Wanna be a brawler? Shot caller?

[Mtenda]

So, I have this paladin that I've been planning on converting to a monk when and if the time comes. He's pretty much a bi-partisan maverick who takes on pork barrel spending with straight talk. And since I'm sitting around with all these brawling ranks that I'm not using and have a society reset available, I figured I would give something a try that I never have. Voln-Fu. I don't have a fixskills currently so I'm looking to make this work as is. And honestly as long as he has to be a paladin, I really would like to keep his skills where they are outside of brawling anyways. Here are his stats/skills right now-

Name: Whitey McBush Race: Human Profession: Senator
Gender: Male Age: 72 Expr: Vietnam Level: 50
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 92 (26) ... 92 (26)
Constitution (CON): 83 (16) ... 83 (16)
Dexterity (DEX): 89 (19) ... 89 (19)
Agility (AGI): 89 (19) ... 89 (19)
Discipline (DIS): 83 (16) ... 83 (16)
Aura (AUR): 92 (21) ... 92 (21)
Logic (LOG): 94 (27) ... 94 (27)
Intuition (INT): 82 (21) ... 82 (21)
Wisdom (WIS): 83 (16) ... 83 (16)
Influence (INF): 55 (2) ... 55 (2)

Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 170 70
Combat Maneuvers...................| 200 100
Two-Handed Weapons.................| 200 100
Brawling...........................| 170 70
Physical Fitness...................| 150 50
Dodging............................| 150 50
Harness Power......................| 150 50
Spiritual Lore - Blessings.........| 50 10
Spiritual Lore - Summoning.........| 130 35

Spell Lists
Minor Spirit.......................| 20

Spell Lists
Paladin............................| 8

So my questions are:

1. Is 70 ranks of brawling enough to take on like level undead foes with Fu? I am always hearing about how MB is so high anyways and won't my 2x CM help with this?

2. Is 70 ranks of brawling going to give me enough DS not to get splattered?

3. Can I hold a shield in my left hand while Fuing?

4. Can I hold a two hander while Voln kicking?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

[mrjrd222]

1. Is 70 ranks of brawling enough to take on like level undead foes with Fu? I am always hearing about how MB is so high anyways and won't my 2x CM help with this?

2. Is 70 ranks of brawling going to give me enough DS not to get splattered?

3. Can I hold a shield in my left hand while Fuing?

4. Can I hold a two hander while Voln kicking?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

I can't answer all of your questions but...

CM doesn't help fu as far as I know, Perception does though if you're interested in adding to that.

You can hold a shield and punch/kick perfectly fine, you'd gain maybe 5 MB if you put the shield away.

You can also hold a two hander and punch/kick perfectly fine, you'd gain maybe 3-4 MB if you put the sword away. (Something in your left hand seems to hinder fu a tiny bit more than something in your right hand)

My level 41 Cleric singles in brawling and perception (43 trains in each). With Bravery, Heroism, Benediction, and Symbol of Courage he has about 220 MB with both hands empty. I use 102 on him to help DS while barely hindering my kicks/punches/throws. I would struggle to fight like level if I didn't use 301 (Prayer of Holding). Although since I have holding I can hunt over my head with voln-fu... Wish I could help more. I really only know what I've experienced.

[Mtenda]

For someone completely ignorant to the ways of Voln Fu, that is actually pretty helpful. I should note that I just read in Krakiipedia that you get 1 MB for every 10 ranks of CM. Of course Krakiipedia isn't always right though. Anyone else wanna chime in?

[mrjrd222]

Interesting, I never did check the krakiipedia page about voln fu. That and I don't train in CM so I'm ignorant to that fact as well, but it does say allegedly... You could test it if you went and kicked something and calculated your own MB through their formula. If the extra can be explained through CM ranks then I'd say it's true.

[Mtenda]

I definitely will test it as soon as I can but I haven't even begun the journey through Voln yet. Happen to know how to leave the Council of Lil' Bushs?

[Crazy Bard]

Can Paladins train in archery effectively?

[Mtenda]

Never tried it. The cost is 6/2. Also, paladins can only single in ambush and perception with costs of 4/5 and 0/3. You could probably do it but it definitely wouldn't be as effective as some other classes.

[Izzy]

Can Paladins train in archery effectively?

They would lose out on the effectiveness of a lot of their key spells. 1617 doesn't add ranged AS. 1611 wouldn't either, because cm training does nil for ranged AS. 1625 would be useless, because sanctifying the bow doesn't affect the arrows (though it would be pretty sick if it did). No 1609 benefits without a shield. I doubt 1605 would help. You probably could 1608 bundles of Eonake arrows or something, but that's not permanent. All in all, not a very good matchup.

[mgoddess]

Happen to know how to leave the Council of Lil' Bushs?
Go and don't fight yourself.

[Mtenda]

Ok, since my original post I've been playing around with TPs and it may be best for me to just go ahead and start migrating some points since it will be a while before I master Voln anyways. Also, being a Volner I will now be able to bless my own weapon thus negating much of the need for sanctified weapons which thus negates much of the need for 1608, thus negating the whole reason I trained in Blessings Lore to begin with. Also, I never use 1607. So, I can drop 2 spells and 10 ranks of Blessings Lore and maybe a few other things to get more brawl and perception. I'm going to assume that at that point I will be a viable Fuer. Thanks for the help.