improved cit. bludgeon

[ripperj]

monks get a lot of feats as it is, this one fits in my set up nicely, but I'm wondering how useful it really
is.

if I was going to swap it in, I think I'd just get another toughness *shrug* like I said, got all I need.

what are your takes on this feat?

[Xeriphim]

When fighting unarmed instead of relying on rolling a 20 to crit . You can now crit on a 19 - 20 or an 18 - 20 not sure off hand which but as small of an increase as that is you still end up critical hitting stuff with a higher frequency with the feat of improved critical : bludgeoning , then you would without . When using your other blunt weapon the Quarterstaff , you could make a green steel min II quarterstaff and avoid needing the feat. But most monks usually tend to favor unarmed over a big wooden twig like the quarterstaff . Anyways hopefully this helps answer your question OP .

I've had builds where the monk has the feat an some monk builds that don't use the feat . I've found having the feat was better then to not having it . But this changes with the individual an play style of each person .

[Chubsta]

I have been thinking about this feat as well. I have a dark monk that has just hit 17 and I'm wondering how useful this feat is. After you take the feat your crit range is 19-20/x2 multiplier, so you are not going to be crit-ing a ton anyway. As much time as I spend in auto crit though stunning fist it has me thinking just what I could trade in for a few extra crits here and there.

[Dandonk]

Personally, my monk has more than enough feats to get this one, too. It's a smallish dps increase, but I'll take any DPS increase I can get - and not only do you get more damage from the crits, but with Crane and/or fire stance, you get more ki for fun stuff.

[Hokonoso]

everyone takes imp crit in their weapon of choice, it's as important as power attack so not getting it is just silly. you can't justify not getting it no matter what you say as there is no other feat to replace it with that is better period.

[whomhead]

I don't know what the math says, but I rarely spend much time at all punching something that is not already in an auto-crit situation, for trash mobs, or is immune to crits anyway, for bosses. Given that, if you find yourself tight on feats, then it would be one of the first that I would drop. I mean, do you really benefit much from 5% extra chance of doing double damage on something that is going to be dead in a few seconds anyway?

Now, most pure monks wont find themselves running short on feats any time soon, so there's little reason not to take it. I see it as basically a wash between that and another toughness. One interesting alternative is to craft up a Min2 Shuriken and drop Ic:B (and a toughness or two) in favor of some feats to increase ranged damage.

I have been playing around with some monk splashes that still fight using handwraps. These tend to be short on feats as they attempt to multi-task a bit more than pure monks. On these toons I routinely drop Ic:B in favor of enhancing other functions.

[rimble]

Depending on your goals, this is on the short-list of things that could be dropped. Like when I was considering a TRd Halfling with Dragonmarks, you get 10 Feats:

1 TWF
2 ITWF
3 GTWF
4 Power Attack
5 Stunning Fist
6 PrE Feat (Dodge for Ninja Spy, One of a few for Shintao)
7 Least DM
8 Lesser DM
9 Greater DM
10 Past Life: Monk

I hope you didn't want Improved Crit, and I hope you weren't planning on going with Weapon Finesse.

Anyways, I wouldn't drop it on a whim, but I would if it was interfering with some other higher-priority plan (like, possibly, Dragonmarks or Past Life Feats). I'd take IC over a 2nd Toughness.

Damage always matters. More hit points only matter if you're being hurt.

[Mobeius]

I have seen the arguement for not having it and if someone didnt take it I wouldnt hold it against them.

However, due to bursting effects on handwraps and rings and earth strike, etc, I will still take it. Although, I have heard its nothing impressive, the Shintao Smite evil will be improved with this as well.

[Shyver]

I don't have it on my monk and really I don't miss it. Yes it is an increase in DPS, but only in non auto-crit situations, which on a monk are rare. Really the only time you may wish you had it is when you are fighting a critable non-stunnable mob. Figure out how often that is in your gaming and make your call.

Edit: After spending a few minutes in the "library". I wanted to add burst effects on non critable mobs (undead, ect) may want to be considered also. I still don't miss it on my monk, but I wanted to add that all the same.

[Missing_Minds]

Void III is on crit, and Void IV non 20 both stun.

Any of the special crit effects could go off on a 19 such as Light on undead, banishment, smiting, etc.

That really is the only thing I can think of for taking improved crit. Heck, I"m debating losing it on my monk.

[Angelus_dead]

Something to remember about Imp Crit is that it also improves your Ki income, particularly for non-stunnable boss fights if you don't use fire stance and oremi.

[elujin]

the increased hits on a monk make lower crit ranges still proc a fair amount its no rapier or scimitar though

[DevilButcher]

I had this debate on another thread and did the math there, your welcome to read it and make your own choice.
But I feel IC:BW is not worth it for a monk to put it in befor other feats.
Even with crazy endgame burst weps, it does not add that much more DPS (1.95 damage per swing), but your welcome to.
get the feat anyways.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=273860&page=2

Icy burst shocking burst flaming burst holy burst force burst handwraps of pure good, using a bloodstone.

IC:B is more important by far for those

ok that seems more justifiable

[5.5+5.5+5.5+7+3.5+12]*0.05= 1.95 damage per swing. about twice as good now... but still not even equal to Damage Boost I +2 for 20 sec. lol

Even with uber upgrades at level 20 that still kind or low don't you think? Just admit handwraps IC just does not have the wow effect as other weapons...

[Soleran]

I had this debate on another thread and did the math there, your welcome to read it and make your own choice.
But I feel IC:BW is not worth it for a monk to put it in befor other feats.
Even with crazy endgame burst weps, it does not add that much more DPS (1.95 damage per swing), but your welcome to.
get the feat anyways.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=273860&page=2

Right and when you start to get 4-5-6 burst effects the dps difference becomes much more meaningful, as you progress in gear more crits = more dps.

Getting the plus 1 to hit bludg vs crits is so bad as you go end game.

[rjedi]

I take it because I dont play halflings so i dont worry about the dmarks so i have plenty of feats

and
hopefully if/when they make those raid and/or epic handwraps that have a 19-20 base mutliplier then the 17-20 will be very nice

[ripperj]

Void III is on crit, and Void IV non 20 both stun.

Any of the special crit effects could go off on a 19 such as Light on undead, banishment, smiting, etc.

That really is the only thing I can think of for taking improved crit. Heck, I"m debating losing it on my monk.

This was the deal maker for me. Didn't even factor this in when I was thinkin to myself, but then again it's exactly why I posted this here in the first place: someone elses perspective. There really isn't a feat worth trading this in for, forget an extra toughness.