Monk questions

[motub]

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 ]