This guide is no longer updated. A new guide will be coming soon.
in“Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.”
--The Art of War, Sun Tzu
Update 14 introduced Epic Levels...the ability for Level 20 characters to gain five additional levels. But there was more--much more.
With Epic Levels came a new set of Epic quests, which had their own sub-levels. What was “Epic” is now “Epic Normal.” “Epic Elite” is a fight for the most advanced character you can generate--and it could annihilate a level 20 character as fast as a Level 1 character inside a Level 19 quest.
With Update 29, your character can reach level 30. Awaiting you there are Legendary level quests and raids. These adventures have nigh-impossible odds against experienced players without some planning as well as the best gear and technique.
To add additional versatility for explorers of the Forgotten Realms and the Underdark and elsewhere in the planes, Epic Destinies were added. This is an enhancement system with similar names to the original Prestige classes in classic D&D.
Unlike the original Enhancements, Epic Destinies are a tree, a graduation of skills that receive points to upgrade special talents as well as unlocking innate ones.
A great advantage of many Epic Destinies is the ability to gain skills and abilities of another class without a single level trained in that other class. After you complete most of the training in one destiny, you can start work on adjoining destinies.
Later, you can then use special slots that allow you to use, or "Twist" abilities from one destiny to use while another destiny is active.
This guide will summarize destinies that have a martial or ranged dominance. While Grandmaster of Flowers is the Monk-aligned destiny, you're far from required to use only this destiny. In fact, you will discover that some destinies work far better for Monks in certain cases than others.
Rather than detail each and every ability, we'll discuss how a destiny works--or doesn't work--in relation to four builds available here in the guide: Shintao Guardian, Zen Archer, Poison Master, and Shuricannon.
Additional chapters will also summarize Epic gear and Epic feats you can leverage as you strive to excellence.