Fyst - a 36pt, OC, and Vorp build

[SensaiRyu]

Updating this post for U19.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. Special thanks to WOWO for the OC/Vorp idea, and Boredman for Master's Blitz.

History
I've been wanting to try OC and Vorp strikes. But I needed a +4 str tome. After U16, I picked up a +4 Con tome in the High Road s/r/e. Tried to trade it for a +4 Str tome (no takers). Then Turbine came out with an offer I couldn't refuse... Upgrade +3 to +4 tomes. This gave me the opportunity to finally try out Overwhelming Critical AND Vorpal Strikes. Thanks Turbine!

Using my free LR, I respec'd to 16 str and 16 wis. Unfortunately LR forced me to go from lvl 23 capped to lvl 25.

Tested this OC and Vorp strikes build in several quests. Mostly solo, some guild runs. OC upped my crit dmg by about 100 (was 300-500 and went up to 400-600). Master's Blitz was quite effective, and with OC, my crits were mostly in the 800-150 range.

Soloing elite Weapons Shipment let me try out Master's Blitz. I was able to keep it going thru the all the mob waves. But I didn't really grasp what Blitz could do until I solo'd eH End of the Road. I activated Blitz when it was primed and was able to keep it going until the Fire Reavers spawned during the end fight.

I hated being lvl 25 and missing out on the max lvl 23 PUGs. So, I turned in 20 epic tokens for a heart of wood and jumped off my guild's ship and found myself watching a dragon fight a mind flayer.

Fyst
This Helf Light Monk build requires a 23 str by lvl 21 and a 23 wis by lvl 24.
I take take OC at lvl 21 and Vorp at lvl 24.

Improved Sunder, OC, and Vorp are required for this build. I drop the active Monk PL to squeeze in IS.

Goal of the build
Good AC and DPS and survivable. What more could one want?

AC: I consider a 90AC to be good... This build runs in the range of 96 to 150+.
DPS: Run in LD, take both OC and Vorp feats, twists for added dmg.
Survivable: Cleric Dilly lets me scroll Heal and cast Greater Restoration. An 84 PRR helps mitigate incoming dmg.

Crits:
x5 = x2base + x1Earth IV + x1 OC + x1 LD Dev Crit
x6 = x2base + x1Earth IV + x1 OC + x1 LD Dev Crit + x1FoI
x7 = x2base + x1Earth IV + x1 OC + x1 LD Dev Crit + x2Earth Finisher

Feats (in order)
Stunning Fist
Toughness
Cleric Dilly
TWF
PA
Light Monk
Cleave
Imp Sund
GCleave
Imp Crit
ITWF
GTWF
E OC
E Vorp
ED Epic Mage Armor
E Blinding Speed
ED PTWF

Stats
32 Str = 16 base +3lvls +4tome +7item +2ship
25 Dex = 15 base +3tome +7item +2ship -2stance
32 Con = 15 base +4tome +7item +2exc +2ship +2stance
37 Wis = 16 base +3lvls +4tome +2cap +7item +3exc +2ship

Key Enhancements
HElf
Cleric Dilly at Tier 4

Ninja Spy (whatever's necessary for Shadow Veil)
Shadow Veil

Shintao (Main)
Empty Hand Mastery
Mediation of War
Violence Begets Violence

Henshin (ki regen)
Contemplation (3)

Epic Destinies
I have 5 lvls in each. 2 maxed in all spheres but Arcane (one maxed).

GMoF: Haste/Dmg boost and Lithe for AC.
LD: Sense Weakness, Lithe, and Perfect Balance.
US: Sense Weakness, Dmg Boost, and Tactics.

I tried Primal's Symmetric Strikes. Sense Weakness is better.

I fire off both haste/vers III dmg boosts prior to each melee or save them for an upcoming boss. I'll have 10 uses of them. Once they're gone I use LD's damage boost.

Equips
Helm: Epic White Dragon Helm
Armor: Epic White Dragon Scale Tier 2
Cloak: Mabar lvl 20 (ye, I'm still wearing this)
Belt: Epic Spare Hand, Sun Soul (+15 con for intimidating)
Bracers: Guardian's Bracers (9-36 riposte dmg when missed)
Boots: Smoke GS Boots / Salt Guard GS boots
Gloves: Epic Brawling
Ring: Doublestrike 6% Ring of Escape +15
Ring/Necklace: Orimi's Set with Holy Burst
Goggles: eH Dream Visor (+4 att/dmg), Epic Time Sensing slotted with +1 exc wis, Tharne's (I still find these useful)
Trinket: Kardin's Eye (Epic)
Wraps: Adamantine Knuckles, Grave Wrappings, Mabar lvl 24 wrap. Most trash wraps Epic and +10 stun
Clickies: Stoneskin, 4 Displacement GS clickies (2 boots, 2 goggles), Haste

I've come to appreciate the Adamantine Knuckles. I use lvl 24 on bosses - hard hitting hidden effect for 3.5[W]. I have slotted mine with acid, fire, electric iirc.

DPS Bonuses
Need to update with doublestrike and other dps boosts...

AC
Running AC is 90-150+ based on twists, destiny, equips.

Example of calculations:
10 base
+7 dex
+13 wis (37)
+9 armor - Sun Soul vestments
+8 natural armor - +5 Cove hat and +3 Dragonhide twist
+5 deflection - ring of Bucc
+4 misc - Sun Soul bracers I'll bet
+12 feat - +6 AC Walking with Waves, +6 AC Lithe twist
+15 centered
+20% AC - stance
= 99 in GMoF with one AC ability twisted
= 92 in LD with one AC ability twisted

Miss chance will be around 65%.

[need to update] Dodge will be around 10%. That's what it was at 2nd life.

Quickbars
I change quickbars around so much before and during quests that I don't have a static setup.
LD
IS/SF/GC/FoL/Step or Finisher/KiShout or FoI/Veil/LDDmg/VersDmg/VersHaste

GMoF
Lotus/GC/Blossom/Petal/FoL/Step (Finish)/SF/Veil/VersDmg/LDDmg

Stuns
With Spare Hand, around 56.
Based on my observations, EH stuns should be over 50 and EE stuns over 55 to be effective. In GH, Storm Horns, stuns should be +5 more. In Wheloon, 56ish is just fine for EH.

I've found QP very effective on griffons in Storm Horns.

Survivability at lvl 25 and 26
Epic Solos (around lvl 20): Weapons Shipment, DA. Have done others, but those were the most fun!
EH Solos: Pretty much whichever ones I've want to solo. Cabal is the only one I've tried in the Gianthold. I think Prison would give me problems. I've solo'd the four Storm Horns flagging quests and all but The Thrill of the Hunt (I died) in Wheloon Prison.
Tanking: TOD Shadows and bosses, FoD Lich, Chronoscope are the usual ones I do.
EE Solos: Nope! I may be able to solo a few with luck. I don't try yet. It's not my play style to sit and pull small mobs and kill them.

The build (out to lvl 28, I'm lvl 27 atm)

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 03.14.02
DDO Character Planner Home Page

Fyst Level 20 Lawful Neutral Half-Elf Female
(20 Monk) 
Hit Points: 307
Spell Points: 0 
BAB: 15\15\20\25\25
Fortitude: 16
Reflex: 16
Will: 20

                  Starting          Feat/Enhancement
Abilities        Base Stats          Modified Stats
(36 Point)       (Level 1)             (Level 20)
Strength             16                    23
Dexterity            15                    18
Constitution         15                    19
Intelligence          8                    10
Wisdom               16                    26
Charisma              8                    10

Tomes Used

+4 Strength
+3 Dexterity
+4 Constitution
+2 Intelligence
+4 Wisdom
+2 Charisma


Key Skills

Concentration, Jump, Balance, UMD, Spot


Level 1 (Monk)[/B]
Feat: (Half-Elf Dilettante) Half-Elf Dilettante: Cleric
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Monk
Feat: (Past Life) Past Life: Monk
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Stunning Fist
Feat: (Selected) Toughness


Level 2 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting


Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack


Level 4 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 6 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Improved Sunder


Level 8 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR


Level 9 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave


Level 12 (Monk)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Selected) Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons


Level 15 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting


Level 16 (Monk)
Ability Raise: WIS


Level 18 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Weapon Fighting


Level 20 (Monk)
Ability Raise: WIS


Level 21 (Monk)
Epic Feat: (Selected) Overwhelming Critical


Level 24 (Monk)
Ability Raise: WIS
Epic Feat: (Selected) Vorpal Strikes


Level 26 (Monk)
Destiny Feat: (Selected) Epic Mage Armor


Level 27 (Monk)
Epic Feat: (Selected) Blinding Speed


Level 28 (Monk)
Destiny Feat: (Projected) Perfect TWF

[SensaiRyu]

Standard Setup
To Be Filled In Later


Shadow Tanking
Legendary Dreadnought
Twists
Tier 3 Magister Sigil of Energy Negation +60 resist
Tier 3 Walking with Waves +12 resist cold
Tier 1 Energy Sheath cold for 50%

Special Gear
Ring of the magi (it's really nice to just put on a ring and get an SP bar!)
GS Cloak Water, Pos, Water for +50 SP and +40 non-stacking cold resist and solid fog x3
Boots of solid fog x5. Backup.

Calculations
(~300 cold crit - 100 cold resist) - 50% absorbed by energy sheath - 25% absorbed by thick skinned equals 75 dmg left.

Tanking Notes
Solid fog at the base of the stairs, GC for backup aggro. Keep Sigil going. Melee away.

[SensaiRyu]

Destiny Abilities, Enhancements. Will add Destiny and Twists for quests.

US
Brace for Impact (2), Con
Fanaticism (1), Endless Smiting (2), Con
Intolerant, Con
Hardened (3), Ward against Evil (3)
Undying Vanguard

HElf Enhancements
Versatile, Wisdom, Dmg Boost
Focused(1), Cleric Dilly
Imp Recovery, Cleric Dilly, Arcanum(1)
Wisdom
Imp Recovery, Cleric Dilly

Shintao Enhancements
Bastion of Purity, Protection from Tainted Creatures, Iron Hand, Argent Fist
Restoring the Balance, Deft Strikes(3), Ki Shout
Iron Skin(3), Fists of Iron, Condition(1)
Wisdom
Instinctive Defense(3), Wisdom
Violence Begets Violence, Meditation ofWar, Empty Hand Mastery

Henshin Enhancements
Riddle of Fire
Mystic Training(3), Patient Tortoise
Contemplation(3)

Ninja Enhancements
Shadow Veil
Stealty(1), Acrobatic(3)
Unbalancing Strike,
Agility(3)

[SensaiRyu]

Unyielding Sentinel, Walking with Waves, Lithe, A Dance of Flowers [or Dragonhide]
Stats with ship buffs and Epic Mage Armor


AC Breakout


Earth Stance Attack Speed

[Tobril]

Interesting to see that the dread stuff is working with wraps now.

[Alkot]

I dont really understand the direction of this build, seems like you want dps from the fets but then your gear and twists reflect that u want some kinda ac tank. Imo unless ur gonna hit 120+ ac its not worth focusing on.

[Purkilius]

I dont really understand the direction of this build, seems like you want dps from the fets but then your gear and twists reflect that u want some kinda ac tank. Imo unless ur gonna hit 120+ ac its not worth focusing on.

While I agree with you but you might want be more helpful as to what he should take instead!

[Alkot]

While I agree with you but you might want be more helpful as to what he should take instead!

Well i didnt get into specifics, just because i dont know in what direction to take the advice. I could give some constructive ac tank feedback or dps feedback though i dont plan to ramble on about both.

[SensaiRyu]

During 2nd life I focused on ac mostly and DPS next. An ac under 120 is still very useful. I usually ran at around 100 ac.

The difference between a 119 and 149 ac is a 6% miss chance (based on my pics). And dropping my base wis from 26 to 23 doesn't really affect the ac i can achieve if I wanted too.

I'm not trying to be an ac tank. For this life I'd like to find ways to increase my DPS. So any DPS suggestions would be welcome.

[Tobril]

During 2nd life I focused on ac mostly and DPS next. An ac under 120 is still very useful. I usually ran at around 100 ac.

The difference between a 119 and 149 ac is a 6% miss chance (based on my pics). And dropping my base wis from 26 to 23 doesn't really affect the ac i can achieve if I wanted too.

I'm not trying to be an ac tank. For this life I'd like to find ways to increase my DPS. So any DPS suggestions would be welcome.

Stalker ring
Tharnes goggle

What is your cloak?

[Alkot]

If i was going for a build like this increasing dps is the mian goal, that being said alot of your listed gear would go out the window.
The same goes for twists, most notably dance of flowers is missing instead you have lithe and perfect balance. I personally would drop both get dance and there are a few other options that focus directly on dps.

As for gear I would at least make 2 sets of gear 1 for dps and another focusing on DCs wisdom items and possibly DR rings for stun etc. I like the new bracers of twisting shade for the bracers slot with gem and gloves for claw. REdscale is a solid item for dps gear. In straight dps nothing touches double tod ring bursts. Obviously shintao and encrusted sets work best. Some people go for random gen and other non set named weapons for the other slots. 3peice chrono comes to mind 3stacking str and lots of slots, red dragon helm with a mix random gen loot, could allow for exp fort maybe a +7res item treads of shadow can fit in nicely here but they do loose some appeal if you have shadow fade going all the time. The basic sun soul set/caparison is usually a very solid choice for a wisdom based swap.
A large amount of real dps also comes from your wraps. Due to the lower number of named wraps alchemical and anipode are the only real viable options(antipode to me still seems bad even with t3 and set bonus). For strict dps uses nothing beats some of the possible combos of random loot. tempestuous and mauling come to mind phlebotimizing as well. Note that these random gen options are often bad choices for trash as they will not have any kinda of stunning on them for the most part.

[Munkenmo]

I'm not trying to be an ac tank. For this life I'd like to find ways to increase my DPS. So any DPS suggestions would be welcome.

Í've got no idea what your cloak is, as you've missed the item slot.

Gravewrappings are not the ultimate DPS wraps though, good for utility, bad against bosses.
having a ring that is essentially just a heavy fortfification item is also far from max dps, given that you've forfeited a tod burst, stalkers sneak attack / vorpal, or anvithouls stat / sneak attack.

Loading up on seeker on a monk over sneak attack also strikes me as a bad idea. You've A got one of the worst crit profiles around, and B have an attack to ensure you get sneak attack even with aggro.

Personally in your shoes, looking at your current gear layout.

I'd pick up a set of air/air/air handwraps
swap your dex ring for a +7 dex anvithoul +5 /exceptional +3 sneak attack ring.
Wear the drow smoke goggles full time for the extra vorpal / seeker vs trash. (the manslayer is buggy with grave wraps, another reason to ditch them)

Now if you'd consider ditching your superior false life hat, and gs guard boots a 3 piece abishai helm / boots / cloak offers disintigration guard, +3 str, a yellow slot for greater false life, and 2 places to slot heavy fort.

This means you've now got sneak attack covered without the brawling gloves, so you can move away from the 1d4 piercing you're getting from the brawling gloves, and swap to a claw set using the gloves and the gem. you lose a 1d4 proc / 1 competance damage, instead gaining 4 damage per swing before crit multiplers.

gains:
+ 8 sneak attack damage per swing
+2 str
manslayer (5 damage per swing average)
+ 4 claw set damage per swing
6% double strike / shocking burst / lightning strike

Losses:
5 hit points (gain 5 from no longer wearing grave wrappings, lose 10 from loss of sfl - gfl)
entropic / soul eating / improved destruction.
1d4 pierce proc
1 competance damage
2 seeker
perm blur item.

[pyntsized]

nice build. Might not have noticed, but what will your stun DC be?

[SensaiRyu]

So I come back to the thread after posting a reply only to find that it's not there. Maybe I didn't complete it and when my system crashed this evening I lost it. *sigh*

Thanks for the suggestions guyz. I'm trying to figure out just what good (or exceptional) dps is for a monk...

Cloak - at least I got my edits in. I have maybar.
Wraps - I have a few boss wraps - GEOB, GDB, etc.
Haven't got a set of alchemical yet. Something on the to-do list.

GMoF Stun DC will be 51ish. Good for EH, need 55+ for EE. Legendary tactics will add +6.

Seeker items:
Woodsman and smoke goggles both have +6 seeker.
Tharne's has +8 sneak attack dmg if I can unbalance (or I'm not taking aggro).

All I can see from the Claw set is +4 dmg. Is that worth two slots?

This discussion has got me thinking about dmg differently. I have several ways to eek up my AC to around 150. I could do the same, perhaps, with damage. Seeker, a +4 here a +2 there. A +1[W]. All together it'd add up to about 10-20 more base dmg.

Multiply that by a crit's x5 and you've got 50-100 extra dmg. I've not considered it that way before. To me the difference between a +6 and +7[W] isn't much...

In straight dps nothing touches double tod ring bursts.

Huh? Last I heard, burst doesn't stack with burst.
I have Verik's set. +3 dmg and 10 uses of boosts instead of 7. Burst slotted of course.

For twists... Why not boulder toss for 10d100 instead of Dance of Flowers?

Stalker ring and alchemical wraps look pretty good. I'm sure I can free up a slot or two for these.

I'm not understanding the benefits of the claw set that I see mentioned often... 2 equip slots for +4 dmg? +20 to crits...

Does sneak attack dmg add to base dmg? Or is it just an extra +8 (Tharne's) on the dmg line.

[Munkenmo]

This discussion has got me thinking about dmg differently. I have several ways to eek up my AC to around 150. I could do the same, perhaps, with damage. Seeker, a +4 here a +2 there. A +1[W]. All together it'd add up to about 10-20 more base dmg.

I'm not understanding the benefits of the claw set that I see mentioned often... 2 equip slots for +4 dmg? +20 to crits...

To me the difference between a +6 and +7[W] isn't much...

For twists... Why not boulder toss for 10d100 instead of Dance of Flowers?

Does sneak attack dmg add to base dmg? Or is it just an extra +8 (Tharne's) on the dmg line.

Bare in mind how fast a monks attack speed is, taking that into account, every little bit of extra damage you add per swing boosts monks more than any other class.

+4 damage per swing is the same damage benefit you'd get from being double madstoned, or having 8 extra strength, it's huge and the damage adds up fast + also consider that the claw set comes with a 30% heal amp item.

Now, compare the claw set to your seeker equipment, which only applies extra damage on a crit. (2/20 attacks) the worse your critical profile, the further ahead the claw set is.

every +1[w] on a standard monk averages to ~+3.5 damage per swing, slightly more for you given your *5 critical multiplier.

As for dps twists if you're in LD :
fotw's : sense weakness is a must
gmofs hail of blows : tier 2 twist (3% double strike)
fotw's : tunnel vision is an extra 1d12 per swing, tough choice between that and a dance of flowers, but definitely don't pick boulder toss.

Sneak attack is an additional proc, the changes i proposed earlier would add 8 damage per swing over your current gear layout.

I'm really unsure how to provide you a better breakdown than i already did for a gearset change, if you're serious about building for dps, there aren't many better options than the changes I outlaid.

ps. the mabar cloak is definately worth giving up on a pure monk imo.

[DethTrip]

fotw's : tunnel vision is an extra 1d12 per swing

From what I am reading, that is only while raged. If that is the case, I would suggest something different.

[whomhead]

From what I am reading, that is only while raged. If that is the case, I would suggest something different.

As a pure monk, when would you ever not be raged?

[Munkenmo]

From what I am reading, that is only while raged. If that is the case, I would suggest something different.

rage spell counts as "raged" for the purpose of this effect.
so does:
primal scream
madstone rage
blood rage

I've long since carried stacks of rage potions around, for me tunnel vision is active ~99.9% of the time i need it.

[SensaiRyu]

I'm really unsure how to provide you a better breakdown than i already did for a gearset change, if you're serious about building for dps, there aren't many better options than the changes I outlaid.

And I really appreciate it.

I'm not stuck on my maybar cloak. But it is, at the moment the best I've got. Maybe a GS salt guard or smoke?

And the only thing you've mentioned as a twist that I haven't tried out is double strike.

+4 damage per swing is the same damage benefit you'd get from being double madstoned, or having 8 extra strength, it's huge and the damage adds up fast + also consider that the claw set comes with a 30% heal amp item.

I've never thought of it that way. Very compelling point.

This life I'll plan to run for the epic claw set and rearrange some equips (started to make a list but didn't save it before my system crashed) for dps.

One set for DPS, one for AC.

Thanks for taking the time.