What to combine with Monk

I made a monk the other day but cant decide what to combine him with as a secondary. I have asked other monks but they all have their own favorites. I just want my monk to be able to survive so I can use him to heal others. Whatever i combine him with needs to be able to help get him out of trouble if he gets into trouble.

I reality, all secondaries will give you that advantage, so it really does come down to a matter of taste as far as PvE is concerned. Let me give you some of the highlights of each of the classes:

Mo/W: This gives you a handful of defensive stances and shouts to help keep you alive. Adreneline based shouts can be very useful, as they don't pull from your energy pool. However, this is also the combination for the 55 monk, so many may not accept you into their group based on this. (55's don't heal their team mates)

Mo/R: This also gives you the benefit of some defensive stances, as well as a small amount of supplementary skills. You *could* also bring a pet along, adding a bit of damage, but this can lead to problems. (If your pet dies in combat, you lose all of your skills for 10 seconds)

Mo/Me: Probably the most common and popular combination, due to the Inspiration line of skills. This is the new standard for the Boon Prot build. You can also gain a bit of offense with some hexes, but with this you'll most likey be support only.

Mo/N: This was the old way to make a Boon Prot, but it's no longer as effective because of how much Offering of Blood takes away. This combo is still effective for other things, however. You can also raise minions with this build, but they will likely be very low level, and some may be upset with you for that reason.

Mo/E: This gives you a good ammount of offensive options as well as defensive options. This can be good, but some may be warry of taking you, fearing that you are not a healer, or that you will have a poorly timed offensive skill. (Just a note, it's best to be defensive or offensive, not both)

Mo/Rt: Factions only. Ritualist adds a number of direct heals, adding to your selection a bit. This can be a good combination for that reason.

Mo/A: Factions only. This can also be good, but only for the teleportation skills that will allow you to evade attackers more easily. Using a teleport skill will disrupt any skill that you are using, however.

I hope that helps you pick a secondary that will best fit your play style. At the very worst, you can freely try all of the secondary profesions before you take one permanently, so give them all a try.

if ur gonna be a healer monk ill go mesner great for energy, energy tap is great for a boost of energy.

well thats my opinion anyway, im sure u will get many others in the future

anyways u can always change ur secondary as i do when i go 55ing, i use Mo/W when 55ing Mo/Mes when healing when playing PvE

best of luck

People might give you a reason to go something else.... Except in specific (Mostly PvP) builds, you'll be stuck to mostly Mesmer, for the Inspiration Line for Energy.

Mo/R - Don't see it much. bringing a pet would get you laughed out. I saw some stuff using Serpent's Quickness, but that was novelty.

Mo/W - 55 Monk. Unless you made your monk for farming Trolls in Tyria, theres not alot of reason to go this route.

Mo/E - This I've seen. But in PvP builds. All you'd think of other than those is energy management here - but most of ele's stuff like that is tied to their primary. So unless you like Second Wind ALOT don't go here in PvE.

Mo/N - This used to be as popular as /me because of Offering of Blood (it was faster but riskier than /me). That got nerfed. Don't see this very much except in special PvP builds anymore (except ones that still go for OoB).

Mo/Rt - Rt have some decent heals, but don't use them...Monk's are better. You can use some spirit control, but...meh...

Mo/A - Teleporting Maybe?

Mo/me - This is the Golden Standard in Monks right now. Inspiration Line is MADE for Energy management like monks need. People use Inspired Hex/Revealed Hex. People use Mantra of Recall. People use Channeling (mostly in small pvp maps on that one though).

There was a poll a couple of weeks ago and mo/me took a big percentage of it.
I use mo/me so you can try to start with that and then mix it up.
Mantra of Recal FTW

Go monk/messmer and learn how to Heal/Prot. You will NEVER have a problem finding a group.

Later on you will have the chance to change your second profession, and after you have beaten the game(s) then try several combos and stick with what you are comfortable with

I'd say mo/me because its hard to beat that enegry mangement and the second to that would be mo/n for the OoB (offering of blood)

Deffinately Mo/Me. In PvE i use energy tap and inspired hex for management and it works like a dream.

Thanks to the OP for starting this. My newish Mo/N char has been purely healing simply because I didn't want to waste attribs in Nec skills (still to cap OoB) and having never really played a Mesmer char I'm really clueless about the benefits of some Inspiration skills. Time to change to Mo/Me I think.