Good secondary?

Mistress of Whispers

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

I'm a new player and just started with a monk in prophecies. What secondary professions work well with monk? Would elementalist be a good choice to raise my monk's offensive capabilities (smiting prayers aren't that great so far)? Or maybe a secondary that allows for better energy management (I keep running out).

Lhim

Lhim

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2007

Rt/

I also have a monk in pre-searing, still without a secondary prof. I think most common are ele and mes as secondary prof. Ele mainly for glyph of lesser energy and mesmer for the inspiration line. Though I'm also new with the monk profession.

LightningHell

LightningHell

(????????????)???

Join Date: Aug 2005

Hong Kong

Guildless

Mo/

Generally you'd go with /E or /Me in PvE, yes. Although /W with Shield Bash/Balaced Stance is <3.

Monks generally don't go offensive, they usually go support their party.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

I went Mo/E, for offense, defense, and glyphs.

Offense when I'm with henchies. Defense if I feel like doing something different with henchies. Glyph (sometimes) when I heal or protect.

the_jos

the_jos

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2006

Hard Mode Legion [HML]

N/

/E or /Me are the most obvious options for energy management.

horseradish

horseradish

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2007

In a donut hole

Rt/A

yup yup. Ele or Mesmer.

Basically...all you need from the Ele is Glyph of Lesser Energy.

Mesmers for Channeling and other energy management skills.

If you have Factions and plan to PvP, then you can change it to /A for return and dark escape.

Once you figured what you need in your play style, you'd be able to change professions anyways.

You don't always need a second profession for energy management.

weapon swapping and wise skill decisions work for me.

Mistress of Whispers

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

I think I'll go for Ele. That way I have energy management and combat power, for the times I don't want to play the healer.

Div

Div

I like yumy food!

Join Date: Jan 2006

Where I can eat yumy food

Dead Alley [dR]

Mo/R

Picking ele for combat power is bad. You simply can't keep up the energy usage. If you want combat power, go /N and take spiteful spirit/insidious parasite. Or /R with judges insight+kindle arrows+triple shot+prepared shot. Granted, you'll be pretty limited in effectiveness with those builds, but still better than the /E for damage.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

[skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]glyph of energy[/skill][skill]meteor shower[/skill] where's the problem?

Div

Div

I like yumy food!

Join Date: Jan 2006

Where I can eat yumy food

Dead Alley [dR]

Mo/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pick Me
[skill]fire attunement[/skill][skill]glyph of energy[/skill][skill]meteor shower[/skill] where's the problem? The problem lies in the fact MS sucks compared to SS. And you're wasting an elite to power a 60 second recharge skill. Maybe in NM when monsters don't scatter it wouldn't be completely useless, but still pretty bad.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by holymasamune
The problem lies in the fact MS sucks compared to SS. And you're wasting an elite to power a 60 second recharge skill. Maybe in NM when monsters don't scatter it wouldn't be completely useless, but still pretty bad. Oh. From your previous post, it sounded like you had a problem with energy costs.

Trying to do Curses is costly as well (in terms of energy), and continually using bow skills will drain your energy to 0 quickly (no focus or weapon for + energy - I'm guessing you'll use Zelous).

Honestly, I like using Fire or Water or Earth spells on my Mo/E. Of course I only do it when I feel offensive and I'm with H&H. I always go Heal/Prot with humans.

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

Someone mentioned /W for stances and works well and there is /A shadow arts.This is for survival.

Mistress of Whispers

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pick Me
Oh. From your previous post, it sounded like you had a problem with energy costs. I do. You're mixing up posters .

But yeah, I never thought about running out of energy if I use Ele as secondary. Good thing you pointed that out.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mistress of Whispers
I do. You're mixing up posters .

But yeah, I never thought about running out of energy if I use Ele as secondary. Good thing you pointed that out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by holymasamune
Picking ele for combat power is bad. You simply can't keep up the energy usage. Are you sure I mixed it up?

Mistress of Whispers

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

I meant you quoted holymasamune and said s/he said s/he had a problem with energy usage, but I was the one who complained she kept running out of energy.

I think holymasamune and you both pointed out that Ele doesn't work well if you're already having energy problems.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mistress of Whispers
I meant you quoted holymasamune and said s/he said s/he had a problem with energy usage, but I was the one who complained she kept running out of energy.

I think holymasamune and you both pointed out that Ele doesn't work well if you're already having energy problems. Well, as I said, I have a Mo/E and I don't have energy problems, because of glyphs.

The problem you may face is if you go Mo/Me, you must put points into Inspiration Magic, which means either you have 3 points into it or you reduce the amount of divine favor you have to increase the amount of inspiration magic you want.

Jaigoda

Jaigoda

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2007

IGN Eat Scythes

Go Ele secondary. GoLE + Divine Spirit is teh e-management pwnage!

Later you'll only need one or the other (GoLE if you've got 1-2 hard prots, Divine Spirit if you have mostly 5e spells), but it's a great way to start out when you're learning, and even spamming skills (to an extent) won't deplete your energy for about 2 minutes if you use them well.

Mistress of Whispers

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

Pick Me, I must have mixed that up.

Pick Me

Forge Runner

Join Date: Feb 2006

Thornill, ON, Canada

THE CANUCK MONKS (TCM)

W/R

No problem.

Do you have Eyes To The North? If so, you'll find Smiting is very good in some areas (especially in one of the hard dungeons).

Mistress of Whispers

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Nov 2007

I just have Prophecies and I'm going to ask Nightfall for christmas. But I don't have EN.

Burst Cancel

Burst Cancel

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2006

Domain of Broken Game Mechanics

Offensive monks are a lost cause. You basically just use some other class's overpowered build at a fraction of the normal effectiveness. There is rarely any synergy (or use) of the monk primary with offensive builds.

I'd suggest, for the purpose of actually getting good at the game, that you not take any active emgt and see if you can learn to play with that. Once you've learned to manage energy through slotting good skills and learning good skill usage, playing similar bars with more energy is a walk in the park by comparison.

Having only Prophecies is going to hurt you significantly, although with the current WoH it may not be an issue in PvE. I hope you're successful in getting NF for xmas.