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AtlusSeven MONK SPOTLIGHT
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AtlusSeven Date Posted: 12/11 10:24pm Subject: **SPOTLIGHT** The Monk Well. Finally got off my lazy behind to write up my next Spotlight. My motivation is the fact that Mr. JohnyLuv promised to wire me $1 million for my efforts. I better make it a good one. I could really use the money. So here it is. Spotlight Monk. My 2nd favorite combat oriented class in Wizardry 8..... The Monk Monks are somewhat of a difficult class to develop. Not so much in their skills, though. Those are easy to work up. No. The difficulty lays in which Attributes one builds up first. Do you go with a quick, agile Monk, capable of delivering an insane amount of attacks with a chance to critical on each blow landed? The tradeoff is that you wont deal much damage per hit. Or do you develop a Monk capable of dishing out incredible amounts of damage with each hit and able to withstand even the mightiest blow from the enemy? The tradeoff with this route is that you won't have as many attacks per round when compared to the above setup. Or yet still, do you try to accomplish all at once? A Monk that can deliver crushing blows, many attacks per round, and take stab after stab after spell and still walk away from the battle with his/her head held up high? The tradeoff here is that it'll take much longer for your Monk to reach his/her full potential. These are somewhat difficult choices, but that's what i'm here for--to help you guys/gals out that are having trouble making that decision. Let's look at what Skills the Monk has that might be able to offset skimping on certain Attributes-- --Martial Arts. The power behind the Monk. There's no reason in the world to pass over this Skill when choosing a Monk. It's his/her Primary Skill, in which they recieve a 25% bonus on top of whatever points you pump into it or learn through practice. Also, it's what....well....a Monk is all about. Fighting barefisted. The higher this skill is, the more damage you'll dish out per attack, the more often you'll land hits, and the more attacks per round you'll recieve. Since expertise in this skill can bestow such abilities on the Monk, you should be able to get away with skimping on the Monk's Strength. Quite simply, pump 3 points per level up in Martial Arts. If you don't, well.....there's no point even having the Monk in your party. --Stealth. Since a Monk can only wear very few armors (a few Robes), he/she needs something that will keep them alive. This is where Stealth comes in. The higher this skill is, the better the Monk's Armor Class. As we all know, higher Armor Class means your Monk is harder to hit in combat with physical attacks. Because of this, we should be able to skimp on raising Vitality during level-ups. Pump 3 points per level up on Stealth. --Critical Strike. Don't you just love waltzing into combat against many foes with well over 300 Hit Points......and watch as your Monk, Samurai, Ninja, or Ranger picks each one off with just a few blows? Seeing that coveted "INSTANT KILL!!" message makes the deed that much more enjoyable. While not as good as a Ninja or Ranger in the Critical department, the Monk is still no newbie to this area of combat. Mastery in this skill doesn't really help offset skimping on certain Attributes, though, but it's still a vital area for ANY Monk to pursue. Pump 3 points per level up in Critical Strike. So there we have it. The 3 skills that ANY Monk would do best to master in. The good thing about these skills are that 2 of them allow us to skimp on certain Attributes during level up--Strength and Vitality. The other skills that are left that are vital to a successful Monk are Speed, Dexterity, and Senses....... Ah! But what's this? A damn monkey wrench in our plans! If you boost Strength and Vitality to 100, you can unlock 2 of the better Personal Skills in the game--Power Strike and Iron Skin. Power Strike allows the character to deliver forceful blows with an increased chance to hit, penetrate, and damage. Iron Skin allows the possessor to attain damage reduction. Hmmm. What to do. What to do.... Ah ha! Monks already have innate damage resistance! I guess we can do without raising Vitality for the time being. And with high Stealth (which equates to better Armor Class), you don't really need to worry about your Hit Point total much. Your Monk will be dodging most attacks with ease. And what of Power Strike? Well, given that if a Monk has sufficient Dexterity and skill with Martial Arts, you shouldn't be missing much or worrying about dealing sufficient damage. Forgo building up Strength for the time being (but not altogether). And on a related note, maxing out Dexterity to 100 opens up the awesome Reflextion skill. As this skill increases, so does your Armor Class. Even though the Monk already possesses the Stealth Skill, this is still important to the Monk. Why? Again, lack of medium and heavy Armors. Every bit of Armor Class boost is needed. Well, that was easy. I guess we concentrate on FIRST building up Dexterity, Speed, and Senses. You can do one of two things here. Either pump 2 points into each of the above skills, or pick 2 of them and pump 3 points into each during level-ups. If you decide to pick 2, go with Speed and Dexterity. These 2 are more important to the Monk, as they help greatly with Initiative, chance to hit, Armor Class, and open up 2 very useful Personal Skills--Reflextion and Snake Speed. We talked about Reflextion already, so that leaves Snake Speed. Snake Speed is a Personal Skill that boosts your Initiative greatly. This is very helpful, in that you want your Monk to attack as soon as possible during combat. Reason? It gives your Monk a chance to not only greatly soften up the enemies so your other characters can finish them off, but it allows your Monk to attack first so that you land Critical Kills early on in combat. Nothing I hate more than having my Monk deliver a Critical AFTER my other characters have wasted their attacks whittling down an enemy to only a handful of Hit Points. While you're building up your Dexterity and Speed, it's a good idea to keep 2 Ankhs of Strength on your Monk. This will give him/her a 20 point boost in Strength, allowing him/her to deliver more damage per hit. It's a good way to afford to skimp on Strength during level-ups for the time being. So there we have it. During level ups, it's best to pump 3 points each into Dexterity and Speed. After those are maxed out at 100, concentrate on Strength and Senses. Also, pump 3 points each during level-ups into Martial Arts, Stealth, and Critical Hits. Once you can't pump anymore points into those Skills, concentrate on building up your Personal Skills (if you've unlocked any of them at that point) and Wand and Staff. Why Wand and Staff? Well, you'll probably come across the awesome Zatoichi Bo sometime during your game. This weapon is only usable by Monks and Samurais. You'll want to give it to your Monk since Samurais can use Bows. This weapon will allow your Monk to hit enemies at extended range. Sometimes during combat, an enemy will be juuuuust outside of Melee range. A nice Zatoichi Bo in a Monk's hands allows him/her to still partake in combat should the situation arise. There are a couple other Bos found in the game, but their power is nowhere near that of the Zatoichi Bo. After those have been worked on, you'll want to concentrate on your Spells. Obviously, you'll want to pump points into Psionics. The higher this is, the more spells you can choose from during level-ups. As for Secondary Realms, go with Mental and Fire. These 2 realms are home to some of the best Psionic spells available. Remember, though, that you want to FIRST concentrate on building up your Monk's combat skills. It's what he/she is best at. As for which Race to choose? Well, obviously you'll want to choose whatever class you envision your Monk as (Role Playing reasons and all). However, the best Monks from a Power-Gamer's perspective are Humans. They get 25 extra points to distrubute at Character Creation, and their other Attributes start out at decent levels. Dwarves make good Monks, too, given that Dwarves have innate Damage Resistanace that stacks with what the Monk already has him/herself. The bad thing with Dwarf Monks is that you'll spend several levels Apprenticing until you aquire the correct number of Attribute points to attain true Monk status. Since the Monk is obviously a Melee fighter, put him/her on the front lines with your other fighter- types. When the enemy is at Long Range, try casting spells instead of either doing nothing or using throwing weapons. I've found that a Combat-capable Monk with Magic as his/her Long-Range weapon works best. Plus by using Magic as their Long-Range weapon, it helps build up your Magic Realms after combat. Another important note is that Monks level-up quite slowly compared to the vanilla classes (Fighter, Rogue, Bard, Mage, Priest). They level-up as fast as a Samurai or Ranger. As an aside, Monks are probably the most boring characters to use in Wizardry 8 for one reason and one reason only--they cannot use a good 90% of the stuff you come across. The only weapons they can use are relegated to certain Staffs, Wands, and Polearms, as well as Throwing weapons such as Darts, Throwing Knives, and Shurikens. Armor is limited to certain Robes, VERY few footgear and Helms, and NO gloves. Again, though--Monks shine (and very brightly at that) when fighting Barefisted using Martial Arts. The good thing about Monks not being able to use a lot of the stuff you come across is that it's VERY inexpensive to keep them outfitted and in tip-top shape. No need to scour for weapons and/or pieces of armor to keep them effective. The downside to that, however, is that you can't go find some awesome weapon early on, toss it in your Monk's hands, and make them effectively several levels more powerful than they acctual are. No. You have to rely on level-ups to keep them powerful. But that's the nature of a Monk, is it not? A life devoted to the unification of one's Mind, Body, and Soul, and not reliance on worldly possessions to achive one's goals. Oh yea. Almost forgot one of the best things about a Monk. At higher levels (not sure at which level, though), Monks learn the ability to Knock-Out opponents. You won't see any message, nor see anything on the Character Screen pertaining to it, but you'll see it happen in combat. K.O.ing the opponent is AWESOME. It makes the opponent useless in combat, and allows you to deliver 2 times the damage to them while they're in such a state. This is another reason why you want your Monk's Initiative at high levels. Hit first, KO the opponent, and your other characters can take them down with ease. And one last note before I wrap things up. My advice is to NOT make a Monk character. It's a waste of space that could be better filled with any of the other awesome classes in Wizardry 8. Here's why-- You'll find a Monk NPC kinda early in the game (if you know where to look) that will follow you pretty much anywhere (I haven't found a place he won't go, but haven't tried everyplace). He starts off at a decent level and is probably THE BEST NPC you can find in the game (IMO, of course). Of course, if you WANT your own Monk character for Role Playing reasons, by all means go for it. Hell, I have one myself. But if you want to truely Powergame your way through the game (with out going the 6 Fighter route ), forego making a Monk and instead pick up the Monk NPC as soon as you can. And obviously, all the information i've provided pertains to the Monk NPC as well. So there you have it--How to build up a Monk character for full potential.
Strike first, strike fast, strike hard. (Oi...sounds like some Karate
Kid, Cobra Kai shpiel ). Although not able to out-damage a high- level
Fighter character, if built up correctly, Monks can become much more reliable
and versatile....able to hit earlier in combat, hit more times at an earlier
level, land hits more often, score Critical Kills and K.O.s, and cast
mind-altering spells. Hope this helps with some of you guys having trouble building up your Monk characters. Any and all imput--comments, corrections, critisizms, etc--are much appreciated. ^_^ RuPaul Much appreciated, Atlus! EDIT: Oh, sorry, I missed that paragraph (was a *long* post, after all)... zeckensack Deducing from my humble demo experiences (hopefully getting the darn
thing this weekend) the 'Mindstab' spell is one of the best early-access
ranged weapons in the game -----signature----- Shut up and get the lady a beer! W_Bruzzo You forgot one downside to the npc monk android. It has no magic ability what so ever Bochser Once again, thanks for the excellent Spotlight Atlus! I just have one quick question, are you sure Powerstrike lets you hit harder and do more damage? I mean, that's what I assumed when I heard 'Powerstrike' but reading the manual and even when you right click the skill in the game it just says it increases your chance to hit and to penetrate. Not like this would be the first time something wasn't mentioned in the manual though, I was just curious >>Someone in your bishop thread was commenting on the perceived uselessness of the bards. I have always loved bards, and have had one in every party I've made in Wiz8, and boy, are they powerful. Anyway, off topic, but I think alot of people overlook da bard, especially with Saxx available early in the game... << I agree! I think the Bard is one of the best classes in the game! I'll probably always have 1 in my parties, even when I make a rogue. The beauty of bards is they don't need to practice in 2-3 skills to be effective in combat. All they really need (In my opinion anyways) is music, where as other combat classes need close/ranged combat, a weapon skill, critical strike, stealth, Wizardry, Fire, and all of that. The bards can do a variety of things with their instruments. Since I only work on my Bards music skill for combat, I always have her pick up pickpocket and lockpicks. Forget having a rogue pick up these abilities, give him stealth, dual weapons and what not and he'll be a great fighter. Zannhart JonnyLuv Ok, so I was half right. I did focus on speed, martial arts, and critical strike. However, I have been putting points into close combat instead of stealth. More importantly, I have been pumping up his senses ability rather than dexterity. Oops. He had the highest in my party when I started off, so I figured he'd be the guy to do all of the searching. Now I have to abandon that theory and pump up his dexterity. He'll be able to one-handedly light his smokes with a zippo in no time! I also like the idea of focusing on magic instead of thrown weapons. I always have him toss whatever I have handy (darts, shurikins, etc), but I'll work on Mind Stab instead. At least I haven't been wasting level up points on the thrown weapons skill. Again, thanks for the post. I picked a monk because they're fun to play, and Ninjas are passe'. So far I haven't been dissapointed, and when he says "that one will no longer trouble us" I always feel the need to slap him on the back and buy him a brewski. greenkiwi Great post AtlusSeven ... actually all of them have been great. Thanks. One note, I've found it extremely helpful to give my hybrid characters one level of their magic class. So for the monk, somewhere before level 5, give him/her one level of psionic. Then switch right back. This gives you a huge bonus in your magical abilities and one level of concentration in magic. Once you reach level 5 as a monk, you're ahead of the game and don't need to put any more points into magic to stay on schedule. I haven't played a monk, but I developed my samurai in this manner. He uses magic instead of ranged weapons. Right now he's right on track... getting fireball and freeze flesh right when he should have. This gives him the ability to be effective with magic, so I use him more. I imagine that if you do the same thing with the monk, that he will be much more useful to you. AtlusSeven Thanks for all the kind words guys/gals. It makes my efforts all worthwhile. Well, that and knowing that i'm helping out some of you who are having troubles. Thanks again! --ProvingGrounds--No, I don't have my own website. I just write these things up every so often when I'm in a writing mood. But anyone can put them up on a site if they so wish. No need for my permission. Hell, they don't even have to give me credit if they don't want to (you thieving bastard!! ). And BTW--great party you have there. I had a similar one on my second complete go-through the game. You'll enjoy it. Takes a lot of time to develop, but the challenge makes it worthwhile. --W_Bruzzo--You're right--the NPC Monk CANNOT use magic. But......if you free up a space by NOT making your own Monk, you can instead put a pure-magic user in his/her place. --Bochser--I'm not 100% positive about that aspect of Powerstrike. Like I explain in my SPOTLIGHT: The Figher, it might work like it did in Wizardry 7, in which Powerstrike allows the possessor to deal damage on the higher end of their damage spectrum. For example, if the character's damage range is 10-30, a high Powerstrike Skill will allow that character to deal 30 damage more often than dealing 10 damage. I'm possitive already that Powerstrike allows for greater chance to hit and penetrate, per the in-game information. --JonnyLuv--I was happy to oblige. I had a lot of fun writing up this particular Spotlight for you. Glad to know it's helped you out some. And thanks for the check. My wife and I shall spend it wisely. We've been eying this beautiful home out in the country for some time now. This money will make it so much easier to obtain. --GreenKiwi--I don't have much experience with "dual classing" in Wizardry 8. I've always kept my characters "pure" through the entire game. But if what you say works (and I'm sure it does), by all means go for it. For me, though, I just don't like the idea of switching classes midgame like that. I dunno. Takes away from the immersive Role-Playing aspect for me. For some (like you) it might be plausable. But not I. To each his/her own, though. I might try it out sometime when i'm done with my current go-through. Thanks for the tips. --Shathal--Here are the links to my other 3 Spotlight posts. The Fighter one is brand new, just made a few minutes ago. The Ninja one is buried in another post as a response to someone inquiring about Ninjas. I've had a couple requests to redo the Ninja post as a "real" Spotlight. I might get around to it in a few days if I find the time/desire to do so. The Bishop one was my first real Spotlight. Anyways, here are the links-- Ninja-- http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=19538433&replies=40 Fighter-- http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=20751404&replies=2 Bishop-- http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=19979479&replies=27 Also, Mr. FleaBittenFox wrote up a most excellent post outlining how to build up the "specialist" spellcasters (Mage, Priest, Alchemist, and Psionic). He goes into great detail about which Spell Realms are best for each class, which spells are good to get, and so forth. A most wonderful read. Very worthy of your time. It can be found here-- http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=19982795&replies=13 Hope this helps. And thanks again everyone! I'll try to get my next Spotlight in soon. Only problem is......who's going to pay me for this time? greenkiwi AtlusSeven -- The reason that giving them one level of their magic class works is that they all characters get 5 points to start with in their "professional skills". So a monk taking one level of psionics gets 5 points for free in psionics and I think 5 points in mental, but I'm not sure on that. You don't even have to spend any of your skill points on psionics, you just get those points for free. If you then decide to play out that one level as that class, you might add another 3 points and then you are off and running with 8 points, over half way to having enough skills for level 2 spells. This works with any of the hybrid classes. It's particularly effective with the samurai, as he gets bonus points in the different magic realms, I believe. Hell. You can even accomplish the same thing by holding off your leveling up your characters until they are ready to level up twice, then just give them one level of magic and hop back again to their original class.
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