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ushsta wrote:One thing I don't understand about the posted builds is the insistance on using great cleave whose usefullness beyond the early game is suspect. I can foresee a situation where a bunch of mobs were softened up by a couple of firebrands in which case you may get more out of it than simple cleave, but it would be very inconsistent at best. Aren't there better feats?

Also, the point of playing a priest-type/monk is for the sake of playing an interesting fantasy archetype as well as getting a better meleer than an FS has been (only lvl 8 but still).

Actually the Sacred Monk will be *worse* than a pure FS until you reach significantly higher levels.


I could probably go through a long analysis on Great Cleave and it's usefulness, but it still might not be convincing (..i.e. it would still be suspect). If you are that interested in it then you need to try some testing out for yourself. For that I'd recommend:

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You can build to any level and fairly quickly test out just about any character in similar "monster" attack scenarios (..it has a battle spawn area).

HOWEVER, please note that Cleaves are designed for heavy damage hitters in a single attack, NOT a single round. Particularly leveraging *substantial* criticals and the difference in character level vs. opponent level.

Scottg wrote:I could probably go through a long analysis on Great Cleave and it's usefulness, but it still might not be convincing (..i.e. it would still be suspect).

cleave & great cleave are very worthy additions to almost any melee build, i suppose you could skip them, but at the same time there aren't many feats for a monk that i would prefer over them. at the very least i'd still take power attack & cleave.

dodge & mobility look good on paper, but at the very least you have tumble skill to offset the lack of them, toughness looks good too, then you realize it only turns into a max of 30 hp and isn't that noticeable.

i'm running a similar "brawny" monk - w/ feats i went:

start - luck of heroes
3 - power attack
6 - cleave
9 & 12- great cleave & circle kick.

this is imho a pretty solid start for any monk, a slight uptick in ac, a boost to already solid saves, and then you still get to cleave fairly early. you also can get some free shots in with circle kick - the extra kicks can also help wear enemies down for more cleave fun.

i'm planning for 15 & 18 as power crit & improved crit, i saved these for later on as they don't do much vs crit immune enemies (like undead or some bosses)

(edit) 15 will need to be wf - unarmed strike as a pre req for power crit @ 18.

Started MOTB with my monk. At lvl 20 my wisdom is 16. I figure I could get +6 wisdom from companions which will leave me to get 3 more levels of wisdom for Blazing Aura (req 25) and dump the rest in strength. Worth it? Or shoot for epic critical unarmed strike and strength.

ushsta wrote:Started MOTB with my monk. At lvl 20 my wisdom is 16. I figure I could get +6 wisdom from companions which will leave me to get 3 more levels of wisdom for Blazing Aura (req 25) and dump the rest in strength. Worth it? Or shoot for epic critical unarmed strike and strength.

It doesn't work like that.

Feats (that require attributes) require a base or "native" attribute, not an "augmented" attribute.

Strength + Improved Critical Unarmed Attack.

Basically plow everything into Strength. IF it were a PvP build there might be some alteration for enhanced Spell Resistance, but for MOTB it's not worth it.

Make sure to have companions make gloves for you! In MOTB you can make excellent gloves with enhancements and massive elemental damage.

try monk 15, assassin 5,shadow dancer 5 . (this is basing off of motb) get great cleave, some decent gloves and watch the sparks fly

on a side note I use kaedrins prc so results may very