MMORPG.com Atlantica Online Correspondent Andrew Corpuz writes this look at the issue surrounding the double Monk issue in Atlantica Online and gives some possible solutions.
There currently aren't many alternatives to Holy Guard that benefit a row of mercenaries; a player is most usually going to place HG on a row whenever he is able since there isn't much else that can be done to buff that row. If a significant number of friendly skills are increased, then there will be less reason to place Holy Guard. Strategically, adding a significant amount of these category of skills can change the mechanics, making buff and support equally as imperative as dealing direct damage.
1) Passives
Summary: While passive skills don't affect players under HG, the skills usually don't affect enough mercenaries (in a typical formation) or don't provide enough of a buff to prevent the user from placing HG. Since passives can stack extremely well and with zero effort in battle, an increase in the number of passives will keep players from using HG on characters under the effect of multiple passives. However, because they are passive (not requiring thought to activate in battle), the addition of more passive skills is not as an effective tool as adding other types of friendly skills.