Halfling Zombie Monk

[PestWulf]

Hey,

I've put together a build for myself and a friend for a pretty fun duo. I've built out the enhancements as well, but i'm running into a couple great ways to go with some things that I was wondering what folks might have to say on them.
I'll put my build below if you are interested, but my question here so you don't have to read a lot to provide some insight
**Try not to laugh too hard at me, I enjoy researching and making builds but usually don't post since I really don't have the top end experience. Most of my experience is in the low and mid levels due to a severe case of alt-itis. This started as a fun concept ..the Undead Halfling Wizard Monk in a guild called "It's only a Flesh Wound", hehe. So yeah, you may not want him for tank in a group or a damage dealer in a group, but **** it's fun **

On to the meat:

I have three ways I can spend excess enhancement points and I love all of them. Keep in mind this is a solo/duo build but really meant to leverage a duo.

1. Halfling sneak attack lines. This will be 20 points so I can't get all of them, but adding sneak attack damage to the build and more importantly the bonus to-hit when in a sneak position is a very nice melee bonus.
2. Melf's Acid arrow. One thing my friend and I have found is that there are some REALLY annoying ranged areas in the game. with this builds 7 levels of wizard, I can get a 15% acid boost a 6% acid crit and a .25 increase to critical magnitude and have some monk weapon switch ins with corrosion and acid lore to boost them further. Since melf's now stacks from multiple sources, we can both melf a long range target and let it die safely. I really like being able to do this.
3. Touch of Death. 10 AP to get this and it's pre-req's (all-consuming flame is already in my build for the Ninja Spy pre-req). With low end gear, we should be able to reach a standing 45 Ki pool. Won't really use touch of death on anything that's not a difficult target or needs to die quickly..but when you need it, two of these landing with the palemaster 1 bonus would be a very nice addition.

So this is my quandry. I currently have TOD in my build with 6 to 8 points to spare and leaning towards the melf's acid line (takes 6 to get all I can at level 7 Wiz). Would I be better served to dump TOD and get almost all of the halfling sneak lines to boost melee? or am I better having a big punch available from having TOD when I really need something to die?



Build follows
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First off, this is meant to be a fun "concept" type of build, be very functional and built to work in a duo. Could easily be a solo character, not really tuned for a full group/raid setting.

The build focuses on great AC layered with evasion buffs, adequate damage that becomes great when boosted and the self healing of the zombie form + stacking auras.

This build is meant to be functional at early levels as if you are starting over on a new server (which we did, heh), not just an endgame build. Feat selections take that into account.

Wizard 7 (Pale Master) / Monk 13 (Ninja Spy)
Progression is:
1: Wizard
2: Monk (to get 1d6 fist damage early and monk unarmed instead of non-monk unarmed animations)
3 - 8: Wizard (gets Pale Master 1, Zombie form and lvl 4 spells)
9 - 20: Monk
NOTE: The goal for this progression is to be a melee fist combatant from level 2 on up. I want to get to self-healing as soon as possible and rely high AC for the level and buffs to reduce incoming damage enough so that a hireling after battle is enough for healing. Not taking monk 2 to get evasion was a tough decision but getting zombie form 1 level earlier will help a lot in Red Fens and other places I'll be going to start gearing myself up. Plus we are doing find on hard difficulty as is, so no real problems leveling means it can wait.


With a 32 point build, I put it out to be:
STR 12
DEX 16
CON 14
INT 12
WIS 16
CHA 8
NOTE: This will be a finesse build, relying on the amped up monk fist damage and spot buffs to crank the damage when needed. It also needs a +1 INT tome by level 13 to pick up Combat Expertise, which shouldn't be a problem cash wise by that time as long as I don't blow all the money and forget to save up (actually, already up to 120k now thanks to some auctions so can afford some breathing room to buy some niceties)


Feats
1: Toughness
1: Meta Extend (Wiz)
2: TWF (Monk)
3: Dodge (Ninja spy pre-req)
6: Weapon Finesse
6: SF: Necromancy (Pale Master pre-req)
9: ITWF
9: Stunning Fist
10: Monk Dark Path
12: Stunning Blow (weak I know with a 14 STR, but with stunning wraps in I think as a ki-less stun it still holds merit for me in this build, could always switch it out for another Toughness if I'm wrong)
13: Combat Expertise (I want tank-like AC available instead of Power Attack. Taking it this late due to to-hit issues when using it combined with the low BAB of a wizard early on, plus this is in the range when I need more standing AC to be effective)
15: Improved Crit: Blunt (been waffling on whether this should be another Toughness feat or not)
18: GTWF

This will be a 16 BAB when it's all said and done as long as monk weapons are being wielded. I plan to be perma hasted, buff durations will be 14 minutes so the mana pool will mainly be used for keeping up hastes and spot buffing resistances and element protections, false life, displacement, death auras etc. I don't anticipate a mana issue since we'll be switching off between the duo on the spot buffing.

By level 8 it sports a standing AC of 31 with +2 stat items and a easily obtainable +5 AC item(red fens or jidz) and a boostable AC (1minute minimum duration) of 37 AC (Barkskin potion, Halfling companion, Haste). I have found that a 30+ AC at lower levels is excellent when combined with Blur, very little gets through that isn't a spell.

By level 7 it will have the zombie form, granting a hp boost, damage boost and the all important crit immunity while allowing the death auras to finally start the self regeneration part of the build. (which by the way i'm really torn about the two level 4 spells we get. One must be Death aura, the other could be Neg. burst for some healing or Fireshield for web immunity...sigh. I wanted both of those but i'm leaning toward web immunity/damage shield.

It sports an overall base resist profile of 10/10/13 by level 20 which is only 2 less in fort/ref than a monk and 1 better in will. Also at 20 the AC profile with low-end items and long duration buffs and toggle, it should be a standing 47 (+5 AC item and a +5 protection item) With some actual gear the standing AC will be much higher. It will also have the 25% blur + 25% shadow Fade up for most of the fights to round out the defense. Also in the event of beholders/disjunction we still get to keep the zombie form and the Shadow Fade buff for defenses. Not ideal, but better than some have it

I plan on taking two stances, Earth and Wind. Earth I want for the Enduring Strikes, Wind I was a bit torn over. It's either the extra +3 STR from Fire while losing some AC or it's the +3 Dex and 7.5% doublestrike from Wind while losing 20hp and a fortitude save. I'm thinking I like the doublestrike damage and AC more than the potential +2 damage to each attack.

To make up some hitpoints in the build since it's light on class/racial toughness feats, has 7 levels of Wizard and loses 2 Con to the Wind stance, I'll be getting 2 Con from the Zombie form and I can net 20hp from Way of Tortoise plus PaleMaster 1. This will cancel out a lot of the penalties, leaving me about average on hitpoints with a starting 14 CON, though I would have the ability to shift to earth stance to gain a bit more if the situation required it.

So i'm going off layered defense, the main part being AC plus blur and Shadow Fade combined with passive hp regeneration. I'm sporting some pretty adequate damage with 2d10 fists and the Earth line of attacks to augment damage and crit, adding in 3d6 sneak from Ninja line with potentially 6 sneak damage from the halfling line (can't get all of them). Haste is negating the majority of the 20% melee penalty from Zombie form. I'm gaining crit immunity without an item slot and I'll have a couple of semi-reliable stuns to toss around.

For movement, I've got self expeditious retreat and will eventually have 30 or 40 percent increase from monk levels allowing me to close the distance on casters faster since I don't have a sprint boost I also have enough monk to net the Abundant Step.

With stance switches and +6 stat buffs I have a good shot at stat required locks for everything except Charisma and INT.


Overall, this build is very fun for me, as I like very low maintenance/self sufficient builds. People diss AC I think because they are used to Epic's. But for Elite, Hard and Normal, AC and evasion buffs combined really reduce the difficulty of fights as long as your to-hit is adequate enough to kill the encounter and not let it linger. If I was more raid oriented my feelings may be different, but for two-man teams, AC rules in my opinion.

The real kicker is the Halfling Companion buff. I've played this game a loooooonnnggggg time in the lower to mid levels and I never really paid the top level companion buff any attention at all. Had no idea it was so Uber, who doesn't want a minute long stacking +3 AC, +4 hit, +5 Saves +5 Damage?? In a duo, the third tier of this is letting us burn down harder mobs that might otherwise have lingered due to lower damage and to-hit at these levels. One of the best enhancements I've had I think, provided you have a partner with it also!

[Cryohazard]

From personal experience, I love Palemaster Monk builds. They're a fun twist for a toon, and defy the standard cookie cutter builds out there.

HOWEVER.... there's one thing your build isn't taking into account: Zombie form has a -20% attack speed. It literally feels like you're punching through syrup.

When I was leveling my Wiz12/Monk8 Vampire monk, I couldn't WAIT to lose zombie form, it was just that bad. If you can keep yourself constantly hasted in a wind stance, its takes away some of the bite, but it was still pretty bad. Granted, the +2 die step is nice for a damage boost, but being unable to quickly land strikes (something monks specialize in) drove me crazy.

[PestWulf]

From personal experience, I love Palemaster Monk builds. They're a fun twist for a toon, and defy the standard cookie cutter builds out there.

HOWEVER.... there's one thing your build isn't taking into account: Zombie form has a -20% attack speed. It literally feels like you're punching through syrup.

When I was leveling my Wiz12/Monk8 Vampire monk, I couldn't WAIT to lose zombie form, it was just that bad. If you can keep yourself constantly hasted in a wind stance, its takes away some of the bite, but it was still pretty bad. Granted, the +2 die step is nice for a damage boost, but being unable to quickly land strikes (something monks specialize in) drove me crazy.

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the speed loss. Being that this is a duo however, I do plan on a permanent 15% haste spell being on us. I'll also be looking for Divine Power clickies later in the build to make up the attack speed lost from the missing 4 BAB in the build. So unfortunately with all the hasting going on, I'm still going to be 5% slower unless I get some melee alacrity items which isn't very likely given my play style.

[Wgrace45]

Personally - Imma make myself an 18/2 wiz/monk WF pale-master.


Guard items + fire shield/cold shield + torc + concordant opposition + lich form = possible pwnage.

So every time you get hit; temporary hit points, mana gain, 50ish point damage shield when its all added up. Add into that equation death aura and you can basically just stand there while a ton of mobs just kill themselves by attacking you (while youre being healed by death aura and generating temp. hit points, and mana). Then of course you'll also be swinging at them and using necrotic blast and w/e other spells you feel like using.

Seems like it'd be fun.

[PestWulf]

Personally - Imma make myself an 18/2 wiz/monk WF pale-master.


Guard items + fire shield/cold shield + torc + concordant opposition + lich form = possible pwnage.

So every time you get hit; temporary hit points, mana gain, 50ish point damage shield when its all added up. Add into that equation death aura and you can basically just stand there while a ton of mobs just kill themselves by attacking you (while youre being healed by death aura and generating temp. hit points, and mana). Then of course you'll also be swinging at them and using necrotic blast and w/e other spells you feel like using.

Seems like it'd be fun.

I agree, I looked at a build like that as well and want to try it sometime...the thought of a halfling zombine though...kinda took my attention. hah.


One thing I would add to that is the possibility of TWF, scimitars with bodyfeeder. In a duo I've been playing with a friend, we have an Archmage (enchantment) and a Barbarian FB combo, both warforged. My thought was to forget about defenses and go with hp buffers and the barbarian natural DR for mitigation. Layering reactive and proc defenses like that has made the barbarian, who is constantly using Frenzy (don't have Death Frenzy yet) pretty much self sufficient running dungeons on elite. In the event of something bad, we've been raising his CON stat over STR. Mainly to leverage longer lasting rages, we want him perma raging/frenzied and to provide a very large hp tank so I can let him fall to half and be mana efficient with a one-shot fully maxed out repair on him. I expected my role to be a crowd control/buffer with most of my mana going to healing him. Much to my surprise I'm rarely having to heal him at all, only when a spell caster gets hold of him do I see any significant drop in his hitpoints. Since he isn't undead, I'm going to see about getting some bodyfeeder/lesser vamp scimitars crafted for him (with some healing amp) to try to improve on it even further.

We have him with the TWF line, dual Bodyfeeder scimitars, blademark docent and we picked up the stoneskin trinket from the Pirate event. With IC:Slash and a 30% threat range plus my mages haste spell, healing has become a thing of the past. The constant 15hp procs from those things, combined with the stacking 15hp from the docent lets him use frenzy with minimal to no damage to himself most times. Likewise the current 5/dr and a 15hp buffer (not up all the time of course) takes a lot of the hits out of play. You would also get to add the lich reactive to that buffer as well, which I'm speculating would stack with a lifeshield proc? not sure.

If you are planning for a "getting hit always" kind of build, you may wish to consider something similar. I've been collecting gear for mine I got a nighthags trinket I wanted to try and that chaotic curse proccing cloak from the necropolis series to help me lands some hits a little better..*can't say that without shuddering*

[skunk]

just to ask what does 13 monk give you that you wouldn't be better off going 1 rogue, or 1 fighter?

Next drop Stunning Blow get emp or max. (for self healing, your negative spells will be needed to keep you alive).


Your a wizzy, you can have all the spells aval. So switch between the ones. One of you can have healing, one can have something else, your auras will heal the other person, it just will matter if someone is taking to much damage.

[Entelech]

I'm also leveling up a Pale Monkster variant.

The attack speed issue is really, really crippling. Even with Haste, you still attack slower than you do out of form with no haste. Noticably slower. I'm level 10 right now (2 Monk / 8 Wiz) and I find it feels more efficient to stay out of Zombie form and rely on potions for self-healing in many quests.

It feels a *lot* worse than a -20% slow. With Haste + Wind Stance it feels about like a normal character who's been fighting Troglodytes with no poison immunity item.

I strongly recommend moving to something like a 12 Wiz / 8 Monk split, just to get away from Zombie form eventually.

I've said exactly the same thing to several guildies, and none of them believed me either, until they got Zombie form and tried it for themselves. Then they respecced a feat or two and went for the 12 Wizard. It sucks THAT much.

Also, watch out for divine caster NPC's. You take double damage from Searing Light, and those troglodyte casters in the Pit will rip you a new one.

[PestWulf]

I'm also leveling up a Pale Monkster variant.

The attack speed issue is really, really crippling. Even with Haste, you still attack slower than you do out of form with no haste. Noticably slower. I'm level 10 right now (2 Monk / 8 Wiz) and I find it feels more efficient to stay out of Zombie form and rely on potions for self-healing in many quests.

It feels a *lot* worse than a -20% slow. With Haste + Wind Stance it feels about like a normal character who's been fighting Troglodytes with no poison immunity item.

I strongly recommend moving to something like a 12 Wiz / 8 Monk split, just to get away from Zombie form eventually.

I've said exactly the same thing to several guildies, and none of them believed me either, until they got Zombie form and tried it for themselves. Then they respecced a feat or two and went for the 12 Wizard. It sucks THAT much.

Also, watch out for divine caster NPC's. You take double damage from Searing Light, and those troglodyte casters in the Pit will rip you a new one.

I think the problem you are running into and why it seems worse than the stated disability is the 20% combined with the lack of BAB. There is a monumental difference in attack speed between a BAB of 1 and a BAB of 4 for instance. That lack of BAB haste due to wizard levels combined with the 20% is where the crippling slowness is coming from. I believe you can pick up some Divine Power clickies by level 9 if you're lucky or rich to get rid of the BAB speed penalty temporarily. Also, keep in mind that windstance + haste don't stack, they are both enhancement attack bonuses so you're only getting your haste.

[PestWulf]

just to ask what does 13 monk give you that you wouldn't be better off going 1 rogue, or 1 fighter?

Next drop Stunning Blow get emp or max. (for self healing, your negative spells will be needed to keep you alive).


Your a wizzy, you can have all the spells aval. So switch between the ones. One of you can have healing, one can have something else, your auras will heal the other person, it just will matter if someone is taking to much damage.

I wanted 13 monk for the 23 spell resist. Granted it's not as great as a full drow or a full cleric buff, but at least it can't be dispelled.

I wouldn't go 1 rogue because you'd lose another BAB which is critical in overcoming the attack speed penalty unless you plan to have enough DP clickies to be in it all the time. Fighter however is very valid. Spell Resist vs. feat + BAB + a few extra hp.

I may consider dropping the 13 monk for 1 fighter so I can take an extra toughness feat.
I also may drop stunning blow but I don't know if I would take Maximize instead. If I did, the only spells I would likely be using with it are the neg. burst and Melf's. Though you are right, I may need the extra healing. I'm not sure how the hirelings will do, I'm hoping I can use finger of death from a hireling but not sure if they're allowed to cast it on me.

If I didn't swap it out for maximize, I have my eye on more toughness feats to help make up a lack of hitpoints.

[skunk]

I wanted 13 monk for the 23 spell resist. Granted it's not as great as a full drow or a full cleric buff, but at least it can't be dispelled.

I wouldn't go 1 rogue because you'd lose another BAB which is critical in overcoming the attack speed penalty unless you plan to have enough DP clickies to be in it all the time. Fighter however is very valid. Spell Resist vs. feat + BAB + a few extra hp.

I may consider dropping the 13 monk for 1 fighter so I can take an extra toughness feat.
I also may drop stunning blow but I don't know if I would take Maximize instead. If I did, the only spells I would likely be using with it are the neg. burst and Melf's. Though you are right, I may need the extra healing. I'm not sure how the hirelings will do, I'm hoping I can use finger of death from a hireling but not sure if they're allowed to cast it on me.

If I didn't swap it out for maximize, I have my eye on more toughness feats to help make up a lack of hitpoints.

If your worried about spell resist, Chimera's Crown epiced gives you 25 Spell Resist.

The reason for rogue, is traps, for soloing. If you need hit, go fighter.

I am doing something like this --- 7 wiz (pm) 12 rogue (acrobat) 1 monk (wind stance).

Rogue gives traps, locks, evasion. It also gives a haste attack boost clickie 4. Must have IMHO. I am going q-staffs for the epic souleater and Nat Gann.

My top gear will be. Morah's Belt, Morah's Band, Necklace of Venom, Ring of venom, Madstone boots (20% haste boost) Epic Chimera's Crown (spell resist) Epic Kundarak Warding Bracers, Epic Cape of the Roc, Greensteel Goggles, Spyglass.

This may change, as my guy is only 10 right now, 5 wiz, 3 rogue, 1 monk. (i didn't take my 10th level to stay with my friends who are 8.)

I did a 7 wiz 3 rogue and deleted him for this spec (i bought monk and this version wasn't lawful, i was going fighter).

Good luck here. Max should work on your healing just so you know. Your 2 healing spells that you can keep up, are able to be maxed, unless i am reading something wrong.

*Edit* max doesn't work on death aura, but looks like it works on neg energy blast. that might limit the usefulness of max/empower. I do believe a couple of the hirelings carry harm. or other harm spells. I'll try to look up tomorrow when i get on. this is something i need to know also.*