monkey business

[Meeb]

<DIV>hello all i have some questions about being monk</DIV> <DIV>my monk is now 33 and does very nicley in dps but has problems with tanking</DIV> <DIV>aggro is not the problem however as since getting dragon stance i can hold aggro with ease as long as the group knows to assist me and the mages don't go to mad at nuking. </DIV> <DIV>The problem i have is that mobs that are heroics 2-3 lvls above me are slaughtering me with great ease</DIV> <DIV>my defensive stance swooping craine is adpet 3 and always on when i tank along with martial focus for the healer.</DIV> <DIV>my gear is not all legendary I wear a imbued broad cloth robe and and the rest quest armour from zek doc's do i have to get legedary for every teir that i go thorugh because if that is so then monk is a very expensive tank I thought that avoidence was ment to be our shield not some expensive piece of leather. </DIV> <DIV>are monks like wizards they dont pick up till there late 40's ?</DIV> <DIV>any answers to thse things would be most helpful</DIV> <DIV>i would like  to thank <A href="http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/view_profile?user.id=209172" target=_blank><SPAN>x0rtrunks</SPAN></A> for his updated guild wihch is very informative :smileyhappy:</DIV>

[x0rtrun]

While monks do pick up in their 40's, they aren't really weak up until that point. Legendary isn't a requirement for being a monk, but it is a requirement for taking on difficult stuff. You have to scale your expectations of what you can take to meet your gear. But that's not to say that you need full lengendary to make a good tank.Non-rare crafted and treasured dropped or quested is probably the baseline for doing most of the solo content. Heroic stuff is gonna hurt.Having a couple pieces of legendary will make a huge difference in mitigation and stats.Speaking of mitigation, you're losing a lot of it by wearing a robe as your BP for tanking. You are going to get hit. Period. The avoidance bonus is nice, but no substitute for raw mitigation, especially when tanking anything higher than even to yellow con (ie, heroics 2-3 levels above).  The difference between a rare crafted leather bp and the cloth one is quite noticeable.If you're serious about tanking and find yourself taking the blows on a daily basis for your group, do yourself and your group members a favour and try and get some imbued rare crafted leggings and breast plate. They give the biggest bang for the buck due to their high mitigation and handy proc. It shouldn't be too hard to obtain either. A day of harvesting could provide you with a couple rares and some imbuing items. If you don't get pelts, trade for them. It would be worth the time and effort.It's good to see people are finding the updated FAQ guide helpful.<div></div>

[Junaru]

I agree with everything said above. Avoidance is nice and does help but mitigation is key when fighting higher level mobs.My Monk is currently L35 with full Engrave crafted armor (minus shoulders and arms). Coming from Emerald Hide (which is good stuff and cheap. Full set cost me less then 10g) I can say the rare crafted has made soloing and tanking much easier. I rarely fear any caster mobs even con or below cause I resist most of their spells and even took a few shots from Emperer Fyst to give the healers a second to heal the MT.With Sweaping Crane stance I have over 1100mit, 64% avoidance, 800+ to all resists and still mainain a 600+ attack. No doubt in my mind that rare crafted was worth the money. I picked up 5 pelts for 6g 50s each and traded a Tailor a stack of drink and food that I made for his services. I did pay way too much for the extracts.. <span>:smileymad:</span><div></div>

[ganjookie]

Having some imbued legs would be nice if you could match it with the BP or with the blood drenched Gi, nice stats but no proc...<div></div>

[Sa'meria]

If the option is there you may look at what class your healer is. Most agree furies or wardens do a awesome job as monk healers, where templers do not work as well with brawlers.

[Cyngii]

<P>Something to keep in mind is when fighting encounters higher level than yourself, you take a huge penalty in avoidance.  I'm not sure if it's been proven, but I've read quite a bit that avoidance is effected more by fighting higher level encounters than mitigation.  This being the case, the avoidance you gained from wearing the robe isn't really there and the fact you're wearing very light armor is getting you chewed up.  </P>