Creating a monk vs a Shadowknight

[jacal]

I have been playing and have advanced my Shaman and Necromancer but I have such a problem (self created by altitiss) I seem to want to make a monk or shadowknight. Yes I am itching to play a melee.

I am however going to be untwinked since my other characters are below 10 so not going to be starting out with any funds so I want to loot every rusty weapon in sight and I do not want to worry about weight so that I can get some funds and may be buy some weapons for either my shadowknight or monk.

My problem is therefore whether I should try playing a monk when I would be reducing my AC every time I am encumbered which will be without doubt very often. I also read monks cannot solo without being twinked which worried me a lot since I play when the server population is lower and solo a lot. Would it be worth it for me to take up tailoring to get some silk gear or is it too expensive to tailor.

On the other hand the shadowknight is also highly gear dependent too so I am torn with which class would be best untwinked and able to solo well in spite of being so. Also I am not keen on playing another class that might be hated and have to work my ass off killing gnolls or orcs. Then worry about whether I'm ruining my own evil guild factions. I got such a heartattack when my Necromancer got killed in Seafarer's Roost when I went to buy some dawrven ale there.

I also don't want to play an Iksar , my monk will be human and my shadowknight a darkelf or erudite or human.

[Legidias]

If youre looting everything and want to solo more, SK = higher weight cap, can still FD (at a higher level), can solo better with fear / snare. Monks do more damage.

[jacal]

You're right of course but I wondered how much AC mattered while soloing is all. The annoyance of having to worry about your weight is definitely not much fun but I was hoping I can still solo even if my AC dropped.

[Spyder73]

If you plan on playing these characters untwinked then neither will be worth a sh!t to solo with. Both will be absolutely terrible. SKs don't do enough damage without massive twink levels for fear kiting to be viable. Monks untwinked can not tank without a shaman/chanter slowing (bard slow causes too much agro for monks to ever actually 'tank')

I have a 60 monk and 42 SK (also have 58 necro, saw you have played that as well). I leveled the monk from scratch completely untwinked and I leveled the SK with 200k worth of gear. I would imagine that a sh!ty geared monk is better than a sh!ty geared SK but honestly gear in P99 is not that big of a deal in a grouping situation when you get haste, fungi, weapon taken care of.

Once you are 46+ all the good gear is no drop so I wouldn't even worry about gear and would play what you want. Monks at 60 and fully geared are great tanks, but before that they are terrible tanks with no agro control and you will be like "WTF I keep reading how monks are great tanks".... yea that only applies to high gear levels and having a shaman slowing every mob.

So basically you will probably end up pulling on either class - it comes down to if you want to DPS more or be a real Tank. generally I would think you will have an easier time as a monk since they are super saiyan mode on P99.

Also monk epic is actually obtainable and SK epic is perma sh!t sock status.

TLDR - Both classes are actually fairly similar, I would lean towards Monk because SK lacks the UMPH I think you may be looking for. Both classes are dog sh!t solo untwinked

[jacal]

Thanks Spyder73 that helped. I also went and checked out the SK guild in Qeynos and it was awesome possom but I decided that the wandering NPC someone called Gash who killed me frightened me lol. I still cannot decide but leaning towards monk .I cannot take the scare playing evil classes give me. One is enough plus the Necro has the same spells.

Going with Monk.

[mickmoranis]

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

Thanks Spyder73 that helped. I also went and checked out the SK guild in Qeynos and it was awesome possom but I decided that the wandering NPC someone called Gash who killed me frightened me lol. I still cannot decide but leaning towards monk .I cannot take the scare playing evil classes give me. One is enough plus the Necro has the same spells.

Going with Monk.

this is like one of the best posts in a long time

[Twochain]

Iksar monk is going to be leaps and bounds better to level than a shadow knight. They are borderline OP level 1 naked compared to most other classes. Not only that, decent monk gear is cheap as FUCK. Wu's Quivering Staff is like... 100plat? I'll gladly give you the plat for one. Awesome weapon compared to cheap SK weapons.

[Nagoya]

Don't forget the most important part!
Fashionquest wise monks look like stupid and dirty hobos holding sticks from level 1 to 60, always with the same two races. You'll be just one of the Puncherzz, Katanadragon and Lotuskick out there! /puke

Shadow Knights on the other hand is one of the most badass looking class; having access to good-ish classic choices like humans and erudites, or big bad boys ogres and trolls, and sex gods dark elves. Unfortunately no Gnomes SK yet on p99 though, or that would be the ultimate BiS choice for Fashionquest without any kind of competition.

But think carefully about the disgusting amount of precious hours you will dump on EQ and your character; that's the time you'll spend watching that tiny pixel ass, choose wisely! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

PS: untwinked melee toons can't solo past level 15. Cross this off your list. No can do. I guess Monks can at least manage to not die? at 17+ because of best FD, but that doesn't mean you'll solo XP anything hehe.

[jacal]

Oh Nagoya you made me change my mind now back to shadowknight cos you're right a lot monks means a lot of their stuff is expensive. Guess I'll have to avoid Gash and live it out.

ack just read what Twochain said now back to indecision ,I'll level both to 10 and then decide.

[Spyder73]

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

Oh Nagoya you made me change my mind now back to shadowknight cos you're right a lot monks means a lot of their stuff is expensive. Guess I'll have to avoid Gash and live it out.

ack just read what Twochain said now back to indecision ,I'll level both to 10 and then decide.

You really shouldn't base your decision on cost of gear between a monk and shadow knight because they are about even. In either case you will want haste and a weapon as the main things you are saving for.

For 2h options you can get a Deathbringers Rod (30/40 SK only) for 200pp. You can get a Wu Quivering Staff (23/28 mnk only) for 100pp

You can get a Mace of Shadowed Soul (19/29) for the SK for about 750pp if you play your cards right, and you can get a Wu Trace Stick (7/18) for about 100pp

For off hand Atramentous Shield for SK is actually freaking amazing and costs the same as a Staff of Shielding which is what you would want for monk off hand...

The cost of gearing the characters with mid level gear will be literally within 100's of PP of each other which is completely trivial.

It really does come down to flare - Monks do more damage and have some cool toys... SKs are true tanks with cool toys and some fun spells that are minimally useful (aside form agro).

ShadowKnight fashionquest is considerably more bad ass than Monk and this can not be discounted. Most monks on P99 look exactly the same leveling up, its pretty easy to tell the twinks from non twinks. SK is a bit more ambiguous and you probably wont be judged on gear quite as harshly.

just my 2coppers

EDIT: If you don't want to tank or pull then you are barking up the wrong tree with Monk/SK - I would recommend a Bard (although you will be asked to pull or tank from time to time) or a Ranger