I'm putting together a level 3 character for an ongoing campaign that concludes at lv 10, and i'm waffling between a few choices. One of them is, as the title might give away, a monk.
Only, I'm having trouble finding the perfect balance for the features I want.
I really want to use a Temple Sword and a shield of some description, but I want also make Focus Spells my primary specialization. If I go with a DEX build, I'll have enough WIS to turn my (expert at 9) ki spell proficiency into offensive cantrips via archetypes for that sweet Flurry->MAPless spell combo, but I'd have to give up the temple sword. If I go with a STR build, i'll either have pitiful AC or pitiful spell DCs. I could dip into Sentinel to mitigate the AC, but i'd lose out on cantrips and class features. If I accept the poor wis instead, i'd be able to throw agile shuriken around after a flurry, but that's not quite as appealing as a nice MAP-free followup attack.
Anyone have any experience with finaggling monks to make something like what I want work? I'm really racking my brains here but it looks kind of doomed to me. Are there any items that work to offset a dex-dumping monk? I'm aware of mountain stance, but it locks in a specific strike which I'm not interested in.
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It sounds like you're pulling in too many directions at once and hoping to come close to optimal on one or more of them and, well, that's really just not something that's possible due to the limited Abi Mod increases you're afforded.
If you want to aim for good Ki Spells and Focus Spells the Wis isn't really that important since most of the ones worth their salt are enablers and buffs to your Unarmed Attacks of Flurry of Blows and since you're aiming for a Temple Sword (You'll need to be sure to invest in Monastic Weaponry to use FoB with it) and a Shield (any number of things can give you Shield Block as a Reaction via Feat investment) I would suggest letting your Wis fall behind instead of allowing Str to suffer (you want EVERY +1 you can get on non-agile Weapons like the TS since you will want to attack 2+ times per turn whenever you get the chance and end up using Ki Strike to improve it (or other options, later on, to pack more punch into the attacks) and, really, you won't be using the Wis mod for much at all.
So, in summary, prioritize Str > Dex > Wis > Con > Int/Cha. Starting with 16 in both Str and Dex is probably your best bet to ensure you're not dealing with a big dum-dum or glass cannon with very few HP.
16 in Dex won't cause you to have a pitiful AC, espescially if you end up using the Shield, in fact, in most situations when you do raise it you'll probably still have the best AC of any non dedicated Tank build PC in your party and if you have Shield Block you can rely on that for additional damage soak if you do end up getting hit.
Investing a ton of Feats to try to get offensive Cantips and Focus Spells that don't tweak or improve your Strikes/FoB is a complete trap as a monk, I don't suggest it at all, it will take a MaD Class and further force to you try to do the splits all for a pathetic amount of chip damage that would be outdone by a Bard half your level with a simple Runed up x-box. Zero MAP or not, it is almost always going to be a waste of actions compared to Ki Strike FoB on a clutch of Shuriken and a respectable Str Mod.
One thing I will say though, never dump Dex, maintain it as a second tier stat at worst, it's just way too crucial toward your AC and other important things like Ref and some Skills.
Yeah that's kind of the same conclusion i'm currently at. Dex is just too important, even if I would rather have higher wis. The ki spells i'm gunning for are more or less all self-facing so I *can* just ignore DCs, I just want to be greedy.