He doesn't reserve his tender affections only to the shorties either:
"If I wanted to listen to yer yip, ye prissy elf, I’d pull ye over my knee and smack yer bottom. At least then I’d have meself something interesting to do while ye blathered on."
Why is *not* using a weapon a stupid mistake for a monk?
Because in the first Baldur's Gate, your fists do nothing.
Then Baldur's Gate 2 comes around, and you turn into a badass!
I hear what you are saying but "BGEE through BG2EE *with* a weapon" would seem the much bigger mistake. By level 3 the monk without a weapon already does as much as the max weapon he can use (a scimitar) and does so with 3 attacks every 2 rounds instead of 1 per round. By the easily achievable level 6, the monk does 1-10 damage with 2 attacks per round compared to 1 attack with a weapon doing at best 3-10 damage (assumes +2 scimitar). It seems to weigh in favor of no weapon to me pretty early unless you want the monk to sit back and use a sling for range. Going through BG2EE with a weapon would be a colossal error.
(I'm done sidetracking on this - so carry on with the great memes!)
Throughout most of BG1, monks' fists have higher APR than their melee weapons do, which makes fists better most of the time. Though during the first 8 levels, you will need a backup magic weapon in order to hit normal-weapon-immune foes.
On higher levels, it's probably a good idea to dual-wield your main hand fist with an offhand melee weapon for even more ridiculous APR. At that point THAC0 should be less important and even the unproficient dual-wielding penalties won't affect you all that much.
The problem with low-level monks is their AC, not their fists, though a magic weapon will be needed, as @Adul already said. Just throwing my lot in with the rest of these guys as someone who played a monk before.
The problem with low-level monks is their AC, not their fists, though a magic weapon will be needed, as @Adul already said. Just throwing my lot in with the rest of these guys as someone who played a monk before.
It is their fists. Their AC. Their THACO. Their low hit points. In BGEE they are...horrific. This is from someone who has done a saga playthrough with a monk.
Though I suppose you could kill Drizzt for his Scimitar of +2 AC.
Bracers of AC6, Scimiatr of +2 AC, Cloak of Balduran, Ring of Prot +2, 18 Dex. That would make a low level monk at least somewhat non-squishy...
The simplest way to address the monk's bad AC right from the beginning of the game is to just go buy the amulet of shielding from the carnival. With an 18 dex and the ring of protection right at the beginning of the game, that gives you a -1 AC against melee and -3 against missiles which is very doable. The ability to deflect missiles will take that down to a -5 AC by level 6 (and lower if you are using +2 ring, cloak of balduran, etc.).
I've also done a saga run as a monk and agree they are squishy until they really get going in BG2. That said, they can do some useful things like hide in shadows and stun enemy mages, etc. that make them useful and a Charname can start with much better stats than Rasaad (better strength and con in particular) that make the Monk more useful in combat early in the game -- even if they won't ever be a tank and won't compete offensively with a fighter until significantly later on.
The problem with low-level monks is their AC, not their fists, though a magic weapon will be needed, as @Adul already said. Just throwing my lot in with the rest of these guys as someone who played a monk before.
It is their fists. Their AC. Their THACO. Their low hit points. In BGEE they are...horrific. This is from someone who has done a saga playthrough with a monk.
Though I suppose you could kill Drizzt for his Scimitar of +2 AC.
Bracers of AC6, Scimiatr of +2 AC, Cloak of Balduran, Ring of Prot +2, 18 Dex. That would make a low level monk at least somewhat non-squishy...
Of all of those problems, the fists are the least troublesome. I still say that they are no problem at all. That particular scimitar may be better, but it requires killing Drizzt, which some people may find irksome coming from a monk. All of that said, I agree with everything else.
@Elrandir: I just counted the screenshots on my computer. Precisely half of my no-reload runs failed because of disinterest rather than character death.
Ouch. I don't think there's a more shameful end than being killed by Illasera. The completely unfounded sense of superiority and arrogance of that character is just baffling.
Comments
This one is probably PG-13 or beyond...
@Sjerrie 'Twas yer axe ye were referring to'.
And while we're on the subject of dump stats...
Then Baldur's Gate 2 comes around, and you turn into a badass!
(I'm done sidetracking on this - so carry on with the great memes!)
Throughout most of BG1, monks' fists have higher APR than their melee weapons do, which makes fists better most of the time. Though during the first 8 levels, you will need a backup magic weapon in order to hit normal-weapon-immune foes.
On higher levels, it's probably a good idea to dual-wield your main hand fist with an offhand melee weapon for even more ridiculous APR. At that point THAC0 should be less important and even the unproficient dual-wielding penalties won't affect you all that much.
Though I suppose you could kill Drizzt for his Scimitar of +2 AC.
Bracers of AC6, Scimiatr of +2 AC, Cloak of Balduran, Ring of Prot +2, 18 Dex. That would make a low level monk at least somewhat non-squishy...
I've also done a saga run as a monk and agree they are squishy until they really get going in BG2. That said, they can do some useful things like hide in shadows and stun enemy mages, etc. that make them useful and a Charname can start with much better stats than Rasaad (better strength and con in particular) that make the Monk more useful in combat early in the game -- even if they won't ever be a tank and won't compete offensively with a fighter until significantly later on.
(or even for someone with a shapechanger in their group in Icewind Dale EE)
Not me if course, never me.
I meant dysentery, dammit!
I haven't tried it myself but I believe with the Ascension mod she's quite a handful.
I romance Jaheira with Cialis!