kemmotar
2007-06-19, 06:37 PM
There has been alot of discussion about why each class is better or worse, overpowered and underpowered so, before i even state what the thread is about let's just leave the X class does it better or X class is underpowered. The question i'd like answered is how you can make the monk better.
I'm currently using a feral goliath monk. In the current level he is monk7/tatooed monk1/swordsage1. The tatoo i selected for tatooed monk was ocean(no need to sleep,eat or drink) not very powerful but funny flavorwise, plus i'm the lookout all night. With a blindfold of true darkness(arms and equipment guide/magic items compendium) he's the perfect guard. High wis means good spot and listen checks, blindfold of true darkness gives gives blindsight 60 feet plus he never needs to sleep.
Next level i'm taking the level2 swordsage feature that adds wis to ac, thus 2xwis to ac for me. I also have improved trip and knockdown, so free trip attempts at each hit. I'm large and i have impr trip so +8 without even adding strength. Feral and goliath add +8 to str, +4 to con and +2 wis. +2 from levels gives me 30 str. Thus +18 to my trip attempt. Leap attack and mantis leap triple my str damage for a charge(or anytime that i have 10 ft so i can jump). Superior unarmed strike gives +4 to my monk levels for unarmed damage and a monk's belt can give a further +4 thus giving the equivalent of a 16th level monk of large size for 3d8 damage. After the permanent enlarge person it goes up to 4d8 per hit.
Also sudden recovery and vital recovery provide extra hp with two swift actions(when using counters and boosts), coupled with fast healing it makes for a good heal rate. This and the high AC, even flatfooted makes it difficult to get hit and when he gets hit he can easily heal himself. Thus he can easily tank stuff with few problems.
Also readying and attack near a caster or having mage slayer and hitting him when he casts a spell and tripping him(thank you knockdown) raises the DC far more than usual and i dont think a wizard with both low str and dex would beat a impr trip and large. Not to mention huge if he gets permanent enlarge. for a whopping +22 to trip attempts plus free trips everytime he deals more than 10 damage:smallbiggrin:
With unarmed strikes and all that i think he is the PC to never get surprised and be unable to fight at any time. He is, i think, the perfect guard. Hold stuff off until everyone wakes up, or be the first to charge into battle before the baddies can get away etc...
this particular monk has +6 natural armor(feral), +2 (dex), +4(bracers of armor), +2 (deflection from a ring), +6 AC(wis), +1 (unarmored ac bonus) giving him 31 AC and in the next level 37. With stance of clarity (+2 AC against a single enemy) he gets to 39 with a touch AC 33 and flatfooted AC 37...i'd like to see a wizard or a rogue hit that often...Plus with a +4 dex(doesn't have an item for that yet) and a +4 wis(instead of +2) AC goes up to 42...and that's just ECL11...
All this could have been better, i'm not optimizing him...most of it is just me having fun with a character and trying to make it work after i take the level...hehe...But what can someone do with a monk to make him a valuable addition to a party? I don't think pure monk levels would be anyone's choice of build so PrCs would be nice i guess...Also magic items that would be useful?etherealness?flying definately...!Any other ideas or nice feat builds?
I'm currently using a feral goliath monk. In the current level he is monk7/tatooed monk1/swordsage1. The tatoo i selected for tatooed monk was ocean(no need to sleep,eat or drink) not very powerful but funny flavorwise, plus i'm the lookout all night. With a blindfold of true darkness(arms and equipment guide/magic items compendium) he's the perfect guard. High wis means good spot and listen checks, blindfold of true darkness gives gives blindsight 60 feet plus he never needs to sleep.
Next level i'm taking the level2 swordsage feature that adds wis to ac, thus 2xwis to ac for me. I also have improved trip and knockdown, so free trip attempts at each hit. I'm large and i have impr trip so +8 without even adding strength. Feral and goliath add +8 to str, +4 to con and +2 wis. +2 from levels gives me 30 str. Thus +18 to my trip attempt. Leap attack and mantis leap triple my str damage for a charge(or anytime that i have 10 ft so i can jump). Superior unarmed strike gives +4 to my monk levels for unarmed damage and a monk's belt can give a further +4 thus giving the equivalent of a 16th level monk of large size for 3d8 damage. After the permanent enlarge person it goes up to 4d8 per hit.
Also sudden recovery and vital recovery provide extra hp with two swift actions(when using counters and boosts), coupled with fast healing it makes for a good heal rate. This and the high AC, even flatfooted makes it difficult to get hit and when he gets hit he can easily heal himself. Thus he can easily tank stuff with few problems.
Also readying and attack near a caster or having mage slayer and hitting him when he casts a spell and tripping him(thank you knockdown) raises the DC far more than usual and i dont think a wizard with both low str and dex would beat a impr trip and large. Not to mention huge if he gets permanent enlarge. for a whopping +22 to trip attempts plus free trips everytime he deals more than 10 damage:smallbiggrin:
With unarmed strikes and all that i think he is the PC to never get surprised and be unable to fight at any time. He is, i think, the perfect guard. Hold stuff off until everyone wakes up, or be the first to charge into battle before the baddies can get away etc...
this particular monk has +6 natural armor(feral), +2 (dex), +4(bracers of armor), +2 (deflection from a ring), +6 AC(wis), +1 (unarmored ac bonus) giving him 31 AC and in the next level 37. With stance of clarity (+2 AC against a single enemy) he gets to 39 with a touch AC 33 and flatfooted AC 37...i'd like to see a wizard or a rogue hit that often...Plus with a +4 dex(doesn't have an item for that yet) and a +4 wis(instead of +2) AC goes up to 42...and that's just ECL11...
All this could have been better, i'm not optimizing him...most of it is just me having fun with a character and trying to make it work after i take the level...hehe...But what can someone do with a monk to make him a valuable addition to a party? I don't think pure monk levels would be anyone's choice of build so PrCs would be nice i guess...Also magic items that would be useful?etherealness?flying definately...!Any other ideas or nice feat builds?