Note: I am just pruning threads, this is not my work nor do I wish to take credit for it.
NOTE: SKILL QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO THE NEXT POST (AKA THE POST BELOW THIS)
NOTE: NEW CHAMPION SECTION IN THE 3RD PORTION OF THIS ARTICLE, AKA BELOW THE SKILL SECTION
I don’t know about you guys, but personally I’m getting a little bored of answering the same question over and over again (gets pretty bad when you answer most of the posts…..), so here is a monk faq I put together. Expect it to be updated when I notice a new trend of questions.
Its still in its draft form, its not final, so it may seem messy and unorganised for now (i hope )
And lets not forget, this is an FAQ, NOT a guide. if you want a guide, look at someone else's, like Akemi's. Mine is no more than a list of, well, FAQ's:
UPDATES
10/8/04: Added questions on maxing asura and using phy immune during training. Added misconception on "best build". Edited to fonts hopefully making it easier to read, as well as added description of monk builds.
11/8/04: Added Q&A on accessories and "agi or vit"
14/8/04: Added WoE rundown, hybrid tip in the "equipment" section
18/8/04: Added Carding Weapons
20/8/04: Modified stat builds section, now the values are calculated using stat calculators, no more rough guesses!
30/8/04: Sry about the lack of updates, my exams are near
Anyway, changed the lay out abit, now I have grouped all the "skill" questions in the next post to make this a little neater. Added skill formulas and leveling guide
20/9/04: Exam fever is in the air, updates will be few and short till mid-november (sry guys ). Anyway I'm adding a clarification about my asura monk's build regarding asura damage in WoE. Check it out.
21/9/04: Well i kept my promise, being a man of my word . Two small updates under the WoE/PvP and combo monk builds. I've come up with alternative builds which aren't actually mine. In fact, none of these builds are 100% mine, they are usually, as most of you should know, taken from a combination of personal experience and the experience of others. Enjoy my alternative builds!
27/9/04: I'm a man of my word .Update on dex n asura, MSS/MS/root skill rundown in the skill section (aka the next post) and about skill/stat allocation (in this post)
16/10/04: Minor aesthatic changes to make reading easier....I could barely tell the main points apart myself when i admired my work for the 1st time since.......erm.....ever. Sorry for those who had to squint their eyes to read this ><. I also added a section on champions, which is more of an essay-style section.
There won't be many, if any, updates till past the middle of November due to my exams, in fact don't expect me to be on so often for the next 1 month. I'm sure there are many monk players out there who can fill in for me during this time frame.
Keep your questions coming, as of late I've been noticing many "help my build" questions, which technically has already been covered. Another question is about where to get slotted knuckle weapons and such, unfortunately with the exception of the 3s knuckle duster and 4s waghnak, I myself do not know where the rest are. Also, if you guys catch any typos/grammatical errors, inform me, since its against my nature to re-read what i write myself.
28/10/04: Just because I don't reply doesn't mean I don't notice. Therefore I bring you two updates in the Skill's Section about Asura Strike and Combo's for PvP builds.
29/10/04: Two updates in a row and hell my exam ain't over yet! Well I missed something out, so check out my rant on Dash in the Skills section.
31/10/04: Modification to the Asura Strike section in the Skills Section.
Copyright: Joasht, 2004. If I find you copy this without my consent, I will come after you. If you copy this and don't get caught by me, my Heavenly Father will judge you accordingly.
1. Why play monk?
The monk is, by far, one of the most unique classes ever. Even someone with experience in building any other character would face a problem when building a monk. Why? The fact is monks are seemingly versatile. They can do the most damage in the game in a single blow (Asura), they can shoot (MSS), they can crit (Crit. Explosion), they can tank (Physical Immune), they can PvM really well (combo’s) and they can support (Heal/Bless/Increase Agi/Angelus).
2. Biggest mistakes/misconceptions made by players:
a) All Monks are agi characters
By far the most common error. Not all monks are agi characters. For some builds, such as PvP builds, dex serves a far greater purpose than agi.
b) Monks are overpowered
They are powerful, but not overpowered. In fact, far from it. The biggest weakness of the monk is staying power. Indeed they have a higher hp modifier than BS’s, but the fact remains, monks have the worst armor selection available to a melee character (other than battle priests, which have the same problem and battle sages, which are terribly rare). Lets face it, mufflers, shoes, bucklers, saint robes and such lack the defence of the armors other melee jobs can wear.
Another concern is the number of pots they can carry in PvP/WoE. Sure, monk equipment is light, but if you are an Asura monk (THE PvP/WoE build) then you would probably either be sharing your weight allocation between blues and whites, or using other healing items such as honey, which heal very little hp. Also keep in mind, the only other melee job that has a lower hp modifier (BS’s) have way better armor, and have a cart with them, which can carry A LOT of whites.
c) Monks must have heal
This point is more for PvP/WoE monks, as other monks should get heal, although NEVER max it. Just lvl 5 or so is good enough for casual training. In PvP/WoE you will either have support of other guild/party members, pots, or your own priest. You would be too busy attacking to heal yourself, so just use pots. If you are healing yourself in the heat of battle, something is wrong with the way you play.
d) Combo’s totally rock
Most people initially build monks because they see combo’s as very powerful skills, and heck do they look cool. Combo’s are cool, they are good, but in no way very powerful. They do less damage than say mammonite, pierce and double strafe, are undependable, unspammable (mainly because you have to count on triple coming out), and use a disproportionately huge amount of sp. Combo’s are strictly PvM, and shouldn’t be used for anything else.
e) BEST BUILD?!
I decided to put this under misconceptions, because the thought of there being a "best build" is a misconception in itself. There is no such thing as a "best build". The "best build" you can get is a build that you have created for yourself that suits your play style.
f) Because Monks Have Versatile Skills, They Should Be Hybrid.
This is a common mistake out there. Out of all the jobs, monks are one of the few that absolutely require almost static, cookie cutter stats to be totally effective. This means most Asura builds, for example, tend to look alike and have VERY fixed perimeters, allowing little room for modifications.
Now, it is important to note that I didn't say hybrid's suck. I'm saying if you want to be totally effective, don't go hybrid.
3. Common builds:
Probably the most common question asked. I have updated this as of 20/8/04 using stat calculators, so now the values are more precise. Of course, this isn't the only way to build your characters, but merely a rough guide. Job bonuses will be totalled with blessing and agi up. If you don't notice an additional "+10 agi" that means the build shouldn't learn agi up.
PvP/WoE monks I.e. Asura, MSS monks:
As the name implies, this build is meant to be efficient in PvP/WoE. This build incorporates one of the most underlooked stat for monks: dex. Dex is extremely important in PvP/WoE as it reduces cast time (it also increases hit and damage but what we want here is the reduced cast time). Many may notice by now this build lacks agi, an unimportant stat for PvP/WoE.
Balanced PvP/WoE Build:
This is currently the build I'm using for my dasher monk. Very well rounded, very stable, and very deadly in PvP/WoE.
Str: 86+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Dex: 80+14+6*(replace mantis cards with zeroms during pvp/woe for these 6 points)
Vit: 54+6
Int: 36+12
Luck: 7+3
Agi: 3+6
WoE Clarification: Due to the 60% skill damage cap in WoE, for this build to kill a 99 vit character, you would need to use Willow, Sohee and Roda Frog cards. Sounds like alot, but remember this:
Its WoE, you will have your guild members to cover you. Thus, dex is not AS important in WoE as compared to PvP. I'm not telling you it isn't important, just SLIGHTLY less important, just enough to squeeze these equipments in.
120 Dex Build:
I had a few mRO guys complain to me about my builds not having 120 dex (a favourite build here). This build, however, is more of a pure PvP build, since the vit is too low to survive WoE, and the damage ain't enough to kill a high-vit lvl 99 character due to the 60% cap. HOWEVER, this character is EXTREMELY deadly if you can pull off your asura before you get stunned. A 0.4 second asura is nothing to laugh at.
Str: 82+18
Dex: 95+25 (2 Zerom Gloves, AoA)
Int: 36+12
Vit: 34+6
Luck: 7+3
Agi: 4+6
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing. Strongly adviced are pneuma, and Angelus, or alternatively Increase/Decrease Agi.
Monk skills: There are two kinds: the dashers and non-dashers. Dashers can only choose to max one skill, more on that later on. Non- dashers should get all the offensive skills such as MSS, asura and OI. Physical immune isn’t a bad idea either.
Combo monk
This build is strictly PvM, and little else. Agi-major monks (aka more agi than vit) don't perform well in PvP/WoE, and due to low dex, even if asura strike was learnt, it would be much slower to cast compared to other monks. On the plus side, this is the most efficient build for taking out monsters out of all the monk builds. The idea behind this is by increasing aspd, you increase the rate of triggering triple blow, hence the number of combo’s.
Balanced Combo Monk:
Many may ask, why get vit? Some maps do require vit, such as minorouses for example. A little vit never hurts.
Str: 86+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Agi: 85+18+2 (ghost bandana)
Dex: 36+14
Vit: 34+6
Int: 28+12
Luck: 1+3
2 stat points left
Pure Agi Combo Monk:
This build is rather common nowadays. While high agi does unlock certain maps, having no vit also limits your choices. However, this build can be very deadly in PvM.
Str: 96+24 (2 Mantis cards)
Agi: 93+22 (Ghost Bandana, 2 slotted brooches)
Dex: 36+14
Int: 1+12
Vit: 1+6
Luck: 1+3
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing/agi up. Heal is also recommended.
Monk skills: Max the combo skills (duh), with the exception of triple blow, which should be left at lvl 5 or lvl 10 (more on that later). Learn all the other offensive skills as well, though many skip asura to learn other skills.
Vit Monk I.e tanker
As the name implies, this monk is made to tank. If you wanna go solo, DO NOT use this build. Its terrible as a solo character. If you are gonna lvl this, make sure you have a party with you. Its lower str, coupled with lower dex (compared to asura monks) make this build’s skills less damaging, and gives it a slower cast time. On the plus side, this build is nearly indestructible when coupled with physical immune.
Sample stats:
Str: 76+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Dex: 76+14+6
Vit: 74+6
Int: 30+12
Luck: 7+3
Agi: 3+7
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing. Strongly adviced are pneuma, and Angelus, or alternatively Increase/Decrease Agi.
Monk skills: Max physical immune. Of course, learn all the attack skills, although combo’s can be left out if so desired (although I don’t advice it)
Hybrid/ Combo asura:
This build is an all rounder. Do not expect it to beat any of the other builds at their respective strengths, but it will be extremely versatile. This build is sometimes called the combo-asura build because most people who play this chain asura after their combo's to avoid the slower cast time due to low dex, and taking advantage of their good aspd and higher survivability over normal pure build combo monks.
Str: 86+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Agi: 67+18
Dex: 51+14
Vit: 44+6
Int: 34+12
Luck: 1+3
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing/agi up. Heal is also recommended.
Monk skills: Basically this build can be anything it wants to be, and therefore can learn anything you want. I do suggest maxing the combo’s, and getting asura strike (at least lvl 1). If you decide on lvl 5 asura, at least you can manually cast it, since chaining asura to a combo is rather undependable.
4. Mace or Fist?
As a general statement, agi characters/agi major characters should use fists, low agi characters should use maces (except for small monsters), and in both cases, for PvP/WoE/MvP (if you don’t combo, which once again is a bad idea), always use maces since maces do more damage with skills, where aspd is irrelevant.
5. Equipment?
Refer to akemi’s monk guide. In general the best armors are slotted bucklers, shoes, mufflers, and saint robes.
PvP/WoE:
Head: Willow Biretta/ AoA/ Mistress Crown/PooPoo/Holy Bonnet/Masquarade/Devil Ears
Body: Marc/Roda Frog/Dokebi/Ghostring Saint Robe
Robe: Raydric Muffler
Shoe: Verit shoe (PvP), Sohee shoe (WoE)
Shield: Thara Buckler
Weapon: Double Bloody Boned Chain/ Triple Bloody Boned Mace.
PvM:
Head: Willow Biretta/ AoA/ Mistress Crown/Devil Ears/ Holy Bonnet
Body: Roda Frog/ Peco Peco Saint Robe
Robe: Raydric Muffler (Vit builds), Whisper Muffler (Agi builds)
Shoe: Verit shoe
Shield: Buckler with 30% reduction cards.
Weapon: Appropriate elemental stunner/swordmace or carded weapon.
MvP:
Head: Willow Biretta/ AoA/ Mistress Crown/Devil Ears
Body: Roda Frog/ Elemental Saint Robe
Robe: Raydric Muffler
Shoe: Verit shoe/ Sohee shoe
Shield: Buckler with 30% reduction cards.
Weapon: Carded weapon.
**Tip For Hybrid Builds**
The technique commonly called the robe shuffle. This only works for agi major hybrids, like the one suggested in this FAQ. You start off with a whisper muffler. When your opponent takes out a mummy weapon (pretty noticable due to the low damage), switch to a raydric muffler.
6. What accessory?
The question usually revolves around whether clips are better, or ancient slotted accessories are better. This can vary on personal preference though.
If your local environment is wiz-heavy, take slotted rosaries. If you absolutely NEED better stats, take slotted rings/gloves/brooches as neccesary. Use common sense here, rings for str builds aka every monk can find some use with slotted rings, gloves for dex builds where your dex is more than your str, brooches if you need that aspd bonus when you are an agi build.
I personally prefer clips. Clips are the no.1 selection of asura monks in most cases, since the stat points you save from that 2 points of str/dex/agi will most probably not get you 20 extra sp. Some people may have varying opinions on this, so use what you need.
Keep in mind though ancient accessories can only be used at lvl 90+, and are usually very expensive. Clips are cheap, and as i mentioned earlier, for asura builds they are probably the better choice.
7. AGI or VIT?
Very controversial. I will keep this simple:
PvP/WoE builds: VIT, no AGI. The reason is simple, anyone with limited experience in PvP/WoE would realise by now agi has little purpose in both situations, especially since PvP/WoE orientated skills such as TSS and asura (no, i wont consider combo's as PvP/WoE orientated skills, they are more to PvM) don't require agi to increase their activation speed, unlike mammonite, DS, pierce, etc. Around 60 total vit is sufficient.
PvM builds: AGI is more important, but dont leave your vit at 1. get AT LEAST 40 total vit. If you are going for 120 str, then around 30 vit is acceptable. This vit is important to increase your hp, def, and resistance to status effects higher lvl monsters may be able to deal. Get around 80 base agi for such builds.
Tankers: VIT, no AGI. Indeed some may say agi can help dodge, thus increasing your survivability, but in fact since you are already gonna be using physical immune anyway, survivability isn't an issue.
Some may say agi increases aspd while in physical immune mode. This is my question to you: why bother? If you are a tanker, other people are gonna be doing the killing, not you.
In addition, most tanker builds have good dex (80 or so) for skills such as TSS. This coupled with high str and vit would make it difficult to find any space to squeeze agi in. And lets face it, agi in small amounts is pretty useless.
Hybrids: Get both. There are two versions of the agi/vit hybrid, agi major and vit major. My preference would be agi major, in which case you should have around 70 base agi and 50 total vit, mixing the best of two worlds: good flee and aspd, coupled with good status resistance, better def, and more hp.
8. Monk WoE Rundown
***Notice: This was copied from my own post in one of the forum threads and slightly modified***
Survivability -Superior to a good number of classes like hunters, wiz's, sages, and any non-melee character. As i mentioned earlier, monks have a bad selection of armor, but IF your opponent doesnt have the support of an angelus (unlikely but you would nvr know), its not impossible for a monk to outlast a blacksmith, mainly because monks have higher vit:hp ratios than blacksmiths. As for knights/crusaders/pure vit builds dont think of winning them in terms of survivability.
This, however, can be overcome with the skill physical immune, giving 90 def and 90 mdef. While this shuts out your offense, it makes you a good bullet magnet to bide time.
Firepower- Asura kills all without ghostrings, and some with (those lower hp agi/ agi major builds). Nothing comes close to it in terms of damage, but asura requires a bit of brains and rapid redeployment after unleashing the asura to bide time to pump blue pots/honeys.
What is rapid redeployment you ask? This is where dash comes in. most ppl mistake dash as an offensive skill (aka dash to your opponent, cast a sphere, asura). In reality, the main use of dash is as an escape skill, widening the gap between you and your opponents, to bide time to pump pots. those who learn TSS instead of asura can also use this skill to widen the gap between them and melee characters.
Cost - The monk's biggest weakness. For asura monks, every WoE will drain alot of money via blues and honeys, but IMO the firepower and sheer efficiency makes up for it.
The cost of white potions can also be a problem. Remember, monks have less def, and you probably wont learn heal with an asura build, so that would mean you will have to burn more pots.
On the brighter side, while monk armors are rather lackluster, that also means they are cheaper. For example, a +7 slotted manteau can cost about 18m, but a +7 slotted muffler is only 6m, a difference of 13m.
What about a +7 slotted chainmail? 14m. +7 saint robe? 4m. 10m diff. +7 boots vs +7 shoes? 5m
You get my point, you save alot from your armors, just those examples given u save 32m, more than enough to make up for your costs for MONTHS of wars. Of course lets not forget some jobs may require better armor, like plate armors.
Not to mention monks can live with nearly any headgear, a +7 holy bonnet will cost u less than 1/3 the price of a +7 bone helm, a +7 slotted biretta far less than a +7 MG, and so on.
While there are some jobs that may cost less, the fact is, u dont lose much at the end of the day
Versatility - Monks are pretty versatile. Need an offensive monstrousity? Asura does the job. Need a castle stormer? Dash. Need a tanker? Physical immune. Need someone to take out ranged attackers? pneuma+ whatever skill should cut it. Poor? Cant afford asura, but need to take out a high def character? Psychic wave. Catch my drift?
9. Carding weapons
I have noticed this question asked often, so until the day i sit down to calculate everything one by one for you guys (not in the near future with my exams around the corner), here is an explaination on how to calculate damage. Credits to ROdatazone, and the guys in the hunter forums at emperium.org.
***Taken from another one of my posts ***
There are three card classes that add damage by percentage:
SIZE: skel worker, desert wolf, minorous
ELEMENT: vadon, strouf (if ive not mistaken)
RACE: hydra, caramel, goblin, etc
When calculating the percentage, they are calculated by classes, one at a time, before multiplying them together. Here is an example:
Quad Clamorous Mace (4 goblin cards, 20% to brute monsters):
100% + (4x20%)
= 180% damage
Double Clamorous Double Flammable Mace (2 goblin cards, 20% to brute monsters ; 2 vadon cards, 20% to fire monsters):
[100%+ (2x20%)] X [100% + (2x 20%)]
= 140% x 140%
= 196% damage
Here is another example, this time with 3 slots and a size modifier card:
Triple Bloody Chain (3 hydra cards, 20% to human race):
100%+ (3x20%)
=160% damage
Double Bloody Boned Chain (2 hydra cards, 20% to human race; 1 skel worker card, 15% to medium class monsters, +5 attack)
{[100% + (2x20%)] x (100%+15%)} +5
= 161% +5 damage
Same goes for all weapons and the other cards
10. Where to Train?
Ok I will admit, I'm no veteran nor expert in this. There are bound to be better places, but I'm basing this part on my experience. They are also greatly affected by your character's build, so I will add some notes here and there.
Lvl 1-10: Porings, Fabres, Lunatics, Roda Frogs, etc.
Lvl 11-20: Rockers
Lvl 20-25: Culverts Lvl 2
Lvl 25-30: Culverts Lvl 3, Pecopeco's, Snakes, Eggrya
Lvl 31-40: Elder Willows, Smokies, Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1 aka Coal Mines (you want the drainliars for their amazing exp, more for vit builds), Orc Village (avoid Orc Ladies), Byalan Lvl 2, Savages
Lvl 41-50: Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1, Orc Village, Hodes, Desert Wolves, Poison Spores
Lvl 51-60: Sohees (for those with high flee only), Sandman, Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1 (yes, the exp is THAT good), Toy Factory (for those with high flee and/or pneuma), Desert Wolves
Lvl 61-70: Zenorcs, Toy Factory, Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1 (seriously), Byalan Lvl 4, Kobolds
Lvl 71-80: GH prison (need support), Byalan Lvl 4, Zenorcs
Lvl 80+: I advice you stick to either Minorouses at Sphinx 4 (for builds with vit, alot of hammer fall and 100% accuracy skills), High Orcs at ADB (vit builds only, agi builds will have a hard time), Turtle Island Surface (hard, needs party), Raydrics at GH (very hard, needs party and support)
11. How Do I Distribute Stats and Skill Points?
There is no true way to do this. Use common sense. EG, for stats. Don't kill fast enough? Add str. Can't Hit? Add dex, etc. You should be able to answer this yourself. When adding stats, plan ahead. What do you see yourself training on next? Add stat points appropriately, so you won't be doing so when you are already training on that certain monster
For skills, use the same concepts. For the Monk stage, add what you think is right for that moment, don't plan too far ahead. You should already know what stats and skills to get, so sooner or later, you will get all those skills. For example, when building a Monk with asura, dont worry about asura strike just yet, even if you are an asura monk. Get combo skills first (if you want them) to help you train. Going for PvP/WoE/MvP too early is useless anyway.
Here are a few additional pointers about skill/stat distribution:
1. When you want a hybrid build, don't go hybrid too early. If you are an agi-major build, get more agi, and get vit later. Same works vice versa. Going hybrid early makes training a living hell.
2. For Asura Monks/high dex monks, only add dex later on since chances are, you won't need them just yet. Concentrate on Vit first, it will help in the long run by making your def higher (important in your earlier stages). Same works for Agi Monks, get agi early.
3. Don't neglect your str. Alot of vit and agi early is nice, but without sufficient str, you won't be able to kill fast enough, and would take more damage in the process, not to mention level slower.
4. For Monks that plan to learn both the combo and spirit tree, get the combo tree first, as it would help training more than the spirit tree.
5. For Aco's, I do not suggest maxing Bless/Angelus too quickly if you plan on getting them, for the simple reason of their high sp cost. At earlier stages the sp cost is too steep, stick to level 5 for the earlier stages. Demon Bane and Divine Protection should be the last 20 skill points you use, NOT your first, simply because the other skills (blessing, increase agi, teleport, angelus, heal) would all help you a million times more than those two. If you level on undeads alot, then feel free to get Divine Protection a little earlier. Demon Bane is stupid in comparison
There is a lot more to be covered, just leave what you want me to cover next and I will try my best to present it ASAP.
SKILL QUESTIONS
1. What to max after dash?
Asura:
Pros
-high damage
- instant death
- the most efficient way to rid of your opponent.
- dash rids of some of the post-cast vulnerability aka just run like hell after casting
Cons
- slow to use
- leaves you vulnerable after casting
- very expensive
- interruptable (if you have high dex this is negligible)
TSS:
Pros
- good damage
- cheaper than asura
- ranged
- can use dash to widen the gap between yourself and the opponent
Cons
-rather slow to use
- slow to cast (not to be confused with the above point. The above point talks about casting spheres after every TSS, while this talks about the actual skill cast time)
- undependable, often cant kill in one hit, which is bad as opponent can heal himself
- uses quite some sp (not as bad as asura though)
OI:
Pros
- good against high def targets
- fastest to use of the three skills.
- cheapest since it has really low sp consumption
Cons
- bad against low def targets
- WILL NOT KILL IN ONE BLOW. Very, very bad
IMO, if you are rich enough to supply yourself with a lot of blue pots and honeys, maxing asura is the best choice since it is the most efficient. If the server you play on in new, or everyone is poor (unable to buy good armor), and you are poor yourself, TSS is a good choice. OI is good if you play in an old/rich server, but are too poor yourself to buy honeys and blues.
2. Lvl 5 or Lvl 10 triple blow?
If you are gonna combo more, use lvl 5, otherwise use lvl 10. Lvl 10 triple does more damage in the long run not counting combo’s, even so if I’ve not mistaken, Lvl 10 still does abit more damage. The biggest problem with lvl 10 is the extra 5 skill points required.
3. Why max asura?
This question has been asked so many times its not funny. The only true reason for maxing asura is the cast time. Keeping in mind asura is interruptable, cast time is very important. Of course Lvl 5 asura does more damage, but not by THAT much (comparatively), and if it were just for the damage, asura won't be worth maxing.
IMO, asura is a max or nothing skill, unless you are a combo-asura monk, where a lvl 1 asura is acceptable.
4. Physical Immune good for casual training?
Just to make sure of the answer myself, i did try this with my asura-dasher monk, It was slower, no doubt. You could try it yourself though. I personally clock my exp/hour by actually calculating how many % has passed within an hour, not accurate, as i have heard of the existance of programs that help you clock exp/hour while running RO.
The biggest problem of using phy. immune however is probably the lethagy of using such a slow character. Nothing makes you more frustrated than attacking slower than an agi 1 novice and moving as fast as someone who had been quagmire'ed.
5. Pneuma?
PvP/WoE monks: YES
Anything else: optional, if you never go into PvP/WoE, don’t bother since few monsters have ranged attacks worthy of avoiding.
6. Skill Formulae
Disclaimer: This info ain't mine, I took them from RO Universe, which is now closed. If the owner wants to claim it as his own, I would gladly take this down. The original info comes from Aco Universe.
Any Combo Delay Time: (1000 - 4*Agi - 2*Dex )+ 300 milliseconds
Triple Blow:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1+ Skill Level x 0.2) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect
Quad Blow:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1.5+Skill Level x 0.5) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect
Way Of Dragon:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (2.4+Skill Level x 0.6) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect
Asura Strike:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (8 + SP/10) + 250 + (S.Lv*150)]* Card Effect
Psychic Wave :
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1 + S.Lv*0.75) x (Enemy Armour+Enemy Vit)/100 x Card Effect
Manipulate Spirit Sphere:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1 + S.Lv*0.5) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect * S.Lv
Spirit Relaxation: HP Regen = S.Lv * (MHP/500+4) SP Regen = S.Lv * (MSP/500+2)
And just as a side note for those wondering about how to calculate cast time, the formula is:
[1-(Dex/150)]x Base Cast Time
Eg: Lvl 5 Asura has a 2 second base cast time. At 100 dex, your cast time would be]
[1-(100/150)]x2
=2/3 seconds aka 0.67 seconds
7. Wha?? Dex for Asura?
I've come across this question several times as of late. Dex is here for shortening your cast time, not for hit. I've had MANY people come ask me "why get so much dex when asura can't miss?" Well here is your answer.
For those who ask "Why 100 dex? Its just a few miliseconds difference, you won't feel it". Just to make sure I don't flame you, make sure you have a high leveled wizard that PvP's/WoE's often, then only will I allow you to make any comment. Short to say you won't, either way i will shoot you down
8. Should An Asura Monk Get Combo's?
In my opinion, why not? If you were to count just the spirit skills alone (MSS, OI, Asura, Spheres, Absorb spheres) you would notice you have a ton of points left. So use them.
Combo's help tremendously in training, and the only reason I would skip it would be because I wanna max everything else (max angelus, max bless, max increase agi, max heal, etc), generally not that good an idea. Its your choice though, so choose wisely.
9. What Can Block/Minimize Asura's Damage?
Block: Safety Wall (to be changed with later patches, aka it can't block asura in the future), Auto Guard, Parry (Lord Knight skill), Hiding (will cause asura to miss).
Note Asura has is unaffected by flee and def, so high flee/good armor/physical immune don't help. By the way, Kyrie Eleison doesn't block Asura.
Reduce Damage: Ghostring card, Raydric card, Poopoo hat, Thara frog card. Asura ignore's def.
Side Note: Asura is ALWAYS NEUTRAL. Nothing can change that. If you find difficulty in fighting a person with a ghostring card, get a quadruple marine carded mace/club, and freeze him/her first. This would change that person into a Water 1 property, overriding the Mind 1 property granted by the ghostring card. Check out zethiel's post for more info.
10. Dash (aka Snap) Looks So Cool! I Want It!
Just stop right there, and consider what I have to say. While dash *seems* to be a skill that is cool, and seems to be a "splashable" skill (that means its something u can just throw into any build and it will work fine), it really isn't.
Dash needs DEX. Whether you realise it or not, you need dex to cast spirit spheres, and with low DEX, your spheres will come out really, really slow. Considering the fact Dash is totally useless outside the PvP arena (teleport does get you around faster), its only true use is, well, in PvP, where dex matters.
If you are going to stand there and take about 1 second to cast 1 sphere, you are as good as dead. I've seen enough of low-dex monks with dash, and needless to say, its so slow for them, 90% of them regret, while the other 10% won't admit it. Short to say, if you want dash to do anything for you, have good dex (minimum of about 100, like asura and MSS).
11. Skill Rundown: Manipulate Spirit Sphere
I will begin off my skill rundowns with MSS. To begin with, I don't plan to do every skill, just those that need some clarifications and comments.
Ok to start with, let me make it absolutely clear: this skill is overrated. After reading this you guys may find I underrate it, though these are my thoughts, and based on experience. I basically put the pro's and con's of this skill in point forms above, but lets see some practical uses:
Usability:
Its ranged, and goes well with dash (to widen the range gap), making it good to take out opponent's without ranged attacks, such as BS's. Combine this with skills that slow down your opponent (decrease agi, Wizard's quagmire, Hunter's ankle snare, etc) and you have that guy owned. Almost.
However, the terribly slow cast time limits this skill to those with very high dex. This means characters with less than 100 dex are not advised to get this skill (notice this is in bold, its VERY important to note).
5/10. Has many uses, but the fact its really limited to particular builds hurts alot.
Speed:
Cast time is this skill's biggest problem. As i mentioned, 2 seconds cast time at 100 dex not inclusive of the time for casting the spheres. This skill takes so much time, more often than not you will be dead before that. Not to mention this is probably the skill that takes the longest to cast in the whole of RO, barring an Asura recharge
1/10
Dependability:
This skill's main usage is to take out low-hp/def opponents such as hunters/wizards. However, PvP/WoE fanatics will have either some vit in their build, or very good equipment, or even both, meaning this attack decreases in usability by quite a bit. Short to say, don't expect it to kill in 1 blow even against such "soft" targets.
For MvP'ing, this skill alone won't get your the MvP.
For PvM'ing, this skill is good, but won't always kill (though it would most of the time against average monsters), and a very bad skill in maps with high spawn rates.
6/10. It most probably won't kill, though the chance is still there.
Damage:
Damage wise this skill is stellar as compared to most other skills. Just comparing damage (and not other factors) this skill earns a pretty good score, which is only affected because its affected by def
8/10
Cost:
It has a rather high sp cost at the end of the day (due to the 5 spheres), but isn't THAT terrible. Good high damage skill for those on a budget or can't afford the luxury of Asura-spamming.
8.5/10. The fact this skill is a cheap Asura replacement gives this skill a big time boost. Otherwise I would give it a 5 or so.
Comparison to Other Skills:
Combo's work better for agi builds, Asura better for dex builds. This is, however, the only true ranged attack monks have, and this saves the skill by abit.
5/10
My Final Rating: 33.5/60
This skill is about average, IMO, and in the opinion of many more veteran players. However, there are some who swear by it, mainly because not everyone can afford spamming Asura Strikes everywhere they go. So for begineers thinking this is a good skill for any monk, think again.
12. Skill Rundown: Physical Immune
Physical Immune, or Mental Strength as it is called in other servers. I will refer to it as MS for ease of typing. This skill alone makes monks one of the best tankers in the whole of RO. However, how good is still skill in reality? Lets check it out.
Usability:
MS is a tanking skill. It gives a hefty 90 def/mdef, something unmatched in the whole RO game, the end of all defensive abilities. Think of this as the Asura Strike of defence. However, unlike asura which can be used to kill anything, MS has rather limited uses in reality. You really would only use this skill if:
- You know before hand you will always have someone to tank.
- You know before hand there will always be a wizard/hunter for you to party to help you level.
- Tanking MVPs
- Tanking in WoE
- Tanking people to level
As you can see its uses are, well, as I said again and again, terribly limited. The good part is this skill does have its merits at times when you NEED that defence, be it to escape death or to stall for that moment. Its one skill any build can get and use to almost the same efficiency, even Agi monks can benefit from this build.
On another downside, this is more or less an all-or-nothing skill. Any level below level 5 lasts too short (level 4 is sometimes acceptable).
5/10. for non tankers, 10/10 for tankers (staple). Being lenient here since when it gets used it has tremendous effect, but honestly in my whole life I've only used it a couple of times.
Speed:
Its cast time is terribly long, and needs 5 spheres. Bad if you need that defence instantly, but nevertheless usually people leave it on before going into the castle/MvP's attack range, etc.
3/10. As I said you can activate it before hand, but its still slow, and thats what we are looking at.
Dependability:
While this section would usually cover how dependable a skill is as a killing tool, for this skill we will have to talk about how good it is for defence. Well, the only complaint here is that it runs out too soon, often at unwanted times. Other than that, 90 def/mdef is nothing to scoff at.
8/10. Effect time could have been longer.
Damage:
Damage? Huh?
No Rating
Cost:
Horrible SP cost, often you don't get back the 200 sp in time, and lets not forget the cost of the 5 spheres....
3/10
Comparison to Other Skills:
If you tank, this is a staple, there is no reason comparing it. If you are a combo monk, only get this as a gap-filler, no more. PvP/WoE monks may consider this as a viable option.
Non-tankers: 3/10. One of the bottom few skills for them since they won't use it. This category is saved because I took both PvP/WoE and Combo monks into consideration. Its more of 1/10 for combo monks and 5/10 for PvP/WoE monks
Tankers: 10/10. Staple.
My Final Rating: 22/50 (Non-tankers), 34/50 for tankers, though its staple for them
This skill is a good gap filler for non-tanker builds, but a definate staple for tankers.
13. Skill Rundown: Dilemma
Also known as Root, which is the way I'm gonna call it (again, I'm lazy ). This is a questionable skill, really hard to comment on it. This is a rather subjective skill, just like MSS in a way, but then again most people dislike this skill after testing it out.
Usability:
Mainly a tanking skill for a single target, terribly inferior to MS. Can be used to stall in PvP so you can Asura them or something, but the guy has to be using NORMAL attacks on you. Unless he is a dumbass or an assassin, you wouldn't be seeing this often. To make matters worse, this doesnt work on boss class monsters.
Oh yea, did I mention this skill doesn't always work? While technically it has 100% "accuracy", its difficult to pull off since it requires the guy to be hitting you and you hitting him, or something like that. Short to say its a mess, just hard to pull off either way you look at it.
1/10
Speed:
Has a cast time, the higher the level, the longer the cast time. Either way it ain't long by definition, but its just too situational, often requiring you to wait for the opponent to try to hit you or in PvP/WoE, you have to hope and pray your opponent forgets to use his skill.
5/10. You can die trying to pull this skill off, I've seen it happen.
Dependability:
Not a dependable skill. Sometimes you end up Rooting yourself, and if you take too much damage you are thrown out of this status while your enemy can move. Doesn't work well in PvP/WoE, totally limited in PvM unless you have someone else to finish the big monster off, or you can do so with Asura (again, requires lvl 5 Root). Doesnt work against MvP's and bosses.
1/10
Damage:
Damage? Huh?
No Rating
Cost:
Basically this skill has no cost whatsoever, except for the one sphere.
9/10
Comparison to Other Skills:
You would have better things to get. Its uses are so terribly limited, and to use it properly (aka with Asura) you need to max it, wasting 5 skill points which could have been allocated better
1/10
My Final Rating: 17/50
Pretty crappy. Don't bother unless you absolutely want it.
READ THIS BEFORE POSTING MONK-RELATED QUESTIONS
Stat And Skill Checklist for Monks
CHAMPIONS
This section, for now at least, is partially theoretical due to lack of experience. Take most of this with a pinch of salt, though for some sections I'm 100% confident I know what I'm talking about. And this part will be a little more essay-ish for now.
Builds:
This part is more theoretical for now. Anyway, the older builds still apply, but champions, and all advanced jobs, get 52 extra stat points, and a 30% hp/sp bonus.
Why 52, not 40?
When you start as a normal novice, you get 60 stat points, INCLUDING those "1" stats. When u become a high novice, you get 100 stat points, EXCLUDING those "1" stats. "1" stats means those stats that are one, aka 1 agi, 1 vit, etc.
The big fat question now is, what to add?
STR
Combo champ's can finally get 120 str without worrying about getting less agi or dex, so basically, for combo champ's, this is where most of you would dump your stats, except maybe for agi whores.
For other builds, I generally don't suggest adding anymore above their original monk build here, due to multiple factors, as you will learn as you continue reading.
DEX
Combo champs won't bother really, but this is a HUGE question mark for asura champs. Should I go for 120 or even 130 dex with these new stat points?
I will get bombarding from my fellow mRO players for saying this, but NO. All the more, get LESS dex (this is for crazy 120 dex monks). 100 is sufficient for asura champs, don't go below that either.
WHY?! JOASHT?! WHY?! YOUR ADVICE HAS BEEN GOOD TILL NOW, BUT WHY?!
Simple:
1) Whats the point of casting fast if you can't kill? See: INT
2) Whats the point of casting fast if you die first? See: VIT
3) No human can react fast enough to stop a 0.67 second cast time under lag. Only when you're under control-click from an assassin or something would the cast time be interrupted. 0.67 is more or less enough, really.
VIT
You need this. As I mentioned, whats the point of casting fast if you die first? Alot of new skills for advanced 2nd jobs have high damage, EG SinX with EDP+sonicblow can easily do 5 digits. If you go for 120/130 dex, your vit will be rather low, unless u skimp on str/int, making your damage low. Refer to INT about damage.
Anyway, you seriously need to hit at least 11k or 12k hp, so i believe 65-75 vit is MINIMUM. If not one blow and you're dead. Not much point casting fast, eh?
INT
Its safe to say 90% of champ/monk players overlook this. The fact is, this is VERY important for champs due to two factors:
1) Assumptio, bane of physical attacks and Asura. cuts damage down by 1/4, which is ALOT.
2) Lord Knights have ALOT of hp, around 22k average without buffs (Pecopeco armor, etc). Combine this with Assumptio, its gonna be hard, since high priests and lord knights are common. If your asura can't kill a Lord Knight with Assumptio, throw away your champ, since Lord Knights make up possibly the biggest population of advanced 2nd jobs in any server, just as knights do/did.
So how much int? I say around 60 or so. Assuming the lord knight has 25k hp (just take the bigger value), you need an asura of 62k to kill him. that means an int of around 60, with full sp gear. Isn't that bad? Well, if he has Assumptio, you aint gonna kill him since you will need 120k damage then.
However, assuming he does have a priest, you should have someone else with you as well, be it a priest (Lex cancels assumptio basically, doubling and then halving the damage is the same thing), or a sage (take away those buffs! ). Simply put, even with a priest or sage by your side, your asura must still be able to take out his hp.
AGI
Agi whore combo champs would want this, otherwise skip.
LUK
Crit champs? Maybe. Asura monks might want 10 just for the sake of asura damage if you have the extra points lying around. Otherwise, again, skip.
Skills:
For effects of these skills, refer to Akemi's guide.
Dangerous Soul Collect
To many (esp. asura monks), this is the only reason to change to champ, not including the hp/sp boost. The ability to cast 5 spheres at once with no side effect (for now) is simply amazing. However, it is important to note that this skill IS INERRUPTABLE, so it doesnt make casting spirit spheres one-by-one totally obsolete.
This skill alone boosts the usability, and execution speed of many skills, namely skills like OI, MSS, and of course, asura. Under tight situations, for a dasher monk, you can cast one sphere if you are under attack, dash away, cast DSC, crit. explosion, DSC, ASURA. its very fast at 100-110 dex. Heck for current asura dashers we still make it by having to cast 10 spheres, whats so hard about doing it with only casting 3 spheres*?
*3 spheres= 1 to dash away, 2 for DSC which has the same cast time as casting 1 sphere
Palm Push Strike
Perhaps the 2nd most usable skill. Technically its spammable, but it does push ppl back. Similiar to the post-nerf backstab skill of rogues, if you can get an opponent up onto a wall, its almost a mammonite, without the 1000z requirement but with 50% less damage.
It also pushes the opponent back by 3 cells, not far, but for those with rediculously fast cast times, you can push the opponent back and slam in an asura within that timeframe. Apparently can also push people out of safety wall, so thats definately a plus.
I have noticed, however, even though this is a melee skill, its blocked by pneuma.......
Tiger Knuckle
Crappy move IMO, sure it stuns, but its damage is relatively low. To make matters worse, you need to perform the 1st three chains of the combo to activate this. Only for combo champs, leave it out otherwise.
Chain Crush Combo
The most questionable skill out there, not in its usability, but in its effect. If you read the description of the skill (ref: Akemi's guide, kRO website, mRO website) its easy to think that it does 300%x5 attacks, due to its spirit sphere requirement, high prerequisites, and rediculous sp consumption.
However, according to several mRO players, this skill seriously only does 300% damage, not 300%x5. Basically, a single lvl 10 triple blow that costs a chunk of sp. If it is seriously 300% only, there is no point in even getting this skill, unless you are a combo monk with nothing else to learn, or just want to have every combo out there
Conclusion:
From what I can see, as for now champions are far from being a top-tier character, unlike monks. Unfortunate as it may seem, champs dont get any truly useful skill other than dangerous soul collect, and asura's damage, great as it may seem, pales in comparison to a Lord Knight's hp and the defence of an Assumptio. While this doesnt mean champs are weak, or one of the weakest, I think Grav. should bring out a few new skills, such as the rumoured OI-asura hybrid, to put champs back on top, where they belong.
NOTE: SKILL QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO THE NEXT POST (AKA THE POST BELOW THIS)
NOTE: NEW CHAMPION SECTION IN THE 3RD PORTION OF THIS ARTICLE, AKA BELOW THE SKILL SECTION
I don’t know about you guys, but personally I’m getting a little bored of answering the same question over and over again (gets pretty bad when you answer most of the posts…..), so here is a monk faq I put together. Expect it to be updated when I notice a new trend of questions.
Its still in its draft form, its not final, so it may seem messy and unorganised for now (i hope )
And lets not forget, this is an FAQ, NOT a guide. if you want a guide, look at someone else's, like Akemi's. Mine is no more than a list of, well, FAQ's:
UPDATES
10/8/04: Added questions on maxing asura and using phy immune during training. Added misconception on "best build". Edited to fonts hopefully making it easier to read, as well as added description of monk builds.
11/8/04: Added Q&A on accessories and "agi or vit"
14/8/04: Added WoE rundown, hybrid tip in the "equipment" section
18/8/04: Added Carding Weapons
20/8/04: Modified stat builds section, now the values are calculated using stat calculators, no more rough guesses!
30/8/04: Sry about the lack of updates, my exams are near
Anyway, changed the lay out abit, now I have grouped all the "skill" questions in the next post to make this a little neater. Added skill formulas and leveling guide
20/9/04: Exam fever is in the air, updates will be few and short till mid-november (sry guys ). Anyway I'm adding a clarification about my asura monk's build regarding asura damage in WoE. Check it out.
21/9/04: Well i kept my promise, being a man of my word . Two small updates under the WoE/PvP and combo monk builds. I've come up with alternative builds which aren't actually mine. In fact, none of these builds are 100% mine, they are usually, as most of you should know, taken from a combination of personal experience and the experience of others. Enjoy my alternative builds!
27/9/04: I'm a man of my word .Update on dex n asura, MSS/MS/root skill rundown in the skill section (aka the next post) and about skill/stat allocation (in this post)
16/10/04: Minor aesthatic changes to make reading easier....I could barely tell the main points apart myself when i admired my work for the 1st time since.......erm.....ever. Sorry for those who had to squint their eyes to read this ><. I also added a section on champions, which is more of an essay-style section.
There won't be many, if any, updates till past the middle of November due to my exams, in fact don't expect me to be on so often for the next 1 month. I'm sure there are many monk players out there who can fill in for me during this time frame.
Keep your questions coming, as of late I've been noticing many "help my build" questions, which technically has already been covered. Another question is about where to get slotted knuckle weapons and such, unfortunately with the exception of the 3s knuckle duster and 4s waghnak, I myself do not know where the rest are. Also, if you guys catch any typos/grammatical errors, inform me, since its against my nature to re-read what i write myself.
28/10/04: Just because I don't reply doesn't mean I don't notice. Therefore I bring you two updates in the Skill's Section about Asura Strike and Combo's for PvP builds.
29/10/04: Two updates in a row and hell my exam ain't over yet! Well I missed something out, so check out my rant on Dash in the Skills section.
31/10/04: Modification to the Asura Strike section in the Skills Section.
Copyright: Joasht, 2004. If I find you copy this without my consent, I will come after you. If you copy this and don't get caught by me, my Heavenly Father will judge you accordingly.
1. Why play monk?
The monk is, by far, one of the most unique classes ever. Even someone with experience in building any other character would face a problem when building a monk. Why? The fact is monks are seemingly versatile. They can do the most damage in the game in a single blow (Asura), they can shoot (MSS), they can crit (Crit. Explosion), they can tank (Physical Immune), they can PvM really well (combo’s) and they can support (Heal/Bless/Increase Agi/Angelus).
2. Biggest mistakes/misconceptions made by players:
a) All Monks are agi characters
By far the most common error. Not all monks are agi characters. For some builds, such as PvP builds, dex serves a far greater purpose than agi.
b) Monks are overpowered
They are powerful, but not overpowered. In fact, far from it. The biggest weakness of the monk is staying power. Indeed they have a higher hp modifier than BS’s, but the fact remains, monks have the worst armor selection available to a melee character (other than battle priests, which have the same problem and battle sages, which are terribly rare). Lets face it, mufflers, shoes, bucklers, saint robes and such lack the defence of the armors other melee jobs can wear.
Another concern is the number of pots they can carry in PvP/WoE. Sure, monk equipment is light, but if you are an Asura monk (THE PvP/WoE build) then you would probably either be sharing your weight allocation between blues and whites, or using other healing items such as honey, which heal very little hp. Also keep in mind, the only other melee job that has a lower hp modifier (BS’s) have way better armor, and have a cart with them, which can carry A LOT of whites.
c) Monks must have heal
This point is more for PvP/WoE monks, as other monks should get heal, although NEVER max it. Just lvl 5 or so is good enough for casual training. In PvP/WoE you will either have support of other guild/party members, pots, or your own priest. You would be too busy attacking to heal yourself, so just use pots. If you are healing yourself in the heat of battle, something is wrong with the way you play.
d) Combo’s totally rock
Most people initially build monks because they see combo’s as very powerful skills, and heck do they look cool. Combo’s are cool, they are good, but in no way very powerful. They do less damage than say mammonite, pierce and double strafe, are undependable, unspammable (mainly because you have to count on triple coming out), and use a disproportionately huge amount of sp. Combo’s are strictly PvM, and shouldn’t be used for anything else.
e) BEST BUILD?!
I decided to put this under misconceptions, because the thought of there being a "best build" is a misconception in itself. There is no such thing as a "best build". The "best build" you can get is a build that you have created for yourself that suits your play style.
f) Because Monks Have Versatile Skills, They Should Be Hybrid.
This is a common mistake out there. Out of all the jobs, monks are one of the few that absolutely require almost static, cookie cutter stats to be totally effective. This means most Asura builds, for example, tend to look alike and have VERY fixed perimeters, allowing little room for modifications.
Now, it is important to note that I didn't say hybrid's suck. I'm saying if you want to be totally effective, don't go hybrid.
3. Common builds:
Probably the most common question asked. I have updated this as of 20/8/04 using stat calculators, so now the values are more precise. Of course, this isn't the only way to build your characters, but merely a rough guide. Job bonuses will be totalled with blessing and agi up. If you don't notice an additional "+10 agi" that means the build shouldn't learn agi up.
PvP/WoE monks I.e. Asura, MSS monks:
As the name implies, this build is meant to be efficient in PvP/WoE. This build incorporates one of the most underlooked stat for monks: dex. Dex is extremely important in PvP/WoE as it reduces cast time (it also increases hit and damage but what we want here is the reduced cast time). Many may notice by now this build lacks agi, an unimportant stat for PvP/WoE.
Balanced PvP/WoE Build:
This is currently the build I'm using for my dasher monk. Very well rounded, very stable, and very deadly in PvP/WoE.
Str: 86+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Dex: 80+14+6*(replace mantis cards with zeroms during pvp/woe for these 6 points)
Vit: 54+6
Int: 36+12
Luck: 7+3
Agi: 3+6
WoE Clarification: Due to the 60% skill damage cap in WoE, for this build to kill a 99 vit character, you would need to use Willow, Sohee and Roda Frog cards. Sounds like alot, but remember this:
Its WoE, you will have your guild members to cover you. Thus, dex is not AS important in WoE as compared to PvP. I'm not telling you it isn't important, just SLIGHTLY less important, just enough to squeeze these equipments in.
120 Dex Build:
I had a few mRO guys complain to me about my builds not having 120 dex (a favourite build here). This build, however, is more of a pure PvP build, since the vit is too low to survive WoE, and the damage ain't enough to kill a high-vit lvl 99 character due to the 60% cap. HOWEVER, this character is EXTREMELY deadly if you can pull off your asura before you get stunned. A 0.4 second asura is nothing to laugh at.
Str: 82+18
Dex: 95+25 (2 Zerom Gloves, AoA)
Int: 36+12
Vit: 34+6
Luck: 7+3
Agi: 4+6
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing. Strongly adviced are pneuma, and Angelus, or alternatively Increase/Decrease Agi.
Monk skills: There are two kinds: the dashers and non-dashers. Dashers can only choose to max one skill, more on that later on. Non- dashers should get all the offensive skills such as MSS, asura and OI. Physical immune isn’t a bad idea either.
Combo monk
This build is strictly PvM, and little else. Agi-major monks (aka more agi than vit) don't perform well in PvP/WoE, and due to low dex, even if asura strike was learnt, it would be much slower to cast compared to other monks. On the plus side, this is the most efficient build for taking out monsters out of all the monk builds. The idea behind this is by increasing aspd, you increase the rate of triggering triple blow, hence the number of combo’s.
Balanced Combo Monk:
Many may ask, why get vit? Some maps do require vit, such as minorouses for example. A little vit never hurts.
Str: 86+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Agi: 85+18+2 (ghost bandana)
Dex: 36+14
Vit: 34+6
Int: 28+12
Luck: 1+3
2 stat points left
Pure Agi Combo Monk:
This build is rather common nowadays. While high agi does unlock certain maps, having no vit also limits your choices. However, this build can be very deadly in PvM.
Str: 96+24 (2 Mantis cards)
Agi: 93+22 (Ghost Bandana, 2 slotted brooches)
Dex: 36+14
Int: 1+12
Vit: 1+6
Luck: 1+3
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing/agi up. Heal is also recommended.
Monk skills: Max the combo skills (duh), with the exception of triple blow, which should be left at lvl 5 or lvl 10 (more on that later). Learn all the other offensive skills as well, though many skip asura to learn other skills.
Vit Monk I.e tanker
As the name implies, this monk is made to tank. If you wanna go solo, DO NOT use this build. Its terrible as a solo character. If you are gonna lvl this, make sure you have a party with you. Its lower str, coupled with lower dex (compared to asura monks) make this build’s skills less damaging, and gives it a slower cast time. On the plus side, this build is nearly indestructible when coupled with physical immune.
Sample stats:
Str: 76+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Dex: 76+14+6
Vit: 74+6
Int: 30+12
Luck: 7+3
Agi: 3+7
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing. Strongly adviced are pneuma, and Angelus, or alternatively Increase/Decrease Agi.
Monk skills: Max physical immune. Of course, learn all the attack skills, although combo’s can be left out if so desired (although I don’t advice it)
Hybrid/ Combo asura:
This build is an all rounder. Do not expect it to beat any of the other builds at their respective strengths, but it will be extremely versatile. This build is sometimes called the combo-asura build because most people who play this chain asura after their combo's to avoid the slower cast time due to low dex, and taking advantage of their good aspd and higher survivability over normal pure build combo monks.
Str: 86+18 +6 (two mantis cards)
Agi: 67+18
Dex: 51+14
Vit: 44+6
Int: 34+12
Luck: 1+3
Aco skills: 10 demonbane/divine protection/blessing/agi up. Heal is also recommended.
Monk skills: Basically this build can be anything it wants to be, and therefore can learn anything you want. I do suggest maxing the combo’s, and getting asura strike (at least lvl 1). If you decide on lvl 5 asura, at least you can manually cast it, since chaining asura to a combo is rather undependable.
4. Mace or Fist?
As a general statement, agi characters/agi major characters should use fists, low agi characters should use maces (except for small monsters), and in both cases, for PvP/WoE/MvP (if you don’t combo, which once again is a bad idea), always use maces since maces do more damage with skills, where aspd is irrelevant.
5. Equipment?
Refer to akemi’s monk guide. In general the best armors are slotted bucklers, shoes, mufflers, and saint robes.
PvP/WoE:
Head: Willow Biretta/ AoA/ Mistress Crown/PooPoo/Holy Bonnet/Masquarade/Devil Ears
Body: Marc/Roda Frog/Dokebi/Ghostring Saint Robe
Robe: Raydric Muffler
Shoe: Verit shoe (PvP), Sohee shoe (WoE)
Shield: Thara Buckler
Weapon: Double Bloody Boned Chain/ Triple Bloody Boned Mace.
PvM:
Head: Willow Biretta/ AoA/ Mistress Crown/Devil Ears/ Holy Bonnet
Body: Roda Frog/ Peco Peco Saint Robe
Robe: Raydric Muffler (Vit builds), Whisper Muffler (Agi builds)
Shoe: Verit shoe
Shield: Buckler with 30% reduction cards.
Weapon: Appropriate elemental stunner/swordmace or carded weapon.
MvP:
Head: Willow Biretta/ AoA/ Mistress Crown/Devil Ears
Body: Roda Frog/ Elemental Saint Robe
Robe: Raydric Muffler
Shoe: Verit shoe/ Sohee shoe
Shield: Buckler with 30% reduction cards.
Weapon: Carded weapon.
**Tip For Hybrid Builds**
The technique commonly called the robe shuffle. This only works for agi major hybrids, like the one suggested in this FAQ. You start off with a whisper muffler. When your opponent takes out a mummy weapon (pretty noticable due to the low damage), switch to a raydric muffler.
6. What accessory?
The question usually revolves around whether clips are better, or ancient slotted accessories are better. This can vary on personal preference though.
If your local environment is wiz-heavy, take slotted rosaries. If you absolutely NEED better stats, take slotted rings/gloves/brooches as neccesary. Use common sense here, rings for str builds aka every monk can find some use with slotted rings, gloves for dex builds where your dex is more than your str, brooches if you need that aspd bonus when you are an agi build.
I personally prefer clips. Clips are the no.1 selection of asura monks in most cases, since the stat points you save from that 2 points of str/dex/agi will most probably not get you 20 extra sp. Some people may have varying opinions on this, so use what you need.
Keep in mind though ancient accessories can only be used at lvl 90+, and are usually very expensive. Clips are cheap, and as i mentioned earlier, for asura builds they are probably the better choice.
7. AGI or VIT?
Very controversial. I will keep this simple:
PvP/WoE builds: VIT, no AGI. The reason is simple, anyone with limited experience in PvP/WoE would realise by now agi has little purpose in both situations, especially since PvP/WoE orientated skills such as TSS and asura (no, i wont consider combo's as PvP/WoE orientated skills, they are more to PvM) don't require agi to increase their activation speed, unlike mammonite, DS, pierce, etc. Around 60 total vit is sufficient.
PvM builds: AGI is more important, but dont leave your vit at 1. get AT LEAST 40 total vit. If you are going for 120 str, then around 30 vit is acceptable. This vit is important to increase your hp, def, and resistance to status effects higher lvl monsters may be able to deal. Get around 80 base agi for such builds.
Tankers: VIT, no AGI. Indeed some may say agi can help dodge, thus increasing your survivability, but in fact since you are already gonna be using physical immune anyway, survivability isn't an issue.
Some may say agi increases aspd while in physical immune mode. This is my question to you: why bother? If you are a tanker, other people are gonna be doing the killing, not you.
In addition, most tanker builds have good dex (80 or so) for skills such as TSS. This coupled with high str and vit would make it difficult to find any space to squeeze agi in. And lets face it, agi in small amounts is pretty useless.
Hybrids: Get both. There are two versions of the agi/vit hybrid, agi major and vit major. My preference would be agi major, in which case you should have around 70 base agi and 50 total vit, mixing the best of two worlds: good flee and aspd, coupled with good status resistance, better def, and more hp.
8. Monk WoE Rundown
***Notice: This was copied from my own post in one of the forum threads and slightly modified***
Survivability -Superior to a good number of classes like hunters, wiz's, sages, and any non-melee character. As i mentioned earlier, monks have a bad selection of armor, but IF your opponent doesnt have the support of an angelus (unlikely but you would nvr know), its not impossible for a monk to outlast a blacksmith, mainly because monks have higher vit:hp ratios than blacksmiths. As for knights/crusaders/pure vit builds dont think of winning them in terms of survivability.
This, however, can be overcome with the skill physical immune, giving 90 def and 90 mdef. While this shuts out your offense, it makes you a good bullet magnet to bide time.
Firepower- Asura kills all without ghostrings, and some with (those lower hp agi/ agi major builds). Nothing comes close to it in terms of damage, but asura requires a bit of brains and rapid redeployment after unleashing the asura to bide time to pump blue pots/honeys.
What is rapid redeployment you ask? This is where dash comes in. most ppl mistake dash as an offensive skill (aka dash to your opponent, cast a sphere, asura). In reality, the main use of dash is as an escape skill, widening the gap between you and your opponents, to bide time to pump pots. those who learn TSS instead of asura can also use this skill to widen the gap between them and melee characters.
Cost - The monk's biggest weakness. For asura monks, every WoE will drain alot of money via blues and honeys, but IMO the firepower and sheer efficiency makes up for it.
The cost of white potions can also be a problem. Remember, monks have less def, and you probably wont learn heal with an asura build, so that would mean you will have to burn more pots.
On the brighter side, while monk armors are rather lackluster, that also means they are cheaper. For example, a +7 slotted manteau can cost about 18m, but a +7 slotted muffler is only 6m, a difference of 13m.
What about a +7 slotted chainmail? 14m. +7 saint robe? 4m. 10m diff. +7 boots vs +7 shoes? 5m
You get my point, you save alot from your armors, just those examples given u save 32m, more than enough to make up for your costs for MONTHS of wars. Of course lets not forget some jobs may require better armor, like plate armors.
Not to mention monks can live with nearly any headgear, a +7 holy bonnet will cost u less than 1/3 the price of a +7 bone helm, a +7 slotted biretta far less than a +7 MG, and so on.
While there are some jobs that may cost less, the fact is, u dont lose much at the end of the day
Versatility - Monks are pretty versatile. Need an offensive monstrousity? Asura does the job. Need a castle stormer? Dash. Need a tanker? Physical immune. Need someone to take out ranged attackers? pneuma+ whatever skill should cut it. Poor? Cant afford asura, but need to take out a high def character? Psychic wave. Catch my drift?
9. Carding weapons
I have noticed this question asked often, so until the day i sit down to calculate everything one by one for you guys (not in the near future with my exams around the corner), here is an explaination on how to calculate damage. Credits to ROdatazone, and the guys in the hunter forums at emperium.org.
***Taken from another one of my posts ***
There are three card classes that add damage by percentage:
SIZE: skel worker, desert wolf, minorous
ELEMENT: vadon, strouf (if ive not mistaken)
RACE: hydra, caramel, goblin, etc
When calculating the percentage, they are calculated by classes, one at a time, before multiplying them together. Here is an example:
Quad Clamorous Mace (4 goblin cards, 20% to brute monsters):
100% + (4x20%)
= 180% damage
Double Clamorous Double Flammable Mace (2 goblin cards, 20% to brute monsters ; 2 vadon cards, 20% to fire monsters):
[100%+ (2x20%)] X [100% + (2x 20%)]
= 140% x 140%
= 196% damage
Here is another example, this time with 3 slots and a size modifier card:
Triple Bloody Chain (3 hydra cards, 20% to human race):
100%+ (3x20%)
=160% damage
Double Bloody Boned Chain (2 hydra cards, 20% to human race; 1 skel worker card, 15% to medium class monsters, +5 attack)
{[100% + (2x20%)] x (100%+15%)} +5
= 161% +5 damage
Same goes for all weapons and the other cards
10. Where to Train?
Ok I will admit, I'm no veteran nor expert in this. There are bound to be better places, but I'm basing this part on my experience. They are also greatly affected by your character's build, so I will add some notes here and there.
Lvl 1-10: Porings, Fabres, Lunatics, Roda Frogs, etc.
Lvl 11-20: Rockers
Lvl 20-25: Culverts Lvl 2
Lvl 25-30: Culverts Lvl 3, Pecopeco's, Snakes, Eggrya
Lvl 31-40: Elder Willows, Smokies, Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1 aka Coal Mines (you want the drainliars for their amazing exp, more for vit builds), Orc Village (avoid Orc Ladies), Byalan Lvl 2, Savages
Lvl 41-50: Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1, Orc Village, Hodes, Desert Wolves, Poison Spores
Lvl 51-60: Sohees (for those with high flee only), Sandman, Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1 (yes, the exp is THAT good), Toy Factory (for those with high flee and/or pneuma), Desert Wolves
Lvl 61-70: Zenorcs, Toy Factory, Mjolnir Waste Pit Lvl 1 (seriously), Byalan Lvl 4, Kobolds
Lvl 71-80: GH prison (need support), Byalan Lvl 4, Zenorcs
Lvl 80+: I advice you stick to either Minorouses at Sphinx 4 (for builds with vit, alot of hammer fall and 100% accuracy skills), High Orcs at ADB (vit builds only, agi builds will have a hard time), Turtle Island Surface (hard, needs party), Raydrics at GH (very hard, needs party and support)
11. How Do I Distribute Stats and Skill Points?
There is no true way to do this. Use common sense. EG, for stats. Don't kill fast enough? Add str. Can't Hit? Add dex, etc. You should be able to answer this yourself. When adding stats, plan ahead. What do you see yourself training on next? Add stat points appropriately, so you won't be doing so when you are already training on that certain monster
For skills, use the same concepts. For the Monk stage, add what you think is right for that moment, don't plan too far ahead. You should already know what stats and skills to get, so sooner or later, you will get all those skills. For example, when building a Monk with asura, dont worry about asura strike just yet, even if you are an asura monk. Get combo skills first (if you want them) to help you train. Going for PvP/WoE/MvP too early is useless anyway.
Here are a few additional pointers about skill/stat distribution:
1. When you want a hybrid build, don't go hybrid too early. If you are an agi-major build, get more agi, and get vit later. Same works vice versa. Going hybrid early makes training a living hell.
2. For Asura Monks/high dex monks, only add dex later on since chances are, you won't need them just yet. Concentrate on Vit first, it will help in the long run by making your def higher (important in your earlier stages). Same works for Agi Monks, get agi early.
3. Don't neglect your str. Alot of vit and agi early is nice, but without sufficient str, you won't be able to kill fast enough, and would take more damage in the process, not to mention level slower.
4. For Monks that plan to learn both the combo and spirit tree, get the combo tree first, as it would help training more than the spirit tree.
5. For Aco's, I do not suggest maxing Bless/Angelus too quickly if you plan on getting them, for the simple reason of their high sp cost. At earlier stages the sp cost is too steep, stick to level 5 for the earlier stages. Demon Bane and Divine Protection should be the last 20 skill points you use, NOT your first, simply because the other skills (blessing, increase agi, teleport, angelus, heal) would all help you a million times more than those two. If you level on undeads alot, then feel free to get Divine Protection a little earlier. Demon Bane is stupid in comparison
There is a lot more to be covered, just leave what you want me to cover next and I will try my best to present it ASAP.
SKILL QUESTIONS
1. What to max after dash?
Asura:
Pros
-high damage
- instant death
- the most efficient way to rid of your opponent.
- dash rids of some of the post-cast vulnerability aka just run like hell after casting
Cons
- slow to use
- leaves you vulnerable after casting
- very expensive
- interruptable (if you have high dex this is negligible)
TSS:
Pros
- good damage
- cheaper than asura
- ranged
- can use dash to widen the gap between yourself and the opponent
Cons
-rather slow to use
- slow to cast (not to be confused with the above point. The above point talks about casting spheres after every TSS, while this talks about the actual skill cast time)
- undependable, often cant kill in one hit, which is bad as opponent can heal himself
- uses quite some sp (not as bad as asura though)
OI:
Pros
- good against high def targets
- fastest to use of the three skills.
- cheapest since it has really low sp consumption
Cons
- bad against low def targets
- WILL NOT KILL IN ONE BLOW. Very, very bad
IMO, if you are rich enough to supply yourself with a lot of blue pots and honeys, maxing asura is the best choice since it is the most efficient. If the server you play on in new, or everyone is poor (unable to buy good armor), and you are poor yourself, TSS is a good choice. OI is good if you play in an old/rich server, but are too poor yourself to buy honeys and blues.
2. Lvl 5 or Lvl 10 triple blow?
If you are gonna combo more, use lvl 5, otherwise use lvl 10. Lvl 10 triple does more damage in the long run not counting combo’s, even so if I’ve not mistaken, Lvl 10 still does abit more damage. The biggest problem with lvl 10 is the extra 5 skill points required.
3. Why max asura?
This question has been asked so many times its not funny. The only true reason for maxing asura is the cast time. Keeping in mind asura is interruptable, cast time is very important. Of course Lvl 5 asura does more damage, but not by THAT much (comparatively), and if it were just for the damage, asura won't be worth maxing.
IMO, asura is a max or nothing skill, unless you are a combo-asura monk, where a lvl 1 asura is acceptable.
4. Physical Immune good for casual training?
Just to make sure of the answer myself, i did try this with my asura-dasher monk, It was slower, no doubt. You could try it yourself though. I personally clock my exp/hour by actually calculating how many % has passed within an hour, not accurate, as i have heard of the existance of programs that help you clock exp/hour while running RO.
The biggest problem of using phy. immune however is probably the lethagy of using such a slow character. Nothing makes you more frustrated than attacking slower than an agi 1 novice and moving as fast as someone who had been quagmire'ed.
5. Pneuma?
PvP/WoE monks: YES
Anything else: optional, if you never go into PvP/WoE, don’t bother since few monsters have ranged attacks worthy of avoiding.
6. Skill Formulae
Disclaimer: This info ain't mine, I took them from RO Universe, which is now closed. If the owner wants to claim it as his own, I would gladly take this down. The original info comes from Aco Universe.
Any Combo Delay Time: (1000 - 4*Agi - 2*Dex )+ 300 milliseconds
Triple Blow:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1+ Skill Level x 0.2) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect
Quad Blow:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1.5+Skill Level x 0.5) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect
Way Of Dragon:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (2.4+Skill Level x 0.6) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect
Asura Strike:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (8 + SP/10) + 250 + (S.Lv*150)]* Card Effect
Psychic Wave :
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1 + S.Lv*0.75) x (Enemy Armour+Enemy Vit)/100 x Card Effect
Manipulate Spirit Sphere:
[(Wpn Atk+Base Atk) x (1 + S.Lv*0.5) + Weapon Upgrade + Masteries] * Card * Element Effect * S.Lv
Spirit Relaxation: HP Regen = S.Lv * (MHP/500+4) SP Regen = S.Lv * (MSP/500+2)
And just as a side note for those wondering about how to calculate cast time, the formula is:
[1-(Dex/150)]x Base Cast Time
Eg: Lvl 5 Asura has a 2 second base cast time. At 100 dex, your cast time would be]
[1-(100/150)]x2
=2/3 seconds aka 0.67 seconds
7. Wha?? Dex for Asura?
I've come across this question several times as of late. Dex is here for shortening your cast time, not for hit. I've had MANY people come ask me "why get so much dex when asura can't miss?" Well here is your answer.
For those who ask "Why 100 dex? Its just a few miliseconds difference, you won't feel it". Just to make sure I don't flame you, make sure you have a high leveled wizard that PvP's/WoE's often, then only will I allow you to make any comment. Short to say you won't, either way i will shoot you down
8. Should An Asura Monk Get Combo's?
In my opinion, why not? If you were to count just the spirit skills alone (MSS, OI, Asura, Spheres, Absorb spheres) you would notice you have a ton of points left. So use them.
Combo's help tremendously in training, and the only reason I would skip it would be because I wanna max everything else (max angelus, max bless, max increase agi, max heal, etc), generally not that good an idea. Its your choice though, so choose wisely.
9. What Can Block/Minimize Asura's Damage?
Block: Safety Wall (to be changed with later patches, aka it can't block asura in the future), Auto Guard, Parry (Lord Knight skill), Hiding (will cause asura to miss).
Note Asura has is unaffected by flee and def, so high flee/good armor/physical immune don't help. By the way, Kyrie Eleison doesn't block Asura.
Reduce Damage: Ghostring card, Raydric card, Poopoo hat, Thara frog card. Asura ignore's def.
Side Note: Asura is ALWAYS NEUTRAL. Nothing can change that. If you find difficulty in fighting a person with a ghostring card, get a quadruple marine carded mace/club, and freeze him/her first. This would change that person into a Water 1 property, overriding the Mind 1 property granted by the ghostring card. Check out zethiel's post for more info.
10. Dash (aka Snap) Looks So Cool! I Want It!
Just stop right there, and consider what I have to say. While dash *seems* to be a skill that is cool, and seems to be a "splashable" skill (that means its something u can just throw into any build and it will work fine), it really isn't.
Dash needs DEX. Whether you realise it or not, you need dex to cast spirit spheres, and with low DEX, your spheres will come out really, really slow. Considering the fact Dash is totally useless outside the PvP arena (teleport does get you around faster), its only true use is, well, in PvP, where dex matters.
If you are going to stand there and take about 1 second to cast 1 sphere, you are as good as dead. I've seen enough of low-dex monks with dash, and needless to say, its so slow for them, 90% of them regret, while the other 10% won't admit it. Short to say, if you want dash to do anything for you, have good dex (minimum of about 100, like asura and MSS).
11. Skill Rundown: Manipulate Spirit Sphere
I will begin off my skill rundowns with MSS. To begin with, I don't plan to do every skill, just those that need some clarifications and comments.
Ok to start with, let me make it absolutely clear: this skill is overrated. After reading this you guys may find I underrate it, though these are my thoughts, and based on experience. I basically put the pro's and con's of this skill in point forms above, but lets see some practical uses:
Usability:
Its ranged, and goes well with dash (to widen the range gap), making it good to take out opponent's without ranged attacks, such as BS's. Combine this with skills that slow down your opponent (decrease agi, Wizard's quagmire, Hunter's ankle snare, etc) and you have that guy owned. Almost.
However, the terribly slow cast time limits this skill to those with very high dex. This means characters with less than 100 dex are not advised to get this skill (notice this is in bold, its VERY important to note).
5/10. Has many uses, but the fact its really limited to particular builds hurts alot.
Speed:
Cast time is this skill's biggest problem. As i mentioned, 2 seconds cast time at 100 dex not inclusive of the time for casting the spheres. This skill takes so much time, more often than not you will be dead before that. Not to mention this is probably the skill that takes the longest to cast in the whole of RO, barring an Asura recharge
1/10
Dependability:
This skill's main usage is to take out low-hp/def opponents such as hunters/wizards. However, PvP/WoE fanatics will have either some vit in their build, or very good equipment, or even both, meaning this attack decreases in usability by quite a bit. Short to say, don't expect it to kill in 1 blow even against such "soft" targets.
For MvP'ing, this skill alone won't get your the MvP.
For PvM'ing, this skill is good, but won't always kill (though it would most of the time against average monsters), and a very bad skill in maps with high spawn rates.
6/10. It most probably won't kill, though the chance is still there.
Damage:
Damage wise this skill is stellar as compared to most other skills. Just comparing damage (and not other factors) this skill earns a pretty good score, which is only affected because its affected by def
8/10
Cost:
It has a rather high sp cost at the end of the day (due to the 5 spheres), but isn't THAT terrible. Good high damage skill for those on a budget or can't afford the luxury of Asura-spamming.
8.5/10. The fact this skill is a cheap Asura replacement gives this skill a big time boost. Otherwise I would give it a 5 or so.
Comparison to Other Skills:
Combo's work better for agi builds, Asura better for dex builds. This is, however, the only true ranged attack monks have, and this saves the skill by abit.
5/10
My Final Rating: 33.5/60
This skill is about average, IMO, and in the opinion of many more veteran players. However, there are some who swear by it, mainly because not everyone can afford spamming Asura Strikes everywhere they go. So for begineers thinking this is a good skill for any monk, think again.
12. Skill Rundown: Physical Immune
Physical Immune, or Mental Strength as it is called in other servers. I will refer to it as MS for ease of typing. This skill alone makes monks one of the best tankers in the whole of RO. However, how good is still skill in reality? Lets check it out.
Usability:
MS is a tanking skill. It gives a hefty 90 def/mdef, something unmatched in the whole RO game, the end of all defensive abilities. Think of this as the Asura Strike of defence. However, unlike asura which can be used to kill anything, MS has rather limited uses in reality. You really would only use this skill if:
- You know before hand you will always have someone to tank.
- You know before hand there will always be a wizard/hunter for you to party to help you level.
- Tanking MVPs
- Tanking in WoE
- Tanking people to level
As you can see its uses are, well, as I said again and again, terribly limited. The good part is this skill does have its merits at times when you NEED that defence, be it to escape death or to stall for that moment. Its one skill any build can get and use to almost the same efficiency, even Agi monks can benefit from this build.
On another downside, this is more or less an all-or-nothing skill. Any level below level 5 lasts too short (level 4 is sometimes acceptable).
5/10. for non tankers, 10/10 for tankers (staple). Being lenient here since when it gets used it has tremendous effect, but honestly in my whole life I've only used it a couple of times.
Speed:
Its cast time is terribly long, and needs 5 spheres. Bad if you need that defence instantly, but nevertheless usually people leave it on before going into the castle/MvP's attack range, etc.
3/10. As I said you can activate it before hand, but its still slow, and thats what we are looking at.
Dependability:
While this section would usually cover how dependable a skill is as a killing tool, for this skill we will have to talk about how good it is for defence. Well, the only complaint here is that it runs out too soon, often at unwanted times. Other than that, 90 def/mdef is nothing to scoff at.
8/10. Effect time could have been longer.
Damage:
Damage? Huh?
No Rating
Cost:
Horrible SP cost, often you don't get back the 200 sp in time, and lets not forget the cost of the 5 spheres....
3/10
Comparison to Other Skills:
If you tank, this is a staple, there is no reason comparing it. If you are a combo monk, only get this as a gap-filler, no more. PvP/WoE monks may consider this as a viable option.
Non-tankers: 3/10. One of the bottom few skills for them since they won't use it. This category is saved because I took both PvP/WoE and Combo monks into consideration. Its more of 1/10 for combo monks and 5/10 for PvP/WoE monks
Tankers: 10/10. Staple.
My Final Rating: 22/50 (Non-tankers), 34/50 for tankers, though its staple for them
This skill is a good gap filler for non-tanker builds, but a definate staple for tankers.
13. Skill Rundown: Dilemma
Also known as Root, which is the way I'm gonna call it (again, I'm lazy ). This is a questionable skill, really hard to comment on it. This is a rather subjective skill, just like MSS in a way, but then again most people dislike this skill after testing it out.
Usability:
Mainly a tanking skill for a single target, terribly inferior to MS. Can be used to stall in PvP so you can Asura them or something, but the guy has to be using NORMAL attacks on you. Unless he is a dumbass or an assassin, you wouldn't be seeing this often. To make matters worse, this doesnt work on boss class monsters.
Oh yea, did I mention this skill doesn't always work? While technically it has 100% "accuracy", its difficult to pull off since it requires the guy to be hitting you and you hitting him, or something like that. Short to say its a mess, just hard to pull off either way you look at it.
1/10
Speed:
Has a cast time, the higher the level, the longer the cast time. Either way it ain't long by definition, but its just too situational, often requiring you to wait for the opponent to try to hit you or in PvP/WoE, you have to hope and pray your opponent forgets to use his skill.
5/10. You can die trying to pull this skill off, I've seen it happen.
Dependability:
Not a dependable skill. Sometimes you end up Rooting yourself, and if you take too much damage you are thrown out of this status while your enemy can move. Doesn't work well in PvP/WoE, totally limited in PvM unless you have someone else to finish the big monster off, or you can do so with Asura (again, requires lvl 5 Root). Doesnt work against MvP's and bosses.
1/10
Damage:
Damage? Huh?
No Rating
Cost:
Basically this skill has no cost whatsoever, except for the one sphere.
9/10
Comparison to Other Skills:
You would have better things to get. Its uses are so terribly limited, and to use it properly (aka with Asura) you need to max it, wasting 5 skill points which could have been allocated better
1/10
My Final Rating: 17/50
Pretty crappy. Don't bother unless you absolutely want it.
READ THIS BEFORE POSTING MONK-RELATED QUESTIONS
Stat And Skill Checklist for Monks
CHAMPIONS
This section, for now at least, is partially theoretical due to lack of experience. Take most of this with a pinch of salt, though for some sections I'm 100% confident I know what I'm talking about. And this part will be a little more essay-ish for now.
Builds:
This part is more theoretical for now. Anyway, the older builds still apply, but champions, and all advanced jobs, get 52 extra stat points, and a 30% hp/sp bonus.
Why 52, not 40?
When you start as a normal novice, you get 60 stat points, INCLUDING those "1" stats. When u become a high novice, you get 100 stat points, EXCLUDING those "1" stats. "1" stats means those stats that are one, aka 1 agi, 1 vit, etc.
The big fat question now is, what to add?
STR
Combo champ's can finally get 120 str without worrying about getting less agi or dex, so basically, for combo champ's, this is where most of you would dump your stats, except maybe for agi whores.
For other builds, I generally don't suggest adding anymore above their original monk build here, due to multiple factors, as you will learn as you continue reading.
DEX
Combo champs won't bother really, but this is a HUGE question mark for asura champs. Should I go for 120 or even 130 dex with these new stat points?
I will get bombarding from my fellow mRO players for saying this, but NO. All the more, get LESS dex (this is for crazy 120 dex monks). 100 is sufficient for asura champs, don't go below that either.
WHY?! JOASHT?! WHY?! YOUR ADVICE HAS BEEN GOOD TILL NOW, BUT WHY?!
Simple:
1) Whats the point of casting fast if you can't kill? See: INT
2) Whats the point of casting fast if you die first? See: VIT
3) No human can react fast enough to stop a 0.67 second cast time under lag. Only when you're under control-click from an assassin or something would the cast time be interrupted. 0.67 is more or less enough, really.
VIT
You need this. As I mentioned, whats the point of casting fast if you die first? Alot of new skills for advanced 2nd jobs have high damage, EG SinX with EDP+sonicblow can easily do 5 digits. If you go for 120/130 dex, your vit will be rather low, unless u skimp on str/int, making your damage low. Refer to INT about damage.
Anyway, you seriously need to hit at least 11k or 12k hp, so i believe 65-75 vit is MINIMUM. If not one blow and you're dead. Not much point casting fast, eh?
INT
Its safe to say 90% of champ/monk players overlook this. The fact is, this is VERY important for champs due to two factors:
1) Assumptio, bane of physical attacks and Asura. cuts damage down by 1/4, which is ALOT.
2) Lord Knights have ALOT of hp, around 22k average without buffs (Pecopeco armor, etc). Combine this with Assumptio, its gonna be hard, since high priests and lord knights are common. If your asura can't kill a Lord Knight with Assumptio, throw away your champ, since Lord Knights make up possibly the biggest population of advanced 2nd jobs in any server, just as knights do/did.
So how much int? I say around 60 or so. Assuming the lord knight has 25k hp (just take the bigger value), you need an asura of 62k to kill him. that means an int of around 60, with full sp gear. Isn't that bad? Well, if he has Assumptio, you aint gonna kill him since you will need 120k damage then.
However, assuming he does have a priest, you should have someone else with you as well, be it a priest (Lex cancels assumptio basically, doubling and then halving the damage is the same thing), or a sage (take away those buffs! ). Simply put, even with a priest or sage by your side, your asura must still be able to take out his hp.
AGI
Agi whore combo champs would want this, otherwise skip.
LUK
Crit champs? Maybe. Asura monks might want 10 just for the sake of asura damage if you have the extra points lying around. Otherwise, again, skip.
Skills:
For effects of these skills, refer to Akemi's guide.
Dangerous Soul Collect
To many (esp. asura monks), this is the only reason to change to champ, not including the hp/sp boost. The ability to cast 5 spheres at once with no side effect (for now) is simply amazing. However, it is important to note that this skill IS INERRUPTABLE, so it doesnt make casting spirit spheres one-by-one totally obsolete.
This skill alone boosts the usability, and execution speed of many skills, namely skills like OI, MSS, and of course, asura. Under tight situations, for a dasher monk, you can cast one sphere if you are under attack, dash away, cast DSC, crit. explosion, DSC, ASURA. its very fast at 100-110 dex. Heck for current asura dashers we still make it by having to cast 10 spheres, whats so hard about doing it with only casting 3 spheres*?
*3 spheres= 1 to dash away, 2 for DSC which has the same cast time as casting 1 sphere
Palm Push Strike
Perhaps the 2nd most usable skill. Technically its spammable, but it does push ppl back. Similiar to the post-nerf backstab skill of rogues, if you can get an opponent up onto a wall, its almost a mammonite, without the 1000z requirement but with 50% less damage.
It also pushes the opponent back by 3 cells, not far, but for those with rediculously fast cast times, you can push the opponent back and slam in an asura within that timeframe. Apparently can also push people out of safety wall, so thats definately a plus.
I have noticed, however, even though this is a melee skill, its blocked by pneuma.......
Tiger Knuckle
Crappy move IMO, sure it stuns, but its damage is relatively low. To make matters worse, you need to perform the 1st three chains of the combo to activate this. Only for combo champs, leave it out otherwise.
Chain Crush Combo
The most questionable skill out there, not in its usability, but in its effect. If you read the description of the skill (ref: Akemi's guide, kRO website, mRO website) its easy to think that it does 300%x5 attacks, due to its spirit sphere requirement, high prerequisites, and rediculous sp consumption.
However, according to several mRO players, this skill seriously only does 300% damage, not 300%x5. Basically, a single lvl 10 triple blow that costs a chunk of sp. If it is seriously 300% only, there is no point in even getting this skill, unless you are a combo monk with nothing else to learn, or just want to have every combo out there
Conclusion:
From what I can see, as for now champions are far from being a top-tier character, unlike monks. Unfortunate as it may seem, champs dont get any truly useful skill other than dangerous soul collect, and asura's damage, great as it may seem, pales in comparison to a Lord Knight's hp and the defence of an Assumptio. While this doesnt mean champs are weak, or one of the weakest, I think Grav. should bring out a few new skills, such as the rumoured OI-asura hybrid, to put champs back on top, where they belong.
No comments:
Post a Comment