Drow Ninja for New Players (U33)

[unbongwah]

Disclaimer: I haven't played a pure monk in ages because...well, I was waiting for Turbine to buff them to their former glory again, basically. So I'm waaay out of practice when it comes to playing monks. And I'm betting that Turbine isn't done with the monk pass yet, based as much on past class passes as wishful thinking. So I'm hoping that pure monk will become stronger than it currently is.

That said, here's a pure Ninja build based on drow racial weapons (i.e., short swords + shuriken) updated for U33. It's mostly based on Teachersyn's Poison Master, albeit with some important tweaks.

Ninja of Vulkoor
Monk 20
Lawful Neutral Drow


Stats
               28pt     Level Up
               ----     --------
Strength         8       4: WIS
Dexterity       18       8: WIS
Constitution    12      12: DEX
Intelligence    12      16: WIS
Wisdom          16      20: WIS
Charisma        10      24: WIS
                        28: WIS

Skills
          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
         ------------------------------------------------------------
Concent   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Spot      3  2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2     2  23
Hide      4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
Move Si   4  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  1  23
UMD       2     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     11
Tumble    1                                                            1
         ------------------------------------------------------------
         20  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5  5


Feats

 1        : Point Blank Shot
 1 Monk   : Two Weapon Fighting
 2 Monk   : Precision
 3        : Rapid Shot
 3 Monk   : Path of Inevitable Dominion
 6        : Precise Shot
 6 Monk   : Ten Thousand Stars
 9        : Improved Two Weapon Fighting
12        : Improved Critical: Piercing
15        : Improved Precise Shot
18        : Greater Two Weapon Fighting
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Improved Martial Arts
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction OR Improved Critical: Thrown
28 Destiny: Doubleshot
29 Destiny: Dire Charge OR Deific Warding
30 Epic   : Blinding Speed
30 Legend : Scion of: Ethereal Plane


Enhancements (80 AP)

Ninja Spy (41 AP)

Basic Ninja Training, Advanced Ninja Training, Shadow Veil, Poisoned Darts, Diversion, Ninja Master
Ninjutsu: Poison Exploit, Sneak Attack Training, Acrobatic II
Ninjutsu: Poisoned Soul, Sneak Attack Training, Melee/Ranged Power Boost III
Ninjutsu: Impending Doom, Sneak Attack Training, Sting of the Ninja, Wisdom
Ninjutsu: Wave of Despair, Deadly Exploits III, Sneak Attack Training
Touch of Death, Deadly Striker, Crippling Strike, Shadow Double

Henshin Mystic (21 AP)

Riddle of Fire, Ki Bolt, Sounding Staff, Incinerating Wave
Porous Soul, Mystic Training III, Way of the: Patient Tortoise
Static Charge, Fists of Iron, Contemplation III
Lighting the Candle III, Wisdom

Shintao (11 AP)

Bastion of Purity, Protection from Tainted Creatures, Iron Hand
Deft Strikes III, Ki Shout
Iron Skin III

Drow (7 AP)

Spell Resistance, Dexterity
Xen'drik Weapon Training
Xen'drik Weapon Training

Leveling Guide

Hen0 Riddle of Fire; Spy0 Basic Ninja Training; Spy1 Sneak Attack Training
Hen1 Way of the: Patient Tortoise; Spy1 Acrobatic I, II
Spy0 Advanced Ninja Training; Spy1 Ninjutsu: Poison Exploit; Hen1 Porous Soul; Hen1 Mystic Training I
Hen0 Ki Bolt; Hen2 Fists of Iron; Spy2 Melee/Ranged Power Boost I
Spy2 Melee/Ranged Power Boost II, III; Hen2 Static Charge; Hen1 Mystic Training II
Spy0 Shadow Veil; Hen0 Sounding Staff; Spy3 Sting of the Ninja
Shi0 Bastion of Purity; Shi1 Deft Strikes I, II, III
Shi1 Ki Shout; Shi2 Iron Skin I, II
Shi2 Iron Skin III; Shi0 Protection from Tainted Creatures; Shi0 Iron Hand; Spy2 Ninjutsu: Poisoned Soul
Spy2 Sneak Attack Training; Spy3 Sneak Attack Training
Spy3 Wisdom; Spy4 Deadly Exploits I
Reset Shintao

Ninja Spy: Poisoned Darts
(none)
(none)
Ninjutsu: Impending Doom
Ninjutsu: Wave of Despair, Deadly Exploits III, Sneak Attack Training
Touch of Death, Deadly Striker, Shadow Double
Spy5 Crippling Strike; Shi0 Bastion of Purity; Shi1 Deft Strikes I
Shi1 Deft Strikes II, III; Shi1 Ki Shout
Shi2 Iron Skin I, II, III; Shi0 Protection from Tainted Creatures
Shi0 Iron Hand; Hen3 Lighting the Candle I, II, III
Hen2 Contemplation I, II, III; Hen1 Mystic Training III
Spy0 Diversion; Hen3 Wisdom; Hen0 Incinerating Wave
Dro0 Spell Resistance; Dro0 Dexterity
Dro1 Xen'drik Weapon Training; Spy0 Ninja Master; Dro2 Xen'drik Weapon Training


Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought

Legendary Tactics III, Extra Action Boost III, Constitution
Constitution
Critical Damage III, Haste Boost III
Volcano's Edge
Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz

Twists of Fate (31 fate points)

Balanced Attacks (Tier 3 Primal)
Whirling Wrists (Tier 3 Shiradi)
Pin (Tier 2 Shiradi)
Dance of Flowers (Tier 1 Flowers)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)

The first thing you have to decide with this build is whether DEX or WIS is going to be your primary stat. DEX-based means higher base damage modifier for both melee & ranged, extra shuriken procs from Shuriken Expertise + Advanced Ninja Training, and higher Reflex saves; WIS-based means more Ranged Power from Ten Thousand Stars (TTS), higher DCs on monk abilities, and higher Will saves. I went WIS-based because it feels more, well, monk-y to me; but both stats are important and DEX-based makes more sense if you'd rather focus on shuriken than melee.

In either case, gameplay-wise you alternate between shuriken using TTS and melee using short swords; both help you build up stacks of Ninja Poison via Sting of the Ninja, which you trigger using your Poison Exploit finisher. [See Teachersyn's post for more details.] The first major difference between my build and Teachersyn's is I skip Whirlwind Attack (which I don't think is worth the 5-feat investment) to add more ranged feats, up to Improved Precise Shot. Also I picked up Touch of Death (ToD); that's one of those abilities which is great in heroics but lousy in epics because the damage doesn't scale. Still, this is more of a heroic leveling configuration; APs are easily respecced once you hit the point where ToD is no longer worthwhile.

Enhancements: the core requirements are 41 APs Ninja for the capstone and tier-5s; 11 APs Henshin for the first three cores (+30 Melee Power +9 PRR and free Quick Draw); and 8 APs Shintao for Deft Strikes + Iron Skin (+10% offhand +20 PRR). That leaves you with 20 APs, which is juuust enough to squeeze in Venomed Blades like Syn's build does, but with virtually nothing left over for the other PrEs (or Harper if you have it). Instead I decided to squeeze in more Henshin (Light the Candle and next core for another +10 MP +3 PRR) and two more Shintao cores for the extra heal amp (also gives the option of switching to unarmed for DR-breaking purposes if necessary). Alternatively, I might invest more into Shintao for Jade Strike / Tomb of Jade if they work with ki weapons; like I said, it's been a long time since I played a monk.

Twists are a wishlist. Balanced Attacks + Whirling Wrists are the most important ones for TWF and thrower DPS, respectively, IMO. That takes 15 Fate pts (45 ED lvls), though, so it'll be a while before you can have both on a first-lifer...

The exact leveling order of Enhancements doesn't matter too much. The important break points are:

• Level 3: definitely take Advanced Ninja Training here, as that provides DEX to dmg and extra shuriken procs.
• Level 6: you should take both the Ninja and Henshin cores (Shadow Veil and Sounding Staff) and Sting of the Ninja. It's also when you get TTS and can add that to your combat rotation. This should be where your Ninja starts hitting its stride.
• Level 12: if necessary, respec enhancements so you can afford your tier-5 Ninja abilities (ToD, Shadow Double, etc.) while still keeping at least 11 APs Henshin.