Introduction
Before starting out, I'd like to say the intended audience are monks, not champions or suras. Reason being is that the goal of this guide is to get the intended reader to level 99/50 as quickly and practical as possibly on low funds in order to get to the fun of rebirthing and transcending as quickly as possible, and to address leveling from TIs, something the other pinned monk guides lack. PVM will be the only thing a monk can do if they follow my guide, but if they rebirth as soon as possible as this guide intends, it won't be long before they can do other things such as MVP or WoE or PvP and follow builds that are intended for such purposes. This guide is for the person who just got into RO and creates a monk as their first character, however, I will not be covering topics such as leveling spots and gear as such information is easily found in other places, but for the sake of being as newbie-friendly as possible, here's a few helpful links
http://irowiki.org/w...Acolyte_Classes (leveling)
http://irowiki.org/w...uipments_Quests (acquiring your equipment)
Mainly, this guide is a reflection on the mistakes I made, because I had no one to set me on the right path. I wish I had someone to tell me that TIs were the best way to level up once they became available. I wish I had someone to tell me G-fist would be impractical as a monk in leveling, and thus a waste.
When I played a monk, I made it a goal to get snap just because it was at the top of the skill tree. It felt like the natural thing to do, to follow the path the game lays out for you. Little did I know that by doing so I'd invest into skills I'd never use, and in doing so, gimp the skills I did use by not maxing them out. While the mobility granted to me by snap was pretty nice, I really felt like I could do without it just fine. Needless to say, I did level up to 99/50 by getting snap and maxing out mental strength, but I feel that it could've been much more practical if I had cut out Sphere absorption, fury, occult impaction, throw spirit sphere, G-fist, root, spiritual candence, snap, and in doing so, grant me plenty skill points to invest in the skills that I did use most, and ultimately, reach 99/50 in much less time with more efficiency.
While this may seem like common sense, I feel like this guide would be a nice present to new players who have no clue of what to do and don't want to go too far to find an answer as to what's a good build for starters.
Build and Suggested Variations
http://irowiki.org/~...IkangKbnHScn1qx (the build)
This build is something I would call an AGI combo-MS tank hybrid. You will pump up AGI early on, following the traditional combo monk build, but when you hit TI level range, you will pump only VIT and tank with Mental strength, and nothing else.
Notably, this build focuses on practicality. It has a decent heal, maxed out buffs and cuts out skills a monk would not normally use when fighting enemies, and most importantly, maxed out mental strength. You may notice I cut out warp portal and pnuema. In my personal experience, I didn't experience the thought "oh man, I wish I had a shield to protect me from all ranged attacks," and when I did, it didn't happen enough times to warrant regret of my decision. Maybe I wasn't fighting the right enemies. Though, this is personal preference and you may choose to deduct points from heal and Increase AGI to get pneuma.
As I said, this build can vary slightly depending on what one may wish for.For example, if you prefer to use a mace, then iron fists wouldn't need to be maxed out. That's 5 extra skill points for you to allocate as you see fit. Maybe you may find that maxing out raging trifecta blow to be too much, or ineffective since it activates more frequently at lvl 5 than at lvl 10, or that those 5 skill points would be better used elsewhere. However, when it does activate, it is to be capitalized as much as possible, and thus we max out the other combo skills.
However, when leveling the goal is to rush as quickly as possible to mental strength, so you may be ready to do TIs once the time is right. After this is accomplished, you may allocate your skill points into your other skills.
When leveling, you may want to allocate your stats as such:
dex:30-50
agi:80-90
STR:50-80
You may choose to pour some points into INT for sp regen, but I wouldn't go over 50.
Mental Strength, Turn-ins, and You!
for information on TIs, please refer to this page:
http://irowiki.org/w..._Turn-In_Events
In closing, I hope that any new player may read this and feel less confused, with a sense of directoin, and that at least there's an option as to how to reach the same destination of cap level. I hope that whoever reads this has an easier time leveling through their first character than I did. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Edited by gundamweed, 11 June 2013 - 05:35 PM.
