Monk Multiclass Build Help

[Bacab]

I have a toon that I will be TRing very soon (after u13...I feel a LOT of people will be hitting the TR button that day lol).

Anyway, I will TRing my WF FVS (though he may have Barb Past life via +5 LR hearts...). He has lotsa Green Steel and raid loot etc etc. He has an extensive collection of Great Swords (every good GSW except the ESoS)...but I can't help but feel kinda drawn into getting his MNK life done (maybe more than once...and it looks fun!).

So here are my ideas...


I may be using out-dated info...but does DoS (PLD PRe) still need Tower SHield? What bonuses does DoS add to a MNK?

I always thought I would go 12MNK/6PLD/2FTR. I always thought the 6 PLD levels would be for HotD (healing amp) and the 2 FTR for the 2 Feats plus 1 STR, 1 Toughness Enhancement and Haste Boost.

Or...

12MNK/6PLD/2ROG for some traps and UMD. UMD is super important to me because I tend to play WF and my "main" toon who I will be TRIng a ton soon will need MNK past life (seems really strong).

My leveling plan(s)...
for the 12MNK/6PLD/2FTR build...

1MNK
2PLD (seems to me 2HF is the way to go early on)
3PLD (LoH early)
4MNK (Evasion early)
5FTR (Haste Boost)
6-9PLD (Hunter of the dead)
10 FTR
11-20 MNK

I would switch to Handwraps when I had atleast ITWF...btw do monks get their running speed bonus when using a GreatSword (i.i not centered)

Not sure how I would do feats yet...but suggestions are appreciated.

The OTHER Idea

1ROG for skills
2-12random other jobs...
13 ROG to catch up UMD (here is where I can start nailing Recon Scrolls)
14-20 other Classes

I think with a starting INT of 14 I could reasonably get most traps.


As always any help is appreciated.

Ideas for Stats...Ideas for Feats...ideas for leveling order...ideas for when to use my vast array of GreatSwords vs Hand2Hand.

I have most Handwraps that are end rewards to chains (Fernia and Devotion). I will also be looking out for nice handwraps...so lets assume I will have some good Handwraps.

This build will be to XP and to XP fast. I will TR immediately upon hitting 20.

One thought...if I want fast XPing...would Monk levels be best taken early for running speed? Also was planning on going dark monk for Touch of Death and Shadow Fade. Should I try to power through to get to those ASAP? Like maybe level 1 go ROG then MNK until ToD then work on the other levels?

[Kinerd]

The thing with unarmed paladins, even light splash paladins, is that both Divine Sacrifice and Smite Evil turn off your offhand, making them negative DPS propositions. With that said, the ghost touch from HotD still works, so you've got that going for you (and the healing amp, of course).

DoS works without a tower shield: you still get to use the stance, giving you threat amp, HP, a little stat love. You would get a little more stuff with a shield, but you still get some.

Wielding a greatsword will turn off your monk fast movement.

The concerns you point out are why I have never really liked deep splashes on a transition life. Yes, Touch of Death + HotD is sweet, but if you are going to get another 2 levels of another class, you're not going to see both until the 12 seconds you are level 20, so why bother? To my mind I would drop the paladin levels entirely. This is even more favored if you go the trapper route: monks get 4 + int skill points per level (and class Spot), paladins get a crippling 2 +.

Regarding handwraps, Stunning +as much as possible is the name of the game. Monks and stunning are like cake and ice cream.