Post by shardelay on Apr 20, 2010 16:39:29 GMT
I'm finally getting around to posting my much reinc'd and revised str/uni monk build because I've finally found a version I like. He has gone through a few itterations and bears some resemblance to the Str Dim Mak build as well as Sabre's Face of Agony. However, I've swapped in paladin for saves and fear immune to free up a few feats for power and sup crit and ive moved the level arrangements around slightly. He's also updated to take advantage of new feats and the current skills in the game.
Blurring Fists
Monks are, in my opinion, all about getting ALOT of attacks at a reasonably high ab (many attacks, -3 attack progression). Harper scout seems like the obvious compliment to this. Adding in extra attacks that start at my highest abfrom HS levels means I swing my fists even more quickly and get ALOT of attacks - all pretty close to my top ab. Paladin levels get my tier 1 ab for max attacks per round, fear immunity, and saves.
The intention of this build was to get good damage from a monks flurry of hits, but still retain some semblence of viable defense. You could argue that this fails until after demis. After 2x demi he really shines when he has +16 on his fists.
This is a hells unitank with a final demi'd and geared 58str and 42dex. He also has 42wisdom which means more checks vs Abyss mobs.
Here goes.
Final build in +14 gear:AB 94, 96 with double demi
AC 133 pre demi with girding and a SH and a wis arti. But this is super gear dependant, if you had +12's only, no wis arti, no strongheart, and no girding, your ac would drop to 126. Post demi with arti and SH and girding you can hit 140ac
hp: (my spreadsheet doesnt do this correctly I realized! 1000ish... this is a bit weak
saves with 2x demi
Fort: 67
Reflex: 69
Will: 71
abilities with double demi:
Str: 58
Dex: 42
Con: 30
Int: 30
Wisdom: 42 (with arti)
Cha: 26
Using fists he is 18-20 x3 (have to check that, i cant recall the multiplier off hand) however he gets slash/pierce/bludge damage from glove choices.
Pro's: .
- Good defense after demi
- Max listen for conceal penetration
- A true Uni tank
- Great saves
- Pally quality fear immune
- Disease immune
- Crit immune from 40 base str + parry for permanant crit reduction
- Gloves mean he can swap between pierce/bludge/slash damage at will
- Absurdly high number of attacks each round
- Extra phys damage per swing from mnk innate damage + zeny weap spec damage
- OC/DC/PC
- Flurry for an extra attack
- Nifty HS boots
Con's:
- KB is devastating with this many hits. Most of my deaths are from immunity debuffs adn then a swarm of kickback from me smacking around a PF. You need good immunity rings.
- No unressistable damage
- No UMD (need GS pots)
- Low AB for a tank
- Low HP
- No stunning fists
- Self conceal is down a bit form max
Here goes:
Race: Human
Subrace: Zenythri
Creation screen stats:
Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Wis: 14
Int: 12
Cha: 8
Subrace mod'd starting stats:
Str: 20
Dex: 18
Con: 12
Wis: 18
Int: 12
Cha: 8
Lvl 1-12 Monk
Lvl 13-20 Paladin
Lvl 21-25 Harper Scout
Lvl 26-40 Monk
Abilities:
STR every level
Feats:
1) Power Attack, Iron Will
3) Weapon Focus Unarmed
6) Great Cleave
9) Greater weapon focus
12) Power Critical
15) Alertness
18) Toughness
21) Over Crit, G Dex 1
24) Dev Crit
25) G Dex 2
27) Epic Weapon Focus
30) Epic Prowess
33) G Dex 3
36) G Str 1
38) Armor Skin
39) G Str 2
skills:
8 persuade, 6 lore, 4 search and disc before HS at lvl 21
Max Disc at 43
Max Listen at 43 (not pal lvls)
Max Tumble at 43 (not pal lvls)
Max CA to 43
Legendary Abilities:
All str
Legendary Feats:
G Dex 1
LWF
G Wis 1
G Wis 2
G Wis 3
G Wis 4
??
Legendary Skills:
Disc to 60
Tumble to 60
Max listen to 63
Max CA to 63
Max Parry to 63
Dump rest in conc 28
Tome: n/a
Pandect:
ARti: Wis - you need this for +16 on your fists at double demi. Also gives you 1 ac. This is important.
I am happy to report that after the latest reinc, this monk handily has run Tia to Mala w/out the problems his previous versions have had. He's still a bit squishy with low ac and hp, but careful timing of crit immunity and mnk conceal make him much more survivable. His HS levels definately do their job of extra damage; during the Malb run there was another str/uni mnk with very similiar stats and feats but no HS and the HS version had about 20% more damage.
Gloves are great and disapointing at the same time. The ability to swap to slash/bludge/pierce is great, but I find the mega-damage portion of the gloves to just never be enough damage to compare versus the normal gloves. I use them only for superior healers. I find that dis gloves tend to be the go-to glove with a swap to styg for a few specific mobs (maleb). Gloves dont make this guy a fist staffy/AA. Also remember that you get +16 with your max wis and this is a huge benefit - IoF/GMW doesnt work on gloves, you are on your own for piercing mob soak.
You can swap in and out more monk for paladin levels or vica-versa in this build with a few impacts. If you decrease monk levels you decrease the innate phy monk damage (1pt for 3 levels). You also loose out on stunning fist DC, but as a non-pure mnk this isn't a great option anyway. You give up a bit of SR, which is not a huge deal. You give up 1% concealment per mnk lvl with empty body which is something. You give up some duration of crit immune. You also give up 1 ac per 5 mnk lvls. This is alot to give up. In return you gain 1AB for every 4 paladin levels you include. 4 paladin gives you 1 ab, 8 paladin gives you another, 12 pal gives you a third. The balance I struck was with 8 paladin. It's a heavy price, but AB is on teh low side on this build and CW cant squeeze any extra ab into the mix. AB is the biggest problem here (you make up for it with alot of hits), so I went with 8 paladin. I think 4 8 or 12 are all valid choices.
You can also swap 2 con for 2 more int and more skills. You can freely swap around skills and I can see an argument for dropping CA for UMD in LL (HS get UMD cross class in LL)
Blurring Fists
Monks are, in my opinion, all about getting ALOT of attacks at a reasonably high ab (many attacks, -3 attack progression). Harper scout seems like the obvious compliment to this. Adding in extra attacks that start at my highest abfrom HS levels means I swing my fists even more quickly and get ALOT of attacks - all pretty close to my top ab. Paladin levels get my tier 1 ab for max attacks per round, fear immunity, and saves.
The intention of this build was to get good damage from a monks flurry of hits, but still retain some semblence of viable defense. You could argue that this fails until after demis. After 2x demi he really shines when he has +16 on his fists.
This is a hells unitank with a final demi'd and geared 58str and 42dex. He also has 42wisdom which means more checks vs Abyss mobs.
Here goes.
Final build in +14 gear:AB 94, 96 with double demi
AC 133 pre demi with girding and a SH and a wis arti. But this is super gear dependant, if you had +12's only, no wis arti, no strongheart, and no girding, your ac would drop to 126. Post demi with arti and SH and girding you can hit 140ac
hp: (my spreadsheet doesnt do this correctly I realized! 1000ish... this is a bit weak
saves with 2x demi
Fort: 67
Reflex: 69
Will: 71
abilities with double demi:
Str: 58
Dex: 42
Con: 30
Int: 30
Wisdom: 42 (with arti)
Cha: 26
Using fists he is 18-20 x3 (have to check that, i cant recall the multiplier off hand) however he gets slash/pierce/bludge damage from glove choices.
Pro's: .
- Good defense after demi
- Max listen for conceal penetration
- A true Uni tank
- Great saves
- Pally quality fear immune
- Disease immune
- Crit immune from 40 base str + parry for permanant crit reduction
- Gloves mean he can swap between pierce/bludge/slash damage at will
- Absurdly high number of attacks each round
- Extra phys damage per swing from mnk innate damage + zeny weap spec damage
- OC/DC/PC
- Flurry for an extra attack
- Nifty HS boots
Con's:
- KB is devastating with this many hits. Most of my deaths are from immunity debuffs adn then a swarm of kickback from me smacking around a PF. You need good immunity rings.
- No unressistable damage
- No UMD (need GS pots)
- Low AB for a tank
- Low HP
- No stunning fists
- Self conceal is down a bit form max
Here goes:
Race: Human
Subrace: Zenythri
Creation screen stats:
Str: 16
Dex: 14
Con: 12
Wis: 14
Int: 12
Cha: 8
Subrace mod'd starting stats:
Str: 20
Dex: 18
Con: 12
Wis: 18
Int: 12
Cha: 8
Lvl 1-12 Monk
Lvl 13-20 Paladin
Lvl 21-25 Harper Scout
Lvl 26-40 Monk
Abilities:
STR every level
Feats:
1) Power Attack, Iron Will
3) Weapon Focus Unarmed
6) Great Cleave
9) Greater weapon focus
12) Power Critical
15) Alertness
18) Toughness
21) Over Crit, G Dex 1
24) Dev Crit
25) G Dex 2
27) Epic Weapon Focus
30) Epic Prowess
33) G Dex 3
36) G Str 1
38) Armor Skin
39) G Str 2
skills:
8 persuade, 6 lore, 4 search and disc before HS at lvl 21
Max Disc at 43
Max Listen at 43 (not pal lvls)
Max Tumble at 43 (not pal lvls)
Max CA to 43
Legendary Abilities:
All str
Legendary Feats:
G Dex 1
LWF
G Wis 1
G Wis 2
G Wis 3
G Wis 4
??
Legendary Skills:
Disc to 60
Tumble to 60
Max listen to 63
Max CA to 63
Max Parry to 63
Dump rest in conc 28
Tome: n/a
Pandect:
ARti: Wis - you need this for +16 on your fists at double demi. Also gives you 1 ac. This is important.
I am happy to report that after the latest reinc, this monk handily has run Tia to Mala w/out the problems his previous versions have had. He's still a bit squishy with low ac and hp, but careful timing of crit immunity and mnk conceal make him much more survivable. His HS levels definately do their job of extra damage; during the Malb run there was another str/uni mnk with very similiar stats and feats but no HS and the HS version had about 20% more damage.
Gloves are great and disapointing at the same time. The ability to swap to slash/bludge/pierce is great, but I find the mega-damage portion of the gloves to just never be enough damage to compare versus the normal gloves. I use them only for superior healers. I find that dis gloves tend to be the go-to glove with a swap to styg for a few specific mobs (maleb). Gloves dont make this guy a fist staffy/AA. Also remember that you get +16 with your max wis and this is a huge benefit - IoF/GMW doesnt work on gloves, you are on your own for piercing mob soak.
You can swap in and out more monk for paladin levels or vica-versa in this build with a few impacts. If you decrease monk levels you decrease the innate phy monk damage (1pt for 3 levels). You also loose out on stunning fist DC, but as a non-pure mnk this isn't a great option anyway. You give up a bit of SR, which is not a huge deal. You give up 1% concealment per mnk lvl with empty body which is something. You give up some duration of crit immune. You also give up 1 ac per 5 mnk lvls. This is alot to give up. In return you gain 1AB for every 4 paladin levels you include. 4 paladin gives you 1 ab, 8 paladin gives you another, 12 pal gives you a third. The balance I struck was with 8 paladin. It's a heavy price, but AB is on teh low side on this build and CW cant squeeze any extra ab into the mix. AB is the biggest problem here (you make up for it with alot of hits), so I went with 8 paladin. I think 4 8 or 12 are all valid choices.
You can also swap 2 con for 2 more int and more skills. You can freely swap around skills and I can see an argument for dropping CA for UMD in LL (HS get UMD cross class in LL)