High-level solo build: Monk/Warrior

joshofstl

joshofstl

New Member
I read on a board that it was possible to successfully solo in the underworld and in several places in the field. I've done some practice work and it is indeed possible to solo in some places, given the right equipment. The build is best accomplished with a Monk/Warrior, although a Monk/Mesmer could probably do it as well (see below). A Warrior/Monk lacks the regen arrows necessary to accomplish this. A Necro/Monk might be able to do it, but I'm not sure.

Attributes:

- Protection = 15 (12+2+1) - using Defender's scalp design
- Divine Favor = 12 (10+2)
- Smiting = 10 (8+2)
- Tactics = 2

IMPORTANT NOTE: To succeed in the Underworld you want to carry all superior runes (I'll explain why below), but because the currently high cost of superior monk runes I am currently using all major runes and soloing in the Crystal Desert.

Equipment:

- All Aescetic designs with major runes (in theory Lion's Arch armor would suffice)
- Defender's scalp design
- An insightful staff (ideally, you want one that has a 20% to give +1 to protect spells)

Stats:

HP: 280
EN: 51

Skill set:

- Divine Boon
- Balthazaar's Aura
- Signet of Devotion
- Zealot's Fire (or perhaps others as listed below)
- Bonettis's Defense (or Channeling if you're a mesmer secondary)
- Protective Bond
- Essence Bond
- Balthazaar's Spirit

Premises:

- You don't need a lot of HP, because Protective Bond limits damage to 5% at any one time. In fact, lower HP actually amplifies the effectiveness of Divine Boon.
- Essense Bond and Balthazaar's Spirit, in conjunction with Bonetti's defense and Blessed Signet, allow for a steady stream of energy to counterbalance spell use.
- Zealot's Fire and Balthazaar's Aura provide armor-ignoring offense.
- By casting Protective Bond, Essence Bond, and Balthazaar's Spirit on yourself, you can draw physical enemies into your adjacent area and smite them.
- Divine Boon is a cheap (5 energy + 2) way to heal and will also heal when you use other Monk Spells. With Divine Favor + Divine Boon you're talking about 100 hp healing each time. Plus, its attribute is divine favor so you don't need any points in healing.

Enemies this works well on:

- Hydra. I went out to the Crystal Desert and dispatched 2 dozen Hydra without any trouble. Hydra are ideal field targets because they give great drops.
- Bladed Axertes (or whatever they're called) in the Underworld. Unfortunately you need superior runes to defeat them (for some reason Axertes don't replenish energy as other types do), but they are beatable with the right configuration.
- Coldfire Nights
- Smites
- Blessed griffons
- Fire imps, minotaurs, and other physical or elemental based enemies.

Vulnerabilities:

- Mesmer spells. This is the big one. Energy degeneration can be a hassle. Mesmer interrupts, ignorance, and other nasties can also wreak some havok with this build, depending on the situation. You can counter to a degree by replacing Zealot's Fire with Spell Breaker, but this is only good for 15 seconds or so. Smite hex or a similar spell might also help, but it is also limited. I've beaten mesmer enemies, but it's not easy, and some of them are just too tough.
- Conditions. Not as big a threat as mesmer hexes, but bleeding and some of those can cause trouble. Axaertes use this and it is an issue. Purge condition might help, but finding room for it is a problem.

Conclusions:

- This build is one of the more viable solo builds in the game, and if done correctly is self-sustaining.
- It is useful especially in the Crystal Desert because of the excellent Hydra drops.
 
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Ahh this sounds very fun and interesting. I will definitely give this build a shot as I approach high level. I don't actually have any of the skills you listed so far. Hahah, guess I have my work cut out for me.

I am playing my monk more then my other alts now. I really enjoy watching over my groups and keeping those lifelines high. I will be taking her to 20 first.
 
Thanks for bringing this to the boards.

I had explained a little bit about this build in-game a few nights ago when I first saw it... it's absolutely ingenious. Of course, that's also why you can't buy a superior monk rune to save your life. Instead of Divine Boon, I had seen this build done with Healing Breeze, and with superior runes and -HP items you can actually get your HP as low as 105. With your max damage received capped at 5 thanks to Protective Bond, Healing Breeze more than adequately keeps you near max HP, even if bleeding or hexed. The downfall is that you would need to spread yourself a bit thin in the smiting department, dropping about 3 points to make Healing Breeze effective enough. It may take a bit longer to kill enemies, but it is a slightly safer build.
 
The original architect of this build used Healing Breeze, but subsequent testers found great success with Divine Boon. I've experimented with both and found Boon to be a better choice overall. Boon can actually be used as a healing spell in its own right - it costs 7 energy to use as such, heals for a ton of HP, and has no recharge time. Plus, it heals you every time you cast a smite spell. Breeze probably is a slightly safer choice, because Boon only heals you up to your max HP, but once you get comfortable with the mechanics of the build Boon allows the build to perform more optimally. On the other hand, breeze confers some advantages against hexers and bleeders at the loss of either smiting or divine favor. Either way is viable.
 
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I am curious why there is 2 put into Tactics? Is there a benefit in Tactics when not using a shield? Is it for the Bonettis's Defense?
 
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That's exactly it-- Bonetti's gives you energy back each time you evade an attack, and adding to Tactics makes it last longer.

However, this brings up an interesting point... would you folks consider this an exploit? I mean, I know it certainly wasn't AN's intention to allow anyone to solo the toughest PvE area in the game, right? So, here's the poll:

1. Like EA Sports, if it's in the game, it's in the game. OK to use.
2. This build is responsible for a bunch of the inflation in-game. It's an exploit.
3. I'll have to give it some thought.
4. What are we talking about again?

I'm currently at 3, leaning towards 2, but not blaming anyone for doing it. Your thoughts?
 
It is absolutely an exploit and hugely goes against what the intent of the game is. The game is based on teamwork and tries hard to make farming unnecessary. This build has no place in the team game, as it is extremely easy to kill off in a matter of one or two attacks.

In addition, this exploit has gotten around and has destroyed the economy of the game for monks in particular. Yes, there are overall effects from people farming and getting all kinds of gold and drops all to themselves, but the monks really suffer. Bella and Sydney would probably kill for just ONE superior monk rune, but how are they supposed to afford over 50 platinum (AND UP) for one rune? When you compare that to the less than 5 platinum that all of my Rangers runes cost, it simply makes the game unfair now to monks.

I believe the Protective Bond skill will get nerfed very soon, and it should. Even just by itself, it borders on being an invincibility spell.

These are just my opinions, of course. But having said all this, I vote #2.
 
in some ways i would have to disagree. I personally use the solo build to solo or dual (with a friend to have fun) in the UW. Now as far as prices for monk runes. It was really rediculus how it drove the prices up, but now the prices r back down ( i saw a healing prayers go for 8k today and others for 10k, thats a huge drop). They have dropped considerably, maybe not what they once were but they have dropped. I know the solo build gets away from the "team" aspect of the game, but sometimes it is refreshing to get away from the people that just take all the quests when they arent supposed to and end up killing the enitre party. Do i think its bad, no. Its just another way of playing the game, i think its fun, and if anet does decide to do something about then oh well, back to trapping (which u could possibly throw into the category of solo builds and exploits)...but hey thats just my 2 cents
 
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j7d7w7 said:
It was really rediculus how it drove the prices up, but now the prices r back down ( i saw a healing prayers go for 8k today and others for 10k, thats a huge drop). They have dropped considerably, maybe not what they once were but they have dropped.
Click to expand...

ArenaNet did a price reset because the economy was getting out of hand. They shouldn't have had to do that. The monk runes are still insanely expensive when compared to every other profession. That simply is not fair, and it is because of this build that it's happening.

Respect your opinion, though! :)
 
Although I tend to think of exploits in terms of bots and hacks, I guess others might simply see it in the broader sense - to them, an overly advantageous tactic might qualify an exploit. In the broader definition, a strategy guide or the "run" to Droknar's Forge (which could easily be kaboshed if ArenaNet chose to) might be an exploit as well. According to the boards, ArenaNet has taken some measures to mitigate the effectiveness of this build within the confines of the underworld (i.e. adding bleeding to some monsters), meaning that in their eyes it qualfies, to some degree, as an "exploit," although they have allowed the basic mechanics of the build to persist.

Keep in mind, though, that this build does not equal invinceability, and it is certainly not the only soloing build out there. The proper elementalist/monk build can solo quite effectively in many places, as can certain types of ranger builds. While this monk build is great with physical and elemental damage types, it can still be shattered or hexed and is susceptible to conditions (deep wound and bleeding) as well. It has limited use in the overworld and is quite tricky in the underworld.

As for the issues with superior rune pricing... that doesn't bother me too much, given that most team monks (keep in mind that monks have a big bullseye in PvP) won't want to sacrifice HP when they can get away with it, and so the only people who will really be sinking their gold into these runes are the solo build-users anyway. In sum, the common game user probably won't be using these superior runes much of the time anyway.

As for the solo build taking away from the team aspect of the game... when you consider that the game can often be played for long stretches without other human players anyway (by way of henchmen), that's not as large of a consideration to me. And, honestly, soloing makes for a nice change of pace from the niche role my monk plays as a healer or protector, which rarely allows me the chance to take down any monsters. :)

As long as ArenaNet allows for soloing (specifically in the UW) and allows for the mechanic of using these skills in tandem, I don't consider it an exploit any more than the Forge run or using a Prima guide for help, both of which are permitted by ArenaNet.
 
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I guess you could call these exploits. But IMHO, Anet is purposefully allowing these 'exploits'. The run to Droknar's, for instance, is something that I frown upon. I don't care that people do it but I think you are cheating yourself by doing this. If you have the highest armor in the game at about 1/3 of the way through, it makes you feel invincible and messes up the intended learning curve. It promotes soloing which Mr. Slice doesn't like. If you are too tough, you don't have a need to get creative with your skill set. This will hurt you later. However, Anet must have intended for this to happen because why else would they even make Lornar's Pass accessible? The reason is that it is a challenge.
Soloing in the UW is interesting. I've only recently heard of ppl doing this. I have been in a group with no warriors where our MONK was the tank. He'd run up and get the bulls around him and we'd nuke them. His health never really moved. This seems ok to me because it's a challenge. Besides, if Anet didn't want it, they wouldn't allow less than say....4 ppl groups to go down. They no longer allow unascended characters in the UW and they could just as easily not allow a solo person in.
So in answer to WildBill's question, I'm leaning toward number 1.
 
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