Class Trees
Update 19 changed the nature of Dungeons & Dragons Online.
The enhancements selection system has been given a complete rewrite with new abilities that can be mixed and matched. Classes are no longer restricted to one Prestige enhancement line. In fact, the name "Prestige enhancement" has disappeared, in favor of class trees.
For those who have been playing since the introduction of the "Menace of the Underdark," class trees work similarly to the Epic Destinies selection process. Each class tree has core abilities that are selectable at the bottom of the tree. Above, five rows, or tiers of abilities are available. Many may require 1 Action Point (AP) or more to use. Some abilities may have multiple ranks to improve it. A few may have feat, class, alignment prerequisites. A handful may have anti-prerequisites. If you already have this ability from another class tree, you cannot select that identical enhancement from another class tree. (Contemplation from Henshin Mystic and Kensei Fighter have this restriction.)
Unlike the old system, many abilities that took longer to receive are available earlier than before. Shintao Monks can punch with Silver bypassing at level 12, rather than level 18, for example.
The key advantage in the enhancement trees is that Monks (and other classes) may freely select features from any of these trees as they level. If you are a Ninja Spy, for instance, you aren't fully restricted from selecting most enhancements available in the Shintao tree or Henshin Mystic tree. As a result, you now have a lot of extra character build diversity.
This chapter is going to get a bit confusing for those new to Monks. By level 3, you'll need to choose a Philosophy, which determines a keystone ki strike which (generally) works with the attacks or finishing moves of only one class tree. However, by level 1 or so, you'll be likely spending your AP on trees that might not support the Philosophy you're only learning about right now.
New players should read on and determine which class tree (Shintao, Henshin, Ninja Spy) appeals to them. The summary below notes which tree requires the "Light path," "Dark path," or either. We'll discuss Philosophy in the next chapter.
If you found yourself adding Action Points into a class tree that is opposite of your Philosophy, you can also reset your class tree for a modest amount of platinum.
Let's summarize each of the trees. More detail on each tree is discussed in the class tree's specific chapter.
Racial Tree
Every class gets a special racial tree. Abilities shown here will, naturally, vary to the race of the character.
For Monks, pay attention to the Human, Half-Elf and human Purple Dragon Knight (Iconic) races . They are the only races that have Improved Recovery (healing amplification) as part of their tree.
Half-Elves racial trees can add Dilettantes, a racial ability that adds a bit of another class's skill to your character. In the case of Monks, the Cleric Dilettante is highly useful to give the ability to use wands and scrolls for healing and other needs.
The venerable Shintao Monk tree has lost little of its potency from the old system and has gained significant changes.
A Shintao Monk is a challenger to anything not of this plane, be it undead, extraplanar or aberrations. They are highly protected and have special attacks that can destroy these foes quickly. They make great first Monks and have healing abilities that make them very self-sufficient.
The core enhancements provides the only healing amplification (5% per each core enhancement chosen) built into any of the Monk class trees (Gone are the "Monk Improved Recovery" enhancements).
The core abilities also grant the unarmed damage reduction (DR) bypassing--and far earlier than in the original enhancements. Argent Fist (Silver DR unarmed bypass) arrives at Level 12 (not 18) with sufficient AP spent. You'll still need to wait for unarmed Adamantine bypass, granted at Level 16.
The Shintao favors a tanking posture, as discussed in its chapter.
As of Update 26, there have been many DDO forum threads on the state of Monks. Generally, these conversations have criticized the quality of damage of the Shintao Monk or the defense and damage potentials of the Henshin Mystic.
The scribes of this tome, who report to Teacher Syncletica, have been told by the Teacher not to get involved with this argument for now.
Several enhancement trees in other classes, such as the Fighter, Wizard and Rogue, have received revised trees since Update 19. It has been announced informally by a developer that Monks, too, will eventually gain an enhancement tree revision in a later, unannounced update.
Until that time, it's best to remember that having is not the same as wanting.
The changes of this former two-level Prestige enhancement are so massive that, effectively, the long-awaited "Ninja Spy III" has been added.
The Ninja Spy is a master infiltrator, spy and destroyer of the living. They can go invisible and partially incorporeal at will for defense and attack. Their negative energy attacks weaponize ki to its fullest, adding poison to debilitate enemies or by energy-draining a mob. A fully trained ninja can vorpal with any centered piercing or slashing weapon.
The largest changes to Ninja Spies are improvements to Sneak Attack, faster sneaking, improved Dodge, the use of Ninja Poison on weapons and blown darts, a thrown dazing and blinding grenade, and augments to the Touch of Despair finisher with incredibly powerful results. Combined with the new changes to how stealth works, a Ninja Spy can very well kill and stun, then escape into the shadows and evade a hunting mob.
The Ninja Spy favors swift attacks and infiltration.
Until Update 19, this was a named but unavailable Prestige enhancement. The Henshin has aspects of a spellcaster as they use ki with greater magical effect to damage and debuff enemies with fire and force damage. Specializing in the use of a quarterstaff, the advanced Henshin Mystic can ultimately choose a ki attack that allows those who are Light Path to use Dark Path finishers and Dark Path users to use Light Path finishers.
The Henshin Mystic is a mob-harassing Monk, able to attack multiple enemies and wear them down using Fire and Force damage from ki. They wield quarterstaves for damage and may choose either Light or Dark philosophy.
Other Trees
Depending on your build and race, it's possible to add additional class trees as well as perform the traditional type of multiclassing. Be mindful of the expense of this type of multiclassing on Monks, as your alignment and overall effectiveness can be diminished significantly.
Let's continue to selecting a Philosophy that fits the class tree you're considering.
