Soon the monks will be standing around LFG!! LFG!!!

i think very few of them actually get through the game though, because they find that the whole reason monks are sought after is as a virtual errand-boy; a player who must spend all thier time healing the party, or thier usefulness in said party has become null and void.
that having been said, i dont think finding monks is a problem; i think finding GOOD ones is a problem; since most monks know that they can leave your party at the slightest instigation and find a new one in 30 secconds.

One thing that WILL have monks spamming 'Monk LFG!" is when everyone realizes how to use their self-heals. I don't think anyone even NEEDS a monk for any mission before Sanctum Cay and Riverside, and even then and afterwards, a Protection monk is about all you'd need. Monks certainly do make missions easier, though.

There has never been a shortage of monks. The problem is getting someone to monk in a PUG and all you need to do is a quick search through these forums to find out why.

I have a lvl 20 Mo/E, lvl 20 R/Mo, lvl 20 W/Mo, lvl 20 N/Mo, and i mostly play my necro or ranger nowadays..
I pretty much stopped playing my monk after numerous complaints in groups of 8 where i was the only monk (and obviously, i couldn't heal everyone) and naturally i got called some nasty names.
Then i just stopped healing those bastards that didnt realize how hard it actually is to keep everyone in the party alive with 45 energy.
So i got tired of it.. and at the same time my skills as a healer did not develop at all.

i laugh at the wannabe monks... i mainly use prot prayers, but sometimes get my ehaling to maybe... 5 and with my divine favor, divine boon, and heal other, i heal real good, over 100 per, even though the heal other is onyl 50 in its self
and with the soloing, it really ISNT easy to just go and do, you fist of all have to have the money to get the sups, -50health offhand, and the armor(but armor aint required), then to make it work effectively, you have to hav the skills, whech arent the easiest thing in the world to get, and IM one of the 1 or 2 that actually ascend, so, if you need a good monk will do healing or prot, never smite in quests or missions, monk contact me IGN Shalome Zero fer my monk, just add em to friends, cause im on all my chars equally about, and il happily come an help you, unless ur on an easy mission, which i think r all the ascalon missions, and up to frost gate,

Just an opinion from someone whose PvE primary char is monk, and who has reached rank 4 in Tombs mainly by monking.

The main problem with monks is the same as with any other class: many of monk players have no clue what the hell they are doing.

Every time I go to random arenas to test some new skill combo I see those poor little monkies that are miserably failing to heal, or to smite, or do whatever useful for the team ... and don't even try to suggest them a better skill: they'll promptly say "stfu noob" and log off.

The reason why people notice monk's mistakes most is because a good monk in a team makes such a HUGE difference.

If the ele or mesmer has no clue how to keep agro off themselves, and keep dying, whose fault is it? Sure, monk's ...
If the tank is keeping to the back of the party and isn't tanking, and carries no stances to shield himself from some damage, whose fault is it when he dies? Monk's ...
When the monk dies and someone rebirthes her right in the middle of the battle, only to have her AND the rebirther both die in an instant, TWICE in row, whose faulth is it ...
When the damage doers and the shutdowners aren't doing their job and things just won't die, and party eventually dies, whose fault is it? Healer n00b!

But is it, really?

If people stop blaming monks for everyone else's mistakes, there will be more good & patient monks willing to join random groups. As I read somewhere: "no amount of mana can save an idiot".

Second character I created was a Monk, and that was the first character I completed game with. Got so tired of being a PUG healer that I retired to farming, and only group heal if my guild absolutely needs a healer.

Bring out you (un)dead!

Yep I too got tired of playing Monk. Mainly because of the abuse one recieves but also because I got tired of staring at the Red Bars O'Life. Now if & when I play my Monk it is only on weekends with guildie friends. Monking with PUGs isn't worth the frustration & abuse.

And as for asking what type of Monk a Monk is...
Yes you do have to ask this, at least for PvE, because if don't you will end up with some "invinci-Monk" trying to be leet. You will end up with someone that doesn't heal/protect & doing very poorly whatever it is they are attempting to do. Tho I do agree asking what someones attribs are is helpful as well.

My first Char was a Monk and she is now in Hell and likely to sit there for a while. I get bored staring at red bars and getting constant abuse from suicidal players.

I have never dropped from a group no matter how bad it gets. I have however made the decision to stop healing a particular person who was really just asking for it.

I have a mesmer now, ascended, but it takes MUCH longer to find a group and because my secondary is monk I end up playing healer anyways. Its still nearly impossible to find a decent monk if you find one at all. Hopefully that will change, but its no fun to be monk in a PUG.

Argh.

btw I only do PvE, might be dif in PvP

My hot little monk babe is all about the Heal and Protect, I do absolutly NO farming with her nor do attack, I mean my smite is like at 2 only cause I had 2 extra attribute points sitting there doing nothing. I like healing cause well, with a group that understands u need to regen enery than u can keep em alive like 98% of the time! I am usually a lone monk in the fire islands yet like one person may die in the entire mission, thunderhead, I keep em all alive! but there u usually have like 2 monks.

I use warriors sprint only to run in case the team is in bad trouble and I can get away to res. everyone later. I do things like put vital blessing on whoever has a DP% or after watching a few fights see which player gets the constant abuse and give him/her a constant +4 health regen.

My primary is Protection Monk, and it is my most fun character to play. Primarily because in most situations, a quality Monk will ensure the success of a mission or farming trip. Protection Monks are much more fun to play than healers, as they require significant tactical planning and forward thinking.

Here's how I focus my Protection Monk, which is a recipe for success in any PUG sized 4-8:

1) If there is another Monk, keep him / her alive.
2) Buff the Warriors with Life Bond and Mending. Warriors die, your whole party will follow soon.
3) Cast maintained enchantments until your energy regen is 0 to -2, depending on the size of your party. Use Blessed Signit to keep your energy up high.
4) Make sure the other support characters (nukers, rangers, etc.) understand how to manage aggro. Heal them when needed. Chastize them when they unnecessarily aggro.
5) Apply Healing Breeze, Healing Seed, and Word of Healing when things get rough.
6) Never attack with your wand / staff when there are more than a few monsters. You don't do that much damage anyway. Stand around and watch health bars, and draw aggro from nukers occasionally.
7) Enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done, and the accolades of experienced party members who can actually understand how you play.

Last night I farmed Sorrow's Furnace with a 4 man team and we all knew our jobs and crushed everything. Tank was especially good at managing aggro, Ranger disrupting, and nuker killing things without drawing aggro. I then went in with 7 other people, everyone charged in (except me), and almost everyone was dead within seconds. Was that the healer's fault? hmm....

Asking what there attributes are instead of asking what role they play is just beating around the bush imo. If they have there attributes evenly placed in heal/prot/smite, then that doesn't tell you a damn thing about what role they play. It might tell you that they dont have a clue, but seriously, get to the point and ask the person what role they will be playing on the team. I played thru this game as a healing monk the first time and turned to protection and smiting builds later on. I didn't realize that monks were wanted so much in the game when I made one, it was a real bonus getting into groups so easily. I was never arrogant or rude like most of the monks are today. It seems that all the monks being created today are mainly by jerks on a power trip.
I was playing my warrior thru the last mission yesterday so I could cap "Hundred Blades" and about half way thru the mission we had a hard fight with a mob, after the fight our monk made this comment: "You guys can thank me now for saving your asses!". Of course some of the brown nosers in the group started kissing his butt right away, so I commented: "How about some love for the warrior?"....silence "no love for me". I said that you might be healing, but I'm tanking lvl 28 monsters solo, and if I die then they're just gonna kill you, so why should you get special treatment or respect over any other member in our party. The monk just laughed at me (at least he didn't leave), most monks don't like it when you talk back to them and they usually threaten to leave your group unless you shut up or start brown nosing also.


BTW, not all rangers use a bow as their primary weapon. Ever hear of traps?

I'd say playing a monk well means you are willing to sacrifice 'glory' (read: smashing things with a heavy/sharp object) for a more team oriented role where you concentrate on your team member and not the enemy.

I find it great fun and a nice challenge, a lot more involved then being a warrior and also requiring much more concentration. This is also why there are a lot of 'not so good' monks around and thats putting it diplomatic.
For me, playing a warrior is easy, ranger a little harder but still pretty easy while being a good monk is damn hard but oh so rewarding

PS: I dont hold with prima donna monks or monks behaving like jerks but then again, that goes for any class.

I started a new Mesmer the other day, and I saw the towns filled with mostly Necros also.

It's funny, one of the first times I decided to make my 2nd character a monk was when my Ranger reached Thunderhead Keep and struggled to get into a PUG. Everyone was calling for monks, monks, monks!

Well, my monk progressed through PvE until again, I was at Thunderhead, and do you know what? After being invited by so many people, no group I was in was interested in trying to stay alive. Either I was in the group, or there were two, or even 3 monks in the group, and the players were dropping like flies, despite us chucking healing, prot and anything we could to keep the damage dealers alive.

So I thought, "Sod this for a laugh", got a hench group together, and aced Thunderhead Keep. (Same with the next two missions!)

The moral of the story. Where are the monks? They're probably in hench teams where the team actually makes an effort to try and stay alive.

Personally, I think the Monk build to be the most interesting in the game. I think it is more of a challenge to try and SAVE your party then KILL your enemies. Unfortunately you do get people who get mad at you, but they need to put down the energy drink, take a break from GW, and come back to reality. I have had more fun with my Monk char: Helen Of Lovejoy, then any other of my builds so far...... Plus the tats rock!

Monks are so damn easy to play but takes a bit of concentration. Sometimes it's interesting to play, sometimes boring as dirt. But you'd have to be pretty bad to suck at playing a monk...since it's THE easiest class to play in this game.

to be a good monk you need to find massive enjoyment in seeing long bars of bright red. very few people have this... quirk. the people who don't tend to get bored. personally i tend to get a bit bored in a really good group. not all that much thinking involved. bad groups are waaay more fun.

monk is not easy for most. many simply don't have the mentality. sure it is easy until after the desert but then you need to start thinking. and i never, not once, attacked anything when i did Thunderhead keep. i didn't notice how long i'd been in the fort. all there was was the little red bars.

Good to hear so many new monks are coming our way! I advice them to join the Pandora Monk Accademy where the will learn to be a sole survivor in their continuing mission to explore, and go where no monk has gone before

All other classes should join the good ship The Pandora on another exploring mission...

Classroom: "Resurrection spells ready for use?... Oh and this time don't forget that box!"

There are always a lot of monks in pre-searing, but you have to take out the smiters (because most people want healers and protectors), after that you have to take out about half of them who will never make it far because they can not withstand the mental pounding other players lay apon them and quit...