Inexperienced player looking at Sacred Fist for next life. Advice sought.

[Anmowyn]

Thanks for clicking the thread!

I have am looing to TR for my 10th life and would like to go SF or Monk. SF seems to be designed as a monk-lite, and that's prolly a better prep for a proper monk life for me afterwards. I would like to build out as a staff-wielding 2HF for epics. The truth is I have no monk gear for leveling, but I do have some staves with dual aug slots that I've crafted from Lordsmarch.

Would an effective framework for heroics be to max out CHA, CON, rest DEX (some STR for early 2HF) and then select the 2HF chain of feats? I have +8 tomes.

Not looking for a build, just some tips on how I should spec the early game with starting stats and feats.

Thanks again!

 

[DBZ]

If your using lordsmarches qstaffs those are the fire evoking ones or ice i guess

I say sorc splash ek with feydark maybe

 

[Mand O'Lin]

Great choice for heroics! works well in Epics too.

I have done many lives as rogue/ monk stick build. Then I started adding Sacred Fist into the mix and have never looked back! There is fantastic stick build synergy between these three classes.

My suggestion would be max Dex, 13 Str, and the balance in Con & Int (perhaps a bit in Wis too).
Get yourself Chieftain's Spear for 4-6 and Elemental Bloom for 7-20. In epics you will want Sireth, but it as a CitW drop, it might be difficult to get. Chieftain's Spear is easy to farm and will work well for you if you cannot seem to get an Elemental Bloom to drop for you.

By taking 3 levels of Rogue, you get Swords to Plowshares for free (and you can trap).
First 2 levels of monk get you two free feats (I do dodge & mobility as prerequisites for Whirlwind Attack).
In Sacred Fist get Exalted Whirlwind quickly as it is fantastic.

Don't overlook Imbue Dice and Sacred Fist Tier 4 Light of Glory.

On Character build - Power Attack
Level 3 - 2HF
When you can - Improved Critical Bludgeoning, Improved 2HF, Greater 2HF, Whirlwind Attack

 

[Anmowyn]

Great choice for heroics! works well in Epics too.

I have done many lives as rogue/ monk stick build. Then I started adding Sacred Fist into the mix and have never looked back! There is fantastic stick build synergy between these three classes.

My suggestion would be max Dex, 13 Str, and the balance in Con & Int (perhaps a bit in Wis too).
Get yourself Chieftain's Spear for 4-6 and Elemental Bloom for 7-20. In epics you will want Sireth, but it as a CitW drop, it might be difficult to get. Chieftain's Spear is easy to farm and will work well for you if you cannot seem to get an Elemental Bloom to drop for you.

By taking 3 levels of Rogue, you get Swords to Plowshares for free (and you can trap).
First 2 levels of monk get you two free feats (I do dodge & mobility as prerequisites for Whirlwind Attack).
In Sacred Fist get Exalted Whirlwind quickly as it is fantastic.

Don't overlook Imbue Dice and Sacred Fist Tier 4 Light of Glory.

On Character build - Power Attack
Level 3 - 2HF
When you can - Improved Critical Bludgeoning, Improved 2HF, Greater 2HF, Whirlwind Attack

Right on. Thanks!

All of this makes sense to me, except for neglecting charisma. In my mind, charisma is the stat for a paladin. Reading your post, it seems like it's nothing to worry about. Paladins have crazy saves anyway, and, well, evasion.

Leveling scheme would be something like:
1-2 Rogue
3-4 Monk
5 Rogue
6+ Sacred Fist

Seem accurate?

I am in ToEE trying to farm said staff right now before I TR.

 

[Anmowyn]

If your using lordsmarches qstaffs those are the fire evoking ones or ice i guess

I say sorc splash ek with feydark maybe

Gonna step away from EK for a bit. Last 3 lives were EK. Love it, tired of seeing glowing green horns growing out of my shoulders.

 

[DBZ]

You want cha attack cha damage with your cha pally fist so sorc works for that 10 sorc 10 fist or ya dump cha

 

[misterski]

If you have +8 tomes then you won't need much DEX if you go with SF.

Great choice for heroics! works well in Epics too.

I have done many lives as rogue/ monk stick build. Then I started adding Sacred Fist into the mix and have never looked back! There is fantastic stick build synergy between these three classes.

My suggestion would be max Dex, 13 Str, and the balance in Con & Int (perhaps a bit in Wis too).
Get yourself Chieftain's Spear for 4-6 and Elemental Bloom for 7-20. In epics you will want Sireth, but it as a CitW drop, it might be difficult to get. Chieftain's Spear is easy to farm and will work well for you if you cannot seem to get an Elemental Bloom to drop for you.

By taking 3 levels of Rogue, you get Swords to Plowshares for free (and you can trap).
First 2 levels of monk get you two free feats (I do dodge & mobility as prerequisites for Whirlwind Attack).
In Sacred Fist get Exalted Whirlwind quickly as it is fantastic.

Don't overlook Imbue Dice and Sacred Fist Tier 4 Light of Glory.

On Character build - Power Attack
Level 3 - 2HF
When you can - Improved Critical Bludgeoning, Improved 2HF, Greater 2HF, Whirlwind Attack

SF doesn't really need Whirlwind Attack, they get 2 360 degree attacks in their enhancement tree with Avenging Whirlwind sharing a cool down with Whirlwind Attack.

 

[Mand O'Lin]

Right on. Thanks!

All of this makes sense to me, except for neglecting charisma. In my mind, charisma is the stat for a paladin. Reading your post, it seems like it's nothing to worry about. Paladins have crazy saves anyway, and, well, evasion.

Leveling scheme would be something like:
1-2 Rogue
3-4 Monk
5 Rogue
6+ Sacred Fist

Seem accurate?

I am in ToEE trying to farm said staff right now before I TR.

I would do 1-3 Rogue to get Swords to Plowshares.
The Focus on Some Sacred Fist to get Exalted Whirlwind and Imbues
Add 1 level of Monk reasonably early on for the extra Imbue die (early as in don't wait until level 10)
I would go for 4+ rogue levels & spread any those rogue levels out so you can top off your thieving skills.

If you are doing racials, you can forgo the monk and add a bunch (12) of fighter levels to get (greater) weapon specialization.

You specifically did not ask for a "build" so I am not giving you one. However, if you have the right gear and do the right build, you can out kill just about anybody else... handily. The only characters who can give you a run for your money are casters, and only because they can reach out and touch the mobs before you are in melee. R1-R4, two whirlwinds and 90% of the mobs around you will be dead.

 

[Anmowyn]

I would do 1-3 Rogue to get Swords to Plowshares.
The Focus on Some Sacred Fist to get Exalted Whirlwind and Imbues
Add 1 level of Monk reasonably early on for the extra Imbue die (early as in don't wait until level 10)
I would go for 4+ rogue levels & spread any those rogue levels out so you can top off your thieving skills.

If you are doing racials, you can forgo the monk and add a bunch (12) of fighter levels to get (greater) weapon specialization.

You specifically did not ask for a "build" so I am not giving you one. However, if you have the right gear and do the right build, you can out kill just about anybody else... handily. The only characters who can give you a run for your money are casters, and only because they can reach out and touch the mobs before you are in melee. R1-R4, two whirlwinds and 90% of the mobs around you will be dead.

I get it. In playing a lot of EK lately, I'm seeing getting imbue's super early to help chomp the early leveling.

I am working toward class completionist, and was thinking if SF plays about like monk, I'll do an SF life first then the monk life with some of the gear and experience in playing centered right after the SF life.

 

[Mand O'Lin]

If you have +8 tomes then you won't need much DEX if you go with SF.

SF doesn't really need Whirlwind Attack, they get 2 360 degree attacks in their enhancement tree with Avenging Whirlwind sharing a cool down with Whirlwind Attack.

I prefer Tier 5 Rogue, but perhaps that is just due to my comfort with rogue leveling.

 

[Rugar]

If you are going to go Q-staff, you seriously need to consider going Trailblazer. The T4s in Trailblazer (Wide Sweep, Springing Pounce, and Fast Sprinter) make that life a dream. When I did those lives, I tried both SF/Mnk/Rog and SF/Mnk combos. Because of AP limitations, I preferred SF/Mnk over the rogue dip. My favorite buildout was 15SF / 5 Mnk. This allowed T5s in HeM, Zeal and Ki Explosion (2 4th level SF spells), and enough AP to get all the meat out of the Trailblazer tree. It also allowed me to go Max Dex for the AoE trip (Wide Sweep), keeping in mind that both Cha and Wis are beneficial as well.

 

[Mand O'Lin]

Another point regarding Sacred Fist and quarterstaves:
You may find it beneficial to have Quarterstaff as a Favored Weapon (Aureon).

 

[Mand O'Lin]

I am in ToEE trying to farm said staff right now before I TR.

And don't forget the Chieftain's Spear!

 

[Halaseus Thanatos]

Another point regarding Sacred Fist and quarterstaves:
You may find it beneficial to have Quarterstaff as a Favored Weapon (Aureon).

Was wondering what race you'd run for this?

 

[Mand O'Lin]

Was wondering what race you'd run for this?

Every race.

 

[Rugar]

Was wondering what race you'd run for this?

I'm going to repeat in the "bang for buck" category, you cannot go wrong with using Trailblazer for this. The enhancement tree for the Trailblazer has a huge number of goodies when using a Q-staff. If you want the best place to learn a Sacred Fist Q-staff user, this is where you should go.

 

[Soulcial]

I don't understand or see how this build could be that great. is it the whirlwinds? There's almost no inherent melee power built in, which obviously just becomes a huge problem at cap. I was REALLY wanting to make the old rogue/monk/fighter q staff split work, as it was a dodge machine, but it just never performed at cap due to a massive lack of melee power..

 

[FVSHasBeenEvenMoreGutted]

personally i like the idea of dagger SF cuz u can use VKF, but sacred fist is one of the best things to level on low lifers/new players, massive saves, evasion, great bonuses to hit/damage. makes a great first class, last class, or hardcore build

 

[Contessor]

I would do 1-3 Rogue to get Swords to Plowshares.
The Focus on Some Sacred Fist to get Exalted Whirlwind and Imbues
Add 1 level of Monk reasonably early on for the extra Imbue die (early as in don't wait until level 10)
I would go for 4+ rogue levels & spread any those rogue levels out so you can top off your thieving skills.

If you are doing racials, you can forgo the monk and add a bunch (12) of fighter levels to get (greater) weapon specialization.

You specifically did not ask for a "build" so I am not giving you one. However, if you have the right gear and do the right build, you can out kill just about anybody else... handily. The only characters who can give you a run for your money are casters, and only because they can reach out and touch the mobs before you are in melee. R1-R4, two whirlwinds and 90% of the mobs around you will be dead.

If you’re doing qstaff then you have to choose 5 rogue for t5 acrobat, 5 monk for t5 henshin or 14 pally for holy sword, all of which would give you +1 to crit threat and multiplier. Personally I think t5 rogue gives the most bang for the buck. Plus vault is one of the most fun abilities in the game imo.

So that be a min 5Ro/8P/7x (monk likely the best fit for imbue dice. Even for heroics, doing a qstaff build is miserable dmg wise, at least S2P and having expanded threat makes is a big less of a slog, and not getting that until late levels really blows.

 

[dur]

Why is Sacred Fist a sub of Paladin and not Monk? Has this been explained somewhere? You have to be Lawful for Monk, and LG for Paladin -- who would build a Paladin to use fists? Makes no sense to me.