Most beneficial past lives for a monk

[Nickodeamous]

Hi all. Looking for some feedback on past life order. I only play a monk. Its my main and i have invested tons of hours on it and pretty much have what i want. I am looking to get the low hanging fruit first in terms of past lives and i feel like i have a good plan, but wanted to see what fellow monk players do.

To start, i have the following past lives already:
Epic
Divine - 8
Martial - 8
Primal - 4
Arcane - 3

Racial
Aasimar- 3
Human - 3

Heroic
Monk -1

My immediate plan is this. i am looking to beef up PRR and AC first

Racial/epic
Elf - 3/divine - 3 (+1 dex/ap, +9PRR)
Halfing - 3/ divine - 1/martial -2 (+1 dex/ap, +10ac)

Iconic
PDK - 2/monk - 2 (+6PRR,+2 damage)
PDK -1/fighter - 1 (+3PRR,+1 dc)
Scoundrel - 2/fighter - 2 (+2 double strike, +2 dc)
Scoundrel-1/paladin -1 (+1 DS, +10% healing amp)

Along the way, i hope to improve the number of reaper points as well. Sitting at 43 right now.

I feel like this is the low hanging fruit that i can knock off the tree before finishing racials that will directly benefit my monk.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Nico

[HungarianRhapsody]

Ranger x3 for a nice +6 damage with those delicious shuriken

[Soleran100]

Ranger x3 for a nice +6 damage with those delicious shuriken

I hope you weren't looking for ranger past live bonuses to work with shurikens unless it's broken

[HungarianRhapsody]

I hope you weren't looking for ranger past live bonuses to work with shurikens unless it's broken

Oh, that's super lame. I thought it was all ranged attacks since it says +2 damage with all ranged missile weapons and should actually SAY that it doesn't really mean all ranged missile weapons, but only bows and crossbows and not thrown weapons.

Super lame.

[Zretch]

Are you looking for most beneficial at cap, or most beneficial for leveling? If for leveling, then 1-20, or 15-30, or 1-30?

Primal and Barbarian past lives are very nice for the additional hitpoints, probably better than PRR at low levels, but PRR is better for higher levels.
Don't forget your MRR past lives (Arcane active past life x3 for +9, Warlock x3 for +9, Deep Gnome x3 for +9). Those three can get you 27 towards your MRR cap of 50.
2 more monk gives you +2 to melee damage. Again, better for lower levels but +2 is +2.

Beyond that (HP, PRR, MRR), I like grabbing up at least 2 racial past lives x3, depending on your to hit/damage stat (either dex or wis). That gives you +2 to that stat and +2 Racial AP to spend, which is a good return for 6 past lives.

Then I go martial and grab +AC as it stacks nicely with the Wis to AC on my Wis to hit/damage falconry monks.
Also, fighter past lives for +3 to tactical DCs.

If you ever get sneak attacks, then Rogue past lives.

I think that covers the bases, after all that is done, go heroic completionist if you're still interested in grinding.

[Kodwraith]

That's pretty much what I have on my monk and I do just fine when I'm at cap. 3 fighter is handy for the +3 DC, but honestly I can already stun most everything with DCs in the 120s or so. I have fewer ED lives and 3 monk lives, have 3 Aasimar, working on 3 human next, both cases more for the +WIS than the racial AP. In Rloft gear (whcih was the last time I sat at cap), I was running around 90 WIS self buffed and that'd be higher now in regular Sharn gear.

The only really indispensable PLs are the 3 Martial doublestrike lives. Brace and everything else is gravy. The PDK racial lives are nice for the sprint boost. But even without the full racial completionist, I was able to get 7 racial AP the get unlimited LoH in the Aasimar tree and then i called it good. Honeslty when I'm raiding or running R5+, the LoH is mainly for keeping other people alive.

[Nickodeamous]

Are you looking for most beneficial at cap, or most beneficial for leveling? If for leveling, then 1-20, or 15-30, or 1-30?

Primal and Barbarian past lives are very nice for the additional hitpoints, probably better than PRR at low levels, but PRR is better for higher levels.
Don't forget your MRR past lives (Arcane active past life x3 for +9, Warlock x3 for +9, Deep Gnome x3 for +9). Those three can get you 27 towards your MRR cap of 50.
2 more monk gives you +2 to melee damage. Again, better for lower levels but +2 is +2.

Beyond that (HP, PRR, MRR), I like grabbing up at least 2 racial past lives x3, depending on your to hit/damage stat (either dex or wis). That gives you +2 to that stat and +2 Racial AP to spend, which is a good return for 6 past lives.

Then I go martial and grab +AC as it stacks nicely with the Wis to AC on my Wis to hit/damage falconry monks.
Also, fighter past lives for +3 to tactical DCs.

If you ever get sneak attacks, then Rogue past lives.

I think that covers the bases, after all that is done, go heroic completionist if you're still interested in grinding.

This is great information! I do lack MRR for a majority of my life until 29. I like to stay at cap for a bit to get RXP and potential raid gear. I recently started on the racial tr train, but i already have the wisdom racials. I play a wisdom falcon handwrap monk. I need to finish primal for colors of tbe queen as well. I have one life with it. i think i take your advice on MRR. Perhaps deep gnome/warlock at same time 15-30. Thats a good call.

As for the HP, i feel like it is a tad low, but at endgame in reaper, i sit around 1700. Not that bad i guess accompanied by a 40% dodge.

Thanks for the input!

[Nickodeamous]

That's pretty much what I have on my monk and I do just fine when I'm at cap. 3 fighter is handy for the +3 DC, but honestly I can already stun most everything with DCs in the 120s or so. I have fewer ED lives and 3 monk lives, have 3 Aasimar, working on 3 human next, both cases more for the +WIS than the racial AP. In Rloft gear (whcih was the last time I sat at cap), I was running around 90 WIS self buffed and that'd be higher now in regular Sharn gear.

The only really indispensable PLs are the 3 Martial doublestrike lives. Brace and everything else is gravy. The PDK racial lives are nice for the sprint boost. But even without the full racial completionist, I was able to get 7 racial AP the get unlimited LoH in the Aasimar tree and then i called it good. Honeslty when I'm raiding or running R5+, the LoH is mainly for keeping other people alive.

Agreed. My DCs are 120s as well, so +3 is not that big.

How do you get unlimited LoH? I only have 7 with all 5 cores. That would be game changing for me!

Thanks,
Nico

[C-Dog]

Yeah, PDK for the PRR is very attractive, and Deep Gnome is the other half of that coin w/ MRR. Bladeforged gives +Fort, SDK gives Dodge (unless you're capped?),

And it looks like you have Epic covered pretty well.

Racial
Aasimar- 3
Human - 3

Heroic
Monk -1
...
Thoughts?

An Iconic PL comes w/ a Heroic PL built in, and no good reason to throw that away*. Not sure I completely agree w/ your choices, tho'...

More Monk PL's would only add +1 damage/, so that's very meh. Barbarian is slightly better @ +10 HP/ - as mentioned above, more helpful at lower levels, or once you have 3 lives of it, etc.. However, Pali lives add 10% Hamp/, and that's not insignificant - that would be one of my first choices, all things considered. Also, Fighter lives add to your Tactical DC's (assuming you have some, since you list it - unless that's overkill?).

(Beyond that, Artificer for UMD, and then, ~if~ you use them a lot, Druid for stronger Hirelings.)

(* If, by "I only play a monk", you mean that you will not play anything else, even to gain a PL, then you'd have to come up w/ some sort of monk-ish PL template, either something like Monk 9/X 11 (or 8/12 or 10/10 for some), or Monk 6/6/X 8 (or 7/6/7 for some). GL w/ that - it may sound like a stretch, but a) I'm sure there are folk on these boards who could help w/ that, and be glad for the challenge, and b) it could well be worth it for the PL rewards, esp if it played like a monk (which sounds very doable).)

As for Racial, it would surprise me if you could not find a use for a couple/few more racial AP. You've got 2 AP, and Wisdom covered - an obvious move, gj. I don't know if Spot would be handy (and I'm guessing that Move Silently would not be), but +2 Dex from Elf/Halfling probably couldn't hurt. Similarly, +2 Con (& +1 Balance) from Dwarf/Warforged for that.

As for the rest... +1 Str (and Intimidate?) from Horc for Encumbrance? By the time we get to +2 Cha for UMD? Doubtful, maybe - but remember, they're all +1 AP each, regardless of the gravy, and that's the real goal.

[C-Dog]

How do you get unlimited LoH?

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Aasimar_enh...Core_abilities

Core Level 16, 7 AP.

[Nickodeamous]

o https://ddowiki.com/page/Aasimar_enh...Core_abilities

Core Level 16, 7 AP.

Oh ok, i have that already. Its 7 LoH and 1 will regenerate every 3 mins. Cool.

[Nickodeamous]

Yeah, PDK for the PRR is very attractive, and Deep Gnome is the other half of that coin w/ MRR. Bladeforged gives +Fort, SDK gives Dodge (unless you're capped?),

And it looks like you have Epic covered pretty well.


An Iconic PL comes w/ a Heroic PL built in, and no good reason to throw that away*. Not sure I completely agree w/ your choices, tho'...

More Monk PL's would only add +1 damage/, so that's very meh. Barbarian is slightly better @ +10 HP/ - as mentioned above, more helpful at lower levels, or once you have 3 lives of it, etc.. However, Pali lives add 10% Hamp/, and that's not insignificant - that would be one of my first choices, all things considered. Also, Fighter lives add to your Tactical DC's (assuming you have some, since you list it - unless that's overkill?).

(Beyond that, Artificer for UMD, and then, ~if~ you use them a lot, Druid for stronger Hirelings.)

(* If, by "I only play a monk", you mean that you will not play anything else, even to gain a PL, then you'd have to come up w/ some sort of monk-ish PL template, either something like Monk 9/X 11 (or 8/12 or 10/10 for some), or Monk 6/6/X 8 (or 7/6/7 for some). GL w/ that - it may sound like a stretch, but a) I'm sure there are folk on these boards who could help w/ that, and be glad for the challenge, and b) it could well be worth it for the PL rewards, esp if it played like a monk (which sounds very doable).)

As for Racial, it would surprise me if you could not find a use for a couple/few more racial AP. You've got 2 AP, and Wisdom covered - an obvious move, gj. I don't know if Spot would be handy (and I'm guessing that Move Silently would not be), but +2 Dex from Elf/Halfling probably couldn't hurt. Similarly, +2 Con (& +1 Balance) from Dwarf/Warforged for that.

As for the rest... +1 Str (and Intimidate?) from Horc for Encumbrance? By the time we get to +2 Cha for UMD? Doubtful, maybe - but remember, they're all +1 AP each, regardless of the gravy, and that's the real goal.

Yeah, I only have gear for a monk. all of my cannith crafted gear is very specific to my monk. all of my end game gear is taylored for my monk. all other named items have become food for my sentients. haha. anyway, I figured for class past lives I can have a certain portion that is monk so I can use my gear I guess? haha. anyway, I have read that pay is a very good past life to have becuae 10-30% HAMP is really good compared to +30 HPs.

thanks for the input!

Nico

[Komradkillingmachine]

*Pally PLs great! PDK lives awesome! PRR lives neato! HP lives both Barb and Primal why not?

*MRR lives meh (unless you really care about having 50MRR at lvl1?)...

*AC lives? superwasteful (unless you get around to 220+ and even then it will be situationally helpful) but ultimately it doesn't matter much for content where it really matters. AC stat is a tank's responsibility anyways.

*If you're pining for Tactical DC lives because they might work for QP, I don't know for sure. Someone else should confirm or not.

*Shadar-kai lives actually actually really good for Monks to go with the whole incorporeability and dodge theme.

*Scourge lives increase DPS = MUST HAVE. Highly unlikely to reach 100% doublestrike outside of reaper w/o them.

-Scoundrel does not give DS%, btw, its Aasimar Scourge. Don't make a mistake of TR'n into Scoundrel and realizing you're trapped LOL. That would suck.

[NemesisAlien]

Oh, that's super lame. I thought it was all ranged attacks since it says +2 damage with all ranged missile weapons and should actually SAY that it doesn't really mean all ranged missile weapons, but only bows and crossbows and not thrown weapons.

Super lame.

Work for zen moncher? One of my to do list.

[Hobgoblin]

if you have the drive - racial completionist is of course beneficial

Wf/dwarf lives give you +2 con and 2 ap

not saying to go for that though

2 more pally lives gives more amp.

3 barb lives gives 30 hp (not much, but ya)


morning lord gives radiance and pos sp....(i think, wiki says light and alignment which should be same i believe)

scourge gives more ds

scoundrel gives reflex saves and can free up a slot from striding.

arti can give you a bonus to umd which can be nice.....

lock gives you mrr, but you hit the 50 cap so easy

none of the others seem to give you much.

Rogue gives you reflex saves - sneak damage - and the awesome past life active feat

these are all useful but may not be the grind you are looking for.

[Kodwraith]

Oh ok, i have that already. Its 7 LoH and 1 will regenerate every 3 mins. Cool.

Yes, that is what I meant. It's "unlimited" in the sense you can stop and wait out a quest while soloing if you need to. Practically speaking, if you're out of LoH in an R* quest near cap, you're likely already toast. There was some post a while back that indicated Endless LoH from US destiny was not working with the racial LoH to speed up the regen.

Funnily, even though I have LoH, being a monk, I still use wholeness of body every once in a while even near cap. I usually solo on r1 or elite depending on the era of the content, so it's sometimes handy to "top off your health". By the time I hit cap, I'm just using heal scrolls a like everyone else.

I don't get to play this game more than once or twice a week in off peak hours, but I put my monk back on the racial treadmill for a bit (running my first wiz life right now just to be different), but I'll probably run 3 human lives for the +1 WIS and racial AP then call it done. I need to farm a complete gear set way more than I need past lives. Yes I would be much better off with 27 more AC, but I have no interest in spending a decade on the hamster wheel. I think the main change for me will be running in GMoF again at cap which I haven't done since I leveled it 6 years ago.

One thing to also consider, a lot of the PL feats are massively more useful at level 1 than at 30. Tiefling Scoundrel is a good example. Things liek ED lives too; 21 odd AC makes a massive diff at 1 and is a rounding error unless you're a tank at cap.

[Kodwraith]

Work for zen moncher? One of my to do list.

Yes it does work for zen archery. And it's awesome. The elf 14monk/6ranger split is really fun to play even before falconry came out, but it typically blooms late so helps to have a party. I'm TRing my 30 ranger back into that split after running an inquisitor life or two.