The monk class

[Varashad]

How difficult is this class to play for someone who is used to playing barbarians and fighters? I like the +2 damage past life thing, and was very much interested in the class. However, I keep reading that to play one well, you have to play it like you're playing a fighting game with tons of button pressing. Is this the case, or is auto attacking with occasional button pushes for certain abilities an option on this class?

[Masadique]

How difficult is this class to play for someone who is used to playing barbarians and fighters? I like the +2 damage past life thing, and was very much interested in the class. However, I keep reading that to play one well, you have to play it like you're playing a fighting game with tons of button pressing. Is this the case, or is auto attacking with occasional button pushes for certain abilities an option on this class?

Play a monk if other melee is so ungodly boring that you can't stand it. If you like auto attacking, monk is not for you.

[sebastianosmith]

...I keep reading that to play one well, you have to play it like you're playing a fighting game with tons of button pressing. Is this the case, or is auto attacking with occasional button pushes for certain abilities an option on this class?

You will need to grow more fingers. And get two keyboards. Probably another mouse too.

Nah, it's not so hard. Hotkey setup is paramount to playing a monk. Once you find the combinations that work for you, finger memory will eventually take over.

[baronlager]

It does take some time to get used to. Your abilities/moves are impacted by the stance your monk is in. Certain benefits to the stance you take depending on what you are up against. Once you pick the stance for the quest (or certain fight in the quest) you need to use the right hot key set-up; watch your ki generation; learn to appreciate the cool down periods for the specific moves; and learn to know when to use a certain combination, as well as what combination results in what end move. Hardly ever just hitting one button. More likely to be going from stun, to void strike, to something else. It keeps you active for sure. It really just takes some time to get used to. (I ran a barbarian before I tr'd him into a monk. A little confused at first, but now it is second nature.) It is not rocket science, but can be a tiny bit overwhelming at first.

[Shuleagh]

How difficult is this class to play for someone who is used to playing barbarians and fighters? I like the +2 damage past life thing, and was very much interested in the class. However, I keep reading that to play one well, you have to play it like you're playing a fighting game with tons of button pressing. Is this the case, or is auto attacking with occasional button pushes for certain abilities an option on this class?

People on the forums like to exaggerate. Monks aren't significantly harder than playing a barb or fighter. Monks have a lot of OPTIONS but when fighting anything there is usually only one or two good ones. Expect to use about 1-5 buttons frequently ( Every 1-2 seconds ). You'll use more on occasion, but those would be to keep up buffs and not something you need to mash for dps.

[Pikaia]

First, you will need to find a secluded meadow, a sunny hill or a grassy knoll (watch for snipers) upon which to meditate your choices grasshopper --> when a butterfly lands on your knee, speak to it with through the breaths of your eyes and it will summon a great eagle, which will then...

Seriously, monks are fun to play and not at all that diffucult to adjust playstyle. I tr'd my kensai khop fighter into a pure monk and the transition was easy and very fun. I tr'd him into a kensai monk (also fun to play) and I'm about to tr again (monkish build ofc)

Using hotkeys for attacks and a mouse with buttons on the side help alot; it's easy to learn the combos for attacks, takes a little time but not as hard as oh say...grinding 5 lds

BTW the 1st level passive past life monk feat gives you +1 to dmg rolls not +2, the 3rd level feat increase your unarmed damage by one step higher than normal on the unarmed combat chart and gives you +2 to concentration and you can enter an evasive trance once per rest (you enter evasion for a short time) - this last ability is so UBER and OP - I never use it on my tr'd monk since you get evasion at level 2 (though I do take the feat for the dmg).

Long story short - do it! take the plunge I think you'll enjoy a monk life.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post, especially the first paragraph, in no way reflect the well-rested and non-caffeine hyped opionions of the poster when said poster has not been playing too much ddo. Poster is not responsible for the experiences of players who do not like playing monk builds or for those who are currently attempting to breathe through their eyes to communicate with butterflies.

[Arvess]

You don't HAVE to button mash. Some builds benefit more than others but if your intention is to pick up a past life feat, I wouldn't sweat it. Monks rock through early and mid level quests and are relatively easy to gear...especially if you are not doing epics.

[Battery]

Monks aren't hard to play. It takes a little practice to learn how to set up finishers correctly but that's about it. You'll be pressing more buttons than on a barb or fighter for sure but it's not that difficult. you'll love the speed though and the survivability, in fact I'm so addicted to that stuff that I can hardly play any other class anymore.

[Varashad]

Mostly I'm hesitant to drop the 995(or is it 895?) TP on a class I might despise playing. It sounds like a fun class and it looks fun, I just don't like hitting a ton of buttons. I heard that on Lammania everything costs 1 TP but only works on that server. Could I go there and play around with Monk, or do I have to wait until Turbine decides to go activate U12?

[Zachski]

Mostly I'm hesitant to drop the 995(or is it 895?) TP on a class I might despise playing. It sounds like a fun class and it looks fun, I just don't like hitting a ton of buttons. I heard that on Lammania everything costs 1 TP but only works on that server. Could I go there and play around with Monk, or do I have to wait until Turbine decides to go activate U12?

I think they've got it active for U11.1

Honestly, it's a lot like playing a caster except in melee. And you don't actually have to use all of your abilities, you can use some of them if you wish.

Light Monk Finishers aren't really useful outside of parties, and even then the Water-Light-Water is the more useful of your options as long as you're partying with casters.

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.

Neutral Monk finishers aren't that useful until you get your second tier of elements from taking Adept of <Element>. And even then they're best used sparingly.

You'll actually be using your elemental strikes for their damage moreso than anything. It's not as complex as it seems.

I would definitely recommend getting it. You get so much from Monk that it actually feels rewarding to level it up. Instead of Fighter where all you get is some boring BAB and passive boosts to damage, you get new feats or updated feats almost every level, and they always seem to benefit you.

[Vyrn]

Mostly I'm hesitant to drop the 995(or is it 895?) TP on a class I might despise playing. It sounds like a fun class and it looks fun, I just don't like hitting a ton of buttons. I heard that on Lammania everything costs 1 TP but only works on that server. Could I go there and play around with Monk, or do I have to wait until Turbine decides to go activate U12?

Since no ones mentioned this, Turbine finds a way to somehow break monks every single update. By break I dont mean game balance nerfs, I mean actual bugs.

[Zachski]

Since no ones mentioned this, Turbine finds a way to somehow break monks every single update. By break I dont mean game balance nerfs, I mean actual bugs.

Yes, this is bad, though they're fixing some of the handwrap bugs in U11.1

Or HOPEFULLY fixing them.

Still, Monk is a blast to play.

[MaxwellEdison]

You will need to grow more fingers. And get two keyboards. Probably another mouse too.

Nah, it's not so hard. Hotkey setup is paramount to playing a monk. Once you find the combinations that work for you, finger memory will eventually take over.

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

[Battery]

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.

I pretty much only use it in epics, really only use earth finisher and occasionally shining star anywhere else.

And yes you could try it out right now on lamma

[Memek]

Mostly I'm hesitant to drop the 995(or is it 895?) TP on a class I might despise playing.

Splashing 2 levels of Monk is good too so that would at least be something if you find out you dislike Monk gameplay...
Trying the Monk on Lama is a good idea.

[SensaiRyu]

Mostly I'm hesitant to drop the 995(or is it 895?) TP on a class I might despise playing. It sounds like a fun class and it looks fun, I just don't like hitting a ton of buttons. I heard that on Lammania everything costs 1 TP but only works on that server. Could I go there and play around with Monk, or do I have to wait until Turbine decides to go activate U12?

I knew someone that ran several low level toons up to 100 fav (for the 25 TP) and restarted until he could pay for his monk.

Took him a bit of time.

Trying the lam server if you're unsure sounds like a good plan.

My monk's the most fun toon I have.

[NaturalHazard]

I like the +2 damage past life thing, and was very much interested in the class. ?

I think its only +1 damage?

[le_goat]

I think its only +1 damage?

its +1 die step in damage, ie: 1d6-1d8-1d10 etc..

[Pikaia]

As previously stated above and edited for grammar:

BTW the 1st level passive past-life monk feat gives you +1 to dmg rolls not +2, the 3rd level feat increases your unarmed damage by one step higher than normal on the unarmed combat chart and gives you +2 to concentration and you can enter an evasive trance once per rest (you enter evasion for a short time) - this last ability is so UBER and OP - I never use it on my tr'd monk since you get evasion at level 2 (though I do take the feat for the dmg).

[-Nismu-]

make fighter and take all the cleaves, saps, hamstrings and so on and spam them. That should give bit idea what monk is like. Of course if you don't like using too many buttons then you can drop amount of used strikes down.. i usually use just stun,trip,imp. sunder, light/dark fist and then one or two different elemental if fist doesnt work well or i have lots of ki and fist is in cooldown.