Feedback for my light monk build for endgame viability

[Dat1]

Hey guys, I realize that I have this posted elsewhere in this forum, but I thought I should make a new thread so as to get a little more good, specific feedback for how this toon can expect to perform endgame and ideas on what I could do to make him a little better. Although I am not a total noob, I am new to "Monkhood" and still learning tons of things about this game ^^ Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through this and offer your opinions :)

Helf Light Monk lvl 13
Lawful Good

hp= 214
ki= 36/205
ac- 10 + 6(dex) + 7(wis) + 5(Jidz Tetka) + 5(prot item) + 3(centered)= 36
sr= 23

Saves:
fort= +17
ref= +20
will= +21

Stats w/out Stances/buffs (+2 Sup Tome incld):
str- 20 + 5 item = 25
dex- 17 + 5 item = 22
con- 16 + 4 item = 20
int- dump (10)
wis- 18 + 2 feat(?) + 5 item = 25
cha- dump (10) + 5 item = 15

Skills (total mod):
bal= 14
con= 36
dip= 21 (0 ranks)
jump= 15
spot= 35
tumble= 23

Feats (taken not given):
light path
helf dilly- rogue
ic- bludg
twf
itwf
luck
pwr attk
stun fist
tough
weap foc- bludg

Enhancements:
imp rog dilly I
hum adapt wis I
hum imp rec I
hum vers I+II
way of crane I+II
fists of iron
monk imp rec I+II+III
shintao I+II
void strike I
adept (all)
master (earth)
rac tough I
imp concen I
imp tumble I
stat- wis I

Gear:
sora kell set (nothing better atm)
garments of equilibrium
jidz tet'ka
wind howler bracers (thinkin of gettin a good bow)
dream visor (found unbound on AH cheap)
bloodstone
voice of the master
duskheart
stormsinger cloak
necklace of prot +5
health belt +4 con
dex boots +5
striding (15%) ring of jump (+3)
vampiric stonedust hw
stonedust hw (thinking maiming)
devotion
+5 frost hw of bleed
+1 force burst hw of stun +4
+3 gt hw of gtr gob bane
+4 force burst hw of pg (icy)
+5 icy burst hw of pg
+2 tl hw of disruption
+4 acid hw of dragon bane
+1 admt ret shuriken
+1 byeshk ret shuriken (not sure which is better)
deathblock outfit of sr 15
fearsome outfit of sr 15
1 outfit for each grtr resist (need grtr cold)

and others... (still collecting)

I had planned to max Void Strike and then found that I liked the idea of maxing Earth Stance as well. Then I found out I needed a base 18 con -.- Then I realized that I'd like a maxed Wind Stance as well but need a base 18 dex -.-
I am considering buying an LR from the ddo store to reconfig my stat points but...

Any helpful ideas the community may have as to how to maintain credible viability throughout endgame are appreciated!! Thanks for your replies

P.S.
How do I add an avatar to my forum posts? I thought I did it already but does it have to be from ddo? Perhaps that is why it wont show up?

[t0r012]

Hey guys, I realize that I have this posted elsewhere in this forum, but I thought I should make a new thread so as to get a little more good, specific feedback for how this toon can expect to perform endgame and ideas on what I could do to make him a little better. Although I am not a total noob, I am new to "Monkhood" and still learning tons of things about this game ^^ Thanks in advance for taking the time to read through this and offer your opinions :)

Helf Light Monk lvl 13
Lawful Good

hp= 214
ki= 36/205
ac- 10 + 6(dex) + 7(wis) + 5(Jidz Tetka) + 5(prot item) + 3(centered)= 36
sr= 23

Saves:
fort= +17
ref= +20
will= +21

Stats w/out Stances/buffs (+2 Sup Tome incld): level ups in str or wisdom?
str- 20 + 5 item = 25
dex- 17 + 5 item = 22
con- 16 + 4 item = 20
int- dump (10)
wis- 18 + 2 feat(?) + 5 item = 25
cha- dump (10) + 5 item = 15

Skills (total mod):
bal= 14
con= 36
dip= 21 (0 ranks)
jump= 15
spot= 35
tumble= 23

Feats (taken not given):
light path
helf dilly- rogue
ic- bludg
twf
itwf
luck
pwr attk
stun fist
tough
weap foc- bludg dump for another toughness or luck of heros for shintao which you have listed below but don't have the prereq feat choice.

Enhancements:
imp rog dilly I
hum adapt wis I
hum imp rec I
hum vers I+II
way of crane I+II
fists of iron
monk imp rec I+II+III
shintao I+II you don't have the junk feat listed to take shintao
void strike I
adept (all)
master (earth) need to get master in your prime fighting stance either fire or wind
rac tough I
imp concen I
imp tumble I
stat- wis I
need to focus more on what you want, you are going to run out of points. I suggest getting at least wisdom II, and you want to get your prime fighting stance up to your level. Void plus shintao isn't going to work too many AP on top of prime fighting stance. Figure out what you want your prime stance to be and get that to your level. Then you need to decide shintao or Void line , too expensive to get both. I'd say go with fire if you are always in group and hasted or Wind if you are not. run your earth up for the strikes and drop teh void and go shintao.



Gear:
sora kell set (nothing better atm)
garments of equilibrium
jidz tet'ka
wind howler bracers (thinkin of gettin a good bow)
dream visor (found unbound on AH cheap)
bloodstone
voice of the master
duskheart
stormsinger cloak
necklace of prot +5
health belt +4 con
dex boots +5
striding (15%) ring of jump (+3)
vampiric stonedust hw
stonedust hw (thinking maiming)
devotion
+5 frost hw of bleed
+1 force burst hw of stun +4
+3 gt hw of gtr gob bane
+4 force burst hw of pg (icy)
+5 icy burst hw of pg
+2 tl hw of disruption
+4 acid hw of dragon bane
+1 admt ret shuriken
+1 byeshk ret shuriken (not sure which is better) both the same +1 metal doesn't matter much unless you are throwing stars at golems and such
deathblock outfit of sr 15
fearsome outfit of sr 15
1 outfit for each grtr resist (need grtr cold)

heavy fort, heavy fort , heavyfort. I don't see any fort on you at all.

dump the SR outfits and get a deathblock of heavy fort and throw an AC ritual on it.
your damage wraps are o.k. but where are your stunners? highest you have are +6 from stonedusts you should have at least one good set of burst of stun8 or better by 13.
Grab some AC. run the fens for the sirens charm set. + 4 con on the neck with sonic resist +5 ac belt. together they give a +2 insight AC bonus. slap on some chaosgardes and swill a barkskin pot and you will be pushing 50 AC good enough for your level.



and others... (still collecting)

I had planned to max Void Strike and then found that I liked the idea of maxing Earth Stance as well. Then I found out I needed a base 18 con -.- Then I realized that I'd like a maxed Wind Stance as well but need a base 18 dex -.-
I am considering buying an LR from the ddo store to reconfig my stat points but...

Any helpful ideas the community may have as to how to maintain credible viability throughout endgame are appreciated!! Thanks for your replies.

Build for now to get you to the endgame then go about collecting your gear. If you try and do DPS master with no AC, no Fort and monk low hitpoints you will die a lot and get left over for barbarians fighters and anyone else with a pulse. you need to be the guy with steady sustained DPS that stuns and leaves the healer more time to worry about the full on stupid barbarian/fighters. After you have gotten to end game and started collecting all the gear you can focus on the shift to the DPS mindset.


all in all "focus daniel-san , focus"
a good start and a lot better geared and planned monk than I usually see. your on the right track, just nail down what you want most and build for that , mostly with your AP. figure out how you got shintao without the prereq feat and for the love of god get some heavy fort. those at the minimum and you will be set.

[Jaid314]

@t0r012: he has 'luck' listed as a feat. presumably that is luck of heroes, so his shintao feat requirement is satisfied.

i do agree, void is kinda pricey, doubt you'll fit it + shintao + all the other stuff you want into a single build.

he has garments of equilibrium, that's his heavy fort item.

anyways, it looks pretty decent to me. getting a stronger AC is probably not a bad idea, if you can pull it off.

i second the suggestion for some nice stunning +10 handwraps. even if you have to settle for a pair with no bursts on them (you can always add icy and force burst if you want)

[t0r012]

@t0r012: he has 'luck' listed as a feat. presumably that is luck of heroes, so his shintao feat requirement is satisfied. yeah I missed "luck"

i do agree, void is kinda pricey, doubt you'll fit it + shintao + all the other stuff you want into a single build.

he has garments of equilibrium, that's his heavy fort item. ahh yes , yes it is. don't have one yet so I just went from memory of + concentration and +1 dice forgot about the heavy fort.

anyways, it looks pretty decent to me. getting a stronger AC is probably not a bad idea, if you can pull it off.

i second the suggestion for some nice stunning +10 handwraps. even if you have to settle for a pair with no bursts on them (you can always add icy and force burst if you want)
yeah without a strict wis focus you need all the stun help you can get.
with bloodstone and Str the couple of extra pips from burst would be worth less than a better chance to stun.

Yeah, missed a couple things. good catches jaid

[Rauven]

Based on your post Dat1 your starting stats were:
Str - 15
Dex - 15
Con - 14
Int - 8
Wis - 16
Cha - 8

You have put 3 points into Str and applied a +2 supreme tome. This ability break down is fine for a 32 pt build. Monks are stretched very tight when it comes to ability scores; just keep building your Str and you'll be fine.

Skills look good.

I agree with t0r012, get rid of WF: Bludgeon. On my shintao I took cleave. I was already taking PA and since I had to take a junk feat I figured cleave was as good as any. It can be fun at low lvl's, makes breaking groups of breakables easy but is generally not so great in combat (opinions will vary on the effectiveness of cleave, I find the pause that follows a cleave annoying). The +1 to all saves provided by Luck of Heroes isn't all that great for a class that already tends to have nice saves. But since that would require two feat swaps I'd say keep LoH and just swap WF:B. Stunning Blow would be a good option. SB and SF have separate timers (15 and 6 sec, respectively), with your Str and some +10 stunning wraps you'll be able to cycle the two and keep more mobs stunned.

It is entirely possible to have Void IV, Grandmaster of 2 elements and Shintao III, I know because that is the current path I'm following on my second life monk. Whether I keep Void IV is yet to be determined (I have to get it first). It is expensive AP wise and you do meet the ability requirements but you'll have to go Grandmaster of the Sun to do it. My suggestion would be to go no higher than Master on earth, air and water and take fire to Grandmaster. This would allow you to take Void IV if you want and if you decide that Void IV doesn't meet your expectations it's easy enough to respec enhancements.

Your equipment looks ok. You have heavy fort on the garments. Between the +10 ac from jidz tet'ka and +5 prot necklace, your Wis and Dex modifiers and centered bonus you probably sit somewhere close to 35~40 ac unbuffed and out of stance. Wind stance will boost that a little, ship buffs (if you have them) can add +3 and bark potions add a few more. Fully buffed you probably hit ~45 ac which is fine for that lvl of content. You're not going to be untouchable but you're not going to be hit all the time either. The biggest problem I see with your gear is you only have stunning +6 from the stonedust wraps. Try to get some +8 or +10's, it will make a world of difference to your SB/SF DC's and it's always nice to get that free stun.

I don't really see a need for you to do a LR. One feat swap to get rid of WF:B, change around some AP's to focus on fire stance and you're set.

[Dat1]

hey t0r012 :)
-"level ups in str or wisdom?"
-- i have been putting my lvls in str

-"weap foc- bludg dump for another toughness"
-- would you suggest another toughness over stunning blow?

-"need to get master in your prime fighting stance either fire or wind"
-- is master in all stances not viable? jc

-"run your earth up for the strikes and drop teh void and go shintao."
-- alas, I messed up and shorted my con. have a base 14 +2 tome and didn't know I needed a base 18 total. still trying to fig out how to achieve Earth IV strikes :(

-"both the same +1 metal doesn't matter much unless you are throwing stars at golems and such"
-- thx 4 the clarity :)

-"dump the SR outfits and get a deathblock of heavy fort and throw an AC ritual on it."
-- def plan to now that I've got inherent SR :)

-"your damage wraps are o.k. but where are your stunners? highest you have are +6 from stonedusts you should have at least one good set of burst of stun8 or better by 13."
-- need more money hahaha

-"Grab some AC. run the fens for the sirens charm set. + 4 con on the neck with sonic resist +5 ac belt. together they give a +2 insight AC bonus. slap on some chaosgardes and swill a barkskin pot and you will be pushing 50 AC good enough for your level."
-- atm, I don't have the fens and the ac from the belt wont stack w/Jidz. I'd like the +2 insight bonus, but I've just picked up a +6 con belt that I'm reluctant to discard and I keep a healthy stack of guildie barkskin pots on hand. I also need to farm for the Planar Gird (haven't found one yet) but again, unless I can find another +6 con item for another slot, I'll probably use it more for the GH clicky.

-"Build for now to get you to the endgame then go about collecting your gear. If you try and do DPS master with no AC, no Fort and monk low hitpoints you will die a lot and get left over for barbarians fighters and anyone else with a pulse. you need to be the guy with steady sustained DPS that stuns and leaves the healer more time to worry about the full on stupid barbarian/fighters. After you have gotten to end game and started collecting all the gear you can focus on the shift to the DPS mindset."
-- ty for this. I didn't realize building to GET to endgame and building to SURVIVE endgame were different concepts
_________

Rauven:
-"Stunning Blow would be a good option. SB and SF have separate timers (15 and 6 sec, respectively), with your Str and some +10 stunning wraps you'll be able to cycle the two and keep more mobs stunned."
-- I had considered Stunning Blow in tandem w/Stunning Fist, but was unsure as to whether I would have enough feats to take it or if I needed another toughness instead.

-"It is entirely possible to have Void IV, Grandmaster of 2 elements and Shintao III, I know because that is the current path I'm following on my second life monk. Whether I keep Void IV is yet to be determined (I have to get it first). It is expensive AP wise and you do meet the ability requirements but you'll have to go Grandmaster of the Sun to do it. My suggestion would be to go no higher than Master on earth, air and water and take fire to Grandmaster. This would allow you to take Void IV if you want and if you decide that Void IV doesn't meet your expectations it's easy enough to respec enhancements."
-- I believe t0r012 might have meant that Void IV + Grandmaster of Earth & another element + Earth Strike IV + Shintao III wouldn't work in terms of AP cost. I'm not sure as I have yet to do the math. Either way, I am considering my options w/Fire since I already have the base stat covered. I'm a little short on con for the full Earth strike line.

-"I don't really see a need for you to do a LR. One feat swap to get rid of WF:B, change around some AP's to focus on fire stance and you're set."
-- Now that you mention it, I think I could do well in my current Fire/Water stances. I still have Earth III so perhaps I can G-master one of those and then focus on the Void line?
__________

Jaid314:
-"anyways, it looks pretty decent to me. getting a stronger AC is probably not a bad idea, if you can pull it off."
-- ty for your input :) any ideas on what options I have to increase my AC? atm I am wearing the Sora Kell items and have no better stat boosting items to wear so those slots are kind of static at this point, as are my Jidz bracers...
_________________
_________________
Thank you all for your responses!! They were exactly what I was looking for to help me tweak my char and increase his usefulness and survivability. I wasn't sure a Str/Wis based monk would work well, but it looks like it will be doable after all (^,^)

[DarkFlash]

Try to get more Greater Bane wraps. (I have 13 GBane-sets in my hotbar >.>)

[Marten]

Void plus shintao isn't going to work too many AP on top of prime fighting stance. Figure out what you want your prime stance to be and get that to your level. Then you need to decide shintao or Void line , too expensive to get both.

This is not correct... 64 is the number and the number shall be 64!
With your race use whatever filer points you want but at lvl 16/Rank 80 you will hit the magic number of 64. By that time you should have:
Enhancement: Master of each style
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery III
Enhancement: Shintao Monk II
Enhancement: Void Strike III

Don't take any Enhancements during level 17.

At level 18 take your primary Grandmaster (Storms or Sun) (68)
At level 19 take Grandmaster Earth (72)
At level 20 you will take Void IV (76), Shintao Monk III (78) and Capstone: Monk Serenity (80)

I have done this with a Halfling and Half-Orc without hurting my ability to stun. And when I am in pure DPS mode I can spam Void IV (Epic POOFS! FTW), Void III, Earth IV, Earth III, Iron Fists and Triple Earth Finisher for unbeatable sustained monk DPS. If I am Madstoned I swap out the Finisher with either Void II or Healing Curse.

I hope this helps some and enjoy the monk, its a fun class to play.

[Furbitor]

This is not correct... 64 is the number and the number shall be 64!
With your race use whatever filer points you want but at lvl 16/Rank 80 you will hit the magic number of 64. By that time you should have:
Enhancement: Master of each style
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery III
Enhancement: Shintao Monk II
Enhancement: Void Strike III

Don't take any Enhancements during level 17.

At level 18 take your primary Grandmaster (Storms or Sun) (68)
At level 19 take Grandmaster Earth (72)
At level 20 you will take Void IV (76), Shintao Monk III (78) and Capstone: Monk Serenity (80)

I have done this with a Halfling and Half-Orc without hurting my ability to stun. And when I am in pure DPS mode I can spam Void IV (Epic POOFS! FTW), Void III, Earth IV, Earth III, Iron Fists and Triple Earth Finisher for unbeatable sustained monk DPS. If I am Madstoned I swap out the Finisher with either Void II or Healing Curse.

I hope this helps some and enjoy the monk, its a fun class to play.

void 4 and shintao 3 are doable definitely. I love the heck outa my monk. AND mine also has rise/phoenix!

But it has to be a balanced monk.... no over-spending on enhancements and starting stats is critical

[arkonas]

all in all "focus daniel-san , focus"
a good start and a lot better geared and planned monk than I usually see. your on the right track, just nail down what you want most and build for that , mostly with your AP. figure out how you got shintao without the prereq feat and for the love of god get some heavy fort. those at the minimum and you will be set.

i think the guy who was checking his gear missed one thing the GARMENTS have heavy fort

[Dat1]

This is not correct... 64 is the number and the number shall be 64!
With your race use whatever filer points you want but at lvl 16/Rank 80 you will hit the magic number of 64. By that time you should have:
Enhancement: Master of each style
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery III
Enhancement: Shintao Monk II
Enhancement: Void Strike III

Don't take any Enhancements during level 17.

At level 18 take your primary Grandmaster (Storms or Sun) (68)
At level 19 take Grandmaster Earth (72)
At level 20 you will take Void IV (76), Shintao Monk III (78) and Capstone: Monk Serenity (80)

I have done this with a Halfling and Half-Orc without hurting my ability to stun. And when I am in pure DPS mode I can spam Void IV (Epic POOFS! FTW), Void III, Earth IV, Earth III, Iron Fists and Triple Earth Finisher for unbeatable sustained monk DPS. If I am Madstoned I swap out the Finisher with either Void II or Healing Curse.

I hope this helps some and enjoy the monk, its a fun class to play.

The more I researched as I began to play my char, the more I realized this is what I wanted to do w/my Monk... however, I ran into one small little detail... my con is base 16 (w/a +2 tome) and I haven't figured out how to pump it to 18. Unless I wait till lvl 20 to get Grandmaster Earth/Earth IV and put my last 2 ability pts into Con....