Confessions of a Healing Monk

I want to let people know that it's a two way street. I've been told I am the greatest healer ever in one mission only to be turned around and told I am the worst healer ever in the next. I am pretty sure I do as well as I can under the circumstances, only letting people die when I am out of energy. The main problem is people assume a monk has unlimited energy and try to go way too fast in PUGs.

However, and here is the most interesting bit of info. Taking all henchman as a healing monk is without a doubt one of the easiest solo times in this game. I have never failed a mission with all henchman and so it goes that now when I'm not in the mood for high anxiety I will forego the incredibly frustrating experience of grouping with the so-called superior human AI.

It's sad to me that I never have a problem healing the henchies yet humans will often die under my watch. What is the problem? Who knows? I think people try to go way too fast.

Regardless, people blaming monks for when they die has got to stop. I don't purposely let you die, also when low on energy there is a precedence to who gets healed. The tank will live before the damage heavy mage. This gives me an opportunity to get us back into the fight with rezzes and such. And don't say 'heal me' everytime you get below 3/4 life...this is exceptionally annoying. Don't you think my eyes are glued to the health bars of the party? I know who needs heals and who doesn't, I am at the back watching the fight from observer mode. And for pete's sake slow down. Without energy I can't do squat.

AMEN BROTHER! i have had the same problems that you see. i never let anyone die because i want to, yet people think i do. if you are rez'ing the same person 4 or 5 times in 1 mission and no one else dies at all, you know something is up. luckily i rarely get into no energy anymore. i am Mo/Me and have energy drain......but people need to realize that they arent invincible! especially the casters that go running into the middle of mele combat!! HA!

so true....

I recently started a new character which is a pure healing Monk.
Your words are so true!!!!

I like playing a Monk and its very challenging.

Besides the problems with people getting onto Monks I do like being able to pick up groups fro Missions much faster that with my R/E

Sorena Mascar

Folks need to bring a self-heal along as well, monks can better support this way.

Simple enough, no?

thats why I don't heal. I heal myself...if the rest of the party needs a healer bring a hench or find a healing monk.

Not necessary. People just need to get a clue on how to group. That's all there is to it.

Nope. Unless I happen to be a ranger, I wont ever bring along a self heal with me. Let the monks do their job, and I'll do mine.

Sidepocket, check your spelling & grammar! Must be a n00b to the english language.

Quit whining and get back to healing!

<j/k>

I have only twice ever gone off on a monk in a party.

The first was the monk who responded to our "Looking for healer" request - and didn't mention until we were all dying that "I'm not a healer - I'm a protection monk." Strangely, we never saw any protections cast either....

The second was when I thought I was griping about Alisha, but it turned out that a guildie had switched out to his monk. Oh well.

I have mucho respect for monks - and agree - any tank who doesn't pay attention to their healer/spellchucker's energy statements deserves what they get...

Then it's hard to blame them if you die... your job is to be part of the team, not just a tank or spiker or whatever. If you can do a quick heal on yourself, your monk can save a littlel juice or heal someone more critical.

Think outside the box.

In pugs, I rarely rely on the healer and make damned well sure to thank him if I get into a situation where I have to. It's just good practice to make their jobs a little easier, this benefits the team as a whole and as a result, benefits you.

Every class has access to at least a nominal self-heal, although some are clearly better than others. But something to keep in mind... if other classes are healing themselves, then they aren't doing their real job. The ele doesn't expect the monk to help him nuke... why should the monk expect the ele to help him heal? This is what leads to the "monk elitism" I see popping up from time to time. The monk isn't bigger than the team, and vice versa.

Totally agree 100% here. I have been playing my upcoming smiter as a healer for most of her early career. People in PUGs seem to run around as if they have infinite life. I have no problems with people barking 'heal' at me. If they keep doing it, they are left to die, plain and simple. Not many do though. I guess I've had pretty good groups.

And you're right, soloing with henchies is one of the easiest things in the world with a healer. They are actually capable of far more damage than I gave them credit for. All they need is to be kept alive. The main reason its so easy is that they will stop when you stop, giving you time to regenerate energy.

My personal examples:
'Fools rushing in': I tried to do the riverside bonus mission with a PUG. The first group I joined was 5 warriors and me healing. Could take out the ground troops ok but er.... the watchmen? I honestly could've died of boredom waiting for them to kill 1 guy. Anyway, the first tower was ok but after that some idiot charged off out of my healing range and died. My biggest mistake was following him, therefore aggroing the mantle while trying to heal him who subsequently turned on me afterwards. They hurt when you're still wearing LA armour and don't have protective bond yet. Anyway, my death results in a cascade of death from all the others and a mission failure. I've never tried to do the bonus since.

Second time around was even more insane. I join a PUG whose leader screams 'lets run it' as soon as we get in there. His idea of 'running it' was through the middle of the mantle. Lets just say I stood and watched in disbelief. After the whole party was dead I stayed there a short while simply typing 'lol' to every scream of 'rez plz!' coming from halfway across the map. Purely unbelievable.

Henchies- ran it in 15 minutes attcaking only what I needed. No bonus of course but 1000 exp ain't that hard to get. No-one died.

Listen to your monk if he speaks people. Because you're dead otherwise!

Screw Alecia....I swear shes an 8 year old kid behind that avatar.....

Secondly I wish people treated monks better. I go for sometimes 10 minutes before getting a human player and then on occasion they drop because they thought I was doing such and such instead of whatever else. I know I know you dont need a healer but I believe the power of an all human team outwieghs any bot any day.

Please treat monks better!

Im starting an Organization for making this happen
PFBTM (Players for better treatment of monks) !

that's not even what anyone is getting at. The monk character class isn't well designed. Monks have limited energy(granted great regen) and a number of their healing skills cost 10+ energy. Monks run out of energy quite quickly and are constantly waiting for the energy to regen so they can cast off a heal on whomever needs it. Throw Joe Hero the Tank into the mix aggroing mob after mob after mob and a Monk can spend the majority of a mission/quest in a constant state of waiting for energy regen....and when the monk doesn't have energy because Joe Hero the Tank or Sally Moron the Necro is out aggroing every mob they can find as quickly as possible, it's not his fault you died....so bring a healing skill if it really bothers you to die.

I never blame anyone if I die. Its just my personal preference not to carry a self-heal with a healer in the party(human healer, not hench), unless I am a ranger.

Yeah. I just deleted my healer monk. [Kool Pajamas/ I loved that name so much. Thats why I used it here. May he RIP :-( ] I just finally got bored of healing and sick of healing idiots. I was in one of the Ascencion missions and these two guys kept aggroing large groups and running off the map area and blamed me for them dying.
I considered just making him a smite monk, or making his necro secondary into his primary skills, but its kinda hard getting a group that way. People always expect monks to heal, not kill. So I deleted him and made a mesmer.

Most PUGs just don't know how to play. Let the person who knows and understands the game lead the party, and do whatever he or she says and you will be fine. It drives me insane, regardless of what profession I am playing, when the party monk insists that no one moves until his or her energy has reached max after a battle! For crying out loud! Your energy will restore as you move toward the next battle, so don't freak out that I am moving on immediately after a battle when I am the party leader. We will get close to the next fight, but we won't engage until you are ready. I know every mission in the game inside and out (beat all of them 4 times, after all, with henchies, with no monks, with half sized teams, and every other way under the sun), and I know exactly how long it takes for your energy to restore, too. So I move on, and some battles are fast and easy, and tiny mobs can be eradicated before you need to cast a single heal, so trust my judgment. Of course some party leaders have no idea what they are doing, either, but you ought to listen to how they advertise for the group and try to join people who know what they are doing. If their advertisements for a PUG are full of grammatical and spelling errors, I don't have a lot of confidence for the success of the group, but if they do know what they are doing, let them lead. Like Anarkii said, let everyone do their job, the monk, the warrior, the ranger, AND the party leader.

im sorry but this is ridiculous. to throw aura of restoration could give your monk that extar second needed to keep you up. If you already have ether prodigy ... why wouldnt you use it as an ele? Troll for rangers is optimal to help lighten the load on a monks energy. In a fast casting enviroment where energy will eventually run dry even if your using Offering of Blood or Energy Drain ... any self heals or damage reduction is greatly beneficial not to the monk ... to the team. So what the ele had to for go 1 spell ... you have 8 in your bar ... 1 res (should be obvious), aura and attunement (for those who dont have ether or ele attune) and 5 ele spells? that classifies a solid build.

Rangers - troll ... nuff said

Mesmers are short changed as they only have illusion of weakness or ether feast ... whatever ... I think its all in the inspiration line though.

Necros running some blood magic ... a gimme I think for a great support character.

so you really cant tell me that because the nuker only had 5 ele skills that he couldnt hammer out an enemy?

as posted above ... you want success ... think outside the 9 to 5 box where the group consists of the standard ...

For my ranger i don't use wilderness due to my fondness for barrage expecially in PvE. My Preps are removed so there is not point in them. I sometimes switch to healer or part healing with my R/Mo but ususally i go prot or even smiting. Troll unguent requires wilderness and i dont use it and healing very often so I have more room to do my job better and faster. Not using a skill for healing. I go prot a lot because it is many times better to not take dmg in the first place than to carry a self heal. Troll? its a 3 second cast time which makes it crap in the middle of battle.