Enhancements for Clonk

[TheGardes]

Thinking of creating a wis based 18/2 cleric-monk.

Looking at the enhancement trees, I'm not terribly enamored with any of them. T5 DD is kinda lame, T5 RS is nice for the aura, but the rest of the tree is rather "meh" imo. RS is about being a heal bot it seems.

So.. My thinking was "why bother with the T5's, and maybe pick up more monk enhancements".

Putting points into both ninja and shinto
Shinto : Deft Strikes for 10% offhand proc, and possibly Iron Skin for up to 15 PPR
Ninja : Acrobatic for the dodge bonus, Agility for +3 reflex saves and max dodge bonus

Ninja also lets you use short swords.

The split for Cleric enh could be :
T4 DD for the SLA, Wis, and boosts to spell power. You might be able to squeeze in T5 spell power boost if you give up iron skin
T4 RS for wis bonus and turn regen.

Thoughts?

Also, I've never played any monk splash before. Is Stunning fist really that good? vs say Dodge?

I"m thinking of using short swords (triple positive for undead, lit2, and i have some paralyzers), although I am also saving nice handwraps (got a L14 paralyzing set, and some good radiance wraps).

thoughts? tx

[Makkuroi]

My human clonk has

-radiant aura (it is that good)
-warpriest ameliorating strike (plus some PRR and DR, blur, and incite, and of course 2 wis)... i dont think its a must have, but the extra resilience from prr, DR, and blur is nice, and ameliorating strike is even more free healing, double procs with TWF.
-dd only the +2 saves and some spellpower to get there

-shintao only 1 pt for healing amp and spellpower. Iron skin doesnt work for me since I go water stance most of the time. Deft strikes are ok I guess.
-ninja spy 2d6 sneak, +3 reflex and dodge

-human 1 wis 10% healing amp

stunning fist: it is that good, the dc is much higher than your spells, its free, double procs with TWF, and spell resistance and deathward dont work against it (looking at you, orange named drow priestess!).

[TheGardes]

Im assuming the SLAs aren't that effective at higher/epic levels? Even if they're maxed/empowered...

[Makkuroi]

I guess holy smite is still nice at epic levels, but Im in GMoF destiny so I rather use fists or my ki attacks if I need range. In Exalted Angel, the SLAs are probably pretty useful since they charge your divine wrath quickly and do more damage.

edit: I think you have to choose your style, you either sit in melee and use stunning fist a lot, or you stand back and snipe with SLAs... on a char who does less melee, DD still makes a lot of sense, but in melee Id rather just concentrate on melee stuff and keep ki attacks and non-sla spells as backup. While leveling up to 20, I used DD for quite a while, especially searing light and holy smite. Having any ranged option at all is very valueable in some quests.

[ThomasHunter]

I've been running my first clonk a bit finally and he is a blast! I just did the ML and gave him two levels of monk. I agree that Aura is THAT good. You can throw a burst occasionally as well as needed.

Been running with pugs in GH and running those on elite. I start at roughly 45 ki and have stunned my way through about everything. I'm using Stonedust handwraps (not currently upgraded).

My one issue is that the overall DPS seems low. might be 50/50 on being able to pummel a baddie down before he un-stuns. I think the Stonedust wraps simply aren't what I need. I have a pair of the GH elite ones with 2 red slots which might be better.

Other than that minor issue, this is really fun to play!

[Makkuroi]

stonedusts suck dps-wise, either get some good lootgen wraps (with festival damage maybe) or craft holy +stun with a red slot (for stunning/casting) and holy +bleeding for boss dps.

[Kriogen]

...
thoughts? tx

Radiant Serveant is about not being heal bot. Heal bot would be "stand at the back and cast heal". RS tree, with healing aura alows you to self heal while you punch bad guys. Its even centered on self with short range, so you have to be in the middle of the battle. Healing burst is the same. Centered on self with low range.

In War Priest tree, I went for Haste, Smite Foe with debuff and some PRR.

I skiped Deciple. I made a choice: must have solid heals (its why I picked Cleric as main class) and then Melee or Caster. Can't be good in all direction. You only end with that " master of none".

[painkiller3]

Radiant Serveant is about not being heal bot. Heal bot would be "stand at the back and cast heal". RS tree, with healing aura alows you to self heal while you punch bad guys. Its even centered on self with short range, so you have to be in the middle of the battle. Healing burst is the same. Centered on self with low range.

In War Priest tree, I went for Haste, Smite Foe with debuff and some PRR.

I skiped Deciple. I made a choice: must have solid heals (its why I picked Cleric as main class) and then Melee or Caster. Can't be good in all direction. You only end with that " master of none".

Agree re : RS

To anyone who wants to melee with a cleric...the free healing of RS aura and ameliorating strike (with extra 1W) is priceless. To get a paladin past life I'm seriously considering 16 pal/4 cleric just for ameliorating strike (unlike aura it's based on character level instead of cleric level)