I wont say best, but I like my kerra monk. I get a mitigation debuff attack that I use all the time, +2% crit, +5 parry, and a few other thingys. And I like my name. Maow Ze'Dung
Bedoll34 wrote: That is obvious, Iksar. We are far superior to any of the other races, none can even compare to how awesome we Iksar look as a monk. First of all, all Iksar are the best, but then Iksar monk just beats the crap out of all the other 'standard' Iksar. Plus, it is the Iksar who founded the Swift tail monks, which is perhaps the oldest monk sect known, and by far the best. It was an Iksar monk who almost defeated Cazic-thule, a God, whereas all the other 'lesser' races were too busy trying to kill rats and failing. Now then, for an Iksar monk, there are several 'prestiges' that come with being an Iksar and a monk. First of all, you're an Iksar, nuff said. Second of all, you're a monk, so that means you betrayed freeport/neriak/gorowyn to go to Qeynos or that stupid fairy town that shouldn't exist. So you're already listed as one of the few willing to undergo one of the toughest quests in Everquest 2. And with that, there's the fact that you can still be a total jerk, but considered awesome. Now then, statwise, doesn't matter what race you choose, cuz it means nothing pretty quickly into the game, it's all about look, and frankly, I think Iksar pull off the most awesome monk look out of all the races. ;b See for yourself. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.../Everquest%202/ Ratonga and kerra look cool too, but they just don't go into pure awesome like Iksar do.
From a min/max point of view, if you plan on tanking, Iksar. Their racial tradition "Tough Scales" grants +5 Defense and Deflection, "Legacy of the Shissar" grants +3% Hp, and "Venril's Guidance" grants +2% Melee crit and +5 Parry. No other race can touch that from a defensive point of view. From a DPS point of view, it's a toss-up, but most races will suit a Monk pretty well.
Barbarian, FTW! I chose Barbarian for the looks mostly, but they do have extra Strength, which is kinda important as far as DPS goes.
No race you play is going to make a major difference. However, if you're trying to get the best fit, I like the Barbarian for most non-scout meleers for these traditions: +1% melee crit, +1% Double attack and +5 parry Attack with 2.5 second stun (if the mob is stunned, it's not hitting you) When under 30% health, +defensive skills (meshes well with Eagle Expert and soloing tougher mobs) +3% health +5 str (minor, but doesn't hurt) Other traditions you'll probably take as an adventuring Barb: +Sprint speed. Sprint still comes in handy for me in dungeons (combined with Outward Calm, Tsunami, and eventually FD ). +Cold resist Barbs also have the added bonus of +5% built-in run speed (probably out of combat only). Their main disadvantage to me is they have too much girth, perhaps having a less-desirable look than other races (to me). If I could do it again, I probably would have made a barbarian monk just to squeeze every ounce of performance I could out of the class.
My highest level monk is an Iksar. Altho..I started a Frog and get a real laugh out his moves. All the other races seem to have the same moves. I think I'm going to level the frog for a while to see if that charm wears off. I wish I could find more screenshots and videos of frogs, seems like they would be popular with the crazy footwork.
Ratonga > All ... from some leezards post " whereas all the other 'lesser' races were too busy trying to kill rats and failing. " so you see we gets expert testimony from the scaley ones Iksar are neat though, and at least they have a tail, but don't bother with kerrans they useless stinky meatbags obsessing about seafood and us's when they not taking a nap when they should be dpsing's Plus we cutes!!!, and we can obsess over cheese n other foodstuffs, and if goings get rough we can just steal a partymembers lunch for some snackys !!! plus we more lucky then the other races is true me swear And the other races not got fur, so they only good as distractions while us's important folks get all the good stuff we deserves
My monk is an ogre. I created him a very very long time ago when racial attributes meant less than nothing, as opposed to them meing just about nothing now. I created him solely for how he'd look in the level 20 AQ gi, tbh. With the racial revamp, though, here are some of the things he gets that help him: Shoulder Slam -- 1 minute recast Knockdown attack. Moderate damage and 2.5 second of stun on the mob STR +5 Sprint speed increase and power cost reduction 3% max health Self-mitigation increase +2% melee crit, +5 aggression skill Nothing major, but none of it hurts either. And there are only 541 Ogre monks across all servers -- come be one of the few! ;-)
Lol, actually I do think Ratonga monks are awesome. I have the illusion for it. Though those are pretty much the only two that I think look neat. Others are just so-so, Kerra's look neat cuz I see em around Qeynos as NPC's a lot.. but when they open their mouth to talk, oh god.. after the first word I wanna grab sporks dipped in sulfur and jam them into my eyes to make me feel better after hearing their horrendous voice.
The Kerra special attack owns all others, it is almost a 1K mitigation debuff at level 80, and it does pretty good damage. Only knock I give them is they get +MP instead of HP. And no race looks better in the Gi, it's like they were made for the Kerra model. I also use the ratonga and forglok eyes/illusion when I feel like being smaller. I must admit I am jealous of the Barbarian mitigation buff under 30% life, but they look so bad in the Gi I just cant imagine making one.
Gnome Fu Go with what you think looks cool. Almost every race will have enough melee benefits to wash out about even. I think only erudites get the short end of the stick, but even then, the difference is minimal. Dark elves and arasai get nice melee dps benefits, many of the larger races get good health/mitigation benefits, and most others get solid avoidance benefits. Almost every race gets a perk that gives a bonus to melee crit and/or double attack.
Khandor wrote: You absolutely nailed it. (Got an Iksar monk here too) They do get a couple nice things. They get water breathing (don't have to mess around with the fishbone earring) and their venemous strike is a great puller. Great range. Besides, how can you possibly beat the description "Iksar monk"? It's absolutely classic
Fae monk. Nothing like being 2' tall while you are floating half a foot off the ground so most mobs probably wouldn't even see you if translated to an actual situation, especially if you were flying around in your firefly form; and being able to hit for 139952 dmg in a single hit (personal best on the Training Wall with Fabled Epic and Choker and DF). Fae also get some nice movement bonuses and you can use illusions to look like almost any other race in the game, but there is no illusion that makes you look like a player character fae.
