Be the best… Online hero
Game: Guild Wars
Build a bullet-proof monk
Reducing numbers makes you stronger. Want to create a Guild Wars character who can shrug off any blow? You can manipulate the calculus behind the combat in counter-intuitive ways that only make you appear weaker on paper. It’s all in the percentages. Follow this build and you’ll stand toe-to-toe with almost any enemy.
1) Start a new monk character. The first step is to reduce your overall health - don’t worry, we haven't lost our minds. Equip five superior runes; ideally one for each of your attributes, plus a further one. That knocks a staggering 375 hit points from your character. Go further by equipping the Grum Cesta (which is a reward from the Cities of Ascalon quest in the original Guild Wars). Monks start with 480 health. You’ll end step one with 55.
2) Now comes the tricky bit. Select the Protective Spirit enchantment. This reduces the maximum damage of any single blow you take to 10% of your health pool. 10% of your original health was 37 hit points. Now it’s five.
3) And finally we come to the pay-off. Guild Wars' Nightfall expansion introduced the enchantment Shield of Absorption, which reduces the damage you receive by five points. It may not sound like much, but for your puny monk that means damage received has been reduced to exactly nothing. You’re now free to pick your six damage-dealing skills at leisure.
4) Congratulations: you are now an invincimonk. There is one small caveat, though: if you come across a Necromancer or Mesmer player in PvP, run. Fast. Mesmers will strip your enchantments while dealing damage, leaving you weeping. A Necromancer will just reduce that tiny health pool to zero in less than a second. Dead.
