That depends on what you consider best, what are you looking to optimize?
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So, I looked into this a bit more, and came up with something like this
Dex18[15+2Race+1level]
Con14
Int10
Wis18[put rest of levels here]
Cha7
Feats:
1:Improved Unarmed Strike
1:Stunning Fist
1:Dodge
1:Weapon Finesse
2:Combat Reflexes
3:Aquatic Ancestry? Hydraulic Maneuvers? Other?
5:???
Qinggong Ki Powers:
4:Barkskin
5:Truestrike or Hydraulic Push
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Personally, if I were you, I would do a Qinggong/Flowing Monk if you're going to be a Dex/Wis build. Acquire Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang and you're all set. The earliest you could get Snake Fang is level 9 though, but once you hit that, you'll be dishing out AoOs like a madman. You can do a variety of things with those AoOs, other than boring old damage. It's a pretty sweet deal. With this combination, you really turn your defense into a significant offense.
If you've got low Str, you want Agile Maneuvers for that Awesome Blow ability. I'd also take the amphibious trait, because your SLA won't do much for you.
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Personally, if I were you, I would do a Qinggong/Flowing Monk if you're going to be a Dex/Wis build. Acquire Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang and you're all set. The earliest you could get Snake Fang is level 9 though, but once you hit that, you'll be dishing out AoOs like a madman. You can do a variety of things with those AoOs, other than boring old damage. It's a pretty sweet deal. With this combination, you really turn your defense into a significant offense.Yeah, I was considering that, but I've always wanted to try out the BotS PrC. I still might revert to this if it turns out to be better than the PrC though.
If you've got low Str, you want Agile Maneuvers for that Awesome Blow ability. I'd also take the amphibious trait, because your SLA won't do much for you.
Ah, thanks. I forgot about Awesome Blow. I'm not sure on Amphibious alternate racial trait, because the Hydraulic Maneuvers thing seems useful, anyone have experience with it?
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Personally, if I were you, I would do a Qinggong/Flowing Monk if you're going to be a Dex/Wis build. Acquire Snake Style/Sidewind/Fang and you're all set. The earliest you could get Snake Fang is level 9 though, but once you hit that, you'll be dishing out AoOs like a madman. You can do a variety of things with those AoOs, other than boring old damage. It's a pretty sweet deal. With this combination, you really turn your defense into a significant offense.Yeah, I was considering that, but I've always wanted to try out the BotS PrC. I still might revert to this if it turns out to be better than the PrC though.If you've got low Str, you want Agile Maneuvers for that Awesome Blow ability. I'd also take the amphibious trait, because your SLA won't do much for you.Ah, thanks. I forgot about Awesome Blow. I'm not sure on Amphibious alternate racial trait, because the Hydraulic Maneuvers thing seems useful, anyone have experience with it?
You can still keep BotS... Flowing is just an extra Archetype for Monk. Are you going Gestalt or trying to choose between the Monk and the BotS?
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If you go high DEX anyway, you'll want Weapon finesse instead of agile maneuvers. You can also pick up stunning fist later from a feat (if you don't mind entering the PRC later).
Personally, I'd only take the bare minimum levels of Monk (ideally 1-2, no more than 4 if you really, REALLY must for Ki).
Well, PFS ends at level 12 [yeah, yeah, higher-than-12-mods and all that jazz, but still it pretty much ends at 12], so taking Stunning Fist at higher levels would give me 3-4 levels of the PrC, and it would be a long wait. If only there was a non-monk option for earlier stunning fist.
What would you recommend instead of Monk? I figured I'd go 5 for the Flurry, Ki, and Qinggong powers, but if there is a better class to go with I'd be open to it.
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Oooh I see. I didn't realize that. As long as you get Snake Fang with your Dex build... you'll be gtg for any combat! If BotS is fairly relevant to your campaign setting, I would definitely take it. Otherwise, I'd stick with something else. If you're doing it mostly for the Hands of Stone... I'd recommend just buying a Wand of Strong Jaw for 21k instead.
You could pick up Stunning Fist at level 8 or 10(depending on what BAB you go by) and still qualify for BotS - If you choose the Flowing route in addition that is. The nice thing about Flowing is you get a dodge bonus for every opponent surrounding you up to your Wis mod. Not only that, but those AoOs with Snake Fang will flat-foot your foes(ref save).
I certainly understand what you want is "More looking to be effective in a wide variety of situations, with good damage, CMB, AC, and mobility."
BotS definitely wouldn't give you anything but better Damage, thought it'd certainly make you unique in utility... but as I stated earlier you can out do that damage with just a wand of strong jaw. As far as your AC you wanted goes; you're a Dex/Wis build and I'm sure you'll take all the AC upgrades as far as Gear goes, including some potions of mage armor/shield(only 50g each?!). That'll work for any(non-armored) archetype or PrC with the Monk.
I can post a solid Monk build if you like... if not I'll leave you to your thoughts.
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Oooh I see. I didn't realize that. As long as you get Snake Fang with your Dex build... you'll be gtg for any combat! If BotS is fairly relevant to your campaign setting, I would definitely take it. Otherwise, I'd stick with something else. If you're doing it mostly for the Hands of Stone... I'd recommend just buying a Wand of Strong Jaw for 21k instead.
You could pick up Stunning Fist at level 8 or 10(depending on what BAB you go by) and still qualify for BotS - If you choose the Flowing route in addition that is. The nice thing about Flowing is you get a dodge bonus for every opponent surrounding you up to your Wis mod. Not only that, but those AoOs with Snake Fang will flat-foot your foes(ref save).
I certainly understand what you want is "More looking to be effective in a wide variety of situations, with good damage, CMB, AC, and mobility."
BotS definitely wouldn't give you anything but better Damage, thought it'd certainly make you unique in utility... but as I stated earlier you can out do that damage with just a wand of strong jaw. As far as your AC you wanted goes; you're a Dex/Wis build and I'm sure you'll take all the AC upgrades as far as Gear goes, including some potions of mage armor/shield(only 50g each?!). That'll work for any(non-armored) archetype or PrC with the Monk.
I can post a solid Monk build if you like... if not I'll leave you to your thoughts.
BotS isn't particularly relevant to PFS campaign setting, but some of the stuff in there seems kinda useful[like hardness ignoring and Awesome Blow with flexibility], and I kinda like the feel of the class. Hands of Stone is neat but wouldn't work until 12th level, so it wouldn't be the entire reason to enter the class.
But if the BotS doesn't provide as much as Flowing Monk, I suppose I could skip it and use the same sort of flavor as it, because I've always wanted to try Flowing Monk as well. But again, I don't want to enter at 9 or higher because it doesn't provide much in 3-4 levels, and not enough to "build" for, so I'd rather go all or nothing with it.
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I'd probably go 2 monk 3 Lore Warden. Would give you +2 to your maneuvers and a bunch of extra feats. I guess you could get bark skin from quinggong with 5? Not that bad, but losing an extra BAB hurts a bit.If you go high DEX anyway, you'll want Weapon finesse instead of agile maneuvers. You can also pick up stunning fist later from a feat (if you don't mind entering the PRC later).
Personally, I'd only take the bare minimum levels of Monk (ideally 1-2, no more than 4 if you really, REALLY must for Ki).
Well, PFS ends at level 12 [yeah, yeah, higher-than-12-mods and all that jazz, but still it pretty much ends at 12], so taking Stunning Fist at higher levels would give me 3-4 levels of the PrC, and it would be a long wait. If only there was a non-monk option for earlier stunning fist.
What would you recommend instead of Monk? I figured I'd go 5 for the Flurry, Ki, and Qinggong powers, but if there is a better class to go with I'd be open to it.
I'll have to keep that in mind if I decide to multiclass before the PrC, thanks! But I am a bit reluctant to not go full monk, as defense can be pretty equal to offense in PFS.
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So, looked into
Str10
Dex17[all levels here]
Con14
Int10
Wis18
Cha7
Feats:
1:Weapon Finesse
1M:Improved Trip???
1M:Improved Unarmed Strike
3:Snake Style??
5-7:???
9:Snake Fang??
Rest:??
Traits:
???
Amphibious Alt. Racial Trait
Stats:
Str10
Dex18[2 levels here]
Con14
Int10
Wis17[1 level here]
Cha7
Feats:
1:Weapon Finesse
1M:Combat Reflexes
1M:Improved Unarmed Strike
1M:Stunning Fist
2M:Dodge
3:Weapon Focus[Unarmed Strike]
3F:Agile Maneuvers
4F:Combat Expertise
4F:Snake Style
5:???
7:Snake Sidewind
9:Snake Fang
Rest:???
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Oooh I see. I didn't realize that. As long as you get Snake Fang with your Dex build... you'll be gtg for any combat! If BotS is fairly relevant to your campaign setting, I would definitely take it. Otherwise, I'd stick with something else. If you're doing it mostly for the Hands of Stone... I'd recommend just buying a Wand of Strong Jaw for 21k instead.
You could pick up Stunning Fist at level 8 or 10(depending on what BAB you go by) and still qualify for BotS - If you choose the Flowing route in addition that is. The nice thing about Flowing is you get a dodge bonus for every opponent surrounding you up to your Wis mod. Not only that, but those AoOs with Snake Fang will flat-foot your foes(ref save).
I certainly understand what you want is "More looking to be effective in a wide variety of situations, with good damage, CMB, AC, and mobility."
BotS definitely wouldn't give you anything but better Damage, thought it'd certainly make you unique in utility... but as I stated earlier you can out do that damage with just a wand of strong jaw. As far as your AC you wanted goes; you're a Dex/Wis build and I'm sure you'll take all the AC upgrades as far as Gear goes, including some potions of mage armor/shield(only 50g each?!). That'll work for any(non-armored) archetype or PrC with the Monk.
I can post a solid Monk build if you like... if not I'll leave you to your thoughts.
BotS isn't particularly relevant to PFS campaign setting, but some of the stuff in there seems kinda useful[like hardness ignoring and Awesome Blow with flexibility], and I kinda like the feel of the class. Hands of Stone is neat but wouldn't work until 12th level, so it wouldn't be the entire reason to enter the class.
But if the BotS doesn't provide as much as Flowing Monk, I suppose I could skip it and use the same sort of flavor as it, because I've always wanted to try Flowing Monk as well. But again, I don't want to enter at 9 or higher because it doesn't provide much in 3-4 levels, and...
If it isn't relevant, make sure you compare the trade-offs between the two really well and decide what would help you and your team the most.
BotS won't provide as much as Flowing Monk... I can guarantee that.
Think it over and just make sure to do what you think would be the most fun in the long-run.
Here's a link to my Flowing/Qinggong Monk build in case you want a general idea. I apologize as my notes are probably a little chaotic on there. Ignore the level in druid/wizard /fighter if there are any.
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If it isn't relevant, make sure you compare the trade-offs between the two really well and decide what would help you and your team the most.
BotS won't provide as much as Flowing Monk... I can guarantee that.
Think it over and just make sure to do what you think would be the most fun in the long-run.
Yeah, I looked through the two, and BotS seemed to make a character that is more of your typical damage monkey with a bit of side maneuvering. I think that Flowing Monk will probably be more effective for a Party [especially the ones of all damage-monkeys, that I have played with nearly 5 times in a row]. So, I think I'll stick with that. That said, I also think that skipping Snake Style might be best, or at least, multiclassing Unarmed Fighter for it so I can get it a little more easily. I think I'll go with a Trip monk. Any advice on how best to do a trip-monk? I've heard Ki Throw is good, but haven't had any first-hand experience with it, does it come up much?