Feat Question

[lizardo666]

There is no Monk toughness, just the racial. So compared to a class and race that has it ... yes it can be lower.

[Impatiens]

Ill have to think more on power attack and I noticed that in the above build he used points in con and str and not INT for skills. Skills, in hindsight, I dont use all that much. Having said that, I have 230 hp at 15 where he has 290 at 20 and my saves are better. I don't know, I guess I didn't do so bad not having any idea what I was doing. My Wis and Dex are higher and i have used only one +1 tome and that was in str. Id like to see the above build in action with all the equipment. Again, I have a lot to think on between 15-20. with any luck this move will be over and ill be in the sands in a few mins checking out the new quivering palm and itwf.

The build posted doesn't include any items in the numbers though. Those are the stats it would have standing around completely naked. So each stat is going to be at least 6 higher, more if you count on exceptional stats from ToD rings/DT, Litany of the Dead (though you'd want to be neutral for that), epic items with +7 to stats, etc. It also only used one +2 tome, and most level 20s will have used a couple by the time they cap. When you are comparing your stats to this one are you removing all your gear? That build has 297 hp with nothing on so with standard gear it would be more like this:

297 base
20 (Minos)
30 (GFL item)
45 (GS hit point item)
60 (+6 con item)
10 (draconic vitality)
__________
462
-20 (Wind stance)
______
442

[Lynxmark]

It may very well be based on ur lvl or con base????

[Darkrok]

Back on the original topic of feats I'd like to add just a bit there for people that are less experienced building their characters. Here's the generally considered 'must-have' feats for monks along with the earliest level they can be taken on a pure monk (which means the level you should really take it unless you have a really good reason not to do so or in the special case of power attack).

Power Attack (1*)
Two Weapon Fighting (1)
Toughness (1)
Improved Two Weapon Fighting (9)
Improved Critical (12)
Greater Two Weapon Fighting (15)

So assuming non-human and taking all feats as early as possible we've got both level 1's used (monk and normal), our level 2 monk, and our level 9, 12, and 15. That leaves open feats at levels 3, 6 (two of them), and 18. Humans would have extra feats at 1, 3, 6, 6, and 18. The big thing for me is that all of those feats (other than 18) come early on. That means in order to take a feat that requires a pure monk to be level 9 you either have to take it at level 18 or delay the core abilities.

As for what feats to take with the other stuff ac monks will definitely have dodge and ce (and possibly mobility). Dex-based monks will also need Weapon Finesse early on. Non-ac and str monks have a lot more leeway and can play with stuff like stunning fist, dragonmarks, etc.

I've never been a big fan of stunning fist as I'd rather save the ki for buffs on a light or 500 point face smashes on a dark. I'm sure there are others that absolutely love it. For me, I've taken the first two passage dragonmarks, discipline, and skill focus: concentration on my human dark monk. Just being able to store more ki and delay the higher decay of ki makes a big difference on when you can fit those kill-shots in. I'd probably go the same way with the feats if I switched back to light. Even if you're having no problem generating ki there's still going to be downtime (people go afk, etc) and with as short as some fights can be in ddo (especially on trash) the more ki you store the faster you're ready to do what you need to do. The dragonmarks don't make the character more powerful but pretty much always on expeditious retreat and 2 ddoor's a day are very nice for streamlining your play and letting you get to the fun stuff (or the bad guys) faster. Even using ddoor at the end of each adventure is a time savings once you get into the habit of using it. At level 18 I'd probably take SF: UMD if it pushed me from having certain items practically unusable to more usable.