A different monk: staff

[Slack83er]

Hi there, 

 

I've played Diablo 3 a lot, and there was the monk who could bear the staff, and use it in a really cool way. Would it be possible to obtain the same in PoE or the fists will be always better? I've seen the monk's table and it seems a great part of it is unarmed-oriented... maybe someone of you have tried? Just being curious..

[Boeroer]

Monk's abilities all work with melee weapons, too (besides The Long Pain which summons.. well... fists ). So it's totally viable to use any kind of melee weapon. There's even a soulbound staff that binds to monks - but I don't like it too much because of the looks. But combined with Torment's Reach it can be pretty good. And it will look awesome on a Nature Godlike monk I'd say.

 

The first good staff is Durance's. It has a burning lash which is great that early in the game and it has crush/burn damage which is very handy if you meet crush resistant enemies. I always keep it as a backup staff beause of this.

Then there's a speed enchanted quarterstaff named "Llawran's Stick" in lvl 3 of the endless paths. It's good enough to carry it through the whole game. The staffs that follow are not as great in my opinon. But some might be nice for special build ideas - like Taluntain's Staff which gives you 3 Fireball uses per rest.

 

So yes, it will work. You'll miss out the Full Attack of Torment's Reach - but besides that, it's all cool. You can even use Torment's Reach from the second row that way. 

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Slack83er]

Oh, right, because staves have reach.... so I can be behind all and cast the reach! didn't think of it... 

C'mon Boer, use your fantasy... tell me the theme for this monk, I want to try it Nature's godlike as you said... or else?

[Boeroer]

Erm... theme? Don't know. Nature Godlike just fits the Greenstone Staff aesthetically. But anything that is green would,

I can think of a monk that is also part druid. You could use Aspirant's Mark which is great anyways. It will ad a little bit of druidic feel. Instead of using Nature Godlike you could also use a stag helmet with any other race. For example wild orlans look nice with all those "rugged" items like hide armor. Put on Blaidh Golan from the Sanatorium, later maybe Wayfarer's Hide from the WM Ogre's Cave. You'll look like a druid and have some of his powers, but you will also be a monk. With the Greenstained Boots you will also get a spell holding called "Nature's Trek" - adds more druidic stuff. Get a belt of Nature's Embrace - it gives you Woodskin when you receive a critical hit. Put your focus on disabling rather than dealing a ton of AoE damage. This can also be lots of fun. Use Force of Anguish all the other diabling abilites and also The Long Stride so that you can zip around the battlefield with high speed in order to take out dangerous foes like casters quickly. Use Flagellanth's Path to get back to your team members. You could then add some scrolls like Moonwell - it's nice for monks. 

 

Sounds quite nice now that I read it again.

 

Funnily i did it the other way round in my current playthrough: I made a druid who's also part monk. With fists...

[Slack83er]

I'm doing it now... it's very strong and damage is high. Only thing is... I don't get hit. I'm always behind with the staff, so I don't get wounds...

[Blades of Vanatar]

I'm doing it now... it's very strong and damage is high. Only thing is... I don't get hit. I'm always behind with the staff, so I don't get wounds...

Staff is a reach weapon but you can engage an enemy. Don't stand behind the others. Have your monk charge first.

[Boeroer]

Yes, you need hits from enemies if you want to unlock you full potential.

The good thing with a staff is that you can run behind your front line once things get too hefty for you and then you can still spend the wounds from the second row.

That, or you take the talent that can give you wounds OR you lets your friends shoot you in the back.

You can also take some abilities like stunning blows that work without wounds. You can then open the fight from the second row and then come forth and engage when you need wounds.

[Boeroer]

Another approach is running through hazard fields like Chillfog or Malignant Cloud that your wizard casted. You'll reach debuffed enemies and also get wounds. It's friendly fire, but monks like pain, don't they?

[Ben No.3]

"MOOOREE!!"

-Zahua(it's one of the possible things he'll say when you hit him)

[Boeroer]

Hehe, that guy's so funny. Together with Hiravias he put several smiles on my face.

[Slack83er]

Is self inflicted pain any good?

[AndreaColombo]

^ you mean the Monk's ability that gets you Wounds while inflicting you some damage (IIRC it's called Mortification of the Soul)?

 

I typically avoid it in my Monk builds as gaining Wounds isn't hard at all unless you're packing tons of DR and Deflection.

[Boeroer]

I never use it. It's per rest.

[KDubya]

I've had a two monk team where the MC was Juggernaut with fists and Zahua was a Juggernaut but with TideFall and Greenstone Staff. Zahua used Tidefall pretty much all the time as it was Durganized. It is effective but I just prefer two fists of fury better. Wounds were not a problem as it was on PotD and both Monks were standing in the front. Standing in the second row and using reach is not going to work well with a Monk who needs to take hits. If you want a second row melee go with a Barbarian or a Cipher.

 

As others have said the self inflicting wound talent is trash.