Ele/Monk or Ele/Mesmer?

Dark_Moon125

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2007

E/

I had a previous post as to which second profession is good for my elemantalist. The results were equal with ele/monk and ele/mesmer in the lead, so i just want to see which is most popular and effective one last time. Please state which one you prefer, ele/monk or ele/mes. Thanks !!!!

Coloneh

Coloneh

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2006

D/W

ele monk. you dont need arcane echo or echo, and glyph of sacrifice + rez chant is the BEST rez in the game. you can also make a heal party spammer with something like ether prism.

toddhd

toddhd

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2007

Downingtown, PA

Rite of Passage

E/Me

As someone who has a lvl 20 E/Me, I'd reccomend the E/Mo instead. At lower levels, especially pre-searing, the Mesmer skills came in handy, but now I don't even use them. I put all my points into Fire skills and worry about dealing max damage. I can't wait until I ascend so I can change my secondary.

My biggest weakness as an Elementalist is of course my serious lack of protection. If there isn't a monk around to heal me, I have the potential to die quickly. Having some monk skills would help me to run aside for a moment, heal up, and then get back in the fray, or even to resserect a fallen comrade who could then come help me.

funnyman100

funnyman100

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2006

USA

Silver Chain [SLVR]

N/W

I'd personally do Monk/Mesmer, but that's just me

Thomas.knbk

Thomas.knbk

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jul 2006

The most important thing is to form your build around your primary profession, and view your secondary profession as a set of skills that can give your already good build the final touch. This is usually done in the form of energy management, but eles don't really need that because they have enough options of their own (ether prodigy/prism, glyph of lesser energy, attunements), so you can use your secondary skills to either boost your damage a bit, or provide some support to your party. I personally like the second option, because elementalists already have a very good steady damage output, and the echo skills don't really add that much to your damage, and a tad of extra support in the form of an aegis or a spammed heal party under ether prodigy is invaluable when your monks are under pressure.
Don't ever be tempted to create a bar with eight skills from your secondary with a large energy pool from energy storage. A larger energy pool is pretty worthless. It's energy over time that will win you battles. Plus you won't be able to spec above 12 in your secondary attributes, which is a large handicap. It's generally better to take only one or two skills from your secondary.
So in the end, I'd recommend E/Mo, but no matter what you pick, have fun with it.

HawkofStorms

HawkofStorms

Hall Hero

Join Date: Aug 2005

E/

I'd recommend E/Me, just cause when you are starting out, the inspiration line will be a nice way to manage energy (especailly if you are in prophecies, where it can take a while till you get attunements).

Also, it doesn't really matter TOO much since you can always change your secondary profession later on in the game anytime you want.