I keep hearing/reading about the "55 HP Monk Builds" that are out there and I've read through most, if not all, of them. Something that I haven't found addressed in the Builds section (which is why I'm posting this here) is this simple question:
What is the advantage to working towards a 55HP Monk?
I play a Monk/Mesmer and am only about level 13. I guess I just don't understand why I would want to lower my total hit points.
This isn't directly a build related question, so I am hoping someone in this section can clue me in.
55hp Monk - not build related - Q&A related
Bastard Son
Racthoh
Read the skill description on Protective Spirit and you'll understand why you only want 55 health. 
Shimus DarkRaven
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Racthoh
Read the skill description on Protective Spirit and you'll understand why you only want 55 health.
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--The Shim
Former Ruling
The Lower your Health, health regen becomes more of an asset worth having.
When you have 500hp, regening a few hp a second isnt gonig to keep up with getting hit by high dmg skills.
But get 55 HP..and use protective spirit so their dmg matchs your hitpoints better, and that health regen is marvelous..if you keep near max health regen on - You can take dmg from ALOT of sources and never even fall under max health.
When you have 500hp, regening a few hp a second isnt gonig to keep up with getting hit by high dmg skills.
But get 55 HP..and use protective spirit so their dmg matchs your hitpoints better, and that health regen is marvelous..if you keep near max health regen on - You can take dmg from ALOT of sources and never even fall under max health.
ThY[Ninj]
55 hp monks usually are secondary warriors and have lowest health (55) and REALLY good health regen. They use protective spirit so they cant loose more than 10% health. They usually don't die 
Fyre Brand
OP ~ The question really does come down to build. To expand on what Former said:
This is usually done with monks but works with any class at 55 health and monk included. Some of the spells or enchantments are more efficient with primary monk.
With that said here goes the basics. As a couple people have stated Protective Spirit limits damage to 10% of your max health per hit. So at 55 health you will only take 5 damage per hit.
There is a lot of spell casting and energy management can be a problem. Essence Bond and Balthazars Spirit are two of the most common maintained enchantments to promote energy management. Everytime you take a hit you will get +1 energy per enchantment. So that is +2 energy per monster per hit with these two spells. A side bonus here is that Balts Spirit also provides adrenaline (amount based on the smiting prayers attribute level). This is why many people choose warrior as a secondary. This isn't the only secondary option. These enchants provide a decent amount of energy for regular spell casting. I often use mesmer or elementalist as my secondary. Necro is another decent option for secondary. In a 55 hp Mo/* setup the secondary is mainly to supplement damage or customize for a specific area.
Mending and Healing Breeze are the basic means of survival. At 13 healing prayers mending provides +4 pips of regen and healing breeze provides 8 pips of regen. At 14 healing prayers healing breeze provides 9 pips of regen. The only place I really find it necessary to spend the extra attribute points and put healing prayers at 14 is the Underworld. 13 healing prayers is normally fine for most areas and the extra attribute points can be better used in your damage attribute or in protection prayers to boost Protective Spirits duration.
The last three spells are completely up to you. This is where you put your damage dealing spells/skills.
The idea behind 55 health is that with protective spirit active you won't die unless you take 11 or more hits at exactly the same time. You can only have +10 pips of regen at a single time, but the extra buffer (+4 and +8 give you +12) is a small buffer in case of degen spells such as poison or flame trap. Degen spells are extremely deadly to this build so be careful. Enchant stippers are also deadly. Unless you are prepared to deal with enchant stippers or certain hexes/curses they will end you quick.
I hope that was helpful. Please note that this is the very basic generic outline. There are other ways to accomplish this. These aren't my ideas, but what I have learned from reading here and from my guildmates teaching me. Don't be afraid to experiment a lot, that's the fun part (especially because 55 monk farming can be very monotonous and boring).
This is usually done with monks but works with any class at 55 health and monk included. Some of the spells or enchantments are more efficient with primary monk.
With that said here goes the basics. As a couple people have stated Protective Spirit limits damage to 10% of your max health per hit. So at 55 health you will only take 5 damage per hit.
There is a lot of spell casting and energy management can be a problem. Essence Bond and Balthazars Spirit are two of the most common maintained enchantments to promote energy management. Everytime you take a hit you will get +1 energy per enchantment. So that is +2 energy per monster per hit with these two spells. A side bonus here is that Balts Spirit also provides adrenaline (amount based on the smiting prayers attribute level). This is why many people choose warrior as a secondary. This isn't the only secondary option. These enchants provide a decent amount of energy for regular spell casting. I often use mesmer or elementalist as my secondary. Necro is another decent option for secondary. In a 55 hp Mo/* setup the secondary is mainly to supplement damage or customize for a specific area.
Mending and Healing Breeze are the basic means of survival. At 13 healing prayers mending provides +4 pips of regen and healing breeze provides 8 pips of regen. At 14 healing prayers healing breeze provides 9 pips of regen. The only place I really find it necessary to spend the extra attribute points and put healing prayers at 14 is the Underworld. 13 healing prayers is normally fine for most areas and the extra attribute points can be better used in your damage attribute or in protection prayers to boost Protective Spirits duration.
The last three spells are completely up to you. This is where you put your damage dealing spells/skills.
The idea behind 55 health is that with protective spirit active you won't die unless you take 11 or more hits at exactly the same time. You can only have +10 pips of regen at a single time, but the extra buffer (+4 and +8 give you +12) is a small buffer in case of degen spells such as poison or flame trap. Degen spells are extremely deadly to this build so be careful. Enchant stippers are also deadly. Unless you are prepared to deal with enchant stippers or certain hexes/curses they will end you quick.
I hope that was helpful. Please note that this is the very basic generic outline. There are other ways to accomplish this. These aren't my ideas, but what I have learned from reading here and from my guildmates teaching me. Don't be afraid to experiment a lot, that's the fun part (especially because 55 monk farming can be very monotonous and boring).
Bastard Son
Thanks for all the responses. Like I said, I *did* try and find out why anyone would want to do so in the other threads about 55hp Monks but just couldn't find anything satisfactory. Great info here... so thanks again!