52 (epic) Monk with 52k - what to upgrade?

[remen]

Hi guys, I was hoping to get some advice from you expert monks out there on the best way to spend the extra plat I've got saved up on my 52 monk. He currently has epic, fungi, IFS, sash of the dragonborn, spider fur cloak and pretty standard stuff in the rest of the slots. I solo 90% of the time but don't mind grouping from time to time and was wondering what would get me the most bang for my buck with the extra 50k or so I saved up. The options I am considering are:

1) Tstaff - I have heard the stun proc is great for soloing
2) Haste Upgrade - Either the Seahorse belt for a 10% haste upgrade & stats or a CoCW + spider fur belt (slightly more haste but not as good stats)
3) Haste belt/Hiero Cloak - Get a less expensive haste upgrade like RBG or RBB and then use the extra plat to upgrade to a hiero cloak for a big stats boost
4) Other - is there some better item / combo of items to look to upgrade than the options I came up with?

All advice and feedback is much appreciated, thanks!

[Legidias]

Haste upgrade gives the most solid +DPS which will equal less kill time which will equal less damage taken which will equal less down time which equals more killing.

If youre soloing a ton DS pots also nice at higher lvl when fights are a bit longer and mobs hit often.

Or blow it all and pay some bored and poor 60 bard to plvl to 60

[mefdinkins]

I don't think you'd be going wrong with SG Belt, Cloak of Flames or TStaff and they can all make solo'ing to level 60 easier.

I think Spiked Seahorse Hide Belt is hard to sell so maybe you could get that for cheap and somehow hustle for a Spiked Seahorse Belt + Heirophant's cloak and end up with 34% haste +130 HP vs. 36% haste and 90 HP (COF + Spider Fur). COF is 'amazing' and highest droppable haste but IMO it's a little overrated and the 2% haste loss w/ Seahorse Belt gives you a lot of other options for itemization -- working towards Cloak of Confusion, Heiro Cloak, or cheaper options like Shimmering Terror Hide Cloak, Hooded Black Cloak, Dire Wolf-Hide Cloak.

You can also work on other items outside of dropping your plat like: Jboots (can camp for free), Peggy Cloak (can get for free if you find a group to camp), Solid Bags: Large Soiled, Couple Tink Bags, Thurg Leather MQ Wrist, Bracer of the Hammerfal. TStaff is decent for leveling but then after that is essentially luxury item to deal with damage shield mobs and for keeping aggro and minimizing ripostes while tanking.

[Legidias]

If soloing, dont just look at bigger + HP pool, that 2% haste difference can mean 10-20sec less kill time on a mob, and in that time it can hit you for waaay more than 40 hp when youre 50+.

Solo melee is entirely about the kill speed. +Other stats is nice when youre pulling for a group or raid so you dont get roflstomped on pull.

[mefdinkins]

Yes and with epic it's 74% haste with SG belt or about 15-25k less than 76% haste with COF.

[jijii]

If you mostly solo, I would get a t-staff. You will take substantially less dmg from riposte procs with a 2h compared to dw with a 9/16 primary. Your ripostes will also do much more. The proc is also super legit... 120 unresistable dmg is as good as it comes. This is only if you solo, though. In a group setting where you’re not tanking, neither of those first two benefits exist.

Otherwise, I’d keep saving for a cloak of flames. If you caved and went seahorse + eventual hiero cloak, I wouldn’t think it was a bad play, either.

[Twochain]

If you're iksar, Cloak of the Crystalline Waters i think is almost better than CoF. The +SV cold makes a big difference when the mobs you're fighting cast 1k ice comets. And obviously, it's the same haste as CoF, but without HP.

Food for thought.

T-staff is awesome for soloing but it's overpriced atm imo.

[Jimjam]

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

T-staff is awesome for soloing but it's overpriced atm imo.

OP mentions he isn't against grouping, so I'd suggest the T-staff being a side project to work on when he isn't soloing. KC fun times when feeling social, keep those spawns turned over to try win a T-Staff.


Come to forums crying when a rogue wins it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.].

[remen]

Thanks for all the thoughtful responses guys!

In response to some of the posts...the idea of getting the Tstaff was more about the stun proc saving me from taking damage than being a big DPS upgrade over my IFS, and with the IFS I already have the riposte advantage over using 1 handers while soloing. Having never used a Tstaff it's hard for me to gauge how often it procs and how much the stun helps in regards to avoiding damage. My line of thinking is less damage taken = less downtime = more xp. But of course more DPS = more xp so that's why I figure getting a top end haste item would be a good choice.

Just curious, I hear a few people saying to save up for the CoF...as far as I can tell it has the same stats as the CoCW other than 50hp and a different resist, is it really worth the extra 20k or so for 50hp!? Also curious why people are so down on the seahorse belt and why it would be so hard to sell? It seems like it has nice stats and non haste cloak items are better than non haste belt items. Or am I just underrating how much of a difference that 2% haste makes?

I also probably overstated how much I group, it is probably closer to 1% than 10% lol but I just don't know how feasible it will be at levels 55+

Thanks again for all the responses and feedback!

[jijii]

to address a couple of your questions:

t-staff proc dmg will end up being a bigger deal than stun duration, ultimately. sometimes the stun lasts for a long time, others a mere instant. it's the fact that it's always 120dmg that is nice (pvp is another story)

cof vs cocw and 20k for 50hp being "worth it" is pretty tough to answer. no, it's probably not "worth it" but the closer you get to an "end game" item (whatever end-game means to you and your particular playstyle), the less value you're gonna get for your plat. cof is, essentially, the pinnacle buyable haste item in terms of stats and haste %, that's why it's the most expensive. it's not as much a value proposition as it is a "best in slot for a casual" proposition. the same basically applies to the seahorse belt. it's good, but it's less haste. *value* wise seahorse belt + hiero cloak is the way to go, but "best in slot for a casual" it's probably cof + rbg.

so much of this depends on what kind of player you are, what your goals are, etc.