Kaylon

Her Courage is great for tanks. High armor and grazes/misses can reduce damage greatly and those 10p shield coupled with 20+hp passive healing can make you immortal.

If you want a pure ranged attacker with great dps you should try Helwalker/Arcane Archer or Helwalker/Ghost Heart with Frostseeker. Frostseeker with high accuracy is the weapon with the highest dps in the game (the proc doubles your single target damage, without even considering the AoE damage). The Arcane Archer has great CC but has to take care of his pet (however he can have 3 pets at the same time once he gets the Dichotomous Soul)... Here are some of the bonuses coming with this combo: great single and AoE dps (high dmg, spd, accuracy, penetration, lash, good AoE radius) - and if you really want to wreak havoc then use scrolls of Avenging Storm great single target CC (perma stun by spamming Stunning Surge) and AoE CC (if Arcane Archer) with high accuracy and duration best interrupting machine in the game (equip Slayer's Claw to upgrade Thunderous Blows to Energized) high potential to apply unlimited AoE afflictions (equip the Ring of Clenched Muscle) The only disadvantage of this build is his fragility - but if you never attack first and if you stay at max range you should be fine (and you can always dash out of range using Evasive Fire). If you don't mind micro-managing him you could also pick Shot on the Run (-50% recovery if you move between shots), which coupled with high running speed helps you deal easily with any melee attacker (or just shooting faster).

I didn't bother to address that because Forbidden Fist is a melee attack and avoiding melee is obviously against the main purpose of the subclass. The idea was Forbidden Fist isn't reliable enough vs bosses to try to build a strategy around the 50% duration. It's a nice bonus to have, but you basically have to sacrifice abilities like Dichotomous Soul or Instruments of Pain (losing utility, damage and survivability in every fight). Exactly, you don't need to be Forbidden Fist to debuff CON, you just need Enervating Blows and high accuracy(which happens to be one of the strengths of the cipher+rapier combo). I dodged nothing, but maybe you didn't fully grasp the idea... Tactics involving attacks targeting fortitude (which is the highest defense of a boss) are not reliable.

Having a shield and high RES doesn't make a defensive build. I agree... And I say it again... Even if you debuff their RES, your fortitude attack has to pass their defense. And then you will say you need at least someone with a morning star to debuff their fortitude and then spam Forbidden Fist until you hit with Enfeeble which has a great chance to graze if the boss isn't already resistant to body afflictions... Of course it could work if you like the hard way.

You need lots of wounds at the beginning of the fight not at the end. There are plenty of abilities to spend wounds as a monk. Personally I always summon the Dichotomous Soul and I like to use Efficient Anguish vs enemies resistant to might afflictions. Instruments of Pain is also a nice option to have when you don't want to be in the front line. Psychovampyric shield has only slightly longer recovery but is a more reliable debuff and should be used when it matters (not that you can't spam it). VS normal enemies enfeebled isn't really needed because they die just as fast - it's comparable in utility to Bloody Slaughter (vs normal enemies it doesn't matter because when they're near death they will die after a hit anyway and vs tough monster you rarely crit...) Enduring Dance is a waste of points for melee characters, unless you play a very defensive build (without mentioning that mortification points are better spent elsewhere). You could stack Enfeebled and Psychovampiric shield but in the fights that it might be worth it does a very little difference anyway.

As a monk with high crit chance you can easily lower fortitude with Enervating Blows and/or Stunning Surge. The +50% duration on hostile effect is nice, but the Forbidden Fist will generate wounds much slower and you have to invest heavily in resolve instead of other attributes. Also if you need to extend the effect of your spells/abilities it's better to debuff resolve using Psychovampiric Shield (it has a stronger effect, is resisted less, has longer duration).

Cipher with Seeker's Fang is pretty much the best end game build around a rapier. Rapier with Borrowed Instincts means very high crit chance and the class that benefits the most from it is the monk (Swift Flurry, Heartbeat Drumming, Stunning Surge, Enervating Blows). I would pick Nalpazca (for better survivability and wound generation) or no subclass if you don't like drugs (with Tuotilo's Palm in the right hand of course). For the cipher subclass the most obvious is the Ascendant and you should pick it if you want to mix casting and melee. If you want to build a heavy melee character then pick instead Soul Blade. The bleed from Seeker's Fang doesn't stack with itself and your focus matters only when you apply it. That means you can use Soul Annihilation/spells freely after applying your bleed to your target(s). A good back up weapon for this build is Sun and Moon (you can use it until you reach max focus, then switch to Seeker's Fang to apply the most powerful bleed). If you want to go the Soul Blade route then you can pick also a Trickster as second class because of the great synergy with Soul Annihilation (but less sturdy than a monk).

It doesn't go away when the combat ends?

Like Waski said, using No Quarter on yourself... But you have to be in combat and use a potion of Final Stand to avoid destroying yourself.

I did a quick test on Dorudugan - assassin (with a 300+%lash) using Frostseeker and a scroll of Avenging Storm... Doru died in 10 regular shots. Probably not worth the effort for the Ultimate, but still fun.

It was using the Essence Interrupter, but of course with an assassin. With the other classes probably max arcana is the way to go. PS. With Abydon's challenge activated, do you know if weapons degrade based on the number of attacks or it depends on the (physical) damage dealt with the weapon? I wonder if a bigger lash makes weapons degrade slower or faster.

A bit off topic, but what's the max lash you achieved while solo? I managed to reach nearly 300% and I wonder if it's possible to go beyond that...

Helwalker/priest of Berath is probably the best choice if you want a hybrid melee/caster.

Do you mind explaining what does it mean?

Reforge the Flesh is considered an unique effect and isn't affected by resistance/immunity to dexterity afflictions.

Someone made a spreadsheet with everything you need to know about that: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VOXnwhAVZ2bqGJgw-cgJlG0TIqt9j3zJJbRx1epH3ho/edit#gid=0

For the end game barbarian Ngati's Tusk is also worth mentioning because of its AoE defense debuff (Hunter of Hunters). At max level it can reach -10for/ref/will, but I'm not sure if it stacks with other debuffs.

Stacking resting bonuses was used mostly by people who like to solo on potd difficulty. It's one of the tactics that comes with the knowledge of the game and it certainly helps, but I would never put it in the category of the cheesy tactics(like those based on SOT) that trivialize the game.

Some fun combos: ghost heart/monk with Frostseeker and Helm of the White Void spamming Stunning Surge soulblade/rogue with Sun and Moon & Tuotilo's Palm or Whispers of the Endless Paths spamming Soul Annihilation devoted/berserker with Lord Darryn's Voulge using Clear Out troubadour/priest with Sasha's Singing Scimitar, Least Unstable Coil, Weyc's robes and wand spamming invocations paladin/nalpazka using Sacred Immolation with Sun and Moon and Magran's Favor helwalker/streetfighter with mortars and Helm of the White Void spamming Stunning Surge devoted/monk with Whispers of the Endless Paths using Clear Out steel garrote/rogue with Modwyr and Watcher's Blade

The combo will work of course. The Wildstrike bonus adds a 20% lash to all your weapons, Firebrand included. Scion of Flame adds +1 penetration to all your fire attacks, Firebrand included. Firebrand is a good weapon at the start/mid game and coupled with the ring of Focused Flame it becomes very effective. However you should keep in mind that it scales with your level and won't go beyond superb. You should also spec in morning stars, large shields, arquebuses because they have good abilities. The most useful drug is Whiteleaf and it's the only one that scales with alchemy lvl...

I think you can backstab yourself () using Rakhan Field Boots and lower your health enough to trigger Nemnok's buffs. I suppose it's the only BDD source for non-priests because potions of Final Stand are probably combat only...

If you want the most powerful MC then you have to do a no rest run in order to keep the one time bonuses as long as possible. Thus Refreshing Finale becomes mandatory because it also allows using items with abilities that trigger on Empower every fight.

A death godlike troubadour/priest with maxed intellect and dexterity is the best buffer in the game. With the Unstable Coil, Sasha's Scimitar and Weyc's robes and wand you can have all tier 3 inspirations every fight, huge power level bonus (Attuned Channel + Pallid Fate + Brilliant) and crazy phrase regen (Muse of Mystery + Brisk Recitation + Brilliant). You can also replace the troubadour by a bellower for even higher PL, but lower phrase regen. In the front you can use a nature godlike beckoner/paladin or beckoner/monk using Animancy Cat. The monk offers longer duration, while the paladin better survivability for your summons.

If you enable the solo option, then you can recruit him without him joining your party. After that you can kill him on the boat. However I don't know if it will solve your problem.

If you don't play solo it doesn't make sense to pick a tank requiring too much micro and high level abilities. Without another chanter in a party I would always pick paladin-troubadour (solid from the start to the end and able to tank everything). If there's already another chanter, then a paladin-helwalker is also great option (can achieve passive 170+ all defenses).