Hi all, a couple questions

[Miele]

I've just come back to EQ2 and wanted to roll a monk. I played an assassin for a long time and got bored of stabbing things, I like to tank, offtank and eventually add my dps to the group. I'm familiar with pre-dof, pre combat revamp EQ2, not with this new one, but that will come soon enough <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />I just have a couple questions for you experienced monks:- My stat traits, should go towards stamina, strenght, agility or anything else? I'm going to start as a wood elf if that matters (I know in the long run it won't, but heh...)- I already saw that now quests show the end reward when they are given to you (go go WoW influence <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> ) and thus I wonder if there are any particular ones well worth doing for a newbie monk. From tier 3 onwards I'll probably get rare crafted-imbued armor, but up till 20 I don't want to sink money in armor that I'll outlevel soon.- Weapons: skill is crushing only, but is there any point to use weapons that do slash and pierce damage besides countering immunities?- Traits or whatever they are called: better to pick hp regen or power regen? I don't even have a clue if wood elves have these ones, in fact if you know where to find a decent list of racial traits, I'd be extremely grateful! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Thanks in advance!<div></div>

[dirtylo]

<div>- My stat traits, should go towards stamina, strenght, agility or anything else? I'm going to start as a wood elf if that matters (I know in the long run it won't, but heh...)<font color="#ff0000">I liked to focus on Agility as it helps with both tanking and DPS. Strength I found fairly easy to boost when focusing on my AGI but in the end if I had to pick one I would go AGI</font>- I already saw that now quests show the end reward when they are given to you (go go WoW influence <img height="16" width="16" border="0" src="../../i/smilies/16x16_smiley-wink.gif">) and thus I wonder if there are any particular ones well worth doing for a newbie monk. From tier 3 onwards I'll probably get rare crafted-imbued armor, but up till 20 I don't want to sink money in armor that I'll outlevel soon.<font color="#ff0000">I would do the armor quests for your t3 armor and not worry about rare till t4. Even the 20's fly by in my opinion.</font>- Weapons: skill is crushing only, but is there any point to use weapons that do slash and pierce damage besides countering immunities?<font color="#ff0000">Just focus on one or the other. Easier to find drops of crushing so that will peob be your main choice. Having to carry differant weapons on you is really only related to raids. You can keep an extra slasher on you just in case you encounter a named or something but I am not sure how many actually swap weapons around for grind groups. When you raid though be ready to use multiple weapons.</font>- Traits or whatever they are called: better to pick hp regen or power regen? I don't even have a clue if wood elves have these ones, in fact if you know where to find a decent list of racial traits, I'd be extremely grateful!<font color="#ff0000">Power regen. While the HP buffs are nice if you plan to solo a lot, I would take the power if you plan to group. While we make great tanks, most cases the plate tanks will tank prior to you unless you establish a rep for yourself being a monk tank.</font></div>

[diamondma]

<span><blockquote>- My stat traits, should go towards stamina, strenght, agility or anything else? I'm going to start as a wood elf if that matters (I know in the long run it won't, but heh...)<font color="#0000ff">go with str or sta its up to u. contrary to the post above agi does nothing to increase ur dps thats all str. so weigh the options on wether u want to hit the mob harder and more frequently or have higher hp. dont waste ur traits on agi ull get plenty of that from gear as u go. avoidance is mostly determined by defense and deflection, which you will get from your stances/levels/single target buff.</font>- I already saw that now quests show the end reward when they are given to you (go go WoW influence <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> ) and thus I wonder if there are any particular ones well worth doing for a newbie monk. From tier 3 onwards I'll probably get rare crafted-imbued armor, but up till 20 I don't want to sink money in armor that I'll outlevel soon.<font color="#0000ff">like above do the armor quests they give you xp and keep you from having to buy armor for 1 tier</font>- Weapons: skill is crushing only, but is there any point to use weapons that do slash and pierce damage besides countering immunities?<span></span><font color="#0000ff">untill you start raiding get the best weapons u can find. there are very few mobs in the game other than raid mobs that are immune to specific dmg types. till you start raiding dont worry about keeping the dmg types of ur weapons the same because they all check to ur crushing skill.</font>- Traits or whatever they are called: better to pick hp regen or power regen? I don't even have a clue if wood elves have these ones, in fact if you know where to find a decent list of racial traits, I'd be extremely grateful! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><font color="#0000ff">while power regen is good imo health regen or higher health pool is better. two of our big skills drain our health so the more health or more regen u have the less chance there is that u will be greatly effected by them. i honestly rarely run out of power unless i am grinding for xp and even then it only takes a few seconds to regen it back with drink and power regen classes out there.</font><div></div><hr></blockquote></span><div></div>

[Rapinis]

Funny, two lvl 60 monks with opposite advice in regard sto hp/power regen and +stats<div></div>

[diamondma]

welcome to the monk boards =P some of us have the old mentality that agi > all. some of us have the new mentality that str > all. some say go sta. honestly it comes down to personal preference and what u feel is the way u want to do things. ultimately ur not going to [Removed for Content] ur char by choosing one way or the other. imo i think its best to concentrate on getting your str and mit up. other classes buff agi and avoidance much more than anything we can do so i would rather put my points into str which means i hit the mob harder, and more frequent. the benefits from agi over 300 are very very minimal whereas str increases ur ca dmg and power pool all the way up to 440. str also increases ur auto attack dmg and attack rating even after 440 hence my thinking that you can never have too much str.<div></div>

[Baelas]

<span><blockquote><hr>Miele wrote:- My stat traits, should go towards stamina, strenght, agility or anything else? I'm going to start as a wood elf if that matters (I know in the long run it won't, but heh...)<hr></blockquote>Hey there, this isn't really a direct answer to your question, but perhaps you'll find it useful anywayStrength effects our power pool and how much damage we doAgility effects defensive prowess (aiding slightly in avoiding attacks)Stamina makes you more durableIntelligence probably increases the damage of any procs you might have... very little use to a monkWisdom increases your resistance towards magical attacksAll in all, Strength AND Agility is probably the way to go, Stamina is far from useless, but I suspect it wont be of much use until you start tanking epic monsters.Intelligence... doesn't hurt you, but that's about as much there is to say :pWisdom is always good, but doesn't have a major effect.</span><div></div>

[Rrawl]

<div></div><blockquote><p></p><hr><p>Miele wrote:- My stat traits, should go towards stamina, strenght, agility or anything else? I'm going to start as a wood elf if that matters (I know in the long run it won't, but heh...)</p><p><font color="#ffff00">STR is king, no matter your preferences to solo, group, raid, dps, or tank. AGI STA and WIS are all useful for tanking, not necessarily in that order. </font></p><p>- I already saw that now quests show the end reward when they are given to you (go go WoW influence <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> ) and thus I wonder if there are any particular ones well worth doing for a newbie monk. From tier 3 onwards I'll probably get rare crafted-imbued armor, but up till 20 I don't want to sink money in armor that I'll outlevel soon.</p><p><font color="#ffff00">I say this being a tailor, possibly hurting my own business, Get your AQ armor from Selwyn for t3. They're challenging quests with good XP rewards and free armor. You'll be halfway through the tier by the time you're done. Even into tier 4 the Emerald Hide armor from Hammer in Zek can be very decent for tanking, and the thicket armor from EL for DPSing. You won't believe how quickly you can fly through even the 30's these days. Augmented armor at level 40 is well worth it, hands down. I wouldn't sweat it much until then.</font>- Weapons: skill is crushing only, but is there any point to use weapons that do slash and pierce damage besides countering immunities?</p><p><font color="#ffff00">Nope, these concerns are for raids. One weapon setup should be fine for all levelling and standard groups.</font>- Traits or whatever they are called: better to pick hp regen or power regen? I don't even have a clue if wood elves have these ones, in fact if you know where to find a decent list of racial traits, I'd be extremely grateful! <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p><font color="#ffff00">I took power regen, but I am seriously considering using a /respec to go with health pool. We do suffer from a low power pool. Regen or no, if you're spamming your CA's you're going to have power problems. The good news is that with our massive self haste, and ability to generate hate with regular autoattack via the Dragon Stance Line, we can manage decent dps and aggro generation without dumping tons of power into them. If you hope to do any Raid tanking, your total health pool being as high as possible is going to help a lot. We have items, other classes, and drinks to help with power regen... but health and stamina are going to be sceondary considerations on your gear picks. Power regen is a good choice, I don't think anyone would argue that. IF you hope to do tanking at the epic level, I'm considering the possibility that health pool may be the better. I'd love to hear some more from Monks who have gone this route.</font></p><div></div><hr></blockquote>

[x0rtrun]

There are some good FAQs stickied at the top that will give a lot of insight to your various questions.<div></div>

[dirtylo]

I have just always noticed that my focus on AGI leads to pretty good STR as well. AGI will help you hit the mobs more often/avoid being hit. STR is buffed from so many classes it really isn't hard to get high STR numbers, where as AGI is available from limited classes.That has always been my thinking going into it. At some point once you start getting geared up your items will benifit you in all areas. We can buff our own STR so why not focus a bit on AGI to even it all out?As you can see though we all hold our own views on this. It really comes down to your play style.<div></div>

[x0rtrun]

Agi does not help accuracy. It only affects your avoidance. see here: http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=6&message.id=24258<div></div>

[Rrawl]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>dirtylove wrote:I have just always noticed that my focus on AGI leads to pretty good STR as well. AGI will help you hit the mobs more often/avoid being hit. STR is buffed from so many classes it really isn't hard to get high STR numbers, where as AGI is available from limited classes.That has always been my thinking going into it. At some point once you start getting geared up your items will benifit you in all areas. We can buff our own STR so why not focus a bit on AGI to even it all out?As you can see though we all hold our own views on this. It really comes down to your play style.<div></div><hr></blockquote>It's really a moot point. You're going to pick gear for mitigation, defense, deflection, crushing, power regen and procs... (and maybe strength) the other stats your gear has will be secondary... By the time you're done selecting all your trait choices, you will likely have taken all the ones you can that raise STR, AGI, STA, and/or WIS, as all the non passive choices... well they suck. And AGI only affects your avoidance, that's it.

[Miele]

I read and keep reading the FAQs and this board whenever I can, anyway I want to thank you all for your insights on the various topics.Most of my career will be in groups, solo is just something that can occasionally happen for very few minutes, I just don't like it overly much.Good to know that monks have a lot of options concerning stats and gear <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Once again, thank you all <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>

[Jessyme]

<div></div><div></div><p>Welcome back to the game Mielle.</p><p>Here are links to personal traits and racial traits in the game.  These are old and may not be completely accurate anymore (I have not checked accuracy in some time), but they should give you a good idea of what to expect.</p><p>Racial Traditions: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.eq2arcanum.com/static/RacialTraditions.php">http://www.eq2arcanum.com/static/RacialTraditions.php</a></p><p>Personal Traits:  <a target="_blank" href="http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=37&meid=62">http://eq2.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=37&meid=62</a></p><p>Regarding stats to focus on, check out the link Jaargoon (xortrunks) listed above.  It is a great study and I think you will find it very useful in determining the route you want to take with stats.  I myself prioritized in the following order: Strength, Stamina, Wisdom, Agility. </p><p>Good luck!</p><p>Quijana</p><p>Lost Coast Privateers, Nektulos</p><p> </p><p>Message Edited by Jessyme on <span class="date_text">01-14-2006</span><span class="time_text">02:14 AM</span></p>

[Miele]

Thanks for the links, very helpful <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>