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Trying to make my 1st party with a monk but not sure what good solid starting stats would be. Know I need good dex, strength and probably some wisdom, but not sure of optimal stats. Thanks in advance!

Monk gets to use wisdom modifier for AC - go with high wisdom, strength (for damage) and constitution for hit points.

Something like

S - 16
C- 16
D - 10
W- 18
In 10
Ch 6

Dexterity and Wisdom increase your armor bonus. I'd also put a lot into Strength and Constitution.

I'd frankly dump int and chr down to their absolute minimums, then pump everything else in this order: wis, str, dex, con. Monks get lousy skill points and lousy skill selection (except for hide), so there's little need to worry about int. Charisma is fairly useless to them as well, others make far better talkers and the few times there's monk-specific dialogue in the game you can do those bits with minimum int/chr with no difficulty.

Best monk races: half orc or svirneblin.

Does dex and wis stack for AC bonus for monk? - I was under the impression that a monk used the wis modifier - but did not think that it stacked with dex?

Yup, dex and wis bonus stacks.

Man - that makes monks tough - I guess they can be overpowered.

I never had the urge to play one - just doesn't fit my idea of a fantasy rpg class.

No question, monks are absolutely the most overpowered class in the game. My lvl 15 half orc monk has a 27 AC, 5 attacks a round at 7-26 damage per, moves three times as fast as anyone, can heal thirty hp instantaneously once a day, can use stunning blow 15 times a day, quivering palm (which -has- been toned down, but is still useful) once per day, massive magic resistance, immune to poison, has the best saving throws by far of any of my characters. Another couple of levels and he becomes an outsider, immune to charm/sleep/hold/dominate/etc spells just like undead or demons.

What about a monk with LOTS of dexterity, low strength (like 8) and weapon finesse??? That way you can pump up only dexterity, wisdom and constitution, no worries about strength. Will that work?

you will only get the to hit bonus but not the damage bonus.

btw how important is cleave for a monk?

you could do a svirneblin monk with these stats

str: 14
dex: 20
con: 16
int: 3
wis: 20
char: 1

(if i counted correctly)

you will start with an ac of 24!

What about a monk with LOTS of dexterity, low strength (like 8) and weapon finesse???

Weapon finesse doesn't work with fists in IWD2. Also, you really want strength for the bonus damage.

STR is needed because weapon finesse doesnt work but it isnt needed for damage as much as with other characters. With the continual damage increases their fists get they will be doing huge damage anyway, besides with their extra attacks who cares if they dont do as much damage on one hit than a fighter does with his weapon, they will be doing it more often. But I do agree that since weapon finesse doesnt work on fists in IWD 2, which is absurd, str is still important since monk BAB isnt the best.