Need monk advice

[djl]

I've currently only got one toon, a capped 32 point barbarian, but as I am getting closer to optimizing his gear I am finding myself out of things to do because of timers.

Therefore, I am rolling a monk as my next toon. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about rolling monks. So I'd appreciate any advice I can get. Is light or dark better? What element should I go for? Is there a good guide out there for monks?

[Viren1]

Monks are very fun to play, and quite versatile but require quite a spread of stats.

2 very good builds I've seen are the Metaru Dark Monk and Martens Light Monk. Both these builds are TR based, but with a little bit of work could be squashed into the 32pt build.

Though there are plenty of other options available. Both of those builds are strength based, but dex/wis builds can be just as effective. Have a look around and see what you like the most.

[Battery]

Monks are very fun to play, and quite versatile but require quite a spread of stats.

2 very good builds I've seen are the Metaru Dark Monk and Martens Light Monk. Both these builds are TR based, but with a little bit of work could be squashed into the 32pt build.

Though there are plenty of other options available. Both of those builds are strength based, but dex/wis builds can be just as effective. Have a look around and see what you like the most.

Those are both great, I'd also recommend Rockan Robin, especially for a 1st lifer. The guide is excellent too if you've never played a monk.

[edgarallanpoe]

I have capped three monks now. By far my best build has been my Dwarf. The con bonus gets you easily into tier III&IV earth stance (Not sure how the update today will impact this build) and the dwarven tactics line of enhancements is awesome. I posted a build a while back. I have made a few changes to it and it has really been fun to play.

[RandomKeypress]

I have a lev 13 monk, so wouldn't claim the experience of everyone else. With regards to Light vs. Dark, it seems to be a choice between survivability (self healing, raising other people) and DPS (hurting others). I went light and am fairly happy, but I solo a lot. If you have a reliable group with reliable healing then Dark may be better. There is one raid where light monks are much preferred, but ToD is lev 20, so don't worry about that for now.

[Splotto]

those are both great, i'd also recommend rockan robin, especially for a 1st lifer. The guide is excellent too if you've never played a monk.

+1

[edgarallanpoe]

The DPS argument between light and dark isn't as easy as a lot of people think. I have both.

The problem arises in the difficulty to assess DPS in a light monk because of his stuns. Let me give you an example. Most people point to the TOD of the dark monk for DPS and they are correct, but a light monk has several attacks that are essentially instakills. The Jade strike at higher levels is essentially a death sentence for any undead or extraplanar mob. Kukan-do is another stun that is basically a kill. Dismissing strike is another.

Dark does more DPS on bosses as the light monks stuns are useless against bosses. The smite tainted creature doesn't come anywhere near offsetting this.

It really comes down to what you want to do as a monk. Are you looking to CC and buff or are you looking to deal pure heavy damage?

IMHO once a monk gets to 18th level the TierIII of the Shin will far outweigh the TierII of the Ninja. Does that mean that the Ninja is a gimp at high levels? Absolutely not. But the vast majority of higher level questing is against demons/devils/etc and the light Monk rules against that type of mob.

The above is just my opinion based on playing several monks to cap including both light and dark. As always, your mileage may vary.

[SensaiRyu]

[Snip]What element should I go for? Is there a good guide out there for monks?

Monk builds take all the elements to some level. I'm a big Void IV fan which means you'll need to have grand master in at least one elemental stance and master in the other three. This may be very difficult in a first lifer. But a 32 point build with tomes should be able to get it. After using Air, Sun, and Earth grand master stances, I've settled on earth for my main stance. I sometimes use Sun and even Water, but I only have grand master in Earth. I'm lvl 20 already and I had 2 GM stances on the way up; Earth/Sun and Earth/Air.

Having taken both dark and light paths, I prefer light for all the wonderful stun and stun-like moves.

I also TR'd almost immediately after getting to my first lvl 20. Second life was more fun than the first one. I ran as a dark monk until lvl 16 of my second life.

First life was dex/wis but I had too many points in dex and my damage wasn't all that great. I also never used stuns and didn't have any of the void line. I was a badly built monk but still had no problems surviving in most quests.