Monk tactics

A versatile, tactical Monk is able to leverage their attacks and skills to form incredible abilities that no other class can do.

It's easy to hold down the mouse button to form a simple attack. To use finishing moves together changes a monk from a mere unarmed fighter into a dangerous combatant that can adapt to almost any boss, any number and any type of enemy.

What race is best?
Humans make for good monks because of an extra feat granted at start. They also have Human Recovery and Versatility enhancements that add many helpful abilities, particularly at lower levels.

Halfings are a very popular choice for some players as the DEX and save bonuses make this Monk a faster and hardy version. The halfling, however, can suffer from a lower STR.

Dwarves are an interesting option, but elves and Drow are more suited to Ranger and spell casting classes, as their racial traits are granted to stats and skills that a Monk rarely uses. Update 7's introduction of Half-Elves and their Dilettante abilities give new definitions to cross-classing abilities while keeping a Monk "pure" (not multiclassed), and Half-Orcs may be some of the nastiest players that an enemy will ever encounter.

When in doubt as you start a new Monk, choosing a Human is a safe option. (There is always Reincarnation, later.)

Finishing moves: A summary
A finishing move is a slight misnomer. It generally means one of a series of attacks available from the Monk's feats or enhancements that, when activated in the proper sequence will generate a magic-like effect. For instance, a Path of Harmonious Balance ("light") Monk could click the Fists of Light three times and then click the Finishing Move activation skill to release the Healing Ki, a mass-heal expenditure of ki. A Path of Inevitable Dominion ("dark") Monk may chain Fists of Darkness three times to curse an struck enemy, reducing their fortification and making them more vulnerable to negative energy.

A few finishing moves aren't attacks at all. They are spell-like abilities you can activate with sufficient ki to heal a player or self from a curse, for instance.

The trick in using finishing moves is to remember that many have a small cool-down of 3 seconds. After you click one finisher, you may be able to click the second attack in that chain while the final finisher has cooled down to use again. If you click through too fast, the finisher will either not activate or may fail.

Using your toolbars (particularly toolbar 1, which is automatically mapped to keys 1 through 0 of a keyboard) can make it easy to chain and release finishing moves.

For more detail on the attacks and effects, see Finishing moves.

Fighting Unarmed vs. Fighting with Centered Weapons
Generally, the best combat option for Monks are handwraps due to the increased attack speeds over time. That's not to say that you should always fight unarmed, but a Monk's attack speed becomes generally 12% higher unarmed than with weapons. You will need to adjust your fighting to fit the circumstances. Until level 16, your fists will not likely affect Adamantine-built enemies such as Iron Golems. For that, you may need a quarterstaff or kamas with Adamantine to bypass the damage reduction of the golem.

A key to fighting well unarmed is to take the feat Two Weapon Fighting, as well as its upgraded versions. Unlike weapons, a monk's fists do not suffer a to-hit penalty, effectively gaining better and more numerous off-hand strikes. This ability is well seen when a monk is surrounded and auto-targeting shows the the monk appearing to strike several enemies at once. You can effectively double your damage-per-second with these feats.

Weapon finesse also affects both kamas and unarmed fighting. It's common for Monks specializing in WIS and DEX to use this feat. However, don't ignore your STR ability--it determines how hard your attacks land. Go with STR as your high number and you'll have powerful hits, but don't neglect DEX, else your Reflex saves and AC may suffer.

As you gain in levels, all Monks' unarmed attacks are treated eventually as Magic (level 4), Lawful (level 10) and Adamantine (level 16) weapons. Shintao Monk enhancements add greatly to this, where their fists are treated as they advance to bypass Byeshk (level 6), Cold Iron (level 12) and Silver (level 18). By level 18, a monk that's achieved Shintao Monk III has become practically a living metalline weapon when unarmed.

Dark Monks have a distinct disadvantage in damage reduction when fighting unarmed, as non-unique metalline handwraps exist but are very, very rare and extremely expensive. The Devout Handwraps (from the Necropolis) are the only unique Metalline of Pure Good wraps in the game, but enterprising Monks might find other Silver-laced/studded wraps and combine them with rings from the Tower of Despair quests to get the DR busting they need. Otherwise, dark monks can use kamas but, for extra damage and versatility, the Ninja Spy enhancements give shortsword prowess, where metalline weaponry can compensate when unarmed attacks are less effective.

Monks generally have bludgeoning attacks only, making fights against bludgeoning-resistant enemies such as zombies harder. Kamas and shortswords may be needed for best effectiveness. The Whirling Steel Strike feat could be taken for any monk to use longswords.

No class should quest without some ranged options where melee is not possible, a quest requires a ranged item to activate a lever, or when a more effective ranged fighter is not available. The shuriken is available, but has a low damage rate. It's recommended to find and use returning shurikens, but only when necessary, such as in activating overhead levers. The enhancement Ten Thousand Stars can temporarily increase throwing star speed, but the results may be less than effective, and the action point might be better used elsewhere. The Shadow Star and Snowstar are named returning stars with suitable damage when melee targets can't be reached. Update 9 introduced Shuriken Expertise to add a little more damage per round to these attacks.

Leveling and Strengthening your Monk
All Monks should pay close attention to their CON stat. Unlike other melee classes, Monks do not receive as many health points. A Monk with low CON will not be able to survive well past level 12; many enemies will strike you down in a single swing. The Toughness feat can be taken many times. Optionally or additionally, humans and other races have a Racial Toughness enhancement to add to Toughness, but only if at least one Toughness feat has been chosen. Monks need health points. Greater and Superior False Life items are important.

Ki generation is also an important factor. Monks that don't generate and use ki are likely dead ones. The Fire Stance generates greater ki and STR. Once you have enough ki, you can move to Air Stance for faster attacks and movement speed, but at a cost of CON.

The Concentration skill determines how much ki you can hold. Always add at least 1 point in Concentration as you level. The Balance skill is almost as important as enemies often try to trip you. Jump, Hide and Move Silently are key skills to get from place to place.

The two path open options for Prestige Enhancements. Shintao Monks are much like smiting and banishing Clerics. Ninja Spy Monks are effective and deadly assassins.

Handwraps
As stated above, your fists are going to be more powerful vs most enemies based on the handwraps you are using.

However, until your fists can bypass certain damage reduction of many enemies (such as devils and iron golems), you'll need kamas or quarterstaffs as a fall-back. Remember that you do NOT generate ki if your attacks do zero damage due to damage reduction.

Pick your handwraps to fit the enemy. See Monk equipment for starter items that help through level 10.

Handwraps, unlike other weapons, do not suffer rust or acid damage, making the need for common melee weapons such as Muckbane less important to a Monk.

Good starter wraps include Eternal Rest (From the Catacombs: silver-laced and Ghost Touch wraps that can hurt a vampire) and Devotion (From Delera's Tomb: An occasional end-reward).

Meditation, Resting and Healing
A Monk's ki behaves like spell points, except ki drains slowly over time. Unlike a spell caster, however, a Monk can regenerate ki as he fights.

For this reason of ki drain, monks must always be an opportunist, utilizing their ki while they still have it.

By level 7, a Monk should rarely, if ever, need to use a shrine during a quest, except to refresh "clickies". Any ki in excess of your pool of static ki (based on your Concentration skill) will disappear on resting or leaving a quest.

Should a Monk need to recharge their HP without losing a substantial buildup of ki, use the Wholeness of Body feat granted at level 7. For 10 ki, a Monk can nearly, if not fully recharge their HP. (Wearing items of devotion or potency can greatly improve the amount of healing.) The cool-down for this feat is about 2 minutes, and can be done anywhere, provided that the Monk is not disturbed and remains stationary during its use.

When a Monk is critically low or out of ki, they can use their Meditation feat, available at level 2. While seated and performing no other actions, the Monk can regenerate ki, refilling their pool at the least, creating substantial ki useful for Light buffs (such as Healing Ki or the raise dead Rise of the Phoenix ability). Meditation can be used only twice per rest, so keep it handy for emergencies and use it only as needed.

The enhancements "Way of the Patient Tortoise", Way of the Tenacious Badger", and "Way of the Elegant Crane" may be useful in generating more Concentration or ki. Remember that some stances generate better ki than others.

Light monks should have the Healing Ki finisher as part of their standard attack to keep their HP up. Dark monks are more susceptible to dropping HP and should have potions (or, if Use Magic Device skills are available, wands) handy to heal up during battles.

Vampiric weapons will greatly help Dark Monks. At level 12, Dark Monks should seek out the Stonedust Handwraps and craft them into the Vampiric Stonedust Wraps for stealing 1 HP per hit against enemies, or find any handwraps or items with life-stealing ability. Other options include the Vampiric Fury Shortswords (for Ninja Spy builds), builds adding to Use Magic Device skills or half-elves with Cleric Dilettante feats that grant the use of healing wands.

Fighting, Strategy and Behavior Tips

 * As you enter a quest, light monks with sufficient base ki should use Aligning the Heavens, an incredible skill that saves 25% to a spell caster's spell points. Do this before a party buff and, if possible, during battle.
 * Between fights, use Walk of the Sun and Dance of Clouds buffs when fighting is imminent.
 * Before or during a fight, monks should be either using Fists of Light or Fists of Darkness to heal themselves and the party, or curse and diminish a target's ability to fight.
 * Always use the excess ki to benefit your party, especially if you are a light monk. You can regenerate ki for as long as you have enemies to strike, and you can get often much closer to heal fighters in your party than a cleric might dare.
 * Switch out your handwraps, outfits, stances and accessories often to meet the party needs. Don't be in Air Stance all the time when you know that a tougher fight ahead may require more party heals, and therefore, extra ki that can be generated by Fire Stance for a time.
 * Monks have great saves against traps and magic. Monks should almost always attack enemy mages first, before they can disable a party, or test out unknown hallways and floors when a rogue is not available.
 * Monks are the best fighters against oozes, as their handwraps do not suffer nearly as much damage from these enemies as party members without Everbright weaponry or sufficient spell power, nor are they are likely to cause oozes to split apart as badly. Further, you can generate tremendous ki reserves by ridding the dungeon of them.
 * Avoid using a rest shrine unless your Meditation turns and ki are exhausted, and your health points are too low. This behavior will save parties in Hard and Elite quests, where shrines are useful only once and clerics are getting low on healing resources.
 * Take advantage of your immunities to poison and disease when mummies and spiders appear, to save others from Mummy rot and other maladies.
 * Abundant Step can ambush or reach a monster before they can react, reach recessed levers, or attackers on widely separated ledges.
 * Obtaining the Rise of the Phoenix enhancement can make the difference between a failed quest and a successful quest when a cleric is not present or too busy, and several party members have been killed.
 * Stun anything and everything. WIS affects the success of Stunning Fist. Stunning Blow is not necessarily as effective and has a slower cooldown. Use items that improve stunning, and stun as a matter of course when fighting all enemies except undead and constructs.
 * Remember that monks, over time, can run faster than many classes. Don't surge ahead and leave your party behind.
 * Let a fighter "tank" for the group unless you are the only melee class available. Monks "take out the trash" faster than many other melee classes.