Monk buffing...

[SirTeo]

Heya happy folks..

I have a huge problem, I'm a light path monk and have totaly ignored everything about buffs, no specific reason, just lazy I guess.. and it have been fine until TOD, when players requiers monk buffs from a light monk, which I totaly understand, they may be short but very effective, that's why I'm posting this, someone might be able to give me a good simple explanation, cause I have tried without any sucess at all..

I have my buffs in my hotbar, I press (when I have enough ki) one off them for example; Aligning the heavens- the one that reduces mana with 25% for casters and healers.. Nothing happends and I get a error message that says:

"Failed action you have missed your special attack opportunity"


So would anyone please help me out here so I can start run TOD again, and help my party out in general aswell.


With best regards
Teo

[hethyba]

Are you using the appropriate strikes first, or just hitting the icon? The buffs are finishing moves, you need to set them up first.

[xoowak]

^Yes, you have to perform the appropriate sequence of strikes first.

See: http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Class:Monk#Finishing_Moves:

You can just put the generic finishing move icon in your hotbar, it will change to the appropriate move when you've prepared it.

[SirTeo]

Are you using the appropriate strikes first, or just hitting the icon? The buffs are finishing moves, you need to set them up first.

Aha, that figgers, monk is all about finishing moves..


So lets stay on the "Aligning the heavens" buff to keep it simple.

I'll use flowing water strike 3 times then press my finishing move, then I be able to cast that specific buff? flowing water strike is a water attack

[SirTeo]

^Yes, you have to perform the appropriate sequence of strikes first.

See: http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Class:Monk#Finishing_Moves:

You can just put the generic finishing move icon in your hotbar, it will change to the appropriate move when you've prepared it.

alrigth, think I finaly get it know, thx guys, gonna try it out at once.

//T

[Darkrok]

I think the confusion comes from the change recently made to add explanations for the finishers to the Feats screen. These explanations can not be linked directly on your hotbar - they're just there to tell you how to make the finisher available. You'll only need to put the generic finishing move on your hotbar. It will show the finisher you have available if you use the correct moves in sequence. For example, in ToD they'll want Grasp of the Earth Dragon. To make that finisher available you must use an Earth strike, Fists of Light, then another Earth strike. Your finisher will then change from the red button to show the earth symbol with the light symbol in the corner. At that point make sure you have your desired target for the buff targeted from the group member list and then hit the finisher. It's an aoe buff but the aoe is relatively small. Depending on the fight strategies you might need to cast on multiple people and you might need to chase them down. Having never done ToD (just read strategies) I can't tell you the most prevalent ones...just listen to your raid leader, ask any questions you need to ask, and stick with their strategy.

[Darkrok]

Aha, that figgers, monk is all about finishing moves..


So lets stay on the "Aligning the heavens" buff to keep it simple.

I'll use flowing water strike 3 times then press my finishing move, then I be able to cast that specific buff? flowing water strike is a water attack

Just to clarify, Aligning the Heavens is Water/Fists of Light/Water.

[dunklezhan]

Once you have 'powered up' the finisher with the appropriate strike sequence, the finishing move will hang around for a fair while for you to use, provided you have enough ki. It'll be available for one use for a good couple of minutes

However, if you take ANY action except basic movement, tumbling, jumping and basic attacks, you will lose the finishing move. This includes:

Swapping weapons
Opening Doors
Pulling Levers
Using puzzle tiles
Drinking a potion
Using a clickie
Climbing a ladder
that little half-step or grab-lift when you're going up a little bit of scenery that you can't just run up
Any of your other monk abilities
Pretty much anything else

so be careful.

[SirTeo]

Yep, I got it. Thanks guys, appricate the help!

[GhoulsTouch]

I asked someone about this in general chat all they said was "hit the button"...
yeah, how obvious.

[Sithias]

The big monk finishers in ToD are Grasp of the Earth Dragon and Aligning the Heavens.

Finishers are performed as follows:

Grasp of the Earth Dragon = Earth Strike - Fists of Light - Earth Strike = Finisher (Grasp)

This will prevent the stun from Horoth - Top priority for heals not to be interrupted

Aligning the Heavens = Water Strike - Fists of Light - Water Strike = Finisher (AtH)

Use this before buffs begin to save on SP for casters, use intermittenly throughout fights to help with SP conservation


Hope this helps :)

[Kyrn]

Once you have 'powered up' the finisher with the appropriate strike sequence, the finishing move will hang around for a fair while for you to use, provided you have enough ki. It'll be available for one use for a good couple of minutes

However, if you take ANY action except basic movement, tumbling, jumping and basic attacks, you will lose the finishing move. This includes:

Swapping weapons
Opening Doors
Pulling Levers
Using puzzle tiles
Drinking a potion
Using a clickie
Climbing a ladder
that little half-step or grab-lift when you're going up a little bit of scenery that you can't just run up
(Any of your other monk abilities)
Pretty much anything else

so be careful.

Just to note, "Any of you monk abilities" is not accurate. There is an important monk ability that can be used without breaking the chain: Meditate. I'm almost certain that abundant step doesn't break it either, but don't quote me on it.

[mjrepro]

You are correct, Abundant Step is in the free for not breaking it, along with Stunning Fist. In fact it is recommended to use stunning fist before the 3x Earth finisher to put the mob into auto crit mode.

[Darkrok]

You are correct, Abundant Step is in the free for not breaking it, along with Stunning Fist. In fact it is recommended to use stunning fist before the 3x Earth finisher to put the mob into auto crit mode.

Here's a list of cleared for use without breaking the chain abilities off the top of my head:

Abundant Step
Empty Body
Stunning Fist
Quivering Palm
Dragonmarks (not a monk ability but an important question)
Changing Stance (I switch to fire stance first if I'm throwing a healing finisher during down-time to push my healing amp to 75% instead of 50%)
Meditate
Wholeness of Body

Also, thought of something else that hasn't been mentioned. As Dunklezhan said there are a ton of things that will blow your finisher. There's one more critical one you have to watch for - trying the finisher without enough ki and/or with the target of your finisher out of range or out of line of sight. The line of sight issue happens often when you're in a situation that you have to target someone else for your finisher instead of having it centered on yourself as is the default. People will run out of range on you and you'll lose the finisher.