My monk build

[Masterteo89]

 

As the title says.

 

I have ended the game on normal with a paladin, so now i'm trying ( blind dive! ) Path of the Damned with a new class : the monk.

 

You can see from the image what i did, but let me explain a few choices that i did.

 

 

1- First of all the race :

 

As you know, she has a small nice bonus... if endurance < 50% --> SD + 4 and enemy takes damage when he hit me. Not bad right ?

 

But the requiment of " if endurance < 50% " is a malus. So, what did i do?

 

I maxed out Constitution and i will improve this stat in the future, using items. That's because the more life she has, the more hp she will have when she enter in " tank mode ".

 

2- Second, the talents :

 

All that is needed to improve Precision and interruption. I don't care about damage. I want a monk that hit fast and score a hit most of the times. This is way better than a monk that is strong but don't hit often.

 

3- Third, Dexterity :

 

Obviously because i want to attack fast.

 

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All in all, my monk for Path of the Damned will be a tank that won't do a lot of damage but that will have tons of Hp and that would almost surely score an hit when she attacks.

 

That's why my favourite ability is the one that let you attack faster for 10 seconds. With high precision this ability alone will make her a monster, i think.

 

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What do you think ?  I realize that i could do something wrong, afterall i only cleared normal.

[KDubya]

Your plan will work fine as you have it.

 

The only observation I have is that Might has a large effect on Monks due to the game mechanics.

 

As you level up you get flat damage adds, you have multiple lashes (Torment's Reach, Lightning Strikes, Turning Wheel, maybe a Chanter as well) which all multiply base damage, and you have limited access to any % damage adders other than Might (Savage Attack can get you +20% for -5 acc, Apprentice Sneak Attack for a situational +15%)  A Monk will have at best +35% damage so a mere 15 Might will take you from 135% - 150% which is an 11% increase. Compare that to a Rogue who'll be at (150% deathblow +20%Reckless + 20% Savage +45% Superb weapon = 335% Adding in 15 Might gets you to 350% which is an 4.4% increase. 

 

The above 11% damage gets multiplied by all the individual lashes which compounds the effect of having a high Might.

 

For attack speed you will have +20% from two weapon and +25% from Swift Strikes. Faster weak attacks suffer greatly from DR.

[AndreaColombo]

You can ditch DEX for MIG, then use DAOM + Gauntlets of Swift Action to achieve 0 recovery while wearing a Durgan-refined Monk Outfit (you'll need Two Weapon Fighting too, of course.)

 

Well, almost 0 recovery; should be about 7.5%

Edited March 5, 2016 by AndreaColombo

[Sifjar]

I would ditch INT. That's why i never play monks and rogues and main... they are stupid

[Boeroer]

With dumped int you gimp one of the best abilities of the monk: Force of Anguish. And Torment's Reach, too.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Boeroer

[Harpagornis]

Monks with dumped Int work perfectly even for Triple-Crown-Solo. At the end its just a matter of taste!

[Sifjar]

With dumped int you gimp one of the best abilities of the monk: Force of Anguish. And Torment's Reach, too.

 

Depends how you use monk. You can live without FoA. T'R still can do damage if you don't mind that debuff last less

[Masterteo89]

Mmm... my monk also use only her hands, no weapons. Which talent should i choose to improve her precision?  Two-handed or dual whield?

 

I wonder how does the game consider her two fists.

[Boeroer]

Two Weapon Style will speed you up and Weapon Focus Peasant will boost your ACC by +6. Two Handed Style does nothing for fists. Well - maybe if you grab your left fist with your right fist and then... naa! Doesn't work!

 

 

 

Depends how you use monk. You can live without FoA. T'R still can do damage if you don't mind that debuff last less

 The cone of Torment's Reach is also shorter. The debuff is quite unimportant. Same with Rooting pain: the AoE will be smaller. And Swift Strikes don't last long. All in all I'd say it's not a good idea to dump INT on a monk if you don't plan to play a specialized build.

 

You can build every class to work with dumped INT by the way. There are always abilities and spells that don't depend on INT. I even did a 3-INT-Paladin build and it was good: The Dull Runner

Edited March 5, 2016 by Boeroer

[Masterteo89]

My monk does not really need INT... all she needs is speed and lots of hp.

 

She does not need to think or cast special attacks (yes, my build is focused in its way), she just need to punch the hell out of the enemy while Kana buffs her.

 

And that's what's happening. My tanks will be Eder and Palegina.

 

My monk? She is the machinegun that hit fast and creates havoc in battle using Force of Anguish to make enemyes fly away.

 

My monk is a wild card, i guess.

[AndreaColombo]

If you're not going to use the Monk's special attacks, why Monk?

Wouldn't you get more mileage out of a Fighter (with Novice's Suffering, if you're keen on using fists as your main weapon)?

[Masterteo89]

I enjoyed playing monk in BG2, so here i wanted to use a monk for my first Path of the Damned gameplay.

[KDubya]

Dumping intellect also makes your wounds expire faster. If you are going to try and get a lot of use out of Turning wheel or Iron Wheel you'd want some intellect to keep the wounds active.

 

I'd like more intellect but I find a 10 base works fine. It is easy with food and one item to get another +4 intellect to bring it up to a 14. I might even try for a 12 intellect and a 8 resolve. With buffs that'd get you to 16. All depends on how concentration and being interrupted works out. I'd swap them 1:1 to keep the will save neutral.

 

My monk does not really need INT... all she needs is speed and lots of hp.

 

She does not need to think or cast special attacks (yes, my build is focused in its way), she just need to punch the hell out of the enemy while Kana buffs her.

 

And that's what's happening. My tanks will be Eder and Palegina.

 

My monk? She is the machinegun that hit fast and creates havoc in battle using Force of Anguish to make enemyes fly away.

 

My monk is a wild card, i guess.

 

What sort of build and stats are you using for your Monk?

[Masterteo89]

Dumping intellect also makes your wounds expire faster. If you are going to try and get a lot of use out of Turning wheel or Iron Wheel you'd want some intellect to keep the wounds active.

 

I'd like more intellect but I find a 10 base works fine. It is easy with food and one item to get another +4 intellect to bring it up to a 14. I might even try for a 12 intellect and a 8 resolve. With buffs that'd get you to 16. All depends on how concentration and being interrupted works out. I'd swap them 1:1 to keep the will save neutral.

 

My monk does not really need INT... all she needs is speed and lots of hp.

 

She does not need to think or cast special attacks (yes, my build is focused in its way), she just need to punch the hell out of the enemy while Kana buffs her.

 

And that's what's happening. My tanks will be Eder and Palegina.

 

My monk? She is the machinegun that hit fast and creates havoc in battle using Force of Anguish to make enemyes fly away.

 

My monk is a wild card, i guess.

 

What sort of build and stats are you using for your Monk?

 

As you can see from the stats, my monk improved as i wanted.

 

58 precision at only level 5 should raise in the future to a nice value.

 

20 COS + 21 DEX is only a start, i'll try to improve those 2 stats. My aim would be having a lot of hp and a nice speed, so that i can use a medium/strong armour. ( I will have to do some tests, but the purpose is having all the plus of a armour without too much malus on speed).

 

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Gameplay ?

 

I'm using her in 3 ways.

 

1- The ability that makes her attack faster for 10 sec is always triggered, as soon as i can. This improve the other things i'm putting in this list.

 

2- Force of Anguish to push away enemyes in order to gain time. Basically she controls the mob, always making sure that only a few enemyes attacks her or pelegina or Eder. ( If they are near, obviously.)

 

3- Stunning blows. 3 sec is nice, also i'm doing a build aimed on precision so it means i have better chances to stun.

 

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All in all, considered my low might, this is a build aimed more to keep busy an enemy then to hit hard.

 

But that's how i like it. Monk , Eder and Palegina keeps busy the enemyes. In the mean time Kana with chant buffs them and most important buffs the overhall speed of my custom ranger.

 

My custom ranger  is level 4 but have 74 precision and deals 36 - 52 damage with a heavy crossbow. ( + heavy crossbows can put a enemy on the ground, it's a nice side effect).

 

So, i rely also a lot on ranged attack with Kana and custom ranger.

 

Add Durance and his buffs and that's all.

 

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That's why i mentioned my party even if the topic is my monk build. Because my monk build is made to work together with my party. It's not a solo build.

Edited March 6, 2016 by Masterteo89

[Sifjar]

21 dex with resting?

You have 2w style and Swift Strikes. +3 from item. I would drop few points from res and dex to max out mig.

[Masterteo89]

No, 21 DEX with gloves. ( 19 base)

 

COS base is 18. +1 Rautai and +1 boots. --> COS = 20.

 

No, i have only Swift Strikes. 2w style is something that i will add as soon as i can. Damage and precision are improved with Palegina's aura ( + 6 precision, my favourite paladin's aura)

 

Resting will be as soon as i can with the bonus of the tower of Cad Nua. +3 perception to improve even better the precision of her blows.

 

 

Might will be improved, but i consider that optional. Maybe if Kana or Durance can buff might, i will simply use their buffs.

 

Better focus on CON and DEX if might could be raised with buffs.

[hilfazer]

 

Depends how you use monk. You can live without FoA. T'R still can do damage if you don't mind that debuff last less

 The cone of Torment's Reach is also shorter.

 

 

It's not that bad but if you want to hit archers as well then yeah, 10 INT won't do this.

But because you can buff your INT or use ring of overseeing, base 10 INT should suffice.

[Masterteo89]

 

 

Depends how you use monk. You can live without FoA. T'R still can do damage if you don't mind that debuff last less

 The cone of Torment's Reach is also shorter.

 

 

It's not that bad but if you want to hit archers as well then yeah, 10 INT won't do this.

But because you can buff your INT or use ring of overseeing, base 10 INT should suffice.

 

 

Why would i do that ?

 

That's the beauty of games like this one : different strategies and builds.

 

For example :

 

I have Kana and my ranger + animal companion that buff and hit distant enemyes ( rangers, clerics, mages, ... ) so , i really don't need Monk's skills that affect other creatures in a radius.

 

Monk, Eder and Palegina focus on single enemyes. Simple.

 

Kana and mostly my custom ranger do massive damage to any creatures that is not a warrior. ( chanters, clerics, archers )

 

Durance is the only one that need INT, i use him to buff my melee fighters.

 

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That's the way i play. Melee characters buffed and focused on single targets. Area of effect skills belongs to a mage or a cleric.

 

Until now, it works very well. I'm already level 5 in Path of he Damned and i'm finding it quite easy.

[hilfazer]

If your playstyle works for you than by all means stick to it. But some players use Torment's Reach probably because it's just a good ability.

[Boeroer]

I have to admit I never use it because it needs lots of micro.

[Masterteo89]

If your playstyle works for you than by all means stick to it. But some players use Torment's Reach probably because it's just a good ability.

 

Indeed. There are not good or bad abilityes, we simply follow our strategy. For fun.

 

And if our strategy works...better, isn't it  ?

 

I started this topic to show and discuss about my way of doing a monk character. But i will never say that MY way is the RIGHT way.

[KDubya]

I have to admit I never use it because it needs lots of micro.

 

With the AI set to Aggressive a monk will activate Swift Strikes, spam Torment's Reach and even cast the Twins if you get a huge spike of wounds. It is really "fire and forget". Your cone aligning will not be optimal and you will need to manually activate Flagellant's Path but other than that it does a good job on its own.

 

Torment's Reach spam is a huge burst of damage. I'm not sure about the speed at which you can activate it but with pause on activation you can bang them out at what seems like no delay. A full attack with a +50% crush lash, +25% lightning lash (Lightning Strikes) that also applies to a cone AoE plus a Might debuff is a godly ability.

 

For my next version of Juggernaut I'm looking at increasing intellect for better AoE from Torment's Reach, probably at the expense of Resolve. Probably dropping Turning Wheel for either Stunning Blows or Force of Anguish.

[Masterteo89]

UPDATE

 

2 short videos i just made.

 

 

1-

 

As i wrote in the description of the clip :

 

Path of the damned, pg character at level 6, i wanted to test and show her combat speed. At the end she dies, because she has a build made to work with other party members, not solo. And also because i simply did not use a health potion. Afterall this is only a short test.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmVrRbaevaM&feature=youtu.be

 

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2-

 

As i wrote in the description of the clip :

 

An example of a battle with my party. Path of the Damned, i have to admit that this was a hard battle, because i did a small huge error. I used Durance's Withdraw on my monk in order to heal her completely. I thought that the trolls would attack Palegina and Eder...instead, without my monk those damned tanks started to attack my ranged fighters, so i lost too early my ranger. And if you see closely, most of the times she deals more or less 30 point of damage. So her loss was huge, and stupid because i got careless.

 

Well, anyway i won the battle.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btjCwYnHIZE&feature=youtu.be

 

 

[Masterteo89]

 

And this, as you can see, is my trusted monk's sidekick.

 

54 stopping power on a heavy crossbow that when interrupts someone, the bonus is 0.75 seconds. + chance% of putting the enemy on the ground.

 

84 precision is almost always a sure hit. Especially because she is only level 6 of 16 and for each level up her precision increase.

 

36 - 52 damage is also very nice.

 

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The problem ?  In oder to increase at max her speed i buff her but most important, i removed her clothes. Yes, she is " naked ". I gained in this way a glass cannon. 2-3 hits and she drops unconscious, but her damage is massive and each arrow is almost sure to hit the target. 

[AndreaColombo]

The problem ?  In oder to increase at max her speed i buff her but most important, i removed her clothes. Yes, she is " naked ". I gained in this way a glass cannon. 2-3 hits and she drops unconscious, but her damage is massive and each arrow is almost sure to hit the target. 

 

You don't have to be naked to reach 0 recovery; just stack attack speed bonuses.

 

Use a durganized speed weapon with Swift Aim and Gauntlets of Swift Action (1.2 * 1.15 * 1.15 * 1.2 = -90% recovery before DEX if you want to stick to a crossbow.)

 

If you dual-wield and both weapons are durganized (but only one of them has the speed enchant): 1.2 * 1.2 * 1.15 * 1.15 * 1.15 + 1.2 = -139% so you can wear a durganized plate and still have 0 recovery (or, if you want to use Vulnerable Attack, a durganized leather armor.)