Secondary professions for a Monk

This article provides a quick overview of secondary professions for a monk, listing some of the advantages of each.

Healing and protection Monks often use their secondary profession to benefit from energy management or self-defense skills.

Monk/Warrior

 * During PvP many monks wield shields, and in addition to defensive skills, 9 points in tactics meets the requirement of most shields and raises the armor of the shield from 8 (without tactics) to 16. That 8 extra armor amounts to 10% reduction in all damage while the shield is equipped. This technique also works well with the warrior skill Shield Bash.


 * Balanced Stance is useful for an Infuser to protect against Gale in spikes.

Monk/Ranger

 * A Monk/Ranger is also one of the best running combinations for the Southern Shiverpeaks. Ice Imps and Ice Golems pose no threat when using Spell Breaker, which can be held up most of the time by using Serpent's Quickness. The ranger speed boosts ensure that running past the enemy is swift and harmless. See Build:Mo/R Shiverpeaks Runner.

Monk/Elementalist

 * Glyph of Lesser Energy offers energy management for the monk.


 * Storm Djinn's Haste is used in GvG matches to to run flags.

Monk/Mesmer

 * Monks often have difficulty with energy management. The Inspiration Magic line provides a variety of skills to solve this problem. Channeling is often used in Heroes' Ascent, in combination with spammable 5 energy cost skills. Inspired Hex not only removes a hex from a target ally, but it also gives the player energy. Other skills give enchantment removal with energy bonuses. Ether Signet is an alternative choice that gives you a small boost of energy when you are close to 0, however this is hampered by a very long recharge.


 * Hex Breaker is useful to protect against Diversion in PvP.

Monk/Necromancer

 * In the past Offering of Blood protection monks using Divine Boon for healing were common, however OoB was nerfed by having it's sacrifice penalty raised from 10% to 20% life, making it dangerous to use while under pressure.

Monk/Assassin

 * Monk/Assassins are a mainly found in PvP. Monks with the assassin secondary profession can use Shadow Arts skills such as Dark Escape or Viper's Defense to get away from melee damage dealers. Especially useful is the shadow step skill Return which cripples enemies while teleporting you towards an ally. An example is the popular Blessed Light-incorporating build, Build:Mo/A Blessed Escaper.

Monk/Ritualist

 * Ritualists have their own healing line, and few skills which bring advantage to the monk.

Monk/Paragon

 * "Brace Yourself!" or "Incoming!" are occasionally used by protection monks lacking an elite.

Monk/Dervish

 * Skills such as Conviction and Vital Boon help to keep the Monk alive in a PvP battle.