I'm embarking on an adventure trying out the new Sacred Fist archetype released in U56. Let's see how this subclass comes together and how it fares in challenging content.

Pure or Multiclass?

The first question we ask ourselves is if we want to go pure or multiclass. There are compelling arguments for each. Since this is my first pass at Sacred Fist I'm going pure to experience everything in its entirety. Once you start building the Sacred Fist there are many feats you might find useful. Some possible class splits would include FVS for a CHA trance and two levels of fighter for feats. 16 Sacred Fist/2 FVS/2 Fighter might be worthwhile. If you want to use daggers and Vistani then cutting in some Rogue might be worth considering for enhanced sneak damage. I'm likely going to explore both of these in my three Sacred Fist lives but for now, we are going 20.

Race

What to pick, what to pick. Human gives us a bonus feat and that's fairly important for a pure 20 looking to hit whirlwind attack. You'll need 8 feats in heroic for that. Other than that, our three main attributes are CHA, DEX, and CON. Half-Elf and Drow are both worth considering if you are multiclassing or not going to take whirlwind attack. Dwarf makes for a beefier Holy monk. I'm sure you could make halfling work as well.

Feats

My feat breakdown is going to look like this:

1 - TWF
1 - Dodge
3 - Mobility
6 - Swords to Plowshares
9 - IC Bludgeon
12 - Whirlwind attack
15 - ITWF
18 - GTWF

It might jump out to you that we are missing Stunning Fist. Well, that is STR based and we aren't STR based nor do we have a trance to boost its DCs. We also don't have the feat slots for it. If you want Stunning Fist, I'd recommend the 16/2/2 split since you then get a CHA trance and will have the feats from fighter to take it. Magical Training, or splashing FVS, opens up the Feydark tree and GCS (greater color spray) could give you a Jedi type of build. However, APs are tight so consider what you want to do, you'll have to make sacrifices to get GCS.

Base Stats (for human)

STR - 10
DEX - 16
CON - 16
INT - 8
WIS - 9
CHA - 17

I have +8 tomes so you end up with 3 or 4 skill points for most of your levels. I spent those on Heal, Concentration, Jump, and Intimidate.

Your first 40 APs

The nice thing about Sacred Fist is there is no fluff in the trees. Everything is useful. I could quibble with the cost in Sacred Fist - why so many 2 AP abilities? This price seems high in modern DDO. Hopefully, some of these will come down in the future. But everything is good here.

Human - 3 APs Melee Power boost, Improved Recovery

Sacred Fist - First three cores, Sacred Strike III, Extra Smite II, Deft Strikes I, Fast Movement, Exalted Whirlwind, Exalted Smite I, Light of Hope, Charisma

Sacred Defender - First three cores, Extra Lay on Hands III, Durable Defense III, Resilient Defense III, Tenacious Defense III

How does it play?

I'm level 10 so far and the build has ridiculous saves. I was at +36 reflex saves at level 7. For a point of reference, this could be even higher because this character started with 0 reaper points (has 12 epic past lives). You don't get CHA to hit/damage until level 6 but that wasn't a major drawback. I could still take down Carnage Reapers in Waterworks solo without any trouble. Lay on Hands, even in reaper, heal for a surprising amount so self-healing is adequate. This is a high-defense fighter with good DPS. It feels like a monk that has been streamlined for those who don't like clicking a bunch of buttons. In fact, Exalted Whirlwind and Smite are the only two buttons you really push. Handwraps in general feels a bit light if you're used to using a THF in melee (which I am) so you aren't pulling those big damage numbers. However, you're really fast, and have high survivability. Sacred Fist seems to be pushed toward constant use of Exalted Smites. Looking to see how Violence Begets Violence, Sacred Fist V and Avenging Whirlwind add to the power of the build. I also haven't unlocked Whirlwind attack yet. VbV seems like it will be quite useful in heroics because I get missed a ton. AC is 72 at L10 and that gets misses on a regular basis in reaper. Will report more as I progress.