Hello, everyone!
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
- 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).
- The Monk Finishing Move feat is removed.
- 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.)
- 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.
- Quivering Palm's DC now uses Strength if it is highest (highest of Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom Modifier)
- Stunning Fist can now be used with any Melee Weapon as long as you are Centered.
- 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
- 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 (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.
- 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: 30 seconds)
- 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
- 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).
- Ninja Master now also has "+10% Fortification Bypass. If you have Self Defense, you also gain +10 Melee and Ranged 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, guaranteed Critical Hit. 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 Shadow Flurry 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 negative energy 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: 20 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."
Henshin Mystic
- 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 2d6/1d10/1d20.
- 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 Dance 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 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.
- 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'sattacks are no longer Light/Dark builders.
