Spirits are not very useful in the brief encounters you face in the early game. However, they prove invaluable in the extended encounters that are the norm later on. I often find myself having to cast my spirits 2 or even 3 times during encounters, especially on these missions where you have to fend off waves of creatures. Spirits are only a portion of the skill bar, however. I really like "Mend Body and Soul," and some of these weapon skills are really nice. I already have some combos going in the back of my head, but I probably won't share them on this forum for a while

How about going as a Rt/R and using Oath Shot to recharge the skills, I'm not really sure if Oath Shot would recharge the Rt spirits or not though.

it should, as far as i know(i used it on my ranger and it recharged all my monk skills)...anyone tested it?

Yeah it does work: Oath Shot recharges everything but a rez sig and oathshot itself. However, remember that with less than - erm not sure 5 expertise maybe? anyway a rit has 0 expertise so... - you have 50% chance to miss.

Oh yeah forgot about that, still 50% chance is not too bad, even if you miss you would've had to wait anyway...