36 Monk - Priorities Question

[jaldu1]

Iksar Monk...

So when I got to 35, I decided to head back to Cabilis and train riposte. I also wanted to look around Kunark a bit for a place to solo (to make a few plat). The Hill Giant Evergreens were still dark blue to me and a lot of the Greenwoods were xp green... so I camped there a couple days...

From just over 35 to 3% over 36 - I made about 1120 plat. Leg-Choppers, Lord's Tunics, Giant Tunics, Gems, etc. Not too bad... I did kill better than 500 giants and never did see a Forest loop.

I have this question about my next priority move... I don't have great gear.. so I need to be careful that I spend appropriately.

Gonna list the gear I have

Ears - Orc Fangs x 2
Neck - Golden Pearl Black Choker
Face - Buynai Hide Mask
Head - Wu's Fighting Cap
Fingers - Platinum Fire Wedding Rings x2
Wrists - Tar Goo Strands x2
Sleeves - Azure Sleeves
Hands - SCHW (haste)
Shoulder - Wu's fighting Mantle
Chest - Wu's fighting shirt
Back - Burynai Hide Cloak
Belt - Thick Leather Apron
Legs - Wu's fighting pantaloons
Feet - Wu's fighting slippers

2HB- Staff of Battle (upgraded from Wu's recently)

1HB - Master Wu's Trance Stick
1HB - Cane of the Tranquil

With the 1120 I got, I am a not exactly sure where to go from here...

Should I save for an IFS (Imbued Fighters Staff) and upgrade my 2HB ?
Should I begin investing in Pantherskin pieces one at a time?
Should I start by replacing my weak spots in Armor (face, cloak, belt) ?
Should I swap out the SCHW with an FBSS (in lieu of using my fists) ?

What level will I start using fists? (Epic 50+)
Will an IFS take me to 60?

I think once I make an upgrade selection, I'll head to Frontier Mountain and check out the Mountain Giants (or look for OT groups). I am preferring the quieter camps in Kunark atm. However, once I am 40, I think I'll hit CoM...

Any help with Priorities would be appreciated!

-Vilefist
Monk of the 36th circle.

[Sammsquanch]

1. FBSS
2. Stave of Shielding
3 J Boots
4. OT Hammer when you’re high enough
5. Fungi

Also go to Dalnir and get some Crescent armor. Sell the wu’s.

[DMN]

Why bother with the FBSS at this point? :confused:

If you solo a lot a fungi could be useful. outside of fungi I think the only thing you will see significant improvement on would be better haste item or a weapon upgrade. might be best at this point to just start squirreling away as much plat as possible and buy a big ticket item down the road instead of splitting hairs with incredibly minor upgrades.

[Sammsquanch]

I don’t disagree with you. I answered OPs specific question.

[jaldu1]

Why bother with the FBSS at this point? :confused:

If you solo a lot a fungi could be useful. outside of fungi I think the only thing you will see significant improvement on would be better haste item or a weapon upgrade. might be best at this point to just start squirreling away as much plat as possible and buy a big ticket item down the road instead of splitting hairs with incredibly minor upgrades.

I think this is the way I am going to go...

I'll save for a weapon upgrade or something big ticket...

Thanks for the advice :)

[jolanar]

I wouldn't worry about trying to swap your SCHW for a FBSS until you get close to having your epic.

Your gear is fine to take you to 50 if you are grouping. I would save for a Fungi, one or more Bag of the Tinkerers, OT hammer, and any epic MQs you may need. Maybe pick up other upgrades along the way if you happen to see them for a good price, but the more small stuff you buy the longer it takes to get your truly game changing items (basically fungi and epic.)

[jaldu1]

I wouldn't worry about trying to swap your SCHW for a FBSS until you get close to having your epic.

Your gear is fine to take you to 50 if you are grouping. I would save for a Fungi, one or more Bag of the Tinkerers, OT hammer, and any epic MQs you may need. Maybe pick up other upgrades along the way if you happen to see them for a good price, but the more small stuff you buy the longer it takes to get your truly game changing items (basically fungi and epic.)

Thank you for taking the time to offer this advice...

I was tempted to buy into smaller items along the way... (especially maybe a PB or an IFS), but I think you are right. If I can get to 50 and put away as much coin as possible, I should focus on getting my epic, a fungi, and the eventually the preferred offhand) - and go from there afterwards... it's tough to have the discipline to not buy into minor upgrades. But advice like this helps me solidify the plan.


-V

[Legidias]

Don't think of money like putting it into a high interest account where accrueing it is good.

(Droppable) equipment is basically liquid plat that you can then re sell (usually at initial buy price) when needed, so don't feel required to just hoard pure plat in your bank. If you think you can use a 1k upgrade here or there, just get it and sell it when you're at like 40k for fungi money.

(Since you have haste, I'd suggest spending money on weapons like PB, IFS, jade mace, or SoS. I never recommend adamantite club cause jade mace is equivalent DPS for 1/5 the price)

[bennysmalls1]

Bag of tinkers comes number 2, after haste. Staying under weight cap is more important than gear.

[Legidias]

Alternatively, weight cap means nothing until 50+ since mobs don't hit hard enough for the AC diff to actually make a significant difference.

I solo'd my semi-twink (decent weaps / haste, no fungi) to 52 at like 35-50 weight the whole time and it was ez. Compared it a bit to when I offloaded all my backpacks of band aids at like 15 weight and came out of fights only like 2-3% more hp than when overloaded.

[wagorf]

Should I save for an IFS (Imbued Fighters Staff) and upgrade my 2HB ? No, staff of battle is good enough to get you to 50.

Should I begin investing in Pantherskin pieces one at a time? No, the minor upgrades don't make much of a difference.

Should I start by replacing my weak spots in Armor (face, cloak, belt) ? No, same idea, minor upgrades for little to no impact.

Should I swap out the SCHW with an FBSS (in lieu of using my fists) ? After you get epic then you will need another haste item at waist/back slot.

What level will I start using fists? (Epic 50+) Not sure what the question means. You will switch to fist after you get epic , 2h comes handy only when you solo tank so you take less damage, but it isn't day and night difference.

Will an IFS take me to 60? Yes, but staff of battle can do it.

Fungi + epic + haste will make you on par with most monks. I'd save the plat for these big ticket items.

[jaldu1]

Should I save for an IFS (Imbued Fighters Staff) and upgrade my 2HB ? No, staff of battle is good enough to get you to 50.

Should I begin investing in Pantherskin pieces one at a time? No, the minor upgrades don't make much of a difference.

Should I start by replacing my weak spots in Armor (face, cloak, belt) ? No, same idea, minor upgrades for little to no impact.

Should I swap out the SCHW with an FBSS (in lieu of using my fists) ? After you get epic then you will need another haste item at waist/back slot.

What level will I start using fists? (Epic 50+) Not sure what the question means. You will switch to fist after you get epic , 2h comes handy only when you solo tank so you take less damage, but it isn't day and night difference.

Will an IFS take me to 60? Yes, but staff of battle can do it.

Fungi + epic + haste will make you on par with most monks. I'd save the plat for these big ticket items.


Thank you sir. I appreciated the very candid, straight forward advice. I'm sitting in EC tunnels right now with 4.3k and was wondering about a PB or an IFS. I didn't pull the trigger last night, because I was truly wondering, "is it that huge of a DPS increase over staff of battle to warrant the expense"... - knowing I could always sell later. Perhaps I'll just continue to save, and be ready to swap out for the FBSS around 50. Fungi seems a long ways off... but Haste / Epic / SoS should be in the wheelhouse by then,...

-Vile

[stebbins99]

Good luck Vile! I'd say you're doing pretty good gear-wise for lvl 35! Keep it up!

[Cilraaz]

I've been looking at a lot of the same questions myself. I've created a spreadsheet for myself to compare weapons. Assuming the formulas I have found are correct, Wu's Quivering Staff and Staff of Battle are very similar in dps, while an IFS is about 25-30% ahead. Going off of the best formulas that I could find, I have:

WQS 23/28 (23/23 with SCHW haste), dmg bonus 7 at lvl 39: ((23*2+7)/23)*1.3175 = 3.04
SoB 31/37 (31/30 with SCHW haste), dmg bonus 7 at lvl 39: ((31*2+7)/30)*1.3175 = 3.03
IFS 38/40 (38/33 with SCHW haste), dmg bonus 8 at lvl 39: ((38*2+8)/33)*1.3175 = 3.35

This is with hasted delay being calculated as (delay/(1+haste)).
Also, the 1.3175 is adding in my Double Attack percentage, calculated as DA Skill divided by 630. This might be the least accurate number in the entire calculation, but since it's the same across all weapons, it should be a usable number.

If anyone knows any parts of these formulas that are wrong, I'd gladly accept corrections.

[tkelly5]

Save up your pennies for a 100% WR bag. Utility items = best items.

[Jimjam]

Obviously the formula don't consider the mitigation of the mobs; against high armour class mobs you want weapons that have damage bonus orientated dps (as damage bonus isn't mitigated by AC), against low AC mobs you'll prefer weapons with dps based off raw dmg as you'll be more likely to land hits at/close to max damage.

That being said, the formula is a reasonable guideline.