User:Lotrfish/monk

This build was designed to farm the Vermin outside Senji's Corner in Xaquang Skyway. With the use of the Monk's armor-ignoring damage skills from the Smiting Prayers line, you are able to deal damage to multiple foes simultaneously. Protection Prayers and Earth Prayers skills are used to defend yourself from the enemy attacks.

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.

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
 * Shroud of Silence

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.