Made it to level 5, now I'm back for a check up :)

[Neversoul]

So far I really enjoy the monk class. Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice on initial feats and ability scores.

I just hit level 5 and figured I would post again because I have some more questions about how to further develop my character. Especially in the area of gear. All the gear in the game seems random, so it's been hard to pursue any particular upgrade at any given time. I'm essentially still running around with the gear I left korthos with, minus a few exceptions, simply because I don't know what else to get.

Anyway, here I am right now...

STR: 15
DEX: 18
CON: 14
INT: 8
WIS: 16
CHA: 8

I took these feats so far...

Dodge
Toughness
Two Weapon Fighting
Weapon Finesse
Power Attack

I primarily use the wind stance and the fist of light special attack.

My gear is pretty unremarkable. I have a concentration helmet, +2 handwraps, a strength ring, the pathfinders amulet and boots from korthos (the one with the dex bonus), a wisdom trinket, lesser false life belt.

I couldn't find any good armor, so I bought a fire guard robe of lesser acid resistance because it seems like free damage and melf's acid arrow was killing me in one dungeon.

I bought wrists that let me cast web and goggles that let me cast hypnotism so that I had access to some basic CC for when I ran hard modes by myself.

Things on the auction house are really expensive, which has kept me from buying anything yet. But I feel as though I should upgrade my equipment soon.

Can anyone give me an idea of what to look for? What kinds of gear are good for a monk?

I saw some flaming burst handwraps on the AH for about 20,000 gold, which is practically all of my money, but it was an upgrade in terms of damage. Should I buy things like that?

Otherwise does it look like I'm doing okay so far? Anything I need to keep my eyes on?

Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

[Xeriphim]

an Item you may wish to consider to help with your ac ... is the wrist slot item " black widow bracers " +4 to ac , end reward from doing water works . Yes t's farming for 1 end reward ... but that's a decent ac boost at the lower levels til you level up to around 9 or 10 ish an can start trying to farm for chaos gaurds . .

having an elemental handwrap like your flamming you mentioned is also usefull but try an keep an eye out for Holy wraps they become pretty usefull to 85% of the game content . then swap to flamming for the other 15% of the time ... After level 10 start looking to track down a pair of vorpal kama's .

rest of what you have so far looks not to bad . Also now that your level 5 , you may also want to do loot runs in tangleroot gorge . You can get some nice end reward items like flesh render goggles , +3 str gloves, +3 con belt , +3 dex items etc ... the flesh render goggles with the clickie of death ward can be very benificial .

[Neversoul]

The end reward for waterworks meaning the rewards for the last quest in the chain? Are those bracers always an option? Is the chain soloable do you know?

[rimble]

The end reward for waterworks meaning the rewards for the last quest in the chain? Are those bracers always an option? Is the chain soloable do you know?

Yes. No. Yes.

You can just drink Mage Armor potions too, they're really cheap.

[RazorrX]

You can solo WW, but need to be careful (non twinked). The end reward is given for doing the entire chain. First you free Arlos, then you go find and avenge Venn.

BW bracers are a must have for low level monks.

Farm for House P favor. Get in groups, do House P. Get the house P buffs. Not only ele resist but stat buffs. Owls Wisdom, Cats Grace, Bears End and Bulls Str. Owl and Cat can boost your AC by 4 alone (2 for each). Stat buffs are a major until you get +4 stat items.

Run House D quests (depths series) they tend to drop elemental, etc. handwraps as end rewards.

[Cedwin]

For your outfit, look for something with moderate fortification on it (75% protection from critical hits), that helps out a ton between levels 6 to 10. Once you get to 10+ you can get heavy fortification, which gives you 100% protection from critical hits.

Also as others have mentioned, get the black widow bracers from water works (+4 armor bonus), you'll wear those until level 12 at least.

I primarily use stunning blow and stunning fist on my monk. With a high wisdom I find that my stunning fist lands pretty much every time. Once a mob is stunned, every hit thereafter is considered a critical, so you can take things down really fast.

Edit: If you can find one of these, they are perfect for a monk. I've been wearing one since level 2. http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Item:..._Contemplation

[Neversoul]

For your outfit, look for something with moderate fortification on it (75% protection from critical hits), that helps out a ton between levels 6 to 10. Once you get to 10+ you can get heavy fortification, which gives you 100% protection from critical hits.

Also as others have mentioned, get the black widow bracers from water works (+4 armor bonus), you'll wear those until level 12 at least.

I primarily use stunning blow and stunning fist on my monk. With a high wisdom I find that my stunning fist lands pretty much every time. Once a mob is stunned, every hit thereafter is considered a critical, so you can take things down really fast.

Early on I considered taking stunning fist. The only problem was that things seem to die pretty fast so far. I typically don't even use FoL because even if I click it right away, it doesn't go off until my second attack which means I usually only get one more attack in before they die. I usually just use the fire punch because it's much cheaper and allows me to use the cone damage fire attack.

Even on hard/elite modes I think I would only use it on bosses and the like. But I might pick it up anyway next time I get a feat.

Do enemies start lasting longer at some point?

[Cedwin]

Do enemies start lasting longer at some point?

Oh yes, wait until you start running Delera's Tomb on Hard/Elite mode.

FYI: The Fist of Light against undead is considered a pure good attack, and does additional damage.

Even in quests like Tangle Root towards the end, it can take 10 or so hits before a mob will go down. I usually start running that around level 5 or 6, and the last part of the chain is level 8 on normal.

[Xeriphim]

Another place to consider is running Delera's tomb series . For the voice of the master end reward ... trinket slot item +1 to resists an skill checks with a 5% exp boost gain . not a bad toy at the that level an the extra exp gains always helpfull .

[Arvess]

Look for holy handwraps of deception.

You can run catacombs for the mask of the asylum
from Assault on Splinterskull, you can get the visor of the flesh render guards, some +3 stat items, and the splinterskull acolyte ring which gives a tiny boost to your healing ki.

You can also look for shield clickies.

the black widow bracers should be a priority.

[Cedwin]

I got a set of holy handwraps of the AH as soon as I could, they do make a huge difference. +2d6 dmg to every attack, on top of your normal damage and elemental attack damage.

[Zyklon]

Make sure you have end rewards based off Class (i think it is on by default). It really helps in getting Monk weapons and outfits.

Low levels are tough for a monk because the mobs have low health and it is tough to build up KI - especially in a group. Also if you don't know, check out the finishing moves you can do. Link. air+light+air and fire+light+fire are nice buffs.

Like others said. If you can't get the Bracers from the Waterworks chain, just use Mage Armor potions. Otherwise look on the auction house for an item/outfit that has a Mage Armor clicky. You can also buy Barkskin potions and Shield of Faith potions from House J. You can get 6 minutes of +10 AC by drinking Mage Armor+Barkskin+Shield of Faith.

[YurmaSter]

I'm a level 5 monk myself and love it.
Read the thread and was wondering where I have a shot at buying the Holy Wraps other than the AH.
House D's weapon shop seems way too high level for me now but is there a shop where that stuff can be found?

And how does the two weapon feat work with unarmed?