User:Xtreme IT/builds/Mo/any RC Bonder

RC bonder is a Monk build focused on Random Arena matches. It is extremely powerful here because random groups very rarely deal with it appropriately.

Equipment
Armor set can be chosen according to philosophy, with Ascetic's Armor possibly being the most useful for the higher energy pool. However, if surviving is a problem, Acolyte's Armor provides its benefit continually with this build.

Any weapon combination that lowers casting and recharge times of Protection Prayers will work well with this build. A couple of suggestions are:
 * Jayne's Staff.
 * Kepkhet's Refuge.
 * A Holy Staff from Nord Stonegrimm fitted with a perfect Insightful or Hale staff head and wrapping of Enchanting.

Usage
Maintain Balthazar's Spirit and Divine Boon at all times. In addition, keep Life Bond on the other 3 party members. Before battle or during lulls, Blessed Signet will more than offset the energy drain. In battle, Balthazar's Spirit will provide energy. Healing is not as necessary because of the damage reduction, so Divine Boon on top of Reversal of Fortune or Restore Condition is enough to maintain healing. The quick recharge and low energy cost of these spells keeps the energy demands low.

In the Random Arena, you encounter one of a few types of attackers. Most anti-monk Mesmers focus on anti-casting spells such as Blackout and Backfire, which do little to a monk maintaining enchantments. Warriors that target you early are easy to notice and avoid. Usually, just running is an easy enough tactic. Your enchantments are still contributing to the effort, and if you have one or two chasers, the rest of your team will have little difficulty in taking out the remaining players with Life Bond on them.

Counters
If you get the focus of more than one enemy and they're good with snares, you can die very quickly. This is rare in the Random Arenas, but it does happen. After death, your efficacy is greatly diminished because you don't have the time or energy pool to recast your enchantments. Life Bond (and therefore Balthazar's Spirit) are not worth recasting, so you turn into a reduced Boon Healer at that point.

High damage casters such as Necromancers with Vampiric Touch/Vampiric Gaze or Elementalists that are not getting interrupted can be a nuisance. Fortunately, such targets get killed very quickly in random games, particularly if you warn your group beforehand.

The biggest obvious weakness is getting your enchantments stripped. Mass enchantment removal is very rare in Random Arenas. Sometimes, Life Bond will get stripped off your allies, but you can easily recast it. It is important to order your enchantments such that your most important ones are deepest and the cheaper/less important ones are used as cover.

An Assassin with Shroud of Silence (which makes you unable to cast spells) can shut you down very easily.

Variants
A major variation is to drop the Boon Healer part of the build. Replace Divine Boon and Restore Condition with Bonetti's Defense and Shield of Regeneration. Maintaining one fewer Enchantment makes a big difference in your energy regeneration. You're also better off not running from melee attackers, as Guardian+Bonetti's Defense will quickly refill your energy bar. In situations where a Warrior or Pet or Spirits target you and continually attacks you, you end up with an endless energy pool and your team will be nearly invincible. You can also replace RC and Divine Boon with mend ailment (for conditions) and ZB for healing, when a target is subject to heavy damage, because of the conditional energy gain on ZB you should be ok with maintaining your energy.