Guild Wars: A Journey

The Early Months

Chapter 2: My Monk (July 6th, 2005 to July 11th, 2005)

Monky Business

    Now that I had finished the game with my Elementalist, I felt it was time for me to create another character. I created a Monk on July 6th. Since I already enjoyed the damage a spell caster can inflict, I though I should try the opposite and try the healing side of spell casting. Besides...monks could get any group they wanted! Looking back now, I had no clue that this character would ultimately turn out to be my "main" character, consuming thousands of hours of my time and going on to complete almost every single significant milestone I've ever accomplished in the game.

    My goal from the start was bold yet simple. I would grab some henchmen, skip every mission and most every quest, and hench my way straight to Sanctum Cay. I had already beaten every mission in the game. Now I wanted to explore the side routes and see if I could make it the long way by just my wits. I quickly grabbed what I needed in pre-searing and left at about level 3. I then set my plan in motion. I grabbed some henchmen and left Ascalon City. My Monk henched her way through Old Ascalon to The Breach and made a quick pit stop at Piken Square. Some of the Charr mobs packed a punch against level 3s. She then traveled west to the Diessa Lowlands. The enemies here proved a bit of a challenge for her low levels but she had a chance to gain some monking experience in the process. After another pit stop at the Grendich Courthouse it was on to the Ascalon Foothills. The hydras are always a pain and were pretty lethal when grouped together. But she managed to plow her way through and eventually reached Yak's Bend in tact at around level 7 or 8.

    Now came the part I dreaded. In order to continue I had to pass through the Iron Horse Mine. My poor Elementalist was still plagued by nightmares of that place. Well, there was no avoiding it. My Monk continued on with her new henchmen. I can't remember which route she took through the mine, but she managed to keep the henchmen healthy enough to reach the other side alive. The Iron Horse Mine had been conquered, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of revenge had been taken on behalf of my Elementalist. Emboldened by her triumph over the mine, she quickened her pace and flew through Anvil Rock. Wait, what is this? A previously undiscovered town, the Ice Tooth Cave! Great, the detour north turned up a nice surprise. She didn't stay long. She had places to be!

    The rest of the road to Lion's Arch was rather uneventful. The undead in the swamp lands proved to be a nuisance again though. Since my Monk was still at only level 10, I made sure to stop at the Temple of the Ages so that she could utilize a party of eight. I had read online that it was possible to travel to Sanctum Cay with such a party and do the mission there with all eight players. This is exactly what she had in mind. The seven henchmen made the rest of the trip to Sanctum Cay a breeze. The extra henchmen made the mission itself very easy.

Healing 101

    After arriving in the Crystal Desert at level 11, my monk went to work and traveled to each town with henchmen before beginning the missions. While her level made it more difficult, having another monk in the party helped out a lot. She started off with Dunes of Despair. The mission, like it always is, was very easy complete no matter what level it is entered at. Next she tried to hench Elona Reach. My Elementalist had not been able to beat Elona Reach with henchies but with a little work my Monk was able to beat it. After the missions and all of the traveling she did she was now level 13. She traveled to Thirsty River and camped out for a bit while using the dance emote. I was able to hench Elona Reach for the first time but that mission was basically just your usual pull and kill with a moderate time restriction. Thirsty River not only had a much more severe time restriction but it had the monk boss and heavily armed foes which my Monk would not be able to take down fast enough.

    After dancing for quite some time my Monk received a party invitation. Although I was aware monks could basically get any group they wanted, I had not tried to find a PUG for this mission yet for two reason. One, I had never before healed actual players and I was not confident I would be able to meet their expectations. Two, I was only level 13 and I did not want to be a burden on any group. I received a whisper from the person inviting me asking me if I would join their group because they needed a monk. I replied that my level was only 13 (in case they had not noticed for some reason) and that I did not want to be a burden. He told me he didn't care about my level and wanted me to join. I finally said okay and joined their group. It was a balanced party with me being the only monk. The only low leveled monk who had never before healed actual players. Uh oh. (And just look at that skill bar I was using above. Hilarious!)

    We got off to a good start. We killed the giants for our moral boosts and then set out to defeat the first boss. We had two strong warriors in our party who were excellent tanks and then some damage dealers. The first boss was defeated rather quickly and I had no problems healing the group. We then moved on to the second and third bosses and dispatched them with equal ease. This was a pretty good group so I did not have too many problems healing them. By the time we reached the third boss area we went after the monk boss group first. We took care of the two initial mobs but we failed to kill the priest in under two minutes. Both previous mobs spawned right on top of us and I quickly died. The group was now monkless and completely surrounded. Everyone ended up dying except the two warriors. I had never before (and very few times since) witnessed warriors take a beating as bad as the ones they did and still survive. It didn't matter that at least ten enemies including two monks were pummeling them for several minutes straight. The warriors just wouldn't die. It seemed like forever but these two warriors managed to single-handedly slay the priest and grind down the hordes of enemies. Eventually we were all resurrected and finished the mission without any more hiccups. My first attempt at monking a human group was successful thanks to two powerful warriors.

    The Doppleganger took my Monk several times to defeat. I finally looked online and found that using her mesmer skills was the easiest way to go. She henched the Dragon's Lair, Ice Caves of Sorrow, and the Iron Mines of Moladune with no problems. Finally she arrived at Thunderhead Keep and I was already dreading how many PUGs it would take to finally complete the mission. As expected, I received multiple party invites right away. I joined the PUG I thought looked the most balanced and prepared for the worst. It was a fairly balanced group but there was one critical flaw. The only other monk in the party was Lina. Despite expecting failure, I went ahead with them anyways and we cleared out the city and fort without incident. When it came time to protect the king once again this group decided to split up and protect both doors. From the start it didn't go so well. Lina kept running up to enemies and dying and I was frantically running from side to side trying to keep everyone alive. Whenever one side would quiet down a few members would run over and help the other. Despite Lina being dead almost the entire siege, we somehow pulled out a miracle and completed the mission. I'd like to think that I was just good enough to be able to keep the party alive, but I suspect it was pure luck.

    My luck from Thunderhead Keep held throughout the fire islands and I was able to fly through those missions with little difficulty. I joined a PUG for Ring of Fire and completed it just fine. I henched Abaddon's Mouth again and after a false start (brought the wrong skills to deal with the initial wall) the mission went on without a hitch. I joined a PUG again for Hells Precipice and again the mission was fairly mundane. Aside from that false start at Abaddons my Monk was able to complete every mission she attempted on the first try. I was amazed at how easy and fast she flew through the game. It only took her 5 days to complete the game, faster than it took my Elementalist just to complete Thunderhead Keep. My skill bar improved significantly since the desert. I had added Word of Healing as my elite and through in Rebirth which was great for henchie parties. The skill bar layout I set up on my Monk has been basically unchanged in the over two years I've been playing the game. I generally put my elite skill in the 1 slot. My main heals go in slots 2 through 5. My condition and hex removals as well as any miscellaneous skills go in slots 5 through 7 and my resurrection skill goes in slot 8. My other character classes generally follow a similar pattern with the elite in the 1, other main skills in 2 through 5, some other skills in 5 through 7, and the resurrection in slot 8.