Scorching wraps

[EssenceofEvil]

Has anyone experimented with scorching wraps to see if they worked with ninja spy's piercing/slashing enhancements? I know ivy wraps have been confirmed to work.

[TeacherSyn]

Has anyone experimented with scorching wraps to see if they worked with ninja spy's piercing/slashing enhancements? I know ivy wraps have been confirmed to work.

These wraps and the Ivy Wraps are the only handwraps in game with the Spiked property that's been verified to work with Ninja Poison and Ninja Master vorpal effect. Scorchtusk is a a rare minotaur just outside the tavern where you materialize into Three-Barrel Cove, so it's easy to farm for these handwraps.

Unfortunately, the spiked property on the Brawling Gloves from the Crystal Cove event do NOT work, nor does the Vorpal Strikes epic feat in my experience.

[inspiredunease]

These wraps and the Ivy Wraps are the only handwraps in game with the Spiked property that's been verified to work with Ninja Poison and Ninja Master vorpal effect. Scorchtusk is a a rare minotaur just outside the tavern where you materialize into Three-Barrel Cove, so it's easy to farm for these handwraps.

Unfortunately, the spiked property on the Brawling Gloves from the Crystal Cove event do NOT work, nor does the Vorpal Strikes epic feat in my experience.

I believe Ivy and Scorching wraps have now been fixed not to work. The tooltip on the enhancement has been updated to reflect this, as it now states something like "any weapon that would naturally be piercing or slashing," hence it's also broken sireth builds. At work at the moment, so can't check in game, but I'm sure I've seen a post on this. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me if I'm wrong :D

[kanordog]

I believe Ivy and Scorching wraps have now been fixed not to work. The tooltip on the enhancement has been updated to reflect this, as it now states something like "any weapon that would naturally be piercing or slashing," hence it's also broken sireth builds. At work at the moment, so can't check in game, but I'm sure I've seen a post on this. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me if I'm wrong :D

I just noticed this today.
So no more Dex based unarmed builds.

I mean, come on, it only worked with two specific wraps!
How many other kind of weapons have extra dmg modifier (whatever) options?

[Maelodic]

I just noticed this today.
So no more Dex based unarmed builds.

I mean, come on, it only worked with two specific wraps!
How many other kind of weapons have extra dmg modifier (whatever) options?

Currently, improved weapon finesse and the Rogue enhancement should give DEX to damage, but they've stated this is a bug. Hopefully it's not announced WAI

[Violith]

I just noticed this today.
So no more Dex based unarmed builds.

I mean, come on, it only worked with two specific wraps!
How many other kind of weapons have extra dmg modifier (whatever) options?


there was a dev comment about makiing it work with vorpal strikes but no word on that since. also, dagger in the back (rogue core enhancemnt) has a dex to damage for all weapons fineseable if you got weapon finese, and it does add the text (dex to damage) into the handwraps, so it should work, however it doesnt work with them due to the way handwraps are coded, they really need to just make them actual weapons to stop stuff from being broken with them

[kanordog]

there was a dev comment about makiing it work with vorpal strikes but no word on that since. also, dagger in the back (rogue core enhancemnt) has a dex to damage for all weapons fineseable if you got weapon finese, and it does add the text (dex to damage) into the handwraps, so it should work, however it doesnt work with them due to the way handwraps are coded, they really need to just make them actual weapons to stop stuff from being broken with them

Maelodic, Violith, thank You for the answers, good to know!

The main thing was behind my build to go pure dex unarmed monk.

I just reset my enhancements from shintao/ninja to Drow/ninja, I got roughly the same dmg with two shortswords but the toon so similar to his previous ranger life: a shortsword twf :(

If I knew they gonna fix the handwraps I just reincarnate to a dwarf or human for str...

[TeacherSyn]

I believe Ivy and Scorching wraps have now been fixed not to work. The tooltip on the enhancement has been updated to reflect this, as it now states something like "any weapon that would naturally be piercing or slashing," hence it's also broken sireth builds. At work at the moment, so can't check in game, but I'm sure I've seen a post on this. I'm sure someone will be along shortly to correct me if I'm wrong :D

Wow, that's darned weird, since Sireth is a naturally slashing weapon, as the two handwraps were naturally piercing as of Update 19.2.

WELP....back to the drawing board. It's almost as if the devs really want shortsword use all the time.

[Soulfurnace]

Wow, that's darned weird, since Sireth is a naturally slashing weapon, as the two handwraps were naturally piercing as of Update 19.2.

WELP....back to the drawing board. It's almost as if the devs really want shortsword use all the time.
Sireth isn't naturally slashing as it's a q-staff. It's a weird q-staff, but they're naturally blunt.

...Turbine doesn't play nicely with wraps, you should know this. The amount of times descriptions and abilities are changed to disclude things is amazing, esp if it involves monks.

[Archangel_666]

Wow, that's darned weird, since Sireth is a naturally slashing weapon, as the two handwraps were naturally piercing as of Update 19.2.

WELP....back to the drawing board. It's almost as if the devs really want shortsword use all the time.

Sireth gets boned either way due to inconsistency.

Doesn't work with the ED ability Pulverizer because even though it's a Staff, the Slashing Damage component apparently nullifies this.

Pulverizer: Passive Bonus: Increases the critical threat range of bludgeoning weapons you equip by 1. Does not work with Handwraps
Feature/bug: Does not work with Sireth, Spear of the Sky, probably due to the weapon not having a bludgeoning damage component. Does work on Blunted Ammunition ranged weapons though.

Doesn't work with the Monk Enhancement because even though it does Slashing Damage the Enhancement counts it as a Staff and most Staves are Blunt...

Inconsistency FTW.

[Maelodic]

Maelodic, Violith, thank You for the answers, good to know!

The main thing was behind my build to go pure dex unarmed monk.

I just reset my enhancements from shintao/ninja to Drow/ninja, I got roughly the same dmg with two shortswords but the toon so similar to his previous ranger life: a shortsword twf :(

If I knew they gonna fix the handwraps I just reincarnate to a dwarf or human for str...

Even if you started with 12-14 STR and you want unarmed, I would still recommend handwraps, especially if you're pure.
Handwraps have the highest attack speed, and get full bonuses to your offhand hits instead of just half. Apart from that, it's extremely easy to get STR as so many items have STR bonuses, and if you are pure, it's also very easy to boost your unarmed die anywhere from 8[1d8] to 10[1d8] with shintao (or 8-10[1d6] with ninja)
Compare that to the "best" shortsword, Celestia, which is 2.5[1d10]+8 boostable to 4.5[1d10] (or 5.25[1d10] in fire stance)
Deft strikes gives you an extra 10% offhand chance, and if you decide to go shintao, you can get 100% offhand strike in wind stance, but you'll want the capstone to do that.

Lemme know if you need help building. I've built almost exclusively monks for the past year.

[Daitengu]

And Celestia is alignment restricted!

[Soulfurnace]

And Celestia is alignment restricted!
UMD!

Bah, why don't people invest enough in UMD these days...

[Daitengu]

Because we can use skillpoints otherwise? And Cha is not really useful on a monk. In my opinion raid loot shoud not be alignment restricted. Or it should be consistent since all you good ones can use the evil green steel without umd.

[Soulfurnace]

Because we can use skillpoints otherwise? And Cha is not really useful on a monk. In my opinion raid loot shoud not be alignment restricted. Or it should be consistent since all you good ones can use the evil green steel without umd.
Yes, you can. Not sure what on.

I have max concentration, 1 point in tumble (I can flip if I feel like it), max-1 balance and max UMD. (UMD is at max due to splashing arti.) Anything I missed that I should care about? Self healing for 300-500 (depending on race/monk levels) from level 11+ is amazing.

As for charisma, meh. With an arti splash, I have no-fail heal scrolls at level 11. At level 28, I don't have any need for charisma.

As for greensteel... We don't have an evil alignment. For the consistency you want, that means no players can use greensteel without UMD - something I'm not fussed about. I'll still be able to use it, not sure about newer players though.

[Daitengu]

Of course we have evil alignments. Not for a player but for weapons. Grave Wraps are anothr example, perfectly usable for good chars(ok one neg level). But good restricted weapons are not usabl for non good chars (without umd).

And skills, i like move silently, hide, jump and tumble. I usually dont splash arty and dont want to be forced to. UMD is something i usually dont miss. Its nice when you have it but it should not be mandatory. And I can self heal by other means as a monk (not exactly as efficient but possible).

[Soulfurnace]

Of course we have evil alignments. Not for a player but for weapons. Grave Wraps are anothr example, perfectly usable for good chars(ok one neg level). But good restricted weapons are not usabl for non good chars (without umd).

And skills, i like move silently, hide, jump and tumble. I usually dont splash arty and dont want to be forced to. UMD is something i usually dont miss. Its nice when you have it but it should not be mandatory. And I can self heal by other means as a monk (not exactly as efficient but possible).
For consistency, as you wanted, it would need to be Alignment required evil: [UMD x].

I see no use for move silently, hide or tumble. Jump, sure. But you'll hit max (40) without maxing it, trust me. Sneaking is pretty redundant, unless you solo a lot. (Even then, not needed for much.)

You aren't forced to splash arti. You aren't forced to use clestia/Sireth either.

Self healing is optional, not mandatory - best to have it anyway. Sure, fists of light are nice (ish), but... really? I didn't find it much use at endgame.

Also, you could click "Reply with quote" instead of just reply. Makes it harder to tell what I said before.

[Daitengu]

For consistency, as you wanted, it would need to be Alignment required evil: [UMD x]. That would be one way of doing it.

And no im not forced to used celestia but there are no good (no pun intended) alternatives when it comes to shortswords.

[kanordog]

Even if you started with 12-14 STR and you want unarmed, I would still recommend handwraps, especially if you're pure.
Handwraps have the highest attack speed, and get full bonuses to your offhand hits instead of just half. Apart from that, it's extremely easy to get STR as so many items have STR bonuses, and if you are pure, it's also very easy to boost your unarmed die anywhere from 8[1d8] to 10[1d8] with shintao (or 8-10[1d6] with ninja)
Compare that to the "best" shortsword, Celestia, which is 2.5[1d10]+8 boostable to 4.5[1d10] (or 5.25[1d10] in fire stance)
Deft strikes gives you an extra 10% offhand chance, and if you decide to go shintao, you can get 100% offhand strike in wind stance, but you'll want the capstone to do that.

Lemme know if you need help building. I've built almost exclusively monks for the past year.


Thanks for the advice!
I checked Your monk build, it is a good one indeed! I found some useful advice.
I'm usually ok with basic builds just hard to plan ahead when we got an update, patch, hotfix once a week :P

I think You are right, with unmodified STR 16 DEX 22, the dmg difference is only 3 (or less offhand) and still got 12 heroic levels to take, wich can give extra 3 to STR or WIS since I can use stunning wraps from now on...

Hmm...

[Soulfurnace]

That would be one way of doing it.

And no im not forced to used celestia but there are no good (no pun intended) alternatives when it comes to shortswords.
There are no good alternatives to UMD either. Allows you all buffs and self healing. (Cocoon, while nice, is one hit away from being removed for another 12 secs.)

Also, elemental fury. 5-20 dmg - for 4 elements every hit.

[EssenceofEvil]

My original idea was to use scorching wraps/ivy wraps for those pesky skeletons and do a full dex/wis ninja spy, but I see they "fixed" it. That's disappointing. I was primarily going to use kamas and shorts words anyhow and just switch to the hand wraps to help overcome their slashing/piercing dr... Then again with enough dex I could do that anyhow I suppose.

Is drow the perfect race for a full monk ninja spy? They gets damage bonuses to both shuriken and short swords.. I don't know if they would mesh out well with the lesser con and already having 10 int and cha which I was plan on dumping anyhow thanks to a +3 int tome I found. What's a good race for full on dex ninja spy? I was thinking maybe elf and going whirling steel strike and using longswords.. For flavor. Remember this is just for a tr so don't worry about epic stuff. Hs to been confirmed whether whirling steel strike makes ninja spy IIs dex to damage thing work for it?

[TeacherSyn]

My original idea was to use scorching wraps/ivy wraps for those pesky skeletons and do a full dex/wis ninja spy, but I see they "fixed" it. That's disappointing. I was primarily going to use kamas and shorts words anyhow and just switch to the hand wraps to help overcome their slashing/piercing dr... Then again with enough dex I could do that anyhow I suppose.

Is drow the perfect race for a full monk ninja spy? They gets damage bonuses to both shuriken and short swords.. I don't know if they would mesh out well with the lesser con and already having 10 int and cha which I was plan on dumping anyhow thanks to a +3 int tome I found. What's a good race for full on dex ninja spy? I was thinking maybe elf and going whirling steel strike and using longswords.. For flavor. Remember this is just for a tr so don't worry about epic stuff. Hs to been confirmed whether whirling steel strike makes ninja spy IIs dex to damage thing work for it?

A Drow Ninja Spy would seem a very good candidate for all the reasons you said. It's only challenge in my mind is in self-healing. But it would have great natural advantages to shortswords and shuriken. Why worry about CON if you kill them at a distance or through poison DoTs or assassinate them with Quivering Palm before they can land a blow? That's the ninja magic there. I'm not a fan of UMD through a Monk since you need those points in critical skills to be a ninja (stealth really matters here--there's no such thing as a loud ninja) or you can't make some of that stuff work nearly as well, in my opinion. Your gameplay may vary. Remember that a full L20 Ninja that takes the last core puts vorpal on shuriken and shortswords, so multiclassing means you bypass that option. Still, the Drow should be very nice ninjas.

[EssenceofEvil]

I'm going to definitely branch out a little in henshin mystic just for contemplation. My current life as a acrobat/henshin utilizes that quite effectively with light the candle.

[Daitengu]

They could just add good epic Kama, Shuriken and Shortswords. The it wouldnt be an issue at all. (Actually they should add good weapons of any type)