completly lost with monk

[geoff]

Ok Ive just returned after a 2yr hiatus and want to try a monk. Now ive never played one before in pnp and havent been in game to see how they work really. I have a 32pt build available. Have a few toons that were maxed at the time at lvl 14. So my question is how do i build an effective monk? What is there main purpose in a group?
I would like to make the monk a WF should i take adamantine armor or anything? What would my build be for a tank WF monk and a DPS WF monk?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[NXPlasmid]

Monk is primarily a melee class, but can do party buffing, mob debuffs. They have exceptional AC and attack speed. There are a lot of builds in this thread to look at, but you want to be careful with your stats. If you try to min/max a monk, say for super high AC by maxing out Dex and Wis then your attack damage (Str) will suffer and you'll be kind of squishy(Con). There are 4 basic stances earth, wind, fire, and water each based on the for main monk stats St, Dx, Con, Wis and you get special attacks and stances for them. The more common stances are wind for greater attack speed and fire for better damage. In order to get the higher stances you need to have either 14 or 16 base in the stat for a particular stance. I think as a first build, a light path monk who stays in the wind stance mostly is a good way to go. You can put a little extra into dx and wis, but make sure your strength and con are at least 13 or 14 (depending on your class) you can probably use int and char as dump stats. I would look for the impact and ramses builds in this thread, a lot of useful info there.

[Runehammer]

Ok Ive just returned after a 2yr hiatus and want to try a monk. Now ive never played one before in pnp and havent been in game to see how they work really. I have a 32pt build available. Have a few toons that were maxed at the time at lvl 14. So my question is how do i build an effective monk? What is there main purpose in a group?
I would like to make the monk a WF should i take adamantine armor or anything? What would my build be for a tank WF monk and a DPS WF monk?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You don't want to take any of the armor feats as a WF monk.Wearing armor or being encombered uncenters you and you'll lose alot of the monk special abillities. As a WF you start out with composite body, this counts as being unarmored which is what you want.

[captain1z]

Heres my monk rundown after playing through 14 levels.


- Monks are a very stat needy class. They require Str for DPS, dex for AC, con for hp, wis for additional AC and the DC for some of your moves. INT and CHA are not really useful for a basic monk..... but if u want UMD, higher skill points or Combat ex some points are helpful. If you have a 32 pt build available your half way there. Str = fire, dex = wind, con = earth, wis = water......... check out the class compenduim to see what those focuses can give you.


There are 3 types of monk that the masses are gravitating towards.

- The wind monk for higher AC and faster attack speeds
- The fire monk for higher DPS and fast Ki (like sp) regeneration
- The water monk high AC and Higher special attack DC


Monks must be unarmored and using either fists, kamas or q-staff or they basicly lose most or all of the benefits of the class. Thier buffs last anywhere from 30secs to 1min at 1st or 16th level and are activated Dance Dance revolution style. Example: Fire, fire, fire, special.... fire, light, fire, special.

They lack a few qualities that would make them "uber" but will serve as off tank DPS or debuff stat damagers.

[winsom]

Feel free to experiment with the two different Monk Paths. You can trade with Fred the Mindflayer in House Jorasco for a feat respec should you change your mind.

The Harmonious Path is by far the most popular and most useful at the higher levels. Buffs and Healing.

The Domination Path is useful mostly at mid levels with small groups where you play the role of offensive-controller with your special attacks. You will need to have other means to heal yourself.

[Mobeius]

Ok Ive just returned after a 2yr hiatus and want to try a monk. Now ive never played one before in pnp and havent been in game to see how they work really. I have a 32pt build available. Have a few toons that were maxed at the time at lvl 14. So my question is how do i build an effective monk? What is there main purpose in a group?
I would like to make the monk a WF should i take adamantine armor or anything? What would my build be for a tank WF monk and a DPS WF monk?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

After 2 years, I would HIGHLY recomend you play your other chars first and fight and play around and talk and get a feel for the game NOW as to then, because it has changed in 2 years quite a bit. You have a few different styles of monks, if I had to guess, the halfling kama/windstance monk is the most popular, followed by the WF monk in which I am not sure the specifics on, but both are effecient builds. I am a general human build, guess I would be called a Human Water Monk. If you can handle the twitch the general build can be quite rewarding, with some disappointments and frustrations as well LOL.

Just my 2cp.

[geoff]

Thank you all for some pretty useful information. My main is a bard which i enjoy playing. This monk build is just for the fun of trying something different I started my stats at 14str 16dex 16con 8 int 14 wis 6cha gonna try a wind monk should i have a higher dex and lower my con and str some? Its still a work in progress and as i play my other toons ill sure to see how they actually function

[captain1z]

Thank you all for some pretty useful information. My main is a bard which i enjoy playing. This monk build is just for the fun of trying something different I started my stats at 14str 16dex 16con 8 int 14 wis 6cha gonna try a wind monk should i have a higher dex and lower my con and str some? Its still a work in progress and as i play my other toons ill sure to see how they actually function

No. You are fine.

You will get a Dex bump from wind stance of up to 4 making it 26 with an item at 16th not counting level up points or tomes.

wisdom will get a +3 bump from being a monk making it 23 which will also add to AC.

Con is only help by a +6 item putting you at 22 which is entry level melee (I say 20 is bare min for any melee)

An enhancement, way of the tortoise will also get you some extra hp.


Got Tomes?


Monks are fun but underwhelming in combat stats. If you do it, do it to have fun and not to be uber.

[Maegin]

dont ever sacrifice str on a monk. The DC's on finishers are decent, but nothing at endgame you shouldnt be able to take care of. Right now, dark side is gimped for raids (cause no finishers work on bosses), wind stance beats out fire stance for general dps inspite of the increased STR, a 80+ buffed raid ac can be achieved with grinding, so you wont need CE. Keep to-hit high so you canrun with power attack on constantly.

Wsdom based is good, up untill your get to the boss/raidboss. Stunning trash n all is good, but its nothing a windstance %5 weighted handwrap can achieve either.

BE SURE you get the twf line asap. Dex based gimps your str, be carefull. Halfing usually makes the better monk fir the guile, casue that SA damage adds up really nice.

IC:Bludge is a catch 22. with a 19-20, yes you crit more often(5% more), but anything you hit will eventually stun and give you free crits anyways, so.... This is assuming you have weighted wraps, which is sometihng EVERY MONK SHOULD OBTAIN.

Monks with all their bells and whistles are great for short maning, and solo play, but are really lacking at endgame becuase they can't bypass dr in most cases. Like, you'll be loosing 10-15 a hit, which adds up over time, so tho its not your fault, (blame turbine) you will be gimped weither you like it or not, untill they fix a couple of issues.

No min/maxing, as they are very stat dependent, like a pally.

Monks are not top notch DPS machines, and you can thank turbine, but overall they hold THEIR own pretty well.

anything else?

[Aeneas]

You aren't lost, monks really are as gimp as they seem

[geoff]

Ok so What is considered a decent AC for a tanking monk? When i stopped playing a few years ago armor seemed to be broken. HIgh level stuff would hit you no matter what it seemed.

[Mobeius]

Ok so What is considered a decent AC for a tanking monk? When i stopped playing a few years ago armor seemed to be broken. HIgh level stuff would hit you no matter what it seemed.

hence why I said play your char and see whats up.


I think extreme AC is like in the 80's and pretty much considered unhitable by anything.

However the high end AC thats consider amazing is 72 + and pretty much unhitable by all mobs.

Great AC is considered 60 + Big named Boss mobs can still hit you in this range but not as badly, were you hit on the scale seems to make the biggest difference. Possible tank choices in this range.

Good AC is 50+ for support melee

45 and below is, well lets just say this range is sub-optimal performance range for melees.