The thread on designing a 12th-level monk got me thinking, and I ended up working through the details of an Enlightened Fist build that looks quite powerful.
I have some questions, though:
If a Monk takes Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike), does that still apply to his unarmed strikes in alternate forms (e.g. polymorphed)?
Similarly, if you cast Greater Magic Weapon to enhance a monk's unarmed strike, does that continue to enhance the monk's unarmed strikes if he's subsequently polymorphed into a different form?
If a Monk is in the form of a creature with natural attacks, can he make a full unarmed attack plus attacks with *all* of the creature's natural weapons (treated as secondary, of course)?
How exactly does Scorching Ray (or other multi-ray spells) work with an Enlightened Fist's Hold Ray and Arcane Fist abilities? Would all the rays discharge in a single hit, or would it work more like Chill Touch?
Using 32-point buy:
Str 15 (16)
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 16 (18)
First level bonus goes to Str, the rest to Cha.
The levels are Monk 1/Sorcerer 3/Enlightened Fist 8.
Feats chosen (in order) are Stunning Fist (bonus for Monk), Power Attack, Extend Spell (bonus for human), Practiced Spellcaster, Ascetic Mage, Arcane Strike, Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike).
Gear is:
Monk's Belt (13k)
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength (4k)
Cloak of Charisma +4 (16k)
Vest of Resistance +4 (16k)
Armbands of Might (4.1k)
Amulet of Health +2 (4k)
Ring of Protection +2 (8k)
Boots of Speed (12k)
(10.9k left)
Spells normally in effect:
Extended Alter Self (Troglodyte) -- 4 hour duration
Extended Dragonskin -- 4 hour duration
Extended Greater Mage Armor -- 24 hour duration
Extended Greater Magic Weapon (unarmed strike) -- 24 hour duration
AC = 10 + 2 (dex) + 6 (natural) + 5 (dragonskin) + 6 (greater mage armor) + 6 (Cha) + 3 (monk) + 2 (ring of prot.) + 1 (haste) = 41.
If he takes the time to cast Shield, his AC would be 45. Also, Dragonskin grants 20 resistance to the energy type of your choice.
His optimal attack would be to cast Wraithstrike, burn a 4th-level spell with Arcane Strike, use Fist of Energy, use haste from the boots, and use max power attack.
That gives an attack bonus of +7 (base) + 4 (str) + 3 (greater magic weapon) + 4 (arcane strike) + 1 (haste) - 7 (power attack) = +12. So the full attack would be +12/+12/+12/+7 vs. touch. He also gets a claw/claw/bite as a Troglodyte, and Trogs have multiattack as a racial bonus feat. Those attacks wouldn't benefit from greater magic weapon or arcane strike, though. So they'd be at +3/+3/+3.
Damage for unarmed strikes is 3d6 (9 effective monk levels + monk's belt + INA) + 7 (power attack) + 2 (armbands) + 3 (greater magic weapon) + 4 (str) + 1d6 (fist of energy) + 4d4 (arcane strike) = 40. Damage for the claws/bite is 1d4 + 7 (power attack) + 2 (armbands) + 2 (str) = 13.5.
vs. a touch AC of 10, the total average damage in a round (including +5% for crits) would be 187.
On top of that, he could use Hold Ray and Arcane Fist to add a Scorching Ray into the attack, for an extra 12d6 fire damage, bringing the total to 231.
Admittedly, that's peak damage, but, except for the arcane strike, he could actually keep it up for several rounds. It also doesn't require any in-combat buffing at all. One of the keys to sustaining the damage output would be to take the metamagic specialist variant of Sorc from the PHBII and cast extended Wraithstrikes.
Of course, this also depends on the answers to all of my questions at the top being favorable. And the damage capability drops dramatically as soon as he runs out of Wraithstrikes. Still, I think it would be a fun build to play. Decent sustained damage output, very good peak output, great AC, and pretty good ability as a caster, too (though spell selection is tight).
I have some questions, though:
If a Monk takes Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike), does that still apply to his unarmed strikes in alternate forms (e.g. polymorphed)?
Similarly, if you cast Greater Magic Weapon to enhance a monk's unarmed strike, does that continue to enhance the monk's unarmed strikes if he's subsequently polymorphed into a different form?
If a Monk is in the form of a creature with natural attacks, can he make a full unarmed attack plus attacks with *all* of the creature's natural weapons (treated as secondary, of course)?
How exactly does Scorching Ray (or other multi-ray spells) work with an Enlightened Fist's Hold Ray and Arcane Fist abilities? Would all the rays discharge in a single hit, or would it work more like Chill Touch?
Using 32-point buy:
Str 15 (16)
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 16 (18)
First level bonus goes to Str, the rest to Cha.
The levels are Monk 1/Sorcerer 3/Enlightened Fist 8.
Feats chosen (in order) are Stunning Fist (bonus for Monk), Power Attack, Extend Spell (bonus for human), Practiced Spellcaster, Ascetic Mage, Arcane Strike, Improved Natural Attack (unarmed strike).
Gear is:
Monk's Belt (13k)
Gauntlets of Ogre Strength (4k)
Cloak of Charisma +4 (16k)
Vest of Resistance +4 (16k)
Armbands of Might (4.1k)
Amulet of Health +2 (4k)
Ring of Protection +2 (8k)
Boots of Speed (12k)
(10.9k left)
Spells normally in effect:
Extended Alter Self (Troglodyte) -- 4 hour duration
Extended Dragonskin -- 4 hour duration
Extended Greater Mage Armor -- 24 hour duration
Extended Greater Magic Weapon (unarmed strike) -- 24 hour duration
AC = 10 + 2 (dex) + 6 (natural) + 5 (dragonskin) + 6 (greater mage armor) + 6 (Cha) + 3 (monk) + 2 (ring of prot.) + 1 (haste) = 41.
If he takes the time to cast Shield, his AC would be 45. Also, Dragonskin grants 20 resistance to the energy type of your choice.
His optimal attack would be to cast Wraithstrike, burn a 4th-level spell with Arcane Strike, use Fist of Energy, use haste from the boots, and use max power attack.
That gives an attack bonus of +7 (base) + 4 (str) + 3 (greater magic weapon) + 4 (arcane strike) + 1 (haste) - 7 (power attack) = +12. So the full attack would be +12/+12/+12/+7 vs. touch. He also gets a claw/claw/bite as a Troglodyte, and Trogs have multiattack as a racial bonus feat. Those attacks wouldn't benefit from greater magic weapon or arcane strike, though. So they'd be at +3/+3/+3.
Damage for unarmed strikes is 3d6 (9 effective monk levels + monk's belt + INA) + 7 (power attack) + 2 (armbands) + 3 (greater magic weapon) + 4 (str) + 1d6 (fist of energy) + 4d4 (arcane strike) = 40. Damage for the claws/bite is 1d4 + 7 (power attack) + 2 (armbands) + 2 (str) = 13.5.
vs. a touch AC of 10, the total average damage in a round (including +5% for crits) would be 187.
On top of that, he could use Hold Ray and Arcane Fist to add a Scorching Ray into the attack, for an extra 12d6 fire damage, bringing the total to 231.
Admittedly, that's peak damage, but, except for the arcane strike, he could actually keep it up for several rounds. It also doesn't require any in-combat buffing at all. One of the keys to sustaining the damage output would be to take the metamagic specialist variant of Sorc from the PHBII and cast extended Wraithstrikes.
Of course, this also depends on the answers to all of my questions at the top being favorable. And the damage capability drops dramatically as soon as he runs out of Wraithstrikes. Still, I think it would be a fun build to play. Decent sustained damage output, very good peak output, great AC, and pretty good ability as a caster, too (though spell selection is tight).
