A Void Striking GM Earth 28p light monk

[OsOscarius]

The question now is...will it fit?

So...first timer here on the forums, atleast posting.
First, a little background. I've played a whole lot of characters, but have always dropped them around lv6-8, but the one character that I found most fun was the monk.
I started out trying the Rockan Robin build, but I found that lacking something that I'd like, and it wasn't showing it's potential as I don't have access to 32p builds...but now I'm back, but still with a measly 28p.

The aim this time is for a void strike IV Shintao! Yes, this will probably be silly.
Here's the first draft of the pre-planned build:

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.09.02 
DDO Character Planner Home Page  

Oscarii Ze'gimp 
Level 20 Lawful Good Dwarf Male 
(20 Monk) 
Hit Points: 302 
Spell Points: 0 

BAB: 15/15/20/2525 
Fortitude: 16 
Reflex: 16 
Will: 16 

              Starting    Feat/Enhancement 
Abilities    Base Stats    Modified Stats 
(28 Point)    (Level 1)      (Level 20) 
Strength           14                16 
Dexterity          16                18 
Constitution       16                19 
Intelligence        8                 8 
Wisdom             14                19 
Charisma            6                 6 

Tomes Used 
+2 Tome of Strength used at level 7 
+1 Tome of Dexterity used at level 7 
+2 Tome of Constitution used at level 7 
 
              Starting      Feat/Enhancement 
             Base Skills  Modified Skills 
Skills       (Level 1)      (Level 20) 
Balance            5              22 
Bluff              -2             -2 
Concentration      7              38 
Diplomacy          -2             -2 
Disable Device     n/a            n/a 
Haggle             -2             0 
Heal               2              4 
Hide               3              4 
Intimidate         -2             -2 
Jump               3              11 
Listen             2              4 
Move Silently      3              4 
Open Lock          n/a            n/a 
Perform            n/a            n/a 
Repair             -1             -1 
Search             -1             1 
Spot               6              27 
Swim               2              3 
Tumble             4              5 
Use Magic Device   n/a            n/a 
 
Level 1 (Monk) 
Feat: (Selected) Stunning Fist 
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting 
 
Level 2 (Monk) 
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Weapon Finesse 
 
Level 3 (Monk) 
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light 
Feat: (Selected) Toughness 
 
Level 4 (Monk) 
 
Level 5 (Monk) 
 
Level 6 (Monk) 
Feat: (Selected) Cleave 
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Power Attack 
 
Level 7 (Monk) 
 
Level 8 (Monk) 
 
Level 9 (Monk) 
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting 
 
Level 10 (Monk) 
 
Level 11 (Monk) 
 
Level 12 (Monk) 
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons 
 
Level 13 (Monk) 
 
Level 14 (Monk) 
 
Level 15 (Monk) 
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting 
 
Level 16 (Monk) 
 
Level 17 (Monk) 
 
Level 18 (Monk) 
Feat: (Selected) Stunning Blow 
 
Level 19 (Monk) 
 
Level 20 (Monk) 
Enhancement: Monk Serenity 
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution I 
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense I 
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense II 
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense III 
Enhancement: Dwarven Tactics I 
Enhancement: Way of the Clever Monkey I 
Enhancement: Way of the Clever Monkey II 
Enhancement: FFists of Iron 
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery I 
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery II 
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery III 
Enhancement: Shintao Monk I 
Enhancement: Shintao Monk II 
Enhancement: Shintao Monk III 
Enhancement: Void Strike I 
Enhancement: Void Strike II 
Enhancement: Void Strike III 
Enhancement: Void Strike IV 
Enhancement: Adept of Wind 
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Storms 
Enhancement: Master of Thunder 
Enhancement: Adept of Rock 
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Mountains 
Enhancement: Master of Stone 
Enhancement: Adept of Flame 
Enhancement: Master of Bonfires 
Enhancement: Adept of Rain 
Enhancement: Master of the Sea 
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I 
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II 
Enhancement: Improved Concentration I 
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom I

So yeah, some questions I think will come up.

Dwarf?
Yes, dwarf. Not human, not halfling, not WF, dwarf. The reason is rather simple. Monks have some silly Ability needs, more so with Void IV and even more so if we want GM earth and are using that cheap 28p build.
Dwarfs don't have the healing amp. of humans, the synergy of halflings or the immunities of WF's, instead they have something even more valuable.
+2 con with no real drawback. This is pretty essential here.

+1 dex and +4 wis on level ups?
This is something I've struggled with to be honest.+5 in either one and filling the rest with tomes would be better, but my ingame funds are...stretched, and I want to keep tomes at a minimum without being too gimped. 2 +2 tomes (even the oh-so-valuable +2 con one) and one +1 NEEDED shouldn't be too hard to get.
And why wis instead of dex when I have the high level void and earth strikes? Becuase I think (THINK, remember, I'm still new) that I can find plenty of +to hit bonuses, +dc bonuses would be slightly more rare.

Are you insane?!
Slightly yes.

[unbongwah]

I have a 32-pt build along these lines; the idea was to use GM Earth stance for the crit multiplier boost or GM Wind stance for double-strike & speed boost. At first I had Void Strike IV too, but then decided it cost too much for too little gain. Not sure how I'd downgrade it to 28 pts though.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.09.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Level 20 Lawful Neutral Dwarf Female
(20 Monk) 
Hit Points: 342
Spell Points: 0 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 17
Reflex: 16
Will: 16

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(32 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             16                    23
Dexterity            16                    18
Constitution         16                    20
Intelligence          8                    10
Wisdom               14                    18
Charisma              6                     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
+2 Tome of Charisma used at level 7

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Stunning Blow
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting


Level 2 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Stunning Fist


Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 4 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 5 (Monk)


Level 6 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Power Attack


Level 7 (Monk)


Level 8 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 9 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting


Level 10 (Monk)


Level 11 (Monk)


Level 12 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons


Level 13 (Monk)


Level 14 (Monk)


Level 15 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 16 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 17 (Monk)


Level 18 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave


Level 19 (Monk)


Level 20 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR
Enhancement: Monk Serenity
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution I
Enhancement: Dwarven Constitution II
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense I
Enhancement: Dwarven Spell Defense II
Enhancement: Dwarven Tactics I
Enhancement: Dwarven Tactics II
Enhancement: Dwarven Tactics III
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise I
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise II
Enhancement: Fists of Iron
Enhancement: The Receptive Earth
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery II
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery III
Enhancement: Shintao Monk I
Enhancement: Shintao Monk II
Enhancement: Shintao Monk III
Enhancement: Adept of Wind
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Storms
Enhancement: Master of Thunder
Enhancement: Adept of Rock
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Mountains
Enhancement: Master of Stone
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Racial Toughness III
Enhancement: Improved Concentration I
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom I
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom II

[OsOscarius]

Well, if you drop the void strike it won't be a void striking build would it?

Just looking at your build vs. mine I can see some key differences, not only in the enhancements.
Mainly, you're not a finesse build. You can use those extra points and put them into strength and then further up that via level ups. This also unlocks stunning blow at a low level, and great cleave in the end.
In my build I'm strapped for points, so I'll pretty much have to go with weapon finesse, put str at the minimum 14 and hope to god that the extra damage from the void strikes and earth strikes can make up for the base lack of hitting power.

And yes, the void line is very very unforgiving. Just getting Void IV and Shintao with their precs is 58ap. Add in the capstone and it's only 20ap left and then we still have to add in another GM element in this build.
Not exactly much room for stat boosts or hp/dc/save increasing stuff.

[unbongwah]

In my build I'm strapped for points, so I'll pretty much have to go with weapon finesse, put str at the minimum 14 and hope to god that the extra damage from the void strikes and earth strikes can make up for the base lack of hitting power.

You're forgetting something important about Earth stance, though - you have -2 DEX when you're in it! So initially your DEX & STR will effectively be the same while in stance. In that case, I would start STR 14 and just put all your lvl-ups into STR anyway, esp. if you have +2 STR tome.

And yes, the void line is very very unforgiving. Just getting Void IV and Shintao with their precs is 58ap. Add in the capstone and it's only 20ap left and then we still have to add in another GM element in this build.

Yeah, that's basically why I dropped VS IV, though I still have the option of respeccing into it later. I also discovered you had to spend your APs in weird suboptimal ways just to advance to the enhs you did want.

Personally I'd wait until unlocking 32-pt builds before attempting a Void monk, but I guess you can make it work.

[OsOscarius]

I'll probably only use earth stance on and off (strikes are awesome though)...I like the triple hit chance from the air stance, and with weapon finesse I still get a decent to hit. The problem I find when adding to strength is that it will, in essence, give me a bit extra damage (nice), an extra feat (nice, but not really something useful here) while "costing" me saves and dc, and some more "needed" tomes. +2 wis, and upping the dex to +2, 4 in total now!
It might just be me but I'd rather go the finesse route with my limited points.

As for the enhancements, that is still up in the air as it's so very easy to respec. But yes, atm there are sub-optimal choices, but they can be fixed when I find a way to.

[OsOscarius]

So bumbing this back up when I've had a little bit of thought on the enhancements...

I did some minor changes in the first post, just so I could fit in another 4ap ability (Tactics/con/wis)

The list would look something like this:
Capstone
Void IV
GM Earth
GM Air
M Fire
M Water
Heal amp III
Shintao III
Animal Path II
Racial Toughness II
Wisdom I
Concentration I
Dwarf Spell Defence II
Dwarf Tactics I
Dwarf Con I

And then rank II in either Con/wis/tactics depending on what I need to even out. Animal path will depend on what I feel like. Probably monkey to begin with, and crane at a later stage.

Is this workable?