36 Monk - Priorities Question

[wagorf]

Should I save for an IFS (Imbued Fighters Staff) and upgrade my 2HB ? No, staff of battle is good enough to get you to 50.

Should I begin investing in Pantherskin pieces one at a time? No, the minor upgrades don't make much of a difference.

Should I start by replacing my weak spots in Armor (face, cloak, belt) ? No, same idea, minor upgrades for little to no impact.

Should I swap out the SCHW with an FBSS (in lieu of using my fists) ? After you get epic then you will need another haste item at waist/back slot.

What level will I start using fists? (Epic 50+) Not sure what the question means. You will switch to fist after you get epic , 2h comes handy only when you solo tank so you take less damage, but it isn't day and night difference.

Will an IFS take me to 60? Yes, but staff of battle can do it.

Fungi + epic + haste will make you on par with most monks. I'd save the plat for these big ticket items.

[jaldu1]

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

Should I save for an IFS (Imbued Fighters Staff) and upgrade my 2HB ? No, staff of battle is good enough to get you to 50.

Should I begin investing in Pantherskin pieces one at a time? No, the minor upgrades don't make much of a difference.

Should I start by replacing my weak spots in Armor (face, cloak, belt) ? No, same idea, minor upgrades for little to no impact.

Should I swap out the SCHW with an FBSS (in lieu of using my fists) ? After you get epic then you will need another haste item at waist/back slot.

What level will I start using fists? (Epic 50+) Not sure what the question means. You will switch to fist after you get epic , 2h comes handy only when you solo tank so you take less damage, but it isn't day and night difference.

Will an IFS take me to 60? Yes, but staff of battle can do it.

Fungi + epic + haste will make you on par with most monks. I'd save the plat for these big ticket items.

Thank you sir. I appreciated the very candid, straight forward advice. I'm sitting in EC tunnels right now with 4.3k and was wondering about a PB or an IFS. I didn't pull the trigger last night, because I was truly wondering, "is it that huge of a DPS increase over staff of battle to warrant the expense"... - knowing I could always sell later. Perhaps I'll just continue to save, and be ready to swap out for the FBSS around 50. Fungi seems a long ways off... but Haste / Epic / SoS should be in the wheelhouse by then,...

-Vile

[stebbins99]

Good luck Vile! I'd say you're doing pretty good gear-wise for lvl 35! Keep it up!

[Cilraaz]

I've been looking at a lot of the same questions myself. I've created a spreadsheet for myself to compare weapons. Assuming the formulas I have found are correct, Wu's Quivering Staff and Staff of Battle are very similar in dps, while an IFS is about 25-30% ahead. Going off of the best formulas that I could find, I have:

WQS 23/28 (23/23 with SCHW haste), dmg bonus 7 at lvl 39: ((23*2+7)/23)*1.3175 = 3.04
SoB 31/37 (31/30 with SCHW haste), dmg bonus 7 at lvl 39: ((31*2+7)/30)*1.3175 = 3.03
IFS 38/40 (38/33 with SCHW haste), dmg bonus 8 at lvl 39: ((38*2+8)/33)*1.3175 = 3.35

This is with hasted delay being calculated as (delay/(1+haste)).
Also, the 1.3175 is adding in my Double Attack percentage, calculated as DA Skill divided by 630. This might be the least accurate number in the entire calculation, but since it's the same across all weapons, it should be a usable number.

If anyone knows any parts of these formulas that are wrong, I'd gladly accept corrections.

[tkelly5]

Save up your pennies for a 100% WR bag. Utility items = best items.

[Jimjam]

Obviously the formula don't consider the mitigation of the mobs; against high armour class mobs you want weapons that have damage bonus orientated dps (as damage bonus isn't mitigated by AC), against low AC mobs you'll prefer weapons with dps based off raw dmg as you'll be more likely to land hits at/close to max damage.

That being said, the formula is a reasonable guideline.