Mo/W Questions

[Kawalsky]

Howdy all,

I'm not very familiar with the ins and outs of this class, but I'd like to know more about the viability of a Mo/W. I have one created, he is just about lvl.7, and I haven't allocated any attribute points as of yet due to my lack of knowledge. Is this combo a solid choice for an offense-based monk (which would be a smiting monk, I suppose), or would another be more powerful? .. Or is an offensive monk even that good of an idea to begin with?

I've heard that monks aren't very good damage dealers, and if this is the case, could the Mo/W be turned around into a good healer? Or would it be best to start over with a secondary that better fits the role?

Regardless, I'd like some advice on how to manage my attribute points to get the results I'm looking for, taking into account the 4 new attributes from the warrior secondary. Or, if warrior isn't the wisest choice for what I'm aiming at, how to best allocate the points for a different secondary.

Thanks for your time.
- Kawalsky

[DIEnamic]

mo/w are terrible. like any build in guild wars, there are ways to use any build to some kind of potential, so i suppose monk warrior could work. anything monk primary can heal nicely. good news for a mo/w is that you have the ability to tank a little more and keep yourself alive better, but theres no real upside to a mo/w combared to a mo/<insert here>. a very popular choice you may of thought about is a w/mo, which is in a way similiar to "hammerdin" status if we were playing diablo 2. if you want a viable kill everything, tank 4 people at once build, w/mo is right up your alley, but everyone has one.

about smiting monks; i've yet to encounter one, for good reason (meaning they suck T_T). i suppose if youre dead set on a smiting build, you could go ele/mo or even n/mo. a ele/mo nuker sounds like a really good idea hmm :happy34:. i cant wait to see people spamming "WTF" when they see they got killed by banish or some monk smite rofl. on another note, a ele/mo would also work nicely for mass healing, i mean MASS healing due to the near limitless amount of energy elementalist have.

btw, you can get refund attribute points every 250 exp, and doing quest in post-searing ascalon can get you anywhere from 500-2000 xp a quest so dont be afraid to spend your attributes even if its for a temporary while.

::edit:: heres a great thread i just saw concerning smiting monks http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=291094

[monkeycid]

I run a healing Warrior Monk. For my healers, I usually run 8 monk skills, so secondary doesn't matter. Are you looking to play PvP or PvE? If PvP, then you might use some of the defensive stances for the healer.

If you want to use Smite, I see no reason to use a Monk primary. Smite doens't benefit much from Divine Favor as far as I can see (Not having researched too deeply, I must admit), and being in the thick of things you could be much better of as a WaMo.

I'm going to post a sample build later - in school ATM. Til then .)

[aragorneo]

i am a Mo/W level 17.
I have played in pvp yesterday. and was taking down W/Mo also level 16-17.
I agree Mo/W is a hard build to survive, but if you ahve the skills you can make a ****ty class, the best.

[trafalgar-zero]

Well i'm surprised no one has hit on the

Divine Favor
Healing Prayers
Warrior Attribute with stance you want
Mo/W

It's always good if your a healing monk to avoid as much as possible. Actually for any monk it's a good idea.

[grimmolly]

I run a highly customized Mo/W life bond protection monk in PvP and can hold up to just about anything that doesn't have both rend enchantments and good timing or else heavily stacked hexes. Certainly, the same would be true in PvE. There seems to be this common mistake in thinking that healing W/Mos are good, when they're really not.

[TallarnKadris]

I'm currently a lvl 14 Mo/Wa

I think a lot of people are missing out on a very important aspect of this game is how customisable your character can be.

For the most part I'm an out and out tank, the main skills I use are

Mending
Vital Blessing
Live Vicariously

I have the warrior skills of

Flurry
Endure Pain

I also carry

Healing Breeze
Vigorous Spirit

with the option of restore life for ressing

Current with the +health stuff active I have 595 hp, I don't hit very hard but that's not the idea behind this build, I get back 17 hp per hit i do with the sword I use, which coupled with flurry enables me to get my hp back very quickly, If i get in trouble I use healing breeze to regen. My character is therefore extremely durable which is precisely what a tank needs.

But the versatility is there to change my attribute points when required
I started chucking just about every point in swordsmanship (because i just wanted to smack stuff hard :) ) but quickly realised this wasn't ideal for tanking as groups now benefit more from the hp per hit

current attributed points

healing prayers 8 +1
smiting prayers 0
protection prayers 4
divine favour 1
Axe mastery 0
Hammer mastery 0
swordsmanship 8
tactics 0


I've taken down many people in PvP purely because any damage they do to me is gone in a couple of hits with my sword

It just shows that a mo/warrior is no way a bad combo, you just have to have pick the right skills and attribute points to what kind of build you want to be

[Zeppelin_Child]

I play my pve only mo/w and love it. The basic logic behind my first turning to this combination was that if a w/mo could heal himself well, a mo/w could do it better, and its very true as noted above. Plus, with a few hammer skills, I do decent damage in pve.

My attributes are mostly in healing and hammer skills with a few in smiting which I throw around depending on the mission/area. Judges insight is great to add on missions with undead :)

The main reason I love this build however, is that it can solo so well. I just about dont die, and with proper pulling skills to avoid mobs, I kill just fine, so I recive massive drops and XP in pve. Plus its a ton of fun to play :happy34:

Any combination in GW can be just as good as another.

[gandalfrockman]

TWO WORDS:
PROTECTIVE BOND

Just grab that and some dodging, whats more, you have the energy regen to support another enchantment. Judges insight? Strength of Honor? Your call. Monk warriors can be superb tanks. They have the energy and energy regen you need to throw on multiple enchantments, Warrior monks cant do that very well. Warrior wise I would recomend swordsmanship, that way you can carry a shield or focus in your other hand.

[weezer]

"Smiters suck" is an extraordinary ignorant mindset. A smiter, when played right, (which most people have no ****ing clue what they're doing with one), can survive longer than any warrior even when tanking, and can easily outdamage one with reletively short downtime. My smiter can ruin W/Mo's even when I'm getting ganged on, and I haven't even completed it yet.

As for a Mo/W healer? Not really a great idea. Mo/W is mostly for smiters looking to use the Sword/Axe/Hammer Mastery attributes to deal extra damage. As a healer, you want a secondary that will either help you survive longer or give you more energy. Necromancers and Mesmer are good for giving you more energy, and Elementalist can help you stay alive (using Wars and other Earth spells).

[scenesfromamem]

My Mo/W is good at hit and run, let a good W/* go in and sit with smite spells, run in do some damadge and run out. stay to the fringes and heal others while out. Works decent.

[Zypher Wynn]

Most people who scream about had horible a Smiting Monk is, usually do so because they believe all Monks are suppose to be only healers. Mostly healers for them. Often it is those who limit themselves to one primary class and know nothing else but that class. Often it is the same ones that discount other classes such Rangers, Necros, and Mesmers. They believe that Monks are suppose to heal only, Elemetalist must be all fire mages, Warriors are the only damage dealers, and other classes generally suck. Smiting Monks can be deadly is played correctly.
Mo/W can solo the crap out of stuff that others can not. If you want proof, watch is film.
http://assist-train.com/grindingisfun.wmv
The person in it is a Mo/W and tearing thru stuff warriors would not solo.

[Prodigy Ming]

Most people who scream about had horible a Smiting Monk is, usually do so because they believe all Monks are suppose to be only healers. Mostly healers for them. Often it is those who limit themselves to one primary class and know nothing else but that class. Often it is the same ones that discount other classes such Rangers, Necros, and Mesmers. They believe that Monks are suppose to heal only, Elemetalist must be all fire mages, Warriors are the only damage dealers, and other classes generally suck. Smiting Monks can be deadly is played correctly.
Mo/W can solo the crap out of stuff that others can not. If you want proof, watch is film.
http://assist-train.com/grindingisfun.wmv
The person in it is a Mo/W and tearing thru stuff warriors would not solo.

wow that video is awesome... where did you get it from? is there anymore info on his build? thanks.

[guillaume]

wow that video is awesome... where did you get it from? is there anymore info on his build? thanks.

I had seen how a smiting W/Mo could mass farm Riverside, so I decided I wasn't going to be left out and took my Mo/W out there. I used only Mo skills (I was only lvl 19 with mostly crap armor).

I had:
Reversal of Fortune
Healing Breeze
Zealot's Fire
Divine Boon
Mending
Balthazar's Spirit
Essence Bond
Holy <something> (the pbae spell that does like 25 damage for 5 seconds)

With that crappy stuff on I could easily take on 3 white mantle justiciars smiting style. I needed both the +1 energy when hit because of the low number of mobs.

I'm trying to ascend now but I'm thinking that later, with AF60+10 armor, and a respec to elementalist for the +48 (I think) earth extra armor, I could tank just about anything and pbae them down.

Was pretty funny when I was tagging along a lowbie group through Gates of Kryta, everybody died except me at the end and I just pbae'ed down the 20 mobs on me while staying at full health. There were some "WTF?" :p

[dirtybird]

weirdly enough, I've decided I like warrior best as my secondary class for my pure healing monk... I was monk/elementalist but I wasnt using any elementalist skills/attributes so I respecced... before I was 12/12 healing/divine favor... now I am 12/10/8 healing/divine favor/tactics... with a minor tactics rune this gives me the 9 tactics I need to hold a 16 AC shield... the 16 AC shield + tattoo armor gives me slightly more armor AND energy than wearing censors, plus I have access to bonetti's defense if I want to bring it... survivability is extremely important for a primary healer, and this has increased my survivability significantly.

[RandomEngy]

I run a highly customized Mo/W life bond protection monk in PvP and can hold up to just about anything that doesn't have both rend enchantments and good timing or else heavily stacked hexes. Certainly, the same would be true in PvE. There seems to be this common mistake in thinking that healing W/Mos are good, when they're really not.
Hey could you expand on your build a little more? I'm trying out the Life Bond/ Balthazaar's Spirit thing but I'm having trouble keeping myself alive.

[ikra]

whoooooooo, that means i'm sticking with my monk/warrior hehehe

[Meepers]

mo/w is fine, you get bonetti's defense and gladitor's defense both amazing, with 3 healing spell, i've held off a mob of 6, course that's not what a monk should do. =3 I was thinking about mo/me but that too stressful, too much to keep track of.

[Zarfol]

What do you guys use in the weapon slot? I was thinking of using an axe (PVE), then with balthazar's spirit I could use executioners strike to do some more damage? or would it be better to get a +energy wand for more smiting?

Only problem with the axe is that you would need some points in axe mastery to use the higher end axes...

guillaume, whats your attribute point layout?

[Sleepytime Catfish]

I just wanted to say that after acquiring a few Smite spells in Roleplay with my R/Mo, I decided to try a smite build in PvP. I therefore made a custom E/Mo, thinking that having extra energy would be better than DF, since I planned on purely offensive spells. I next loaded up on smite, Protection, and some healing (heal Area). Vital Blessing gave me a frightening amount of HP's. It took some work, changing skills around and whatnot, but in short I found myself extremely effective in PvP. As of now, the most fun I've ever had in PvP has been as my smite build, and I recomend giving it a try sometime. I especially enjoyed targeting necros in Tormentor armor, and most warriors tend to stand in the middle of symbol of wrath and get pwned by it.

[Zarfol]

I started up a Mo/W for PVE and to unlock some skills yesterday. I tried the axe routine, but EXE strike only adds +10 damage, which doesn't seem so great now that I look at it.

Right now ( level 6, post searing and did a couple quests), I'm using a long sword and a +3 energy +5 defense shield (chakram i think).

I use sever artery, banish, healing breeze, mending, bane signet, symbol of wrath, orison of healing, and res signet. I find with mending, I don't have to cast healing breeze as often, but I can keep up mending, healing breeze, and banish without my mana decreasing. All the while I beat down with sever artery and cast symbol of wrath. I can solo everything so far.

I'm still uncertain what to put the points into though. Right now it's split between Smiting and healing prayers. I'm wondering whether to put points into tactics or not, as i have no skills that need it.

[Ahastar Darktalon]

Mo/W here. Even though for different reasons: Defending the backline.
We have two lines in this game (and pretty much every RPG since FF6): The frontline with the warriors and the backline with the casters/monks.

And the simple rule is: If the backline dies, so does the frontline. And sometimes even the best warriors cannot prevent an enemy or two to slip through and come cgargeing the guys in the back. Now the worst thing that the frontline warriors could do would be running back, thus bringing their enemies along as well. But with even a single enemy in the back, pretty much everyone there starts to panic and lose concentration. This is where my warrior secondary comes in!

I go and face the one enemy that dared chargeing us in the backline, placeing myself in front of my fellow casters and takeing the heat for them. My trusty sword makes sure the foe goes for me even in the middle of 5 other casters and my monj protection spells allow me to do the tanking even with my lowly armor.

Of course chances are small I will actually kill my enemy. But that's not the goal in the first place. The goal is to keep that guy busy until either the frontline warriors finished their business and come to smack the intruder within us a new hole or the casters around me blasting said baddy into the stratosphere.