Totally confused monk

[Lightfoot]

<p>As the title says, I'm totally confused!  I've been trying to get to grips with everything by reading all the different info on these forums, but with so much to take in I'm heading for total brain melt down.</p><p>It would be a great help to me if someone can explain in easy terms for this newbie.  First of all some background. Half elf monk at lvl 9 about to leave starter island, mostly soloing.</p><p>What sort of clothes/armour should I be looking for or crafting?</p><p>Am I alright just using fists or should I be looking for/crafting some sort of weapons?</p><p>All this talk of atts is going right over my head (used to a completely different system in GW). What should I be striving for in Str, Sta, Int etc. etc.?  Also in the stats diplay, I understand that the green figures means it has some sort of boost from an item.  What does it mean if the number is red?</p><p>Please please please don't point me to different articles, my head just won't take any more. Just need it explained in easy terms so I can start taking it in properly, then I can learn more as I go on.</p><p>I've got other characters as well, but figured if I can get to grips with one character I can work the rest out for myself. I'm more interested in the monk at the moment because I enjoy playing her.</p>

[Rokaab]

<p><b>What sort of clothes/armour should I be looking for or crafting?</b></p><p>Monks wear leather armour, so thats a good start for adventuring, you dont need specific crafting clothes, though many people find wearing stuff with less of your primary stat on it (str in your case) good for crafting, though I'll not go into details why I think that its a good idea (cos itll probably take all day and I'd prob make it sound really confusing)</p><p><b>Am I alright just using fists or should I be looking for/crafting some sort of weapons?</b></p><p>Its good to use a selection of weapons so you can raise all your fighting skills (crushing and slashing I think for monks) cos otherwise maybe later on youll win the roll on an uber crushing/slashing type weapon but have a crushing/slashing skill of 5 out whatever your cap is and youll do really badly with it. Many quests have weapon rewards and also you can normally find them on the broker. </p><p><b>All this talk of atts is going right over my head (used to a completely different system in GW). What should I be striving for in Str, Sta, Int etc. etc.?  Also in the stats diplay, I understand that the green figures means it has some sort of boost from an item.  What does it mean if the number is red?</b></p><p>For monks:</p><ul><li>Str=power pool and damage done by melee attacks</li><li>Sta=hp's</li><li>Agi=avoidance</li><li>Wis=resists</li><li>Int = not convinced this does anything for a monk</li></ul><p>Mostly monks will go for str/sta/agi at least for a lot of the earlier levels, until resists become a lot more necessary.</p><p>Yep, green stats means theyve been boosted by buffs or armour/jewelery/weapons. Red means theyve been decreased by some means, e.g. youve been debuffed by a mob, some piece or armour has decreased it (not many bits or armour do this), or a buff can do this - i.e. one that maybe increases one stat but decrements another, like some of the stances you'll have as a monk I suspect.</p>

[Lightfoot]

<p>Thank you. That's sort of cleared things up, it will probably make more sense to me as I move along and start applying it.</p><p>A couple more things I'm curious about. What does it mean when you get things pop up on the screen like 'Initiate Undead Hunter'</p><p>I've been finding quite a few objects that when examined says something like 'It appears that this item could be studied to learn more about the nature of skeletons'.  What am I supposed to do with these objects?</p><p>Sorry about so many questions but is the only way I can learn. I don't want to miss any opportunities.</p>

[Kellin]

<cite>LightfootII wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Thank you. That's sort of cleared things up, it will probably make more sense to me as I move along and start applying it.</p><p>A couple more things I'm curious about. What does it mean when you get things pop up on the screen like 'Initiate Undead Hunter'</p><p><span style="color: #ff9933">These hunter status announcements appear when you've killed a certain number of a particular type of mob.  Once you reach "master" level, you receive a prefix title that you can show next to you name in-game.  To see your hunter counts, there is a piece of paper hanging from a lamppost between the Claymore statue and the Antonica gates in North Qeynos.</span></p><p>I've been finding quite a few objects that when examined says something like 'It appears that this item could be studied to learn more about the nature of skeletons'.  What am I supposed to do with these objects?</p><p><span style="color: #ff9966">These items are used in the Lore & Legend mastery quests.  These are quests that are started by reading books.  I believe there are 33 different ones in game at the present time, for all different types of mobs.  The quest has two parts:  auto updates that can happen whenever you kill a mob of that type, and the drop items that you need to examine.  What you are describing is one of the dropped items for skeleton Lore & Legend.  Once you complete one of these quests, you receive a special attack that can be used to do extra damage against that type of mob.</span></p><p>Sorry about so many questions but is the only way I can learn. I don't want to miss any opportunities.</p></blockquote>

[Lightfoot]

Are any of these Lore & Legend mastery quests found on the starter island.  I'm only asking because I have been finding a lot of these type of objects there.  If not, will those objects still be available later or do I have to store them?

[Rokaab]

<cite>LightfootII wrote:</cite><blockquote>Are any of these Lore & Legend mastery quests found on the starter island.  I'm only asking because I have been finding a lot of these type of objects there.  If not, will those objects still be available later or do I have to store them?</blockquote>Nope, none are found on the starting island, and yes you will find plenty of the bits later on so you might as well sell the bits you have unless you have loads of bank space to spare (i.e. you can save them if you really want but I wouldnt bother).

[Ebjelen]

<p>You really need to ask these questions on the Monk class board. They probably even have an FAQ stickied at the top of the board. Scroll down the list of forums and you'll see "Class Forums (24 boards)". In there you'll find a forum just for and about monks.</p><p>I know there's a lot of debate on weight. I could be wrong, but I believe carried weight, including armor, decreases your avoidance. At least it was that way in the beginning, maybe it got changed, which is why you need to check the monk board. A lot of monks prefer cloth armor and the monk-only "Gi".</p><p>There are a lot of monk weapons in game. Most of these enhance what you need as a monk, like fist wraps. Again, look on the monks forum and they can explain this better.</p>

[Isisalthea]

<p>Items may show red if you have died and not mended your armour/clothes.  Also you can store stuff in your bank in the private slots above or in the share slots on the bottom row.  </p><p>And always ask, there are no dumb questions.  When I started last year as a brand new mmo player, I was so confused I didn't even know about the forums or chatting.    Fortunely we have a really good community in EQ2 and someone will always have an answwr for your questions.   As far as going to individual boards for answers, yes that is helpful, but if you are trying to get an overview answer this is the place. </p><p>Welcome to Norrath.</p>

[Forsaken1]

<cite>LightfootII wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>As the title says, I'm totally confused!  I've been trying to get to grips with everything by reading all the different info on these forums, but with so much to take in I'm heading for total brain melt down.</p><p>It would be a great help to me if someone can explain in easy terms for this newbie.  First of all some background. Half elf monk at lvl 9 about to leave starter island, mostly soloing.</p><p>What sort of clothes/armour should I be looking for or crafting?</p><p>Am I alright just using fists or should I be looking for/crafting some sort of weapons?</p><p>All this talk of atts is going right over my head (used to a completely different system in GW). What should I be striving for in Str, Sta, Int etc. etc.?  Also in the stats diplay, I understand that the green figures means it has some sort of boost from an item.  What does it mean if the number is red?</p><p>Please please please don't point me to different articles, my head just won't take any more. Just need it explained in easy terms so I can start taking it in properly, then I can learn more as I go on.</p><p>I've got other characters as well, but figured if I can get to grips with one character I can work the rest out for myself. I'm more interested in the monk at the moment because I enjoy playing her.</p></blockquote><p>First off, welcome to Norrath.</p><p>Monks wear leather armor. If you completed all the beginer quests on the isle you will have all the major slots filled and this will hold you till you can make some coin and buy (or craft) better. </p><p>Monks three primary stats are Strength, Stamina, and Agility, in that order. Wisdom boosts your resist, but it isnt really worth worrying about IMO. I havent found a need to raise Int on my monk.</p><p>Using fists counts as using a 2 handed staff damage wise, but you dont get any benefits from having the slots open. Using dual wield weapons or a staff gives you the buffs from the weapons. If you want the bare fists look pick up a set of fistwraps. </p><p> Yes, the beginer isle has collection quests. If you see a shiny object on the ground with a small question mark over it, click on it to pick it up. Then right click it to examine it. </p><p>If you enjoy crafting and plan to keep at it then two choices to keep yourself supplied are Tailor ( make your own leather armor) or Alchemist (make your own spell upgrades, healing potions, and poisons to sell to the Rogue classes).</p><p>Hope this helps <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  Have fun!</p>

[Didi]

<p>Some useful links for you:</p><p><a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=350525" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">How to dress for success</a> - an equipment/stat guide which should help your confusion</p><p><a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/forums/show.m?forum_id=43" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Monk forum</a> - lots of useful threads stickied here, including a <a href="http://members.shaw.ca/jasonznack/eq2/Thenewmonkfaq.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Monk FAQ</a> (looks a little out of date, some of the links don't work but the info should be mostly there)</p><p><a href="http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/article_page.php?article=g5&menustr=040000000000" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">EQ2Traders tradeskill guides</a>  - lots of handy info on crafting and harvesting here.  As was said above, alchemist would be a great choice for you, followed by tailor</p><p><a href="http://maps.eq2interface.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">EQ2maps</a> - wonderful maps with information points marked.  You can also download these so you can see them all in game (free, though you do have to register)</p><p>Also a couple other remarks - you wear leather armour, you'll want to get the crafted leather armour to start out with every 10 levels on the "0" level, and then work towards harvesting enough rare pelts to get some or all rare pieces at the "2" level (e.g. 12, 22, 32....) this will be true pretty much up to your 60s, at which point rare crafted starts to suck relative to what can be looted.  There will be some exceptional items you can get along the way which will be upgrades, of course, but this should keep you well dressed while you're looking for them.  Checking in your local crafting channel is a good way to find crafters who will make armour and other stuff for you.  And don't forget to upgrade your jewelry too, all those stats do help.</p><p>Weapons-wise look for the highest damage rating dual wield weapons you can find.  There is a line of Achievements which you can start working on at level 10 (assuming you have the expansion that allow you to earn Achievement XP, if not ignore this) which gives you bonuses to fighting bare-handed.  If you complete this line then you'll do really good damage bare-handed and it's better than pretty much any weapon you can hope to acquire up till you're using level 60+ fabled stuff.  If you DON'T have this achievement line completed however, you're better off using weapons.</p><p>Weight -- in EQ1 monks were penalized for carrying too much weight.  This is NOT the case in EQ2.  Carry as much weight as you like (as long as you're not overweight).  Several of the monks and bruisers I know carry around a set of rosewood strong boxes which weigh 100 each, for the extra space ... no problems.</p>

[ThE_GuN]

<cite>Didi wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>as long as you're not overweight</p></blockquote><p> *gasps* Overweight monks need love as well... sorry, I know its taken out of context but I just couldnt resist.</p><p>Also, no the note about first vs weapons, if your using a gray weapon (over 10 levels old) then using just your fists would probly be better.</p><p>And as Didi wrote, the str AA line is GREAT for low level monks as it saves them some worry and money on weapons, but you'll need atleast the kingdom of sky expansion to be able to get these at level 10.</p><p>Oh, and welcome to Norrath, dont be afraid to ask, people will usualy answer, even stupid questions, just dont make silly statements that make a fool of yourself (like "OMG tanking is imposible", would be better to ask for tips if you found it hard to tank, in this example <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> ).</p>

[Lightfoot]

<p>Thank you all very much for the advice.  My head is bursting at the seams but I think it will sink in eventually.  I've only been playing for a week or two, so can't expect too much.</p><p>My lvl 11 monk is still striving to tame these vaste forbidding lands.  I managed to craft most of my armour in prestine waxed leather, I assume this is the best I can do for now.  Still didn't save me when I got jumped on from behind, but that's another story.</p><p>Still getting confused with all these quests. I don't mean doing them, just the fact that there are so many.  I don't know whether to grab them when I see them in case I forget where they are, or wait til I've completed what I've got.</p><p>Managed to find a stable last night *gasps at the prices*.  I assume that you don't actually buy a horse, but just a whistle to call one.  That won't be for some time. I thought I was doing well with over 50 silver til I saw those prices.  Is there just a speed advantage with horses or are there other benefits?</p><p>What I like about this game is how everything goes on around you.  For instance, last night I was sneaking around Antonica trying to complete some quests.  I was thinking, how the hell am I going to get there without getting jumped on by all those sabre tooth thingies. At the corner of my eye I caught a movement. A palladin came charging in and piled straight into them allowing me to run through as fast as my little legs would carry me.  Thank you mr palladin for saving my skin. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[DwarvesR]

<p>Did someone mention and overweight monk?</p><p><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/352457179_dd9517fb6d_o.jpg" border="0"></p><p>That overweight enough for you?  <a href="http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=278716201" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">And yes, it really is a monk.</a></p>

[Didi]

<cite>LightfootII wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Thank you all very much for the advice.  My head is bursting at the seams but I think it will sink in eventually.  I've only been playing for a week or two, so can't expect too much.</p><p>My lvl 11 monk is still striving to tame these vaste forbidding lands.  I managed to craft most of my armour in prestine waxed leather, I assume this is the best I can do for now.  Still didn't save me when I got jumped on from behind, but that's another story.</p><p>Still getting confused with all these quests. I don't mean doing them, just the fact that there are so many.  I don't know whether to grab them when I see them in case I forget where they are, or wait til I've completed what I've got.</p><p>Managed to find a stable last night *gasps at the prices*.  I assume that you don't actually buy a horse, but just a whistle to call one.  That won't be for some time. I thought I was doing well with over 50 silver til I saw those prices.  Is there just a speed advantage with horses or are there other benefits?</p></blockquote><ul><li>at level 11, you'll want to replace any rawhide crafted stuff you're wearing with tanned leather - if you chose to become something other than a tailor, you'll need to check the broker or hunt up a tailor to make those.</li><li>did you upgrade all your combat arts to Apprentice IV?  Just as important as that armour upgrade, if not more so, so double check you did that.  It can be hard to get App IV quality spells before you're crafting level 10, but if you choose to become a scholar at crafting level 10, it will be easier after that as you get a new set of tradeskill buffs (if you have no idea about tradeskill buffs, follow the EQ2traders link I posted and check out the "essential ...." guide for whichever class you chose - there's also some great links stickied in the Tradeskill forum on these boards too) </li><li>don't feel obliged to complete every quest offered.  <a href="http://eq2.allakhazam.com/db/questlist.html?search=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Allakhazam</a> and <a href="http://www.eq2i.com/articles/Main_Page" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">EQ2i</a> are a good places to check out quests and get walkthroughs.  Keep in mind some quests require a group to finish, so if you're mainly playing solo at this point you may not want to bother picking up the group quests.  In this case the solo quest timeline that EQ2i lists is a great resource.</li><li>horses ... yep, they're not intended to be easily obtained!  Most of them are just a run speed buff, but some of the most expensive ones (trust me, you don't want to know those prices at the moment) give some stat buffs too.  They're definitely luxury items though - not something you ever NEED, just something convenient and nice to have. </li></ul><p>That said, you could certainly have more than 50s by now if you want to -- I'll bet you aren't selling stuff on the broker yet, and that's where the money is to be made.  Make yourself a couple elm strong boxes when you're crafting, put them on the 'sell' tab of the broker, and put into them what you want to sell -- any collectibles (the shiny ? marks you can pick up) that you don't want to add to your own collections, any items "treasured" or better that you don't want to use, even extra harvests you don't want to use yourself.  Match the lowest price and if it hasn't sold in a day or two, double check and re-match the lowest price again in case others have undercut.  Once you've made a few gold, buy some bigger boxes from the broker to sell from - ultimately get a Salesman's Crate but you won't afford those for a while.  You'll be surprised how much coin you can make this way!</p><p>Sounds like you're doing good so far!  <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Didi]

<p>Hm ... since the edit function doesn't seem to be working let me just correct that first point slightly ...</p><ul><li>at level 11, you'll want to replace any rawhide crafted stuff you're wearing with tanned leather - if you chose to become something other than a tailor, you'll need to check the broker or hunt up a tailor to make those.  Check whether tanned is better than your waxed stuff too, it may well be.  If not, look to replace the waxed at 12 with cured leather (the tier 2 rare) or any nice drops you may find.</li></ul>

[Lightfoot]

<p>That's thrown another little spanner in the works with the confusion again.</p><p>Upgrading combat skills. What's the difference between apprentice and adept?  I've upgraded a couple of my skills up to adept I.</p>

[Rokaab]

<p>The Upgrades go as follows:</p><ul><li>Apprentice 1 (automatically gained as you level upto 50)</li><li>Apprentice 2</li><li>Apprentice 3 (player made)</li><li>Apprentice 4 (player made)</li><li>Adept 1 (mob drops)</li><li>Adept 2 (not in the game really apart from some of the AA stuff)</li><li>Adept 3 (player made with rares)</li><li>Adept 4 (see Adept 2 for comments)</li><li>Master 1 (rare mob drops)</li><li>Master 2 (the upgrades you can choose from at levels 14,24,34 etc)</li><li>Master 3 and 4 - see Adept2 and 4 for comments</li></ul><p>Basically they get better as you get further down the list, so App1 is a very weak version of your spell/skill whereas Master 1 is very very much better.</p><p>I upgraded all my skills to Adept 1 asap (well, not much point before level 15-20ish to be honest), or App4 at least. And then you can decide if you want to upgrade more - though Masters can be hideously expensive, and Adept 3's require rare so can also be expensive.</p>

[Dasanhgul]

<cite>LightfootII wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>That's thrown another little spanner in the works with the confusion again.</p><p>Upgrading combat skills. What's the difference between apprentice and adept?  I've upgraded a couple of my skills up to adept I.</p></blockquote><p> Next time you go over to the broker and search for one of the combat skills you have at Apprentice I, hover your mouse over the Adept I, Adept III or even Masters of that specific combat skill and read the description, and you will see the difference.</p><p>Basically kicks and punches do more damage, heals are higher, direct damages hurt more and are resited less, taunts work better... so, upgrading when you can becomes very important. At least to Apprentice IV, they are pretty cheap and available in the broker. Upgrade higher (adept III, Master), for more important, key skills (taunt for a guardian, ward for a defiler, a reactive heal for a templar, a pet for a necromancer, etc).</p>

[ThE_GuN]

Once you get up into your 20s I would recomend starting to harvest a little bit to try to find some rare loam, once you have a few contact an alchemist and get him/her to make you an adept 3 of your stances, group attack speed buff, str/agi buff and similar spells, as these will be very handy when fighting, the other skills work just fine at aprentice 4 (the non rare version) untill you get a little higher, if you plan to tank alot consider geting the taunts and your taunt proc spell as well (dragon <...&gt<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, once you get into your 40s and 50s you should start thinking about geting almost all your skills in adept 3 as this will make you alot more effective <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />