This build is really just a concept test build. During a recent thread discussion, some comments were made that made me reevaluate the use of certain feats and strategies, namely Circle Kick and Flurry of Blows as it has been a while since I have played a monk (I will discuss them below).
I am running this solo through Aielund to see how it fares. I think that in Epic levels, the build will fall behind others, but I primarily built it for mods that end close to, or at, the 20's like Aielund, HoTU and the OC.
Thus far it has been better than I had expected and haven't really run into any problems that can't be solved with lots of potions and some tactics and potions. And occasionally, potions. ___________________
Flurry of Fist and Feat (Monk 40) Playable lvl 1-40, PvM Designed for low-to-mid Epic (1-28)
Spell Resistance 58 (enough to beat either a Lvl 30 Caster that has taken all the Spell Penetration Feats, or almost always beat a Lvl 40 that hasn't taken any) _________________
A Few Build Notes:
- Flurry of Blows: My previous conventional wisdom told me that it was better to only use Flurry on easy to hit enemies. I did some statistical (and in-game) analysis, however, and I found that it is almost always better to have Flurry of Blows activated. The AB loss is easily made up for with the Extra attack at your full AB. Of course it is better to turn if off if you are going to try for a Stunning Fist or a Knockdown.
- Gear: You need gear like there's no tomorrow. Monks are probably one of the most gear-dependant base classes out there. Most other classes either have spells to buff themselves or have heavy armor and a shield. You, however, need the best gear you can find. Most Monk gear has AC/Dex boosting qualities, so it fits nicely with this build. Anything granting Haste is always welcome.
- Potions: Monks are very potion friendly. Unfortunately, you are at the mercy of the Mod builder as to whether or not you can find any. But if you find a place to by unlimited potions, keep a good supply on hand. Since the Cat's Grace AC boost stacks with the Owls Wisdom AC boost, you can make great use of potions. I also keep some Barkskin potions around as well.
...and the most controversial for last...
- Circle Kick: You'll love it and you'll hate it; often in the same skirmish. After taking it on my first Monk build, I swore I'd never take it again until they fixed it. However after reading comments from others and evaluating the class as a whole, I decided that it did have a place in certain Monk builds; mainly high-AC builds. (Note: I am not sure if they partially fixed it, but I have not noticed my character dropping out of combat after a Circle Kick. Changing targets, yes. But not dropping out of combat. Individual mileage may vary.)
Basically, with a high-Dex, low-Strength build, you need to maximize your Attacks-per-Round. You need as many hits as possible to make it effective. The Monk class has given you most of what you need for free: Flurry of Blows, Unarmed Attack Schedule and Cleave. By taking Circle Kick you just round out the list.
You will have to do quite a bit of babysitting-though, and here are some strategies I have found useful: 1) Maintain the best AC possible. Since you are going to change targets frequently, you need to equip anything that gives the best AC. So ditch that Fire Giant Belt and put on the Belt of Agility. This is one of the reasons why I kept this build pure, I wanted every bit of Monk AC I could. 2) Use your Monk speed to control the Boss Fights. Typically, the Boss will have an AB that will rip through your AC, so the last thing you need is to have your target change from the boss to an underling. I have found that using my Monk speed will let me pull the boss away from the group and into a choke point, allowing me to concentrate on it. Or if fast enough, run and gun with a bow to whittle down the underlings until you can go mano-a-mano against the big guy. 3) Resist the urge to manually retarget. You will often lose every attack that round, if you retarget. It is better to just let the retargeting happen naturally and go with the flow, dishing out stunning fists and/or knockdowns on whomever you are fighting. If you feel you are getting pummeled by an especially tough person in the group, then use tactic #2 above. Otherwise you will just end up standing around getting hit. ____________________
This is definitely a passive build. It doesn't have much in the way offensive fire-power. It is build around the concept of avoidance (Immunity to poison and disease, Improved Evasion, Tumble, high-Dex, Immunity to Mind spells, high-Monk AC, better than average Spell Resistance, Empty Body). If those fail, though, then you won't have much to fall back. I could have taken some ShadowDancer or CoT, but that would have delayed some of the Monk abilities that I wanted sooner than later, and in the end decided to keep it pure.
You will have trouble breaking through heavy DR, so it would be good to keep some Kama's that deal different types of damage in your inventory. Even if you hate Kama's (as I do), it is always good to have options. And speaking of which; you are an Elf, so don't be afraid to keep a bow handy.
A little multi-classing could iron out some weak spots in this build (Uncanny Dodge, Epic Dodge, etc). Others have posted those types before, so I would direct you to search for them as they are well done. And strangely enough, I haven't seemed to miss Uncanny Dodge as much as I would have thought.
Thanks for your time. Cheers.
Edited By dmuzzy on 02/22/06 13:13
Some notes:
Circle kick is powerful, but I found that it can target enemies in a range further than your unarmed fist, so after hitting it you lose combat mode, painful it is, but that only happens when you're fighting in really narrow places or really surrounded, so generally it works, but you won't be able to focus on one enemy, since your Monk jumps form one to another once per round.
I'm making a pure monk, and let me tell you, a low STR Monk is not playable, if you don't get awesome gloves of whatever strong suff, you're meat, 1-20 +2 at max unarmed power, +8 with STR capped, and that's it, not real melee power, your AC is not high enough to compensate.
I've come to realize that even though Monk has a lot of great stuff, it's a very bad pure class, but it's completely awesome multiclasser.
I like Monks, so I can't really not like your build.
Edited By Thaxll'ssyllia on 02/23/06 18:24
I generally prefer str-based myself.
One quick suggestion for this build - start Dex at 18, and drop Wis to 14. Same AC, +1 AB. I might consider dropping a few of the Improved SR's for Great Dex as well.
TM
strange that Cinnabar hasn't beaten you to this build... A DEX based Elven monk. _________________ I see the fear you have inside, you can run but never hide. I will hunt you down and tear you limb from limb.
I run the Pre-Epic Builders guild. Join and share your experience.
Circle kick is powerful, but I found that it can target enemies in a range further than your unarmed fist, so after hitting it you lose combat mode, painful it is, but that only happens when you're fighting in really narrow places or really surrounded, so generally it works, but you won't be able to focus on one enemy, since your Monk jumps form one to another once per round.
I haven't seem to have had that happen much, if at all, in my testing. But I remember it happening quite often before (pre-v.165). Either they addressed a "dropping out of combat" bug, or have just been lucky
I'm making a pure monk, and let me tell you, a low STR Monk is not playable, if you don't get awesome gloves of whatever strong suff, you're meat, 1-20 +2 at max unarmed power, +8 with STR capped, and that's it, not real melee power, your AC is not high enough to compensate.
I completely agree. This is really just a build that I put together to test some strategies. After finding that it seemed to solo quite well through Aielund (although I only recently downloaded Act 4, and haven't tried it there, yet), I figured I go ahead and post it. It is definitely geared for a Mod that has good Monk gloves. (HoTU, Aielund)
One quick suggestion for this build - start Dex at 18, and drop Wis to 14. Same AC, +1 AB. I might consider dropping a few of the Improved SR's for Great Dex as well.
TM
Good suggestion for the starting stat point allocation. I never even thought about trying that, I didn't think the points would stretch that far. I will try it and give it a go.
Unfortunately, Monk's don't get any Great Dex feats nor do they get Epic Prowess or Epic Weapon Focus as bonus feats, so I really could only swap one Spell Resistance. But then I would have an odd Stat score, so in the end I will probably have to leave it as it is.
Thanks again for the thoughts / suggestions. I will also play around with a strength version to see if it is still viable with the ever-buggy Circle Kick.
