Advice for a new player Monk

[Feldaran]

Hello, I was wondering if someone could give me advice on a solid newbie monk build, my wife and I play together she hasn't decided on her class a cleric or Paladin and I will roll a monk. We will mainly duo together so small group how would I build my monk based on that to best serve our team? Thanks for any replies in advance.

[Sargoth]

Is monk something you are set on?

If you are relatively new, monks might not be the class for you. They require a tight balance of stats, feats, equipment, cash, and most importantly skill to be truely effective after say level 10ish.

I love the monk concept and it was always my favorite class in my pnp days. But DDO wise...they can be daunting or disappointing to a new player.

[Feldaran]

Yeah I was kindda set on it I always liked monks PnP that or fighter, I understand D&D and online games but new to DDO. If its something that will be bad as a new character I suppose I will roll a different class, Like I said new to the game and I don't have a high level to throw cash or equipment to him. I appreciate the reply

[Sargoth]

I'm not telling you not to give them a whirl...your own personal enjoyment is always paramount...after all..it is your subscription. Just warning you that it might not all be sunshine and rainbows and that you might wait until you have a handle on the character development neuaunces before making a monk. That and alot of resources.

My recommendation for a new player in melee would be a barbarian...they are big, tough, easy to handle, require minor gear, and as long as you don't skimp out on str and con, very forgiving statwise. Atleast until you get the hang of how ddo works anyway.

[Dexxaan]

Feldaran

Do yourself a favor and play a Fighter or Barbarian, even Cleric? hit 400 Fvor points on him and then you can make a Drow Monk or drow anything...

Monks are a pain to balance and build, Harder if you are a new player and more so if it´s a 28pt build.

Just my 2 CP.

[Feldaran]

Thanks for the replies K, maybe I will try a different class to level with my wife and tinker around with a monk, I love monks though LOL. But I am sure I can enjoy myself with a different class with her What is so special about the drow? I know you unlock them but do they have better stats or anything? anyways thanks for the answers

[Timjc86]

i really hate to, but I have to concur with Sargoth and Dexxaan. Currently, monk is a class that requires a significant amount of planning, resources, and know-how to hold his/her own.

I would strongly recommend unlocking 32 point builds by getting your 1750 favor before making a monk. There would be no harm in playing around with one prior to that to get a feel for it, but when you're making one for keeps the extra four points are invaluable. It's also very likely that by the time you do get 32 point builds available monks will be in a better state (they are still in need of some tweaking).

As for drow, they start off with 6 base constitution (-2 from the normal base 8, just like elves) but instead of just a base 10 dexterity (+2) they also have a base 10 intelligence and a base 10 charisma, so drow are essentially 32 point builds on their own (requiring only 400 favor instead of 1750) except that you cannot pick the stats that get the extra points. The high dex, int, and cha strongly favor a rogue build, and are helpful for a paladin, wizard, or sorcerer.

[Leyoni]

You are asking two things here, whether you know it or not.

First is advice on a monk build. Second is advice on a 2-player character combo.

Now, what is not entirely clear is this -- will you duo most stuff or will you play in pickup groups but only as a team (group takes both or neither of you plays)?

If the first then you should seriously consider not playing a monk. If the second then playing a monk should not matter a whole lot. What will matter is your wife's choice -- clerics, bards, wizards and sorcerers are in much greater demand than fighters, barbarians, rangers, paladins and rogues.

Racial choices will also be important because they can compensate to some degree for other things. For example, halfling dragonmarks help with healing and elf clerics and paladins have an enhancement line that lets them raise dead at L6. If you are duoing then these considerations as well as multiclass choices become very important.

If the two of you plan to duo a lot then I would recommend two halflings, both with dragonmarks for the healing. You could play your monk and your wife should then play a cleric. You should splash rogue at L1 for access to disable device and keep that and search maxed. Your wife should probably stay pure cleric.

AC will be an issue so you should start with INT 13 for access to the CE feat (take as a monk feat) and with only 28 build points you should be a DEX/WIS base for maximum AC. Take weapon finesse (as a monk feat again) and TWF for dual wielding kamas. Might as well dual wield since you can't use a shield. Make sure STR is at least 10. I hate to recommend against CON and CHA but you only have so many build points and something has to be a dump stat. You'll want the AC so DEX and WIS have to be as big as you can afford to make them.

You might start with STR 11 DEX 17 CON 10 INT 13 WIS 15 CHA 8. +1 stat items are fairly plentiful at low levels. This puts about equal build points into most of your key stats. Don't worry about TWF early on. Go with weapon finesse and look for handwraps.

Your wife might start with STR 14 DEX 14 CON 10 INT 10 WIS 16 CHA 8. The idea is to let her suppliment the melee with good STR and to have best DEX bonuses to AC while wearing the heaviest armor she can find.

I don't really like either of these, but it might work for the two of you if you are cautious.

[Timjc86]

Leyoni reminded me of a good point: if/when you do make your monk, having a good cleric that groups with you frequently is invaluable. I have gotten into many raids as a monk only because I have a cleric friend who whispers the group leader saying he goes only if I do.

[Feldaran]

Thanks for all the replies Thats is some great information, She has decided to play a cleric and I still think I should lean towards a barb or a fighter to go with her based on all the monk feedback. We will duo these two together whenever we are playing, if we can get pick up groups to share the adventures with cool if not it will be the two of us. From what I have been reading on these forums though it sounds like most players will view us a liability because we dont have 200 heal potions some barkskin potions, cure potions and such LOL. So maybe we will be outcasts, as long as we can fall back on each other and have fun in the world I'm o.k. with that

[Aerendil]

I'm going to go against the other posts and suggest a Monk is a good starting class.

In terms of gameplay, it's a little more challenging, as you need to learn how to use ki, finishing moves, etc. But come on, this isn't rocket science. There's plenty of literature on it, and you should have the knack for it by level 3 or 4 at the latest.

What sets Monk apart from other class/race combos is that:
1) I don't think it requires a lot of twinking. You can start out with *nothing* and do just fine. Slimes? No problem, use your fists. Out of heal potions? No problem, just use Fists of Light and heal yourself.
Monk for me was much easier starting out with nothing than any other class I've tried. At least as far as melee classes go.

2) It's also a class where playing a Drow makes no noticeable difference, really. In fact, most people prefer Human or Halfling, which are accessible from day 1.
Your main stats that you want are DEX and WIS, followed closely by STR and CON. INT is nice for extra skill points and to open up the feat Combat Expertise, but isn't *needed*. At least not on your first Monk build. Because, let's face it, you may get a good feel for the class by level 4 or 5 and decide you want to re-roll a slightly more optimized build anyways (and twink yourself in the process).

However, if you're duoing with a friend who might play a Cleric, I would have to argue in favour of going Fighter as you guessed.
A sword/shield Fighter as your first character can't do much wrong, really. You'll always be wanted as a tank.
Just be sure to always get the best armour you can so as to improve your AC. For your first half-dozen levels, the difference between a 20 AC and a 30 AC is astounding.

[Feldaran]

Yeah gonna duo with my wife she will play a cleric, the main reason I thought monk would be good for a new character was less reliance on gear So I didn't think twinking was as necessary with this class. I've played a monk in PnP and monks in eq1 + eq2 raided with them and all. I will admit part of my draw to this game is character development and dungeon design.

[Leyoni]

I will repost the core of my earlier message.

If you want to play a monk play a halfling, dragonmarked, 1 rogue/15 monk to go along with your wife's halfling cleric.

Because your default play mode is duoing you will want one of you to have rogue skills. There is more synergy in a rogue/monk than in a rogue/cleric.

Aerindel makes a good point about DEX/WIS but he misses something very important. INT 13 gets you combat expertise which is a +5 to AC. To get the equivalent AC from DEX/WIS you have to have +10 in total stats (say +6 DEX and +4 WIS). In terms of build points that is huge and, more importantly, impossible to achieve at character creation.

So, it is more efficient to take a INT 13 than to try to take DEX and WIS even 2 points higher (say 18 rather than 16). Going with DEX 20 spending 8 build points more than DEX17 for a 2 AC boost instead of going with DEX 17 and INT 13 (saving 3 build points in the process) for a 5 AC boost is just wrong.