Forum Link Code:[url=]Spirit bonding guide[/url]
This guide is aimed at giving both a basic picture of what
Spirit Bonding is as well as an in-depth look into all variations
and techniques used in this tanking/farming
build.
What is Spirit Bonding?
Spirit Bonding is based on three concepts:
- The skill Spirit Bond heals its target for a large amount,
but only if that target was about to take more than 60 damage. Note
that the skill heals even if that damage was reduced before
it actually hits the target. So, if a Fireball was about to its target for 119
damage, and that target had a protective enchantment that
limited the damage to, say, 50 hit points, Spirit Bond's healing
will still take effect, because the original damage was higher than
60.
- The skill Protective Spirit is used to cap the actual
damage taken so that it never exceeds the amount that the target is
healed for.
- The lowest possible armor is worn to make as many hits as possible trigger
Spirit Bond's effect.
What are the Advantages of Spirit
Bonding?
There are several major advantages to Spirit Bonding, especially
when compared with the classic Invincible Monk (or any other 55
build):
- As long as there are enough foes that hit hard enough, the
Spirit Bonder can take on any number of foes. A 55 monk is the
opposite; after a certain number of foes (as low as 9 or as high as
15), his health regeneration will not be able to keep up. A Spirit
Bonder is healed per hit for more than the amount he/she was hit
for, therefore, theoretically, can take on a near infinite number
of attackers.
- The required armor and equipment for making a Spirit Bonder are
very cheap.
- Spirit Bonding can be done entirely with just 10 or so attribute ranks in Protection
Prayers. This leaves a lot of attribute points for doing other
things than just staying alive.
- The life-line of the build, the skill Spirit Bond, casts in 1/4
of a second, and is thus virtually uninterruptible. This is in
contrast to Healing Breeze, the main healing skill for a
55 monk, which casts in 1 second.
- A Spirit Bonder usually does his job at regular health or more. This actually has
three positive side effects:
- There is more room for error. A 55 monk who lets Protective
Spirit wear off almost always dies; a Spirit Bonder with either
Protective Spirit or Spirit Bond worn off has a larger window of
opportunity to recast them.
- The average or higher than average health allows the Spirit
Bonder to use Smiting Prayers like Retribution to dish out
damage. This leads to much faster killing of foes.
- A Spirit Bonder can be resurrected via a regular resurrection skill. Death Penalty does not hinder their ability to
tank.
What are the Disadvantages?
- Like 55 monks, heavy enchantment removal is the bane of Spirit Bond
monks.
- Also like their 55 brethren, their energy depends on being hit. If there are too
few enemies, the Spirit Bonder will run into major energy issues of
keeping Protective Spirit and Spirit Bond up.
- Unlike their 55 brethren, their healing also relies on being
hit. This leaves them very vulnerable if aggro is broken up for any reason as they usually
do not rely on health regeneration like 55 monks.
- Certain areas pose more of a challenge for Spirit Bonders
because there might be too many foes who use wands and staves. Such foes damage the Spirit Bonder, but do not
trigger Spirit Bond at times. See the usage tips below on how to
increase damage received so that Spirit Bond can kick in. Also, see
Build:Me/Mo 55 IW
Solo Mesmer and the Build:Mo/E Sliver 55 for builds that use
both 55 health and Spirit Bond to overcome this limitation.
Counters to the Build
- Anything that can take away a Spirit Bonder's enchantments will
quickly eliminate him/her. Spell Breaker or similar may help against
this.
- Life
stealing and massive health degeneration as well as Healing
reduction effects can cause problems in terms of the Spirit
Bonder's ability to heal up as fast as he is taking damage.
It is for these reasons that a Spirit Bonder is not suited to PvP, but a powerful build in PvE, especially when taking on
large quantities of melee
foes.
Skill Selection
The basic skill bar is simple:
The rest of the skills are up to you! Let's examine the skills
that can be placed in all those skill slots below.
The Basics
Spirit Bond
- The very lifeblood of the Spirit Bonder is the skill it's named
after: Spirit Bond.
Protective
Spirit
Protective
Bond
- Either of these two skills will do, but Protective Spirit is by
far the more popular choice, due to energy concerns. Unless there's
some very good reason for bringing Protective Bond, try not to. If
you do, consider combining it with Bonetti's Defense (below).
Energy Gain Skills
Balthazar's
Spirit
Essence Bond
- These skills are essential. Each time you get hit, which will
be often, they give you energy. Consider bringing both, but at
least one is needed without question. Balthazar's Spirit is
superior to Essence Bond because it triggers on any damage, not
certain types of damage.
Blessed
Signet
- When you have 3-4 maintained enchantments on you, Blessed
Signet is there to help you get energy to start up Protective
Spirit and Spirit Bond. Usually, after casting several pre-battle
enchantments, you'll have very little energy. This is very useful
for getting your feet off the ground, unless partied with a Necro
using Blood
Ritual or even Blood is Power.
Bonetti's
Defense
- Consider bringing this skill for some extreme energy gain. This
isn't nearly as useful on a Spirit Bonder as on a 55, because a
Spirit Bonder doesn't need the damage mitigation this skill
provides. Also, when under heavy degen, a Spirit Bonder needs to be
taking enough damage to heal themselves. Essence Bond and
Balthazar's Spirit are generally superior choices.
Damage-Dealing Skills
Shield of
Judgment
- The staple damage dealer of Invincible Monks is still the same.
Powerful and effective. A solid choice for solo farming
everywhere.
Balthazar's
Aura
Symbol of
Wrath
- While once the staples of dealing damage, these are no longer
recommended. Both of these spells cause continuous Area of Effect
Damage. Since an update towards the end of 2005, enemies
will now flee when faced with repeated Area of Effect damage.
Retribution
Holy Wrath
- Since Spirit Bonders tend to have high health and get hit for
high damage, Retribution can dish out some serious damage over
time. Holy Wrath, while dealing more damage, is generally
unsustainable because of the huge energy loss. Either calculates
damage after Protective Spirit, meaning Retribution does 33% of 10%
of your health, while Holy Wrath deals 66% of 10% of your health.
This is 3.33...% and 6.66...%, respectively, and the primary reason
to push your health as high as possible.
Spiteful
Spirit
- Spiteful Spirit takes a while to cast, but over time or against
extremely durable enemies, Spiteful Spirit is very potent. Consider
using it if you do not expect interrupts.
Sliver Armor
- The bigger the aggro gathered around the Spirit Bonder the more
destructive this skill will become. It's only problem is the short
duration and the fact that its damage is affected by the armor of
the foes.
Zealot's Fire
- Every time you reapply a skill, which will be fairly often, it
deals damage to all surrounding enemies. If using this skill, be
sure to time your skills in 3 seconds intervals or more, or enemies
will flee from you.
Shockwave
Crystal Wave
Teinai's
Crystals
- These 3 skills can easily replace Shield of Judgment,
Retribution, and Blessed Signet (with only 2 maintained
enchantments, Blessed Signet is not worthwile anymore) in a
standard solo farming Spirit Bonder build. This skill set is
extremely powerful in an area with exceptional amounts of melee
attackers, like the Minotaurs in Elona Reach or the Mountain Trolls
outside Droknar's Forge in Talus Chute. For more
potency, consider using this as an E/Mo instead of Mo/E.
Edge of
Extinction
- This nature ritual can be very useful using undirected Smiting
Prayers, like Retribution. The hard hitting melee foes will
drop first, while the passive reflected damage back to the others
(casters or rangers) will
ensure that this spirit reaps them all. Make sure to set it down
before the fight in range of where the enemies will be and
sufficiently far away from them so they don't destroy it. Keep in
mind, that you must get all enemies to at least 90% health before
Edge of Extinction triggers on them.
Damage Vulnerability Skills
Frenzy
Elemental
Resistance
Physical
Resistance
- Any of these 3 stances can be used to make sure that your
enemies do enough damage to trigger Spirit Bond. The general
utility stance is Frenzy, as no matter the foe you are facing, it
works, provided you cast Spirit Bond after activating it. The other
two are for more specialised purposes. For example, in the Underworld, Grasping
Darknesses do only 40 damage to you even when not wearing any
armor. All their attacks are physical, so Elemental Resistance give
you a low enough armor class to actually kick Spirit Bond into
effect.
Healing
Signet
- While using Healing Signet, your armor is lowered by 40,
definitely low enough so that all enemies in high level areas will
do enough damage to trigger Spirit Bond. The downside is that it
has a recharge, and may thus force you to rely on Healing Prayers
during the recharge, making the your attribute layout less
flexible.
Spirit Bonding in the Underworld
Enchantment Removal Protection
Skills
Spell Breaker
- Spell Breaker stops enchantment stripping spells just
like Spell Shield. In an Underworld or Fissure of Woe farming team, losing your
Protective Spirit and Spirit Bond means certain death. Since you
just have to tank the mobs
while the other player deals the damage, spending your elite slot
on a relatively care-free way to prevent enchantment removal is a
good deal.
Shadow Form
- Possibly one of the most overpowered anti-spell enchantments in
the Guild Wars arsenal, it also stops attacks against you.
Non-spell skills that can strip your enchantments still do so, but
those are far and few in between. This is even more powerful than
Spell Breaker, but a Spirit Bonder requires being attacked to heal,
and when Shadow Form ends, you lose a lot of health. As soon as
creatures hit you again, however, you should be back up to full in
no time.
Spell Shield
- This will protect you from spells while you are casting
yourself. Since it can be kept up indefinitely with a high enough
level in Divine Favor and a weapon of enchanting, it might be a
viable choice when paired with a slow-casting skill used like an
interrupt.
Leech Signet
Power Return
- Needed when solo farming and Spell Breaker isn't viable because
you need the damage from a different elite, or when faced with
enchantment removal by non-spell skills. Interrupt the stripping
skill, and you'll live. Criteria to judge them include:
- Energy cost, an interrupt is no good if you can't use it when
you need it. Signets work well here.
- Ability to interrupt non-spell skills, if necessary.
- Recharge.
- A complete list of all possible interrupts can be found here, but the usual choices
are placed above, already.
Misc Skills
Vital
Blessing
- Retribution can do lots of damage, and if using superior runes to bolster the capability
of your other skills, Vital Blessing can help you get the most out
of Retribution.
Sympathetic
Visage
Ancestor's
Visage
- Consider adding one or both of these to deny the mobs you farm
the use of energy and adrenaline skills.
Blessed Aura
Arcane Echo
- Does Spirit Bond expire too fast? Maybe your Shield of Judgment
dissolves before everything is dead, or Spell Breaker dies before
those enchantment strippers do. Blessed Aura and Arcane Echo are
here to help. Make those enchantments last longer using Blessed
Aura, or use Arcane Echo to get an extra copy of your favorite
spell.
Distortion
Lightning
Reflexes
Glyph
of Concentration
- There are mobs with interrupts you need to counter. Both stances provide 75% evade
and are hence great against attack interrupts, but you can't have a
damage-increasing stance active simultaneously. The glyph may work
as a cover skill to draw the monster's interrupts, or will make
your next spell uninterruptible if itself completes.
Life
Attunement
- This skill will increase the life gain from Spirit Bond
significantly with decent attributes. This will help you survive in
places where the usual Spirit Bond healing is not enough.
Equipment
Armor
Your armor MUST be armor level 15 or below. Shing Jea Level
Ascetic Armor, available from Kambei, Moon
Ahn, or Nu Leng is
good, if you still have the level 5 Starter Armor, that's even better. Try
wearing as few pieces of armor as possible if you need to further
increase the damage you take. Leg and feet armor provide additional
energy regeneration, so are probably not expendable, but the energy
bonus on hands and especially the chest piece (with its high
probably of getting hit) might not be worth it. If you don't need
the +1 bonus from a normal headgear, use a special event headpiece, which will
have 0 armor and allow you to fit a rune in.
Runes
You will want the best Vigor Rune possible, and whatever you need to boost your
skills. Keep in mind that the higher your health, the higher the
damage from Retribution and the more room to recover from the
occasional hits that do less than the required 60 damage.
Weapons
Your staff or wand and offhand can be anything, as long as it
does not increase armor. That said, an enchanting weapon
is tremendously useful, required even; any additional health is
welcome, too.
For solo farming, a cheap, starter's combination would be the Totem Axe and Wenslauss'
Chalice. These increase enchantment length by 20%, give +45 to
your health and a total of +17 energy (if you have at least 9 Divine Favor).
The best offhand is Shen's Censure, which is smiting prayers-based
and can give you a more powerful smiting spells with +1 20% to
Smiting, as well as possibly halve the skill recharge of Shield of
Judgment.
As for 2 man farming, the Kaolin Protection Staff and Kepkhet's
Refuge are excellent choices for 2 man farming where you are
the tank. An excellent offhand to use, if staves are not wanted, is
The
Soulstone with it's +1 to divine favor, making Spell Breaker
last a second more, giving you that cruicial edge, plus 20% chance
for HSR for Divine Favor, making Spell Breaker recharge twice as
quickly.
However, clearly the best weapon is the Flame Spitter,
which will reduce your armor by 10 while attacking, grant a 10%
chance of half skill recharge, can be fitted with an axe grip of
enchanting, and still leaves you space for an offhand, like Shen's
Censure or Wenslauss' Chalice.
Usage
Now that you have all the skills and equipment, it's time to use
them.
First, cast all maintained enchantments. Then use Blessed Signet
to regain your energy back to maximum (or just wait, if you have energy
regeneration left). Get near some monsters, cast Protective
Spirit, activate your damage increasing stance, then cast Spirit
Bond. Be absolutely sure to not cast Spirit Bond before the stance,
otherwise the damage increase will come into effect after the
Spirit Bond check and hence do nothing useful at all.
Congratulations, you are now invincible. Cast Signet of Judgment
or a similar skill if you are afraid it would get interrupted
later, then run ahead and make all those foes hit you. Recast
Protective Spirit, the damage-increasing skill and Spirit Bond
before they run out, apply whatever damage-dealing skills you have
chosen, and make sure you're always fighting several monsters
(otherwise you are likely to run into energy problems).
Example Builds
These builds are made to work, out of the box. They've been
tested, used, and abused by the author. Each is ready to rock. Just
pop the skills in and set the attributes, and you're ready to make
money!
Troll Farming
This is for farming Mountain Trolls in the troll cave outside Droknar's
Forge in Talus
Chute. The trolls themselves don't need Frenzy, but the
Avicara do. These guys
may even interrupt your shield of judgment making retribution do
the damage dealing for quite a while. Afterwards, move up into the
cave and aggro all the trolls. Then, activate Shield of Judgment
when they are all attacking you and watch them fall to the ground.
Then, go up and get the Tundra Giants if desired. When fighting them, be
sure to activate Shield of Judgment before aggroing them. They will
knock you down randomly, but don't get knocked down themselves, so
they attack more often and get the damage from Shield of Judgment
more often.
Underworld Spirit Bonding
Like the Avicara outside Droknar's Forge, Grasping
Darknesses will refuse to deal enough damage. Use Elemental
Resistance to make Spirit Bond trigger. Otherwise, the rules are
the same as the regular team build. Consider replacing
Elemental Resistance with Frenzy using the same attribute point
spread. The advantages include greater chance to activate spirit
bond damage, but a much shorter duration.
Fissure of Woe Spirit Bonding
The original invincimonk is
almost identical to this build, except the build in this guide uses
Spirit Bonding for a more powerful, secure tank. An advantage of
Spirit Bonding in the fissure is the resistance to enchantment
removal that Spirit Bonding allows. Spell Breaker (without Arcane Echo) is
necessary for the few scenarios where there is more than one mesmer. However, in most
cases, Spirit Bond can cover Protective Spirit and be recast
immediately if removed.
See Also
Monk / Warrior 
Monk / Mesmer 
