Epic Player, but new to Monk, I feel like a noob again.

[Scythera]

Well, lets make this very simple. First, I will tell you a little about myself.
I have been on DDO for over three years, about twentyfive level 20's, been on every server aside from Khyber, now on Sarlona. I am looking at making another new toon, and I am looking at Monks. Well, ya' see, I have never played a Monk before. I was looking at the new Monk stuff from the newest Patch, the one that introduced the Ninja Spy Monk stuff. It really got me thinking about that kind of stuff. But anyways. I like DPS and all, but I would prefer Great versatility over Dmg, honestly. Sure, I have a DPS toon, and I have rarely if at all met any of the SAME level who can out match him in pretty much any aspect. Inclluding TR's. Excuse me for bragging. But yeah. Anyways, I digress.
Starting from level four, is better than starting from level one, though it still sucks rather badly in my own oppinion, though I still wish to go once more.

ANYWAYS: I want to know a decent build. @$%& that, I want to understand Monk completely. I know there are widely known Forum names, associated with different classes. (Met a guy who was Worshipped for his understanding of Paladin builds about two years ago) So I am looking for the BEST to give me a crash course, (If not more) of the Monk in general.

What I would LIKE:::
Traps (Rogue splash)
UMD would be nice.
AC is not a must, as long as I have SUCCESFUL Evasion.
Stunning would be great. (Like I said. I have never done Monk before. I don't know if they depend on Str. for their DC.)

Over all, I want to be able to do everything. Of course, you are thinking, "Wouldn't we all" but don't confuse my words, and don't assume. I mean simply, if I am not the best, I want to be the next best thing. I want to be a jack of all trades. What I have on my mind, is 12Monk/6Rogue/______. I don't know. Hell, going 20 Monk could be great. I hope most of you understand, this whole thing ****es me off, for the simple fact that I feel like a noob again. x.x Please help.

[Crinos]

Monks are an odd class to play for many reasons. While I'd never consider myself among the best monk players (as you put it), I do play monks a lot. So, for what it's worth here's my input. Don't take it as gospel by any means.

Let's deal with your 'Wants'

1. Traps
Yes, you will obviously need to splash rogue for traps, and probably a number of levels of rogue. Monks don't get a huge number of skill points at level up, so that's going to hinder you. Also, monks need multiple high stats (STR, DEX, CON and WIS) to work well. Unfortunately as INT isn't one of them, if you sacrifice any build points into INT at any stage you will be hurting some other aspect of your monk. Yes, some monk builds dump stat WIS, but it doesn't change the fact that INT and CHA are at the end of the line for stat points on a monk.

2. UMD
Same problem as trap skills. Few skill points, and CHA is by necessity a dump stat on monks. Having said that you can probably get a decent UMD on a monk if you work at it and have the gear to pump it up.

3. Evasion
Well, you get evasion for free on a monk, and even improved evasion. In addition you get top notch saves, and your DEX is going to be half decent as you will need to have it high enough to qualify for TWF feats at least, so evasion is no problem.

4. AC
Well, there are 2 main monk paths here. There are monks that take the weapon finesse route and put level ups into DEX. They tend to try to achieve good AC. They have high WIS as well since that adds to AC for monks. If you have the gear, with this build type you can get top notch AC with this approach.
Then there are the max DPS monks. They focus on strength, having only enough dex for the TWF requirements (and sometimes enough to get top tier wind stance). They tend to have a much lower WIS and take the approach that even high AC which works while levelling is useless in epics, so why bother with it.
Obviously that's a bit polarised, but you get the idea.

5. Stunning.
There are 2 routes to effective stunning on a monk. Stunning blow (STR based DC, 15s cooldown) and stunning fist (Wis based DC, 6 second cooldown, uses Ki).
Either one (or both) can be very effective on a monk. You will need to find yourself a set of stunning +10 wraps though. Not that hard to get.
Stunning fist has the advantage of being on a shorter cooldown, and having a DC calculation of 10 + monk level/2 +WIS modifier +Stunning. So you get a free +10 from monk levels at cap over stunning blow.
However, max DPS, Strength monks tend to more or less dump stat WIS, so for them Stunning blow is the better option as they tend to have 38-40 strength.

In general, I think you will struggle to do everything you want, as dropping monk levels for rogue to get UMD and trap skills up there will hurt other areas of your build.

Some other stuff to consider.

Decide if you want to go light or dark.
Light = some decent buffs and healing curse.
Dark = Big 1 shot dps in touch of death and stacking 25% miss chance if you take the dark PRE.

Study and understand elemental stances, Ki strikes and finishing moves. Much of a monk's usefulness comes in the use of Ki.
Have a plan for how you are going to generate enough Ki to fuel your monk. Dark monks in particular use a lot of Ki.
The 2 standard approaches are to either be in fire stance which generates extra ki when you hit, or to take the crane animal path enhancements which give you extra ki on crits. You will be looking to crit a lot by stunning mobs for the autocrit.

Choose your race carefully. They can have a big impact on the way you play in general:
Warforged: Great DPS potential with WF PA enhancements if you can overcome the to hit penalty, immune to almost everything. Great tanks. Best as STR monks
Halfling: Best DPS potential on sneak attackable mobs. Make great finesse monks.
Human: Most consistent DPS potential (not as good as Halfling on sneak attackable, not as good as WF when to hit isn't an issue). Potential for huge healing amp. Most flexible monks.
Dwarf: Best stat distribution because of lower starting CHA which is generally a dump stat.

I realize this jumps around a bit and only skims the surface in some areas, but I hope it's coherent and gives you some stuff to consider.

If you want more detail in a specific area just say and I'll do my best to give you my opinion.

[k1ngp1n]

Ima just my two cents worth in here, knowing very well, and I will state for you to know, that I have not been playing ANYWHERE near as long as some of these people. 3 1/2 months total so far. I haven't been through end game, I haven't passed level 16, I don't know the first thing about crafting.

Giving out build advice would be useful, but the real concern is how geared and experienced are you truly? Monk mixes work fine for some, but they do need significant twinking. According to your previous posting history, I would assume significant twinking would be an issue. In that case, I'd recommend pure monk.

[TPICKRELL]

There is a lot of monk info out there, here are some that I found particularly useful:

Mobeius's guide:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=214991

Eurytos Epic monk builds:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=242643

Eurytos New to Monk builds:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=242841

Rockan Robbin Build and general monk write up:
http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=210181

And when you start grinding devouts Mr. Cow's Shadow Crypt paths:
http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p...6&postcount=27

[t0r012]

not what I would call optimal but
human 32 point
str 12 (need to catch a +1 tome eventually to get Power attack which will be a must)
dex 15(all level ups here)
con 14
int 12
wis 16
cha 8

level 1 rogue
feats take twf line and dodge (ninja spy prereq which you did say you wanted right?)

level 2 monk
just enough skill points to hit UMD , search and disable. Nothing left for concentration though which is a major bummer on a monk so the 2 points from rogue 1 will have to do you for now. I suggest using your next rogue level to top off your concentration after you hit the majors.

level 3 grab weapon finesse and stunning fist

beyond that have fun just be sure to get PA eventually. you will need a 2nd rogue level along the line to get your concentration skill in order for ki storage. yeah 2 rogue on a evasion class stinks but you will need the skill point for oddly enough for monk skills. I'd normally say go 1 or 3 rogue but you can't and have decent concentration or lose access to the GM stances in this case Wind only , but still too much to give up.
===============

now for understanding monk completely, you aren't going to learn it here
you will get some idea but until you actually play monks you aren't going to "get" it. Which is why I will say you should skip the vet start if you can and run through korthos and the harbor to give you time to hone your skills.

There are many things that you won't be able to pick up by reading , the the cadence of timing your ki strikes to know when they are going to fire off properly. that is more important for light monks setting up finishers as the dark finishers kinda suck, but the theory is the same with making best use of your elemental strikes. Having the feel for how much ki your sitting on and how fast you gain it to spam the elemental strikes which will be very important for a dark monk.

[elujin]

i would advice againt the traps skills on a monk (monk should be pure i mine opinion)
and traps shoudn'tworry any monks about traps and the dex based monks can /dance in traps

monks make good splashes if your set on a monk like toon with trap skills a finnes assasin2/ninja spy with centerd shortswords (prob not min /max but sounds max fun ^^)

i have seen some ranger12/7monk/1rog builds(tempest2 +windstance 2 sounds like fun too )

outher players can advice you better on these options .