The monk class

[InsanityIsYourFriend]

personally, on my 20 monk i use 4-5 buttons, im a dark monk all my other buttons i can hit outside of a fight and be just fine XD
1=air strike (im a wind monk)
2= flame strike (i picked up some fire stance so on bosses i can use that for + dmg, + to hit, and + ki gen so i can hit button 4 more)
3=stunning fist (no matter what stance/path you choose it is helpfull like really helpfull)
4=Touch of Death, personally i think its one of the best ones i have
5=weakness to (whichever sorc there is, if no sorcs then i put finishing move on and after 3 tods i hit it and hope that the boss doesnt save so i get to hit him for 750 or 375 with tod instead of 500 or 250)

outside of combat i choose wind stance or fire stance (90% its wind)
i choose which handwraps to use for the fight/dungeon

when im fleeing a fight i hit my fade so that way i get 1 min invis and 15%(or was it 25%) incorp, if i start to take dmg a lot i just click it

dark monks=little button smashing, but thats just me, because i dont use things like sunder/trip stunning blow (would if i had it, but forgot to grab it somehow and dont have money to redo feat)

on my light monk/acrobat (one of my favorate chars)i constantly switch between fire punch light punch fire punch combo (once a min) and lightX3 combo (love the heals) i use fire stance (if its not obvious why then try an acrobat/monk) and when someone activates that trap before its disabled i hit wind stance to get it done easier


ya i might be the minority, i might not be, all i know is dark monk you dont need the combo's AS much (i hear that the fire/dark/fire was improved greatly so i might start using that, and i always fealt void strike as a waste...)

[elg582]

The best analogy I've ever heard is that playing a monk is like playing the piano.

That being said, there are different levels of difficulty; a light monk with stunning fist, blow, and cleave will be quite a bit more involved than a straight DPS dark monk.

[Varashad]

I am totally confused about how these finishers work. It says for example to do Healing Ki to do light light light. Well, I have no idea what that means. Help please!

[Tunst]

Dark Monk Finishers are rarely useful, aside from the one that increases the negative damage that enemies take. But considering that requires Dark-Dark-Dark, it'll be awhile before you meet an enemy that lives long enough to take that much damage.

no.
incorporeal before the fight.
should keep it on anyway, its nice.
then fists of darkness on it.
incorporeal again.

dark-dark-dark finisher active.
hit it.
touch of death.

laugh.

rinse and repeat.

and i always fealt void strike as a waste...)

DEAR GOD NO
void strike 4 can kill anything on a natural 20.
even epics.
its like a not nerfed vorpal.
plus its an easy spamable 20 force damage.

[-Nismu-]

I am totally confused about how these finishers work. It says for example to do Healing Ki to do light light light. Well, I have no idea what that means. Help please!

There is this finisher feat, when you do strikes in right combo (like light fist+light fist+light fist ) you monk gets glow effect and the quickbar slot where the feat is changes its picture to fit what finisher you have loaded, then just activate the feat to do it.

[MRH]

The best analogy I've ever heard is that playing a monk is like playing the piano.

very true !

monks are very fun and there are some good monk splash builds

I was not sorry with my monk purchase.

[Ecoski]

You don't need to do the ki strikes to be a monk. It IS possible to run through quests holding down the mouse button and being a barbarian :P However, your dps is going to be below-par. The real dps comes from the ki strikes, the more you can juggle, the higher your dps goes. Then the combos and stuns get thrown in on top of that. Because of this the monk requires a bit more skill, and 2 monks with same stat and same gear can do wildly different damage depending on the player.

[Varashad]

There is this finisher feat, when you do strikes in right combo (like light fist+light fist+light fist ) you monk gets glow effect and the quickbar slot where the feat is changes its picture to fit what finisher you have loaded, then just activate the feat to do it.

So, I have to for example use a fire Ki move three times in a row to use the finisher? Can I perform normal attacks between use of said Ki attacks?

I have my Monk on Lammania, and I have to admit, the class is not proving too amazing. Admittedly I have no gear for him and he's only level 5, but currently I'm having less fun on him than I do when running with a party of Pale Master TRed Warforged Wizards and I'm a cleric.

[elg582]

You don't need to do the ki strikes to be a monk. It IS possible to run through quests holding down the mouse button and being a barbarian :P However, your dps is going to be below-par. The real dps comes from the ki strikes, the more you can juggle, the higher your dps goes. Then the combos and stuns get thrown in on top of that. Because of this the monk requires a bit more skill, and 2 monks with same stat and same gear can do wildly different damage depending on the player.

The best case scenario, using earth 3 & 4 along with whatever high-tier strikes you have, ki strikes will add up to about 10 DPS.

Touch of Death and Smite Tainted come with some serious DPS, but the rest are almost more for setting up finishers than directly contributing to total damage.

[-Nismu-]

So, I have to for example use a fire Ki move three times in a row to use the finisher? Can I perform normal attacks between use of said Ki attacks?

I have my Monk on Lammania, and I have to admit, the class is not proving too amazing. Admittedly I have no gear for him and he's only level 5, but currently I'm having less fun on him than I do when running with a party of Pale Master TRed Warforged Wizards and I'm a cleric.

yep. You can attack normally and use trip or sunder atleast (propably stunning blow and fist too) while making combo.. though picking up items, using doors and levelers and so on will break combo.

[IllOracle]

Monks are very worth it. I usually say, "after playing a monk to 20 and running epics, all the other classes have the volume turned down."
It's a very interactive melee class and depending on which flavor you go with, changes dramatically. So in my humble opinion, I suggest you go Light Monk first as it allows self/party buffs, healing, Raise Dead, Remove: Blindness, Disease, Curse. I've replaced the healer a few times by spam'n Mass-Cure Light throughout the quest. Find a devotion item and bump the heals even more.

[sebastianosmith]

I've managed to add in a trackball for my elbow too. Don't ask, it's complicated.

I bet it is...

[sebastianosmith]

The best case scenario, using earth 3 & 4 along with whatever high-tier strikes you have, ki strikes will add up to about 10 DPS.

Touch of Death and Smite Tainted come with some serious DPS, but the rest are almost more for setting up finishers than directly contributing to total damage.

Potency and Devotion items along with Ardor clikies or pots will also effect ki strikes. All my monks eventually acquire a Superior Potency I item which will work for everything along any path.

[fool101]

Personally,

I love playing my monk but I don't feel like I"m a button masher.

On trash I typically stun, and that's about it. They go down fast enough as is. Plus I am a very mobile player and it's hard enough to keep circling enemies or running from one to another (to stun them) and trying to use special attacks.

On bosses or minibosses I'll do a bit of mashing though. What else are you going to do anyway while standing in place swinging.

[Rubiconn]

I like playing my monk and I was nervous about all the stuff. You learn a lot in your first few levels about which buttons work best, what does the most damage etc. You will find that you stick with a couple of finishers and strikes that seem to work best.
If you like the button pressing another class to try is Paladin, If playing a monk is like a piano then playing a pally is like playing a full size pipe organ.

[Mercureal]

So, I have to for example use a fire Ki move three times in a row to use the finisher? Can I perform normal attacks between use of said Ki attacks?

I have my Monk on Lammania, and I have to admit, the class is not proving too amazing. Admittedly I have no gear for him and he's only level 5, but currently I'm having less fun on him than I do when running with a party of Pale Master TRed Warforged Wizards and I'm a cleric.

I created a monk after having mostly played ranger on my main character up to cap. Ranger, of course, is basically like fighter or barbarian, single-button swing until dead, maybe switch to a bow and click manyshot every few minutes.

I didn't see the big deal with monks either at first, but low levels are easy to get through so I stayed with it. It takes a while (at least it did for me) to adjust to the rhythm, but I eventually hit the point where I started to really like the monk gameplay. I don't use all of the options regularly, but I certainly click more buttons than with my ranger. I find that I like having multiple options and I enjoyed the tactical play of combining certain abilities for greater effect - the increased run speed that develops is a nice perq, too.

I don't know if this will be the case for you, but I'd suggest staying with it for a bit and see if it grows on you. The gear factor may have an effect too - it's less fun when your character isn't that effective and the gear does make a difference, like with all lower-level toons.

[MostlyGuessing]

I have my Monk on Lammania, and I have to admit, the class is not proving too amazing. Admittedly I have no gear for him and he's only level 5, but currently I'm having less fun on him than I do when running with a party of Pale Master TRed Warforged Wizards and I'm a cleric.

I have heard this many times before, and it echoes my same experience with the class when it was first released. It felt like an underpowered melee at the same level.

The problem imo is Ki flow. There might be finishers you are interested in trying, but the Ki strikes to build them are rather weak, and without the 60/80% chance of an extra attack from iTWF/gTWF, it's hard to build enough Ki to use those finishers reliably. My recommendation would be to get your toon to at least iTWF before giving up on him. The only way you can really get experience with the Ki mechanic is by having enough Ki to functionally manipulate, which you won't have with just TWF. By that point you will also have Mastery-level Ki building components, which will add some oomph to your attack chains.

As for being overwhelmed by mappings, you might want to try assigning your home keys to slots on the current hotbar rather than directly mapping effects all over the keyboard. Then set some other buttons to bring a particular bar into focus, re-using those same home keys. You can develop muscle memory for firing off ten effects, rotating those effects with hotbar switching as appropriate. This also makes using a gamepad far more approachable when playing a monk.

If you prefer auto-attack to arranging Ki strikes, though, I don't think you'll find monk to be as fun to play as other melee classes.

Dark Monk Finishers are rarely useful, aside from the one that increases the negative damage that enemies take.

I disagree. The DCs are calculated with full levels rather than half levels, so at the cap, using any wraps you have the same threat as Stunning Fist in +10 Weighted wraps. Pain Touch(Earth) alone is worth the price of Darkside admission. If you read "nauseated" as the effect and then never tried it, definitely give it a go sometime. On a failed save, the mob just stands there for up to a minute. The point is not that it's better than stunning, but that the build components will potentially be used anyway(Earth IV/Dark/Earth III), either when beating on a mob you just stunned or simply for boosting DPS. Stuns and other tactical moves don't break the chain, so as long as you keep track of what elements you have already thrown, getting to the finisher itself is trivial. There are even synergies within the chain- building PT with Darkness potentially ramps the DC via the Shaken debuff, and Improved Sunder will soften them up further. The longer duration of PT vs. stuns also allows you some time to build another PT with Fade when the timer is winding down.

I'll usually alternate between Shining Star and Pain Touch in a constant stream of attacks when soloing, adding Freezing the Lifeblood vs. humanoids. When combined with stuns, Void charm, Quivering Palm and Sap, it's very effective local CC throughout endgame.

I would like to use Dark x3 more often, but I don't like waiting on the elements to build it. Death/Darkness/Fade would build it quickly, but then I'd be without a Death to capitalize on it. Hopefully Ninja Spy III will add a strike to help there.

[OliviaCrowley]

Sounds like the thread to ask some of my own monk-related questions in, if the OP doesn't mind. I've got a twf paladin that I absolutely can't stand, and I'm going to TR her into a human pure monk. I'd like to go Light and achieve acceptable HP, saves, and DCs, with okay dps. It seems most of the monk stuff on the boards are for dark monks, though!

Here's what I was thinking:

15/15/16/8/15/8.

1 level up in dex, rest in str. +2 dex & con tomes at 7. This qualifies me for GM earth and air stances to use as appropriate.

I'd eventually like to TR it again, hence lack of consideration right now for +3 tomes. On 36p life I think I would go 15/15/16/8/16/8, +3 dex tome, +2 int tome at 7.

Basic, not-hard-to-get gear. My metric for 'not hard to get' is non-epic raid gear, or easily acquirable epic gear. So not sands, for example.

Helmet: GS HP / Heavy Fort
Goggles: Epic Raven's Sight, no idea how hard eFens gear is to get.
Neck: Shintao
Trinket: ?
Chest: DT Resist+5/Amp/Nat+4
Cloak: Mabar?
Bracers: Jidz'Tet-ka
Belt: Knost's
Ring: Kyosho's w/ holy burst
Ring: Encrusted w/ shocking burst?
Boots: Cannith boots? Does 30% striding stack with monk speed?
Gloves: Epic Brawling

I'm pretty clueless on monks. I've been around ages, but haven't really dabbled in them. Any advice on light monkery is appreciated.

[elg582]

It seems most of the monk stuff on the boards are for dark monks, though!

There is a reason for that...

Here's what I was thinking:

15/15/16/8/15/8.

1 level up in dex, rest in str. +2 dex & con tomes at 7. This qualifies me for GM earth and air stances to use as appropriate.

If you have the +2 DEX tome, why put the level point into it? You'll have the 17 DEX for the TWF line.

I'd eventually like to TR it again, hence lack of consideration right now for +3 tomes. On 36p life I think I would go 15/15/16/8/16/8, +3 dex tome, +2 int tome at 7.

That's even more weird; get those points into STR, more for to-hit than damage.

Basic, not-hard-to-get gear. My metric for 'not hard to get' is non-epic raid gear, or easily acquirable epic gear. So not sands, for example.

Helmet: GS HP / Heavy Fort
Goggles: Epic Raven's Sight, no idea how hard eFens gear is to get.
Neck: Shintao Oremi's is MUCH better
Trinket: ? eGem of Many Facets, for multiple fens sets
Chest: DT Resist+5/Amp/Nat+4 The natural won't stack with Earth stance, and you can get resist elsewhere...
Cloak: Mabar? YES
Bracers: Jidz'Tet-ka This or fabricator's bracers, especially if you can ditch the DT and wear GoE
Belt: Knost's kind of redundant, but I'm still farming for belt of the mroranon to epic
Ring: Kyosho's w/ holy burst Oremi's again, for the set bonus (but then, you can't always be picky...
Ring: Encrusted w/ shocking burst? Acid burst these days, since triple air alchemical wraps have shocking burst
Boots: Cannith boots? Does 30% striding stack with monk speed? It does; I use madstone boots, but they aren't good for light monk
Gloves: Epic Brawling eGloves of the Claw

I'm pretty clueless on monks. I've been around ages, but haven't really dabbled in them. Any advice on light monkery is appreciated.

Light monks are like bards; as long as you keep everyone buffed, they don't care how much damage you do.

[OliviaCrowley]

There is a reason for that...



If you have the +2 DEX tome, why put the level point into it? You'll have the 17 DEX for the TWF line.

Because a friend said I'd want to go both air and earth lines, and I thought you needed 18 base stat to get grandmaster of a line?

That's even more weird; get those points into STR, more for to-hit than damage.

With 36p I'd be putting every level up into STR. The reason I mentioned a +3 tome was because it'd be the final life so I would actually eat +3s.

Light monks are like bards; as long as you keep everyone buffed, they don't care how much damage you do.

Sorry if I wasn't clear earlier, was rushing to type this as a raid started.

e: Also triple alch air wraps aren't an option in the near future for me as they require thirty completions of LoB and a few epic LoB runs as well.