Monk of the sun soul

Discussions related to character builds and mechanics may occur here.

Moderators: Forum Moderators, Active DMs

Post Reply
xf1313
Posts: 389
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 9:39 am
Location: China

Monk of the sun soul

Post by xf1313 » Sat Dec 18, 2021 10:44 am

Hi, I have this character idea in my head, a Sun soul monk, follower of Lanthandar. But I never played monk before, so I need some help with setting up this character. I won’t mind human but I think I’ll use moon elf for the 2Dex.

1, I want him to wearing robe and fighting unarmed. But Quarterstaff or Kama build can work, however PGCC testing showed that there’s no good quarterstaff. Best monk weapon I found is Katar? Is it worth it to use Katar?

2, I am torn between pure monk, monk/divine champion(4 or 6), or monk/cleric preacher, problem is I never played cleric at all. Tried pure monk and divine monk, 26DEX, with epic dodge it’s good.
I started with 12/19/10/14/16/8 (with gifts)

Or...going full wis is better for monk? How should I invest my points and feats so the ab is high?

3, is it worth going improved two weapon fighting, or I should keep fighting unarmed ?

Suggestions are appreciated, I am ok with a non-op build, getting the devoted monk theme right is important to me. I plan to max out tumbling, concentration and discipline, some healing, lore and spot.
Wild-elf Druid Laurifin Goldenleaf
Drow shadowlord Lomin Nightshade

User avatar
Ebonstar
Posts: 1471
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 2:17 pm
Location: you may not see me but i see you

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by Ebonstar » Sat Dec 18, 2021 1:50 pm

with all the normal monk weapons not being tied to the unarmed attacks anymore, unarmed with disciples wraps that can be essenced is the best monk weapons as it scales with more monk levels until you hit d20 damage plus your str bonus.

go for epic dodge dex build and use your support gears to boost your str,con, and wis
Yes I can sign

User avatar
ZombieDuck
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:58 pm
Location: Somewhere deep in Finland

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by ZombieDuck » Sat Dec 18, 2021 3:18 pm

For Monk builds you should probably go 20+ Monk combined with at least 4 levels before epics in high Base Attack class like Fighter/Divine Champ/Earthkin Defender/Knight/Cavalier/Ranger/Swashbuckler for 16+ Base Attack to get another Attack Per Round(And more AB).

Mechanically speaking what are you looking from this character?
Monks are typically good all-rounders in Arelith and if you go for 26 Dex/16 Wisdom at least stat-wise for Epic Dodge, Ki Strike +4 and +5 you should be pretty good, the rest is typically about pumping AC/AB/HP/Saves numbers higher or getting some tricks from other classes.
Forever a duckling.
Character: Typically some Orog in UD

xf1313
Posts: 389
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 9:39 am
Location: China

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by xf1313 » Sat Dec 18, 2021 5:47 pm

ZombieDuck wrote:
Sat Dec 18, 2021 3:18 pm
For Monk builds you should probably go 20+ Monk combined with at least 4 levels before epics in high Base Attack class like Fighter/Divine Champ/Earthkin Defender/Knight/Cavalier/Ranger/Swashbuckler for 16+ Base Attack to get another Attack Per Round(And more AB).

Mechanically speaking what are you looking from this character?
Monks are typically good all-rounders in Arelith and if you go for 26 Dex/16 Wisdom at least stat-wise for Epic Dodge, Ki Strike +4 and +5 you should be pretty good, the rest is typically about pumping AC/AB/HP/Saves numbers higher or getting some tricks from other classes.
I think i’ll go pure monk, then the question will be on skills, aside from class skills, which one would u absolutely recommend for monk to take? And how much climb is needed if I want to RP a wall-climbing monk?
Wild-elf Druid Laurifin Goldenleaf
Drow shadowlord Lomin Nightshade

User avatar
ZombieDuck
Posts: 72
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2019 5:58 pm
Location: Somewhere deep in Finland

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by ZombieDuck » Sat Dec 18, 2021 7:13 pm

Monks get 4(+int mod) skillpoints/level and I'd recommend 14 int not just for skillpoints, but to unlock Improved Expertise as well.

I do not know about the DCs of climb-checks on Arelith, since they don't show up in combat logs, someone else would have to answer this question.

So with 6 maxed skills, I'd recommend: Concentration, Discipline, Heal, Lore, Climb(?)/Spot/Spellcraft(Every 5 points gives +1 saves vs. spells, good but not a must for Monks with their already high saves), Tumble(Only need 30 on this to get max benefit) and 1 Disarm Trap/Open Lock(The 1 point alone won't help much, but combined with gear you'll be able to handle many locks/traps).

For feats I'd recommend(7 Pre-epic): Weapon Finesse, Toughness, Blind-fight, Expertise, Improved Expertise, Improved Critical Unarmed and Dodge

Epic feats(4 + 2 from epic monk): Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Skill Focus: Discipline, Armor Skin, Epic Dodge, Epic Skill Focus Spot and Blinding-Speed.
25+ Monk does not need Ki Strike +4/+5 feats(As far as I understand), so those are not included in this build.

Another similar build I could I'd recommend would be 25 Monk/5 Fighter(16/4 pre-epic).
This build gets 3 more pre-epic feats(Fighter feats) and 1 less epic feat, access to Weapon Specilization/Epic Weapon Specilization(+2/+4 stacking dmg feats) and 1 more attack/round from the increased of Base Attack.

25/5 build is probably more comfortable than the pure monk, 1 more attack/round is not that impressive for monks, but with haste(or blinding-speed) it allows you to reach 7 attacks/round giving you 3 attacks at the first flurry, 2 at second and 2 at last.

Be sure to test a build you like on the test server before making it on live.
Forever a duckling.
Character: Typically some Orog in UD

xf1313
Posts: 389
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 9:39 am
Location: China

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by xf1313 » Sun Dec 19, 2021 4:10 am

Thank you, that is good recommendation. When I tested on pgcc, improved crit helps a little bit, but overall not super effective. I’d take ki Strike over epic spot really, to penetrate dr.
Wild-elf Druid Laurifin Goldenleaf
Drow shadowlord Lomin Nightshade

AstralUniverse
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:54 pm

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by AstralUniverse » Sun Dec 19, 2021 6:25 am

xf1313 wrote:
Sat Dec 18, 2021 5:47 pm
I think i’ll go pure monk
Good. Your epic feats are epic weapon focus, armor skin, ki 4, ki 5, ESF discipline, epic dodge. your skills are discipline, tumble, lore, listen, heal and one more skill of choice (likely leadership for gold generation or craft mastery for tier 3 enchanting) and if you're human then you can max hide+move as 6th and 7th skills.... and you should absolutely take imp crit. For gear, you want to max your dex con wis, then have discipline and +1 fort on as many items as possible. Have fun.
Svrtr wrote:

I've spoken with Kenji and warpriest will be allowed to take elemental avatar so keep this in mind too


xf1313
Posts: 389
Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2019 9:39 am
Location: China

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by xf1313 » Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:21 pm

Thank you both, it has been fun, once he is over lv10 he is doing well. One more question on the search skill, should I bother with it? I cannot see many traps... thou the skill points are tight
Wild-elf Druid Laurifin Goldenleaf
Drow shadowlord Lomin Nightshade

AstralUniverse
Posts: 2723
Joined: Sun Dec 15, 2019 2:54 pm

Re: Monk of the sun soul

Post by AstralUniverse » Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:57 pm

Traps are no big concern for a character with high saves, immunities and improved evasion.
Svrtr wrote:

I've spoken with Kenji and warpriest will be allowed to take elemental avatar so keep this in mind too


Post Reply