Can't Decide on a Secondary

So it's been 3 years since I've played. I don't remember the storyline or where I left off with my higher level characters, and I wanted to create a monk. So I'm leveling up a monk for fun from scratch, but I can't decide which secondary would be best.

I am thinking either an Elementalist or Mesmer. I like to play solo and will probably level up solo for awhile, but with a monk I will be able to get into groups later on and such and as needed to progress. Is Ele or Mesmer better for me?

I was thinking that the damage dealing of Ele would be good to help me solo, but the Mesmer abilities might be good later on when doing group missions or PvP where I'd be a great support making other classes backfire, etc. Perhaps I should level up monk/ele and switch my secondary at level 20 to mesmer?

It's been a long time since I've played. A LOT has changed. I'm really indecisive with this and would love some input or feedback on whether I should go ele or mes (preferably with a reason so I can make the choice make sense to me, lol)

Thanks!

Welcome back!

I'd say, Take /E for Glyph of Lesser Energy. Good for energy management.

It doesn't really matter anyway, because you can change your secondary at will when you are further along the storyline.

Also, don't go /Me or /E for the damage, other Professions are better at that, you are better off sticking to the Monks Healing and Protection part.

You can buy secondary proffesions in Balthazar City for 500g each and then change them in any outpost as you like.
I would go Mesmer because of Arcane Echo.
Best skill evah.

Typically, the skills used from elementalist secondary for monks is Glyph of Lesser Energy, and that's about it. This will help give energy for spells like Aegis, Protective Spirit or Spirit Bond.

Similarly, skills from the mesmer line that benefit monks are energy management from the inspiration line. Skills like Power Drain or Leech Signet or even Drain Enchantment.

When you're going solo, by all means run what you want and what you find fun. Though I should point out that when monks do damage, they mostly only take things from the smite line and maybe some support skills like Smite Condition or Smite Hex, they typically don't split into a secondary offensive attribute. Leave that to the primary class, imo.

Secondary *really* doesn't matter, as later on you can change it and will probably use different secondaries based on what you're doing. So don't sweat it too much. You'll mostly be using your primary whether you do traditional monking or smiting.

When playing in groups further along groups will probably want you to heal or protect (or a mix of both). Leave the damage dealing to the classes more suited to it. Your groups will thank you for it.

Hope that helps!

i would go mesmer since if you wanted to you could start 55ing, or 600/smite before you get ascended. g/l mate and dont forget to keep your first set of armor dont get rid of it if you want to 600/smite . ar5 ftw!!!

ele would be best for glyph of lesser energy. for pvp people choose either ranger or warrior for defensive stances, assassin for shadow stepping, ele for the glyph, mesmer for channeling, and lately dervish for armor of sanctity.

i would just choose ele for pve, if you want to change it later you can.

and fyi don't choose a secondary because of what the profession is typically used for. example, just because elementialists are typically damage dealers doesn't mean a monk can do it well too.
and backfire is bad on any profession other than a mesmer.

Thanks for the welcome back and for all of the advice.

I realize that a secondary isn't meant to be used as a primary damage dealer or anything (like, by choosing ele as a second I'm not intending to be a dps class), I'm just looking for something that will help me in a pinch if I'm soloing and need to put out some dps to survive. I hadn't thought about the energy storage part - the glyph of energy for ele - and that will be really helpful and worth going for.

I gotta say, this quote from drunk n angry, "i would go mesmer since if you wanted to you could start 55ing, or 600/smite before you get ascended." makes absolutely no sense to me, lol. It's a bunch of jibberish. It's been 3 years since I've played, I have no idea what you mean by being able to 55 or 600/smite. Hehe

Thanks so much for the help I guess you're right -- no need to sweat it since I can always change it later on, anyway. So I won't sweat it! Thanks again for the help <3

55 and 600 are referring to your health. Monks can solo farm using builds based around having 55 health, or duo farm with a smiter (hero or player partner) with builds requiring 600+ health. If you want to do the 600/smite duo farm, you need your armour level as low as possible. The AL5 armour that you get as a newly-created character is the best for this.

I won't say any more than that at this stage because it's more info than you need.

ok a 55hp monk is able to solo in hardmode areas while only having 55hp, you put a superior rune on each piece of armor and have a smiting headpiece, then you can get a -50hp modded grim cesta, this brings your total hp from a level 20 to 55hp, then using protective spirit and mending and healing breeze you are basicly indestructible.

a 600/smite refers to a two man team, the 600 is a monk/mesmer with atleast 600 hp, and a variety of skills that allow him to get healed more then the amount of damage he is recieving, and the smiter casts enchants on the 600 to deal dmg back to foes. this build is used to run hard mode dungeons in eye of the north not to mention alot of other areas.

since the point of the 600 is to take a large amount of dmg it is best to keep your first set of armor which is armor rating of 5. if you have any questions about these builds or would like a tutorial once you get a lil further in the game just look me up my ign = Drunk N Angry

haha that sounds interesting. I'll hang onto my first set of armor (the one you've got on when you create your char the first time, or the first replacement set you get in pre-sear?) and see about the 55hp stuff later hehe

I'll definitely come back for a tutorial or more info on the 55hp setup later on, it sounds fab Thanks!

For 600, it's best to have the lowest possible armor level (the armor your character gets during character creation), to more easily trigger spirit bond. 600 builds also commonly use mesmer skills such as mantra or resolve, arcane echo, sympathetic visage, ancestor's visage, and spirit shackles.

600 and 55 are both farming builds, though (IMO, farming is mostly boring). To start with, I'd suggest just playing through the game's storyline normally.

If its a farming character you're after it;ll generally be best to go mesmer secondary. General PvE Mo/E is usually best for glyph of lesser energy but that isnt too major a skill I find.

the only thing gole is currently good for is heal party spam or aegis/ps pre-prot combo. the recent selfless spirit buff is a way better e-management skill in every other regards.

(btw this prolly belongs in the monk campfire section)

Well, as you probably know, monks are mainly thought of as healers/protectors when they are in a group. In that case, your secondary doesn't matter so much. You could take Ele as a secondary for the Glypth (as mentioned), but using a few signets (Signet of Devotion/Rejuvenation) can also help with energy.
When you are going solo (with heroes and/or henchmen), it is easier to manage the group if you use a Smiting build. This allows you to target foes, and control the battle much easier. One thing that helps with Smiting builds is Arcane Echo, so Mesmer would be a good choice for secondary.
You'll find, as you go along, that the monk profession has 3 main "builds" you hear about often:
1. The HB monk. HB is Healer's Boon, and an HB monk is a healer based around using HB and various other heal/prot spells. Many HB builds use /E for the Glyph of Lesser Energy.
2. The RoJ monk. RoJ is Ray of Judgment and an RoJ is a Smiting monk based around using Arcane Echo and RoJ (Mo/Me)
3. The 600/smite. The 600/smite is a 2 man team consisting of a 600+hp tank and a bonder (usually a hero). Check PvXwiki for builds.

Of course, if you've been away for 3 years, you may not be aware of the ability to save builds as "Templates" now. This makes changing your build a lot easy and a lot more frequent.