How to improve my monk?

[Braegan]

Also gonna chime in for Wis based FTW.

Tried Dex, Str and Wis. In todays game Wis wins hands down.

After motu I LR'd my monks into Wis and was concerned about to-hit, etc but with Str being probably the easiest stat to buff I've had no problems landing attacks and dealing respectable damage.

[DarkGospel]

What is it about free LR ppl are talking about? How do I know if I have a free LR cause if I do I could LR my lvl 14 monk so I wouldn't have to wait till I TR.
What can I change with that free LR? Do I loose my toon money or anything after LR?

I'm positive you'll play better with a Wisdom build. Generating ki is actually easier if you use less strikes and simply focues on stuns and various effects on your handwraps. The more strikes you use, the faster your ki bar depletes. Use less strikes, build up more ki. It sounds like an amatuerish way to play a monk, but you really don't need to spam every elemental strike constantly. You can play a monk simply and successfully without having to hotbar every tier of every single elemental strike you have. A stun-focused Wisdom build will land stuns and quivering palm consistently, and you'll have plenty of ki to hit various strikes when you need them.

I'll try that, I usually play casters or hybrid-classes with melee and spells I'm so used to this that I'm trying to play them monk on the same way spaning strikes all the time. :P

EDIT: Just loged in with my monk after so long and discovered that I haven't used the six year old cake, should I use it to get a wis tome?

EDIT 2: Already checked on LR guess I'll realy do that so just forget what I asked about before, I'll LR on str-buld for overwhelming critical and after getting to lvl 25 TR into a wis build monk. I'll just try both and see which I like more.

[Arkat]

5 average damage per hit and slashing bypass.

What other feat would you take thats better?

The one that, in addition to some other things, gives me 500-678 damage first number critical hits - Overwhelming Critical. That's better.

[goodspeed]

Your going to want to use that free lesser and rebuild that boy. Their is no more based. Your going for qualifications for epic feats now.

Odds are it's going to be the wis based one for monks. So factoring a +3 wis tome, or a +4 or +5 if you got lucky in pulls calculate what your going to need to raise that base stat to qualify for vorpal strikes (it requires a 23 base wisdom as well as 12 monk)

After that to hit really makes jack now. Dmg is where end game is at with monsters having thousands and thousands and thousands of hp.

So your going to be wanting a mix between con enough to qualify for GTW fighting in dex and the rest in str. Subsequently I would recommend at least having a 34 point build as a monk now. And nothing should be min maxed. If it is you probably screwed yourself somewhere along the line as, saves are very important now at end. As are dc's for stunning first to determain sheer dmg output from ed's and twists.

As for which stance is better, it's hard to say. Mountain stance giving you PRR is pretty **** nice. Theirs really no hate issues anymore as everyone is just outputting tons of dmg, and even more hate if they went for a destiny, or have a stance directly for it.

After mountain I'd say fire if you were in grandmaster. Specifically fire is about the only reason to wear those jidz tetka epics. The extra dice dmg is already covered on threads. I think something else gives it to. And it sucks for air or water. Fire gives you the extra 25% amp. Also fire stacks the dmg for handwraps in grandmaster.

After that then theirs a choice. You can either go for a seal of dunrobar or you can go for the SA ring for all your SA dmg in one slot.

Though then again the best wraps right now have +10 stun on them.

Ok so you have the basics all hashed out. Next is a tod ring. It's a stacking 1d12 holy burst with a +1 stacking stat on it. I mean it's just a must for a monk.

As for a tod set, that's up to you. Personally the only set I find worth while is the mystic set. Because one the necklace is your buffer slot. Not a whole lot going on there. So basically your using that slot up for 1d6 fire dmg which everything in the end game now is mostly affected by.

The other is the ravager set. Which 1 it doesn't work with wraps. And 2, you would need to give up the epic spare hand. Which giving umd, +5 combat mastery, doublestrike, reposite and some other stuff just doesn't seem worth it. So wheather to go for a set or not is up to you.

Gear wise go for the claw set with either the epic gem of many, or bracers. You could also go for the epic brawlers for the 1d4 spike dmg per hit, but doing this you would give up 1 point of SA and 30% heal amp. Well plus you would trade the constant 4 dmg a hit for 1d4 dmg piercing a hit. As I do not believe the epic gem is able to account for the glove slot.

Still I think the best bet is the gloves with the epic gem, then using the bracers for either epic jidz for the 25 amp, or using it for some other thing, be it the stalker bracers or even more heal amp 20% with the greater saves while using another stance. Theirs any number of ways to accommodate gear.

[goodspeed]

What is it about free LR ppl are talking about? How do I know if I have a free LR cause if I do I could LR my lvl 14 monk so I wouldn't have to wait till I TR.
What can I change with that free LR? Do I loose my toon money or anything after LR?



I'll try that, I usually play casters or hybrid-classes with melee and spells I'm so used to this that I'm trying to play them monk on the same way spaning strikes all the time. :P

EDIT: Just loged in with my monk after so long and discovered that I haven't used the six year old cake, should I use it to get a wis tome?

EDIT 2: Already checked on LR guess I'll realy do that so just forget what I asked about before, I'll LR on str-buld for overwhelming critical and after getting to lvl 25 TR into a wis build monk. I'll just try both and see which I like more.

On that note, turbine realized they had just screwed up virtually every build requiring things like a 23 base stat as well as various feats as pre requs for epic feats and everything else, so they gave everyone a free lesser reincarnation to fix the massive amount of then broken builds from poor choices made. It will show up when you talk to the TR guy. However I had heard it was busted in the way that no matter which option you chose it would use the free LR first instead of say a +1 LR you have on you.

Which sort of sucked for anyone wanting to change a level or 2 to flush out their build as it cheated em out of a very nice free LR. Not game breaking but still sucked none the less. Not sure if they ever fixed that or not yet.

[Reos]

...active along with Wind stance and Precision. Turns mobs into mush.

You use precision over Power attack?

[DarkGospel]

Remade my build it looks like this now

(32 points)
Strength 14 +2 tome
Dexterity 16 +2 tome to be abe to get Greater TWF and Grandmaster of the Storms
Constitution 14 +2 tome
Intelligence 8
Wisdom 16 +2 tome
Charisma 8
all lvl ups on WIS
and if I'm able to get my hands on +4 tomes I'll be happy.

Level 1 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack
Feat: (Human Bonus) Toughness
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Two Weapon Fighting

Level 2 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Stunning Fist

Level 3 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Path) Path of Harmonious Balance: Fists of Light
Feat: (Selected) Weapon Finesse

Level 4 (Monk)

Level 5 (Monk)

Level 6 (Monk)
Feat: (Monk Bonus) Precision
Feat: (Selected) Toughness

Level 7 (Monk)

Level 8 (Monk)

Level 9 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Weapon Fighting

Level 10 (Monk)

Level 11 (Monk)

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

Level 13 (Monk)

Level 14 (Monk)

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

Level 16 (Monk)

Level 17 (Monk)

Level 18 (Monk)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness

Level 19 (Monk)

Level 20 (Monk)
Enhancement: Monk Serenity
Enhancement: Human Adaptability Wisdom I
Enhancement: Human Versatility I
Enhancement: Human Versatility II
Enhancement: Ten Thousand Stars
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise I
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise II
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise III
Enhancement: Way of the Patient Tortoise IV
Enhancement: Restoring the Balance
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery I
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery II
Enhancement: Monk Improved Recovery III
Enhancement: Shintao Monk I
Enhancement: Shintao Monk II
Enhancement: Shintao Monk III
Enhancement: Void Strike I
Enhancement: Void Strike II
Enhancement: Adept of Wind
Enhancement: Grandmaster of Storms
Enhancement: Master of Thunder
Enhancement: Adept of Rock
Enhancement: Master of Stone
Enhancement: Racial Toughness I
Enhancement: Racial Toughness II
Enhancement: Improved Balance I
Enhancement: Improved Balance II
Enhancement: Improved Balance III
Enhancement: Improved Balance IV
Enhancement: Improved Concentration I
Enhancement: Improved Concentration II
Enhancement: Improved Concentration III
Enhancement: Improved Concentration IV
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom I
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom II
Enhancement: Monk Wisdom III

Level 21 (Epic)
Epic Feat: (Selected) Vorpal Strikes

Level 22 (Epic)

Level 23 (Epic)

Level 24 (Epic)
Epic Feat: (Selected) Improve Martial Arts

Level 25 (Epic)
Epic Destiny:Grand Master of the Flowers

Weapon Finesse: Yes, dex 16 +2 tome (+4 if I ever get one) plus wind stance whitch gives me extra dex when active so it heghtens my chances of landing a strike against str 14 +2 tome (+4 if I ever get one) and I plan on useing wind stance most of the time so it make it worth a feat.

Toughness x3: well, it's a 1st life so don't have enough points to make it ideal so toughness will give me what I would have with heigher con, so no cleave on this one.

Master of Stone: it gives bonus com when active, plan to use it when on need of extra HP.

[Therigar]

You use precision over Power attack?

Yes.

Part of the reason is the way the feats work. PA requires me to give up to-hit in order to get to-damage. On a first life monk stats are tight going with WIS and also having enough DEX to qualify the TWF line. To push STR higher means giving up CON -- and in spite of playing right now with a 6 CON character, it isn't a particularly efficient use of build points.

That means STR is enough but not much more than that. It is what I use to hit and to damage. So Precision fits better because it gives a boost to hit. That is a small pick up but even a point or two overall is helpful.

I could be convinced to go the other way, but really don't see the need. Honestly, things are just falling over so fast that I don't feel the need for a damage boost.

[Therigar]

Remade my build it looks like this now

Very similar to how Tangledroots' stats looked.

I did not take as much toughness and I took the dodge/mobility/spring attack line. Being halfling, Tangledroots did not have the extra feat to use on weapon finesse.

Personally, having more dodge seems better than having the extra HP from so many toughness feats. Not getting hit at all beats getting hit and having to survive with HP.

[Duke-H-]

The one that, in addition to some other things, gives me 500-678 damage first number critical hits - Overwhelming Critical. That's better.

Hyperbole, how nice.

I don't doubt you can reach high primary numbers with the right combination of build/itemization etc.
But, I'd seriously like to see some numbers in regard to the average damage OC gives you.

There is also the opportunity cost of having to take the pre reqs for it to consider.

[DarkGospel]

Part of the reason is the way the feats work. PA requires me to give up to-hit in order to get to-damage. On a first life monk stats are tight going with WIS and also having enough DEX to qualify the TWF line. To push STR higher means giving up CON -- and in spite of playing right now with a 6 CON character, it isn't a particularly efficient use of build points.

Very similar to how Tangledroots' stats looked.

I did not take as much toughness and I took the dodge/mobility/spring attack line. Being halfling, Tangledroots did not have the extra feat to use on weapon finesse.

Personally, having more dodge seems better than having the extra HP from so many toughness feats. Not getting hit at all beats getting hit and having to survive with HP.

If I notice that when PA is on I miss more attacks I'll swamp it to dodge since I already got precision and could drop one thoughness for mobility but I wonder what I would could take out for spring attack.

[ArcaneArcher52689]

To all the people who bash vorpal strikes and wis based builds that take it, here are a couple things to keep in mind.
1) vs zombies, the slashing DR means +10-20 damage per swing in epic content. I went from the necromancer's being a nightmare to them being cake when i took the feat at 21.
2) vs any thing vorpal procs on, +100 damage on a 20, the damage is affected by the 1.5x vs. stunned mobs, and THEN it checks to see if you kill the enemy (at least this is what i assume from my own experience, since i would see the 100 damage proc, then the mob would fall dead, despite having half it's HP left)
3) Vorpal usually means you're giving up amount of weapon enhancements, which is one reason it's so much weaker now. With this feat, we get the same effect, but save the gear slot for manslayer, and get to use the best wraps available.
4) stuns are king. 1.5x damage is always better.

[moo_cow]

I would not mess around with OC, its not a lot of extra damage. I would recommend the vorpal strikes and IMA.

Precision vs power attack? Power attack all the way

Earth/air stances are the only good stances IMO, and as far as the overall build focus mainly on str with a leftover in wisdom, starting with a 16 wisdom with only putting 2 ability points into wisdom I have a easy no fail stun at level 25. You can also mainly focus in wisdom but it isn't necessary, it's a personal choice. The reason I say this is wisdom is the easiest stat for a monk to boost for gear/enhancements and such, as well as what do you do with your wisdom when your against raid bosses(aside from the obvious). But do not dump str keep it up near or close to your wisdom. Any monk that dumps str is a gimp.

GEAR

Head: Epic helm of Frost
Neck: Shintao
Goggles:Tharnes
Trinket: Str +3 planar focus trinket or /litany of the dead
Robe: +3/+8 wisdom spider spun caparison
Bracers: gs min2 or /Epic Jidz-Tet'ka/Epic bracers of the claw/epic scorched bracers
Gloves: Epic charged gauntlets or /Epic gloves of the claw
Cloak: Epic Envenomed
Belt: Epic spare hand
Boots: madstone boots or /
Ring 1: Kyosho's(holy burst)
Ring 2: Tier 3 ring of the stalker
Main Hand: tier 3 alchemical trash beaters/Crafted Dr breakers/grave wrappings (for orange named bosses)


Endgame gear you can aim for and not that hard to get with some grinding. I would start with the monk sun soul set since it's easy to acquire but its a loss of dps compared to this list.

[DarkGospel]

Was checking on the new items on the wiki is this thrash beater you are talking about Antipodal, Fist of Horizon?
and wouldn't be better str +8 Planar Focus instead of insghtfull str+3 Planar Focus since I can get +3(+1 +2) exceptional str from other items but +8 just from this one?

[Therigar]

starting with a 16 wisdom with only putting 2 ability points into wisdom I have a easy no fail stun at level 25

No doubt true. What about the other abilities that are WIS based?

How is your Quivering Palm? What about your Touch of Death? Are those no fail as well?

It is pretty easy to get gear that adds to stuns. So getting to a no fail or nearly no fail is not much of an accomplishment.

And, without question, stuns are a great tool for any monk.

But what I noticed is that the rate at which the much maligned QP procs goes up dramatically with high WIS. I run a light monk at the moment so don't know about ToD, but what I read says the same thing happens.

But, more importantly, you don't get to Vorpal Strike from a 16 WIS and 2 stat increases without a +5 tome. These are still rare enough that most players won't have them and won't have a reasonable expectation of getting them.

And, Vorpal Strike is worth having as anyone using it with the high WIS is going to attest to -- already are even in this thread.

[Will_Ferrer]

Ive recently LR'd my Goki to have OC and Vorpal strikes. There was much sacrifice. I lost a some DPS but gained a few neat tools and a lot more versatility, and yes I have and use precision. Against undead I reduce their fort to 17%. Yes I overwhelming crit undead. Cleave/G.cleave in conjunction with vorpal strikes and/or manslayer is pretty sweet as well. OC itself only really gives me a crit of about 150, but like said, I gave up some DPS, it bored me. I fight in the fire stance not for the damage but for the KI. Hi my name is goki and I'm addicted to ki


I dont have sense weakness on my monk but I believe 500+primary crit is not too much of a stretch...Earth stance +x1 multiplier, Trembling Earth +x2 multiplier, Overwhelming Crit +x1 multiplier (sense weakness +30% vs helpless). you could even be in the Legendary Dreadnought LV 5 destiny which would increase your damage vs helpless +50% with action boosts. IDK, just saying it wouldn't be happening all the time but it could happen more often then you think.

[moo_cow]

Was checking on the new items on the wiki is this thrash beater you are talking about Antipodal, Fist of Horizon?
and wouldn't be better str +8 Planar Focus instead of insghtfull str+3 Planar Focus since I can get +3(+1 +2) exceptional str from other items but +8 just from this one?

+8 would give you an increase of +2 str, the +3 insightful gives you +3 str ... u can have +1 exceptional that stack with the +3 but, I don't see any reliable place u can put insightful +2

[moo_cow]

No doubt true. What about the other abilities that are WIS based?

How is your Quivering Palm? What about your Touch of Death? Are those no fail as well?

It is pretty easy to get gear that adds to stuns. So getting to a no fail or nearly no fail is not much of an accomplishment.

And, without question, stuns are a great tool for any monk.

But what I noticed is that the rate at which the much maligned QP procs goes up dramatically with high WIS. I run a light monk at the moment so don't know about ToD, but what I read says the same thing happens.

But, more importantly, you don't get to Vorpal Strike from a 16 WIS and 2 stat increases without a +5 tome. These are still rare enough that most players won't have them and won't have a reasonable expectation of getting them.

And, Vorpal Strike is worth having as anyone using it with the high WIS is going to attest to -- already are even in this thread.

A no fail Quivering palm ... Quivering palm doesn't get high enough of a dc to be worth using in Epic elite(unless you dump your stats), the only useful part of it is using it on casters who have low fort dc's. Even to do that you have to dump your strength, so that's less damage on every other thing but low fort mobs. I don't have my monk atm so can't check my dc but from QP it is (10 + 12 + wisdom modifier).. so from a 22 dc you need to get to over a 50(which than doesn't even work that great), that requires a 66 wisdom I believe for a 50 dc.. So why go for so much wisdom when you can have a no fail stun dc? There are other reasons but that's not one of them. As for tod, that's much easier to acquire a good dc on. (10 +25 + 15[wisdom modifier]) = 50, not a no fail but useable it's easy to achieve that dc without dumping stats, for only a 40 wisdom. It is also pretty easy to get above that without dumping to many stats for a 52 or more dc on tod.

I didn't say anyone could get vorpal strikes from 16 +2 stat. I said that I personally can get to a no fail stun and vorpal strikes by doing that. There are workaround to that of course by putting an extra point into wisdom and just using a +4 tome. Only for the cost of 3 str.

[Irongutz2000]

Vorpal Strikes? VORPAL STRIKES??

Really? REALLY??

Vorpal Strikes is one of the biggest wastes of a feat you can choose. If they hadn't nerfed Vorpal they way they did, I might be there with ya in choosing Vorpal Strikes but...

If you're a Light Monk, a 42 STR and a 42 WIS would suit you well. If you're a Dark Monk, STR (48+) is the way to go.

Regardless, DEX is a POOR way to go.

Last time i checked its 5 damage a swing, more then claw set, how is that a waste of a feat.......really?

[Arkat]

Last time i checked its 5 damage a swing, more then claw set, how is that a waste of a feat.......really?

Because, on average, Overwhelming Critical gives my toon more than that per swing/punch per round.