ARRRRGGH...Stalled..

[Tyberon]

my monk presently sits at lvl 4.. Getting monk gear is becoming fustrating..some of my mentors have graciously given me really nice gear which will come into play when i hit about lvl 12 but for now optimaztion is is confusing. I was lucky enough to pull the Black Widow Bracers on my 1st run.. other than that, what gear should i be looking for, for the lower lvls?.. im using weighted(1%) handwraps of acid or sometimes a +3 densewood staff, a+wis trinket, +1dex brooch, and a +1 ac ring, i have a bless and an aid clickie; outside of that nothing interesting AH never has decent handwraps.. and if they do.. they're ridiculously priced (ie: +1 holy handwraps 500,000gp +1 holyburst handwraps of pure good 2,560,000gp) even staves are lackluster, not being a twink its kinda hard to keep up with the curve and the lvls of inflation out there... and thats not even getting into tomes and the such (which i really dont forsee aquiring at all with the recent price gouging goin on with those) im working hard to try to get near cap by mod9, i need a plan for decent gear and lvling locations.. you all have been an incredible help and i hope im not asking too much of you all recently... my toon is Tybrana Nightshadow on Argo' please respond not only here but feel free to mail me input as well.. which ever is most convenient for you. thank you in advance..

[sisterjinx]

For lvl 4 you have some pretty decent gear. It doesn't seem that way because monk gear seems to come at about 2 lvls higher than any other gear which really irratates me. You should be able to keep your eye on the auction for holy handwraps for around 6th lvl at which point you can do Delera's and really do some damage with them. My best suggestion is get ready to be potion dependant for several levels and/or run TR as soon as possible on Hard to that you can get the house P buffs. Get +3 Bark pots at 5th lvl and keep a supply of them.

Other Items I consider a must have but others might think are just kind of nice to have:

trapblast goggles from STK
Visor of the Flesh Render guards from TR
the best possible concentration item you can get (my lvl 16 wears a +15 but I think I wore a +5 right up till I got that)
a clickie with a few clicks of shield on it (nice not necesary)

Ok and my personal opinion is for a featherfall item for a monk the Bat from CO6 is the best as it frees up your ring and boot slots for needed items.

wish I could help you with items more but I currently have 3 monks: 1 capped, 1 mid, and 1 up and coming, so most of my gear is still being recycled and handed down or around. I bank EVERYTHING just about so if I see something that I won't use that you might I will try to pass it along.

[rimble]

I found a Robe/Outfit of Invulnerability to be pretty awesome when I leveled up my Monk.

[Aerendil]

I found a Robe/Outfit of Invulnerability to be pretty awesome when I leveled up my Monk.

If you can find that and it's not horribly overpriced, then yes, definitely. My guess is a robe with DR 5/magic is in pretty high demand and would go fast.

So aside from that listed above, I'd offer the following:
- STR+3 gloves from Tangleroot. The DEX+3 item is nice too, but it's a set of bracers which you won't want to give up the Black Widow bracers for (those will stay on your wrists for a very long time)
- work on getting House P favor. Once you unlock buffs, that'll help somewhat.
- Catacombs offers a quarterstaff of pure good - you'll want that for Delera's in a few levels.
- keep an eye out for any transmuting/adamantine weapons (needed for STK end boss), or anything with ghost touch (don't think ghost touch handwraps currently work - but might be fixed in mod 9). Ghost touch of pure good staff would beat out the Catacombs end-reward if you can find one (or a kama with that on it).
- also keep an eye out for fortification items. Get that up as soon as possible. Nobody enjoys eating a crit by an ogre, minotaur or giant in the early levels.
*edit* - also try to get a reasonable set of kamas to take advantage of slashing damage. You should be able to find some +1 kamas with reasonable effects (holy/pure good, frost, flaming, etc.) for cheap. Switch up between kamas and unarmed depending on what you fight and it can make all the difference in the world.

Otherwise, yeah, early levels for Monk do suck. Your dps isn't quite there yet; your saves aren't quite there yet; and your AC isn't quite there yet.
I just rerolled one and he's almost 7 now, and it's been rough. Fun, though

[NXPlasmid]

Yeah, it's a real problem. Low level handwraps don't really drop much. My current monk used +1 flaming handwraps as his best weapon till lvl 8. Nothing dropped for me, and nothing on the AH for any reasonable price... Threnal dropped great handwraps for me, interestingly enough...

[sisterjinx]

Don't forget to check the house d brokers once in a while. I've found some good handwraps there in the past.

[DeepThroat]

Hey Tybrana this is Merebelle, I'll try to keep an eye out for things you can use at you're lvls. It can be tough to get good gear as a Monk.

[Mobeius]

Be sure to check the weapon, armor, jewelry and clothing brokers inside the Rustial Nail (its the tavern by STK) they moved the low level vendors in there after blowing up the market place.

Low Level gear is going to be a little difficult, most people blow the levels pretty easily. A I said before, I would more recommend staves at level 4 rather than HW.

[Garth_of_Sarlona]

run tangleroot on hard - that will get you house P buffs

That means +4 to all stats and mage armor (although you have blackwidow bracers so this isn't needed, but you could wear the DR bracers from the Canith Crystal instead)

Then get yourself some barkskin pots and shield of faith pots and chug those in quests.

You do seem pretty well equipped, as other posters have said, the only things you're missing are something to bypass the DR of the ghostly skeletons in deleras (you need something pure good, flametouched iron or holy, +1 holy wraps are ideal!) and something for the end boss in STK (normally a pocket sorcerer works well!)

If you can't get those, try using daggers or handaxes, monks are proficient in both of these weapons but you will not be centered so will not be able to use any Ki abilities, but being able to bypass the DR outweighs this disadvantage.

In mod9 there are a few low level decent handwraps, check out the new cerrulean hills quests.

Garth

[QuantumFX]

You need +1 Holy Handwraps.

[zed1]

Check out this thread: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=148487

In addition to this, I would recommend investing in some clickies. Specifically: Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, Owl's Wisdom, and Shield. You will find these useful even after you qualify for the House P buffs (if you run a quest chain for more than 30 minutes.) These can be obtained relatively cheaply at the Rusty Nail and the Auction House.

[hu-flung-pu]

I used my Korthos handwraps up until level 8 when I had enough money to buy some bursting wraps then there was that set of banishers I bought for 2000 plat at the auction house.


I feel your pain though. Don't get mired down by your lack of gear. As a monk you have everything you need to be effective built in to the class.

[captain1z]

I have never seen pure good handwraps.

[Hasteclicky]

Honestly your best bet is to make sure your class rewards are set based on class to improve your end reward selection. You'll get tons of handwraps and hope for the best.

[Greydeath]

Frankly at lvl4 you will be behind twinked characters. Simply concentrate on getting the named items you will use throughout leveling (many listed in this thread).

Honestly, just pike off other groups and contribute as best you can. Your minor party buffs can make a difference at low levels.

[Mobeius]

Lots of good advice here, especially the one that said favor up in House P ASAP so you can buy 30 minute buffs. If you have enough plat you can almost keep those on you for lots of harder quests. The static rewards list on story arc items. (WW, STK, TR, Delera's, Stormcleave, Threnal (new item coming in Mod 9 that if you have voice of the master equiped it bestows true sight, I think its a cloak)

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=121279

Go to that thread and look for low level items to mid level items and plan it out on each slot.

Again, dont forget the brokers in the Rusty Nail (Market place tavern by STK) and I would get 1/4 staves till you are atleast level 8, but would recommend staves till level 11 when your fists do D10 and you have more attacks.

[NXPlasmid]

You need +1 Holy Handwraps.

Duh. I think what the poster is commenting on is the extremely low drop rate of handwraps like +1 holy or any good handwraps below ML8, coupled with the absurd prices for +1 holy handwraps on the AH. If, and that is a big if, you can even find them. During my current monk leveling, I never saw any ML6 or lower holy handwraps for less than 50K plat.
Of course, a lot of seeker handwraps dropped for me, most useless handwraps ever, sort of a slap in the face to a class that already has a sucky crit range and sucky crit multiplier... oh yes and plenty of weakening ones to, which don't work.
Don't get me wrong, I love my monks they are fun to play, but in a team based game, how much can you expect people to be willing to include you in the group just because it's fun for you. Better handwrap and q-stave drop rates for ML4-8 would go a long way to help monks to contribute to DPS in lower level groups, as we all know, until level or so, monk buffs and finishing moves are almost impossible to employ regularly.