[CLASS BUILD] Aumaua Mou, Shindeiru (Fist of the North Star Monk Build)

[Superpupdog]

Aumaua Mou Shindeiru
A monk build inspired by Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star.
Yes, I’m immensely proud of this name.
If you're not familiar with Fist of the North Star, this might be kinda alienating. But I've linked most of my references so you can be in on the joke with me. 
 

 Difficulty: Story Time 

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Yeah, that's right: Story Time. Why? Because it's accurate to the powerscaling of the series  
From testing, I know this build is viable on Easy, Normal, and even Hard as well; but if you're playing solo and want to feel like Kenshiro, this is the way to go. Trust me, it's still a blast 

Race: Coastal Aumaua

 

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• +2 boost to Might
• Great defense against being stun/prone-locked (very important for solo)
• Allows for an immaculate play on words 

Class: Monk

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Punch

Party: Solo 

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Ken is the lone wolf protagonist. I wouldn't be surprised if the anime trend started with him. Sometimes he travels with other martial artists, sometimes a couple of kids that he protects. But the majority of the time, he's alone. 

Name: The name of this build actually fits just within the Character limit. Do with this information what you will.

Attributes:

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MIG: 22 
16 base + (2 Aumaua +4 Maegfolc Skull)
Ken would never sacrifice innocent lives for more power, so Effigy and Gift from the Machine are sorta off the table.
CON: 19
14 base + (1 Rauatai +4 Iron Circle)
DEX: 19
15 base + (4 Viettro’s Formal Footwear)
PER: 15  
10 base + (2 armor +1 Song of the Heavens +1 Hylea’s Boon +1 Mental Prowess)
INT: 15
10 base + (4 Gwyn’s Band of Union + 1 Mental Prowess)
RES: 15
10 base + (4 Siegebreaker Gauntlets + 1 Mental Prowess)

Notes:

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As is the challenge with any build based on an anime character (especially one like Kenshiro), every single Attribute needs to be exceptional. According to the wiki, anything above 15 is considered exceptional. In my opinion, the most important ones for this character are MIG>CON=DEX. And that works nicely with Monks, too. So we’re pumping those three and eventually, we’ll be bringing everything else to 15 at least. 

Then when our character gets serious, they can use Dominion of the Sleeper to bring everything to an exceptional level. 

Background: Rauatai - Drifter

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• Mostly for gameplay reasons; but you could really stretch it to fit. Rauatai has a 2000 year history and so does the art of Hokuto Shin Ken. Coincidence? Yeah. 
• Also, Ken is very much a Drifter in the series (bonus points if you tell Calisca you're an orphan because so was Ken).
  • For more optimized skills, you could choose Slave as well, considering his upbringing. Or for even more optimized skills: Deadfire Archipelago - Raider. 

Skills:

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Stealth: 11
7 base +1 Monk, +1 Drifter, +1 Dungeon Delver, +1 Blooded Hunter
Athletics: 11
10 base +1 Monk
Lore: 4
0 base +1 Hylea's Boon, +3 Viettro’s Formal Footwear
Mechanics: 3
1 base +1 Drifter, +1 Dungeon Delver
Survival: 4
3 base +1 Monk

Notes:

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Stealth, Athletics, and Survival are probably the most important for representing the character. But Mechanics and Lore are also really beneficial for solo play (and Ken would have a decent Lore skill). 

So with all things considered, I’ve decided that Stealth and Athletics are the most appropriate to pump. Hokuto Shin Ken is originally an assassination art, and Ken has been shown in the series to have a mastery of stealth via suppression of his aura. Also, Athletics make a lot of sense because he is always leaping 20 feet into the air and having battle-shounen-level Second Winds. 

Lore gets a boost and it’s fitting because he says that “Hokuto Shin Ken has over 2000 years of history” line fairly often in the series. I’d assume that he has some knowledge of world history. This will also allow him to cast Scrolls of Defense and Protection; some of the best scrolls imo. Also, some scrolls help us damage enemies with Crush immunity (Wind Blights).

His Mechanics will get one point, and some boosts; he never really disarms traps, but he can definitely spot simple ones. However, more often than not he just tanks such things. I mean, this dude walked through falling skyscrapers completely unphased in the ‘86 film. Yes, through them.

And his Survival will get some points because he does wander the wasteland for days on end. That being said, he’s nearly died from dehydration multiple times. From a gameplay standpoint, we get to give him boosts for different scenarios that make sense for the character. Extra DR, Healing, Movement Speed, or Accuracy vs Creature Type. The rest aren’t super necessary for this build. Higher versions of these bonuses would be nice, but Stealth and Athletics are more important.

It’s worth noting that we can always swap equipment/rest/respec for certain scenarios where we really really need a skill bonus/wanna perfect roleplay.

Equipment:

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Weapons: Fists……. (of the North Star) 
Head: Maegfolc Skull

• Massive MIG bonus and Unbending. Super helpful and appropriate.

Neck: Cape of the Master Mystic 

• Musou Tensei anyone? Literally become untargetable on crits.
• Also a massive deflection bonus.
• Reflect spells at attackers with Minor Arcane Reflection (just pretend they’re arrows).

Armor: Cloth or Monk Armor (really depends on which state of anger you wanna depict)

• Enchanted Legendary.
• +2 PER because we won’t get it from other equipment.
• +3 Pierce DR; you can make it whatever you want, I just think that makes sense because they can seal their pressure points in the series - and that’s fun. 

Hands: Siegebreaker Gauntlets

• Massive RES bonus; he can be a bit emotionally intense. Oh yeah, boost to Deflection, Concentration, and Will too.
• Clear Out is another useful and appropriate technique in our ever-expanding repertoire of martial arts.
• You might wanna keep Blood Testament nearby though for creatures with high Crush DR/immunity (looking at you again Wind Blights).

Ring 1: Iron Circle

• Massive CON bonus and more resilience when it counts.

Ring 2: Gwyn’s Band of Union

• Massive INT bonus; beat up more bandits at once; stun/prone them longer.
• Intimidate bandits with Instill Doubt.
• Sometimes, it's as if the heavens themselves lend you their strength. Blessing for extra Accuracy and Damage.

Boot: Viettro’s Formal Footwear or Sandals of the Forgotten Friar

• Massive DEX bonus.
• Nice Lore bonus.
• And with Carouse you... uhhhhh….. you carry the ‘Spirits’ of your friends  

Waist: Looped Rope 

• Defend against every technique in the known universe.

Abilities:

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Torment’s Reach

• Easily one of the best Monk abilities; especially for solo. Massive damage, massive combo speed (full attack), massive opportunities to use, and it’s got an AoE HolY ****
• Reminds me of when Ken jumps in the air and rains hundreds of kicks on a group of bandits. Also it’s similar to the flying dragon kick he does so often.

Force of Anguish

• Great for crowd control and being a badass. Ken has been known to launch bandits into buildings.

Stunning Blow

• Strike hidden pressure points to stun creatures, yeah?

Duality of Mortal Presence

• Extra defenses that are adaptable to different scenarios.

Enervating Blows

• Strike more hidden pressure points to weaken creatures, yeah?

Iron Wheel

• The harder you're hit, the more DR you get.
• I guess you could say he’s a Tough Boy.

Soul Mirror

• Literally ‘Two Finger Vacuum Grasp’. Reflect Crossbow bolts back at their attackers.
• It’s one of the weirdest Monk abilities from a design standpoint, because the class is designed to take hits instead of avoid them, and this ability only works on misses….....50% of the time…… but I mean…… you gotta

Resonant Touch

• The ultimate Omae Wa Mou, Shindeiru. Hit your enemy a bunch of times, and then activate for massive raw damage at a time of your choosing. It’s perfect. 

 

Talents:

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Outlander's Frenzy

• It's great because as you just saw from the link in Resonant Touch's notes, Ken will often get angry and rip off his shirt - becoming Stronger, Tougher and Faster.
• + 3 MIG and CON
• + 25% attack speed; takes place of Swift Strikes for extra fast attaTATTATATATATATTACKS (lord forgive me) 

Envenomed Strike

• Ignoring the in-game description on this one; we'll say that you strike a hidden pressure point to invert their spiritual energy against themselves and inflict Raw damage over time. 
• This is really helpful against enemies with high Crush DR.

Bloody Slaughter

• Make your enemies explode more by critting them at low health. Quintessential.

Weapon Focus: Peasant

• Extra accuracy/crit potential.

Two-Weapon Style

• Upgrade from your "Hundred Crack Fist" technique to the "Thousand Hand Destruction Fist" (just punch em faster).
• (See terrible joke in the final bullet point of 'Outlander's Frenzy' notes).

Apprentice Sneak Attack

• Stunning and Enervating Blows will make this a welcome boost. And we’ll have a high Stealth, playing into the whole “Assassination Art” thing a bit more with our playstyle. 

Vulnerable Attack

• You always find your enemy’s hidden pressure points, yeah?

Superior Deflection 

• Help Soul Mirror to be a bit more effective

Faction/General Talents:

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Second Skin

• (See the link from Iron Wheel’s notes in the ‘Abilities’ section)

Hylea’s Boon

• I have a feeling that’s what Kenshiro would do, but that’s up to you really. It also helps our Perception and Lore, so that’s nice.

Song of the Heavens

• Even more Perception and a neat bit of Shock Reduction. I guess you weren't 'Shock' after all.

Dungeon Delver

• Extra crit damage with Bloody Slaughter.

Scale Breaker

• Find a dragon’s hidden pressure points, yeah?

Dozen’s Luck

• You’re good at avoiding extra damage.

Mental Prowess

• Wow that’s a good Attribute boost.

Bonus: Portraits

I handcrafted these portraits just for this build. You're welcome.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Superpupdog