GAROFALOA
Monk Training at Low Levels
11/28/2015 04:23 PM CST
So, On a lark i decided to roll up a monk. I was Originally going to use it as a locker, but i figured since i capped hapenlok a few months ago, i wanted to try something different. My previous monk experiment was a failure(I was still way into playing a pure spellcaster)
A halfling monk. I'm wondering if you guys had this quandary when you started your monks
I'm trying to get spells when i can, but i'm having a hard time doing it.
Forget about the lores. i'm just wondering if i'm where i should be. I just dumped my two ranks of transformation lore into other skills
I'm roughly halfway through my 30 day free skills migration period.
Confusion: Monks are Considered a square profession, but honestly, it seems that you need spells to kind of be ....decent. I'm still trying to figure this out.
I have also started out in Sunfist, because A: i haven't taken a character through sunfist. B: I apparently love torturing myself. i'm still working on the first rank.
My previous attempts at mastering Sunfist were a disaster, we'll leave it at that. heh.
So, any of you monk trailblaizers, if you got any training suggestions to make me better, please let me have them. I have my level 0, my present day stats and my cmans posted below. I tried to place my stats for growth, instead of the quick and easy path.
No cracks about a halfling monk, please. :P
Level 0 Stats for XXXXXX, Halfling Monk
Strength (STR): 85
Constitution (CON): 70
Dexterity (DEX): 70
Agility (AGI): 75
Discipline (DIS): 70
Aura (AUR): 80
Logic (LOG): 70
Intuition (INT): 55
Wisdom (WIS): 65
Influence (INF): 20
>
Name: XXXXX Race: Halfling Profession: Monk (not shown)
Gender: Male Age: 0 Expr: 52889 Level: 6
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 86 (3) ... 86 (3)
Constitution (CON): 73 (21) ... 73 (21)
Dexterity (DEX): 73 (26) ... 73 (26)
Agility (AGI): 78 (24) ... 78 (24)
Discipline (DIS): 72 (6) ... 72 (6)
Aura (AUR): 81 (10) ... 81 (10)
Logic (LOG): 72 (16) ... 72 (16)
Intuition (INT): 58 (14) ... 58 (14)
Wisdom (WIS): 66 (8) ... 66 (8)
Influence (INF): 23 (-18) ... 23 (-18)
Mana: 20 Silver: 0
s>skills
xxxxx (at level 6), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Combat Maneuvers...................| 58 12
Brawling...........................| 74 16
Physical Fitness...................| 102 24
Dodging............................| 93 21
Harness Power......................| 25 5
Mental Mana Control................| 10 2
Perception.........................| 35 7
Climbing...........................| 50 10
Swimming...........................| 50 10
Spell Lists
Minor Mental.......................| 3
Training Points: 84 Phy 16 Mnt
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)
Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Surge of Strength surge 1
Evade Mastery emastery 1
Available Combat Maneuver Training Points: 6
GOLDENOAK2
Re: Monk Training at Low Levels
11/28/2015 04:50 PM CST
I would cut out the mana control, cut back on the climb/swim until a bit later....as you really won't need for a good while...probably ignore perception in the beginning (at 55 I have 10 perception and no real complaints), cut back on Harness too for now, you don't need to really cast your spells often.
I would pick up at least one rank of Two weapon combat for the defensive boost...or go to 1/2 to 1 times training if you want more defense... think you get +5 DS at 1 rank and 10 DS at .5 training, but I could be off on my numbers there.
You have two choices on how you want to handle your defensive strategy...you can go robes, which means get 1202 then get your transformation lore up to at least 30ish ranks as quickly as possible...or you can go with armor training and ignore lore altogether. In the long run Armor is cheaper, but you lose a lot of the benefits of dodging. Between dodge and TWC you can get a really high DS pretty quick, but your TD will suffer.
Also, if you are in your 30 days I would recommend placing stats for quick advancement then changing them to growth towards the end of the 30 days after you have made a few levels.
GOLDENOAK2
Re: Monk Training at Low Levels
11/28/2015 05:03 PM CST
In case it helps, here is my current training data. I basically stopped learning spells around level 45 and focused on other stuff.
Race: Elf Profession: Monk (shown as: Monastic Master of the Sun)
Gender: Male Age: 61 Expr: 3006778 Level: 55
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 85 (17) ... 90 (20)
Constitution (CON): 82 (16) ... 82 (16)
Dexterity (DEX): 85 (22) ... 85 (22)
Agility (AGI): 92 (36) ... 92 (36)
Discipline (DIS): 82 (1) ... 82 (1)
Aura (AUR): 78 (19) ... 78 (19)
Logic (LOG): 88 (19) ... 88 (19)
Intuition (INT): 86 (18) ... 86 (18)
Wisdom (WIS): 76 (13) ... 76 (13)
Influence (INF): 87 (28) ... 87 (28)
Mana: 61 Silver: 504
>
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Two Weapon Combat..................| 108 26
Combat Maneuvers...................| 214 114
Brawling...........................| 214 114
Ambush.............................| 25 5
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 50 10
Physical Fitness...................| 208 108
Dodging............................| 270 170
Harness Power......................| 86 19
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 132 36
Survival...........................| 20 4
Stalking and Hiding................| 10 2
Perception.........................| 62 13
Climbing...........................| 90 20
Swimming...........................| 66 14
First Aid..........................| 82 18
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 7
Spell Lists
Minor Mental.......................| 20
Training Points: 10 Phy 0 Mnt (736 Phy converted to Mnt)
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)
your Combat Maneuver training is as follows:
Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Quickstrike qstrike 1
Surge of Strength surge 2
Evade Mastery emastery 3
Burst of Swiftness burst 1
Internal Power ipower 1
Punch Mastery punchmastery 3
Kick Mastery kmastery 1
Grapple Mastery gmastery 1
Ki Focus kifocus 2
Slippery Mind slipperymind 3
Inner Harmony iharmony 1
Race: Elf Profession: Monk (shown as: Monastic Master of the Sun)
Gender: Male Age: 61 Expr: 3006778 Level: 55
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 85 (17) ... 90 (20)
Constitution (CON): 82 (16) ... 82 (16)
Dexterity (DEX): 85 (22) ... 85 (22)
Agility (AGI): 92 (36) ... 92 (36)
Discipline (DIS): 82 (1) ... 82 (1)
Aura (AUR): 78 (19) ... 78 (19)
Logic (LOG): 88 (19) ... 88 (19)
Intuition (INT): 86 (18) ... 86 (18)
Wisdom (WIS): 76 (13) ... 76 (13)
Influence (INF): 87 (28) ... 87 (28)
Mana: 61 Silver: 504
>
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Two Weapon Combat..................| 108 26
Combat Maneuvers...................| 214 114
Brawling...........................| 214 114
Ambush.............................| 25 5
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 50 10
Physical Fitness...................| 208 108
Dodging............................| 270 170
Harness Power......................| 86 19
Mental Lore - Transformation.......| 132 36
Survival...........................| 20 4
Stalking and Hiding................| 10 2
Perception.........................| 62 13
Climbing...........................| 90 20
Swimming...........................| 66 14
First Aid..........................| 82 18
Spell Lists
Minor Spiritual....................| 7
Spell Lists
Minor Mental.......................| 20
Training Points: 10 Phy 0 Mnt (736 Phy converted to Mnt)
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)
your Combat Maneuver training is as follows:
Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Quickstrike qstrike 1
Surge of Strength surge 2
Evade Mastery emastery 3
Burst of Swiftness burst 1
Internal Power ipower 1
Punch Mastery punchmastery 3
Kick Mastery kmastery 1
Grapple Mastery gmastery 1
Ki Focus kifocus 2
Slippery Mind slipperymind 3
Inner Harmony iharmony 1
RATHBONER
Re: Monk Training at Low Levels
11/30/2015 09:40 AM CST
3 spells at level 6 is about par, but when you see a spell you like in range, train once per level till you get it and than back off and pick up the things you let go slack while rushing the spells (CMan will be one of them). The same applies with CMans and the points to get them.
Cut out the mana control.
0.5x TWC for defensive purposes. Cut it back to 1 rank at high level if you are feeling short of points for something else but 0.5x is the place to be at low level.
Climb and swim are dirt cheap, but if you aren't actually making use of them, there's not a lot of point in having that many ranks.
Your key early CMans are punch or kick mastery (I don't think there's a lot in it, go with whichever you prefer using), a martial stance which I think should be krynch (the third rank of krynch is poor value compared to the first two and can be left till much later) and feint (leave this till you have those two ranks of krynch).
As a halfling you have the AGIDEX to make good use of mstrike at low levels, but you need MOC training for it. Maybe not at level 6, but I think you will be wanting to be 1x in it by the time you see what you can do with it around level 30-40.
When you get to around level 20 you should be aiming shots, and you'll need a little ambush training to do it effectively. Not something for level 6, but somewhere around level 20 you should be picking up 5 ranks of ambush and adding 1 per level until you are aiming effectively.
5 or 6 ranks of transformation lore are probably worth having relatively early for Ironskin and meditation benefits.
>I tried to place my stats for growth, instead of the quick and easy path.
There is no quick and easy path for a monk. Because the main requirement is mental TP but prime stats are physical, growth and TP settings are virtually identical. (I actually gained training points when I used a fixstat near cap). You should look at what it takes to get your stats to level 100 at cap and start almost all of them at that value. Logic is worth having higher because its your CS stat. STR for enumberance and AGI for DS at early levels are the other ones and INF is the obvious tank stat though it will hurt your offensive society abilities and cost you TPs.
Cut out the mana control.
0.5x TWC for defensive purposes. Cut it back to 1 rank at high level if you are feeling short of points for something else but 0.5x is the place to be at low level.
Climb and swim are dirt cheap, but if you aren't actually making use of them, there's not a lot of point in having that many ranks.
Your key early CMans are punch or kick mastery (I don't think there's a lot in it, go with whichever you prefer using), a martial stance which I think should be krynch (the third rank of krynch is poor value compared to the first two and can be left till much later) and feint (leave this till you have those two ranks of krynch).
As a halfling you have the AGIDEX to make good use of mstrike at low levels, but you need MOC training for it. Maybe not at level 6, but I think you will be wanting to be 1x in it by the time you see what you can do with it around level 30-40.
When you get to around level 20 you should be aiming shots, and you'll need a little ambush training to do it effectively. Not something for level 6, but somewhere around level 20 you should be picking up 5 ranks of ambush and adding 1 per level until you are aiming effectively.
5 or 6 ranks of transformation lore are probably worth having relatively early for Ironskin and meditation benefits.
>I tried to place my stats for growth, instead of the quick and easy path.
There is no quick and easy path for a monk. Because the main requirement is mental TP but prime stats are physical, growth and TP settings are virtually identical. (I actually gained training points when I used a fixstat near cap). You should look at what it takes to get your stats to level 100 at cap and start almost all of them at that value. Logic is worth having higher because its your CS stat. STR for enumberance and AGI for DS at early levels are the other ones and INF is the obvious tank stat though it will hurt your offensive society abilities and cost you TPs.
GOLDENOAK2
Re: Monk Training at Low Levels
11/30/2015 12:01 PM CST
>Your key early CMans are punch or kick mastery (I don't think there's a lot in it, go with whichever you prefer using), a martial stance which I think should be krynch (the third rank of krynch is poor value compared to the first two and can be left till much later) and feint (leave this till you have those two ranks of krynch).
Mind, this is just my opinion not fact.
Punch and/or kick are definitely useful...krynch is good, but I personally prefer slippery mind for the defense against warding or Inner Harmony to remove spell effects after the fact.
Of course slippery mind is best if you use robes...heavier armor makes it less desirable.
Ki Focus can perform the same function as Krynch while leaving a martial stance open.
I haven't really used feint so no opinions there...generally speaking at least at my level I don't have trouble hitting a target even when it turtles so I never felt the need to force its stance.
Mind, this is just my opinion not fact.
Punch and/or kick are definitely useful...krynch is good, but I personally prefer slippery mind for the defense against warding or Inner Harmony to remove spell effects after the fact.
Of course slippery mind is best if you use robes...heavier armor makes it less desirable.
Ki Focus can perform the same function as Krynch while leaving a martial stance open.
I haven't really used feint so no opinions there...generally speaking at least at my level I don't have trouble hitting a target even when it turtles so I never felt the need to force its stance.
RATHBONER
Re: Monk Training at Low Levels
12/01/2015 05:27 AM CST
My take on ki focus is that its a good replacement for one of the important uses of krynch, but not a couple of others. For dangerous critter type situations, where one critter walks in just after you killed another or while you have it disabled but not yet finished, ki focus is at least as effective. For bandits or other multiple critter situations I reckon it would be too stamina intensive, and it can't fire in the middle of MStrike.
I regard Slippery mind is better than nothing, but only just. Focus beats it hollow as a way of improving warding defense with CMan points. A halfling gets a major racial bonus against warding and should find focus is good enough and slippery mind a horrible waste of CMan points as well as the martial stance slot.
I reckon because Inner Harmony can't be activated while under the influence of several of the effects it breaks, you have to be able to wait for its tick, and if you can afford to wait for its tick, you can afford to wait out the timer on the effect. Also it doesn't Raise Dead, and at higher levels instant death becomes a significant possibility on warding failures. A race with poor warding defence might find Inner Harmony a useful way of getting through mid level, but I expect they'd be stuffed once they got near cap.
For feint, its about the RT at least as much as the stance forcing, and while you will always have a chance at hitting a turtled critter, 100% chance of hitting with 90% chance of creating an opening against a critter in offensive stance beats 60% chance of a hit with 40% being an opening against it turtled. If a critter has status immunities, the only control option available is often RT from feint. Tree spirits gave me a lot of trouble, elder tree spirits were cake, the difference was control via feint RT became available in between.
I regard Slippery mind is better than nothing, but only just. Focus beats it hollow as a way of improving warding defense with CMan points. A halfling gets a major racial bonus against warding and should find focus is good enough and slippery mind a horrible waste of CMan points as well as the martial stance slot.
I reckon because Inner Harmony can't be activated while under the influence of several of the effects it breaks, you have to be able to wait for its tick, and if you can afford to wait for its tick, you can afford to wait out the timer on the effect. Also it doesn't Raise Dead, and at higher levels instant death becomes a significant possibility on warding failures. A race with poor warding defence might find Inner Harmony a useful way of getting through mid level, but I expect they'd be stuffed once they got near cap.
For feint, its about the RT at least as much as the stance forcing, and while you will always have a chance at hitting a turtled critter, 100% chance of hitting with 90% chance of creating an opening against a critter in offensive stance beats 60% chance of a hit with 40% being an opening against it turtled. If a critter has status immunities, the only control option available is often RT from feint. Tree spirits gave me a lot of trouble, elder tree spirits were cake, the difference was control via feint RT became available in between.
