Monk past life ideas - 8/6/6, 12/6/2, or some Bow variant?

[dogsoldier]

I am looking to get two more Monk past lives, but I do not like playing monks (specifically the handwraps and combo attacks). Any ideas for a fun multiclass option, or something that opened up with the bow changes?

[thedip]

You could always try a monk/rogue stick build?

I have got both of my monk past lives as a dronk or is that wonk? It went as a 9/9/2 drood/monk/rogue (most of my builds are solo enabled); first level rogue, followed by 9 levels of drood, 9 levels of monk and the final level as rogue.

It wasn't the most powerful build, but I was soloing R1 until the lvl 10 quests, elite to 20 and hard to 30.

I didn't use much out of the monk trees at all, but made good use of the wolf/bear trees and the vistani tree (centred with daggers).

[FuzzyDuck81]

Honestly, I think you should give pure 20 monk stick user henshin a go - with the doublestrike & strikethrough changes they're in a really nice place. Go aasimar (healing hands is just fantastic) & dark side at level 3; primarily dexterity & wisdom, just enough in str to qualify for 2hf feats, the 1st 2 ninja spy cores will have you sorted for using dex to hit & damage which will be sufficient for a heroic life, though going wis via falconry & including a couple of bird attacks is a very solid option a little later on, or you could take magical training & go with illusionist for the shadow imbue plus permanant blur, shield & colour spray (since it's DC is highest of int/cha/wis). Weapon-wise, theurgic stave from threnal & elemental bloom from ToEE are extremely solid bits of kit with non-standard damage profiles that'll see you comfortably through to 20 - elemental bloom has durability issues but meticulous weaponry from falconry or shadow imbue from illusionist will mitigate that nicely & it's paralysing effect in low to mid levels is a great boost.

While the combos can be fun, they aren't all that essential so don't worry too much about them, though certain individual special attacks can be very nice - fists of iron from the enhancement trees (actually works with any melee weapon so long as centered) is a good hard hitter & because you took dark side at level 3 you get the light side attack in henshin tier 5 that does a nice chunk of healing to yourself & any nearby allies which will make life a lot easier from level 12+.

[Ausdoerrt]

Agree with FuzzyDuck81 above, rather than go monk / rogue, I'd go pure monk for sticks. I feel like the rogue splash, though min-maxable compared to pure, is a bit redundant and provides a very different playstyle.

Though in my version, I decided to go STR-based for the stuns / trips (because for some reason the monk stun attack still doesn't work with ki weapons). Still aasimar (fallen). 41+ in henshin (it's that good), 3 cores in ninja for Shadow Fade, rest in racial for extra hamp, STR and other useful stuff. 73% doublestrike (98% with Quick Attack), close to 300% strikethrough, and that's with a second-lifer.

It's a fun and pretty self-sufficient build all the way up to 30. You get extra melee power, passive fire + force damage, self-healing from SCEWL and much more. You also get a whole of FOUR debuff attacks, which are stackable and are a great thing to have in boss fights / raids. Improved Trip works nicely for heroics, while in the epics Stunning Blow & Dire Charge can work well with a bit of investment. As for the weapons, Stave of the Seer (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Stave_of_the_Seer) is the best for heroics hands down.

[magaiti]

HOrc STR based Henshin
22 horc, 41 henshin, 14 Shintao for jade strike
Fire Stance for STR, crit on 19-20, extra Ki gain
destiny FotW for Vorpal on 19-20 for Void Strike & Smite Tainted Creature

[Ausdoerrt]

HOrc STR based Henshin
22 horc, 41 henshin, 14 Shintao for jade strike
Fire Stance for STR, crit on 19-20, extra Ki gain
destiny FotW for Vorpal on 19-20 for Void Strike & Smite Tainted Creature

Interesting, I should try this setup, thanks!

What are you taking in the HOrc racial tree and how's it stack up against Aasimar extra melee power and heals?

[magaiti]

Interesting, I should try this setup, thanks!

What are you taking in the HOrc racial tree and how's it stack up against Aasimar extra melee power and heals?

4 Cores, Orcish Weapon Training, Great Weapon Aptitude, Improved Power Attack, Raging Crush, Brutality

Horc enhancements are more front-loaded. more damage --> faster zerging --> faster leveling --> you get your PL sooner

If you plan to stay at 30 for a good while, especially soloing, Aasimar might suit you better. But if you have healing and Vulnerability covered by other preople, I'd say go HOrc

[Marshal_Lannes]

While on the topic, what are some good staves that one can reasonably get to bang out this build idea? Stave of the Seer seems nigh impossible to get (or at least incredibly difficult due to quest location/popularity). Same with any ToEE named weapon. There is always the free Barovian at 10. Theurgic Stave seems fairly easy to get assuming it's one of the end rewards you pull and you don't mess up the quest chain talk order. Is there a Cannith challenge staff?

[Strider1963]

Personally, I run a 12monk 5rogue 3fighter stick build all the time, easy past lifes but not so great at cap.... Top of Her. tree for the healing buff (dark side), 4th tier of rogue for all those stick goodies including the knockdown, 3 fighter for feats and stalwart defender prr. Works fine, and better if you have a elemental bloom at leve 7 and the stick from lord of stone at level 18. Plus the trap bonus for faster leveling.

[magaiti]

While on the topic, what are some good staves that one can reasonably get to bang out this build idea? Stave of the Seer seems nigh impossible to get (or at least incredibly difficult due to quest location/popularity). Same with any ToEE named weapon. There is always the free Barovian at 10. Theurgic Stave seems fairly easy to get assuming it's one of the end rewards you pull and you don't mess up the quest chain talk order. Is there a Cannith challenge staff?

Eveningstar commendations staff is pretty good for level 20

[Ausdoerrt]

While on the topic, what are some good staves that one can reasonably get to bang out this build idea? Stave of the Seer seems nigh impossible to get (or at least incredibly difficult due to quest location/popularity). Same with any ToEE named weapon. There is always the free Barovian at 10. Theurgic Stave seems fairly easy to get assuming it's one of the end rewards you pull and you don't mess up the quest chain talk order. Is there a Cannith challenge staff?

For the moment (until they decide to nerf staves as they recently did bows), your best bet are any weapons that have higher dice or expanded crit range. See last column here for reference: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Quarterstaffs

Staves with regular dice and lots of non-scaling effects don't work nearly as well. I tend to ignore them other than if I need to break DR / incorp. So that rules out barovian staff.

Chieftain's Spear (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Chieftain%27s_Spear) from 3BC looks fantastic, but I've NEVER seen it drop. Theurgic Stave (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Theurgic_Stave) is indeed an easy pull, and it also breaks addy DR. Stave of the Seer (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Stave_of_the_Seer) - yeah, need to be lucky and able to solo Ghola Fan (great XP quest btw). That's pretty much it until 20 (Bone Crusher (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Bone_Crusher) and Rahl's Might (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Rahl%27s_Might) are cool but unlikely to get used much). Maybe Breeze (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Breeze) but it's DEX-based, so no good for a STR build (but probably viable for WIS and DEX builds; i believe you can grab one via the anniversary ticket).

At 20 you get Stout Oak Walking Stick (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Stout_Oak_Walking_Stick) and / or Epic Staff of Nat Gann (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Epic_Staff_of_Nat_Gann) (note the base dmg). Then at 23 Sireth, Spear of the Sky (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Sireth,_Spear_of_the_Sky), which is ridiculously good for epic leveling.

Then at cap you're probably aiming at grinding a The Staff of Shadow (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Staff_of_Shadow) or Spear of the Mournlands (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Spear_of_the_Mournlands). Legendary Moonbeam (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Legendary_Moonbeam) is also OK but inferior to the other two.

[dogsoldier]

Thanks, some interesting monk ideas. I settled on Rogue/Cleric splashes so I can ignore monk for a while. Currently level 7, 4 rogue, 3 cleric. Will take another cleric level to even out the BAB, then not sure, might do 12 monk to finish up. At the moment I am dual wielding crafted ToEE daggers, using Vistani, and follower of Vol, some assassin for dex to hit/dmg with daggers. Might end up 12/4/4, which seems like a weird split, but works in terms of BAB.

[droid327]

No love for Bloom? Double expanded crit and paralyzing with a stacking will save debuff AND some auto temp hp

[NemesisAlien]

For the moment (until they decide to nerf staves as they recently did bows), your best bet are any weapons that have higher dice or expanded crit range. See last column here for reference: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Quarterstaffs

Staves with regular dice and lots of non-scaling effects don't work nearly as well. I tend to ignore them other than if I need to break DR / incorp. So that rules out barovian staff.

Chieftain's Spear (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Chieftain%27s_Spear) from 3BC looks fantastic, but I've NEVER seen it drop. Theurgic Stave (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Theurgic_Stave) is indeed an easy pull, and it also breaks addy DR. Stave of the Seer (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Stave_of_the_Seer) - yeah, need to be lucky and able to solo Ghola Fan (great XP quest btw). That's pretty much it until 20 (Bone Crusher (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Bone_Crusher) and Rahl's Might (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Rahl%27s_Might) are cool but unlikely to get used much). Maybe Breeze (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Breeze) but it's DEX-based, so no good for a STR build (but probably viable for WIS and DEX builds; i believe you can grab one via the anniversary ticket).

At 20 you get Stout Oak Walking Stick (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Stout_Oak_Walking_Stick) and / or Epic Staff of Nat Gann (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Epic_Staff_of_Nat_Gann) (note the base dmg). Then at 23 Sireth, Spear of the Sky (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Sireth,_Spear_of_the_Sky), which is ridiculously good for epic leveling.

Then at cap you're probably aiming at grinding a The Staff of Shadow (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:The_Staff_of_Shadow) or Spear of the Mournlands (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Spear_of_the_Mournlands). Legendary Moonbeam (https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Legendary_Moonbeam) is also OK but inferior to the other two.

Below epic I'd go for lordmarch vampiric staff and greensteel, especially ooze staff. Use until epic.

[NemesisAlien]

Eveningstar commendations staff is pretty good for level 20

The problem is the jackpot combination.

[MaeveTuohy]

No love for Bloom? Double expanded crit and paralyzing with a stacking will save debuff AND some auto temp hp

Played a lot of stick builds.

Lvl 1-6 craft something holy and bludgeoning, except grab Bludgeoning Bankroll at 6 for use against Adamantine.

Lvl 7 - 11 is Bloom. Breaks easily, so have 2 if you can. Slot a ghostbane in one as the paralyze affects reapers too.

Lvl 12+ is GS triple positive till 15, when you switch to Moonbeam except where DR breaking is needed and for undead.

[FuzzyDuck81]

The problem is the jackpot combination.

You might be thinking of the challenge ones.. the one from 15 villager commendations is the stout oak walking stick, a very solid piece of kit.


Played a lot of stick builds.

Lvl 7 - 11 is Bloom. Breaks easily, so have 2 if you can. Slot a ghostbane in one as the paralyze affects reapers too.


This is why I included the magical training feat early & invested in illusionist on my henshin, item durability isn't a concern with that & it makes some of those special weapons far more viable for consistent use.

[Ausdoerrt]

No love for Bloom? Double expanded crit and paralyzing with a stacking will save debuff AND some auto temp hp

It's a great staff on paper but a total b**** to farm. Can't justify wasting all that time, farming a quest nobody runs, especially for a heroic version.


Below epic I'd go for lordmarch vampiric staff and greensteel, especially ooze staff. Use until epic.

In my experience expanded crit & higher dice > procs, but YMMV.