Wiz 12/Mnk 8 Pale Master melee build viable?

[Xenus_Paradox]

The biggest problem I see with it is a lack of attack bonus. 12 levels of Wizard and 8 of Monk gets you a whole +12 to hit. However, if that could be overcome, you'd be looking at a LOT of negative energy damage between Fists of Darkness, Shroud of the Lich, Karmic Strike, Death Aura, etc., not to mention the self-healing.

Previously, such a build was problematic due to the cooldown on Shroud of the Lich, but with Update 7 making it last until rest, you can literally stay in undead form permanently.

[Phidius]

You'll be in stance, so your to-hit is actually 14.

Gemstone is currently 10 Wiz/7 Monk, and the biggest problem that I have with him is that he is so one-dimensional. In his previous life, he was 12 Wiz/6 Ranger/2 Monk, so he switched from blades to fists to ranged quite a bit, which suited me just fine.

Now that he's virtually in kung-fu mode 24/7, I've found that I don't enjoy it as much as I did before.

His plan, however, is to go 9 monk for improved evasion and ToD (with Pale master 1) so things may get better - I have a hard time giving up the self-healing of a WF for the less-familiar undead healing, plus the plan was to get a few Wizard past lives under his belt for the free spell pen.