Monk build

[orangutang]

Well after some heavy number crunching with a PLD build i can see that its prolly not gonna happen until i get some rare races. Since my points are too spread out on the start. So, i'd like to do a monk build. I've never done it, but the since i'm a martial artist rl i think its only fitting. Now i'll number my questions, so everything is nice and neat.

1. I'd like to do monk/cleric... but is dispelling really that bad? Pretty much everything i read makes it seem like i'm gonna run into a fight... get dispelled, then run away like a pixie schoolgirl commoner.

2. Would something like monk/ass/fighter better serve me? The invis would be nice and i could pick up the extra attack.

3. Would HS be more beneficial than spell buffs for that extra attack?

Thanks in advance,

Your friendly neighborhood simian,
Orangutang

[MurphysLawAgain]

Ok orangutang ... got some nice neat answers for you here

1) Dispelling can be pretty painful if you rely on buffs. You should survive better than say a StaffMaster but it might hurt. There is a ring that makes you immune to Mords so that will help when you find it. Look someplace sandy after the server has been reset.

2) Multiclassing could help a lot. If you get 4 lvls of a fighter class before twenty you get another attack. Imho look at CoT for the extra saves or Pally if your subrace gives positive Con. Consider splashing Shadowdancer for defensive roll (to get epic dodge) or Rogue for open traps / defensive roll. I doubt if assassin with help - i havent found a use for it unless you are going for 30 Assasin lvls and dev crit.

3) HS extra attacks are nice but at the moment they are not at full BAB. So if you are at say 64 with your best attack and have taken the fighter classes (see above) the chart will get a bit threadbare:-

64 , 64 (haste), 61, 58, 55, 52, 49, 46 (flurry), 43 (HS), 40 (HS)

In my opinion you wont hit much with the last two unless you are somewhere pretty weedy.

I have a few other thoughts

1) If you are using weapons your off hand does not need to be a kama to keep all the attacks / bonuses / etc. Pick a second weapon carefully.

2) I heard a rumor that the Hells will have some very nice monk gloves ... so unarmed is an option.

Good luck

[orangutang]

thanks alot for the nice neat answers, I'll look into the off hand thing i didnt know that. Thanks for the help.

[mishimayukio]

A few of my main issues with monks are the lack of decent epic bonus feats, and the lack of damage dealing ability if you use kamas or unarmed. To solve this problem when I made my monk, I went 20 monk/13 fighter/7 WM and focused in rapiers. Currently my monk is my strongest pyramid runner, and excels in any area currently on HG. I foresee that she will also be my main character I play in the hells due to her excellent saves, discipline, AC, and gear flexibility.

[orangutang]

interesting weapon choice, but dont you lose your unarmed when wielding rapiers, in that case wouldnt you be better off with a rogue build?? Maybe i'm missing something?

[Master Jaxx]

As Mish stated damage with unarmed and kamas isn't the best. However, unarmed is nice against any crit immune mob since you basically can get up to 8 attacks per round if you take a Tier 1 class.

Though using a weapon like a rapier isn't bad either since you can get a great ac while dual wielding. I've made several unarmed monks (prolly too many for the normal person). A few dexers and even a str based monk. The str based monk does great damage against some mobs but is very dependent on Empty Body and ac is pretty much a joke since he doesn't use a shield.

I made a 31monk/7wm/2 ftr that uses Handaxes and duals them. This made more sense to me since Monks already get Handaxe prof from the get go. Good saves, ac and massive damage output. Fun toon.

If you do go unarmed be prepared to quickslot gloves and swap them out constantly. Especially while in the Desert. Experiment with the different gloves. Some mobs are more resistant to other damage types than others.

I admit I have a problem and I'm addicted to playing Monks

[mishimayukio]

Yes I do lose my bonus monk attacks, but the frequency and high damage of my crits more than makes up for it.

There are also many other benefits to monk based builds other than just extra attacks. Monks have the best save progression of any class, provides extra dual wielding AC, provides improved evasion therefore opening up the self concealment feats, has some of the best skills as class skills which you can get all the way up to 63, and if you put enough levels into it, provides concealment 2x day, damage reduction, spell resistance, and unstrippable and undispellable mind affecting immunity.

-EDIT- Don't forget the speed that once you play a monk, everything else seems so slow.

[orangutang]

Thanks alot guys, this has been a huge help. I'm gonna start making my build tonight and hopefully i do it right

One last thing, don't you need defensive roll for self conceal. So, in you builds you didn't include it. Is the reduction good enough to make up for that??

[exeli]

Defensive roll is needed for epic dodge not for self concealment.

[orangutang]

Well that makes me feel somewhat sheepish. I knew that...

Perhaps i'll actually finish a build and start lvling tonight ;D

[ocath]

Groo Said:I made a 31monk/7wm/2 ftr that uses Handaxes and duals them. This made more sense to me since Monks already get Handaxe prof from the get go. Good saves, ac and massive damage output. Fun toon.

Do you have this character build in the forums? If not, could you do so? Also what is the feasibility of a pure monk (lvl 60), is it worth it?

[sabregirl]

A monk build I went with is 21 monk 14 CoT 5 Harper. Couple of nice things to remember about harper is it gives you two free epic feats when taken post lvl 20 which can be great dex. On top of the additional attack the harper secret offers some other rather nice benefits. The CoT levels help with not having to have optimal equipment for maximum saves and also give almost as good of preepic save progression as monk while giving you the BAB boost you need so badly as a monk. CoT bonus feats can also include great wis on epic levels.

I went unarmed with this build (although it does have some feats for kamas due to CoT) and like Groo mentioned damage is pretty poor on most critters, though not all. So if you want big damage go weaponmaster, if you just want crazy defense there's a lot of other options open, which is probly why Groo is addicted to monks . . they "go" with almost everything. ;D

-S

[Master Jaxx]

I don't have the build here as of yet. I'm still in the process of leveling this current toon. So far it has been a blast to play and I'll be bummed when he's finished. I'll probably make it again if I can get my hands on Half-Kyton

It's actually one of the best monk builds I've ever made. As SG mentioned, monks are very defensive. This build in particular meets the demands of defense but also provides some splendid offensive prowess. ;D

I'm not finished with him yet but basically I went with a Planewalker, started with Monk and then took all the wm req feats as soon as possible. took wm at lvl 17 and then ftr at 18 and 19 and then wm at 20th to get BAB to 26. Not a big deal here, just my way of doing things

I'll have to type up the actual build here shortly. . .gonna finish him first Prolly will call it "Your basic Teeth Cleansing Monk"

[orangutang]

so, wouldnt it be in my best interest to take my monk lvls late?? Getting 9 lvls or less before epic progression to see a higher BAB??

[mishimayukio]

The downside to putting off monk levels until epic levels is you end up with lower overall saves. For this reason I took 16 monk levels pre-epic on my 20 monk/13 fighter/7 WM, sacrificing up to 4 BAB for much better saves.