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Not very: It's primary purpose is to deal with DR, and DR doesn't typically come into play for a couple of levels, so I'd give it a '3' or less (you do want to pick it up, but Weapon Focus or Power Attack are probably better options at level 1).
Beyond level 1, it's necessity will vary based on how many creatures you are facing with DR (if you are going into the worldwound, get it fairly quickly).
The other major reason to pick it up is that it is a prereq for Pummeling Charge, which you are almost certainly going to want to get as quickly as possible, so you almost certainly want to pick up Pummeling Style by level 7 or so (assuming you are a Monk or Brawler, but if you aren't, you can't pick it up before level 6 anyway).
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Not very: It's primary purpose is to deal with DR, and DR doesn't typically come into play for a couple of levels, so I'd give it a '3' or less (you do want to pick it up, but Weapon Focus or Power Attack are probably better options at level 1).
Beyond level 1, it's necessity will vary based on how many creatures you are facing with DR (if you are going into the worldwound, get it fairly quickly).
The other major reason to pick it up is that it is a prereq for Pummeling Charge, which you are almost certainly going to want to get as quickly as possible, so you almost certainly want to pick up Pummeling Style by level 7 or so (assuming you are a Monk or Brawler, but if you aren't, you can't pick it up before level 6 anyway).
Actually not entirely true sacred fist for example is an outlier they can pick up pummeling style at level 1 but cant get the charge until level 12
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Its never "necessary". Monks without it have worked quite well for quite a long time. Monks who use two handed weapons need it far less than those who use unarmed strikes.
But as Taja says how desireable it will be depends a huge amount on campaign. If you occassionaly fight a monster with a bit of DR then its no big deal. You either just power through it or have some back up weapons depending on your build.
Personally, I tend to like my monks to be more than just damage dealers. So, I'd often prioritize things like step up or improved <blort> or Crane Style or the like over feats to just do damage. A base monk with nothing more than power attack is still a quite credible damage dealer.