Solo Pure Monk

[Yeltsu]

I am currently soloing a Deep Gnome monk and she ROX!

She is currently lvl 9 (effective lvl 12 due to the lvl adjustment)

Her stats

Str 18
Dex 20
Con 12 -> 13
Int 3
Wis 20 -> 21 (22 with ring of the wise)
Cha 1

(I used Dalekeeper II to add two to her strenght, and subtract two from her con, I don't think that's unreasonable since I am soloing)

Fortitude 11
Reflex 13
Will 16

She is buttugly and dumber than a goblin, but who cares, with a natural AC of 26 (30 with the equipment I've found so far) her spell resistance is 20 (no gear) due to her being a deep gnome (11 + character lvl SR) and at lvl 13 she gains Diamond soul which will cause her spell resistance to rise to 47! (and it will continue to rise by two points at each lvl up)
So with nearly 50% SR at lvl 13, and her great will saves and superb AC, almost nothing will be able to touch her, neither magic nor melee.

She is currently wielding a greataxe, but I plan to use her fists once she reaches lvl 10 and her fists become +1

What do you guys think? Is this a good build, or am I fooling myself?

[Brynn]

Uh... Cha1? Sexy lady she must be

Well, seems to be effective otherwise

[Bruce Lee]

SR is not % and be glad it isn't
I have a deep gnome in my party, she acts as a decoy
I guess at level 30 the SR will mean that no spell that allows SR will harm you. Cool
Let us now how you fare

[Yeltsu]

Originally Posted by Brynn

Uh... Cha1? Sexy lady she must be

Well, seems to be effective otherwise

Well, I figured since dialogue don't have so much to say in this game, I might as well ignore it. From a roleplaying perspective I can say that she is a huge halfling who has lived underground all her life. She was hit by an Umber Hulk over the head which severly disfigured her, and reduced her intellectual abilities consideratly.

Originally Posted by Bruce Lee

SR is not % and be glad it isn't

What do you mean? If it isn't % what is it then?

[Raumoheru]

first off you do not need to take away from charisma and intelligence to add to dexterity and wisdom, when u get higher level AC really doesnt matter.

second in order to bypass spell resistance have to make a successful roll of a D20 plus whatever bonuses the spellcaster may have against the DC of whatever the spellresistance is. with 50% spell resistance you will make a successful check half the time. however with a spell resistance of 50 that means you have to roll higher then 50 which is almost impossible to do. the only way he can harm the target with a spell is if the spellcaster rolls a 20.

[winter sorrow]

Later on, having an AC of 30-35 does not mean you're untouchable in melee. And with a relatively low Con score, you're not going to last long. I personally would have put points into maxing out Con rather than Dex. Wis should be as high as possible - you're going to have to make good use of your stunning attack, which is the main reason why I go for a monk in my party.

[silverdragon72]

.

you didn't say if you plan to use her also in HOF !

in HOF any AC below 60 is pointless - and you can only get that high via buffing - so soloing a monk - you can forget about AC at least in HOF !

...even in normal mode there are enemies having such a high BAB that anything below AC 40 won't help !


...so you will have 2 major problems:

beeing incredible fast and more or less immune to magic & ranged attacks you will be godlike in running away - but you won't deal enough damage and won't be immune to melee damage:


- so you are not capable in melee against tougher enemies

- you don't have any spell-based attacks


result: how do you gonna *kill* these tougher enemies ?

.

[Adahn]

Amen to that Silverdragon

[winter sorrow]

Couldn't have said it better myself than silverdragon.

AC below 40 is not enough against some of the tougher melee enemies and you can bet that they have excellent fortitude saves so you'll need nothing short of a miracle to stun them with your fist attack, or even outright kill them with your quivering palm (when you get it). Maybe you'll need to get an excellent crossbow and some top bolts and use hit and run tactics. The enemy will find it difficult to catch you as long as you're careful and you can find always hide when out of sight to ease the pressure, heal etc. I think it could work for normal mode, but the hit and run method will become tedious after a while.

But in HOF mode, your monk has no chance.

[Yeltsu]

I haven't really thought about taking her through HOF, probably not, but we'll see.
About the AC thing, I probably have to use an ocean of potions, but this is for fun early powergaming, if it doesn't work, I'll import my sorcerer from another game I have, and just have her cast all the disabeling spells she knows.

[Heidrek]

I'd like to know how you go against the Guardian in the Yaun-Ti area.

And when you get to the Severed Hand , I'd like to know how you beat Ixachu Xvim. But thats a long way off yet, what chapter are you in?

[Raumoheru]

Originally Posted by silverdragon72

beeing incredible fast and more or less immune to magic & ranged attacks you will be godlike in running away - but you won't deal enough damage and won't be immune to melee damage:


- so you are not capable in melee against tougher enemies

- you don't have any spell-based attacks


result: how do you gonna *kill* these tougher enemies ?

bull crap silverdragon....18 strength with a monk wud do like 7-25 or so damage each hit at higher levels....which she wud get to quick. damage wise she wud be great and wont have trouble doing damage to tuff enemies. the con thing isnt too bad but cud be higher. the monk has the ability to heal her own wounds go ethereal and do tons of stunning fist, and kill sum1 with one hit. what do u mean no spell like abilities???????? monks have the most out of all the classes....

[silverdragon72]

Originally Posted by Raumoheru

bull crap silverdragon....18 strength with a monk wud do like 7-25 or so damage each hit at higher levels....which she wud get to quick. damage wise she wud be great and wont have trouble doing damage to tuff enemies. the con thing isnt too bad but cud be higher. the monk has the ability to heal her own wounds go ethereal and do tons of stunning fist, and kill sum1 with one hit. what do u mean no spell like abilities???????? monks have the most out of all the classes....

...as a deep-gnome she should be a small monk !!!

...this means at level 20 she has 60ft speed instead of 90ft and 2D6 damage instead of 1D20 !!!


...as there are a few monsters with damage reduction you will have some problems when you only deal max. 2D6+7 damage (with STR 24)

btw. does unarmed monk attacks hurt monsters that have damage reduction 1/- or higher ?!


and beeing surrunded from a few enemies in melee you will get in real trouble with an AC 35 without MI, stoneskin, blink, blur, shield and mage- or ghostarmor, barkskin (all these nice buffs giving the monk his invincible AC !)


...and you don't have any spells for disabling masses of enemies like wail or mass dom. nor any summons as decoys !


so happy kung-fu fighting !!!


.

[Adahn]

Originally Posted by silverdragon72

so happy kung-fu fighting !!!

You rule Silver Dragon, that's teachin' em

[winter sorrow]

@Raumoheru

If you think the monk can do well against tough enemies in solo mode, just see how long it takes to bring down a few Zombie Lords (which enemy clerics get at level 9 or 10). Maybe later on you can take on one slayer knight as see how the monk fares.

The stunning and quivering palm attacks are ok. Usually they're almost impossible to pull off against tougher enemies (and I've always boosted wisdom in the past). And I think you can only do quivering palm once a day, which isn't great if you have more than one tough enemy.

The monk's heal ability is only 2hp I think per level. At level 20, that's +40 HP - a Rehorhazz can wipe that out in a single hit, and you find those at about level 10 I'm guessing in solo mode.

You need hit and run tactics to survive with the monk ...and a sea of potions.