Ten Ton Hammer: In your Connect ’08 video, you mention that the Monk in DDO is a blend between the class found in the Player’s Handbook and the Oriental Adventures D&D supplement. How many of the abilities are straight from the PHB and what was left out or replaced with OA abilities?

Kate: *laughs* You’ll have to talk with the designer, Steve Muray, to get the details on those, because I can’t just pull all the details about the Monk abilities straight off the top of my head. (Editor’s Note: And we will certainly follow-up with Steve to get those answers!)

However, what I can say is that we want to be as true to the PHB as possible. I know we incorporated as much of the PHB as possible into the class. We used the Oriental Adventures supplement as an opportunity to explore and expand rather than change the basic elements of the Monk. It’s very much meant to represent the class you play and experience in the pen and paper game.

Ten Ton Hammer: Where does the Monk fall in a group situation? Is he going to be a secondary tank, or is he going to be a major DPS dealer?

Kate: The Monk is really meant to be a hand-to-hand comparable to a Fighter. He’s someone who can do a lot of damage dealing and can withstand an assault in battle. However, this is also subject to what sort of enhancements you place on the Monk.

Many of our enhancements that you choose are specifically geared towards the decision of either being a sturdy shield that can take damage or a major damage dealer or the speed in which you’re attacking. With the enhancements, we really allow players to customize their characters and fill where the Monk falls into the party. However, at high levels the Monk is really meant to be a hand-to-hand version of the Fighter.