Embrace or Natural Stride.
 * For users with Nightfall, Purge Conditions can be replaced with Mending Touch.

Major Running Principles

 * 1) Don't aggro too many groups.
 * 2) Evade and choose a direct pass through groups.
 * 3) It's better to aggro one group than two, even if the one group is much bigger.
 * 4) Avoid boss aggroing, because bosses have a different aggro radius. They won't give up chasing you as easily as all the other non-boss characters.
 * 5) Take your time for regeneration of your Health and Energy.
 * 6) If you are a paid runner, run your routes secure rather than fast.

Specific Hints

 * 1) It is vital to keep up Spell Breaker as long as possible. With a 20% longer enchantment item, Serpent's Quickness and Blessed Aura you should be able to keep up Spellbreaker for at least twice  in a row.
 * 2) Use Dodge for encountering Jade Bows due to its Dodge abilities, or in emergency situations if Storm Chaser is not available or for short distance sprints.
 * 3) Make use of your high Divine Favor attribute to gain health by using skills that you may not need at the moment like: Purge Conditions, Smite Hex before thinking of canceling Watchful Spirit.
 * 4) Smite Hex is there for emergency anti-hex situations. (E.g. you aggroed an Ice Imp but did not notice...)
 * 5) Storm Chaser gives you much energy for elemental attacks. Though, do not start the running sequence with less than 30 Energy (5 + 15 + 10).
 * 6) Although Storm Chaser should cancel Serpent's Quickness, it is still active and recharges Storm Chaser 33% faster, so that you can use Storm Chaser immediately again (1 sec gap in-between).
 * 7) Sometimes it's useful (e.g. Iron Mines to Grotto) to recast your already used Watchful Spirit even while running, and immediately cancel it again to boost up your health. Pay attention to your Energy bar, though. Spellbreaker, and a running skill has the first casting priority.

Possible Routes
Note: The second route can be a 100% guaranteed run. Use henchmen for attacking the Pinesouls and therewith luring the Azure Shadows (keep calling your targets). Use Watchful Spirit and Divine Intervention whenever needed. Take the middle way.
 * 1) Deldrimor War Camp -> Granite Citadel -> Copperhammer Mines
 * 2) Copperhammer Mines -> Iron Mines of Moladune
 * 3) Iron Mines of Moladune -> Marhan's Grotto -> Thunderhead Keep

Equipment

 * Any 20% of Enchanting, preferably with extra energy. A Totem Axe or Rajazan's Fervor is ideal.
 * The off-hand item is the -50 Grim Cesta obtained via the Cities of Ascalon quest.
 * Ascetic's Armor offers the most energy which is beneficial to this build, all armor pieces have to have Monk superior runes: one of each with one extra to bring your health down to 105 (this doesn’t include health deduction with the -50 Grim Cesta). Keep in mind that you don't need high armor for the build, so any Ascetic's with maximum energy will do.

Usage

 * Cast the first 4 enchantments before the fight. You won't have any energy regeneration, so use Blessed Signet to regain energy out of combat.
 * Before aggroing mobs, cast Protective Spirit. You should not need Healing Breeze unless you have more than 3 foes that cannot be knocked down (such as hydras), or 5 that can be knocked down (such as forgotten).
 * The energy gained from Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit should be more than enough for all situations.
 * Blessed Aura and your weapon of Enchanting will prolong your Shield of Judgment, which is your core offensive spell.
 * The build is most successful against melee attackers and is least successful against spell casters (especially Mesmers). To use it for farming, find an area with a heavy concentration of melee attackers (such as the Blessed Griffons in Snake Dance or the Hydras in Skyward Reach) and take them on.

List of Soloable Bosses

Wajjun Bazaar Lian, Dragon's Petal - (aggro as many as possible for energy benefit)Instead of Essense Bond bring Zealot's Fire for additional damage.

Variants

 * Monk
 * Replace Essence Bond with Zealot's Fire for more damage output. See the notes on casting in succession to avoid breaking aggro.
 * Replace Blessed Aura with Smite for more firepower. Note that if you are used to Blessed Aura, then getting used to the decidedly shorter durations of Healing Breeze, Protective Spirit and Shield of Judgment will take some time.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Strength of Honor while using a melee weapon to do more Damage.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Symbol of Wrath and use it right after Shield of Judgment tends to kill Mountain Trolls with one round of Shield of Judgment.
 * Replace Healing Breeze with Shield of Absorption for 0 damage (With Totem Axe and Blessed Aura, Shield of Absorption will come back soon enough to recast before it ends.
 * Use Watchful Spirit for more regeneration
 * Warrior, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Bonetti's Defense for an excellent energy providing skill, though dodging will reduce the DPS average.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Balanced Stance to protect yourself against knockdowns, such as Meteor casted by Hydras. This will make Hydra-Farming a lot easier.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Dolyak Signet to securely eliminate knockdowns from monsters such as Tundra Giants
 * Elementalist, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Aftershock. This works fine with the knockdown provided by Shield of Judgment and does not break aggro like Zealot's Fire.
 * Replace Shield of Judgment with Glyph of Renewal and use Sliver Armor for damage.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Bed of Coals.
 * Necromancer, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Suffering. Use this after Shield of Judgment, when the enemy(s) are knocked down because of its 2 second cast time it's easier to interrupt. For large mobs, cast it into the center of the group.
 * Mesmer secondary, you could do one or more of the following:
 * Replace Essence Bond with Channeling to gain tons of energy from crowding foes (this works well in conjunction with Zealot's Fire).
 * Replace Blessed Aura with Arcane Echo to lengthen the effect of Shield of Judgment.
 * Replace Essence Bond with Mantra of Resolve against enemies with interrupts. This can be useful against Titans and Mountain Trolls.
 * Replace Balthazar's Spirit with Sympathetic Visage. This will deplete enemies' energy and cause spellcasting monsters such as Hydras to attack you more once they no longer have the energy to power their spells.
 * Ranger, secondary
 * Replace Essence Bond with Serpent's Quickness for back to back Shield of Judgment casting.
 * Replace Blessed Signet with Brambles to add damage and inflict bleeding when enemies are knocked down by Shield of Judgment. Remember that Brambles is Factions only.
 * Dervish, secondary
 * Mystic Regeneration based:


 * Benefits - more points in Divine Favor and Smiting Prayers means Shield of Judgment does more damage for a longer time. Mystic Regeneration is far better than Healing Breeze (0.25 cast, up to +16 health regen for 24 sec).
 * Replace Watchful Spirit with Mending if you don't have WS.
 * Replace Watchful Spirit with Fleeting Stability if getting knocked down is a problem ("only" get max +14 health regen though). Suggested: Protection Prayers at 9 and Earth Prayers at 6 for longer Fleeting Stability.
 * Additional equipment: a wand + the Grim Cesta in another weapon set. If an enemy runs away, switch to wand, attack it then switch back to usual set. Unless the AI has changed, it should run back to attack you.
 * Mystic Regeneration for healing.

Counters

 * Enchantment removal
 * Interrupting
 * The dazed condition
 * Life stealing
 * Degeneration