[4E] Monk questions

[holywhippet]

I'm looking at building a monk character and am trying to work out a few things.

1) Am I wrong or is this a hard class to get attack bonuses for? Martial classes for example can get a bonus to hit from the weapons they wield. From what I can see though, the monk doesn't get attack bonuses from their weapons unless they are superior implements. They can get bonuses from ki focuses though.

2) I'm looking at the superior implement mindwarp staff. It has the properties of distant and energised (psychic). Do both of these apply to monk powers? The monk powers are listed as being psionic rather than psychic for one thing. Distant is supposed to increase the range of area based actions by 2 - does that mean something like five storms (close burst 1) will be close burst 3?

3) Any suggestions for race? From what I can see the monk really needs high DEX with WIS being useful and STR being optional - some powers do have extra effect with more STR but I'm not rating it highly. To me that suggests either half-elf, shifter, wilden, githrezai or possibly human. I'm learning towards half-elf or shifter at the moment.

4) Do bonuses from ki focuses and superior implements stack? The book says ki focuses and magic weapons don't stack, but superior implements are listed as not being magical.

[hamishspence]

A ki focus is an implement- but there aren't any Superior Ki Focuses.

There's only a couple of monk powers that do psychic damage. Others won't work with the mindwarp staff.

And (currently) there aren't any feats that allow psionic classes to use two implements at once.

If there was- something like "Duel Implement Psionicist", you could in theory have both a weapon, and a Ki Focus, and benefit from both. And that weapon could be a mindwarp staff.

[Kurald Galain]

1) Am I wrong or is this a hard class to get attack bonuses for?

He gets attack bonuses in pretty much the same way as every other class. Weapon users get +2 or +3 to hit, but have to target AC which is generally 2 or 3 points higher than fort/ref/will. The bonus and penalty cancel out, and it's okay that implement users don't get them.

2) I'm looking at the superior implement mindwarp staff. It has the properties of distant and energised (psychic). Do both of these apply to monk powers? The monk powers are listed as being psionic rather than psychic for one thing. Distant is supposed to increase the range of area based actions by 2 - does that mean something like five storms (close burst 1) will be close burst 3?

"Psionic" is a power source (like martial and arcane) whereas "Psychic" is a damage keyword (like fire and necrotic). Also, close attacks aren't area attacks. An area attack is something like "burst 1 within 10 squares", which would become "burst 1 within 12 squares".

Note, however, that in order for a superior implement to be effective, you must use your power through that implement. Not through a weapon or ki focus that you also happen to use.

[hamishspence]

When I read it, I concluded that if you're proficient with the weapon- and it's a magic weapon- its an implement, and you get the enhancement bonus of the weapon if it's magic, and magic properties that key off it.

So a monk with a +5 weapon, gets +5 to hit.

A monk with a vicious weapon, gets the bonus on criticals.

A Daily property on a magic weapon, can be used if you hit with the weapon in an attack.

And so on.

But the actual damage of the weapon, the proficiency bonus for it, and special nonmagic properties such as high crit, etc, don't kick off, unless you are using a melee basic attack (since no monk power has Weapon keyword- only Implement).

Is this right?

For an example- an eladrin monk, with a longsword, with some nice magic weapon property.

[Blackfang108]

3) Any suggestions for race? From what I can see the monk really needs high DEX with WIS being useful and STR being optional - some powers do have extra effect with more STR but I'm not rating it highly. To me that suggests either half-elf, shifter, wilden, githrezai or possibly human. I'm learning towards half-elf or shifter at the moment.

Not quite.

There's a DEX/WIS (Centered Breath?) build, and a DEX/STR (Stone Fist) build.

So it is entirely possible for a Monk to not need WIS at all.

Why half-elf? You get bonuses to a dump stat and Con... (did you mean Elf?)

For Centered Breath, I'll recommend shifter or Gith, personally.

For Stone Fist, i'll recomment Half-orc (DEX/STR FTW!) or human. (Maybe Eladrin if they get good feat support in Psionic Power, but until then, I'd recommend not.)

[Artanis]

When I read it, I concluded that if you're proficient with the weapon- and it's a magic weapon- its an implement, and you get the enhancement bonus of the weapon if it's magic, and magic properties that key off it.

So a monk with a +5 weapon, gets +5 to hit.

A monk with a vicious weapon, gets the bonus on criticals.

A Daily property on a magic weapon, can be used if you hit with the weapon in an attack.

And so on.

But the actual damage of the weapon, the proficiency bonus for it, and special nonmagic properties such as high crit, etc, don't kick off, unless you are using a melee basic attack (since no monk power has Weapon keyword- only Implement).

Is this right?

For an example- an eladrin monk, with a longsword, with some nice magic weapon property.

Sounds about right.

[holywhippet]

Why half-elf? You get bonuses to a dump stat and Con... (did you mean Elf?)

My mistake, I think I did mean elf.

[Stormsinger]

I'm looking at building a monk character and am trying to work out a few things.

1) Am I wrong or is this a hard class to get attack bonuses for? Martial classes for example can get a bonus to hit from the weapons they wield. From what I can see though, the monk doesn't get attack bonuses from their weapons unless they are superior implements. They can get bonuses from ki focuses though.

All monk powers are implement powers. However, monks also treat all weapons with which they are proficient as implements for their powers (this includes their Monk Unarmed Strike, as the class feature which grants this specifies they are proficient in it). So, hamishspence has it right on the money.

NOTE: If you're making a melee basic attack, you do get proficiency bonuses as usual, and high crit, etc. trigger as normal.

2) I'm looking at the superior implement mindwarp staff. It has the properties of distant and energised (psychic). Do both of these apply to monk powers? The monk powers are listed as being psionic rather than psychic for one thing. Distant is supposed to increase the range of area based actions by 2 - does that mean something like five storms (close burst 1) will be close burst 3?

Kurald Galain is right - the mindwarp staff's energized property would only affect powers with the psychic keyword. Given that monks only have two attack powers which are psychic, that's not a worthwhile investment.

I'd suggest either an accurate staff, or - if you're looking to build a more control-oriented monk - a quickbeam staff, which increases the distance of any push/pull/slide by 1 with its forceful property. (It also has energized (thunder), which is good for some powers available at levels 1-3; however, many feel those powers are among the worse choices at the levels where they are available.)

3) Any suggestions for race? From what I can see the monk really needs high DEX with WIS being useful and STR being optional - some powers do have extra effect with more STR but I'm not rating it highly. To me that suggests either half-elf, shifter, wilden, githrezai or possibly human. I'm learning towards half-elf or shifter at the moment.

Blackfang108 had this down pretty good, but I'll elaborate a bit on the choices:

For a Stone Fist, you definitely do want a half-orc. They are the only Str/Dex race at present, furious assault helps drop enemies, and half-orc resilience helps you survive encounters. These guys were just born to be strikers.

Centered Breath monks have a lot more options:

1) Elf. Often the premier choice due to their increased base speed, their ability to ignore difficult terrain when shifting (which monks can do a lot), and, of course, elven accuracy.

2) Githzerai. Excellent racial abilities; the innate initiative bonus paired with your high Dex make for a blazing fast striker, which works well with open the gate of battle. Skill bonuses are highly useful with the mobility powers. Defended mind helps against conditions which limit actions - the striker's bane. Also, great racial feats.

3) Razorclaw Shifter. Razorclaw shifting is good for increasing survivability and increases movement at key points. The skill bonuses are excellent. Sadly, the blurring claws feat is useless, since it only applies to weapon damage.

4) Wilden. Choose your own save bonus to shore up whichever defense you need. All the racial encounter powers can be useful, but none more than Pursuit of the Hunter. Feat support is not quite as good as the others.

5) Human. You get to be the only monk that doesn't have to choose whether or not you want five storms; you can take that and two other at-will powers. Plus, you can effectively take unarmored agility for free. And, you get good all-around non-armor defenses. However, you lose the bonus to your off stat.

4) Do bonuses from ki focuses and superior implements stack? The book says ki focuses and magic weapons don't stack, but superior implements are listed as not being magical.

Yes. The accurate superior implement gives an unnamed bonus, which will stack with the enhancement bonus from a magic ki focus. If you use both a magic weapon and a magic ki focus, you have to choose which one is providing the enhancement bonus; the accurate bonus should still apply.

[Roland St. Jude]

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