Monk - Iksar or Human

[Odepud]

My main back in the days of live was an Iksar monk. I am goin to make a new monk to live the old days, but I am currious if the dynamics of the p99 server have any affect on my choice and in general I would like to know what you choose and why. Also, what are good starting weps that can be obtainable in the lower lvls, aka pre 30, for limited plat given a new players lack of income.

[greatdane]

Iksar are statistically better in every way* but suffer a higher exp penalty and aren't welcome anywhere except Cabilis. The exp penalty is pretty inconsequential, especially if you ever solo where the extra regeneration easily makes up for it, and the faction restriction hardly matters because a) most gameplay goes on in Kunark anyway and b) you just don't need to go to cities much and you can fix your faction anyway with a bit of work. If you aren't a newbie, the faction is almost completely irrelevant. If you are a newbie, you might find it a little challenging. Iksar is the best race in terms of game mechanics, and by a fair margin. Humans were never good at anything.

*except that humans have 1 less delay on their naked h2h attack, which is completely irrelevant. They have slightly more str/sta, but that's nothing compared to the regen and bonus AC of iksar who also have much better agi/dex.

[Estu]

What greatdane said. For some excellent cheap weapons, get Master Wu's Trance Sticks. Low delay, good ratio, and nice proc, go for about 700p on EC. If you can't afford those, get Fighting Batons.

[Malev]

Iksar are the only true monks. Can't remember who told me this, but it was an iksar monk so I assume he was non bias.

[Hottbiscuits Dreadmuffin]

Tails. Forage. Better night vision. Scales. Forked tongue. Claws. Pretty eyes. Regeneration. Everyone hates you.

Lower delay. Can look like Jackie Chan. Everyone likes you.

[Seaweedpimp]

Iksar are statistically better in every way* but suffer a higher exp penalty and aren't welcome anywhere except Cabilis. The exp penalty is pretty inconsequential, especially if you ever solo where the extra regeneration easily makes up for it, and the faction restriction hardly matters because a) most gameplay goes on in Kunark anyway and b) you just don't need to go to cities much and you can fix your faction anyway with a bit of work. If you aren't a newbie, the faction is almost completely irrelevant. If you are a newbie, you might find it a little challenging. Iksar is the best race in terms of game mechanics, and by a fair margin. Humans were never good at anything.

*except that humans have 1 less delay on their naked h2h attack, which is completely irrelevant. They have slightly more str/sta, but that's nothing compared to the regen and bonus AC of iksar who also have much better agi/dex.



Hey bro i promise that 1pt of regen isnt going to make up for your staggeringly slow exp rate / cap . Go human.

[bakkily]

depends what you want, im more fond of the human monk then iksar, but iksars make great shamans

[Seaweedpimp]

shm/ nec - iksar

everything else = not iksar

[Slave]

Hey bro i promise that 1pt of regen isnt going to make up for your staggeringly slow exp rate / cap . Go human.

Good thing that it's more like 5-10 points later, when it counts!

[Kope]

Hey bro i promise that 1pt of regen isnt going to make up for your staggeringly slow exp rate / cap . Go human.

Regeneration
Level 01-19: 4 sitting, 2 feigned, 2 standing
Level 20-49: 6 sitting, 2 feigned, 2 standing
Level 50: 8 sitting, 2 feigned, 2 standing
Level 51-55: 12 sitting, 8 feigned, 6 standing
Level 56-59: 16 sitting, 12 feigned, 10 standing
Level 60: 18 sitting, 14 feigned, 12 standing

at level 60 when you have no more levels to get:

You get more AC
You get the regen
You get to look awesome

[greatdane]

Hey bro i promise that 1pt of regen isnt going to make up for your staggeringly slow exp rate / cap . Go human.

Iksar/troll regen becomes almost three times as high as other races at later levels. For a class that just has its foot in the door of being a viable soloer, regen is a huge advantage. I don't know if you consider -20% exp to be staggeringly slow, nor what you mean by "exp cap". The natural AC bonus is 42 at level 60, which is pretty significant as well.

[Baa]

I suppose it depends if you want to be one of the 200 other iksar monks online at any time... Human monks look better AND have eye patches.

[soup]

Iksar are statistically better in every way* but suffer a higher exp penalty and aren't welcome anywhere except Cabilis. The exp penalty is pretty inconsequential, especially if you ever solo where the extra regeneration easily makes up for it, and the faction restriction hardly matters because a) most gameplay goes on in Kunark anyway and b) you just don't need to go to cities much and you can fix your faction anyway with a bit of work. If you aren't a newbie, the faction is almost completely irrelevant. If you are a newbie, you might find it a little challenging. Iksar is the best race in terms of game mechanics, and by a fair margin. Humans were never good at anything.

*except that humans have 1 less delay on their naked h2h attack, which is completely irrelevant. They have slightly more str/sta, but that's nothing compared to the regen and bonus AC of iksar who also have much better agi/dex.
It's outright false to say that the regen makes up for the exp penalty. At least, in terms of speed of leveling. An iksar monk absolutely will level slower than a human with all else being equal, particularly since the regen difference is incredibly small prior to the mid 50s.

Ultimately, pick whatever race you want to be. Iksar are a bit better from a pure min/max standpoint, but the difference is not nearly as significant as some people would have you believe.