Hey all! I know the Class discussions are dead, and the Monk discussions are probably the worst, but I was hoping to get some tips on a decent solo'ing setup. Currently my Monk id only 85 with 173 AA's. I will be looking for a decent solo setup to both help me get to 320 and to help get to 92 since we all know that is a grind... Here is what I have: Current Setup Here is what I was thinking: Goal Once I get to 92 I will use this monk to solo mostly. I plan to use him to make plat(solo'ing old raid zones), help friends and guildies(PL'ing mostly), and occasionally I MAY group with him(low possibility). SoI'm really looking for a spec that will help me solo immensely well. I will also gladly explain any of the decisions I have made, and I welcome constructive criticism. Yes, I have read Felishanna's post. It's not what I'm looking for. I don't want a tanking spec, I don't want raiding advice. Her post has some solid info in it, but not the info I seek. Thanks in advance!
Check out my AA setup here. Please forgive the overall gimpitude, I really haven't played much since GU63 dropped. I also primarily solo and group with my close friends, so my spec is focused on personal survivability first and foremost, with DPS and threat generation being secondary priorities. AA setups are a somewhat personal playstyle choice, so I won't bother explaining the thought behind every point spent, and nor do I consider my spec the "right" one. I have, however, played this character since the game launched, and routinely solo raid zones for plat (or I did, when I still gave a darn about gear), so it should fit your requirements and expectations.
Thanks, this looks like a neat setup. Why not go with Eagle Master? It makes you stronger when you get to 50% HP...isn't that useful?
Not really, no. I'm never below 50% HP for any significant length of time. When grouping/raiding, the healer(s) will generally keep your HP full so that you don't get flattened by spike damage. When soloing or farming Kunark-era epics for cash/mutes, my passive self-healing is generally enough to keep my HP from ever dipping under 90-95%. Heck, for the really easy stuff like Shard of Hate, I could go AFK during the fights (except for the few detrimentals that need to be cured). Eagle's Shriek has been debated many times in the past, and the general consensus is that the theoretical, situational benefits it could provide are simply not worth the opportunity cost in the Brawler Tree. You pretty much want the entire Wisdom line, because its made of pure win. The Strength line has both block chance and multiattack, which are two of the most important blue stats for a brawler, and Chi is great if you think of it as a pseudo global ability reuse buff. Ambidexterity is a true global ability reuse buff, so that's not something I'd consider dropping unless my reuse was capped (Monks just have too many totally awesome temporary buffs that deserve greater uptime). Mantis Bolt is one of the highest-DPS abilities we get, so that's pretty much locked-in. There just isn't enough left over to spend on situational stuff.
Oh, makes sense. Do you use a 2h or 2 1h's? Also, do you have mending adorns for healing procs, or do monks just have THAT much passive healing that it doesn't matter?
I am currently using 2 one-handed weapons, and that has generally be true for the majority of my character's life. Two-handers aren't inherently bad, but the vast majority of the time, pairing two available one-handers will be superior (unless you luck into a two-hander from significantly harder content). I use three superior mending adorns, generally, and those account for most of my healing. I keep expecting them to get nerfed at some point, so I have accumulated a massive stockpile of ward and heal proc gear that I keep around just in case, but I find I never really need to equip most of it these days. Besides the mending adorns, the only heal/ward procs I have on my primary gear set are Greater Aegis of Blood, Renewing Bulwark, and Vitality Shift. Other heal/ward procs just aren't in the same league as the superior mending adorns. That being said, I was soloing epics before mending adorns existed, it just took a lot more effort. I even used to use stuff like the Glorious Scepter of Fyr and the Unglued Alchemist's Amulet for extra healing when Mend wasn't up. These days you also have access to additional self-healing abilities, such as Tag Team and Brawler's Tenacity. Using those alongside my massive stockpile of ward procs is how I am able to solo-farm the Djinn Master at level 75 by just standing there and letting my ripostes kill him (I don't advise doing this, it takes forever. I just wanted that carpet so bad!) Obviously, mending adorns can't proc when you're not auto-attacking. I would highly suggest trying to obtain a good power proc item. An easy one to get is the Mark of the Ankexfen, which is the reward from the Runnyeye: The Gathering collection, "Standards of the Goblin Tribes". It has terrible stats, but it procs Manaweave, and that will single-handedly give you essentially limitless power for the long epic fights. If you have access to a Manalink war rune, that is going to be a lot better. I suggest putting that rune on a ranged weapon that you can swap-in mid-combat, if needed. Hmm... Maybe I should write a guide or something.
