Theory crafting the celestial monk

[Vish]

Level 5
Water
Str 20
Dex 24
Con 22
Int 22
Wis 32
Cha 17
Hp 140
Hamp 28
Sp 40
Pos 68
Ki 21/145
AC 57
Dodge 19/27
Fort 16
Reflex 17
Will 25
Bab 3/5
Doublestrike 9
Melee speed 3
Melee power 22
Sr 0
Prr 26
Mrr 20
Fort 76
Stunning fist 25
+2 vorpal +24 to hit +30 damage

Ap
9 henshin
6 ninja
1 Shintao
1 aasimar (racial)

Notes
And so the journey begins
A bald headed, but red bearded fool on his way to shambala
The tattoo of the Hiram's on his forehead,
He is a monk ascended
He has heard of a realm where there are folk in need
Barovia, a demiplane of dread
Ruled by a powerful vampire
He will venture there, seeking means
By joining hands with others
To put an end to this evil
For the balance hangs...

[Vish]

Level 8
Water
Str 25
Dex 27
Con 28
Int 24
Wis 38
Cha 18
Hp 221
Hamp 40
Sp 40
Pos 112
Ki 71/190
AC 59
Dodge 25/29
Fort 25
Reflex 24
Will 36
Bab 6/8
Doublestrike 9
Melee speed 4
Melee power 37
Sr 0
Fort 105
Prr 22
Mrr 13

Stunning fist 37
Staff of seer +27 to hit +47 damage

Ap
16 henshin
6 ninja
6 aasimar
1 Shintao

Notes
The leap after 5 is to run 3bc, and deleras
On reaper then elite and mass xp
Enough to 8
For slavers gear
Having done this in a past life,
Having acquired tokens of appreciation
Powerful magics
That make it heroically all the way to Gianthold
Nothing is new here
Have been using these monks tools for many lives now
And they are a tried and true welcome to the arsenal
Perhaps this new land of Barovia will enjoy heroic fruit
But I will seek it first at its source,
In the legend of Strahd
For now, I take my respite,
Knowing that the war forged wizards of cannith
Will provide my gear
At least, til the upper epics
Where the slave lords reveal their prizes
And other artifacts are donned
I eagerly await this new land
Who knows what treasures it will reveal...

But for now, I journey to the vault
And seek the shard of the sword of shadow
A most coveted thing
Maybe I will be lucky this life?
Maybe the reapers will weigh their influence
What's that?
It won't be needed?
There have been discovered,
Intelligent weapons?


Secondary notes
Had this thread moved from fvs to monk. It's about monk builds, so...

[Vish]

Level 13
Water
Str 26
Dex 28
Con 31
Int 25
Wis 42
Cha 27
Hp 374
Hamp 40
Sp 158
Pos 147
Ki 111/250
AC 81
Dodge 30/32
Fort 26
Reflex 25
Will 38
Bab 9/13
Doublestrike 9
Melee speed 6
Melee power 53
Sr 23
Prr 43
Mrr 37
Fort 110

Balance 33
Conc 37
Heal 35
Jump 33
Spot 39
Umd 28 (23)

Gear
Head rng wiz118 accuracy9
Neck cc 7con3 devotion 87 flaselife20
Eyes cc 7seeker3 deadly6
Trinket slavers symbol or litany
Body emissarys
Cloak of night ml12
Bracers cc str7 sheltering17 heavy fort
Belt cc dodge7 natarmor7 prot4
Ring1 cc 7cha3
Ring2 slavers wis
Boots rng ff speed6 insdodge1
Gloves spectral

Staff of seer 1.5(2d6) 16-20 x3
+52 to hit +55 damage

Ap
34 henshin
6 ninja
3 Shintao
7 aasimar

Notes
Even stats, not using litany yet
Gs goggles lose 35 hp but gain seeker deadly
Ap is min. Next into Shintao.
The only stories I got, went out to restless isles. Did ghola fan, found seer chest, rerolled but no staff. And I slipped into the end of a von5 leet. Finished fine went into 6 and ppl started leaving. Was down to 4 of us, and we fared well until the nukes started dropping. We were able to Rez a few times, but in the end velah got us with inferno. It was a noble effort. Also, pulled scales of malice from black and blue on a reroll. Was in there at level 8 doing reaper.
One of the main observations I want to make is about henshin ki use. For the most part it is unused. Not a stunning fist or tomb build, so no regular ki uses. There is fists of light, which runs 40, and is used in reaper teams, or running leet for ez, but that is rarely used otherwise. I always have a full ki bar and nothing to use it on. That will change at 15 for quivering palm, my goto. I mean, I don't use ki attacks, don't use finishers. My normal auto attack is better and faster. So in general, henshins don't run ki. That will weigh in in epics, where I am going to legendary dreadnaought. I can twist in dance and cocoon. And even consecration and sacred ground. That will have a double effect when I get cauldron. At 18. And I just took kiss they sky, a boss beater. That uses ki, but only gets used on long beat downs.
So the point is you don't need to worry about ki in henshin. I always have a full bar. So that bespeaks concentration. I found on my multiclass staff builds I didn't need to put points here. But on this final build I'm maxxing skills so I'll have prob 100 concentration when done. And I'm taking ki shout, so it's good to have aggro management. Because everything runs by me, I swear. It's got to be that 1 ap into subtlety I'm thinking. Either that or AI just disregards monk. It makes for great flanking attacks, or zerging forward and going after casters. That's what I usually do. Or go after the boss. Lot of options when you don't carry aggro.
Got some comment about how bad ass I look
Was running with a group of talkers and we were rolling gh. And got commented that I looked bad ass. I joked it was the red reaper armor, but then joked that it was the glowing tattoo on my head. Yep, that's what it was. I always go bald headed on Kil, and his little red beard makes him look kinda Russian. But I gave him normal green eyes instead of the white colorless ones, so he looks human.
Just the tattoo tells the story.

on reaper points
I've got almost 30. Running nothing but heroic reaper lives this last 6 months. And mostly just r1-3. And now I destroy r1. Running solo with cleric hire is pretty easy. I ran into a guy who hated reaper. We were doing sands walk ups. I said reaper, because I got like 200 more hp. And do great dps, and just need a hire to keep me going. Had a long winded exchange on how it's just a gimmick. I didn't really agree. I mean the whole games a gimmick, get your fun where you want. But I hadn't run into many that hated it. But it was kinda sad, he had only about 150 hp to my like 400. And ya he got killed, we're doing purge and those fire Reaver's got aoe and he had no evasion. Oh well, shoulda been running reaper...
But point is, I didn't work too hard for 30 points, just a consistent effort. Ya I can run higher reaper, but I do melee, so never usually go over 3. Unless I run with fire, then I just watch the show and beat down the boss.
I am rolling back into epics, and will see where my reaper xp comes from. They patched it, so I should keep up. Double xp for dailys at cap. And well see how ravenloft fits into this. Lots will be doing r1 for daily, and loot drops. Gotta feed those sentients.

So overall, cruising thru another heroic life. Using the staff of the seer, though, is just making it too easy...
If only there were an epic version.

[Vish]

Level 18
Water
Str 27
Dex 34
Con 33
Int 21
Wis 50
Cha 18
Hp 517
Hamp 107
Sp 40
Pos 163
Ki /320
AC 104
Dodge 31/34
Fort 42
Reflex 38
Will 53
Bab 13/18
Doublestrike 9
Melee speed 8
Melee power 66
Sr 28
Fort 154
Prr 73
Mrr 33

Balance 41
Conc 56
Heal 34
Jump 39
Spot 48
Umd 22.5

Ap
35 henshin
9 ninja
17 Shintao
12 aasimar

Gear
Head rng insfort43 stunning7
Neck cc 7con3 devotion87 falselife20
Eyes cc 7seeker3 deadly6
Trinket planar compass
Body black dragon robes
Cloak of night ml12
Bracers cc str7 sheltering17 heavy fort
Belt cc dodge7 natarmor7 prot4
Ring1 prowess w resist5
Ring2 chieftain w conc9
Boots rng speed8 ff
Gloves cc 7dex3 hamp27

Staff of seer +71 +62
Stonebeam +64 +51
+5 impvorpal +64 +51

Notes
Pretty good dps even in mid reaper
Got tough choices to make on upcoming ap spread
Ive been thinking of dropping kta for epic leveling and go with tomb of jade. And I just put 3 more ap into ninja for 30mp boost. Totally forgot about that. Every since I been running monk split with divine might or will I keep looking for a clicky for melee boost. May want to keep it. But trade off comes in hamp from aasimar. Need 7 min, 41 min henshin, and 9 ninja leaves 23, just enough to fit it in. So I also took dismissing strike, excellent for elementals.
And quivering palm is working nicely. Bought a stunning helm off the ah had extra fort on it. Have a dc of around 40?
Got wis to 50. That's benchmark.
And now I get cauldron of flame. Been too long since I ran a pure monk. Heading into epics, and got like 12 days left. It's thanksgiving, but it feels like the 12 days of Christmas.

[Vish]

Level 20
Ring of fire
Self immolation is the pugilists dream.
Becoming one with the flame is the goal
Pure energy
To bathe in divine light
Pure love
Hands weaving a web
Of death and destruction
Pure vengeance
Wielding both the holy and unholy
Spinning circles
Arising a cauldron of flame
A ring of fire
Dancing like the Tao
Living in the now
Pure freedom

Serenity: Your understanding of things has evolved to a level that defies description.

Level 21
Water, dreadnaought
Str 31
Dex 39
Con 42
Int 32
Wis 56
Cha 25
Hp 871
Hamp 90
Sp 243
Pos 214
AC 124
Dodge 35/35
Fort 53
Reflex 46
Will 62
Bab 16/21
Doublestrike 20
Melee speed 8
Melee power 112+70
Sr 30
Prr 84
Mrr 41
Fort 125

Balance 48
Conc 76
Heal 42
Jump 46
Spot 56
Umd 29

Ap
41 henshin
7 aasimar
9 ninja
24 Shintao

Gear
Head cc wiz203 stunning11 cha6
Neck cc 10con4 devotion 115 flaselife30
Eyes cc 7seeker3 deadly6
Trinket planar compass
Body black dragon robes
Cloak cc int10 dodge10 resist6
Bracers cc str10 sheltering25 fort115 prot6
Belt cc doublestrike11 natarmor10 insdodge4 good luck
Ring1 chieftain conc9
Ring2 prowess resist5
Boots rng speed8 ff
Gloves cc 10dex4 hamp40

Stonebeam 17-20 x3
+74 to hit +54 damage

Staff of the seer +82 +66

Notes
Ran with run this afternoon, did spies, LOD and von1-2 reaper1
Got me to 21
Put on the 21 cc gear. Rearranged rap to include core4 grim, +100hp
Running in dreadnaought. Had issues keeping the blitz up, then it started working.
Twists cocoon, dance of flowers, consecration, sacred ground
The loh are unreal on a wis melee build. Regen. Keeps me super alive and in the game. Got cocoon too, but loh heals for 500 hp. So it's insta save, and insta save your buddy. This is make or break on this build. Aasimar a godsend for monks.
Split the ap into Shintao for core4 and tomb of jade. Tomb just too important for crowd control. I got quivering palm too, but that only works on trash. Tomb is for reapers or champs.
Not running kta. Small gains on int and no dire charge yet.
Gear is about max as I can get it. Need new goggles. But that's it until 28 for slavers. It will carry me through epic reaping.
Will have over 1000 hp in reaper in low epics. Old stats were to 1150 at 30, so this build should hit 1300, with reaper boni. That along with a triple pos and loh will be pretty tough to beat.
I am going to try and run an epic reaper life. So has been easy in a party at r1. That's all I need, and to see where rxp is at.
Destiny awaits...

[Vish]

Level 24
Str 32
Dex 40
Con 43
Int 33
Wis 58
Cha 26
Hp 969
Sp 243
Ki /360
AC 121
Dodge 35/35
Fort 55
Reflex 49
Will 66
Bab 17/22
Melee power 121
Prr 84
Mrr 41

Gear
Body spider spun caparison

Tf w 1st degree 6(1d6) 17-20 x3 +72 +60
Stout oak 4(2d6) 17-20 x4 +68 +56
Staff of seer 3.5(2d6) 15-20 x3 +75 +68

Notes
Blasted to 24 on dailys and some explorers
Harder to find r1 runs at level
I expected low lfms for epic, they're there but hard to find at level. So much quests are 21-23, with gh at 24
I looked but didnt find, so i just leveled off dailys and some quests.
I forgot how massive xp is in epics. Running first time bonus but no bb, I did all these quests in heroic. I don't care, it was important to level herOic. So I'll just run dailys and various misc until 30.
I imagine 30 runs will be slavers and ravenloft. That should be enough for rxp and loots.
Gear wise, spider spun for armor, not much improvement over dragon robes, but adds conc and vitality, more for a Shintao build.
Weapon wise I have tf at 24. But the winner is the stout oak, with a x4 crit, and higher base damage. Only thing is it breaks every quest.
So I carry 3 or 4 staves, an improved vorpal too.
Dps is through the roof, I'm seeing around 200 avg per hit, with crits up to 2000? It's quite a tear so far. Just jump into the middle of mobs cast cauldron and go to town with cleaves.
Running dreadnought, don't really blitz all that much, learning it, but use the cleaves. The one has knockdown. And at 24 took Great cleave, and I see the cleaves sometimes reset the dreadnaought ones. So cool. Pretty much a stand in one place and cleave kinda build. But the quivering palm and tomb of jade are great too. Qp not hitting as much, but tomb for champs or reapers goto.
Overall, kicking much ass in epics. Enjoying the growth I got out of running all those heroic lives. Still don't have the ap to show tho, that will come after ravenloft wears off a bit, in another 3 months. Then I'll have another go round for racial ap, after I've seen the ap spread I'll use at 30. But I'm going aasimar, so at least seven points would almost pay for kta.
Again, the loh are a life saver. Keeps me Ina battle when noones healing, along with cocoon. Don't use consecration that much, I have small spell pool, but it's there for emergencies.
Thinking of switching to divine crusader. That would free up consecration and sacred ground, which would be sense weakness and grim precision, since I'm not using tactics or anything else from dreadnaought, other than cleaves and increased power attack. And I could get +4 more wisdom, so some adds to DCs.
Two levels to LGS and my triple pos staff. Hallelujah.

[Vish]

Level 28
Water, dreadnaought
Str 33
Dex 42
Con 59
Int 34
Wis 74
Cha 27
Hp 1267
Hamp 90
Sp 243
Pos 342
AC 131
Dodge 35/35
Fort 71
Reflex 61
Will 82
Bab 19/24
Doublestrike 20
Melee speed 15
Melee power 141
Sr 30
Fort 130
Prr 75
Mrr 37

Balance 57
Conc 104
Heal 58
Jump 54
Spot 72
Umd 42

Gear
Head cc wiz203 stunning11 cha6
Neck slavers 17con4 resist14
Eyes mentaus
Trinket lslavers symbol festivewis true blood
Body caparison
Cloak ccint10 dodge10 resist6
Bracers cc str10 sheltering25 fort115 prot6
Belt cc natarmor10 insdodge4 goodluck2
Ring1 slavers 17wis4 devotion185 conc22
Ring2 lprowess
Boots rng speed9 ff
gloves cc 10dex4 hamp40

Triple pos LGS 7(1d6) 17-20 x3 +93 to hit +75 damage

Notes
74 wis. havent put on the cc34 inswis7 cloak. So 81? That's a big gain of at least 6 over my last build.
Still don't have the full 5 pc. slavers, pieces don't fit right yet.
I've got to wait to 29 for new armor. That'll free up bracers for slavers. They're str and stunning. And can't swap helm and gloves till 30, when I get cc34 dex gloves w power200 to cover sp. boots also go at 29, with devil commanders. And belt goes at 30 with int wis cloak. Lanimated rope for dodge. Even tho I'm looking my dodge and it's maxxed out with only 14 adds, so maybe a newer cc34 belt.
Basically I've got to do a swap. Originally built the slavers bracers with str, but will prob remake them with dex. Then recraft the gloves with str and ins dex. That's only change I'm planning. Don't need str on this build, and would pick up 6 points dex.
Now ravenloft loot. First I have to get it. God I hope it's not a tough raid. That'll be ok because I'm pretty maxxed out on gear as is. I've looked over new stuff, and there is 2 pieces from silent avenger set, the cloth outfit and the dex 20 goggles. Those would fit in, replacing the mentaus, and bump my sheltering by 14 points. But I got to get them first, no idea how long that may take. There are other items, but it's more of a collect them all, then reorder the jigsaw puzzle. The new stuff will make a mess out of what I got now, for really only marginal gains. So I'll just collect goodies for the first 3 months.
Haven't ran CE yet, I need pa for cleaves in dreadnaought. So I don't know if that switch will happen, maybe if I go dc, but I haven't yet.
Running the holy staff, the leg affirmation makes a ton of difference. I never usually dip into my normal hit points, just fight off temp. So far everything a breeze, other than that leg ts, where monster had like 35k hp. Can't kill that fast. Guess that's why there's 11 others. But running EE no problem, and doing little reaper. That will change at 30.
For sentient weapons, going for the unholy staff out of raid 2. I will feed it named items, and thus have 2 staffs, the holy and the unholy. Seems fitting somehow. I will see how the hot swapping goes. So much easier to run with one. And the LGS doesnt break.
I was going to talk about special attacks, but I'll save that bit for 30. Next post will be 30. Prob by this weekend, if I get a shroud run in. Still need to flag.

[Vish]

Level 30
Water, running pa in dreadnaought
Str 46
Dex 51
Con 59
Int 39
Wis 80
Cha 21
Hp 1335
Hamp 91
Sp 240
Pos 359
Ki 400/415
AC 169
Dodge 41/41
Fort 76
Reflex 80
Will 92
Bab 20/25
Doublestrike 34
Melee speed 15
Melee power 149 (249 with blitz and boost)
Sr 30
Fort 268
Prr 113
Mrr 50

Ap
41 henshin core6 staff training spec and elcas
12 ninja melee boost mdb and shadow veil
8 aasimar loh and wings
12 Shintao 20 prr and dismissing strike
8 Harper kta

Skills
Balance 63
Conc 106
Heal 63
Jump 63
Spot 77
Umd 41

Special attacks
Kta adds 7
W kta
Dire charge 104
Dismissing strike 104
Finishers 104
Stunning fist 99
Quivering palm 73

Helm lhardened hide prot8
Neck lslavers 17con4 resist14
Eyes mentaus
Trinket lslavers symbol festwis true blood
Body outfit of avenger good luck draconic soul
Cloak cc int15 inswis7 w ff
Bracers lslavers 17str4 accuracy28 stunning20
Belt lanimated rope
Ring1 lslavers 17wis4 devotion185 conc22
Ring2 lprowess
Boots ldevils
Gloves cc 15dex7 hamp61 power200

LGS staff +108 +83

Notes
TA da level 30
Not much reaper, running dailys. But so fast to 30. Didn't even shroud.
Put my gear on. Slotted ff in cloak.
Numbers are looking good.
Rearranged ap. dropped Shintao from 24 to 12. Puts points into kta, ninja for 2 mdb and shadow veil, and 1 into ass for wings. Lost the tomb of jade. Well see how it works out. Also lost couple cores Shintao, but the wings add +30 hamp and pos. so make it up for 1 ap. and gives me my signature. Grabbed veil, never used it but I'll test it out.
Defenses running good without CE. AC 168 and dodge 41. Plus lesser displace and veil.
Offenses running great. Figured out the trick to dreadnaought is just playing your cleaves, since momentum swing and strike reset when using each other, and with cleaves. So ideal is to cleave reset ms then ms. And try to keep repeating that cycle.
I was averaging like 300 per hit running full blitz in r2. I've seen mp hit 244, and now to 249. So a sentient weapon adding 30 to this isn't much gain. See? Tho the Golgotha staff is like 8.5 base. With dance to 10. And I saw on new posts they added some extra + to the base 1d6, so like 1d6+3 base. So maybe I'll see 400 with it, and it'll be a good swap weapon. An unholy staff to compleat the holy LGS one. Holy with a taint of evil...
I've already talked gear. Just need blank shackles and I can create a new slavers bracers with dex. Got the mats. And new str gloves.
On special attacks
Rearranged ap for kta. Adds 7 since I have 38 int. even with a festive I can't get it to break 8. Need increnents of 4. So I'll go with lucky number seven.
Lead with dire charge at 104. That's a good number.
Then quivering palm at 73. Not seeing it hit much, but I've trained myself to pause and qp on high value tgts.
And dismissing strike. A lovely special and elemental killer. Works almost always. One of my favorites.
Stunning fist at 99. That's good if I ever use it. Haven't went the route of hot swapping to wraps and back, but well see what ravenloft brings. It just like CE, I've got multiple modes on this build, so I can be super flex in attack or defense. Adds great depth. But as is this is just waiting for use. Still glad I have it tho. Who thinks of putting stunning fist on a staff build?
And finishers are 104. But I don't even have these on my hot bar. Had to drag mountain down just to look at it. Because the autoattack dps is just so high, compared to cycling finishers. Really the lost cause of monks. They made a beer special so you don't have to play old school anymore. Just hold down your attack button...
Tomb would have been a 104 too, so high value pay off. But I noticed running slaves the other nite, I used dire charge and qp all the time, and sat on tomb, so it was a better trade off to drop it and pick up kta for full time use. And some defenses.

So now I'm back to 30, and the landscape changes. Only matters here is reaper runs. And getting your cycles down, and learning all the tricks of your toons.
Gonna do some comparisons, but overall I'm super stoked with aasimar. The regen loh is just too awesome for melee build, and wis at that. So far 80 is highest standing stat I've seen. So benchmark for me. In wisdom too. Previous was 78 on the dark shaman build, and vish my cleric has 74. Now I got super monk.
The celestial monk.

[silinteresting]

nice informative read glad your having fun.

your friend sil

[Vish]

Update
Dex 57
Reflex 89
Hp 1375
AC 177
Added falselife40 to the boots. Added blindness immunity to the goggles. Crafted slavers dex bracers. Do I put armor piercing or seeker on them? Also, still need to augment slot my slavers items. Their a set, but no augments yet, guess I don't need them.
Twists are 4 2 2 1 1 . Sense weakness, lithe, running with the wind, dance of flowers, and cocoon.
Ki 319/415
Heal 63
Thinking of slotting a heal gem on the slavers wis.
Because this monk is certainly a healer. Cocoon, hands and fists. Saving buttocks everywhere. Finding I'm a tough hombre. Tanked auglarossa, and was doing great in ts and shroud.
Because its been a year since I been at 30 on a monk, and last was the dark shaman, a deep gnome. Prob would have had the 42 int for +8 on kta, and the only other diff is the +2 wis I got from racials.
Gear is exactly the same. A year later. Except the dex bracers, that's an upgrade. And I'm adding augments this time around, so some smaller qol adds.
But have 31 fate points. Thought I had 35. Wanted a 4 3 2 1 1. But looked hard, found lithe, jacked reflexes. And haha, +30% run speed. So that means I'm running at +90. Just like my old monk in asherons, fastest on server. It's my signature move so thankful for twists, and all the flavor they bring.
Thought of adding 1 int and slotting a festive int somewhere. Would have put it on the cloak, but ff is kinda normal there too, was gonna ff the boots,, but blue.
Holding at 30 reaper points. Not really running r dailys yet, just finding who's hanging at 30. I know 2 that got wings, so will try to group with them a lot. I'm good trash and boss killer, and a tank of sorts, super defenses, and good hp. Almost 1400. And 1700 in reaper.
Seeing reaper xp avg over 1000? Running r1 ts, and r4 memoirs. I'll pay it more attention once I find a cycle. And ran slavers r1-2. That's a regular run. Easy enough, immune to traps, can fight standing in them. Pushing 1 mil rxp.
Oh but what I was gonna talk about,
Noobs.
Wow, it's looked like the 30 crowd has rolled over in a year. Mostly all new names, and I'm pretty sure their not alts. I mean, I've noticed this, that people don't seem to know the quests, and their not bringing max toons. Ya their exceptions, but there used to be a lot more headliners I knew hanging, and now they're all unknowns.
So, looks like its training ground all over. I'm guessing the raid looks like a one room beat down with Strahd. So that'll make it either stupid hard or stupid easy. As always just need the right mix. But it looks like there will be alotta new folks to learn the ropes with. Don't get me wrong, we're all noobs at a new raid, but where are the vets?

[FuryFlash]

And haha, +30% run speed. So that means I'm running at +90. Just like my old monk in asherons, fastest on server. It's my signature move so thankful for twists, and all the flavor they bring.

Hey, can you explain where you are getting the 90% run speed? 30% from items, 30% from monk levels. Unless you mean in public areas, in which case you could have 50% warp time, 10% VIP, and 30% monk.

[Vish]

Hey, can you explain where you are getting the 90% run speed? 30% from items, 30% from monk levels. Unless you mean in public areas, in which case you could have 50% warp time, 10% VIP, and 30% monk.

30% speed item, or blinding speed
30% monk
30% twist wind thru the trees

I noticed before twist I run like twice as fast as normal toon,
Now I'm speedy Gonzalez
Beep beep

[Vish]

30% speed item, or blinding speed
30% monk
30% twist wind thru the trees

I noticed before twist I run like twice as fast as normal toon,
Now I'm speedy Gonzalez
Beep beep

Well, it was short lived
The twist from gmof gives enhancement
I thought something else
Tho as tested seems faster, just like having higher jump jumps you
But it shouldn't stack with speed
I found it looking for a tier2 twist, tho for pure role playing purposes, it has it's place
Running thru the wind

[Vish]

Level 30 dc update
Dc running CE in water
Str 23
Dex 55
Con 55
Int 39
Wis 84
Cha 21
Hp 1305
Sp 385
AC 196
Dodge 41/41
Fort 74
Reflex 88
Will 94
Melee power 142
Prr 143
Mrr 50

LGS staff 6.5 17-20 x3

Mountain
Hp 1365
AC 227
Dodge 33/33
Prr 158
Wis 80

Notes
Twists tier2 for run, improved CE

Ki usage
Qp 30 used always single tgt trash killer
Cauldron 30 for tough fights, fast cycle, nearly always up
Veil 15 learning to pop frequently

Shout 5 for grabbing boss aggro
Step 10 super Mario.

Fist 15 in my back pocket. Off line mostly
Elcas 15 secret weapon, haven't found it's purpose
Strike 25 kills elementals fast
Knock 5 boss debuffer
Mountain fu 5 just for looks
Wave 20 for special effects only

Fists 10 10 second group heal

Ki 319/415
I'm gaining 2 ki per hit. Ki always maxxed.

What I'm losing in this setup is +6 tactics from dreadnaought.
I could give up lithe...

Ok here is the wa fu grasshoppers,
Dreadnaought is not my style
I don't like the lucky streak of a blitz
And pushing always to melee
But I ran 20-30 in dreadnaought, I didn't go there often, more as a boss fight buff.
So, I'm switching it up.
Dropping the pa, losing 7mp, .5w and 6 dam off the stick
But I'm getting +30 prr
And a clicky that cycles up nearly always
So I'm losing 20 mp off the top, no biggie, and instead of a 4x7 counting up, is a 50 counting down
But overall, it's an avg of 25mp up all the time
So it's a net pos over the streakier blitz
And I don't have to melee to keep it
Still have the 30 boost 5 times. So cycles for bosses.
The hit point loss is negligle, from dread with con to dc with wis.
And the full time prr gain really jacks my defenses. This is 78%.
So I lose some of my top end dps for more sustained.
And I love having an 84 wis.
And look at in mountain. Little hp, 30 AC but 8 dodge loss. 15 prr but 4 wis loss. So little tanker, if 30 AC ever made a difference, but I'd rather have the dodge. Just a comparison, I was wondering what max AC looked like.
So I pick up 27 AC and 30 prr for 7mp. I consider that a very good trade. As it is, I'm invincible
Oh ya, now I got consecration and sacred ground as my extra whup ass.

Ok I tested this is r1 slavers. 2 monks 2 locks and shiradi a wiz. We were zerging, everything was being held and we were cranking double damage the whole way.?*
Aura of Purification: Toggle: Every 3 Seconds While Active: Nearby enemies gain a stack of Purification. Purification: -1 Attack Damage, -2 Spell Power, stacks up to 25 times.?*
Zeal of the Righteous: Active Ability: Gain 50 stacks of Righteous Zeal. Righteous Zeal: +1 Spell Power, +1% doublestrike, +1 Melee Power. Tested, always up. And, extra secret buff, not telling.
Oh ya grasshoppers.
How about +50 doublestrike?
That's hot sauce. Put my doublestrike up around 80.
That requires a hallelujah
And I'm purifying
And I'm being righteous
Ok here's another secret
I got superhero outfit
See, I run with the red reaper armor
But for superhero mode, I sprout wings
And show my white avenger armor
Very fitting for divine crusader
The celestial monk strikes from above!

[Vish]

Glowing green eyes
2 Dread core1 +1 dex
2 Dire core1 +1 wis
26 Grim core4 +3 con, +3 prr, +9 reflex, +6 dodge, momento resist1

Secret sauce
Celestial Champion:?*When you critically hit with an attack, you gain a stack of Celestial Fervor. A stack of Celestial Fervor grants you +1 Enhancement Bonus to Doublestrike and Doubleshot chance. Stacks up to 10 times, with a duration of 6 seconds.

Hotbars
Horizontal, lower right
Strike down, cleave, gcleave, consecration, cauldron, mp boost5, veil, kta, dire charge, zeal
Qp, quick strike,, reaper boost2, ki shout, wings,, empty body, step, search
Stunning fist, elcas, dismissing, knock, mountain,,, sneak,, wave
Fists of light, finishing moves, restoring the balance, glowy eyes, wholeness of body, meditation4,, greater Harper, jibbers, PDK boost3

Vertical, lower far right
Cocoon, loh, heal pot, remove curse pot, remove disease pot, lesser restore pot, CE, pa, candle, slow fall
Protector bond, fire stance, air, mountain, water stance, aura of purification, skill mastery3 (off), colors2, doublestrike3, brace3

Reaper
Str 25
Dex 58
Con 58
Int 39
Wis 85
Cha 21
Hp 1599
Hamp 111
Sp 435
Pos 352
Ki /420
AC 191 (210 w stonework)
Fort 76
Reflex 93
Will 94
Bab 20/30
Doublestrike 34
Melee speed 15
Melee power 147
Sr 30
Fort 268
Prr 146
Mrr 50

LGS +109 +85
Stonework 108 84

Notes
Wa fu grasshoppers,
The reaper show, a 2600 hp monk
With 210 AC and 40 dodge and 150 prr
The little gains I get in reaper are even dex, a bump to even con, and some reflex. 9 is a good number. Brings it up to 93. That's special too. Über saves and no fail.
And about dodge. I got 28 standing with no item. So even if I lose the belt, it brings it to 34/41. That's pretty spiffy. But ridiculous. What I'm getting at I can maybe slot a new belt from ravenloft.
And I upgraded the mentaus with a blue slot. Was thinking of putting in the festive int, and that bring it up to 41, and I can take the reaper wis and make it reaper int for 42 or 8 on kta. A +1 whoopee.
But I'm squeezing hard...
I like running zeal. The doublestrike is better than the mp from dreadnaought. And I can keep it running nearly always. I find myself engaging in big fights easier, pop zeal, pop mp boost, and be around 230mp. Plus buffs on doublestrike, that's double damage, up to 85. So intense burst dps at start, to destroy faster, versus a build up to boss with dreadnaought. But I'm running +30 prr in dc. That alone. Because I had to switch off pa for CE. But 210 AC? That insane. Max defenses.
My Achilles is death ward. I take negative levels. Really makes it fun sometimes. So next I need a flask from remnants turn in. I will get one.
Next a story. Been looking for the legendary stonework. I need a staff to sentient, can't the LGS. So I started farming. Put up lfm. Sarlona is a generous community, and many will help you out with farming. I know I do, depends, I can usually help for a chest roll. So I didn't know what I could handle. Graveyard has the undead miners, and that's slash, I'm blunt, and I can't qp, and so I'm kinda gimp running this quest. But I get a couple adds, advertised for EE or r1, and we go. So eventually I get a couple warlocks, and the quest goes super smooth and fast. Kill the boss, rewards, no staff, for anybody. Oh well. Say I'm running it again hoping they all stick, but most drop and I'm left with one. So I did ok, my dps is pretty über, I can beat down anything, just takes a bit, and so we go at it again, the both of us. So he is a tree, and just wipes out trash mobs, but is prone to being squishy, and we generally cruise thru it again. He destroys mobs at end, I take out the bosses, and loot time. Again no staff. I thought of reroll, but on these it's 15as so I prefer my luck without paying for it. I'm saving up for a cruise ship anyways... So another day passes, and I lfm it again, looking for staff. Get a group of 5, go in on EE, and generally cruise thru it. I know the quest pretty good now, so easy. And we get to end, and again no staff for me, I'm on ransack now, but someone else dropped it. Imrae I believe? And it was passed, and lo and behold the good citizens of Sarlona win again!
So I got my staff, and I been practicing with it. It's really a debuffer. -4 wis a hit. So good for tough tgts for wiz death spells. And it debuffs enemy for its own paralyzer effect. You know I was using the heroic stonework, and it did work in reaper. I thought only elite, but I kept testing. So viable to level 20. Now this is dc25, so a little better, but it debuffs so great idea. I mean, you gotta smack down those high hp mobs for a while anyway. Eventually you'll get a paralyze in there.
Ok now some dps. I'm seeing like 220 base in reaper. Going up to 320 with max boosts. And like 500-600 helpless damage, and crits to 1500. Something like that, in r1, use that as base.
So more secret sauce here is new staff. 5d(1d6+6). Versus 5d6 (1d6)
So they doubled the dps of weapons. See how squirmy that is? Equivalent to 10d6, or even 15d6 if you count by average. So that is unspoken buff age, if they keep it. We see what goes live. You heard it here first. That is say 6.5 1d6+6 +85 x230. Or 500. Up from? I guess I gotta do an EE slavers run to get raw numbers...

So, glowing green eyes. I was near plat cap, and looking for a mil sink. Sometimes I drop it in ship buy coffer, but I was in hall of heroes, and I saw reaper vendor. Went over to first one, and could trade. So looked, glowy eyes 900k. Doink! Now I'm reaper mode!

[Vish]

Ssg beat this!
Helm lhardened hide prot8 might
Neck lslavers 17con4 resist14 might
Eyes mentaus blindness immunity festint
Trinket lslavers symbol festwis true blood might
Body outfit of avenger good luck draconic soul
Cloak cc34 int15 inswis7 w ff
Bracers lslavers 17dex4 armorpiercing28 stunning20 might
Belt lanimated rope
Ring1 lslavers 17wis4 devotion185 conc22 heal15 might
Ring2 lprowess fear immunity
Boots ldevils false life40
Gloves cc34 15dex7 hamp61 power200

Kils setup
Silent avenger
Weapon Nocturne, the Song of Night
Body Patience Through Peril prr
Eyes Van Richten's Spectacles dex20 mrr
Neck Fleetfoot Necklace wis20
Bracers Bracers of the Fallen Hero str20 con9
Boots Flightfoot Greaves fom
Cloak Mantle of Fury con19 dodge19
Ring1 Perfect Pinnacle

This leaves
Helm lhardened hide? Executioners?
Trinket can craft accuracy inswis7
Ring2 lprowess?
Gloves hamp insdex7
Belt?
This setup loses slavers
Loses ins wis from cloak...Loses int...

Notes
I think it may be golthia staff now that's dps
For changes, slotted blue on mentaus, put in festive int. slotted armor pierce on the dex slavers, and slotted a heal15 in the wis slavers.
Brought heal up to 80. and with reaper int brings int up to 42 enough for kta 8. Small gains, yes.
Need to put fear immunity on the prowess. That should about complete the set.
I call this the triple dex gear layout. Got dex slotted in 3 places. The gloves can be changed to str, but no need, and the mentaus got seeker and ghostly, and Umd , so valuable.

Now, about ravenloft,
Download went smooth, logged in,
Ran into the mists on normal, to solo
Got a resolute sentient gem, slotted into stonework, started feeding it, got up to 800xp.
Ran the first three quests in the arc, on r1 with full group. Seemed pretty easy. Third one, invitation to dinner, is Strahd castle. So you get to learn it pretty good. Ran a later nite session, got lucky and pulled pinnacle, the monk ring. See, I'm always so lucky.
Filigree dropping like candy. Need a huge augment bag. Will buy.
But impressed with the landscape, and mobs in the wilderness. With 6 man had some hefty spawns, all pretty easy trash tho.
Quests are well spaced, lower mob density, but some tough fights. This looks like it been made for the casual crowd. So farming shouldn't be too bad once everyone learns the quests. Don't know about the raid yet.
But bestest thing is, float time!
You'll find out what I mean,
Gives new meaning to the phrase,
Hang ten

[Vish]

More ravenloft
Ran it this weekend. Seen most of the quests twice. Running reap or EE. They all seem pretty good, except the amber temple.
Still haven't really figured that one out, but did see the end scene and got some loot, the medium armor.
So far filling up a bag of filagree. Got a fair number rares but don't have the ones I'm looking for. Will start wheeling on the ah, now that everybody has a stash. Prices were really inflated over the weekend. But I'll wait for real prices.
Pulling fair amount of loot. Got pinnacle, got flight foot greaves. Their worth it at least as a swap, since fom, and if you build for them it's a free feat at 27 for blinding speed. So very valuable. Pulled a couple sets armor, and a couple cloaks. The fury cloak with 19 con, and the charisma cloak with enchantment. I'll give that to vish. I had some new gear for him I found. A pair of 6enchant3 spellpen3 goggles, and a mythic hypnotic pendant. But the cloak would give up the goggles, and almost the slavers ring. So I could slot a spell pen goggles for the mass charm. Ya, so most loot out of ravenloft is looking like better loot for my alts, since I've got a max gear set, and it'll take a lot of Tetris to replace it.
It's like the ring, pinnacle, can't even slot it. Lose the prowess? I don't think so. Lose the slavers wis? Stupid. So no choices.
I pulled a few night mother weapons in the upper quests. I can't see them being too useful, the morninglord are strahd beaters. So I fed them to my sentient. Been feeding lot to sentient, just high end vendor loot. But it does bring new life to some old quest, run on reaper for rxp and for sentient loot. That's good. So got the weapon up to 3 slots. It'll take me a while, so no hurry. Need the filagree and the xp. Months. But I'm gonna unslot what I got and go for the morninglord staff. Just because it's too good for ravenloft, and I find myself using it more than the stonework. So I got 3 staffs basically, morninglord, stonework and LGS. LGS is best the hp is most important. But for undead ill switch to ml. And the stonework isn't being used so time to reslot. I guess tools in store are pretty cheap for 10. So I'll get some.
Still no raid. It may take weeks for pugs to happen, have heard of completions but it is still few ppl, and I've seen video. So may be difficult pug without a talking leader. So we see how that plays out.
For now, just running whatever for fun and practice, and getting loots. My inventory is filling up!

Ok some notes on play.
I can pretty much solo EE on this build.
Reaper 1 too, but it takes longer.
So it's a tough monk. Been using veil, been using cauldron, been hot swapping LGS and ml, been cycling capstone and bursting mp, and generally being a tank.
Yes with 1300 hp and good defenses I've been tanking. The most important button, ki shout.
Because usually a ranged will get aggro, like a rouge or warlock, and start jumping around like a bunny rabbit. So f'ing annoying. I mean if you can't handle aggro stop shooting. Stupid bunnies. Lot of stupid players really. Its the problem of the meta. In normal trash you kill everything before it gets to you, but at bosses you can't handle the damage. So you jack off. And kite backwards like a fool. How stupid is it to play a game running backwards in circles??
So sometimes I just wait for them to be killed and then go grab aggro. But most of the time I ki shout and pull the mob. Then pop veil and cauldron and capstone and goto town. And then if they do do damage, I knock the sky on their ass. And I tank them down.
Now this really works if you got a cleric watching you. Otherwise you gotta be patient and use your loh. I've been able to keep myself going in all battles just by good use of hands. It's like a 3000 hp heal in EE. That's more than my max 2600.
But the point is this is a tough build. Been doing 350 EE and 220 r1. And I've ran 3-5 too, but really it's too much dps loss, and you gotta have a healer with you.
And the other point is to build to run forwards. See, I charge into the mobs. Dire charge. Forget it's there, forget to kta, but it works in slavers not so much in ravenloft. But it has it's places, for normal mobs not undead. But I'm always running forward. If I have to retreat, that's like red alert. Because most of the time I anchor. Just hold in once place and cleave.
I rather play a toon where I don't have to run away.
Heroes dont run.
Heroes stand and fight.
Nuff said.

[Vish]

Strahd raid
Ok disclaimers,
I talk.
And for the tough stuff, prefer talkers.
But I've been wanting to see the raid, and even with Strahd bugged, which I was going to wait on fix, decided to pug.
As always, new raid, new mechanics, new monsters.
And doing it pug style I knew was gonna be a challenge.
Joined group, said good morning. No responses. Ok so as I expected, a first run trying to do it text. Silent mode.
Yes this is beyond stupid. But we had some decent players, so I felt at least I would get a look at it. Ya, but no voice communication, in these times of hyper communication, is just backwards. But that's what you get in pugs. And we had Chinese, typing in Chinese. Oh ya, like that's gonna help.
So we went ahead and started. Entered, drew 5 cards.
I imagine these are all same for the raid? Doesn't make sense they would change, but I love the idea of using the tarot. And it adds a nice depth to the quest.
Ok first order, kill some guy with r name. Easy Nuff did that.
Then next part, had to climb tower stairs. Oh yay, no save damage traps. God I hate cheese. I mean we build our toons to get around that stuff, and here they force damage on you just by going ahead. Oh and fighting monsters all the time, and with air jets to blow you off too. But they could be disabled, so need a good rogue.
So we made it up the stairs, going real slow. There are paths you can try and avoid the traps. So gotta be aware, and cant just run forward.
Got to the heartstone. Didn't know who had the sunsword. Turned out it was a Shintao monk. Well if you're ninja, you can use short swords. Ya, was thinking about that. Don't know how much a factor that is in the end fight, but I think the sunsword holder has to dps Strahd? So I'm thinking there will be shortsword builds come out of this raid. But anyway, figured out how to enter the heartstone. Did beat down on mobs, had plenty deaths but we did it. Then proceeded up the stairs.
Got to Esmeralda, and she had next part. A room of chambers with doors. This is where voice communication would have saved us. Would have saved us lotta trouble if we had a leader that was guiding, but you know, silent mode. Chinese drill like. So everybody was running around, ppl were dying all over the place, there was Strahd, there was hate monsters, there are mists, and I don't even know what else, oh ya flaming skulls. So after almost a party wipe, someone texts, what are we supposed to do in here? Oh joy. Of course I didn't know either, I watched some video, but those guys were talking their way through it. So I ran around too, opened some doors, and saw there were cards and torches in some. So, I spoke up. Said I found rooms with torches in them to light up cards, and we needed to do that. Lo and behold, then someone else spoke up, saying we had to do it in order of the cards read at start. But at that point everyone was dying, no one was raising, hey I even popped jibbers and started scrolling because it was so bad. Yes a sign of bad pugs when ppl don't scroll and expect the lone healer to deal with it.
So that's as far as we got. Party wipe. Didn't have order of cards so I couldn't do it. Will pay more attention next time.
Ya, so didn't get to end fight. I guess that was after this room?
So generally a pretty short raid?
It's always hard first time, so at least I got a chance to see it.
Will be more serious about future pugs. Won't do it unless ppl are using voice.
But it looks pretty doable. And now I want to do it again, just with a good team. I imagine it will be the next two weeks ppl getting into the raid and seeing it. So maybe in a month we can have kinda silent raids, after everyone has wetted their feet.
I know I will be raiding oft this next few months.
Other news. Ran about 50 quests so far. Pulled maybe 20 items? Some useless just got ate, but I'm slowly collecting. I was looking over what I had, and had a mantle of fury cloak, but it looked bugged. It's normally a 19 con cloak? But these stats were all set to like 1. So I don't know what I need to do to fix it. I'll try moving it around. Must have happened in a hot fix? I know I pulled it pretty early.
And I still haven't ran vish through the chain yet either. Guess I'm gonna hold him a bit more until I get a raid or few in. Truth is, I just like playing my monk. I think I'm the only henshin on the server. For real. I never see other monks staffing. Always Shintao or shuri. Too bad, because I'm awesome. Even though if I get the new wraps from raid, I may tr into Shintao. Just to try out those 17w Handwraps. Lol ya super op.

[Vish]

Raid part deuce
So ya, I went and tried it again
This time with a slightly better group
Still no voice, so I thought failure again
But this time, when we got to chamber room, we had wherewithal to dps, kite, and get the doors all open
Something that was done on first raid, with good measure, was putting bigbys hands by the card rooms. We didn't do it this time, but had lot fewer deaths, and we found them all, and somebody figured out to pull them in right order, so we got to do a boss fight.
Ha. This had to be my best performance ever. Stepped in, saw Strahd and brides, and was on the stairs and got hit with mist. I didnt know it, so I thought I was safe on stairs, but no I got killed. Guess the trick is to jump from middle to ends, where it's safe. I will do so next time, so learned something valuable. Well, every run is a learning.
So I was dead. I decided to watch. Bam in like 30 sec they took down Strahd and brides, but I guess were slow to use sunsword to kill Strahd, and he regened. So they went at it a second time. And beat him down, and this time sunsword killed him, and bam raid was done.
Final fight was over before I came off Rez timer, like a minute and half. So this is a quick raid.
And we were in on LH. And the group was zerging. We were running thru whole quest, the heartstone was finished before I even stepped into it. And we ran up the stairs. But I was amazed we made it by the tarot chambers, but I guess it's doable if someone knows to do it and in right order. I came late to intro, and don't even see the cards.
Ya, so more of the raid is fighting timers.
And my overall impression of this raid is its Zerg fast, except for the tarot chambers.
And I didn't pull any loot, but got some runes. 85. So maybe 15 runs on LH for to get choose loot. 15 runs times 3 days or about 2 months.


Sentient weapon
Morninglord 6.5w(1d6+4) +114 +85
Oam melee power rare
Oam critical confirm
Ls melee power rare
Ls dexterity rare
+20 mp, +1 dex

Notes
So I have the staff slotted for +20mp and 1 dex. Brings dex even to 58, and the double set are both mp adds. I use this a lot against undead, and against Strahd. And it's set for ln/LH/LE, not reaper, so I can use it in raids. 3 rares and a normal, all filigree I found. I will replace the crit confirm with a rare, when I find it.
Not sure what next 3 will be. But I got some time before I unlock 5,6,7. I'm happy so far. Two weeks in.
Even tho my LGS is still goto for tough fights, the 1000hp is just too much of a game changer for keeping me in the battle.

[Vish]

Endgame
You know, I been thinking.
Don't really need any this loot from ravenloft.
Already beat the content at EE and r1.
So what am I doing?
Spent the last year building for 30.
Did lotta tr's, reaper and a few runs to 30.
Got completionist, epic too
Added a few stats, +2 wisdom
Didn't change my gear set
Have added some augment, to further specialize
In a year
And this stuff ain't gonna get me to change
However, I will run the raids
And farm for filagree.
And farm for nom nom.
It's a different space being 30 and capped out.
You can do anything,
Help any team
Kinda good feeling
I mean,
I only have to keep perfecting Kil
All I really have left are racial, and some epic
Iconic too, but I don't really count those
So chasing racial ap and completionist.
Won't really make a difference.
But I guess it does add up
Since reaper is the bar
And we're moving into reaper 3-5 territory
How about +8 tomes?
Ya or +10 even?
That's where we're headed.
So endgame is next gonna be reaper5 level
Adding sentience,
Picking up +30 mp on a double damage stick
And 17w wraps?
I'm gonna build that
The next celestial monk
A supreme monastic
I have taken Kil thru henshin aasimar
After I get the wraps I will tr
Into a Shintao
And then give the comparison
So there is endgame from another perspective
From many perspectives really
That's why I haven't played vish yet
He's support
Kil is a killer
And that's lotta security
Just different roles really
But I prefer the monster
And plus I have all my history on him

So, endgame is what you make it
I believe it represents the culmination of your efforts
Like running a maxxed out monk
It gives you the view,
The game is easy
So it provides a lot of confidence,
Because I'm not afraid of anything
And that fearlessness, even and especially in reaper,
Is what makes it worthwhile


Notes
In other notes
Apparently the Chinese have returned
Ran an early morning raid with them
When they have critical mass we get completions
Good to see them back
Hi welcome