Monk Equipment Question

Currently, I have on two items 'cause they boost my energy a whole lot. Here are their statistics:
But as you can see, they both have a -1 energy regain penalty. Now, I am a healing monk, and really want that extra energy. But the negative regain is really tough to work around. Does anyone have any suggestions/ideas on what I should do? Or how about this question: Ignoring the cost factor, what is the best Monk weapon and focus item that I can buy (for maximum energy, but no energy regain penalty)? Thanks!

I run 3 weapon sets:

1. Axe with +5 energy and +30 fortitude mod & +12 energy offhand with 20% recharge and +30 fortitude.

2. Axe with -5 Energy and +30 hp with a req. 0 shield with +8 armor and +20 hp (its a green shield).

3. Axe with +5 energy and +30 hp with +12 energy offhand +15/-1 energy and +30hp.


The key is use weapon set 1 for most things. 2 is for energy denial or switching for malaise/wither. 3 is only used for quick energy needs, switch back to 1 or 2 immediately for max. energy recharge.

I do similar things but also have a +5 energy wand in the mix for dealing some damage when appropriate.

Guildwiki has a list of all the green weapons available, all the collector gear and all the crafters so you can see what standard items are available.

Never on a monk run anything that has a -energy regen like a 15/-1 set UNLESS its for emergencies. such as your at the boss and your warrior needs one last heal to kill the boss, or its in PVP and your about to kill the guild lord (gvg) and you need that last little bit of energy to push the win, stuff like that. you should NEVER EVER run a 15/-1 energy set as your main weapon.

also honestly dont listen to the first part of this comment.. yes youll want a wand with probably 20% recharge, en+5>50 or a wand with 20% recharge, 20% casting for using your skills. your job as a monk is to be keeping an eye on your party and healing them/protting them accordingly. your job is NEVER AS A DAMAGE DEALER.

Crafters and collectors are your friend when first starting this game. they offer almost everything that you can get in the game for just a few items. www.guildwiki.org has a list of collectos/crafters/green items that can drop that can help you in many ways.

My monk setup usually runs like this (but keep in mind its so that i can pvp with my pve monk.

slot1 = -5 energy, hp+30 sword and -5 energy, armor+5, health +30 offhand (forgotten fan in illusion req) for the - energy. having a low energy pool helps greatly when facing anything that can drain your energy.

slot2 = +5 energy sword, hp+30, and a sheild with (+10 ar vs slashing damage, -2 stance, -5/20%, ar+10 vs piercing, ar+10 vs fire) and health+30. i have one of each of those sheilds and will swap depending on what i run across. my standard is usually the plus ar vs slashing or the -5/20%

slot3 = +5 energy wand with 20% recharge and a 12 energy, req9 (of whatever monk attribute im specced in) 20% recharge, health +30 offhand.

slot4 = 15/-1 regen wand and 15/-1 regen, health+30 offhand, req9 divine favor as im always running at least 9 divine favor. This is for emergency uses only.

3/4 of my time is normally spent in slot 2, switching too slots 1,3,4 accordingly. youll honestly be suprised as to how well you will learn to manage your energy by having a lower energy pool to start with.

The key here is learning energy management. many skills can be used along with your monk skills that can help you gain energy. your skill selection can also make a HUGE difference in wether or not you run out of energy. High energy cost skills like heal party can drain your energy pool very fast. also dont overheal. if your teammate has 500 health out of 550... let him alone. if being attacked, heal the lower targets first, enough to keep them around 3/4 health. in PVE that works just fine as you have plenty of time to catch them if they drop below that. after youre done fighting a group and you have a little time before the next group, let people regen health on their own. make sure you have a full energy pool for the next fight. (provided they arent degening health from a hex or a condition or they are not about to die.)

also probably the biggest mistake i see is monks stopping to res someone mid fight. bad idea. it should be the others job to res your teammates in mid fight. your job is to keep the rest of the team alive. after the fight is over, then you can res if needed. If your team is dead, and its down to the monk to res, your team failed anyways. 99% of the time, i dont even have a res on my bar.

the only time its acceptable, as a monk, to run a 15/-1 gear setup is when your main profession is ele and youre running an ether prodigy setup or something very much like it.

personally I stick with two weapons. One is an Insightful staff of Enchanting and the other are wands and offhands of memory and apititude. I doubt youll need more than that.

I run 4 different weapons sets, one being the one you mentioned. At a base my pool sits around 50-60e so the only time that the +15/-1 set is needed is for long drawn out battles where you need that extra boost to help turn the table and not lose everything. other then that a 20/20 weapon/offhand with fort mods and a -e weapon set are the standards.

I'm not advocating bringing Firestorm or other foolishness but why sit on your thumb if there is nothing else to do, might as well wand an enemy. It will trigger Vigorous Spirit if up, waste an enemies Reversal or other such spell, etc.

What about healing monks running with heroes/henchies? A wand makes it much easier to direct them than does a melee weapon. I generally go as a smiter though.

I don't see a blanket statement of "never attack" as valid.

A monk weapon set requires so much knowledge and understanding of the skills on your bar in the game it would take a whole thread to write weapon swaps. Basically you have 4 slots to choose your weapons in those 4 slots you need to have these things to excel in PvP or even in high end PvE areas these hep out a lot.

1. A negative energy or low energy weapon swap. (Example: A 15/-5 energy sword with a shield is fine. Shields most commonly used are +10 vs. Whatever, mainly slashing as these are common weapon types. Some other choices maybe blunt, fire or piercing.)

2. A Neutral weapon swap or "Fast swap". Things could include a wand with halves casting and then a shield or a offhand with halves casting/ halves recharge would be fine in this area.

3. Some people enjoy staves for many reasons this slot could be a staff with recharge/casting with extra energy or not depending upon other choices made.

4. Your "Extra Energy/ Emergency" set. This set will be your emergency weapon set in which you may have 1 or 2 15/-1 weapons/focii. This is STRICTLY EMERGENCY you may cast 1-2 last EMERGENCY heals in this set before re-swapping to your other sets. Most important rule about this set DO NOT DIE while in this set, as dieing will hurt your energy.

Those are simply suggestions but most monks have a defensive set, neutral set, staff/ halves set, and then a high-end/ emergency set. These are very basic.

Btw max energy for an offhand is +12 w/o the -1 energy drain. A staff gets you +10 w/ up to 2 +5 energy inscriptions.

this is true for n00bs, ur need at least 1 15/1, for when u use plug sig, to remove 10 hexs ( PVP mainly) and have no energy, then swap to the 15/-1 for that quick infuse/ heal to save ur guild lords life. then swap back. tho i agree with that else u posted. i have the same weapon sets as Bastian minus the shild, i got for a normal wand (no energy mods), and a normal off hand

You could just pick up a green staff or 2 and use them..I have a keps, and a whens that i used for a long time

1. as a monk, there is always something to do.
2. Vigerous spirit should never be on your monk, much less you attacking with it. end of discussion.
3. an enemies reversal eh? u realise that no matter what hits it, the reversal triggers? and by the time your orb ball from your wand reaches that target, 99% of the time, something else has hit it and its off anyway... no real point.
4. controlling heros/hench with a monk is easy. ctrl+sparebar = order hench/heros to go there. with hero/s its easier. set them to attack and run into aggro range... the hench will attack when they see the hero's fighting. and probably, no offense never played with you and dont know abotu your target selection, but the heros will pick the right target over most players.

... WTF is Plug Sig? u meaning Purge Signet? if so then you really should evaluate your choice of hex removals in PVP as its not run that often... there are far better choices than purge sig. and most of the time people that run purge sig use it in their -5 energy set and swap to their normal set...

True as when people use Purge Signet they use 15/-5 sword usually then use it. Although with hex pressure possibly becoming way more common in the upcoming Depravity/Panic/Price of Pride hex meta we will most likely see more use of Purge sig as it removes all hexes and imo is a lot better than viel vs. a hex team, if you don't have Divert Hexes that is.

Purge sig would remove all hexes anyway, even if you didn't have the energy. Why do you think people ran it and used a -5 energy set .....

I'll quote you from another snip of a reply u had in another thread.

... I don't exactly see where your going with that?

im saying that you dont have to have 100 energy to remove 10 hexes... try testing the skill sometime? if it removes all hexes under a normal set ie 45 energy, guess what, it does the same in a 25 energy set. only u lose less energy....

I'm not going to say "never attack", but the times I do, as a healing/protection monk, are very rare. Usually when the last target is halfway dead. I find that just wanding the enemy (in PvE) causes the enemy to attack YOU! You are a "squishy" and usually one of the easiest targets to kill, and once you call attention to yourself you will spend valuable time kiting. Stay back out of range and heal/protect. Let the damage dealers deal damage. And if there is "nothing else to do" (I wish) then observe. As already stated, ctrl + shift + spacebar works well for calling targets for hench and hero, even if you are going as a smiter.

Question: Why axes and swords and not spears?

So is it better to go with a staff, or a wand? Or should I go with a sword or hammer or axe?

you can use a spear, but the point isnt to wand/attack people your job is to heal/prot/etc
axes,swords,spears have a perm +5 energy no condition
and you have space to had a +30 or 20% enchant