by Cerb

Introduction

Some of you may be familiar with the solo monk, often referred to as "invinci-monk". However, for some others, it's a brand new concept. I am writing this guide to share my knowledge with you, so you can hopefully exploit a monk's potential as much as I can.

Note: In the guide that follows, I might refer to a Spell, Hex Spell and/or Enchantment Spell as "skill", to make it simpler.

The Fundamentals

The invici-monk is built around a single spell: Protective Spirit.

As described, this enchantment will prevent an ally (including you) from losing more than 10% of your maximum health from a single attack or spell. So if you had 400 health, you couldn't lose more than 40 health from a single attack, thus allowing you to be able to tank for 10 hits at 40 damage per hit, the last hit killing you. A long time ago, people were using Protective Bond instead (take only 5% damage per hit, but you lose energy), however, it was changed so that you lose more energy every time you take a hit (you'd lose 4 energy per hit with level 17 protection prayers).

If you lower your maximum hp, you will obviously take less damage per hit, considering you're enchanted with Protective Spirit. How are we going to do this? Take a guess.

With 5 superior runes, your maximum health will be 105 at level 20 (480 base health at level 20, minus 5 superior runes, excluding vigor: 480 - 375), and you will also get a nice +3 bonus for all your primary attributes. There's also a quest called Cities of Ascalon, received from Symon the Scribe, that will earn you a �50 health Grim Cesta upon completion.

With five superior runes and the above Grim Cesta, you will reach 55 health, unless you have a weapon with Fortitude mod, which you do not want, since the aim is to get your health as low as possible.

Obviously, monks have 4 primary attributes, so you'll want to double up on a superior rune of your choice, it doesn't matter which, but you should choose the cheapest on the market.

With 55 health and Protective Spirit on, you will be take 5 damage per hit, therefore making you able to tank 11 consecutive hits (10 hits actually, the 11 th would be killing you). However, you will be taking with you Mending and Healing Breeze, two enchantments that will give you health regeneration. With 10 pips (arrows) of regeneration (which you get with 9 points in Healing Prayers), you will be gaining 20 health per second (each pip is 2 health per second), which is more than enough to tank small groups.

The Basics

Okay, now we have three skill slots we are taking to keep you alive. But there are still five left, right? You'll probably want to reserve a slot for a damage-dealing skill, huh? You want to kill stuff after all! Since you will be taking on groups and not single individuals for the most part, we need a skill that can damage a group of enemies. Shield of Judgement is a monk elite that will suit your needs perfectly; but you can also take Spiteful Spirit, a necromancer elite if you want to. The first one can be captured from monk boss Myd Springclaw in the Mineral Springs, an area near the Granite Citadel. As for the latter, it can be captured from Nighh Spinechill in Talus Chute (as well as a few other bosses), south of Camp Rankor, if you get a lucky spawn.

Some of you might think Balthazar's Aura is a good idea, but it's not. After the November 10 th, 2005 game update, monsters will flee from similar Area of Effect (AoE) spells, therefore making it a useless farming skill.

If you are using Shield of Judgement, you may also consider Zealot's Fire, since both skills are from the same attribute. The latter deals AoE damage and is triggered every time you cast a spell on an ally (you) once activated. If you trigger it too quickly (for instance, casting using two skills in a row, without delay), it will cause the monsters to flee for a few seconds. You can prevent this from taking your time, and giving yourself at least a two seconds delay after casting a skill before casting another.

Zealot's Fire Enchantment. For 60 seconds, whenever you use a skill on an ally, all foes adjacent to your target are struck for (Min: 5 - Max: 35) fire damage.

Now that you are self-sufficient in damage-dealing and life regeneration, you'll need energy, as many of those skills cost a lot of it. You have four choices, and one of them will depend on your secondary profession. Usually, it would be best to combine two or three of them. First, we have Balthazar's Spirit, which gives you a certain amount of adrenaline points (points contribute to adrenaline strikes) and 1 energy everytime you take damage, whether it is physical, elemental or spell damage. Next, we have Essence Bond, which is somewhat similar to Balthazar's Spirit: you gain 1 energy everytime you are struck for physical or elemental damage (althought it only mentions physical damage). The last two skills are none other than Blessed Signet (you gain 3 energy for each enchantment you are maintaining, up to a certain maximum) and Bonetti's Defense, a warrior stance (for a short amount of time, you have 75% chance to block attacks and gain 5 energy for each successful block).

	Balthazar's Spirit Enchantment. While you maintain this Enchantment, target ally gains adrenaline and Energy after taking damage. (The amount of adrenaline gained increases depending on your rank in Smiting Prayers.)
	Essence Bond Enchantment. While you maintain this Enchantment, whenever target ally takes physical damage, you gain 1 Energy.
	Blessed Signet Signet. For each Enchantment you are maintaining, you gain 3 Energy, maximum (Min: 3 - Max: 24).
	Bonetti's Defense Stance. For (Min: 5 - Max: 11) seconds, you have a 75% chance to "block" incoming melee attacks and arrows. You gain 5 Energy for each successful melee attack blocked. Bonetti's Defense ends if you use a skill.

The skill combination is entirely up to you, however I'll give you some tips to help you make your choice.

• Bonetti's Defense should be used in conjunction with Balthazar's Spirit and never with Essence Bond, as it requires a high amount of adrenaline, which you get a bonus of from Balthazar's Spirit
• If you are going to fight against enemies dealing elemental damage, do not take Bonetti's Defense, as it'll only work against melee attacks and arrows, therefore you will not be gaining energy against elemental damage
• Blessed Signet requires points in Divine Favor and you must be maintaining at least three enchantments for it to be any useful.
• Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond is a nice combo, as you will be gaining two energy points per attack.
• Balthazar's Spirit doesn't require any attribute point in Smiting Prayers, althought it'd help if you are combining it with Bonetti's Defense.

My personal favorite combinations are the following (may vary depending on the situation): Balthazar's Spirit, Blessed Signet and Bonetti's Defense

• Balthazar's Spirit and Essence Bond
• Balthazar's Spirit and Blessing Signet

Now you should be taking 6 to 8 skill slots, depending whether you are taking 3 skills for energy management or 2, and whether or not you are taking Zealot's Fire. Here are a few skill suggestions you could fill your remaining slots with:

Equipment and Attributes

Attributes

Now that you have your 8 skills, we're to talk about attributes. I can't just give you numbers, since it'll vary depending on the place where you're farming as well as your build. I'll definately help you with them, though.

First of all, your primary damage-dealing attribute should be maxed out, whether it is Smiting Prayers for Shield of Judgement (and optionally, Zealot's Fire) or Curses, for Spiteful Spirit.

As for healing prayers, it'll be either 9 or 13 total (counting runes and scalp bonusses, if appliable). To figure out which, you have to know the area. If you know you will face health degeneration hexes or conditions, go for 13 points (This way, you get +4 regeneration from Mending and +8 from Healing Breeze). Against a lot of degeneration, you might also want to consider adding Watchful Spirit to your skills. It is very important not to spend 13 points in healing prayers if you will not be facing any degeneration, because regeneration is capped at 10 pips, therefore you would be wasting many attribute points.

Protection prayers is up to you: it'll only affect the duration of which Protective Spirit last, unless, of course, you bring another skill of the same attribute (like Guardian, for instance).

If you are taking Blessed Aura (smart idea if you're using Shield of Judgement), invest a decent amount of points in divine favors. Even if you aren't, all your remaining points should go there.

If you need points in a fifth attribute, lower your points from protection prayers and divine favor, and spend some here. Five attributes is a lot though, I don't really recommend it unless it's really needed.

Equipment

You should be wearing a full Ascetic set with five superior monk runes, one of each and double up on the one of your choice (take the cheapest, since runes don't stack). Remember, your aim is to bring your health as low as possible, therefore don't use a superior vigor. The ascetic set will give you a nice energy bonus, you shouldn't be wearing anything else, since armor does not matter at all with this build (you'll be taking 5 damage per hit whether you have ascestic or censor/judge's).

As for the scalp, you should use the one corresponding to your highest attribute, to save points (if no attribute is maxed) or to maximize the effect (if your highest attribute is maxed).

I highly recommand you place your four different runes on your chest, arm, leg and foot designs, and the doubled one on your scalp (it'll help if you have to change the scalp).

Right now, if I took Shield of Judgement and had smiting prayers as my highest attribute, I'd use a +1 Smiting Prayers scalp with a superior divine favor rune (cheapest on market), and I'd upgrade my chest, arm, leg and foot designs with healing prayers, protection prayers, smiting prayers and divine favor superior runes. Get what I mean?

As for the weapon, you'll be looking for one with a longer enchanting mod, if you can afford it, a HoD +5 energy long sword with a 20% enchanting mod will be great, but if you can't, don't worry, it's not that big of a deal anyways. I personally use an Icy Dragon Sword of Enchanting with a perfect 20% enchanting mod, because I think it looks great, but really, 15% enchanting and up will do fine.

Earlier I mentioned the �50 health Grim Cesta from the quest Cities of Ascalon, well that's the offhand you want to use. I also keep a �20 health offhand in my inventory, which I will use if I happen to die. With 15% death penalty and the �20 health offhand, my maximum health will be 13. With so little health, I'll be taking 1 damage per hit, and with 10 pips of health regeneration, that's no problem.

You can also get 8 health with 15% death penalty by switching a piece of your armor for the exact same but upgraded with a major monk rune rather than a superior. I prefer the �20 offhand for 13 health, but if you can't find one, 8 health will work too. Perhaps you are wondering why you reach such a low amount of life after dying, shouldn't it be 15% off your maximum health (55)? Well, no. The death penalty is calculated from your base health (480 at level 20). Here's how it works:

• Base Health: 480
• Death Penalty: 15% (72 health)
• Maximum Health after 15% death penalty: 408
• Health substracted from base with five Superior runes: -375 (5 * -75)
• Maximum Health after 15% death penalty with runes: 33
• Maximum Health after 15% death penalty with runes and �50 offhand: 1 (theorically �17 from 33 - 50, but cannot have a negative amount of health)
• Maximum Health after 15% death penalty with runes and �20 offhand: 13 (33 - 20)
• Maximum Health after 15% death penalty with 4 superior runes,1 major and �50 offhand: 8 (-350 from the runes; 408 � 350 = 58; 58 � 50 from the offhand)

As for the damage you take per hit with Protective Spirit on, you take the integer from 10% of your total health (it's not rounded), with a minimum of 1 damage (cannot take 0 damage if the damage is reduced by a percentage). Hence why you'll take 1 damage per hit with 8 health (10% of 8 is 0.8, but you take a minimum of 1 damage), and you'll still take 1 damage with 13 health (10% of 13 is 1.3, the integer is 1), and 5 damage with 55 health (10% of 55 is 5.5, integer is 5, but it's not rounded, therefore 5 damage and not 6).

I hope you understand all of this stuff. Okay now, just a few more tips before you can finally start your training!

Thinking During Your Runs

How to think in battle is one of the most important aspects in the invici-monking. If you just follow a build, you won't get any better. Give anyone your recipe for muffins, and the muffins will be just as tasty as yours. However, that person hasn't learned to cook.

Unless you farm easy places for the rest of your days, you will come across though places with interruption-happy or enchantment-stripping enemies. You might have trouble at first, but you have to learn to deal with them. Once you have, that's when you learn you've just gotten better.

You should study monsters in an area before going there so you know what you're going to face. GuildWiki.org has a bestiary that will suit your needs perfectly.

• If you're taking heavy damage and your health is running low, recast Protective Spirit and/or Healing Breeze. You will gain a bonus amount of health depending on the points you spent in divine favor. Sometimes, that small bonus will save your life.
• Protective Spirit should always be on. If it isn't , you'll probably die from one or two hits.
• If you kill most monsters from a mob and there's only one or two left, you might not need to recast Healing Breeze. Save your mana for your main damage dealing skill(s). If you're losing too much health, just cast it.
• If Healing Breeze wears off during a big fight, don't panic, just re-cast it. If you get interrupted, you can recast Protective Spirit for the divine favor health bonus until you can successfully cast Healing Breeze.
• Don't be scared to re-cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze during a battle. This way, if you get interrupted, you'll most likely have time to recast them.
• Some monsters (like Aatxes from the Underworld) have only one interrupting attack. To prevent interruption, you can wait until they use it, then cast your skills freely until their skill is recharged. If there are too many enemies, you can also watch them graphically: as soon as they hit, quickly cast your skill.
• When running, to prevent a surround, don't stop to cast your skills while two mobs from opposite sides are chasing you. If one group chases you from behind, you'll be fine, however if you have one chasing you from behind and the other from front, you might be surrounded. Watch out for those kind of situations.
• While the 8/13 health builds might seem appealing, watch out for high health degeneration (burning for instance), as they give very little time to react.
• If you're using Spiteful Spirit as your main damage dealing skill, cast it on as many different enemies as possible (make sure they're close to each other too)
• Bonetti's Defense will refill your mana in a matter of seconds against a decent sized group of melee enemies. However, try not to use it (nor Guardian) when Shield of Judgement is activated; you will block most your enemies's attacks, and they won't take any damage. It can also save your life when under very heavy damage (a large group of Smite Crawlers in the Underworld, for example), just spam it along with Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze.
• Place your most important skills in first slots for easy access, and the enchantments you are maintaining in the last ones. This way, you can quickly react using your keyboard when you have to.

Basic Training: Desert Griffon farming

A good place to start training as soon as you got the skills, equipment and runes is Augury Rock. Set your skills, your attributes and put on your equipment, then exit the town west to Prophet's Path. You're ready to solo Desert Griffons and Minotaurs.

There's no best build for it, it's all up to you now. Any secondary profession will do too. I'm going to go with Mo/Ele since I like the Shield of Judgement / Aftershock combination, but that's just me. I'll show you pictures of my run and explain my attribute/skill choice afterwards.
 

Once you get out of Augury Rock, cast your enchantments, followed with Blessed Signet. As you can see, I am wielding a 20% longer enchantments weapon. (must be one handed) and the �50 health Grim Cesta I mentioned earlier.

My attribute points were as follow:

• Healing Prayers: 9
• Smiting Prayers: 15
• Protection Prayers: 9
• Divine Favor: 10
• Earth Magic: 8

I was wearing a +1 healing prayers scalp for that run, but I should have been wearing a +1 smiting prayers one (forgot to switch :P). And I'll repeat once more: there is no right and wrong build for this. The above build is the one I chose to use for that run, but any secondary profession works. I chose 9 points in Healing Prayers because you won't be facing any kind of degeneration (poison, bleeding, mesmer or necromancer hexes), the 10 pips of health regeneration you'll get from Mending and Healing Breeze will be all you need (remember, 10 pips is the cap).

Anyhow, as you can see from the pictures, Protective Spirit is always on when there are enemies around. I just ran straight for the Desert Griffons and made sure to never stop running and keep aggroing griffons until Rockshot Devourers stopped following me (they use an attack skill called Distracting Shot which interrupts your current skill and adds a 20 second recharge to it); it's best to avoid them, I'm sure you don't want them to interrupt your Healing Breeze or Shield of Judgement.

After taking the first group, I took on the second one. If the monk boss happens to spawn during your run, just ignore it, he takes way too long to kill and he's not worth the time. Warrior one is easily killable though. That's about it for the Desert Griffons run, there might be a few in the center, dispose of them if you wish.

Keep practicing this, and once you've completed a dozen runs without dying, you should be ready for the next step

Training Continued: The Underworld

If you succeeded the previous training, you should now be ready to farm the Underworld. It's doable solo or 2-man (usually done with a necromancer), and I will teach you how to do the latter, since it's not only twice as fun, but it's also about five times faster, and you'll get more drops from a 2-man team than solo in the end.

A commonly asked question here is how many ectos drop per run. Well, for a "smite run" (takes about 20-30 minutes), it'll vary between 0 and 4 Globs of Ectoplasm per run. There's also a lot of EXP to gain from there, as well as neat drops (namely rares Eternal Bows/Shields), I'd recommand bringing a key or two per run.

Before we begin, I'd like to mention that if you haven't went through the basic training, you will most likely get killed here, to a point of wondering if it's even worth trying. For those other readers who went through the first challenge, I shall go on.

I'm going to be teaching how to perfect the "smite run" (from Aatxes � beginning, to the Smite Crawlers), and I think it's important you know who drops what. The Underworld is the home of Globs of Ectoplasm (referred to as "ecto") and these are the reason most people farm this place. Only the Bladed Aatxes and the Smite Crawlers can drop them during smite runs, so don't expect anything from Grasping Darknesses or Coldfire Nights.

Bladed Aataxe	Grasping Darkness	Coldfire Night
Smite Crawler	Dying Nightmare

Your secondary profession should be warrior for Bonetti's defense, it will save your life countless times. As for your skills: Protective Spirit, Healing Breeze, Blessed Signet, Spellbreaker (Elite), Bonetti's Defense, Mending, Balthazar's Spirit, Blessed Aura. Your necromancer partner is going to use Spiteful Spirit to kill the mobs, and you're going to be tanking.

You will also need a customized, max damage smiting rod (req. lvl 10 or less) to kill Dying Nightmares as soon as they pop up. Worth's Holy Rod is a very good choice, as you get a neat casting and recharge bonus for Protective Spirit and it's also cheap (you could find one for 5k or less in Deldrimor War Camp). You should be using the 55 hp build with two weapon sets: your main weapon with an enchanting mod and the �50 health offhand, and a smiting rod with the same �50 health offhand.

Your attributes should look like this:

• Healing Prayers: 13
• Smiting Prayers: 10
• Protection Prayers: 13
• Divine Favor: 13

You will be facing bleeding, so 13 points in Healing Prayers is a great idea (+4 pips from Mending, +8 from Healing Breeze). You are spending points in Smiting Prayers for two reasons: to deal full damage from smiting rod and to gain more adrenaline (Bonetti's Defense will charge really fast with 10 points here). Protection Prayers only affects Protective Spirit's length, so 13 points is a good number. As for Divine Favor, it'll affect Blessed Aura, Spellbreaker and the bonus health you gain from it will help tremendously against a large amount of Smite Crawlers.

I took a few screenshots from a run with a very good necromancer partner, Mr Jerrypants, which is also Faithful Sno's partner in crime for his UW-clearing runs. I can't give a map of The Underworld, but you should get it from the screenshots (took at least one in each area), it's pretty simple.

Important Information and Tips

• Cast Spellbreaker before aggroing Aatxes, if a Dying Nightmare pops up, switch to your second weapon set (smiting rod), and kill it; it should die from 2 or 3 hits. Watch out for those, they strip all your enchantments!
• Aatxes and Grasping Darknesses can interrupt your skills (Grasping Darknesses especially), don't be scared to re-cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze even when their respective icons aren't blinking.
• Ask your necromancer partner to use Sympathic Visage when you're against a bunch of Grasping Darknesses if he doesn't think about it, otherwise they can make you lose all your mana, preventing you from casting.
• Spiteful Spirit is triggered upon attacking, therefore using Bonetti's Defense will not slow the damage down, unlike with Shield of Judgement. (However, it does slow down Sympathic Visage, if it's on you)
• If you've got Aatxes or Grasping Darknesses hitting you, try to stand still and not to move towards unexplored grounds too much; it might trigger the apparition of a Dying Nightmare, and the chances you will succeed casting Spellbreaker against those beasts is very low (unless they're out of energy)
• You do not have to cast Spellbreaker before aggroing a mob of Smite Crawlers; they cannot interrupt you, therefore if a Dying Nightmare was to pop up, it would be safe to use your elite skill, before finishing it off with your rod.
• Try not to use Bonetti's Defense against small groups of Smite Crawlers (5 and below), it affects Sympathic Visage and doesn't make it any effective.
• For your first runs, do not aggro too many Smite Crawlers, 8+ can easily kill you even if you have Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze on.
• To survive large groups of Smite Crawlers (9+), use Bonetti's Defense as soon as it's ready, and when it's recharging, spam Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze everytime you can. A not-too-effective Sympathic Visage is much less trouble than a dead monk.
• Coldfire Nights are easy to kill; try to keep Spellbreaker on though. They will tend to spread out, making Spiteful Spirit half as effective, but if you stand still as soon as they've entered your aggro bubble, they shouldn't move too much.
• Another thing I've noticed but cannot confirm yet : it appears that if you move a lot, under the Coldfire Nights's aggro, they will cast Maelstrom (if they do, move out of it, else you might as well be dead); whereas they wouldn't if you stood still.
• Tip from Mr Jerrypants: Communication between the players is the key to successful/fast runs. You can use a voice-chatting program like Ventrilo or Teamspeak, normal chat or even the in-game radar, but you'll have to communicate with your partner. Explaining your aggroing patterns is very important too.

Table of Contents

Code:

1) A Monk's Job 

2) The Right Tools

 a) Skills and Builds

 i) General Arch Type

 ii) Key Skills

 iii) Common Builds

 b) Equipment

3) Player Skills

 a) Individual

 i) Energy Management

 ii) Battlefield Awareness

 iii) Tactical Awareness

 iv) Movement

 v) Comfort

 b) Team

 i) Communication

 ii) Positioning

4) FAQ

A Monk's Job
=================
This section exists to help define, in my opinion, what I feel a monk's job is. I think however, that this can be most easily accomplished by stating what a monk's job does not entail.

No monk intending to go into PvP should be carrying a resurrection spell. There are no exceptions, simply because of two reasons. Firstly, if you spend time resurrecting a fallen teammate in battle, you are altering your team's survival chances. Leaving yourself unable to restore HP for upwards of 6 seconds is asking for a death, which could very well be your own. Also, you never have downtime to resurrect. In PvP, there is a reason why resurrection signet is the res of choice.

Your job is not to keep people alive; your job is to keep people from dying. That is, you are not responsible if someone who is out of position dies because it was their responsibility to stay alive. The name of the game is keeping the team's HP from getting to 0. The more buffer they have produces a higher chance of survival; what they do with that buffer is up to them. Your job is to keep their buffer up as long as it's reasonable for you to do so. Determining what is reasonable takes into account many factors, such as your energy, your position relative to them, your relationship to the enemy team, their position in relation to the team, and their relationship to the enemy team. Relationship is to say, are they under attack, getting spiked, being trained, diversion spam etc etc.

The Right Tools
=================
In this section, I will provide what I feel is the most effective template for monk builds, and then I will go over some skills that I feel are important and then I will give some typical monk builds and explain how and why certain skills are included. Doing the best job you can really depends on your build and to a lesser extent your equipment. Is it appropriate? Is it efficient? All of these are questions that you should consider when trying to make a monk build.

Skills and Builds
=================
The Arch Type
Most monk builds have to have enough skills to cover all the important jobs of a monk to be effective in combat.
First, a monk should be efficient at restoring HP; this is the main job ot the monk, to maintain that buffer so your team has a better chance of survival. Second, a monk should have efficient means of dealing with both conditions and hexes. This category and the resulting skills taken usually depend on the meta game at hand. Heavy conditions call for some skills over others, and likewise; the same is true for hexes. In addition, another area that monks have to cover is energy management. While this area is a bit more build oriented, you can have skills that supplement your natural energy regeneration. For a more in depth look at energy management skills and the required player skill to use them effectively, please see section 3a. Finally, any monk build needs damage mitigation, that is to say, damage prevention. One of the most important aspects of monking is the ability to prevent damage before you have to heal it. Preventing damage is always better than having to heal damage.

In my experience, all monk builds should include skills that cover the following: damage prevention, energy management, healing, and aliment handling. Exceptions happen when the rest of the team build helps to move some of these aspects to other support characters. In PvP areas like Arenas and Hero's Ascent, monk builds are usually expected to be able to cover all of these areas on their own.

Key Skills
The following list of skills will have the name of the skill, its description, followed by which attribute it is in, and finally the stats, in "energy/cast time/after-cast time/recharge - set" form. In the description, x..y..z is the values at 0-12-15 for that respective attribute.

Some of you may be wondering, "What's the after-cast time?" Well, most spells in Guild Wars will not allow you to move after you finish casting them. For most spells it is 0.75 seconds, but on some skills they can be as high as 1 second. The after-cast is simply the time it takes for your character to return to your control after casting a spell.

Remember that there are plenty of skills that are worth looking into. For a beginner, these skills are the ones that you should at least attempt to master or understand as they form a basis for you to get acquainted with monking in PvP.

 

Reversal of Fortune Enchantment Spell. For 8 seconds, the next time target ally would take damage, that ally gains that amount of Health instead, maximum 15...67...80 Protection Prayers 5/0.25/0.75/2 - Core

This is one of the staple monk skills in the game. It prevents damage and heals it as well. Cheap, fast and reliable.

 

Protective Spirit Enchantment Spell. For 5...19...23 seconds, target ally cannot lose more than 10% max Health due to damage from a single attack or Spell. Protection Prayers 10 Energy/0.25/0.75/5 - Core

Another skill that is seen on almost every monk bar, this skill combines with Spirit Bond very nicely to prevent large spike damage skills.

 

Spirit Bond Enchantment Spell. For 8 seconds, whenever target ally takes more than 60 damage from the next 10 attacks or Spells, that ally is healed for 40...88...100 Health. Protection Prayers 10/0.25/0.75/2 - Factions

Combines with Protective Spirit really well because this skill triggers before Protective Spirit does. What this means is that Spirit Bond will activate before Protective Spirit will limit the damage. A very potent combination for stopping huge spike damage.

 

Holy Veil Enchantment Spell. While you maintain this Enchantment, any Hex cast on target ally takes twice as long to cast. When Holy Veil ends, one Hex is removed from target ally. No Attribute 5(-1 pip)/1/0.75/12 - Core

Hands down, one of the most versatile hex removal skills in the game. With the ability to maintain it on someone until needed, it becomes the ultimate in usability. Just remember to stop maintaining it to remove the hex!

 

Guardian Enchantment Spell. For 2...6...7 seconds, target ally has a 50% chance to block attacks. Protection Prayers 5/1/0.75/4 - Core

Another staple skill that most monks run. In light of melee pressure, a 50% block is quite juicy and so monks will often pre-prot melee convergence with this spell.

 

Aegis Enchantment Spell. For 5...10...11 seconds, all party members within earshot have a 50% chance to block attacks. Protection Prayers 10/2/0.75/30 - Core

Like Guardian above, this skill provides party-wide melee protection. This skill is a bit more cumbersome to use, as it demands that you also run Glyph of Lesser Energy. Can be very effective if multiple copies are used in builds.

 

Patient Spirit Enchantment Spell. For 2 seconds, target ally is Enchanted with Patient Spirit. When this Enchantment ends, that ally is healed for 30...102...120 Health. Healing Prayers 5/0.25/0.75/3 - Eye of the North

A relatively new skill on the scene, this enchantment serves very well as a heal that can't be interrupted. Works very well combined pre-prot, and also works well with Dismiss Condition.

 

Dismiss Condition Spell. Remove one Condition from target ally. If that ally is under the effects of an Enchantment, that ally is healed for 15...63...75 Health. Protection Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/3 - Nightfall

The newest of the three non-elite condition removal spells, this version has found favor with a lot of monks because of its heal condition, as well as the recharge time.

 

Mend Condition Spell. Remove one Condition from target other ally. If a Condition is removed, that ally is healed for 5...57...70 Health. Protection Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/2 - Prophecies

One of the three non-elite condition removal spells, Mend Condition boasts the fastest recharge time of all. The heal condition isn't bad either, but the drawback is the lack of being able to remove your own conditions.

 

Mend Ailment Spell. Remove one Condition from target ally. For each remaining Condition, that ally is healed for 5...57...70 Health. Protection Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/5 - Core

One of the three non-elite condition removal spells, Mend Ailment is rarely used now as its benefits were outclassed when Dismiss Condition was introduced. Perks that it shares with Dismiss is the ability to self target, but the recharge really kills this skill. The heal condition also leaves something to be desired as an RC would do a better job in a condition heavy metagame.

 

Mending Touch Spell. Touched ally loses two Conditions and is healed for 15...51...60 Health for each Condition removed in this way. Protection Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/6 - Nightfall

This touch spell is sometimes seen on an RC monk so that they can remove conditions on themselves. More commonly, this spell is seen on rangers or warriors that are designed to be split off away from the main monks.

 

Draw Conditions Spell. All negative Conditions are transferred from target other ally to yourself. For each Condition acquired, you gain 6...22...26 Health. Protection Prayers 5/0.25/0.75/2 - Core

This condition "removal" is sometimes run in conjunction with an RC monk so that all the conditions are in a central place. This skill generally is run if a build tends to stay in an 8v8 formation.

 

Purge Signet Signet. Remove all Hexes and Conditions from target ally. You lose 10 Energy for each Hex and each Condition removed. No Attribute 0/2/0.75/20 - Core

This signet sometimes shows up in a hex/condition pressure meta game. The idea is that the monk using this signet is in his low energy set so that the penalty is negated somewhat. Expensive to use, it takes a lot of insight to know when it is appropriate to use this skill.

 

Shield Of Absorption Enchantment Spell. For 3...6...7 seconds, damage received by target ally is reduced by 5 each time that ally is hit while under the effects of this Enchantment. Protection Prayers 5/0.25/0.75/10 - Nightfall

Shield of Absorption is one of those protection spells that are really great at certain things. Against a spike, it can give the monks a bit more time to react. Most monks take this spell if there is nothing else that would be better in a prot bar, consequently, this skill is not run very much anymore (though recently, it's seen a bit more usage).

 

Aura of Stability Enchantment Spell. For 3...9...10 seconds, target other ally cannot be knocked down. Protection Prayers 5/0.25/0.75/12 - Eye of the North

A newer enchantment that Eye of the North brings to us, this skill can be used very effectively to help make that flag push. It can also help to prevent the other monk from being knocked down.

 

Signet of Rejuvenation Signet. Heal target ally for 15...63...75. If target ally is casting a spell or attacking, that ally is healed for an additional 15...63...75 Health. Healing Prayers 0/1/0.75/8 - Factions

This signet has seen some slight use recently. It is just as powerful as your typical healing spell, and when the condition is met it can become a pretty beefy heal. The plus side is that it is a signet, and the flip side of that is the recharge on it is not as good as a healing spell that costs energy. You win some, you lose some.

 

Gift of Health Spell. All of your other Healing Prayers skills are disabled for 10...6...5 seconds. Target other ally is healed for 15...123...150 Health. Healing Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/5 - Factions

Gift of Health was a big skill back in the Blessed Light meta monk pair. The idea was that the monk would primarily spec Divine Favor and Protection Prayers, thus negating the negative effect of Gift. It gives a protection monk an option of having a bar pusher available to them. The skill itself is very efficient.

 

Dwayna's Kiss Spell. Heal target other ally for 15...51...60 Health and an additional 10...30...35 Health for each Enchantment or Hex on that ally. Healing Prayers 5/1/0.75/3 - Prophecies

This healing spell can be great in a hex heavy meta game because of its healing condition. The only problem with this skill is that it doesn't actually remove the hexes. Still, it can be very effective if used well, as the healing potential is only limited to how many hexes and enchantments are on the target. One downside is that the monk can not use this skill on themselves.

 

Cure Hex Spell. Remove one Hex from target ally. If a Hex was removed, that ally is healed for 30...102...120 Health. Healing Prayers 5/1/0.75/12 - Eye of the North

With this skill comes the ability for a healing monk to actually remove a hex. This gives the healing monk a bit more bar pushing power, however this skill is not as versatile as Holy Veil is. None the less, it can be very effective.

 

Signet of Devotion Signet. Heal target ally for 14...83...100 Health. Divine Favor 0/2/0.75/5 - Core

It's a free heal, but beware of the cast time. This skill is not great, but it is not bad either. The slow cast time does not help, but it can be used to help alleviate energy denial pressure.

 

Infuse Health Spell. Lose half your current Health. Target other ally is healed for 100...129...136% of the amount you lost. Healing Prayers 10/0.25/0.75/0 - Core

Infuse Health heals big spike damage at a cost. The skill is fun to play, but most spikes can be handled by protection and mid-line interrupts. In spike heavy meta games, you will see Infuse pop up. Over-all a decent skill, but there are definitely pros and cons.

 

Blessed Light* Elite Spell. Heal target ally for 10...114...140 Health and remove one Condition and one Hex. Divine Favor 10/0.75/0.75/3 - Factions

This skill was picked up during the Factions World Cup. As it stands now, this elite is not as great as some of the other elites you can pick; however, this skill can be a great skill to run.

 

Light of Deliverance* Elite Spell. All party members are healed for 5...57...70 Health. Healing Prayers 5/1/0.75/10 - Nightfall

This skill was introduced in Nightfall. When it first came out, it provided too much defense for the team running it. As it stands now, the recharge on this skill does not allow it to be run effectively.

 

Divert Hexes* Elite Spell. Remove up to 1...3...3 Hexes from target ally. For each Hex removed in this way, that ally loses one Condition and gains 15...63...75 Health. Protection Prayers 10/1/0.75/5 - Nightfall

In a hex heavy meta game, this skill can really shine. This skill can be very effectively used to clean up a person, but most hex heavy meta game builds usually include a Purge Signet or Convert Hexes.

 

Healer's Boon* Elite Enchantment Spell. For 10...46...55 seconds. Healing Prayers Spells cast 50% faster and heal for 50% more Health. Divine Favor 5/5/0.75/10 - Nightfall

This Nightfall skill can give healing monks an extra "Ompphh". A cover enchantment is recommended, as it will likely be the target of enchantment stripping. Can be very effective if used well.

 

Restore Condition* Elite Spell. Remove all Conditions from target other ally. For each Condition removed, that ally is healed for 10...58...70 Health. Protection Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/2 - Prophecies

The best condition removal in the game, and of course it is elite. The only down side is that the user is unable to target themselves.

 

Shield of Deflection* Elite Enchantment Spell. For 3...9...10 seconds, target ally has a 75% chance to block attacks and gains 15...27...30 armor. Protection Prayers 10/0.25/0.75/10 - Prophecies

This elite is seen sometimes in the meta game where melee pressure is prevalent. If this elite is left uncovered it will probably get removed, so play it wisely.

 

Word of Healing* Elite Spell. Heal target ally for 5...105...130 Health. Heal for an additional 15...83...100 Health if that ally is below 50% Health. Healing Prayers 5/0.75/0.75/3 - Core

Word of Healing is now a very good healing elite because of the sheer amount of health that it can restore. This skill has become a staple of the current meta game back-line.

 

Zealous Benediction* Elite Spell. Heal target ally for 30...150...180 Health. If target was below 50% Health, you gain 7 Energy. Protection Prayers 10/0.75/0.75/4 - Nightfall

While it is the Protection Prayers counterpart to Word of Healing, it is now not quite as effective as it used to be. The energy return on Zealous Benediction makes using it well a requisite.

Common Builds
This section will list monk builds that have seen use, and will attempt to explain them. Just to note, the names are arbitrary and are just something that helps me identify the build in my own library. Many of these builds can be expanded and changed, and are only listed here for reference purposes. For more recent builds, feel free to visit this thread. I don't claim to have made these builds up! It should also be noted that all the builds utilize only minor runes, so (x+1+1) means head peice + minor rune.

 

Originally Posted by Older Builds, circa Nightfall release Quote: Mo/A Blessed Dark Escape Divine Favor: 13 (11+1+1) Healing Prayers: 11 (10+1) Protection Prayers: 9 (8+1) Shadow Arts: 6 Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Blessed Light [Elite] (Divine Favor) Signet of Devotion (Divine Favor) Gift of Health (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) Dark Escape (Shadow Arts) Return (Shadow Arts) Skill Template Code: AzRRTfIc/2spbdlkw4MRL2AFYA This monk build capitalizes on positional play, using the stance Dark Escape to enable quick movement and massive damage mitigation. It is important here to use Blessed Light wisely as this build relies on passive energy management.   Mo/A Zealous Benediction Dark Escape Divine Favor 13 (11+1+1) Healing Prayers 11 (10+1) Protection Prayers 9 (8+1) Shadow Arts 6 Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Zealous Benediction [Elite] (Protection Prayers) Signet of Devotion (Divine Favor) Gift of Health (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) Dark Escape (Shadow Arts) Return (Shadow Arts) Skill Template Code: AzRRLfJc/2spv0lkw4MRL2AFYA This monk is similar to the previous in that it uses assassin stances as a way to capitalize on positional play. Again, wise use of the elite is necessary to manage energy.   Mo/E Light of Deliverance Infuse Divine Favor: 11 (10+1) Healing Prayers: 14 (12+1+1) Protection Prayers: 9 (8+1) Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Holy Veil (Monk other) Infuse Health (Healing Prayers) Dwayna's Kiss (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) Glyph of Lesser Energy (Elementalist other) Light of Deliverance [Elite] (Healing Prayers) Skill Template Code: AjNRjfIUnNdNhksRmJaRkRdF This build is more of a support monk build and replaces the need for heal party on an E/Mo, usually paired with another more "traditional" Zealous Benediction or Blessed Light monk.   Mo/W Divert Hexes Stance Divine Favor: 11 (10+1) Healing Prayers: 10 (9+1) Protection Prayers: 13 (11+1+1) Tactics: 4 Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Divert Hexes [Elite] (Protection Prayers) Signet of Devotion (Divine Favor) Gift of Health (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) Balanced Stance (Tactics) Shield of Absorption (Protection Prayers) Skill Template Code: ATQRLfLUr0sp50lkw4MRLOXurA This build is used in a hex heavy meta game to help alleviate the pressure of hexes. As discussed in the skill discussion of Divert Hexes, this build is only useful when hexes are prominent.   Mo/W Zealous Benediction Stance Divine Favor: 11 (10+1) Healing Prayers: 10 (9+1) Protection Prayers: 13 (11+1+1) Tactics: 4 Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Zealous Benediction [Elite] (Protection Prayers) Holy Veil (Monk other) Gift of Health (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) Balanced Stance (Tactics) Shield of Absorption (Protection Prayers) Skill Template Code: ATQRLfLUr0spv01kw4MRLOXurA This monk is a variation on the other Zealous Benediction in that the two stances have now been dropped in favor of Balanced Stance and Shield of Absorption. Like the other monk builds, careful use of skills is essential, especially since Holy Veil is on the bar instead of Signet of Devotion.   Mo/E Zealous Benediction Glyph Lesser Divine Favor: 11 (10+1) Healing Prayers: 11 (10+1) Protection Prayers: 13 (11+1+1) Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Zealous Benediction [Elite] (Protection Prayers) Holy Veil (Monk other) Gift of Health (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Spirit Bond (Protection Prayers) Glyph of Lesser Energy (Elementalist other) Shield of Absorption (Protection Prayers) Skill Template Code: AjNCk+sN6spv01kw4MRLiMurA This build is very similar to several of the others posted, however; with more and more teams bringing Wild Blow and similar skills into PvP, it has become almost pointless to bring stances. Glyph of Lesser Energy makes a nice replacement because it adds an element of passive energy management, much like Signet of Devotion does. Also notice that Signet of Devotion is not present and thus, wise usage of skills will help to maintain energy. One combination that works well is Glyph Lesser and hitting a Zealous Benediction that gives you +10 energy.

 

Mo/A Word of Healing - Return Divine Favor: 9 (8+1) Healing Prayers: 14 (12+1+1) Protection Prayers: 11 (10+1) Shadow Arts: 2 Dismiss Condition (Protection Prayers) Word of Healing (Healing Prayers) Guardian (Protection Prayers) Signet of Rejuvenation (Healing Prayers) Reversal of Fortune (Protection Prayers) Holy Veil (Monk Other) Return (Shadow Arts) Protective Spirit (Protection Prayers) Skill Template Code: OwcU04nCxvMbaNiA5uNTqJCs6BA

This is one of the newer WoH builds. This build combines some of the protective power of Guardian along with a healing build to bring more versatility to the table.

Equipment
=================
The equipment a monk uses also plays into how effective a monk can be. Of course, there are some differences in the way monks use weapon sets. The way presented here has worked for me in the past, and continues to work for me. I encourage you to search out other people's preferred weapon sets because I am only one monk, and my way isn't always the best way. Like I said, this is what has worked for me, and so I will continue to use it. It should be noted that I prefer the higher defense over health, but +health is always an option too on these sets.

For me it has always been 4 sets.
1: Shield
2: Normal
3: High
4: Convenience set

1: This is the set that I try to stay in as much as possible. It consists of a spear that is +5 Armor and -5 Energy combined with a Shield that is +30 HP and - damage. The - damage will sometimes be specialized depending on the meta. That shield can change per match if needed.
2: This is what I call my "normal" set. This set gives me enough energy to comfortably work. A +5 Armor and +5 Energy Spear combined with a +12 Energy Focus that gives me half recharge time on my major attribute. This focus also has +30 HP.
3: This set third set is what I call the high set. This set utilzes a wand of the major attribute with +15 energy -1 energy regeneration and half recharge of the attribute. This is combined with a focus that gives me +15 energy -1 energy regeneration and 30hp. It should be noted that a monk should not stay in this set, but rather should swap into it, cast and swap back out. This is because the regeneration on this set is half as much as in the other sets.
4: This set is what I call a convenience set. This slot varies with each build I play. If I'm playing an enchantment heavy protection monk, it might be a protection staff with +20% enchant length and half recharge mods. With a healing build, it might be a 40/40 set.

As for armor, I always use a superior Vigor rune, and all minor runes. I only use Survivor armor (+health armor). I do possess 6 pieces of armor so I can fluidly change my runes around without having to replace runes. This includes 3 head pieces (one of each attribute: Healing, Protection, Divine Favor), 1 chest piece, 2 hand wraps (one healing and protection), 2 leggings (one healing and divine), and 1 pair of shoes with a vitae rune.

Player Skills
=================
This section of the guide talks about things that you have to master both by yourself and also in a team setting. These small things can really help to improve the quality of your game, and when told to you may seem simple enough but will take a bit to get used to. Often times, it is just a small adjustment in the way you play.

Individual
=================
Energy Management
This is a hot topic among the community of monks. Should I use x over y? Would using x, y and z in combination be more energy efficient vs using a, b and c? These questions are always thrown up and sometimes it's tough to answer. The old boon/prot builds relied on external energy management, from skills like Mantra of Recall to Energy Drain to Inspired Hex; all these skills were selected to help the monk maintain his energy. Newer builds such as the Blessed Light Dark Escape use skills like Signet of Devotion and good skill usage to manage energy.

Within those two examples lies two different types of ways to manage energy. Builds that manage energy with skills like Energy Drain and Inspired Hex are said to use active energy management. This is called active energy management because the energy is generated from one source or another. For example, if you hit Energy Drain, you will inevitably get some energy. Now contrast that with skills like Signet of Devotion and Glyph of Lesser energy. The technique of using these skills combined with good skill usage is often called passive energy management. Skills like Signet of Devotion don't generate energy, but rather save you energy.

Usually when talking about energy management, monks refer to their equipment. If you don't remember, refer back up to the equipment section of the guide as you read this. As I had stated previously, my three main weapon sets are called my shield, normal energy, and high energy sets. Using these sets wisely is called energy hiding, and here, courtesy of Aiiane, is energy hiding explained:

Originally Posted by Aiiane from here The important factor here is that when you increase or decrease your maximum energy, your current energy also changes. In addition, you can go into negative energy, and regenerate back up to zero but you cannot be drained below zero energy by another player. What this means is that anytime you are in negative energy, you are regenerating energy and there is nothing your opponents can do about it. So, consider two scenarios: Scenario A: Monk has 40 base max energy, 10 current energy, normal weapons. Mesmer drains them for 10 energy. Monk tries to cast a spell, but can't. Monk ends up with 0 energy. Scenario B: Monk is on energy-hiding weapon set, with 30 base max energy, 0 current energy. Mesmer attempts to drain them for 10 energy, drains 0 (because there's none to drain). Monk swaps to higher-energy weapon set, now at 40 max energy, and current energy also increases by 10. Monk casts 10 energy spell. Monk swaps back to energy-hiding weapon set. Monk ends up with 0 energy. Exact same end, exact same starting energy - but the monk in scenario B got the spell off. That is what "energy hiding" is about in Guild Wars PvP. The best PvP monks are ones that can operate normally on the lowest amount of maximum energy.

So, to sum up what was quoted: the enemies can't drain energy you don't have. Part of good energy management is being able to stay in your shield set as much as possible. Coupled with good skill usage (ie, not over healing) it can be a powerful way to help you beat energy denial. It should be noted that if you do reach the high set, to never stay in it. Always swap to it, cast, and swap back off onto another set. This is because the high set has a reduced energy regeneration rate.

It should be noted that active energy management skills such as Energy Drain and Energy Tap benefit the most if you use them on spirits or pets, as they will usually have more energy than players.

Battlefield Awareness
Battlefield awareness ties in directly with helping you save energy, which in the long run means you'll be more prepared for curve balls the enemy throws at you. What constitutes battlefield awareness? A number of things, including but not limited to: watching the battlefield, keeping an eye on enemy warriors, enemy mesmers, being able to recognize skill animations, etc. Also, watching the battlefield means not staring at the health bars in the party window. Watching the field allows you to do two things. First, it allows you to watch what the enemy is doing. Second, it allows you to use your protection spells pro-actively, as opposed to reactively.This is what is called pre-prot'ing and it has the potential to save you a lot of energy.

Another upside to not getting tunnel vision is that you can now see what your team is doing as well. You can see things like the diversion animation and start removing the hex well before it is called. Watching the field is what separates the men from the boys. One very excellent way to practice this is to go into Random Arenas with a GvG monk build and start playing with the party window turned off forcing you to look at the field. (This tip was courtesy of JR- from GWG).

Another important part of battlefield awareness is being ready to handle all the threats that might pounce on you. As it stands, the defensive shield set can be your best friend if you stay in it as much as possible. This is because 1) you have the extra AL because of the shield, and 2) your energy remains low in case you are knocked down and can't swap. This becomes more of an issue if they are also using skills like Energy Surge and Energy Burn to spike/pressure you.

Tactical Awareness
This is something that a lot of good players just know. I actually thought to add this section after talking to some very informed mid-line players. Upon closer discussion, I found that a lot of what the mid-line has to recognize tactically, a monk would be good to also be aware of. While tactical awareness has a less immediate effect, being tactically aware of both your own team's devices as well as the opposing team's tactics can allow you to anticipate what might be coming. As a monk, if you're on your high set, your team should be already falling back. Then consider what the other team is thinking, and what they might attempt to do to capitalize on this. Instead of reacting to what they do, a monk might be able to save energy by anticipating what the enemy team will do. Being tactically aware is just one of the things that can push a player to the next level of play.

Movement
Movement is a term that I use to refer things I do to keep myself alive. Things like pre-kiting enemy warriors, knowing when to hide behind walls, or how to dodge slow, high arch projectiles all fall into this category. If you master pre-prot'ing then pre-kiting should not be an issue, and that is one of the main ideas being having good movement.
What is pre-kiting? Simply, if you see a warrior coming towards you? Run away from him, it'll buy you some time to pre-prot yourself, or they might be spiking you. Pre-kiting a spike can save some damage and give your partner monk more time to react and save your life. This ties into kiting as well. You might have already guessed, but kiting is the act of running from a source of damage in a small area so that the damage has to move, thus stopping the damage flow. For warriors, kiting side to side or in a small circle can be really effective. This allows you to stay in an optimal range to throw out heals, while preventing damage on you. Be careful about Bull's Strike as a monk, if a warrior has been chasing you for some time, chances are he will have Bull's Strike queued up. Sometimes it can be effective to kite him a bit, then stop to let him hit you once before you start to kite again. Against a caster spike, there are also a number of kite options, depending on the type of spike you may have different options.

On a bit of a tangent, I'm sure that people are aware that you can move in Guild Wars using the WASD movement scheme. As far as I know and have been told, mouse movement is superior to WASD because the mouse movement is handled on the server side, while WASD movement is localized first and then sent to the server. And as such, I would like to encouarge people to get comfortable with using click to move.

Comfort
One thing that is often understated is that a monk must be comfortable with what they are doing. In particular, a monk's input setup and heads up display should be customized to what they like best. I personally think that it is worthwhile for any monk using keyboard or mouse movement to get a key map that is comfortable for them. And as such, I will list my key binds and link to a screen shot of my HUD. Again, this is what has worked for me in the past and continues to work for me. Feel free to make your own key binds as this is about what makes you play your best.

Skills:

Code:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

q 2 3 4 5 6 t g

Target self = h
Mouse4 = cancel action
Mouse5 = Vent
And I use ESDFWR (ESDF with strafe) when I'm snared.

Here's a screen shot of my screen layout:

It is important for every monk to be comfortable with their key maps and screen layouts. Key maps are especially important. If you feel like it's a stretch to hit a skill, remap that skill's button to someplace easier to get to.

Team
=================
Communication
Communication can make or break any battle. From monks to warriors, communication is one of the key elements of any form of PvP. It is important for monks to know how to communicate and what to communicate. The general rule here is, if you think it's important or will help your team better respond to a threat, say it. Things like "I'm moving into my high set!" are important. It should be worth it to note that advance warning will always be better. For example, if I feel that I need to go into my energy set soon to keep the team up, I will tell them ahead of time. Notice one of the enemy team's elementalist run off with a flag and did not hear it called? Make it known in your team's voice chat. Even as a monk, relaying this kind of information can help your team organize and respond well. Between the two monks in a GvG build, some communication is useful. Got a hex to remove? Don't want to double up on hex removals, so call it: "Off 4." Things like these can help to save energy and avoid over-healing. Also arrange before hand with your monk partner how multiple hexes, conditions, and/or dropping bars is/are handled. Maybe one of you goes from bottom up, and the other top down. Simple things like this can make both of the monk's play become top class.

Positioning
Positioning refers where you are standing relative to the rest of the team. Is your team on the push? You should be slightly extended from where you normally are so you can reach your offensive quickly if needed. Is your team falling back? Be sure to be one of the first ones to start falling back. Another important consideration that goes here is, how far are you from the other monk? Can you two save each other without having to waste time running to get in range? Your position relative to your team can make or break any team maneuver, offensive or defensive.