Build: Halfling Dex Monk

[Eldamir]

I just thought I'd get the ball rolling with the flood of monk builds..

What follows is my planned course of action for leveling a monk based on my limited playtime on Risia.. some of this will probably change somewhat once I get a monk past level 3 :D

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Lvl 16 Halfling Monk (32-pt)
Spell Points: n/a


Stats
Base Points Base Tome Lvl Enh Buff Final mod
STR 6 8 13 2 1 0 6 22 6
DEX 10 10 18 2 2 2 6 30 10
CON 8 5 13 1 0 0 6 20 5
INT 8 4 12 1 0 0 13 1
WIS 8 10 13 1 1 3 6 24 7
CHA 8 8 0 0 8 -1

Feats and Class Levels:
1 Monk 1 - Least DragonMark of Healinge / Toughness
2 Monk 2 - Weapon Finesse
3 Monk 3 - Dodge
4 Monk 4 (+STR)
5 Monk 5
6 Monk 6 - Lesser DragonMark of Healing / Combat Expertise
7 Monk 7
8 Monk 8 (+CON)
9 Monk 9 - DieHard (or Stunning Fists)
10 Monk 10
11 Monk 11
12 Monk 12 (+DEX) - Improved Critical: Bludgeoning Weapons
13 Monk 13
14 Monk 14
15 Monk 15 - Greater DragonMark of Healing
16 Monk 16 (+DEX)
17-20 Monk 17-20

Enhancements:
Halfling Dexterity II
Extra Dragonmark III
Halfling Luck I (Fortitude)
Halfling Luck II (Fortitude)
Halfling Luck I (Will)
Adept of Flame
Adept of Rain
Adept of Wind
Monk Concentration III
Disciple of Breezes
Disciple of Candles
Disciple of Puddles
Eagle Claw Attack
Fists of Darkness
Monk Improved Recovery II
Master of Bonfires
Master of Thunder
Ten Thousand Stars
Way of the Patient Tortoise III
Monk Wisdom III


Saves:

Saves: Fort Rflx Will
24 27 25
Monk 16 10 10 10
Stat Bonus 5 10 7
Halfling Luck 1 1 1
Halfling Luck 2 1
Head of Good
Fortune 2 2 2
Resist Item 4 4 4


Hit Points:
Buffed Max
Hit Points 329 427
Heroic Durability 20 20
Argo Favor 10 10
Con Bonus 80 80
Monk 16 128 128
Toughness (x2) 36 36
Aid 22
Virtue 20
Insp Great. 20
G Heroism 16
False Life (Sp) 20
False Life (It) 30 30
Shroud Item 25 25
Patient Tortoise III 25 25

Armor Class:

Stndg Sbuff Max
AC 55 58 74
Base 10 10 10
Armor 6 6 6 White DragonScale Robe
Dex Bonus 10 10 10
Dodge Feat 1 1 1 (dodge)
Combat Expertise 5 5 5 (dodge)
Barkskin(pot/spell) 3 5 (natural armor)
Recitation OFF 2 (luck)
Inspire Heroism OFF 4 (dodge)
Protection +5 5 5 5 (Deflection)
Paladin Aura 4 (misc)
Haste 1 (dodge)
ChaosGarde (+2) ON 2 2 2 (dodge) (LG or 20UMD)
Chattering Ring ON 3 3 3 (dodge) (Titan Loot)
Halfling Size 1 1 1 1 (dodge)
Insight Bonus 1 1 1 4
Monk Wisdom Bonus 7 7 7
Monk AC Bonus 3 3 3
Alchemical Dodge Bonus 1 1 1
Miscellaney

Attack / Damage:
+Dmg
Attack 23 23 28 28 33 11
BAB 12 12 17 17 22
AB: Finesse 10 10 10 10 10 6
+5 Weapon Bonus 5 5 5 5 5 5
Halfling Size 1 1 1 1 1 n/a
Combat Expertise -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 n/a


Skills:

Spot Hide MS Bal Jump Tmbl Conc
29 37 33 21 26 31 47
Ranks 19 10 10 10 19 19 19
Stat Bonus WIS DEX DEX DEX STR DEX CON
Racial Bonus 0 6 2 0
Enhancement(s) 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Item 10 10 15
Head of Good Fortune 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Patient Tortoise III 3


Potential Equipment Slots:
RagDoll
Armor white dragon robe or Enlightened Vestments
Shield n/a
Goggles existential-stalemate (+25hp, +6Wis, +10Diplo, +10Haggle)
Helmet Minos Legens / Muffled Veneer
Neck Con +6
Trinket Head of Good Fortune
Cloak Protection +5
Belt GFL (or titan belt)
Gloves Str +6 (if titan belt, dex+6)
Boots Dex+6 (if titan belt, boots of the innocent)
Ring1 Chattering Ring
Ring2 Resistance +4 (or Seal of Earth ?)
Bracers Chaosgarde

Pros::thumbup:
Excellent AC (55 with 'normal' Parrying Handwraps)
Excellent Saves
Balanced stats - non min/maxy
Self Healing via DragonMarks
Good HP (for a non-Dwarf)

Cons::thumbdown:
Gear Reliant - lots of +6 items, 2 +2 tomes, 4-5 raid items
Mediocre Offense due to not being high Str

[Steele]

Nice build eld! Makes me want to do an ac build too...

[Shyv]

With such a low strength it doesn't matter what elemental effects you have going on. You will have very poor DPS against red and purple named fights.

Shyv's strength is 22 after rams might and I couldn't hang as a front line melee against anything that was immune to wounding/puncturing.

Not that the shroud is a good overview of the entire game, but the party would be better off bringing a paladin or even a rogue over a melee with a very low strength score to fight against the Fiend.

Just some food for thought. :D

[Coldin]

Str isn't everything...

Plus, a monk with just his fists will be dealing 2d8 damage at 16th level. And with that AC, you shouldn't be getting hit much at all.

[Bigpapi]

Str isn't everything...


No, it's the ONLY THING!!!

My drow monk build is a slight variation on this... I'm hoping she will be more impressive as she levels up, but realistically I don't think Monks will bring much to a party at the high levels.

[Eldamir]

The real Qwai is somewhat different than the OP. When I get a few minutes, I'll update it with his actual build, which is shaping up to be fairly durable and does decent DPS (for instance, Steele and I duo'd StormCleave last night - he on his lvl9 Monk and I on Qwai (lvl6) - in 28 minutes - I averaged about half of his kills, which seemed appropriate for him being 3 levels above myself).

[Shyv]

Str isn't everything...

Plus, a monk with just his fists will be dealing 2d8 damage at 16th level. And with that AC, you shouldn't be getting hit much at all.

At current end-game strength is everything. Granted finnesse and "tricks and tactics" will let you get through the game just fine, when it comes time to beat on that last big meanie, DPS is what matters if you are a melee character.

Without there being any greensteel handwraps in the game that leaves you with the option of quarterstaffs or kamas, not exactly weapons that put up huge numbers.

And the biggest probelm with monks in general with their DPS, IMO, is the fact that their weapons are 20/X2. Now granted there isn't a whole lot you can do about that because that's how it is, but by starting your strength so low all you are doing is hurting yourself once you get to the end fight.

[Eldamir]

I updated the OP for the current build

[Steele]

Man i want that ac!

[Eldamir]

well, that AC is dependant upon 3 things -- A Chattering ring, a shroud existential Stalemate item (or regular wis+6 item at the cost of a resist item) and either the White Dragon robe, Enlightened Vestements or +8 Armor Bracers..

Pretty sure I have a couple of pairs of +6 dex items floating around right now, but the +6 wis is going to depend on those shroud goggles for the time being .. and the only Armor Bracers I own at this time are the Black Widow Bracers (after 15 runs)

[Shyv]

well, that AC is dependant upon 3 things -- A Chattering ring, a shroud existential Stalemate item (or regular wis+6 item at the cost of a resist item) and either the White Dragon robe, Enlightened Vestements or +8 Armor Bracers..

Pretty sure I have a couple of pairs of +6 dex items floating around right now, but the +6 wis is going to depend on those shroud goggles for the time being .. and the only Armor Bracers I own at this time are the Black Widow Bracers (after 15 runs)

I've got +8 AC bracers RR: Dwarf that I might be pursuaded to trade. :ranger:

[Eldamir]

Thanks for the offer, Shiv - but Qwai is a UMD-less halfling :) Lack of UMD makes the non-Dragon robe route somewhat harder to fulfil :)

[Bigpapi]

and the only Armor Bracers I own at this time are the Black Widow Bracers (after 15 runs)

Woot! Only took Smokiey 3 runs... :sifone:

[Jules]

At current end-game strength is everything. Granted finnesse and "tricks and tactics" will let you get through the game just fine, when it comes time to beat on that last big meanie, DPS is what matters if you are a melee character.

Without there being any greensteel handwraps in the game that leaves you with the option of quarterstaffs or kamas, not exactly weapons that put up huge numbers.

And the biggest probelm with monks in general with their DPS, IMO, is the fact that their weapons are 20/X2. Now granted there isn't a whole lot you can do about that because that's how it is, but by starting your strength so low all you are doing is hurting yourself once you get to the end fight.

I have to agree with you Shyv. I built Warchantress thinking she could tank, but she's getting 1 or 2 shotted too often. I'm not letting Skitty get anywhere near where they can hit her - hence her focus on ranging. Just waiting for the tanks to get aggro then I let loose with my bow.

I'm working on 2 monks, first is a dex based halfling and the 2nd is dwarven str one. Currently her name is diamondlil, but she may be re-built.

Jules

[Eldamir]

Qwai is currently stuck at lvl8, but based on this information (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=148959) (multiple posts by Eladrin in this post), I think that I might just resurrect him and spend some time in the forests learning the art of the Tempest Assassin with the last 2 levels still to be determined ...

Edit: My initial thoughts are to go 7Ranger/8Monk/1Fighter and shoot for 11Ranger/8monk/1Fighter at lvl20 (the min lvl8 monk, is obviously immutable without a reroll - and since I've sunk a +2 Str tome into him, that's much less likely than other routes :))

This gets me Ranger Dex II, Monk Wis II, Tempest, Adept of Wind/Rain, Monk Improved Recovery II, Ranger Sprint Boost II, Fighter Haste Boost I, Way of the Clever Monkey II

The Fighter level is needed to be able to get Spring Attack, Greater TWF and Greater DM all by lvl16 .. if I was willing to be patient, I could forgo the Fighter level and take the Greater DM of Healing at lvl18.