Building A Monk

I was bored, so I wrote this up, so I could help people to build their Monks better. We're the most important member of a group (don't let anyone tell you different), so if we can't work effectively, then it's a problem. It's very long, but I think it's pretty comprehensive

Here's a guide for Monk newbies on how to build a standard Healing/Protection Monk. This should comprehensively cover what you need to do to make a great, easy to get into Monk build. I'll be ignoring advanced combos. I'll also ignore secondary classes. This is just a guide to getting started on something that works well for any non-Smiting Monk. When you finish reading this, you should be able to make a Monk that will be a strong healer in any group.

Much of this advice applies to both PvE and PvP, but it's mostly PvE.

First, let's focus on what threats a Monk faces:

1. Damage, plain and simple.
2. Large, intermittent damage spikes.
3. AoE damage.
4. Hexes.
5. Conditions.
6. Death.

So, when you make a build, you have to focus on preventing these things or removing them if you can't prevent them. A well balanced build can deal with all, or almost all of these threats.

Here is a standard set of skills that you can use to remedy these specific threats:

1. Standard, Cheap, Spammable, Versatile Heal.
2. Large, Single Target Heal.
3. AoE Heal.
4. Hex Removal.
5. Condition Removal.
6. Resurrection Spell.

In addition, there are two more types of skills that you want:

7. Energy Management.
8. Damage Mitigation.

If you want to skip down past this LONG part, feel free.
Ok, 1 by 1, let's go through what skills you can use to fill these roles.

1. Standard, Cheap, Spammable, Versatile Heal.
You need a spell that will heal small to moderate amounts of damage. Preferably, you want a spell that can heal yourself and other players. Let's go through a few choices:

Orison of Healing (5,1,2) - This is the standard basic heal that we'll use to compare the other heals with. It heals any ally for 20-60. It works quickly, recharges quickly, and is cheap. It fills its role very well.
Reversal of Fortune (5,1/4,2) - Generally, you might not think that this spell should go in this category. I think it does. It's as expensive as Orison, recharges as quickly, but casts much quicker. In some circumstances, it works better than Orison. If the enemy is attacking for an amount of damage equal to, or greater than, 1/2 of what Orison heals for, then Reversal is more effective. So, say Orison heals for 60. If the enemy is doing 30 or more damage per attack, then Reversal of Fortune is more effective. If the enemy is doing less than 30 damage per attack, then Reversal of Fortune is less effective. With Divine Favor, Reversal doesn't just reverse damage, it also will heal for a small amount, every time you cast it. However, it isn't as good as Orison against Bleeding, or other DoTs.
Healing Touch (5,3/4,5) - This casts slightly faster than Orison, but recharges much slower, and you have to touch your target. However, if your Divine Favor is 3 or more, then Healing Touch will heal for more. If you have lots of Divine Favor, then Healing Touch will heal for a lot more. However, the fact that you have to touch your target, combined with the high recharge time, means that this is only good for intermittent self-heals.
Word of Healing (5,3/4,4) - This has the opposite problem that Healing Touch does. While Healing Touch is only good as a self-heal, you can't target yourself with this spell. However, if you use this spell for on someone who has less than half life, then this will heal for about 2.5x as much as Orison would. Still, it's not spammable and the lack of self-healing rules it out for versatility. So, it doesn't work well for this category. Plus, it's elite.
Signet of Devotion(0,2,5) - This is a signet, meaning that it's free. It will heal for slightly less than Orison, depending on your level of Divine Favor and Healing Prayers. It also takes longer to cast and has a longer cooldown. While the non-existent cost is nice, I don't think that it outweighs the weaknesses that this spell has for this category.

That leaves us with Orison of Healing and Reversal of Fortune for this category.

2. Large, Single Target Heal.
You need a heal that you can use to quickly heal an ally who was hit for a large amount of damage.
This time, let's look at many of the same heals that we looked at for the first category:

Orison of Healing (5,1,2) - This spell is cheap enough and quick enough to heal someone quickly. However, it only heals for 60 at lvl12, which isn't enough when your target just got hit for 150.
Reversal of Fortune (5,1/4,2) - This spell shines in this category. It casts extremely quickly. Still, it doesn't actually heal for more than what Divine Favor gives you. So why is it so good here? Often, when an ally gets hit for 150 damage, another spike is coming up soon. So, if you cast this on that ally, then with 12 Protection Prayers, you will be able to nullify up to 134 damage, far more than Orison can. If your target doesn't get hit for another large spike, then you should have enough time to use a spell in category 1, to heal them back up.
Heal Other (10,3/4,3) - This spell is the standard choice in this category. It is fast, and heals for more than enough (151 with 12 Healing Prayers), but it doesn't work as a self-heal and it's more costly than other spells. It's a good choice, but there are better.
Healing Touch (5,3/4,5) - This spell heals for almost as much as Heal Other does, at half the cost. Still, it's weak in this category, as well as in the first category, because you have to touch your target.
Word of Healing (5,3/4,4) - This is my favorite spell in this category. It is only half the cost of Heal Other, has a slightly higher recharge time, and, if your target is below 50% health, heals for almost exactly the same. It's very effective, but it doesn't work on yourself. It's cheap and quick, so even if it isn't the greatest choice in category 1, it will be able to cover that category somewhat. However, it is elite.
Infuse Health (10,1/4,0) - This is the strongest heal in the game. With a lvl20 character, if you're at full life, with 12 Healing Prayers, it will heal for about 300, not including Divine Favor. Still, the major problem with it is that it takes half your life. Even if it will heal your target fully, you'll have to use a large heal on yourself immediately afterwards, countering much of the advantage of this spell.

I think that the best choices in this category are Reversal of Fortune, Word of Healing, and Heal Other.

3. AoE heal.
You need a way to counter mobs that use AoE attacks. With 8 allies, won't be fast enough to heal with single target heals.
Here are the AoE healing skills:

Heal Area (10,1,5) - This is a powerful and cost-effective AoE heal. For just the cost and time that 2 Orisons would take, you heal in an area around you for twice as much. However, it has a very limited area of effect and it will heal enemies. It may be useful in certain specific parties, but it lacks versatility.
Heal Party (15,2,0) - This is much less cost-effective and powerful than Heal Area, but it is also much better. It has no recharge timer, meaning that you can spam it. It is expensive, but it's more cost-effective and much more time-effective than using 3 Orisons. Plus, it hits every single party member on your radar.
Divine Healing (10,2,60) - From my testing, this heals in a slightly larger area than Heal Area does. It doesn't heal enemies and it heals for more than Heal Area. It's more cost effective than Heal Party. Still, the limited range and long recharge time makes it undesirable.

Heal Party is the clear winner here.

4. Hex Removal.
Hexes have some of the worst debuffs in the game. One common Hex, Backfire, will prevent you from casting effectively for 10 seconds. You need some way to stop Hexes.

Smite Hex (5,1,15) - In addition to removing a Hex, this will also do damage, which is nice. It's cheap, casts quickly, but it has a prohibitive recharge timer.
Remove Hex (5,2,7) - This is a standard, easy to obtain Hex removal spell. You will be able to cast it twice as often as Smite Hex, which makes it a superior choice.
Convert Hexes (15,2,20) - This is very expensive and has a long recharge timer. It removes all hexes and possibly adds additional armor, but I don't think that it compensates for its weaknesses.

Remove Hex is the best, in my opinion.

5. Condition Removal.
Conditions aren't as menacing as hexes, but some, like Deep Wounds and Blind, pose major problems.

Purge Conditions (5,1/4,30) - This is a very effective condition removal spell, but the long recharge timer makes it weak against an enemy capable of reapplying conditions.
Mend Condition (5,3/4,2) - Mend Condition, in effect, removes a condition as well as working as an Orison. It's very strong, but it can't be cast on yourself.
Mend Ailment (5,3/4,2) - Mend Ailment almost always heals for less than Mend Condition, but it can be cast on yourself. It's a good choice.

If you aren't afraid of having conditions cast on yourself, tkae Mend Condition. Otherwise, take Mend Ailment

6. Resurrection Spell.
Resurrection is necessary. You can't go without a resurrection spell. I'm going to split this into two categories.
First, let's do regular resurrection spells:

Resurrect (10,8,0) - This is the standard res spell. It heals for 20%, without giving any energy. It's always a good choice.
Restore Life (10,8,0) - Restore Life is very similiar to Resurrect. However, it will heal for me, plus it gives a large amount of energy. Still, the fact that you have to touch is a drawback. If an ally dies in the middle of a group of mobs, this will be useless. This is too slow to use effectively in intense combat, so the advantages don't outweigh the disadvantage. I think that it's not good for a Primary Monk.
Rebirth (10,6,0) - This spell casts a bit faster than the other two, but you lose all your mana, and your target cannot use skills for a great deal of time after being resurrected. However, it does teleport your ally to you before resurrection. It saves someone if they die in a group of mobs, or if your team has to retreat, leaving someone behind.

Seeing as how all three are way too slow to use in combat, the teleportation effect of Rebirth puts it out in the lead, in my opinion. Resurrect is still a good choice, however.

In-Battle resurrection spells:

Resurrection Signet (0,3,0) - This is a great resurrection spell. It is quick and free and it heals fully, with about 25% energy. Still, you can only cast it once, until you go back to town, or finish certain quests or missions.
Vengeance (10,4,60) - This spell heals fully, both for health and energy. However, your target dies after 30 seconds. It's great to use in the middle of battle, giving your team just enough power to finish the enemy.
Unyielding Aura (5,3,45) - This spell works exactly like Vengeance, but it is faster, cheaper, quicker to recharge, but has to be maintained and is elite. To compare with Vengeance, over the 30s that Vengeance lasts, this will end up costing you 5 more mana. If you find that Vengeance doesn't last long enough, you may want to use this instead. Otherwise, Vengeance is usually better.

If you very rarely need to resurrect in the middle of battle, use Resurrection Signet. If you only need to resurrect for 30 seconds or less, use Vengeance. If neither of those apply, use Unyielding Aura.

While a regular res spell is a necessity, an in-battle res is nice, but you don't need to have one. Only pick one up if your parties suffer from mid-battle deaths, or you have a slot to fill.

7. Energy Management.
This is a category that has many different entries, especially if you consider secondary professions. Most Monks run out of energy pretty quickly, since they don't have the energy reserves of an Elementalist or Energy Regeneration of a Necromancer. One good skill is Divine Boon, but it's fairly complex, so I won't address it here.

Peace and Harmony (5,1,45) - This will give you an extra pip of mana regen, equivalent to 1 mana every 3 seconds. With moderate levels of Divine Favor, you will easily be able to keep this up continually. The downside is that you won't be able to use any offensive skills or attack, and you use your elite slot. It's a good ability for any Monk build, especially if you aren't using your elite slot or you run out of Mana too early.
Signet of Devotion (0,2,5) - When your party isn't taking much damage, you shouldn't have to waste mana tossing up a category one spell every few seconds. This will give you a free way to heal light to moderate amounts of damage. Plus, it doesn't set off any hexes (like Backfire) that work against spells.

8. Damage Mitigation.
Often, it's better and more efficient to prevent damage in the first place, rather than healing it.
Here are a few abilities to that end:

Healing Breeze (10,1,2) - This is a very popular choice among lower level Monks. It's spammable and effective. At lvl12 Healing Prayers, it will heal 160 life for 10 mana over 10 seconds.
Vigorous Spirit (5,1,4) - This will usually heal at least as much as Healing Breeze will, except over a longer period of time, but cheaper. It's very mana effective, but it's also not dependable. You have to count on your target attacking or using skills, which doesn't always happen.
Shielding Hands (5,3/4,25) - This is a great spell to use if someone is taking small amounts of damage from several sources. If 10 targets are doing 10 damage per hit, then this can completely nullify that. However, it is weak against spike damage. If 1 target is doing 100 damage a hit, it is ineffective. Although it is cheap, you can't keep it up more than 40% of the time, unless you have a skill or item that makes enchantments last longer. It is too situational, in my opinion.
Healing Seed (15,2,25) - This is very powerful, but also very risky. This is costly and you can only have one up at a time. If your target isn't being damaged, then you wasted about 30% of your mana pool. In the best case scenario, you can keep most of your team very well healed for almost 20 seconds.
Aegis (15,1,30) - This is a great skill. For about 10 seconds, your whole team has has 50% protection from attacks. This will slow the battle down, giving you time to use skills like Signet of Devotion as heals, rather than less efficient heals that you'd have to use if your party was taking heavy damage. Sadly, it doesn't set off Divine Favor for anyone besides yourself.
Protective Spirit (10,3/4,5) - This spell will make it so that no ally will die in fewer than 10 hits. Much like Aegis, this will slow the battle down enough so that you can use Signet of Devotion to heal. In addition, this will very effectively shut down high spike damage mobs. You should be able to keep up to 4 copies of this spell up continuously, if you want. Still, it's very situational. You need to be using this against mobs that do large amounts of damage, intermittently.
Mark of Protection (15,1,45) - 10 seconds of Reversal of Fortune. 10 SECONDS OF REVERSAL OF FORTUNE! At Protection Prayers lvl12, your target will be able to take up to 98 damage, without suffering a scratch. The only thing you have to fear is Enchantment removal. However, this spell has severe downsides. It's expensive and has a long recharge timer. In addition, your entire Protection tree is disabled for the duration of the spell. It also is elite.





If you skipped down, continue reading here.
Here's a list of the roles you need to fill in a build, for reference.
1. Standard, Cheap, Spammable, Versatile Heal.
2. Large, Single Target Heal.
3. AoE Heal.
4. Hex Removal.
5. Condition Removal.
6. Resurrection Spell.
7. Energy Management.
8. Damage Mitigation.


Assembling your character.
Ok, now you have to pick 8 skills that will cover most, if not all of your bases. Here's one build that I have used in the past, doing very well in the Fissure of Woe.

Reversal of Fortune - Satisfies Categories 1, 2, and 8. It isn't necessarily the best in any of these categories, but it is very versatile.
Word of Healing (Elite) - Satisfies Categories 1 and 2. It's the best for category 2 and it works well for Category 1.
Signet of Devotion - Satisfies Satisfies Categories 1 and 7. It also complements category 8 spells well.
Protective Spirit - Satisfies Categories 2 and 8.
Aegis - Satisfies Category 8.
Heal Party - Satisfies Category 3.
Remove Hex - Satisfies Category 4.
Rebirth - Satisfies Category 6.

As you can see, I have every base covered, except for the least important one, condition removal. The most important ones, 1 and 2, are covered comprehensively.



Picking your Attributes.
I recommend 11 Divine Favor, 10 Healing Prayers, and either 10 Protection Prayers or 10 in an attribute for a secondary profession. I think Divine Favor is most important, because it makes every single Monk skill better. You'll be healing when using every spell, not just direct heals. I think Healing Prayers is a necessity for novice and intermediate players. Unless you have a primary healer or Divine Boon and a secondary healer, Protection Prayers just won't be able to keep your team alive. If your build needs a certain group makeup for it to work, then it's not versatile and not good for inexperienced Monks.

Picking your Items.
For Runes, I use the best Vigor I can afford, Superior Divine Favor, and Minors for the rest. This way, I get the best combination of effectiveness and health. For Armor, I recommend Ascetics, Wanderer's or Saintly. Judge's and Censor's take too much of your energy. As for Weapons, it doesn't matter whether you have a wand and a focus or a staff. Just take whichever one gives you better stats. Damage isn't important, go for more energy, longer enchantments, faster casting, faster recharge times, or similiar mods.

I hope this helped some people make their builds.