High Level MM Build - Advice

wsmcasey

wsmcasey

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

Right behind you.

HeRo

W/Rt

The only problem I'm having now is maintaining more than 20+ minions. I can't seem to get all of them in my botm or heal area radius. I try grouping them or running around them to cast the ones I can't reach, but its not easy. Any tricks to this?

Wicked Shadow

Wicked Shadow

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Gamerz Unlimited [GU]

N/

Well, to heal the most that I can, I move a little bit to get them grouped behind me, then turn around and as they're all rushing toward me to get behind me I use heal area. It may not get them all, it heals well enough.

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

wsmcasey
easy, just hug the wall.

wsmcasey

wsmcasey

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

Right behind you.

HeRo

W/Rt

I've tried the running forward, and then casting as they catch me.....haven't tried hugging the wall. Whats that do?

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by wsmcasey
I've tried the running forward, and then casting as they catch me.....haven't tried hugging the wall. Whats that do? Isn't that obvious?
You stand close to the wall (facing away from it). Minions are trying to form up behind you, but since there isnt much space they all will be very close to you.

PrincessKyra

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2005

Crystal Mansion [CM]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samueldg
BOTM is to heal your minions when theyre grouped...
heal area is to make you self sufficent..its a big heal for when your clear of monsters and sacing life..

the reason why nec/mo works better than say n/r or n/e comes down to being self sufficient.. you dont need the monk holding your hand and healing you so you can do YOUR job which is to make minions.

fiends are a damage dealer. in the case of topk, using fiends means you have less blockers to keep stuff off your rangers... ( case in point.. when somethings comes in range of melee on fiends the rangers are RIGHT there and are a juiceir target.. monster AI isnt the greatest but it does work that more often than not your entire ranger 5 man team will get killed THEN the fiends will get attacked.., play it safe and take horrors and minions making a melee wall.. with 5 barragers and an orders nec nothing will live long enough to do a lot of killing on your melee minions..)

now in the case of oro farming, fiends are the bomb.. you want a lot of them because you have a full time tank holding a gear.. melee minions dont generally do the damage a fiend does so theyre not as useful and they also take AOE damage from whatever is hitting the tank..

Im all for coming up with new builds.. but in the cases of 90% of farming teams you have a singular job and doing THAT job to the best of your skillset is what is required... be creative on your own time when your doing a mission or testing somthing with your guild.. when your on a farm run those people in that PUG are not there to fail because you wanted to try something...nec/mo is popular and saught after in topk and oro farming because its proven to work very well.. your not the first nor will you be the last to want to try something out but I guarantee its HAS been tried and has been found wanting in comparison...

you have to consider the whole team when doing stuff.. in TOPK you have ONE monk on a b/p team... this job is to heal damage from attacks .. not heal sacrifices from an ill prepared necro.. I agree 100% with Samueldg. Your point is very well stated. If everyone understood this, PUG land would be such a nicer place! I will definitely bring heal area on my next Tombs run as MM.

wsmcasey

wsmcasey

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2005

Right behind you.

HeRo

W/Rt

hmm....Ill have to try that. That would probably help in Thunderhead mission.
Not so good in the middle of the Desert.

Samueldg

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2005

Colorado

N/Mo

thanks kyra.

I spend a lot of time tryin to hammer home the simple differences in teams and how small things effect so much more..

glad to see someone got it

to me when I join a group thinking about what everyone else has to do theyre job and what they need to get it done and what I need to get it done makes things a LOT smoother for everyone..

case in point, Ive went through a bajillion rangers trying to explain to them on a b/p team they have ONE primary job.. shoot barrage as often and as constant as they can.. everything else they bring or do is to support that mission.. putting points into beast mastery and bringing your interrupts on BM skillset ( disrupting lunge) is counter to what your pet is needed for... your pet needs to die and be rezzed.. if your spaming comfort animal to keep him alive so you can use that interrupt you are a detriment to the team because of two things 1. you cant shoot effectivly and spam comfort to heal.. 2 your pet dieing allows a larger minion army..and Yes I want them to die so I can have a LOT of ene to make more from both pets and monsters..

everything else on a ranger build should be centered around one primary skill ... marksmanship
with a decent amount in expertise to keep the spammin of barrage up... favorable winds being a marks req and defensive stuff for the grasps.. aka throw dirt and dust trap. the key word is DEFENSIVE... runnin up and tryin to get off a dust trap next to a grasp is askin for no monk sympathy... or even more laughable is runnin up and throw dirt on a dryder...
both ive seen a great deal of in topk..interrupts are nice because they lower the frequency in which the monk is needed.. and with one monk you dont want him having to cast spells ... his ene isnt everlasting..


I have honestly went through topk as a monk healer and NEVER had to heal anyone .. no kiddin..
everyone had theyre stuff well and togheter and when they got conditions or hexes I only had to remove them.. with div favor and casting the remove they healed right back up..

Ive went through as MM being self sufficent and had no shortage of minions and horrors pileing in front of everything, pets dieing and me making minions of them while rangers barragin like mad and rezzing pets....... the monk actually went afk and we continued through the last to passage ways in HOH with no monk.. he came runnin when we got to the darknessess

Ive gone in with orders using mending breeze and occasionally HA and kept a constant stream of OOP and OOV up more often than not overlaping them and seeing the mission done under an hour everytime..

Ive also spent countless starts and see the whole team get wiped out within the first 20 minutes because a ranger didnt have a pet as was casting something he shouldnt even have had in his skill bar.. Ive seen MM actuall sac themselves down to nothing.. watch all theyre minions die while runnin to the next mob... and then bitch because the monk was healing rangers who had pets that pulled aggro..
Ive seen an orders nec without monk secondary sac out in under 2 minutes in the first area.. relying soley on blood magic and claming to be self healing..



nothing heals you like healing.. plain simple fact of this game...
IF your going to use sacrificing skills use self healing as well.

but the all time biggest problem with any pug is people assuming its easier than it is because other groups they have heard of do it so well.. they never think to ask how...

a great example is Thunderhead...
Ive actually taken the time and did it with henchies.. after failing it with countless pugs... I posted a screenshot of it because I thought that was by and far the coolest thing Ive ever done with henchies.. and got a plethora of replies " yea yea seen it blah blah"

the Irony is 90% of this people who posted " been done nothing impressive" have never done it themselves.. but they believe its easy and simple because they have seen ten screenshots.. of others doing it even harder.. most of them will continue to fail to do it in a pug...........

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

Samueldg
you either selfsufficient, or play your role well... never both. This obvious contradiction in your statements left me with no will to read it to the end.

VampiricuS

VampiricuS

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Nov 2005

N/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessKyra
IMO: A good MM in tombs has at least 10-15 horrors/fiends up all the time. This creates 2 walls of defense for your team while dealing steady damage.

1. To keep a steady supply of horrors/fiends, you need to constantly make horrors & fiends during a battle because Lvl 18 horrors/fiends still die fast. If you're spending your energy on blood skills during the battle, corpses probably aren't being used efficiently.

2. To keep a large number of horrors/fiends alive while traveling to the next mob area, heal area is not sufficient. I consider any primary MM without Blood of the Master AND Verata's Sacrifice to be very ineffective.

3. A good MM should not die often. If the MM dies, it's usually because defenses were depleted after minions died. Verata's Aura is a waste of a skill slot in Tombs.

4. If you want to deal damage other than that of your minions, bring Spiteful Spirit and Suffering. These skills do not need to be spammed often, saving your energy for raising horrors and fiends.

5. It makes more sense for an Orders necro to bring Blood Ritual [edit]. When I'm MM for Tombs, I use the following:

Animate Fiends
Animate Horrors
Blood of the Master (large heal for minions)
Verata's Sacrifice (counter minion degen)
Rebirth
Spiteful Spirit (direct damage to entire mobs)
Suffering (degen entire mobs)
Enfeebling Blood (weaken mobs so minions last longer)

16 death, 10 soul, 10 curses
I have to disagree on the build slightly.

I use necro monk because heal area is worth it to me, here is why.

in tombs I do use BoM and veratas, but to be honest, veratas sac is only good for when you first raise them. half the time you cant get close enough to ensure all of them get affected.

any other place like the furnace for example, i run up and use BOM to heal them with combination of V.Sac. step back, use heal area to heal myself (its quicker than a sig) and when the battle is done, i use BoM and heal area after (heals myself after sacrificing health to use bom and heals them again). just seems more efficient.

I also use the N/Mo build for "Ressurect" not rebirth, i like my energy.

my MM build:

Death 16
Soul 10
Healing 9

1.Horror
2.Fiend
3.BoM
4.Veratas Sacrifice
5.Death Chill
6.Death Nova (for bombing) / or Deathly Swarm, depending on cituation
7.Heal Area
8.Ressurect

Samueldg

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2005

Colorado

N/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
Samueldg
you either selfsufficient, or play your role well... never both. This obvious contradiction in your statements left me with no will to read it to the end. actually you CAN do both....

apparantly you cant since it says N/me under your name as char class..


IF your self sufficient and doing your job in spaming minions and keeping them up.. hello, thats your job...

ReKLiS

ReKLiS

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2005

California

She Left With Half My [GeAr]

can the MM solo very well?

PrincessKyra

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2005

Crystal Mansion [CM]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by VampiricuS
I have to disagree on the build slightly.

I use necro monk because heal area is worth it to me, here is why.

in tombs I do use BoM and veratas, but to be honest, veratas sac is only good for when you first raise them. half the time you cant get close enough to ensure all of them get affected.

any other place like the furnace for example, i run up and use BOM to heal them with combination of V.Sac. step back, use heal area to heal myself (its quicker than a sig) and when the battle is done, i use BoM and heal area after (heals myself after sacrificing health to use bom and heals them again). just seems more efficient.

I also use the N/Mo build for "Ressurect" not rebirth, i like my energy.

my MM build:

Death 16
Soul 10
Healing 9

1.Horror
2.Fiend
3.BoM
4.Veratas Sacrifice
5.Death Chill
6.Death Nova (for bombing) / or Deathly Swarm, depending on cituation
7.Heal Area
8.Ressurect Yeah, I've updated my build to remove curses and put in heal area due to everyone's suggestions. I was amazed at what a big difference it made!

Heal area made it possible for me to double my undead count. I was maintaining 20-30 horrors + fiends for the majority of a tombs run yesterday, and we completed it in 55 minutes. I brought restore life to reduce energy problems for post-battle rez as well. Didn't use it much, since I had such a good team. I'll definitely bring death nova for my next run.

This thread is really helping me a lot

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Samueldg
actually you CAN do both....

apparantly you cant since it says N/me under your name as char class..


IF your self sufficient and doing your job in spaming minions and keeping them up.. hello, thats your job... oh so thats why when i farm SF ppl who been there for a while go like "wow! thats what i call ARMY!". I said that before, and I say that again: If you have anything on your skill bar that is not death magic skill, you dont deserve to call yourself MM.

Also I find it funny how people avoid answering valid point with blank statements how other people suck...

Undead Shadowknight

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

dallas

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
oh so thats why when i farm SF ppl who been there for a while go like "wow! thats what i call ARMY!". I said that before, and I say that again: If you have anything on your skill bar that is not death magic skill, you dont deserve to call yourself MM.

Also I find it funny how people avoid answering valid point with blank statements how other people suck... I disagree with this statement. I do agree you should have almost all death magic, but I still believe that there are more than just 1 way to do something.
To be picky and anal about your statement. What about heal area and rebirth/res?
I also have SS on my bar for when my minions are attacking or at beginning of maps where I can't have any minions. And I have had the same kind of comments but at different locations. I have even seen tanks just sit back and watch the minions kill everything.

Carinae

Carinae

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Inside

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
I said that before, and I say that again: If you have anything on your skill bar that is not death magic skill, you dont deserve to call yourself MM.
This is a ridiculous statement and I can only encourage you to re-read the thread to understand why. I could say "If you don't have Heal Area on you skillbar, then you're not a real MM", and it would be closer to the truth.

N/Mo might not be the BEST build, but it's the most optimal anyone's discovered yet. The difference is not small. Why do you have a Mesmer secondary? Are you not using it at all?

Have you tried N/Mo? I have tried N/Me and N/E and N/Mo and N/R. I'm looking forward to trying N/Rt.

Step outside Beetletun and see how far you get solo. Not very far? Either sacced yourself to death, or had to skip a minion heal to regen didn't ya?

Now USE that experience to improve your SF build. Don't be a drain on your monk(s). Use soloing as a gauge to become self-sufficient.

Monks are there to repair DAMAGE, not saccing. If you're using a monk to counteract sacrifices, your doing the same thing as crappy Elementalists who can't manage their own energy and NEED a Necro Battery there to in order to do their JOB!

There are many ways to be a MM. But the whole point of this thread, is that N/Mo provides a serious advantage that the others do not. This is one of the few rare cases in GW where one particular build clearly IS stronger.

Carinae

Carinae

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Inside

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

FYI to OoB users here: Because of the increased sacrifice, you're going to need to re-order your casting just a little bit, so that you run HA right after OoB.

VS=>BotM=>HA=>OoB=>HA=>

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carinae Dragonblood
bla bla bla i dont know you, but im sure you suck... this thread (as well as "Do You Need to Be A Monk Secondary to be an effective MM?") is a stinky pile of trash mr. smartass. To answer your question about Me as secondary: yes, I dont use it when i play MM build (unless it is tombs or any other area with lots of mesmers), im just too lazy to go and switch, since i dont need it anyway. Your statement about absence of self heals on pure death necro is simply pathetic - go study necro skills, that might give you a clue.
You can argue as much as you want that i can not get as many minions as N/Mo, because i can. In fact i can easily maintain same kind of army in Oro farm, but when it comes to FA any N/Mo i've seen so far bites the dust.
N/Mo is simple and newb friendly like W/Mo, thats the only reason so many people pick it... that does make them decent, but it desn't make them good.

Manic Smile

Manic Smile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

----- 15^50[Rare] ---- Alliance: ----- [SMS] -----

Quote:
Originally Posted by Carinae Dragonblood
FYI to OoB users here: Because of the increased sacrifice, you're going to need to re-order your casting just a little bit, so that you run HA right after OoB.

VS=>BotM=>HA=>OoB=>HA=> Once again I suggest two Superior Runes.

Manic Smile

Manic Smile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

----- 15^50[Rare] ---- Alliance: ----- [SMS] -----

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
this thread (as well as "Do You Need to Be A Monk Secondary to be an effective MM?") is a stinky pile of trash mr. smartass. To answer your question about Me as secondary: yes, I dont use it when i play MM build (unless it is tombs or any other area with lots of mesmers), im just too lazy to go and switch, since i dont need it anyway. Your statement about absence of self heals on pure death necro is simply pathetic - go study necro skills, that might give you a clue.
You can argue as much as you want that i can not get as many minions as N/Mo, because i can. In fact i can easily maintain same kind of army in Oro farm, but when it comes to FA any N/Mo i've seen so far bites the dust.
N/Mo is simple and newb friendly like W/Mo, thats the only reason so many people pick it... that does make them decent, but it desn't make them good. Frankly you are making an ass of yourself...and not because of what you are saying.

Back to the discussion, it is the overall utility of HA and the presence of a hard rez that makes /mo strong. In PvE any rez >> rez sig...so what if a great party never needs rezing it's about that one time everyone dies off and you're the last left alive without a rez...it happens. Not to mention I can think of many cases where rebirth saved a game where rez sig(granted any rez but rebirth but that's rather mute) would hav be utterly useless.

Hexes are an iffy thing to depend on for the sake of self healing as you may not get the full benefit, have it smited off for more damage, and not even get it off in some cases with their casting times. Enchantments are the same problem. SF is a horrible place to test your builds strength due to the gear/keg trick. The few quick casting time spells that steal life are of the blood line and while they do work very well, and synergize with OoB(should you be using it) they give no utility to either other party members or your minnions. HA simply outpreforms them with little cost. On the margin I still get 15 energy from OoB...more then enough...and a HA of 110 which not only heals me minnions but is great for clutch situations with my party...while not dieing and lowering my sac cost to OoB(especially curcial since the update)

Finally you don't use any mez skills so it's rather arbitrary what sub class you play.

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by Manic Smile
Frankly you are making an ass of yourself...and not because of what you are saying.
frankly i dont care if i ack like an ass when i know for sure that im right and my opponent already slapped me with bunch oh blanket statements.

Quote: Back to the discussion, it is the overall utility of HA and the presence of a hard rez that makes /mo strong. In PvE any rez >> rez sig...so what if a great party never needs rezing it's about that one time everyone dies off and you're the last left alive without a rez...it happens. Not to mention I can think of many cases where rebirth saved a game where rez sig(granted any rez but rebirth but that's rather mute) would hav be utterly useless. I always used to have rez with me untill I realized that the only time i need it is when I already know that this group is going to fall apart in a few minutes. And heal area... you dont need it if aggro didnt break thru, and if it did you can not use it anyway. So why waste precious attribute points on one skill with very limited use when you could pump everything into death and soul reaping and raise, raise, raise...

Quote: Hexes are an iffy thing to depend on for the sake of self healing as you may not get the full benefit, have it smited off for more damage, and not even get it off in some cases with their casting times. Enchantments are the same problem. Not sure if I understand you right, but I dont use blood magic. I mostly rely on taste of death (used with death nova) and sometimes consume corpse (when ss isnt doin good job and i feel like beating binders to the corpse). It is up to monk to heal me or not, but i will not die if he chooses not to.

Quote: Yes, Taste of Death. I've already discussed ToD in the stinky pile of trash thread.

So your self-heal is to consume a minion. OK fine.

Quote:
SF is a horrible place to test your builds strength due to the gear/keg trick. Now you clearly missed the point here. The keg/gear trick ensures that each team member only does his job (tho keg/gear isnt really required, it just makes it more newb friendly), thus making SF the ultimate place to test build.
It comes down to: how many minions can I raise and keep alive granted mobs are not attacking me. You might say that this is ideal situation and it doesnt quiet work that well in other places and I will disagree. First of all mobs do strip, put hexes and degen on you even if there is keg tank around. And second I am able stay out of aggro even if there is no keg/gear involved, it just takes more effort and team coordination.

As a side note I am convinced that keg/gear/book trick is an ebil exploit, and the sole reason 90% of FoW pugs dont make it past tower of courage. It makes people too relaxed and teaches them not to bother to stay out of tank's aggro circle untill he gets all mobs on him (in fact most people dont even know that they should do that).


Quote:
Finally you don't use any mez skills so it's rather arbitrary what sub class you play. thats what i said, and that guy started trying to prove me that I suck because i dont use heal area.

Carinae

Carinae

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Inside

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
this thread (as well as "Do You Need to Be A Monk Secondary to be an effective MM?") is a stinky pile of trash mr. smartass.
Well done. You have fully refuted these entire threads. Such Insight.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks Your statement about absence of self heals on pure death necro is simply pathetic - go study necro skills, that might give you a clue.
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
You can argue as much as you want that i can not get as many minions as N/Mo, because i can. I don't need to argue it (again) because you just proved it.

Your self-heal destroys a minion. Heal Area heals you and nearby minions. So, N/Mo gains +1 minion and 100+ health/minion vs your build, per usage.

That's why people use it.

Ira Blinks

Banned

Join Date: Feb 2006

honestly i've quit trying to help shortsighted people in game and dont know why im doin this here. If you dont understand the meaning of the trade off between healing and raising and think im killing minion that you wouldnt be able to raise anyway, that is fine with me. If you dont understand that every member of the group has to do his job and do not try to substitute someone else by sacrificing own efficiency, that is fine with me to. Basic rules of math and teamwork still apply wherever you like it or not, and they have yet to fail me. You think N/Mo is self sufficient and can hold bigger armies? Thats fine to, but i've seen the opposite. I made my build based on what i have seen to deal with problems that occur as opposed to people who stole newb-friendly build from forums and now trying to make up excuses for using it, because they were too lazy to try anything else.

Manic Smile

Manic Smile

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

----- 15^50[Rare] ---- Alliance: ----- [SMS] -----

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
frankly i dont care if i ack like an ass when i know for sure that im right and my opponent already slapped me with bunch oh blanket statements.
His statements appeared to address specific points to me...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks I always used to have rez with me untill I realized that the only time i need it is when I already know that this group is going to fall apart in a few minutes. Very not true. I can think of litterally hundreds of times rebirth has saved a party I was in. This is all over the game before Wiki or anyone else was really sure what the missions/bonuses or what all the quests are till more recently. A death or two doesn't make a bad party nessisarily.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ira Blinks And heal area... you dont need it if aggro didnt break thru, and if it did you can not use it anyway. So why waste precious attribute points on one skill with very limited use when you could pump everything into death and soul reaping and raise, raise, raise... Yes you do as saccing = damage. What do you do just stand there with half your life sacced out and wait for natural regen? You can't do that outside of SF and it's gear/keg trick. As for healing while running away yes you can HA...who cares if you heal an already full life dwarf anyway...it's at full life...cause it if wasn't then likely something would have picked it up and it wouldn't be chasing you. MM > party when you have minnions...i.e. heal yourself even if you heal the enemy for the most part your minnions can make up for it in seconds...but I've already said that.

I have 17 death and 10 in soul reaping...frankly i don't really need more soul reaping so the 8 in healing and the 9 in blood are both not a problem. I mean really with OoB and all the deaths you dont' need 13 in soul reaping at all...in most cases with an SS it's a waste(all mobs tend to die at once).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
Not sure if I understand you right, but I dont use blood magic. I mostly rely on taste of death (used with death nova) and sometimes consume corpse (when ss isnt doin good job and i feel like beating binders to the corpse). It is up to monk to heal me or not, but i will not die if he chooses not to. ToD is self defeating and Death Nova is pointless unless you're bombing and then minnions > horrors and no fiends at all and say echo maybe. I mean think about it. Nova will do about 70 to 100 dmg at the cost of one fiend say. That fiend otherwise would do about 5 to 25 each hit as well as run meat shield(you run behind them) as well as provide a minnion for infuse or dark bond. In 10 hits a fiend could make up and/or over take the damage from a nova as well as it frees a spot for another skill...assuming you use ToD and DN while I have HA. And consume corpse is worse... as an MM you shouldn't need energy at least at the cost of a corpse...self defeating. And leaving your healing up to an already taxed or perhaps kiting monk is just foolhardy and in somecases inconsiderate as, if the monk doesn't heal you then they have to deal with all your minnions but if he does he has a harder job. The only reason this even works is because again you are in SF.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira Blinks
Now you clearly missed the point here. The keg/gear trick ensures that each team member only does his job (tho keg/gear isnt really required, it just makes it more newb friendly), thus making SF the ultimate place to test build.
It comes down to: how many minions can I raise and keep alive granted mobs are not attacking me. You might say that this is ideal situation and it doesnt quiet work that well in other places and I will disagree. First of all mobs do strip, put hexes and degen on you even if there is keg tank around. And second I am able stay out of aggro even if there is no keg/gear involved, it just takes more effort and team coordination. Yea that's it...that's not why so many call PvE a joke... No matter how well you play you cannot avoid agrro all the time. Maybe the monk kitted it to you or a pratrol came up behind you. There are so many casess where you cannot control aggro. As for SF being a good testing groud I disagree. You should pratice how you play or you'll play how you pratice. I.E. if you are going to be using your MM build throughout the game, best to test it throughout the game...and while nothing you have or don't will break your build...I still feel it isn't as efficeint or self suffiecnt as my own with /mo.

byteme!

byteme!

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

On Earth

W/P

It's an overwhelming decision that N/MO is more self sufficient and arguably better at being a MM. You can argue til the cows come home and nothing will change what the majority of people think about this issue. If you keep telling yourself how good other N/ combinations are better someone might actually believe you but then again who cares? You're a minority.

kaldak

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2006

there is no best. how many times does this have to be said? its kinda the whole point of guild wars...

i gave heal area a fair try and honestly i find healing spring much more effective. it does more total healing, it only effects allies, and it does it over time. this means it can actually keep a minion at full health topped off for 10 seconds even with verutas down and it can significantly increase the health of a minion that is low. it works super well when there's a bit of downtime while spirits go up and the puller gets in place for the next encounter. and if the situation is right (all enemies are already engaged) i sometimes even lay it down near the battle without worrying about healing the enemy. it works so well i dont even bother bringing botm alot of the time anymore (i know, thats mm sacralige).

additionally this lets me bring serpent's quickness for faster recharge on summonings and VS. that has quite a noticeable effect.

now how is that definitely worse than a monk secondary? granted, no rebirth, but as long as a number of people on the team have it i've never run into any trouble

i'm not saying n/mo cant work, but claiming that its the only way to go is just closeminded. have you actually tried these other builds with an open mind?

on another note, i actually got kicked out of a group today for not being n/e. n/mo might be a majority, but its a pretty slim majority at best...

Manic Smile

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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The problem with Heal Spring is casting time/interuption as well as recharge

To be honest I rarely use BotM either as it's a saccing spell...but I find it worth keepig on my bar

Serpents I find isn't really needed for summoning but yea it can be helpful for VS.

Only real loss is a hard rez...but if you read the general posts out there /R was on the debatable list of sub classes.

Acutally all I have ever claimed is /mo is more efficient/effective at keeping minnions up over extended periods as well as maintaing the largest army nothing else...even /ele and /me can be done

Was it a pug group that kicked you...I'm sorry but that says very little...


if you like /R try out winniowing when you have a large group up...I found it *fun*

Carinae

Carinae

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

Inside

Fifteen Over Fifty [Rare]

Yea, I won't argue against N/R. I don't think it's quite as good, but some like it. It's the only other real option IMHO.

Manic Smile

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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Hey Carinae I got your message but your inbox is full so I couldn't msg you back...but yea I agree.

kaldak

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2006

yeah, a pug. and i really just mentioned it to show that even people who think there is one best build dont neccessarily think its /mo. but you're right, it doesnt say much.

my comments were really aimed at byteme! and others who dont seem to even want to debate the topic.

you do have a point with the quicker reacharge and interupts, but remember that springs does go for 10 seconds off of 1 cast and i'm usually doing it when far away from/not in combat, so interupts arent so bad.

and i find serpents does have a noticable impact on my summoning speed. energy becomes much more of a concern than when i'm not using it and thats simply because the summonings are being cast more frequently.

maybe its really nothing more than style...i find i end up with bigger armies as n/r than n/mo, but evidently alot of people dont. doesnt mean anyone is wrong...

Manic Smile

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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I don't think /R is an unreasonable choice.

My case for the interupt problem is for when say you are kiting or taking damage and you are casting it to heal yourself or another party member and get poped. It doesn't even have to be an interupt skill...you only need be hit for a chance to be interupted which can be a pain. That said I do find it more useful as you said to keep up the army when in down time as you do not have to keep casting it as often. So for this skill trade of it is more of a style choice.

My reason for saying SQ is uncessisary with summoning spells is that with a Bortak's Bone Cesta and a 10% casting speed death deadly cesta I find that I'm usually waiting on a corpse 9/10 times instead of on the skill to recharge...where as without any recharge in my wand/offhand set the recharge on VS is much more useful to me.

Also winnowing can be used when you have that huge army up just to see all those large numbers pop up.

Samueldg

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2005

Colorado

N/Mo

the MAIN reason why I changed from n/r to n/mo is due to healing spring...

its got a long cast time and requires me to stay in one spot to get the benit from it aka 3 sec cast time.. now I have to stand there and cast my sac spells before I can move on...

as a n/mo I can cast sac spells as I move and keep walking then hit HA

the time between mobs increases more than anything the time it takes to do a run so the object for me is to cut that as much as possible..

If I could find an effiecent spell to cast that would regen me fully the sac from minion feeding Id be all about it...

BUT then we run into another wall rebirth...

for me there are a few things Ive found that work like a charm..

apart from the basic 2 summoned spells and the 2 healin minions spells
( fiends /horrors, minions /horrors... veritas sac and BOTM)

having deathy swarm for a "aid de camp" spell and since ive already got 16 dm.. makes sense.. not much else that doesnt require me to get close, use up 15 ene , or require the use of a corpse within the death magic sheme that works as well so cheaply on ene.

now with heal area I can help in the backfield and heal a backfired monkwhile he heals another.. I can keep that same monk happy and take care of myself healing up my life saccin..

in TOPK rez sig is seriously useful in my book as MM.. the orders goes down or the monk gets smacked.. bam rez sig .. if the monk died the orders is right there with him using BR.. so the monk is back up and healing within 3 seconds.. thats kinda nice..

and always rebirth.. just incase a bad pull etc etc.. the game aint over so long as ONE GUY with rebirth is still kicking...

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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*that came out wrong* sorry too many arguements

let me reword that...perhaps try these suggestions

2 sup runes

weapon switch

??iljo

??iljo

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2006

N/

IMO heal area is a total waste of atr points...veratas and blood of the master are enough to keep ur minions alive...better put points in blood magic and use oob..u can get 18 ene wit 12 blood magic i think..7 in soul reaping and 16 dm...and u can heal urself by spammin life siphon all round while u sacrifice ur health...

Manic Smile

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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In case you didn't read any of the previous posts...Life stealing hexes are an unreliable source of healing and do your party no good at all, nor your minnions(in terms of healing). 18 energy from OoB is entirely overkill and BotM is not enough to keep your minnions alive once Verata's Sac is beat out by uncapped dp as well as the 9 seconds you can't keep it up(without another skills help) as well as it requires saccing. My soul reaping is above 7 and my Death Magic is at 17(20% of the time but a large inpact on minnions none the less). How is my build hurt by HA.

Fates

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

Kanuckistan

Mirror of Reason [SNOW]

R/

Interesting read.

I'm going to side with the non HA group, especially for tombs BP builds. I run 16 (20%-17) death, 11 (10+1) SR and whatever's left put in Blood (for BR). Couldn't tell you how many times I've been called a good MM. Also couldn't tell you the number of times I've run tombs w/ my ranger and get totally frustrated with the MM that can't raise any minions due to not having enough E (both from casting HA after his sacrifices in battles, and from having low SR)

Standard Nec/Mo skillbar with all death except for Blood Rit and Rebirth. For the most part, im just casting fiend and horror. Whenever Verata's renews, cast that, keep it up as much as possible. My job is to keep that wall of minions up and am not going to waste any energy on heal area that could go to raising a minion. I use every corpse created. 15 fresh minions are way more effective as a wall than 15 old minions that have been kept alive w/ HA. Use BoM between battles to keep em alive between Veratas.

It is the monks job to keep people healed and if he needs E and the Orders isn't near him, I'll toss a BR on him. Rebirth for obvious reasons.

Wicked Shadow

Wicked Shadow

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2006

Gamerz Unlimited [GU]

N/

I totally agree that HA should not be used during battles to counter Verata's. You need all the energy you can get for summoning. I've been using blood recenty and found it useful, though I doubt I'd use BR. You'll need all the health you can get considering you're already sacrificing for Verata's and if you die your army goes rogue. Dark bond is very useful though, and I've been using Life transfer as a good health repleneshing spell.

Manic Smile

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fates Monk
Also couldn't tell you the number of times I've run tombs w/ my ranger and get totally frustrated with the MM that can't raise any minions due to not having enough E (both from casting HA after his sacrifices in battles, and from having low SR)
*cough* pug *cough* Having done 4 man Tomb runs whith my build, the MM you speak of was not very skilled nor is your example proof of anything. OoB...for one gives me back 15 energy for 5 energy. And how is 10 not enough Soul Reaping while 11 is. Did you even read all the posts?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fates Monk
Standard Nec/Mo skillbar with all death except for Blood Rit and Rebirth. For the most part, im just casting fiend and horror. Whenever Verata's renews, cast that, keep it up as much as possible. My job is to keep that wall of minions up and am not going to waste any energy on heal area that could go to raising a minion.

I can use BR and use HA...I just take out my protection skill...either Infuse or Dark Bond. Heal Area = better healed minnions as I guarentee that you cannot keep your minnions alive as long with just one heal skill, that requires saccing none the less, as I can with two and one that counteracts the saccing....unless you are going to drain the monks that should be healing the rest of the party taking damage from all the craziness in Tombs. Show me a SS of your completed 4 man run or better and then I'll say "maybe" you have the right to say I can't do my job. I'm not saying 3 man can't be done...I know it can but I had 3 friends on at the time.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Fates Monk
I use every corpse created. 15 fresh minions are way more effective as a wall than 15 old minions that have been kept alive w/ HA. Use BoM between battles to keep em alive between Veratas. lol...so do I...except I have the 15 fresh ones as well as the other 20 or so not so fresh ones...who wins you think...

pay attention people...ENERGY IS NOT THE MINNION MASTER'S REAL PROBLEM...time and corpse replacement are...and corpse replacement is only an issue because of the time problem...due to the increasing minnion dp. The insane damage the SS necro provides fixes most of the corpse replacement issue so then the real issue becomes buying as much time on the margin as possible for your current army to get to your next source of corpses then keeping them alive during that battle long enough to replace or increase your army. How can you heal your minnions once verata's can't keep their life regen positive...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fates Monk
It is the monks job to keep people healed and if he needs E and the Orders isn't near him, I'll toss a BR on him. Rebirth for obvious reasons. It is the Monk's job to keep those taking damage in battle healed...not keep the MM healed every 30 seconds or so. I assume much less actually as BR, VS, and BotM all require life, which you cannot replace....should you say blood damage...what about outside/before battle?

Manic Smile

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Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Hawaii

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wicked Shadow
I totally agree that HA should not be used during battles to counter Verata's. You need all the energy you can get for summoning. How about do both...keep yourself heald and continue to summon minnions...it can be done I assure you.

Fates

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

Kanuckistan

Mirror of Reason [SNOW]

R/

Great thoughts, will have to try some of them. May even try HA again.

No screen shot, but I have completed the last 2 levels with me as MM and 4 rangers, lost our monk, orders and one ranger to err7 all at once on the third wurm in lvl 2. I assure you, I can keep an army up.

My one comment would be, for all your complaining about sacc'ing, don't you think the 20% for OoB is a bit much to gain a little E?