I've decided I'd like to play a Monk. I've read Treantmonk's guide, and I think I have a pretty good handle on how to make it work. However, said guide only details what is needed to effectively use the basic Monk; I'd like to try the Weapon Adept. I was wondering if any of you had played said archetype, and what your experience doing so was. I'm not asking how to optimize this; I am well aware how futile such an attempt would be. XD I'd just like some ideas on how to make this a contributing character. Note that none of the other members of the party will be optimized; heck, 1 of them is a Ranger based on thrown weapons. XD Thanks ahead of time. ;D
Well, Perfect Strike only works on very specific weapons, namely kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, and siangham. All of those, save for the Quarterstaff, are light weapons so I'd suggest you go for the Quarterstaff and two-hand it along with Power Attack. You get the two-handed bonus from Power Attack and you don't need the Double property of Quarterstaff because of FoB. Beyond that, it's pretty straight-forward. I suggest picking up Disarm and Trip and, other than that, just wail on them. You only have to enchant one head of the Quarterstaff. One possibility is to take Kirin Style. Focus on Str, of course, followed by Wis and some Dex; Int if you decide to go into Combat Expertise + "smart" maneuvers and Kirin. Alternatively, go for Janni Style if you don't want to pump Int. Alternatively-alternatively, pump some Cha and grab Shatter Defenses along with Medusa's Wrath at lvl 10 (monk bonus feat ignores prereqs) and rely on intimidate>shatter to render them flat-footed which makes them qualify for the extra attacks from Medusa's. Bodywraps of Mighty Strikes can help there just to give a little buff to the unarmed strikes.
What Kazaan said is basically what I did. In terms of using a quarterstaff 2-handed.
Not sure what material you are allowed but there is a magical enhancement property called "Guided" which lets you use your WIS in place of STR on attack rolls. Its from Pathfinder #10 A History of Ashes I believe - but is basically 3.5 material from what I am told.
I was allowed to use that enhancement so I built my Monk as follows;
WIS>STR>DEX/CON>INT>CHA
I also used the Qinggong archetype which was nice with a decent Ki Pool.
Actually, I'm pretty set on using Nunchucks. Which I know isn't the smartest move, but c'mon, they're Nunchucks. XD Any tips more along those lines?
Reinhardt wrote: Actually, I'm pretty set on using Nunchucks. Which I know isn't the smartest move, but c'mon, they're Nunchucks. XD Any tips more along those lines? I'd still only use one of them. No point paying for twice the enhancements when you don't have to.
They work for Perfect Strike as well.
What sourcebooks can you use?
I only planned to use 1; 2 seemed kinda pointless. And I can use anything you can link me to, as I only have access to the core/advanced/ultimate. XD
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Play a Weapon Master qinggong drunken master monk. Drunken ki is very useful so that you can use your ki many more times than normal monks do. The best weapon to use is the temple sword with its 19-20 critical threat range, if eastern weapon are allowed. Otherwise quarterstaff it is. Check this build for ideas.
Half Orc Weapon Master Qinggong Drunken master Monk
20pb
STR 16 (+1 at 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th lvl)
DEX 12
CON 15 (+1 at 4 lvl)
INT 10
WIS 14
CHA 7
Alt racial traits: Sacred Tattoo, Shaman's Apprentice
1 Perfect Strike (bonus), Dodge (bonus) Endurance (bonus), Drunken Brawler
2 Weapon Focus (temple sword) (bonus), Deflect Arrows (bonus)
3 Power attack
4 Power: Barkskin
5 Fast Drinker, Power: True Strike
6 Weapon Specialization (temple sword) (bonus), Mobility (bonus)
7 Crane Style, Power: Gaseous Form
8
9 Crane Wing
10 Improved Critical (bonus)
11 Deep Drinker
12 Power: Ki leech
13 Crane Riposte
14 Combat Reflexes (bonus)
15 Dimensional Agility, Power: Abundant step
16
17 Dimensional assault, Power: Bleeding Critical (if ruled that you can use it after confirming the critical, if not then Penetrating Strike)
18 Snatch Arrows (bonus)
19 Dimensional dervish
20
Choose health lvl bonus every lvl. See Treantmonk and Revel's guide for useful items. Buy a belt of mighty constitution +2 asap so that you can qualify for Fast Drinker at 5th lvl. Other than, buying a wand of mage armor and giving it to your party caster to cast it on you will save your butt many times.
Drink as a swift action for temporary ki and hp, fight defensively for the crane style bonuses and spend your ki wisely (usually barkskin, extra attack on full-attacks and Drunken Strength at standard action attacks).
I purposely exchanged Abundant step at 12th lvl, because you need at least Dimentional Agility to make it useful in battle. Without it you must end your actions after you teleport, shuting down any offensive potential a teleport could grant you. If you ever make it to 19th lvl you are going to really enjoy dimentional dervish.
Reinhardt wrote: I only planned to use 1; 2 seemed kinda pointless. And I can use anything you can link me to, as I only have access to the core/advanced/ultimate. XD I can see why Nunchucks are appealing, just replace temple sword with them and do not take bleeding critical. That being said, I strongly suggest that yo consider temple sword. Critting in battle is always more fun than anything, and with the sword you will crit often. And you cannot say that a sword like this is not cool. Or like this :)
Here is the link to d20pfsrd for any reference you need.
Reinhardt wrote: I've decided I'd like to play a Monk. I've read Treantmonk's guide, and I think I have a pretty good handle on how to make it work. However, said guide only details what is needed to effectively use the basic Monk; I'd like to try the Weapon Adept. I was wondering if any of you had played said archetype, and what your experience doing so was. I'm not asking how to optimize this; I am well aware how futile such an attempt would be. XD I'd just like some ideas on how to make this a contributing character. Note that none of the other members of the party will be optimized; heck, 1 of them is a Ranger based on thrown weapons. XD Thanks ahead of time. ;D first, i think it would be fair to say that treantmonk's guide while a good start is also out of date. The monk has any number of ways to attack that don't need massive strength. that said you seem to know what u want so ill focus on that now.
Ive played a weapon adept monk before and i loved the flavor of it. Unfortunately it isn't that effective IMO. it doesn't get the wisdom replacing attack rolls of some of the best archetypes, the weapons damage doesn't scale like a fist would, and a few other little things. But if you like to be a very accurate striker this is one of the best thanks to weapon focus and perfect strike.
So why did i play it then? i found it gratifying to be like bruce lee and just laying out guys that thought i was a weakling with no armor with nothing but foot, fist, and a stick :) Just don't expect to be THE rear end kicker of the party.
Edit: if u want a tip on playing it, not optimization, but playing for fun and want to translate it to mechanics let me know and ill tell more specific that i liked and didn't like as i played it.
Mind that you can't Perfect Strike with a temple sword anyway, so that's out. Short of relying on an Agile weapon, you can't get away with a low Dex either.
On the other hand, you have less use for Wisdom, since you traded out Stunning Fist.
Petty Alchemy wrote: Mind that you can't Perfect Strike with a temple sword anyway, so that's out. Short of relying on an Agile weapon, you can't get away with a low Dex either.
On the other hand, you have less use for Wisdom, since you traded out Stunning Fist.
You are right. It is a shame though, all options have critical threat only on natural 20.
XMorsX wrote: Petty Alchemy wrote: Mind that you can't Perfect Strike with a temple sword anyway, so that's out. Short of relying on an Agile weapon, you can't get away with a low Dex either.
On the other hand, you have less use for Wisdom, since you traded out Stunning Fist.
You are right. It is a shame though, all options have critical threat only on natural 20. Sorry for the necro, but Perfect Strike actually means you'll crit more often than the modifier would indicate. Rolling three times for one hit really explodes the crit range, especially if you also take Improved Critical or a Keen Kama.
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