Making a WF monk, total noob, advices pls!

[Deceitos]

So i was planning to make a pure warforged monk while waiting for my VIP status to come alive (and of course it's just the day when im planning to start the game. I've played normal D&D: stormreach, so i have some knowledge of the game even though very limited.

As a Warforged, what are the MOST common mistakes i should avoid when making a monk? I allready looked up some info from a post at: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=214991 (Cleared up few things at least)

I got confused at the part "*NOTE DO NOT take ANY of the body feats if you are going for the centered bonus, the body feats interfere with monk bonuses."

What is "centered" bonus? I didnt seem to find much info on that. What if i take the body feats anyways? Is it a mistake on the long run?

And most of all... if i'm just starting out D&D:Unlimited, should i possibly start with some other class before making a monk?

[FriedDan]

So i was planning to make a pure warforged monk while waiting for my VIP status to come alive (and of course it's just the day when im planning to start the game. I've played normal D&D: stormreach, so i have some knowledge of the game even though very limited.

As a Warforged, what are the MOST common mistakes i should avoid when making a monk? I allready looked up some info from a post at: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=214991 (Cleared up few things at least)

I got confused at the part "*NOTE DO NOT take ANY of the body feats if you are going for the centered bonus, the body feats interfere with monk bonuses."

What is "centered" bonus? I didnt seem to find much info on that. What if i take the body feats anyways? Is it a mistake on the long run?

And most of all... if i'm just starting out D&D:Unlimited, should i possibly start with some other class before making a monk?

Well, I do enjoy my WF monk, but it's probably worth starting a simpler class to get used to the mechanics of the game. Come back to the monk after you've learned the basics of melee combat. Monks do have some extra complications that make them more complicated. Create a throw-away character and play that for a day or two before starting the character that you really want to play. If you want to do a melee class like a monk, start with something like a fighter or a barbarian which will let you practice effective combat (DDO is more complicated than other MMOs in that respect).

As for your other questions. Do not take the body feats. Lots of monk abilities require being centered.

search the forums for a monk build, that will give you ideas for a good path.

[Vissarion]

I would suggest checking out Arkat's build: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=235513

I'm using it myself, and it's been great fun to play. The only thing I should mention is that Monks are one of the classes that really benefit from 32-point builds, since they have four important stats.

And as FriedDan said, body feats are bad. When you're "centered" and not wearing armor (body feats disrupt both conditions) you get to add your wisdom mod to AC, use Ki strikes, add the Monk centered bonus to AC (1AC at level 2, and then another at 5, 10, 15, and 20), and be in a stance (Wind stance is probably your best bet as a new monk player).

[Deceitos]

I would suggest checking out Arkat's build: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=235513

I'm using it myself, and it's been great fun to play. The only thing I should mention is that Monks are one of the classes that really benefit from 32-point builds, since they have four important stats.

And as FriedDan said, body feats are bad. When you're "centered" and not wearing armor (body feats disrupt both conditions) you get to add your wisdom mod to AC, use Ki strikes, add the Monk centered bonus to AC (1AC at level 2, and then another at 5, 10, 15, and 20), and be in a stance (Wind stance is probably your best bet as a new monk player).

Intresting build, but as a starting player maybe a bit.. "advanced" ? As in, are kama's better to use than fists alone? I havent got any good stuff yet to twink my monk with stuff like this guy has.

[Drakos]

I have to agree with the others that posted. Monks are a bit advanced to learn to play, so you might play another melee class for a bit to get "used" to the melee style. Take it from me, I played when the game was initially released then took a few years off. When I came back they had added Monks so I made one. I had to do alot of reworking feats, skills, action points, etc... to fix the mistakes.

The power of the Monk and it's complications both resolve around their Ki abilities. As the others pointed out Ki abilities are going to require that you be "centered" which means that you are not wearing armor and are unarmed or only armed with special Monk weapons (kamas', staff, shurikens, etc...). The "body" feats (Mithril, Adamantine) both count as armor for purposes of being centered, but your natural Armor Plating does not. Being centered is required to gain the AC bonuses from Wisdom & additional bonus AC as you level and also to generate and maintain your Ki bar. Done right you should never miss the AC bonuses granted by body feats though.

The good news is that you can still slot any doccent in the game to enhance your Natural plating so it is alot easier for a WF monk to get enhancement bonuses to AC. As an example my WF Monk at level 16 is running around with Unbuffed AC of 48-50 (demending if I slot my White Dragonscale or my Dragontouched doccent). I'm still working on getting the right enhancements on the Dragontoughed to make it my primary doccent of choice.

As you noticed with the linked build, Monks are heavily dependent on 4 stats as well as gear to be effective so be prepaired to fork over some cash. But the Sentinals quest did add a rather decent doccent that gets alot better and would make a worthy end-game doccent (not optimal but decent) and is realively easy to get and upgrade.

Monks take some planning and careful detail to leveling choices to be truly good some things to consider are:
1) Light Side. Dark Side. Yes my young padiwon, the choice is before you travel the path of light or dark. Many people suggest that Light side is better as your first Monk because it is slightly easier to play. The Ki abilities are good at healing and alieviating other alilments like, blindness, curses, draines, etc...

2) Animal stances. IMHO this is purely a style choice, I chose Monkey and never looked back (energy resistance FTW baby).

3) Wis/Dex or Str build. Many think this goes hand in hand with the Light/Dark concept. Wis/Dex is you AC build and is the path to the truely nice AC's whereas Str is the best way to try and keep up with other Melee DPS.

4) Stances. Again this is a matter of style and what nitch you are attempting to fill. Air is probably the most popular followed closely by Earth. Air will give you decent attack rate and assist with the AC build but at the expense of HP. Earth will help maximise your HP at the expense of Dex. The nice thing is that you get all 4 of the basic stances at 1st level so you can switch bassed on the situation.

5) A partner with Stances are Ki Strikes. These are atack options powered by your Ki. They are also how you get to your finishing moves. Different combinations of Ki strikes activate different finishing moves; ex. Light Light Light activates a healing finisher. It is important to develope a decent attack chain to include the Ki strikes and finishers you find most useful to your unique play style.

These are only some of the things you should plan out. IMHO the planning is well worth it because done correctly the Monk is one of the funnest classes to play.

Sorry if I rambled and went into way more detail than you wanted. I just like this clas sooo much.

[Arkat]

Intresting build, but as a starting player maybe a bit.. "advanced" ? As in, are kama's better to use than fists alone? I havent got any good stuff yet to twink my monk with stuff like this guy has.

Deceitos,

Yes the build is advanced. It was meant to show what a 20th level Monk with very good equipment could look like and what to shoot for at "end-game." Of course, there is EPIC loot to shoot for that might be better than a lot of my loot but not everyone runs EPIC so I left it out.

Anyway, for beginners, I'd suggest waiting til you get 32 point builds either from the DDO store or as a Favor reward. Manks, more than any other class, are stat-dependent. Those four extra build points can be quite useful.

Greensteel weapons are no longer absolutely necessary anymore. The only real "manufactured" weapons I suggest having are Vorpal kamas. +1 Vorpal kamas are useable by 10th level toons so you should be shooting for those early. Higher "+" Vorpals are useful as you advance in level above 12th.

The handwraps you want are fairly normal (+1, +2, Shock of Pure Good, Weakening of Enfeebling, Weighted, etc.) except for the Devout Handwraps. They are tough to get because of a) only available in the end-chest of the last quest (The Shadow Crypt) in the second Necropolis series of quests, and b) they've got a very low drop-rate. If you do get them, however, they will be useful pretty much for the rest of the game unless you find some really nice Metalline of X handwraps.

[TPICKRELL]

My first toon was a monk, and I loved it.

That being said, I'd strongly advise you to learn the monk class on a halfing or human monk before attacking Warforged. I'd also recommend you go with a light path, high dex/wis monk, and expect to True Reincarnate when you get to 20.

Look at the Rockan Robin build for a solid starting place, although there are lots of viable alternatives out there. I'd strongly advise you to work off a build like this as a starting point. Once you have your first monk to level 2o and are familiar with the class, you will be in a much better position to decide where to go longer term.
\
Here is a link to the build:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...t=rockan+robin

You will need to try out a lot of things with a monk to find out what works for you and your playing style. The monk is very gear intensive, and is very keyboard intensive, so it can be a challenging place to start.

If you have not read it, look at Mobeius's beginner's monk guide forum post:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=214991

Its your build, so do what you want... but your learning curve will be a lot less with another class, and your monk learning curve will be a lot smoother with a halfling or human race.

Both of my current monks are WarForged, but I definitely would not have wanted to learn the class with one.

[Hydro]

I would reccomend checking this link:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=242643

That is pretty much the best information if you are looking for an endgame (Epics, Elite) monk.

[TPICKRELL]

I would reccomend checking this link:

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=242643

That is pretty much the best information if you are looking for an endgame (Epics, Elite) monk.

QFT.... But, I'd still recommend that you not plan on your first 28pt build monk being an Epic/Elite toon. I'd plan on leveling to 20, using the leveling process to learn the class and then TR'ing into an Epic/Elite build so that you have 34 build points and a lot more experience with the monk class. An Epic/Elite optimized toon is tuned specifically for Epic/elite content, but while leveling, there is a lot of first monk fun experience that is eliminated by the build.

[Eurytos]

An Epic/Elite optimized toon is tuned specifically for Epic/elite content, but while leveling, there is a lot of first monk fun experience that is eliminated by the build.

Also QFT.

My Monk in that thread (halfling dps) started life as a Dex/Light based monk with these stats:
STR14
DEX18
CON14
INT8
WIS14
CHA8

I felt like a god leveling up. Could solo anything with such ease, including Hard/Elite Gwylans Stand and Tear of Dhakaan at appropriate levels. Quivering palm and stunning blow landed on almost everything. As soon as you reach Amrath though, that all changes.