New Monk - Many Questions!

[audioserf]

I've played one character for the past ~4 years (post-cap empath) and have rolled a monk to play around with UAC and do something different. I went with a Halfling because I like them and because of the ETD/Sorc TD bonuses and good maneuver dodging traits. I'm having a great time punching things faces in around WL. Some of my questions will be dumb, just because I haven't played a lowbie in forever. I plan to set stats to max at cap before level 20, because I figure PSelf will help make up the difference and I don't particularly want to shell out for a Fixstats.

I've read the last year or so of this subforum and it's given me a general idea of what's up with the class and some ideas of where I'd like to take the build. I've also read the Flimbo guide and Comprehensive Monk Guide on the Wiki.

- Society: I have only ever done COL in this game (GS3 and GS4) so I want to switch things up. I generally loathe relying on asking people for things (ie blesses, access to graveyard) which sours me on Voln a bit. GoS seems like it's fairly well suited to a monk since a lot of the CMans they use are passive, freeing up stamina for Sigils and Mstrikes. My current plan is to join GoS (I'm level 5) and knock out my five warcamps before level 20. If Voln is noticeably superior for some reason please pitch it to me. I really don't like non-corp things :-/

- Gear: Where does one readily come by 4x (flaring a plus) hand/foot wraps? PShops seems sparse and I refuse to believe I have to pay 2m+ for vanilla 4x Anything. Same question on robes, is there an easy place to pick up 4x?

- Spells: People seem split 50/50 between a medium/heavy spell build (some advocate 1220 by 25 and then 120 by 60ish, others 1220 and 120 by 40-45(!)) or more physical (.3x spells or so, loading up on dodge/MOC/PF/CM). Right now I'm in the physical camp because Dreavenings exist and I'm not shy about abusing them for as long as that gravy train holds up. I also want 3x dodge for the DS on those occasions where I can't get spells. Is there a compelling reason to go spell heavy? It seems you really sacrifice a lot of core things to do that.

- Build: I need to get around to doing a spreadsheet for this guy to see if the below is feasible but I'm thinking of something along these lines if I stay physical heavy
.5x TWC
2x Brawl
2x CM (all in on PSelf rank 5 by level 30 or whenever it's first feasible)
2x PF
3x Dodge
MOC in chunks (35 ranks by 20 is something I'd like to achieve, then whatever's next - 50 ranks?)
1x Perception
.5x Swim
.5x Climb
.3x Spell (MnM up to 1220 then switch to MnS)

Open Question: Lores - I think Transformation looks the most worthwhile, maybe to 15 ranks and then stop since (I hope) I won't be getting hit all that often?
AS/MIU - how often do people train in these? The most I can see myself regularly using is small statues/dull gold coins. Maybe focus on MIU when points allow and deal with AS later?

Anything else I'm missing?

[Stumplicker]

I've played one character for the past ~4 years (post-cap empath) and have rolled a monk to play around with UAC and do something different. I went with a Halfling because I like them and because of the ETD/Sorc TD bonuses and good maneuver dodging traits. I'm having a great time punching things faces in around WL. Some of my questions will be dumb, just because I haven't played a lowbie in forever. I plan to set stats to max at cap before level 20, because I figure PSelf will help make up the difference and I don't particularly want to shell out for a Fixstats.

I've read the last year or so of this subforum and it's given me a general idea of what's up with the class and some ideas of where I'd like to take the build. I've also read the Flimbo guide and Comprehensive Monk Guide on the Wiki.

- Society: I have only ever done COL in this game (GS3 and GS4) so I want to switch things up. I generally loathe relying on asking people for things (ie blesses, access to graveyard) which sours me on Voln a bit. GoS seems like it's fairly well suited to a monk since a lot of the CMans they use are passive, freeing up stamina for Sigils and Mstrikes. My current plan is to join GoS (I'm level 5) and knock out my five warcamps before level 20. If Voln is noticeably superior for some reason please pitch it to me. I really don't like non-corp things :-/

- Gear: Where does one readily come by 4x (flaring a plus) hand/foot wraps? PShops seems sparse and I refuse to believe I have to pay 2m+ for vanilla 4x Anything. Same question on robes, is there an easy place to pick up 4x?

- Spells: People seem split 50/50 between a medium/heavy spell build (some advocate 1220 by 25 and then 120 by 60ish, others 1220 and 120 by 40-45(!)) or more physical (.3x spells or so, loading up on dodge/MOC/PF/CM). Right now I'm in the physical camp because Dreavenings exist and I'm not shy about abusing them for as long as that gravy train holds up. I also want 3x dodge for the DS on those occasions where I can't get spells. Is there a compelling reason to go spell heavy? It seems you really sacrifice a lot of core things to do that.

- Build: I need to get around to doing a spreadsheet for this guy to see if the below is feasible but I'm thinking of something along these lines if I stay physical heavy
.5x TWC
2x Brawl
2x CM (all in on PSelf rank 5 by level 30 or whenever it's first feasible)
2x PF
3x Dodge
MOC in chunks (35 ranks by 20 is something I'd like to achieve, then whatever's next - 50 ranks?)
1x Perception
.5x Swim
.5x Climb
.3x Spell (MnM up to 1220 then switch to MnS)

Open Question: Lores - I think Transformation looks the most worthwhile, maybe to 15 ranks and then stop since (I hope) I won't be getting hit all that often?
AS/MIU - how often do people train in these? The most I can see myself regularly using is small statues/dull gold coins. Maybe focus on MIU when points allow and deal with AS later?

Anything else I'm missing?

On spells, the answer is - you get them whenever you're feeling the pinch on DS or TD. You're getting 20/20 ranks and then stopping for a long time - probably until cap. Some people want to fight stuff in other towns from Dreavenings before 50-60 that cast CS spells, and you'll want the minor spirit circle earlier. If you don't fight anything that's casting hard at you, or you're still in the landing to have Dreavenings, you can hold off on minor spirit until 60, 70, even 80 if you really wanted, unless you get short on DS and need the 120.

I personally recommend going at least 3 ranks into minor spirit early because 101 and 103 are a nice little cheap boost, and sans Dreavening, 102 is nice to hunt with because you really have no trouble hitting regardless.

MoC is 5, 30, 55 90, 135 ranks. Do the chunks and stop at those breakpoints and the rest is okay. Personally I wouldn't worry about 0.5x climb/swim. They're both super cheap. Leave them at zero until you hit a spot you need them, then boost them up. You'll probably have the TPs lying around for it.

Lastly, on voln, 1207 opens the graveyard gate, and after rank 8 you don't need to bless at all. YOu won't get the benefit of your enchant, but as a monk, you won't need it. You can hit it while it's sitting in defense and still have 130MM with 102 on and unblessed.

GoS is also very fun though. I did both.

AS/MIU - As much as you need to do what you want to do. If you want to hunt the broken lands, I think it's 15 ranks AS. Other than that, whatever your enhancives/scroll needs are. For me that number was 0, but I hate enhancives and active use stuff.

So long as you have the spells, I wouldn't worry too hard about bumping your armor class up with lores til cap. You don't start getting hit at all until level 80 or so, and that's just self spelled. stamina reduction is nice, but not essential. It's personal preference with lores pre-cap. My own post cap goal was 75 in the armor and 25 in the stamina reduction with enhancives to bump the 25 to the next level.

[khorpulent]

GoS is the superior society. Everyone knows that. Although Smite is kind of cool, but I've always found the 4 seconds it takes more trouble than it's worth. The big challenge with GoS is that it eats into the stamina you'd otherwise be using for mstriking, but stamina recovery and CON enhancives are relatively cheap and solve that problem well enough. You'll also need a lot more HP ranks if you go Sunfist. I noticed that Flimbo only has 31 at cap -- my monk has something like 65 ranks at 91 and will still start running low on mana if I start casting 1219 a lot while I keep major bane, protection and focus up. Still, those HP ranks are nice for spellburst areas, and if I switch from major to minor protection I don't have any mana problems.

I like Sunfist for monks for the following reason:
1. 1213 helps a lot with the stamina costs
2. Monks can 3x in PF so they have a lot of stamina anyhow
3. Free HCP is awesome.
4. Sigil of focus gives 7 more TD than symbol of protection.
5. Sigil of distraction (which nobody ever seems to use) reliably decreases EBP, which is a factor in MM. Sigil of intimidation is cool too, but it’s kind of expensive.
6. Monks kick ass in warcamps, especially troll camps if you have fire flaring gloves.
7. Everybody likes sigil of determination.


I also suspect that Flimbo is such a proponent of getting 120 early because he is a gnome and doesn’t get that fancy TD bonus that halflings do. Yes, I do get warded sometimes, but it generally hasn’t been a problem with the vast majority of hunting areas I’ve tried. It’s easy enough to get 101/107 from other folks, and with that fat ETD bonus you can do just fine without elementals.

And while I’ve heard of a lot of monks who hunt with 102 up, I can’t stand the UAF penalty. Yes I know that MM is a bigger factor than UAF, but it still makes a difference. The best defense is a good offense!

[audioserf]

Thank you both. Feeling good about GOS. I'll step my HP up to .6x or so to account for the sigil upkeep, and reduce Swim/Climb down to .25x or so since there's that GoS sigil that helps with those abilities. I don't want to bother with enhancives if I can avoid it. My empath is an enhancive junkie and I'd love to keep things as simple as I can on the monk.

As for robes, looks like Sairi's WL shop has affordably solved my immediate needs for 2x and shortly 4x plain flowing robes.

[Stumplicker]

I was middle of the road for spiritual. I got 120 at level 59 because I started fighting stuff that cast at me, but I had 103 by level 30 so I didn't need outside spells to stay in offensive throughout a hunt.

Everything Khorpulent said is also accurate. I was GoS until 40, and it was very fun and useful. I migrated away because I don't like being handcuffed for places I can hunt, didn't want to rely on anyone else to bless for me, and preferred to use all my stamina for mstrike rather than sigils. Purely personal preference for that.

[Stumplicker]

I am also told, though I never checked, that the GoS outpost on FWI sells 4x fire flaring boots and gloves. That may be your jumping off point. Otherwise look on the merchant channel on lich. Lots of people have flaring UAC stuff lying about.

[cwolff]

- Society: I have only ever done COL in this game (GS3 and GS4) so I want to switch things up. I generally loathe relying on asking people for things (ie blesses, access to graveyard) which sours me on Voln a bit. GoS seems like it's fairly well suited to a monk since a lot of the CMans they use are passive, freeing up stamina for Sigils and Mstrikes. My current plan is to join GoS (I'm level 5) and knock out my five warcamps before level 20. If Voln is noticeably superior for some reason please pitch it to me. I really don't like non-corp things :-/

I've been frustrated solo hunting warcamps with UAC. It's a fun aspect of the game but it can also be slow and when you're facing off against 5 or 6 enemies being slow hurts. As a low level character you can't take full advantage of Mstrike either. I know you want to play with UAC but it might be worth considering a THW or TWC build if you go GOS. Master it by level 13ish and then switch to UAC.

Voln is pretty cool for monks though and worth considering especially for a UAC build. One question to ask is if Voln still "penalizes" you for being low level of if favor gain is based on like level kills now.I don't know if that's changed now or not. Anyway, It gives you a lot of flexibility and access to some society benefits that Minor Mental doesn't cover, saves stamina, saves mana and self bless means never having to ask.

As for spells, I'd also encourage 1x MnM until 1216 by level 16. I wasn't able to follow this advice with a THW build though and ended up at like .7x by level 20 and got to 1220 by level 23 or so.

[Donquix]

I was basically .7x spells all the way to 1220 -> 120 -> 1236 and didn't regret it all. I also leveled pre-MoC being a thing so there was comparatively little opportunity cost.

GoS might overall be better but the 5 minute durations just piss me off whenever I have to deal with them (determination and major prot are the shit though). Voln is just a ton of convenience between self-blessing, seeking, etc. If you do spell tank on your way to cap and die to some bullshit openroll, etc. you have sym of recall to ease the pain there. emergency transference is really good also (better than escape imo).

if you ever feel like grinding out reim, smiting bosses and knocking off their arms and legs is pretty awesome. especially the emps.

[Maerit]

Voln is great for cap. It was a massive pain in the ass for me to maintain favor on my non-capped characters. It felt like I had to farm favor for 3 days straight just to have enough to hunt for 4-5 days and this was on characters in the level 40s and level 70s. I went back to GoS on one of them (my UAC character), and it was ideal because there was practically no undead to hunt at his level anyway. That being said, Voln was very nice when undead was in the equation. Being able to continuously fight, and take advantage of krynch without having to swap equipment or pause for any reason would be ideal in a mixed hunting ground.

If you intend to fight a lot of undead, voln will be beneficial. You can also use 1213 and qstrike to make things like smite take less than 4s, so you get more advantage out of the non-corporeal state. Like qstrike 1, smite target, mstrike punch target (or kick) which works well with the stamina reduction.

GoS is also great. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the faction except you will find it hard to rotate the sigils at a lower level. It becomes pretty reliable in the 30s, but prior to that it won't be easy to keep major sigils running. Voln does have the advantage of costing you no personal resources to activate the abilities. While it's a pain to keep favor up, it will be much easier to use the symbols than it is to use sigils early on.

I don't recommend CoL because it offers nothing truly valuable to a UAC hunter. If you drop below the required spirit threshold, you will NOT lose UAF - but you WILL lose MM. That's critical to your combat mechanics, so you'd need to have like 9 spirit to keep both swords and shields running in order to not lose MM when they worse off. As a halfling though, your spirit regen is pretty boss, so you could recover quicker than most. It's just not ideal compared to the others.

[Donquix]

I had trouble with favor during the undead gap, that is indeed some bullshit and I can't believe it's still a thing. With the RR boot opening up going to the citadel is a lot less of a pain in the ass now and helps fill in a relatively barren range for undead. Once you're at / near the level gap shadow valley is a great place to farm favor, the spawn rate there is jus stupid. and if you can handle reim, that helps tool but yeah, it's a real annoying. During that time I just trimmed down symbol usage leading up to and through it (stopped using suprem on dead, didn't run courage / prot if i didn't need, etc.) which sucks. Like really sucks, like ffs guys add some non-awful hunting grounds undead.

[Riltus]

Voln is pretty cool for monks though and worth considering especially for a UAC build. One question to ask is if Voln still "penalizes" you for being low level of if favor gain is based on like level kills now.I don't know if that's changed now or not. Anyway, It gives you a lot of flexibility and access to some society benefits that Minor Mental doesn't cover, saves stamina, saves mana and self bless means never having to ask.

Favor gained = .ceil((character level/15) * creature level). Symbol use favor cost is level dependent. It is relatively more expensive to both advance and use symbols at low levels. A level 15 character killing a level 15 undead gains 15 favor ((15/15) * 15) with a symbol of return cost of 188 favor. That equals approximately 12.53 same level kills per use. A level 100 character gains 667 favor per SLK [.ceil((100/15) * 100). The sym of return cost for a capped character is 2174 units which is ~3.26 SLKs (2174/667) per use.

https://gswiki.play.net/Favor

Mark

[khorpulent]

Yeah, a bunch of enhancives aren't really necessary, but a few stamina recovery enhancives will make a BIG difference. Being able to mstrike over and over without having stamina problems makes a huge difference to a monk, since mstrike times are so low (especially with a halfling). At least put stamina recovery on your badge.

I do kind of wish I could bless my own stuff with Voln powers now that I'm close to cap and have to hung in mixed undead/living hunting areas. The annoying thing about hunting undead with UAC is that you use up a bless pretty quickly with all those jabs and stuff.

As far as soloing warcamps with UAC, I found that my monk has been about my only character who could effectively solo all the way from level 5 on up. I find that flurry of blows makes a big difference, especially if you're using fire flares against trolls (though I cheat with greater fire flares). When my monk was under 20 I could just sit there and jab every 2 seconds and could basically clear out a warcamp without a scratch that way. Even if you want to go with Krynch in the long run, I still like using flurry under 20 cause everything has so little HP.

And I think you people are crazy for learning so many spells so soon. Monks are squares, man. And considering how minimally useful everything between 108-119 is, it seems like shitton of points just for 20 TD. If you stop at 103, you'd save 646 MTP from skipping those 17 ranks. If my math is right, that works out to 71 dodging ranks. Essentially, you're trading a lot of DS for a little TD. Alternatively, you could put those 17 ranks into minor mental and still pick up some extra TD and DS, plus you're boosting your CS with 1219/1210.

It's also worth keeping in mind that every four MnM ranks over the 8th rank gives you +1 generic TD from 1208 (well, and you also get +1 MTD for every 2 ranks, for what that's worth). You also gain 1 DS for every rank above 1220 and beef up your 1207 with MnM ranks.

[Stumplicker]

I sort of agree about the minor spirit tree, but not really. 115 is very useful, and 120 gives DS in addition to TD. I stuck with 103 until 59. I could've gotten away with going just for 107 for self sufficiency, but my DS wasn't pushed over the mark even with 3x dodge at that point where I could stay full offensive and not get hit all the time, so I found going to 120 was useful. 102 also scales up the DS with more minor spirit ranks. Between that and 120, you're getting a good chunk of DS, a good chunk of TD, and the ability to roll twice on some of your warding checks. And I was back to 3x dodge by 70 after the sprint to 120 at 59. NOTE: The trade-off there is that I didn't even think about starting lores until 75 and stuck with 55 MoC ranks until around 90, when I went to 90 ranks.

[Donquix]

Yeah, a bunch of enhancives aren't really necessary, but a few stamina recovery enhancives will make a BIG difference. Being able to mstrike over and over without having stamina problems makes a huge difference to a monk, since mstrike times are so low (especially with a halfling). At least put stamina recovery on your badge.

I do kind of wish I could bless my own stuff with Voln powers now that I'm close to cap and have to hung in mixed undead/living hunting areas. The annoying thing about hunting undead with UAC is that you use up a bless pretty quickly with all those jabs and stuff.

As far as soloing warcamps with UAC, I found that my monk has been about my only character who could effectively solo all the way from level 5 on up. I find that flurry of blows makes a big difference, especially if you're using fire flares against trolls (though I cheat with greater fire flares). When my monk was under 20 I could just sit there and jab every 2 seconds and could basically clear out a warcamp without a scratch that way. Even if you want to go with Krynch in the long run, I still like using flurry under 20 cause everything has so little HP.

And I think you people are crazy for learning so many spells so soon. Monks are squares, man. And considering how minimally useful everything between 108-119 is, it seems like shitton of points just for 20 TD. If you stop at 103, you'd save 646 MTP from skipping those 17 ranks. If my math is right, that works out to 71 dodging ranks. Essentially, you're trading a lot of DS for a little TD. Alternatively, you could put those 17 ranks into minor mental and still pick up some extra TD and DS, plus you're boosting your CS with 1219/1210.

It's also worth keeping in mind that every four MnM ranks over the 8th rank gives you +1 generic TD from 1208 (well, and you also get +1 MTD for every 2 ranks, for what that's worth). You also gain 1 DS for every rank above 1220 and beef up your 1207 with MnM ranks.

Monks are squares in name only. To this day any problems the class has are a direct result of the bullshit cop out to not make a monk list.

That said, i'm not sure i'd go as magical as i was to get 120 now that MoC is a thing (i still advocate getting 1220 ASAP. All of those buffs, 1207 being more reliable, etc.). Didn't need dodging ranks. If things can't hit me in offensive I think i'm good defense wise. Its kinda fuzzy now but I may have fixskilled into 120. 1220 + 107 asap, then went all physical, and then the yearly fixskill was coming up anyway so i fixskilled to 120 when I had the points to have minimal compromise before the fixskill date. I was hunting in RR or zul or something so the convenience of having self-cast 100's was nice.

DS is a lot easier to get. TD isn't.

[wetsand]

I went really spell heavy on my monk (1220 by 20 and 120 by 45). My reasoning was the first 45 levels are way easier than the last 55 levels. So I got all my spells "done" early. I never really felt that underpowered at 1x cman, 1x PF, and 2x dodge. My end goal was to be self sustaining and be able to hunt where ever I wanted to. I picked Voln because it allows me to self bless and NOT run out of blesses mid mstrike. Not to mention seeking and return are the bees knees.

[khorpulent]

1x CM and PF? You just made my head explode.

My monk has basically just gone straight up minor mental. At 91 he now has up to 1235 and 102. It worked for me -- I've haven't had any trouble with magical creatures that I can recall.

And I agree that monks aren't quite as "square" as warriors and rogues. It does take a warrior more than 3x as many points to train in spell research than it does a monk, but it also costs monks twice as much to learn spells than rangers or bards. And of course, all the semi classes can 2x in spells, versus monks that can only 1x.

Maybe monks need a new shape. Perhaps they're hexagons?

[Stumplicker]

1x CM and PF? You just made my head explode.

My monk has basically just gone straight up minor mental. At 91 he now has up to 1235 and 102. It worked for me -- I've haven't had any trouble with magical creatures that I can recall.

!!! You gotta go for 36 man! Don't stop at 35! You cray! 36 is a breakpoint for an extra GTD from Mindward!

[khorpulent]

I'll get there, my monk is only 91! I may actually keep going up the MnM circle from there because I care more about the extra CS for 1219 than the TD from 120. That might change one of these days if I ever start hunting in actual hunting areas instead of warcamps.

My training plan is generally skewed toward warcamping and bandits, so I tend to value crowd control more than I do TD. It seems like I ward like-level creatures fairly well with 35 ranks, but I'd like to add to that margin a little more if I can.

I did get into some trouble from spells when I made my first foray into Nelemar, but I reckon the extra 27 TD I'll pick up from those last 9 levels should help until I eventually get 120 down the line.

[audioserf]

Up to level 7 on my little dude, and about to do the rank 10 GOS task. I've razed 9 camps solo. 15 ranks of MOC plus rank 1 of Flurry of Blows is ridiculously fun on a room of 3 Grim. I'll have to do some reading to understand the full workings of Krynch because right now I can't think why I'd use that instead of Flurry. While GOS has been fun so far I don't plan to do a whole ton of warcamping after mastering because I like the variety of hunting in different areas and I'm an Adventurer's Guild slave in my heart of hearts.

Right now I'm set up with:

2x Brawl
2x PF
2x CM
2x Dodge
15 MOC
1x Perception
5 HP
3 MnM

I could go whole hog 3x PF/Dodge for now because I'm almost always Dreaven'd but I'm trying to get a feel for how playing a more spell heavy (1220 and 103 by 30) build would feel.

[Stumplicker]

Krynch is demonstrated in my guide under the "How to punch stuff good" section, with the combat logs. I think it's also demonstrated in the comprehensive monk guide because some douchebag just copied and pasted sections of my guide into a different page for that like a freshman passing a wikipedia entry off as an essay by changing just enough words. Essentially it's just a chance to start back over at your previous kill's positioning. If you're at excellent tier on a critter and kill it, on the next critter you hit, Krynch can fire and set your kill automatically at excellent tier, or good, or whatever you were at on the last critter.

[khorpulent]

Yeah, flurry is also somewhat helpful for tiering up, but obviously only when taking on multiple creatures. And even then, it's a little tricky because you have to pay attention to what subsequent attacks you need to in order to tier up against the other creatures that you jabbed. Still, all those extra jabs are pretty hand when you're taking on a room full of creatures, especially with flares/ensorcell.

I keep meaning to actually test it out, but I think flurry may be a little broken when it comes to mstrikes in that it can interrupt the auto tier-up thing that you get mstriking. I'm fairly sure that if a flurry jab hits in between mstrike hits, you end up jabbing when you should have otherwise punched or whatever and it interrupts the tier-up. Don't quote me on that, though. I'll try to go through some logs today and see if I'm actually right about that.

[Stumplicker]

The bottom line is, if you have very nice flares on your gloves, flurry may edge out krynch. They're fairly evenly matched unless that's the case, and more personal preference. I prefer krynch because you get a free jab on the first mstrike on a thing if it hasn't been jabbed yet, and using flurry negates that. So if you open mstrike a room full of critters with krynch on, you're essentially getting a free flurry with it on the first hit.

[Astray]

I got some Grapple flaring gloves and some Disruption flaring boots. It's very satisfying with Flurry.

[khorpulent]

I think this is maybe a focused mstrike, so it may be different with an open one. But you can see that those jabs don't lead to the correct next attack to tier up.

You concentrate intently, focusing all your energies.
You explode into a fury of strikes and ripostes, moving with a singular purpose and will!
You attempt to jab the Royal Empress!
You have decent positioning against the Royal Empress.
UAF: 756 vs UDF: 622 = 1.215 * MM: 97 + d100: 83 = 200
... and hit for 13 points of damage!
Strong hit rips arm from wrist to elbow.
The wound vanishes as the ethereal flesh swirls around in chaotic patterns.

** Necrotic energy from your morduska hide trukt overflows into you! **

You feel reinvigorated!

** As you hit, the surface of your morduska hide trukt seems to fold inward upon itself drawing everything it touches along with it! **
... 25 points of damage!
Weak blow to neck wouldn't have scared the Royal Empress even if it were still alive.
The guiding force leaves you.

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against the Royal Emperor!
All of a sudden, the Royal Emperor rises quickly to his feet.
You have decent positioning against the Royal Emperor.
UAF: 681 vs UDF: 421 = 1.617 * MM: 91 + d100: 43 = 190
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Ineffectual strike knocks a wisp of ether from the Royal Emperor's left arm.
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup punch attack!
You attempt to jab the Royal Empress!
You have decent positioning against the Royal Empress.
UAF: 681 vs UDF: 622 = 1.094 * MM: 91 + d100: 28 = 127
... and hit for 3 points of damage!
A weak tap grazes the right ankle.
Feeling nervous yet?

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against the Royal Emperor!
You have decent positioning against the Royal Emperor.
UAF: 681 vs UDF: 421 = 1.617 * MM: 94 + d100: 23 = 175
... and hit for 3 points of damage!
Ineffectual strike knocks a wisp of ether from the Royal Emperor's right arm.
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!

** Your morduska hide trukt release a quivering wave of disruption! **

The Royal Emperor manages to bring up his imflass shield in time to deflect the elements harmlessly away from himself!

** Necrotic energy from your morduska hide trukt overflows into you! **

You feel energized!

** As you hit, the surface of your morduska hide trukt seems to fold inward upon itself drawing everything it touches along with it! **
The Royal Emperor manages to bring up his imflass shield in time to deflect the elements harmlessly away from himself!
You attempt to jab the Royal Empress!
You have decent positioning against the Royal Empress.
UAF: 706 vs UDF: 622 = 1.135 * MM: 80 + d100: 24 = 114
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
A weak tap grazes the right ankle.
Feeling nervous yet?
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!
You feel the unnatural surge of necrotic power wane away.

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against the Royal Emperor!
You have decent positioning against the Royal Emperor.
UAF: 681 vs UDF: 421 = 1.617 * MM: 92 + d100: 41 = 189
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Weak blow leaves a brief imprint on the Royal Emperor's chest!
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup jab attack!

** Necrotic energy from your morduska hide trukt overflows into you! **

You feel energized!
You attempt to grapple the Royal Empress!
You have good positioning against the Royal Empress.
UAF: 706 vs UDF: 622 = 1.135 * MM: 86 + d100: 93 = 190
... and hit for 47 points of damage!
Hard strike shatters arm into vapor.
The arm reforms before your eyes!
The Royal Empress is knocked to the ground!
You feel the unnatural surge of necrotic power wane away.
You attempt to jab the Royal Empress!
You have good positioning against the Royal Empress.
UAF: 681 vs UDF: 622 = 1.094 * MM: 101 + d100: 33 = 143
... and hit for 13 points of damage!
Strike swipes cleanly through the abdomen, but seals up a moment later!

** As you hit, the surface of your morduska hide trukt seems to fold inward upon itself drawing everything it touches along with it! **
... 2 points of damage!
Weak blow leaves a brief imprint on the Royal Empress's chest!

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against the Royal Emperor!
You have good positioning against the Royal Emperor.
UAF: 681 vs UDF: 421 = 1.617 * MM: 99 + d100: 36 = 196
... and hit for 16 points of damage!
Strike swipes cleanly through the abdomen, but seals up a moment later!
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!

** Your morduska hide trukt release a quivering wave of disruption! **

The Royal Emperor manages to bring up his imflass shield in time to deflect the elements harmlessly away from himself!

Your series of strikes and ripostes leaves you winded and out of position.
Roundtime: 5 sec.

[khorpulent]

The bottom line is, if you have very nice flares on your gloves, flurry may edge out krynch. They're fairly evenly matched unless that's the case, and more personal preference. I prefer krynch because you get a free jab on the first mstrike on a thing if it hasn't been jabbed yet, and using flurry negates that. So if you open mstrike a room full of critters with krynch on, you're essentially getting a free flurry with it on the first hit.

Actually, those free jabs aren't wasted with flurry. Each of those free jabs will cause flurry to fire and you'll get 2 or 3 more jabs from each of the free ones.

[khorpulent]

Hmm, this is with an open mstrike. Maybe it just ignores those jabs on the open mstrike:

>mstr punch
You are now in an offensive stance.
J>
You concentrate intently, focusing all your energies.
With instinctive motions, you weave to and fro striking with deliberate and unrelenting fury!
You attempt to jab a Grimswarm troll ranger!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll ranger.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 541 = 0.911 * MM: 101 + d100: 16 = 108
... and hit for 7 points of damage!
Lackluster jab to the mid-back.

** Necrotic energy from your vruul hide gloves overflows into you! **

You feel energized!

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against a Grimswarm troll cleric!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll cleric.
UAF: 508 vs UDF: 429 = 1.184 * MM: 107 + d100: 22 = 148
... and hit for 14 points of damage!
Fast but ineffective blow to left hip.
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!
You feel the unnatural surge of necrotic power wane away.
You attempt to jab a Grimswarm troll ranger!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll ranger.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 541 = 0.911 * MM: 107 + d100: 77 = 174
... and hit for 14 points of damage!
Quick blow to right knee makes the troll ranger wince!
The troll ranger starts to favor his wounded leg!

** Your vruul hide gloves flare with a burst of flame! **

... 25 points of damage!
Burst of flames char abdomen a crispy black.
The troll ranger is stunned!
The troll ranger howls in agony as the flames dance over his body!
... 50 points of damage!
Skin and some muscle burnt off chest.


You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against a Grimswarm troll cleric!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll cleric.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 227 = 2.000 (capped) * MM: 108 + d100: 24 = 240
... and hit for 24 points of damage!
Fast strike to inner thigh knocks the troll cleric off-balance!
The troll cleric is knocked into a sitting position!
The troll cleric is stunned!
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup punch attack!

** Necrotic energy from your vruul hide gloves overflows into you! **

You feel energized!
You attempt to jab a Grimswarm troll marauder!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll marauder.
UAF: 508 vs UDF: 470 = 1.080 * MM: 34 + d100: 12 = 48
A clean miss!
You feel the unnatural surge of necrotic power wane away.

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against a Grimswarm troll cleric!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll cleric.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 226 = 2.000 (capped) * MM: 119 + d100: 92 = 330
... and hit for 28 points of damage!
Fast strike to inner thigh knocks the troll cleric off-balance!
Foe remains vulnerable to a followup punch attack!

You quickly pivot again and follow up with another jab against a Grimswarm troll ranger!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll ranger.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 533 = 0.924 * MM: 105 + d100: 89 = 186
... and hit for 14 points of damage!
Downward-swinging jab lands a swift blow against the left ankle!

** Your vruul hide gloves flare with a burst of flame! **

... 20 points of damage!
Burst of flames to right eye bakes eyelid.
The troll ranger howls in agony as the flames dance over his body!
... 15 points of damage!
Minor burns to left leg. That hurts a bit.


** Burning orbs of pure flame burst from a pair of vruul hide gloves charred with fiery runes and engulf a Grimswarm troll ranger! **

... 20 points of damage!
Burst of flames to left arm burns skin bright red.
The troll ranger moans in pain as the flames singe his skin!
... 10 points of damage!
Minor burns to left eye. Foe blinks back the tears.

... 20 points of damage!
Burst of flames to neck chars skin. Yuck!
The troll ranger howls in agony as the flames dance over his body!
... 30 points of damage!
Nasty burns to chest make you wish you never heard of heartburn.

You attempt to jab a Grimswarm troll marauder!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll marauder.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 470 = 1.048 * MM: 35 + d100: 1 = 37
A clean miss!

You quickly pivot and follow up with a jab against a Grimswarm troll ranger!
You have decent positioning against a Grimswarm troll ranger.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 502 = 0.982 * MM: 120 + d100: 25 = 142
... and hit for 14 points of damage!
Low jab glances off the left thigh.
You attempt to punch a Grimswarm troll cleric!
You have good positioning against a Grimswarm troll cleric.
UAF: 493 vs UDF: 428 = 1.151 * MM: 135 + d100: 73 = 228
... and hit for 59 points of damage!
Quick chop crushes several fingers into uselessness!
The troll cleric starts to favor his wounded arm!
Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!