Help with Monk tactics.

[Hedgemage]

I have a player who runs a monk in my campaign, and though the monk has absolutely amazing stats, and good magic items, he keeps getting severely beatten and is rather impotent in a fight.

I've never played a monk myself, so I was wondering if you folks had some good advice or tricks that I could pass along to my player.

The monk's stats are as follows:

Human Monk 14
Str 18
Dex 22 (via magic item)
Con 16 (via magic item)
Int 13
Wis 20 (via magic item)
Cha 12

HP 130, AC 27 (+6 dex, +5 wis, +3 Bracers of Armor, +1 ring, +2 innate)

Unarmed attacks: +14/+11/+8/+5
Unarmed damage: 1d12+4

Skills: Balance +25, Climb +13, Diplomacy +13, Escape artist +16, Hide +9, Intuit Direction +6, Jump +23, Listen +8, Move Silently +21, Search +3, Spot +6, Swim +6, Tumble +25

Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Improved Critical (Unarmed Strike)

Misc. Magic items:
Slippers of Spider Climb, Brooch of Shielding, Eyes of Doom, Gauntlets of Dex +4, Periapt of Wisdom +2, Belt of Con +4, Cloak of Resistance +1, a few other odds and ends mainly potions
____________________________________

Using the info here, and any simple spell combos using divine spells (no Wizard in the group), what kind of interesting things can this Monk do? How can he be more effective in combat and not a damage sponge?

 

[Plane Sailing]

Perhaps you could explain what the other players are using, that makes this guy so impotent? What are the normal tactics which he uses?

(I can't imagine why he took great fortitude and lightning reflexes - that is one of his problems right off IMO. Since he has all good saves anyway he needs them far less.)

I would have thought that good tactics for him include doing lots of spring attacks (since with his movement rate it would be difficult for most foes to touch him). Ideally use spring attack to help set up flanking for party rogues who can ready an action for your arrival.

Use your improved trip ability in combat *lots*. On a normal attack you might as well use it, but on a full attack it is definitely worth while - especially against high AC medium sized foes.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Lightning Reflexes isn't a bad choice for a monk, since he has evasion, and making that Ref save can be a big thing.

If you've got a druid in the party, magic fang will work for your unarmed attacks. If you've got a druid in the party and are using Relics and Rituals, flame/frost weapon gives you energy damage.

Try to get some ki straps from Sword and Fist, so that you can hit creatures that you need magical weapons to hit. You're likely lagging behind the fighters on that front. See if your DM will allow those to get additional modifications.

Your mission in the group should be to take out rogues and wizards. Stunning fist requires a Fort save, so try to stick to using it on those likely to fail. Let the tanks go head to head with the enemy bruisers.

See if you can trade Great Fortitude for Power Attack.

 

[hong]

Lightning Reflexes isn't a bad choice for a monk, since he has evasion, and making that Ref save can be a big thing.

I would have chosen Iron Will rather than Lightning Reflexes, myself. While a good Ref save is handy, it's really the save-or-die spells that are the killers (sorry). These tend to require Fort or Will saves, so it's always a good idea to boost these saves.

See if you can trade Great Fortitude for Power Attack.

Or Weapon Focus (unarmed strike).

One item to aim for is the bracers of the blinding strike, from Magic of Faerun. These are cheap at 100,000+ gp. +1 attack every round as a weapon of speed, +6 to AC as bracers of armour, and the Improved Init feat as well.

 

[Pyske]

A thread not too long ago suggested that monks are actually the ultimate mage-killer. They have excellent saves, enough mobility to bypass the front line fighters, can target one of the saves that is generally weak on a mage (Fort), and use multiple attacks (which tends to be significantly more effective against a low-AC target).

The monk is probably the most mobile character class. Give him expertise, and have him spend his actions on indirect combat options. Monks are excellent at setting up flanking with rogues (which also helps offset their own low attack bonus on multiple attacks). Even more useful, the monk is the person best equipped to safely get to and heal fallen characters.

Also, don't forget the non-standard combat options. Trip, grapple, and otherwise disrupt the enemy lines. Intentionally draw AOOs using mobility, so that fellow party members can approach opponents who have reach safely.

Dress him up as a wizard, pointy hat and all. All those obnoxious enemies who like to target mages first will be in for a bit of a shock.

Well, hope some of these ideas prove helpful.

. . . . . . . -- Eric

 

[Shado]

Well, my first time back in at least a year, and of course... I'm replying to Q about Monks.

I have to agree with the above... Lightning Reflexes and Great Fortitude weren't the best chooses by any means for feats. I'm going to add one to the list however, Improved Crit. Unnarmed. With only a double crit modifier, and range of 5%, it isn't worth it given the relatively low number of feats non-fighter characters recieve. Better choices would include: Weapon Focus: Unarmed, Weapon Finesse: Unnarmed & Expertise. There are literally dozens of good choices for feats once you expand to other books, like Sword & Fist and Oriental Adventures.

Keep your monk as a combat tactics master. Don't stand toe-to-toe with enemy warriors. Focus on the Mages and Rogues. Help flank, and for the love of all that is Gygax, Trip, trip, trip! Make use of your stunning fists. On a full attack round, you can flurry into a trip, stun, hit, hit, hit, hit combo. Coordinate with any rogues in your group to attack their targets first with a stun so they can get a free sneak attack. Heck... consider taking levels of rogue. Trip, stun, sneak attack x 4 is freakin' awesome!

Lastly, unless you have access to a few magic items to help with your to hit & damage modifiers, carry a good magic monk + weapon around. To often you'll be fighting mobs that have a higher resistance than you can punch through without some magical aid.

 

[Don21584]

First feat I would get as a Monk would be Knock Down (S&F)
If you do 10 points in melee to an enemy, you get a free trip attack. That's always nice.

"Listen +8"
Why is his listen so low compared to other things? This is THE skill I max out as a Monk.

"These are cheap at 100,000+ gp"
Well heck, if 6 digits is cheap, just go for the dang Headband of Perfect Excellence at 180,000.

"Improved Crit. Unnarmed. With only a double crit modifier, and range of 5%, it isn't worth it"
I beg to differ. Before I took improved crit, remembering all those 19's I rolled that could have been crits...I'd rather go with it than without.

One of the biggest hindrances of the Monk is that he doesn't have any kind of area attacks. Have him get things like alchemist's fire. Or at the very least a crossbow, unless you already have an archer in the group.

Another great thing for a monk; Boots of Speed or the Monk's Belt. Haste is a wonderful thing for Monks.

 

[Nail]

Monk vs. Fighter

.....all the above, o' course.....

But jus' so ya know: if a monk has an enhancement bonus to hit on his "weapons" similar to a fighter, then he does as much or more damage per round than a fighter. Especially at low ACs.

In other words, if ye kin find magic ki-straps er whatever, ye kin easily put out 100 hp damage per round, jus' like a fighter can at that level. Combined with trip and stun, you're nigh unstoppable.

Monks only lose out in th' damage department because: a) lack of magic boost to unarmed attacks, and b) ineffectiveness of Flurry attacks at very high AC.

...course, I hate monks......so if they wanna act like whimps, that's fine by me.

-Nail

 

[hong]

Another great thing for a monk; Boots of Speed or the Monk's Belt. Haste is a wonderful thing for Monks.

Yep. This is why bracers of the blinding strike are cheap at 100,000 gp. (Who needs the extra partial action when you're moving at 60+ feet already? The extra attack is where it's at.)

 

[Happiest_Sadist]

This might be a bad suggestion, but there is an improved grab feat in OA, and monks are just brutal in grapples. (No spells, and fighter types have to escape to do any real damage.)