Post u14 AC monks

[stoerm]

What are your experiences of non "oriental barbarian" strength monks since the update?

I have a 32pt halfling monk sitting at level 9. She's dex/wis based, see original Rockan Robin and similar builds. The challenge of getting the build and gear for high AC was a fun project. Pre u14 she went through content like the proverbial hot knife, solo or group, with barely a scratch.

I have many alts that compete for my attention, and the AC nerf put her down to the bottom of the list. I'd like to hear your thoughts and maybe rekindle my interest in the project. I never had any plans to make this an end game character, in fact it was my plan to TR her to monk again sooner than later.

[TPICKRELL]

My main is a Dex/Wis WF light monk build with decent AC (was 75-82 pre u14 depending on buffs and gear configuration). My first alt is a dex/wis decent AC build halfing dark monk (was 81-88 AC depending on buffs and gear),

Post U14 the AC makes less of a difference, so I will most likely take both of them to WIS/STR builds when I get around to doing an LR or TR. My rough calculations indicate that I can drop dex by 8 points, move half to Wis and Half to strength. My calcuatoins show that the effect of this will be to free up a feat, increase damage by 2/swing and only increase the amount of incoming damage that gets through by a little less than 1%.

In straight up fighting, they both take more damage now than he used to, by a noticeable amount. However Drifting Lotus used as crowd control/damage mitigation offsets pretty much all of that when I am in Grandmaster of Flowers destiny. It also insures that I have initial aggro, allowing party members to get sneaks and avoid damage.

The dex/wis build is still viable in game play, but there are no longer any real benefits to doing that over Wis/Str build IMO so I'll be shifting that way.

[SensaiRyu]

I dropped my str/wis monk as soon as U14 went live. Gave up 7 str. When I ran my str/wis monk during Beta, I wasn't happy with the amount of dmg I was taking. My experience with a str/wis build post U14 were all bad.

I don't think it's worth giving up the AC and DCs that wisdom provides. I got hit way more than I do now. I think there's even more benefits for a wis monk post-U14. I wouldn't call my build a wis/dex monk build. I focused on wisdom and whatever I end up with for str/dex I'll live with.

Getting hit a lot reduces the amount of opportunities you'll have hit others. And it's easy to get that high DPS with EDs. I have no problem hitting. Base Fury dmg ranges from 50-130 depending on what I'm hitting, buffs, stuns, and stuff I haven't figured out yet. What's a +4 str mod really gonna give me? I think +4 to DCs and AC is better.

I run in power attack now and haven't had problems hitting.

ED Fury and twist in action boost haste if you're not human (I'm not). Acute instinct for +2 more wis.
ED GMoF with haste boost or sense weakness is a balanced AOE/DPS combination.
Other ED - twist in haste boost or sense weakness as needed.

My AC base is usually in the low 90's to low 100's depending on selected EDs and twists. Buffed AC is between 105 and 125.

If you use drifting lotus and get all that initial aggro, you'll quickly appreciate a high AC, dodge, and concealment.

What AC nerf are you talking about?

[Uska]

Well right now I run my ac from 75-90 depending on if I am in earth or fire stance I prefer fire as I use a lot of ki but I am pretty happy with my damage mitigation most of the time. I plan to up my ac a bit by doing some twists and see how that goes. My ED is GMOF but no twists yet

[redspecter23]

For monks, AC isn't what it used to be, but that doesn't mean a monk can't still be defensive. Defense now is about a package of abilities all rolled together instead of just AC.

My endgame monk runs with sense weakness, lithe and fast healing as a typical solo twist setup. My AC is in the 90 - 110 range depending on buffs/active destiny. I keep Grave Wrappings on most times when soloing. The +35 temp hp buff keeps your hp maxed in all but the toughest encounters if you also consider AC, blurry, incorporeal, PRR and dodge bonuses. I've been soloing through most epic hard content with only a few issues when massive amounts of mobs show up and I'm not in GMF destiny.

Now leveling a monk is a slightly different story right now. I'm sure your AC can get fairly high, but certainly not as effective as it was pre U14. Get a good blurry item like the house C challenge bracers to keep your hp up. Dark monks can keep shadow fade up while light monks can keep healing curse active to help out. Your PRR and DR will be minimal until you get into epics later on. Hopefully the enhancement pass will fill in some gaps for all classes compared to their respective endgame destiny setups. Elite is certainly a bit harder to solo late game compared to pre U14 as you can't get your unhittable AC anymore. For soloing, stick to hard and norm and knock out the elites in groups for harder content.