Strimtom's Falcon Striker - R10 Monk build

[Hjarki]

What if you wanted to try this build but had only 1 Racial Enhancement Point at level 1 available due to no Racial TRs but do have the Racial book point?

- I'd run 41 Shintao, skipping Instinctive Defense and Violence Begets Violence. The former is rarely useful since Monks are effectively immune to so many effects between saves and SR. The latter is worthless - your attack rate so far exceeds the rate at which others attack you that it ends up being no more than maybe +0.1 threat range on average even when you’re solo (and thus tanking everything). In a group setting, it would be far less.

- I'd run 23 Falconer, skipping No Mercy and Expose Weakness. Indeed, I'd skip the bird attacks entirely. 5 charges of 2 minutes is plenty from shrine-to-shrine and a few more offensive tricks (with saves considerably worse than the existing batch) isn't necessary. No Mercy is inarguably nice, but it's a 'win more' tactic. If you've got the points, go ahead and take it. But being able to chew through enemies who can't fight back 17% faster isn't nearly as important as abilities that work against enemies who can fight back.

So that’s 41 + 23 + 16 = 80.

You can also take a hard look at whether the Bond is worth it. It’s a great ability, but you’re spending a lot of points in nice-but-not-essential skills to get to it - and it loses a significant part of its' value if you have a buddy with a Fetters of Unreality weapon. If you had 7 racial AP, you could just take the cores from Aasimar and grab Crane/Shadow Veil instead.

[AreagonTF]

Always wanted to try a monk , this build can work on r5-8 without relevant past lives and with 40 reaper points?
Im afraid ill die too quickly with a melee at high reaper since ive never played a melee at cap.

[Keavere]

- I'd run 41 Shintao, skipping Instinctive Defense and Violence Begets Violence. The former is rarely useful since Monks are effectively immune to so many effects between saves and SR. The latter is worthless - your attack rate so far exceeds the rate at which others attack you that it ends up being no more than maybe +0.1 threat range on average even when you’re solo (and thus tanking everything). In a group setting, it would be far less.

- I'd run 23 Falconer, skipping No Mercy and Expose Weakness. Indeed, I'd skip the bird attacks entirely. 5 charges of 2 minutes is plenty from shrine-to-shrine and a few more offensive tricks (with saves considerably worse than the existing batch) isn't necessary. No Mercy is inarguably nice, but it's a 'win more' tactic. If you've got the points, go ahead and take it. But being able to chew through enemies who can't fight back 17% faster isn't nearly as important as abilities that work against enemies who can fight back.

So that’s 41 + 23 + 16 = 80.

You can also take a hard look at whether the Bond is worth it. It’s a great ability, but you’re spending a lot of points in nice-but-not-essential skills to get to it - and it loses a significant part of its' value if you have a buddy with a Fetters of Unreality weapon. If you had 7 racial AP, you could just take the cores from Aasimar and grab Crane/Shadow Veil instead.

Thank you for the input, I really appreciate it! I do think the bond is worth it for that final tier for Fear Immunity, +10 Melee power, and Vuln stacks on hit which seems really good for just a form toggle. I'm going to go with those ideas and work from there. Thanks!

[Emerge2012]

Always wanted to try a monk , this build can work on r5-8 without relevant past lives and with 40 reaper points?
Im afraid ill die too quickly with a melee at high reaper since ive never played a melee at cap.

Oh yeah it can work. Takes some getting used to with the whole positioning plus 300 clicky attacks and all but it's very very capable. Just don't skimp out on Precision like the OP does and definitely consider Ethereal for scion unless you're going for a really uber tactics build. If you can get a standing wisdom of 100+ (mine had 106) you can run in GMoF for the knockdown ki attack and EIN. My EIN had a dc of 88, stunningfist/direcharge were at about 140, and quivering palm was 110 in reaper.

But whatever you do don't skimp on Precision, that's a big mistake. Constructs/elementals/plants are all hard targets and you want full time fort bypass for them. Based on the videos OP posts it looks like the rest of his crew that he runs with can handle business whether he's there or not and this is reflected in some of his decisions. For instance using the bird attacks to give -50% fort is really nice, except the aoe bird attack has a really long cooldown and you have to be in the middle of mobs to use it. Also the general 1-2 delay on bird attacks makes them impractical for single target fort debuffing. He's really leaving a lot on the table.

Thank you for the input, I really appreciate it! I do think the bond is worth it for that final tier for Fear Immunity, +10 Melee power, and Vuln stacks on hit which seems really good for just a form toggle. I'm going to go with those ideas and work from there. Thanks!

Hjarki's right about dropping No Mercy and you're right about maintaining the form toggle for vulnerable. The heal amp in the tree is invaluable as well seeing as how the wisdom monk I ran had 190 hamp with no hamp item. I do recommend taking the lower 2 bird attacks though. They're only 1ap each, recharge DI, and are very solid crowd control on a high wisdom build - and even though they are "melee" attacks the actual bird itself can attack from range to trip/blind the hardcore champs. The blind also works on reapers/plants/constructs.

[psykopeta]

nobody scared about the 100 prr? XD heck it's a r10 with ****load pl and reaper points but... ***? doesn't matter the to-hit nor dc on melee, u will roll a 1 or grazing hit on stun/dire charge and pummeled, oiled and back rubbed against a wall

[MaxBhaalspawn]

Stance at cap and héroïc leveling please.

[Selvera]

nobody scared about the 100 prr? XD heck it's a r10 with ****load pl and reaper points but... ***? doesn't matter the to-hit nor dc on melee, u will roll a 1 or grazing hit on stun/dire charge and pummeled, oiled and back rubbed against a wall

I am a little worried about the defenses. It's got less AC, HP and PRR then my recent dex based monk; and without shadow veil. I don't argue how incredible mass frog is for R10 and raids in general, but so far I've been leaning towards the more defense focused build for being able to lead groups with.

[Zretch]

Always wanted to try a monk , this build can work on r5-8 without relevant past lives and with 40 reaper points?
Im afraid ill die too quickly with a melee at high reaper since ive never played a melee at cap.

You'll die quickly on high reaper. That has less to do with the build and more to do with you not knowing what you don't know. Try different things until you don't die as much, goes for any melee build. Also don't ignore threat reduction. You're not going to be straight tanking on R8, something as simple as a 50% thread reduction filagree should allow you to do twice as much damage before drawing agro and having to slow down / back off.

[DrawingGuy]

I am a little worried about the defenses. It's got less AC, HP and PRR then my recent dex based monk; and without shadow veil. I don't argue how incredible mass frog is for R10 and raids in general, but so far I've been leaning towards the more defense focused build for being able to lead groups with.

Strimtom's low defenses (comparatively) is more a factor of his gear, past lives, and setup rather than a factor of being WIS based. Remember that WIS adds to AC just like DEX does for Monk, and WIS and DEX have no factor on HP or PRR. Reaper XP has a massive impact on HP, so people that you see rolling around with 3000+ HP also likely have 80+ Reaper AP (or are in US). Do note that he has almost 2200 once he steps into a Reaper quest and I don't believe he has Improved CE nor Blitz running when he shows his setup, which would be another 70 PRR.

That said, my WIS builds roll with 200+ AC, 200+ PRR (I do run Imp CE over Precision), and while I haven't finished my TR grind just yet (almost done), I should have over 2500 HP in quests. DEX is still superior DPS due to higher cap potential and how it boosts Ethereal, but I consider the small DPS loss well worth the gains to Quivering Palm and Mass Frog. Not to mention Falconry moves are no longer junk for melee users, so you have a little more CC under your belt. The loss of of Shadow Veil does hurt a little bit, but 10 vs 25 incorp ends up being such a small part of your defenses in active play that it made zero difference in my play style or ability to handle combat. Besides you can give up a little DPS and still get it, especially if you don't spend any of your main AP on racials.

My biggest tear is deciding on your Ki Strikes... Strimtom foolishly did not take any of them.

- Fists of Iron: This is a pure DPS move. Adding this to your rotation along with the E>E>E finisher can be over a 10% DPS boost. If you don't feel you need the utility of the other Ki Strikes, you SHOULD take this. The only problem arises is when you do want that utility.

- Unbalancing Strike: This move is either one of your most important, or can be sidelined. If you generally have aggro, this can provide you access to your SA damage, which can easily be 20% or more of your DPS. It also comes with the utility of ensuring any target always fails its balance checks from a knockdown or trip effect keeping it CCed for much longer along with a minor AC penalty to targets helping the entire party's DPS by up to 5%.

- Knock on the Sky: -20% damage is huge, especially in the world of insane damage numbers of high Reaper. This can turn a borderline tank into someone that can easily handle the aggro (which could include yourself and was the key to me tanking Legendary TS). However if your tank (or yourself) can already handle the aggro just fine, then this move becomes a waste.

- Eagle Claw Attack: Armor Destruction I consider an under-rated ability that I think every party should pursue to have. However this can be covered with a simple Deconstructer augment, making this the move you should always forgo except perhaps while leveling.

Previously I was able to take all three Ki Strikes I wanted having invested somewhat into the three trees. Now it is a struggle to fit in two, and then which two do you take? Iron and Unbalancing to ensure max DPS? Unbalancing and Knock so you can be the tank knowing you're leaving a fair bit of DPS on the table losing Iron? Or if you're not squeezing in a second Ki Strike, you have an even harder decision.

[relmon]

Quick question: How do you start with the Dodge feat at first level with a Dex 10? Isn't the pre-req Dex 13?

[jskinner937]

Quick question: How do you start with the Dodge feat at first level with a Dex 10? Isn't the pre-req Dex 13?

Feat swap at Fred I would assume.

[Alled78]

Quick question: How do you start with the Dodge feat at first level with a Dex 10? Isn't the pre-req Dex 13?

Tome kicks +3 at 3 i suppose

[Magdragons]

So with the new patch today, do you think GMoF will be a viable destiny for monks now?

[SonilasFx]

i am preferring GMoF that LD but... i will replace prowess with another filigree. I don't know which ... does anyone have a suggestion?

[Delasom1962]

Doesn't the listed armour Wilcard uncentre you?

Didn't think you could aviod this since it is light armour?

Or don't you care about being centered?

[talanh133]

Doesn't the listed armour Wilcard uncentre you?

Didn't think you could aviod this since it is light armour?

Or don't you care about being centered?

It would yes. I think he actually meant turncoat. Same stats and set as wildcard, but cloth instead of light armor. It comes from A Sharn Welcome.

[Zarni]

For the life of me I just can't get my Frog DC to be high enough to be worth it, it seems. I dont have a lot of TRs of any kind (just monk TRs atm), so maybe thats why.

I'm ok with this though, but can someone suggest another good alternative destiny feat in this slot?

[DrawingGuy]

There are two stages for frog use:

- An AOE instakill that works on most non warded targets
- An AOE instakill for constructs and undead.

Luckily constructs/undead typically have terrible fortitude, so even a first life toon with proper WIS gear and a Transmutation item should have it useful for those targets (also makes the caster Reaper tree more relevant as DCs + WIS + Spell pen all help frog). This also helps cover a gap for Monks: the targets Frog is good for are targets you can't stun or QP.

However not everyone wants to use item swaps to make an ability useful, or has the SP and clickies to support something that costs 50 per use. Tactician helps your Quivering Palm and other Monk abilities (what I always took before Ravenloft came out giving end game content I wanted Frog on). If they ever fixed Forced Escape, that would be up there as an option. Doubleshot would help shuri throwing. But really there isn't very many useful options unless you need a bypass (ghost touch or some type of metal), which only leaves a Toughness filler. It really does come down to the fact that really isn't much better options than Frog even if you don't use it in every quest.

[Zarni]

Whats a good amount of WIS required to make this work reliably on those targets? I think i'm sitting at like 85ish? I hear people getting to like 110 but that seems pretty far off from me atm.

[DrawingGuy]

Whats a good amount of WIS required to make this work reliably on those targets? I think i'm sitting at like 85ish? I hear people getting to like 110 but that seems pretty far off from me atm.

Want all the Wis you can reasonably fit in. I even use some WIS filigrees even though that comes at the cost of some DPS. But even 85 can give you enough:

30 + 6/3 Transmutation cannith crafted (7/4 Nemisis raid goggles are even better. Just treat frog as a 3 button combo you hotkey: Swap to Transmutation goggles > Frog > swap back) + 2 Transmutation augment + 37 (85 WIS) = 78-80

That is useable on the right targets.

Caster Reaper tree can net you 3 more pretty cheaply (not counting the WIS it can give as well). Tilo's instakill build (https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...3251-Silliness) has a WIS breakdown that you can look at to see sources to raise your WIS with (obviously you wont have all of it), but 90s or even 100 is a realistic goal. If you do an Alchemist past life, take Transmutation Focus and set up the Magister Tree with the +3 bonus Destiny trees dont reset on TR leaving it for future lives). That gives you a level 2 twist for +3 when you know you are doing undead or construct heavy quests.

Ultimately you should be fine. Just make note of where your frog is effective and where it fails to learn when to use it. You are not at the point where it isn't worth it.