I bet he's going to be freaking awesome. And I'm sure he'll have a special ability or item, considering every single joinable NPC in the original BG had one.
I must say, I share the same fear. If they don't give him any special abilities or custom items he will be soft as kitten. Monks only really get decent at level 7 and good at 13.
@sebas That's what I've been saying for months now. It would be really great if the monk's fists counted as a single weapon so that he could take advantage of Single Weapon Style (to boost his AC at lower levels). Right now, he's better off wielding a dagger, which doesn't really make sense.
I'm just hoping that he has at least 15 Strength, 17 Constitution, 12 Intelligence and 18 Charisma. *Cough.*
By the time he can get Keldorn's armor, he is good enough. The problem is before that. If you want to talk about late game: Another big problem is his fist enhancement, it should be sped up and get up to +5 since he only gets +4 at level 27. He is also the only pure fighter class that doesn't have 18/xx strength. (Can be worked around) Last but not least he cannot be hasted (level 5) and his number of attacks caps at 4 (level 18).
@Quartz darts and slings. So yay for slings, but that means you either build your monk with a high dexterity to use slings (potentially gimping your Strength and thus your melee abilities later on), or you build your monk with a high strength to fight unarmed (potentially gimping your Dexterity and thus your ranged abilities early on and your armor class always). Or you make both scores high to do both, which is either power-gamey or restrictive to your other abilities.
The monk's unarmed fighting has the same problem as the thief's backstab. It's really good at high levels, but at low levels melee combat is too dangerous for it to be worthwhile--and as a result, your best bet is to build away from melee weapons, which is counterintuitive especially if your plan is to be a backstabbing/face-punching legend.
Also, monks are technically priests, not warriors. That's why they can only put one proficiency slot in any weapon, and also why their strength has no exceptional % value. Personally, I disagree with that decision because (especially in a video game) their focus is pretty strongly in the all-up-in-your-grill style of combat, but that's how they were designed.
I believe that Monks gain the same weapon proficiencies as thieves (including the inability to specialise), except can only use one handed weapons, so... Slings and throwing weapons I suppose?
I'll try him to see what his story is, and how well realized his character concept is. But if he's constantly taking a heavy beating while not doling much damage, then he's not going to be used very much by many players. I mean, I enjoy some of the weaker characters for the challenge of just how to use them to their fullest potential. Garrick, for example, can still be useful to the party by Identifying items, carrying a lot of the light weight clutter, casting a few spells, and using Bard Song.
But a monk is intended to be a frontline meleer. If he is continually requiring loads of healing or resurrections then he's just not going to be that enjoyable to play. The monk's low level ability to avoid being hit is going to have to be tweaked, I think. An extraordinary ability to make enemies swing at air (even at low level) would make sense for the class.
What ability did Xzar get, other than being awesome?
He gets Montaron. :P
An 'item' that could theoretically fit into Minsc's backpack but still takes up a party slot. :P -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding the monk HLAs... those would turn a monk from a mediocre class (my opinion) to one of the most powerful out of the blue. Think of how long and tedious it is to remove mage protections, especially in ToB... If abilities such as the ones listed by Anton from Oversight actually end up in BG2 then I won't be able to convince myself to play without a monk.
Shadow Stance followed by Dragon Fist; game over
Shadow Stance This stance causes the monk to instantly become both invisible, as per the spell Improved Invisibility, and immune to divination spells such as True Seeing. This power lasts for 23 rounds. Prerequisite: Lunar Stance. Dragon Fist With a blow, the monk strips away the magical protections of the target.
Monks are not a mediocre class, not by a long stretch. They are one of the "best" in terms of power. The problem is they only really start shinning after level 13 and up.
The issue raised was within the confines of BG1, not all the way up to HLA. That's where they really, reaaally have problems.
The biggest issue with monks in the Baldurs Gate system is that they don't get the wisdom bonus to AC that they get in 3e. If they got the same bonus to AC from wisdom as they do from Dex, they would be much less squishy at low levels.
Comments
Ajantis
Garrick
Imoen
Jaheira
Khalid
Kivan
Montaron
Shar-Teel
Skie
Xzar
Quite a few!
Er correction... Ajantis got a purple helm
If you want to talk about late game:
Another big problem is his fist enhancement, it should be sped up and get up to +5 since he only gets +4 at level 27.
He is also the only pure fighter class that doesn't have 18/xx strength. (Can be worked around)
Last but not least he cannot be hasted (level 5) and his number of attacks caps at 4 (level 18). No backstab.
Cannot even disarm the traps he finds...
Regardless I'm sure it will be fixed in BG:EE.
The monk's unarmed fighting has the same problem as the thief's backstab. It's really good at high levels, but at low levels melee combat is too dangerous for it to be worthwhile--and as a result, your best bet is to build away from melee weapons, which is counterintuitive especially if your plan is to be a backstabbing/face-punching legend.
Also, monks are technically priests, not warriors. That's why they can only put one proficiency slot in any weapon, and also why their strength has no exceptional % value. Personally, I disagree with that decision because (especially in a video game) their focus is pretty strongly in the all-up-in-your-grill style of combat, but that's how they were designed.
Alora's rabbit's foot was supposed to have an effect, but it didn't work. Wasn't there a mod that fixed that?
Also no one mentioned that Minsc gets *two* special abilities - berserker rage *and* Boo!
But a monk is intended to be a frontline meleer. If he is continually requiring loads of healing or resurrections then he's just not going to be that enjoyable to play. The monk's low level ability to avoid being hit is going to have to be tweaked, I think. An extraordinary ability to make enemies swing at air (even at low level) would make sense for the class.
An 'item' that could theoretically fit into Minsc's backpack but still takes up a party slot. :P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding the monk HLAs... those would turn a monk from a mediocre class (my opinion) to one of the most powerful out of the blue. Think of how long and tedious it is to remove mage protections, especially in ToB...
If abilities such as the ones listed by Anton from Oversight actually end up in BG2 then I won't be able to convince myself to play without a monk.
Shadow Stance followed by Dragon Fist; game over
The issue raised was within the confines of BG1, not all the way up to HLA. That's where they really, reaaally have problems.