Monk Income Dilemma: Create Farming Character or Press Forward?

[Oakengroves]

Hello everyone,

I have been playing casually on P1999 as a monk for the last couple of months and have reached level 25. I have had a wonderful time thus far, and have acquired a full set of cured silk, Wu's Quivering staff, and miscellaneous lowbie monk items. Most of this equipment came from selling bone chips and a few generous donations.

Sadly, I am at about 15 pounds and unable to loot cash/drops from mobs. I have no means to upgrade my equipment because I cannot earn plat without dramatically lowering my AC. I do not see this problem improving anytime soon and am considering a few options:

(1) Do I simply press forward on my monk and consider intentionally cash farming at higher levels? For example, should I grind to 35-40ish and then camp lowbie cash camps [bronze weapons; etc.]? Does access to plat improve for monks at any levels before 50?

(2) Am I missing or am close in level to any good exp/cash camps for classes with severe weight restrictions?

(3) Do I start ignoring weight and loot? If so, what is a reasonable weight limit? I find that going over 5-10 pounds starts impacting my AC and performance in combat.

(4) Should I consider making a cash-farming character, such as a druid, to farm plat? This is not a desirable option, however, because I have a ton of fun playing my monk and have very limited play time.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!

[HeallunRumblebelly]

If you're looking at truly serious cash, monk will -never- provide those kind of returns. PLing would be your steadiest source of income and that's only when you're very well geared. Duo'ing fungus king / crypt is also an option I suppose. Shm / enc will have far better returns for the most part.

[Oakengroves]

Apologies for the ambiguity.

I am not interested in serious cash. I am more interested in gearing my monk decently with reasonable equipment. Realistic goals include a FBSS, IFS, and 55hp/5ac rings at some point. I am not concerned with obtaining high-end, incredibly expensive gear.

[fastboy21]

If that is the sort of stuff you are looking for then you should just keep going with your toon, assuming you enjoy playing a monk.

You will make enough money as you level to buy that type of gear.

It does suck playing an untwinked character on a server where most of the other low lvl folks you meet are twinked to the nines...including epics for some classes. If you enjoy the class though then I don't think pausing until you level another toon high enough to twink out your monk is worth it.

[loramin]

Power gamers may disagree, but I say play the character you want to play, and don't think so hard about gear. The gear you have should be good enough to level with, and really no one cares about gear when they invite you to join a group (well, that's not really true, but they don't care beyond "twink vs. non-twink"). You'll never see (for instance) anyone /shout "LFM ... except poorly geared monks".

Once you get higher up you can try and find groups that involve killing mobs that drop good gear for you, and slowly equip yourself that way. Or you can find a good partner (eg. a shaman) to duo with, and go for specific pieces that way.

Ultimately I'm a big believer in "level first, worry about gear later", and while being an un-twinked monk might complicate that a bit, I still think it beats playing a class you don't want to play just to farm plat.

[baalzy]

It depends, do you want that gear to have while you level up or do you just want that gear some day and it can happen when you're 50+? At 50 you can farm enough of the right things to buy the gear you're talking about as a monk.

If you want to use it while leveling the monk then you'll be best off building a farmer char. Necros, Encs, Shaman can do this.

At your current level you can probably farm bronze dropping mobs and get enough for your 55hp rings in pretty short order, the FBSS will take you significantly longer though.

You could get a couple more levels and then try farming sarnak legionnaires in LOIO for a bracer of the hidden, but I'm guessing by its price and the level of the mob that drops them it's a very rare drop.

Edit: Just a note, I support the 'stick with it' unless you have a desire to level another class. One possible option is to follow this leveling guide: http://wiki.project1999.com/Ultimate_Leveling_While_Making_Money_Guide with a new class.

Since each of these spots tends to have fairly high competition you could just park your char at the appropriate place for your level, pop in at the start of your play time. If someone has the camp log and switch back to your monk. If the camp is free then go about your merry way. Casters will not really need any gear whatsoever until 30+ and if you stay at each camp a little longer than usual you can get away with not having the gear.

Also:


1-12: continue to do quests that yield cash like rabid animal quests, early bandit sashes etc...
12-17: bandits in lfay drop bronze. Dervs in nro drop bronze. Willowisps drop lightstones and greater lightstones. If you can find groupage in Highpass can also try and get dark wood shield, shralok pack and DA idol as EC loot.
18-25: Gargoyles in oot, bard diet (various places), Erudin guards, start on mammoths in EF, at 24 or so can start on HHK goblins for ears and FS, inky guards in Nektulos.
26-34: sisters in oot, gnolls in sk or paw (FS, plat and lariats for player trade), SolA for vendor loots and smithing material (again another player trade).
35-39: giant fort in FM, can start on giants in RM.
39-50: spectres and giants (RM).

Most of all have fun and don't worry too much about the loot. As was stated earlier, it comes much faster at higher levels and rightfully so - the cost of the highest level gear is just that much more.

[Orruar]

Isn't AC basically broken here? Will going a few stones over really hurt your damage mitigation? Even if it does, each stone over weight is like 3ac difference. 40p weighs 1 stone. So if you loot coin only and destroy all but pp, you can carry like 400p at a cost of 30ac. Not tragic.

[Swish]

Isn't AC basically broken here? Will going a few stones over really hurt your damage mitigation? Even if it does, each stone over weight is like 3ac difference. 40p weighs 1 stone. So if you loot coin only and destroy all but pp, you can carry like 400p at a cost of 30ac. Not tragic.

Or definitely ask people you're grouped with if they'll trade your gold for plat :p

[Argh]

You don't need to farm to make plat.

[Buellen]

Heya

Been playing a monk lately myself and your gear is fine. I am still using cured silk at 37. I also still use the wu quivering staff.


1) buy mage or shamy summoned bags before you start to xp. These are 100 % wt reducing.

2) Warsilk woods is excellent spot for you to xp at 25. grouping Giant fort has good xp rate and chance at decent loot drops. Various 3 to 6 spawns around zone with iksar Manslayer , Pariah, and Exiles. These three type of mobs are easily single pulled through sneak pulling or feighn death. The above mentioned iksar also drop a nice steady variety of gems up to opals, Research , and very steady supply of balanced and finely crafted weapons each selling about 2platinum each.

3) if you get bored here you can try the Iksar exile camp in Swamp of no Hope near track teeth zone line. 9 exiles total. 3 spawn and 6 spawn. these are 7 min timer. These mobs have same gem and research , weapon drop rates as warsilk.

I ground level 26 to 32 in this last mentioned camp would run to fiona to sell not to hard to do.

Garue 49th Level Half Elf Warrior // Buskier 34th Level Human Cleric // Shoul Der 37 th level human monk.

32 to 37 i did sarnak fort front door and courtyard area after the gate. I have to say those sarnaks are rich lots of gems and research of them.

[Ele]

trade coin for gems, which have a pretty good rate of return on vendors and it prevents you from having to carry coin for ports and stuff

[Malone88]

trade coin for gems, which have a pretty good rate of return on vendors and it prevents you from having to carry coin for ports and stuff
Great tip here. Buy gargoyle eyes or peridots off vendors to get rid of your copper/silver/gold.

At your level, you can start killing orcs in highpass (or kith) for a decent weight-reduction bag, Shralok Pack. My rogue has farmed two of those already at level 26. The named who drops it is an easy kill (easier than the other named orcs in that camp). Shaman bags are better, but not always convenient. When you save up like 500pp, you can buy better WR bags like Bag of Evil-Eye and Light Burlap Sack.

http://wiki.project1999.com/Shralok_Pack
http://wiki.project1999.com/Bag_of_Sewn_Evil-Eye
http://wiki.project1999.com/Light_Burlap_Sack

[Splorf22]

corpse mage summoned bags

Also Wu's staff is really pretty good. If you hit 46+ you can get a better FBSS in Sky. The epic is easy enough etc. Really monks are so much easier to gear than warriors.

[HeallunRumblebelly]

corpse mage summoned bags

Also Wu's staff is really pretty good. If you hit 46+ you can get a better FBSS in Sky. The epic is easy enough etc. Really monks are so much easier to gear than warriors.

Dunno man...need a shield of rainbow hues, revive stick(s), 2 bladestoppers... :P

edit: But if your gearing expectations are realistic for a leveling char, yeah, the only expense that will really put you back is haste (golden sash of tranq is VERY doable to with a guild that does sky somewhat often--and 41 haste falls from the sky in velious) and the fungus tunic. You'll make enough eventually for it. If you're looking to build an empire though, you really can't beat enchanter / shaman (or necro if your HS south makes your dick hard).

[baalzy]

corpse mage summoned bags

Also Wu's staff is really pretty good. If you hit 46+ you can get a better FBSS in Sky. The epic is easy enough etc. Really monks are so much easier to gear than warriors.

Does zoning and then force-crashing still work to hold on to no rent items?

[eqravenprince]

Easiest way to hang onto summoned bags is to /duel someone and leave the corpse at the end of your night. Yes, you would have a run back to your corpse, but it worked great for me when I leveled in HighKeep from 25-35 cause I was bound there while hunting guards. All that fine steel vendored there added up to a ton of cash where I was able to buy a couple tink bags.

[Messianic]

Press forward. Always. Money comes exponentially with level. Everyone underestimates the time it takes to level an alt without twinking.

[Iumuno]

Like others said - don't worry about AC, broken or not.

[Luchino]

Farm Chardok faction in Nurga at 50. Make money with drops in chardok aoe or sell you pull spot on the forums.

[Layze]

Don't worry about the weight at your level. Just loot stuff. The AC penalty for more weight at your level is negligible and remains so until mid 40s. By then you should be able to afford some sort of weight reduction bags.

[DrKvothe]

Beyond the cured silk and wu's quivering staff, there are a few more things you should aim for:

2x 5/55 rings ~ 500pp
Large Soiled Bag ~1k pp
FBSS ~11-12k pp
crescent set (free)
jboots ~ 5k pp
2x aggro weapons (fast 1hb, preferably with proc)

You can make lots of cash and watch your weight, you just can't kill things that burden you as you go, like hill giants or city guards. You'd just need to focus on solo/group camps with medium~high value item drops, like LGuk etc.

At 25, you're the perfect level for HHK gobs. You can probably just pull and let a plate tank take hits. There's merchants 30 seconds from the camp (1 evil merchant), and there's a bank 10 seconds from the camp. The goblin ears that drop there sell for 30pp each, and the bronze armor and ore vendor really well too. You can stay there until ~35 and make enough for jboots or half a FBSS.

[baalzy]

Beyond the cured silk and wu's quivering staff, there are a few more things you should aim for:

2x 5/55 rings ~ 500pp
Large Soiled Bag ~1k pp
FBSS ~11-12k pp
crescent set (free)
jboots ~ 5k pp
2x aggro weapons (fast 1hb, preferably with proc)

You can make lots of cash and watch your weight, you just can't kill things that burden you as you go, like hill giants or city guards. You'd just need to focus on solo/group camps with medium~high value item drops, like LGuk etc.

At 25, you're the perfect level for HHK gobs. You can probably just pull and let a plate tank take hits. There's merchants 30 seconds from the camp (1 evil merchant), and there's a bank 10 seconds from the camp. The goblin ears that drop there sell for 30pp each, and the bronze armor and ore vendor really well too. You can stay there until ~35 and make enough for jboots or half a FBSS.

I'd just like to point out if you are selling soiled bags for 1k.... well I'm not sure if I should be mad at you for exploiting people or mad at the people buying for being stupid enough to spend 1k on something that rots a dozen+ times a day....

[bulbousaur]

Weight means almost nothing, don't worry about the AC hit.

[skipdog]

I'd just like to point out if you are selling soiled bags for 1k.... well I'm not sure if I should be mad at you for exploiting people or mad at the people buying for being stupid enough to spend 1k on something that rots a dozen+ times a day....

1k seems to be the clear going price according to the wiki. Seems fair to me... especially since, as you said, they rot so often(because people usually have 1 already). I get what you are saying, but honestly 1k seems right to me for this quality container.

[baalzy]

1k seems to be the clear going price according to the wiki. Seems fair to me... especially since, as you said, they rot so often(because people usually have 1 already). I get what you are saying, but honestly 1k seems right to me for this quality container.

Err my bad! I was thinking of the burlap sack from supplier. disregard my earlier statement :X

[webrunner5]

Don't worry about the weight at your level. Just loot stuff. The AC penalty for more weight at your level is negligible and remains so until mid 40s. By then you should be able to afford some sort of weight reduction bags.

Weight does not make a CRAP on here till like level 45ish. You can weigh 100 stone and it makes no difference at your level. Just kill, kill, kill. Loot, loot, loot. :p

[SirAlvarex]

Just group. If you are in a group you probably aren't tanking, so you won't care about your weight. You'll also get drops like weapons you can sell to vendors for a few PP a pop.

Then, when you reach 50+, you'll be fighting in dungeons. Once you get to seb, you will start having chances at looting big-money items. You don't have to farm to get a ton of money. Just play the character and group up and the money will come to you.

The gear you have now minus the rings / haste item will do you fine for grouping up until 50. And even a bit past 50. I wouldn't worry about it unless you just really like to solo.

[Handull]

You really don't need to worry about weight until around 45-50, imo. And if you aren't the tank in a group, there is pretty much no reason to worry about it, you shouldn't get hit that often when pulling. That said, you can also pick where you level and what you loot. If you level in MM, one big vendor cash drop is gargoyle eyes which vendor for 10pp. You can easily collect these without going over weight. Also in MM there are vendors not too far away, so you can always run and vendor heavy items if suddenly your group needs you to tank instead of pull.

Always delete copper and silver, it really isn't worth it. If you can, trade gold for plat to someone like a druid, shaman, or wizard in your group who can easily sow/strength buff/port to get rid of the gold. You can also buy lots of gems off vendors to save from losing much plat value and to reduce your weight. Getting good bags will also help a lot. Backpacks are really heavy compared to some other options out there. It also can't hurt to ask your group to get some of the lighter cash drops. Leveling in SolB as a druid I never had a problem with looting all the heavy items that take up one slot each, then quickly porting to lavastorm, selling it all, and running back to the camp with sow. Some people won't want to do this, but others will be cool with letting you have more of the light and stackable drops. You'll also make much more plat the higher you get in level, so just level up, don't try to farm bronze or anything. Best bet for monk plat farming is probably to get a solid duo/trio and farm a cash camp and either split the sale of the item if they are friends or roll on it and wait til you win.

[Oakengroves]

Thanks for the great, helpful feedback everyone.

I will continue leveling my monk, having fun, and earning plat naturally along the way!

[webrunner5]

And don't do the STUPID ASS thing about having everyone turn off Split. Just delete the Goddamn stuff. How hard is that?? Don't throw everyone else under the bus. :eek:

If I am the leader your ass is out. Screw you. If you are stupid does not mean nobody else needs plat.

[August]

And don't do the STUPID ASS thing about having everyone turn of Split. Just delete the damn stuff. How hard is that?? Don't throw everyone else under the bus. :eek:

EHHHHHHHHHH I'm not a monk and I request everyone to turn off split. I'm not sure of the exact implementation, but I can almost guarantee it doesn't do a 'true' split. When I have split on and I loot, I will get pp and gp regularly. If other people are on split, I usually only see sp/cp. I believe it splits on denomination / number of people in group. If there's 2 of you - sure, it makes sense. 6? Hello, 'You recieve 1 silver, 1 copper as your split' x 1 million.

[drktmplr12]

Camp the sarnak courier. Get the Invis versus animal ring. Sell. Profit

[Clark]

Press forward after this far

[webrunner5]

EHHHHHHHHHH I'm not a monk and I request everyone to turn off split. I'm not sure of the exact implementation, but I can almost guarantee it doesn't do a 'true' split. When I have split on and I loot, I will get pp and gp regularly. If other people are on split, I usually only see sp/cp. I believe it splits on denomination / number of people in group. If there's 2 of you - sure, it makes sense. 6? Hello, 'You recieve 1 silver, 1 copper as your split' x 1 million.

That is because you are in a low level zone. KC and Seb, you get plat every time not just copper. Like I said just delete the stuff if you don't want it. Copper and Silver buys a hell of a lot of food, water, and bandages.

I play mostly healers for some strange reason. If you want split off I don't get crap for loot because I have to be on my ass medding or doing the Canni dance from hell. So no time to loot. So how the hell do you expect me, as a Cleric, to buy Peridots to buff you when I get no loot?? If I don't win a roll I get nothing!! While the Tank is looting every damn thing there is. So if I am the leader, which as a Cleric seems to happen a lot, you WILL be out of my group if you want split off. Or you better be handing me plat left and right, all night. Lots of it.

[Trax]

Hello everyone,
(3) Do I start ignoring weight and loot? If so, what is a reasonable weight limit? I find that going over 5-10 pounds starts impacting my AC and performance in combat.


Don't worrying about going over 15stones in weight. It has little to no effect. AC is for the most part broken on P99.

[HeallunRumblebelly]

Don't worrying about going over 15stones in weight. It has little to no effect. AC is for the most part broken on P99.

Perun what're you playing these days, anyway?

[baalzy]

That is because you are in a low level zone. KC and Seb, you get plat every time not just copper. Like I said just delete the stuff if you don't want it. Copper and Silver buys a hell of a lot of food, water, and bandages.

I play mostly healers for some strange reason. If you want split off I don't get crap for loot because I have to be on my ass medding or doing the Canni dance from hell. So no time to loot. So how the hell do you expect me, as a Cleric, to buy Peridots to buff you when I get no loot?? If I don't win a roll I get nothing!! While the Tank is looting every damn thing there is. So if I am the leader, which as a Cleric seems to happen a lot, you WILL be out of my group if you want split off. Or you better be handing me plat left and right, all night. Lots of it.

Designated looter who does a /split whenever a person leaves. (this allows plat/gold to be split instead of having that gold turn into silver/copper when 6way autosplit)

They loot all the plat drops, do a /split at the end. Leave other drops to a rotation. A shaman I can see having trouble because canni dancing requires all your time, as a cleric or a druid if you can't time the ticks to loot then thats your problem.