Void Strike: Staves or Single-Weapon?

[DrWily]

With U33 in full effect (and oozes effectively eradicating handwraps' effectiveness in quests where oozes are available) I'm looking back to making another Monk build. As I did with my previous one I intend to do a Henshin build. I find it to be the most fun, being able to access both light and dark path monk finishers as well as having the void finishers as well. One key ability I loved specifically was Void Strike and it's vorpal effect.

What I'd like to know is what is better; to have PSWF to double the vorpal range (works well with Fellblade as that has other vorpal effects that can proc while VS is on cooldown, also +30% attack speed is always nice too), or to have quarterstaves to fit with the Henshin tree (+25% doublestrike chance, and also +15% attack speed with a rogue splash, staff spec is also nice since you lock yourself into Henshin T5 anyway).

[JonBiryon]

It's hard to say, basically you're asking the community what *you* are going to like more, which is subjective, 'cause there isn't an absolute "better" here...

If really what you really care about is the vorpal proc (personally I wouldn't in your place count so much on a proc that happens 5%/10% of the time on an *active* press because it's too rare and minor), then for sure go for perfect swf, it's also a good, reliable line that grants you good speed.

Staves are great and even more so on a monk now, especially acrobat-splashed. You get more ki, and Staff Specialization is a big deal as well.

One far-fetched option however would be using Shining Crescents, which are both swf(they're actually a sickle) and a staff, but.... they're not an amazing weapon other than the gimmick, and also good luck getting them =P

[Saekee]

Do both--use the staves on bosses.

PSWF will make void strike proc 10% time which will instakill any non-boss. You can swing a toothpick and it will not matter. On bosses, switch to the staff due to the better crit range and multiplier (you might need to crunch some numbers here to see what works best since the Fellblade is strong and has an expanded crit range).

[unbongwah]

What I'd like to know is what is better; to have PSWF to double the vorpal range (works well with Fellblade as that has other vorpal effects that can proc while VS is on cooldown, also +30% attack speed is always nice too), or to have quarterstaves to fit with the Henshin tree (+25% doublestrike chance, and also +15% attack speed with a rogue splash, staff spec is also nice since you lock yourself into Henshin T5 anyway).

I think that depends on what's more important to you: maximizing the chances of Void Strike instakills (in which case PSWF is definitely the way to go); or maximizing your overall DPS with VS as a perk, in which case staves are probably the way to go.

One far-fetched option however would be using Shining Crescents, which are both swf(they're actually a sickle) and a staff, but.... they're not an amazing weapon other than the gimmick, and also good luck getting them =P

I actually claimed a SC or two during the anniversary event just to test some build ideas. Some staff-specific bonuses like Staff Specialization don't work with Shining Crescents; but Acrobatics and Quick Strike do. And they benefit from SWF but not THF feats.

Do both--use the staves on bosses.

Interesting idea: problem is you can't take both THF and SWF feat chains - so you're losing DPS with one or the other. OTOH, one interesting facet of Quick Strike is the doublestrike buff persists even if you switch weapons. So while it's a PITA to juggle weapons, you can equip staff -> Quick Strike -> switch to SWF -> melee until QS CD expires -> rinse, repeat. And you get Quick Draw free from lvl 6 Henshin core, so at least that helps reduce weapon-swapping delay.

If OP did go SWF w/longswords, my first thought is to do either monk 12 / ftr 6 so he can added Strike w/No Thought (Fellblade becomes 15-20/x3), maybe with rog 2 splash for Acrobatics to use staves as a fallback; or perhaps dust off the old monk 6 / pal 14 combo for Holy Sword. Or maybe something even more flavorful: rog 13 / monk 6 focused on lots of SAs as well as Void Strike but no crit bonuses to longswords.

[Vish]

I see this as pure vs multiclass
Do you have some nice weapons you like to center with?
Then go mc and go swf

But if you want to be a monk, go pure
See my thread on the void dragon in monks
Pure henshin
It's not specced yet, just my exploration of void strike

But I think I will have to settle for a mc to get what I'm looking for too...