TracerBullet42
First Post
I'm probably starting up a monk character, and I was looking for ideas of how to equip this fella...with no armor or significant weapons...what kinds of things work out for this class?
Monk equipment?
- Thread starter TracerBullet42
- Start date
demiurge1138
Inventor of Super-Toast
Any item that boosts stats is a good investment, especially Str, Con or Wis. So is the amulet of mighty fists (magic fang for unarmed strikes), the monk's belt (treated as 5 levels higher for unarmed damage and unarmored AC) and boots of speed or of striding and springing. Since you want the highest AC possible, you might invest in bracers of armor, potions of shield and a ring of deflection.
That ought to be at least a starting point.
Demiurge out.
That ought to be at least a starting point.
Demiurge out.
Sammael
Adventurer
Boots of striding and springing wouldn't help much, because they give an enhancement bonus, which doesn't stack with monk's increased speed (also an enhancement bonus). Likewise, boots of speed have a diminished effect once the monk hits 9th level.
Remember that special armor enhancements can be added normally to bracers of armor (as stated in Arms and Equipment Guide).
Remember that special armor enhancements can be added normally to bracers of armor (as stated in Arms and Equipment Guide).
A sling. Or three. They're like a silver piece, buy a dozen of them. They're small and concealable, and between those and your natural weapons, you'll never lack a weapon. Use one to tie your hair back and they probably won't even take it away from you if you're captured.
Playing a monk is really fun until you run into something that flies or can rip you up if it gets a full attack on you, because monks are all about full attacking. Something like that takes you down to 1 or no attacks a round. What you need then is a missile weapon. Crossbows also work, but don't seem very monklike to me. I like the sling, and oil of Magic Stone isn't too expensive.
Kamas can be used for tripping, nunchuku and sais for disarming. A staff can be used two-handed for 1.5* your strength bonus; at low levels, when your fist does only 1d6, if something is hard to hit, you might as well use the staff. You can throw clubs if you have a couple of them, and they're free.
In any case, always have a weapon in case there's something you don't want to touch with your hand, like a black ooze.
If you're going after spring attack, get it as early as possible, like with your level 6 feat, because once you get higher level you'll have better things you feel like taking. If you're not, don't bother taking mobility, it will almost never be useful since you'll be maxing out tumble.
With your bonus 6th level monk feat, pick up Improved Trip, not Improved Disarm, because your fists are light weapons and take a penalty compared to most weapons opponents will have anyway. Unless you really like the sai, which has a +4 to disarm and is light, so it evens out with a medium weapon, and then your bonus from the feat would put you higher.
Flurry early and often. From first to 4th level, the only time flurry results in lower average damage for a round of full attacking is when you have to roll exactly a 19 to-hit. At all other times, it is as good or better than your single attack.
Don't forget to use your stunning fist feat; if you're fighting a wizard or something with bad fort saves, just declare it before you roll to attack, and it activates automatically if you hit.
Playing a monk is really fun until you run into something that flies or can rip you up if it gets a full attack on you, because monks are all about full attacking. Something like that takes you down to 1 or no attacks a round. What you need then is a missile weapon. Crossbows also work, but don't seem very monklike to me. I like the sling, and oil of Magic Stone isn't too expensive.
Kamas can be used for tripping, nunchuku and sais for disarming. A staff can be used two-handed for 1.5* your strength bonus; at low levels, when your fist does only 1d6, if something is hard to hit, you might as well use the staff. You can throw clubs if you have a couple of them, and they're free.
In any case, always have a weapon in case there's something you don't want to touch with your hand, like a black ooze.
If you're going after spring attack, get it as early as possible, like with your level 6 feat, because once you get higher level you'll have better things you feel like taking. If you're not, don't bother taking mobility, it will almost never be useful since you'll be maxing out tumble.
With your bonus 6th level monk feat, pick up Improved Trip, not Improved Disarm, because your fists are light weapons and take a penalty compared to most weapons opponents will have anyway. Unless you really like the sai, which has a +4 to disarm and is light, so it evens out with a medium weapon, and then your bonus from the feat would put you higher.
Flurry early and often. From first to 4th level, the only time flurry results in lower average damage for a round of full attacking is when you have to roll exactly a 19 to-hit. At all other times, it is as good or better than your single attack.
Don't forget to use your stunning fist feat; if you're fighting a wizard or something with bad fort saves, just declare it before you roll to attack, and it activates automatically if you hit.
Calico_Jack73
First Post
If your DM is using the 3.0 Splatbooks I'd invest in Potions of Flaming Fists (from Sword & Fist). If I remember correctly they don't cost all that much and they add 1d6 of fire damage to your unarmed strikes. The item that you should most save up for though might be the Amulet of Mage Armor (also from S&F). WAAAAYYY too expensive in my opinion for an item that creates a permenant 1st level spell effect. Potions of Barkskin would also be good since Barkskin stacks with pretty much every other AC boosting spell.
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