Build Critique - Pure Dark Monk

[Jasam01]

Even a CHA tome for shining star is worth considering ^^'

[SINIBYTE]

Monk's needin' a sugar momma!

[P1rat3cat]

Just wait for one of those sales on DDO store, when they bring the price of a +2 to all stats down to 1990 TPs ^^.

Case Solved.

[steloro]

my guildmate say:the finesse dex monk must have 14 in streght...you also say that...but i don't know why....i think is better wisdom...for stunning fist...but i don't play monk i play a paladin...
a question...i reincarnate my paladin in your build of monk...i think to swap wepom focus for the feat of the past life of the paladin...you think is good idea???

[SINIBYTE]

my guildmate say:the finesse dex monk must have 14 in streght...you also say that...but i don't know why....i think is better wisdom...for stunning fist...but i don't play monk i play a paladin...

As long as you have enough STR for PA I think you'll be fine, then you can bump up WIS for better DC's.

a question...i reincarnate my paladin in your build of monk...i think to swap wepom focus for the feat of the past life of the paladin...you think is good idea???

Sounds like an excellent plan if you have that option. Last night I swapped Weapon Focus for Toughness, as I wasn't experiencing any to-hit issues, even in Elite Vale quests with PA on, but I was lacking a little in HP.

[steloro]

ty!
i have a +2tome str....so i choose 12 in str!
i think your build is very good ...+1 rep!

[SINIBYTE]

ty!
i have a +2tome str....so i choose 12 in str!
i think your build is very good ...+1 rep!

Thanks. Have fun!

[SINIBYTE]

Decided to take another pass at my build, and decided to make a few changes.

The first major change was switching from Monkey to Crane. Ki generation is key to firing off a ToD at every opportunity, I'd rather wait for the ToD cooldown, than stare at a greyed-out button waiting for Ki. It also gives more opportunity to throw in other Ki strikes (this version has 2 additional Ki strikes as well), since you will have better Ki generation.

The second change was the stat distribution, while the stats didn't shift all that much, I decided an extra point in DEX over STR as this is a finesse build, would make sense, while still covering the need for PA.

The extra DEX point with finesse at level 3 should help with the to-hit loss, so weapon focus is not needed, and has been swapped out with toughness earlier than in the previous build post, and allows you to take the toughness enhancements earlier, which should help with the leveling curve.

You get Ninja Spy I, Ninja Spy II, and ToD at the earliest possible time. You get 2 Grand Master stances at 18. The full TWF line. Guile and Cunning Up to III. Crane up to III. Toughness enhancement I & II. Both DEX and WIS enahncements up to II. I also threw in Void Strike and First of Iron, so you can take advantage of the extra combinations. At the end you basically wind up with 1 AP leftover which you can throw whereever you want.. pick up more saves, boost a skill, whatever you like, I put it in concentration for the small bit of Ki retention, but really you can put it anywhere.

You don't need all of those tomes to make the build work aside from CON and INT. CON is definately 100% required for GM Mountains with this build. Technically speaking you can skip the INT tome as well if you want and ignore all points put into Move Silently, requiring only the CON tome at 7. Through my leveling experience, I've come accross a fair share of tomes, and they're not that expensive to begin with, so the more the merrier, every point helps a monk.

I think this is a bit more solid of a build, should work well throughout all levels as a primarily DPS-focused monk with moderate survivability.

Finesse DEX-Based Halfling Dark Pure Monk with Earth/Wind & Ninja Spy.

The Sin Monk.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 3.5.1
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 Lawful Good Halfling Male
(20 Monk) 
Hit Points: 324
Spell Points: 0 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 17
Reflex: 21
Will: 17

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats         Base Stats         Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)          (Level 20)           (Level 20)
Strength             13                 15                   15
Dexterity            17                 24                   26
Constitution         16                 18                   18
Intelligence          8                 10                   10
Wisdom               14                 16                   18
Charisma              8                  8                    8

Tomes Used
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7
+2 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7
+2 Tome of Intelligence used at level 7
+2 Tome of Wisdom used at level 7

                  Starting            Ending          Feat/Enhancement
                 Base Skills        Base Skills        Modified Skills
Skills           (Level 1)          (Level 20)          (Level 20)
Balance               7                 31                   31
Bluff                -1                 -1                    2
Concentration         7                 27                   38
Diplomacy            -1                 -1                    2
Disable Device       n/a                n/a                   n/a
Haggle               -1                 -1                   -1
Heal                  2                  4                    4
Hide                  3                  8                   12
Intimidate           -1                 -1                   -1
Jump                  4                 16                   20
Listen                2                  4                    6
Move Silently         3                 29                   31
Open Lock             n/a               n/a                   n/a
Perform              n/a               n/a                   n/a
Repair               -1                  0                    0
Search               -1                  0                    0
Spot                  2                  4                    4
Swim                  1                  2                    2
Tumble                4                  9                   11
Use Magic Device     n/a               n/a                   n/a

Level 1 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+4)
Skill: Concentration (+4)
Skill: Jump (+3)
Skill: Tumble (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Stunning Fist
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting
Enhancement: Monk Jump I
Enhancement: Monk Tumble I


Level 2 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Power Attack
Enhancement: Halfling Cunning I
Enhancement: Way of the Elegant Crane I
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom I


Level 3 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Inevitable Dominion: Fists of Darkness
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Finesse
Enhancement: Halfling Dexterity I
Enhancement: Halfling Guile I


Level 4 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Enhancement: Static Charge
Enhancement: Monk Jump II
Enhancement: Monk Tumble II


Level 5 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Enhancement: Way of the Elegant Crane II
Enhancement: Porous Soul


Level 6 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Dodge
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Monk Ninja Spy I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I


Level 7 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Enhancement: All-Consuming Flame
Enhancement: Winter's Touch


Level 8 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+2)
Enhancement: Adept of Wind
Enhancement: Adept of Rock


Level 9 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+1)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting
Enhancement: Touch of Death


Level 10 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+1)
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom II


Level 11 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Jump (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+1)
Enhancement: Halfling Dexterity II


Level 12 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons
Enhancement: Monk Ninja Spy II


Level 13 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Enhancement: Master of Thunder
Enhancement: Master of Stone


Level 14 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Enhancement: Way of the Elegant Crane III


Level 15 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting
Enhancement: Halfling Cunning II
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II


Level 16 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Enhancement: Halfling Cunning III
Enhancement: Halfling Guile II


Level 17 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)


Level 18 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Storms
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Mountains


Level 19 (Monk)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Enhancement: Halfling Guile III


Level 20 (Monk)
Ability Raise: DEX
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Concentration (+1)
Skill: Move Silently (+2)
Enhancement: Monk Serenity
Enhancement: Fists of Iron
Enhancement: Void Strike I
Enhancement: Monk Concentration I

[shortdevils]

the only down side to crane path is the minus too fortitude. but not much requires fortitude saves adn monk are alraedy immune to posions and the effects of diseease. but as for me what i did was get an oremi's necklac. +1 ki per hit. with that i get like 100 ki before the touch of deaht cooldown is done but crane path is also good. why not both lol.
oremi's can be gotten form shavarath, bastion of power quest, but thats like lvl 18'ish.
just giving the info do waht u want with it.

[Resilian]

I didn't look at the enhancements, but from everything else..it's the exact same build as me. Very fun build and effective build.

[SINIBYTE]

I didn't look at the enhancements, but from everything else..it's the exact same build as me. Very fun build and effective build.

Yeh, once I finish off my GS cloak, I'll have permanent blur + shadow. He really is a sturdy little bastard.

[SINIBYTE]

So, I thought I'd come back and let you guys know how this little fella is doing. Now level 20 (well, for a bit now anyways)!

He's quite the little powerhouse. He can rip aggro off just about anything, depending on your point of view, that's either pretty **** awesome, or really bad. But he has the defences to handle himself when it happens. Solo ability is **** good too. Innate to just about any monk, this guy is a pure zerger, always out front and dropping everything in his path. Great DPS, Very good AC, Decent HPs, Excellent Saves.

Gear at the moment:
Minos Legens
Icy Raiment +Dodge
Armored Bracers +8
Ninja Spy Set (ring)
Tumbleweed
Madstone Boots
Ogre Power Gloves +6
Health Belt +6 / GFL (Berzerker belt)
T3 GS Smoke Cloak (HP)
Arrowhead
Ninja Spy Set (neck)
+2 Metalline HW of PG or +5 Icy/Shocking Burst Force Crit of PG or +10 Holy Stunner

The gear isn't that hard to get, so it's not hard to acquire. Showing you don't need uber epic gear to get in there and compete/survive. I was running him without a single piece of named gear at 20 and still having a good time.

http://my.ddo.com/character/argonnessen/tangesazen/

So there you have it. Just wanted to stop back, say it's indeed a solid build, and alot of fun.

A nice high point was running an SOS, given the task to aggro fire trash, while the group focused on the boss. I tagged everything, ran around the corner, and proceeded to beat everything down solo without heals or anything, typed "trash is down", the response was "really? ****.", and proceeded to finish off the boss. I impressed. (I know it's not an extraordinary feat or accomplishment, but still it was fun).

[nanobot1994]

Thanks for posting the build, I'm working on something very similar to the one in the OP. Glad to see I'm not -too- gimped .

[SINIBYTE]

Thanks for posting the build, I'm working on something very similar to the one in the OP. Glad to see I'm not -too- gimped .

Good to hear, I've run into a couple monks using this build now while leveling up my newly forged warforged. So far the feedback has been great. I've been suggesting light path with FOL til 12 (or 9 if you are in a rush for TOD), then switching to dark.

[SINIBYTE]

Neg repped on a build thread?! Seriously?

[Thelmallen]

Neg repped on a build thread?! Seriously?

Nah, the forum rep system isn't borked at all is it. That sucks but here's one to level it out.

[ironfists]

I'm trying to follow your build. I'm at level 6 and cannot get the Monk Ninja Spy I. I only have 20 total Enhancements to spend. and Monk Ninja Spy requires 4. I have no idea what I am doing wrong.

I have a 32 point build.

I added it up. At level 6 I have 20 points to spend. And spent 19 on all my level 1 - 5 Enhancements. How am I supposed to get a 4 point and a 1 point enhancement at 6?

Sorry for the Confusing. Only been playing a week or so

[SINIBYTE]

I'm trying to follow your build. I'm at level 6 and cannot get the Monk Ninja Spy I. I only have 20 total Enhancements to spend. and Monk Ninja Spy requires 4. I have no idea what I am doing wrong.

I have a 32 point build.

I added it up. At level 6 I have 20 points to spend. And spent 19 on all my level 1 - 5 Enhancements. How am I supposed to get a 4 point and a 1 point enhancement at 6?

Sorry for the Confusing. Only been playing a week or so

You should be able to get it at level 6 when you get 4 bubbles.