Unofficial Class/Kit Rundown: Monk edition (or, 'I punch things in the face and they go dead')
GamingFreak
Member Posts: 639
Well after a VEEEEEEEEERY long hiatus, I made a come-back of sorts into the scene of the lovely BG:EE series, as well as using my (less) crappy computer to run IWD:EE, so I figured it was high time I made due on my promise to make more of these little class/kit guides. So I decided to go with the ballsy brawler: the monk.
Whelp, before we get to that, let me first make a couple mentions with links:
First, this is a link to my first class/kit rundown for fighters and the barbarian, right here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/26586/unofficial-class-kit-rundown-fighter-edition
Second, I'd like to make a big thank you to @Southpaw , who's love for monks and his starting guide for running through BG1 as a monk helped give me the courage to do it myself, though it was challenging, it proved to be way too fun. The link to his guide (I Punch Doppelgangers) can be found here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/21205/i-punch-dopplegangers-aka-bgee-monk-guide/p1
This can also serve as an alternative to people who don't want to read a good portion of my guide below, which is fine... though it might hurt my feelings slightly
ANYWAY! The monk. Well what do monks do? Well ummm.... they punch people...yup.... just walk up to some rude dude, and punch 'em right in the face. Okay okay, so... they can use any and all 1h weapons that thieves can use, including (but not limited to): daggers, longswords, scimitars, katanas, clubs, darts and slings; they can also put a proficiency point in Single Weapon fighting, and like thieves, they're limited to being proficient only (not that this matters, since the overall goal is punching things... and there's no investment in 'Unarmed Attack' other than natural prowess). They also use the cleric's level progression in terms of XP growth, so that means that they tie with clerics for second fastest level-up rate (behind bards and thieves)
Monks also get a few thieving skills, namely both forms of stealth (move silently/hide in shadows) and find traps. Well if you run a thief in your party, find traps is pretty pointless to invest in, so go with the stealth skills for the hell of it, though you can't backstab people, so this is really for scouting or positioning purposes only
Alright, monks get a whole LOT of crap to provide them with ample means of completing the game without being relative ass. So to save some time, I'm pretty much shamelessly copy/pasting the class description here before I explain what it all means:
Basically it's like this: Monks start out as... well, garbage. Complete and utter garbage right at the start of the game. They can't hit anything worth a hoot with their bare hands, and their bonus to speed is basically there to help them kite and run away while your party takes care of stuff for you when your health is low. HOWEVER! They get better really really fast. Monks get a thac0 boost quite literally every level. This continues until their natural thac0 hits 0, which is just about before they start accessing Epic Level Abilities in Throne of Bhaal (or late IWD? Idk I've never really played IWD until just recently). This is also with their fists getting stronger quite literally each level, becoming +1 weapons at level 9, and +2 at level 12 (which is the recommended level I would say you should tackle chapter 3 in BG2 if you plan on going against the vampires... yeesh), all the way up to +4 weapons at level 25 (epic level range, obviously). AND they get natural AC bonuses every 2 levels, making up for their inability to use armor, and natural resistances to various diseases and gunk as they grow more powerful.
On top of that, getting natural magic resistance growth per level starting with a whopping 42% at level 14 means enemy spells are gonna have a hard time hurting you, directly or indirectly... and the cherry on top... immunity to non-magical weapons at level 20.
So why not roll a monk at level 1 and start your mass-punching campaign? Well like I said, Monks struggle at early levels, so it's a choice of commitment more than anything else.
In terms of stats first and foremost, having 18 strength can't hurt; you can boost this up to 19 in BG1 for bonuses to thac0 and damage, among other things. Starting AC for a monk sucks, so really, 18 dex for your own sake; again, you can boost this up in BG1 with a tome. Constitution stops getting HP bonuses past 16, so I'd say 16 is a safe bet; you start with around 10 HP and get 10 HP per level. Not a bad deal. I'd say 10-12 Int is safe, if only because Mind-Flayers are a very real threat in BG2 if fought carelessly. Wisdom has a slightly higher minimum stat, but you can lower it to the minimum without penalty. As for Charisma? As usual, it's a dump stat; you can always either boost it with equipment or just use another character with a higher charisma score (paladins or bards for example) as a temporary leader for extra rewards/better prices.
For the first few levels, your monk will probably be relying on missile weapons from a safe distance, as darts, slings, and throwing daggers. Daggers have a melee variant as well as common magical daggers throughout the series, so daggers are probably your best bet. Single weapon style also falls through with this, so that reinforces it. Fighting enemies directly with melee early on is foolish, to say the least. To put it simply, enemies will kill you dead in seconds flat, because you're weak-sauce. And I'm not talking "oh hey I'm level 1 and cats can kill me" weak-sauce, I'm talking MAGE LEVEL 1 weak-sauce. Yeah... let that one sink in.
Later once you get your third proficiency point, I'd choose a more focused melee weapon, such as scimitars or longswords. I would recommend katanas for their raw damage, but you're only ever gonna switch to melee weapons for the sake of killing something you can't kill with your fists normally (for example, a higher enchantment level than your fists allow that's required, or to kill trolls and the like with a fire longsword).
Once you hit around level 4-5, your thac0 should be passable enough that you could consider your fists as your prime means of damage for anything not requiring a +1 enchantment to hit. You'll also probably run into some AC bracers or some thac0 improving gauntlets around this point, so those will help tremendously. One thing to note is that the monk cannot be hasted, which hurts his APR potential early and later on in the levels, but his APR gets naturally better, so it's all well and good. Potions of Defense and clerics/druids who can cast barkskin on you are your best friend throughout your pre-level 9 adventures
Once you hit level 9 (which sadly you can't do in BG1), you might as well consider your fists your primary weapon for the vast majority of the game. By then you should have plenty of various equipment such cloaks, rings, and gloves to wear to boost your abilities in multiple ways, which is always nice. From there on it's pretty much smooth sailing as long as you remember to keep the monk buffed with party spells.
Anyway, to wrap up the discussion of the basic monk, let's go over ABILITIES!
First off: Stunning Blows. Starting with this at level 1, you gain an additional use every 4 levels. It's a pretty neat ability for the latter half of your level progression in BG1, and early BG2, mostly because the ability to stun your opponent while attacking them is really nice; if you're attacking a rather troublesome enemy with your fists out, you have no reason NOT to activate this ability.
Second, they get the lay on hands ability similar to paladins. Not a really grand ability, but hey, it's free healing; can't complain about that!
And finally, the coup de' gras (pun totally intended): Quivering Palm. Quivering Palm is the ability that most people love about monks. Why? Well for example, you can one-shot a dragon with it. Yup. You get a small window of chance with this ability to strike your opponent. Upon the strike itself, the enemy needs to make a saving roll or... well, die. Instantly. RIP. The save is fairly high for most of the enemies you'd actually want to Saitama (google 'one-punch man'), but can be reduced effectively with debuffs (Greater Malison) to increase the chances of success. If you want to cheese dragon fights before they happen, or if you want to risk it all on that one daring punch, this will be one of your favorite abilities.
WHEW! I hope that should cover the basics of monks. ANYWAY! ON TO THE KITS! One thing to note about the kits before we begin is that despite being alignment locked, they can't "fall"; as in you won't lose the ability to level them if you go the opposite alignment direction with reputation or alignment shifting. Wanted to point that out so people don't feel discouraged about forced alignments.
SUN SOUL MONK (like Bruce Lee, except his flaming fists of fury really are on fire):
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Basically the main thing here is that this form of monk is Lawful Good restricted, and gets different abilities than the normal monk (still the same passive bonuses and unarmed attack progression), primarily focused on damage and anti-undead abilities. I could go into the major description of what they get, but to keep this shorter, I'll just explain their abilities as a means of what they get instead of the regular monk's.
First off, no stunning blows and no quivering palm (they still get Lay on Hands and all the bonuses monks normally get). The loss of these abilities might turn away a few (I was at first), but they get a few cool new ones instead.
First off, Sun Soulray: At level 2 you get this ability, and it deals a targeted blast that deals 1d8 damage, and grows stronger every 2 levels, up to 5d8, as well as getting additional levels per day later on in levels. If the target is undead, an extra +6 damage is added on to the equation. This is a phenomenal undead killer; use this a crap-ton against those god-forsaken ghasts early on in BG1, and liberally use it it big battles for that nice damage. Later you can use it to roast vampires and shades.
Flaming Fists (level 5): basically this is what you get instead of stunning blows, and it grants your fists an extra 2d6 buff in fire damage for the next round, and the duration increases as you level up higher. This goes on the record that this is a freaking AMAZING ability. 2d6 buff means you can deal up to 12 extra damage in fire. This is a great troll-killer, and you can abuse it to bypass physical protections like stoneskin. Still, with bad rolls, this could mean that you end up getting screwed over and do as little as 2 extra points of fire damage; but free damage is free damage. And you get this ability right when you're able to start punching things proper, too!
Greater Sun (level 8): Basically a nice fireshield red ability which, along with the 50% fire resistance, damages anyone who attacks you in a 5-ft radius with a retaliating 1d8+2 fire damage counter. A nice fire-tanking ability that can double as a counter-attack shield. Can't recommend this ability enough, honestly.
Sun Soulbeam (level 13): Using the Monk's thac0 as the hit-ratio, it hits all targets in a 30ft radius with 9d6 damage, +3 to-hit and damage against Undead. Wow... just wow. Talk about like, force unleashed blast of energy, huh? The damage is pretty great with a bare minimum of 9 damage, up to freaking 54 damage to all enemies in range. That's NUTS; however they can make a save vs. spell for half, so, maybe debuff your enemies before launching this, or just use it with reckless abandon in big fights. Either way, a fantastic ability.
Anyway, that sums up the Sun Soul Monk; basically: More damage, less status effects, and big on the undead killing. Now on to the other monk kit:
DARK MOON MONK: (like ninjas with fists)
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Whelp, this is a little biased but these guys are my favorites out of the monk group. HOOOOLY SH*T these guys... Okay, so these guys are the Lawful Evil-locked monks who are pretty much the exact opposite of Sun Soul Monks. They focus primarily on defensive tactics instead of damage, though they still kick the same amount of righteous ass as the regular monks (same unarmed progression and all passives). Furthermore, they can put their thieving points into Detect Illusions! What's this mean? Well invisibility and mirror images and the like can be dispelled by simply hitting the "Find Traps" icon on your toolbar! Well, they need to pass the appropriate invisible roll checks and all that, but still, imagine having to deal with that crap as a mage or cleric casting True Sight all the freaking time to deal with this, but Darkmoon Monks, like thieves, get this in a delightful package with detect illusions. Anyway, onto abilities:
First off, Dark Moon Monks can't use Stunning Blows, and they can't use Lay on Hands
Frozen Fists (level 1): This is your replacement for stunning blows, with the same additional use progression as it; for one round per level, your unarmed attacks deal an additional 2 points of frost damage. Well... to say this is a little underwhelming compared to Stunning Blows or Sun Soul Monk's Flaming Fists is a bit of an understatement... but hey! Free extra damage is free extra damage. And it can still be used to chip away an deal damage to enemies that are being protected from physical attacks (stoneskinned mages for example). No reason not to use this all the time during fights unless an enemy is resistant to frost damage.
Blindness (level 1): Basically the same as the mage's variant. Pretty damn useful to have so early in the game for a non-mage class. Especially when the monk's AC is garbage in early levels. Of course it's nowhere near as effective as Sleep, Command, or Glitterdust, so use it if you really feel it'll help, but forget it otherwise.
Blur (level 3): Same as the second level mage spell 'Blur'.... Oh my god, free AC for a monk?! YES PLEASE! Use this all the time in harder fights. Literally all the time. Big bandit fight with maybe a mage or a guy in heavy armor? use this. Wyverns? Use this. Final fight in the expansion? Freaking USE THIS. No reason not to use this, absolutely none. This is like free defense.
Vampiric Touch (level 7): equivalent to the mage spell of the same name; basically this replaces Lay on Hands. Instead of being able to heal yourself and others, you exclusively heal yourself while dealing damage. Not a bad deal, right?
Mirror Image (level 11): same as the level 2 mage spell of the same name. Whelp, GG other monks, this guy wins now. SERIOUSLY! Any mage user worth their knowledge will tell you this is an amazing spell, and now Dark Moon Monks get this once per day at level 11 for their own use. This basically creates several illusionary versions of yourself that reduce your chance of getting hit until they are dispelled through either the fighter attacking you "expiring" them, or the mirror-image selves are dispelled via magic. Note that this form of defense isn't rock-solid, since the attacker still has a chance of hitting the 'real you', but with a monk's ever growing AC being better than a mage's of the same level, this is a damn good ability to have.
Quivering Palm (level 13): That's right, Dark Moon Monks retain this ability, unlike their Sun Soul arch-enemies, so dragon-cheese is still good to go.
Anyway, to cut it short, the Dark Moon Monks get a nice set of defensive abilities and anti-illusion ability via detect illusions, with a little sugar-coated frozen fist ability to up their damage slightly; and the only downside is you have to be Lawful Evil. Seriously, what's not to love about this kit?
And with that.... the monk and its kits are explained as thoroughly as I can muster. I hope with that big ass table at the top of the post explaining monk passives and progressions, as well as my MASSIVE WALL of text will help you figure out if a monk fits into your party. Whether it be in Baldur's Gate 1 or 2 EE, or in the newly released IWD:EE. Either way, be bold, and PUNCH DRAGONS IN THE FACE! YEAH!
...Oh and if you have critiques, be gentle; this took 3 hours to type
Whelp, before we get to that, let me first make a couple mentions with links:
First, this is a link to my first class/kit rundown for fighters and the barbarian, right here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/26586/unofficial-class-kit-rundown-fighter-edition
Second, I'd like to make a big thank you to @Southpaw , who's love for monks and his starting guide for running through BG1 as a monk helped give me the courage to do it myself, though it was challenging, it proved to be way too fun. The link to his guide (I Punch Doppelgangers) can be found here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/21205/i-punch-dopplegangers-aka-bgee-monk-guide/p1
This can also serve as an alternative to people who don't want to read a good portion of my guide below, which is fine... though it might hurt my feelings slightly
ANYWAY! The monk. Well what do monks do? Well ummm.... they punch people...yup.... just walk up to some rude dude, and punch 'em right in the face. Okay okay, so... they can use any and all 1h weapons that thieves can use, including (but not limited to): daggers, longswords, scimitars, katanas, clubs, darts and slings; they can also put a proficiency point in Single Weapon fighting, and like thieves, they're limited to being proficient only (not that this matters, since the overall goal is punching things... and there's no investment in 'Unarmed Attack' other than natural prowess). They also use the cleric's level progression in terms of XP growth, so that means that they tie with clerics for second fastest level-up rate (behind bards and thieves)
Monks also get a few thieving skills, namely both forms of stealth (move silently/hide in shadows) and find traps. Well if you run a thief in your party, find traps is pretty pointless to invest in, so go with the stealth skills for the hell of it, though you can't backstab people, so this is really for scouting or positioning purposes only
Alright, monks get a whole LOT of crap to provide them with ample means of completing the game without being relative ass. So to save some time, I'm pretty much shamelessly copy/pasting the class description here before I explain what it all means:
Monks are warriors who pursue perfection through contemplation as well as
action. They are versatile fighters, especially skilled in combat without
weapons or armor. Though monks cannot cast spells, they have a unique magic
of their own. They channel a subtle energy, called ki, which allows them to
perform amazing feats. The monk's best known feat is their ability to stun
an opponent with an unarmed blow.
Advantages:
- The monk can make one unarmed attack per round; he gains one additional
attack every 3 levels.
- As the monk increases in levels, the damage his fists inflict does as
well:
- Level 1-2: 1-6
- Level 3-5: 1-8
- Level 6-8: 1-10
- Level 9-14: 1-12
- Level 15+: 1-20
- A monk's natural armor class gets better as he goes up in levels. His
armor class starts off at 9, and then decreases by 1 for every 2
levels.
- Stunning blow, once per day for every 4 levels. All attacks in the next
6 seconds force the victim to save or be stunned. Note: This special
ability automatically modifies a monk's normal attack, no targeting
needs to be done.
- Monks have the Deflect Missiles ability. This gives them a -1 to their
AC vs missiles for every 3 levels.
- The monk gains a +2 to save vs. spells.
- A monk starts off moving at +2 move, then +1 move every 5 levels.
- 5th level: Immunity to all diseases, and cannot be Slowed or Hasted.
- 7th level: Lay on Hands to heal 2 hit points per level.
- 8th level: -1 to speed factor.
- 9th level: +1 to all saves. Immune to charm. The monk's fist is
considered a +1 weapon (+2 at 12th, +3 at 15th).
- 11th level: Immune to poison.
- 12th level: Another -1 to speed factor.
- 13th level: Quivering Palm spell once per day. This spell gives them
one hand attack. If they hit an opponent, the opponent must save or
die.
- 14th level: The monk gains 3% magic resistance per level (ie. 42% at
14th level).
- 20th level: Immune to non-magical weapons.
action. They are versatile fighters, especially skilled in combat without
weapons or armor. Though monks cannot cast spells, they have a unique magic
of their own. They channel a subtle energy, called ki, which allows them to
perform amazing feats. The monk's best known feat is their ability to stun
an opponent with an unarmed blow.
Advantages:
- The monk can make one unarmed attack per round; he gains one additional
attack every 3 levels.
- As the monk increases in levels, the damage his fists inflict does as
well:
- Level 1-2: 1-6
- Level 3-5: 1-8
- Level 6-8: 1-10
- Level 9-14: 1-12
- Level 15+: 1-20
- A monk's natural armor class gets better as he goes up in levels. His
armor class starts off at 9, and then decreases by 1 for every 2
levels.
- Stunning blow, once per day for every 4 levels. All attacks in the next
6 seconds force the victim to save or be stunned. Note: This special
ability automatically modifies a monk's normal attack, no targeting
needs to be done.
- Monks have the Deflect Missiles ability. This gives them a -1 to their
AC vs missiles for every 3 levels.
- The monk gains a +2 to save vs. spells.
- A monk starts off moving at +2 move, then +1 move every 5 levels.
- 5th level: Immunity to all diseases, and cannot be Slowed or Hasted.
- 7th level: Lay on Hands to heal 2 hit points per level.
- 8th level: -1 to speed factor.
- 9th level: +1 to all saves. Immune to charm. The monk's fist is
considered a +1 weapon (+2 at 12th, +3 at 15th).
- 11th level: Immune to poison.
- 12th level: Another -1 to speed factor.
- 13th level: Quivering Palm spell once per day. This spell gives them
one hand attack. If they hit an opponent, the opponent must save or
die.
- 14th level: The monk gains 3% magic resistance per level (ie. 42% at
14th level).
- 20th level: Immune to non-magical weapons.
Basically it's like this: Monks start out as... well, garbage. Complete and utter garbage right at the start of the game. They can't hit anything worth a hoot with their bare hands, and their bonus to speed is basically there to help them kite and run away while your party takes care of stuff for you when your health is low. HOWEVER! They get better really really fast. Monks get a thac0 boost quite literally every level. This continues until their natural thac0 hits 0, which is just about before they start accessing Epic Level Abilities in Throne of Bhaal (or late IWD? Idk I've never really played IWD until just recently). This is also with their fists getting stronger quite literally each level, becoming +1 weapons at level 9, and +2 at level 12 (which is the recommended level I would say you should tackle chapter 3 in BG2 if you plan on going against the vampires... yeesh), all the way up to +4 weapons at level 25 (epic level range, obviously). AND they get natural AC bonuses every 2 levels, making up for their inability to use armor, and natural resistances to various diseases and gunk as they grow more powerful.
On top of that, getting natural magic resistance growth per level starting with a whopping 42% at level 14 means enemy spells are gonna have a hard time hurting you, directly or indirectly... and the cherry on top... immunity to non-magical weapons at level 20.
So why not roll a monk at level 1 and start your mass-punching campaign? Well like I said, Monks struggle at early levels, so it's a choice of commitment more than anything else.
In terms of stats first and foremost, having 18 strength can't hurt; you can boost this up to 19 in BG1 for bonuses to thac0 and damage, among other things. Starting AC for a monk sucks, so really, 18 dex for your own sake; again, you can boost this up in BG1 with a tome. Constitution stops getting HP bonuses past 16, so I'd say 16 is a safe bet; you start with around 10 HP and get 10 HP per level. Not a bad deal. I'd say 10-12 Int is safe, if only because Mind-Flayers are a very real threat in BG2 if fought carelessly. Wisdom has a slightly higher minimum stat, but you can lower it to the minimum without penalty. As for Charisma? As usual, it's a dump stat; you can always either boost it with equipment or just use another character with a higher charisma score (paladins or bards for example) as a temporary leader for extra rewards/better prices.
For the first few levels, your monk will probably be relying on missile weapons from a safe distance, as darts, slings, and throwing daggers. Daggers have a melee variant as well as common magical daggers throughout the series, so daggers are probably your best bet. Single weapon style also falls through with this, so that reinforces it. Fighting enemies directly with melee early on is foolish, to say the least. To put it simply, enemies will kill you dead in seconds flat, because you're weak-sauce. And I'm not talking "oh hey I'm level 1 and cats can kill me" weak-sauce, I'm talking MAGE LEVEL 1 weak-sauce. Yeah... let that one sink in.
Later once you get your third proficiency point, I'd choose a more focused melee weapon, such as scimitars or longswords. I would recommend katanas for their raw damage, but you're only ever gonna switch to melee weapons for the sake of killing something you can't kill with your fists normally (for example, a higher enchantment level than your fists allow that's required, or to kill trolls and the like with a fire longsword).
Once you hit around level 4-5, your thac0 should be passable enough that you could consider your fists as your prime means of damage for anything not requiring a +1 enchantment to hit. You'll also probably run into some AC bracers or some thac0 improving gauntlets around this point, so those will help tremendously. One thing to note is that the monk cannot be hasted, which hurts his APR potential early and later on in the levels, but his APR gets naturally better, so it's all well and good. Potions of Defense and clerics/druids who can cast barkskin on you are your best friend throughout your pre-level 9 adventures
Once you hit level 9 (which sadly you can't do in BG1), you might as well consider your fists your primary weapon for the vast majority of the game. By then you should have plenty of various equipment such cloaks, rings, and gloves to wear to boost your abilities in multiple ways, which is always nice. From there on it's pretty much smooth sailing as long as you remember to keep the monk buffed with party spells.
Anyway, to wrap up the discussion of the basic monk, let's go over ABILITIES!
First off: Stunning Blows. Starting with this at level 1, you gain an additional use every 4 levels. It's a pretty neat ability for the latter half of your level progression in BG1, and early BG2, mostly because the ability to stun your opponent while attacking them is really nice; if you're attacking a rather troublesome enemy with your fists out, you have no reason NOT to activate this ability.
Second, they get the lay on hands ability similar to paladins. Not a really grand ability, but hey, it's free healing; can't complain about that!
And finally, the coup de' gras (pun totally intended): Quivering Palm. Quivering Palm is the ability that most people love about monks. Why? Well for example, you can one-shot a dragon with it. Yup. You get a small window of chance with this ability to strike your opponent. Upon the strike itself, the enemy needs to make a saving roll or... well, die. Instantly. RIP. The save is fairly high for most of the enemies you'd actually want to Saitama (google 'one-punch man'), but can be reduced effectively with debuffs (Greater Malison) to increase the chances of success. If you want to cheese dragon fights before they happen, or if you want to risk it all on that one daring punch, this will be one of your favorite abilities.
WHEW! I hope that should cover the basics of monks. ANYWAY! ON TO THE KITS! One thing to note about the kits before we begin is that despite being alignment locked, they can't "fall"; as in you won't lose the ability to level them if you go the opposite alignment direction with reputation or alignment shifting. Wanted to point that out so people don't feel discouraged about forced alignments.
SUN SOUL MONK (like Bruce Lee, except his flaming fists of fury really are on fire):
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Basically the main thing here is that this form of monk is Lawful Good restricted, and gets different abilities than the normal monk (still the same passive bonuses and unarmed attack progression), primarily focused on damage and anti-undead abilities. I could go into the major description of what they get, but to keep this shorter, I'll just explain their abilities as a means of what they get instead of the regular monk's.
First off, no stunning blows and no quivering palm (they still get Lay on Hands and all the bonuses monks normally get). The loss of these abilities might turn away a few (I was at first), but they get a few cool new ones instead.
First off, Sun Soulray: At level 2 you get this ability, and it deals a targeted blast that deals 1d8 damage, and grows stronger every 2 levels, up to 5d8, as well as getting additional levels per day later on in levels. If the target is undead, an extra +6 damage is added on to the equation. This is a phenomenal undead killer; use this a crap-ton against those god-forsaken ghasts early on in BG1, and liberally use it it big battles for that nice damage. Later you can use it to roast vampires and shades.
Flaming Fists (level 5): basically this is what you get instead of stunning blows, and it grants your fists an extra 2d6 buff in fire damage for the next round, and the duration increases as you level up higher. This goes on the record that this is a freaking AMAZING ability. 2d6 buff means you can deal up to 12 extra damage in fire. This is a great troll-killer, and you can abuse it to bypass physical protections like stoneskin. Still, with bad rolls, this could mean that you end up getting screwed over and do as little as 2 extra points of fire damage; but free damage is free damage. And you get this ability right when you're able to start punching things proper, too!
Greater Sun (level 8): Basically a nice fireshield red ability which, along with the 50% fire resistance, damages anyone who attacks you in a 5-ft radius with a retaliating 1d8+2 fire damage counter. A nice fire-tanking ability that can double as a counter-attack shield. Can't recommend this ability enough, honestly.
Sun Soulbeam (level 13): Using the Monk's thac0 as the hit-ratio, it hits all targets in a 30ft radius with 9d6 damage, +3 to-hit and damage against Undead. Wow... just wow. Talk about like, force unleashed blast of energy, huh? The damage is pretty great with a bare minimum of 9 damage, up to freaking 54 damage to all enemies in range. That's NUTS; however they can make a save vs. spell for half, so, maybe debuff your enemies before launching this, or just use it with reckless abandon in big fights. Either way, a fantastic ability.
Anyway, that sums up the Sun Soul Monk; basically: More damage, less status effects, and big on the undead killing. Now on to the other monk kit:
DARK MOON MONK: (like ninjas with fists)
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Whelp, this is a little biased but these guys are my favorites out of the monk group. HOOOOLY SH*T these guys... Okay, so these guys are the Lawful Evil-locked monks who are pretty much the exact opposite of Sun Soul Monks. They focus primarily on defensive tactics instead of damage, though they still kick the same amount of righteous ass as the regular monks (same unarmed progression and all passives). Furthermore, they can put their thieving points into Detect Illusions! What's this mean? Well invisibility and mirror images and the like can be dispelled by simply hitting the "Find Traps" icon on your toolbar! Well, they need to pass the appropriate invisible roll checks and all that, but still, imagine having to deal with that crap as a mage or cleric casting True Sight all the freaking time to deal with this, but Darkmoon Monks, like thieves, get this in a delightful package with detect illusions. Anyway, onto abilities:
First off, Dark Moon Monks can't use Stunning Blows, and they can't use Lay on Hands
Frozen Fists (level 1): This is your replacement for stunning blows, with the same additional use progression as it; for one round per level, your unarmed attacks deal an additional 2 points of frost damage. Well... to say this is a little underwhelming compared to Stunning Blows or Sun Soul Monk's Flaming Fists is a bit of an understatement... but hey! Free extra damage is free extra damage. And it can still be used to chip away an deal damage to enemies that are being protected from physical attacks (stoneskinned mages for example). No reason not to use this all the time during fights unless an enemy is resistant to frost damage.
Blindness (level 1): Basically the same as the mage's variant. Pretty damn useful to have so early in the game for a non-mage class. Especially when the monk's AC is garbage in early levels. Of course it's nowhere near as effective as Sleep, Command, or Glitterdust, so use it if you really feel it'll help, but forget it otherwise.
Blur (level 3): Same as the second level mage spell 'Blur'.... Oh my god, free AC for a monk?! YES PLEASE! Use this all the time in harder fights. Literally all the time. Big bandit fight with maybe a mage or a guy in heavy armor? use this. Wyverns? Use this. Final fight in the expansion? Freaking USE THIS. No reason not to use this, absolutely none. This is like free defense.
Vampiric Touch (level 7): equivalent to the mage spell of the same name; basically this replaces Lay on Hands. Instead of being able to heal yourself and others, you exclusively heal yourself while dealing damage. Not a bad deal, right?
Mirror Image (level 11): same as the level 2 mage spell of the same name. Whelp, GG other monks, this guy wins now. SERIOUSLY! Any mage user worth their knowledge will tell you this is an amazing spell, and now Dark Moon Monks get this once per day at level 11 for their own use. This basically creates several illusionary versions of yourself that reduce your chance of getting hit until they are dispelled through either the fighter attacking you "expiring" them, or the mirror-image selves are dispelled via magic. Note that this form of defense isn't rock-solid, since the attacker still has a chance of hitting the 'real you', but with a monk's ever growing AC being better than a mage's of the same level, this is a damn good ability to have.
Quivering Palm (level 13): That's right, Dark Moon Monks retain this ability, unlike their Sun Soul arch-enemies, so dragon-cheese is still good to go.
Anyway, to cut it short, the Dark Moon Monks get a nice set of defensive abilities and anti-illusion ability via detect illusions, with a little sugar-coated frozen fist ability to up their damage slightly; and the only downside is you have to be Lawful Evil. Seriously, what's not to love about this kit?
And with that.... the monk and its kits are explained as thoroughly as I can muster. I hope with that big ass table at the top of the post explaining monk passives and progressions, as well as my MASSIVE WALL of text will help you figure out if a monk fits into your party. Whether it be in Baldur's Gate 1 or 2 EE, or in the newly released IWD:EE. Either way, be bold, and PUNCH DRAGONS IN THE FACE! YEAH!
...Oh and if you have critiques, be gentle; this took 3 hours to type
Post edited by GamingFreak on
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Comments
Having never played the Dark Moon Monk I had overlooked the Detect Illusion ability. I know a lot of people don't bother with it, but I've found it to be quite useful with thief characters, so it's nice to know another class has the option too.
Actually, I was half-way through writing a BG2EE Monk guide ... work-in-progress name "I punch Dragons".
Just thought I would throw in a point about Frozen fists. The +2 cold damage stacks on itself and it lasts a long time so you can activate it a bunch of times and get multiple +2s. Not sure if it's intended but that's what happens. With this it ends up being much better than it reads.
I actually managed to one-shot the Shadow dragon back in vanilla BG2 with my monk ;-)
Even without any Malisons or lowering resistances on him...just punched her in the face and she dropped dead.
Also potions of defense/invulnerability! If I haven't mentioned it in the guide, I should be slapping myself across the face right now: GET AS MANY OF THOSE DAMN POTIONS AS YOU CAN! Until you reach about 1/4 of the way through Shadows of Amn, or a decent level in IWD; any and all potions that affect your AC are gonna be your LIFE-BLOOD. Use them wisely and use them plentifully. I can't stress enough how bad it is to have your AC still be rather piss-poor right when your fists start doing actual damage, so stuff like this is important!