Monks...

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Before I start I should say that I know there are alot of posts about monks but from what I can see nothing that refers to what I am asking.

To test new party members I just delete and old character and make a new one then level him up to the same level as the others (my cheat console) and have him fight the person I think I might replace him with to see who is stronger. I did this with a monk following the advice given by SCSI in the Monk Builds Post (I made all 3 monks - Offensive, Deffensive and Balance). Then I had all 3 fight my Barbarian 1 at a time. He beat them all so I remembered hearing that monks start to kick ass at higher levels so I leveled them all to level 30 (including the barbarian). I had them fight the same way as before and the Barbarian still won. My question is, is my barbarian really strong, the monks weak or is it that monks are better against lot of not so hard guys that 1 strong guy (like a boss). If it is that they are only bad against boses can you please tell me if they are much better against hordes of weak guys in which case I will sacrifice my barbarian.

Any Help Appriciated (I hope I made sense)

{LDU}stealth

 

You sure you're giving the monk the stats he deserves? You must remember that you must be fair if you put them against eachother. Supposing you give the monk all the stats to wisdom and dexterity, and the barbarian constitution and strength, then you must also equalize the items. Best way to test would be no items whatsoever, except armor that compares to the wisdom bonus of the monk (so if its +8, give the barbarian plate mail) and give the barbarian a +3 weapon, but no other items, since if the barbarian has a "fast attack" item for example, the monk could have an "extra attack" item etc. This would be an interesting fight since both could hit eachother, but the edge would have to go to the barbarian due to more hitpoints, but if you utilize the innate abilities of the monk, the monk is much more superior, I am guessing you just went blow for blow, remember both have abilities which they can use.

btw, don't sign your name at the end of the message, apparently it is frowned upon.

 

A level 30 Barbarian could have 700 HP with resistances and a BAB of 30 +5 str bonus, +5 Gr. Sword of the soulles, he would easily have a to hit modifier of 45. 1d20 + 45 > Monk AC.

It makes perfect sense to me that the Barb wins.
Look at this (1d20 + 1 for monk vs 1d12 + 3 or 2d6 + 5)
Monk's average base damage: 10.5
Barb's average base damage: 12 gr.sword, 9.5 gr.axe.

If both the characters would be geared towards Strentgh the Barb would still win because of better HP dice. (1d12 vs 1d8)

But the Monk has other qualities: spell resistance, saving throws, much faster movement, special abilities, better AC which make him him a much more flexible character.

 

Why don't you try fighting a paladin with barbarian? i am sure the paladin will fall. So why do you still want a paladin? How about fighting a lvl30 barbarian with a lvl30 sorcerer? i am sure the barbarian will fall first. So you still want the barbarian?
(Assume that the above fighting suggestions are control by me because different playing style gives different result)

Apart from the fighting quality, there are other qualities that make all the classes balance or at least close to.

If you give a +1 weapon for your barbarian, i am sure that he/she cannot damage the monk whatsoever. Barbarians have their pros and cons, so as monks. Monks can hide in shadow and explore the map, can a barbarian wearing medium armor do that? Try to look for other not so obvious qualities. Also, depend on different situations, you'll need different classes.

 

Monks are awesome, my main game has a hotty female moon elven monk of(whatever order is magic-user). She died alot at first because her constitution is terrible, but her wisdom is awesome and with a shield ring, she has a 35 AC. She almost never gets hit then, has awesome spell resistance, and also has improved evasion. I beat the chambers in the monastery like it was nobodies business.