Help building a monk...plzzzzz

[captain1z]

When released I made a monk and deleted him b4 2nd level. Didnt feel like I would enjoy playing one after trying for a bit. In the last few months Ive collected some monk equipment, I was gunna auction them but held onto them just in case I changed my mind.

So now I think I wanna go ahead and level a monk.

What I want:

thinking about a human, dex based, low dps, stat damaging, high AC, support monk (and that punching heal move)

What I have:
+8 bracers in use on another character but also have +7 bracers
have 2 weakening of enfeebling kamas
lotsa burst, holy, transmuting, banashing, maladriots of boner, and other kamas or wraps
plenty of good non named items to enhance any class


What I need:
A useful build that can produce the effects I want while not being otherwise useless in a group.
self sufficient builds are very attractive.




Any pointers/ guidance will be greatly appreciated. questions or comments will be answered but I dont log on the forums very often. (about once a day if I can)

[Strakeln]

Forget about the low DPS part. You can have everything you want and good DPS, why give it up?

Stat damaging can be difficult on a monk - all the best effects are the on-crit effects that work best on rapiers, kukuris, and scimtars... not on any monk weapons.

[Rog]

Forget about the low DPS part. You can have everything you want and good DPS, why give it up?

Stat damaging can be difficult on a monk - all the best effects are the on-crit effects that work best on rapiers, kukuris, and scimtars... not on any monk weapons.

this is true straken expect monks are great at sending things into ato crit it a pain to use weighted and a good stat damer but if you have maldroit of bone breaking with the monks increased attack speed thing go ato and with stunning first u can put thing into ato crit when that goes off

[Strakeln]

this is true straken expect monks are great at sending things into ato crit it a pain to use weighted and a good stat damer but if you have maldroit of bone breaking with the monks increased attack speed thing go ato and with stunning first u can put thing into ato crit when that goes off

Very true, but it's hard to use stunning fist when holding a weapon that isn't handwraps.

Regardless, there's no reason to throw away DPS when it doesn't have to be chucked.

[twoton]

LvL 16 pure dwarven dex based monk:

starting stats:

str- 14
dex- 18
con-10
int- 8
wis- 16
cha- 6

ending stats:
str-22
dex-32
con-16
int-8
wis-26
cha-6

feats:
toughness x2
dodge
weapon finesse
twf
Itwf
Gtwf
PA
IC bludgen

Important enhancements I took:
wind stance all 3 tiers
way of the patient tortise all tiers
monk wis all 3 teirs
improved hp recovery all 3 tiers

This is my build but many people on here think its not that good but he does very well for himself. At lvl 16 he has 340 hp with just improved false life on. His ac is 46 without icy and no +3 dex or +2 dex tome and doesnt have +8 bracers yet either.

Improved hp recovery 3 is important if you want to heal yourself all the way up from around 50 hp with wholeness of body feat.

The only 3 ki strikes I have hot bared now is tier 3 windstance strike, fist of light (great for when your fighting end boss in shroud helping the clerics a little bit) and quivering palm and abundant step.

Only a little side note that I find kinda funny with 25% striders on at lvl 16 monk you can out run anything in the vale and probably any thing in game. If you cant out run it stright up abundant step a few times while running and you blow them away. This is great for when party wipes are close to happening and you yourself our about to die. Take off running and drink some heal pots go back and get stones to shrine. Saved a few party wipes this way when everything went wrong. Usually out in vale where people tend to like to bite off more than they can chew.

Just remember this is just one build out of several that work great if not better I just love my monk though so easy and fun to play

[captain1z]

Forget about the low DPS part. You can have everything you want and good DPS, why give it up?

Stat damaging can be difficult on a monk - all the best effects are the on-crit effects that work best on rapiers, kukuris, and scimtars... not on any monk weapons.

can you point me in the right direction, I ll throw it in the blender with the other stuff here and see what pours out.

this is true straken expect monks are great at sending things into ato crit it a pain to use weighted and a good stat damer but if you have maldroit of bone breaking with the monks increased attack speed thing go ato and with stunning first u can put thing into ato crit when that goes off

I just wish u could have different wraps on each fist...... Id make some nice combos

LvL 16 pure dwarven dex based monk:

starting stats:

str- 14
dex- 18
con-10
int- 8
wis- 16
cha- 6

ending stats:
str-22
dex-32
con-16
int-8
wis-26
cha-6

feats:
toughness x2
dodge
weapon finesse
twf
Itwf
Gtwf
PA
IC bludgen

Important enhancements I took:
wind stance all 3 tiers
way of the patient tortise all tiers
monk wis all 3 teirs
improved hp recovery all 3 tiers

This is my build but many people on here think its not that good but he does very well for himself. At lvl 16 he has 340 hp with just improved false life on. His ac is 46 without icy and no +3 dex or +2 dex tome and doesnt have +8 bracers yet either.

Improved hp recovery 3 is important if you want to heal yourself all the way up from around 50 hp with wholeness of body feat.

The only 3 ki strikes I have hot bared now is tier 3 windstance strike, fist of light (great for when your fighting end boss in shroud helping the clerics a little bit) and quivering palm and abundant step.

Only a little side note that I find kinda funny with 25% striders on at lvl 16 monk you can out run anything in the vale and probably any thing in game. If you cant out run it stright up abundant step a few times while running and you blow them away. This is great for when party wipes are close to happening and you yourself our about to die. Take off running and drink some heal pots go back and get stones to shrine. Saved a few party wipes this way when everything went wrong. Usually out in vale where people tend to like to bite off more than they can chew.

Just remember this is just one build out of several that work great if not better I just love my monk though so easy and fun to play

looks good but I myself might reverse str and con. also Ive never taken toughness twice and wouldnt take dodge unless it was free. Any special reason why you took dodge? Thnx for the build info btw someplace for me to start.


I heard many people say u shouldnt build a 28 pt monk.

[Inspire]

You may want to check out Untouchable's build in my signature, or Rameses version of a slightly different(but same concept) Water/Air based Monk, I know that they both work at our current endgame.

[Desteria]

HAFLING are the master monk race Especaly for high AC build... YOU listed kamas soo that makes me think a tempest monk may be the best option for you, and it help you keep great DPS against a few favoreds, my 8 str monk avearges about 60 a hit on harry, hitting very fast....

Keys to a strong monk are imo build to wards there strenghts and for monks thats defesive and attaicking fast.

Stats you want high dex high Wis, enough int for CE, and enough con to not be paste when you do actuly get hit/fail the odd save(rember air stance is -2 con), it's then nice to have the option to maby get PA one day for times when AC just wotn matter OR you dotn need the 5 form CE, i cant on my monk but thats somethign i would probably change.
Now your startign stats are goign to depends partly on your avalibility of +2 tomes, IE your starting int should beabel to get to 13 does not have to be there at level 2 you wotn need CE untill HIGH levels on this build, I will assume onyl resnable access to +1 tomes for the stats i lay out, drop one int and grabs another point of something if you have easy access to a +2, or 2 points if you want to wait for a +3 int tome for CE.

32point... I don't recpomend 28pt monks.
Hafling, (+2dex, -2 str)
STR: 10 cost 4
DEX: 18 cost 10
CON: 14 cost 6
INT: 12 cost 4
WIS: 15 cost 8
CHA: 8 cost 0

Yes you need a +3 str toem to get PA but thats a eventual possibility, where as planign for a +4 or +5 is much harder with current known information.

now i suggets a tempest monk wich is 6 ranger 10 monk right now, goign to at least 12 monk the other 2 levels can be anythign really.

Levels shoudl be ranger first for the more skill points
then 1 monk for AC.
Then 1 ranger for TWF because it makes the feats work better, (can take TWD at level 3)
then monk 2-3 for FoL, (the punch healing thing),
then the rets of the ranger to get tempest at level 9
then back to monk till 12 monk.

Feats.
1-Weapon finesse
2monkbonus1- Dodge
3monkbonus2- mobility
3- Two weapon defence
6- Spring attack
9- IC: Slash
12monkbonus6- toughness
12- Combat expertise
15- GTWF
18- ?????


Rams might + 2 favored enimies will provide a nice bost to DPS as will Haflign Guile 4 at 8 SA per hit! And you will have HUGE swing speed for your stat damage kama's, with the stacking part of air stance, tempest, & haste.


Build a couple of min2 kama's as follows and you can easly(meaning after you farm the **** out of certen raids for key items, Chat ring/icy rem, but not needign any +3 tomes) hit 69+ unbuffed AC:
1- holy, +1 con, +4 insight AC.
2- Holy, +1 wis, +2 wis.
I like that my boss DPS weaposn add 6 AC!

[twoton]

well if you point more points into con yeah you dont really need to take toughness twice. You could for go dodge for stunning fist monk feat. I like to take dodge because I like to have every bit of ac that I can get. I took toughness twice because I dont mind running with low con. As long as I hit the mid range hp for a tank I dont think it really matters how you get there either decent con or couple more feats of toughness and gear it all works.

[hu-flung-pu]

With no CON you eliminate the best ki strikes and one of your best finishers in the game.

You lost out on a lot more then hit points by neglecting CON. How many tiers of racial toughness did you take?

In my opinion while that build may work for you that's a bad build that neglects a facet of the monk.

[Red_Knight]

My monk is only level four so far, but here's my build to date. It works pretty well, and does decent damage too.
Harvard Hammerfist
Human Monk
Stating Stats
Str: 12
Dex: 16
Con: 12
Int: 8
Wis: 16
Cha: 8

Current stats
Str: 12
Dex: 17
Con: 12
Int: 8
Wis: 19
Cha: 8

Feats:
Dodge
Deflect Arrows
Toughness
Weapon Finesse
Discipline

Enhancements:
Way of the Patient Tortus 1
Monk Improved Recovery 1
Fists of Light
Void Strike
Way of Fire-disciple of candles
Way of Water-disciple of puddles
Racial Toughness 1
Monk Concentration 1&2
Monk Wisdom 1

It's not the highest damager, or the highest AC out there. However it is pretty good I feel. I'm running ocean stance most times, putting my wisdom up to 21. When using defensive fighting my AC is currently 26. Not too shabby considering I'm not getting any natural armor items or a better bracer of armor then +1.

[rimble]

I don't know if it will ever pay off, but on my Monk I wanted to make sure I had at least the vague possibility of all stance tiers in case things get changed up and certain stances become undeniably attractive. That ultimately means trying to get a base 18 in Str/Dex/Con/Wis.

Keeping that in mind, I find starting any of those below a 14 a little inadequate...though of course it depends where your level ups go too.

My Halfling went 14/16/14/8/16/8 with level ups in Strength. So he'll easily hit an 18 on everything but Con, but that is still a 16 with a +2 Tome, and potentially an 18 with the level 20 level up and/or better tomes.

At level 16 right now I have tier 3 of Fire/Water/Air...but I'm beginning to want Earth, because the Fire/Ice/Electricity damage of those strikes is mostly negated by end-game energy resistances and I'd rather strike Earth 3/Earth 2/Earth 1 (+8/+6/+4) than Fire 3/Water 3/Air 3 (Resisted/Resisted/Resisted)...

Switching between stances is useful sometimes too, doesn't take more than a couple rounds to fill your Ki bar in Fire stance, then flip back to another stance to do whatever...flip to Water and go QP/Stun something, flip to Air and just attack fast...whatever...

Just something to keep in mind.

[twoton]

With no CON you eliminate the best ki strikes and one of your best finishers in the game.

You lost out on a lot more then hit points by neglecting CON. How many tiers of racial toughness did you take?

In my opinion while that build may work for you that's a bad build that neglects a facet of the monk.

I hear alot of yall taking other tier stances besdies your main stance and that yall switch out however I stay in windstance and have never took any other stance on my monk. As I said in my build that I only use tier 3 air ki strike, fist of light, and qp for my ki strikes. That is all that is really needed.

I have all the tiers of racial toughness on my dwarf silly to think I dont

To call it a bad build just because I dont switch out stances to use a earth finishing move is kind of silly. I didnt build my monk with focus of using finishers I built him for the dps speed. Its just nasty how quick you take stuff down with how fast a wind monk is with gtwf and tier 3 wind stance. Yes casters can still usually finger something before I kill it but its usually already at half hp or below by the time they finger and I just laugh at the waste of sp but I dont say anything. :P

I know alot of people want versital monks but I like a stright forward build that focuses on one thing. I think thats one of reasons alot of people think monks suck in the game because people trying to do to much with one build.

If you want a support monk build a support monk. If you want a dps monk build a dps monk. If you want a ac monk build one. Dont try to make all 3 in one build because you will end up not being great at any of them and at end game people will think your monk is worthless.

My build might suck to you but I can tell you this people I run with at end game know I can keep up with the dps of most of the other party memebers and for a pure monk right now that is huge since we still dont get all the uber gear that any other class can get.

[rimble]

I hear alot of yall taking other tier stances besdies your main stance and that yall switch out however I stay in windstance and have never took any other stance on my monk. As I said in my build that I only use tier 3 air ki strike, fist of light, and qp for my ki strikes. That is all that is really needed.

I have all the tiers of racial toughness on my dwarf silly to think I dont

To call it a bad build just because I dont switch out stances to use a earth finishing move is kind of silly. I didnt build my monk with focus of using finishers I built him for the dps speed.

I don't think your Monk sucks or is bad at all, but it seems like you have a basic misunderstanding of how Monks work...but my apologies if that is not the case.

You don't need to be in any particular stance to perform any particular strike. The stances just provide the benefits of that stance, they don't 'allow' particular strikes or finishing moves to be executed.

If you had Air 3 and Earth 3, you could be in Air 3 stance all the time, and throw Earth 3 strikes. I don't know how you can say your Air strikes are all you need, many things at end game are ignoring that damage and the raw +Damage of Earth would help.

To elaborate on the example I gave--of going into Fire stance to build up Ki and then going to Water stance to QP/Stun--that's only because Water stance has +Wisdom (and Fire has -Wisdom) and will increase your DC. I do this in the Shroud, build up Ki on Harry and have TONS of Ki to help QP/Stun the gnoll healers...

I usually stay in Fire stance, but I run around spamming Fire/Light/Fire to give everyone the +2 buff, I spam Water/Light/Water to give the casters a 10% spell point discount, Water 2 opened up Unyielding Strike which gives me a non-Fortitude move to use...I'm pretty much always executing some Monk move, because Fire gives Ki out the wazoo...

You're not being all you could be just having one discipline. I think it's really people that don't realize this and other subtle nuances of Monks that have hurt their reputation. Alot of Monks are running at 80% of what they could be if they'd stick their fingers into all the class has to offer. I don't agree with the 'support' Monk or 'dps' Monk or whatever else roles, they really do it all, all the time, if played fully (you better like pushing buttons).

[Sequell]

I don't think your Monk sucks or is bad at all, but it seems like you have a basic misunderstanding of how Monks work...but my apologies if that is not the case.

You don't need to be in any particular stance to perform any particular strike. The stances just provide the benefits of that stance, they don't 'allow' particular strikes or finishing moves to be executed.

If you had Air 3 and Earth 3, you could be in Air 3 stance all the time, and throw Earth 3 strikes. I don't know how you can say your Air strikes are all you need, many things at end game are ignoring that damage and the raw +Damage of Earth would help.

To elaborate on the example I gave--of going into Fire stance to build up Ki and then going to Water stance to QP/Stun--that's only because Water stance has +Wisdom (and Fire has -Wisdom) and will increase your DC.

I usually stay in Fire stance, but I run around spamming Fire/Light/Fire to give everyone the +2 buff, I spam Water/Light/Water to give the casters a 10% spell point discount, Water 2 opened up Unyielding Strike which gives me a non-Fortitude move to use...I'm pretty much always executing some Monk move, because Fire gives Ki out the wazoo...

You're not being all you could be just having one discipline. I think it's really people that don't realize this and other subtle nuances of Monks that have hurt their reputation. Alot of Monks are running at 80% of what they could be if they'd stick their fingers into all the class has to offer. I don't agree with the 'support' Monk or 'dps' Monk or whatever else roles, they really do it all, all the time, if played fully (you better like pushing buttons).

Nicely put.

This is why people that make a monk build and don't want them to suck need to be versatile players with some twitch ability. There are alot of benifits to having a well played monk in a party, and I can attest that they are very fun and extremely involved to play well.

Running around with 1 stance all the time is fine but the enhancements for the other stances are needed as well for the other benifits from the strikes.

[rimble]

Nicely put.

This is why people that make a monk build and don't want them to suck need to be versatile players with some twitch ability. There are alot of benifits to having a well played monk in a party, and I can attest that they are very fun and extremely involved to play well.

Running around with 1 stance all the time is fine but the enhancements for the other stances are needed as well for the other benifits from the strikes.

Thanks. I wanted to add, pretty much any other melee class does more DPS...you need to fit into a broader niche.

If all you have to offer is DPS, I'm bringing someone else...but hmmm...a little less DPS than those other guys, but now you're throwing +2 buffs, -10% spell point costs, 40+ point mass cure light wounds spells, retributive healing, a few instakills when we need it, Improved Evasion...yeah, okay, I'll take you over a full '100% dpser' now...

[Samadhi]

Here's what I built:

Halfling/Pure

Str 14 + lvl points
Dex 16
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 8

I primarily use fire stance for DPS; wind stance and wounding kamas for stat damage. In fire stance I currently hit 30 Str and, with bard buffs, turn on power attack. I have yet to get Raiments or a good DT armor but am still in the low 50's unbuffed AC. I like him. IMO, you will regret building dex over str though, unless maybe you splash for intimidate as a class skill.

Although people go on and on about how great auto-critting them is.... I would rather they just be dead.

[Red_Knight]

Nicely put.

This is why people that make a monk build and don't want them to suck need to be versatile players with some twitch ability. There are alot of benifits to having a well played monk in a party, and I can attest that they are very fun and extremely involved to play well.

Running around with 1 stance all the time is fine but the enhancements for the other stances are needed as well for the other benifits from the strikes.

I know, I'm thinking of getting the first tier of earth soon myself. I may never use it's stance, but more attacks are never a bad thing. I usually run in ocean stance simply for the AC it gives me, accepting that it lowers my damage by 1. Sometimes I switch to fire stance to get +2 damage, accepting my AC drops by 2 from what it usually is.