I pretty much only play a single character that's been through two TRs now, and as such, his stats, equipment and overall goals have developed along the way, rather than being something I set in stone years ago. As a result though, I feel like I never have a single place to really call "home" for the forums, so I was curious how many others enjoy playing their own displaced build.

Think of it as a way to get people to realize there are more ways to accomplish a goal than going with what's the "obvious" choice.

Skyshatter, Lawful Neutral Human 19 Monk / 1 Rogue

Why it works:

  • Stunning Fist DC at 40 in Wind Stance IV (only +2 Wis tome, no +2 exceptional, 1 level up point put into Str to get Void IV, so potential growth of +3 DC this life).
  • Disable Device at 66 with ship buffs, but no boosts. Can easily get to 69 with a GS int skills item, or 74 with Epic Utility Vest.
  • Search at 64 with ship buffs, no boosts, or 67 with a GS int skills item.
  • 39 UMD standing with no buffs, ship or otherwise. No cartouche, no spyglass. With GH alone, I no-fail Resurrection scrolls, which can save someone an immediate ding on accepting vs Raise Dead.
  • 3 Mark charges of DD per rest. Although scrollable, being able to do this on demand has made my life much less stressful.
  • On-demand 120% heal amp (Fire Stance III when hasted/SF DC is N/A). By this, I mean a Heal scroll in Fire Stance heals for 241. 76% heal amp in Wind Stance is 193 from a single Heal Scroll.
  • Void Strike IV. I don't run into many monks (period) that took this, but I really, really, really enjoy vorpalling epic mobs when they're all like "Ha ha, we're stun/crit immune and at high health, get ready for a five minute slogfest and oh no where did my life go?"


Why it's impractical for others:

  • Being a second TR, this character had +3 Int, +3 Cha, and +4 Dex tomes waiting at the appropriate levels, and feat swapped to get everything together (for instance, I only had a starting Dex of 14, so I had to wait for 15 to eat the tome, then feat-swap to get ITWF in order to get GTWF at 18 in time).
  • Two GS accessories, both partially devoted to +Cha skills (+2 on the helm, +3 on the cloak). 20 Shrouds just to cleanse an accessory can be quite a time sink for someone looking to just no-fail Heal scrolls.
  • Litany pulls a lot of various stats together, but isn't exactly as farmable as Muckbane.


What it lacks:

  • Hitpoints. In Wind Stance IV without ship buffs, Sky has 415 HPs. The ring from CC proved too tempting to pass up, so there's an exceptional +1 Con missing from the end build (from my ToD shocking burst ring), and there's no Toughness item or augment, so there's an easy 40, but that's a gearing issue that will be resolved with some help from the loot gods.
  • AC. Although not a paramount issue these days for builds that don't go for it, it would always be nice to have more if it comes with little cost. The flipside is that because this is a Ninja Spy build, the Incorporeal chance mixed in with self-cast Displacement means it's really not that big a deal, as long as mobs don't have True Seeing.
  • Gearing flexibility. This might be more of a monk issue than one specific to this build, but replacing almost any single piece of gear requires juggling the others to cover stats and lost skills. Boots right now don't serve a huge purpose since I'm already speedy enough, but epic options haven't been compelling.