Newbie Monk Questions...

[Gumbo]

I was thinking of rolling a Monk and I have a few questions about their skills and equipment.

What is a complete set of Wu's Fighting armor going for? I know there are other items that are better off but would it be better/cheaper to just buy the whole set or just buy the pieces I would be best to use until I'm later in level?

For the hell of it, what's a complete set of Black Pantherskin Armor going for?

Should I just go with hand-to-hand combat or should I switch off to 1 handed blunt as well?

Can I do both? Have my primary weapon be 1 handed blunt and have my secondary weapon be hand-to-hand weapon and vice-versa?

I'm sure I'll have more questions later...

Thank you...

[Xaanka]

never played a monk and I'm not on blue so I can't comment on prices, but yes you can wield 1 weapon and use fists with the other hand. addy club + epic fists is a common tanking setup for monks.

[Beinen]

I was with a very effective monk with wu's 1hander and his fiat in off hand up to level 20. I think on average you can get lives of black panther skin from a few hundred up to 4-5k depending on piece. There's a very decent gear guide on the wiki for monks at the bottom of the monk section. A wu's quivering staff at 20 would be great entry level weapon. But untwinked monks still do a great job!

[jpetrick]

Use wu's 1 handers until level 20 then wu's quivering until you get a peacebringer or t-staff. People will argue with me about this but they are wrong because I've parsed it enough to know; t-staff is better than epic/sos because you can weapon swap the 2hander to get a free offhand attack in each round. Once you swing your staff, unequip it, watch your swing their offhand, then place the staff back on your primary.

Don't bother with the wu's fighting armor, there are better items out there that you can get for the same price. Check the wiki and you can sort items by slot and class to compare.

Don't worry about maxing your hand to hand until you get your epic. My h2h was like 40 until I got my epic in my 50s.

You can have either type of weapon in either hand when you dual wield. Most common combination is epic/staff of shielding or epic/sceptre of mastery.

[SowIsLifeSowIsLove]

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

because you can weapon swap the 2hander to get a free offhand attack in each round. Once you swing your staff, unequip it, watch your swing their offhand, then place the staff back on your primary.

What? What's this? I've never heard of this. Is this common knowledge? A bug or what?

[Beinen]

Common boss Monk knowledge... [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] you must become in tune with your mind and body to be able to know/understand such a concept and also have the ability to master this.

[Phantasm]

Its just how Double Attack and Dual Wield operate. If you have a 2h you get two rounds max. Equipping double fists allows for up to four. I don't bother with equipping 2h in the first place, but as a leveling monk with low h2h double attack and dual wield I wouldn't bother

Always level your combat skills to max. H2h 2hb 1hb kicks mend FD sneak ranged, always max even if you don't use them everyday

[jpetrick]

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

What? What's this? I've never heard of this. Is this common knowledge? A bug or what?

Don't think it is common knowledge. But typically I find the monks that actually know how to play their class well will know how to do this.

[Phantasm]

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

Don't think it is common knowledge. But typically I find the monks that actually know how to play their class well will know how to do this.

Until 2h buff ItS easy enough to get 1hs that do damage equal or greater on a parse. In addition, you are stuck having an item on your cursor at times when you need to change an inventory or equipment slot.

@op I used(and still do) 1hs throughout almost my entire leveling path. Find a good 2h and max the skill, but with adequate haste you'll do fine with 1h. 2h great for high damage mobs that riposte and for damage shielded mobs. Otherwise, crush and punch!

[jpetrick]

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

Until 2h buff ItS easy enough to get 1hs that do damage equal or greater on a parse. In addition, you are stuck having an item on your cursor at times when you need to change an inventory or equipment slot.

@op I used(and still do) 1hs throughout almost my entire leveling path. Find a good 2h and max the skill, but with adequate haste you'll do fine with 1h. 2h great for high damage mobs that riposte and for damage shielded mobs. Otherwise, crush and punch!

Don't listen to this guy, he has no idea what he's saying.