Hardy Strength Monk (40 Monk)

After seeing some str monks play, and talking with Groo, this is the version I came up with. It is weighted excessively toward AC and saves, which I think is a decent first plan for playing a strength monk.


Glethnir after double demigod, bardsong, Girding, using BUR robes, BUR cloak, Strongheart and the Asmo torch. AC could be 3 higher with a different artifact, but I think the torch is a much better choice. AB is actually 94 according to combat log (92 in flurry).


Race: Dwarf Zenythri (BUR subrace)
STR: 14 -> 18
DEX: 16 -> 20
CON: 12 -> 14 (dwarf)
WIS: 16 -> 20
INT: 8
CHA: 8 -> 6 (dwarf)

All stat points into STR.

Level progression: all Monk.

Feats from Zenythri: WS: Unarmed, EWS: Unarmed, Imp Crit: Unarmed, Improved Whirlwind Attack

Pre-Epic Feats:
1: Toughness
3: Weapon Focus: Unarmed
6: Dodge
9: Iron Will
12: Great Fortitude
15: Lightning Reflexes
18: Blind Fight

Epic Feats:
21: Epic Weapon Focus: Unarmed
24: Epic Prowess
25: Armor Skin (bonus feat)
27: Great Strength 1
30: Great Strength 2, Epic Toughness (bonus feat)
33: Great Strength 3
35: Epic Toughness (bonus feat)
36: Great Strength 4
39: Great Strength 5
40: Epic Toughness (bonus feat)

Naked stats at 40: STR 33, DEX 20, CON 14, WIS 20, INT 8, CHA 6.

Legendary Feats:
42: Great Strength 6
45: Great Strength 7
48: Great Strength 8
51: LWF: Unarmed
54: Legendary Fortitude
57: Legendary Reflexes
60: Legendary Will

Naked stats at 60: STR 46, DEX 20, CON 14, WIS 20, INT 8, CHA 6.
AB: 90, 87, 84, 81, 78, 90, 85 (flurry, with +20 bonus)
Saves: 64 Fort, 67 Reflex, 67 Will
HP: 960
AC: 122 using UR/Illithid gear, goes up with BURs, Strongheart, Girding
Conceal: 80% from Empty Body

Skill Points: At all levels maximize Craft Armor, Discipline, and Tumble.

Some build considerations:

• The build does not have parry. Once you get demigod this is a non-issue with the torch, and your monk has an excellent 60-round critical immunity option via Wholeness of Body, so I did not miss it.
  
• You could drop 2 WIS to get 4 extra stat points to raise CON 2 (60 more hp) and INT 2 (max parry or listen). For the Hells I thought the AC was more important, but there's certainly a strong case for taking parry, and maxing listen would let you hit things like Pit Fiends and Malebranches more often.
  
• The saves are higher than are really necessary. If you drop Dodge and take Luck of Heros at creation time, then take Legendary Luck and two more Great Strength feats in LL's instead of the trio of legendary save feats, you will end up with adequate saves (61,62,62) and 1 more AB/damage.
  
• The 3 Epic Toughness feats are not really by choice -- monks get very few choices for epic bonus feats.
  
• The DEX is high enough to make many dex checks in the Hells. You'll still need to be careful around Malebranches.
  

The damage output from a str monk in the Hells is quite good. This build will not do quite as much as a more offensively focused one, and certainly not as much as Groo's Dim Mak Master which has a higher STR, higher AB, and 10 attacks per round vs. 7. On the other hand as a pure monk this build does get Keen applied to the gloves which helps make up a bit of the damage on non-crit-immune mobs (note that as Groo points out, you absolutely excel against crit immune mobs like Pit Fiends, Malebranches, and bosses, so having keen isn't going to help on those). I didn't have any feelings in the Hells of doing poor damage, and I wasn't usually a "glass-cannon" (though pre-asmo torch, getting surrounded by a pack of mobs in Maladomini is not recommended).