[CLASS BUILD] The Witch Doctor (mid-ranged dps monk disabler)

[TheMetaphysician]

Why didn't you use the Archer's Gloves AND the Cloak of the Frozen Hunt? Do they not stack?

[Boeroer]

In PoE stacking rules are different to Deadfire's. Item bonuses do not stack unless it's from a weapon.

[Boeroer]

Takes too long for my taste.

[Markovka]

Newb here and I'm a bit confused with stealth skill points (red at forums that its not so great): do these 3 skill points (1+ from Monk) goes from items and etc. or I need put it by myself(same with athletics, lore, survival) ?

[Boeroer]

I put the skill points how they were when I played this guy. Maybe it was done to solve some early quests more easily (to sneak around some encounters for example) but I really don't remember why there's 4 stealth. 

It doesn't really matter. 

Edited December 16, 2020 by Boeroer

[Desmodeus]

Might also be it just so not to waste points on last level. Monk has basic +1 stealth so 4 stealth is essentially 1 full level

[junki]

Welp, it's been 5-6 years since I last played PoE. I don't know what 75% of the words mean in this thread, but here I go. Gonna see if I can follow this build.

Edited January 17, 2021 by junki

[Boeroer]

As beginner (sort of) maybe don't min-max attributes too much and wear heavier armor while still at low levels. 

Once you get the Long Pain this Monk is just great fun.

 

[Desmodeus]

Btw what is the best way to ensure this monk have enough wounds? Casting dot onto it?

[Boeroer]

Usually it's best to play in a melee/ranged hybrid way. If you are facing a lot of ranged enemies you'll get shot at often enough though. You can also shoot at your own monk but I find that weird.

[junki]

On 1/19/2021 at 8:50 AM, Boeroer said:

Usually it's best to play in a melee/ranged hybrid way. If you are facing a lot of ranged enemies you'll get shot at often enough though. You can also shoot at your own monk but I find that weird.

I've read so many threads since you replied to me. Anyway, I started a monk on POTD playing with story companions only and was having fun (I'm at level 8 now in Defiance Bay). The difficulty wasn't too bad, but now I am thinking about all the other characters and classes I'm missing out on. I am wondering, in 2021, what are you favorite class/builds for the MC in POE?

Edited January 21, 2021 by junki

[Boeroer]

Monk.

My favorite class when I started PoE was Barbarian and I still like it - but he more I played the more often my favorite class changed: from Barb to Wizard to Druid to Priest to Monk I believe. Monk took me some time to get into but I think it's the best and most fun to play martial class in PoE.

I especially liked this build (Witch Doctor) because once you get the Long Pain it's like you are playing a walking fist-shooting machine gun.

One other build I had most fun with is maybe this:

One that did very well from a powergaming perspective as well as from a role-playing perspective (including dialogue options etc.) was this:

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by Boeroer

[junki]

I too was enjoying my monk. I think I'm going to restart with a different race (I picked Human but I want to try Moon Godlike for an easier Act 1). Thanks for your advice! Your nuggets of wisdom are littered literally everywhere in this forum haha.

[Samugol]

I am still in PoE (priest of Berath) and I thought since I want to play Helwalker/Priest of Berath in Deadfire. I thought it would be nice to pick up Zahua (never used him before). I have to say that so far I have had a blast with him. As a matter of fact, I have had so much fun that it made me think of playing MC monk the next time around. While I love Witch Doctor idea, I think it focuses on dmg too much and I was wondering whether I could just make him more survivable and potentially use a variation of the build for a solo run on higher difficulty (probably hard). So far I got this:

RACE: whatever, but I like humans for roleplay

STATS: MIG 18/CON 14/DEX 10/PER 10/ INT 16/ RES 10

as far as talents and abilities go:

  {Lvl 1} - Torment's Reach. A great ability and supposedly works with Long Pain Fists.
    
  {Lvl 2} - Veteran's Recovery, always nice to have some healing and staying power, especially early on.
    
  {Lvl 3} - Swift Strikes, more speed is nice and that is what is needed.
    
  {Lvl 4} - Two Weapon Style, it will give crazy high speed with the fists.
    
  {Lvl 5} - Force of Anguish. Very nice CC, especially with good INT.
    
  {Lvl 6} - Weapon Focus Peasant. More acccuracy is good.
    
  {Lvl 7} - Long Pain Fists. This is the core of the build and should be acquired as soon as possible.
    
  {Lvl 8} - Lightning Strikes, +25% lightning dmg is a nice buff.
    
  {Lvl 9} - Duality of Mortal Presence set on Other Defenses. This character will have really high saves.
    
  {Lvl 10} - Bull's Will. I really want to have high defenses.
    
  {Lvl 11} - Flagellant's Path, nice dmg and debuff. Very good when you need to get somewhere through enemies or some closed passage. Maybe even get away in a pinch.
    
  {Lvl 12} - Bear's Fortitude. Again, more defenses.
    
  {Lvl 13} - Iron Wheel, this character will definitely spend a lot of wounds, but the extra DR is nice. Crucible of Suffering is also a very viable option.
    
  {Lvl 14} - Apprentice Sneak Attack works when the enemy is flanked or prone.
    
  {Lvl 15} - Crucible of Suffering or Iron Wheel.
    
  {Lvl 16} - Wound Binding. This is stupid amount of healing when CON and MIG are high, I am actually considering taking it earlier.
    
  {Skills} - Survival ??, Athletics ??, Lore ??, Mechanics ??

As far as the gear goes:

  {Head} - Skull of Maegfolic Might. The extra MIG and healing are superb.
    
  {Chest} - Any heavy armor you like (He Carries Many Scars seems a good fit). Fashion souls for life.
    
  {Belt} - Blunting Belt (+5 pierce/slash DR) and then Clarity for amazing Defenses.
    
  {Boots} - Shod in Faith for that sweet healing or Echoing Misery
    
  {Neck} - whatever
    
  {Gloves} - Gauntlets of Swift Action or Mourning Gloves or Blood Testament
    
  {Rings} - Ring of Thorns, Ring of Protection
    
  {Weapons} -  Fists, Long Pain Fists.

@Boeroer, what do you think? I haven't beaten PoE 1 solo yet and I have to say that since I am always looking for characters that can do everything (tank, DPS, cc) this seems like an interesting idea. I originally planned to do so with a chanter (from my testing and personal experience, chanters are crazy strong) but this also seems very legit. I mean, I took your build and switched some of the "hater" talents to boost survivability. I cannot imagine that the damage would be bad, but the character should be able to take a lot of punishment. I was also considering +move speed from talent or boots, but I am not sure if that is truly needed. What do you think? Could this work?

[somebody_else24]

@Boeroer I might make this a post in itself in case no one sees this since it's an old build. I think, as of the latest patch this year, that most of the monk abilties listed that are supposed to work with the long pain, no longer do. At least stunning blows and torment's reach do not. I activate the long pain and they are now greyed out, reading "melee only". I can't see this change documented anywhere and in the newer patch notes, but I don't have any mods installed.

I'd love to be wrong here so if anyone can contradict me I'd be happy.

[Boeroer]

Hi, I tried the Long Pain on Zahua last week and also found out that they don't work like they used to. 

Too bad - this fun little build is dead now after so many years. I really don't know what the motivation behind such a nerf is... 

[Chaospread]

I suppose because Long Pain is actually ranged and not melee.

[somebody_else24]

ya it makes logical sense in a way I suppose. But if a monk could shoot his fists from range why couldn't he use stunning blows from range? Don't think it was overpowered compared to what any of the casters can do. It is sad it doesn't work now though. I'm sure long pain is still sorta strong in its own way, but this makes it way less fun to play with and use. Goodnight sweet witch doctor prince. A flight of angels sing thee to thy rest, etc.

[Boeroer]

3 hours ago, Chaospread said:

I suppose because Long Pain is actually ranged and not melee.

Then they should've implemented the Long Pain like proper ranged weapons from the get-go - and not nerf them after (what feels like) 25 years of fun at-range punching .

[Chaospread]

Yes, they should have 

[Ghost Waltz]

This build looks interesting. Does this build still work? If so, I want to give it a try!

[Boeroer]

7 hours ago, Ghost Waltz said:

This build looks interesting. Does this build still work? If so, I want to give it a try!

Unfortunately some of the abilities which used to work with the Long Pain and which I described do not work like that anymore.

I didn't test in depth again which ones now work and which don't, but I guess we can assume now that the Long Pain does behave like any other ranged weapon and will only work with abilities and talents for ranged weapons. 

Anyway: the build doesn't work as described anymore.

The Long Pain are still good weapons though. It's just that it doesn't synergize as well with all the other Monk abilities anymore which is sad. 

[Ghost Waltz]

3 hours ago, Boeroer said:

Unfortunately some of the abilities which used to work with the Long Pain and which I described do not work like that anymore.

I didn't test in depth again which ones now work and which don't, but I guess we can assume now that the Long Pain does behave like any other ranged weapon and will only work with abilities and talents for ranged weapons. 

Anyway: the build doesn't work as described anymore.

The Long Pain are still good weapons though. It's just that it doesn't synergize as well with all the other Monk abilities anymore which is sad. 

Thanks for answering my question.

Could you recommend a build that you think is the most powerful without much dependency on the per rest abilities?

[Boeroer]

3 hours ago, Ghost Waltz said:

Thanks for answering my question.

Could you recommend a build that you think is the most powerful without much dependency on the per rest abilities?

You mean for the Monk class or in general?

Depends on what you want, where the "power" should go and on which difficulty you play and also on the party composition.

All in all the Priest is the most impactful class in the game because it has the most influence on your party's performance. The exact build doesn't matter much, it's the (buffing) spells which make the Priest so good, but until you get Spell Mastery those spells are all per rest. But Priests also have Inspiring Radiance (+10 accuracy to the party, stacks with everything) and (Painful) Interdiction per encounter which are both very useful.And they can get to a Fighter's accuracy level with a weapon of their god (for example Priest of Berath: Great Sword or Mace) - which can make them decent weapon users, too. 

Many players don't like to main a Priest though because it's "only" doing support and that's no fun to them (although it's very powerful).  

So if you are looking for a build with more "self-contained" power, all things considered I would probably recommend a Spiritshifting Druid (Cat or Boar form).
It is highly versatile (can do single target and AoE dmg and CC, healing and support), doesn't rely on per rest abilities in normal encounters because it has tremendous melee dps output while shifted - but if needed can cast powerful spells, too. Once you get your Spell Mastery picks (each time you pick a per-rest spell that turns into 1/encounter) you will only need your per-rest spells in long, tough fights after which you will need to rest anyways (because of the loss of health).

Imo this is the build that usually feels the most powerful because it drops foes so quickly in melee without any per-rest resources - while it then can also do very good spells suchs as Relentless Storm which can decide fights by themselves.  

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Boeroer