Advice needed on tactics

[SteveC]

The problem with Weapon Finesse is that your Str should not lag so far behind Dex as to be worth it. You need that Str modifier in order to Grapple and Trip.

If you allow your Str to lag, then you have Monk's Disease: "I am so cool but I cannot actually help the party enough to earn my share of the loot."

Yep, this is the problem in a nutshell. Strength is just too important for a melee character or a grappler to ignore. I've played a monk in a couple of short-lived campaigns and never really hit stride properly. Then I started messing around with Neverwinter Nights and the Bootcamp module, and this taught me everything I needed to know about a monk in combat: they NEED strength. Beyond that, I'd say you really need power attack to boost damage to a respectable level as a monk even if you have a good strength. I don't know if your GM will let you do it, but I think this character really needs a re-build to be effective. I think you have to decide what you want this character to be: a mobility/flanking expert, a grappler, a tripper or a lots-and-lots-of-attacks-er. Once you can decide that, we can help you out to build him a bit better!

--Steve

 

[two]

The thought of using a Monk as an "aid another"/flanking tool makes me want to weep.

Gad Zooks, how far has D&D moved beyong the pulpy Monk kung-fu battles of our youth?

"Wait a minute, grasshopper, let me first flank him and help you hit better via aid another."

Ba-humbug. 3.5 monks just don't work very well. They just flat-out don't.

If you just want to give a static bonus to the party, you are much better off playing a bard (!!!) and inspiring courage. At 10th level, +2/+2 to all attacks/damge, or +3/+3 with a bone horn... beats a monk granting +4 flanking+aid another to ONE combatant.

Sad. Poor, poor monks.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

two,

The 3.5 Monk is closer to what you speak of than any previous edition. By a country mile.

I have seen Monks work fine, but they are fearlessly aggressive Flying Kick maniacs, have high Str, are loaded to the gills with offensive feats, and keep falling over unconscious from going negative HP. Glorious!

 

[Victim]

The thought of using a Monk as an "aid another"/flanking tool makes me want to weep.

Gad Zooks, how far has D&D moved beyong the pulpy Monk kung-fu battles of our youth?

"Wait a minute, grasshopper, let me first flank him and help you hit better via aid another."

Ba-humbug. 3.5 monks just don't work very well. They just flat-out don't.

If you just want to give a static bonus to the party, you are much better off playing a bard (!!!) and inspiring courage. At 10th level, +2/+2 to all attacks/damge, or +3/+3 with a bone horn... beats a monk granting +4 flanking+aid another to ONE combatant.

Sad. Poor, poor monks.

Well, they work a bit better than a fighter with 10 STR and no damage boosting abilities. My strength based monk kicks ass. I can't wait for greater flurry.

If you want to be a melee character without huge class damage bonuses, you need to boost your attack and damage. Neither your WIS or your DEX are doing that (although weapon finess allows Dex to chip in a bit). Don't expect your basic attacks to be effective when your best stat is WIS, followed by DEX.

Second, all your monk special moves are contingent on your normal attacks, or STR. Grappling requires STR, and you also lose your Dex bonus to AC against most foes. Attacking with a Trip is a STR check. Because your normal attack roll isn't that good, even your disarm isn't that great compared to the opposed check of a greatsword guy.

 

[duhtroll]

Well, yeah, in a perfect world I would agree. But in many campaigns one cannot have three high stats. Dex and Wis are more important than STR for a monk IMO, at least because I always choose defense over offense.

However, my monk is a Living Greyhawk PC and we do point-buy stats. Can't get three high ones that way. Unless you roll really well in standard char creation you won't get 3 high ones normally in other ways, either.

Given the choice between more damage and boosting AC, I choose the latter, though I may be in the minority.

Thanks,
-A

The problem with Weapon Finesse is that your Str should not lag so far behind Dex as to be worth it. You need that Str modifier in order to Grapple and Trip.

If you allow your Str to lag, then you have Monk's Disease: "I am so cool but I cannot actually help the party enough to earn my share of the loot."

 

[werk]

...and keep falling over unconscious from going negative HP. Glorious!

Yeah, our monk did that a lot too.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Given the choice between more damage and boosting AC, I choose the latter, though I may be in the minority.

IMHO choosing defense over offense is a perfectly valid choice within the context of a coherent overall strategy. But I think a number of players pick defensive options for Monks (and Clerics) because the class gives them so much bang for the buck in that direction, and then wonder why their PC is so amazingly boring to play.

 

[tomBitonti]

Monk + Rogue is Possible?

The combination of flurry of blows and sneak attack seems pretty nice,
and I looked into trying the combination, but my DM said that monks could
not multi-class into rogue and then go back to take more monk levels.

That trip and grapple are very powerful, as is having great saving throws.
(Will saves are the achilles heel of my 15'th level barbarian.) At higher
levels, casters seem to almost never fail their casting defensively check,
so planning to get AOO's against spell casters doesn't work.

T

 

[Hypersmurf]

The combination of flurry of blows and sneak attack seems pretty nice,
and I looked into trying the combination, but my DM said that monks could
not multi-class into rogue and then go back to take more monk levels.

Right. It's perfectly possible to take Rogue levels, but you can't go back.

"Like a member of any other class, a monk may be a multiclass character, but multiclass monks face a special restriction. A monk who gains a new class or (if already multiclass) raises another class by a level may never again raise her monk level, though she retains all her monk abilities."

-Hyp.

 

[Amal Shukup]

At higher levels, casters seem to almost never fail their casting defensively check, so planning to get AOO's against spell casters doesn't work.

No, but Readied Actions work just fine... Also, getting in their face disrupts their activities, limits their ability to move/act, and often provokes errors. Besides, they can't cast when Stunned and the Concentration Check/Component Limitations for being Grappled can ruin a Caster's whole day... Still the best 'Mage Killer' Class on the battlefield:

Move, Trip, use the Free Attack to Stun or Grapple (Concentration DC 20+SL+No Somatic or other Components not already in hand) - Sure he can Dimension Door, but that's a round where the Maximized Enervation or the Disintegrate didn't happen. That's a good round in my book

Ba-humbug. 3.5 monks just don't work very well. They just flat-out don't.

I've seen a lot of Monk Dissing in this thread, but the Movement (not just quantity, but Tumbling, Jumping, Balancing, Spring Attacking etc.), the Saves, the Special Attacks/Monk Feats (TRIP!), the AC (Wis bonus, Dex bonus, + Items and Buffs) often combine to make exceedingly effective characters in my games. Particularly when working in tandem with Rogues and Fighters. Monks can go to places others can't reach, stay there/move about with impunity, and SERIOUSLY inconvenience just about any opponent. They may not rack up the kills like a Fighter or even a Rogue, but they get a LOT of 'assists' (and it IS a TEAM game)

The downside is reliance on three Stats (STR, DEX, WIS) - a dump stat in any one limits a Monk pretty significantly. On the other hand, they get HUGE mileage from each - which make Stat boosting Buffs/Items an excellent strategy/investment...

A'Mal