Yes, I know monk aren't tanks, but I'm looking for the best monk build for my AC buck.
Which combo of feats, Styles and Archetypes will get me the most?
Thanks!
Some suggestions off the top of my head:
snapping turtle style.
dodge
mobility
ironhide(dwarf and orc only, so not the best option)
(so that's +3 from feats, +7 vs. AoO)
Split your point buy between Dex and Wis.
This is variable, but it should provide +4 even with a low point buy.
Monk's innate bonus to AC starting level 4
Monk's robe item boosts your effective level by 5
(this usually provides +1 to AC, but depending on the level, it's +2)
So, assuming a level 5 dwarf monk, you should have roughly 10+3(feats)+4(stats)+1(monk)+1(item)=AC 19
This is just a shortlist of go-to ideas. I'm sure there are many others.
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Master of Many Styles. Take Crane, Snake, and Snapping Turtle styles, and when fused together, your defenses are through the roof.
Also, to get the best out of Snake style, max out your Sense Motive with the Alertness feat, and get a Headband of Inspired Wisdom(+2/+4/+6). I did this once and my GM was very frustrated with my monk in the best of ways.
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The Crane Style series and a good mix of wisdom and dexterity. Even if an opponent hits you, Crane Wing gives you one negation per round, which is great because you can wait until it hits you before you choose to use that negation (critical threat?! I think not!).
If you're willing to multi-class, mixing Martial Artist monk with Urban + Savage Barbarian. This means you can rage for dexterity (and no inherent AC loss from rage, so you gain +2 AC), gain AC from higher barbarian levels due to the savage archetype, add 2 stats to AC (dex+wis) and with Crane Style you can really buff up your AC during combat. Uncanny dodge is great for this sort of build as well, so a minimum of 2 barbarian levels is recommended.
I'm doing a build based on scimitar using the above trick. Currently level 8 with Monk 1/Barbarian 5/Rogue 2. They cannot be flanked, cannot be flat-footed, have a "zoned out" AC of 23, and jump to 29 in combat (+2 from raging for dex, +4 from fighting defensively). When next to 2+ enemies they are at 30 AC due to crowd control (an odd ability from Urban Barbarian). They still have a to-hit of +13 with their +1 weapon, dealing 1d6+7 damage (+2 against casters). Next level they'll gain Ghost Rager and add their (newly +5) superstition bonus to touch AC. Unfortunately I neglected to leave them enough strength to qualify for power attack *sigh* (they have 10).
As far as straight monk builds go, Flowing Monk might work better, but I don't know the archetypes too well.
If I am a 1st lvl human Master of Many Styles, could I really get all three of these feats?
Human bonus feat: Dodge
1st level feat: Crane Style
Monk feat bonus feat via Master: Crane Wing
Am I reading this correctly?
You can't fuse three styles until you are level 8. Starting with Crane first is a good move, then going to snapping turtle, and finally going to snake since snake style pays off better in the later levels.
My lv.8 Master of Many Styles had these feats:
-Lv.1: HF(Dodge), BF(Crane Wing), F(Crane Style)
-Lv.2: BF(Snapping Turtle Style)
-Lv.3: F(Snapping Turtle Clutch)
-Lv.5: F(Snapping Turtle Shell)
-Lv.6: BF(Crane Riposte)
-Lv.7: F(Combat Reflexes)
-Lv.8: BF(Snake Style)
After lv.8:
-Lv.9: F(Alertness)
-Lv.10: BF(Snake Sidewind)
-Lv.11: F(Snake Fang)
-Lv.13: F(Mobility)
After that: I would have gone for Tiger Style or Dragon Style, but the game ended.
I've played a Crane Style Dex/Wis Monk, though I went Ninja after Monk3 to get some damage in sneak attack. Of course, Mirror Images are great for defense as well.
At low levels (up to around 8th), remember to ignore bracers of armor in favor of potions of mage armor. Cheaper and better. If you have a suitable party, a wand of mage armor will do instead.
Additionally, don't forget to invest in monk's robe.
Use qinggong archetype to replace slow fall with barkskin ki power.
If you're aggressive about getting AC (and thus build on weapon finesse), there's no reason why you can't make around 35 AC by level 12 (and still have the option to use ki for a +4 dodge bonus).
As Lightbulb notes, the zen archer is pretty good defensively - better than you might think at first glance.
This is because (a) he can invest much more deeply in Wisdom than most monks, and this affects all his armour types, as well as CMD, and (b) he gets ten bonus feats, of which nine can and should be invested in offense (because he can ignore all prerequisites that way). (in fact he gets more than that, because Reflexive Shot is Snap Shot by any other name, and of course his bow flurry is a virtual Rapid Shot feat chain in itself).
This leaves Lyu with almost more open slot feats than he knows what to do with. Archery's covered by the bonusses, so where to burn them all?
Defense is a great option, because the zen archer already has a bunch of class abilities that allow him to linger in melee. By dropping a fair share of open slot feats into defense, the zen archer ends up being able to ignore most melee threats, which means he doesn't have to scurry back behind the tanks, which means he gets off more flurries...which makes him better offensively.
One of these days I'll get round to doing a proper zen archer guide :)
Thanks everyone for the advice, I've come up with some sound ideas. Look forward to seeing your Sohei Lightbulb.
Oh! And that Zen Archer is awesome! Wow.
Monk of the sacred mountain. After getting natural armor bonus at 2nd level he may start pestering Gm to let him pick Improved Natural Armor feat (warning: illegal for PFS characters).
It will be only a rough draft. Trying to see if I can get near the Zen archer above...
I'd be really interested to see what a sohei archer ends up like, actually - I've never put one together myself, and if I do do a zen archer guide, it'd be a useful point of comparison.
