Ok here are the rules:
You stick to the Martial Artist Monk archetype with an optional one level dip into fighter (any archetype).
The stats and race (human) stay the same.
Feats allowed from CRB, APG, UM and UC only. (no monster feats etc)
The idea is to produce the most damage on an average round for a flurry. By that I mean a build where you can have one round a day doing 10 times as much damage but otherwise suck, doesn't count.
Stats:
Str 17
Dex 12
Con 12
Int 8
Wis 15
Cha 9
Feats:
[b] = bonus feat
lvl 1 in fighter:
Weapon Focus (unarmed)
Power Attack [b]
Improved Initiative (Human)
lvl 2 and onwards in monk:
dodge [b]
lvl 3
Dragon Style
Combat Reflexes [b]
lvl 5
Weapon Specialisation (unarmed)
lvl 7
Dragon Ferocity
Improved Trip [b]
lvl 9
Greater Weapon Focus
lvl 11
Improved Critical (unarmed)
Medusa's Wrath [b]
lvl 13
Greater Weapon Specialisation (unarmed)
By this level I think the build should have a full attack of, assuming all stat points have been added to strength 18/18/13/13/8 with each attack dealing 2d6 + 11 damage (7 from str due to dragon's ferocity and 4 from specialisations). If I've made any mistakes here let me know and obviously, if you can see any improvements, please post.
Also on another note, does Dragon's Ferocity allow the better version of Power Attack normally reserved for 2H?
Have you considered monk weapon adept? Weapons are usually more effective, have higher crit range, can get better enchantments more easily...
Oh just seeing that you want to stick to martial artist. Any specific reason? Do you want to stick to unarmed strikes, or did you just not consider monk weapons?
Personally I would recommend Tiger style over Dragon. You lose about 3 damage per hit at level 12 but you can apply the power attack penalty to AC increase your number of hits considerably. You also get a limited form of pounce if your enemy tries to get away from you.
Personally I am not sure I would bother with combat reflexes, it wont use your Flurry attack bonus. I am also not convinced improve trip is doing much for you giving you mostly want to be unleashing as many flurry attacks as humanly possible.
Dragons Ferocity doesnt say anything about giving you a better power attack ratio so I dont see why it would.
For stats I personally hate to dump Int as I like skills and would probably go something like:
Str 16
Dex 14
Con 12
Wis 14
Int 12
Cha 7
Having an odd number in Wisdom isnt doing much for you given everything will be going into Strength, at least until much later when you consider buying inherent stat boosts.
Using a Temple Sword along with power attack is a really simple way to up your damage early on with minimal feat investment.
Flurrying with the Temple Sword two-handed does not get you the 1.5*Str of a 2H weapon because Flurry of Blows is always 1*Str no matter what, but it does give you the 2H -1/+3 Power Attack, which is pretty awesome.
Later on when you have all the Dragon Style feats, higher unarmed damage die, etc., it probably makes sense to switch back to unarmed, but early on, it's a pretty solid option worth considering.
Improved initiative adds no damage, dragon style adds 1 damage to your first attack and dragon ferocity adds 1 to each attack since you only have 17 str.
If you took the gladiator fighter archtype you could take power attack, weapon focus, dazzling display and get free performance weapon mastery at 1st level, then when you hit monk take savage display, performing combatant, dramatic display and masterful display. These would replace dragon style, dragon ferocity, greater weapon focus and greater weapon specialisation, you could always add back in some style feats later (and dragon style would be better than performance feats if you had a str of 22 or more, tiger style is better than dragon style in most dpr calculations however) and add in gwf and gws as well.
Savage display and dramatic display would give you +2 to hit and +d6 damage per hit, thats a gain of +1 to hit and +0.5 average damage per strike over the top of the feats you swapped out, you also gain the ability to shake multiple targets in combat which is sometimes more useful than damage, not for this build which is focused on pure damage but still handy to have.
Cheers for the advice guys.
@ Sangalor, I'm sticking to Martial Artist since I have a character concept in mind, as such I'm steering clear of weapons as much as I can.
@ all, I realise not all the feats I have listed are damage increasing but most of the non-damage increasing feats have [b] next to them indicating they are from the fairly shoddy selection of monk bonus feats which don't really have any damage increasing potential. I included them for completeness only really.
I understand the love for tiger style over dragon style but for me the benefit doesn't come until you Tiger Pounce when you can apply the power attack penalty to AC. It also would take up 3 feats instead of the Dragon tree's 2 (I don't need Dragon's Roar though it is cool). It's a close call but having the extra feat spare just about wins it for me.
@ Beebs, I've covered that its for a character concept that I want to stick to unarmed but thanks for the input. The temple sword is indeed tempting.
@ Egoish, a very cunning combination indeed. I would like to discuss this further with you. Savage display takes a swift action to use, normally not a problem but the martial artist has an ability called Exploit Weakness which is also a swift action so the two cannot be used together. Exploit Weakness gives a +2 to attack against a specific enemy and allows you to ignore damage reduction, something that an unarmed character sorely needs, especially at later levels. Since the two cannot be used together, I wonder if getting all those feats which replace base damage increasing feats, might be worth while or not. Honestly, I don't know the correct answer, I haven't done any number crunching for this yet. Just something to think about. Also, sorry for not making this clear, but the stats I gave were for level 1 and naturally at every instance I would be adding to strength, meaning by level 12, str would be 20. Shaken is a nice thing to be able to give opponents, plus the idea of making enemies scared is conceptually awesome. But Dragon Ferocity allows you to do this with your stunning fist attacks or on crits. Another minor point is that Dragon Ferocity allows you to get Elemental Fist, not a massive thing in itself since with this build by the time I got it, it would be pretty late in the day, but it also lets the damage progress as per a monk of the four winds.
Oh and what I refered to about the power attack ratio: under the power attack description it says "This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with [...] a primary natural attack that adds 1-1/2 times your strength modifier on damage rolls." Since Dragon's Ferocity allows you to add 1-1/2 times your strength modifier on damage rolls, would it not therefore give you this more favourable power attack ratio? i.e. -1 attack, +3 damage
Amulet of Mighty Fists (Guided).
The whole point of martial-artist is to multiclass barbarian.
Amulet of Mighty Fists (Agile) works too. Avoid the MAD.
blackbloodtroll wrote: Amulet of Mighty Fists (Guided). Nice idea! However, doesn't guided only increase your chance to hit this way? I thought it did not add your wis to damage :-/
Do you have a link to it?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-weapons/magic-weapons-non-core/we apon-property---guided
Mike Schneider wrote: The whole point of martial-artist is to multiclass barbarian. I don't think you're serious. But if you are, I disagree ;-)
The class got a lot going for itself, and I would rather go the oracle-curse way to avoid fatigue (which I believe you have in mind) and not miss as many barbarian levels then :-)
The martial artist ability as a swift action is pretty awesome, i would probably get savage display without dramatic display or masterful display if you want to save on feats and keep either dragon style or gwf/gws.
The swift action thing is a problem and tbh overcoming damage reduction is quite important. The ones that are going to give you the most problems overcoming are the alignment based ones and chances are you'd get a holy amulet for that purpose anyway. If you going to have a huge str score then stick with dragon style and gwf/gws, i like the concept of a performance martial artist getting some sweet bonuses but the swift action is definately better spent on overcoming dr if you otherwise would not. One thing to bear in mind is that while savage display automatically works you have to make a check for exploit weakness, dc 10+cr (say cr 15 for real threats with good dr) dc25, your bonus d20+level(13)+wis(4/5), you need an 8 to succeed. Its not hard to pass but its also easy to fail unless you invest in wisdom.
The power attack thing doesn't work as unarmed strikes are not primary natural attacks that get 1.5 str bonus. Dragon ferocity just adds it on again.
On the dragon roar vs dazzling display thing, dragon roar has a save and dazzling display is a skill check so its easier to land dazzling display, also dazzling display doesn't cost you two stunning fists. Another thing to bear in mind is that shaken stacks if you use it in the right order, dazzling display group of foes, all become shaken for 2 rounds, next round, full attack a shaken guy and crit he becomes frightened, crit twice and force paniced. With shatter defenses as well either dazzling display or criting with dragon ferocity actives medusa's wrath without using a stunning fist attempt as well, so taking the weapon focus/dazzling display/shatter defenses tree is good for anyone using medusa's wrath, and if your grouped with a sneak attacker they will probably love you.
Instead of one level dip in Fighter, have you considered a 1 level dip in Sythesist Summoner?
I like the dazzling display shatter defences route, I had not considered that at all. That is definately worth looking into.
ARGH there's just not enough feats to go round!
Thanks to those suggesting alternate level dips but I have a character concept I'd like to stick to and I'm trying to maximise within those parameters.
Sangalor wrote: Mike Schneider wrote: The whole point of martial-artist is to multiclass barbarian. I don't think you're serious. But if you are, I disagree ;-) Uhm, Berserk Amulet of Mighty Fists?
;-)
Egoish wrote: and if your grouped with a sneak attacker they will probably love you. Are you referring to the flat-footed condition from shatter defenses? If so...
Shatter Defenses wrote: Any shaken, frightened, or panicked opponent hit by you this round is flat-footed to your attacks until the end of your next turn. This includes any additional attacks you make this round. Unfortunately, this won't really help Rogues get in their sneak attack.
However, there is nothing wrong with a Rogue taking the Shattering Defenses feat themselves. Open combat with a Dazzling display, move forward and attack.
Mike Schneider wrote: Sangalor wrote: Mike Schneider wrote: The whole point of martial-artist is to multiclass barbarian. I don't think you're serious. But if you are, I disagree ;-) Uhm, Berserk Amulet of Mighty Fists?
;-) Do you mean furious?
Either way I agree. Barbarian is an excellent dip to increase dpr.
Its nice for rogues if someone else is shaking people though.
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