Feasibility Study: 5 energy enchantments and Release Enchantments

Using Release Enchantments as a party wide heal: a feasibility study

Release enchantments has a lot of potential but given its requirement is extremely difficult to make useful. Ideally, long lasting enchantments that are worth upkeeping, like Illusion of Weakness (not worht using on a monk), Illusion of haste (who uses this?), Windborne speed (flag running anyone?), Mantra of Recall, Aura of Restoration (not worth using on a monk), Heart of Shadow, Wielder's Remedy (possibly), Shadow Refuge (not worth using on a monk), Channeling, Vital Boon (among a plethora of other Dervish enchantments), could be released but the "Monk enchantments" only clause shatters that possibility.


Skill interactions
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- Dwayna's Kiss (Healing Prayers)
- Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers)
- Healing Light (Healing Prayers)
- Blessed Aura (Divine Favor)
- Air of Enchantment [Elite] (Protection Prayers)

Enchantment Fodder from the Monk
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Heal
- Healer's Covenant [Elite] (Healing Prayers) --> not a viable skill for usage at all unless you run Divine Boon
- Supportive Spirit (Healing Prayers) --> 10 energy, useless effect for most times
- Vigorous Spirit (Healing Prayers) --> effect is only worth it on melee
- Dwayna's Sorrow (Healing Prayers) --> with Minionmasters: effective, otherwise not very good.
- Healer's Boon [Elite] (Divine Favor) --> all purpose, but 10 recharge
- Restful Breeze (Healing Prayers) --> ends before Release Enchantments triggers

Prot
- Life Sheath [Elite] (Protection Prayers)
- Shield of Deflection [Elite] (Protection Prayers) --> 10 energy
- Pensive Guardian (Protection Prayers) --> useless effect
- Protective Spirit (Protection Prayers) --> 10 energy, most useful effect
- Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) --> 10 energy
- Shield Guardian (Protection Prayers)--> 10 energy, but 1 recharge.

Divine
- Watchful Healing (Divine Favor) --> useless effect most times, but release enchantments can make it semiviable

Smiting
- Balthazar's Pendulum [Elite] (Smiting Prayers) --> among the the worst skills imaginable in the monk profession
- Reversal of Damage (Smiting Prayers) --> effect not worth stripping off, recharge is iffy

Maintained Enchantments
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Monk Unlinked skills
- Holy Veil (Monk other) --> an excellent choice, but as a maintained enchantment it means you cannot upkeep it

The viability
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The case for it:
Light of Deliverance @ 16 Healing =85, assuming anyone specs that high (yeh right).

Release Enchantments (Divine Favor) matches this with:
*3 enchantments at 37 each (16 divine) / 35each (15 divine) /33 each (14 divine) / 31 each (13 Divine) / 29 each (12 divine)
*4 enchantments at 27 each (11 divine) / 25 each (10 divine) / 23 each (9 divine)/ 21 each (8 Divine)

Release enchantments requires no elite slot and is cheaper than heal party.

Unlike Infusing, it can target the entire party and doesn't put the caster in danger. This is particularly useful against AoE spikes from Ritualist bosses.

Against Heal Party, the advantages are obvious, a 16 Healing Prayers heals 84 but costs 15 energy and takes 2 seconds to cast. At worst under Healer's Boon, 2 enchantments from the Healing prayers line cost 1/2 second each for a 1 second prep time and a 1 second release enchantments.

To maximize the viability, quick recharging low cost enchantments must be used. Their durations have to be a reasonable as well, in order to use release enchantments rather than normal ending.

In order to make the skill more efficient than Heal Party, the enchantments must be ones that would normally be upkept (not maintained, but recasted). On top of this, it scales well with a protection monk.

Healer's Boon arguably is the best for upkeeping constantly, besides Divine Boon. The problem is that using Healing Prayers enchantments ultimately means Healer's Boon is useless, since it works well only with direct heals. But Divine Boon on the other hand suffers from the energy strain of recasting enchantments for release enchantments.

The builds
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Healing Prayers Variant

Monk/
Level: 20

Divine Favor: 12 (11+1)
Healing Prayers: 14 (12+2)
Protection Prayers: 7 (6+1)

- Dwayna's Kiss (Healing Prayers) <-- enchantments make this heal as much as heal other
- Healing Light [Elite] (Healing Prayers) <-- efficient heal, 3 energy return on 5 energy investment
- Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) <-- condition removal
- Dwayna's Sorrow (Healing Prayers) <-- enchantment trigger, best on minions
- Vigorous Spirit (Healing Prayers) <-- enchantment trigger, best on melee
- Holy Veil (Monk other) <-- veil
- Release Enchantments (Divine Favor) <-- 33HP per enchantment you had stripped off
- Resurrection Chant (Healing Prayers) <-- res

Sideboard:
- Words of Comfort (Healing Prayers) instead of Dismiss Condition if the other monk runs Restore Condition, Blessed Light or other mass removal. In such a case, the points in Protection Prayers should be removed entirely

Comments: This build assumes minion master and melee are in the team.

Protection Prayers Variant 1

Monk/
Level: 20

Divine Favor: 14 (12+2)
Protection Prayers: 13 (12+1)

- Guardian (Protection Prayers) <-- unlike Reveral of Fortune, you can count on this not to end, synergizing with Blessed Aura
- Protective Spirit (Protection Prayers) <-- staple Hard mode skill
- Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) <-- condition removal with so many enchantments is a plus
- Deny Hexes (Divine Favor) <-- remove up to 4 hexes
- Blessed Aura (Divine Favor) <-- lengthen enchantments by 33%
- Peace and Harmony [Elite] (Divine Favor) <-- compensation for Blessed Aura, release enchantment fodder (given the low recharge)
- Release Enchantments (Divine Favor) <-- x33HP , given Blessed Aura and PnH are kept up, only Protective Spirit is needed for a 99 point party wide heal.
- Rebirth (Protection Prayers)

Comments: The sad part is there really isn't a choice but to use Peace and Harmony as Fodder.

Healer's Boon Variant

Monk/Mesmer
Level: 20

Divine Favor: 14 (12+2)
Healing Prayers: 13 (12+1)

- Dwayna's Kiss (Healing Prayers)
- Words of Comfort (Healing Prayers)
- Vigorous Spirit (Healing Prayers)
- Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers)
- Holy Veil (Monk other)
- Healer's Boon [Elite] (Divine Favor)
- Release Enchantments (Divine Favor)
- Resurrection Chant (Healing Prayers)

Thrown out:
- Watchful Healing (Divine Favor) instead of Vigorous Spirit, because they are equally crappy. Vigorous Spirit lasts longer though and is decent with melee on IAS.

Unlike the other two, it functions like a regular monk until hit with AOE damage (Ritualist boss, anyone?)

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SUMMARY
Release Enchantments is workable (even with its 1 second cast), but it isn't really as effective as a typical Healer's Boon or Light of Deliverance monk. For it to see play, the monk has to gain some longer lasting enchantments (not maintained ones) besides Protective spirit, Peace and Harmony, Vigorous Spirit, and the useless Dwayna's Sorrow (at least whn not with a minion master).

The reason why something like Contemplation of Purity had its place when Divine Boon was popular, is because it was a skill not a spell and provided a way to strip off Backfire, Shame, and other spell-based hexes. Release Enchantments has no such attributes.

The only way that Release Enchantments will see reasonable amounts of usage is if the Dervish enchantments counted towards the heal or if the skill had additional benefits like removal of a conditions/hexes from the party.

Air of Enchantment on the other monk, let's make the releaser a boon/prot using let's say Scribe's Insight so you'll have two enchantments right there.

Try AoE -> RoF -> Guardian on the boon/prot which gives an big party heal without many wasted slots devoted entirely to fueling the Release. You can also tack on a protective spirit, time an aegis to the release... throw on Seed of Life maybe?

Or, both monks using Air of Enchantment shooting off enchantments at each other and dishing out huge party heals for practically nothing.

Vigorous Spirit is beyond awesome on barragers.