Monk feats

[Istari of Thay]

As a medium seasoned player (5 years in the game) I have almost never played a monk...

I'm sure one of you have, and maybe you could help me out with wich feats I should choose...

Wich would prove more effective later in the game... And, are monks worth multiclassing...

Thanks!!

[ejsmith]

I take a monk with me, now. But at first I didn't, and that was because I didn't know about the temple you go though.

Although, I found out there's nothing really *interesting* for a monk, there.

I still take one; they do rock pretty hard. I usually give them one level in paladin, and 29 levels in monk. I do know it's at around level 15 and above that the monk becomes an attrocious destroyer. And eventually, I believe he becomes immune to normal weapons. But, he can't soak up damage all day like your fighter.

Your monk is an "intercepter". Especially on the boss battles, but even when a mage is present; send in your monk to execute that one individual, and pull him back to regroup with your party. This is why he walks so fast.

The monk is not a fighter. If you send him into the middle of a battle, with everyone wailing on him, he will perish. But if you use him to circle the battle, singling out enemy by enemy, you can obliterate the entire horde using your other party members as distractions.

One example is in the areas where, as soon as the area loads up, you are spotted and under attack immediately. The enemy rushes in, and you don't have time to single them out. Your monk is most vulnerable at these times, but if you have your fighter ingage first, your monk can "flank" them and just destroy them.

He's super high on offense, and can evade a single enemy left and right. It's the group battles, even with low level enemies, that you have to seriously pay attention to him.

[Misiek]

Try tactics that's described in the game. Send your monk into the battle and drop some fireballs there, your Monk will evade them, and the rest will get burned

[Laocorn]

Monks rock hardcore. Give them some crazy dex and wisdom to build up the AC. Any rings of protection, bracers of defense, and other non-armor ac boosters. If you can get the Black Raven sash in Targos, and the Thunder Clap in Chult, you're straight. Lightning Reflexes is a good feat for monks. They don't like getting hit, but with reflex saves and high ac, it's rare for a monk with good stats to get hit. They do excel in 1v1 combat, and are great mageslayers. I've only recently realized that they can carry weapons (just not shields) so that gets to be a big help. I've been using a throwing axe (Haft over Head) with my current monk character. She's good for support, and has some bonus strength in there, and whenever a mage comes up, I can hunt him down and punch him til he explodes. Man, I love when a monk kills with a critical attack, because you KNOW that they just hit the enemy with their BARE HANDS. Muwahahaha.

I haven't fooled too much with the different monk schools. I usually use Order of the Broken Ones so I can m/c to a Painbearer to use clerical skills (because I normally don't have a cleric) but the monks CAN m/c to a wizard (could be fun) but I think the one where they m/c to a rogue could be more helpful. They already get hide and move silently as class skills, and having a monk sneak attack with their bare hands! Could get messy

[Beren]

Human Monk
Strength 16
Constitution 18
Dexterity 18
Intelligence 3
Wisdom 18
Charisma 3

Equipment: Black Raven Sash, Bracers of Defence +4, Incandescent Blue Ioun Stone, and the clincher ...

Shifter's Boots (casts Blink 1/day, 50% chance to miss you, 20% chance you'll miss your own attack).
You may even want to add the Reflexive Short Sword +1 (for good measure).

Spell Resistance and Evasion (decoys for area-effect spells), mega-damage, the priceless Stunning Blow and Quivering Palm, the Monk will do right by any player if he or she knows how to handle it.

But since you've asked about feats, here are the ones I use.

Blind-fight, needful against Power-Word Blind and Blindness.

Power Attack, a standard tactic, plant a Stunning Blow on a foe, and then Power-Attack him to death. It's also a prerequisite for ...

Cleave, will add a significant number of attacks during battles.

Dirty Fighting, a critical hit may Blind or Slow the victim.

Improved Critical, besides being a mainstay for anybody involved in melee combat, it also enhances the Dirty Fighting feat.

Dodge, 1 point improvement to A.C. against a single foe.

Feats which improve saving throws, can be put off till later because his saving throws are already excellent to begin with.

[Istari of Thay]

Thanks...

Alot of hardcore information...
I didn't expect it to be this good...

Nice feats too, gotta love those!!

[DarkGoddess]

Yeah, the monk can be pretty spiffy at higher levels, when the all coveted Quivering Palm comes into play. But, I dunno, I don't exactly have a full fighter in my party, and I'm doing just fine in the game.(Although, I have my beautiful paladin to assist) I mean, I beat BattleSquares with my monk, no easy feat, I can assure you. My monk's stats are identical to Beren's, and he's right, you should leave the feats that improve saving throws for the very last, 'cause the monk has great saving throws. Although, I got my monk the Sure Striking Short Sword, very nice sword.

EDIT: Five gems!!!! Go me!!!!!!! Five gems!!!!!

[ February 10, 2003, 21:38: Message edited by: DarkGoddess ]

[Frostmage]

What stats should you improve when you get to higher levels?

[Faragon]

I'm not very experienced with a monk, but WIS seems to be the best option, as it determines the monk's AC, which can reach great heights.

[Klytus]

If you have the INT for it (13+), you've GOTTA get your Monk the Expertise feat. This way, when you send him into a hoard of monster to get them to clump for those fireballs, he can go on the defensive and jack up his AC by 5. Also, never forget to have your spell-caster have enchancing spells: Mage Armor, Cat's Grace and Bull's Strength have long durations and they will make any monk a dervish of untouchable destruction.

Personally, I never multi-class monks. One exception was a Sorcerer I made and gave him just 1 level of Monk purely for the Wisdom to AC bonus. After all, a sorcerer will never wear armor, so give him every advantage you can. Just make sure you do this with a race where Sorcerer is a favored class (Wild elf or Human) or you'll suffer a 20% EXP penalty.

[Faragon]

Just wondering, how usefull is a Monk/Cleric? And how should you divide levels?

[Beren]

If you're really wanting a secondary healer, get a Druid, or mutli-class a cleric with another character.

The reason is that it just doesn't pay to multi-class the Monk with anything. All it accomplishes is postponing the Monk getting Spell Resistance, being able to score 1d20 damage, being able to use Quivering Palm, and being able to improve the ki of his unarmed attacks.

Those are the reasons for getting a Monk to begin with.

[ February 12, 2003, 00:44: Message edited by: Beren ]

[Faragon]

I thought as much. Both classes need levels to be usefull, unlike say paladin which you can take one level in and get the bonusses.

Thanks for confirming.