Best monk weapon (for dealing damage)?

[Kalendraf]

Don't forget you can use Flurry of Blows with thrown sai or shuriken. Base damage isn't great, but you can apply your Str bonus without spending hundreds of gp on a specially-designed composite bow...

-Hyp.

With a range of only 10' and a mere 1d2 damage per, it's hard to compare shurikens to long bows, or even crossbows and slings for that matter. Sure you can throw them fast and get your strength bonus on each, but a monk probably doesn't need a short distance ranged weapon as badly as a longer ranged one.

Consider a situation where there's an enemy spellcaster hovering a few hundred feet above the battlefield, and the rest of the party is laying around you unconscious from the affects of previous spells or battle. I'd hate to be stuck trying to chuck shurikens to bring him down.

The bow might cost you a bit of gold, but a few hundred or even a thousand isn't going to break the monk's purse in a typical campaign. In fact, since they don't have to buy much in the way of weapons or armor compared to most other characters, it should be fairly easy to afford.

 

[Nifft]

Quarterstaff + Power Attack. Charge + two-handed Power Attack, then follow up next round with a Flurry (of feet, or with the quarterstaff). You can also get both heads enhanced separately -- the classic being one Flaming head and one Frost head, or one Holy and one Axiomatic.

-- N

 

[Hypersmurf]

The bow might cost you a bit of gold, but a few hundred or even a thousand isn't going to break the monk's purse in a typical campaign. In fact, since they don't have to buy much in the way of weapons or armor compared to most other characters, it should be fairly easy to afford.

On the other hand, it could be said that the weapons and armor they do want to buy (Bracers of Striking, reslotted Bracers of Armor) are more expensive than the alternatives available (since Bracers of Striking are more expensive than normal magic weapons, and 64k for a +8 Armor bonus is somewhat higher than under 2k for the same from a non-magical suit of armor...)... and hence they have less spare cash available...

-Hyp.

 

[Sejs]

With a range of only 10' and a mere 1d2 damage per

Shuriken arn't made to do damage. They're made to deliver a whole lot of poison at range.

It's not the Xd2 damage that's there to give the mage pause, it's the X fort saves he's got to make to avoid succumbing to the con poison.

 

[Shadowdweller]

I'm not especially fond of the sai, seeing as how even with the bonus it is no better at disarming than your basic medium size weapon. Unless, that is, one chooses to go the weapon finesse route or wishes to disarm opponents extensively while grappling them (not an very useful tactic). Use unarmed strikes instead (which have the benefit of putting the weapon directly into YOUR hands) or a quarterstaff if you're really keen on maximizing the opposed roll.

Regarding trip: What people haven't mentioned so far is that the main benefit of using a weapon to trip is that if the enemy succeeds on all rolls you end up disarmed rather than prone yourself. It's pretty painless to keep a kama or other tripping weapon on hand to use ONLY for trip attacks. Also note: The only thing a proficiency penalty hurts is the opening touch attack to start a trip. A reach weapon might thus be handy, but it's definitely NOT worth multiclassing to pick up proficiency.

Regarding damage reduction: Often times, this CAN hurt. I'm not sure I'd invest in powerful melee weapons as a monk, but it's relatively inexpensive to simply purchase a masterwork silver kama and a masterwork cold iron kama...just in case. In any event, check with the DM regarding KI Strike: Magic and incorporeality. It's possible you're either going to want at least a +1 weapon, amulet of mighty fists (DMG, starting at 6,000 gp), or that Savage Species equivalent (amulet of natural attacks?) since the game designers in their infinite wisdom neglected to state that ki strike:magic applies to anything BESIDES damage reduction (i.e. incorporeality).

 

[Trainz]

There's an amulet in the DMG that gives from +1 to +5 to a monk's attack and damage (from 6000 to 150000 gp value IIRC).

Is it possible to replace the plusses into magical weapon enhancements ? So that a +5 amulet is instead made into a +3 holy amulet ?

You see, one of my players is an epic monk... he'd like to know, I'm sure !

 

[Hypersmurf]

Is it possible to replace the plusses into magical weapon enhancements ?

No, but that's exactly what Bracers of Striking are for (Magic of Faerun, I think?).

-Hyp.

 

[Kyamsil]

The Necklace of Natural Weapons (from Savage Species) allows you to put enhancement bonuses and special abilities that apply to a determinate number of natural weapons (depending on how much you want to spend on the necklace). Usually, I guess a monk can save some money from just improving 2 weapons: right fist, left foot or another combination of your choice.

The description of the item mentions a rather weird combination of abilities: +1 throwing returning necklace of natural weapons... I just can't envision the monk sending his fist to his opponent face and then the fist returning in the next round... it is weird, really weird.

Favorite enhancements for a monk should be:
ghost touch (+1, DMG, ignore incoroporeality)
metalline (+2, FR Underdark, can change to any metal as standard action)
energy aura (+3, Arms&Equipment Guide, can deal +1d6 of selected energy type)
force (+3, Arms&Equipment Guide, +1d6 force damage, chance of dispelling existing foce effects, ignores incorporeality)
impact (+1, Arms&Equipment Guide, doubles threat range of bludgeoning weapon)

a +1 ghost touch necklace of natural weapons that affects 2 natural weapons costs 16600 gp.

I think that if you talki it out with your DM you should be able to get special abilities added to an amulet of mighty fists if you want to affect all natural weapons without spending too much money.

 

[Hypersmurf]

The description of the item mentions a rather weird combination of abilities: +1 throwing returning necklace of natural weapons... I just can't envision the monk sending his fist to his opponent face and then the fist returning in the next round... it is weird, really weird.

That's not weird.

Weird is using it against someone with Snatch Arrows.

-Hyp.

 

[Trainz]

No, but that's exactly what Bracers of Striking are for (Magic of Faerun, I think?).

-Hyp.

Drat, we don't have (and don't plan to get) this book.

Oh well... thanks Hyp.