Monk Questions

[Gary1986]

im thinking about giving monks ago. My question is, are they any good? The two things that are off putting me is that I heard they are better with weapons and heavy armour, which kind of doesn't fit what I imagine a monk to be.

The other thing that's worrying me is that they have to take damage to gain wounds. That doesn't sound good. Is it as bad as is sounds? Are they going to rework monks/wounds? What sounds more better is if they changed wounds so that you gain wounds for the damage you do.

[HoopleDoople]

Monks are good because they can do an adequate job tanking and still deal good damage.

 

You might be able to get away with lighter armor on your Monk but it probably isn't optimal. Having your Monk take damage is no big deal but he does have to survive. Your options are either high defense or high damage reduction. High damage reduction is easier to obtain and doesn't require you to sacrifice DPS attributes (STR and DEX) for tanking ones (RES and PER). Using fists is less of an issue but weapons are still probably better. You can get some really awesome enchantments on weapons while fists just have standard accuracy and damage bonuses.

 

Taking damage to earn wounds isn't as big of a deal as you'd think, assuming you have plenty of constitution. As long as you have sufficient healing endurance damage is largely irrelevant unless it comes too rapidly (with a Priest in the party and/or the Monk as a Moon Godlike healing isn't hard to get). Thus your only concern is health, which can me made up for by simply resting more often. Only in long battles where the Monk is really getting pummeled will you run out of endurance or health too fast.

[EphemeralToast]

Yes, monks are good. Invest in a lot of Might and Dex and you'll have no trouble dishing out plenty of damage with just your bare fists. You do not need to use weapons and heavy armor. I'm using a Moon Godlike monk on Hard difficulty with clothing and bare fists and she is lightning fast and consistently does the most damage in the party. Eder tanks and she flanks, or takes on one opponent by herself. That allows her to take enough wounds to fuel her powers without getting overwhelmed. Her racial power covers most of the healing she needs and Durance helps her out when I mess up and she gets swarmed. I've found it to be very fun and effective playing the monk class in the "traditional" way with just fists and clothing.

 

If you want a monk that is more of a tank than a DD, you'd probably go with more armor and a different build, but this is the kind of monk I wanted to play and it's working out great. No reason you can't do it too.

[Gary1986]

If I was to go for monk with leather or padded armor and a 1 handed spear. Would it be viable as a dps? And would I survive a fight? Also What's 1 handed style like in this game?

 

 

Quick edit: I did read somewhere that the wounds system was being looked at. If any mod can confirm or debunk this id be very grateful

(cheers for the replies)

Edited June 21, 2015 by Gary1986

[abaris]

I have a hired monk in my party right from the beginning. He's a pretty good damage dealer as well as a tank. Might be going against the original idea, but I equipped him with plate armor, buffed to the limits and two unique weapons dealing different types of damage.

[Uni]

Monks are definitely good. They are the best class for being tanky and dealing high dps, but require more micro than other melee classes. Basically better barbarians if you remember to spam torments reach.

[AshenPlanet]

The thing with monks and weapons vs. fists is all based on your build.

If you took only 10 str or less, then you can do better with weapons.

If you took high or maxed str, then fists is the way to go.

 

Your fists, unlike any other weapon in the game, receives strength bonus damage twice!

So, if you invested in strength, fists become very good.

 

Basically, the more str you have, the better fists become, compared to other weapons.

 

[Gary1986]

Cheers for all the advice everyone. So I don't have to create a new thread can somebody let me know if 1 handed style is worth it in this game?

[AshenPlanet]

1 handed style is never worth it for a monk or rogue.

For a fighter or paladin, 1handed style is good in the beginning of the game, when it's really hard to hit stuff.

Later in the game, as you gain accuracy from levels, it becomes less useful than any of the other weapon styles.

 

 

 

[taek]

The other thing that's worrying me is that they have to take damage to gain wounds. That doesn't sound good. Is it as bad as is sounds? 

 

I actually purposefully disengage so enemies get free shots at me to generate more damage on my monk so I can kill faster. Sometimes I'll even hit him with my own spells.

 

And a lot of players use Moon Godlike for their monks, who can self-heal massive amounts of endurance every encounter.

 

8 points of damage taken = 1 Wound = 1 Torment's Reach. Torment's reach can do a ton of damage, considering full Monk lash bonuses and the +50% crush lash and the extra AE cone. 

 

Monks are a damage prism, they can take a sliver of damage and reflect it into far more damage to the enemy.

Edited June 23, 2015 by taek

[KDubya]

Even without taking wounds monks can dish out some good single target damage. Fists are as fast as daggers but hit as hard as swords. If your frontline monk is not receiving any wounds it means that you are winning the fight If you take wounds it means that you can now win the fight faster with torment spam.

[Clicks]

I played a Moon-Godlike Monk and found her to be a pretty consistent damage dealer. I went the unarmed/fists route.

Downside - I found it hard to become wounded as the game progressed and my party became stronger. It got to a point where I'd go into battle and had no chance to use my special abilities. I ended up sending her in with Eder, just so she could get hit. Even then it didn't always work.

[Fardragon]

Could take the "Dangerous Implements" ability and shoot someone with your rod.