Monk-y business

[planetary04]

Hello,

Im working on a Monk (Fu Siger) as my first character in HG.

He is my first epic character and I am reaching the levels that I need to decide what he will ultimately become.

Can anyone give me advice on what makes good epic lvl monks?

Do Monk benefits (increasing unarmed dmg, speed, ad) continue to increase after lvl 20?

I dont know if it would be best to go monk 40 or multiclass into something like monk/sorc/rdd or monk/rg/sd or even monk/ftr/wm(kama).

At the moment he is a str based half orc monk who dosent believe in ranged weapons and like to punch things with his fists.

He is approaching lvl15 so if i am going to multiclass before 20, i need to start planning it now.

Tia,

Fu

[Joe Knecht]

First off thanks for the good info on system restore. As for strange tower, were you solo or party? I got there with 40 AC or so and it was brutal solo, then with a party of five it was challenging but doable. As for what to mix a monk with is up to you. A monk/cleric works well, so does a monk/rogue, any class that can either lead to spellcasting or use magic device useage. Play what you are best at!

[themonk]

Brother Monk,
I have built a couple of Epic Monks, one on HG-POA.
And Im working on one right now, just about the same level as you , Shur-Li Wan....you might have noticed me fighting and dying...I do both alot....
Here are some things to consider.
If you are going for the Epic monk...the only weapons are your fists and what ever enhancement you can get on them....Strengh and Dexterity are your first concerns on your intital build. Highest numbers starting here as you can get. I think human is the best race to start with, but dwarf works well also. Once you start leveling, increase Str. or Dex which ever is lower on your initial build, and keep adding to that. Personally I would stick with Strength. A high wisdom is also preferable. Start with a 12 or 14 and stay with that.
Now as for weapons, go with the Hin Fist, the extra Sonic damage is hardly ever resisted, and until you find some gloves that do extra magic, acid, or flame damage, stick with the Hin fist.
Now for multiclassing, good question, I really dont have a good answer for that, I can tell what I have tried and what was successful. I couldnt solo everywhere, but I did ok most places.
After about 23 lev of Monk, I took Shadow Dancer, for about 10 levs, then Figher for a few levs...and back to monk to fill out the some of the epic skills. The Shadow Dancer skills were the most helpful, I could fight concealed most of the time, Half damage to me, and could walk away from a fight in stealth mode most of the time....when you are hurting , its nice to take a breather. I took the fighter Levels just so I could try out some of the higher end swords, and added increased critical skills for longswords...but never got anything as good as my fists with God Gloves(Im not sure they are even still in POA).
I did a monk once that used double Katanas that was a monk/fighter/Champion of Torm. He fought in monk armor, and was deadly to any Mage, and most others...but I would not consider him a tank. But he works the Katanas like a cool Samuri....
As you get beyond 25 levs of monk, you will be immune to poison, diesese, most spell casts, and can dodge, weave and move where other fighter cant. While the tanks go for the underlings, you go straight for the evil mage.
I would not consider taking any other magic class with a monk other than Cleric, or maybe Ranger/Druid...I just dont think you could get enough levs of one or the other to be effective. But if RolePlaying is your game, what ever fits your character.
Monk is a hard Class to take all the way to epic levels and I welcome you to the Challenge...any party needs a good monk for those times when the fighting gets close and dirty....
Just my thoughts....
themonk
AKA Shur-Li Wan ;D

[planetary04]

Hey Shur-Li (stop calling me surely! lol)

Thanks for the response.

I just rememberd Fu is a 1/2 orc so he will take multiclass XP penalties for multiclassing into anything except...barbarian, which is impossible so...

He might just end up being a monk+prc & I think shadowdancer is the only PRC that he will qualify for

He was initally str based and he is wearing str enhancing equipment so his str is about 26 with 39 ac at 14th lvl

Hin Fist is definetly the way to go, i am a long time fan of sonic dmg He has +5 now

With circle kick, cleave, flurry and an attack of opporutnity fu can hit up to 8 times in a round and usually lands most because of high str+attack bounus on gloves.

I have also learned that improved knockdown is my friend.

I had originally thought of going with RDD as a prc to get the extra stregnth and con, but will need to take a level of bard to get it which will get me the XP penalty, do you have any experience with a RDD/monk?

Looks like my choices might be monk40 or monk30/sd10

Do you know if monk abilities continue to increase at epic levels? Im not sure how the epic stuff works.

Ill look you up next time i am online.

-Fu

[Higan]

one thing that could help is taking 4 lvs of a high ab class, it will end up getting you an extra attack per round