Dark Monk Ninja Spy build?

[edgarallanpoe]

AC doesnt mean jack not entirely true; can get good enough AC to tank, ToD, VoD, Hound etc

If that was what the OP was asking for, I would agree....he isn't.

With a wind stance monk with just a +2 tome my dark is standing at 40 dex before ship buffs....I rarely miss and my stun works on everything from epics, to elite shroud, elite MA, elite ToD....

thats what your half-elf dex enhance is for

Not to mention monks are amazing at soloing quests, so the stun is a very useful tool when you just wanna go, also helpful towards quivering palm...

Just disagree level ups should go to wis i think, But GL man..

How do you get a 40 Dex before buffs on a Helf?

Max to start 18
Wind Stance 4
Helf Enhancement 1
Item 6 (or 7 with Cove Ring(?)...8 max with Cove ring and exceptional dex.)
Tome 2
Enhancement 2
What am I missing? You are looking at a max dex of 18+4+1+9 (ill even give you a +7 item and + 2 exceptional Dex) + 2 = 2 enhancement = 36

Where do you get the other 4 *before* you buff? I call shenanigans!! lol

I have capped several monks....the allure of a max wis build is a trap IMHO. It is relatively easy with just about every race(except Horc and WF) to get your wis to 32-34 at end game. With Spare Hand and +10 wraps you are looking at a SF of anywhere between 42-48 without breaking a sweat. My Drow monk has a 46DC with Spare Hand and he is more than adequate in Epics. IMHO anything higher than that is really unnecessary. I land Tomb of Jade all the time...I rarely miss it. Before I LR into a light monk this was a capped Dark monk and that wis was more than enough to land ToD with extreme regularity.

Again...I have done the max (or close to it) Wis build where level ups go into wis...it didn't work. This isn't speculation on my part.

[Micki]

So, I made my dark monk ninja spy some time ago, and am loving it. She's at lvl 12, pretty well geared imo (garments of equilibrium, lvl12 brawling gloves tier 2, lvl12 Ring of the Buccaneer tier 2, greater stalwart trinket, phiarlan mirror cloak) and is using the +1 holy handwraps of lesser vampirism that I made for her. I also just pulled the medusa handwraps from eyes of stone (oh, I want to upgrade them). Yeah, so she's not excellently geared, but imo she's doing pretty well (ran Lordsmarch chain elite just this week, and she was among the strongest in the group, I believe she even beat the lvl 13 tr dark monk, lol). And oh, yeah, with the cleric dilly, atm she's got 100% chance on all cure wands and 75% chance on raise scrolls (only 55% on heal scrolls, though). Since my capped cleric is selling like 90% of loot collected, I can afford to pack a good number of raise scrolls I don't heal ppl, but I do raise them if they fall.

Now, I'm hoping to make this toon into an end game monk, and am thinking 3 monk PL's, and at least 1 barb. I plan to this first life only flag her for shroud and run it a bunch of times, then probably tr into a light monk (I'm curious to see how they compare). So, end game monk PL's. What do you recommend?

P.S. if you decide to check myddo for info on my toons, note that it hasn't updated since June 1st.

[smithj_2020]

well if you going end game you should just max your monk PLs - 3 of course, 1 barb, and I would also reccommend at least 1 fighter for +1 to hit, also i feel the fighter PL feat is underrated, brings bab to your current level and also gives +4 to hit....

[goodspeed]

Basically a light and dark compare to being the dmger or being the buffer supporter. For instance, take a raid like vod.

The dark monk is right their at the bosses back pounding away with tod's and element strikes, some finishers, just stacking dmg. Then jumping off and going for trash in a disco ball. Or he could be the MT brawling it out with sulu while the others are doing their job. (Yes believe it or not some nubs actually feel like cc isn't needed in this hell on hard/elite.)

The light monk is pretty much the same except for the dmg. The SA isn't their and neither is tod which amounts to a good bit. But they bring something just as grand. At least to others and themselves. To hit. Yes a light monk spams the fire light fire finisher for hit and dmg as well as repeatedly spams moment of clarity. It lasts for 10 seconds (Which sucks) but stacks the hit up. This means PA's can be going and everything else. The light monk is also nice for tod almost guaranteeing them a spot. (Which is why I went light first life so I could farm my rings at leisure.)

And like the dark they jump off to get trash only while the dark still stuns with that mid to high 40's fist, the light gets an extra ranged stun and the jade prison thing. Both are nice for those trash with lots of hp. And jade seems to last a bit so you can stone then then turn to another and stun em and beat em down. (1 less thing hitting you.)

Oh and your also basically the casters and healers best **** freind in the world. Water finisher cuts down their sp cost for spells by a good bit. So basically as I said your the ultimate support. While I raid with my light he's in prolly at least 3 places all throughout the raid. He's attacking casting fire finish and moment buffs, jumping backwards to where the healers are casting water buff, and hopping away to go after trash that finds it's way to the casters and healers.

Now you could act like the dark and just try and dps, still won't be as good but you can. But then your just wasting the path. Light is a support for every class type. And saves alot of sp.

[Micki]

well if you going end game you should just max your monk PLs - 3 of course, 1 barb, and I would also reccommend at least 1 fighter for +1 to hit, also i feel the fighter PL feat is underrated, brings bab to your current level and also gives +4 to hit....

ty for your input I am going to keep her at lvl 20 for a while before the first tr, but I am planning 3 monk lives to start with (I really like the monk).

Basically a light and dark compare to being the dmger or being the buffer supporter. For instance, take a raid like vod.

The dark monk is right their at the bosses back pounding away with tod's and element strikes, some finishers, just stacking dmg. Then jumping off and going for trash in a disco ball. Or he could be the MT brawling it out with sulu while the others are doing their job. (Yes believe it or not some nubs actually feel like cc isn't needed in this hell on hard/elite.)

The light monk is pretty much the same except for the dmg. The SA isn't their and neither is tod which amounts to a good bit. But they bring something just as grand. At least to others and themselves. To hit. Yes a light monk spams the fire light fire finisher for hit and dmg as well as repeatedly spams moment of clarity. It lasts for 10 seconds (Which sucks) but stacks the hit up. This means PA's can be going and everything else. The light monk is also nice for tod almost guaranteeing them a spot. (Which is why I went light first life so I could farm my rings at leisure.)

And like the dark they jump off to get trash only while the dark still stuns with that mid to high 40's fist, the light gets an extra ranged stun and the jade prison thing. Both are nice for those trash with lots of hp. And jade seems to last a bit so you can stone then then turn to another and stun em and beat em down. (1 less thing hitting you.)

Oh and your also basically the casters and healers best **** freind in the world. Water finisher cuts down their sp cost for spells by a good bit. So basically as I said your the ultimate support. While I raid with my light he's in prolly at least 3 places all throughout the raid. He's attacking casting fire finish and moment buffs, jumping backwards to where the healers are casting water buff, and hopping away to go after trash that finds it's way to the casters and healers.

Now you could act like the dark and just try and dps, still won't be as good but you can. But then your just wasting the path. Light is a support for every class type. And saves alot of sp.

My main's a capped cleric. I do the support role a lot. My dark monk is all about killing trash and tanking some bosses, but e.g. when running quests two levels higher than her level, I've had troubles doing enough damage. And on lower levels (until I crafted holy handwraps), I had troubles damaging undead, while my light monk (who, though was str based and not dex based like my dark) didn't have any problems in e.g. catacombs. I did tell you I have a lvl 7 light monk that I played from lvl 1? I left her as mule after I started playing the dark one, because the dark one was better (better planned) and more fun I do miss the light/healing strike, though, but handwraps of lesser vampirism work nicely.

I currently use +1 holy handwraps of lesser vampirism, and will upgrade the medusa wraps to lesser vampirism when I get mats for it. (oh, I believe I already said that)

[RadioactivePiranha]

I would highly recommend taking unbalancing strike. It lets you sneak attack enemies you have agro on, which is quite useful for a build with sneak attack enhancements. Even red names aren't immune. Ninja Spy 2 gives an average of 10.5 extra damage on sneak attack, and you can boost this further with equipment and by going half-elf rogue dilly. Many melees have sneak attack equipment so even if you aren't holding agro you can still boost your party's dps. Just beware that landing unbalancing strike on a stunned mob will encourage it to slide around while stunned.

[WruntJunior]

I would highly recommend taking unbalancing strike. It lets you sneak attack enemies you have agro on, which is quite useful for a build with sneak attack enhancements. Even red names aren't immune. Ninja Spy 2 gives an average of 10.5 extra damage on sneak attack, and you can boost this further with equipment and by going half-elf rogue dilly. Many melees have sneak attack equipment so even if you aren't holding agro you can still boost your party's dps. Just beware that landing unbalancing strike on a stunned mob will encourage it to slide around while stunned.

Only problem is that it's expensive AP-wise for a conditional ability (mainly only useful for tanking red/purple names, as anything else can and will be stunned, or else is immune to sneak attack).

[RadioactivePiranha]

If the build in the initial post is current, the OP is already picking up adept of rain, so it is only 1 AP.