Joining Friend, Monk or Sk?

[GuyJustin]

Hey,

I am new to p99, though I played EQ back in the day. My friend is playing an Iksar Shaman and so I was thinking either a Monk or Sk to duo with him. I mostly played a caster in the past and don't really have any experience with these classes. Not sure how they hold up in current Velious era.

Keep in mind that I will be an iksar, if that helps. Thank you for any and all advice!

[Baelinn]

Either class will work great, but the general consensus seems to be that monk/shaman is a superior combo. The monk can tank pretty well (especially with shaman slow), and does a heck of a lot more DPS than the SK.

The main utility that SK brings over monk is the ability to snare mobs, plus much greater aggro control (reducing, but not eliminating the shaman's need to manage his own aggro). Whereas the monk will kill things significantly faster and improve your leveling speed overall.

See also:
https://www.project1999.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-219427.html
https://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72904

[beargryllz]

Iksar monk is the better choice by far

[Veleria]

I would recommend the monk if you have no preference at this point in the game monk is very strong and Sk feels a bit weaker.

[branamil]

Monks are a bit broken in this expansion. In classic EQ, monks had almost no items. The role playing philosophy of the class was that they should shun material possessions (like items) and be effective without gear. That’s why they have a weight limit and excel at hand to hand.

Unfortunately 99% of players are motivated by gear upgrades, and players complained endlessly on the old forums. Why should monks work so hard to help their guild in plane of fear, plane of hate, etc when there were no items for them? The fun of role playing an ascetic wears out quickly. Other classes were getting showered with cool items.

So starting in Kunark they started getting ridiculous items, but the old philosophy of being effective naked was still baked into the class. Velious made this problem much worse, there a hundred ALL/ALL items with insane stats and 0.0 weight. So now you have monks that can tank nearly as well as a warrior and still be 2nd or 3rd class in DPS.

[Danth]

Velious made this problem much worse, there a hundred ALL/ALL items with insane stats and 0.0 weight. So now you have monks that can tank nearly as well as a warrior and still be 2nd or 3rd class in DPS.

This is true, but with a caveat: Only a small proportion of the population reaches that point of gearing. With typical levels of gearing (mid range stuff like velious quest armor) these two duos do the same content, with something of a risk/reward tradeoff: The Monk's higher damage output permits more kills per hour, at the cost of the Shaman occasionally dying due to pullling aggro. The SK-based duo tends to toward a slower but safer mindset. The Shadow Knight also has a convenience advantage, as the class is both easier to learn and requires less in the way of charged and click items to get the most out of it.

Long story short, during this expansion if you're in doubt (or have no preference) then make the Monk. It's a safe and effective choice. However, if you don't want to be a Monk the Shadow Knight will give satisfactory service as well.

As an added consideration, Iksars are clearly the best Monks, but I'm not a big fan of Iksar Shadow Knights. They level as slowly as Trolls do, but can't slam and can't use some handy mana-saving items like blood ember pieces.

Danth

[Alesclandre]

Monk. Nuff said.

[GuyJustin]

Thanks everyone for replies and information. I actually am going with Shadow Knight. It may not be as good as a Monk, but after seeing how many Monks there actually were, I figured I'd give some SK love. If you are ever bored feel free to pm me in game.

Character: Rhazil on Blue server.

[Thermite]

Meh go iksar sk! Would be a fun duo

[Pyrion]

Monk will DPS faster. The one thing that you will get with SK is the ability to fear kite, since the SK can both snare and fear. That might give you possibilities that you wont have otherwise, but not really a lot.

Ultimately both combos will work.

[wagorf]

its all about efficiency, if u want to gain more per minute spent. xp, cash, loots, etc.

monk is a no brainer

[nostalgiaquest]

SK is way more gear dependent. So if you're just starting, unless your shaman friend is hooking you up, a monk is going to be an all around better first character.

[kjs86z]

Hey,

I am new to p99, though I played EQ back in the day. My friend is playing an Iksar Shaman and so I was thinking either a Monk or Sk to duo with him. I mostly played a caster in the past and don't really have any experience with these classes. Not sure how they hold up in current Velious era.

Keep in mind that I will be an iksar, if that helps. Thank you for any and all advice!

iksar monk and never look back