Quote Originally Posted by savingsoul View Post
I've played the Uzy VII build up to level 19, and it will ultimately be 6A/6M/8F (see the "UZY" link in my signature). That's a bit different from the 11Ranger/6Monk/3Artificer build, but I'm guessing that the gameplay though levels 1-18 on the 11 ranger build will be quite similar. Uzy VII doesn't get endless fusillade until level 19, so it is basically a 10k stars/MS monkcher up until then; it also has only 6 levels of monk; it is also wisdom based; lastly, it uses elemental weapons, much like you would on the 11 ranger build; so they are very similar.

This is all just my way of saying that in my experience the ratio between ranged and melee is not 1:1. To be sure, I do find myself using melee more than one would expect; for example, if there is simply one or two non-boss enemy stragglers there is little reason to use MS or 10k stars--it's overkill--so instead I'll use melee to build up ki for 10k stars on the next mob. Taking into consideration all the times you use melee on stragglers/loners, the ratio may be closer to 1:1, but in terms of sustained battle 1:1, in my experience, is not the case. Usually, I only engage in melee while MS/10k Stars are on cooldown, and I do so of course to make sure that 10k stars will be available asap. The actual ratio, I would guess, is more like 2:1 in terms of ranged:melee, maybe even closer to 3:1 at times. Implicit in this strategy is that I simply don't use any monk finishers or special attacks; Uzy VII is a light monk, and in terms of enhancements I haven't even invested in any special attacks (and since Uzy VII has 6 levels of arti, I can remove curse, disease, or blindness with 100% success simply using wands; I have no special UMD enhancements or equipment and can currently use a raise dead scroll unbuffed with at least 60% success); I probably would not use them even if I had monk special attacks, as the way to go seems to be to minimize melee as much as possible and preserve ki for 10k stars. I use mountain stance most of the time; I have adept of wind only for the sake of 10k stars; I use lesser ocean stance every now and then, usually alongside the human versatility saves boost, if I need to get through a trap, etc. Whatever, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but minimizing melee seems to work out best for me.

IIRC from another thread, you (wax_on) have warmed up recently on the idea of taking light monk rather than dark monk on 6M builds, and I would basically agree with that. It's a bit more difficult to get dark monk attacks to stick on a 6M build, even if it is wisdom based; light monk buffs, on the other hand, are a sure thing, even if I rarely use them. One of the best things Ninja I has going for it is the passive 1d6 you get on sneak attacks; the other of course is shadow fade; but they cost iirc 10 action points; the enhancements on these builds are tight, so there are a lot of other good options to go with using 10 action points. I'm not saying that one is necessarily better than the other; rather, I'm just agreeing that they both have their advantages, which are likely to be on a par.
Informative post, thank you.

The only other thing worth mentioning on the dark monk side is Static Charge and Porous Soul. These moves give mobs 10% lightning or acid vulnerability for 30 seconds respectively which could add considerable personal DPS if combined with a LitII GS Bow or Epic Bow of Earth against relevant targets and possibly massive party DPS considering Eledar's Electric Surge in devil raids or Black Dragon Bolt in Abbot. The Ki issues are less of an issue as in these raids situations you are generally beating quite consistently.

Yes, the two options are more or less on par for a 6 monk build. The deciding factor for me might be the ease at which I will be able to UMD heal scrolls and whether walk of the sun will make a big difference to that.