18 Apr 2008 at 01:09 - 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by knoll
Are you serious? N/rt can remove hexes, and that is what over half of FoW is. D/N Orders is amazing, what are Skales going to kill it, no. As there are going to be enchantments on all the characters. Conditions in FoW is a joke, really why would you walk in traps anyways when you are using 5 ranged paragons? The spider cave, lol poison, I hope you do not carry a condition removal for that, ever heard of Heal Party? Energy management you shouldn't equip more then 5 energy spells on monk heros without GoLE. Slow reaction on monk heros, just because the hero monk bars don't have all healing skills on the bar like N/rt doesn't mean they react any slower.
My bad on the 8 guys, ups, Like I said you could probably do this with 1 monk.
The D/N is good in a Paragon-heavy party and is a solid Hero build, no arguments there. I've used it a lot but it's always missed something for me. I can't justify a Hero slot to a D/N when I can absorb it's roles into characters with better offense and better defense. A D/N isn't as beneficial as it could be in FoW, try doing more than just the beach and the cave. Under heavy enchant stripping energy can easily fail even with high Mysticism, you've also got to deal with Nature's Renewal.
Barbs and Mark of Fury can be slotted onto an SS for a similar effect to Dark Fury and Order of Pain and we still have room for AoE Weakness, AoE Cracked Armor or an enchant strip, Mark of Pain or block removal, a rez, energy management and Spiteful Spirit. The party healing of the D/N is best suited to a tertiary healer role as a bar-topper. It doesn't often have more than 4 enchants up out of 6 weakening Mystic Healing and Vow of Piety. It has no anti-spike or direct healing other than a self-heal touch skill and self-preservation enchants. Healing can be slotted onto a N/Rt with Spirit Light, Mend Body & Soul and Protective was Kaolai and we still have room for Splinter Weapon, Ancestor's Rage and an adrenal+energy buff in Weapon of Fury. The D/N's benefits are covered, it's weaknesses eliminated.
Hero Monks packing condition-removal will spam until their energy is tanked and there are more conditions in FoW than Poison. Don't forget Blind, Dazed, Weakness, Deep Wound, Bleeding, Burning, Crippled... A WoH Hybrid hero monk prioritises Signet of Rejuvenation over WoH or Dwayna's Kiss and will sit idly by while a party member gets spiked to death, it speaks volumes about their abilities when Henchies can do the same job. A Monk can't spam Hex Removal, it's better offloaded to one or two of the Paragons. Save Yourselves and/or There's Nothing to Fear are far better Protection than a Monk can either offer or handle.
With Hex, Conditions, Healing and Prot covered a Monk is no longer needed, making room for a second N/Rt that can offer more to the party. With Weapon of Quickening the second N/Rt buffs the recharge rate on the SS, more than doubles the healing capacity of the party, quadruples condition removal, has two party heals and tosses in Blindness for good measure. If an on-demand Prot is needed, add Weapon of Warding to the build.
Monks can not hybrid between effective offense and defense like a N/Rt. The N/Rt has TWO direct healing spells, that's less than a Monk. Condition removal is spammable on a N/Rt, healing is spammable on a N/Rt, 2 party heals can be slotted on a N/Rt, hex-removal is a non-issue with 4 Paragons to take the burden and Weapon of Warding is spammable on a N/Rt. With all of this under consideration, why would you take Monks?
Hero Rits just plain suck at energy management, Offering of Spirit is the best option but they don't use it until energy bottoms out. It's also a selfish elite and does nothing for the rest of the party unlike Weapon of Fury. We've got all the channeling we need on one N/Rt, healing on two N/Rt's and Hex Removal on the Paragons...there's no need for a weak hero like a Rt/Mo.
I stand by my suggestion of 4 Para's and 3 N/Rts. They should clear it faster and with less problems than 4 Para's, a D/N, a Monk and a Rit. Any one of the D/N, Mo/E and Rt/Mo is a potential weak link that i'd rather eliminate.