One Monk Archtype thread to rule them all

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

So which monk archtype is best for what?
Damage, Melee, combat maneuvers, etc?

I've seen a lot and as much as I love monk's I find it all a bit overwhelming. Help me break it down for myself and those like me. Feel free to include synergistic feats, strategies, whatever.

Some builds would be cool too.

[Maxximilius]

In all objectivity, the Gun-fu master archetype is all you need to win the game. RLY.

[Lunamaria Hawke]

A Sensei/Qinggong monk. Loses the MAD for all he needs is wis and dex and can pretty much fit into any party.

[Andrew Besso]

I am playing a dwarf Zen Archer in a campaign (25 point buy). He can take out a small army of minions single-handed. Usually someone else helps with the BBEG.

BUILD:
STR 12
DEX 14
CON 15
INT 8
WIS 20
CHA 7

FEATS
1: Precise Shot, Toughness
2: Point-Blank Shot
3: Deadly Aim
5: Deflect Arrows
6: Improved Precise Shot

At 4th level I took the point to CON (now 63 hp at 6th level).
I had planned to take Spider Step at 7th level, but I may not after all. Our GM greatly refers outdoor adventures. I am pondering what feat to take instead. Our GM encourages Leadership, but I prefer to wait until 9th level, after increasing my CHA.

If anyone has feat suggestions, I am listening.

Treantmonk has published a very good guide, but I do not remember where it is.

[Tiny Coffee Golem]

Lunamaria Hawke wrote:

A Sensei/Qinggong monk. Loses the MAD for all he needs is wis and dex and can pretty much fit into any party.

I like that a lot. I may steal it for my next monk character.

[posternutbag]

Zen Archer Monk, for sure. I have a Zen Archer Monk 9/Mobile Fighter 11 who is, for all intents and purposes, a Tetragrammaton Cleric.

Now that it has been errata'ed, the Tetori Monk is a very good 1 trick pony. Actually, a very good 1 trick pony. The Tetori Monk CMB for Grappling scales quite well against CR level appropriate monsters, and by spending Ki, she can grapple anything.

[Maezer]

I think the Quiggong archetype is very good. And can be combined with nearly any build. Essentially it give you option of trading in a lot of your (underwhelming) abilities for ones you'll probably find more useful.

Personally I like:

Dragon's Breath - Extreme versatile elemental AoE damage something a monk is often lacking.
Share Memory - (I can't believe this cost 0ki, its an amazing interrogation tool for captured enemies or stupid allies alike.)
Cold Ice Strike - Even post errata is fair amount of extra damage as a swift action.

As to monks in general:

Despite increase unarmed damage a monk gets I find they do much better wielding a weapon. The bonus come cheaper and go higher than with mechanical weapon. If its a one handed/two handed weapon the additional damage from power attack is significant. And you can find yourself a better crit multiplier/range. Too that end I also like the Weapon Adept archetype if going with a weapon user. I think all the trade off's are pretty good.

If going unarmed. They make amazing grapplers. Their class based AC bonus and Wisdom bonus get added to their CMD making it hard to get out of the grapple even when compared to fighters.

As to fighting styles:

Dragon style is quite good for unarmed focused monks. Increased damage on every hit. Access to elemental fist (as a Four Winds monk which means the bonus damage scales.) And a useful AoE damage. Lots to like.

And then Crane Style is crazy good. Negating one melee attack around is huge. And you have to take a good skill (acrobatics) and a decent feat (dodge) which is good bonus feat choice anyhow. Not bad at all.

[Hayato Ken]

I´m thinking about a Master of many styles using Snake Style and some else creating his own attacks of oportunity. Mayhaps its gonna be a halfling build with dodge-mobility-underfoot-disorienting maneuver.
Less damage, but higher AC and +1 to hit, what creates still more attacks then. Of course you could flank someone and take outflank too.
I have to raise the build to see though.

Master of many styles and monk of the 4 winds seems a nice combination too.

And some Wushu sword or polearm type, but it might be the fighter is better there.

What also got me thinking was Maneuver master and all the stuff you can do with a quarterstuff now, like whirlwindtrip or something like that.

[Lunamaria Hawke]

Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:

Lunamaria Hawke wrote:

A Sensei/Qinggong monk. Loses the MAD for all he needs is wis and dex and can pretty much fit into any party.

I like that a lot. I may steal it for my next monk character.

Please do! Just note you lose everything and i do mean everything for this to work to be prepare to do very little damage. on anoather note ki is very limited in this build as well so your kinda force to take the vow of chains plus the extra ki feat.