help Theorybuilded monk: how viable?

[Desmodeus]

Got idea of this type of character for PotD run. Based around idea of stacking as much burn as humanly possible. So wanted to run it down against more experienced people to actually check how viable is it(as I didn't found similar monk builds

Race: Fire Godlike (i feel moon will be better but hell, they look cool + fit the theme)

Class: monk

Origin: Old Vailia - colonist

Stats: 18-10-10-10-20-10

Abilities: 

• Swift strike
• Turning wheel
• Stunning blow
• Duality of mortal precence[deflection]
• Crusible of suffering
• Flaggelant path
• Dichotomous soul
• Iron wheel

Talents

• Veteran recovery
• Twohanded style
• Weapon focus: peasant
• Scion of flame
• Lesser wound
• Savage attack
• Runner's wounding shot
• Superior deflection

For equipment main part of build is deadfire canonier belt so I can summon firebrand. Base idea: high base burn damage of firebran + burn from wounds + scion = ton of burn. And while collecting wound we also trigger Fire godlike aura. For other equipment I am thinking about Angio' Gambezon, Gauntlets of swift action, fenwalkers, ring of deflection, ring of searing flame(why not have more sources of burn?), cloak of comfort. For secondary weapon I am thinking about guildmaster stuff as a source of nonburn damage and ability to swing it from the backs of partymembers in tight coridors. Speed enchantment helps too. Thought about solder for pike, but I feel barbarian from WM1 will make better use of pikes

So is it solid idea overall or I am missing some items/ideas?

[Boeroer]

Absolutely viable for non-solo runs. For solo: don't know but I guess it's ok, too.

Fire Godlike on a Monk is actually not bad at all - since the Battle Forged retaliation scales very well with character level and also profits from some of the Monk's lashes - and Scion of Flame of course. 

For further info ona Fire Godlike Monk + lashes read this:

Firebrand is a strong weapon, especially early in the game it's absurdly strong.

Instead of using Gauntlets of Swift Action I would recommend Blood Testament Gloves and give the Gauntlets of Swift Action to somebody else - but it doesn't make a ton of difference anyways.  

Although it doesn't fit your burn theme 100% you want Lightning Strikes. Lashes are multiplicative dmg bonuses and they are usually hard to come by. Since you are using Swift Strikes already I very much recommend Lightning Strikes. You can totally skip Lesser Wounds since it's not worth the point after a few levels. Damage you receive will get higher and higher but the wound threshold is fixed. that means that later in the game wounds will flow in a lot faster than in the early game and you won't really notice if you took Lesser Wounds or not.

[Desmodeus]

11 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Fire Godlike on a Monk is actually not bad at all - since the Battle Forged retaliation scales very well with character level and also profits from some of the Monk's lashes - and Scion of Flame of course.

I was worried more about "how good Fire Godlike on 10 CON character" and "is monk with 10 CON viable at all, being fueled by received damage". Lower endurance characters harder to keep in Fire Godlike skill zone without dropping to zero and they are easier to pull out of it by consecrated ground. Same with wounds

16 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Instead of using Gauntlets of Swift Action I would recommend Blood Testament Gloves and give the Gauntlets of Swift Action to somebody else - but it doesn't make a ton of difference anyways.

I forgot about blood testament xD Yeah, they would probably be better. Also I am slightly torn between Angio and Sanguin plate for this build. 2 frenzy per fight sound nice and doesn't require talent slot for out-lander frenzy... but its plate and penalize speed... Also what about sub-weapon? I actually made a mistake there. I though about Llawran's Stick. Or is there some better sub-weapon choise?

25 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

Although it doesn't fit your burn theme 100% you want Lightning Strikes. Lashes are multiplicative dmg bonuses and they are usually hard to come by. Since you are using Swift Strikes already I very much recommend Lightning Strikes. You can totally skip Lesser Wounds since it's not worth the point after a few levels. Damage you receive will get higher and higher but the wound threshold is fixed. that means that later in the game wounds will flow in a lot faster than in the early game and you won't really notice if you took Lesser Wounds or not.

I was torn between lightning strike and Lesser wound and look like ultimately chose wrong. Will it be worth to try and work in Heart of Storm into build somehow? Maybe instead of Runner shot, since I already has stunning blow for full attack skill(and even then I most likely won't use it as it cost me wounds)

 

[Boeroer]

10 CON on a Monk is enough after some levels. 

Frenzy or Alacrity (from the Gambeson) won't stack with Swift Strikes. So I wouldn't recommend Sanguine Plate if you also use Swift/Lightning Strikes. Alacrity is a very high action speed buff and might still be impactful in certain fights, even if it suppressed the speed buff of Swift Strikes.  

Llawran's Stick is great because it has speed and can be enchanted with a lash and also Durgan Steel later on. But you can also just use your fists as backup weapons - they are good, too.  Since you want Weapon Focus Peasant a quarterstaff is the right choice. Before getting Llawran's Stick you can use Durance's Staff which is pretty good i the early game because it has two dmg types (crush/burn) and comes with a burning lash already attached. 

I don't think that Heart of the Storm is worth it if the only thing it affects would be Lightning Strikes (from 25% to 30%).

Runner's Wounding Shot is a good talent for somebody who wields a two-hander. Stunning Blow doesn't use wounds if I remember correctly but is 2/encounter (like Skyward Kick). 

[Desmodeus]

17 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Frenzy or Alacrity (from the Gambeson) won't stack with Swift Strikes. So I wouldn't recommend Sanguine Plate if you also use Swift/Lightning Strikes. Alacrity is a very high action speed buff and might still be impactful in certain fights, even if it suppressed the speed buff of Swift Strikes. 

Hm... maybe then there is other armor I can check... What about Blaidh Golan? Bonus against stun and prone looks very useful for character on timer, who need to get as much mileage as possible from Firebrand till it dissipates. Also about Gwyn Band of Union - should I consider it even through it won't stuck with Deadfire Cannoneer +2 int? It still 2 more int then I get from belt

17 hours ago, Boeroer said:

I don't think that Heart of the Storm is worth it if the only thing it affects would be Lightning Strikes (from 25% to 30%).

Well I can also enchant Llawran's Stick with shocking lash. That way it would go from 50% to 60% bonus IIRC. After all no reason to enchant weapon that I will use when target immune to burn with burning lash

17 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Runner's Wounding Shot is a good talent for somebody who wields a two-hander. Stunning Blow doesn't use wounds if I remember correctly but is 2/encounter (like Skyward Kick). 

Yeah, Just check it out - no wounds needed. Hmmm do I even need it... Maybe reshuffle talent order and get Runner wounding shot earlier and get some other ability in Stanning Blow Place... On other hand having 2 full attacks with stun never hurt

Edited November 25, 2020 by Desmodeus

[Boeroer]

I like Blaidh Golan a lot. 

With a shocking lash on Llawran's Stick + Lightning Strikes Heart of the Storm could make sense. 

 

[Desmodeus]

30 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

With a shocking lash on Llawran's Stick + Lightning Strikes Heart of the Storm could make sense. 

but what would be better to switch it with? Probably superior deflection on lvl 16 but it would be quite a long climb to

P.S. One seperate question - is there a working pistol build for WM2? I found some firearms builds but they mostly blunderbuss one

Edited November 25, 2020 by Desmodeus

[baldurs_gate_2]

Stunning blow is so bad, because you only have 2 casts. Force of anguish on the other hand is wound based and because monks generally have a high amount of acc, will even prone dragons without a problem and there is no immunity to it.

[Boeroer]

6 hours ago, Desmodeus said:

P.S. One seperate question - is there a working pistol build for WM2? I found some firearms builds but they mostly blunderbuss one

You can use St. Garam's Spark for a good Paladin marker build. Darcozzi Paladin with Inspiring Liberation, Coordinated Attacks, Zealos Focus. You can give an ally +30 all-stackable accuracy against an enemy which is very potent against tough foes. Combine with Priest's Inspiring Radiance + Devotions for the Faithful and one of your allies will have a bonus of +66 Accuracy and can hit everything reliably.

 

[Desmodeus]

On 11/25/2020 at 11:34 PM, baldurs_gate_2 said:

monks generally have a high amount of acc

Wouldn't fact that I am building around damaging III weapon(enchantment on summoned firebrand) be a problem here?

On 11/26/2020 at 2:07 AM, Boeroer said:

You can use St. Garam's Spark for a good Paladin marker build

But wouldn't something like cladhaliath do the same role better?

[Boeroer]

3 hours ago, Desmodeus said:

But wouldn't something like cladhaliath do the same role better?

But then it wouldn't be a pistol build, right?

Advantage of a ranged weapon can be that you don't have to move much. And guns in general work best with Flames of Devotion. There's even an arquebus with marking - but it comes rather late as a high bounty loot iirc. St. Garam's Spark can be obtained easily. 

Besides this I don't know of any really great pistol builds. Against low DR a blunderbuss is better and against high DR an arquebus. Pistols have a weird spot in between and none of the unique ones has such breathtaking enchantments that it makes you want to build around pistols imo. A cool thing is that you can find a pistol really, really early in the game: the Disappointer. You can remove it's poor condition by simply enchanting it with any cheap quality enchantment - e.g. Accurate I and then it's suddenly pretty great for the early game. 

In general I think Ranger or Chanter can make most out of pistols due to their reloading buffs (Gunner+Swift Aim/Sure Handed Ila). Too bad that you cannot combine Powder Burns with Swift Aim. 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Boeroer

[Desmodeus]

2 hours ago, Boeroer said:

In general I think Ranger or Chanter can make most out of pistols due to their reloading buffs (Gunner+Swift Aim/Sure Handed Ila). Too bad that you cannot combine Powder Burns with Swift Aim. 

Pitifully reload still takes a ton of time

so to finalize what was said about this monk build, it will be like this:

Fire godlike - Old Vailia - colonist

18-10-10-10-20-10

ability: 

• Swift stike
• Turning wheel
• Force of Anguish
• Duality of mortal presence - deflection
• Crusible of Suffering
• Dichotomous soul
• Iron wheel

Talents:

• Veteran recovery
• Weapon focus Peasant
• Lightning strike
• Scion of flame
• Twohanded style
• Runner wounding shot
• Savage attack
• Superior deflection

Equipment

• Head - none
• Chest - Blaidh Golan
• Belt - Belt of Royal Deadfire Cannoneer
• Hands - Blood testament
• Legs - Fenwalker
• Ring 1 - ring of deflection
• Ring 2 - ring of searing flame
• Accessory - cloack of comfort
• Weapon set 1 - Llawran's Stick(durgan enhanced, shocking lash)
• weapon set 2 - fist

Everithing right or there is some other places to tweak?

•  

[Boeroer]

I personally would pick Torment's Reach over Force of Anguish in this case. The 50% crushing lash works really well with that high base damage so your wounds will be spend well. Also it's cheaper to use iirc.

[Desmodeus]

8 minutes ago, Boeroer said:

I personally would pick Torment's Reach over Force of Anguish in this case. The 50% crushing lash works really well with that high base damage so your wounds will be spend well. Also it's cheaper to use iirc.

Yeah, its 1 wound vs 2 from anguish. I just thought build might use some control skill. Though crushing lash indeed make sence.

[Boeroer]

This monk doesn't strike me as crowd controller. Let your party members handle that.
Your very high INT will result in a huge cone AoE for Torment's Reach.

[Desmodeus]

Yeah, he is more of Big guy of the team Aumaua build for max roleplay

ok, so Torment reach then. What about talent and ability order? Is it ok or better to reshaffle?

[Boeroer]

I think that's fine.

[baldurs_gate_2]

On 11/27/2020 at 6:48 AM, Desmodeus said:

Wouldn't fact that I am building around damaging III weapon(enchantment on summoned firebrand) be a problem here?

But wouldn't something like cladhaliath do the same role better?

The thing is, dual wield is superior. You hit faster if you skill the right talent, a full attack attacks with each weapon, torment's reach as well. With weapons like godansthunyr and we toki, you even inflict stun / prone on enemies.

ACC is most likely the most important stat. Doesn't matter how much damage you deal, if you don't hit the enemy.

[Boeroer]

Damaging III also has an ACC improvement (like Fine). 

[Desmodeus]

On 11/29/2020 at 12:31 PM, baldurs_gate_2 said:

The thing is, dual wield is superior. You hit faster if you skill the right talent, a full attack attacks with each weapon, torment's reach as well. With weapons like godansthunyr and we toki, you even inflict stun / prone on enemies.

Question about cladhaliath was for marking paladin Boeroer mentioned xD I know that dualwielding is superior but twohanders just looks awesome

On 11/29/2020 at 12:31 PM, baldurs_gate_2 said:

ACC is most likely the most important stat. Doesn't matter how much damage you deal, if you don't hit the enemy.

I am mainly about this fact:

On 11/29/2020 at 5:39 PM, Boeroer said:

Damaging III also has an ACC improvement (like Fine). 

A bit hard to get too much ACC when you max ACC bonus at fine. But I think with 10 per, high starting ACC, Weapon focus and bonus from Firebrand being spell should be enough to hit reliably xD

[Boeroer]

In PoE afflictions and buffs are so strong it's usually not hard to reliably hit enemies even with mediocre ACC.

If you bring a Priest you already have +30 stackable ACC through Inspiring Radiance and Devotions that help to land the good CC effects which then make hitting fairly trivial. Also Monks start with a whopping 30 base ACC (like Fighters, Rogues and Rangers). So they can afford to wield a weapon that hasn't the highest ACC.

Against very high defenses you can always switch ot a more accurate weapon if you feel the need. I mean Firebrand is not glued to your hands.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Boeroer

[Desmodeus]

So has been running this build. Funny thing how some plans crumble when they meet with reality xD Instead of Llawran's Stick and fist I ended up rocking Abydon's hammer and Grey sleeper.  With maining sleeper and using hammer mostly to smash it down and stun everyone around. Here is character stats he ended up with Prior to me going on dragonslaying spree xD

P.S. Man, Durance is on the roll with Nightshroud!

Edited December 23, 2020 by Desmodeus