max str dwarf monk?

[bigj1608]

I have no clue about what a monk gets for feats, but here's my thoughts: basically max dps with some good hp/saves

base/end with 2tomes/6stat items
str 18/30
dex 12/20
con 16/26
int 8
wis 14/22
cha 6

feats:
1 toughness
3 stunning blow
6 power attack
9 cleave
12 improved critical unarmed
15 great cleave

monks get 8hp/lvl

hp: 390
128 monk
30 gfl
30 feats
84 toughness
128 con

awesome saves, I believe 10 base in all? 7 from boots of innocent and head of good fortune, 7 fort from con, 5 reflex from dex, 6 will from wis, 5 to all saves from dwarven spell defense, 4 from GH, and 1 refex from haste gives me:

33 fort, 31 reflex, 32 will - all against spells.. self buffed.. not sure if all this is correct, think monks get an additional will save against enchantments too?

thoughts?

[sigtrent]

Cleave and great cleave don't work out very well for TWF characters so I don't imagine they would be especialy good on a monk.

Also monks may well get a kind of stunning blow for free as part of the class.

But I think your basic build plan looks like a good one. Dwarven Monks will likely be the go to race for a bruiser due to the toughness enhancement great saves and tactics enhancements.

[abull74]

Stunning blow is a free monk feat. Also remember, the monk's AC is dex AND wis based. So while the dwarf will give you a high str and con, you will want to concentrate on a high dex and take weapon finesse. This will grant you a high to-hit AND help your AC.

As for the saves, well a monk starts with 2will 2fort and 2reflex...this goes up 2/lvl. They can have ,by far, the highest saves in game.



"There are no stupid questions. But there are a lot of inquisitive idiots."

[Dungnmaster001]

Actually stunning blow isn't a possible monk feat; it's stunning fist, the difference being the saving throw,

Stunning Fist (DC 10 + ½ your character level + your Wis modifier)
Stunning Blow (DC 10 + Str mod)

At least I'm hoping that's the way the devs do it since most monks will probably be fairly light on str, going the dex/wis route for AC.

there are other feat options instead of stunning fist though, including options from the Oriental Adventures book (there was a dev post confirming this awhile back)

[bobbryan2]

Stunning blow is a free monk feat. Also remember, the monk's AC is dex AND wis based. So while the dwarf will give you a high str and con, you will want to concentrate on a high dex and take weapon finesse. This will grant you a high to-hit AND help your AC.

As for the saves, well a monk starts with 2will 2fort and 2reflex...this goes up 2/lvl. They can have ,by far, the highest saves in game.



"There are no stupid questions. But there are a lot of inquisitive idiots."

Yuck.

Weapon finesse isn't all that great in this game. Armor class is just a pain to keep high enough to matter, and things like combat expertise are necessary and remove the ability to use power attack and require different stats at start up.

I definately will not be using weapon finesse at all on a monk. Dunno why you'd want to kill your damage pototential right off the bat by going low strength.

As far as saves, they progress at 1 per every 2 character levels, so he was correct at a base of 10 all around.

[Dungnmaster001]

Yuck.

Weapon finesse isn't all that great in this game. Armor class is just a pain to keep high enough to matter, and things like combat expertise are necessary and remove the ability to use power attack and require different stats at start up.

I definately will not be using weapon finesse at all on a monk. Dunno why you'd want to kill your damage pototential right off the bat by going low strength.

As far as saves, they progress at 1 per every 2 character levels, so he was correct at a base of 10 all around.

Weapon finesse not that great? tell that to all the finesse based rogues and rangers out there. Nothing says you can't use combat expertise and weapon finesse.

A monks damage potential doesn't come from strength. It comes from rate of attack. (speaking strictly from a pnp perspective). Monks are about hitting fast and hard. Monks base unarmed damage is higher than any other 1handed weapon and they have a number of attacks far superior to any other. And if they allow the use of 2wf and flurry of blows like the pnp rules do (according to the FAQ) then they exceed all others in rate of fire.

Not saying a high strength isn't a benefit to a monk, but it's not what the class is all about. Of course some monks out there will go the str route but they will have to sacrifice heavily in AC to do it. For some it may be a better trade than others.

[bigj1608]

lets look at ac potential then for this str one:

10 base
5 dex
6 wis
5 protection
2 chaosgarde
3 chattering ring
3 bark pot
1 haste pot
4 shield clicky
1 dodge feat, if taken
5 combat expertise, if taken
and i dont see much else...

comes to a 45 ac.. /shrug

now for dex build:
losing cleave, great cleave, stunning blow(since it will suck without str)

str 12/20
dex 18/30
con 16/26
int 8
wis 14/22
cha 6

dodge, ce, toughness, crit, blah blah

now for ac breakdown (5 more dex)
10 base
10 dex
6 wis
5 protection
1 dodge
2 chaosgarde
3 chattering ring
3 bark pot
1 haste pot
4 shield clicky
5 combat expertise

50, not bad at all? but lower dps.. and not nearly respectable enough on elite to compensate for loss of str imo.

lets keep this goin.. someone convince me to make a dex monk, rather than str

and if you bring up a max dex halfling im gonna smite you :D no hp

[flynnsane]

This is the Str based Dorf monk I'm gonna make (plz let me know if my numbers are wrong as I am not an uber builder like ya'll) ;)

Monk15/Pally1 Went Pally for Aura and Wand usage to augment the monk's self healing.

Str 16+2tome=18 + 4lvl + 6item=28
Dex 15+1tome=16 + 2 Monk Dex Enhance (assuming they follow the Clr precedent for 2 Stat enhancements)+6 item=24
Con 16=+2 Dorf Enahance+4item(don't have +6 yet)=22
Int 8
Wis 15+1tome=16+2 Monk Enhancement+6 item=24
Cha 6

AC:

Base 10
Dex 7
Wis 7
Monk Bonus 3
Barkskin pot 3
Protection Ring 5
White Dragon Robes 6
Combat Expertise 5 (*note- this assumes Turbine will sub CE for the monk bonus feat: Combat REflexes)
Chattering Ring (Titan) 3
Dodge 1
Shield Clicky 4
Insite (GS Kama) 4
Haste 1
Pally 1
Chaos Guards 2
Total 62


Feats:

1 Weapon Focus: Unarmed
1bonus Stunning Fist
2bonus Combat Expertise (assumes it's subbed for Combat Reflexes)
3 Dodge
6 Toughness
6bonus Imp Trip
9 Imp Crit: Unarmed
12 Toughness
15 Toughness

HP:

Heroic Durability 20
monk 210
Pally 16
3 Toughness 54
Minos Helm 18
Dorf ToughnessIV 50
GFL 30
Argo Favor 10
Pally Toughness1 5

413

Saves:
Fort Ref Will
11 9 9 Base
6 7 7 Stats
0 0 4 Dwarf
4 4 4 +4 Resist item
2 Monk
4 4 4 GH

25 24 30

Attack (*note: Flurry will add # of attacks as will DP clicky)
12 12 17 22 Base
9 9 9 9 Str
5 5 5 5 Weap
1 1 1 1 WF
4 4 4 4 GH
4 4 4 4 DP clicky

36 36 41 46 w/o CE
31 31 36 41 W/CE

I think he'll be way more fun than a dex based monk, but I could be wrong....

[WeiQuinn]

Don't forget that Unarmed Fighting is covered by Weapon Finesse in DDO.

[Dungnmaster001]

now for dex build:
losing cleave, great cleave, stunning blow(since it will suck without str)


Monks shouldn't need stunning blow, they get access to stunning fist, which doesn't use str, but wis instead. If devs don't add this feat in then monks will lose one of their iconic 3rd edition class abilities.

[Naso24]

If monks get stunning fist, you might want to pick up stunning blow too. Having 2 timers with the same or similar effect will be quite powerful.

On a STR based monk, it should be pretty insane, esp with the ability to boost with dwarven enhancements.

[Fritz]

my only concern is that in pnp the 'short' races did less damage than the tall races as monks.

how signifigant that will really be in this game with bloated stats reaching 30+ where your bonus is bigger than your base dmg, im not sure, but in pnp where 18 was a high stat, it was signifigant.