Dual SB Monk build Fast! Duo UW Fast!

I used a variation of this build in a 3-man spider cap run that was pretty interesting. Basically, we added an SS to the group. Also the tank monk brought Frenzy and the smite run ran the usual build, except brought Sig of Disenchantment instead of Archane Echo.

Also it's very helpful for the Smite monk to have two sets of weapons similar to Boon Prots use in PvP. One should be for high energy (but should not have the -1 regen or else you will lose an enchant) and one should be a low energy set. I reccomend:

High Energy:

Scourgewind's Branch

Low Energy:

-5 energy sword and a shield or no offhand (or a -2 offhand from the Ascalon quest that gives the -50 cesta would also work)

If you are quick enough in switching weapons, you can cast SoJ mid battle if needed.

For Low Energy, consider using Forgotten Fan or Frozen Fan in offhand along with a -5 energy weapon. This reserves a much larger energy pool.

For High Energy, a Totem Axe (or Rajazan's Fervor), along with a 20-20 focus item that matches your elite skill (in this case smiting for SOJ) would be best.

The energy swing is a good 25 points using this technique. If needed, be sure to cast Rebirth with your Low Energy set equiped to protect your pool. (I always try to do that for PvE monking).

The only other consideration for the Smite-Monk is to have a third weapon set with a wand to help take down any Dying Nightmares.

Rebirth probably isn't all that important once the Tank-Monk gets experienced. This is a much less fragile build than the 55. An option would be to replace Rebirth with Essence Bond. That way EB can be readily swapped in for Holy Wrath to fuel the echo SOJ setup (for the Coldfires and Dryders).

This is absolutly the fastes way of duoing the UW Thnx again Exile

Awesome build. I use a very similar one and me and a guildie have been running this for a couple of months now, credit goes to this thread and wiki for helping us find the build we use!

Being the tanking monk I use 15 AL sandals and pants from Shing Jhea and my Dragon Mask thingy with a major prot rune on it. I use Kephkets refuge and totem + prot offhand for weapon sets. I have been using ele resistance but I think I'm gonna try frenzy and will say why below. No problems at all doing the regular run. My smiting buddy uses Signet of Judgment do to the fact that he has 4 maintained enchants on me (retri, holy wrath, vital blessing, life attunement). He does carry rebirth for the *cough* rare time I'm not paying attention! heh.

Take the chamber quest and kill all the squids and Bladeds together. Breaker keeps those pesky 'mares from being more than a bother to wand. Complete the smite run, and kill the coldfires who are annoying to dodge. An easier way to do this than just having smite dmg is cast spell breaker so they don't get the heal from the ele attunement. It takes a couple of minutes tops this way, and wand them the whole time. Still it's easier to avoid them. We then run back and kill the terrorwebs, again using SB to help deal with attunement, take restore the monuments and then head out killing all the graspings and the other terrorwebs.

For kicks we brought along a necro friend with SS, and you can do a lot, and it makes coldfires a breeze, and quick. We do the Unwanted Guests build, killing those annoying keeper of souls who drop ecto fairly regularly for us . We then head out through the obsidians which are annoying, but not too bad to kill. The smite monk should stay out of the natures ritual spirit (think it's that one) or else they'll lose the enchants on you. As the tanker you need to watch your energy as with 3 maintaned enchants you'll have -2 energy regen. Just aggro and with essence bond and balths spirit you'll have enough energy. Might need to use blessed sig from time to time. From there you can head out and kill some mesmers. The dream riders are the toughest part, just make sure breaker is up before hand and you can kill them before they get you're enchants. And if you don't, just make sure prot spirit is covered by spirit bond and you'll be fine. Had that happen a few times when I've over-aggro'd! Here we find it best that the SS and smiter hang back as far as possible as the mindblades pop up after killing and sometimes in strange locations. They're quick to take down though with just the smite enchants. Usually find another couple chests out here too! We've also wandered into the bone pits and haven't had any problems. We'll be doing some more exploring when we get some time, although this really stretches times out. As we go I'll take screen shots of all the reapers, only have the 4 so far!

Although I haven't actually tried it yet, I'm gonna switch out ele resistance for frenzy and do the Wrathful Spirits quest. The reason for this is even with ele resistance I was only taking 38 dmg from illusionary weaponry, which makes sense cause it's not physical damage, but I think with frenzy you should take double which should (I think) put the dmg over 60 and kick spirit bond in. I'm just worried about the 8sec duration, that could be annoying and hard on energy, we'll see. Might try Escort of Souls as well. I'll try it out tonight and report back.

Sorry for this being so long, but wanted to pay cred to the OP and share my experiences.

Velath, Signet of Judgement instead of SOJ - that makes sense with Holy Wrath active, but I imagine it's much slower to kill Dryders and Coldfires if the SS didn't tag along.

Does your smiter bring Bane Sig for the extra slot? (Arcane Echo useless without SOJ) I wonder if Mantra of Inscriptions could be squeezed in for the smiter just before tank engages targets? Weapon swap for energy access should do it - mantras are an instant cast. Might as well get half recharge on sigs - especially for an elite skill.

Akane, yah it does make the coldfires and terror webs slower, but when we're just dualing it we avoid the coldfires. He brings Signet of Rage (does more than just bane sig) and I just was looking at mantra of inscriptions or mantra of signets. Would prefer the first but have to see what he thinks.

We've taken SoJ a few times, but I actually don't like it against the atxes or graspings, and smites drop fast as is so it's not necessary for them. It bugs me when they're all knocked down and not giving any energy regen. It's a personal choice for the most part though and if you're doing just the run, I would think it'd probably be the better idea.

But the ss is also a good buddy and we prefer to 3-man it for more fun. Usually more entertaining when someone screws up that way! This is less farming and more questing I guess...

Edit: lol yah sig of rage, good ol' work trying to remember.

Signet of Wrath? I wish!
(Nightfall does have a Sig of Mystic Wrath)
There's a Sig of Rage - but it does less damage, except on warriors, then good old Bane Sig.

I'm searching for a useful last skill for for the smiter. Smite Hex would be a good damage dealer - such as on Smites when tank has been hexed by a Coldfire.

how do you guys keep health up when fighting Terror webs? I use +5armor armor from Pre-searing (glad I keep them) but they still can't deal more than 50 dmg, so no heal.

BTW, my friend is a smiter monk with SS. it helps kill coldfires a lot faster. Just drop a bit of smitting prayers and you have SS dealing 25dmg each attack.

Heh, well I failed miserably against the wraithful spirits . Every now and then with frenzy i'd get healed, but spirit bond doesn't work against illusionary weapon cause near as I can tell it doesn't count as an attack or a skill (which I think I've heard before sooo...) Died 3 times trying slightly different methods, making sure frenzy was up and so forth. lol, just didn't cut it. Yah don't try that, gonna have to come up with another scheme to take them down dualing...might just stick to 55 for that! heh

Tried the quest from Reaper of the Frozen Wastes...and it worked...until my smiter got caught in meteor shower and subsequently wasted! Two things to note, tank has to be standing where the terror webs spawn, and you can't use spellbreaker or they'll kill you with their weak regular attacks! Without a ss or ele or something prepare for a long long battle to kill two waves of them all!

Suxipo - I pretty much keep myself alive by recasting spirit bond and prot spirit until breaker runs out and then they're spells do lots of dmg/healing.

Re-reading this thread (in Vegas all week - can't play), I noticed "legless the elf" said he used Physical Resistance instead of Protective Spirit for the Tank. Not sure how he's pulling that off, but it could be sweet.

Anyone else try this? This could have a few benefits - long duration, not removable by Dying Nightmares, and instant cast.

The squids wouldn't do enough to trigger SB heals, but as long as you combine them with aatxes, healing would probably be sufficient. You might need to switch armor around for this build. Max armor for Bladed Aatxes & Grasping Darkness, maybe less for Smites, Dryders and Coldfires? For ele foes, Physical Resistance would help lower armor to kick in Spirit Bond effect.

Don't know what else legless the elf would use for tank build - perhaps Zealot's Fire and spam Reversal of Fortune for extra heals/damage between Spirit Bond chaining?