A different experience - SK / Monk

[MikeXG]

Hello all, I've recently hit 50+ with everyone on my account and I've been itching to replay some of the lower / older content that I may have skipped over or just haven't played in a long time. I have some money saved up so I was thinking of twinking an SK or a Monk with the goal in mind being to explore and do as much content as possible. I wont be trying to level as fast as I can, I want to do quests in newbie zones that I've never done and not just power through. I wont be twinking to the level of fungi but i'll be sinking 20-30k into the character. I am curious which would have an easier time getting around, questing, and soloing in this manner?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[MikeXG]

I guess something else to consider would be the quests available to the class, IE monk sash and headband quest etc.

[Crede]

Hello all, I've recently hit 50+ with everyone on my account and I've been itching to replay some of the lower / older content that I may have skipped over or just haven't played in a long time. I have some money saved up so I was thinking of twinking an SK or a Monk with the goal in mind being to explore and do as much content as possible. I wont be trying to level as fast as I can, I want to do quests in newbie zones that I've never done and not just power through. I wont be twinking to the level of fungi but i'll be sinking 20-30k into the character. I am curious which would have an easier time getting around, questing, and soloing in this manner?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Both are fine. Sks have improved dps since the patch which is cool. Monk is superior but I find the sk having spells more fun, as well as race choices and snap aggro. Instant invis is cool too.

More powerful? Monk.
More fun with utility? Sk. Straight melee is boring imo.

[MikeXG]

Both are fine. Sks have improved dps since the patch which is cool. Monk is superior but I find the sk having spells more fun, as well as race choices and snap aggro. Instant invis is cool too.

More powerful? Monk.
More fun with utility? Sk. Straight melee is boring imo.

Those were sort of my thoughts, I just didn't know if the more powerful aspect of monk greatly outweighed the Fun/utility. I was also thinking for an extra challenge the SK may need to gain a lot of faction to have access to certain quests. Really want to take my time and enjoy the ride. Crawl through places and move on.


Thanks for the opinion mate.

[Danth]

Monks are only significantly more powerful in the *long* term, basically north temple veeshan gear and equivalent. That sort of high-end all/all gear kind of breaks class balance. In leveling gear or even lower-end and mid-range level 60 stuff the classes are pretty close in overall power. The Monk remains more popular because higher damage per minute means higher kill rate, and this is a game where overall levels/experience/wealth/etc is definitely linked to kill rate. However they can do the same stuff for the most part. I don't particularly like either class for solo'ing, but they can both do it if they have to. Either of them loves duo'ing with a Shaman. If you don't want to be hassled to pull when you join guilds/groups, the Shadow Knight becomes attractive. It can do it, but few groups/etc ever ask it to except when a Monk can't be found. Suits me fine.

Danth

[Crede]

Never a better time to play a sk. Their melee is much more tolerable now being on warrior damage table and 2h bonus. You could go erudite with that sweet steelsilk armor to be different. I went troll for regen/stats/plate look. With your budget you could also get an iksar regen bp.

[Master Roshi]

go monk in black panther skin with wu sticks, good bang for buck

[MikeXG]

I've decided to go with SK, between the suggestions in this thread and some research on quests available to certain classes I think that what I am looking for will be more "fun" with SK. I essentially want to crawl through places, and yes, monks can flop through anywhere but I want to fight my way through a zone and then move on to the next. it will be slow and painful, but my hope is to play this character periodically to scratch the altidous itch and then go back to my main(s) Thanks all for the replies and insight. I put a quick gear list together but if anyone has any suggestions please feel free :-)

Shai'din Revenant Bauble
Earring of Essence
Spider fur Collar
Tribal War mask
Skull-shaped Barbute
2X 5/55 rings
2X Silver chitin wristbands
Crusty Arms (need something better)
Silver Chitin Hand Wraps
Barbed Dragonscale Pauldrons
Ceremonial Iksar Chestplate
Black Bear Pelt Cloak
Spider Fur Belt
Crusty Legs (need something better)
Barbed Dragonscale Boots
Noct blade
Atra shield
Book of tactics
COS (nerfed, ill get pre nerf down the road)

I went Dark Elf, again not min maxing here...

thanks all

[Vexenu]

You'll want a big 2H weapon to solo with. Any one of the Velium swords/axes from DN would probably be the best value there. Doljonijiarnimorinar is really fun if you want to drop a little more plat and procs a 140 damage DD from level 1. That weapon is basically powerleveling yourself well into your 30s. For Arms get Crystal Chitin, for legs get one of the Dragonleg Breeches. You could also swap out the SCHW for an FBSS, that way you can wear Crystal Chitin gloves for 20AC and +10 STR, which is probably better than your 10AC +40 hp belt on a soloing Dark Elf. But kind of splitting hairs at that point.

[Baler]

Monk does better damage, has an instant FD, has Mend
SK gets necro spells up to level 49, Has a pet, Has really good snap agro spells for tanking/tagging.

SK is an underrated tagger on raids. Monks have to burn clickies. SK just dumps 1-2 spells into them and runs them back to the raid.
Plus SK has a pet which can be used in more advanced pulls, almost similar to a necro.
But SK dps is lacking, Even with the buff. You'll need near best in slot to be a worthwhile dps on raids.

[Crede]

Not sure what your main is but go for a sword of pain in velk for your 1h. Noc blade overrated. Formed a lower dogs group on my enc and got one at lvl 17. That was interesting gettin down there.

Find a way to get a reaver in your budget. That thing is a blast to use. 1h dps gets old fast. Even better now with the 2h patch.