Monk Soloist?

[mjayg]

Wondering what skills/feats/enhancements as well as other advice people recommend for a Monk soloist?

I group when I can but sometimes I don't have a lot of playtime (like during lunch at work) and I like to just do a quest or two on my own.

THANKS!

[uncus2]

I'd like to see this, too.

I'm also wondering about the feasibility of a Rogue/Cleric/Monk - 1/1/x [or 1/3/x for buffs?] - unarmed/unarmored meleer with some healing and trapsmithing/unlocking potential.

[GeneralDiomedes]

Rogue/Trapsmithing - you've got evasion/improved evasion for traps. I would characterize that as expendable. Also, that is spreading your stats a little too thin especially if you want some UMD.

I would probably say something like a Halfling 2 Ranger/14 Monk with Dragonmarks. A lot of content can be done through pulling, killing one at a time and then healing up afterwards. A soloist is going to break the bank doing that with pots, so you are going to need wands. However, some encounters will need burst healing so that is where the dragonmarks come in.

[dmondave1]

Perhaps a level of ranger for the wand usage?

[Jakarr]

I'v made one 15 lvls of monk 1 of rogue b/c ya have enough skills as a monk you will need to go human and start with 14 int to max yer umd dd search ol and conc. over all you will have 60% to heal, at low lvls ya gonna need to use pots at higher lvls u can go with scrolls and wands. Staff Power attack+cleave works wonders untill 6ish. Also a high ac Halfing same build with dragonmarks will work as well if ya have a 32 pnt build u gonna need 16 int or just go with 14 and have a lower ol and search(Ya dont need em to to high) use +7 thieves picks from AH and yer set. Halfing build might be the cheaper way to go for solo

[mjayg]

Sorry, should have been specific. I'm looking for *pure* Monk. I know there will be some dungeons that I won't be able to get through, unless I take UMD maybe, but looking for tips for building a pure Monk soloist.

THANKS!

[GeneralDiomedes]

I would suggest then a Halfling dragonmarked DEX build with full ranks in Hide/Move Silently. Sneaking around is very fun solo and more resource efficient than fighting. I suggest DEX for AC. Others may throw in comments about how AC is worthless, but for the kind of content I think you will be soloing, it certainly won't be.

[MrCow]

I would suggest then a Halfling dragonmarked DEX build with full ranks in Hide/Move Silently. Sneaking around is very fun solo and more resource efficient than fighting. I suggest DEX for AC. Others may throw in comments about how AC is worthless, but for the kind of content I think you will be soloing, it certainly won't be.

Well, suggesting DEX on a stealth build is also good because it helps stealth.

[GeneralDiomedes]

Well, suggesting DEX on a stealth build is also good because it helps stealth.

Yup, that too .. and evasion saves.

P.S. might want to put at least 13 in strength for Power Attack .. I find the high DEX / Power attack combo works pretty well on my DEX ranger.

[mjayg]

I was looking at a halfling... though I really like WF. Any suggestions for that? I'm open to any advice though.

[Generals]

Monks are fun to solo. I ran one through ww and several xp quests (durks, butchers, ringleader, info, etc.) up to hard with no problem on Risia. Went all the way to level 6 solo before going to the live servers. Just be patient and enjoy your own pace.

Suggestions:
Go human for feat bonuses and human versatility. Keep them hot keyed and USE them.
Go with hi Dex/Wis for AC, and take wind stance. A build of 14/18/12/8/14/8 worked well for me.
Just invest sp's in bal, conc, jump & tumble
Feats that worked for my melee monk were SB, PA, Cleave (kick animations are cool, adds to the fun), then Finesse and TWF. The rest is pers preference.
Frequently use trip/SB (not monk SB) and use weighted handwraps (plus the +2 Str bonus will help with these)
Furor's hide, Garzuls (sp) Helm, and spear/axe block for DR. Hi DR will save your arse.
Stock up on all elemental resist pots and some bark pots. Hastes after lvl 4.
Stock up all stat pots (bulls, etc.)
Use elemental wraps, and any clicky buffs you can get

So any good player can do it effectively, just be prepared.

My 2¢. Hope it helps.

[Detton]

Halflings would have a good thing going for them, for soloing.

I'm a human, myself, and MOST of the time i'm soloing (sometimes duoing, haven't really grouped yet) and i'm level 5 so far. 28-point builds, no twinking, no tombs.

14 str
16 dex
14 con
8 int
14 wis
8 cha

Skill Focus: Concentration, Discipline, Dodge, Weapon Finesse, Power Attack, Path of Harmonious Balance. (In that order. Human bonus feat helps)

You're going to have to pick your targets. Some quests are just beyond you. At low levels you're going to be a sucker for caster-types unless you get lucky. (Landing a Trip helps alot)

And the first time through a new quest will probably be rough too while you learn where the traps are, where the enemies spawn, how many of them...

Make use of traps for hard fights if you can. I've drawn bosses back into them before for a little help. =)

This build gets me OODLES of Ki to work with. I may respec my feats and drop skill focus and discipline later (when I can maintain a high Ki without it) but at the early levels it is AMAZINGLY useful being able to actually use your abilities. Fights of Light heal works great - remember what targets will last long enough for the Healing Curse to be useful, and when to use it as a finisher. (Most kobolds, regular skeletons, trogs... all die too fast. Zombies if you use handwraps are good, so are slimes, give you time to get back health)

I use handwraps myself, but it's flexible enough to let you take Kamas too if you want later (with a feat respec). I am leaning towards dex for a higher AC, so I probably won't have enough strength to make quarterstaff optimal.

Get any kinds of clickies you can get your hands on for buffs, and different items for resistances (especially fire, at the lower levels, scorching ray hurts)

And good luck! Finally, advice I can actually reasonably give, as i'm actually in this situation =) Woo!

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Stealth skills
Don't forget Spot.

Make sure to have a ranged weapon.
And of course pots.

All races can be good.
Being able to summon a pet is very nice when soloing.

[mjayg]

Is UMD worth taking as a Monk? My WF Monk has a Cha of 6 lol

[Angelus_dead]

Wondering what skills/feats/enhancements as well as other advice people recommend for a Monk soloist?

Halfling race.
Feats: Dragonmarks of Healing, Harmonious Balance
Enhancements: Fist of Light, Adept of Wind, Adept of Water, Unbalancing Strike, Halfling Cunning, Halfling Guile, Extra Dragomark

With that, you can heal yourself, you can make monsters look away from you, and then you can sneak attack them.

If at some higher level you decide soloing is less important, you can trade out the dragonmarks for things like Power Attack, Cleave, and Two-Weapon Fighting.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Is UMD worth taking as a Monk? My WF Monk has a Cha of 6 lol

If you can get it high enough, it would be nice for soloing.
But most people build low Cha monks and it is not a class skill (I think).
So, I think the points are better spent elsewhere.

(I do put 1 rank in UMD on all my chars though....might be useless, but at least theoretically they could use it for something)

[mjayg]

If you can get it high enough, it would be nice for soloing.

Define "high enough".

I could take the skill spec and look for other ways to boost the skill/Cha of course.

[Detton]

One rank in UMD might give you a slim chance of getting a level 1 wand to work occasionally. 10% maybe. If you get the big 250-charge healing wand out of Waterworks.

I do recommend at least 12 in constitution. For soloing, you need the health, and the Earth special attack is very useful in most situations. (Flat +damage to your attacks, not elemental-based)

It's my most-used attack, after Fists of Light.

[sigtrent]

WF solo monk....

The real problem is healing... basicaly you can't do much of it so you will need a good potion supply.

Stealth is a good idea to avoid unessesary fights, so you need a bit of int. I'd mostly focus on dex but have at least 13 str so you can take power attack at some point.

It won't be easy!

I have a WF monk but he's not specificaly built to solo. He does fine soloing the harbor but I don't think he could handle mid or high level solo quests.

[mjayg]

I think I am going to respec my feats and enhancements and fit UMD in there. I have more special attacks than I know what to do with so it can certainly work...

I like Earth stance except for the movement speed debuff. I switch between it and Fire stance depending on the circumstances but am probably going to ditch Fire.

The real problem is healing... basicaly you can't do much of it so you will need a good potion supply.

I took the patch of... kicking butt (whatever it is called) but am thinking of switching to the path of harmony. How much does that help with self-healing? Not sure what skills you get from it...