Being a big monk fan, my first couple of runs through ToEE had a straight monk and overall I found he sucked (a bit ironic huh? I thought it would have been the gay monks that sucked). At that point I didn't have a great idea of the best feats and equipment to make him powerful and I found that he rarely hit anything and at higher levels suffered badly from not using powerful magic weapons. I also found there was a dearth of masterwork monk weapons in the unmodded game. I'm about to run through it again and this time I want to take full advantage of game knowledge to create an uber-monk. What are some good approaches to achieve this? I know monks can get a great AC and with Tumble can move unhindered around the battlefield. But what are some good strategies to make them effective damage dealers? Some of the methods that I've found in searching on this subject include: - having a druid can craft gloves(?) of grater magic fang - items to increase DEX help hitting if combined with Weapon Finesse - a level of Sorcerer for Truestrike, or a level of Rogue for sneak attack But since a monk is generally a frontline fighter, it still seems that he would suffer by not using the bonuses of craftable weapons (holy, axiomatic, frost, etc). What has CO8 added that makes a monk able to dish out large amounts of pain? I remember reading years ago about dual wielding Rods of the Python or something. What do they do that make then so worthwhile? Thanks for your advice guys.
The combination of a Monk and a Druid (with craft wondrous items) in your party composition will give you access to Amulet's of the Mighty Fists - which will make the Monk's unarmed attacks more effective, Gloves of Dexterity (which will increase the Monk's AC, ranged attacks and (if the Monk has Weapon Finesse and small weapons) attack bonus). Also an Amulet of Widom will increase a Monk's AC (wisdom bonus is added to a monk's AC). All Monk weapons form the unmodded game and some new ones added in 5.0.0 are available in various locations in both mundane and masterwork varieties, allowing for weapon wielding Monks to have magical weapons, just like the other party members can. If you install the 5.0.0 cumulative fixes and add it to your 5.0.0 instalation, you will also have access to the new Monk's belt which will add 5 Monk levels to any Monk character who wears it. The Rod of the Python was considered a +2 club in the unmodded game, with 5.0.0 it also has the option of summoning a giant constrictor snake to fight for you. And multiclassing a Monk will prevent the character from taking another level in the Monk class.
So which is more effective? A monk dual wielding crafted monk weapons, or fists with amulet of mighty fists?
That really depends on the enemy. If you are dealing with a human guard, cleric, or wizard then barehanded is the way to go since stunning fists and various other monk powers are best used unarmed. If the problem is a demon, however, then I recommend a holy axiomatic quarterstaff to penetrate their DR. I believe with the patches you can still flurry with a quarterstaff as well so that's good. FR
Firstly, here's a link to the 3.5 SRD page with the monk's class abilities on it. An unarmed Monk will get the number of attacks per round as per the list labeled Flurry of Blows, including the increased BAB and damage at later levels, an amulet of mighty fists can add upto +5 to the BAB and damage. Now while dual wielding monk weapons you will get the number of attacks per round listed in the flurry of blows column, but the damage will always be the same as the base weapon. However you have the option of adding upto +3 to BAB and damage, and adding extra damage dice as follows... flaming = +1d6 fire damage icy = +1d6 cold damage shocking = +1d6 electrical damage flaming burst = +1d6 fire damage (+2d6 on a critical hit) icy burst = +1d6 cold damage (+2d6 on a critical hit) shocking burst = +1d6 electrical damage (+2d6 on a critical hit) holy = +2d6 Vs evil creatures (needs to be crafted by a cleric with the good domain) unholy = +2d6 Vs good creatures (needs to be crafted by a cleric with the evil domain) chaotic = +2d6 Vs lawful creatures (needs to be crafted by a cleric with the chaos domain) axiomatic = +2d6 Vs chaotic creatures (needs to be crafted by a cleric with the law domain). Either could return more damage, depending on your choices, but generally it's pretty ballanced.
if you want to cheat give yourself amulet of mighty fists, bracers of armour, belt of giant strength, gloves of dexterity and ring of protection. console those items (max versions) and give max stats you'll clean up
I've got a monk in my evil party of four and he rocks. The build I've used is: Lawful evil HUMAN - 18,16,15,13,16,12 (pretty good roll I know, rerolls=4!) I've pumped all extra attribute points into dex which now is base 19. Rogue 1 / Monk 12 (currently) Must take rogue level first if you do this, I took it because this char needs to do all the open lock/disarming traps for the party and the 1d6 Sneak Damage is cool too. Equipment: Amulet of Mighty Fists +5, Gloves of Dex +6, Monk's Belt (+5 to monk level for unarmed dmg, ac level bonus & stunning fist), Bracers of Armor +4 (I think you can get +5 too) The amulet does require a druid to craft. Gets four unarmed attacks per round: +9/+9/+9/+4 (each gets +7dex, +1focus, +5amulet = +13) which gives: +22/+22/+22/+17 as the AR, in other words he hits quite a lot. Damage for each attack is 2d8+9 (+4str & +5amulet) Lawful magic attack (for purposes of DR only) +1d6 Sneak Attack damage sometimes. If I enlarge him, damage becomes 3d8+9. AC is 28 (10 +7 Dex Bonus, +3 Monk Level Bonus, +3 Wisdom Bonus, +4 Bracers, +1 Ring) For feats I took the unarmed strike ones and finesse once dex was more than str. Tumble is pretty important to be able to move around the battlefield at 60' per round! Basically if he's in 5' step range, a lot of common enemies drop in a single round to this char, sometimes two rounds if unlucky. I was originally going to make a quarterstaff monk, but looked at the unarmed dmg progression and decided not to. Enlarged and Hastened - you better watch out!! mg: Let me know how things go, and do check out the Monk's Belt thread.
This guy had monks figured out pretty well, I refer to his posts whenever I consider building a monk.
Is improved critical for unarmed worth taking feat wise for a monk? I read on the manual unarmed has a crit range of 20x2. So you would have a 18-20 x2 range no? Also, as far as the monk belt goes, do you need to activate it in the radial menu like a dagger of venom? Reason i ask is i put it on and all it seems to do is raise my ac by 1. It doesn't seem to be increasing my unarmed damage or atr. My monk is level 12 right now.
Sorry, it would only be 19-20 / x2 for the crit range. As for the Monk Belt...I have no idea. I never actually made one before.aper:
Have you checked the rolls window? It only affects dmg, not to hit. It should be working.. try with and without checking the dmg that comes up in the rolls window. :yes:
Try something like a magic kama with holy for example, and flurry of blows with it. That is a lot of attacks and against evil creatures a lot of damage.
Can a monk do this with the 5.8 Co8 Mod? 1) Take "Improved Natural Attack" feat when the monk become level 6. A level 20 monk with that feat does 4d8 with every strike 2) Fave thing to do with a monk was take "(improved/greater) Two weapong fighting" feats with the monk. That a level 20 monk could do: Main hand: +15/+15/+15/+10/+5 [4d8+str mod on each attack] Off Hand: +15/10+/+5 [4d8+(0.5* str mod) on each attack] 3) give a monk a spiked chan in his hands. That way human-sized (aka medium-size) moves to sword slash the monk, the foe provokes an AoO from the monk's chain, and the monk is ready to kick the dude to death ... even though his hands are hold the chain [check the WotC offical FAQ if you think monks cannot apply improved natural attack feat , or TWF feats to unarmed strikes] nice monk setup if I do say so myself. But can a monk under the co8 mods do what a monk in my pnp games do?
