Mo/W Smiter Build

[Griffin]

This setup is from a guy named Kilo on another site; I am merely posting it here because I want to hear some forum ideas on it. I'm about to make either a W/Mo or a Mo/W, but I haven't yet decided which. This will be primarily a PvE character. I know W/Mo are good at everything...this looks like it might be better. Here's what he had to say:

Build:
Mo/War

Attributes:
Healing 11 + 2 = 13
Smiting 10 + 2 + 1 (head tat) = 13
Sword 10

Skills:
Sprint
Distracting Blow
Sever Artery
Gash
Healing Breeze
Symbol of Wrath
Shield of Judgment
Bane Signet / Free Slot - I usually swap this slot various times to just mess around. With this build you don't even need this slot. Use whatever you want.

Recommended Items: (Not needed but helps a lot)
Sword with 15% longer enchantments
Focus Item with +1 to Healing while using Healing Breeze
Major Smite rune, Major Healing rune, Superior Vigor

There's also a strategy section for farming Zealots, whatever those are. It looks to be very efficient. Looking at the skills, the Swordsmanship and Smiting Prayers attributes are obvious. There's only 1 Healing skill, Holy Breeze, with 11 + 2 points invested in it. At 13 Healing Prayers, HB is not worthwhile...it has the same stats at a total of 11 Healing Prayers. However, achieving 14 in Healing Prayers adds another pip of regen to HB...I assume that 14th point is achieved through the +1 Healing focus. A focus functions as a shield, correct? Should this be used alongside the sword? Is it supposed to be used on switch?

A few questions:

1) Can I expect this to replace a standard sort of Wa/M build as far as PvE goes? Can this kill all the same things?

2) How would this build (or one with the same attributes and changed skills) fare in PvP? Are Smiting Prayers good against players?

3) How does the switch (if that's what it is) with the Focus work? Is there a convenient way to rapidly switch weapon sets so that we can have 14 in Healing Prayers to cast HB?

Thanks a lot, that should cover it all.

[Sadow]

My only suggestions would be to exchange Distracting Blow for Savage Slash (Lower recharge timer, and it can deal extra damage if interrupting a spell.) and to put Hamstring in instead of Sprint. It may cost more energy, but it will last a lot longer than Sprint itself.

In PVP, you'll want to probably remove Symbol of Wrath and replace it with something more beneficial. As a localized AoE that has a fairly long casting time, it's bound to get interrupted more than once, and the damage isn't really fantastic enough against smart players. I suggest Scourge Healing for fighting other Monks or people who use Healing Signet a lot, or putting in Smite Hex for additional damage vs. Necromancers/Mesmers, who will DoT you a lot. If you're going for a pure damage build, you might want to try Holy Strike and work with a hammer Warrior to deal massive damage. (Or couple it with Bane Signet, though you'll likely want to replace Bane Signet with Res Signet - a sad fact of PVP is that it is almost 50% reliable on "Which team brought the most res signets?")

As for your questions: Smiting works quite well against players, especially with the very low Power costs. You can keep yourself alive very well (Except vs. Mesmers or Necromancers that can strip enchantments.) and the additional damage from Gash/Bleed will help vs. more heavily armored foes. In PVE, the Smite Monk is one of the best soloers, bar none, especially a Monk/Warrior. I personally put on Mending and Live Vicariously, then melee up close - you can almost never die, especially if you put in Healing Breeze or Healing Hands. In a group, you'll probably want to switch to all-healing skills. You can do good damage, sure, but not the best - it's best to let the Elementalists and others splay heavy damage while you do what you do best.

[Griffin]

Thank you, that's very helpful advice. As for PvP, that seems spot on, and it's a lot of the same things I was thinking of. Savage Slash does look better than Distracting Blow...I suppose hitting everyone adjacent doesn't really help the Blow out. The purpose of Distracting Blow was to stop Healing Signets from going off; I assume Savage Slash will fill that role just as well?

As for Hamstring over Sprint, I believe Sprint was used to get out of or run past PvE situations where it was too dangerous to stand and fight. It's certainly a skill I would replace for PvP though.

I'm glad to hear that Smiting Monks do well PvE: time to start mine! I would appreciate an answer to question 3 though, as I'm still a bit unclear on what weapons I should be using when, and all that. Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks again.