Hi all!

Just created a halfling monk (with thieving skills) and took feats ambidexterous and two weapon fighting.

Not knowing monk class very well, do monks fight better in the end with no weapons nor wearing any armor?

Otherwise I think I screwed up giving my monk those two feats.

I haven't gotten far into the game but are there monk only armor and weapons that don't accrue penalties like AC or to hit modifiers?

Otherwise I'm going to reroll my monk.

Thanks!

[ 09-25-2003, 08:36 PM: Message edited by: Wutang ]

I think all armor affects it. You could find some with a high dexterity bonus and then just boost his dexterity way up there...but that would not be very monk-ish (if you love role-playing)

I'm not a monk expert, never having played one. However, monks can never weak armor. I think that this might cover mage robes (that go in the "armor" slot) as well. There is no monk armor, nor monk weapons. There are one or 2 monk only items. The one I remember is a set of bracers or gauntlets.

I wouldn't bother with Ambidex and 2 weapon fighting. I'd suggest taking more defensive feats or perhaps Bow. I've heard some people question the unarmed fighting abilty of IWD2 monks and suggest that they're better off fighting armed.

Thanks! I'll reroll my monk then.

I guess the only to remember is that certain skills like quivering palm can only be used if you are unarmed that is.

Too bad to hear that there aren't that many monk only type weapons.

At least non-encumbering armor would be good.

I guess robes would work.

Wutang, I do not know if robes would work. Any item that is placed in the "armor" inventory slot might cause a problem. Why not check this out with your currently existing monk?

If robes don't work, you still have the various cloaks (which go in the cloak slot, not the armor slot), rings, necklaces, belts, and gauntlets/bracers.

I have a Monk in my party and rarely use weapons (Except ranged when she leaves the middle of the fight). Hide and move silently are very good for monks. Also, your monk will not be very powerful until around level 9. Before lvl 9, I would say that my monk was about the weakest character (except that she was my only character that could sneak ahead and report how the enemy was set up). Now, at around lvl 12, she might be my most powerful character.

Regarding armor -- nothing, not even robes are allowed, unless of course you don't want the WIS AC bonus. But, there are some good AC boosting bracers that the Monk can wear and that don't help other characters because the AC boost is an armor bonus.

I wouldn't waste Ambidex and two-weapon fighting on a Monk.

[ 09-26-2003, 11:59 AM: Message edited by: Borg ]

Robes are allowed, monk's do apsolutly nothing with two-weapon and ambidex feats, take cleave instead. They do fight better when not wearing armor and not using weapons. They get extra abilities with levels, gain speed, gain poison resistance, and then gain absolute resistance to non-magical weapons. All this is negated when wearing armor.
I really love monks. Have a monk with high wis and strenght(dex doesn't apply to AC with monks) and bash on.

Dex most definitely does apply to a Monk's AC (unless I have a bug, which I doubt). For example, a Monk with 20 Dex (+5 bonus) and 18 WIS (+4 bonus) will have a +9 bonus to AC based on those two stats, not a +4 bonus. I often cast Cat's Grace on my Monk which further improves her Dex and her AC.

My Monk has a 10 CON and a fairly low 12 or so STR, but maxed Dex and Wis. This was tough in the beginning, but great now. Also, I installed the Ease of Use mod that allowed the Monk's fists to be treated as small weapons and therefore get the weapon finesse feat so the Dex is used when calculating the to hit chance.

Monks can too wear armor. First of all, all three monk types can multi to an armor wearing class (even if it's only light armor), and in any case you can always spend your feats on levels of Armor Proficiency.

The issue is that as soon as the monk puts on armor or uses a shield, s/he loses the Wisdom bonus to AC that you get when fighting unarmored.

However, at the beginning, monks are so weak that imo it doesn't much matter. So my level 3 monk/level 3 rogue currently wears armor and fights with weapons because this is the best way to 1. keep her alive 2. make her useful until she <u>gets</u> to level 9. I'm probably going to ditch the armor in a level or two (when she gets a better dodge bonus one way or another), and I'll let her fight without weapons (except ranged) when she gets to level 4 monk, to see if her unarmed damage is worth giving up a +1 weapon for. I'm hoping that the monk's benefits will be starting to show by the time we get to the Ice Palace, where I suspect we'll be needing them.....

I find it reasonable that during early levels the monk is not able to follow his/her spiritual path perfectly [img]smile.gif[/img] .

Motub, I don't think that anyone is really saying that monks cannot wear armor. It's more about the fact that they lose some of their abilities when they wear armor.

Since you've played a monk wearing some armor, what abilities did your monk lose when she was wearing armor? Speed? WOS AC bonus? Evasion? Any others? I think that much of the problem is that many people do not know EXACTLY what abilities will be lost when a monks dons some armor.

As far as I know, it's just the Wisdom Bonus to AC that is affected by the armor/shield issue, and the fact that a monk has no armor or shield proficiency, which it's kind of a waste to put feat points into. But my monk is multiclassed to rogue (Monk of the Old Order), so she has light armor and shield proficiency, and hopefully the armor or shield provides some bonuses as well (I have leather armor +1 and a magic shield I picked up as spoils).

My monk is only L3 (+ Rogue L3), and until the monk's base AC starts going up after L4 (and she can increase her Wisdom via the ability points), I don't see any benefit in her not using armor, as it gives her the possibility of a much more reasonable AC for some sort of tank/melee duties, which I really need her to do, as I only have 4 members in my party. She's not a dedicated tank (yet), but she can manage OK for now with the Dodge, Deflect Arrows, Dash, and Improved Initiative feats, plus the Stunning Attack, Arterial Strike, Dirty Fighting and Expertise feats.

I tried taking her armor off and checking the stats; the only thing that appeared to change was (naturally) the armor class, and the message telling me what the Wisdom bonus to AC was (2 with no armor, 0 with armor). I was, through my own stupidity, using non-magical splint mail with which the monk wasn't proficient, but at least I can say that there was no change in any type of bonuses to things like dexterity or constitution for taking it off or putting it on. So I really think it is just the Wisdom bonus to AC.

I do expect to ditch the armor in the next few levels though-- I'll try it at L4 (where her base AC goes up and her fist damage does as well). If that isn't sufficient, I'll put the armor back on her and wait till level 6 or 7, at which point I think she starts becoming a force to be reckoned with. I figure I'll hang onto the weapons until level 7 or so, when the fist damage gets more useful.

[ 10-08-2003, 11:39 PM: Message edited by: motub ]