24 Oct 2006 at 00:23 - 1
I recently quit GW for the 2nd time, and I'm not sure I'm going to come back with this lack of interest I'm having, and I was thinking I'd give away some tips/secrets since it's not like I care anymore, and besides, it's not like UW doesn't need good monks!
I'm not going to write another guide because it takes so long and I don't have the time to do so anymore, so I'm gonna share my knowledge, you people feel free to comment/discuss/add.
Ok, first off. This might sound weird (especially to you Makosi, you probably don't even know who I am). Before Factions, I wrote a guide on i-monking in general, and later on kept playing and getting better, and eventually became a very good 2-men UW team with Faithful Sno. I took a break after Factions came out, bought it a few months later, and eventually caught up with the current game updates. People were still playing UW, and the Spirit Bond concept was new to me. I played UW with my good friend and ex-guildmate Avarre, and he said I aggroed like a grandmother. It was somewhat funny: I was using the same build I've been super efficient with just a few months ago, and now, despite my aggros, my partner thought I was slow.
I kept practicing (often with pugs) and adapting to Factions skills, adding Spirit Bond in my build (Blessed Signet now more-or-less obsolete in 2-men). A few weeks later, I went back in UW with Sno this time. He hadn't played monk for so long, he asked me to play monk because he was too rusty. We did a successful run, then I asked him if I improved (he used to be my practice partner, we would improve together, but he was ahead of me at the time - this is before Factions). He said yes, but then told me about Makosi, the 23 mill exp monk. I asked Avarre, and he said the same things about Makosi: this guy was now probably the fastest UW monk.
This is where it gets a little weird: I like competitive play (HA, GvG), but I always felt that, for me, the biggest challenge in this game was to be the best monk at UW. It mattered a lot to me, my best practice partners told me someone was much better than me. Without his knowing, he became my opponent, challenger.
Since I had never played with him, it was hard to become better than him, as I didn't know how he played in the first place. I had to ask Sno about his (Makosi's) aggro patterns. I thought like this: for the smite area, I probably could do it as fast as he could: just aggro anything you can while not getting slowed down (sometimes, getting HUGE aggros is just for show, and can be slower than tanking in two groups). Thanks to Spirit Bond. So, theorically, only the first room remained.
I knew from Sno that Makosi tanked the first room in three groups, including quest. And he tanked the Chamber in two (the 2 aatxes/darkness group in the corridor - right entrance, not center entrance) with everything in the room except dryders, which he took in a seperate group (according to Sno ;D)
My goal was simple: since I could theorically be as fast as he could with the smites, I had to clear the aatxes / chamber faster. This is how I designed a build that might sound rather noob at first, but is optimized for speed and insane aggros:
Code:
Protective Spirit
Spirit Bond
Healing Breeze
Spellbreaker (E)
Bonetti's Defense
Wary Stance
Balthazar's Spirit
Blessed Aura
As for the attributes, I ran 15 DF (depending on days), 12 Healing Prayers (just enough for +8 Breeze), 4 Tactics (7 sec bonetti's / wary stance), and rest in Prot - was 12 or so.
Oh, and it was 55 hp. This might sound stupid to some of you, but I assure you it was all well-thought and is definately everything but stupid. Let's take a look at this build:
Of course, you only have two maintainable enchantments, so forget need for BR, Blessed Signet, or any kind of small waiting time in the first room. Then, you have a very long Spellbreaker which gives you enough time to aggro all you want (explanation comes later), longer enchantments in general. Wary Stance allows you not to cast Spellbreaker until it is needed, without the fear of being interrupted - gg savage slash, distracting blow, skull crack. This might sound unneeded - but it really is, when I talk about aggro patterns. Remember, this build was designed for speed and efficiency over anything else.
Now, why 55 hp? This is pretty simple: 55 hp is awesome, and Spirit Bond is awesome (Makosi and other good monks do this as well). For the list below, I will refer to a 55 hp build as PS/HB/55 hp, and a SB build as PS/Spirit Bond build (because health doesn't matter).55 hp is limited in terms of tanking, when compared with a SB build
SB is weak against coldfires, and terrible against Dryders. (Unwanted Guests is hardly doable, Ice King impossible)
55 hp is very strong for quests, much more versatile than SB.
When going hybrid PS/SB/Breeze/55 build, you can do quests just as good as normal 55, while being to tank anything you'll find in a normal UW run, in any amount.
With the hybrid build, I could tank anything I want, aggro as much as I can (thanks to long SB and Wary Stance), and have very good energy management (always let Bonetti's fill yourself when a group is about to die with Bonetti's Defense).
Let's take a look at a few particularities of the build I run:
- If you happen to tank a group of darknesses without Aatxes, you don't need to take off any pieces of AL, or use Elemental Resistance, since you have Breeze, Bonetti's, and even Spirit Bond.
- No problems against Coldfires (PS/Breeze)
- No problems against Dryders, or while doing the Ice King quest (long Spellbreaker, PS/Breeze/SB, Bonneti's - doable without Mending)
Seriously, what's not to like?
Okay, back to the purpose of this thread - using the build I designed to tank the first room including chamber as fast as it is possible. I took a picture of the first room + chamber and added aatxes groups, darkness spawns and dryders, showing my aggro pattern, which seems to be the most efficient out of all the ones I have tried - it is the only one that allows me to clear first room and chamber in only three groups. Take a look at this map (hopefully you can understand it!!)
The pink point is where you start. I will go to the left, aggro the first two aatxes groups including the patrol, ask my necromancer to take quest, and wait for graspings to come gank me. (Shown by the smallest circle)
Next, I will go get the group at the top of the stairs (at the right entrance to chamber), bring it down to the second fight point, and ask my necro to pull the group at the top of the stairs. This is where Wary Stance comes in handy. You just run in with PS and SB on, no Spellbreaker yet, and when you see a Nightmare, Wary Stance -> Spellbreaker. No need to pre-cast Spellbreaker anymore.
The first room has now been cleared in only two aggros, one less than the usual "very fast monk" (the pull that was taught in Sno's experienced classes). Next, the chamber. There are two ways to do this. You have to check the Nightmare spawns prior to aggroing (Nightmares are visible in chamber, duh). If there are a lot (4 is considered a lot), you'll want to Spellbreaker, take the Darkness and Aatxe groups, get rid of the nightmares, Wary Stance -> Spellbreaker again once it is ready, pull your group into the dryders. If there are few Nightmares, just pull everything into dryders right away, then get rid of the Nightmares. To save some time, make sure the rightmost Aatxe+Darkness group (in the third aggro circle) is in the chamber (it patrols in the corridor and chamber) prior to aggroing. This can save 5-6s of Spellbreaker, which is definately needed. If you don't see a Nightmare in their group, you can just rush in tho, and Wary Stance -> Spellbreaker when needed.
It is very much possible to aggro Dryders without Spellbreaker on, however is more dangerous. With PS and Spirit Bond you have no problem (considering the number of Aatxes+Darknesses that are bashing on you). Just make sure you cast Breeze whenever you have the chance. (use Bonneti's or Wary Stance before casting breeze if you do not have Sympathetic Visage on you)
That's pretty much it: The whole first room and chamber pulled and killed in three groups.
I have done the Ice King, Unwanted Guests, Escort of Souls, Wraithful Spirits with my build. Mending helps, but is not needed. Keep in mind my build was designed for speed over anything else. It is the result of my two hundred runs (if not more). It's a build/way to play to show off, Wary Stance is awesome, but Mending is a lot less trouble. (I have never failed Ice King with this build, but it's so much harder without Mending).
------- Personal Preferences --------
- A SS/SV necro is significantly faster than a smiting bonder teamed with a high-hp SB monk for this run. This is because you get huge aggros, many aatxes get stuck, and don't hit, therefore do not take damage from HW & Retrib. However, SS hits in an area of effect, making it a much wiser choice. Also, the time it takes to avoid Coldfires to get Smites in the Ice Wastes makes the SS/SV a more valuable partner.
- My weapon is a customized req8 DF 20 HSR Prot/20 HCT Healing Holy Rod. If aiming for perfection, it is the best wand you can find for this build/run.
- I used a Totem Axe rather than a Fiery Flame Spitter. Both work, but I feel cheap when the HSR kicks in for Spellbreaker. If you want to test your own pulls, never take something that might give you an advantage, you have to test it in the worse possible conditions to make sure it works.
- I have only 5 million experience. It might sound a lot for certain people, but trust me it is not. Sno has 7-8 million I think, Avarre has above 10, and Makosi has 23 (probably more by now).
------- Thanks --------
Makosi, you have no idea how much I wish to thank you. You truly inspired me to become the best, the fastest, and even if you didn't know, I took you as my challenger.
Thank you Sno. For a while, I have been jealous, I wanted people to notice me more than you, but you truly deserve your GW fame. Without you, this guide would have never existed, I would never have 1/10 of the skill I have now. You are a great teacher, and a great friend.
Thank you Avarre for being such a good friend. You are the one that motivated me to become better. Awesome mesmer that you are, if I had half the skill you have, I would be a million times better than I am now.
Thank you Elana Divine (Pee V Pee). I know you hate PvE and we both know you aren't the best UW necro, but if I didn't get your help I would have had no one to seriously train with, and could have never written this guide, or thought of the aggro pulls I described above. We were in PvP guilds together, but you always supported my training, and helped me with it. Thanks a lot.
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The key to improving is not all about practicing the same thing a million times. It's about analyzing the situation(s), constantly questioning yourself on how to improve, correcting your mistakes. That said, it is not because you have less experience than someone else that you cannot be as good, if not better.
------- Notes --------
This thread is not about me bragging. It's about me sharing my knowledge, my ideas, what I have learned from my training. Feel free to discuss, add stuff, comment, anything. I am happy to see people that are interested enough to read my thread.
I've been writing this for three hours now, and I feel like it's enough. I quit GW but definately not out of GWG, I am looking forward to read replies.
Good luck to whoever tries hard at UW, and to everyone that plays UW for the challenge more than the ectos - I am with you.
Thanks for reading!
- Cerb
Pity you're leaving, but if the game's not fun no reason to stay. If you do come back, still lots for you to learn, in NF and in other places.
. The recharge mod is a much more valuable asset than the +5 energy although it can't hurt to have a totem axe in your weapon slot if you need that quick boost.
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Quite possibly the tank Jerry SS'ed for most would happen to be me (if not Sno), and he is certainly consistant and highly capable. However, he has quit. While I wouldn't claim to be his equal, I'm pretty close... then again, you'd have to come over to the American servers 
