U72 Early Look 2: Monk Revamp

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KylerrTheMajty

Well-known member

Henshin Mystic

Henshin Mystic focuses on elemental power and defenses.
  • Cores:
    • Riddle of Fire now gains "While you are 10 MRR, and +15% Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap" changes to "you personally gain PRR equal to your Monk level, MRR equal to your Monk level, and Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap equal to 5 + half your Monk Level." It also grants +15% Competence Bonus to Quarterstaff Attack Speed. (The identical speed boost in Rogue Acrobat's Thief Acrobatics will also be typed Competence at this time).
So is this mean we will lose stacking bonus with melee alacrity?
 

peng

Well-known member
I have been a monk fan and player pretty much since I started playing ddo in 2010. I'm going to try to collect all my thoughts regarding the proposed changes here, but I have a *lot* of them when it comes to monk.

Bugs:

Builders / Finishers:
Aside from the issues Steel lists in the op, there's another issue with the current system, which is that players unfamiliar with monks tend not to realize that when they unlock adept/master/grandmaster of forms, they gain new strikes which need to be dragged out from your feat list to a hotbar, and those strikes have a separate cooldown.
I think all these issues can be addressed by having the initial strikes scale rather than adding more powerful versions, and reducing the number of strikes needed to activate a finisher from 3 to 2 (with the possible exception of shining star). Losing the extra strikes will be a bit of a nerf, but lowering the complexity while not getting rid of it entirely should be a net win. Cutting out the strike/finisher system entirely is a *big* nerf to monks and completely changes the playstyle, which is what draws many players to monks in the first place.

Other changes to base monk:
  • Losing the elemental and light/dark strikes is a not insubstantial hit to dps and the active playstyle monk players have grown to love/hate.
  • Losing light/dark strikes also means that your initial choice of philosophy has no direct impact on your character until you go to spend your enhancements
  • QP/stun DCs working with any stat makes character building more flexible, which I'm a fan of, even if it is untraditional. I'm ambivalent about allowing them to be used with any centered weapon. Mechanically, great. Flavor-wise, it's a bit weird that the name implies you hitting something with your hand while you're actually hitting them with a weapon instead.
Shintao changes:
  • So you now get 5 melee power at lvl 18 and 25 (15 +10 in Meditation of War) at lvl 20? Can some of that MP come earlier, say at the level 12 core (eg 5 MP each at lvls 12 and 18, and 10+10 MP at lvl 20)
  • Strikethrough chance was sorely needed on monks, this is a good addition
  • It seems to me that negotiator and ki shout are *both* tank ablities. Maybe combine them into one enhancement in whichever tree ends up being the tanky one?
  • Quick Strike good, not limited to staff better
  • Hand of Harm should do extra damage (Touch of Despair deals +30% dmg)
  • Greater Hand of Healing: nice change. I always thought the curatives should be cumulative.
  • Kukan-Do: I like the increased DC, not sure why this is only Wis-based when it seems the other strikes use the higher of Str/Dex/Wis.
  • Big fan of removing Meditation of War's penalties, some of those can be quite punitive.
Ninja Spy changes:
  • I like the Poisoned Darts changes (more initial stacks, fewer stacks removed on expiration, lower cooldown, immunity bypass at the expense of losing poison vulnerability)
  • Adding melee/ranged power to the cores is good. I'd prefer if some of it came earlier than lvl 18.
  • Haste Boost: Finally. 10/10
  • Flash Bang: not sure why this has become locked to Light Path
  • Shadow Flurry: Touch of Despair (which we already get in Shintao) except the neg vulnerability is replaced with no spellcasting. If the no spellcasting affects bosses, that is potentially *very* powerful. If not, it's pretty inconsequential on a class with so many ways to take out casters. Also, it should not cost HP now that you got rid of auto-crit (which should probably be added back in somewhere).
  • Cloak of Shadows is nice
  • Poison Exploit references Touch of Despair which will not exist in this system. Also, make sure that enemies normally immune to poison still take this damage even though you are getting rid of the poison that strips immunity
  • Shadow Double: I like that this works with ranged now, but why the cooldown increase?
Henshin Mystic Changes:
  • Wisdom to hit/dmg? Yes please
  • Extra Ki generation for all weapons at lvl 3? YES
  • 15% qstaff speed at lvl 6? Significantly better than at lvl 20, but still worse than rogues getting it at lvl 1
  • Cauldron at lvl 6 is very nice and I like the scaling defensive buffs
  • Gaining all 4 elemental strikes at once is good. Having them scale is good. Having them share a cooldown is terrible.
  • Moving the imbue to t2: big fan. I'd like the imbue to scale with 2x or even 1.5x melee/ranged power. Or maybe grant an extra imbue die if your imbue matches your monk stance.
  • Kata of Wind: cooldown is way too long, or duration is way too short. Giving the party blur is something a wizard can do at level 3, and they don't have to refresh it every minute. Even with a cooldown/duration that let's you have 100% uptime, it's still pretty bad. This was the only Light Finisher I never used. I'd change it to 25% concealment, doubled on yourself (and with a shorter cooldown and/or a longer duration)
  • Mantra of Body/Soul: 2 prr or mrr is *way* too little for 1 ap, particularly in T3/4. These should give at *minimum* 3/6/10
  • Wis trance? Yes please.
  • Kata of Deep Magic: I'd add the Earth/Light (immunity to daze, stun, and sleep) and Fire/Light (stacking heroism) Finishers here as well (or in T5)
  • Kata of Dark Stars: Allowing monks to get Shining Star by level 5? Nice. Locking it to Dark Path and reducing the duration from 60 to 12 seconds? Big Nope.
  • Mystic Honing/Self Defense: do these both give 25% competence hp now?
Overall enhancement tree changes:
  • Currently, it seems to me that Shintao is the tanky tree. Not sure why that's being moved to HM. Not a huge fan of this change, but I'm willing to keep an open mind about it.
  • While I usually only take one of the Elemental Ki Strikes, that's because I can only afford to take one. All 3 enh trees have good t2 abilities, so spending 2 ap on my 2nd/3rd favorite of these in my 2nd or 3rd tree is too much of an ask. Either grant all of them for spending 2 ap in one tree, or let us take one per tree, but make them only cost 1 ap.
  • Having three different lines with different names that cost the same and give exactly the same +1 or 2 atk/dmg to all centered weapons in all 3 trees, feels... off. Either give them the same name (ie you can take this one weapon boosting line, but you choose which tree to take it in), or give them some sort of distinctive buff on top of weapon damage (like what we have now).
  • While you say that Shintao's theme includes core weapon DPS, it seems to have the *least* DPS of all 3 trees
 
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peng

Well-known member
Other changes I think should be made in addition/instead:
  • Ranged attacks should generate Ki like melee attacks, and many or even all of the monk strikes should work with ranged
  • Damaging/healing SLAs: I believe these should all have higher dmg/healing dice and scale with 2x melee/ranged power instead of spellpower or 3x melee power.
    • Hand of Healing (or Healing Ki) should be 1d6 or 1d6+1 per monk level, scaling with 2x melee/ranged power
    • Ki Bolt should be 1d6+2 fire and force per monk level, scaling with 2x melee/ranged power
    • Incinerating Wave should be 1d6+4 fire and force per monk level, scaling with 2x melee/ranged power
    • Fire Finisher (if we get it) should be 1d6+3 fire dmg per monk level, scaling with 2x melee/ranged power
  • Monks should get more MRR cap and PRR. Maybe 1 MRR cap and PRR per monk level.
  • Allow the BAB increase from Flurry of Blows to apply for feat pre-requisites
  • Meditation and Wholeness of Body give way too little and take way too long. Maybe change them to something like:
    • Meditation: A monk can meditate to rapidly regain ki. You gain ki equal to 1/4 of your Concentration every 2 seconds for 8 seconds. You can still move while meditating, but do so at a reduced speed unless you have the mobility feat. Other actions will interrupt your meditation. 1 minute cooldown.
    • Wholeness of Body: This feat allows Monks to expend 10 Ki to heal some hit points over time in a meditative state. You regain hit points equal to twice Monk level + Epic/Legendary levels + Wisdom modifier every two seconds for 8 seconds. This scales with the higher of Positive or twice Melee Power. You can still move while meditating, but do so at a reduced speed unless you have the mobility feat. Other actions will interrupt your meditation. 1 minute cooldown.
  • Empty Body and Perfect Self are pretty underwhelming for lvl 19/20 abilities.
    • Empty Body: add Dark Discorporation on top of Shadow Walk.
    • Perfect Self: add +1 passive ki gen and/or some more PRR and/or MRR.
  • Stances: They could use a bit of a rework. Currently Mountain is a tank stance which barely increases your prr and threat gen. Wind is a DPS stance at all levels (assuming you're melee and not doublestrike capped). Sun is a DPS stance starting at lvl 12. All the stances except wind have a way to generate Ki, but other than Sun, they are either unreliable or start at lvl 12. So:
    • Mountain
      • +1/1/2/2 Ki on being hit or missed
      • +5/10/15/20 PRR
      • +50/100/150/200% threat gen
    • Wind
      • 3/6/9/12% Doublestrike and Doubleshot
      • Ki abilities cost 20/30/40/50% less
      • +4/6/8/10% stacking run speed (could be untyped, quality, action boost, etc)
    • Sun
      • +1/1/2/2 Ki on hit (no extra Ki on crits needed)
      • either +1/1/2/2 crit multiplier on 19-20 OR +0.25/0.5/0.75/1 [W]
    • Ocean
      • +1/1/2/2 passive Ki generation
      • +3/6/9/12 MRR and MRR cap
 
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Tuxedomanwashere

Well-known member
Hello, everyone! Thank you for your feedback on the first look at the Monk Revamp. We've put together some revisions based on your feedback, and would like further discussions to continue with them in mind, so we've made a new thread. The changes from the last thread are below, then the original thread is reposted with things new to this thread's version in orange.

Changes from the previous thread:​

Shintao
  • Deft Strikes is now a multiselector with Improved Second Strikes:+[5/10/20]% Strikethrough.
  • Kukan-Do's cooldown has been put back to its Live value.
Ninja Spy
Feedback indicated that Ninja Spy needed the most out of these trees - It lacked the Melee/Ranged Power of other trees, the Ranged/Thrown path wasn't competitive vs. other options, and a few Finishing Moves that hadn't yet made it into trees needed a home.
  • Added +5 Melee and Ranged Power to Ninja Spy Core 18 (Diversion)
  • Added +15 Melee and Ranged Power to Ninja Spy Core 20 (Ninja Master). The line about Self Defense in the last revision now reads "If you have Self Defense, you gain an additional +10 Melee (just Melee)Power".
    • (This becomes just Melee Power because Ranged Power is now in Tier 5 - See below).
  • Ninja Spy Dark Path: Shadow Flurry now reads: Melee Attack: +20% damage. Target must make a saving throw equal to (10/14/18 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Mod + Assassinate DCs) or have some of their energy temporarily sealed, halving all positive energy healing, reducing its fortification by 25%, and rendering it unable to cast spells. The enemy makes recurring Fortitiude saves to shake the effect. Cost: 20 HP, 10 Ki. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
  • Ninja Spy Touch of Death now deals Poison damage instead of Negative and has a 15 second cooldown.
  • Self Defense is now a multiselector with Improved Archer's Focus: Your Archer's Focus stance can now stack up to 25 times instead of 15. Passive: +10 Ranged Power
  • Shadow Double is no longer a Melee Attack. Instead, it's an activated ability that grants +50% Doublestrike, +50% Doubleshot, and +5 Assassinate DCs for 12 seconds. (Activation Cost: 30 Ki. Cooldown: 25 seconds)
Henshin Mystic
  • Elemental Words' upgrades when you have Adept/Master/Grandmaster of Forms is now 2d6/2d10/2d20.
  • Kata of Dark Stars is now: You use the power of the stars to set up harmonic vibrations within your enemy that force them to dance for 12 seconds. (DC = 10 + STR/DEX/WIS modifier + Monk level + Stunning DC boosts). Costs 20 ki, 12 second cooldown
(Note: responses refer to the words in yellow) I would rather have the "unable to cast spells" be a part of the base monk kit as it is now (The Trembling Earth). Maybe replace it with the poison stacking that is on live now as a toggle (poisoned soul)? This would prevent multiple stacks from dropping when timer ticks down. Alternatively, you can make it reduce fortitude saves by 1 for a minute (stacking up to 5 times).

I'm also not too keen on Shining Star being locked behind trees. On one hand, you have to now put points into a tree you otherwise might not have simply to purchase that ability (and 22 points is a lot), and on the other hand, having it at tier 4 takes away a lot of the reason to go primarily monk. Both are bad propositions to me. I'd rather keep the strike as something the base monk can get through levels. Maybe bring it down from lvl 20 to level 17-18 and replace the level 20 feat with something like "Zen Mastery: If you follow the path of inevitable dominion, monsters must now make two saves against your monastic attacks (what were previously finishers); if you follow the path of harmonious balance, you now get to save twice against effects." This would allow some multiclassing potential since you no longer have to be 20 lvls of monk to get Shining Star while still making it worthwhile to be pure monk. Everything else from this portion looks good.

Updated version of the previous thread:​

We have decided that the time has come to take a look at the Monk class as a whole and make some adjustments while we debut the upcoming Dragon Disciple Monk Archetype (see thread here!)

Below is an early plan and subject to change:

Monk Combos and Finishing Moves

The Combo and Finishing Move system in the Monk class has had issues for a long time. Some of the issues we identified were:
  • The combo builders themselves are not especially strong.
  • Combo-building is clunky due to cooldowns.
  • The combo system is easily interrupted by common actions, resetting your combo.
As we looked into adjusting this system we encountered the following:
  • Strengthening combo builders makes the Monk disproportionately powerful across all level ranges, especially as there is no cost (feat slots, action points) in gaining them - Monks get these and their trees and their bonus feats.
  • The cooldowns on the builders are structurally important to make sure the system functions as intended, and it is nearly impossible to reduce that cooldown without creating additional issues.
  • On our code side, the combo system relies on an opt-out designation for actions to break your combo, meaning that to make the combo system more flexible would require individually tagging hundreds-to-thousands of individual actions as "this doesn't break a combo", or rebuilding the combo system from scratch.
We have instead decided to explore a more comprehensive rebalance of the Monk! So, we're removing the Combo system and putting most of the finishers into the Monk class Enhancement Trees. Let's take a look!

Overall Monk Class Changes
  1. The elemental combo builder attacks granted at level 1 and with Adept/Master/Grandmaster of Forms are removed. (You still gain the Stances as before).
  2. The Monk Finishing Move feat is removed.
  3. The Shining Star feat is removed. (We're considering how to work this back in - let us know where you'd like to see it.)
  4. You still select Light or Dark path at Monk Level 3, but they are no longer attacks - Instead, they influence multiselectors in the Monk trees.
  5. Quivering Palm's DC now uses Strength if it is highest (highest of Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom Modifier)
  6. Stunning Fist can now be used with any Melee Weapon as long as you are Centered.
    1. Stunning Fist's DC now uses the highest of Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom.
I greatly disagree with the sentiment that there was no cost to the combo builders. First of all, you have to be monk, so that already places an alignment restriction (and thus multiclass restriction) on you. You also have to be centered, so that places a restriction on the gear that you can wear and the weapons you can use. You also have an opportunity cost in the action economy, as whenever you use such a strike, you could've been using a more powerful ability at that same moment. I'm not entirely sure how you would've chosen to strengthen it, but I'm dubious of the claim that it would have been disproportionately powerful.

But I digress. The primary issue I have is not with removing the combo builders but with taking the formerly-termed "finishers" into the trees. This not only creates the problem of now having to use design space in the trees to give back what you're taking from monk, but also the problem of having an extra factor to be considered when weighing the trees against each other. For example, now that shining star is in the Tier 4 of Henshin Mystic, most monks are going to go into Henshin to pick it up. Not to mention that the wisdom to hit/damage and the wisdom trance are in that tree. In the same vein, shintao has even more cc now, so how exactly is Ninja Spy supposed to compete? And let's say that you take more of the finishers and move them to Ninja Spy. The same problem occurs, only now it's a different tree that's struggling to compete.

Since we're on the topic of Stunning Fist, can we get CHA working for it on Sacred Fists? The lamannia discussions and even the patch notes stated that it should work off of the higher of WIS and CHA for them, but that is not the case. Which is a shame, since there's such a big push for that archetype to use CHA (almost everything it does scales off of CHA), except the only CC it has access to natively, and without a trance, you're not getting a working value for that off of CHA.
Monk Enhancement Trees Overview

We had a few goals in our changes to the trees: Primarily, we needed to work in the removed Finishing Moves. Secondarily, we wanted to make the Trees more flexible. In the current Live version of Monk, your tree selection is strongly restricted by weapon:
  • Shintao: Only works well with Handwraps
  • Henshin: Only works well with Quarterstaves
  • Ninja Spy: Works well with every Monk weapon that isn't Handwraps or Quarterstaves.
I mean, if you apply crit multipliers to only a certain set of weapons that's still going to be the case. As far as strikes go, there were only a couple strikes gated by weapon type (Stunning Fist and Quick Strikes, the former of which is a feat and thus not really affected by the discussion of enhancement trees). The Ninja Spy imbue is specific to slashing and piercing weapons, and I don't believe that this has changed with this early look, so with all of that, I'm not entirely sure how much "flexibility" you're really going for. It doesn't seem to be a lot as far as I can tell.
Our plan here involves making these trees more weapon-agnostic (even if they may still include some bonuses to those weapons) and instead refocuses them on themes. Ideally, this will lead to more diversity of Monk builds and more interesting choices. The below trees now focus on:
  • Shintao: Core weapon DPS, with some Positive/Negative energy.
  • Ninja Spy: Poison, Tricks, and Stealth/Sneak.
  • Henshin Mystic: Using weapon stats to do Elemental damage, defenses.
The planned changelists for each tree are below. If something is not mentioned, there is no plan to change it at this time. As we've said above, this is not final, just the current plan.
I really think that you should strongly reconsider putting a general attack and damage boost in all three trees. It takes up design space for no good reason, especially when the focus for Shintao, for example, is weapon DPS. What you've basically done is taken up 12 spots (4 in each tree) when you could have only taken up 4 and put something else that is better or more thematic in the resulting emptiness. Furthermore, the combinations seem to be a bit twisted; wouldn't it make sense for the tree that is positive and negative theme (restorative/regenerative) to be tied with defenses? Thus, I would suggest the following changes to the focus:
  • Shintao: Defenses with some Positive/Negative energy
  • Ninja Spy: Keep the same
  • Henshin Mystic: Elemental damage and stance bonuses

Shintao

Shintao focuses on core DPS.
  • Cores:
    • Cores remain the same, except all abilities that say with Handwraps now say while Centered.
    • To Seek Perfection's "You no longer suffer penalties from Meditation of War" is removed as there are no more penalties (see below) and replaced with "If you have Meditation of War, +10 Melee and Ranged Power".
I'd rather replace the DR bypass with something else and tie that to the stances via Henshin Mystic (e.g. Cold Iron Bypass in Water Stance, Crystal Bypass in Earth Stance, Byeshk Bypass in Wind Stance, Silver Bypass in Fire Stance).
  • Tier 1:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and Damage while Centered. (Antireq: Ninjutsu and Henshin Training. Essentially, you can only take one Attack+Damage line.)
    • Ki Shout is removed (moved to HM), and replaced with NEW: Fast Hands (Multiselector): +1/2/3% Doublestrike OR Doubleshot
    • Exemplar is removed (moved to HM), and replaced with Negotiator currently found in Henshin Mystic.
    • Deft Strikes is now a multiselector with Improved Second Strikes:+[5/10/20]% Strikethrough.
I think the offhand, doublestrike/doubleshot, and strikethrough would be better in Ninja Spy. Please move the Ki Shout back to Shintao. Also, you're moving negotiator here, which is why I'm confused by the stated goal versus your actions. Negotiator reduces the cooldown on intim; how is that not something tied to tanking/wanting defenses?
  • Tier 2:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Elemental Ki Strikes are no longer combo builders, but otherwise remain unchanged.
    • Conditioning is removed (moved to HM), and replaced with Quick Strike currently found in Henshin Mystic. Quick Strike is no longer restricted to Quarterstaves, but you must be Centered.
Not restricted to quarterstaves is good. Please move back to Henshin Mystic. There is the fact that the archetype replaces henshin mystic, but you can also gain doublestrike from Ninja Spy or from other trees. I don't think it's necessary to muddle what the trees do by trying to fit damage everywhere and trying to fit some defenses everywhere (Meditation of War in Shintao and dodge/dodge cap in Ninja Spy).
  • Tier 3:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • NEW: Hands of Mercy (Multiselector):
      • Light Path: Hand of Healing: You heal all nearby allies for 1d4 plus 1d4 per monk level. (12 second cooldown, costs 5 Ki)
      • Dark Path: Hand of Harm: Melee Attack: You strike your opponent down with a terrible curse, halving all positive energy healing done to the target, reducing its fortification by 25%, and increasing its negative energy vulnerability by 25%. Periodic Fortitude saves (14 + STR/DEX/WIS Modifier + Monk Level + Stunning Bonuses) to negate. (12 second cooldown, costs 10 ki)
    • Dismissing Strike has its AP cost reduced to 1, because it's extremely situational
  • Tier 4:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • NEW: Greater Mercies (Multiselector):
      • Light Path: Greater Hand of Healing: Your Hand of Healing now applies a Lesser Restoration effect and removes Blindness, Curses, and Diseases.
      • Dark Path: Greater Hand of Harm: Targets affected by your Hand of Harm are also Blinded and Nauseated until they save.
See, this is where the design space becomes an issue. Because you removed the finishers from the feats, you now have to figure out where to put them appropriately and how to fit them in the design goals. Ninja Spy is supposed to be the trick tree, but why is the blindness and nausea here??? If we work with the defensive outlook for Shintao, we could allow the light path to provide benefits to the party as they do now and have the dark path grant defenses indirectly. For example, Hand of Healing would provide the healing it does now, while Hand of Harm would reduce the monster's attack and damage (T3 would be attack; T4 would be MP/RP/SP reduction)
  • Tier 5:
    • Empty Hand Mastery becomes Shintao Mastery, which does the same thing but "and wielding Handwraps" is removed.
Can't say I'm a fan of having to avoid getting hit to improve my damage, which goes away as soon as I crit. I would suggest either having it change to like a 3 second duration that doesn't expire on crit (I thought about 6 seconds, but that would be as good as having +5 crit range the entire fight for most) or having a decent chance (30%?) to reset the cooldown of your jade abilities.
    • Kukan-Do now reads: You lock gazes with an enemy, stunning them for a short period of time on a failed Will save (DC 14 + Wisdom modifier + Monk level). Any effects that modify your Stunning Blow or Stunning Fist DC's also affect this ability. Sightless creatures are unaffected by this ability. (Cooldown: Unchanged from Live)
    • The penalties from Meditation of War are removed. It also gains +3 to Attack and Damage while Centered in addition to its other effects.
...Why is Meditation of War in Shintao if Henshin Mystic is supposed to be the new defensive tree??? It's also not really thematic, as the stances are elemental, but you have stance-related bonuses in a tree that is supposed to be focusing on positive and negative. I think the quality hp needs to stay to preserve the defensiveness which seems to be spreading too thin amongst all the trees, but all the other bonuses should honestly be reflected in the Henshin Mystic tree, where the theme is understanding martial arts through the elements.

Ninja Spy

Ninja Spy focuses on poisons, tricks, assassination, and sneakiness.
  • Cores:
    • Poisoned Darts now reads "Ki Activate: You spit poisoned darts in a cone before you. Nearby enemies are affected by between 4 and 8 stacks of Ninja Poison. (Magical Poison: Target takes 1d4 points of Poison damage, which scales with the higher of Melee and Ranged Power every 3 seconds for 15 seconds. If a target affected by this attack is normally immune to Poison, they become vulnerable to Poison while affected by Poisoned Darts. This ability can stack up to 20 times. On timer expiration, 4 stacks of Ninja Poison are removed at a time.) (Activation Cost: 15 Ki. Cooldown: 12 seconds)"
I think stripping poison immunity through failed saves from the strikes would be better than using the poisoned darts. Also, please change this from adding 4-8 stacks to adding stacks over time like what Poisoned Soul is doing currently. It gets real annoying trying to stack up poison stacks only to see them disappear because gaining stacks normally does not reset the timer and the stacks normally proc on crit (so there are two barriers to maintenance). Considering that the imbue is mutually exclusive with alchemist's and rogue's imbues, I don't think it'd be a big issue.
    • Diversion no longer has its Critical bonus (moved to Tier 5). Instead, it has +5 Melee and Ranged Power.
    • Ninja Master now also has "+10% Fortification Bypass, +15 Melee and Ranged Power. If you have Self Defense, you gain an additional +10 Melee (just Melee) Power".
Very good.
  • Tier 1:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and Damage while Centered. (Antireq: Shintao Studies and Henshin Training. Essentially, you can only take one Attack+Damage line.)
  • Tier 2:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
See above about the damage lines.
    • Elemental Ki Strikes is cut (it exists in Shintao and I don't think people dip into multiple of these across two trees). It is replaced with Extra Action Boost: +1/2/3 Action Boosts.
That's not true. I was using Fist of Iron and Knock on the Sky all the time. Now that finishers are not connected to combo builders, it's even more likely that people would want to use more than one of those strikes. They do extra damage, and you currently have a choice of 3 out of 4 (it's in Henshin as well) of: attack with +1 crit multi attack, enable sneak attack, reduce physical damage by 4% (stacks up to 5 times), and apply 4 stacks of destruction. The thing that was holding most people back before is that using those strikes counted towards finishers (thus making it possible to interrupt one).
    • Action Boost: Melee/Ranged Power is now a multiselector with Action Boost: Haste.
Hmm. I like it, but I'm worried that this will lead to a nerf somewhere down the line.
  • Tier 3:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Flash Bang is removed, and replaced by Shadow Arts:
      • Light Path: Flash Bang: Ki Bomb Spell-Like Ability: Throws a fragile eggshell imbued with ninja magic that explodes into light, blinding opponents for 6 seconds on a failed reflex save and momentarily dazing opponents on a failed fortitude save. Both saving throws have DC equal to (10/14/18 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Mod + Assassinate DCs). (Activation Cost: 20 Ki. Cooldown: 30 seconds)
      • Dark Path: Shadow Flurry: Melee Attack: +20% damage. Target must make a saving throw equal to (10/14/18 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Mod + Assassinate DCs) or have some of their energy temporarily sealed, halving all positive energy healing, reducing its fortification by 25%, and rendering it unable to cast spells. The enemy makes recurring Fortitiude saves to shake the effect. Cost: 20 HP, 10 Ki. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
  • Tier 4:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Deadly Exploits is removed, and replaced with Greater Shadow Arts:
      • Light Path: Cloak of Shadows: After using Flash Bang, you become Invisible for 6 seconds which is not broken by actions.
      • Dark Path: Poison Exploit: On a failed saving throw, your Touch of Despair purges an enemy of Ninja Poison, dealing 1d20 + 20 poison damage per stack of Ninja Poison removed. Scales with higher of Melee/Ranged Power. (This factors in the damage boost from Deadly Exploit as well.)
Can we not tie Flash Bang to a philosophy, or at the very least, separate Flash Bang and Shadow Flurry? It's ridiculous that we have to choose between doing damage and sneaking around in a tree that has stealth as a focus (I mean, let's be honest, cloak of shadows is really only gonna be used by those who want to skulk around; regular invisibility and sneaking work well enough in most cases). Especially when that already comes with the opportunity cost of investing points in the ability to use it in the first place.
  • Tier 5:
    • Touch of Death now reads: You strike a living opponent down with twisted ki, dealing +50% damage and 500 additional Poison damage that scales with 200% Melee Power. Your opponent takes half damage on a successful Fortitude save (DC = 14 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Modifier + Assassinate DCs). Cooldown: 15 seconds). Passive: +3 to Hit and Damage while Centered.
    • Deadly Striker now reads: "While you are centered, you gain a +1 Competence bonus to Critical Threat Range and Multiplier. Kamas, Shortswords, and Shuriken gain an additional +1 Critical Threat Range."
    • Self Defense is now a multiselector with Improved Archer's Focus: Your Archer's Focus stance can now stack up to 25 times instead of 15. Passive: +10 Ranged Power.
    • Shadow Double is no longer a Melee Attack. Instead, it's an activated ability that grants +50% Doublestrike, +50% Doubleshot, and +5 Assassinate DCs for 12 seconds. (Activation Cost: 30 Ki. Cooldown: 25 seconds)
Don't really have complaints here.

Henshin Mystic

Henshin Mystic focuses on elemental power and defenses.
  • Cores:
    • Riddle of Fire now gains "While you are centered, you can use your Wisdom modifier to hit" in addition to its other effects.
    • The casting time on Ki Bolt is reduced. Ki Bolt also gains "While you are centered, you can use your Wisdom modifier for damage. In addition, while you are Centered, you gain +2 Ki each time you hit a creature. This stacks with all other sources of Ki generation."
Honestly, Ki Bolt is still such a high opportunity cost in all but the most janky of builds (looking at the Muggle Monk) that you should be gaining ki for using it (please do that for the sacred fist as well). Also, the casting time is reduced, but what about the travel time?
    • Sounding Staff is now Cauldron of Flame. Most of it remains the same, but "you personally gain +20 PRR, +10 MRR, and +15% Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap" changes to "you personally gain PRR equal to your Monk level, MRR equal to your Monk level, and Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap equal to 5 + half your Monk Level." It also grants +15% Competence Bonus to Quarterstaff Attack Speed. (The identical speed boost in Rogue Acrobat's Thief Acrobatics will also be typed Competence at this time).
Interesting that you introduce Cauldron so early.
    • Incinerating Wave now changes elemental damage if you have a non-Fire Elemental Soul Imbue active.
    • Cauldron of Flame is now Improved Cauldron: The cooldown timer on Cauldron of Flames is now halved. You may now move a small range outside your Cauldron without it collapsing.
Incinerating Wave change is good. Will the Improved Cauldron change damage type as well? If not, please add that rather than the reduced timer or movement outside the ring (dealer's choice).
    • Serenity removes the text "and wielding a Quarterstaff" and replaces it with "and Centered", letting you gain the bonus crit while in the Cauldron with other weapons. The Attack Speed for Quarterstaves is removed (see Cauldron of Flame).
  • Tier 1:
    • Elemental Words now grants you all four of the attacks, which now share a cooldown. The attacks are no longer combo moves, but instead gain the damage from the defunct elemental combo builders: 1d6 Elemental damage. Having Adept/Master/Grandmaster of Forms upgrades this damage to 2d6/2d10/2d20.
If the extra damage and the elemental vulnerability is kept, this will be a good change.
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and Damage while Centered. (Antireq: Shintao Studies and Ninjutsu. Essentially, you can only take one Attack+Damage line.)
See above for my thoughts on the damage lines.
    • Mystic Training is removed (no longer using Finishing Move DCs anywhere) and replaced with Ki Shout (formerly in Shintao)
    • Negotiator is removed, and replaced with Exemplar (formerly in Shintao)
Please put back in Shintao.
  • Tier 2:
    • Elemental Words is replaced with Elemental Soul: You gain four Imbue toggles, one for each of Fire, Cold, Electric, and Acid. When toggled, you enhance your attacks with ki, dealing 1d6 (Element) damage on hit, and an additional 1d6 Force damage on crit. Your Ki Spells also apply the (Element) portion of this damage. This damage scales with the highest of Melee and Ranged Power.
This is good. I'm kinda confused by the wording though, as the Incinerating Wave portion implies that this elemental change is only applying to Incinerating Wave, but this is implying that it should work for Ki Bolt and Cauldron as well. I'm hoping for the latter.
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Quick Strike moves to Shintao, and is replaced by Conditioning from that tree.
    • Elemental Ki Strikes is removed (it's in Shintao), and replaced with Embrace the Void, which moves down from Tier 3.
Not gonna lie, I still kinda see Embrace the Void as a joke enhancement serving only as a prerequisite for Focus. Is it still a prerequisite, because if not, please replace it with something else.
  • Tier 3:
    • Elemental Words is replaced with Mystic Kata:
      • Light Path: Kata of Wind: Activate to grant you and nearby allies 20% Concealment for 60 seconds. (90 second cooldown, costs 10 ki)
      • Dark Path: Kata of Ice: You perform an attack that encases a tainted target in ice on a failed Will save for 10 seconds. (DC = 10 + STR/DEX/WIS modifier + Monk level + Stunning DC boosts). Costs 20 ki, 12 second cooldown
Kata of the Wind is... not good. There are way too many items, abilities, and enhancements that grant concealment, and most champions have true seeing. Most monsters that strip blur/displacement happen to be casters, where the concealment would be worthless. I'd rather keep that as a freebie for the standard monk and then upgrade it to apply something like spell resistance equal to twice your monk level (that can't be dispelled) or create a fog cloud (in which case at least it'd be an environmental effect and thus can't be bypassed by true seeing).
  • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
  • Lighting the Candle is gone, replaced with T2 Elemental Soul. It is replaced with Mantra of Body: +2/4/6 PRR
  • NEW: Clear Your Mind: Battle Trance: While Centered, you gain an Insight bonus to Attack, Damage and the DC of Tactical feats equal to 1/2 of your Wisdom modifier for 30/60/120 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Activation Cost: 30 Ki. The effects of this Trance are dispelled if you are no longer Centered. Antirequisite: This ability can not be trained if you have any other Battle Trance ability (e.g. Know the Angles).
Atk, dmg, and trance all in one class tree, and without the restriction to a singular weapon type like Favored Soul. I really hope you don't nerf this in the future...
  • Tier 4:
    • Elemental Words is replaced with Mystic Kata:
      • Light Path: Kata of Deep Magic: When you use Kata of Wind, you grant you and other allies a 25% reduction in Spell Point Cost for 60 seconds.
      • Dark Path: Kata of Dark Stars: You use the power of the stars to set up harmonic vibrations within your enemy that force them to dance for 12 seconds. (DC = 10 + STR/DEX/WIS modifier + Monk level + Stunning DC boosts). Costs 20 ki, 12 second cooldown
Again, there's no comparison between the two abilities. Spell cost reduction is really nice for any ability that isn't an SLA (SLA's don't benefit from them). Unfortunately, SLAs play a pretty big role in the majority of the game, and one has to wonder if it wouldn't be simply better to cc something rather than waste the time remembering to hit the group with it (they have to be in range of the person you target) to have some variable benefit. Please give this back to the base monk as a feat and replace the enhancement with something like "grant you and your allies true seeing"
  • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
  • NEW: Mantra of Soul: +2/4/6 MRR
Tier 4 is way too high for MRR. It honestly shouldn't be higher than tier 2 or 3, especially with those values.
  • Tier 5:
    • Void Strike is no longer a Void combo builder. Otherwise, remains the same.
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +3 to Attack and Damage while Centered.
    • Staff Specialization is now Mystic Honing, +1 Competence bonus to Critical Damage Multiplier and Threat Range. Passive: You gain a +25% Competence bonus to maximum hit points.
    • Balance In Dawn's attacks are no longer Light/Dark builders.
Balance in Dawn should be moved down since it no longer serves as a means to access other finishers. That was the only compelling reason to have it up at T5, blocking access to T5s in other trees. Also, move Meditation of War here, since it's thematic to have the ability that enhances elemental stances in the same tree as the one that promotes elemental damage.
 
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FVSHasBeenEvenMoreGutted

If you read my posts you have already lost
(Note: responses refer to the words in yellow) I would rather have the "unable to cast spells" be a part of the base monk kit as it is now (The Trembling Earth). Maybe replace it with the poison stacking that is on live now as a toggle (poisoned soul)? This would prevent multiple stacks from dropping when timer ticks down. Alternatively, you can make it reduce fortitude saves by 1 for a minute (stacking up to 5 times).

I'm also not too keen on Shining Star being locked behind trees. On one hand, you have to now put points into a tree you otherwise might not have simply to purchase that ability (and 22 points is a lot), and on the other hand, having it at tier 4 takes away a lot of the reason to go primarily monk. Both are bad propositions to me. I'd rather keep the strike as something the base monk can get through levels. Maybe bring it down from lvl 20 to level 17-18 and replace the level 20 feat with something like "Zen Mastery: If you follow the path of inevitable dominion, monsters must now make two saves against your monastic attacks (what were previously finishers); if you follow the path of harmonious balance, you now get to save twice against effects." This would allow some multiclassing potential since you no longer have to be 20 lvls of monk to get Shining Star while still making it worthwhile to be pure monk. Everything else from this portion looks good.

I greatly disagree with the sentiment that there was no cost to the combo builders. First of all, you have to be monk, so that already places an alignment restriction (and thus multiclass restriction) on you. You also have to be centered, so that places a restriction on the gear that you can wear and the weapons you can use. You also have an opportunist cost in the action economy, as whenever you use such a strike, you could've been using a more powerful ability at that same moment. I'm not entirely sure how you would've chosen to strengthen it, but I'm dubious of the claim that it would have been disproportionately powerful.

But I digress. The primary issue I have is not with removing the combo builders but with taking the formerly-termed "finishers" into the trees. This not only creates the problem of now having to use design space in the trees to give back what you're taking from monk, but also the problem of having an extra factor to be considered when weighing the trees against each other. For example, now that shining star is in the Tier 4 of Henshin Mystic, most monks are going to go into Henshin to pick it up. Not to mention that the wisdom to hit/damage and the wisdom trance are in that tree. In the same vein, shintao has even more cc now, so how exactly is Ninja Spy supposed to compete? And let's say that you take more of the finishers and move them to Ninja Spy. The same problem occurs, only now it's a different tree that's struggling to compete.

Since we're on the topic of Stunning Fist, can we get CHA working for it on Sacred Fists? The lamannia discussions and even the patch notes stated that it should work off of the higher of WIS and CHA for them, but that is not the case. Which is a shame, since there's such a big push for that archetype to use CHA (almost everything it does scales off of CHA), except the only CC it has access to natively, and without a trance, you're not getting a working value for that off of CHA.

I mean, if you apply crit multipliers to only a certain set of weapons that's still going to be the case. As far as strikes go, there were only a couple strikes gated by weapon type (Stunning Fist and Quick Strikes, the former of which is a feat and thus not really affected by the discussion of enhancement trees). The Ninja Spy imbue is specific to slashing and piercing weapons, and I don't believe that this has changed with this early look, so with all of that, I'm not entirely sure how much "flexibility" you're really going for. It doesn't seem to be a lot as far as I can tell.

I really think that you should strongly reconsider putting a general attack and damage boost in all three trees. It takes up design space for no good reason, especially when the focus for Shintao, for example, is weapon DPS. What you've basically done is taken up 12 spots (4 in each tree) when you could have only taken up 4 and put something else that is better or more thematic in the resulting emptiness. Furthermore, the combinations seem to be a bit twisted; wouldn't it make sense for the tree that is positive and negative theme (restorative/regenerative) to be tied with defenses? Thus, I would suggest the following changes to the focus:
  • Shintao: Defenses with some Positive/Negative energy
  • Ninja Spy: Keep the same
  • Henshin Mystic: Elemental damage and stance bonuses

I'd rather replace the DR bypass with something else and tie that to the stances via Henshin Mystic (e.g. Cold Iron Bypass in Water Stance, Crystal Bypass in Earth Stance, Byeshk Bypass in Wind Stance, Silver Bypass in Fire Stance).

I think the offhand, doublestrike/doubleshot, and strikethrough would be better in Ninja Spy. Please move the Ki Shout back to Shintao. Also, you're moving negotiator here, which is why I'm confused by the stated goal versus your actions. Negotiator reduces the cooldown on intim; how is that not something tied to tanking/wanting defenses?

Not restricted to quarterstaves is good. Please move back to Henshin Mystic. There is the fact that the archetype replaces henshin mystic, but you can also gain doublestrike from Ninja Spy or from other trees. I don't think it's necessary to muddle what the trees do by trying to fit damage everywhere and trying to fit some defenses everywhere (Meditation of War in Shintao and dodge/dodge cap in Ninja Spy).

See, this is where the design space becomes an issue. Because you removed the finishers from the feats, you now have to figure out where to put them appropriately and how to fit them in the design goals. Ninja Spy is supposed to be the trick tree, but why is the blindness and nausea here??? If we work with the defensive outlook for Shintao, we could allow the light path to provide benefits to the party as they do now and have the dark path grant defenses indirectly. For example, Hand of Healing would provide the healing it does now, while Hand of Harm would reduce the monster's attack and damage (T3 would be attack; T4 would be MP/RP/SP reduction)

Can't say I'm a fan of having to avoid getting hit to improve my damage, which goes away as soon as I crit. I would suggest either having it change to like a 3 second duration that doesn't expire on crit (I thought about 6 seconds, but that would be as good as having +5 crit range the entire fight for most) or having a decent chance (30%?) to reset the cooldown of your jade abilities.

...Why is Meditation of War in Shintao if Henshin Mystic is supposed to be the new defensive tree??? It's also not really thematic, as the stances are elemental, but you have stance-related bonuses in a tree that is supposed to be focusing on positive and negative. I think the quality hp needs to stay to preserve the defensiveness which seems to be spreading too thin amongst all the trees, but all the other bonuses should honestly be reflected in the Henshin Mystic tree, where the theme is understanding martial arts through the elements.

I think stripping poison immunity through failed saves from the strikes would be better than using the poisoned darts. Also, please change this from adding 4-8 stacks to adding stacks over time like what Poisoned Soul is doing currently. It gets real annoying trying to stack up poison stacks only to see them disappear because gaining stacks normally does not reset the timer and the stacks normally proc on crit (so there are two barriers to maintenance). Considering that the imbue is mutually exclusive with alchemist's and rogue's imbues, I don't think it'd be a big issue.

Very good.

See above about the damage lines.

That's not true. I was using Fist of Iron and Knock on the Sky all the time. Now that finishers are not connected to combo builders, it's even more likely that people would want to use more than one of those strikes. They do extra damage, and you currently have a choice of 3 out of 4 (it's in Henshin as well) of: attack with +1 crit multi attack, enable sneak attack, reduce physical damage by 4% (stacks up to 5 times), and apply 4 stacks of destruction. The thing that was holding most people back before is that using those strikes counted towards finishers (thus making it possible to interrupt one).

Hmm. I like it, but I'm worried that this will lead to a nerf somewhere down the line.

Can we not tie Flash Bang to a philosophy, or at the very least, separate Flash Bang and Shadow Flurry? It's ridiculous that we have to choose between doing damage and sneaking around in a tree that has stealth as a focus (I mean, let's be honest, cloak of shadows is really only gonna be used by those who want to skulk around; regular invisibility and sneaking work well enough in most cases). Especially when that already comes with the opportunity cost of investing points in the ability to use it in the first place.

Don't really have complaints here.

Honestly, Ki Bolt is still such a high opportunity cost in all but the most janky of builds (looking at the Muggle Monk) that you should be gaining ki for using it (please do that for the sacred fist as well). Also, the casting time is reduced, but what about the travel time?

Interesting that you introduce Cauldron so early.

Incinerating Wave change is good. Will the Improved Cauldron change damage type as well? If not, please add that rather than the reduced timer or movement outside the ring (dealer's choice).

If the extra damage and the elemental vulnerability is kept, this will be a good change.

See above for my thoughts on the damage lines.

Please put back in Shintao.

This is good. I'm kinda confused by the wording though, as the Incinerating Wave portion implies that this elemental change is only applying to Incinerating Wave, but this is implying that it should work for Ki Bolt and Cauldron as well. I'm hoping for the latter.

Not gonna lie, I still kinda see Embrace the Void as a joke enhancement serving only as a prerequisite for Focus. Is it still a prerequisite, because if not, please replace it with something else.

Kata of the Wind is... not good. There are way too many items, abilities, and enhancements that grant concealment, and most champions have true seeing. Most monsters that strip blur/displacement happen to be casters, where the concealment would be worthless. I'd rather keep that as a freebie for the standard monk and then upgrade it to apply something like spell resistance equal to twice your monk level (that can't be dispelled) or create a fog cloud (in which case at least it'd be an environmental effect and thus can't be bypassed by true seeing).

Atk, dmg, and trance all in one class tree, and without the restriction to a singular weapon type like Favored Soul. I really hope you don't nerf this in the future...

Again, there's no comparison between the two abilities. Spell cost reduction is really nice for any ability that isn't an SLA (SLA's don't benefit from them). Unfortunately, SLAs play a pretty big role in the majority of the game, and one has to wonder if it wouldn't be simply better to cc something rather than waste the time remembering to hit the group with it (they have to be in range of the person you target) to have some variable benefit. Please give this back to the base monk as a feat and replace the enhancement with something like "grant you and your allies true seeing"

Tier 4 is way too high for MRR. It honestly shouldn't be higher than tier 2 or 3, especially with those values.

Balance in Dawn should be moved down since it no longer serves as a means to access other finishers. That was the only compelling reason to have it up at T5, blocking access to T5s in other trees. Also, move Meditation of War here, since it's thematic to have the ability that enhances elemental stances in the same tree as the one that promotes elemental damage.
i think just read Harry potter and the order of the phoenix. oh wait that was your forum post, my bad
 

Tuxedomanwashere

Well-known member
I would rather...
tldr:
Removing the combo builders is fine, but interspersing the trees with the finishers is detracting from utilizing the design space appropriately. Furthermore, having a damage line for each tree is using up space that could be used for more impressive and/or impactful abilities and enhancements (relegating the damage enhancement to one tree opens up 8 spaces). Meditation of War seems more fitting as a Henshin Mystic enhancement, since the stances are based on the elements (and thus thematic). The finishers that are thrown into a lot of the trees are not worth investing enhancement space into (particularly the concealment and spellcost reduction). Certain abilities make no sense either on account of the philosophical themes (e.g. Flash Bang being a light path ability but causing debuffs) or intended focus (spellcost reduction not really benefitting defense). In addition, the abilities that remain as is save for the removal of the combo system now no longer have a justification for being as expensive as they are (Balance in Dawn was not just used as healing/negative levels, but also as a means to access the other finishers). The enhancements for improving the crit profile of the weapons also remains largely unchanged, hindering the desired move to flexible weapon selection.

Because of all of the above, the trees, particularly Henshin Mystic and Shintao, seem to have an identity crisis, where damage is going into defensive trees and defenses are going into offensive trees. This is also hurting the viability of Ninja Spy, which suffers from having to choose between stealth and damage as multi-selectors (and a feat) where previously the opportunity cost of simply investing in the tree was sufficient. Ultimately, between the unchanged crit bonuses, the design space riddled with contradictions both thematic and practical, and the re-emphasis on the requirement of investing in trees to regain what we've lost but largely placed within Shintao and Henshin Mystic, I don't really see a change in how the players will proceed with the trees they invest in. Staff users are still gonna be in Henshin Mystic, Handwrap builds are still gonna be in Shintao, and Ninja Spy is still going to be relatively niche.

Please rethink the policy of taking all of the finishers and placing them in the trees. Please rethink the policy of adding a damage line to all of the trees. And please rethink the policy of restricting gameplay defining abilities (particularly as it comes to Ninja Spy) behind philosophical quandaries. I have enough existential crises at home.
 

pame12

Well-known member
I like the idea of a ki dump ability that uses all ki to do something.
I'd like it to be a buff though maybe, something like for every 1 points of ki used, gives a +1 to temp hp. Every 15 poitns of ki used gives +% to action boost to movement/speed. Every 100 ki points used gives +1 saves, attack, damage, skills. If at least 200 ki is used, gives buff that doesn't break stealth. Lasts 30 seconds, cooldown 30 seconds. Something like this. I was thinking of a super sayan type of thing.
Hell, throw in a nice aura with some cosmetics you can buy, that'd be real nice.
 

pame12

Well-known member
Also, why does qstaff get a +15% attack speed that only works for qstaff? Shouldn't that be applyable to other weapons too keeping with the weapon agnostic theme?
 

Lotoc

Well-known member
Also, why does qstaff get a +15% attack speed that only works for qstaff? Shouldn't that be applyable to other weapons too keeping with the weapon agnostic theme?
quarterstaff has it's own specific animation set which it kind of relies on to make it a 'viable' weapon, it's the reason both monk and thief acrobat get the same 15% attack speed. (really it'd just make sense to blanket make quarterstaff 15% faster, the funny thing is the attack speed is specific to the animation set and thus applies to that one weird 2h sickle but does not apply to a druid in animal form using a quarterstaff)
Giving it to every single weapon just breaks the entire game state when it's only really intended for quarterstaff.
 

Phaedra

Well-known member
I'm ambivalent about allowing them to be used with any centered weapon. Mechanically, great. Flavor-wise, it's a bit weird that the name implies you hitting something with your hand while you're actually hitting them with a weapon instead.
I've seen this complaint a half dozen times now, (between QP and Stunning Fist) and it's the dumbest reasoning. You just Jackie Chan it. Toss that weapon in the air, hit the guy with your fist/palm, and catch the weapon again. Who cares if the animation doesn't show it, the animations in this game aren't modeling (fantasy) reality, they're just signaling what you are meant to be doing. Just like all spellcasting is simplified to one animation, regardless of if the spell even had a somatic component in PnP.
 

pame12

Well-known member
I've seen this complaint a half dozen times now, (between QP and Stunning Fist) and it's the dumbest reasoning. You just Jackie Chan it. Toss that weapon in the air, hit the guy with your fist/palm, and catch the weapon again. Who cares if the animation doesn't show it, the animations in this game aren't modeling (fantasy) reality, they're just signaling what you are meant to be doing. Just like all spellcasting is simplified to one animation, regardless of if the spell even had a somatic component in PnP.
I disagree, I believe this stuff is important, otherwise it creates too much of a disconnect between game/world, and you end up feeling less immersed because of it.
Not to mention it sets a bad example for the game/devs themselves, the fact that they're "too lazy" to bother making a proper description and/or renaming the ability name.
 

Phaedra

Well-known member
I disagree, I believe this stuff is important, otherwise it creates too much of a disconnect between game/world, and you end up feeling less immersed because of it.
Not to mention it sets a bad example for the game/devs themselves, the fact that they're "too lazy" to bother making a proper description and/or renaming the ability name.
Right, there aren't enough real problems with the game, SSG should be animating the correct somatic components for every spell and the appropriate combat animations for each weapon, piercing weapons should be animated completely differently from slashing weapons, especially the quarterstaffs that are "spears" and deal piercing damage.
 

PersonMan

Well-known member
Right, there aren't enough real problems with the game, SSG should be animating the correct somatic components for every spell and the appropriate combat animations for each weapon, piercing weapons should be animated completely differently from slashing weapons, especially the quarterstaffs that are "spears" and deal piercing damage.
They could accomplish the same thing by renaming Fist/Palm to "Strike" since they no-longer have any requirement to be unarmed; that is what pame12 seemed to be suggesting, rather than what you brought up.
to bother making a proper description and/or renaming the ability name.
 

Efretti

Active member
As an aside, elemental ki strikes would absolutely be something people triple dip on if they are already in the 3 trees. Knock the sky, unbalancing strike and fists of iron are all abilities that are impactful and very fun to use. The reason we didnt do it was that the investment was not worth the return. With how the trees are now set up I would take at least 2, if not 3.

Thanks for listening to our feedback and making sure you're taking the time with monk. As you can see, it's a class that a lot of us love quite a lot.
 

Shall

Active member
Having the system re-written onto the Alchemist combo system is a good idea that I'm all for.
Honestly I think this revamp needs to be pushed back and given more time

It's such an obvious change, that it makes me wonder if the way the alchemist system is coded makes it explicitly not possible to do without making alchemist and monk levels mutually exclusive, like the game wouldn't be able to handle tracking both on single multiclass character.
 

Helloween

Member
Hello, everyone! Thank you for your feedback on the first look at the Monk Revamp. We've put together some revisions based on your feedback, and would like further discussions to continue with them in mind, so we've made a new thread. The changes from the last thread are below, then the original thread is reposted with things new to this thread's version in orange.

Changes from the previous thread:​

Shintao
  • Deft Strikes is now a multiselector with Improved Second Strikes:+[5/10/20]% Strikethrough.
  • Kukan-Do's cooldown has been put back to its Live value.
Ninja Spy
Feedback indicated that Ninja Spy needed the most out of these trees - It lacked the Melee/Ranged Power of other trees, the Ranged/Thrown path wasn't competitive vs. other options, and a few Finishing Moves that hadn't yet made it into trees needed a home.
  • Added +5 Melee and Ranged Power to Ninja Spy Core 18 (Diversion)
  • Added +15 Melee and Ranged Power to Ninja Spy Core 20 (Ninja Master). The line about Self Defense in the last revision now reads "If you have Self Defense, you gain an additional +10 Melee (just Melee)Power".
    • (This becomes just Melee Power because Ranged Power is now in Tier 5 - See below).
  • Ninja Spy Dark Path: Shadow Flurry now reads: Melee Attack: +20% damage. Target must make a saving throw equal to (10/14/18 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Mod + Assassinate DCs) or have some of their energy temporarily sealed, halving all positive energy healing, reducing its fortification by 25%, and rendering it unable to cast spells. The enemy makes recurring Fortitiude saves to shake the effect. Cost: 20 HP, 10 Ki. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
  • Ninja Spy Touch of Death now deals Poison damage instead of Negative and has a 15 second cooldown.
  • Self Defense is now a multiselector with Improved Archer's Focus: Your Archer's Focus stance can now stack up to 25 times instead of 15. Passive: +10 Ranged Power
  • Shadow Double is no longer a Melee Attack. Instead, it's an activated ability that grants +50% Doublestrike, +50% Doubleshot, and +5 Assassinate DCs for 12 seconds. (Activation Cost: 30 Ki. Cooldown: 25 seconds)
Henshin Mystic
  • Elemental Words' upgrades when you have Adept/Master/Grandmaster of Forms is now 2d6/2d10/2d20.
  • Kata of Dark Stars is now: You use the power of the stars to set up harmonic vibrations within your enemy that force them to dance for 12 seconds. (DC = 10 + STR/DEX/WIS modifier + Monk level + Stunning DC boosts). Costs 20 ki, 12 second cooldown

Updated version of the previous thread:​

We have decided that the time has come to take a look at the Monk class as a whole and make some adjustments while we debut the upcoming Dragon Disciple Monk Archetype (see thread here!)

Below is an early plan and subject to change:

Monk Combos and Finishing Moves

The Combo and Finishing Move system in the Monk class has had issues for a long time. Some of the issues we identified were:
  • The combo builders themselves are not especially strong.
  • Combo-building is clunky due to cooldowns.
  • The combo system is easily interrupted by common actions, resetting your combo.
As we looked into adjusting this system we encountered the following:
  • Strengthening combo builders makes the Monk disproportionately powerful across all level ranges, especially as there is no cost (feat slots, action points) in gaining them - Monks get these and their trees and their bonus feats.
  • The cooldowns on the builders are structurally important to make sure the system functions as intended, and it is nearly impossible to reduce that cooldown without creating additional issues.
  • On our code side, the combo system relies on an opt-out designation for actions to break your combo, meaning that to make the combo system more flexible would require individually tagging hundreds-to-thousands of individual actions as "this doesn't break a combo", or rebuilding the combo system from scratch.
We have instead decided to explore a more comprehensive rebalance of the Monk! So, we're removing the Combo system and putting most of the finishers into the Monk class Enhancement Trees. Let's take a look!

Overall Monk Class Changes
  1. The elemental combo builder attacks granted at level 1 and with Adept/Master/Grandmaster of Forms are removed. (You still gain the Stances as before).
  2. The Monk Finishing Move feat is removed.
  3. The Shining Star feat is removed. (We're considering how to work this back in - let us know where you'd like to see it.)
  4. You still select Light or Dark path at Monk Level 3, but they are no longer attacks - Instead, they influence multiselectors in the Monk trees.
  5. Quivering Palm's DC now uses Strength if it is highest (highest of Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom Modifier)
  6. Stunning Fist can now be used with any Melee Weapon as long as you are Centered.
    1. Stunning Fist's DC now uses the highest of Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom.

Monk Enhancement Trees Overview

We had a few goals in our changes to the trees: Primarily, we needed to work in the removed Finishing Moves. Secondarily, we wanted to make the Trees more flexible. In the current Live version of Monk, your tree selection is strongly restricted by weapon:
  • Shintao: Only works well with Handwraps
  • Henshin: Only works well with Quarterstaves
  • Ninja Spy: Works well with every Monk weapon that isn't Handwraps or Quarterstaves.
Our plan here involves making these trees more weapon-agnostic (even if they may still include some bonuses to those weapons) and instead refocuses them on themes. Ideally, this will lead to more diversity of Monk builds and more interesting choices. The below trees now focus on:
  • Shintao: Core weapon DPS, with some Positive/Negative energy.
  • Ninja Spy: Poison, Tricks, and Stealth/Sneak.
  • Henshin Mystic: Using weapon stats to do Elemental damage, defenses.
The planned changelists for each tree are below. If something is not mentioned, there is no plan to change it at this time. As we've said above, this is not final, just the current plan.

Shintao

Shintao focuses on core DPS.
  • Cores:
    • Cores remain the same, except all abilities that say with Handwraps now say while Centered.
    • To Seek Perfection's "You no longer suffer penalties from Meditation of War" is removed as there are no more penalties (see below) and replaced with "If you have Meditation of War, +10 Melee and Ranged Power".
  • Tier 1:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and Damage while Centered. (Antireq: Ninjutsu and Henshin Training. Essentially, you can only take one Attack+Damage line.)
    • Ki Shout is removed (moved to HM), and replaced with NEW: Fast Hands (Multiselector): +1/2/3% Doublestrike OR Doubleshot
    • Exemplar is removed (moved to HM), and replaced with Negotiator currently found in Henshin Mystic.
    • Deft Strikes is now a multiselector with Improved Second Strikes:+[5/10/20]% Strikethrough.
  • Tier 2:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Elemental Ki Strikes are no longer combo builders, but otherwise remain unchanged.
    • Conditioning is removed (moved to HM), and replaced with Quick Strike currently found in Henshin Mystic. Quick Strike is no longer restricted to Quarterstaves, but you must be Centered.
  • Tier 3:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • NEW: Hands of Mercy (Multiselector):
      • Light Path: Hand of Healing: You heal all nearby allies for 1d4 plus 1d4 per monk level. (12 second cooldown, costs 5 Ki)
      • Dark Path: Hand of Harm: Melee Attack: You strike your opponent down with a terrible curse, halving all positive energy healing done to the target, reducing its fortification by 25%, and increasing its negative energy vulnerability by 25%. Periodic Fortitude saves (14 + STR/DEX/WIS Modifier + Monk Level + Stunning Bonuses) to negate. (12 second cooldown, costs 10 ki)
    • Dismissing Strike has its AP cost reduced to 1, because it's extremely situational
  • Tier 4:
    • Elemental Curatives is replaced with Shintao Studies: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • NEW: Greater Mercies (Multiselector):
      • Light Path: Greater Hand of Healing: Your Hand of Healing now applies a Lesser Restoration effect and removes Blindness, Curses, and Diseases.
      • Dark Path: Greater Hand of Harm: Targets affected by your Hand of Harm are also Blinded and Nauseated until they save.
  • Tier 5:
    • Empty Hand Mastery becomes Shintao Mastery, which does the same thing but "and wielding Handwraps" is removed.
    • Kukan-Do now reads: You lock gazes with an enemy, stunning them for a short period of time on a failed Will save (DC 14 + Wisdom modifier + Monk level). Any effects that modify your Stunning Blow or Stunning Fist DC's also affect this ability. Sightless creatures are unaffected by this ability. (Cooldown: Unchanged from Live)
    • The penalties from Meditation of War are removed. It also gains +3 to Attack and Damage while Centered in addition to its other effects.

Ninja Spy

Ninja Spy focuses on poisons, tricks, assassination, and sneakiness.
  • Cores:
    • Poisoned Darts now reads "Ki Activate: You spit poisoned darts in a cone before you. Nearby enemies are affected by between 4 and 8 stacks of Ninja Poison. (Magical Poison: Target takes 1d4 points of Poison damage, which scales with the higher of Melee and Ranged Power every 3 seconds for 15 seconds. If a target affected by this attack is normally immune to Poison, they become vulnerable to Poison while affected by Poisoned Darts. This ability can stack up to 20 times. On timer expiration, 4 stacks of Ninja Poison are removed at a time.) (Activation Cost: 15 Ki. Cooldown: 12 seconds)"
    • Diversion no longer has its Critical bonus (moved to Tier 5). Instead, it has +5 Melee and Ranged Power.
    • Ninja Master now also has "+10% Fortification Bypass, +15 Melee and Ranged Power. If you have Self Defense, you gain an additional +10 Melee (just Melee) Power".
  • Tier 1:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and Damage while Centered. (Antireq: Shintao Studies and Henshin Training. Essentially, you can only take one Attack+Damage line.)
  • Tier 2:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Elemental Ki Strikes is cut (it exists in Shintao and I don't think people dip into multiple of these across two trees). It is replaced with Extra Action Boost: +1/2/3 Action Boosts.
    • Action Boost: Melee/Ranged Power is now a multiselector with Action Boost: Haste.
  • Tier 3:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Flash Bang is removed, and replaced by Shadow Arts:
      • Light Path: Flash Bang: Ki Bomb Spell-Like Ability: Throws a fragile eggshell imbued with ninja magic that explodes into light, blinding opponents for 6 seconds on a failed reflex save and momentarily dazing opponents on a failed fortitude save. Both saving throws have DC equal to (10/14/18 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Mod + Assassinate DCs). (Activation Cost: 20 Ki. Cooldown: 30 seconds)
      • Dark Path: Shadow Flurry: Melee Attack: +20% damage. Target must make a saving throw equal to (10/14/18 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Mod + Assassinate DCs) or have some of their energy temporarily sealed, halving all positive energy healing, reducing its fortification by 25%, and rendering it unable to cast spells. The enemy makes recurring Fortitiude saves to shake the effect. Cost: 20 HP, 10 Ki. Cooldown: 12 seconds.
  • Tier 4:
    • Ninjutsu is removed, and replaced by the new Ninjutsu: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Deadly Exploits is removed, and replaced with Greater Shadow Arts:
      • Light Path: Cloak of Shadows: After using Flash Bang, you become Invisible for 6 seconds which is not broken by actions.
      • Dark Path: Poison Exploit: On a failed saving throw, your Touch of Despair purges an enemy of Ninja Poison, dealing 1d20 + 20 poison damage per stack of Ninja Poison removed. Scales with higher of Melee/Ranged Power. (This factors in the damage boost from Deadly Exploit as well.)
  • Tier 5:
    • Touch of Death now reads: You strike a living opponent down with twisted ki, dealing +50% damage and 500 additional Poison damage that scales with 200% Melee Power. Your opponent takes half damage on a successful Fortitude save (DC = 14 + Monk Level + Highest of Str/Dex/Wis Modifier + Assassinate DCs). Cooldown: 15 seconds). Passive: +3 to Hit and Damage while Centered.
    • Deadly Striker now reads: "While you are centered, you gain a +1 Competence bonus to Critical Threat Range and Multiplier. Kamas, Shortswords, and Shuriken gain an additional +1 Critical Threat Range."
    • Self Defense is now a multiselector with Improved Archer's Focus: Your Archer's Focus stance can now stack up to 25 times instead of 15. Passive: +10 Ranged Power.
    • Shadow Double is no longer a Melee Attack. Instead, it's an activated ability that grants +50% Doublestrike, +50% Doubleshot, and +5 Assassinate DCs for 12 seconds. (Activation Cost: 30 Ki. Cooldown: 25 seconds)

Henshin Mystic

Henshin Mystic focuses on elemental power and defenses.
  • Cores:
    • Riddle of Fire now gains "While you are centered, you can use your Wisdom modifier to hit" in addition to its other effects.
    • The casting time on Ki Bolt is reduced. Ki Bolt also gains "While you are centered, you can use your Wisdom modifier for damage. In addition, while you are Centered, you gain +2 Ki each time you hit a creature. This stacks with all other sources of Ki generation."
    • Sounding Staff is now Cauldron of Flame. Most of it remains the same, but "you personally gain +20 PRR, +10 MRR, and +15% Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap" changes to "you personally gain PRR equal to your Monk level, MRR equal to your Monk level, and Dodge that ignores Dodge Cap equal to 5 + half your Monk Level." It also grants +15% Competence Bonus to Quarterstaff Attack Speed. (The identical speed boost in Rogue Acrobat's Thief Acrobatics will also be typed Competence at this time).
    • Incinerating Wave now changes elemental damage if you have a non-Fire Elemental Soul Imbue active.
    • Cauldron of Flame is now Improved Cauldron: The cooldown timer on Cauldron of Flames is now halved. You may now move a small range outside your Cauldron without it collapsing.
    • Serenity removes the text "and wielding a Quarterstaff" and replaces it with "and Centered", letting you gain the bonus crit while in the Cauldron with other weapons. The Attack Speed for Quarterstaves is removed (see Cauldron of Flame).
  • Tier 1:
    • Elemental Words now grants you all four of the attacks, which now share a cooldown. The attacks are no longer combo moves, but instead gain the damage from the defunct elemental combo builders: 1d6 Elemental damage. Having Adept/Master/Grandmaster of Forms upgrades this damage to 2d6/2d10/2d20.
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and Damage while Centered. (Antireq: Shintao Studies and Ninjutsu. Essentially, you can only take one Attack+Damage line.)
    • Mystic Training is removed (no longer using Finishing Move DCs anywhere) and replaced with Ki Shout (formerly in Shintao)
    • Negotiator is removed, and replaced with Exemplar (formerly in Shintao)
  • Tier 2:
    • Elemental Words is replaced with Elemental Soul: You gain four Imbue toggles, one for each of Fire, Cold, Electric, and Acid. When toggled, you enhance your attacks with ki, dealing 1d6 (Element) damage on hit, and an additional 1d6 Force damage on crit. Your Ki Spells also apply the (Element) portion of this damage. This damage scales with the highest of Melee and Ranged Power.
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Quick Strike moves to Shintao, and is replaced by Conditioning from that tree.
    • Elemental Ki Strikes is removed (it's in Shintao), and replaced with Embrace the Void, which moves down from Tier 3.
  • Tier 3:
    • Elemental Words is replaced with Mystic Kata:
      • Light Path: Kata of Wind: Activate to grant you and nearby allies 20% Concealment for 60 seconds. (90 second cooldown, costs 10 ki)
      • Dark Path: Kata of Ice: You perform an attack that encases a tainted target in ice on a failed Will save for 10 seconds. (DC = 10 + STR/DEX/WIS modifier + Monk level + Stunning DC boosts). Costs 20 ki, 12 second cooldown
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • Lighting the Candle is gone, replaced with T2 Elemental Soul. It is replaced with Mantra of Body: +2/4/6 PRR
    • NEW: Clear Your Mind: Battle Trance: While Centered, you gain an Insight bonus to Attack, Damage and the DC of Tactical feats equal to 1/2 of your Wisdom modifier for 30/60/120 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Activation Cost: 30 Ki. The effects of this Trance are dispelled if you are no longer Centered. Antirequisite: This ability can not be trained if you have any other Battle Trance ability (e.g. Know the Angles).
  • Tier 4:
    • Elemental Words is replaced with Mystic Kata:
      • Light Path: Kata of Deep Magic: When you use Kata of Wind, you grant you and other allies a 25% reduction in Spell Point Cost for 60 seconds.
      • Dark Path: Kata of Dark Stars: You use the power of the stars to set up harmonic vibrations within your enemy that force them to dance for 12 seconds. (DC = 10 + STR/DEX/WIS modifier + Monk level + Stunning DC boosts). Costs 20 ki, 12 second cooldown
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +1 to Attack and +2 to Damage while Centered.
    • NEW: Mantra of Soul: +2/4/6 MRR
  • Tier 5:
    • Void Strike is no longer a Void combo builder. Otherwise, remains the same.
    • Henshin Staff Training is now Henshin Training: +3 to Attack and Damage while Centered.
    • Staff Specialization is now Mystic Honing, +1 Competence bonus to Critical Damage Multiplier and Threat Range. Passive: You gain a +25% Competence bonus to maximum hit points.
    • Balance In Dawn's attacks are no longer Light/Dark builders.
I like to say, having a monk as my main like forever, I love the changes.. nice move!
 
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