Monk TR's once, Why should I TR again?

[SensaiRyu]

So, I TR'd once. Had fun on low levels and the experience wasn't really a grind.

From what I understand a second TR would only give me +1 dmg. I wouldn't get +2 die steps. Just the +1 die step again.

What's the point? A fighter gets +1 att/+1 DC to tactical feats, at least a monk should get +1 DC to monk moves... SF, Tomb, Unbalancing, etc. or are monks soooo overpowered already? Ye that last part was sarcasm.

[~jradnut]

The PL feat for a monk is a +1 Stacking die step to dmg rolls and can be taken 3 times. Add to that, Mountain stance and garments of equalibrium and Greater construct banes and you have a decent portal whacker.

edit: it isn't +1 to dmg, but raises the hit die from, say 6 sided to nxt sized die.

[SensaiRyu]

Past Life Feats

Passive Feat: "Each time you acquire this feat you gain +1 to damage rolls. This feat can be stacked up to three times."
Active Feat: "deal increased unarmed damage (one step higher than normal on the unarmed combat chart)"

I thought I read somewhere that you can't stack the +1step.

Are you implying that I can take the Active Feat (in a feat slot) twice - across 2 feats? [Edit - nope, checked it out]

[~jradnut]

Sorry to have misled you, coffee hasn't kikked in yet, and you are correct. I'd point out that the dmg roll increases are applied before bonuses and though may not sound like much, in reality is substantail, imo.

Your original question was why you should TR again and the obvious answer is that you will have a more powerful 36 point build.

Also in my own experience, each life FELT substantially more powerful than the previous one even before any tomes were eaten.

Hope I helped.

[dragons1ayer74]

Many players like the jorney more than the destination and like the continual re-progression that TRing allows. IMO the 1st past life is the by far the best for a monk +1 Damage and +1 Die step (for a feat). A 2nd life TR monk gets an extra +1 damage and a 36point build.

If every little bit matters (and to some it does) the ultimate monk would be:
Pastlife Fighter x 3
Pastlife Paladin x 3
Pastlife Barbarian x 3
Pastlife Monk x 3
Pastlife Ranger x 3
Pastlife everythign else x 1.

[Adrian99]

I don't think multiple monk past lives are worth it for monk, but 3 fighter past lives definitely are. With the current state of things, I prefer to get my fighter past lives with 9 monk / 9 fighter / 2 rogue, dark path, Half-elf, cleric dilettante. Take 2nd rogue level at 15 for +30% bump to heal scrolls. Hit with Improved Sunder before Touch of Death and you get a good chance at full damage. You're basically invincible, while using few resources, if you know how to play it.

[SensaiRyu]

Yea... thanks for confirming my thoughts... If I got an extra die step on each past life I'd seriously consider it.

As it is, I still have the free feat swap quest to run and swap out something for improved sunder. I figure improved sunder followed by 4-5 stun/smite/tomb attacks may work nicely in epic runs.

As for my fighter, he could use a TR (first for him) if just to increase the initm a bit more and for the fun of TR'ing something after I get tired of high end running.

It seems that monk's don't get that much outta TR'ing.

[Taimasan]

For me it was less for the +1 to damage rolls, but more for the 36 point build, I would of never been happy if Quis did not have the max amount of build points.

[~jradnut]

It seems that monk's don't get that much outta TR'ing.

Wrong, they just dont appear to be getting what you are looking for.

The extra damage is nothing to sneeze at. The extra die step combined with that is even better. Now throw in gear and stance and you have a very playable character.

Everybody has a differant style of play, however, so maybe playing a monk just doesn't mesh with yours'.

[Tobril]

@Lives - I would do the fighter lives before the last 2 monk lives.

@Improved Sunder - Huge difference for my monk in epics and raids.

[Munkenmo]

Personally I've found the fighter past lives are more worthwhile than monks +1 damage. That's probably why i used two +5 hearts of wood to get the fighter past life before i did my second TR on Munkenmo.

Even if your not interested in spending lots of time on additional past lives, the extra 2 build points and +1 damage from one more life is still nice

[SensaiRyu]

Wrong, they just dont appear to be getting what you are looking for.

The extra damage is nothing to sneeze at. The extra die step combined with that is even better. Now throw in gear and stance and you have a very playable character.

Everybody has a different style of play, however, so maybe playing a monk just doesn't mesh with yours'.

Just to be clear, my monk suits my play style better than the SD, Kensai, and Assassin I run.

I'm trying to figure out if there's a compelling reason to TR a second time as a monk. I didn't see any, but I'm not always right. Just most of the time

+1 more dmg isn't, imo, worth a TR grind. Same goes for a +2 more ap. A fighter's +1 attack and +1 tactical DC seems a good reason to TR. 3 stacks of fighter seem obviously better than 3 stacks of monk: +3tohit AND +3 tactical DC vs. +3dmg. I can see TR'ing a fighter multiple times. I can't see doing it with a monk.

To be sure, the die step was great during my second life. I seemed to rock at low levels. That and the fact that my build was way better than first life. But it doesn't stack across TRs.

I wouldn't TR for +2 ability points to spend and +1 more dmg per hit. Don't get me wrong, I do like the max side. And I constantly look for improving my equips. But getting there with a TR? This thread is showing that 2 monk past lives aren't worth the XP grind (to me).

Personally I've found the fighter past lives are more worthwhile than monks +1 damage. That's probably why i used two +5 hearts of wood to get the fighter past life before i did my second TR on Munkenmo.

Now that's something I never thought of - +rep. Second TR would have both monk and fighter past lives and I'd take the monk's active past life feat for the die step. Probably won't do it, but I like the idea. It'll give me something to think about. And it works well with the completionist post from dragons1ayer74... I could keep running my monk but +10 LR at the end of each life to get there. That's a crazy way to do it.

If I get my TR courage up to grinding out all that XP, I'd consider it. That's a lot of work and it may even be fun to attempt. I'd never be able to do that on a non-monk toon so my only option would be using 2 +5 hearts each time.

[Redicular]

I don't think multiple monk past lives are worth it for monk, but 3 fighter past lives definitely are. With the current state of things, I prefer to get my fighter past lives with 9 monk / 9 fighter / 2 rogue, dark path, Half-elf, cleric dilettante. Take 2nd rogue level at 15 for +30% bump to heal scrolls. Hit with Improved Sunder before Touch of Death and you get a good chance at full damage. You're basically invincible, while using few resources, if you know how to play it.

there's a build i'd like to see, currently using a more "fighter" style fighter to get my dc+s and not enjoying it at all, no surprise since i don't enjoy fighters.

to the op, i agree, 3x monk past life is not good for someone who wants to actually end up as a monk, balanced slightly by how great 1x monk past life is for a pure monk