Which Monk sub-class for Sage?

[Griffonheart]

And which Mage sub-class, if applicable? I saw so many articles on Spirit Lance but also diversity on which sub-classes are the most suitable. One said Helwalker is good but you can't get wounds as quickly as Shattered Pillar would, but SP only has a max of five wounds, and Blood Mage's ability could add wounds should you pick Helwalker, but losing empower is not worth it, etc etc.

Base on the knowledge above, it appears the optimal choices would be Helwalker/Blood Mage and Shattered Pillar/Base?

[Jayd]

I can say that Shattered Pillar is a bad idea, because limiting wounds to 5 means limiting your INT bonus from wounds (which is the sexiest part of monk-caster multi) to 5 instead of 10 (i.e. virtually no bonus at all since you can do the same with an inspiration and they don't stack).

Helwalker is extremely good because of the might, and Wizards have lots of survivability options. Nothing wrong with going no subclass Wizard if you don't like the Blood Mage downsides. I feel the lowered defenses with BM could be frustrating since you may well rely on high defenses to offset the Helwalker squishiness.

[dgray62]

I would go with Helwalker/Blood Mage as Jayd suggests. There are a lot of synergies between these subclasses. Not only does Blood Sacrifice give you wounds, but the ample wiz defensive spells make the helwalker much less squishy. And with Concelhaut's Draining Siphon and Concelhaut's Draining Touch (cast from a grimoire—do not select this spell on level up; if you immediately switch grimoires after casting it will last the entire encounter) you'll have plenty of healing.

[Boeroer]

Without Community Patch: Helwalker/Bloodmage

With Community Patch Shattered Pillar's max wounds count is set back to 10 (not other change). In that case Shattered Pillar/Bloodmage with Spirit Lance is also good. 

[Griffonheart]

Then it's decided, Helwalker/Bloodmage. Might be my first PotD walkthrough...

Any updated guide I can look at? (I checked the build page and most are outdated or doesn't have the Helwalker/Bloodmage combo).

[Boeroer]

Watch out when using Blood Sacrifice with 10 wounds. Not only will it scale with the +10 MIG (+30% dmg) but also the +5% received dmg per wound (+50%). Combined with high PL you might one-shoot yourself. Better spend some wounds before (like hitting Thunderous Blows several times or so to get rid of them quickly). You will get wound back from Blood Sacrifice anyway. 

By the way: seld damage doesn't cancel Dance of Death/Enduring Dance.

Deleterious Alacrity can be a nice wound generator: not too high self dmg but steady. But also here: the more wounds you have the more ouch and the fast new wound will rush in.

Make good use of Concelhaut's Corrososive Siphon and regeneration gear. And later you can use Healing Hands (those gloves with Minor Lay on Hands, 1/encounter) + Wall of Draining, too (or any healing over time from your party). 

By the way: Concelhaut's Draining Touch* + Kapana Taga + modal in offhand + Miasma of Dul-Mindedness + Ryngrim's Repulsive Visage + Swift Flurry/Hearbead Drumming is devastating and a nice alternative to the usual Spirit Lance setup. You get +2 engagement from Kapana Taga and enemies who disengage because of Terrified will eat nasty Disengagement Attacks. Also Miasma + club modal lowers enemies' Will by -65 points which makes crits from Draining Touch (targets Will instead of Deflection) very likely which leads to procs of Swift Flurry. Draining TOuch also drains health for you and weakens the enemy. Combine with Stunning Surge and you can also lower fortitude by -20 solid points "on the fly".

)* you have to make sure that you DON'T learn Concelhaut's Draining Touch but instead use a Grimoire with the spell in it. Cast it and immediately switch the grimoire to one which oesn't have the spell in it: *tadaa* Draining Touch will not disappear after hits but stway with you until the end of the encounter.  

Edited March 3, 2021 by Boeroer