Best Monk build

Remove all ads!

I wanted to get an idea of what people thought the best (almost pure) monk build is: role, race, building during game. Also, does anyone like the Monk class as a main class (looks like lots of people don't like it)

First question is role:
I figure that a mostly pure Monk makes a good tank (decent hit points, very high AC, good unarmed attack), great scout and boss/mage killer, and a good decoy - get everyone to attack him, then throw a bunch of fireballs that he can reflex avoid.

Race: To start, I figure the important abilities are Wis, Dex, Con, Str. The only important skill is move silently, so no need to worry about skill points. With a human, you can only get 70 points in your main abilities, whereas with WildElf, HalfOrc, ShieldDwarf, you get 72. So human is not ideal. The other option that people seem to love is deep gnome. This one only gets 70 points, but you get the added spell resistance, and mirror image, blur, invisibility, which work well. You do get the lower points and higher ECL though.

Building your monk:
I figure that you would want to keep increasing two abilities for a monk through the game: Dex, to improve armour class as well as reflex saves (which I think is better than Wis, which increases armour class and Will saves - you want to throw fireballs at your monk and see him take no damage, so I figure reflex save is more important). The other thing is I figure you want to increase Str, so that your stunning hits and quivering palms succeed in hitting (str increasing attack bonus) and of course do more damage. I don't see people talking about strength for a monk - do people consider that important?

Also is it worthwhile mixing in a few levels of another class? Cleric could work, but the mix of abilities seems strange. With 2nd level sorc or wiz spells, you get buffs, but you seem to be losing focus on the monk abilities...

 

deep gnome is surely the best.
you cant simply add the points to 70 or 72. no other race can have 20 dex and wis. you get -2 str but 16 is enough to ensure hits, more str is only improving damage imho.
if you want to mix, dont pick deep gnome and go for plane human instead. no penalties and much skills so you can comfort your second class.

so why is the monk no main char ? simply because a monk needs more attributes than other classes (except paladin maybe) and cha is none of them. so you most likely go for low cha to get some points to distribute and thus, he is a bad leader.

 

Thanks, for response. For "monk as a main class" I actually meant to ask: Does anyone like pure Monk character in their party?

Concerning deep gnome vs wild elf, I am not saying you are wrong, I just want to understand the differences. Assuming both have 16 str as you suggest:

Deep Gnome Monk:
Str 16
Dex 20
Con 14
Int 3
Wis 20
Cha 1
AC 20 at start
10 HP to start

Wild Elf Monk:
Str 16
Dex 20
Con 18
Int 1
Wis 18
Cha 3
AC 19 at start
12 HP to start - by level 30: 60 HP more than gnome

So, is the 1 extra AC worth the extra 60 HP by game end? Of course we have to include the additional spell resistance of gnome, and the mirror image and blur abilities, as well as ECL3?

I'm just trying to understand, as at first sight, wild elf looks better to me...

 

in earlier stages you are right but you have to realize that the SR of the gnome adds with the SR from monk so you will be VERY resistant vs magic later, having more AC and being able to cast blur/mirror image. very interesting char to send forth and having the rest of your party enter the battle 1 round later so they wont be attacked. and thats why i pick a monk, to have a decoy tanker.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't deep gnomes get additional +4 to AC? So deep gnome starting AC would be 24... They make very nice monks.


On the other hand, I like my monks multiclassed, a cleric wouldn't be too bad (share WIS). If you skip some DX and ST take wizzie or sorc, 2nd level Bull' Strength and Cat's Grace take care of that problem. Then you are not only the decoy, you are the one that does the blasting once surrounded by enemies (Sunfire etc).

 

Wow, I didn't notice that, +4 Dodge bonus against all creatures, that is nice.

How much strength do you think a pure monk should have? With all that AC, can you let Con go down to 12 or 14, or do you have to max hp as well, and force strength down to 12?

 

Pure class, really. Mix-ins won't really work nearly as nice.

 

As a frontline high damage melee tank? No.
The only reason most people look at a monk is for his special abilities like MR and Wis bonus to AC. As you can see these are defensive bonuses and thats what is more attractive.

Why am I knocking monks who have stunning blow, quivering palm as offensive feats?
Compare a monk to the other melee intensive frontline charesters: Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Paladin.

1> BAB. While these four get +1BAB/level monks get cleric BABs of +.75/level. So your chances of hitting others are decreased.

2> Weapons. Low level monks dont do enough damage with their fists and you have to use weapons. Later on you switch. But at what cost?
Fists aren't enchanted. So you want to nail that Golem, pick a weapon.
Fist only do bludgeoning damage. Facing a drowned dead, pick a weapon.
Fists dont do other types of damage, like elemental damage. You cant take advantage of creatures, like electrocuting Xvim.
Fists dont get the x1.5Str bonus that 2-handed weapons get. Not much, but its there.

Considering the high AC of a monk and not damage output the DG monk will have to look something like this at charecter creation.
Str 10
Dex 20
Con 10
Int 13
Wis 20
Char 1
Take Dodge and Expertise ASAP. At L1 his AC should be 10+4+1+5+5=25.

 

Maybe I've just had some lucky rolls but I have found that 'Stunning Blow' to be extremely useful for neutralising enemy spellcasters, especially when combined with the monk's fast movement speed.

 

shrikant you are basically right but you can "correct" your monk to make him work right, having enchanted fists and so on. just visit weimers page ..

 

Here is my Monk's initial build:

Ravaatra Gellantara
Female Deep Gnome Lawfully Evil
Monk of the Old Order X
STR 16 DEX 20 CON 10 INT 4 WIS 20 CHA 4
Weapons: Axe (Slashing), Fists(Bludgeoning), Sling (Missle(Bludgeoning))

I have her using a 2 handed axe for the time being. I am planning on increasing STR to 18 and then adding the rest to WIS and/or DEX.

 

Ok, I am convinced about deep gnome monks

I always liked the free spells, MirrorImage, Blur, and Invisibility, but getting 4 Dodge bonus against all creatures - I didn't notice that, it really rocks.

My new monk is:
Female DeepGnome Monk of the Old Order (Lawful Neutral)
Str 16 Dex 20 Con 14 Int 3 Wis 20 Cha 1
Skills in Move Silently and Feat is Dodge.

Her AC is amazing - standing around in her underwear, her armour class is 25 at creation.

I figure I will add to her dex and strength. Dex because I want to keep her armour class godly, and her most important saving throw is reflex saves to avoid the fireballs I send her way, so I figure it is better to increase her dex than her wisdom. (also I get improved toHit with ranged weapons). I assume the only effect of increased wisdom is better will saving rolls, and better naked AC? If so, dex seems more important.

Strength to add to her toHit stat with her fists (and damage of course, but I figure toHit is more important). Since you can't enchant fists or get magical gloves for unarmed fighting, I figure you want to increase strength a bit to make sure the stunning blows hit their mark.

The only skill I see as important is Move Silently - I will use invisibility instead of Hide. Not sure of feats yet - maybe Dirty Fighting, Lightning Reflexes...

 

Just don't forget that being 'naked' (without armor) doesn't mean that you can't use magic armors (as in, spells) to compensate and augment your AC even further.

If you're not achieving AC40+ by the start of Chapter Three, you're doing something seriously wrong and thus, misusing the potential of having a deep gnome monk. In HOF, anything below AC 50-60 and you're in deep trouble indeed. (Pun intended.)

 

I have a Half-Orc Monk (dark order) In my party. During character creation I divided the ability points evenly between strength and dexterity. he has died only once throughtout the travels to Targos to the Dragons Den (he died when fighting the Guardian of Chult). Throughout the game he was purely monk, and I recently tried adding a some sorceror levels. By the way, about fighting elementals. In Targos, Ulbrec's Wife has a necklace that only monks can wear that allows them to cast Aganazzor's Scorcher once a day, and Burning Hands 3 times a day. This came in handy when fighting the Guardian of Chult, ice golems, and some elemental enemies.