Smite-Monk Farmer

Is it at all possible to make a half-decent smiting monk/mesmer farmer that DOESN'T use Shield of Judegement? If so, could you post the build here?

For melee monsters only.

Divine Boon
Sprint
Mark of Protection*
Zealot's Fire
Symbol of Wrath
Balthazar's Aura
Blessed Aura
Balthazar's Spirit


Cast the maintained enchants when you zone. When you get near the enemies cast Zealot's fire and go aggro them. Get them all around you and cast Mark of Protection,then Balthazar's Aura, then SoW. Then spam Divine Boon to trigger ZF. Sprint is for running from things.

Attributes at 16 smiting, 6 Prot, rest Divine Favor.

Hmm. I'll try that. Any others?

Use Channeling if you can't keep up the energy cost of Divine Boon spammage.

I personally like the protective bond build.

protective bond
essence bond
balthazar's spirt
mending
blessed sig
3 skills of you choice

this is a great build against anything but health degen and enchanment strip, and the lower life the better. Your armor though sould have all superior runes in it though so you have the least amount of health possible, above 10. When you put on protective bond make sure you have at least 14 in protection so you only lose 2 energy and when you put on mending make sure you have 13 in healing to get 4 health regen. With all the sup runes you should be able to get 12 in smiting too. If done correctly this build can solo UW.

Boon builds almost have to have Channeling. Bonetti's Defense works the same way for a Bond build. You don't really need Shield of Judgement. Shielding Hands + Boon + Channeling + Zealot's Fire should keep you alive against any number of the standard melee mobs that you'll be fighting.

I'm just wondering, is it at all possible to apply this to a Me/Mo?

Well, a Boon/Zealot's/Channeling build would not work on a Me/Mo, since Boon would heal you for very little. A Protective Bond build would work, but not well, since you can't get the same levels of Mending, Protective Bond, and Smiting Prayers. You'd have to live with 2 energy loss on Bond, +3 Mending, and low damage.

I tried a modified version of the Zealot's Fire/Boon build, and it went off alright. However, I'm having a real problem with healing (Healing Breeze isn't good enough), and as a Mesmer primary, I can't boost the Boon heal. I have no trouble with energy, though, as I tend to keep Energy Drain on me, and use that every time it recharges. I may try out the Prot. Bond build, next.

Here's my build for farming Magno Hydras at Perdition Rock:

Balthazar's Aura
Symbol of Wrath
Blessed Signet
Mending
Watchful Spirit
Balthazar's Spirit
Essence Bond
Protective Bond

This is modelled with the low hp build/prot bond build in mind, so it'll help if you have all 4 superior runes on. Personally, I only have 3, but it still works. You need to have Prot at 14 at least, so that it'll only draw 2 energy each time you're hit, which essence bond and balthazar's spirit will provide. Both mending and watchful spirit will make sure that you can tank lots of hits, espeically if your hp is low, then just let them rip with balthazar's aura and symbol of wrath. The only thing you should watch out for is meteor, because it causes knockdown, so make sure you're not casting anything important if you're caught in it.

This build can still be improved if you can boost your Prot to 17 with a weapon, so that you only draw 1 energy. This means that you'll almost never have problems with energy. You can farm hydras, drakes and even the drydas with some effort. Flesh Golems are impossible because they cast lingering curse

That looks like a pretty solid build.

I'm just looking into farming Hill Giants to steal their shoes/get decent Rune unlocks.