Returning player. Never rolled a monk before

[Paradii]

Hi all, I caught a cold so I decided to roll a monk and try one these FTP characters.

Decided to go with a forest gnome, but I could you some assurances that this is the 'typical' build.

Initial stats:
(CON)Constitution 75
(STR) Strength 80
(DEX) Dexterity 70
(AGL) Agility 70
(DIS) Discipline 60
(AUR)Aura 70
(LOG) Logic 90
(INT) Intuition 60
(WIS) Wisdom 60
(INF) Influence 20

Training:
2x Brawling
1x CM
1x MOC
2x PF (does this stop at a certain point for monks?)
3x Dodging
~1x Spells
1x Perception

Extras:
Climbing, Swimming, and Transformation

I had 1x TWC built in, but I don't think I can do 1x spells and TWC at the same time at the moment. What is the consensus? Is TWC the bees knees, or are one handed brawlers sufficient?

Thanks all

[Donquix]

pf is a primary factor for maneuver defense. It doesn't stop for anyone. pures should 1x it, semis should at least 1x it, squares 2x for life.

options for twc are 1 rank (for +5 defense) or .5x (which would get you +15 defense). You get a small amount of defense per rank beyond those thresholds, but it is negligible.

you're probably going to want 2x cm more than a full 1x in spells in the long run. I am considerably more magical than most other monks and i'm like .6x. Also being less magical gets you like...nothing imo. "Like oh hey, now things need to roll a 130 to hit me instead of a 120...that 3x dodge was sure worth it!" Dumping as much as you can to spells in the early levels to rush up to 1220 then letting it hold a bit is pretty standard.

.5x climb/swim, transformation lore to 5 ranks (stopping point for 1202) then you can just kind of ignore it. I eventually bumped it up to 15 ranks (another stopping point for 1202) somewhere around the 40's or 50's and haven't touched it again sense.

Again, I don't 3x dodge. I typically have a full wizard spellup, but even without it things basically couldn't hit me as is. With a wizard spellup i can just sit in offensive and not even worry about stance dancing. If things can even touch me with an AS/DS resolition around my level they can't even hit me hard enough to get a rank 1

[Androidpk]

Swimming is useless early on, I wouldn't bother dumping any points in it. Perception would be better though a gnome fully 2 or 3x in PF seems like it would be nigh untouchable.

[Jeril]

Hi all, I caught a cold so I decided to roll a monk and try one these FTP characters.

Decided to go with a forest gnome, but I could you some assurances that this is the 'typical' build.

Initial stats:
(CON)Constitution 75
(STR) Strength 80
(DEX) Dexterity 70
(AGL) Agility 70
(DIS) Discipline 60
(AUR)Aura 70
(LOG) Logic 90
(INT) Intuition 60
(WIS) Wisdom 60
(INF) Influence 20

Training:
2x Brawling
1x CM
1x MOC
2x PF (does this stop at a certain point for monks?)
3x Dodging
~1x Spells
1x Perception

Extras:
Climbing, Swimming, and Transformation

I had 1x TWC built in, but I don't think I can do 1x spells and TWC at the same time at the moment. What is the consensus? Is TWC the bees knees, or are one handed brawlers sufficient?

Thanks all

With my monk I went 2x brawl, 2x cman, .5x twc, 1x MoC, 1x ambush, 3x dodge, 2x pf, 1x perception .3x spells and HP. I prefer having the combat maneuver points to play around with over having a bunch of DS that I shouldn't really be needing. With there being an mstrike option for UAC now I'd suggest you 2x MoC up to 30 ranks, seems like the extra jabs from an opening mstrike would be worth it.

As said you get +5 DS for the first rank of TWC, but you also get a few points of DS from your stats with that first rank, then you get an additional +10 DS when you are .5x in it. In the early levels this is going to be some of your cheapest DS and later on you should have enough training points to maintain it. Outside of those thresholds you get .1 DS per rank of TWC. It isn't a lot but after 3x dodge and getting 1220/120 it is going to be the cheapest way to raise your DS.

You don't get any DS from spells 1205-1215, so if you do plan to go the spell route for DS I highly suggest you hold off and use a fixskills for that. Just check and make sure you have one, all new characters do. I don't believe it is any different for f2p.

I played my monk up until level 18 before getting side tracked with other alts. I mostly hunted him self spelled and for a few levels around 10 it was possible to get hit while in defensive I forget at what level exactly that changed but it was 14-15 I believe.

Ambush is great for aiming your strikes but with the addition of an mstrike option I'd pick up the first 30 ranks of MoC before getting the 20 or so ranks of ambush you'd need to reliably hit your mark.

[Paradii]

Thanks all. Made some changes and having some fun. Its rough starting from scratch. Not sure if its because I am ftp, but the loot seems pretty atrocious.

[mgoddess]

Not sure if its because I am ftp, but the loot seems pretty atrocious.
Yup, that's a "benefit" of FTP... less loot found, less amount of silvers that can be held/banked... etc.

On the other hand, we've got an awesome community that's willing to support FTP peeps, and if asked, people are willing to help find 1x/2x/3x/4x gears for FTP characters for price-points that FTP characters can afford. :)

[Androidpk]

Avoid gem bounties at all costs on ftp.

[Jeril]

Avoid gem bounties at all costs on ftp.

F2P can only do a bounty once an hour or so. No reason not to keep and do the bounty if you can get all the gems inside that hour.

[Astray]

Roll a Warrior, use Brawling, get tired of it in a week, respec to 2h and be awesome.

[Androidpk]

F2P can only do a bounty once an hour or so. No reason not to keep and do the bounty if you can get all the gems inside that hour.

Good luck getting those gems in an hour or less. Outside of buying them from players or getting incredibly lucky it isn't going to happen.

There is a way to bypass the once an hour bounty that doesn't include the adventure guild pass.

[Maerit]

With my monk, I set it up to 1x until 20 ranks in Minor Mental. This gets you great DS benefits and some extremely useful offensive abilities. You want to get 1207 and the mana necessary for 1207 right away.

In order to do this you need to sacrifice somewhere, 1x CMAN has worked perfectly fine for my 25 train monk. I have 20 ranks in ambush, 30 ranks in MSTRIKE (for focused MSTRIKE with brawling), 2x in Brawl, 2x in PF, and 2x in Dodge.

This may seem like it weakens your position as a square, but in the end you will still be able to push your CMAN up to 2x by around 35-40 trains. You'll be done with MSTRIKE and Ambush, and you won't really need spells because all the minor spiritual (other than 120) can be obtained 2nd hand very easily.

A lot of folks seem to think DS is worthless for a monk, but they fail to recognize just how many time you're going to die early on without DFRedux (which doesn't kick in until at the VERY earliest ~level 23), and Robe armor, with no shield DS, no Parry (because you don't have BRACE - 1214 - yet), and basically you're going to get smashed around without getting a massive outside spellup first.

[Androidpk]

you're not done with MOC until it is fully 2x'd