never really played monk, so all you monk pros come in and chat with me :)

Remove all ads!

So, from the in game description it sounds like monks fight better bare handed, and with no armor.

Can they hit creatures that require + enchant weapons?

Its just so wierd to me that a character fighting naked will have good ac and dmg so I never mixed in a monk or had a pure monk in my party.

Pure damage wise, will a monk be competative to other melee classes such as fighter/paladin/barbarian?

So, during any point in the game do you ever give your pure monk armor? and, if so what type?

Does your monk always fight barehanded? or do you spend feats to give him weapon skill in one of the martial?

And, if you do equip him with a weapon, should u spend feats to get power attack, cleave, and weapon focus on said weapon?

Are humans good monks?

I'm guessing for a Mix in monk, clerics would be good?

And, Lastly What would be good ability scores aka stats for a pure monk?

Lol... I know thats a lot of questions.

 

I have never played a proper monk, not even in BG2. Still, I think I can answer a few of your questions:

Well, there are the Iron Golems who are immune to +2 weapons, and the twins are immune to +3, I think. Monk fists reach +4 enchantment eventually, check the in-game description for details. If a monk is part of a large party, you might still be too low level to hit certain creatures.

Yes, in some cases even better. But the fist attack will always be single-handed, so a warrior with more hitpoints and a 2-handed weapon will be more durable and hard-hitting against difficult, hard-hitting enemies. But I'm just guessing.

I don't think so.

Monks are already proficient in Axes. If your monk needs to use a weapon, make it an axe. But you shouldn't take more axe feats. BTW, Cleave and Power Attack are effective with fists.

 

Monks are fabulous darling! Give them a lot of wisdom points and you'll find that you're converted!

They have their own speacial attacks that mean that you don't need weapons. You get quivering palm which is pretty much an instant kill (Although it works better on NWN).

I've never given a monk weapons or armour, it reduces their AC.

I've always taken a monk with me although I do tend to give him a couple of cleric levels on occasion; he already has the wisdom, he may as well get the healing spells!

 

Wearing armor isn't worth it, even at level 1 you can get better AC than any full plate allows with dex bonus + wis bonus + mage armor. The use of weapons doesn't affect their AC on the other hand.

The unarmed attack progression is faster than the armed, but weapons can do more damage per hit, can offer a bonus to hit and other bonuses and you get an extra strength bonus. At level 1-5 an 8-9 using a two-handed axe is definitely more damaging than fighting unarmed.

With 18 strength at level 1 the damage dealt is 5-10 unarmed vs 7-12 with quarterstaff vs 7-18 with 2-handed axe.
The unarmed attack damage increases with levels, but so does the quality of weapons, strength boosts from bull's and champion's strength benefit 2-handed weapons more and for enemies with DR additional damage per hit is even more important.
Unarmed you have stunning blow, quivering palm and gain extra attacks faster, if it's better use a weapon or not depends on the current situation and playing style.

Since warriors gain BAB faster and monks are about as good armed as unarmed, monks aren't as good in the offense as warriors.

In the defense they get less hitpoints which is evened out with better AC, saving throws, defensive feats like evasion, which is useful if you want to bombard them with your own casters.

Since monk benefits depend on monk levels and BAB from another class destroys the monk's unarmed attack progression mixing in other class levels isn't a good idea.

Half-orc, shield dwarves and wild elf are good races for monks since int and cha penalties don't hurt while extra str, con or dex helps.
Human isn't bad either, extra feat and skillpoints don't hurt.

As starting stats I'd take (str-dex-con-int-wis-cha) 18-18-16-3-18-3.

Cleave can be very useful early on, dodge, weapon focus:axe (also helps with ranged attacks) and rapid shot will be more useful later.

 

Even in normal mode, a Deep Gnome Monk is my favorite Monk build. They have +4 to their AC, a bonus +2 to DEX and WIS (resulting in a total +6 AC), and natural Magic Resistance.

Pump DEX and WIS to 20 to start, and always add to WIS. If you're only planning normal mode, gimp his INT as low as possible. You will have a very good decoy type character this way who can dish out quite a bit of damage.

If you want a character that's even harder to hit, get INT to 13 and choose Evasion as your second feat (Dodge should always be your first one). You won't do much damage this way, but you will distract all enemies by running ahead of the party and pretty much never being hit. With an awesome Evasion, the rest of your party will even be able to pepper you with fireballs and lightning attacks and you won't take any damage!

 

Evasion can't be chosen in IWD2, a monk gets it free at level 1. I'm pretty sure Klorox meant Expertise, which is a good decoy tactic. Just be advised that the extra AC from this cuts into your combat skills. The Blind Fight feat is also important for this build, because you can't afford losing your DEX bonus to AC when combating invisible enemies.