Rockan Robin, pure monk build and philosophy

[unbongwah]

Consider looking for a WF variant of the Big F'n Stick build - say, monk 7 / rogue 13. That plays to a WF's strengths better, IMHO.

[Anthios888]

Thanks for the quick reply.. I currently have a couple of 20s and have never played a warforged or monk and thought it might be cool to get some experience with both.. this char would mainly be used to play with static people in my guild that are currently all warforged.

As a warforged what should the starting stats be?

Or should I find another class besides monk to try out a warforged?

Both of these builds would be fantastic -- and kind of an unusual burst of flavor -- in an all-warforged group. I tried to keep on the theme of the monk. These are markedly different than Rockan, because they are built on DPS more than the tactics/AC angle, but they'll stun decently despite that.

Bring on the reconstruct! Be aware that with any build without UMD, you'll want to get some raise dead clickies and make sure to be responsible about drinking healing pots to help keep yourself from becoming a burden. Light path monk really helps -- all of those little heals really add up.

Warforged Monk 20 (Ninja Spy Path Monk)

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS

• Stunning blow/stunning fist enhancements to
• Improved evasion and great saves
• Natural AC enables soloing
• Healing amplification helps with warforged penalties

You could consider a negative path for increased DPS if you are confident in your healers. I tend to prefer that path on characters with a higher wisdom, since nearly everything has a DC.

For 34 or 36 point build, raise STR (consider dropping wisdom slightly)

STATS
Str 16+ all level ups
Dex 16
Con 16
Int 8
Wis 12
Cha 6

FEATS
1 monk Toughness
1 Two Weapon Fighting
2 monk Stunning Fist (consider dropping for Toughness at endgame if they don't fix stunning)
3 Dodge
6 monk Power Attack
6 Toughness
9 Improved Two Weapon Fighting
12 Stunning Blow
15 Greater Two Weapon Fighting
18 Improved Critical: Slashing

---Or---

Warforged Rockan the Boat Monk 8 / Fighter 12 Kensei (light path)

BUILD HIGHLIGHTS

• Extremely high hit points -- this is like an unarmed evasion barbarian that can easily tank horoth or comparable raid boss on elite
• Excellent epic DPS'er
• Evasion and good fort/reflex saves
• Lower AC -- more gear slots to devote to other bonuses
• Healing amplification helps with warforged penalties

STATS
STR 18 base + all level-ups
DEX 15 base + 2 tome
CON 17 base
INT 8 base
WIS 6 base
CHA 6 base

FEATS
Level 1 (monk): Toughness, Toughness
Level 2 (fighter): Two Weapon Fighting
Level 3 (fighter): Toughness, Weapon Focus: Bludgeoning
Level 4 (monk): Power Attack
Level 5 (monk):
Level 6 (fighter): Toughness
Level 7 (fighter): Weapon Specialization: Bludgeoning
Level 8 (fighter):
Level 9 (fighter): Quick Draw, Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Level 10 (monk):
Level 11 (monk):
Level 12 (monk): Toughness, Toughness
Level 13 (fighter):
Level 14 (fighter): Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
Level 15 (fighter): Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Level 16 (fighter): Greater Weapon Focus: Bludgeoning
Level 17 (fighter):
Level 18 (fighter): Toughness, Greater Weapon Specialization: Bludgeoning
Level 19 (monk):
Level 20 (monk):

[techguru]

Thanks - very interesting possibilities

[techguru]

Which enhancements would you chose for the Warforged Rockan the Boat Monk 8 / Fighter 12 Kensei (light path)


Thanks

[Anthios888]

removed due to ninja spy changes

[techguru]

Thanks..

[techguru]

is the wisdom too low on that 2nd build?

[RegaliaVX]

Hi, just a quick question on the build posted in the OP.

Before I read a whole lot about monks, or came across this build for that matter, I wanted to do a halfling with 14 str and 12 con.

Looking at the Robin build however, I'm just wondering (neglecting for the moment the extra 20hp and +1 fort save from the +2 con Robin has) if the extra dmg from +2 str will in the long run be surpassed by the ability to get Master of Rock and Enduring Strike III (12 dmg and 2d6 acid on crit if im not wrong).

Higher str will get me slightly higher damage and the 3rd fire strike, but considering many things are immune or resistant to fire from lv 17+ content up, that fire strike looks to be less useful at higher levels. Also, quite a few posts in this forum basically advocate getting good earth strikes instead of fire.

Basically long story short, should I go for 14 con +2 tome to get the 3rd tier earth strike, or go for the 14 str +2 tome for higher dmg and tier III fire strike? Apologies if this is a 'Duh, obvious' type of question. I don't really know a whole lot about monks and the only melees I've played are a 15 fighter and 15 ranger where 12 str = gimp :P

Thanks!

[Xeraphim]

It's good to see that my Babypuncher build in MOD 7 finally got all the attention it deserves. OP lined out everything quite nicely.

[Xeraphim]

Warforged Rockan the Boat Monk 8 / Fighter 12 Kensei (light path)

It's a good build for tanking a raid boss, but begs the question: Are you ready to GRIND??

[Anthios888]

Hi, just a quick question on the build posted in the OP.

Before I read a whole lot about monks, or came across this build for that matter, I wanted to do a halfling with 14 str and 12 con.

Looking at the Robin build however, I'm just wondering (neglecting for the moment the extra 20hp and +1 fort save from the +2 con Robin has) if the extra dmg from +2 str will in the long run be surpassed by the ability to get Master of Rock and Enduring Strike III (12 dmg and 2d6 acid on crit if im not wrong).

Higher str will get me slightly higher damage and the 3rd fire strike, but considering many things are immune or resistant to fire from lv 17+ content up, that fire strike looks to be less useful at higher levels. Also, quite a few posts in this forum basically advocate getting good earth strikes instead of fire.

Basically long story short, should I go for 14 con +2 tome to get the 3rd tier earth strike, or go for the 14 str +2 tome for higher dmg and tier III fire strike? Apologies if this is a 'Duh, obvious' type of question. I don't really know a whole lot about monks and the only melees I've played are a 15 fighter and 15 ranger where 12 str = gimp :P

Thanks!

Go with the 14 con. It's a cheap investment, and a good one. If you want 14 strength, drop your wis, not your con. You can use your tier 3 punch every 3 seconds, and it works on everything. 20 HP helps shore up one of monks' weaker points -- hit points.

Warforged Rockan the Boat Monk 8 / Fighter 12 Kensei (light path)
It's a good build for tanking a raid boss, but begs the question: Are you ready to GRIND??

Huh? Why would a barbarian-like character that can't use greensteels be more of a grind than... any build that cares about armor class? I am so confused :P

[magnvix]

So I roll this build, veteran status, and I immediately joined a swiped signet group on hard (didnt even set up hotbars or anything)... everyone died except me (we got split up)... and i sneaked around everything got everyones stones, killed a group of 4 quickfoot with 4hp, sneak through two traps and ressed everyone.

awesome. Thanks for posting!

[Greyzag]

I have a question. I get mixed advice but most lean towards a monk does more damages unarmed/handwraps than with Kama. What is your opinion??

[Quijonsith]

Unarmed attack speed is 10-12% faster than wielding weapons per Eladrin and monk base damage is higher than kama base damage starting at 4th monk level (1d8 unarmed vs. 1d6 kama). At level one monk unarmed and kama are equal base damage, but unarmed attack speed is faster = more damage. The only kicker is you can craft greensteel kamas, but not greensteel handwraps so depending on how many monk levels you take those burst/blast effects on the kamas add up. ToD burst rings at end game can make up the difference from greensteel kamas in damage.

[Greyzag]

thanks ill stay with handwraps then..pure lev20 monk for me.. so does slow fall get better the higher the monk level or should i carry a feather fall item??

[Quijonsith]

thanks ill stay with handwraps then..pure lev20 monk for me.. so does slow fall get better the higher the monk level or should i carry a feather fall item??

at 20 you get perfect slow fall, which is exactly the same speed as feather fall, and even when it's turned off you'll take no damage from any height. Until then yes it progressively gets better. You'll want atleast one point in tumble to help it, then in the lower-mid levels you won't take any damage between slow fall and having tumble activated.

[Potvin]

So, not sure if it was posted already...but they fixed handwraps with 5% weighted!!! They FRIGGIN REMOVED ANY MENTION OF STUNNING FIST FROM THE TOOLTIP! No clue if they plan on REALLY fixing it, but for now, they're not going to add anything to stunning fist.

This. Might as well removed the asterisk from the OP. it's clear Turbine once more is giving monks the big F.U.

[Jyxx]

Great build! Tweaked it to get Grandmaster of Storms and Mountains, but am curious now about maybe getting a third Grandmaster on it. Would it be worthwhile to drop some Wis, adjust the stats, and put it into Str and try for that third GM?

Currently have the 32-pt version set as follows - 12 / 16 / 16 / 8 / 16 / 8.

Thanks!

[Purgatid]

So, this looks like a solid build to go with. However - I... Just don't like halflings. I can't stand to see them run or fight. I don't know why, and why this is so is not my question either. I know they are optimal for this build - yet I'd like to know if you could swap the halfling race for human. And if this is so, what do I need to change in the build, in order to not break it. I do have 32 point builds, and as the OP points out, tomes of +1 should be easy enough to get at some point in the game. Just can't afford to spend turbine points on them.

Question is then summarized to: if possible at all without breaking the build, how do I apply human race to this set up?

[Anthios888]

So, this looks like a solid build to go with. However - I... Just don't like halflings. I can't stand to see them run or fight. I don't know why, and why this is so is not my question either. I know they are optimal for this build - yet I'd like to know if you could swap the halfling race for human. And if this is so, what do I need to change in the build, in order to not break it. I do have 32 point builds, and as the OP points out, tomes of +1 should be easy enough to get at some point in the game. Just can't afford to spend turbine points on them.

Question is then summarized to: if possible at all without breaking the build, how do I apply human race to this set up?

Halflings have more fun.