Fist of Iron

[victorey84]

what about creating an auto-crit situation and hitting the fist of iron. Doesn't that take your x2 multiplier and make it a X3?

I've been wondering about that myself, and I too would like to know what the experts think. Would 3 fists of iron, followed by the earth finisher (+2 crit mult) on an auto-crit mob be a good idea and/or is it worth spending the 1 AP for those situations?

I'd consider testing it myself, but I'm not yet at a point where I can reliably stun anything that will live long enough.

P.S.: Do burst/thundering/maiming effects deal increased damage accordingly to the higher crit multiplier?

[lyeman]

I've been wondering about that myself, and I too would like to know what the experts think. Would 3 fists of iron, followed by the earth finisher (+2 crit mult) on an auto-crit mob be a good idea and/or is it worth spending the 1 AP for those situations?

I'd consider testing it myself, but I'm not yet at a point where I can reliably stun anything that will live long enough.

That's my tactical bar; I use 1. stunning blow, 2. strike of the enduring, 3. fists of iron, 4. fists of darkness, 5. finishing move. The earth-dark-earth finisher is pain touch (only use when DPS'ing, why not?), the earth finisher and fists o' iron are crit enhancers, and use stunning blow with a weighted quarterstaff.

Yes, the crit enhancers work when you stun the mob.

[Arkat]

Do I really care about grammer? No. But then neither did P.N. Elrod when he wrote I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire: The Ravenloft Covenant

You're not helping your case.

If you told me Ernest Hemingway (or his editor for that matter) used poor grammar, I'd be ok with that because Ernest Hemingway was a great writer and has earned the right to not be perfect. The likes of P.N. Elrod, Ed Greenwood, R.A. Salvatore, et al. have not.

To be clear, P.N. Elrod ≠ Ernest Hemingway. Therefore, if Ms. Elrod cannot use grammar correctly in his writing, shame on her.

[QuantumFX]

Being a Harmonious Balance monk I can’t speak for Fist of Iron. However, the crit multiplier for “The Trembling Earth” works great on stunned foes. If you time it right in your attack chain it will affect 2 hits.

[lyeman]

Fist of iron is not a dark path ability.

[QuantumFX]

Fist of iron is not a dark path ability.

See, goes to show how much experience I have at playing an Inevitable Dominion monk.

Anyway, If it uses the standard animation and not the Quivering Palm/Touch of Death animation you can get 2 multipled crits off of one strike. That’s how it currently works for “The Trembling Earth” finisher.

[Halock]

I've been wondering about that myself, and I too would like to know what the experts think. Would 3 fists of iron, followed by the earth finisher (+2 crit mult) on an auto-crit mob be a good idea and/or is it worth spending the 1 AP for those situations?

You have to decide if its a good idea or not, everything is a give and take, all i can tell you is that vs a stunned mob its a massive dps boost, however.....a stunned mob is going to go down in the blink of an eye anyways, especially if a barb walks up to it.

I'd consider testing it myself, but I'm not yet at a point where I can reliably stun anything that will live long enough.

See above

P.S.: Do burst/thundering/maiming effects deal increased damage accordingly to the higher crit multiplier?

Burst doesnt, thundering and maiming does. Also the last 2 earth strikes ( highest ranks ) will do added acid damage on crits, so like i said above, its a huge damage increase. ( also seeing a string of numbers going off on a hit is ....pretty, regular damage, ele effect, burst effect, maiming, earth strike added damage, sneak attack, tod rings if you're so lucky, its nice )

[Rameses]

You're not helping your case.

If you told me Ernest Hemingway (or his editor for that matter) used poor grammar, I'd be ok with that because Ernest Hemingway was a great writer and has earned the right to not be perfect. The likes of P.N. Elrod, Ed Greenwood, R.A. Salvatore, et al. have not.

To be clear, P.N. Elrod ≠ Ernest Hemingway. Therefore, if Mr. Elrod cannot use grammar correctly in his writing, shame on him.

Cool Story Bro.
and
Hi welcome

I am, Rameses!

[Rav'n]

You made my smile Ram!!

[Rav'n]

****!! of ALL the threads to be "grammer/spelling" goof.....

Me...

You made ME Smile!

[Junts]

Don't get me wrong I am not suggesting this is broken, I am just curious as I would have thought that the + critical modifier would have been adjusted to the inventory pages breakdown when I was playing around with this in the market.

I am, Rameses!

Why? it isn't a static effect. Its a 5 ki strike that gives you one attack (two on twf) with the higher multiplier.

The strike is not very good, though its situationally useful when working on autocrit mobs. Typically, the extra hit or two's extra ki is better, but if you're in a hurry, fists of iron is ok. It is an activated ability, not a passive +1 multiplier.

[Rameses]

Why? it isn't a static effect. Its a 5 ki strike that gives you one attack (two on twf) with the higher multiplier.

The strike is not very good, though its situationally useful when working on autocrit mobs. Typically, the extra hit or two's extra ki is better, but if you're in a hurry, fists of iron is ok. It is an activated ability, not a passive +1 multiplier.

no idea really. I normally would never have taken the Earth enhancements but i had the AP's and thought W T H


I am, Rameses!

[Junts]

no idea really. I normally would never have taken the Earth enhancements but i had the AP's and thought W T H


I am, Rameses!

The basic earth punches are actually by far better and more reliable damage dealers than fire/ice punches. Rotating the best air/earth strikes you've got for boss fights is by far the best way to deal ki strike damage on a monk, and adds up to a considerable dps increase.

Fists of Iron is mostly an AP spacer, though I do keep it around for when I really, really need to kill a mob fast (stun + holy/shock burst rings + fists of iron + automatic sneak attacks = deadness)

[Arkat]

Cool Story Bro.
and
Hi welcome

I am, Rameses!

No

[Arvess]

I'm using fists of iron now because holding trembling earth is a pain in the ass. I like to go water (unbalancing) dark water then Fists of iron. I see a slight boost but not worth the effort. Things die pretty quick tho so maybe it'll be more apparent later...

[lyeman]

I'm using fists of iron now because holding trembling earth is a pain in the ass. I like to go water (unbalancing) dark water then Fists of iron. I see a slight boost but not worth the effort. Things die pretty quick tho so maybe it'll be more apparent later...

I like earth - earth - stun - fists o' iron - trembling earth

[Arvess]

grrrr...I don't like stunning fist but that's a good one. hmmm....

[Linenoise2]

Dramatic pause. Sure we'll go with that. Beyond that this is my calling card.
If anything I'm atleast noticed for coining that phrase.
Do I really care about grammer? No. But then neither did P.N. Elrod when he wrote I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire: The Ravenloft Covenant

I am, Rameses!

All well and good but _she_ did have an editor. :P

And so as to not knock this off topic again, I should answer your original question.
No, it is not borken. It is a single attack clickie and, ideally, should be used in conjunction to a stunned/prone/immoble/etc mob when a critical hit is guaranteed. In these instances it works quite well in fact.

[lyeman]

grrrr...I don't like stunning fist but that's a good one. hmmm....

I use stunning blow on my WF; better if your STR is high and WIS is low.

[Quijonsith]

I use stunning blow on my WF; better if your STR is high and WIS is low.

Keep in mind, however, that stunning blow's dc is 10+str mod, but stunning fist is 10+1/2 monk level+wis mod. So come level 20 your strength modifier would need to be 10 higher than your wisdom modifier to make up the difference. But of course that's come level 20. If need be one could always trade stunning blow for stunning fist if/when it's DC becomes higher.

Also, if anyone is taking stunning blow because of weighted not adding to stunning fist, this is a misconception. Weighted is adding to both stunning blow and stunning fist for any monk weapon except handwraps. Weighted on handwraps isn't adding to either feat, though it does proc it's own stun still.