Hey, so I really wanted to play a Monk, but am doing the Skull & shackles campaign and didn't think a lawful pirate would make much sense, let alone the character design/personality I had in mind, so I went martial artist.
I am currently level 7 Suli martial artist, and got some damn lucky rolls on stats. They are currently 20 str, 18 dex, 18 con, 11 int, 16 wis, 13 cha. I don't have my character sheet on me ATM, but I know I've currently got dragon style/ferocity, dodge, deflect arrows, combat reflexes, weapon focus/specialization: unarmed, and the suli feat for controlling their elemental unarmed bonuses. Don't remember any others off the top of my head TBH.
My character is chaotic neutral, and themed around an elemental sort of brawler, not a grappler though.
I'm looking for an overall good build to go in, and one I heard was doing a dip or multiclassing into barbarian since martial artist is immune to fatigue? How far to go? And are there any other classes/archetypes that are good to go with martial artist?
One thing I haven't really taken advantage of is the ability to use my monk level to count as fighter for taking fighter feats. Which ones would be useful beyond weapon spec? In fact, what would just be some generally good feats to take regardless of monk/fighter affiliation?
Also, some basic items that would be useful would be nice. I have basically no equipment at the moment lol
You don't mention power attack, if you don't have it take it asap. Eldrich heritage (orc) is also a very attractive choise because of the massive strenght it gives you. You will need the trait Opportunistic gambler though in order to take advantage of the touch of rage spell-like, so you should talk with your GM first. You should also increase your charisma for eldrich heritage feats. Greater wpf/spc are a possibility as well as ability focus (stunning fist) or (quivering palm). Lunge is a nice addition. Quicken spell-like ability is nice for Touch of rage and Power of giants.
So two brief suggestions:
With eldrich heritage: Power attack, the four eldrich heritage feats, quicken spell-like ability (power of giants)
Without eldrich heritage: power attack, greater wpf and wsp, lunge, ability focus (stunning fist), ability focus (quivering palm)
For monk bonus feats, take Medusa's Wrath at 10 lvl. Improved Critical at 12 lvl, Snatch Arrows at 14 lvl and Mobility at 18 lvl.
The last feat you mention, is it incremental elemental assault? If it is not you could take it with the non-eldrich heritage plan after power attack instead of ability focus (quivering palm).
About items:
-Grab some shurickens so that you can flurry at range. If you have a cater cast greater magic weapon on them even better.
-Grab a silver and a cold iron temple sword for overcoming various DRs
-Take a wand of mage armor for the party caster and tell him to use it on you before battle.
-Take a ring of protection
-Take a Holy Amulet of Mighty Fists. After this enchantment bonuses all the way, unless party caster buffs you with greater magic fang or greater magic weapon, in this case take the various +1d6 elemntal damage abilities and keep in mind brilliant energy for the late game
-Grab a Cloak of Resistance +2
-Buy a belt of giant strenght, eventually you want a belt of physical might
-Buy a headband of inspired wisdom. A headband of alluring charisma takes priority for the eldrich heritage feats.
-Buy a Monk's Robe when you can afford it.
If you don't reach 20 lvl you can dip one level barbarian any time you want for the rage feature. I recommend Invurnerable Rager/Urban Barbarian, so that you gain 1DR/- and a Rage that does not lower your AC and lets you use dex-based skills like Acrobatics. The gain is nothing significant, but the loss is not big either. If you decide to do this you should take the extra rage feat with the non-eldrich heritage plan after power attack instead of an ability focus.
Invulnerable rager is always a solid choice for a barbarian, particularly one with a monk base. The DR will be rather valuable since it can be better than an AC bonus at times. I am unsure whether the fire or cold resistance is lost on you though, since you already have 5 against both. If it does stack, then you might want to pick the fire option, if only so that you can completely ignore nonmagical fire (fire resistance 6 against 1d6)
Since you are immune to fatigue, you can rage cycle and easily take advantage of the lesser elemental rage. This is a 1/rage power (so for you, 1/round) that adds 1d6 elemental damage (fire, cold, acid or electricity of your choice whem activated) to all melee attacks for that round. It only costs a swift action. This means that you might never have to pay for an elemental weapon again (although it might be nice for MOAR POWAR). Unfortunately, this takes barbarian 4 to take.
Until then, maybe No Escape could be a useful rage power for level 2. It allows you make a double move as an immediate action once per rage (read: per round) against anyone that uses the withdraw action. If that seems like a problem for you (since you likely rely heavily upon full action flurry of blows) then it might help.
Knockback or knock down also seem useful for a level 2 power, since they allow a bullrush and trip in place of an attack respectively. They do not draw AoO and they also deal your STR mod in damage, so they could both be useful given your CMB with monk and your STR mod (plus more with rage).
Good point. I would go as far as to say that you can take 4 lvls of Barbarian so that you can also take Knockdown. Even better if you talk with your gm and lets you change combat reflexes with improved trip from the monk bonus feats.
Knockdown: Once per rage (per round for you), the barbarian can make a trip attack against one target in place of a melee attack. If successful, the target takes damage equal to the barbarian’s Strength modifier and is knocked prone. This does not provoke an attack of opportunity.
You can use it with flurry, substituting the attack with the low attack bonus that would probably miss anyway. It is actually nice because you make the opponent prone while still dealing damage, and he provokes attacks of opportunity when he stands up.
Yeah, well another thing I've been thinking is, Suli get favored class bonus on monk of an extra 1 damage every 2 levels added onto their elemental assault; I already took the incremental assault feat (thank you, forgot the name) and might just do things to buff that.
As soon as I hit 8, I'll be doing 1d10 + 7 (dragon stance+str modifier) +1d6 +4 every hit on 4 regular hits for flurry of blows, doing an average 19 damage on each hit, and if each attack hit, 76. For Level 8, that seems like good damage but i'm still a bit of a rookie so who knows lol.
Perhaps I could just take 1 level of barbarian, to get rage for 6 (?) rounds as a bonus surge of power if I need it? And perhaps I should use a barbarian archetype that doesnt get fast movement, since I already have it?
You'd get 8 rounds of rage, since it starts off as 4+CON....and you have awesome stats. you get an additional 2 with every level, and there is a feat that gives 6 extra rounds.
Fast movement is still nice to have, since it is an instant increase in speed. And other than Urban Barbarian, there does not appear to be many archetypes that mesh well with a monkish playstyle (armored hulk is out. The true savage always seemed weird to multiclass into since it has contractual illiteracy).
Oh yeah, but I already have fast movement from monk, unless it stacks with it? But I would probably take urban barb...
What about going to monk 8, then putting the rest into barb? Would there be any other way to increase my base unarmed damage if I went that way? Once I get the extra hit from flurry of blows, with the Barbs godlike BAB additions it seems i would get extra attacks faster that way.
Well, there is the monk robe, which makes you count as 5 levels higher for unarmed strike damage, AC bonus, and stunning fist usage (if you have the feat).
It costs 13,000. A bit much at your current level, but comparing it to the average wealth gained between levels 8 and 13, it might be doable.
That's right, because of monk's robe you could possibly multiclass into barbarian without losing much. 4-6 lvl whould be ok. You don't want to shy away from monk any longer, most of your abilities scale with monk lvl, like exploit weakness. With 5 lvl of Inv Rager / Urban barbarian you can rage for +2 Str or Dex or Con for 12+Con rounds (with extra rage goes to 18+COn rounds), have DR3/- and take Knockdown and lesser Elemental Rage. Take your 8th lvl of monk, and then take 5 lvls of barbarian. You will end up with Monk 15/ Barbarian 5.
For feats, go with power attack, extra rage, GWF and GWS, lunge, and ability focus (stunning fist). For bonus feats take Medusa's Wrath and Improved Critical. See if you can retrain for Improved Trip.
Yeah, I have 1800 gold at the moment lol. So barbarian and monk levels don't stack for the purpose of unarmed damage then, do they?
I'm not sure about the 'rage cycling' thing... seems pretty cheesy/exploitative.
Eptaceros wrote: Yeah, I have 1800 gold at the moment lol. So barbarian and monk levels don't stack for the purpose of unarmed damage then, do they?
I'm not sure about the 'rage cycling' thing... seems pretty cheesy/exploitative.
No they don't stack, it would be unfair if they did.
As far as rage cycling is concerned, it is not cheesy or exploitative. It is a perfectly legitimate tactic that all dedicated barbarians use or want to eventually be able to use. It is even adressed in the d20PFSRD under the rage description.
Rage (Ex)
A barbarian can call upon inner reserves of strength and ferocity, granting her additional combat prowess. Starting at 1st level, a barbarian can rage for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + her Constitution modifier. At each level after 1st, she can rage for 2 additional rounds. Temporary increases to Constitution, such as those gained from rage and spells like bear's endurance, do not increase the total number of rounds that a barbarian can rage per day. A barbarian can enter rage as a free action. The total number of rounds of rage per day is renewed after resting for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive.
While in rage, a barbarian gains a +4 morale bonus to her Strength and Constitution, as well as a +2 morale bonus on Will saves. In addition, she takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class. The increase to Constitution grants the barbarian 2 hit points per Hit Dice, but these disappear when the rage ends and are not lost first like temporary hit points. While in rage, a barbarian cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration.
A barbarian can end her rage as a free action and is fatigued after rage for a number of rounds equal to 2 times the number of rounds spent in the rage. A barbarian cannot enter a new rage while fatigued or exhausted but can otherwise enter rage multiple times during a single encounter or combat. If a barbarian falls unconscious, her rage immediately ends, placing her in peril of death.
Plus, a level 17 barbarian would get the ability to rage cycle anyway with the Tireless Rage ability. You might debate whether gaining an ability that would take a barbarian 17 levels to naturally do while you would be as low as level 8 might be a bit cheesy, but the mechanic itself is an intended part of the class.
WIth 1800 gold you don't buy much, take a monk's kit, some shurikens, a couple of temple swords for the various DRs and a wand of mage armor and that is pretty much all you can afford.
Bear in mind that by the rules you should have somewhere to 23,500 gp at 7 lvl. 1800g is a major deviation from the suggested wealth, so we cannot possibly know when you will be able to afford the more expensive items.
Also, I suggest that you wait until 10th level before you multiclass into barbarian, so that you take Medusa's Wrath first.
XMorsX wrote: WIth 1800 gold you don't buy much, take a monk's kit, some shurikens, a couple of temple swords for the various DRs and a wand of mage armor and that is pretty much all you can afford.
Bear in mind that by the rules you should have somewhere to 23,500 gp at 7 lvl. 1800g is a major deviation from the suggested wealth, so we cannot possibly know when you will be able to afford the more expensive items
I think he means as fluid funds. Plus, the average wealth per level includes the value of the items you hold. He might have just recently bought an AoMF with a couple of +'s worth of value for example.
Well, he says he is equipmentless.
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