I'm hoping to buy FOW armor soon

I've been saving for a while, and if I get lucky, I might have enough for FOW armor in the near future.

I'm getting it for my male monk, and I'd like some advise on which armor to get.
I know that no armor fits all purposes. but I need a jack-of-all-trades combo.
Something that would be "ok" for HA, TA, and PvE.
Note, that I said "ok".. I didnt say "perfect".

Also, what's the current "normal" price on shards?
Can i get them cheaper than this price? If yes, what places/districts are my best bet?

Oh, and just one more thing. Is there a chance of this monk armor becoming obsolete once Night Fall comes out?
Judging from the history of GW, something that is really good and expencive, always stays this way. I can see that people that got obsidian armor in Prophecies, did not regret doing so when Factions came out. I'm thinking that wont change with night fall either.

For general use, I'd advise you get Ascetic's armour... having extra energy is always an 'ok' thing.

And I doubt FoW armour will become 'obsolete' in Nightfall... There's no two ways around it, FoW armour is incredibly expensive.

I agree with you, but I'm wondering if the lack of any extra armor or life will take a heavy toll on PvP effectiveness.

Need more ppl to give their 2 cents please.

Uhh I'm not too sure about what stats are given on the pieces of FoW, so this set might not be found in the Fissure.

Personally, I use this for my Boon Prot:

+1 Divine Scalp
Chest piece with +10 armor when enchanted
Ascetic arms
Pants with +10 armor when enchanted
Ascetic ...feet..

Seeing that you will get hit on the body and legs more often, the +10 enchanted mod is a great help ^_^

As for prices, I'd say shards usually go for around 3k-4k at ToA.

Ascetic's monk armor FTW!

As for it maybe being obsolete when nightfall comes out, if I were you, I would just wait untill it does come out, and if there is a better/cooler armor, I would try to get that instead. Of course it is a long wait....

Depends on whether you play a Monk with Enchantments more or less.

Chest: +10 while enchanted / +10 vs. physical
Legs: +10 while enchanted / +10 vs. physical
Hands: +en
Feet: +en

Personally, Im always with extra energy.. thats just my preferance

Is there any chance that Nightfall might bring new armour _functions_ as factions did?

If yes, I would definately wait for Nightfall before buying expensive armour.

On the other hand, if there's always the possibility that a new campaign might add armor functions and/or Anet suddenly decides that "this and that" armour function needs to be redesigned (last warrior update for example), one can NEVER be certain on what to buy

Well I suppose I wont wait till nightfall, since we never know what happens to us tomorrow. If we can have something now, it's better to have it now.

As for armor, I suppose I'll get armor on chest and legs, energy on arms and feet. - Unless someone comes in, and explains why that would be a WRONG thing to do.

I'm in the same boat as you. Personally Ascetics is the way to go. Yeah maybe you wont have the extra little armor for PvP, but overall in the PvE universe extra energy on a monk is the most usefull, from everything from missions to solo farming, to bonding. Extra energy comes in far more usefull far more often than the extra armor. When i get my FoW armor i will be getting two arm peices, 1 with a sup rune of devine and one without. Then i will change out my 3 dif sets of scalp designs with diff runes depending on the situation and add the proper arm peace. Of course the other three body peaces will have a minor rune of healing, minor rune of prot, and a superior vigor rune.

I went with full ascetic armor when I bought the monk FoW, and have been very happy with my choice.

I went with full Ascetics... I mean, why do you need more armor when you have Protective Spirit?