Scrapheap Challenge: Fix My Toaster!

[Persiflage]

Alright, so I made a booboo. A big booboo. In fact, I might go so far as to say a VERY BIG booboo indeed, if not a string of family-sized booboos with extra cup-holders and the optional purple velour trim.

I TR'd a toon back before U12 or so. On his first life, he was a Half-Orc stick build; hit like a truck, but way too much of a glass cannon for someone who solos a lot. He had - and has - zero raid gear. I reincarnated him as a WF Monk, intending to replicate a build I'd done on my Arti's first life (reason being, that monk had been my crafter and then Artificers came out :/). Then I got all caught up in my Artificer project, running him through Ranger lives, gearing up and so on... and then MoTU came out and the world changed.

WF Monks took a bit of a pasting, in my view, so I thought I'd try something different (he was a L5 Monk at the time) and level him as a Monk/Kensai. The idea (and I'm sure everyone other than me will spot the flaw immediately) was to build him in such a way as to get Overwhelming Critical and Vorpal Strikes in the mix. I have no idea how I managed to make such a noob error, but there ya go. It wasn't until I actually tried to take my L21 feat that I realised I hadn't read the not-so-small print in the feat description which is perfectly clear about the fact that you need not only a base Wisdom of 23 (check!) but also at least 12 levels of Monk (um...).

My only defence is that I levelled him over the Christmas/New Year holiday period and was therefore almost certainly drunk at the time.

Anyway, this left me in the unenviable position of being the proud owner of a WF 8/12 Monk/Kensai at level 21 and needing to take a feat; with the Wisdom for Vorpal Strikes but not enough Monk levels, one stat point in Strength away from Overwhelming Critical (which I was going to take at L24) and not enough Con to qualify for Epic Toughness. So, in the absence of any better ideas, I took Toughness again. Blah.

I am so utterly sick of levels 16-20 that I have no intention of TR'ing him again, and although I think pure Monk would be greatly preferable I don't really want to have to throw 2x +5 and a +3 Heart (at a huge cost in TP) at him to make that happen. So I need to do something with the build that is going to suck as little as possible within the given constraints, and - playing around with the character generator - this is what I've come up with so far:



Fighter 12 / Monk 8
Male Warforged - Lawful Good
__________________________________________________ ______________

PAST LIVES SELECTED:
Monk (1)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 1
Race Selected: Male Warforged
Alignment Selected: Lawful Good
Class Selected: Monk (Monk 1)
Abilities Raised: STR: 17, DEX: 13, CON: 17, WIS: 13
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +4 (4), Concentration +4 (4),
Jump +3 (3), Tumble +1 (1)
Feats Selected: Stunning Blow, Power Attack
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 2:
Class Selected: Monk (Monk 2)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +1 (5), Concentration +1 (5),
Jump +1 (4)
Feats Selected: Toughness
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 3:
Class Selected: Monk (Monk 3)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +1 (6), Concentration +1 (6),
Jump +1 (5)
Feats Selected: Past Life (Disciple of the Fist),
Path of Harmonious Balance
Tomes Applied: STR: +1, DEX: +1, CON: +1, INT: +1,
WIS: +1, CHA: +1
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 4:
Class Selected: Monk (Monk 4)
Abilities Raised: STR: 19
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +1 (7), Concentration +1 (7),
Jump +1 (6)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 5:
Class Selected: Fighter (Monk 4 / Fighter 1)
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +0.5 (7.5)
Feats Selected: Weapon Focus (Bludgeoning)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 6:
Class Selected: Fighter (Monk 4 / Fighter 2)
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +0.5 (8)
Feats Selected: Stunning Fist, Cleave
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 7:
Class Selected: Fighter (Monk 4 / Fighter 3)
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +0.5 (8.5)
Tomes Applied: STR: +2, DEX: +2, CON: +2, INT: +2,
WIS: +2, CHA: +2
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 8:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 4 / Monk 4)
Abilities Raised: STR: 21
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +0.5 (7.5), Concentration +0.5 (9)
Feats Selected: Two Weapon Fighting
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 9:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 5 / Monk 4)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +0.5 (8), Concentration +0.5 (9.5)
Feats Selected: Weapon Specialization (Bludgeoning)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 10:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 6 / Monk 4)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +0.5 (8.5), Concentration +0.5 (10)
Feats Selected: Improved Critical (Bludgeoning)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 11:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 7 / Monk 4)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +0.5 (9), Concentration +0.5 (10.5)
Tomes Applied: STR: +3, DEX: +3, CON: +3, INT: +3,
WIS: +3, CHA: +3
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 12:
Class Selected: Monk (Fighter 7 / Monk 5)
Abilities Raised: WIS: 17
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +4 (14.5)
Feats Selected: Great Cleave
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 13:
Class Selected: Monk (Fighter 7 / Monk 6)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +3 (12), Concentration +1 (15.5)
Feats Selected: Improved Sunder
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 14:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 8 / Monk 6)
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +0.5 (16), Jump +1 (7)
Feats Selected: Precision
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 15:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 9 / Monk 6)
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +1 (17)
Feats Selected: Dodge
Tomes Applied: STR: +4, DEX: +4, CON: +4, WIS: +4
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 16:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 10 / Monk 6)
Abilities Raised: WIS: 19
Skills Ranks Raised: Jump +2 (9)
Feats Selected: Improved Two Weapon Fighting
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 17:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 11 / Monk 6)
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +1 (13)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 18:
Class Selected: Fighter (Fighter 12 / Monk 6)
Skills Ranks Raised: Jump +2 (11)
Feats Selected: Greater Two Weapon Fighting,
Greater Weapon Specialization (Bludgeoning)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 19:
Class Selected: Monk (Fighter 12 / Monk 7)
Skills Ranks Raised: Concentration +4 (21)
__________________________________________________ ______________

LEVEL 20:
Class Selected: Monk (Fighter 12 / Monk 8)
Abilities Raised: WIS: 20
Skills Ranks Raised: Balance +2 (15), Concentration +2 (23)
Equipment Mods Changed To: AC: 9, HP: 30, STR: 11,
DEX: 11, CON: 11, INT: 2, WIS: 11, CHA: 2, FORT: 10,
REFL: 10, WILL: 10
Enhancements Selected: Warforged Healers Friend I,
Fighter Toughness I, Monk Wisdom I, Fighter Critical Accuracy I,
Monk Improved Recovery I, Fighter Attack Boost I, Racial Toughness I,
Fighter Critical Accuracy II, Fighter Attack Boost II,
Fighter Toughness II, Fighter Kensei I, Racial Toughness II,
Kensei Specified Weapon Mastery I, Monk Improved Recovery II,
Warforged Healers Friend II, Adept of Rock, Warforged Constitution I,
Warforged Constitution II, Fighter Strength I, Way of the Patient Tortoise I,
Fighter Kensei II, Fighter Strength II, Warforged Tactics I,
Warforged Tactics II, Fighter Weapon Specialization I,
Kensei Specified Weapon Mastery II, Fighter Haste Boost I,
Fighter Haste Boost II, Fighter Haste Boost III, Fighter Haste Boost IV,
Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) I, Fighter Extra Action Boost I,
Warforged Tactics III, Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) II,
Fighter Strategy (Stunning Blow) III
Stats at End of Level 20:
HP:541 SP:0 AC:42 FORT:36 REFL:29 WILL:31 BAB:+18/+18/+23/+28
STR:36(+13) DEX:28(+9) CON:34(+12) INT:13(+1) WIS:32(+11) CHA:11(0)
Balance:24, Bluff:2, Concentration:40, Diplomacy:2,
Disable Device: n/a, Haggle:0, Heal:11, Hide:9, Intimidate:2,
Jump:24, Listen:11, Move Silently:9, Open Lock: n/a,
Perform: n/a, Repair:1, Search:1, Spot:11, Swim:13,
Tumble:10, UMD: n/a



He will run in Earth II stance, take Overwhelming Critical at L21 and Epic Toughness at L24... that is, unless somebody has some better ideas. I'm prepared to entertain notions like using a +x heart to swap out some levels if need be. Also, I'm not at all convinced that Precision is worthwhile but I couldn't see anything else useful to take at that stage :/

In particular, his gear needs attention: I'm thinking of putting a White Dragonscale docent on in place of the Ancient Gemstone, on the grounds that it really irks me to end up with Con +7 in three different slots once Commendation gear is figured in; how on earth are people gearing WF melees these days?! I capped crafting a long time ago, so anything Cannith craftable is available if need be. Everything about the toon seems like a bit of a mess, to be frank, so I will take any assistance I can get!

Points to bear in mind: he has no old-style epic gear, or raid gear, whatsoever. I basically can't raid these days due to time constraints, so I've never run CiTW nor even MA/LoB and it's not an option for me to start any time soon.

Summary of level order and feats in my latest shoddy attempt at a build:

1) [Monk] Stunning Blow, Power Attack
2) [Monk] Toughness
3) [Monk] PL: Disciple of the Fist
4) [Monk]
5) [Fighter] Weapon Focus (Bludgeoning)
6) [Fighter] Stunning Fist, Cleave
7) [Fighter]
8) [Fighter] Two-Weapon Fighting
9) [Fighter] Weapon Specialization (Bludgeoning)
10) [Fighter] Improved Critical (Bludgeoning)
11) [Fighter]
12) [Monk] Great Cleave
13) [Monk] Improved Sunder
14) [Fighter] Precision (??) - couldn't find anything better
15) [Fighter] Dodge (??) - couldn't find anything better
16) [Fighter] Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
17) [Fighter]
18) [Fighter] Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Weapon Specialization (Bludgeoning)
19) [Monk]
20) [Monk]

Stunning Blow DC will be: 10 (base) + 10 (wraps) + 13 (Str) + 6 (enhancements) + 6 (LD) = 45/49 (Power Surge)
Stunning Fist DC will be: 10 (base) + 12 (level) + 10 (wraps) + 11(Wis) + 3 (enhancements) + 6 (LD) = 52

With Improved Sunder, these amount to "Meh, OK"... :/

Is this toon fixable? Do I keep persevering? Stick him on the shelf and hope for mercy from the enhancement pass? Delete him and write off two lives?

Help me, forum, help me! :D

[TPICKRELL]

While Vorpal Strikes is a very nice feat, but it does not make or break your DPS. I'd say just take improved martial arts and proceed as you originally planned. Work up your destinys and max your haste boosts and have fun.

That being said, I've got a 12/8 WF fighter monk who was my primary tank build when I made him. He's sitting on the shelf until I'm ready to TR him asd my Pure Monk WF can tank everything he can tank and takes a lot less damage doing so.

12/8 builds are viable, so don't give up just because you lost vorpal strikes. But you need to figure out what role you want to play, and toon his gear/destinies/twists to make that happen. Destinys and Twists have a lot more impact than one feat will ever have, so thats where you should focus your attention.

[voodoogroves]

I have a Fighter 12 / Monk 7 / Wizard 1 that I absolutely love - he is a tactics beast. As a WF, I figured I should play to his strengths. The wizard 1 was because he was first life, and when I started him the low-level buffs from clickies (like shield, pro evil) didn't last 5 minutes. If I were to build him now I'd go Ranger 2 / Monk 6 / Fighter 12 mostly because I don't really need the wizard level and I am in love with sprint boost.

For feats I the core of my guy are: Stunning Blow, Stunning Fist, CE, Improved Trip, Improved Sunder, then the TWF line, improved crit, toughness, PA, the Kensai pre-reqs. Dodge for Ninja 1 (shadow fade is awesome). With CE, the nice thing is you can respec to Stalwart if you like.

I built him with older epic gear - I've not upped him to the newer standards completely. I'm sure I could gear on another 4-6 points of STR consistently. Still, tactics DCs are very, very respectable ... I finished LD first and whatever destiny I'm leveling I've got the +6 tactics twisted in ... so I think he's pretty much always in the high 50s for stuns, over 60 for trips or higher (depending on destiny, what abilities I've taken, etc.) Plan ultimately would be to sit in GMOF twisting in Tactics, sense weakness and maybe extra action boosts but he's a 2nd string character of mine and it's going to take a bit for him to get the fate points for that.


He is fun and the right amount of active for me.

I did build him prior to epic feats, so I'm staring hard at a +3 heart I have and thinking about the LR. That plan would be something like this:

Ranger (1): TWF
Monk (3): Toughness, Stunning Fist, Dodge
Normal (7): CE, Improved Trip, Stunning Blow, PA, Improved Sunder, Cleave, Great Cleave
Fighter (7): ITXF, GTXF, Improved Crit, Focus, Spec, Greater Spec, Quickdraw (mostly for interaction with boosts).
Epic (2): Overwhelming Crit, OPEN FEAT

With Haste Boost, Sprint Boost, Kensai surge.

[voodoogroves]

Stunning Blow DC will be: 10 (base) + 10 (wraps) + 13 (Str) + 6 (enhancements) + 6 (LD) = 45/49 (Power Surge)
Stunning Fist DC will be: 10 (base) + 12 (level) + 10 (wraps) + 11(Wis) + 3 (enhancements) + 6 (LD) = 52

With Improved Sunder, these amount to "Meh, OK"... :/

Is this toon fixable? Do I keep persevering? Stick him on the shelf and hope for mercy from the enhancement pass? Delete him and write off two lives?

Help me, forum, help me! :D

Don't forget your +5 or +6 from an enhancement item (spare hand, cloak or seal of dunrobar).

I understand the draw of going WIS based, because maybe you want to spam EIN. Personally, I didn't put any level up points into WIS and went STR based.

My reasoning is I wanted the character to be good at something, and that something may not be the best ability in the game but dangit it had to be useful. WF + monk + fighter screams tactics, and a WF monk has an option to body slot trip better than any other monk w/ the Blademarks.

STR 16 + 6 levels + 3 tome +2 boat + 7 / 2 / 1 items +3 fighter is a base 40 STR ... + 2 rage + 8 power surge + profanes + whatever additional bonuses

Tactics minimally would be 10 base + 15 STR + 3 WF + 3 fighter + 2 kenasi + 5 exceptional item + 10 item + 6 LD = 54 ... 59 when rage/surging and higher if you twist in the LD into GMOF (3 more). That's my stunning blow. My stunning fist is actually even higher as half level (12) + a bit of wisdom is higher than the 15 STR. My trip (though I didn't put as many enhancements into it) has a +15 item AND improved trip gives +4 ... so it's 9 higher than stunning blow ...

[Persiflage]

Thanks for the feedback voodoo, I appreciate it very much, +1 to you sir :)

Any chance you could post your build? What's baking my noodle at the moment is how on earth you managed to fit all the enhancements in... Ninja Spy is costly (you'll notice that at the moment I'm going Light Monk and can't even afford Shintao I), you've got all the Kensai / Specialization enhancements to cover, WF Tactics are super-expensive, and so on. What are you dropping? What AC do you end up with on that toon?

Also, am I missing something about 2 Ranger? It looks to me like you're exchanging Wholeness of Body, .5 d6 to all attacks and 5% increment to move speed for a feat, sprint boost, and +2 to damage against a single enemy type. Is that right? And again, how in the name of all the gods of Faerun are you fitting in the enhancement points for Haste Boost on top of all the tactics enhancements, Healer's Friend, kensai stuff and so on. I'm really baffled!

I like the sound of what you've done, but I'm not sure I can pull it off. I don't have any of the old epic gear, the commendations stuff is alright but very depressing with the docent (I compare the results to my Halfling Monk and just want to cry), and there's no way I'm going to be adding that +5/+6 extra DC from a Spare Hand or a cloak; that would require running challenges, and frankly I'd rather perform surgery on myself with a stick.

As for Dun Robar seals... *sigh*. I have pulled six of the things - SIX - and not one of them has dropped with Exceptional Combat Mastery on it, let alone ECM + useful stat.

I will consider dropping Wisdom a bit, but I suspect that without some gear I'm never going to have, I'll just end up with a Stunning Fist that won't land without Improved Sunder as well as a Stunning Blow in the same situation. My level-ups into Wis were for +AC, EiN and Stunning Fist DC.

Funnily enough, I had tried for tripping in the build I'm running at the moment, but I just couldn't find a way to make it all hang together. The Epic Blademark's Docent is a great idea, and only involves farming quests that I could fit into my play-time, so that's good. It will take forever to get though, which is bad. I can't remember the last time I got a single seal or shard from that chain.

What's also not good is that I'd then have to spare build points to get my Int to 13. Hmmm. And, of course, *without* the Blademark's docent (which is likely to take me months to get, if I can face it), I have two feat slots that are completely worthless to me in the meantime as my trips will never, ever land. :/

Obviously you've made this work somehow, but I'd appreciate a breakdown of gear and enhancements if you have one, 'cos I can't figure out how you're doing it all! :D



EDIT: Apparently I have to spread some reputation around, etc. Could someone get that for me, please? :)

[voodoogroves]

I'll have to check my exact AP layout.

I definitely fit in all of Ninja 1 and Kensai 2. I also always take the max on WF tactics (since I'm using all tactics) and if I need to ditch some tactics I raise stun (since I have two of those) higher than the trip / sunder. There are some trade-offs, for sure.

AC isn't much, unless I respec for Stalwart. Dodge, blurry, incorp ;-) When I do Stalwart I take that "increase PRR when CE is active" ability from LD and change around a mess of gear (since the Jidz don't give me amp in earth stance). Maybe the AC is near 50-60 typically?

Blademark's isn't terribly hard to farm, nor is Jidz. I know they can be a pain as I have farmed for them, but they do come in time. I do have the Claw gloves on him, and that's probably the hardest to get gear he has (I pair it w/ a Gem of Many Facets). I also have an epic Spare Hand and a +5 DunRobar that I can swap between.

The big issue I have with him on gearing is that I'm curious what the new augments will look like. I've not filled a single one of his augment slots, because frankly I don't want to lose the tokens. Anyway, he's 2nd tier - will likely cap him this weekend and farm some EDs. Really, I'd love to TR him into near the same build to keep pushing the tactics DCs.



RE: Ranger - I'm really staring at run speed for the ranger w/ sprint boost. Sprint boost 1 isn't expensive (and that's all you can get w/ Ranger 2). Note I've not done the ranger bit now, as he sits it is 12 fighter 7 monk 1 wizard. For me, it's a change from Monk 7 to Monk 6, not Monk 8 to Monk 6. Still, looks to be a 0.5 [w] reduction and the removal of wholeness of body (which I find a rarely use).

[Persiflage]

While Vorpal Strikes is a very nice feat, but it does not make or break your DPS. I'd say just take improved martial arts and proceed as you originally planned. Work up your destinys and max your haste boosts and have fun.

Yes, you'd think so wouldn't you? But Improved Martial Arts ALSO requires 12 levels of Monk so that's a bust as well. Very sad panda.

Also, I'm a bit confused 'cos this:


That being said, I've got a 12/8 WF fighter monk who was my primary tank build when I made him. He's sitting on the shelf until I'm ready to TR him asd my Pure Monk WF can tank everything he can tank and takes a lot less damage doing so.

...doesn't seem to match up with this:


12/8 builds are viable, so don't give up just because you lost vorpal strikes. But you need to figure out what role you want to play, and toon his gear/destinies/twists to make that happen. Destinys and Twists have a lot more impact than one feat will ever have, so thats where you should focus your attention.

From the sound of things, you've shelved your almost-identical build because your pure monk is much better. My pure monk is much better too, and he's sitting at maxed destinies with a 4/2/2 setup so I know how the land lies; it's just not looking good for my Kensai. It's not just the Vorpal Strikes thing that makes me want to give up, it's the Vorpal Strikes thing and the Improved Martial Arts thing and the survivability thing and the Utterly Appalling Lack Of Commendation/New Docents thing. :(

I pretty much just play solo or duo, so my role - on any toon - is to be able to kill ALL the things and take ALL their stuff, without myself being killed! :D

[voodoogroves]

I also think you're really missing out on the exceptional ... that +5 is very useful.

http://my.ddo.com/character/ghallanda/peterbilt/

So, my wisdom on Peterbilt when I logged out last looks to be a 24. 8 item (necklace, or only 7 from the Avithoul) + 2 insight (Sun Soul Belt or Goggles of Time Sensing) + 1 exceptional (Jidz) + 3 tome = +14 wisdom ... so I think he started with a 10 base, giving a 24 ... or maybe I started with a 12 and logged out in fire stance.. Dunno, not logged in right now. I generally wear the Spare Hand w/ the Avithoul and not the Sun Soul belt, so I must have have a wonky gear set equipped right now and not consistent.

This gives a 24 Wisdom. +7

Stunning Fist: 10 (base) + 12 (half levels) + 3 (WF) + 2 kensai + 2 (lets say) fighter enhancements + 5 exceptional item + 10 item + 6 LD + 7 wisdom = 57 ... plus I'm GMOF 3 or so now, so maybe 59.

Keep in mind that essentially 6 LD + 10 item + 5 exceptional + 3 WF + 2 kensai gives a +26 base to all tactics, period. Base fighter enhancements will add 1-3 to one kind of ability, and the core computation is slightly different.

So, the STR enhancements

Strength is showing a 36, but I'm only wearing the one +6 item (gloves) and no rage / surge. I'm pretty sure that is a ... 16 base + 6 item + 6 levels + 3 fighter + 3 tome ... that's a 34, I'm missing 2 - maybe fire stance. I don't think I started at 18 STR on this guy, but maybe I did. Again, room easily for a +8 item, +1 and +3 exceptional ... 6 more there, plus 10 from rage and surge and 2 from boat. Call it 50 with the Boat + Surge + Rage (which are pretty easy to finagle).

Stunning Blow: 10 (Base) + 20 (from a 50 STR) + 26 (item, exceptional WF, kensai, LD) + 2 or so from stunning (fighter) = 58 + 2 from current GMOF

Improved Trip: As stunning blow but +4 from improved trip, +5 from the Blademark's docent and maybe -1 from lower core fighter enhancements ... so 68?

First life toon. Not the best gear, but I will admit he's got some serious gems. Still, a pretty easily achievable set of tactics DCs. Claw / GOMF aren't really required and probably other options (PDK + Planar Focus) would be a decent goal alternate. 60+ tactics DCs, Kensai-rific DPS.

And slow fall. That's the coolest monk ability ever.


=========================

Now, EIN won't work as well for him. That's fine. When folks spam EIN sometimes I get that gut feel to re-spec him into a WIS based thing ... but honestly, when I take a step back and I think about what I want to do with him, it's tactics. So, that's what I do.

[TPICKRELL]

Yes, you'd think so wouldn't you? But Improved Martial Arts ALSO requires 12 levels of Monk so that's a bust as well. Very sad panda.

Also, I'm a bit confused 'cos this:



...doesn't seem to match up with this:



From the sound of things, you've shelved your almost-identical build because your pure monk is much better. My pure monk is much better too, and he's sitting at maxed destinies with a 4/2/2 setup so I know how the land lies; it's just not looking good for my Kensai. It's not just the Vorpal Strikes thing that makes me want to give up, it's the Vorpal Strikes thing and the Improved Martial Arts thing and the survivability thing and the Utterly Appalling Lack Of Commendation/New Docents thing. :(

I pretty much just play solo or duo, so my role - on any toon - is to be able to kill ALL the things and take ALL their stuff, without myself being killed! :D

My WF Fighter/Monk was created specifically to be a Hate Tank for our Guild Raids. At the time, two+ years ago, he did the job very well. But, my main toon is a WF Pure monk. Due to past lives, gear, destinies and changes to Mountain stance... My Pure WF monk has surpassed my WF Fighter/Monk's abilty to hate tank.

I also have 3 other, different flavors of pure monk and a Monk/Rogue trapper build. So reviving my Fighter monk hasn't made the priority list. He could be revived but he doesn't really fit my playstyle. He's dependant on heals since he takes way more damage than my pure monks. And he only deals more damage when haste boosted.

I know of several good Fighter / Monk toons, including one of my guild's best toons. But none of them are built to solo. Like many fighter's they are built to fill a role in a balanced party and are more or less dependent on heals.

I'm sure I could revive him by increasing his survibabilty (at the cost of some dps), but I doubt he would ever be as effective for solo play as a pure monk will be.

[Persiflage]

I'll have to check my exact AP layout.

I'd be grateful... I'm very interested to see what you've had to leave out. I felt like I was making some hard decisions already and I haven't managed to squeeze in half so many different things if you look at my enhancement list...


AC isn't much, unless I respec for Stalwart. Dodge, blurry, incorp ;-)

Yeah, I hear ya. Part of my problem right now is that the useful stuff I do have (like the greater trinkets) is spread around too many toons since I dragged more of them up to epic levels. Also, this toon has been sitting around so long that he has never acquired *any* decent BtC gear like a Mabar cloak or whatever. My pure monk has had all the nice toys.

I haven't tried an on-paper Dark build yet, so there's no incorporeality and he doesn't have my pure monk's perma-blur either.


RE: Ranger - I'm really staring at run speed for the ranger w/ sprint boost. Sprint boost 1 isn't expensive (and that's all you can get w/ Ranger 2). Note I've not done the ranger bit now, as he sits it is 12 fighter 7 monk 1 wizard. For me, it's a change from Monk 7 to Monk 6, not Monk 8 to Monk 6. Still, looks to be a 0.5 [w] reduction and the removal of wholeness of body (which I find a rarely use).


I also think you're really missing out on the exceptional ... that +5 is very useful

I'm sure :( With my collection of Dun Robar seals, my failure to get +5 exceptional certainly isn't for lack of trying, but challenges? No. Just... no.


Stunning Fist: 10 (base) + 12 (half levels) + 3 (WF) + 2 kensai + 2 (lets say) fighter enhancements + 5 exceptional item + 10 item + 6 LD + 7 wisdom = 57 ... plus I'm GMOF 3 or so now, so maybe 59.

Wait? The Stunning Blow fighter enhancement works on Stunning Fist as well?!? Also, I missed the additional DC's from Kensai and GMoF in my original sums so the picture isn't quite as bleak as all that. Both stuns should end up in the useful range.


Improved Trip: As stunning blow but +4 from improved trip, +5 from the Blademark's docent and maybe -1 from lower core fighter enhancements ... so 68?

First life toon. Not the best gear, but I will admit he's got some serious gems.

Hah, yes, he has at that. I have nothing for him by way of decent gear *at all* at this stage. Nor am I entirely sure I could see myself spending the time on the toon to get him that far :/


And slow fall. That's the coolest monk ability ever.

Perfect Slow Fall is. Not so sure about the 8th level poor-man's version though ;)


Now, EIN won't work as well for him. That's fine. When folks spam EIN sometimes I get that gut feel to re-spec him into a WIS based thing ... but honestly, when I take a step back and I think about what I want to do with him, it's tactics. So, that's what I do.

I'm not sure how an ability on a 5-minute cooldown could ever be said to be "spammed", but I do appreciate what you mean :)

[Persiflage]

But none of them are built to solo. Like many fighter's they are built to fill a role in a balanced party and are more or less dependent on heals.

I'm sure I could revive him by increasing his survibabilty (at the cost of some dps), but I doubt he would ever be as effective for solo play as a pure monk will be.

These sentences are sort of what I'm afraid of... solo capability is an absolute requirement for me, whereas I appreciate that it's not such a priority for everyone. That's what comes of playing on a primarily North American server when you live on a piddly little rock off the coast of France ;)

[voodoogroves]

I'd be grateful... I'm very interested to see what you've had to leave out. I felt like I was making some hard decisions already and I haven't managed to squeeze in half so many different things if you look at my enhancement list...

Will look later. With the XP bonus I should probably be working on capping him and farming EDs, as well as filling out one ED on my now-wiz before she turns into a sorc.



Yeah, I hear ya. Part of my problem right now is that the useful stuff I do have (like the greater trinkets) is spread around too many toons since I dragged more of them up to epic levels. Also, this toon has been sitting around so long that he has never acquired *any* decent BtC gear like a Mabar cloak or whatever. My pure monk has had all the nice toys.
Hmm. Yes. I feel your pain. I have a few gear sets I've used that were primarily BTA or easy to acquire, I'll take a look.


I haven't tried an on-paper Dark build yet, so there's no incorporeality and he doesn't have my pure monk's perma-blur either.
I love Shadow Fade.


I'm sure :( With my collection of Dun Robar seals, my failure to get +5 exceptional certainly isn't for lack of trying, but challenges? No. Just... no.
Some are pretty easy ... spare hand is pretty hot and is probably worth the pain.




Yep. Play to the WF strength ... WF Tactics 3 may be 6 points, but it's better than spending 2 points each on Stunning 2, Trip 2, Sunder 2. I think I only took Trip/Sunder to max of 1.


[quote]Hah, yes, he has at that. I have nothing for him by way of decent gear *at all* at this stage. Nor am I entirely sure I could see myself spending the time on the toon to get him that far :/
Like I said above, I'll look at the easier gear options and see what I can recommend.



Perfect Slow Fall is. Not so sure about the 8th level poor-man's version though ;)
Most people feather fall like tools. Level 4 and higher monks feather fall like superheroes.



I'm not sure how an ability on a 5-minute cooldown could ever be said to be "spammed", but I do appreciate what you mean :)
Right - I think you get what I'm saying. I didn't tool him for EIN, I tooled him for tactics. I may not stay in GMOF either, as I think Fury or some of the others may be better places ultimately - he's at 24 right now.

[Persiflage]

Thanks again voodoo... In the meantime, would anybody care to comment on the build I submitted? :)