Quick semi-hypothetical Dark Monk question

[Dasthug]

I was just wondering, since devil DR-breaking handwraps are such a belligerent pain to acquire, prior to getting some would it be worth using a pair of, say, holy silver shortswords as a dark monk when facing moderate to high DR devils, or will any decent wraps still be more effective even without bypassing the DR?

[TeacherSyn]

I was just wondering, since devil DR-breaking handwraps are such a belligerent pain to acquire, prior to getting some would it be worth using a pair of, say, holy silver shortswords as a dark monk when facing moderate to high DR devils, or will any decent wraps still be more effective even without bypassing the DR?

I'd go for the silver or metalline holy shortswords. You'd be doing a little less DPS in theory than being unarmed, but in practice, the swords would be most effective than without the better handwraps.

Devils and fiendish foes, I thought, needed only Holy/Good. Some higher ones may need Silver, but not all.

Also consider that metalline of something-other-than-pure-good handwraps do drop often enough. I have collected several. It's the Good alignment that you need. That means that Metalline/Silver Studded of Pure Good/Righteousness now work, too, with Update 9. Flametouched Iron-Studded wraps are also Good-aligned. Holy Burst rings from the Tower of Despair would be the ultimate alignment fix on that for a dark Monk, in combination with plain metalline handwraps.

Anything you can wear that aligns your strikes as Good-aligned should help.

[Adrian99]

For my lvl 20 dark monk, versus Arretrikos on normal, I get higher base damage from DR-failing (?) handwraps than I do from DR-passing short swords. Add to that the fact that my handwraps are Vicious of GLOB, and the damage is proably even higher than devouts would be.