Where is all the Monk talk?

Where it all began

I for one am really excited about playing a Monk. The last few days while waiting for launch (May 1st) I've been looking around the web for tips and tricks for crafting yourself the perfect Monk, but alas it's yielded very little information. From what I have discovered I've settled on a stat build of: 36/36/25 (STR/INT/VIT).

Anyone else out there excited about making a Monk? If so what type? Damager, Tank, Crit? What discoveries have you uncovered about Monks?

What we've covered
I apologize a head of time for this summary being potentially horrid. I never was great at this. I hope to list all of the important things we've discussed and what answers came from them.

• As a Monk most of your Defense and HP will come from the gear you wear. Whether or not this makes VIT a viable option is essentially player preference as your base stats won't have a huge effect on your endgame character. If you prefer a more well rounded build then don't hesitate to use it. We've covered such builds as:

• (STR/INT) Monk. This could look like either 40/40/8 or 41/41. With the 41/41 build you will be getting the most damage and parry possible.
• (STR/INT/VIT) Monk. This build is my preferred one as I like my character feel a little more well rounded rather than leaving 3 stats empty. These could be 33/33/32 or 36/36/25. Both are fine options. Although the latter sacrifices a bit of HP for more Attack/Parry.
• CRIT Monk (STR/AGI/INT). After a bit of research from some very helpful people in this thread CRIT Monks seem more viable than before. Using stats such some where along the lines of 19/50/19. These Monks if done properly will have a competitive amount of Critical and Dodge making them great choices for tanking as they are able to outright dodge and enemy attack rather than parry. However there are some drawbacks. By sacrificing STR/INT you'll be doing less damage than your STR/INT brethren. The other being sheer costliness. A CRIT Monk will need to be outfitted with the right cards and a full set of AGI Runes. And remember as of now Monk outfits do not provide you with AGI. Making STR/INT the more natural build.

• Monks get a free skill reset upon job change which might cause over excited players to immediately pump points into all of those awesome looking offensive skills. This is the opposite of what a new monk should do. Your main focus after becoming a monk should first be to max out your defensive skills as these will keep you alive. i.e. Iron Skin and Steel Body. After that feel free to start plotting out your offensive skills. I recommend at the very least you max Raging blow and put a few points into Heavy Tackle and/or Crushing Blow as this will provide you with a decent amount of skills for a good combo rotation.
• Using my own personal build that I've plotted out for future use, found here, we've discussed the usefulness of more points into Intimidation over other skills such as Lightning walk and Crushing blow. Higher level Intimidation equals shorter cooldown duration which could prove vital in a raid when you need to take back tank. Though how many points are really enough. Is it worth sacrificing points in Lightning Walk and/or Crushing Blow? I find the ability to jump right in front of a mob immediately very useful and seeing as I'll will probably be using it quite frequently I want it to be maxed so I can get the most possible damage from it. Crushing Blow is a good skill, and obtains you 2 spirit spheres, but it does 4% less damage than Raging Blow.

Thanks for reading if you think I missed anything that was discussed in this thread or you feel needs to be added please feel free to say so.

Edited by zdhayman, 04 May 2013 - 04:44 PM.

I for one am really excited about playing a Monk. The last few days while waiting for launch (May 1st) I've been looking around the web for tips and tricks for crafting yourself the perfect Monk, but alas it's yielded very little information. From what I have discovered I've settled on a stat build of: 36/36/25 (STR/INT/VIT).

Anyone else out there excited about making a Monk? If so what type? Damager, Tank, Crit? What discoveries have you uncovered about Monks?

It's skill set makes it a good boss tank, or if you go for damage it's okay at bursting considering it can Guillotine Fist twice in a row. They always go STR/INT from what I've seen, but I'm no expert. Most of your DEF and HP comes from armor bonuses and skill perks.

Edited by Sacriel, 27 April 2013 - 10:25 PM.

I've played around with a couple builds over at www.ro2base.com and going from 36/36/25 to 40/40/8 doesn't seem to affect the Attack Power or Parry to much. In my opinion the minuscule loss of Attack Power and Parry is worth it for a decent chunk more of HP. Here is a build I threw together that I'll probably follow come launch time.

Hm.. That's a nice build, I likey~

I'll probably make a monk after I gear up a rogue though..

Hm.. That's a nice build, I likey~

I'll probably make a monk after I gear up a rogue though..

Thanks. Your Monk guide on www.ro2base.com was one of the many guides I studied while trying to put together that one.

Same question here, I think there is A LOT of info that experts aren't sharing about Monks, like for example, how to make it a viable Critical Monk since its equipment doesn't give a single point of AGI.

Same question here, I think there is A LOT of info that experts aren't sharing about Monks, like for example, how to make it a viable Critical Monk since its equipment doesn't give a single point of AGI.

Viable is the key word. With how the game currently is 'off specs' like full DPS Warrior, Priest and Beastmaster aren't nearly as competitive as they should be, and as such are generally looked down upon by the ignorant masses. While I don't know much about Monks I AM a big advocat of DPS Priests and will be doing all I can to bring awareness to the masses and pressing the devs constructively for change with solid evidance for our case. Thankfully in the Q&A they DID say they'll be looking at feedback and will be adjusting skills to balance them, but its a long process.

I say start a DPS Monk thread and start gathering info, do up a spreadsheet and theorycraft. It's what I did for Battle Priests! Gotta start somewhere!

I think the "lot of information the experts are keeping secret" is the same as in any other class discussion: your actual stat build will have little to no impact end game when you consider your gear + cards. If you want to optimize Damage / Parry, go 41 STR 41 INT, if you want a little more HP take some VIT, if you want a little more crit, take some AGI.

41 STR
41 INT

50 STR
29 INT
2 VIT

Or any of the ones mentioned in posts above, really, they're all fine. If you really want to get the most out of your stat points, you might even consider getting as many points as possible:

33 STR
33 INT
32 VIT

Personally I run with 41/41 as it simply gives the most possible damage and parry.

Viable is the key word. With how the game currently is 'off specs' like full DPS Warrior, Priest and Beastmaster aren't nearly as competitive as they should be, and as such are generally looked down upon by the ignorant masses. While I don't know much about Monks I AM a big advocat of DPS Priests and will be doing all I can to bring awareness to the masses and pressing the devs constructively for change with solid evidance for our case. Thankfully in the Q&A they DID say they'll be looking at feedback and will be adjusting skills to balance them, but its a long process.

I say start a DPS Monk thread and start gathering info, do up a spreadsheet and theorycraft. It's what I did for Battle Priests! Gotta start somewhere!

I'm with you on this one: I have this crazy theory about how a DPS Priest with a bit chunk of healing support (you know, like lvl 5 Heal and lvl 3 Renovatio) could be a powerhouse at PvP with decent damage and a way to heal itself like a pro, and I would love to see how it turns out.

I'm with you on this one: I have this crazy theory about how a DPS Priest with a bit chunk of healing support (you know, like lvl 5 Heal and lvl 3 Renovatio) could be a powerhouse at PvP with decent damage and a way to heal itself like a pro, and I would love to see how it turns out.

This priest sounds pretty sweet.

I'm with you on this one: I have this crazy theory about how a DPS Priest with a bit chunk of healing support (you know, like lvl 5 Heal and lvl 3 Renovatio) could be a powerhouse at PvP with decent damage and a way to heal itself like a pro, and I would love to see how it turns out.

This priest sounds pretty sweet.

Not to hijack a monk thread, but it exists my friends. Both my full DPS Priest guide and VashV's hybrid Priest guide discuss how much of a powerhouse Priests can be in PVP. It's kind of disgusting how strong they are there.

i was lookin at his skillbuild and noticed.. like.. uhh. where is his.. 1st job skills at ? bam it hit me. monks. get a free. skill reset. u lucky SOB ... lol i can understand. since most of everything in the 1st tree is of no use to monks. same goes with beastmaster

And about priests yea they are pretty beast in pvp. in RO2. like. really really good. lol. its pretty rediculous. i even built up my hybrid priest and i can heal and support just as fine. as a FS. and i pack a way bigger punch so which is really the better build to go for i wonder. the only skill i was really missing is angelus. which i never used anyway when i had it so . meh its a mystery to me. but definitly priest in this game is off the wall in pvp. I would say. imo. top 3 pvp classes would be Priest Rogue and Sorc all the way. Sub out. Rogue. then it would be assasin. if that player cant play his rogue. well

Edited by LordInuyasha, 28 April 2013 - 02:19 PM.

ExeltusPendragon, I don't mind if you hijack my thread. I didn't expect much Monk information would come from this thread seeing as the official game hasn't launched yet. I'll be lurking on these forums for awesome Monk builds after launch.

Edited by zdhayman, 28 April 2013 - 03:27 PM.

Anyone have screenshots of what the higher level Monk armor will look like? I've found a few and I can't say I'm that thrilled about the way they look.

Anyone have screenshots of what the higher level Monk armor will look like? I've found a few and I can't say I'm that thrilled about the way they look.

don't be a lazy one, search http://forums.warppo...od-rogue-♂valk/

don't be a lazy one, search http://forums.warppo...-%E2%99%82valk/

I've saw that thread, but it lacks Monk pics. One of the Raid sets is really hard to see in the picture and the other one was meh.

Edited by zdhayman, 28 April 2013 - 09:00 PM.

I've saw that thread, but it lacks Monk pics. One of the Raid sets is really hard to see in the picture and the other one was meh.

Yeah, sorry about that. The images I have up are the best I've been able to find up to this point. Until someone sends in a better entry, or I luck out and spot someone in town so I can take a better picture myself, I can't show you anything better.

You can go ahead and be lazy. I've tried searching boards on seaRO2 and kRO2, Google Images in English and Korean (using keywords I picked up on the kRO2 boards), and random sites I stumble across like this one where it's nothing but illegal RMT activities. I could probably get more results if I knew how to speak in other peoples' native languages in the other servers, but alas, I only know English.
So if you want to search more on your own, it'll save you time if you don't do what I just listed.

Yeah, sorry about that. The images I have up are the best I've been able to find up to this point. Until someone sends in a better entry, or I luck out and spot someone in town so I can take a better picture myself, I can't show you anything better.

You can go ahead and be lazy. I've tried searching boards on seaRO2 and kRO2, Google Images in English and Korean (using keywords I picked up on the kRO2 boards), and random sites I stumble across like this one where it's nothing but illegal RMT activities. I could probably get more results if I knew how to speak in other peoples' native languages in the other servers, but alas, I only know English.
So if you want to search more on your own, it'll save you time if you don't do what I just listed.

Noted. I suppose I could just be patient and figure it out myself when it launches. I'll be sure to take lots of screenshots of random Monk gear I acquire and post it on these forums. Hope to see you all there!

I've saw that thread, but it lacks Monk pics. One of the Raid sets is really hard to see in the picture and the other one was meh.

LOL I just saw them, they look like some halloweenesque wizard costume, ugly as , but the female ones look really really cool. I guess as Monks, it's our duty to update those pics

Hey guys, i red through some guides and whatnot and i wanted to ask what you think of this build that im going to use for my hybrid Monk? For tanking dem dungeons and dual Asura combo for PvP and stuff like that: http://www.ro2skills...107bsrBqBrBjSrA

Hey guys, i red through some guides and whatnot and i wanted to ask what you think of this build that im going to use for my hybrid Monk? For tanking dem dungeons and dual Asura combo for PvP and stuff like that: http://www.ro2skills...107bsrBqBrBjSrA

I'd take Shout/Intimidation down 2 points and max your Earth Shaker/Lightning Crush. You consider using www.ro2base.com? It lets you plan out your stat points, as well as what cards you want to have equipped. Also has a nice little display showing HP, Attack Power, Parry, etc...

Edited by zdhayman, 29 April 2013 - 09:13 AM.

I'd take Shout/Intimidation down 2 points and max your Earth Shaker/Lightning Crush. You consider using www.ro2base.com? It lets you plan out your stat points, as well as what cards you want to have equipped. Also has a nice little display showing HP, Attack Power, Parry, etc...

Well, i guess thats just preference, since i dont really need the Earth Shaker dmg, and less CD on Shout is good since monk is more the boss tank. But again, its for things like that that its different for everyone because of playstyle. Yeah ro2base is good but i honestly dont know much about those cards and stuff in RO2. But thats with the Stat viewing is really nice^^ I think ill go something along the lines of 40STR and 40INT and the rest into agi or vit...but i tend to agi atm since vit doesnt do really much...

Well, i guess thats just preference, since i dont really need the Earth Shaker dmg, and less CD on Shout is good since monk is more the boss tank. But again, its for things like that that its different for everyone because of playstyle. Yeah ro2base is good but i honestly dont know much about those cards and stuff in RO2. But thats with the Stat viewing is really nice^^ I think ill go something along the lines of 40STR and 40INT and the rest into agi or vit...but i tend to agi atm since vit doesnt do really much...

Higher Intimidation for the lower CD definitely seems worth it. I've been debating AGI vs VIT for sometime now. VIT may not seem to do too much, but stacked on top of all the VIT you'll be getting from your Monk gear it should look pretty nice endgame. Whereas Monk gear lacks agility and a few points in your stats seems wasteful. Especially if you aren't really pumping it.

Something like that -> 30str/40agi/26int.

It's not a perfect build but you get the point.

Higher Intimidation for the lower CD definitely seems worth it. I've been debating AGI vs VIT for sometime now. VIT may not seem to do too much, but stacked on top of all the VIT you'll be getting from your Monk gear it should look pretty nice endgame. Whereas Monk gear lacks agility and a few points in your stats seems wasteful. Especially if you aren't really pumping it.

Something like that -> 30str/40agi/26int.

It's not a perfect build but you get the point.

Yeah i really doing the math about this one too. Especially since im bad at math i dont really know what to do...i mean i really think goign 40STR and INT is the way to go for enuff dmg for PvP and also the pure 80 parry. Vit gives 35 HP and AGI just seems worthless somehow because of the Passive and Buff. You got the highest Def and HP in the game so you dont really need the Evasion...But still...35HP is like nothing...maybe just go for 41STR and 41INT??

Yeah i really doing the math about this one too. Especially since im bad at math i dont really know what to do...i mean i really think goign 40STR and INT is the way to go for enuff dmg for PvP and also the pure 80 parry. Vit gives 35 HP and AGI just seems worthless somehow because of the Passive and Buff. You got the highest Def and HP in the game so you dont really need the Evasion...But still...35HP is like nothing...maybe just go for 41STR and 41INT??

I'm glad to see someone in the same boat as I. I actually considered the 41/41 build for awhile, but then after playing around with I finally settled on 36/36/25 and I'll explain why...

With 41/41 and no cards equipped.

5 HP

164 Attack Power

82 Parry

With 36/36/25 and no cards equipped.

125 HP

144 Attack Power

72 Parry

We gain 120 Hitpoints while online losing 20 Attack Power and 10 Parry. I also like playing slightly more well-rounded characters which is why I opted for the 36/36/25 over 41/41.