SoO farming pehnomenon, what is causing it?

I have been doing SoO runs I am using the typical PVX build on Monk hero.

When fighting some mobs for some reason no matter how far away I park the heros the smite hero takes a lot of damage however the Ranger hero remains unscathed. So its not like AoE damage is hitting him, it is more like Retribution is kicking damage back to smiter rather than enemies.

I keep watching the enemy casters to see if they are casting something that could hit three agro bubbles away but don't see anything that sends a red flag so I must be missing something. All I know is he dies quick then I die which is very frustrating.

So my question is does anyone else get this or figured out what is causing it and how to adjust for it?

I know I can bring a hench healer or two but I don't like to because they tend to try and run out and heal you thus pull agro to them and heroes but might not have a choice.

They use reversal of damage, which sends the dmg back to the smiter even if they arent near him.

Oh, and cast Retribution before Holy Wrath. Halves the damage the smiter receives. Healing spring on the Ranger should do the trick.

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Reversal_of_Damage
Used to be bugged (did not deal any damage), but was fixed some time ago.

It's not that much damage coming back to the smiter, so it's pretty easy to counter by giving the smiter an extra heal (e.g. if you're using a Monk smiter make him Mo/W and give him Signet of Healing, if you're using a Mesmer smiter give him Illusion of Weakness.

Ah, ok, I thought reversal of damage would be hitting me not smiter.

Thanks for the suggestions to adjust for it, going to try them out now.

Quote: