With Great Power: Know Your Limits

It is time to know where Monks do not excel, and what you can do to avoid these problems.

The techniques you need to know as you approach Level 16 and begin to deal with much more durable and dangerous enemies is part gameplay behavior, but certainly regarding your build.

Many of these themes will be familiar to you as they were touched upon in Part I. But now, as a high-level player, ignorance or flirtation with these themes at high-end quests will almost certainly lead you to destruction.

Let us begin.

A: Monks do not gain as much HP as other melee fighters. If you are to survive, you must regard both your AC, saving throws and Constitution carefully. Add as much miss-chance effects as you can.

CON is not a "dump stat." Since you get only 75% as much HP as you level than other melees, it's key for all Monks to:

• Add points to CON. The lower your Miss Chance abilities and saves, the higher your HP should be.
• Improve your Dodge.
• Improve your Reflex saves.
• Use False Life items.

Saves are the ultimate armor of a Monk. AC is important but more secondary than with other classes--provided that your Monk behaves as a Monk, not a heavily armored Fighter.

When an enemy attempts to strike you, the attempt must first bypass your miss-chance skills (Dodge, Concealment and Incorporeality). If any of these are stronger than the enemy's attack roll, the attack fails.

In the matter of ranged magic attacks and traps, Evasion steps in first.

If miss-chance fails, then your personal Damage Reductions (if any), AC and Physical Resistance Rating come to play.

All Monks gain Dodge bonuses up to 6%. Class trees and items can add more. Dodge effects also benefit from Monk stances, enhancement abilities, and feats, but Dodge effects from items no longer stack, even if a different number. (With Update 19, the developers doubled the amount of Dodge on all items, even on items previously looted, and Dodge bonuses are far more common on loot-generated gear.)

Reflex saves determine if many miss-chance effects will work for you. The higher the DEX, the higher this number. Ocean Stance adds to this number, as do items with Resistance enhancements.

Light Monks can easily conceal themselves using the Dance of Clouds finishing move--effectively, Blur (20%). Always do this for you and your party. Or, wear something that gives some level of Concealment.

Incorporeality, or "Ghostly," is similar to Concealment. This is harder to find but possible, through limited-availability items such as the Mabar Festival's Cloak of Night. Ninja Spies have it best with the Shadow Veil core ability, that gives invisibility and 25% incorporeality at will. Remember, Shintao Monks: You can freely train a little in the Ninja Spy tree to add Shadow Veil while still keeping your Shintao abilities, at the expense of a few action points.

In Epic difficulties, look to the Shadowdancer destiny and the Epic Gianthold's version of the Ring of Shadows.

Fortification is a must. With Update 19, you'll likely see Fortification listed as a percentage. The first is the Garments of Equilibrium. These give 100% Fortification, raise your unarmed damage by 1[W] , and add +13 to your Concentration for better ki. They are generally easier to acquire than the second outfit, the level 14 Icy Raiment, which rests deep in the level 18 raid wilderness, the Subterrane.

Update 19 restored the “Icys” as a Monk’s dream garment in upper Heroic difficulty. You get Dodge 8%, +4 to Protection AC, and +3 to your saves. You need to wear a 100% Fortification item with this one to give your high-end Monk a significantly powerful outfit.

Update 14 provided new variations in prefixes on outfits, including Armor Bonuses. The improved White Dragonscale Robe combines the best features of the Garments of Equilibrium and Icy Raiment but with the shortcomings of neither outfit in terms of acquiring, AC or fortification. You need only 20 White Dragon Scales from Gianthold Tor to make this impressive robe. Run with friends; they'll likely exchange white scales to you for blue or black scales from the other dragon chests.

B: Striking fast is not as important as striking hard.

Syncletica became a Light, DEX based Grandmaster of Winds Monk in her first life. Yet, she often fought in Mountain Stance III. Lynncletica, a Light, STR based Monk originally, became a Grandmaster of Mountains.

Wind Stance III and IV is popular for a very good reason. In this mode, you not only strike faster, but up to 12% faster than any weapon you can use (which stacks with Haste), and have a chance to doublestrike often (effectively gaining faster attacks). But Wind Stance leaves you more vulnerable to damage.

Yet, handwraps by themselves will only achieve a critical hit with a natural 20 roll. For a time, Syn would pepper her enemies, whittling them down--but not after taking a bit more damage herself.

Note the description of Greater Mountain Stance:

Greater Mountain Stance: The unyielding mountain focuses on endurance and defense. Greater Mountain Stance grants +3 Constitution, a 15% boost to AC, 12 physical resistance, a +55% Insight bonus to melee threat generation, and the critical multiplier of all weapons you use is increased by 1 on rolls of a natural 19 or 20, at the cost of -2 Dexterity and -10% movement speed. While in Greater Mountain Stance, you gain 'Get Hit Effect: Gain 1 ki.'

What does this mean when Syn or Lynn are in Greater Mountain Stance?

It means that Syn, with a lower STR and wearing anything with Seeker benefits to increase the odds of a critical hit, hits harder than in Wind Stance. Sure, she seems slower. But when you can punch an enemy with damage per hit in the 100 to 200 range, then speed doesn't matter.

Mountain Stance is the epitome of “What does not kill me only makes me stronger.” If you are hit, especially critically, you get more ki, allowing you to use more of your elemental or special attacks to dispatch your enemy. Mountain Stance gets improved DR as well.

Lynn, at Level 20, often critically hits some enemies in the 200s because of her STR build (as well as use of Fists of Iron). With Grandmaster of Mountains, Lynncletica has more HP, is far more durable and more damaging than Syncletica. She was tough enough to go fishing for her Icy Raiment outfit herself. Alone, in the Subterrane raid wilderness surrounded by L23 and stronger enemies.

Again, while Mountain Stance increases your critical hit range, you need Seeker items of +6 or more to wear to aid here. The Blood Stone is a common item, but handwraps themselves come with Seeker, too. Consider also items that add Exceptional Seeker to you, as the game only regards one Seeker effect at a time--they don’t stack. Long ago, Syncletica upgraded her pirate hat with Seeker +6 from the Treasure of Crystal Cove festival, and then built a Greater Bold Trinket, which adds Shocking Burst and Exceptional Seeker +2, for a Seeker +8 total. Lynn just wears a bound Blood Stone. Both characters can rid themselves of these items in Epic play, as Seeker effects are common on gear such as the Drow Smoke Goggles.

C: You are the fastest melee fighter. Monks are natural anti-spell caster fighters. Know how to move swiftly.

Monks naturally move faster as they increase in levels. This is an important ability as, early on, enemies with Ray of Enfeeblement spells can drop your STR below your carrying weight of equipment. This can leave you uncentered, unable to fight--and dead meat for over a minute. Carry Lesser Restoration potions for emergencies such as these.

Kill those Hobgoblin Witch-Doctors (in places like "Irestone Inlet") first and fast. You’ll gain better spell resistances naturally as you level, but not until Level 13 (Diamond Soul).

In higher levels, Abundant Step is your key non-attack ability against a mob filled with spell casters. A quick leap in and behind the casters and healers (who often stay behind their fighters) allows you take them out with a Stunning Fist or other move, while you and your party flank the mob. You can test your skill in the quest, “Invaders!,” where there are many, MANY beholders.

D: Stealth is underrated. Use it to get a jump on your enemies or to save your friends.

Update 19 made the use of stealth in many quests far more useful. You can now jump and tumble, but at a -20 penalty to these skills.

You should invest some points in Hide and Move Silently and have some gear to improve this. This is helpful when solo, of course, but it’s a good tactic when your party is temporarily outmatched. You may need to collect soulstones or scout ahead for what comes next.

In “The Shroud,” someone may need to scout ahead in the center of the maze of Part II, where you must beat four nasty (and randomly spawning) lieutenants and need to know who to kill first.

Beholders can see invisible enemies, but hidden ones are harder for them. Use this against the army of beholders in Invaders! for best effect.

For more on stealth, see "The Power of Shadow."

E: To make the most of handwraps, leverage your Monk’s natural DR with additional damage from your elemental strikes as well as the handwraps themselves. If your handwraps do less damage, don't neglect other ki weapons.

Handwraps often have special abilities that only work in specific stances. For instance, bursting handwraps (and other weapons) do not increase in multiplier damage unless you take Improved Critical: Bludgeoning or have similar effects from elsewhere. The Stonedust Handwraps work best in Mountain Stance as well; If struck, there is a chance that a Stoneskin spell is cast on you, and additional damage through stunning is more likely.

Handwraps are bludgeoning weapons, leaving it up to you to maximize damage against enemies that are resistant to it. Elemental and force damage ignore DR if the foe hasn't resistances or immunities, so do what you can to add this damage to compensate. (If you have a chance to run the Treasure of Crystal Cove event, get the Brawling Gloves, which add 1d4 piercing damage--but don’t wear them against oozes.)

Fighting unarmed is 12% faster than any weapon you carry. Henshin Mystics, who specialize in the quarterstaff, are one of a handful of exceptions in that they can do greater damage, combined with their ki mastery of spell-like effects.

The Artificer class has many damaging boosting buffs that stack with your handwraps. Ask for one of an Arty’s Elemental Weapons buff (Add more elemental damage), Planar Weapons (Good or Evil DR), Deadly Weapons (+1[W] to damage), or Silver Weapons (Silver DR bypass if you aren't a Shintao Monk or wearing silver-laced/metalline handwraps).

Ninjas shouldn't neglect kamas or shortswords for damage reduction.

Crafting Handwraps (and other Equipment)

Great news with Update 12 and additional quests in House Cannith, home of the artificers:

Metal-laced or Metalline Handwraps of Pure Good can be crafted now. There are two ways to do this.

First option: Find them. The named Alchemical Handwraps can be crafted with the Alchemical Crafting process with Silver as a Refinement. There may be a way to add (via the Tier 3 line) the Righteousness stat, creating a Silver+Good DR-busting handwrap for non-Shintao III fighters. The good news is that such handwraps have a low-minimum level of 12 and are unbound at start, allowing you to freely trade them. They become bound to account after a metal refinement is added but will go bound-to-character as later tiers are added. The catch: The tiers (as well as participation in the ingredient quests in House Cannith) are for high-level players, so you will need another Monk or player to find the wraps and farm for the ingredients.

The second option: Make your own. The Cannith Crafting system now supports functioning Metalline of Pure Good handwraps. You need a powerful crafter for such handwraps--but it's better than farming for them.

Thanks to Update 14, metal-laced ("metallic") handwraps appear much more frequently. This means that handwraps with various metal types will appear in-game in normal drops. Hopefully, you'll find some Silver Handwraps of Righteousness/Pure Good for the devils and demons in your future.

You can also disjunct such Byeshk, Cold Iron, Adamantine-lined and Silver-laced handwraps that fall from chests and craft them with greater DR-busting effects.