Legend: Untouchable Monk Build (AC 80)

[Odin's_Hugin]

I know AC builds arent exactly valorized, mainly due to the insane hitting bonus from epic mobs. However, I cant help but love to play with those kinds of builds

I had a 66 ac on my last monk build, but I TR'ed to halfling (2nd TR'ed) and with the new updates, devised a way to get 72 auto-sustaining AC, 73 with haste and 76 with guild buffs.

I present my build: the Untouchable Monk

36 point build (Legend)

Str 6 => Str 10 (4)
10 str + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild +1 exc. = 21 (+1 lv up = 22)
Dex 10 => Dex 17 ( 8 )
17 dex + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild + 4 stance + 2 enhanc. + alchemical dex+2 + exc. Dex+2 = 37 (+3 lv-up = 40)
Con 8 => Con 13 (5)
13 con + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild + 1 exc. -2 stance = 22
Wis 8 => Wis 18 (16)
18 wis + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild + 3 enhanc. = 31 (+1 level = 32)
Int 8 => Int 11 (3)
11 int + 2 tome = 13 (for Combat Expertise)

Gear

Handwraps – Alchemical Handwraps (Shocking Burst, Stunning+10, Height. Awareness 4, lightning strike, alchemical dex+2)
Armor – Frozen Tunic (+8, Freezing Ice, Fire shield (cold), enhanced ki+1)
Googles - Tharne’s Googles (True Sight, +15 spot, +5 sneak attack bonus)
Cloak – Epic Cloak of the Night (dodge+2, nightmare guard, DR 5/good, Ghostly. Deathblock)
Trinket – Eye of the Beholder (Resistance+5)
Pendant – Shintao Necklace (concentration +15, con+6)
Helm – Supreme Tyrant Radiance Helm (Blindness no save, 4d6 light damage, Reflex+3)
Bracers – Bracers of the Wind (Blurry, Air Guard, dodge+3)
Belt – Spare Hands (Riposte, Staggering Blow, +5 dc stunning fist)
Gloves – Supreme Tyrant of Mineral (proct. +5, +45hp, concentration+6, heavy fort.)
Boots – Dex+6 boots (need +6 dex somewhere)
Ring 1 – Shintao Ring (wisdom +6, exc. Str+1, Holy Burst)
Ring 2 – Gnawed Ring (Strenght +6, exc. Con+1, Exception. dex+2)

AC bonus:

10 base
Combat Expertise (+5 ac)
Wis bonus (+11)
Dex bonus (+15)
Size Bonus (+1)
Profane Bonus (+1)
Alchemical armor bonus (+1)
Dodge bonus (+1) + (+2) + (+3)
Deflection Bonus (+5)
Armor bonus ( +8 )
Awareness (insight) bonus (+4)
AC monk bonus (+5)
Natural armor (+3) (guild bonus or pots)
Haste (+1)
Standing AC = 76 + Blur (20% miss chance)

Permanent Effects:

Defense Effects: Nightmare Guard + Riposte + Radiance + Fire Shield (cold) + DR 5/good + Air Guard
Offense Effects: Staggering Blow, Freezing Ice, Lightning Strike, Shocking Burst, Holy Burst
Other Effects: True Sight, Blur, Shintao Set, Ethereal, Deathblock, Heavy Fort.

Stunning fist DC = 46
Quivering Palm DC = 36

Saves:
Not sure right now. Very high though.

Feats

Stunning Fist (lv1)
Two-weapon Fighting (lv1)
Weapon Finesse (lv3)
Monk Past life (lv3)
Dodge (lv6)
Toughness (lv6)
Improved Two Weapon Fighting (lv9)
Combat Expertise (lv12)
Greater Two Weapon Fighting (lv15)
Toughness (lv18)


Enhancements
Still under development. If you want to go for the Void line, I suggest starting with Wis 16, Dex 16 Str 14 and Con 14. Unless you have a int+3 tome, then you can start with Dex 17.

[Such755]

Very nice. There is a monk build (12\6\2 form) that managed to reach 94 + AC (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=349837).
People overlook AC, as far as I see it, and there's really no reson to do so. High AC (80+) is absolutly amazing. You can tank VoD, epic chronoscope and stuff like that without costing the healers all their SP and attention.
I am not a veteran and I don't know the changes that made everyone think that "HP tanks" are better than "AC Tanks". All the good AC tanks (Again with 80 AC and higher) did much better than the HP tanks.
When I reach the fighter life, paladin life and monk life I will surely make an AC build.

[Odin's_Hugin]

Very nice. There is a monk build (12\6\2 form) that managed to reach 94 + AC (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=349837).
People overlook AC, as far as I see it, and there's really no reson to do so. High AC (80+) is absolutly amazing. You can tank VoD, epic chronoscope and stuff like that without costing the healers all their SP and attention.
I am not a veteran and I don't know the changes that made everyone think that "HP tanks" are better than "AC Tanks". All the good AC tanks (Again with 80 AC and higher) did much better than the HP tanks.
When I reach the fighter life, paladin life and monk life I will surely make an AC build.

Thanks. Im not really devising a tank, though, since that would need to have hate and threat generation. It's more of a personal goal, to be evasive enough and be able to completely survive on my own, should tough situations arise.

The light monk class, by excellence, is the problem-solver. They can save the party when all is thought to be lost. I was able to save my party on elite VoD due to my res skill and sufficient high AC, speed, fists of light and jade tomb, which made barbazus chase me or be unable to kill me while my party restored itself.

[Polarkin]

Initial pass it appears that your AC count is 5 too high. A 40 Dex only gives you +15 ac bonus, not 20 iirc.

[Munkenmo]

I don't know the changes that made everyone think that "HP tanks" are better than "AC Tanks". All the good AC tanks (Again with 80 AC and higher) did much better than the HP tanks.
When I reach the fighter life, paladin life and monk life I will surely make an AC build.

It's a mindset remaining from older days in ToD where Ac tanks didn't have the same means to increase their hp like they do now. Back then you'd be invincible until Horoth disintegrated you leading to instant death.

It's not such an issue now, but old habits die hard, and >1khp healing amp meatsacks are still easy to lazily scroll too.

[Odin's_Hugin]

Initial pass it appears that your AC count is 5 too high. A 40 Dex only gives you +15 ac bonus, not 20 iirc.

Yep, you're right, thanks.

[Viisari]

People overlook AC, as far as I see it, and there's really no reson to do so. High AC (80+) is absolutly amazing. You can tank VoD, epic chronoscope and stuff like that without costing the healers all their SP and attention.

You pretty much can't get enough AC for eChrono (you'd need something like 120 I think for good effect) or any major epic bosses for that matter. For eChrono what you want is just something that can take a beating, high reflex save and maybe evasion is nice because of the spells the boss spams. Breath is not a problem since you can just manually dodge it, and you should, even if you have evasion.

For epic bosses you'll probably want a stalwart with all shield feats and a huge stack of hp and healing amp as far as resources used goes.

But yeah AC is very nice for the older raids on all difficulties and MA & LoB on normal and hard. It's just very gear intensive, my own monk can self buff to around 80 AC (hmm or self buffed might be around 75, not sure, highest I've seen was 84 and there was no bard in that iirc) and get more with raid buffs (and he doesn't really even have all that much AC gear), you can check him out on MyDDO if you wish. Still sucks as a tank though because of low hp, but then again I didn't build him for tanking

Ultimate Mountain Stance is pretty awesome though, I think I need to find me a +4 con tome or TR again...

<edit> Also imo it's not worth it to plan AC in your normal gear set but as a swappable set for situations where AC is helpful. I run lots of epics and content where getting high enough AC is very difficult or just annoying to sustain though, so that might have something to do with it.

[WolfSpirit]

My only view would be to ditch all the guards. Why bother with them? Whats the point if your kicking high Ac and Blur and the occasional Displacement. They go off rarely anyways and if your rarely getting hit...

Also, Is the Dodge +3 really worth trading off Jidz for? I mean, the blur your already getting from cloak. And Air Guard... Well already passed that one.
Epic Jidz would give more Id wager and let you further customize for other gear. I would trade that for 3 more AC...

Just my Point of View though, otherwise looks good.

[Viisari]

my only point would be to ditch all the guards. Whats the point if your kicking high Ac and Blur and the occational Displacement. Also, Is the Dodge +3 really worth trading off Jidz for? I mean, the blur your already getting from cloak. And Air Guard... Well already passed that one.
Epic Jidz would give more Id wager and let you further customize for other gear.

Just my Point of View though, otherwise looks good.

Jidz is only really worth it if you *need* the two slots it has. If you can do without then there are better options.

One funny combination I've been looking into is Epic Bracers of the Hunter, Epic Raven's Sight (w/ E Gem of Many Facets) and Epic Spectral Gloves for a whopping +13 to hit (because honestly, monks suck at hitting high AC mobs, atleast in my experience, and you'll also get +7 dex, +2 exceptional wisdom for moar AC and can also swap for dodge bracers when in actual AC mode, sneak attack doesn't do you any good anyway when you're getting hit) when not aggroed. Raven's is untyped and thus stacks with spectrals (competence) and you'll get sneak attack +5 from bracers and can thus ditch Tharne's.

Two pieces of desert gear though, one of which is loot from a rare chest making it very painful to get them all :/

[PadrePio]

Googles - Tharne’s Googles (True Sight, +15 spot, +5 sneak attack bonus)

I'd go for epic time sensing or epic raven's sight for the +2 wis instead of tharnes.

[Absolute-Omniscience]

I died a little inside when I saw 10 base str. You won't even have enough for power attack without a +3 tome.

Make it helf, lose 2 ac, gain a LOT of damage along with a lot of utility (no fail heal scrolls with cleric dilettante). That's my suggestion.

[Calebro]

I'll echo the others here.
Lose a point or two of Dex and add enough Str for PA at the very least.
Building an AC toon with a bunch of guards is redundant, and you waste gear slots. Why devote gear slots to on-hit effects when the purpose is to NOT get hit? Counterproductive.

[redspecter23]

I went half elf monk and use the following gearset in AC mode. I've found this to get me the greatest number of ac bonuses though I am missing ex dex +2 and dodge +1 currently. It has pretty much everything else ac related though.

Alchemical air/water bracers
+1 ex wis slotted time sensing goggles
Min 2 helm
epic Grim's Bracelet
Litany of the Dead
Epic Abashai Cloak
Epic Siren's Belt
Shintao Ring, holy burst slotted
+6/+1 ex dex ring, acid burst slotted
Epic Abashai Boots
Epic Abashai Gloves
+2 dodge bracers, crafted with +3 natural armor and large guild slot (20hp)
Icy Raiment
+ 4 natural armor with wisdom yugo pot to replace the +3 on bracers
Water 4 stance for max ac
Earth 4 loses a few points but is preferable for tanking
60% shield 10th wand with UMD

This gets me +2, +3 and +4 dodge bonuses as well as armor +8. I can get the dodge +1 on the lv 16 bracers of wind once the craftable bonus is added. Of course, this is just for my maximum ac. Typically I have other swappable items I'll use such as Tharne's for TS and sneak bonus or Fabricator's Bracers + earth 4 stance if I'm tanking. Self buffed this hits 90's ac and I've seen over 100 with some reasonable raid buffs.

10 base
+1 dodge feat
+20 wisdom bonus (water 4 stance)
+9 dex bonus
+8 armor bonus
+1 alchemical bonus on armor
+5 protection
+4 natural ac
+4, +3, +2 dodge
+3 dodge (from water stance)
+4 shield wand
+5 monk centered bonus
+3 abashai bonus
+4 heightened awareness 4 on wraps
typically power attack on, but +2 if defensive fighting is active

=86 self buffed, 89 with ship buffs (ship stat buffs counted above), 91 with defensive fighting

With a full pally aura, bard song and haste it's at 101 which is what you could potentially see in a raid situation. Eating some Abashai cookies gets it to 104 I believe but these numbers are all from memory as I don't have ddo open right now. I could be off a few points here or there.

[Odin's_Hugin]

I actually have another idea... too bad all this AC will sacrifice a lot of stuff, BUT, for epic situations, I guess that should work...

Also your equation is a little off. How are you getting +20 wis bonus? That's 50 wis, which I dont see you getting even with all that exc. stuff and tomes.

Also I had to put 14/16/16/14 to get void strikes, which are very important for epics and since my dmg will be **** anyways. So I'll be trusting my ac + stunning fist + void strike. Also, since I need Combat Expertise (-5 to-hit) I need to compensate this somehow on epics, thus Greater Raven's Sight and Epic Ethereal Gloves.

Leaving Yugo pots out of the equation. Also leaving +3 and +4 tomes out.

36 point build (Legend)

Str 6 => Str 14
10 str + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild +1 exc. = 21 (+1 lv up = 22)
Dex 10 => Dex 16)
16 dex + 2 tome + 7 item + 2 guild + 2 enhanc. + alchemical dex+2 + exc. Dex+2 + exc. dex+1 = 34 (+4 lv-up = 38)
Con 8 => Con 14
14 con + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild + 1 exc. -2 stance = 22
Wis 8 => Wis 16
16 wis + 2 tome + 6 item + 2 guild + 3 enhanc. +1 exc. + 2 exc. + 4 stance +2 capstone = 38
Int 8 => Int 12
12 int + 1 tome = 13 (for Combat Expertise)

Gear

Handwraps – Alchemical Handwraps (Shocking Burst, Stunning+10, Height. Awareness 4, lightning strike, alchemical dex+2)
Armor – Icy Reinments (+4 dodge, +3 resistance)
Googles - Epic Raven's Sight (+2 exc. Wis, True Sight, +4 to-hit)
Cloak – Epic Cloak of the Night (dodge+2, nightmare guard, DR 5/good, Ghostly. Deathblock)
Trinket – Epic Gem of Many Facets (Greater Raven's Sight, +1 exc. dex)
Pendant – Shintao Necklace (concentration +15, con+6)
Helm – Supreme Tyrant Radiance Helm (Blindness no save, 4d6 light damage, Reflex+3)
Bracers – Bracers of Wind (Blurry, Air Guard, dodge+3, +6 strenght)
Belt – Epic Siren's Belt (+8 armor bonus, +4 insight bonus)
Gloves – Epic Ethereal Gloves (+7 dex, +4 to-hit, +greater false life)
Boots – Min II boots
Ring 1 – Shintao Ring (wisdom +6, exc. Str+1, +2 exc. dex)
Ring 2 – Epic Seal of the Earth (Natural Armor +6, +1 exc. wis)

AC bonus:

10 base
Combat Expertise (+5 ac)
Wis bonus (+14)
Dex bonus (+14)
Size Bonus (+1)
Profane Bonus (+1)
Alchemical armor bonus (+1)
Dodge bonus (+1) + (+2) + (+3) + (+4) + (+3) from water stance that stacks.
Deflection Bonus (+5)
Armor bonus ( +8 )
Awareness (insight) bonus (+4)
AC monk bonus (+5)
Natural armor (+6)
Standing AC = 87 + Blur (20% miss chance) + Radiance Guard + DR 5/good + Nightmare Guard + Deathblock

With haste (88), You can use +4 tomes for 90 and Yugo pots for 92. With full pally and bard and recitation, 103.

If you have umd for shield (which I dont like due to the short duration), you can get 107.


For non-epics, I would change Icy to Frozen Tunic, Siren's for Spare Hand (or something else), Bracers of Wind for Epic Bracers of Demon's Consort.

All the equipment being the same, I would go down 7ac (+4 dodge and +3 dodge). If I use Greater Wind stance, I'd go down 2 ac and would stay with 78 unbuffed, which is pretty neat for everything non-epic. Also would have the +30hp guard and demonic curse. With 2 +4 tomes, I'll have 80.

[sephiroth1084]

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=351615

[redspecter23]

Also your equation is a little off. How are you getting +20 wis bonus? That's 50 wis, which I dont see you getting even with all that exc. stuff and tomes.

16 base
+5 level ups
+3 tome
+6 item
+1 ex bonus (epic time sensing goggles slot)
+2 ex bonus (epic time sensing goggles)
+4 water stance
+2 alchemical bonus (alchemical wraps tier 2 water)
+2 yugo pot
+2 ship buff
+1 half elf racial
+3 monk enhancement
+1 litany of the dead
+2 capstone

= 50

Now many will say that making a wis based monk isn't ideal, but the damage output is slightly lower than a str based monk while having some incredible DC's on stunning fist and quivering palm. I built the toon with DC's in mind but a nice side effect of a really high wisdom is the potential for a really high ac in content where it matters. A 58 DC stunning fist and a 40 DC quivering palm is absolutely nuts.

[sephiroth1084]

16 base
+5 level ups
+3 tome
+6 item
+1 ex bonus (epic time sensing goggles slot)
+2 ex bonus (epic time sensing goggles)
+4 water stance
+2 alchemical bonus (alchemical wraps tier 2 water)
+2 yugo pot
+2 ship buff
+1 half elf racial
+3 monk enhancement
+1 litany of the dead
+2 capstone

= 50

Now many will say that making a wis based monk isn't ideal, but the damage output is slightly lower than a str based monk while having some incredible DC's on stunning fist and quivering palm. I built the toon with DC's in mind but a nice side effect of a really high wisdom is the potential for a really high ac in content where it matters. A 58 DC stunning fist and a 40 DC quivering palm is absolutely nuts.

Biggest problem is to-hit, and it's a big deal.

[redspecter23]

Biggest problem is to-hit, and it's a big deal.

Yup, I'll agree with you, that is the problem. I went out of my way to make it less of an issue on that build. 3 fighter lives were quite a grind, but I have many gearswaps I can make to get more +hit if needed. Warpriest tod set helps out with a +4. +4 attack crafted item adds another 2 to that, or tharnes in a non aggro situation for +5. It is definitely the weak point of the character, but for me the tradeoff was worth it.

[Odin's_Hugin]

Yes... the +to-hit is very worrisome....

However, that aside... I completely forgot the +2 on capstone. Didnt put that on my count. So that nets me +1 ac. =P

[Odin's_Hugin]

I'll echo the others here.
Lose a point or two of Dex and add enough Str for PA at the very least.
Building an AC toon with a bunch of guards is redundant, and you waste gear slots. Why devote gear slots to on-hit effects when the purpose is to NOT get hit? Counterproductive.

Not really. You're bound to get hit, sooner or later, even if it's grazing hits. And the guards proc on grazing hits. I've been testing Bracers of the Demon's Consort, for example, and found that even with high ac for my level, my enemies still get cursed and I still get +30 temp. hp pretty much all the time. It takes really a while for my enemies to take down that temp. hp and, by then, it has already proc'ed again. Also happens with my radiance guard, although a lot less than with the bracers.