[CLASS BUILD] The Rogueish Monk, a character concept made with PoE2 in mind.

[smjjames]

Just wanted to share my thematic character build that I wanted to use into PoE2 and this is actually set up with PoE2 in mind.

 

The basic concept is that the build is supposed to be like a close quarters dual weilding weapon fighter withmartial arts moves. Think Jet Li with daggers or something, except more slashing.

 

While I haven't fully worked out his background (mainly the part where he left the Deadfire Archipelago), his basic background is that he is of the Huana faction/tribe/people, is a pirate (well, raider), and seeks to better the situation of the Huana people (I don't know the specifics of what he'll do exacly, but he'll be heavily aligned with Huana while being at least positive with Principi.

 

The reason he's a rogueish monk is because he is a close quarter fighter (due to shipboard and urban environment, not sure how prevalent guns would be) with stilettos and uses martial arts alongside. In PoE2, he'd be Monk/Rogue (subclasses to be determined), which I suspect would be a powerful build if done well.

 

With this build, it's certainly possible to tank in some situations, but usually does better at higher levels and when the foe isn't engaging the character. I just let them go at it and don't micromanage by having them do abilities and stuff.

 

Note: I did use The Anvil build as a guide, so, there are some similarities. Might be a bit of Fulmineo in there too.

 

Difficulty used: Easy. Whether it's soloable is unknown.

 

Race: Island Aumaua (I wanted the racial ability of Coastal Aumaua, but background reasons required Island Aumaua)

 

Background: DEADFIRE! (lol) and Raider.

 

Class: Monk

 

Base+racial and background attributes: 14 / 15 / 18 / 10 / 10 / 11

 

Abilities (minus story, quest, and racial abilities):

 

Crucible of Suffering

Force of Angush

Long Stride

Iron Wheel

Second Wind (automatic from athletics skill)

Rooting Pain

Swift Strikes

Torments Reach

Transcendant Suffering 4 (automatic class skill)

Turning Wheel

 

 

Talents (minus story, quest, and racial abilities):

 

WF Ruffian (for stilettos)

two weapon style (should be renamed to dual-weilding IMO)

Apprentice Sneak Attack

Lesser Wounds

Mental Fortress

Lightning Strikes

Bloody Slaughter

Veterans Recovery (I actually got this last and had ceased to have issues with endurance a long time ago. Just didn't have any idea what to pick for last)

 

Equipment (right now anyway)

 

Head: None (I did use the Hermit's Hat for a while because I wanted to boost int for something and just left it on)

Neck: Lilith's Shawl

Body: Vengiatta Rugia (I had Exceptional Leather armor on while writing this, but decided to upgrade. I was going to go with Wayfarers Hide, but then I realized that I already have equipment that has the Freedom property. Vengiatta looks cooler anyway.)

Hands: Blood Testament

Rings: Orlans Bramble, Ring of Deflection

Boots: Shod-In-Faith (helps deal with end loss, though it was more of an issue at lower levels)

Belt: Trollhide Belt

 

Weapons: Bleak Fang (was Azureiths Stiletto for a while) and Oidhreacht.

 

I'm sure it can be optimized, but hey, I just wanted to share the character concept.

Edited May 5, 2017 by smjjames

[Boeroer]

Cool. I really like monks with a roguish attitude.

 

Stilettos are a good choice because there are even slashing ones in the game: the Lagufaeth stilettos do slash damage instead of pierce. Just keep two of them with you for the encounters with pierce immune foes. That way you don't need to use ugly clubs or big sabres.

 

A few ideas:

 

- Azureith's Stiletto: procs Jolting Touch. Jolting Touch works with Turning Wheel and Blood Testament, meaning it gets up to +50% burning and +20% raw lash. With your abilities/talents/items it's one of the best on-crit weapons for a monk if you can switch to it once you gained 10 wounds. I would even consider Animancer's Boots (3 Jolting Touch per rest) if you don't have issues with endurance loss. The damage can be very impressive.

 

- Veteran's Recovery: If you take it as first talent it's very beneficial. If you use it as the last talent it's of not much use in my opinion. It scales with level and that's cool, but later in the game you won't have such big issues with endurance loss than you will have at the start of the game (especially with Iron Wheel).

Instead, you could think about Vulnerable Attack for the later game. Some dudes have really high DR... Without Gauntlets of Swift action or Spelltongue you won't get to 0 recovery with Vulnerable Attack on, but you'd only have 5 frames. And it would benefit the retaliation of Vengiatta Rugia, too.

 

- Enervating Blows: they really fit the theme and work wonderfully well with retaliation (Vengiatta Rugia), Force of Anguish and Apprentice's Sneak Attack. Weakening is a strong debuff of fortitude, and a lot of cc spells and afflictions target fortitude - including prone (Force of Anguish). And you will deal sneak damage automatically once you landed a crit with weapons or via retaliation. Another plus: if you have another rogue you will cause instant Deathblow conditions with a crit of Force of Anguish.

 

- Belt: I consider Trollhide Belt to be quite weak - even though its regeneration effect has no time limit. But 1 endurance every 3 secs is neglectible. How about the Broad Belt of Power? +4 (+2 MIG, +2 RES) to stats with one single belt is quite awesome. Also a broad belt might look rogueish.

 

- Headgear: Munacra Arret fits nicely to Vengiatta Rugia (I mean visually) - and 3 charms per rest with high accuracy are always nice and strong CC. Like the rogue part of your character talked the enemy into something.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Boeroer