Hello ToxicMan- If you go to the very first post in this thread and scroll down to the Level 14 part you will see all the choices available as well as my recommendations regarding each choice. I know that changes were coming with LU19 and the new expansion at the end of this month, and I do not know if the level 14 choices here are still accurate or not. If they have indeed changed please let me know what the new choices are so I can keep this listing accurate. Also, the recommendations for level 14 are from me alone, and unfortunately I came up with them as a level 46 monk who was trying to recall what the heck I was like at level 14. Quijana Lost Coast Privateers, New Home of Lucan D'Lere!
I personlly used Everburning Flame master 2 until level 60. The haste difference between it and Everburning Fire adept 3 is just about the same (might be a difference of like 1%), so couldn't justify upgrading Everburning Fire. As far as being a huge HP drain, I would say using it or not is very situational while soloing (and almost always turn it off between fights to regen A LOT faster). In groups there really isn't a reason to not be using it. Something to try would be using spider stance when you get it. I rarely solo in the offensive stance since you do take way more hits using it. I use the spider stance line with EF quite a bit actually.
Yes the seem to have changed... The skills i can choose from now is: Stare: Increase Threat by 133-163 Trust Kick: Inflicts 58-97 crushing damage on target(and so on) Martial Focus: Increase str of the caster by 17,2 and increase wis of the caster by 26 Pouncing Leopard: inflicts 38-64 crushing damage on target(and so on)
At lvl 14 the choices aren't as critical as they are later on. If you tank, the taunt would be good. If you solo, the buff would be good. If you do a mix of both, the damage CAs might be a versatile solution useful in each situation.
Master II Choices at Level 64: 62. Flailing Centipede - flurry of melee attacks 63. Crescent Strike - AE magic dmg 64. Challenge - group taunt + interrupt 64. Soaring Dragon - melee dmg + DOT heat dmg
Really kind of disappointed after seeing that the bruisers can choose their proc taunt for master II. )= Oh well, guess that makes the decision easy for me, group taunt it is!
First off, LOVE your sig Rrawl! That is a great pic! Just added the Master II choices for Level 14 and Level 64. I put in what descriptions I could, but we are missing the Master II descriptions. Also, need to check the correct new stats for Martial Focus (level 14) since ToxicMan reports it is a strength/wisdom buff now. The information that is there for Martial Focus is old and likely wrong. Also, no recommendations on these yet. So if you have used these and have an opinion, please post your wisdom and help your brother/sister monk make their choices down the road. As always, if you see any errors please let me know. Thank you, Quijana Lost Coast Privateers, Lucan D'Lere Message Edited by Jessyme on 03-09-200612:19 AM
Editted to add Level 14 Master recommendations and level 64 Master II of Challenge. As always, if you have an opinion, correction, or can fill in a missing piece, please post. Quijana Lucan D' Lere
Re the lvl 14 upgrades, I've got em all written down at home - will post when I get back. Stare is useless, it is replaced a couple of levels laters with something that is better in its basic form!! The two attacks looked ok, but they did not give a huge boost in my opinion. I went for Martial Focus, due to its long life, and at lower levels the extra str helps with carrying 8000 copper, your mana pool, and some extra on your resists.
Thank you for posting these Noxium! Put in Noxium's info and cleaned up the level 14 recommendations. Will doublecheck Martial Focus info as I had your numbers down for Adept I instead of Master II. Thank you again! Quijana Lucan D'Lere
One comment on the level 24 Master selection. I have chosen "Grappling Bear - A melee attack that deals moderate damage and decreases the target's defense if it hits." In my opinion on a pvp server this is the best combat art with an upgrade. The reduced defense of the opponent is nice, but not the main reason to choose it. The reason is, it makes a lot of damage. This is your strongest combat art with a nice side effect. In a PvP fight you want to do so much damage as possible so quick as possible to kill your enemy before he kills you. You try to end the fight after used up all your combat arts. If the fight is not over after your combat arts are all used, you could lose if you only have your standard auto attack. A much stronger master combat art like that Grappling Bear helps a lot. It can be your finishing move or can be one of the first attacks to use the defense reduction by the enemy. The group haste buff is nice, but not necessary and do not helps you much in survive in a PvP fight, becaue its doesnt matter much if you got a few points more haste. What counts, are your combat arts. You do the most fight with the combat arts and what counts is the speed of the combat arts, not your haste and not the delay of your weapon. and because of this I think its often better to use the defensive stance than the offensive one (I know, offensive is more fun.)
Here are a few additions to your level 14 master I choice lists: Martial Focus: Adept III: Increases brawler's strength by 14.6 and wisdom by 22. Master II: Increases brawler's strength by 17.2 and wisdom by 26. Pouncing Leopard: Adept III: Inflicts 39-66 crushing damage on target.
Thank you Cambios and Noxium for filling in some of the missing Master II information. Omenaton, thank you for the PVP monk recommendation. I have never played PVP, so I did not even think about how their needs would be different from a PVE monk. If you or any other PVP monks would like to make recommendations for the other Master II levels, please do and I will add them. I was going to extrapolate from Omenaton's comments and fill the rest out, but it would be more accurate coming from PVP monks since there may be factors that I would not take into account as a PVE monk. For example, level 34: Darting Sparrow or Everburning Flame? I would guess Darting Sparrow for the extra damage and because EF costs you health to maintain. But perhaps the health loss is offset by doing faster damage *shrugs* So if a PVP monk would like to make more recommendations, please do. Thank you again to everyone in the monk community for making this list possible and helping to keep it up to date. Quijana Lucan D' Lere
Yeah, I mastered my haste early on, not knowing how little it would do for me in pvp, and it was a big mistake. I master my highest damage ca now whenever I get the opportunity, preferably one t hat is highest level so I get more use out of it.
Hit 44 yesterday, so read this thread. I was all set to go for Icy Talon over Shocking Hand, when I noticed that Icy Talon DOES NOT WORK AGAINST EPIC MOBS. So, to Shocking Hand I went. After retiring an illusionist for being uselesss against epics, I really don't like running into this again on a new character. Message Edited by Vivax on 05-20-2006 07:14 AM
After seeing the price of Masters for 60-70 I'm planning on grabbing either Flailing Centipede or Challenge. Crescent Strike is too dangerous for it's worth in my opinion, an AE attack is dangerous at the best of times and others can fill that role far better (Warlocks mainly, even Palles with Consecrate will outdo this). I generally use this as a "time-filler" if I know I'm safe, meaning while every other spell is refreshing, I throw this one out. I don't use it often because generally Auto-Attack is much more reliable. Soaring Dragon has nice damage, especially over time but I'm reluctant to choose such specific damage (Heat), even though it's 100% guaranteed, a close tie with Flailing Centipede for damage amount but Flailing can be done twice in that time if it's successful both times. Flailing Centipede is pretty much my second choice, our fastest attack, and would have been number one if it combined with Storming Palm (that was nerfed I believe - could be wrong), still, coupled with Lunging Cobra (before you use Flailing - which reduces the mob's defense) you can get almost maximum damage on each of the hits - but only if it lands number one. Challenge - Number 1 for sure, always pays to have the best taunts, regardless if you tank or or not, Monks are never far behind in the hate stakes and could be the life of your party if you can grab hate while the MT recovers, it's not that far from a Master 1 Single Taunt from Lvl59 (300 points or so) so can be used in concert with that. Hopefully someone can build on my comments Dred
I've been looking for this list... THANKS! I've been trying to balance maintaining aggro and boosting DPS and this list is going to help al lot. I have an Ogre that betrayed to become a Monk. LOVE the STR and STA boosts, although trying to focus on +AGI items is sometimes a pain. I've been trying to upgrade any art that boosts "encounter aggro" first (NOT "aggro everything", don't need adds) and damage second despite the fact that I usually solo. As a result, I can usually hold aggro even when the conjuror jumps in and tosses his 3 AoE spells. (Which seems to piss him off some, but that's tough! ) My combat strategy is (as puller) that *I* get the first HO, making it either finish with AoE taunt or if I luck out with Crushing Anvil, then the single taunt since it will hit everyone anyway. Then I alternate with the DPS mage trying to hold onto aggro. Any suggestions or ideas for better aggro holding? Or anything else, for that matter... Kneebreaker, The Bazaar
