The More You Know…
Do you find yourself not being healed by your party Monk? Consult your radar and compare to the graph below. You may be located in dumbass range. If you return to healing range and are still dying: A) you may not be aware that your monk has pinged zero energy 8 times already, or, B) your monk was killed by massive aggro, dumbass.
Oh so true. Best of all, being flamed by dumbasses for them failing any of the above.
Comment by Matt — April 13, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
This is why I invariably take all casters in my party. And for the melee classes, sometimes my minion’s Spirit’s Gift saves them, sometimes my Hero Monk gets them. Otherwise, they are named Gehraz, and can use Signet of Pious Light on Death Nova.
Comment by BarGamer — April 13, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
While at first glance I’m a Monk/Mesmer, I’ve come to realize… I’m actually a minion master. But my minions aren’t undead. They’re other players.
Unfortunately, at times they can still be as dumb as the swarm Olias summons up. At least artificial “intelligence” is stupid in *predictable* ways.
Comment by Talshina Canton — April 14, 2008 @ 4:23 am
Indeed…I can handle the predictable dumbasses. Although I would wish they would get the hint when I have to douse them with prot/heal enchants before every fight. Or when I drop Rebirth for Vengeance…
Comment by labsenpai — April 14, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
right on the spot this 1 helped a lot in the guild to explain….:D
Comment by force of the divine — April 14, 2008 @ 3:18 pm
My husband had this occur during many missions in Cantha. The group would take two monks, him being one of them. Once the mission started and the slightest bit of damage was taken, the whole group would resign. Why bother to even take a monk? He was not happy nope nope nope
Comment by Rho — April 14, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
I’ve both monked and meleed in PvE and PvP. From my experience the sword swings both ways. A warrior that does not pay attention to mobs/positioning more than likely will be minion fodder. On the other hand, I’ve seen monks always try to retreat or play too far back to do only themselves good, but not the team. Then warriors are accused of over-extending when in acutality the monk is moving backwards/playing too far back and not communicating it. I’ve both experienced and made those mistakes. Can’t learn if ya don’t.
Comment by Gregor Lightbringer — April 15, 2008 @ 2:16 am
Obviously, PvP is a different tactical situation. I’ve noticed that “retreating” Monks usually have a lopsided skill bar that buckles under pressure. However, many teams DEMAND that monks play fragile/taxing builds, just so the front-line doesn’t have to share the defensive burden.
Go try to monk for all these rampant Ursan teams and you’ll see what I mean.
Comment by labsenpai — April 15, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
It’s even worse when you are a Resto Rit healer… and yes, that’s what I do sometimes. Try being a Rit healer in a PUG… painful, painful experience.
Comment by Watchman Lee — April 15, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
I haven’t tried to be monk for ursan team, guess I’ll find out about that when I get monk to Olafstead O.o I thought it’s just hang back and spam HB and heal party?
Comment by aramdol — April 15, 2008 @ 5:51 pm
Resto Rit in AB is fun though, especially if your elite is AWS. With AWS you can sit there and power out heals all day with it barely scratching your energy at all. And pressure? What’s pressure? Someone hits you, throw on Resilient Weapon and call it a day, maybe use Spirit Light or Wielder’s Boon if you feel the need
Comment by Gimmethegepgun — April 15, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
Rit/Mo and Nec/Mo are the way to go if you want to be a nonchalant healer, or still fit a little damage dealing on your bar. I’m the last person who would argue that “maximum monk” healing is the only game in town.
Comment by labsenpai — April 16, 2008 @ 11:47 am
on a completely unrelated note,
Labsenpai, you should totally do a healbot caramelldansen!
Comment by Starlogic — April 17, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
Hey dont knock all melee some of us Know how important the monk is and will do what we are supposed to do and take the agro off you guys as best we can. If you need a tank to be a body guard hit me up.
Comment by Bregon O mor Byrne — April 17, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
Yeah, being a Rit healer is fun, as long as people stay within healing range and out of dumbass range.
Not to mention when I bring Recuperation and Life, only to see people running to dumbass range and getting aggro when I’m still setting up my spirits. It makes me want to ragequit, particularly when the echo mending, dumbass range “aggroer” warrior begins to shout “why did you let me die? You suck”.
Comment by Watchman Lee — April 18, 2008 @ 10:00 am
I think everyone who actually knows the game has been a MM for a PUG regardless of class, Tal…
And yes, healing Rits can be fun. As can the blasty Rit that just has a little healing in there for support.
On the sword swinging both ways - I recently had an experience where, as a scythe-swinger, I was being chewed out for going into the ‘dumbass zone’. Problem being was that if I STOPPED moving, the Destroyer that was chasing me would have likely clobbered me for my last few points of health before the healing could get in. By continuing to run away from the party, I was keeping that Destroyer out of the fight…and was able to circle back around when the rest of the party was ready and waiting to gank it.
Comment by draxynnic — April 18, 2008 @ 10:43 am
PS For the record, I did tell them to stop trying to heal me as soon as I had a spare moment to do so.
Comment by draxynnic — April 18, 2008 @ 10:44 am
The “leading monsters away from the party” tactic only works if you actually complete the loop. In most cases, players end up creating an unpleasant situation for monks where the monster is still alive and closer than your corpse. Either that or the monster decides to find a new dance partner…
Comment by labsenpai — April 18, 2008 @ 12:09 pm
i like cake..
..and yeah Caramell dansen healbot and friends would b cool.
Comment by hugs-alot — April 18, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
THAT is why my monk smites. Let someone else do the dirty work. >.>
Comment by Robin — April 19, 2008 @ 10:53 pm
You forget.Some monks may just be jack asses and not heal you at all. I’ve gone with a group formed from my guild and some people from my alliance. The monk and a few of the casters were from the alliance, I was playing my ranger at the time. I had gone to help this group with a mission I had already beat. The monk never healed me once, on healed his guild mates, said if i didn’t have troll ungent I was not worth healing.
Comment by Kalle Damos — April 20, 2008 @ 11:51 am
Drax, I have rule about healing when I monk. If you get out range and I have to move more than 3 seconds forward, then you are too far to heal……At least in PvP anyway. As of PvE, sometimes you can get a way with it, but not always. One has to watch their positioning as well as theirs.
Comment by Gregor Lightbringer — April 20, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
I’m sure there are some pitiful fools that have monk characters just so they can get into groups easier…or run 55 builds. Staying alive is everyone’s “job”; Healbot just likes to remind readers about little things that can make PvE less tiresome.
Healbot doesn’t dance to chipmunky euro-tronica. She’s more of the drunken rocker type ^__-
Comment by labsenpai — April 20, 2008 @ 4:42 pm
new fad! Punk-rockamelldansen!
Comment by Starlogic — April 20, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
It was in PvE, and yes, I COULD complete the loop.
Comment by draxynnic — April 21, 2008 @ 4:39 am
Geez, some of the comments here. Learn to monk please. I agree that not every team is as pleasant to monk, but seeing ppl write stuff like “if i have to move for 3 seconds you’re not getting healed” etc. Whoa, you need to move in this game?! Rlly, get over it
Moving isn’t a bad thing. It only gets to be a bad thing if you have to heal 2 or more people, one standing in eg the west, the other in the east and you have to run multiple seconds constantly to keep them both alive. If that’s not the case, whining about it isn’t allowed imo.
I do also agree that not all the monks should be such ego trippers, but monking is often more intense than other profs. If you can’t handle it, don’t monk. But yes… GW is filled with pricks.
Monking ursan teams is like a breeze. They have 200 hp more and 20 extra armor. They’re lovely tanks that do awesome damage… The only difference is that you can’t wait minutes before attacking another group, but why would you do that anyway?
Hope that didn’t sound too harsh since that wasn’t the way I wanted it to, but some people are so full of themselves. “It’s always the others that do everything wrong” u_u
Comment by Sarah — April 21, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
Drax - I’d expect a Dervish to survive given their ability to buff speed and cripple enemies.
Sarah - Ursans may be “blessed” for melee, but not all of them realize their weaknesses. An Ursan not in range of hex and condition removal is dead bear meat. They can’t do “awesome damage” hex-frozen in place and blinded. A healbot can fix this situation of course, but if HM monsters are slipping into the back rank things can get grim. Having seen many fights go down this path, I wouldn’t say I’m “full of myself” for remarking where to pin the tail on the dumbass.
Comment by labsenpai — April 21, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
Just to point it out, I wasn’t talking about you when I said some ppl are full of themselves.
Actually, ursan strike is a touch skill and ursan rage is an aoe skill, therefor ursans can be blinded or even fight foes that have blocking stances or enchants and still work just as good. Since weaps aren’t that important you can generally stop hitting when you get SS or empathy or whatever on you since you’ll still get enough energy from spamming strike and rage. (although hitting with a zealous weap can be nice to keep energy up even easier)
If your tanks know how aggro works, chances are slim that the foes will get to the back though, as foes only change target if the tanks start moving and running around with the foes chasing them.
So we’d have to come to the conclusion that the only real counter for ursans is when they’re “hex frozen”. But other than GW:EN, how common is that really? Only real place it bothered me was in GW:EN tbh.
Finally, you still have to admit that ursans are the easiest way to do DOA hardmode and other elite missions, hence the enormous crash of the gw market.
I agree with you though that some of them are idiots. Last time, one of ‘m ran out of energy (don’t ask me how?!) and he ran right towards me (I always monk) with a huge bunch of foes following. But generally, high ranked ursans aren’t like that tbh.
anyway, don’t take it the wrong way, sorry if I offended you labsenpai..
Comment by Sarah — April 21, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Since I’m playing in EoTN now, I can’t comment on Ursan teams doing DOA or Factions Elite areas. As a Monk, I don’t want to see every quest completion hinge on the solidarity of “specialists”. The need for multiple players with cookie-cutter builds has always spawned plagues of exclusivity. Furthermore, every new “pwnage” build is immediately attractive to inexperienced players (farm-able rank isn’t a good measure).
What I WANT to see is an understanding of the basic things that make Healbot incensed, like failure to observe healing range. Sometimes I think she will quit making tactical comics and proceed directly to biting kneecaps.
Comment by labsenpai — April 21, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
I play as a monk most of the time, and I do see these players too. Usually the problem is that they never have “bothered” to play as monk and see how their situation is at the back. The key to being a good player is to know all parts of the team (more or less) and be able to adapt to that.
And the monk refusing to heal for you had not brought selfheal sound like a player I wouldn’t want to team up with. I heal everyone in need, even if I have to run a bit - but I am also able to “sacrifice” certain players for “the greater good” of the team. If someone run away refusing following the team or refusing to take orders from the leader, that is a dead unressurected player - as he/she would have done more harm in life than dead…
Comment by Elder T — April 22, 2008 @ 1:31 am
Please don’t bite my knees.
I’ve played both a monk and a warrior with a tendency to aggro. I created the warrior because I was sick of tanks that didn’t know how to look after the casters or watch how far they are from the healers. (By the way, 3 seconds is way too far out from the rest of your party if you’re the only rusher.) I created the monk because too many of them become arrogant and, instead of helping the party, make strict demands or else rage-quit.
I said my warrior had a tendency to aggro. Despite the premise I created my warrior on, after the Searing I began to develop tunnel-vision. I see the enemy, I go after it, and nothing else matters. I catch it with Hammer Bash, barely registering that a hair to my right is another group which it was trying to pull me towards. The difference between playing well or badly, imho, is whether I actually move that hair to my right or not.
On the other hand, I’ve had instances on my monk where I nearly killed my party in FoW because I was chattering with my guild, yet when I stopped talking during that same run, we had almost no casualties. The run went very well after that.
You have to play as a team. That’s the first thing. Pay attention, that’s the second. Even Ursans need healing, we’re just too full of ourselves with our extra armor and unblockable attacks to notice how often we’re healed.
(Also, degen and life-stealing hurt Ursans just as much as they hurt anyone else. The health bonus is like using Endure Pain, except that it ends when you’re not hitting or being hit instead of having a time limit.)
Comment by Citarra — April 22, 2008 @ 2:34 am
Most of the time I play PVE, but recently people have pulled me into the PVP business. So I’ve been playing around in the random arena. Since I normally play a mesmer during guild battles, I thought I’d play a ritualist for a little (just playing her through nightfall now)
BIG mistake. You see, while I was mainly communing with attack spirits (and union and displacement) I made the mistake of including a spirit of life and a resilient weapon, just to have a wee bit of healing on the side.
This of course leads to people screaming at me in caps when they die, blaming me for not healing them. I am sorry, WTF?
This makes me really wary of ever playing a monk, or a designated healer in a PUG. I do play my Rit as a healer/protector when the mission needs it, but…
All you monks and ritualist healers out there, is that generally how you are treated in PVP or when you PUG? I’m curious, I don’t do it often since I’m in a guild.
Also, after having tried it once, we stopped using Ursan in my guild. Just no fun. Now if they’d let you take a devourer out and play I’d be game! Or a worm! I am so hoping they balance the bears in the next update.
Comment by Jochy — April 23, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
In my experience, I haven’t had ppl talking shit to me while I monk. Maybe I’m just lucky, or, maybe I just didn’t bother to look at it, lol.
What I am wondering, though, is if it would be more beneficial to have a raven or vulfen in a ursan team. Since some foes may run away from you before you can knock it down, raven could provide a good snare (cripple) and also blind melee mobs. Vulfen can add attack speed buff and deep wound. Does everyone think that would be a better mix? Just to clarify, I’ve tried it when I played with friends using ursan, but not actually in an ursan group.
Comment by aramdol — April 23, 2008 @ 7:55 pm
Before this turns into a Norn skill debate, I’m bringing this healbot hubbub to a close. Maybe next month there will be another tactical comic to discuss…
Comment by labsenpai — April 24, 2008 @ 11:27 am