monk - str versus ac

[Varren]

I'm about to reach level 35 on my human monk, which is my main. I do quite a bit of soloing because of my play schedule, and am wondering how best to prioritize my equipment. I have been prioritizing ac over everything else except for my Peacebringer, and I can still come in at 13 stone with the weapon equipped. I'm saving up for an fbss, which I figure is the most important upgrade I can make, but in the meantime...

I've heard many times that ac is sorta screwy on this server, so I'm wondering whether I ought to swap out some slots for more strength. How much does strength really affect damage? How much does ac really affect monk mitigation/avoidance?

Another question... does anyone understand how mitigation/avoidance ac works differently for monks than other classes?

By the way, here is my equipment at the moment:

Ears - Forest Loop x 1
Fingers - Platinum Fire Wedding Ring x 2
Neck - Collar of Undead Protection
Head - Fine Silk Turban
Face - Targishin's Bone Mask
Chest - Foreman's Tunic
Arms - Azure Sleeves
Back - Cured Silk Cloak
Waist - Yellow Sash of Order
Shoulders - Cured Silk Mantle
Wrists - Symbol of Loyalty to Vox x 2
Legs - Drake-hide Leggings
Hands - Treant Fists
Feet - Cured Silk Sandals
Primary - Peacebringer
Secondary -
Range -

Thanks in advance for your input!

[Freakish]

Executioners hood, 2x +5str/dex rings, the jc str neck are all options for affordably increasing your str. I know I noticed a huge difference on my monk between 100 and 200 str. What's your str at anyway?

[Varren]

Right now my str is at 93 -- nervous to replace my precious 5/55 rings! They've saved my ass so many times lol.

[Freakish]

Bracers of Erollisi are +5 str and 1.0 weight. Easy to get if you kill the pirate in OoT a few times. They're common. Only one ear? I believe there's a jc +str ear, eventually you'll want to get diamondine earrings.

[hopped]

This is funny, based on your gear I know exactly who this is in game as we were waiting on the docks earlier and I just had inspect open the whole time thinking about making a monk over my bard since I've never played a melee DPS. Problem is there are so many monks, same reason I stopped my shaman.

[Varren]

Yeah that was me, on my way to kill some more sisters. Nice seeing you here too.

I honestly don't care if there are a lot of monks. Its a fun class to play, and a skilled player can do some pretty cool stuff with a monk in and out of groups. Also, its a great class to explore with, which I love to do more than just about anything else in game. AND monks have a pause button, which is great considering how my life has changed since '99 (what with having a wife and munchkin now).

[Pan]

Holy wow. I'm on my 3rd monk on this server and I'm running my 3rd at L40 right now at 90/105 wt. All bandaids and javs...with a few empty or cloth items in several gear slots - while stacking nothing else but HPs.

I've got a fungi and good haste, granted, but even on my first monk, I leveled quickly and essentially disregarded weight. Sure it's a penalty. But so's a parking ticket that costs a quarter. Apart from being a douchebag by parking stupidly, the penalty isn't that significant.

Point is, there's a sweet spot for productivity/leveling/pulling/downtime/deaths - and for me, it's being nearly overweight with bandaids and javs. YMMV, of course. But my monks have been neither ineffective nor fragile.

tl;dr? figure out how significant the penalty is (threshold) before you start making extreme choices

[hopped]

Originally Posted by Varren [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yeah that was me, on my way to kill some more sisters. Nice seeing you here too.

I honestly don't care if there are a lot of monks. Its a fun class to play, and a skilled player can do some pretty cool stuff with a monk in and out of groups. Also, its a great class to explore with, which I love to do more than just about anything else in game. AND monks have a pause button, which is great considering how my life has changed since '99 (what with having a wife and munchkin now).

Interesting points, my thing was I have never played an Iksar or leveled in Kunark and thought that might be a really nice experience. This may translate into either a monk or Necro as well at some point but I am not sure.

[Mirana]

Originally Posted by Varren [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I've heard many times that ac is sorta screwy on this server, so I'm wondering whether I ought to swap out some slots for more strength. How much does strength really affect damage? How much does ac really affect monk mitigation/avoidance?

Splorf has a pretty detailed AC analysis in the bug forums, might be worth a read. My interpretation was that AC does not do as much as it should at higher levels. That said, when I was soloing Highkeep guards, I intentionally looted several fine steel weapons and got about 15 lbs over the cap. Granted, it was a small sample size, but I instantly noticed an increase in how hard I was being hit. Does the ac penalty from being overweight work differently than normal AC? I'm not sure. Just something I thought I would share.

And no, don't sell your 5/55 rings. They are far more valuable than any piece of strength jewelry you could buy.

[tankh]

Originally Posted by Mirana [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Splorf has a pretty detailed AC analysis in the bug forums, might be worth a read.

Do u have a link to this post please