Monk Questions: Help Please

[LordTa]

I have a lot of questions and hopefully you super monks out there can help me please.  I am brand new so also be gentle please :/ First off, I cannot decide what class to be in the game.  I want to be able to solo well but at the same time be useful in a group (although I would prefer to spend more time soloing and duoing at most at least until endgame). I kind of narrowed down my choices to either a monk (afraid good enough dmg/defense to solo well but if you do get too much game over?), shadowknight (better dmg than pallie but less lasting ability?), paladin (endgame hardly can solo effeciently due to taking a long time to kill things?), wizard or warlock (both make things go POOF or they themselves go poof quickly) , ill or coe (I know these two struggle with solo ability but hopefully combat revamp will chance that, who knows?).  Please give me your advice on the monk and where it sits in comparision to those other classes if you know and/or have experience with them.  Secondly, I really like Barbarians but I am afraid of their agility being too low.  I can  imagine that STR > AGI > STA for a monk or is it more like AGI > STR > STA?  Also does wisdom and int play any roles?  If the main primary abilities that are important are STR/AGI/STA, Barbarians certainly seem to have a lot of the 3 three and one of the higest holders of those stats being the most total wise.  Thirdly, how well do monks solo with direct concern to magic user npcs?  I have read a few threads already on solo ability of monk and I am still unclear and would like to know how they do overall and esp. against magic user npcs?  Also will a Barbs low wisdom hurt now as after combat revamp low wis = more spell landings or will overall magic resistance help balance this out? Lastly, for barbarian racial traits I am looking at the following for a monk.  Please give me your input: Rememberance of Halas + 3 Def, Strength of the North +3 STR, Strong Jawed + 3 Crush Res, War Wounds +3 HP Regen, +2 STA) THANKS again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <div></div>

[Krozl]

<P>Monks are the Ub3r l337!</P> <P>Your skills allow you to solo easily except for a few levels where you gotta kinda watch out. Early 20's. </P> <P>The key is this- </P> <P>1.Your FD line should ALWAYS be maxed </P> <P>2.Your MEND line should ALWAYS be maxed.</P> <P>3. ( this only aplies for a little while longer until the combat revamp )When you can, fight with a wall at your back in dungeons, your screwed outside unless your on a zone wall. Make sure the mobes are in front of you, not in the wall beating on you. This keeps them in your MAX Avoidance arc (120 degrees center view) Anything beyond that arc and you really start to get hammered. Adds, at all, but especially on your back are a big no no, you get next to no avoidance or mitigation on your backside it seems and get tore the F--- up quick fast and in a hurry.</P> <P>4. DON'T wait until you have 5 or fewer HP to use either skill. At 1 bubb of health you should be firing off your Mend line, if unavailable or your still fighting when you get there again you should FD NOW. Cause if it fails your getting tagged hard and have to wait 8 seconds for a reuse. That is a long freakin time-ask any professional Bull Rider. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P> </P> <P>They are good, but FD at best is 75% reliable and Mend has a longer cast time than you think. You can ALWAYS pick your self up off the ground from an FD, rebuff, and have a second, or more go at the mob of your choice.</P>

[NamaeZero]

<DIV>For a Monk you want to max STR, then AGI, then STA. Barbarians are ideal monks. The only stats we have that are below normal levels is WIS and INT, which aren't important for Fighters.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>STR determines our DPS to some extent. It also sets our Power pool, making it the most important Monk attribute while soloing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>AGI effects Avoidance for Monks. The higher level you are, the more important this stat gets.. at lower levels, the difference a high AGI makes is minimal.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>STA affects how much Health you have. This is always an important stat for Tanks, but less so for Monks, since if we're getting hit a lot, we tend to die too fast for en extra 100-200 Health to make a difference. This will probably change after the Combat Revamp.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Barbarian Stats: STR 25, AGI 20, STA 25, WIS 18, INT 12. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A rating of 20 is average, so while Barbarian AGI isn't great, you get a nice bonus to two other important stats, and your AGI isn't below average either.</DIV>

[Gaige]

I think keeping str/agi/sta pretty close to even works best, and with the cc coming and int/wis being important, plus the changes to str/agi there is no reason to max out anything as of yet lol.

[Ribbitz]

<DIV>Your class isn't going to make a big difference, any stat differences can be easily adjusted and will be end-game. Even the racial traits balance out pretty evenly.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think Monks can solo fine, as we can tank decently and dps just fine. I would venture to say my monk solos better than my Shadowknight did.</DIV>

[Almeric_CoS]

<DIV>Monks own caster mobs.  It takes time to really come into it, but by the mid-30s you'll find you can tear casters apart and barely take any damage at all.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>IF you strategize and time your abilities well <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Still, we have lots of stuns and lots of interrupts.  Our only major flaw is against epic mobs, but we'll see how that pans out after the combat revamp.</DIV>

[SirensSong]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Krozlan wrote: <P>1.Your FD line should ALWAYS be maxed<BR></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>*sigh* I tell new monks this all the time.  I tell new monks when they ding 20 and get the option of the FD upgrade, TAKE IT!  They rarely listen, then I hear them complain, "My FD never works!  My FD SUCKS!!  I hate FD!!"  Duh.  You should've listened to me.  I have a friend who's a lvl 26 monk (as an alt; mainly plays a 50 Guard) and he told me the other day, "Don't FD.  My monk never FDs.  Why do you FD so much?"  It saves my butt, duh.  Why do people who clearly know nothing about being a monk try to tell me *how* to be a monk??<BR>

[Almeric_CoS]

<DIV>Making sure you have an Adept 1 at least of FD is a really good idea, but I don't think I'd take the level 20 FD training over Lu Sun's.  FD is only useful once in a while if you group a lot, and better if you solo but not something you'd use every fight.  Lu Sun's is astonishingly good...wouldn't be surprised if something bad happened to it in the combat revamp <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[bonesbro]

<span><blockquote><hr>Almeric wrote:<div>Making sure you have an Adept 1 at least of FD is a really good idea, but I don't think I'd take the level 20 FD training over Lu Sun's.  FD is only useful once in a while if you group a lot, and better if you solo but not something you'd use every fight.  Lu Sun's is astonishingly good...wouldn't be surprised if something bad happened to it in the combat revamp <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><hr></blockquote> I agree 100%.  Lu'Sun's will significantly reduce the damage you take while soloing and reduce the damage your group or raid takes.  You don't need to FD as often if you don't lose <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></span><div></div>

[Cuz]

<P>FD + Jumping off cliff = gut renching laughter for the onlookers. </P> <P>I really should use it for more than jumping off cliffs and laying in a bed though...</P> <p>Message Edited by Jenoy on <span class=date_text>07-31-2005</span> <span class=time_text>05:00 AM</span>