Bonder for Oro farms

Shantel Span

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

I've done a fair share of Oro farms - I know the route, know what to avoid. I have done it on my Echo SS, heal monk, Barrage (gasp!), and mostly as Bonder.

What I tend to see when i'm NOT my Bonder, is getting a solitary Life Barrier from the bonder while the tank (guildie tanking) gets barrier, Bond, and Essence Bond. While I as the SS or monk shouldn't be taking damage a lot of the time, "stuff" happens.

On my bonder, I run the standard Blessed + Sig of Dev + Mantra with Life Barrier, Bond, Essence Bond, Vital Blessing, and Rebirth. I put Barrier and Bond on each person, and the tank gets EB and VB as a cover enchant.

Am I just an overzealous bonder or are bonders lazy?

Maxiemonster

Maxiemonster

There is no spoon.

Join Date: Jun 2005

Netherlands

Mo/

Do both the healing and the bonding, then you won't be bored

Crazyvietguy

Crazyvietguy

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

[Njk]

Rt/

Im thinking your overzealous, If your on a 5 man run, a simple barrier (52%) will cover most damage, your HEAL MONK, should be able to heal the damage done. However, if you notice someones consistantly dropping low, maybe low armor (not sure why), runs too close, etc. Just throw a bond on them too. But running 2,2,2,3 and maybe sprit on yourself, your pushing the line.
I do enjoy bonding and healing, good challenge.

.killjoy

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jan 2006

Mo/Me

I put life bond on everyone one of the people in my group then I put barrier on the tank that usually does the job well enough and if I see the other chars. like to argo I slap on a barrier on them I don't usually bring all those other non-sense skills :0 so I also have some mend aliment and reversal of fortune.

Katari

Katari

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Upstate

Me/

Once you get inside SF, most bonders have more energy than they know what to do with. Mantra of Inscriptions is overkill, and not even needed if you want to bond+barrier everyone outside in SF. Vital Blessing is useless, because it dosn't actually help the tank take less damage, or boost his healing. Once you get inside, you'll have enough energy for some actual spells, so Sig of Devotion isn't really nessacary either.

RoF
Mend Condition
Blessed Sig
Divine Boon
Life Barrier
Life Bond
Life Atunement
Balth's Spirit // Essence Bond

While you can run dual bonds on everyone, in all honesty, the tanker shouldn't need Barrier in GF, and everyone else should be find with Life Bond.

Shantel Span

Shantel Span

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Knights of King Thorn [Mad]

A/N

You'd be surprised how often i find that I really did need to bond all the people in the party. More often than not it seems like I end up with a tank who doesn't know what he's doing, and doesn't know that he's supposed to go in Stance rather than what I call Murder mode. And then this happens (was playing Orders in FoW):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/gw/gw149.jpg

In any case, i've found Vital Blessing to be a great cover enchant for those Strip Enchantments. (i hate being a Healer because all the spells cast sooo long to cast, boon-prot is 1/4th of a second). It casts fast, and also can act as a fast emergency heal on anyone when the Healer is either distracted or low on energy.

The only real problem i've had with my current build is keeping up with the group when we're not in combat...having to hit the Blessed Sig every once in a while while the warrior is puttering around with the gear next to me and the SS is sprinting ahead. Maybe I should grab Aegis or soemthing...

Misc Merik

Misc Merik

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2006

America

Fugitives of Kurzick (Fok)

W/

I always felt the order of job cushiness went from bonder, war, healer, ss necro, mm necro. the only reason the necros come last is because they are the sole source of damage in the 5 man group. I can literally read a book, eat a sandwhich and operate the keyboard with my toes without looking at the screen bonder is so easy. Dont take this offensively to those of you who disagree with me thinking bonder takes merely the ability to click a few skills and maintain...by clicking the same button over and over

konohamaru heaven

konohamaru heaven

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

Some where in Cantha beyond the Petrified Forest and the Jade Sea

The Amazon Basin

Quote:
Originally Posted by Misc Merik
I always felt the order of job cushiness went from bonder, war, healer, ss necro, mm necro. the only reason the necros come last is because they are the sole source of damage in the 5 man group. I can literally read a book, eat a sandwhich and operate the keyboard with my toes without looking at the screen bonder is so easy. Dont take this offensively to those of you who disagree with me thinking bonder takes merely the ability to click a few skills and maintain...by clicking the same button over and over I have to agree but mixing in secondary healing makes it alittle less boring and also 1 1/2 healers are better than 1.

Eaimirth Etaivella

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Seekers of the Apocalypse

E/

I've had some pretty bad PuGs in SF...so I did a 2/2/2/3/1 using bath spirit on myself and on the tank as a cover; even considered bringing life attunement >.> overkill much?

Katari

Katari

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Upstate

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eaimirth Etaivella
I've had some pretty bad PuGs in SF...so I did a 2/2/2/3/1 using bath spirit on myself and on the tank as a cover; even considered bringing life attunement >.> overkill much? Considered it? What is so important on your skillbar that you'd leave Life Atunement at home?

Hylia

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2006

After Eight

Mo/Me

I usually play healer, when farming oro or fa but I tried to be a bonder recently, and hade to notice, its not as easy as all says.
But not, because maintaining the bonds would be so hard. With Balthasars Spirit on me (dont tried Essence Bond as bonder, 'cause BS is far enough, I am always full with energy inside SF) and Mantra of Insriptions too, for faster recharge of the Blessed Signet, which is...I think, only needed outside SF.

One of my friend says always: "They nerfed oro farming with noobs"
I can just agree. Most of the tanks dont have the stances,dont know, what to do, drop the keg/gear so the enemies attack us, SS cant use spinal, and never bring Blood Ritual, MMs loose the minions they made, healers dont use the skills that they should...and we end up dead, before getting inside SF, or one of us g2g before we reach the first boss.
8/7 time we cant finish the farm.

I am bonding everyone in GF, maintaining 4*2 (LB,LBo) and one Balthasars Spirit, so 9 bonds, and inside at the beginning LB,LBo, Life Attunement, Vital Blessing on the warrior and one BS on me...then, when we had to protect Orosar, i bond most of the team again, and help the healer with Reversal.
If we are lucky, we survive...

But 10/1 time, the team is experienced, and then its a piece of cake

Katari

Katari

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Upstate

Me/

And that's why I like playing a bonder that can heal, one that can do more than simple mantain bonds. Depending fully on the healer is a nice way to get killed often enough. A good bonder should be able to cover for the healer should he go afk, get a neterr, or just plain suck.

RoF
Mend Condition
Blessed Sig
Divine Boon
Life Barrier
Life Bond
Life Atunement
Balth's Spirit

16 Prot
13 Divine

With all the spells you can put in its place, I see zero reason to use Vital Blessing on a Bonder. Even Watchful Spirit, or Holy Veil make for better skills to bring, or any I have listed for that matter.

LouAl

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Dec 2005

/agree

VB is an absolute waste
if your tank is down low enough that s/he would be dead if it weren't for VB, then you/your healer is doing something wrong.

I use Watchful Sirit instead because it has the opposite effect when removed (when VB is removed, tank loses ~ 200hp when WS is removed tank GAINS almost 200).

IMO even bringing Succor for the MM and SS is a better idea than bringing VB.

I usually bond everyone because PuGs are crap and ppl don't know what to do, and if I don't I get bored...it is much more fun to try and maintain 14 enchants than it is to maintain 5 or 6

ender6

ender6

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2006

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Katari
And that's why I like playing a bonder that can heal, one that can do more than simple mantain bonds. Depending fully on the healer is a nice way to get killed often enough. A good bonder should be able to cover for the healer should he go afk, get a neterr, or just plain suck.

RoF
Mend Condition
Blessed Sig
Divine Boon
Life Barrier
Life Bond
Life Atunement
Balth's Spirit

16 Prot
13 Divine

With all the spells you can put in its place, I see zero reason to use Vital Blessing on a Bonder. Even Watchful Spirit, or Holy Veil make for better skills to bring, or any I have listed for that matter. This is almost the exact bonder build that i use, only difference is that I have two sup runes so my skills are 16 prot and 15 divine. And you are quite correct you can heal to such an extent that bringing a healer is rather useless (IMO).

Rogier

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2006

[GoT]

you could easily bond every1 with 2 bonds, piece a cake... just cast life barrier and life bond on every1 and with blessed sig you'll be fine

Neoclassic

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Mar 2006

Mo/Me

I like your build, Katari, and plan to give it a try. I have only done the Oro/FA trip twice now, and both times as the bonder with these skills:

Blessed Signet
Life Bond
Life Barrier
Watchful Spirit
Life Attunement
Balthazar's Spirit
Vital Blessing (or Holy Veil)
Mend Ailment

In GF, I find I have to pay very close attention to my energy, since I Barrier and Bond everyone and put Balthazar's on myself. Once inside though, it's easy. I just put all six of the enchanments on the warrior and Balthazar's on myself. Maybe I just got lucky, but both trips the warriors seeemed to know what they were doing. It was rare for anyone else to take damage.

I do not use Mantra of Inscriptions and find it totally unnecessary inside SF. On my first trip I used Holy Veil, but it did not seem very useful. The warrior recommended Vital Blessing, so I used that the next time I went.

Isis Mordecai

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Mo/W

last group i was in the healer left because i cast LBond on other party members cause i had energy to waste n one of the necro's kept taking hits n got called a "noob" n that i shouldnt have joined if i didnt know what to do. sometimes i wonder about people.

the build katari posted is exactly what i use, ever since i noticed i had no real gain from using Mantra of inscriptions.

Gwondolas Marillion

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2005

Sweden

SWAC (30+ Swedish Adults Club)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Neoclassic
I like your build, Katari, and plan to give it a try. I have only done the Oro/FA trip twice now, and both times as the bonder with these skills:

Blessed Signet
Life Bond
Life Barrier
Watchful Spirit
Life Attunement
Balthazar's Spirit
Vital Blessing (or Holy Veil)
Mend Ailment

In GF, I find I have to pay very close attention to my energy, since I Barrier and Bond everyone and put Balthazar's on myself. Once inside though, it's easy. I just put all six of the enchanments on the warrior and Balthazar's on myself. Maybe I just got lucky, but both trips the warriors seeemed to know what they were doing. It was rare for anyone else to take damage.

I do not use Mantra of Inscriptions and find it totally unnecessary inside SF. On my first trip I used Holy Veil, but it did not seem very useful. The warrior recommended Vital Blessing, so I used that the next time I went. I've used this build during hundreds of farming rounds in SF, and I think it works very well. Easy enough to keep all under both Barrier and Bond in Grenth's, and do some serious helping out with hex and cond removal as well during the fights. Skip Vital Blessing. Any help with hex removal will be much appreciated by your healer companion, and if the healer leaves (dropout or neterr 7), you're quite able to fill out the role of a healer as well. 16 pp and 13 df makes Watchful Spirit heal by approx 250 when removed, and you'll be quite pleased you chose Holy Veil before Vital Blessing.

I always cast all six bonds (Barrier, Bond, Life, Balths, Watchful and Veil) on warrior with Holy Veil being the last, since it's quick to re-apply if shattered and since it takes one hex away with it as it goes. The last but one is Watchful since it heals the tank if removed.

/Gwon

]SK[

]SK[

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Feb 2006

Nottingham, UK

GV

W/

I got sick of being stripped of Balth Spirt in SF so started using Mantra of Inscriptions. I'm also tempted to bring shutdown for the healer bosses. Don't normally need it but sometimes your MM or SS can suck.

Signet of Devotion is good for spamming from a bonder. Doesnt cost energy and recharges faster with Mantra of Inscriptions.

I would like to give Katari's build a try. Certainly sounds interesting.

Katari

Katari

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2005

Upstate

Me/

Energy is a non-issue for a SF-bonder. Sig of Devotion isn't needed, and neither is Mantra of Inscriptions. It's all about taking the min that you need to get by in GF, and optimoizing for SF. If you're tired of Balth's Spirit getting stripped, either switch to Essence Bond, or use Divine boon to cover your Balth's. I had been using a heal/prot hybrid for a while, but I think the version using boon is superior, since it helps cover Balth's. That, and that boon version can mantain more enchants than my old heal/prot version.

baal80

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Poland

None

R/A

In Grenth's I put LiBa+LiBo on everyone, plus BS on myself. With 16 PP and 15DF my Blessed Signet gives slightly more energy than I need, besides SS necros tend to be very nice lately(BR)

Inside SF I put LiBa+LiBo+LiAt+ViBl+BS (as a cover) on the tank and BS+DB on myself. Then, neither healer nor BR is not even needed (DB+RoF)

Works perfectly for me!

swiftygem

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

I always do Life Barrier and Life bond on all (in that order!), Balthazar spirit on me.
Then when it's all about tank : Life barrier - Life bond - Vital blessing - Life attunment - Watchful spirit. I don't think there is a better cover up enchantment than WS (heals for 240 when shattered).

baal80

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Poland

None

R/A

Quote:
(heals for 240 when shattered) Hmm not bad but I still prefer BS as tank needs adrenaline for his/her stances. And I can't take WS because I have no spare slot in my skillbar left

ender6

ender6

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2006

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by baal80
Hmm not bad but I still prefer BS as tank needs adrenaline for his/her stances. And I can't take WS because I have no spare slot in my skillbar left He missed an enchant, LBarrier/LBond/Life Attunement/Balz Spirit/Watchful Spririt.

He said he brought balz spirit for himself so no reason he couldn't add it to the tank. I dropped Vital Blessings, because, simply put, it's just wrong. If you don't know why, I'll give you a hint, it's virtual health, what happens when you are low on health as a tank, and god forbid that virtual health goes away? Besides its simply not necessary. You think an extra couple hundred health is what is keeping your tank alive from a bombardment of dmg? LOL it's his stance/bonds/healing....VB does nothing, except add potential disaster to the equation.

baal80

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2006

Poland

None

R/A

Quote:
You think an extra couple hundred health is what is keeping your tank alive from a bombardment of dmg? No, I dont think so, just 75% of them will complain and 25% will ragequit if I won't put it on them...

Switching VB to VS is a good idea though I think I'll give it a try

Hylia

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2006

After Eight

Mo/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by baal80
No, I dont think so, just 75% of them will complain and 25% will ragequit if I won't put it on them...

Switching VB to VS is a good idea though I think I'll give it a try I dont think, they will complain..or if they do, just leave them saying what they want...u are the bonder, and u know better, what works.

After reading this thread for a few weeks, I decided to leave the old Vital Blessing (its totally unnecessary, only good to cover the other enchants) and take Watchful Spirit instead. It works perfectly, cover better than VB and if our healer leaves, I can take his place by bonding the party members with WS and removing it.

So, here is my bonder build:
1. Life Barrier
2. Life Bond
3. Life Attunement
4. Watchful Spirit
5. Reversal of Fortune
6. Balthasar's Spirit
7. Blessed Signet
8. Mantra of Inscriptions

Attributes:
- Protection prayers: 16
-Divine Favor: 13
-Inspiration magic: 3

I use MoI outside SF only...but with higher DF, it will have no use, cause I gain more than 21 energy after the Blessed Signet.
So, it can be a good idea to bring Prot. Sirit or Holy Weil as cover or Divine Boon.

muymoo

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

Down on Pooh Corner

The DMV [DMV]

R/E

Have any of u have success/failure with Symbiosis. My build
Life bond
Balthasars spirit
Blessed Sig
Reversal
shield of regen
vital blessing
symbiosis
rebirth

Att
prot 16
divind 13
beast 8

works quite well because when reversal or sheild is up extra health. tank can last much longer.

another build i tried was to be mo/me and through in mantras of (whatever dmg u are facing) and that also helped. also bring along physical/elemental resistance