KI - how does it work?

[Cybergoblin]

I have a warforged 1-monk/1-wizard/1-paladin dude and I have an always empty bar of 55 ki.

How do i get this energy to fill up? It seems like it fills up slightly when I fight normally and immediately empties itself out upon combat end.

[TheBlueFox]

KI is the energy used to perform Monk abilities, such as the various elemental fist attacks and finishers, as well as attacks like stunning blow and eagles talon.

Ki is generated only when centered (wearing robes, using monk weapons, unencumbered) meaning fists and kamas or quarterstaffs usually.

Ki is depleted at a steady amount every six seconds, but can be stored depending on your Concentration stat. A high concentration means you might be able to "store" 10-50 ki energy instead of having it drop lower.

Ki is gained faster depending on which stance you are using. Fire stance offers 2 ki per attack, where others usually offer 1 ki per hit. An animal path may offer more on critical hits or dodges.

[Cybergoblin]

So is a warforged DOCENT ok to wear in order to be centered?

Will I see a "centered" buff on my guy in the upper right hand corner of my screen to let me know im doing it right?

[TheBlueFox]

Docents are acceptable yes, but I am unsure if the Feat for warforged heavy armor is allowed. Im pretty certain it is though.

you will NOT see a centered buff
you WILL see a "you are NOT centered" Debuff which has no effect on you other than you will not generate Ki and cannot use an elemental stance

[Runehammer]

Docents are acceptable yes, but I am unsure if the Feat for warforged heavy armor is allowed. Im pretty certain it is though.

you will NOT see a centered buff
you WILL see a "you are NOT centered" Debuff which has no effect on you other than you will not generate Ki and cannot use an elemental stance

Only the default composet"spelling?"plate will keep you centered so no mith or admin

[TheBlueFox]

well, my mistake then, Composite armor only for warforged

[Cybergoblin]

Ok I guess then, what should I expect - lets say next level I raise my Concentration up like 5 points.

I will have 5 KI when i enter dungeons and anything above that will automatically drain after every fight?

I never see "you are not centered" so I assume ive been centered this whole time and never had enough KI to really do anything because like I said - it drains almost immediately after a fight and often i seem to just have a couple of points.

And if im NOT Centered, I gain NO KI? or just "less ki"?

[TheBlueFox]

I believe it is percentage based, not straight number. For example my max Ki is 120 at the moment...or 110. I can keep 16 ki without it draining, but I dont think my concentration is 16.

Anyways, you are centered if you are:
Wearing robes/outfit (or a docent in your case) or using Composite body
Weilding Fists, Handwraps, quarterstaffs, or Kamas, Or Shurikens (i dont know if there are other monk weapons)
LIGHT encumbrance, I believe thats 0-25% weight carried

Equip a battleaxe and you should see "you are not centered" at the top.
and if you are not centered, you gain NO ki.

I have been hit with Ray of enfeebling, it brought my strength low enough to encumber me. It removed my elemental stance, gave me 2 attacks rather than my normal 4 from flurry of blows, and I generated No ki on strike

[Gadget2775]

**SNIP**I never see "you are not centered" so I assume ive been centered this whole time and never had enough KI to really do anything because like I said - it drains almost immediately after a fight and often i seem to just have a couple of points.

And if im NOT Centered, I gain NO KI? or just "less ki"?

When you become Uncentered there'll be a red exclamation point on the top right of your screen to warn you. If you hover your mouse over that icon you'll see a pop-up that says "Not Centered, You're not centered".

And you generate zero KI when uncentered (in addition to what you have draining off).

[TheBlueFox]

Ive got a quick question.

Does Ki GENERATE itself? as in, if you stand still, doing nothing, will you gain Ki? or is it only through meditation/combat that it goes up. I read a post somewhere, along the lines of:

"after combat, wait for your Ki to generate to 60, pop a wholeness of body, and phoenix the cleric"

the way that is worded, it almost makes me think that there are other methods of generating Ki

[TreknaQudane]

Ive got a quick question.

Does Ki GENERATE itself? as in, if you stand still, doing nothing, will you gain Ki? or is it only through meditation/combat that it goes up. I read a post somewhere, along the lines of:

"after combat, wait for your Ki to generate to 60, pop a wholeness of body, and phoenix the cleric"

the way that is worded, it almost makes me think that there are other methods of generating Ki

Ki does not self generate.

You earn it by striking your opponent in combat or being struck (Earth Stance).

Monk's have an ability they can use twice a day called Meditation that will help you generate Ki for a short period of time.

At Monk 20 the Capstone increases you standing Ki Generation by +1. Which means if you have a 65 Concentration at 20 and use some, it will slowly work its way up to 65.

[TreknaQudane]

I believe it is percentage based, not straight number. For example my max Ki is 120 at the moment...or 110. I can keep 16 ki without it draining, but I dont think my concentration is 16.

You max standing Ki before decay kicks in is definitely based on your Concentration Skill. You're Max Ki is based on your monk level and Wisdom I believe.

[TheBlueFox]

At Monk 20 the Capstone increases you standing Ki Generation by +1. Which means if you have a 65 Concentration at 20 and use some, it will slowly work its way up to 65.

so, at level 20, with the capstone you DO generate Ki?

[Taelnia]

You're Max Ki is based on your monk level and Wisdom I believe.

I believe the formula is 40 + (Monk Level * 10) + (Wisdom Mod * 5)

[Taelnia]

so, at level 20, with the capstone you DO generate Ki?

Yes, up to the value of your Concentration Skill. (At which point above that value, your Ki would normally dissipate down to that level)

[lanthan]

The rate at which your ki fades is based the formula (ki - concentration)/concentration and then rounded up to the nearest non-negative whole number.

This means the monk cap stone has the side effect of counteracting the natural draining of ki when you are between ki = concentration and ki = (concentration x 2) + 1.

[Failstorm666]

If you have played a warrior in WoW, its similar to rage
If your warrior was in Guild Wars, its like Adrenaline, but its global instead of per skill

you can keep up to your concentration skill in ki when not beating on people, and it'll regen or decay to your CS on it's own

because you are WF, check your feats, the higher levels of armor plating will make you uncentered

[Solmage]

Ki:

- You gain no ki when un-centered, nor could you use it for anything anyway

- Your ki constantly depletes. The higher your concentration, the slower it drops.

(Example: Let's say you have 29 KI. If you have a concentration score of, for example:

10 - it drops by 2 each "tick" until it's 20, then by "1" each tick until it's 10, then it stops dropping

5 - it drops by 5 until you have 24 then by 4 until you have 20 and so on

2 - it drops by 18 each tick until it's 2, then it stops dropping :p

PS: I have a headache so the numbers may be slightly askew but the idea remains

- As a result of that, having the highest possible concentration at low levels helps out a monk enormously, so max the skill and look for concentration items. At very high levels I hear it's not as important (but I never managed to force myself to play one beyond level 10, and that was in the test server just to give feedback, so I wouldn't know)

- Your ki also depletes when you use a special ability, but that's why you want it so..

- Some stances give you extra ki.

[krishen]

to answer your question very clearly:

you need concentration skill to maintain your ki

you will only maintain ki up to your max concentration value

ex: if you have 10 concentration skill, when you rest (or enter dungeon) you will get 10 ki and maintain it until you use it. (you gain more by striking opponents)

you can regen up to that max concentration number, but you will degenerate ki if over that value

ex: you have 40 ki from striking opponents, but 10 concentration. you will lose ki until reaching 10.