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Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide

2026-04-25T02:07:23Z

LEAFIARA:

{{player-guide
|title = The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide
|topic = Combat, Monks, Training
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-06-19
|updated = 2026-02-26
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind, in loving memory of '''[[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 26, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Introduction: How to Use This Guide==

This guide is for all magical monks from 0 exp to 55,000,000! (What do I mean by a magical monk? One not using [[Kroderine Soul]]. Somebody else will have to write that guide!) I'll go over monks' strengths, weaknesses, other unique qualities, things to consider, others' perspectives that I hear about, training plans, and so on.

'''This guide is exhaustive within its scope''', or at least it can be.

* If you want an exhaustive guide, read through it in order.
* If you want the opposite of an exhaustive guide, jump to the "tl;dr Recap: Cookie Cutter" section at the end.
* If you're not sure whether you want an exhaustive guide, read the "Why Play a Monk" section to see if monks sound cool, then jump to the Cookie Cutter section at the end, then read the rest if you're intrigued afterward. The Cookie Cutter section provides an overview of ''what'' to do and gives a small window into what the rest of the guide covers, which is ''why'' to do it.

I've made each section collapsible for easy navigation, but I try to scatter nuggets of wisdom for all experience levels all throughout!

Speaking of experience, what's mine? I capped my monk Tarine before the combat modernizations of 2020 and 2021, helped Saraphenia with her training (both on paper and as a hunting duo) from level 43 to about 9 million exp between 2022 and April 2024, and I'm now working on my monk Sariara, who filled in my knowledge gap before level 43 in the modern world.

Speaking of Saraphenia, who created many monks and enjoyed them more than any other profession, I think of this guide like our joint project. She would have had the passion and interest to create it, but not the knowledge and time. I have the knowledge and time, but wouldn't have had the passion or interest--at least on my own. When I say I've written this guide in loving memory, I truly mean it. If even a few more players find monks even half as exciting as Phenia did because of what they read here, I'll call it a job well done!

No further ado. Let's get on with it!

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay mw-customtoggle-creation mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat mw-customtoggle-skillsplan mw-customtoggle-choicesplan mw-customtoggle-progression mw-customtoggle-superpostcap mw-customtoggle-oddsandends mw-customtoggle-faq mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="color:#0000FF">'''(Want to read the entire guide? Click here to uncollapse all sections at once!)'''</div>

==Why Play a Monk or Why Not Play a Monk?==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Pondering the appeal of why to play a monk at all? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-whyplay">

===Unarmed Combat===

Monks specialize at [[Unarmed_combat_system|unarmed combat]] (UC), the most unique form of combat GemStone IV has to offer! It features four primary commands: JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH. Making the most of them revolves primarily around two things:

# "Tiering up," AKA improving positioning from decent to good, then from good to excellent, by sequencing your attacks correctly based on your training and following the combat messaging prompts.
# Improving your [[multiplier modifier]] primarily through things like forcing a creature's stance down or inflicting status conditions.

Unlike the other physical systems based on [[attack strength]] (AS) and [[defensive strength]] (DS), UC's equivalents of [[unarmed attack factor]] (UAF) and [[unarmed defense factor]] (UDF) are joined by a third number worth keeping your eye on, the [[multiplier modifier]] (MM). Another dissimilarity is that while increasing your AS or decreasing enemy DS by the same amount would have the same effect in combat, lowering enemy UDF is multiplicatively better than increasing your UDF. Meanwhile, increasing your MM is possibly even more paramount!

I'll elaborate further during the Unarmed Combat Primer section. For now, know that unarmed combat has a drastically higher floor, albeit also a lower ceiling, than other forms of combat. Monks are much less likely to one-shot anything than their melee counterparts, but monks are also much less likely to have no chance of hitting their foe.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Another standout difference of unarmed combat is that creatures can never outright evade, block, or parry a UC attack. UC attacks can still ''miss'' via low endrolls and there are stray creatures who can still do things like disappear into the shadows to avoid damage, but the latter are rare. If you've played other physical characters and can't stand seeing a creature avoid an attack before it even gets to the roll, try a monk!
</blockquote>

===Gear Indifference===

Monks have extremely low dependence on good gear.

While GSIV is technically balanced around vanilla +20 gear, most people would agree there's a difference between a viable way to play the game and an enjoyable way to play the game. Pure casters are commonly considered the best at remaining enjoyable even with little to nothing spent on good gear. While I do agree, I'd put monks right behind them--and easily ahead of [[warrior]]s, [[rogue]]s, [[paladin]]s, and [[ranger]]s!

Because of the unique qualities of unarmed combat, improvements like [[Enchant (925)|enchanting]], [[Ensorcell (735)|ensorcelling]], [[Sanctify (330)|sanctifying]], or [[weighting]] your offensive gear are much more luxury than necessity. If you're unable or unwilling to spend heavily on a new character, monks are an excellent low investment profession. (And smooth upgrade paths exist if you eventually want them, but more on that later in this guide!)

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

Players have noticed that monks can hunt and succeed in the Hinterwilds, arguably the game's most challenging area, on par with other professions even when monks have a third of the experience points and a tenth of the gear caliber. At that top end of difficult content, I'd say monks are ''the best'' at not depending on gear nor even exp! Much more on that in the Ascension section.
</blockquote>

===Simplicity===

Monks have a very low learning curve, at least by GS standards. This game world has a lot of convoluted training plans, tradeoffs, options, breakpoints, tight training point constraints, and too many desirable skills to train them all, but monks present you with a very straightforward, low pressure profession that it's difficult to get wrong. If you stick to unarmed combat, I'd go so far as ''extremely'' difficult to get wrong.

(If you want to do unusual things that don't involve UC, then read on in Odds and Ends!)

===Fun Factor===

Once monks hit their stride by level 40--maybe even level 30--they're great at screen scroll shenanigans. With the general speed of unarmed combat, its myriad status conditions, free bonus jabs in [[Verb:MSTRIKE|mstrikes]] or free knockdowns in [[Fury]], and plenty of messaging prompts about tiering up or when to [[Spin Kick]], combat can be an engaging and chaotic experience!

Even from a roleplaying perspective, [[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]] is one of the game's coolest tools. It allows you to customize your appearance and save up to three illusionary projections, which is as close as you can get to playing multiple characters in one!

===Might and Magic===

If you long for the raw power of a physical profession like a warrior, but still want the option to use magic in and out of combat even from early levels, monks are for you. The [[Minor Mental]] spell circle is so integral to the monk toolkit that dev had to make provision so even Kroderine Soul monks could still cast spells from level 30 on!

===Downsides or Lack Thereof===

Some players feel that monks are pigeonholed into unarmed combat. I would have agreed before creating this guide, but while writing Odds and Ends, I did a deep dive into the math and now believe a weapon build is absolutely on the table; monks ''can'', if they want, operate like warriors who have more DS (until very far post-cap) but don't wear heavy armor, are better at evading but worse at parrying, have a universal stat bonus from level 50 on but don't have guild skills, and a few other tradeoffs. If your character concept is a lightly armored Dread Pirate type quick on their feet, there's a very real case that a monk can be a better choice than a warrior.

[[Target defense]] (TD) is widely regarded as a monk weakness and was a major discussion point in [[Flimbo's Monk Guide]], which was extensive in its time, but has become outdated after years of major game developments since then. TD certainly is a weakness, but not nearly as much of one now. Monks' offensive toolkit has grown, making it easier than ever to keep enemies under control and stop them from casting at all. Even when creatures do fire off spells, non-Kroderine Soul monks have a new warding defense booster called Dragonscale Skin while Kroderine Soul monks have magic redux and can absorb (negate) an offensive spell once every 30 seconds.

The best I can muster for legitimate monk downsides are that they can't obliterate an entire swarm of creatures in six seconds or less (that's the domain of post-cap bards and wizards) and their profession service needs improvement (but improvement is already planned for the future).
</div></div>

==Character Creation==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-creation" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Need to walk through the creation of your monk? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-creation">

If making a monk sounds intriguing, let's get started!

===Choosing a Race===

From level 50 on, monks arguably have more leeway than any other [[profession]] to be any [[race]] with minimal drawbacks due to [[Perfect Self]] basically eliminating stat deficiencies. Instead of any race being bad at anything, it's more a question of which ones are slightly better at any given thing. I don't think you can go wrong, which I don't say about other professions, so my honest suggestion is to pick whatever sounds interesting.

If you're not sure what's interesting or are torn between options, my ''next'' suggestion is to see if any [[race-specific verbs]] strike your fancy. Even though Shroud of Deception can make your monk ''appear'' like other races, they can't perform (for example) halfling-specific verbs without actually being a halfling. Get the verbs you like!

If verbs don't sound compelling either, then here's how I'd rank monk races mechanically if I really had to:

# '''[[Elf|Elves]]''': What I made my first monk, Tarine. Elves tie with burghal gnomes as the second best race for combined [[Agility]] and [[Dexterity]] ("Agidex"), which means faster mstrikes and assault techniques--the most key parts of the monk arsenal. Elves have no particular disadvantages like height or size, though they're slightly below average on encumbrance.
# '''[[Aelotoi]], [[Dark Elf|Dark Elves]], [[Half-Elf|Half-Elves]], and [[Sylvankind|Sylvans]]''': All of these races tie for third place Agidex and second place in my overall rankings. They can still get to minimum speed attacks, but need a little more [[experience]] or enhancive items than elves, halflings, or gnomes would. They have much more carrying capacity (less encumbrance) than halflings and gnomes, all but aelotoi have more carrying capacity than elves, and none have problems height-wise. Mechanical differences between the four are pretty minimal for monks, but compared to elves as a baseline...
#* Aelotoi have a [[Logic]] bonus, so they gain exp slightly faster (1 per pulse) and [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] are slightly more reliable.
#* Dark elves' [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]] bonuses offer a small amount of defense against elemental and spiritual warding spells.
#* Half-elves have the best carrying capacity of my top five picks. The dwarves and halflings bullet points have more to say about encumbrance.
#* Sylvans' Aura bonus offers a small amount of defense against elemental warding spells. Dark elves are mechanically better at the same thing, but, again, the differences are very minimal in practice.
# '''[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and [[Halfling]]s''': Unlike the above grouping of races that play roughly identically, dwarves and halflings have substantial differences alongside some similarities. The most eye-catching similarity is excellent defense against elemental warding spells, which monks would normally be weak against; dwarves have +30 TD and halflings have +40 TD. Dwarves and halflings do have -10 and -5 Aura bonuses respectively, which also defends against elemental spells, so the real numbers could be considered more like +20 and +35. (Enemy elemental warding spells ''are'' sort of rare, but you might be glad for the benefit when you do run into them.) Their heights require keeping most creatures knocked down or training niche combat maneuvers like [[Acrobat's Leap]] to target heads as a finisher if you're trying to aim, though not all monks do. Dwarves and halflings have Logic bonuses for exp, Vertigo, and Mindwipe purposes. As for the differences...
#* Dwarves are the only race that's both short and slow, ranking second to last in Agidex. Still, if you're okay with slower attacks, then elemental TD remains a rare and valuable selling point. More importantly, dwarves can carry a surprising amount due to huge [[Strength]] and [[Constitution]] bonuses along with identical body weight to dark elves. I rank dwarven monks the best of the slower races. Dwarves also have a slew of amazing verbs!
#* Halflings are the best race for combined Agidex, having the fastest mstrikes and assaults while being about as close as invulnerable to enemy maneuvers as it gets. This alone (never mind also having the elemental TD bonus) is important enough that older versions of this guide used to rank halflings as the second best monk race. However, 2026 changes to average box sizes and drop rates exacerbate halflings' severe [[encumbrance]] issues. The question is your tolerance level for either A) frequently pulling back from hunts to [[locksmith pool|drop off boxes]] or B) buying encumbrance-reducing items like silvery blue potions and [[Blue_feather-shaped_charm|blue feather-shaped charms]]. If you don't mind, then halflings remain a very powerful option. If you do mind, you might want to look elsewhere.
# '''[[Half-krolvin]]''': The fourth best race for Agidex, though there's as much of a speed gap between third best and fourth best as between best and third best. Like dwarves, half-krolvin have a slew of amazing verbs. In pre-2026 versions of this guide, I didn't see much purely mechanical reason to choose a half-krolvin over the previous seven races or gnomes, but things have changed. Their second best carrying capacity helps much more than before. On the flip side, their Logic penalty hurts less in a world with new options in silver or Simucoins for vastly accelerated exp. If you want carrying capacity without sacrificing anything, but also not specializing in anything else, half-krolvin monks are a perfectly good place to be.
# '''[[Forest Gnome]]s and [[Burghal Gnome]]s''': These are in the top 3 and top 2 speed tiers, respectively. Forest gnomes handle encumbrance slightly better than halflings while burghal gnomes handle it even worse than halflings. I give halflings the advantage over gnomes mainly due to their huge elemental TD bonus, but the differences are minor enough that I don't think anyone should sweat it. It just comes down to the same question of whether you can live with the encumbrance issues. If you can, have at it.
# '''[[Giantmen]]''': Giants are the slowest race, but can carry near endless amounts of things without getting encumbered. Encumbrance reduces DS and slows down single-target UC attacks, assault techniques, and AoE techniques--but encumbrance ''doesn't'' slow down mstrikes nor Twin Hammerfists, which are key in the monk arsenal. However, giants are the worst at mstrikes via natural stats. Agidex-boosting enhancives can fix that, but maintaining charges on numerous enhancives can get even more expensive than the small race path of maintaining encumbrance potions, so I personally wouldn't take the trade. Still, there's a reason that some players choose giants near exclusively. If returning to town sounds aggravating or if you want to maximize the amount of time you spend acquiring loot (staying out hunting) instead of exp (ending the hunt as quickly as possible), giants might be for you.
# '''[[Erithian]]s and [[Human]]s''': These are the third slowest races. Erithians and humans have no particular mechanical disadvantages that push them away from being monks, but also no particular advantages that push them toward being monks. Erithians do have excellent verbs that go well with monks roleplaying-wise!

Races from half-krolvin up are close enough that I wouldn't quibble about any of them being seriously better than the others. I understand people's case for giants too, even though they're not my style (I'm okay with returning to town every two or three boxes!), and gnomes are similar enough to halflings. I find erithians and humans really dubious from a mechanical perspective, though. Perfect Self does bring up the low and you can't go wrong, exactly, but Perfect Self also makes the rich richer.

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar!'''

If you're used to playing a halfling or gnome warrior who wears full plate, don't expect your encumbrance life to be similar on a halfling or gnome monk in robes. For one thing, max rank [[Armor Support|armor support]] gives plate armor 35 pounds encumbrance reduction, but gives robes 15 pounds. For another, let's talk about GS' encumbrance paradox!

[[Encumbrance#Armor_Encumbrance_Formula|Base weight (unlightened) armor has no encumbrance while worn]]. Yes, really. 75 pound full plate weighs 75 in your hands and 0 on your body! However, if you lighten full plate down to its minimum 38 pounds, wearing it counts as -37 pounds multiplied by a number that depends on your race. That number is 0.5 for a halfling or burghal gnome and 0.6 for a forest gnome, so, after rounding, max light full plate gives -18 or -22 pounds encumbrance. Robes have a modest base weight of 8 and minimum weight of 4 pounds, so max light robes give -2 pounds encumbrance for halflings or gnomes.

Between armor encumbrance mechanics and armor support, a halfling or gnome in full plate has a 36-40 pound encumbrance advantage over a halfling or gnome monk in robes. Perfect Self will make up some pounds, but not nearly ''that'' much of the gap, so be warned!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar 2, 2026 Edition!'''

I didn't want to bog down the bullet points above by talking too much about encumbrance, which could have taken over the entire race section. In short, as of mid-January 2026, boxes drop a third as often as they used to, so encumbrance kicks in less often, but boxes also contain roughly three times as much as they used to, so once encumbrance does kick in, it kicks in much harder than it used to. You might jump from unencumbered to moderately encumbered in a single box.

It might not be immediately apparent why I consider the loot changes to be impactful enough to move halflings down, half-krolvin up, and gnomes down, but not impactful enough to move giants or humans up. The answer is that the 2026 loot changes are a double-edged sword. While giants and (to a lesser extent) humans can handle the bigger boxes, that doesn't mean their containers can. For example, if you have a conventional "max deep" backpack (no epic deepening that can cost millions of silver) that holds 140 pounds and you find a 45 pound, 55 pound, and 65 pound box, you can't fit all of that inside even if your character can hold it no problem.

Putting it another way, there's a point at which a character's max carrying capacity gets "wasted" because it exceeds the containers' practical limits. I think giants are certainly over that. Humans aren't, necessarily, but carrying capacity can also be "wasted" in a different sense because the boxes themselves are less common. You have to be exactly on a threshold of weight at which you're saving encumbrance, which is a narrow margin in a world where encumbrance increases less incrementally before. In other words, the hit to the small races outweighs the gain to the large races as rankings go.
</blockquote>

===Placing Your Stats===

At level 0, set Strength, Dexterity, and Agility high so you're at your best in combat and setting Logic high so you level faster. This will help power through the early game!

Before level 20, you can change your stats up to five times by checking in at your local inn. At level 20, you're locked in! Because of this finalization, the game stops your exp growth right before level 20 and forces you to confirm that your character is configured the way you want. That's your cue to check in and decide your "real" stat placement!

Here are my recommendations for each race. If you've read Flimbo's older monk guide, a major difference between us is that he was on the side of tanking Influence while I'm on the side of tanking Discipline or Intuition, which I'll explain.

'''The Level 20 Stat Placement Tables!'''

'''Please note: If you're adjusting stats at the inn, set Strength and Agility to 10 lower than the numbers shown here.''' The game automatically adds +10 more to prime stats, which for monks are Strength and Agility. (The website is different. If you're someone who only wants to set stats once at level 0 and be done with it, the numbers below are exactly what you'd enter during character creation.)

'''Tanking Discipline Version (Recommended!)'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||31||82||73||70||82||91
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||43||85||64||62||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||41||82||75||70||82||88
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||31||82||70||70||77||92
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||50||70||73||70||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||20||82||70||69||82||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||33||82||73||70||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||23||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||35||82||75||70||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||37||85||79||70||82||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||53||82||70||70||82||89
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||25||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||43||77||73||70||82||85
|}

'''Tanking Intuition Version'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||59||82||73||41||82||92
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||70||85||62||37||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||68||82||73||44||82||89
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||58||82||70||44||77||91
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||70||70||73||50||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||58||82||71||29||83||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||59||82||73||44||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||62||82||70||32||83||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||68||82||73||39||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||62||85||77||46||83||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||68||82||70||56||82||88
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||62||82||70||35||82||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||70||77||73||43||82||85
|}

My methodology was as follows:

* Set stats to max out at cap.
* Max everything except Discipline or Intuition if possible. If not possible, then take a small number out of either Constitution, Discipline, Influence, or occasionally Logic.
* If all stats have gotten as high as they can get by cap and there are spare points to allocate, then favor the configuration that gives the most mental TPs. If multiple configurations give the same mental TPs, then favor the one with stats that grow most slowly.

If you're wondering what relevant things each stat does, I'll go over them quickly:

* [[Strength]]: Reduced encumbrance. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus.
* [[Constitution]]: Slightly reduced encumbrance. Slightly more max health. +1 crit padding (AS-based attacks only) for every 5 bonus.
* [[Dexterity]]: Reduced [[Roundtime|roundtime]] (RT). Slightly increased maneuver defense. Improves tattooing ability. Adds crit weighting, but only if using melee weapons.
* [[Agility]]: Reduced RT. As much increased maneuver defense as Dexterity and Intuition combined. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus. +0.75 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Discipline]]: +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 TD against mental spells for every 1 bonus. Increased resistance to enemy warcries. Improves tattooing ability.
* [[Aura]]: +1 TD against elemental spells for every 1 bonus. +1 max [[spirit]] for every 10 base stat, rounded up.
* [[Logic]]: +1 exp absorbed per minute per 5 bonus on a node (safe place) or per 7 bonus off a node (e.g. hunting). +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 CS for Minor Mental spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 [[Mana#Base_Mana|starting mana]] for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Intuition]]: Slightly increased maneuver defense. +0.1875 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Wisdom]]: +1 TD against spiritual spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 starting mana for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Influence]]: Increased success for [[Standard success resolution system|Standard Success Resolution]] (SSR) attacks. +1% silver from selling to NPC shops for every 12 bonus.

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #1!'''

While there's endless debate across all professions about whether to set stats for cap or early power, it applies less to monks than others. Perfect Self makes monks good across the board from level 50 on almost regardless of what they do. Single strikes in unarmed combat are also naturally quick and, even at low levels, don't require good Agidex like hard-hitting melee weapons.

Once mstrikes and weapon techniques are a regular part of your monk's arsenal by the early 30s--if not sooner--Agidex does become more important. However, fast races who set stats for cap will be perfectly fine on Agidex due to innate bonuses. For example, at level 30, my monk Sariara had 19 Dexterity bonus and 16 Agility bonus, which is the -2 RT tier. She reached -3 RT by level 33, then -4 RT by level 50 thanks to stat growth and Perfect Self. -5 RT is her peak without enhancives or [[Ascension]] and she reached that at level 84. However, reaching -5 RT only matters for mstrikes and assault techniques, which, despite being very important, aren't the majority of commands in combat.

Overall, in my example, there's a pretty negligible difference between setting stats for cap (-4 RT by level 50) and setting stats for early power (-5 RT by level 50); she only really felt the difference from level 19 to 32. On the flip side, her TD was good from the start (for a monk) since setting stats for cap means that slow-growing stats like Aura and Wisdom start off high.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #2!'''

There's also endless debate across most professions on which stat to tank out of Discipline, Intuition, and Influence. The short answer is Discipline. The long answer requires more detail.

The Discipline wiki page might inadvertently lead you to believe that it's the best of the three because, after all, it contributes to both types of training points and is used for more systems in the game than other stats. However, that's more trivia than useful information. The training points aspect is actually a downside; monks' skill costs ultimately result in mental points being twice as valuable to them as physical points, so purely mental stats like Influence and Intuition ultimately provide more training points than a hybrid stat like Discipline.

As for Discipline being used in a lot of systems, that's true, but it's once again more trivia than useful information. Warcry defense is at least potentially relevant, but many monks will rarely, if ever, interact with it. SSR bonus is a reasonable perk because Voln is the mechanically strongest society (a point that I ''do'' concur with the majority on) and SSR bonus improves the success rate of Symbol of Sleep, arguably Voln's strongest ability, along with a couple of its others. (More on Voln in the next section!) However, Influence also grants SSR bonus.

The main reason that few players of any profession used to tank Discipline was experience. Instant Mind Clearers from login rewards can absorb up to 1000 exp, which means that, to get the full value, you need at least 1000 in your exp pool. This is very doable via bounties, which allow overfilling the exp pool. However, some players avoid bounties, which used to mean that they would need 100 totals in both Discipline and Logic so they could have a max exp pool size of exactly 1000.

That was then. Now, the Wisdom of the Ages perk introduced in 2025 increases your exp pool size by 2 for every month you remain a subscriber. If you're a premium or platinum subscriber, additional changes in 2026 have increased your exp pool size by 200 or 400 for being a subscriber at all. Between that, the Ascension system introduced in 2020 (though that's more aimed at capped characters), and of course Perfect Self, it's far easier than ever to retain the all-important 1000 exp pool even while tanking Discipline.

One aspect of Discipline that ''has'' become slightly more important in past years is mental TD. Enemies casting mental CS spells used to be exceedingly rare (even more than elemental CS spells) and you still virtually never run into it pre-cap, but they've proliferated at cap via creatures in the Sanctum of Scales, the Atoll, the Hinterwilds, and Sailor's Grief. If the trend keeps up, I can reevaluate Discipline in the future. However, for now, monks--at least magical monks using Dragonscale Skin (explained in the Feats section)--have better natural defenses against mental CS spells than any build of any other profession except for a warrior or rogue who has maxed or near-maxed spells, wears full plate, and uses a shield. Even that's debatable since it's assuming the warrior or rogue has infinite exp. Either way, the point is that magical monks have so much less to worry about from enemy mental spells than almost anyone else that tanking Discipline still leaves them ahead.

Still, what if someone is set on maxing Discipline? Maybe they really do want the mental TD, or maybe they don't stay subscribed and don't do bounties. In that case, the question goes to whether to tank Intuition or Influence. The majority usually say tank Influence, but I disagree. As already mentioned, Influence improves Symbol of Sleep and other Voln symbols. It also helps a little bit with Trading bonuses and making extra silver if you can't loot cap without the help of Influence and Trading! (More on that in the Monk Merchants section toward the end.) As a monk, thank to Glamour, you can admittedly max Trading benefit in the end even if you do tank Influence, but that's a post-cap thing and this guide is aimed at everyone.

The main argument for maxing Intuition is that it ekes out a tiny extra chance to dodge enemy maneuvers. That can make sense for pures, but it's much less compelling to monks, who already have extraordinary ability to dodge enemy maneuvers due to high rank caps and low training costs for [[Physical Fitness]] and [[Dodging]] (and low training costs for [[Perception]], for that matter).

To put it into perspective, my capped monk Tarine, who tanked Intuition (because Wisdom of the Ages didn't exist yet), has a -3% chance for a same-level maneuver to hit her in offensive stance and a -18% chance in defensive stance. If she maxed Intuition, those numbers would jump to... -4% and -19%. Not very impressive a difference!

But you might think that a super-capped character is an unfair example, so how about my other monk Sariara when she was level 30? She tanked Intuition, obviously hadn't maxed her stats yet, didn't have Perfect Self, is an aelotoi instead of an elf (a bit worse at avoiding maneuvers), had a little over 1 million experience points instead of 39 million, hadn't sunk [[Ascension]] points into avoiding maneuvers, and only had 2x Physical Fitness, 2x Dodging, 1.1x Combat Maneuvers, and 1x Perception instead of 3x, 3x, 2x, and 2x. For all that, like-level maneuvers still only had a 12% chance to hit her in offensive and a -2% chance in defensive. Improving those numbers doesn't appeal to me like improving the success of the absurdly powerful Symbol of Sleep.

Even assuming that you ''do'' want improved defense, remember that having extra silver from higher Influence lets you pay for better gear and items, which are also their ''own'' paths to improved defense--and often simultaneously to improved offense as well. Ultimately, the Intuition benefit is more narrow than the Influence benefit. That said, the Discipline benefit is even more narrow still. That's my true choice for tank stat.
</blockquote>

===Selecting a Society===

Almost all characters eventually join and master a [[society]] since there are numerous mechanical incentives to do so and none not to. This isn't part of character creation since you can't join a society until level 3, but it can be part of ''character concept'' creation. Also, like I said in stats, Voln makes Influence very relevant, so it's worth considering right away. Which society is right for your monk?

'''[[Council of Light]]''':

Mechanically, this society excels at exactly three things:
* Offering [[Sign of Wracking|way, way more mana]] than other societies (with the possible exception of [[empath]]s in Sunfist)
* Offering slightly more UAF and DS than other societies, as it caps out at 35 instead of 30 (Sunfist) or 26 against the living (Voln, but Voln does get 39 UAF against the undead)
* Being the easiest and fastest to master

Neither mana, UAF, nor DS matter to monks other than in the tiniest regard, so if you're interested in CoL, it's probably either for reasons of ease or for roleplaying reasons like the other two options being a no-go based on their lore.

'''[[Guardians of Sunfist]]''':

This society has a bit more mechanical appeal for monks.

Sunfist's sigils (abilities) consume small amounts of [[mana]] and [[stamina]]. Warriors and rogues need their stamina in droves, so they might find Sunfist tricky to work with or build stamina regeneration enhancives because of it. Monks, on the other hand, can already reduce their stamina costs--including sigils--by 20-35% with their [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] spell! They have more freedom to use Sunfist's powerful short-term buffs like [[Sigil of Major Protection|heavy crit padding]] or [[Sigil of Major Bane|heavy crit weighting]] (against sworn enemies) that other professions might find themselves reserving for emergencies or skipping entirely.

Sunfist also features the best [[Sigil of Focus|TD bonus]] of the societies by a small margin and a surprisingly underrated ability to [[Sigil of Determination|ignore penalties from moderate wounds]] for combat purposes.

Sunfist uniquely offers [[Sigil of Location|access]] to [[warcamp]]s, a type of hunting ground suitable for the level of the characters who enter. It's more or less a means to find private hunting grounds for you and/or your friends whenever you wish! Characters not in Sunfist can accomplish something similar via [[Open Sea Adventures]], which explores the same general concept, but that requires millions of silver to buy in to. Warcamp loot is rather poor, but warcamps remain an appealing aspect of Sunfist and can be a helpful alternative to power through level ranges where you might find traditional hunting grounds unappealing.

Sunfist is certainly not the most common societal choice for monks and arguably not the strongest, but it does open unique options and playstyles well worth considering.

'''[[Order of Voln]]''':

This is widely regarded as the mechanical best society for most or possibly all professions.

Like all professions, monks get extreme utility out of Voln's [[Symbol of Seeking|teleportation to hunting grounds]] and [[Symbol of Return|back from them]], as well as [[Symbol of Dreams|swifter recovery from stat loss]] after being resurrected. In battle, Voln offers a way to [[Symbol of Sleep|put foes to sleep]] and a way to [[Symbol of Submission|force undead foes into an offensive stance]], both of which are even better for unarmed combat than other forms of combat. There's also an [[Symbol of Transcendence|emergency button to go noncorporeal]] and avoid death crits. Voln's attack booster, [[Symbol of Courage]], gives slightly less sheer UAF than the other societies; however, it gives three levels' worth of protection against the undead [[sheer fear]] mechanic, which helps when hunting in areas where you might encounter undead more than ten levels higher.

Voln also features two UC-specific abilities in [[Kai's Strike]] and [[Kai's Smite]]. Kai's Smite is its own UC attack that allows you to temporarily turn noncorporeal [[undead]] corporeal. Inflicting physical wounds on things that normally don't have bodies--and usually wear light armor, if any!--is a powerful draw for brawling monks.

Kai's Strike can be a mixed bag. It treats your hands and feet as blessed even when your UC gear isn't. This used to be immensely valuable when undead creatures completely negated attacks from unblessed gear, making it arguably the top reason for a UC monk to join Voln. These days aren't those days, though. As of a few years ago, undead only have 25% resistance to physical attacks from unblessed gear.

The idea of Kai's Strike is removing the pain point of blessings running out mid-hunt. However, it accomplishes that by acting like you're not wearing your unblessed UC gear at all. That means you ignore undead damage resistance, but also don't benefit from your normal gear properties like flares, scripts, or weighting. That tradeoff is probably still a net win for anyone with basic gear, but I'd say it's a net loss for anyone with at least two flares.

The inability to turn off Kai's Strike after learning it has been an unfortunate side effect of the changes to blessings and undead a few years ago. Still, Voln monks can work around it by filling in with their own [[Symbol of Blessing]] until they can track down a cleric for a [[Bless (304)|real blessing]] that lasts longer, has holy water flares, and stops fast-disappearing undead from vanishing as quickly.

Alternatively, adding a single tier of [[Sanctify (330)|Sanctify]] to your gear overrides Kai's Strike. Sanctify takes off 5% resistance per tier, so you'd get 20% resistance while keeping your flares between blesses. While Kai's Strike is something to be aware of and can be tedious (if you self-bless) or cost a little bit (getting one cast of Sanctify), it's not a dealbreaker.

Overall, Voln offers the greatest diversity of mechanically useful abilities for monks.
</div></div>

==Unarmed Combat Primer==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Still figuring out how unarmed combat works? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-unarmedcombat">

Let's go over the unarmed combat system in more detail! If you're familiar with more conventional melee combat, put that knowledge aside--a great deal of it won't apply and might even interfere with understanding!

===Beginner Basics===

JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH are your tools of the trade. What's the difference? Have a look at this table from the unarmed combat system page.

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style = "background:#DDD; color: blue"
!Attack Type
![[Armor|AG]]
!Cloth
!Leather
!Scale
!Chain
!Plate
!Base [[Roundtime|RT]]
!Min [[Roundtime|RT]]
![[Critical table|Damage Type]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Jab]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.100
|.075
|.060
|.050
|.040
|2
|2
|[[Jab critical table (UCS)|Jab]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Punch]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.275
|.250
|.200
|.170
|.140
|3
|3
|[[Punch critical table (UCS)|Punch]]
|-align=center
|'''[[GRAPPLE (verb)|Grapple]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.250
|.200
|.160
|.120
|.100
|3
|3
|[[Grapple critical table (UCS)|Grapple]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Kick]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.400
|.350
|.300
|.250
|.200
|4
|4
|[[Kick critical table (UCS)|Kick]]
|}

The higher the decimal numbers, the stronger the attack, but the lower the RT numbers, the faster the attack. Summarizing these tables:

* '''Jabs''': Weak, but fast.
* '''Punches''': Moderate speed and moderate power.
* '''Grapples''': Moderate speed and moderate power, but less of the latter than punches.
* '''Kicks''': Powerful, but slow (at least by UC standards).

The use case for punches and kicks seems clear, but why jab when it's so weak and why grapple if punches are the same speed with more strength?

One answer that applies to both jabs and grapples is the defining component of unarmed combat: '''positioning'''. There are three positions: Decent, Good, and Excellent. Going up the ladder drastically increases the power of all four attack types. To improve your monk's position, follow the combat prompts as they appear. Here's an example:

You attempt to jab a mezic!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have '''decent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 210 = 1.161 * MM: 85 + d100: 39 = 137
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Fast slap only reddens the cheek.
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Let's take the cue to grapple:

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

As you can see, the followup was significantly more powerful. That's partly because the endroll is higher, partly because grapples are stronger than jabs, and partly because good positioning is much better than decent positioning. Here's one more example, this time going from good to excellent:

You attempt to '''jab''' a mezic!
You exploit the momentum of your previous strike to make a stronger attack against a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 87 + d100: 51 = 146
... and hit for 15 points of damage!
Blow to kidney!
The mezic is stunned!
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

[2 seconds later...]

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''excellent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 106 + d100: 43 = 158
... and hit for 48 points of damage!
Powerful tug pulls right hip, and leg, free of the socket!
A mezic falls to the ground grasping her mangled right leg!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

This time the jab started at good positioning because of Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in the Martial Stances section), but the followup grapple was still far more powerful. Tiering up is crucial!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Setting highlights can help! Since the text prompt is...

Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup [jab/grapple/kick/punch] attack!

...you can either create four highlights for each individual message or create a highlight for Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup, then four more highlights for jab attack! and the others.
</blockquote>

So, in unarmed combat's '''most basic form''' at the lowest levels, the use cases for each attack type are:

* '''Jabs''': Dig for tier up opportunities to get away from decent positioning or even good positioning as quickly as possible.
* '''Punches''': A half-and-half option during good positioning, in which punches have minor potential to kill, but are also reasonably fast at digging for tier up opportunities toward excellent positioning.
* '''Grapples''': Only when needed to tier up.
* '''Kicks''': Deliver a finishing blow during excellent positioning.

In later levels, things like mstrikes, techniques, and flares will throw generalizations out the window and create far stronger cases for jabs and grapples. We'll get into that later, but first let's keep exploring the basics to lay the foundation.

===UAF, UDF, and MM===

If you're used to GemStone's AS-based attacks, you probably noticed how different the combat messaging looks for unarmed combat. You might also have noticed that my monk Sariara hit a creature with higher UDF than her UAF:

You attempt to grapple a mezic!
You have good positioning against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

Let's look at an even more extreme example that doesn't go as well:

You attempt to grapple a spectral shade!
You have good positioning against a spectral shade.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 357 = 0.683 * MM: 85 + d100: 44 = 102
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
The spectral shade shakes off a weak arm grab.

This is why I say you have to ignore what you know about AS-based combat.

UAF isn't completely irrelevant, but the more important numbers are UDF and the '''multiplier modifier''' (MM). While melee weapons, ranged weapons, and bolts calculate endrolls by subtraction and addition, unarmed combat calculates outcomes by division, multiplication, and addition.

What does that mean in practice? Higher lows and lower highs.

It's rare that a monk outright ''couldn't possibly'' hit an enemy creature. Even in my spectral shade example, improving my MM or getting a higher d100 roll could have easily turned that into a powerful hit. On the flip side, since your UAF gets divided by enemy UDF, increasing your UAF additively (e.g. training more ranks of Brawling) means much less than decreasing enemy UDF by the same amount.

The primary means to decrease enemy UDF and increase your MM are generally the same: reducing your foes' stances and decreasing their EBP ability by reducing stats or inflicting conditions like stunning, immobilizing, or blinding them.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Unlike AS-based melee attacks, UC attacks have the same UAF in offensive or defensive stance. Instead, MM is the number that drops so low in defensive that it can even become negative! This used to occasionally trip up Saraphenia's player, who was used to looking at the first number in a typical AS or CS combat equation. Even when you do know what to look for, MM is deep enough into the visible formula that it's often easier to figure out that you're in the wrong stance because everything's failing to hit; that was how I'd take notice and Leafi would tell Phenia to fix up her stance.

Also unlike AS-based melee attacks, lying down not only doesn't reduce your UAF, but also doesn't even reduce your MM! Jabs, grapples, and punches can all be thrown at full power from the ground, so if you're not paying attention, you could be fighting from your back and not even know it! You'd find out once you tried to throw a kick or use an ability such as Twin Hammerfists or Fury, though. Those can't be done from the ground.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Fun Sidebar!'''

Monks and unarmed combat have existed for almost twelve years, but only a single hunting ground--the Atoll, for capped characters--has dared to release ''enemy creatures'' who use UC attacks. Why? Probably because no attainable UDF number can save you if they get to a high MM against you. UC is a dangerous tool in the hands--and feet--of enemy creatures and players alike!
</blockquote>

===Mstrikes===

As you train Multi-Opponent Combat and Brawling (more on that in the Skills section), you'll eventually be able to use mstrikes or weapon techniques. (I'll refer to these as "techniques" from here on. Despite the name, the brawling "weapon techniques" don't require weapons--unless you're thinking of your monk's hands and feet as weapons!) Mstrikes, assault techniques, and Area of Effect (AoE) techniques are your means to fit more attacks into less time.

Covering mstrikes first!

Mstrikes with no target specified, AKA '''unfocused mstrikes''', can attack two opponents in one command at 5 Multi-Opponent combat ranks, then add more opponents at 15, 35, 60, 100, and 155 MOC ranks. Mstrikes with a target specified, AKA '''focused mstrikes''', can attack a single opponent twice in one command at 30 MOC ranks, then add more attacks at 55, 90, 135, and 190.

For unarmed combat only, mstrikes also throw a bonus jab at enemies when you're at decent positioning against them and attacking them for the first time. Once you're into good positioning, mstrikes either use an attack type that you specify (e.g. MSTRIKE KICK) or, if you have an opportunity to tier up, your mstrike will switch to the appropriate type as needed. At decent positioning, mstrike will always jab (bonus or otherwise) until it finds a tier up.

Mstrikes ''sort of'' have a cooldown after use, which is 15-20 seconds or so (depending on training). When on "cooldown," you ''can'' still mstrike, but they'll consume a good chunk of stamina. (I can't give an exact number because it depends on how many hits are in your mstrike and which attack types are used.) When not on cooldown, mstrikes cost no stamina! Focused and unfocused mstrikes share the same cooldown timer.

Mstrike RT is frontloaded into a single burst and all attacks fire off at once. How much RT depends on the number of attacks and which attack types, but it'll be more attacks per RT than throwing single strikes would have been. However, be aware that it can reach times of 8 seconds or more early in a monk's life, especially if you're a low Agidex race or have made a hard push for high MOC ranks to have more attacks early! As an odd quirk, encumbrance doesn't increase mstrike RT. With high enough Agidex, you can eventually get even the top end of mstrikes down to 5 RT.

===Fury and Clash===

The unarmed combat assault technique is '''[[Fury]]''', which you learn with 25 ranks of Brawling (level 11). It attacks a single foe twice at 10 ranks of MOC, then adds one more attack at 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. There's no bonus jab, however. Like with mstrikes, you can specify an attack type (e.g. WEAPON FURY GRAPPLE) and, at good positioning or better, Fury will do what you said or switch as needed for a tier up. At decent positioning, Fury will only jab until it finds the tier up. Using Fury also grants the monk and their party members a +10 Constitution effect for two minutes after being used, though it's not a major selling point.

The AoE unarmed combat technique is '''[[Clash]]''', which you learn with 50 ranks of Brawling (level 23). It begins with three foes, then adds one more at the same thresholds as Fury: 10, 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. Like Fury, Clash doesn't include a bonus jab. At good positioning or better, it uses your specified UC attack type or switches to the appropriate tier up type; however, since Clash only throws one attack per creature, a tier up opportunity would have needed to exist ''before'' Clash was used. (Fury and mstrikes, on the other hand, can find tier up opportunities ''and'' seize on them within their own self-contained string of attacks.) At decent positioning, Clash can only throw jabs.

Techniques cost a small, flat amount of stamina (15 for Fury and 20 for Clash), then enter a cooldown period of 15-20 seconds or so )(depending on training). Unlike mstrikes, Fury and Clash can't be used while they're on cooldown. They do have separate cooldown timers, so you can alternate between them.

However, you can't alternate mstrikes with Fury and Clash. Using an mstrike locks you out of Fury and Clash for 60 seconds. On the flip side, you ''can'' use an mstrike right after Fury or Clash if needed, but those techniques activate the mstrike cooldown, so it'll cost stamina. All of this is because former GM Naijin, the creator of techniques, didn't intend for players to insert mstrikes into their rotation as a means to dodge around technique cooldowns. For this reason, many players pick whichever they prefer out of mstrikes or assault and AoE weapon techniques and ignore the other. (I use both, though, as I explain in the Training Plan section!)

RT-wise, much like mstrikes, Fury and Clash are difficult to nail down exact numbers on. However, they both seem to have lower max RT (unless encumbered; encumbrance affects techniques) and Fury definitely has lower minimum RT. Fury divides its RT over individual strikes instead of all at once. For example, if Fury has 5 RT worth of attacks, enough MOC to strike three times, and a certain amount of Agidex (again, difficult to pin down an exact amount), it'll execute them as 2 RT, 2 RT, and 1 RT.

Compared to focused mstrikes, Fury's structure has upsides and downsides. One upside is that you'll have less RT overall if the early rounds kill the creature. Another is that if an emergency comes up mid-Fury, you can interrupt your own attack to leave the room, cast a spell, disable a different foe, etc. On the other hand, enemy creatures can ''also'' interrupt your Fury by leaving the room, stunning you mid-Fury, etc. It's also less likely that your target will be dead as soon your command gets sent to the server since attacks don't happen all at once.

===Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick===

The other two UC techniques are '''[[Twin Hammerfists]]''' and '''[[Spin Kick]]''', respectively learned at 10 and 75 ranks of Brawling (level 3 and 36 (or level 35 if you use your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling)). Unlike Fury and Clash, using mstrikes won't lock you out of them.

Twin Hammerfists is an [[Standard_maneuver_roll|Standard Maneuver Roll (SMR)]] style attack and an incredible setup that tries to knock down the foe, put it in RT, stun it, and add the [[Vulnerable]] status condition--all in one technique! At only 2 RT and 7 stamina, it's a staple that can serve monks well from level 4 onward and potentially even for the rest of their lives.

Spin Kick is a reaction technique--a retaliation maneuver--that can kick a foe after your monk evades an attack. It has 2 RT, costs no stamina, and can even be used while in RT, so it can save you in a tough situation. Like Twin Hammerfists, it's an SMR-based attack. Unlike Twin Hammerfists, Spin Kick isn't a setup; it has real killing power if it rolls high. Spin Kick performs best against enemies with poor maneuver defense, like lumbering tanky creatures or magic users, and performs worst against enemies with excellent maneuver defense, like speedy four-legged animals or creatures patterned after warriors.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If highlighting tier up opportunities goes well for you, then You could use this opportunity to Spin Kick! is another message to consider highlighting from level 35-36 on!
</blockquote>

===Beyond Basics: Synchronizing Everything===

So far, I've written this unarmed combat primer as if players have no gear and hunting is universally optimized by killing creatures as quickly as possible. In these contexts, obviously punches and kicks seem great, jabs and grapples might seem like something we do only out of necessity for tiering up, and Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick might seem like more style than substance.

However, players do have gear and sometimes going on the all-out offensive is more likely to get players killed than their enemies, so let's put everything together into a cohesive whole.

Flaring gear gets better the faster the attack--and there are a wide variety of flares available these days! Most people will never reach a double digit number of possible flares per attack (though it is possible), but two to six possible flares per attack are shockingly easy to get hold of these days via the traditional ability slot ("flare slot"), script slot, and some help from clerics, paladins, rogues, or sorcerers in giving holy water/fire, Battle Standards, Poisoncraft, or Ensorcell respectively.

Here's an example of a Twin Hammerfists firing off three flares:

Sariara raises her hands high, laces them together and brings them crashing down towards the crimson angargeist
[SMR result: 316 (Open d100: 89, Bonus: 107)]
Perfectly executed strike to the crimson angargeist's back! It staggers!
The attack exposes a vulnerability in a roiling crimson angargeist's defenses!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps emit a searing bolt of lightning! **
... 20 points of damage!
Hard shot to the crimson angargeist's back sends it drifting forward!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps spray forth a shower of pure water! **
... 60 points of damage!
Incredible strike to the crimson angargeist's back smashes through the chest!
Too bad it melts back together.
Riotous ivory-haloed scarlet energy races along the surface of the handwraps, slender tendrils rising up to coalesce into the ethereal form of a keen-eyed owl.

** Talons extended and wings flared, a keen-eyed ethereal owl dives down with an ear-piercing hoot as a flock of wispy ivory-haloed scarlet owls roil forth in an angry torrent! **

... 30 points of damage!
Strong strike splits the belly open, revealing ghostly organs.
Haggis anyone?

The odds of all three flares coming together is only 0.8%, so this is an outlier that I might only see every one or two hunts, but it's a great illustration because of the particulars.

First of all, this is a level 110 creature, so I did mean it when I said Twin Hammerfists can be good through a monk's entire life. That's the least interesting thing to say here, though.

The flares did 110 damage and would have done 160-210 if I were finished upgrading to holy fire instead of holy water.

Angargeists are non-corporeal undead. Normally Kai's Smite would be extremely helpful since the holy water flare here was strong enough to kill corporeal undead, but with this specific creature, even turning it corporeal doesn't allow for one-shotting it; you have to take out its entire health pool.

2 RT attacks like jabs, Twin Hammerfists, and Spin Kick shine when a high number of possible flares makes both your average attacks and outlier attacks significantly stronger. That much is true whether the creature you're fighting can be crit killed or not. However, since the natural strength of UC is crit killing, the extra damage from flares becomes even more important against those uncrittable creatures.

Speaking of uncrittable creatures or creatures you're otherwise unlikely to get through in just a few commands, another thing not yet covered is that grapples [[Grapple_critical_table_(UCS)|are significantly better at inflicting RT or Slowed status effects]] on foes than punches. This can be really helpful as a means to buy time while tiering up to excellent positioning, sacrificing minor amounts of health damage (compared to punches) in exchange for delaying creature actions.

Here's a more nuanced look at the unarmed combat core attack types than before:

'''Jabs''':
* The fastest repeatable means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Twin Hammerfists is just as fast, but can't hit a foe who's already downed, so it's not repeatable.)
* The fastest means of tiering up with single strikes.
* Poor at excellent positioning since they have no killing power unless you have a high number of flares to fish for.
* Poor as the specified command of a Fury or mstrike since they have little or (usually) no speed advantage over the other commands in that case.

'''Punches''':
* A mix of killing power and speed that makes for the best general purpose good positioning single strike in a vacuum. A high number of flares can bring jabs above them, however.
* The best aimed attack at excellent positioning. I'm not particularly a fan of aimed UC attacks for reasons we'll delve into later, but it is there.
* Poor against uncrittable creatures, where specializing in either speed, power, or disabling is better than being a generalist.
* Poor as the specified command of an unfocused mstrike or Clash since it's unlikely to kill, is much less likely to slow foes down than grapples, and has little to no speed advantage over kicks in that case.

'''Grapples''':
* A mix of disabling power and speed that makes for the best means of stalling out hordes or individual uncrittable creatures that need to be whittled down while still allowing for tier up opportunities. (Twin Hammerfists and some combat maneuvers are more reliable at disabling, but can't help tier up.)
* Good against individual threatening creatures that need to be slowed down.
* Poor at excellent positioning, where disabling has less merit and killing power is more easily achieved with more strength.
* Poor at good positioning against unthreatening creatures since disabling has no merit in that case.

'''Kicks''':
* The best finishing blow at excellent positioning per hit.
* The highest damage output per hit.
* Poor as a means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Used during a Fury or mstrike, however, it can be either almost as fast or exactly as fast as the other commands.)
* Poor at tiering up with single strikes. (Same as above.)

In short, pick the right tool for the right job. They can all be the right tool at times!

===Macros and Aliases===

If you're playing even somewhat manually, I recommend creating [[Lich:Script_Alias|aliases]] (if using [[Lich:Software|Lich]]) or [[Macro|macros]] (if not) for the various unarmed combat attacks. Most specifically:

* Jab
* Grapple
* Punch
* Kick
* Weapon Twinhammer
* Weapon Fury [Grapple/Punch/Kick (depending on your level, training, specialization, and preference)]
* Weapon Spinkick
* Mstrike Grapple
* Mstrike Punch
* Mstrike Kick
* Mstrike Grapple Target
* Mstrike Punch Target
* Mstrike Kick Target

For macros, this just means tying each one you care about to a single key press. You can configure them in Options -> Macros if using [[Wrayth]].

For Lich aliases, I've set mine as jj for jab, gg for grapple, pp for punch, kk for kick, twin for Twin Hammerfists, utf for Fury Grapple (stands for "unarmed technique Fury"), uts for Spin Kick, mg for mstrike grapple, mp for mstrike punch, and mk for mstrike kick. I could create things like an mkt alias for mstrike kick target if I wanted, but in that case I just type out "mk target" or "mk [target noun]."
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Skills==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-skillsplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering how to train your monk's skills? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-skillsplan">

===Core Skills===

These are skills you consistently train with little to no deviation.

* '''[[Brawling]]''': Max every level.
* '''[[Physical Fitness]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more stamina early on.
* '''[[Dodging]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more DS early on.
* '''[[Perception]]''': Once per level.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Before level 20, you can flip your skills around any time and into any configuration. The game will adjust to your new training plan within a few minutes at most. I recommend taking advantage of this early period to experiment and find what you like! The above core skills cost little, so you'll have a lot of leeway to decide what to do with skills mentioned in the following sections.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #1: Combat Maneuvers as Core Skills?'''

Many players would probably consider Combat Maneuvers a core skill. I sort of agree in the sense that I'd say ''roughly'' 1x minimum is mandatory and you'll almost certainly want far more than that early on. However, philosophically, I don't consider CM in the same category as Brawling, Physical Fitness, Dodging, and Perception. All of those are inexpensive and offer noticeable incremental value with every rank, but 2x Combat Maneuvers has more opportunity cost and the skill provides value at discrete breakpoints. That's why it's in the Breakpoint Skills section below!
</blockquote>

===Breakpoint Skills===

Train these skills to specific thresholds because most have little to no merit for the in-between ranks.

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]]''': One rank gives 5 extra DS to barehanded monks, so it can be worth picking up early. Getting additional DS via TWC is slow (+1 per 10 ranks, plus a +10 bump at 0.5x level) and not worth prioritizing until much later, after maxing Dodging.
* '''[[Combat Maneuvers]]''': Train at least 1x--probably much more than that early on--but be intentional and reach benchmarks of Combat Maneuver Points to learn new maneuvers. (Which maneuvers? See the Combat Maneuvers section later or even jump to the tl;dr Recap section!) The UAF bonus from CM ranks isn't that important on its own, so learning new maneuvers is the focus. After getting your core maneuvers, you can push CM to 2x, but it's also reasonable to prioritize other things like getting more spells sooner or getting 3x Dodging sooner, especially if you're going self-spelled. Up to you!
* '''[[Multi-Opponent Combat]]''': Before cap, the good mstriking breakpoints are 5, 15, 30, 35, 55, 60, and ''possibly'' 90 or 100. The good technique breakpoints are 10, 24, 50, and ''possibly'' 100. If you're using mstrikes and techniques, then use both sets of breakpoints. (See the sidebars at the end of this section!)
* '''[[Harness Power]]''': Ten to twenty ranks early will be extremely helpful, giving respectively +60 or +110 mana, but I like waiting until the midgame or late game to go past twenty.
* '''[[Minor Mental]] up to 13 or 16 ranks''': The major early benchmarks are [[Iron Skin (1202)|Iron Skin]] at 2 ranks, [[Foresight (1204)|Foresight]] at 4 ranks, [[Force Projection (1207)|Force Projection]], [[Mindward (1208)|Mindward]] at 8 ranks, [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] at 9 ranks, and the [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] focus spell at 13 ranks. Beyond that, [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] at 14 ranks is good, though I'm not quite as high on it as many players since evasions come before parrying in the order of operations. The [[Focus Barrier (1216)|Focus Barrier]] focus spell is also a good stopping point if you prefer more DS--or at least the option of it--over Mind Over Body's stamina cost reduction. You can ease up on Minor Mental training for a while after the focus spells.
* '''[[Mental Lore, Telepathy|Telepathy]] or [[Mental Lore, Transformation|Transformation]] lore''': To prioritize more offense, pick up Telepathy lore at thresholds of 6, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for extra stamina cost reduction in Mind Over Body. To prioritize more defense, pick up Transformation lore at thresholds of 5, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for improved resilience in Iron Skin. To prioritize giving others [[Mystic Tattoo]]s, the first 30 to 40 ranks of Telepathy can rocket your skill up. You can also diversify! For more on lores, see the Secret Sauce of Lores section.
* '''[[Climbing]] and [[Swimming]]''': 10 ranks of each suffice for most places before the mid levels. Specific areas can change priorities, like the Icemule mountains or the Landing monastery. You'll generally know if you need more Climbing or Swimming, though. At cap, 60 ranks handle basically everything, but eventually 101 helps when you need to leave a hunting ground while encumbered.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #2: Mstrikes and Techniques are a Contextual Preference!'''

Why anyone would train to account for the mstrike MOC thresholds ''and'' the technique MOC thresholds is a good question since mstrikes lock out Fury and Clash for 60 seconds, but I find value in mstrikes and Fury depending on the situation.

My monk, Sariara, preferred Fury in most hunts while leveling, which mostly feature one-on-one combat. Fury scales up more quickly than focused mstrikes in the early game, firing off two attacks by 10 MOC and three attacks by 24 MOC while focused mstrikes don't even get started until 30 MOC. Fury also has excellent synergy with Grapple Specialization, which I'll discuss in the Offensive Specialization section.

However, Clash is a very weak AoE technique compared to unfocused mstrikes. Mstrikes' bonus jab allows double the number of attacks for the first engagement with the enemy, which means more tier up opportunities and more flare opportunities. During hunts that feature a lot of swarms, she would use focused mstrikes for single targets, even though they're slightly weaker than Fury because of her Grapple Specialization, since that left the unfocused mstrike option open for battling hordes.

Your MOC training plan doesn't need to assume that mstrikes or techniques are either/or!
</blockquote>

===Niche Skills===

Niche isn't a bad thing and several of these skills can be prioritized over breakpoint skills. Just make sure you're training with a plan and a purpose!

* '''[[Spiritual Mana Control]] and [[Mental Mana Control]]''': Harness Power gives much better mana improvement in a vacuum, so leave these alone until the late game ''unless'' you're surrounded by friends or alts who can send mana. In that case, tailor your SMC and MMC for sharing breakpoints. (See the tip below!)
* '''[[First Aid]]''': Helps with skinning and [[Mystic Tattoos]], though only barely in the latter case. I recommend it during the first 19 levels, which you can read about in the Trade Secrets section. From level 20 on, train First Aid if you want skinning bounties and avoid it if you don't.
* '''[[Trading]]''': Monks get immense value out of at least the first 20 ranks, especially in the early game, assuming you can't hit loot cap without it. See the Trade Secrets section!
* '''[[Survival]]''': Helps with skinning, but it's more expensive than First Aid. Slightly reduces duration of stuns, but monks don't get stunned very often. Like First Aid, I recommend it during the first 19 levels. Afterward, train it only if you want to excel at skinning bounties ''and'' have already trained First Aid.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Let's talk mana sharing breakpoints!

5 Spiritual Mana Control shares perfectly with capped [[cleric]]s who have maxed SMC.

7 SMC or Mental Mana Control shares perfectly with capped clerics who only have 2x SMC or capped [[empath]]s and [[sorcerer]]s who maxed the respective mana control.

10 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with capped [[bard]]s, [[paladin]]s, or [[ranger]]s with maxed mana control of that type or capped clerics, empaths, and sorcerers who only have 1x of that mana control.

24 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with anybody else who has 24 or more mana control of that type.

Just remember: 5, 7, 10, 24!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If you're at 24 mana control, consider going to 25! This unlocks [[Multicast|multicasting]], the ability to cast a buff spell twice in one cast. For self-cast spells, that'll take you to full duration in 3 RT instead of 6, which is nice quality of life!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #3: The Skinning Deluxe Special!'''

The [[Adventurer's Guild]] bounty system won't assign skinning bounties unless you have at least half your level in First Aid and Survival combined. For example, a level 20 character with 8 First Aid and 2 Survival is eligible for skinning bounties.

Some players purposely remain below the threshold because skinning bounties have comparatively low exp payouts. Other players lean into training these skills because adding skinning into their pool of bounty types reduces the odds of getting other types like escorts or gems that they might want to avoid.

Experience points paid out by skinning bounties depend on the quality of skins the furrier asks for; in turn, the range of qualities the furrier can ask for depends on your skill. It's a double-edged sword! If you keep your skinning ability low, the furrier will only ask for fair quality skins and it'll be relatively easy to complete, but the exp reward will always be 600. If you heavily push your skinning ability, the furrier can (but won't always) ask for fine or exceptional skins. These pay out 650 or 700 exp, but will be more difficult to complete.

What ''isn't'' a double-edged sword is that the skinning ''bounty point'' payout only depends on the quality and value of the skins sold to the furrier, regardless of what they asked for. The bounty point part of your reward can still be top notch if you sell magnificent skins.
</blockquote>

===Midgame and Later Skills===

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]] at half your level''': After you're finished with 3x Dodging, getting 10 extra DS by bumping TWC from one rank to half your level is a reasonable idea if you're still not feeling hardy enough.
* '''[[Minor Spiritual]] up to 2 or 7 ranks''': I'd ignore this for quite a long time, other than maybe picking up [[Spirit Barrier (102)|Spirit Barrier]] in the midgame. It's very easy to get most Minor Spiritual buffs from the [[Half-elven_invoker|invoker]] if you're a premium subscriber or from other players since so many professions learn it. ([[Lesser Shroud (120)|Lesser Shroud]] is a self-cast-only Minor Spiritual buff, but that's all the way at 20 ranks.) If you don't want to rely on the invoker or others, I'd say learn [[Spirit Warding II (107)|Spirit Warding II]] at 7 ranks somewhere in the midgame, then hold off until the late game.
* '''Minor Mental up to 20 or 25 ranks''': [[Premonition (1220)|Premonition]] gives extra DS at 20 ranks, but, training point-wise, fully maxing Dodging first is more efficient. Other compelling reasons to push Minor Mental are [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and maybe [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] at 19 and 25 ranks, which are CS-based disablers that benefit from training more ranks. You need to find low TD targets, though.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #4: The Spirit Barrier Irony!'''

Like I keep saying, pushing your UAF higher is more luxury than necessity--but that means the opposite is also true! ''Lowering'' your UAF in exchange for increasing your DS via Spirit Barrier isn't nearly as damaging to unarmed combat as for melee weapons. Whether you want to trade UAF for DS depends on your playstyle, preferences, and hunting grounds, but monks aren't like (weapon-using) rangers who would find trading ''AS'' for DS completely untenable. This spell can be worth a second look!
</blockquote>

===Post-Cap Skills===

Eventually you can train everything if you play long enough, but here are some considerations for what to prioritize if or when you reach post-cap.

'''[[Edged Weapons]]''':

There's merit to diversifying your offense eventually! Training edged weapons allows monks to use [[katar]]s, which are fast and powerful melee weapons. While unarmed combat can defeat basically everything and is usually fairly even with or advantaged over weapon-based combat in most situations, that's not universally true. AS-based attacks can blow UAF-based attacks out of the water in scenarios against creatures who can't be crit killed while also having any combination out of very low DS, very high health, and high level, the latter of which makes it harder to tier up. Edged Weapons training also opens up the possibility of using the very powerful [[Hamstring]]. If you want to do this, I highly recommend also maxing Two Weapon Combat.

'''[[Ranged Weapons]]''':

Archery is another possibility for diversifying. Unlike with katars, AS-based ''ranged'' attacks don't necessarily add much when you already know how to use UC, but [[Volley]] is an exceptional crowd control tool that does AoE damage over time. Monks aren't exactly ''poor'' at crowd control--they have a high target limit, [[Bull Rush]], and potentially Vertigo against low TD targets--but adding Volley can really up their game to excel at it.

'''[[Magic Item Use]]''':

Supplementing DS with [[small statue]]s is eventually a good idea for every profession and MIU bolsters their duration. (As a historical note, MIU is also among the most cost-efficient means to improve protection against [[spellburst]] in areas like Old Ta'Faendryl, the Ruined Temple, or the Sanctum of Scales. However, that's largely immaterial these days. [[Spell sever]] has supplanted spellburst in newer capped hunting grounds like the Hinterwilds, Moonsedge Castle, and the Hive--and, although these are technically Ascension grounds aimed at far post-cap characters, monks are able to do well in them long before other professions, including even at fresh cap, due to the unique qualities of unarmed combat.)

'''Minor Spiritual up to 20 or 40 ranks''':

Eventually the spiritual TD from Lesser Shroud will be important, likely closer to cap. It'll become apparent enough when that's the case! Going beyond 20 Minor Spiritual to potentially learn [[Spirit Guide (130)|Spirit Guide]] or [[Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] at 30 or 40 ranks is an option for post-cap monks. My first monk Tarine did learn those two spells, but I'm fairly certain that my second monk Sariara never will. Voln already offers a fine substitute for fogging, Wall of Force isn't what it used to be when it had no cooldown, and having fewer spell ranks means more redux.

'''Minor Mental up to 48 or 50 ranks (or beyond)''':

Working on Minor Mental is primarily for slightly improving DS, slightly improving mental TD, and improving mental CS if you cast Vertigo or even [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] and [[Thought Lash (1210)|Thought Lash]]. 48 Minor Mental ranks max out defensive benefits from Minor Mental spells. 50 ranks unlocks a few fancy Shroud of Deception options. Pushing beyond 50 would mainly be for the CS spells if you really like them, but they're more for hunting things like bandits and pirates or just messing around than for casting in "real" hunting grounds.

<blockquote>
'''Redux Sidenote!'''

Even if you do want 50 Minor Spiritual and 40 Minor Mental, you can still reach 25% redux--a great threshold--by training a second weapon type and maxing Physical Fitness and Dodging.
</blockquote>

For the extreme post-cap, namely training Ascension skills, see the Ascension section toward the end of this guide. [[Transcend Destiny]] in particular, which released a few months after the first iteration of this guide, can be a gamechanger for players who put in enough hours to potentially make use of it. I'll elaborate further there.

===Secret Sauce of Lores===

This section contains tables to visualize lore thresholds.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Telepathy Ranks'''||0||6||'''15'''||'''30'''||80||150
|-
||'''Mind Over Body Stamina Reduction'''||20%||25%||'''30%'''||'''35%'''||40%||45%
|}

'''Green''': The 30% and 35% marks are good stopping points for most monks! Consider this: if an ability normally costs 20 stamina, then another 5% reduction only saves 1 stamina.

Aside from Mind Over Body, a couple of Telepathy's more minor claims to fame for monks include:

* 25 ranks allow [[Soothing Word (1201)|Soothing Word]] to remove sheer fear and grant 30 seconds of immunity to it
* 15, 45, and 90 ranks improve the spawn rate of [[Provoke (1235)|Provoke]]

You can work around sheer fear in other ways by being in Voln or getting your robes sanctified, but the Soothing Word option exists.

Provoke is an interesting niche, but not a major selling point in my eyes. Training 35 Minor Mental ranks asks a ton pre-cap and Provoke becomes less effective the more people are hunting in an area. Most capped hunting grounds are either very crowded, so Provoke does little, or they're not crowded because they're extremely dangerous, which makes Provoke a bad idea.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Iron Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 2'''||'''Level 5'''||'''Level 15'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||'''Full leather'''||'''Reinforced leather'''||Double leather||Leather breastplate||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather
|-
||5 Transformation||||Double leather||'''Leather breastplate'''||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine
|-
||15 Transformation||||||Cuirbouilli leather||'''Studded leather'''||'''Brigandine'''||'''Chain mail'''
|-
||30 Transformation||||||||Brigandine||'''Chain mail'''||'''Double chain'''
|-
||50 Transformation||||||||||Double chain||Augmented chain
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||||||||Chain hauberk
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||||||||Metal breastplate
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||||||||Augmented breastplate
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||||||||Half plate
|}

'''Blue''': You'll need heavy help from enhancives and/or Ascension to reach 105 or more Transformation lore. (If you can do it, it ''is'' amazing and I recommend it highly for a magical monk--I'd consider it less important for a Kroderine Soul monk, who already has enormous redux--but that won't be the majority of my readers.)

'''Pink''': My recommendations for which levels to meet which Iron Skin thresholds if you're undecided. You have more leeway at level 50 on to push lores higher, so I've highlighted two rows each for those, but maxing or near-maxing lores before then has a very heavy training point opportunity cost.

Iron Skin aside, Transformation lore improves [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] and [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] as follows. After the first row, the cells are only filled in if the spell's effect has improved over the previous breakpoint.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||'''Dragonclaw UAF Bonus'''||'''Brace Disarm Rate'''
|-
||0||10||25%
|-
||1||11||
|-
||3||12||27%
|-
||6||13||
|-
||7||||29%
|-
||10||14||
|-
||12||||31%
|-
||15||15||
|-
||18||||33%
|-
||21||16||
|-
||25||||35%
|-
||28||17||
|-
||33||||37%
|-
||36||18||
|-
||42||||39%
|-
||45||19||
|-
||52||||41%
|-
||55||20||
|-
||63||||43%
|-
||66||21||
|-
||75||||45%
|-
||78||22||
|-
||88||||47%
|-
||91||23||
|}

It does continue past there if you wish to use Ascension or enhancives. As ever, slightly increasing UAF doesn't make a huge difference. Brace, on the other hand, can be impactful ''if'' you're getting hit by physical attacks. I wouldn't go out of my way to push Transformation for Brace alone, but if you're already at 15 or 30 ranks for Iron Skin, pushing to 18 or 33 for Brace can be a nice bump for minimal training point costs. 36 is also a great stopping point on Transformation for reasons we'll look at in the Meditation Resistance section.

===Illustrative Training Snapshots===

For illustration and discussion purposes, here's what my most recent monk Sariara has looked like at '''various level thresholds'''--or, in the case of level 30, what she ''should'' have looked like since I was messing around experimenting and pushing beyond the boundaries of reasonability.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Level 20'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 40'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 60'''||'''Level 70'''||'''Level 80'''||'''Level 90'''||'''Level 100 (fresh)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||24||48||74||100||114||134||134||144||144
|-
||'''Brawling'''||44||65||85||105||125||149||165||187||207
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||24||35||55||55||55||55||55||60||100
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||44||64||84||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||44||64||125||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||10||10||10||10||20||20||38||92||101
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||15||15||15||15||15||15||15||15
|-
||'''Perception'''||20||30||40||50||60||72||82||92||101
|-
||'''Climbing'''||10||10||10||20||20||40||40||60||60
|-
||'''Swimming'''||10||10||10||10||10||10||40||0||0
|-
||'''First Aid'''||20||30||20||25||30||35||40||42||42
|-
||'''Trading'''||40||43||42||48||60||72||83||95||167
|-
||'''Minor Spiritual'''||0||0||0||0||3||3||20||20||20
|-
||'''Minor Mental'''||12||13||14||16||20||20||20||20||20
|-
||'''(spare TPs)'''||3/0||86/0||11/0||2/0||34/0||306/128||2/0||192/0||114/0
|}

Let's break down some of the more unusual things you might notice!

I could have done the one rank of '''Two Weapon Combat''' much sooner, but didn't particularly feel the need for the quick DS.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' are definitely where I diverge from most players and you can tell how little I think of any perceived need for maxing them. Like I said, I aimed for specific thresholds. 3 Rolling Krynch Stance and 2 Grapple Specialization at level 20 sufficed to power through the simplest early creatures. Adding 3 Bearhug, 2 Feint, and another rank of Grapple Spec by level 30, then one rank each of Grapple Spec, Bearhug, Feint, and Evade Specialization by level 40, provided new options in the toolkit. Creatures with particularly good UDF made for good Bearhug fodder as an alternate attack method or Feint fodder to drop that UDF if it primarily came from stance instead of spells.

By level 50, Saria started catching up on Combat Maneuvers since she had finished Physical Fitness and Dodging by then, so she finished Bearhug and picked up Combat Mobility. However, by level 60, she'd maxed Evade Specialization and then largely coasted with an average of only 0.75 more Combat Maneuvers ranks per level until cap, picking up 4 Coup de Grace and finishing Grapple Spec. (Not shown in this table--maybe one day!--is that finishing CM ''is'' her second post-cap goal, finally; it's currently at 190 as she approaches 8.6m experience.)

Max '''Brawling''', obviously; I stuck one Ascension Training Point into it at level 25 to have Spin Kick one level in advance.

'''Physical Fitness and Dodging''' are more important than they used to be since spell sever areas are around even by the mid-50s, so I pushed to have them relatively early compared to some monks' training plans. (I actually turned up bounty difficulty and had Saria hunting spell sever by level 45!) The extra stamina and redux didn't hurt either.

I took a little bit of early '''Harness Power''', then slacked off for a while, then finally only began pushing it in the late game as an efficient way to wear more spells in ''spellburst'' hunting grounds, which she started on by level 85 (hence the huge jump from level 80 to 90). This table only shows up to fresh cap, but later in the guide, in the Ascension section, I'll show a "final build" where she drops Harness Power to 40; as she moved out of spellburst areas and into spell sever areas, the extra mana became frivolous.

I started '''First Aid''' relatively high, then it went backwards--but still high enough to get skinning bounties--as she grew out of level ranges with lucrative skins. 42 became the stopping point because it was the final 0.5x mark before level 85, when she moved to a hunting ground that had no skins. She eventually picked it back up post-cap, but the table only shows up to fresh 100.

'''Swimming and Climbing''' are skills that you might not need at fresh cap if you intend to stick to a specific hunting ground for a long time. I dropped Swimming since the Sanctum doesn't have any water and the only swimming in the Hinterwilds can be bypassed with Water Walking or Symbol of Return (among other options), but hunters of the Atoll, Ruined Temple, or Sailor's Grief would want it. Conversely, I kept Climbing because the Sanctum has a pretty tough check, but various other hunting grounds don't. For where Saria's currently at long after the initial publication of this guide, she could actually skip both Swimming and Climbing, but I keep them just in case.

Saria heavily pushed '''Trading''' early on for reasons that I explain in the Sneaky Monk Merchants section, but then let it slow down to more like a 1x pace until cap, when it became her first post-cap goal to finish. (The level where it goes backward a rank is because natural Influence growth had compensated. And later game changes in early 2026 made me untrain Trading entirely, but more on that later in this guide in the Ascension section.) Similar story for '''Minor Mental''', which came out of the gate fast, then inched to 20 at level 60 and stayed there.

Level 30 and 100 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the next '''Multi Opponent Combat''' thresholds while level 70 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the 20 '''Minor Spiritual''' threshold after noticing I could have it at level 76. I ultimately jumped from 3 ranks straight to 20 because I didn't care about any of the in-between spells, so might as well preserve higher redux until then.

If you're interested in a training snapshot far post-cap, see further below in the Ascension section!
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Exclusive Choices==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-choicesplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Looking for information about combat maneuver decisions and their opportunity costs, plus meditation resistance? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-choicesplan">

===Meditation Resistance===

One neat monk perk I haven't mentioned yet is that their [[Verb:MEDITATE#Damage_Resistance|MEDITATE verb]] allows them to gain resistance to one selected damage type! It offers 10% resistance to start, then improves at these thresholds:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||0||1||3||6||10||'''15'''||21||28||'''36'''||45||55||66||78||91
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||10%||12%||14%||16%||18%||'''20%'''||22%||24%||'''26%'''||28%||30%||32%||34%||36%
|}

And if you decide to go ham post-cap with Ascension and enhancives:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||105||120||136||153||171||190
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||38%||40%||42%||44%||46%||48%
|}

I've highlighted 15 and 36 Transformation because 20% and 26% (translation: "25% or more") are extremely notable benchmarks. I ''could'' fully elaborate, but people who aren't Whirlin and me would probably get bored to tears by the rows and charts I'd need to detail the math on the hidden Damage Severity Weighting mechanics, how they translate to GSIV's crit system, and how it relates to order of operations with redux and crit padding.

Suffice it to say this:

Because of rounding and the nature of GSIV crits, it wouldn't be merely ''underestimating'' 20% and 25% resistance to say that they're twice as effective or two and a half times as effective as 10% resistance, but ''completely off base'' by orders of magnitude. The upgrade is huge.

That said, which damage type should you resist? You can change your type any time, but these jump out:

* '''Cold''': Useful for Icemule-based hunting at various levels.
* '''Crush''': A very common damage type, like all physical damage types. Particularly helpful for gigantic creatures that fall on you as they die.
* '''Electrical''': The most lethal damage type, albeit somewhat rare. If you're hunting creatures that use it, though, protect yourself!
* '''Fire''': Useful for Teras Isle, among other specific areas.
* '''Impact''': Great against various rock-themed creatures or shield-using creatures, among some others.
* '''Puncture''': Another common physical damage type. Very deadly if it hits the eyes even on a fairly tame enemy attack, so 20% or 25% resistance will help immensely.
* '''Slash''': The last of the common physical damage types. Probably the least impressive in a vacuum, but it ''is'' very common.

Of course, what you should use depends on the hunting ground. If your monk is in a place where everything spews Acid or uses Disruption spells, then meditate to resist those!

The only damage types I'd generally advocate against are Grapple and Unbalance, which are fairly unique. They cause minimal wounds compared to other damage types, but even weak hits frequently knock you down--and resistance doesn't stop that aspect. Still, if you're in a hunting ground replete with Grapple or Unbalance effects, resisting them might save you rounds of stun, so anything's worth considering in the right context.

===Offensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Grapple Specialization]], [[Kick Specialization]], and [[Punch Specialization]], which each improve their respective attacks, but which is right for you? I'll write about each one as if it's maxed, but during the earliest levels, these ramp up by gaining 20% of their max effectiveness per rank.

'''Grapple Specialization''':

* Deals bonus heavy grapple damage before each round of [[Fury]] against non-prone foes, which knocks them down and inflicts Vulnerable. "Before" is the key word since that means foes are already down as your UAF attack connects, which can improve MM and/or save you time of not needing to lead with Twin Hammerfists.
* Against creatures that are immune to being knocked down, every hit of Fury racks up additional damage since the foe is never prone.
* If you love Fury or hate setups, this could be the specialization for you!
* In a vacuum, grapples aren't ideal when not using Fury nor mstrikes since they have the same speed as punches, but are less likely to have killing power at good positioning than punches or especially kicks.
* Grapple Specialization has little to offer if you exclusively use mstrikes. "Exclusively" is the key word this time. If you use Fury sometimes and mstrikes other times, like me, then Grapple Specialization pays off!

'''Kick Specialization''':

* Turns your [[Spin Kick]] into two Spin Kicks!
* Many a monk has happily shared tales of being stuck in 20 seconds of RT only for [[Combat Mobility]] to stand them up, then they go on to dodge everything and double Spin Kick a room of foes to death before even getting out of RT. It's great fun and can save you in situations where the other two specializations couldn't.
* Kicks are the most powerful of the unarmed combat attacks, but the slowest. However, higher Agidex races can eventually get even MSTRIKE KICK to the same speed as its grapple and punch counterparts, in which case it's flat out the best mstrike option.
* Slower races might be better off with Grapple or Punch Specialization. Those also might be better at lower levels, especially pre-Perfect Self, when mstrikes and Fury haven't become as fast as they'll eventually be and Spin Kick might not even be an option yet (pre-level 35-36).
* While Spin Kick performs exceptionally well against like-level foes, it's not nearly as good against overleveled ones for two reasons: it's less likely to succeed and you're much more incentivized to disable those foes immediately. If they don't attack, you don't evade, so you don't Spin Kick.
* By its nature, Kick Specialization wants you to prioritize improving your UC shoes or footwraps, which is at odds with the fact that UC in general wants you to prioritize improving your UC gloves or handwraps since more of your attacks than not will be hand-based.

'''Punch Specialization''':

* Punches as a base attack are faster than kicks and more powerful than grapples. Jabs remain the ideal for tiering up from decent positioning, but at good positioning, when UC attacks have a chance to kill, punches are arguably the best option.
* Maxed Punch Specialization has a 25% chance to add minor impact damage to each target hit by [[Clash]]. A 25% chance isn't a shining endorsement, though, since maxed Grapple Specialization and Kick Specialization have a 100% chance of adding heavy grapple damage or a second Spin Kick to their respective techniques. The disparity gets exacerbated by Clash being nowhere near as good as unfocused mstrikes.
* Despite the above, the buff to Clash being minor doesn't matter if the monk isn't using Clash anyway. Punch Specialization can shine for lower level characters or slower races if the player prefers mstrikes over weapon techniques, but can't bring MSTRIKE KICK down to the speed of MSTRIKE PUNCH.

<blockquote>
'''Specialization Sidebar: Mstrikes with Specified Attack Types!'''

In case it isn't clear or in case going into math would be helpful...

'''Mstrike kick''' becomes the mechanical best option for high Agidex races at high levels regardless of which specialization you pick. Depending on how armored the foe, kicks are 140-150% as strong as punches and 160-200% as powerful as grapples. That power gap is so big that even if your punches or grapples have a higher MM because you picked Punch or Grapple Specialization, kicks are most likely stronger anyway. Of course, your fast race monk could just train in Kick Specialization for the best of every world!

'''Mstrike punch''' can be the best for lower Agidex races, lower levels, or both. Kicks are stronger hit for hit, but if they're slower because your Agidex isn't up to par, punches can still win overall.

'''Mstrike grapple''' is worse than mstrike punch in a vacuum because the latter has the same speed while packing 110% to 141.67% as much power. Against foes in chain or plate armor, mstrike punch is probably better than grapple even if you trained Grapple Specialization. However, against foes in cloth, leather, or scale armor, the power gap is 110%-125%, so mstrike grapple backed by its specialization can still win out due to the MM bonus and higher tier up chance. Grapples also slow down foes, making them preferable attacks for a balance of offensive and defensive benefits.

In short...

Use mstrike kick if you're a high Agidex race who's at or close to the peak of your Agidex growth.

Use mstrike grapple if either A) you intend to slow down foes to keep your combat relatively safer or B) all of the following apply: you're a moderate Agidex race or a high Agidex race not yet near your peak, you're against foes in armor lighter than chain, and you trained Grapple Specialization, but you're in a situation where you want to mstrike instead of using Fury. (Like, say, unfocused mstrikes.)

Use mstrike punch if neither of the above applies.
</blockquote>

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Kick Specialization is the flashiest and arguably the most fun specialization, and I stand behind MSTRIKE KICK being easily the best mstrike for fast races in a vacuum. However, the Fury technique backed by Grapple Specialization arguably has the highest ceiling. Its high knockdown potential works wonders against higher level creatures who make tiering up difficult. I've been very happy with these two specializations, using Kick for Tarine and Grapple for Sariara (and Grapple for Saraphenia before her).

As for Punch Specialization, I wouldn't honestly recommend it to anybody other than the slowest races. Former GM Naijin designed Grapple and Kick Specialization to have stronger technique-boosting effects than Punch Specialization because punches are the most broadly useful as a standalone attack and he wanted to balance the scales a bit. GemStone rewards being exceptional at something instead of pretty good at everything, but punches fall squarely into the latter category.

If you're training Grapple Specialization, make it your top priority after Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in Martial Stances). Kick Specialization can potentially wait until later in life for Spin Kick at level 35-36, but training early isn't necessarily wrong either.

===Defensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Block Specialization]], [[Evade Specialization]], and [[Parry Specialization]], which improve their respective defenses, but which is right for you? ...well, this one's a lot easier than the last!

'''Block Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to block melee or ranged attacks with a shield. Shields are a bad idea for monks; they're expensive to train, monks can't learn shield skills, and shields significantly decrease their MM.

'''Parry Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to parry melee or ranged attacks--assuming you have [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] active. After parrying, it gives a 25% chance of gaining the [[Counter]] effect, which means your next attack has 1 less RT and costs 25% less stamina (if applicable). This might sound neat until it's compared to...

'''Evade Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to evade melee, ranged, or magical bolt attacks. After evading, it gives a 25% of gaining the [[Evasiveness]] effect, which will automatically avoid the next attack (of any kind, including CS-based or maneuver-based) thrown your way with 100% success. Also, evasion triggers (not Evasiveness triggers) allow [[Spin Kick]] followups.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Even without Kick Specialization, Evade Specialization is the only one that adds offensive power via a defensive specialization. I universally recommend it to all Brawling-oriented monks without exception. (I say "Brawling" because I'm not even limiting this to unarmed combat. Even if you're using brawling ''weapons'' like fist-scythes or katars, you can Spin Kick, so Evade Specialization still wins.)

===Martial Stances===

Monks can technically learn as many martial stances as they have points for, but can only have one active at a time, so most only learn one. Let's review them.

'''[[Duck and Weave]]''':

The most flavorful martial stance.

Gives you a chance to redirect enemy melee attacks that you evade, making enemies hit other enemies in the room.

This is a super cool and fun idea, but not nearly as practical as it might sound since it has to jump through so many hoops: you need to be fighting multiple creatures, they need to be attacking with melee, you need to evade, Duck and Weave needs to trigger, and the redirected attacker's AS and weapon type have to be good enough compared to the defending creature's DS and armor type to do meaningful damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Delightful, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Flurry of Blows]]''':

The screen scrolliest martial stance.

Yo dawg, I heard you like jabs, so I put jabs in your jabs so you can jab while you jab.

When you jab, Flurry of Blows can simultaneously jab other foes in the room. Jabs aren't good on their own, so bringing the best out of this martial stance requires heavy investment. Unless your attacks can potentially fire off at least five damaging flares (...and the current max for a monk is nine while grouped with a [[paladin]] or eight otherwise, but even getting to five requires grouping with a paladin or having high end gear), I wouldn't say it comes close to being worthwhile.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Again, great fun, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Inner Harmony]]''':

The most wasted potential of martial stances.

At rank 1 and 2, it can passively shake off negative spell effects. At rank 3, assuming the stance also removes the effect on demand with a 20 second cooldown. However, the effects you'd most want to remove are exactly the ones you can't because you can't use Inner Harmony while bound or RT-locked. [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]] this definitely isn't!

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I appreciate the idea behind this stance, but it has little to no appeal in practice.

'''[[Rolling Krynch Stance]]''':

Almost surely the best martial stance for UC monks.

This stance gives you a chance of carrying over excellent positioning or good positioning from one foe to the next, which is a massive time savings and power increase. Decent position attacks won't kill unless you have extreme flaring gear or run through a large slew of hits. At good positioning, you at least ''might'' kill creatures via crits and can pretty easily kill them with several hits. At excellent positioning, you can kill creatures via crits even with a pretty light tap.

When I wrote that monks rarely one-shot creatures, that's true in a vacuum, but Rolling Krynch can at least open that door for them.

Bottom line: the less time you spend in decent positioning, the better off you are, and that's what Rolling Krynch offers.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Rolling Krynch is everything a traditional UC monk wants. Make at least the first two ranks your first combat maneuver.

'''[[Slippery Mind]]''':

The most defensive martial stance.

When maxed, this one gives you a 27% chance to avoid CS-based attack spells (assuming you're in robes). If you do avoid a spell, Slippery Mind also has a 75% chance of redirecting it to the caster or a different enemy target. Even if don't avoid the spell, you still have a 27% chance to buff your TD for 15 seconds and possibly save yourself from subsequent attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

This stance is simple, but really good, offering two lines of defense against a monk's biggest weakness while also preserving--and arguably even improving upon--one of the most fun aspects of Duck and Weave. I prefer improving offense to defense, but this is still the second best stance for most monks. I'd say it's the very best for a weapon-wielding monk in robes!

'''[[Stance of the Mongoose]]''':

The most "almost got there" martial stance.

This martial stance lets you automatically retaliate after you parry. Even assuming the most wildly niche builds, like you're running a dual handaxe Kroderine Soul monk with Parry Specialization who wears metal breastplate (and if you're doing that, thank you for making it this far into the guide for reasons I don't understand!), this martial stance takes some agency away from the player by attacking and adding more RT into your combat--3 seconds in this example--when you might not have wanted it.

If you're a more typical unarmed combat monk, the good news is that Stance of the Mongoose's retaliation will only add 1-2 seconds of RT--but the bad news is that that RT is so low because it's always going to jab (and therefore do little damage) unless you currently have a tier up opportunity against that foe, in which case it'll pick the tier up type.

That last bit might sound good--and, truthfully, it ''is'' good when it lines up, but how often does that happen? Unlike the perfect storm Duck and Weave needs, at least maxed Stance of the Mongoose triggers 100% of the time when it's not on its 3 second cooldown. Still, you need to have attacked created a tier up opportunity, you need to not yet have manually seized that opportunity, your attack that created the tier up needs to not have disabled the foe so that it could attack you, it needs to actually attack you and specifically with something you could parry, and you need to parry it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Despite its problems, I think this makes a serious case of being the third best martial stance a UC-oriented monk can learn. That's not necessarily saying much; I'd put it distantly behind Rolling Krynch Stance and Slippery Mind. If you're running a wacky build of a weapon-wielding monk (so no Krynch) in heavy armor (so no Slippery Mind), go with this.

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

I'm not knocking wildly niche monks. Many of my characters who ''aren't'' monks are wildly niche builds like a dual wielding melee cleric in chain mail, a dual wielding paladin, a warrior in robes who casts [[Elemental Wave (410)|e-waves]] with no hindrance, and a maul wizard in leather breastplate. Do whatever you have fun with in this game.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Most characters attack dozens of times more often than enemies attack them. I lean heavily on this fact whenever I'm torn on a choice between offense or defense on any profession. The defensive one will have trouble winning out unless either the defensive gain is immense, the offensive opportunity cost is minimal, or both. (For example, in the right hunting ground, Spirit Barrier has low offensive opportunity cost and ''can'' have immense defensive gain!)

This is one reason I hold Rolling Krynch Stance in so much higher regard than Stance of the Mongoose or even Slippery Mind. Rolling Krynch powers up something that you're doing in combat against every creature you fight and usually several times per creature. Mongoose and Slippery Mind apply to things that the ''creatures'' do--things you're actively trying to prevent them from doing, no less!--and, for that matter, only ''some'' of them do it and only ''some'' of the time.
</blockquote>

'''[[Striking Asp Stance]]''':

The best... uh... PvP martial stance?

[[Verb:QSTRIKE|QSTRIKE]] is an ability available to all professions that lets you consume stamina to reduce the RT of your next attack. Striking Asp reduces that stamina cost for the first single-target qstrike used every minute.

Whoever this stance might be good for--if anyone, because I'm not convinced it's worthwhile in any context other than PvP duels--it's not good for monks. Since Striking Asp only works once per minute, Rolling Krynch is better at Asp's own claim to fame. Even if you use Asp to reduce a 5-second focused mstrike to 1 second, Krynch only needs to save you two jabs' worth of RT per minute. It will almost always do that and more with zero stamina cost instead of Asp's reduced stamina cost.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

No.

===Combat Maneuvers===

I won't go over every combat maneuver, but here are quick takes on the more standout ones.

<blockquote>
'''Quick Reminder!'''

Like with skills, you can flip your trained combat maneuvers around as you wish before level 20. Experiment and find what suits you!
</blockquote>

'''[[Acrobat's Leap]]''':

Useful for short races to make up the height gap.

'''[[Bearhug]]''':

Shockingly good supplement to unarmed combat. UAF attacks can overcome most defenses, but most of the creatures that ''are'' so good at turtling that UC struggles to punch through are casters who get hit easily and hard by combat maneuvers. Bearhug is also a rare case of a maneuver with killing power in its own right. Its damage really depends on the endroll, so I don't necessarily recommend learning it until you can train at least three ranks for decent proficiency. It's also a bit worse for small races, but, since it's an SMR-based attack, even they can dish out tons of damage with the high endrolls achievable by inflicting status effects first.

Speaking of status effects, Bearhug has great synergy with [[Vulnerable]], which speeds up its damage rounds (not its cooldown). Twin Hammerfists inflicts Vulnerable and so does the Grapple Specialization knockdown perk from Fury, so either of those make for a nice one-two if you're already using them!

'''[[Bull Rush]]''':

Bull Rush is another way to inflict Vulnerable and can knock down a whole room of creatures. It does pretty minimal damage, but is a staple monk combat maneuver, filling a niche of controlling the enemy hordes so you can systematically pick them off.

'''[[Burst of Swiftness]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

If your monk is a slow race, you might consider learning Burst anyway to bring your MSTRIKE KICK up to speed--literally! I don't recommend using it until you have at least four ranks since the cooldown is very long before then.

If your monk is a fast race, there's still a use case for Burst, but mostly for obscure builds at the top end; my super-capped elf monk Tarine has Burst of Swiftness exclusively for [[Duskruin Arena]] because it can push her into the vaunted -8 RT tier of 113 or more Agidex bonus, which allows her to do absurd shenanigans with 14 attacks in 4 seconds with Fury and [[Flurry]] while wielding two katars. (Since these are assaults, the attacks are broken up into 1-second rounds of 4, 4, 2, and 2 attacks. By contrast, TWC katar ''mstrikes''' don't get faster than 5 seconds regardless of Agidex.)

'''[[Cheapshots]]''':

I love this suite of disabling skills on rogues and bards, but I don't think unarmed combat-centric monks benefit much despite the wide variety of applications. UC can just power through most things and, for what it can't, Cheapshots won't either since they're all setups--and ones not necessarily better than Twin Hammerfists, at that. Cheapshots can still be worth considering for weapon builds. For UC, I'd rather get Bearhug or Coup de Grace.

'''[[Combat Focus]]''':

I like two or three ranks to slightly shore up TD weaknesses if you can spare the points, but it's not mandatory by any means.

'''[[Combat Mobility]]''':

Easily one of the best and most universal monk maneuvers. Automatically standing up while prone is amazing with Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick and, frankly, even without. 10 Combat Maneuver Points ''are'' a lot, so I recommend building up offense during the early game and possibly even into the midgame. By the level 60s at latest, though, when staying prone for any extended period of time gets real dangerous, most monks will love this.

'''[[Coup de Grace]]''':

A finisher that can insta-kill incapacitated foes at 50% health or less (at max Coup ranks) and provides a 90-second buff to AS/UAF depending how hard you killed them.

The AS/UAF buff isn't what matters (at least for solo UC-oriented monks; it's amazing for weapon-using monks or group hunts). Unarmed combat is riddled with incapacitating effects tacked on to its normal attacks, offering frequent opportunities to deliver the Coup de Grace. Also, even foes that can't be crit killed, like various golems, noncorporeal undead, or oozes are susceptible to Coup's insta-kill, so it's another helpful option in your toolbox.

'''[[Feint]]''':

Even though UAF attacks ''can'' power through turtled creatures, turning that "can" into "most likely" is ideal. Feint is the premier combat maneuver for lowering enemies' stance, decreasing their UDF--often by triple digits even in the fairly early game--and increasing your multiplier modifier.

'''[[Hamstring]]''':

I mention this for the katar builds. Hamstring can only be used with an edged weapon, but it's a devastatingly powerful setup-and-damage maneuver all in one. Two Weapon Combat characters will find it even more exceptional.

'''[[Ki Focus]]''':

Increases the odds of higher tier positioning or a tier up opportunity on your next UC attack. This maneuver's wiki page recommends it if you aren't using Rolling Krynch Stance, but I recommend it even if you are. Ki Focus is another means to more consistently keep the train of good-or-excellent positioning rolling, especially against overleveled foes who would normally be difficult to tier up against.

That said, the stamina cost to use it too often ''is'' real, even with Mind Over Body, so you'll need heavy Physical Fitness training. It's more of a midgame or late game skill to me.

Monks who use only mstrikes might benefit from Ki Focus more than monks who use techniques. Mstrikes don't cost stamina outside their cooldown period, giving more leeway to keep a high stamina cost maneuver in your rotation.

'''[[Surge of Strength]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

I'd consider Surge for halflings and gnomes only. Between Perfect Self and a max rank Surge, they can carry things at least slightly more like an average-sized race. Still, Surge's cooldown is very long before at least rank 4. Even at rank 5, you can only have 75% uptime (a 90 second ability with a 120 second cooldown) unless you're willing to use it while in cooldown, which doubles its already high stamina cost from 30 to 60. Mind Over Body can only do so much to save you from that!
</div></div>

==Further Character Progression==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-progression" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious about feats, meditating, or upgrading your monk's gear later? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-progression">

===Feats===

Monks gain new abilities called Feats at various levels, which are as follows:

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Kroderine Soul]]====

Kroderine Soul is an opt-in feat that I won't cover in detail, but suffice it to say that you gain additional physical [[redux]] (resistance to physical attacks, which is increased by training physically-oriented skills), redux now applies to magical attacks, magical disablers have decreased duration against you, and you have access to the [[Absorb Magic]] and [[Dispel Magic]] abilities.

In exchange, before level 30, you can't learn spells, cast spells, or have spells cast on you other than a few exceptions like [[Floating Disk (511)|disks]], empath healing, and [[Raise Dead (318)|resurrection]]. From level 30 on is a different story, which I'll explain in the level 30 feat section.

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Martial Mastery]]====

After you've maxed one weapon skill (for your level), Martial Mastery grants +1 AS or UAF for every eight total ranks you train in up to two ''additional'' weapon skills. However, the AS/UAF boost is penalized by 5% for every spell you learn beyond five ranks--which means Martial Mastery no longer applies by the time you have 25 total spell ranks. Monks have a way to ignore the first 20 of those spell ranks, but I'll explain that too in the level 30 feat section.

While Martial Mastery is technically learned automatically from level 0, most monks won't make much use of it for a while. Some, like my monk Tarine, will have too many spell ranks to ever make use of it. I'll speak more about that in the Odds and Ends section discussing builds off the beaten path.

====Level 20 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Tattoo]]====

Monks can tattoo themselves or other characters by using a needle and ink from the local [[alchemist]] shop. They can ink from ''[[Stock_tattoo|nearly 1000 different options]]'' from a stock tattoo list! These are called mundane tattoos.

From level 20 on, monks can upgrade a character's existing tattoo--including one for which the monk wasn't the artist--by turning it into a Mystic Tattoo, which makes it enhancive. This is the monk profession service!

For full detail on Mystic Tattoos, see their wiki page. The simplified version is that Mystic Tattoos have five tiers, each requiring more training from the monk and each adding an enhancive of +1 bonus for a stat of the buyer's choice. To empower Mystic Tattoos, monks use 50000, 75000, 100000, 125000, and 150000 Motes of Tranquility (respective to each tier), which they earn via absorbing the equivalent amounts of experience points. Monks can earn up to 50,000 motes per week and save up to 200,000 total for later use. (You can see your totals with the RESOURCE command.)

As profession services go--so I'm comparing Mystic Tattoos to Battle Standards, [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]], [[Covert Arts]], enchanting, ensorcelling, [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]], ranger [[Resist Nature (620)|resistance]], sanctifying, and warrior weighting--this ''can'' be a really high impact one for CS casters, who benefit heavily from boosting Aura or Wisdom. It can also be solid for any character close to specific Agidex thresholds, and some people like simply enhancing Logic to absorb more exp.

Mystic Tattoos are in the midrange of profession service value overall; don't create a monk expecting to start rolling in silver like a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard eventually can (...at least not via tattooing, but more on the silver-making secrets of monks later!), but they'll likely make more from tattooing than non-capped bards, paladins, or rangers, or any level rogues or warriors do from their services. At the time of this writing, empaths make more than monks with their service, but they also have the newest service, so that might be a temporary situation. Either way, GM Estild, the head of dev, has acknowledged that Mystic Tattoos (and warrior weighting) need further improvement at a future point.

<blockquote>
'''Advanced Tattooing Tips!'''

Mystic Tattoos were designed with the intent that a typically trained monk should be able to do a tier 1 at level 20, a tier 2 at level 40, a tier 3 at level 60, a tier 4 at level 80, and a tier 5 at level 100. In practice, I find that many monks are anywhere from 5-15 levels ahead of that schedule--''and'' that's even assuming that you want a 100% success rate unboosted! Here are some options to jump ahead of the curve:

* Use BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS (from [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]) for +10 tattooing skill. (However, since this temporarily increases your max health and max spirit and your tattooing ability gets reduced when those two stats aren't full, you'll need to wait until health and spirit recover after using the boost. Voln members can do this most easily since Symbol of Renewal is one of the game's very few tools to instantly recover spirit.)
* Use BOOST GIFT EONAK (also from daily login rewards) to take the best of two rolls when determining your success. To put that in perspective, a 50% success rate would become 75% with Gift of Eonak active, a 60% success rate would become 84%, a 70% success rate would become 91%, an 80% success rate would become 96%, and a 90% success rate would become 99%.
* Suffusion allows converting your Motes of Tranquility to extra skill bonus on a single tattoo upgrade at a rate of 2000 motes to 1 skill bonus. Since it's a one-off boost and yet requires trading potentially weeks of resource gain, I don't recommend using suffusion for tattooing characters other than your own monk. Even with your own monk, I'd usually just advise patience--but if patience isn't your thing, then trading off a week of resources for five levels or so of skill might appeal to you!
</blockquote>

====Level 25 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Strike]]====

A weird one, to say the least. FEAT MYSTICSTRIKE allows a monk to use a small amount of stamina to infuse their next physical UC or melee attack with an effect that debuffs a foe's defense against warding spells after it lands. While monks do have a few warding spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe, those spells are normally better off as setups--if they're even used at all--than something to set up ''toward''.

====Level 30 Monk Feat - [[Dragonscale Skin]] or [[Mental Acuity]]====

At level 30 (and any time a fixskill is used after that point), monks can decide between these two feats by using FEAT LEARN DRAGONSCALESKIN or FEAT LEARN MENTALACUITY.

'''Dragonscale Skin''' is a straightforward buff that improves monks' Iron Skin spell.

Reviewing the basics of Iron Skin first, it improves a monk's robes to have the defensive power of full leather at bare minimum (level 2) and can get all the way to the durability of half plate on a truly outlandish, mega-capped character with an incredible enhancive set. However, this boost to defensive power only counts for the purposes of taking physical damage. Enter Dragonscale Skin, which makes the armor-mimicking aspect of Iron Skin also reflect itself in CvA (defense against warding spells; basically the same as TD, except done as a number subtracted from the enemy attack instead of added to your defense).

Here's a revised version of the Iron Skin table from the Secret Sauce of Lores section again, now tailored to the context of the CvA boost. The listed benefits are comparing to the baseline of robe CvA ''without'' Dragonscale Skin.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Dragonscale Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||Leather breastplate (10 benefit)||Cuirbouilli leather (11 benefit)||Studded leather (12 benefit)
|-
||5 Transformation||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine (13 benefit)
|-
||15 Transformation||Studded leather||Brigandine||Chain mail (21 benefit)
|-
||30 Transformation||Brigandine||Chain mail||Double chain (22 benefit)
|-
||50 Transformation||||Double chain||Augmented chain (23 benefit)
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||Chain hauberk (24 benefit)
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||Metal breastplate (33 benefit)
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||Augmented breastplate (34 benefit)
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||Half plate (35 benefit)
|}

For illustration's sake, my monk Sariara had leather breastplate caliber robes at level 30, will reach cuirbouilli leather at level 34 or 35, studded leather around level 43-45, brigandine at 50, chain mail likely around 60, and double chain at 75, where she'll pause for a long while. My monk Tarine had a less Transformation-focused build and is only at chain mail caliber even now, but will push to chain hauberk in the near future, then stop at metal breastplate over the very long haul.

To be clear, Dragonscale Skin reduces the odds of getting hit by spells at all and, if the monk does get hit, essentially reduces the endroll result. However, an identical endroll against real chain armor, plate armor, etc. would do significantly less damage than it does against robes.

The alternative to Dragonscale Skin, '''Mental Acuity''', is a much more complex beast. It basically forces redux, Martial Mastery (the level 0 feat), and Kroderine Soul (the other level 0 feat) to act like a monk's first 20 learned Minor Mental spells don't count. However, instead of a monk's first 20 Minor Mental spells costing mana, they cost stamina at twice the mana cost. (Mind Over Body does bring that down, so it won't necessarily be exactly twice.)

The most striking of these exceptions is definitely Kroderine Soul because it creates the unique monk path of continuing to cast spells despite training a feat that prevents their warrior and rogue counterparts--and pre-level-30 monks--from using magic at all. I can see the appeal even though it's not a route I'm interested in.

In practice, the only monks I know who chose Mental Acuity instead of Dragonscale Skin were also using Kroderine Soul. Having spells cost stamina instead of mana is a hefty ask. That said, nothing stops a character from avoiding KS and using Mental Acuity anyway. There ''are'' still reasons to do it. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of redux remains a Mental Acuity benefit even for the non-KS monk. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of Martial Mastery penalty means that a monk trained in three weapon skills could still max out the AS/UAF bonus even while training, for example, 20 Minor Mental spells plus 3-5 ranks of Minor Spiritual.

Are these compelling enough reasons to take Mental Acuity over Dragonscale Skin on a non-KS monk? As far as I can tell, so far the community has said no, but I'll explore that later in Odds and Ends. As for KS monks, Mental Acuity is the only option; Dragonscale Skin does literally nothing for them because KS monks can't cast Iron Skin ''unless'' they have Mental Acuity.

====Level 40 Monk Feat - [[Martial Arts Mastery]]====

Now we're talking! Martial Arts Mastery uniformly adds +10 to the multiplier modifier of your UC attacks, adds a flat +10% tier up chance to your UC attacks, and adds a flat +10% evasion rate (which also helps fire off more Spin Kicks).

If you play an unarmed combat monk through low levels and find yourself wondering when it really gets good, level 40 is the latest possible answer. Before then, something like a brawling warrior in robes might feel at least similar to a monk, albeit with no Rolling Krynch Stance (a huge difference maker, admittedly) and with different training point costs for various skills.

Level 40 draws a line in the sand, though, to establish that unarmed combat ''is'' the monk's wheelhouse because Martial Arts Mastery ''is'' the monk's premier feat. To put it in perspective, Martial Arts Mastery is the equivalent of maxing Grapple Specialization, Kick Specialization, and Punch Specialization all at once, minus the Fury/Spin Kick/Clash perks but plus a new Jab Specialization that no other profession has. And since you'll already have trained one of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization the normal way, now Martial Arts Mastery is like ''double-maxing'' it.

Unleash the power and never look back.

====Level 50 Monk Feat - [[Perfect Self]]====

Perfect Self raises all your stats by +10 (or +5 bonus). That's it! Your monk hits level 50 and great power drops on their head.

Like I've said, there's pretty much no bad monk stat split from level 50 on because of this feat. It's also the driving force behind why even moderately fast races (along the lines of half-elves and aelotoi), never mind the really fast races, have so much potential as monks. If you're using mstrikes and weapon techniques at all, you'll notice the improvement!

===Gear Upgrades: Armor===

Even though fancy gear is more a luxury than a necessity for monks, you might as well upgrade your monk's gear eventually if you enjoy them! But how and in what way?

For armor, I think the answer is to keep it really simple. Most of the expensive armor you can pick up doesn't do all that much for monks. (...at least not magical non-Kroderine Soul monks, the subject of this guide. I assume expensive armor does way more for KS monks who are tanking more hits.)

'''Materials'''

* Rusalkan: A high-end expensive option at 400k soul shards that attempts to knock down up to three enemies if you get hit or evade an attack, boosts UAF and CS for 10 seconds if it does knock any of them down, and grants a 1 second haste effect for various offensive actions. It has a cooldown for 30 seconds. Probably the most powerful armor material overall with an extremely powerful effect, but the expenses are enormous. Some contact-based combat maneuvers like Bull Rush can also trigger rusalkan flares.
* Zelnorn: Uses half of what would be the DS from its enchant as AS (or in monks' case UAF) instead, but doesn't allow flares or a TD boost to go in the ability slot (AKA category B). Players hit creatures more than creatures hit players, so zelnorn can be fantastic for AS-based professions--but most monks aren't AS-based. Improving UAF is fairly irrelevant, not justifying the base cost of 50k bloodscrip in the case of monks. Either flares or increased TD would more greatly benefit monks, making use of the ability slot.

'''Scripts'''

* [[Animalistic Spirit Armor]]? Gives a few minutes of extra stamina regen per hunt and can flare to knock down creatures when you evade, but you're a monk. You already reduce your stamina costs by 35% and you already keep everything knocked down constantly.
* [[Ethereal armor]]? If you happen to have boatloads of ethereal scrip from frequent [[Settlement_of_Reim|Reim]] hunts, then sure, go for it, but a monk isn't screaming for more DS and a flare chance for crit padding.
* [[Forest Armor]]? Monks don't need a tiny boost to UAF and CS.
* [[Ithzir Armor]]? Cool abilities involving healing and emergency escape. 500k bloodscrip cool? Nah.
* [[Mana-Infused Armor]]? Mana, damage padding, crit padding, UAF and CS, and an emergency button to drive creatures out of the room. Not what a monk's seeking.
* [[Parasite Armor]]? It can give a 90 second buff to TD, but it's once every five minutes and costs 150k bloodscrip. Pass.
* [[Sprite Armor]]? Extra DS, maneuver defense, and mana. Nope, not for a monk!
* [[Valence Armor]]? Health, mana, and reactive flares. Skip.
* [[Voln armor]]? Extra DS, sheer fear protection, crit padding, and an emergency escape button. This was once a reasonable value even despite its high cost and the DS and crit padding not being too meaningful for a monk. However, that time has largely passed now that Sanctify and Battle Standard exist so you can get sheer fear protection for cheaper and emergency escape after death instead of before death. You'd have to die several thousand times before the cost of any extra deeds and chrisms outweigh the cost of fully unlocked Voln armor.

'''Defaults'''

So my actual answer to the armor question is:

* Go to playershops and spend 1-5 million silver on robes with either +7 to +9 TD or some cool damage resistance of 20% or more, get them upgraded by wizards, clerics, and sorcerers over time.

Yes, this is what I actually do! +20% acid resistance robes, +8 TD robes, more +8 TD robes, and +7 TD robes are all things that some of my characters wear or have worn in the past. If GMs ever release an armor script that I think is a must-have for monks, I'll come back and update the guide at that point!

===Gear Upgrades: Weapons===

I wrote a [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Choosing_Your_Ideal_Weapon_Script|guide on the topic of scripts]], but unarmed combat has more limited options than other weapon types, so I'll go over the few that I think are worth looking into depending on your budget--plus flourishes, flares, and one material!

'''No script or flourish, just basic elemental flares (especially lightning)''':

This is where I think you should begin if you're uncertain or just dipping your toe in the water.

You can find flaring UC handwear and footwear for under a million silver each at a fair number of events--sometimes even at free events. Basic lightning flaring gear matches the power of off-the-shelf pay event gear. Pay event gear does pull ahead when you double down and stack lightning flares ''on top'' of it, but that means even heavier investment.

Nothing wrong with starting small while you're getting your bearings and saving bigger decisions for later!

'''Dispel flares''' (price range: 30k to 210k bloodscrip):

Dispel flares trigger before a UC attack lands, either dispelling 1-5 randomly chosen buff spells (if the creature has any) or dealing SMR-based disruption damage. If they dispel two spells from different spheres of magic (spiritual, elemental, or mental), they can also deal flux damage.

You might sometimes hear dispel flares cited as even better than lightning flares in a weapon's ability slot, but these days it depends on your exact budget range. If you're using Flare Affinity for 400k bloodscrip or purified zorchar for (at most) 70k bloodscrip, lightning flares come roaring back. Below that mark, dispel makes more of a case for itself because of a few factors:

# High volume of attacks goes very well with pre-resolution flares
# Dispelling a buff to decrease enemy UDF is better than decreasing enemy DS by the same amount
# Against creatures without buffs, the disruption flare can increase MM by injuring and/or stunning a creature

There is a bit of luck to dispelling since many, if not most, creatures with spell buffs have some that don't affect UDF. You can improve your odds by making it 2-dispel or 3-dispel flares, which also greatly increases the odds of flux damage so you can get increased MM even while stunning. Overall, dispel flares with at least two dispel chances are very strong. All that said, the first three dispels cost 30k bloodscrip each while a fourth and fifth cost 50k each if you want to max them out. At most price ranges, alternatives like purified zorchar or Greater Elemental Flares (GEF) are either more bang for your buck or just outright more bang period. I think I'd only recommend dispel flares if you were going for at least three dispels while also stacking greater somnis, which is the current strongest UC material, but also much more expensive than the purified elemental materials or eonake.

'''[[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]] script''' (price range: 10k to 185k bloodscrip):

Incredible variety of flavor messaging makes this script very popular among all professions! For monks, specifically, Revenge Flares are a great unlockable feature that can fire off damaging flares when they evade. On the other hand, the default grapple damage type isn't the best since it's mainly good for knockdowns and monks are very adept at that on their own. My higher exp monk uses Animalistic Spirit gloves and boots with their damage type converted to lightning, but that's an extra expense.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (As a caveat, though, I highly recommend against the Savage Power unlock, which isn't particularly good for any build of any profession, and the Wild Backlash unlock, which is excellent for some professions but not all that useful for monks. Animalistic Fury upgrades can be worth it ''if'' you first change the damage type.)

Overall, this script has been monks' top pick for years for very good reason on the strength of Revenge Flares, messaging, and being one of the only games in town. However, it's been five years since Animalistic Spirit and the creator of Animalistic Spirit, GM Avaluka, has debuted a new script called Phytomorphic Weapons that I think is even better for monks! More on that further below.

'''[[Energy_Weapon/saved_posts|Energy Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 125k bloodscrip):

For unarmed combat, Energy Weapons are only available in the form of ''held'' weapons like a [[cestus]], not handwear and footwear. That's immediately anathema to some people. I'd agree with them when talking about a -10 or -15 MM weapon, but I'm actually not down on the -5 MM held UC weapons like others.

Held UC weapons improve UAF depending on the enchant and improve damage factor at a flat rate depending on the weapon type. The flat rate aspect means the weaker the base attack, like a jab or a grapple against heavier armor, the more noticeable the improvement. On the other hand, held weapons decrease the multiplier modifier and you also lose the use of Brace parrying.

That ''is'' an overall loss in a vacuum for most attack types against most armor types, so the held weapon needs something else significant to compensate. Energy Weapons can do that with supercharged lightning flares, so I do have a cestus and even use it against foes where MM is so high that I can live with the drop. If the margins are close, I don't use it. Easy enough.

The entry point for an Energy Weapon is 10k bloodscrip. The higher unlock tiers aren't very useful to monks, so I called mine a one and done.

<blockquote>
'''Obscure Trivia Sidenote!'''

When you're wearing flaring gloves while also using a flaring held unarmed combat weapon, the flare rate of each item--gloves and weapon--is halved, ending up at the same overall flare rate. So how can I be talking about an Energy Weapon's flares as a perk that helps compensate for the MM drop in any way if that perk is counterbalanced by hurting the flare rate of your gloves?

Well, let's say my Animalistic Spirit gloves still had their default grapple flares, which I don't value highly because unarmed combat keeps foes knocked down anyway. In that case, trading off half of a grapple flare rate to replace it with half of a lightning flare rate is a win.

This logic breaks down as gloves get more upgraded, because then either your tradeoffs aren't as favorable or you're spending currency to upgrade gloves ''and'' a cestus. Still, I stand behind it as at least an ''option'' if your stopping point is a flare and a script flare.
</blockquote>

'''[[Greater elemental flare|Greater Elemental Flares]] script''' (price: 40k bloodscrip):

These are a gold standard of midrange weapon scripts, at least if you'd consider 40k bloodscrip per item "midrange." Triple lightning flares are a pretty crazy thing! However, you do need to track down handwear and footwear that was already flaring or else the prices jump to 55k bloodscrip.

GEF flares are a solid and straightforward one-and-done option, but cheaper alternatives can be more efficient bang for your buck while more expensive alternatives can be more fun.

'''[[Knockout_flare|Knockout Flares]] script and [[Skullcrusher Flares]] flourish''' (price: 100k bloodscrip):

Easily some of the game's best flare messaging and they always hit heads, which can be very deadly, unless the head already has rank 3 wounds. I've used Knockout UC gear on non-monk characters and had a blast with them. One of my favorite moments was the happy accident of channeling Mario with the "You leap up, bringing your pure white sandals down across the head of the human mugger with a sickening thud!" messaging.

That said, Knockout's entry point--and exit point since there are no tiers--is 100k bloodscrip per item, which is a very tall ask for most people. It used to be a lot cheaper in the days of Ebon Gate on Caligos Isle, albeit released in limited quantities via a jackpot system to compensate. If you ''are'' willing to spend to that degree or find somebody who has Knockout gear from older days and is willing to sell, then I say read the wiki page and see if you like the messaging more or less than other options such as Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons. Some people pick Knockout for for their handwear or footwear and a different script for the others.

As for Skullcrusher, see everything I just said about Knockout, because Skullcrusher costs the same and is mechanically identical except that it goes into the flourish slot instead of the script slot. That means you can have the benefits of Knockout (in the form of Skullcrusher) ''and'' Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic if you were willing to pay for it!

'''[[Phytomorphic Weapon Shield|Phytomorphic Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 145k bloodscrip):

Another highly customizable instant hit of a script in the vein of Animalistic Spirit and from the same creator! This one is plant-themed instead of animal-themed and you can customize it yourself via foraging plants. Arboreal Agony is the big selling point of unlockable features here, which makes creatures Disoriented so they'll have difficulty casting spells--which are one of a monk's weak points. The default damage type is disintegrate, which is also broadly useful and can have killing power.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (Like with Animalistic Spirit's Wild Backlash, I'll give the caveat that Phytomorphic's Deciduous Decay is far more useful for AS-based professions than UAF-based professions like most monks. Phytomorphic Putrescence upgrades, on the other hand, don't need you to change the damage type first to get full value, which makes them either better or cheaper than Animalistic Spirit's Animalistic Fury counterpart depending on how you look at it.)

RP-wise, I think there's a very real chance that people will continue to favor Animalistic Spirit going forward. Mechanically, though, I'd say that Arboreal Agony not allowing enemy casters to cast is even better than Animalistic Spirit's Revenge Flares firing off when dodging physical attacks--and not needing to change the base damage type is also a big win.

'''[[Lore Flares]] flourish, specifically Telepathy or Transformation''' (price: 400k bloodcsrip):

At a whopping 400k bloodscrip, this is the top end of pricing for UC-oriented monks, but also the top end of power. While normal flares have a 20% rate, these start at 25%, reach 33% with 36 ranks of the applicable lore, reach 50% with 105 ranks, and reach an absurd and glorious 100% rate with 171 ranks. (171 ranks of a lore for a monk requires both heavy Ascension training ''and'' great enhancives, but hey, I did say this guide was for 0 exp to 55,000,000!) Telepathy Lore Flares deal puncture damage and then damage over time (DoT) afterward that's mostly sheer health damage, but only work against living foes. Transformation Lore Flares have no DoT and randomly deal either slash, crush, or puncture, but their initial hit is weighted to be one crit rank higher.

You probably aren't even reading this guide if you can actually reach 171 ranks of a lore, but for the sake of being informative, Transformation is the clear winner if you get there. Multiple DoTs can't stack on a single creature, so it's more valuable to have a stronger initial hit since you'd be firing off tons of those in a single mstrike or weapon technique. If 105 ranks are more your limit, that's a tougher call. Since your mstrikes include a free jab for the first time you attack a creature, your first unfocused mstrike in a swarmy room with Telepathy Lore Flares would have a 75% chance on each creature of getting a DoT rolling. However, ''focused'' mstrikes still favor Transformation due to DoTs not stacking.

'''Purified [[drakar]], [[gornar]], [[rhimar]], or [[zorchar]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Basically the GEF of materials! These have material-based flares of, respectively, fire, impact (earth), ice, or lightning that are slightly stronger on average than the normal ability slot flares of their unpurified counterparts (and they still have those too), then a 25% chance to fire off a second noticeably stronger flare if the first flare had landed. In short, just like GEF, it's an extra two flare chances.

To my knowledge, handwear and footwear of drakar, gornar, rhimar, and zorchar has never been offered off the shelf, so to get the purified materials, you need to get the unpurified version first by either paying 15k bloodscrip for a lesser transmutation (only available if your handwear and footwear already has the applicable flare type) or 20k bloodscrip for an intermediate transmutation, then an additional 50k bloodscrip to purify.

Like always, more flares are an excellent thing when firing from UC's flurry of free jabs or otherwise quick attacks. An incredible power upgrade if it's within your budget!

'''Purified [[eonake]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Purified eonake has a material flare against undead only, dealing fire damage slightly stronger than normal fire flares while also reducing the enemy's AS by 25 and slowing it down (adding more RT to its combat actions). Reasonable crowd control option if you hunt undead a ton, since your free mstrike jabs will be tossing slow effects all over the place. The purified elemental materials above will generally be stronger than purified eonake for monks, but there are scenarios where that's not always the case. For example, if you're set on dispel flares or just happen to have them from buying someone else's abandoned project weapon, then purified eonake would preserve the dispel flares while a purified elemental metal would require erasing them.

Purified eonake is certainly a cheaper option than somnis or starsong (described below), but shouldn't typically be a default consideration for monks. Everything always depends on the specifics, though, so just double check what you're doing.

'''[[Somnis]] material''' (price range: 100k or 250k bloodscrip bought as-is, or 300k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

Lesser somnis is a 100k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep after it hits while greater somnis is a 250k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep ''before'' it hits. Alternatively, instead of starting with somnis items as the base, you could wait for greater somnis transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 300k bloodscrip.

This powerful effect significantly increases MM for the next hit (or current hit) in most cases! In terms of bang for your buck, somnis is far behind flares, scripts, the Skullcrusher flourish (less so that than the previous two), and purified materials, so there are typically two demographics who should be considering somnis. Both of them should basically treat as no object, but the demographics are either 1) those who can buy greater somnis as the starting point because it could be years before the ability to convert existing weapons to it returns to Duskruin, or 2) those who can wait for years for transmutation to be available and have picked up everything else or almost everything else already, making greater somnis a great final touch to add after exhausting other avenues.

'''[[Vethinye|Starsong, AKA vethinye]] material''' (price range: 100k, 250k, or 400k raikhen bought as-is, or 450k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

A 100k raikhen base cost material that flares disruption. Starsong can be upgraded up to twice for 150k raikhen per upgrade, which can make it flare disruption up to one extra time per upgrade. Fully upgraded, it flares disruption 1 to 3 times; if there's only one creature against the room, all three flares would hit the same creature, but if there's more than one, then additional flares would hit other creatures. Alternatively, instead of starting with starsong items as the base, you could wait for maxed starsong transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 450k bloodscrip.

Overall, starsong is a bit of an outdated material as newer options are simultaneously stronger and cheaper. Neat for extra screen scroll if that's your thing and the AoE is somewhat unique, but being AoE isn't even guaranteed and the price is extremely high for what it is.

<blockquote>
'''Order of Operations Sidebar!'''

If you eventually want it all, you can get it, but there can be a correct order. For example, buying Phytomorphic gear and adding lightning or dispel to it later costs 40k bloodscrip less than buying lightning or dispel flaring gear and adding Phytomorphic to it later. Adding Knockout Flares costs the same 100k bloodscrip regardless of order, but does have a 90k more expensive starting point than Animalistic off the shelf, so it should be done later. Adding Skullcrusher Flares or Lore Flares costs the same 100k or 400k bloodscrip regardless of order.

Buying a base material like somnis or starsong and fully unlocking it costs 50k bloodscrip less than transmuting later, but if you want a script--which you should since a script is stronger than the material--then you break even because it'll cost 50k bloodscrip later to add a script to it. However, transmutation prices assume you want the highest tier of the material at all; if you don't, then starting with the base material is by far superior.

All of this is only talking price without even considering what adding scripts, flares, or flourishes does to gear difficulty. Lightning flares add 100 gear difficulty, but that can be negated with [[Enchant_(925)#Pre-enchanting_Potions|pre-enchanting potions]] (yes, these also work with ensorcelling and sanctifying). Dispel flares add 100 for the first dispel and 50 more for each thereafter. Knockout flares or Skullcrusher Flares add 150. Animalistic Spirit adds 200.

(What does any of that mean? Well, [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|but that's another guide entirely]], but suffice it to say that the higher the numbers get, the higher caliber of clerics, sorcerers, and wizards you'll need to improve them and the more you'll be paying for their services.)
</blockquote>

===Gear Upgrades: Items===

Some types of gear aren't conventional weapons or armor, so let's review a few of those that monks might think about!

'''[[Energy_Wings|Energy Wings]]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

When these got released, they made players (including me) freak out thinking they got priced too inexpensively on accident or something. I think it actually just might be a case of power creep, though--and since I'm listing items in this section in alphabetical order, you'll see why when I talk about other items that were released years earlier!

These wings come in light or dark flavor. Both share a lot in common, namely having some single-target SMR attacks, AoE SMR attacks, evasion buffs (good for Spin Kick), and Evasiveness buffs (outright avoiding the next incoming attack), but the primary differences are that the light wings can ignore height restrictions for 30 seconds every 90 seconds (so 33% of the time) while the dark wings have additional poison or disease effects on their attacks. If you regularly hunt in groups, the light wings also have a big group buff of DS, TD, and crit padding for 30 seconds every 30 minutes while the dark wings have a smaller scale but longer duration and shorter cooldown group buff of damage padding, health regen, and max health for 60 seconds every 15 minutes.

The general player consensus seems to be that the light wings are much better, which I can agree with if and only if you're regularly aiming for the heads of large creatures you couldn't otherwise hit. Energy Wings are a mere fraction of the price of what it used to cost to be able to hit heads, which was a huge part of the sticker shock. Monks are already really talented at knocking creatures down, but the light wings could save you some setup time if your playstyle is more about targeted single strikes than a flurry of attacks via mstrikes or Fury.

If you're ''not'' regularly aiming at large creatures, then I'd say it's closer than people believe. I'd side with the light wings on T1 and T2 attacks, but with the dark wings for the T3 attack. It's pretty close on all fronts, though, so picking a wing type based on roleplay makes perfect sense! And having new AoE attacks at all is an excellent thing for monks, who are somewhat lacking in that department from their own toolkit.

I also don't want to undersell the evasion buffs. If you're a Kick Specialization monk, that's an especially killer benefit for you, but even if not, +15% evasion (or even +10% on T2 or +5% on T1) is a serious upgrade against incoming physical attacks! I don't know which is the icing and which is the cake, but the evasion benefit and new AoE attacks combine to make either version of Energy Wings a tremendous pickup for monks. Just don't neglect more fundamental things like scripts on your handwear and footwear, but once you're done establishing a fine gear baseline, look into these wings!

'''[[Essence_Belt|Essence belts]]''' (price range: 25k to 100k bloodscrip):

Magical belts that you charge up with essences (found from either looting elemental creatures or buying from the tables of alchemy shops that get stocked up by other people looting and selling them) for various effects depending on exactly which essence. I'm not covering most of those effects because they're more or less immaterial to monks due to short duration, long cooldown, or both. What's not immaterial is that essence belts also add reactive flares that can go off whenever creatures hit you (with no cooldown), stacking additional protection against battles going south. It's a good benefit if you absolutely can't stand dying and have a lot of bloodscrip to spare! For everyone else, improving your armor with padding or flares (if not going the +TD armor route in flares' case) is certainly a cheaper option to start with.

'''[[Hand-held_Pylon|Hand pylons]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

Basically an arm--mounted Mega Man energy cannon! Like essence belts, you charge this up with essences and it blasts away with magical power on a 2-minute cooldown. If you upgrade to at least tier 3 (30k bloodscrip), this will one-shot just about anything in the game... but that's ''if'' you have at least 1x Magic Item Use or have disabled something. The trouble is that if you're already disabled a creature, then you can generally just kill it with your own attacks, so hand pylons are much better with someone who already has MIU and doesn't need to set up first. If you don't have MIU--and, on a monk, you probably don't--then this might not be the item for you. That said, when Duskruin's open in the live game, it's frequently also open on the test server and allows buying things for free to test with. So give hand pylons a try when you can and see if you like them!

===Profession Service Priorities===

Silver does no good unless it's spent ''somewhere'', so if you're going budget on buying gear or just have a money surplus in need of a home, how about looking into profession services?

====Battle Standards (the [[Battle Standard (1620)|paladin service]])====

If there's only one service I'd recommend for a monk, it's Battle Standards. From the third tier on, Battle Standards add offensive flares to your attacks. (The flare rate goes up at the fourth and fifth tiers.)

As a general rule, offensive flares are better the more attacks per minute you use on average. This pairs extremely well with unarmed combat (especially mstriking due to bonus jabs, but even Fury) because its myriad low RT abilities churn out attacks more quickly than anything other than high level wizards, high level bards, and high level Two Weapon Combat builds. Even while you're only throwing jabs and fishing for tier up opportunities, a Battle Standard flare can sneak in and potentially kill a creature. Usually it won't, but even a lighter hit might stun a creature--and stunning increases UC's most important offense-boosting number, MM, making every following attack better. Additionally, you can select from a wide variety of [[Holy_critical|choices for flare type]] based on which Arkati or spirit the Battle Standard is aligned with, which you can set at [[Holy_places|any shrine]] for the Arkati or spirit you want.

Fourth tier and up Battle Standards also offer a short-term buff where every attack you do for 30 seconds is ''guaranteed'' to flare. This is a burst of fun, chaotic, powerful mayhem, especially in any area that's even moderately swarmy! There's a 30-minute cooldown at the fourth tier and a 15-minute cooldown at the fifth tier, so you can use it once every two hunts or once every hunt, respectively.

Battle Standards have a few other perks, but these are the main ones making them so good for monks.

Battle Standards have charges and periodically need recharging, which will cost you. I don't believe we have hard confirmation on how the charges drain, but ''if'' (if!) it's identical to Lucky Items, charges drain depending on the amount of time you spend in combat. If so, that would be another factor making it even better for UC monks than most professions or builds due to sheer volume of attacks per minute.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get a Battle Standard and love it. Even in the worst case, if you end up not loving it, you can sell it to someone else since it unattunes from you 30 days after your first use.

====Bloodstone Jewelry (the [[Bloodsmith (1135)|empath service]])====

Fully upgraded Bloodstone Jewelry increases max health/mana/stamina by 100/50/25, increases regeneration for health/mana/stamina by 20/10/5, and adds 1-5 extra health damage (only health damage) to all attacks. After every 50 health damage it deals, the next attack inflicts Major Bleed. It also has an activated ability to quickly regen health/mana/stamina 100%/50%/25% over 10 seconds with a 30 minute cooldown. It also has another more unusual activated ability to temporarily move your wounds off of you and into the jewelry; however, the wounds come back after 10 minutes and there's a 30 minute cooldown on this ability too. The idea is sort of a quick fix mid-hunt and then you'll need two rounds of healing afterward.

The temporary healing is difficult to advise on because its value heavily depends on how much risk you take in hunting. That benefit is about knowing yourself well enough to know if you'll like it or not. Same goes for more max health; I see the value for small races roughly doubling their health, but otherwise don't consider it particularly valuable. However, opinions vary widely. As for max stamina, monks already have Mind Over Body--but, even if they didn't, you can shore up stamina far more cheaply with conventional regen enhancives than with Bloodstone Jewelry.

As for everything else, the value for a monk--at least a magical monk--is like a mishmash of weaker Battle Standards and weaker Ensorcell. Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell both offer stamina regeneration, which is a great in a vacuum, but Ensorcell's version of stamina regeneration is a flare chance (which is effective with frequent UC attacks) instead of a per minute effect and never requires paying again for recharging. There is something to be said for having both Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell since Ensorcell usually won't restore stamina unless your health is full and Bloodstone Jewelry helps keep your health full--but, then again, just having herbs or using society abilities could also keep your health full.

Extra health damage, on the other hand, is a reasonable selling point. While it can't stun or crit kill like a Battle Standard flare, it does affect every attack instead of 20% of attacks--and 1-5 damage might not sound like a lot, but when it's every attack, it does matter. On average, you'll get the Major Bleed effect after every 16.67 attacks, which is decently powerful in its own right. All that said, Bloodstone Jewelry doesn't add extra damage until its fifth and final tier, so you'd probably be paying a premium to get it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Either go all the way with this service or pass on it unless someone's offering a steal. I wouldn't call this a particularly monk-oriented service unless you're a Kroderine Soul build or a small race.

(Since this is alphabetically the first service I'm recommending against, I'll clarify that that doesn't mean it's a bad service; even Enchant isn't particularly great for monks, as we'll see later, and that's a classic service. I'm simply saying that, when you're reading a monk guide because you're making a monk, don't view this service through the lens of playing your warrior, your semi, or your Sunfist pure, who would all make better use of more of the Bloodstone Jewelry perks.)

====[[Covert Arts]] (the rogue service)====

Covert Arts are the most jack of all trades service, being sort of split into five mini-services each with five tiers of their own. Like most other non-gear-based profession services, they run on a charge-based system and eventually need recharging.

Sidestep helps defend against AoE maneuvers, increases evasion, and helps defend against maneuvers regardless of being AoE or single target. Keen Eye finds children for bounties, helps defend against maneuvers even more, and helps defend against ambushes. Escape Artist helps avoid bandit traps, reduces Force on Force pushdown, and reduces the duration of [[Rooted]] status. Swift Recovery decreases the RT of searches (e.g. for heirlooms or pulling bandits out of hiding), increases health regeneration, and reduces the duration of Stagger.

Poisoncraft allows applying various poisons to your gear. Poison on armor can inflict various status effects as reactive flares: [[Calmed]], [[Dazed]], [[Slowed]], [[Disoriented]], or [[Clumsy]]. Poison on offensive gear can flare to either deal any of the previously mentioned status effects, deal extra health damage, apply [[Crippled]], or apply [[Major Poison]].

But how good is any of this for monks? Most Covert Arts perks only make monks marginally better at things they're already amazing at. (By contrast, casters see good benefit from things like FOF defense and the myriad bonuses to maneuver defense unless already far post-cap.) Escape Artist does seem reasonable to me for monks who frequently hunt bandits, since traps and Rooted can really mess with unarmed combat by preventing kicks.

Poisoncraft, on the other hand, provides flares, which should seem great if you just read about Battle Standards! However, some caveats do bear mentioning. The biggest is that, unlike with Battle Standards, jabs don't flare with Poisoncraft. Poisons don't affect the undead. Poisons offer a more narrow variety of damage types; they do offer a much wider variety of disabling effects, but monks aren't lacking for those in their base toolkit. Overall, Battle Standards are much better, but the fact remains that any kind of flare is still powerful with unarmed combat in a vacuum--even if jabs are disallowed. The question is whether you have the funds for both services.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

It's worth learning at least Poisoncraft even though the other Covert Arts don't do much for monks. Recharging Poisoncraft isn't much cheaper--if any cheaper--than learning more Arts and learning them ''also'' recharges, so once you're in for Poisoncraft, you might as well slowly pick up the others over time as recharging needs come up.

====Enchanting (the [[Enchant (925)|wizard service]])====

Enchanting offensive gear improves UAF (or AS if you're using a weapon) while enchanting armor improves DS.

UAF offers minimal help for all the reasons described in the Unarmed Combat Primer. DS is more compelling, especially once you're hunting areas with the [[spell sever]] mechanic. Monks have the game's cheapest training costs for Dodging, so they have very good DS throughout their lives, but not untouchable since they ''are'' regularly in offensive stance. I don't go hard on improving monk DS, but it can't hurt either.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Bring your robes up to +30. It gets expensive afterward, but +35 is a fine long-term goal too when you have silver lying around! Poke away at improving your UC gear if you find a great deal, but improving it doesn't matter much otherwise.

====Ensorcelling (the [[Ensorcell (735)|sorcerer service]])====

Ensorcelling armor improves CvA and enemy spells are a weak point, so I'd say your long term plan should include this. However, get most or all of your sanctification done first since ensorcelling adds much more gear difficulty than sanctifying. (For much more on the intricacies of gear difficulty and order of operations for upgrading gear, see [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|my service guide]]! For our purposes here, though, basically just know that tiers 2-5 of Ensorcell should usually be done after finishing the enchanting and sanctifying you want. The order of enchanting and sanctifying doesn't matter much, though.)

For unarmed combat gear, ensorcelling adds a flare chance for either a UAF boost on the next attack, stamina recovery immediately, or health recovery immediately. Stamina is strong for monks, but the flares give UAF boosts most of the time, which is very weak for monks. Ensorcell evenly scales up its UAF bonus; a fifth tier (T5) Ensorcell increases UAF by 25 while a first tier (T1) increases UAF by 5. Stamina recovery, on the other hand, is frontloaded: the average stamina return at T1 is 9 while the average at T5 is 15.

I like the "get a T1 Ensorcell on your offensive gear and call it finished" philosophy. You already have 60% of T5's average stamina return, but only bought 10% as much of a sorcerer's resource points.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

T1 Ensorcell for your handwear and footwear whenever you get a chance. T5 Ensorcell for your robes over the long haul, but only after finished with enchanting and sanctifying.

====Lucky Items (the [[Song of Luck (1006)|bard service]])====

Lucky Items are incredible for almost everybody. They improve virtually every offensive and defensive aspect of combat, which is like having extra enchantments, ensorcellments, weighting, and padding all attached to the same item--plus boosts to maneuver offense and maneuver defense as even more cherry on top!

For most professions and builds, I'd argue that Lucky Items are mechanically the most powerful service.

...but monks aren't most professions and builds. Yes, Lucky Items are like having extra UAF, DS, TD, weighting, and padding all at once, but I have a pretty low opinion of all of those things for monks other than TD.

Lucky Items act sort of opposite to Battle Standards; instead of favoring the low-impact attacks that UC throws out in droves, Lucky Items favor high-impact attacks that make every luck trigger proportionally more powerful. Lucky Item triggering on a jab or a decent positioning attack is a waste and you're probably firing off a lot of those. On the bright side, since Lucky Items' charges drain depending on the amount of time spent in combat, that aspect does pair well with monks' high volume of attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

If this were any other profession, I'd be singing the praises of Lucky Items and breaking down the math. Honestly, I might have to write a mini-guide on Lucky Items because they're tragically underrated. They offer amazing power to every form of combat other than the exact one that monks favor! If you're a weapon-wielding monk, definitely buy in and do it quickly. For typical UC monks, I'd recommend your silvers go elsewhere first--but only "first." Luck is powerful and you should get it eventually, just not as a high priority. I'd take it over enchanting robes beyond +30 or enchanting offensive gear beyond +20, but not necessarily before Sanctify, Ensorcell, or especially Battle Standards.

====Mystic Tattoos (the monk service)====

Despite Mystic Tattooing being a monk's own ability, it's not that helpful when used on themselves. The good news is that if you perform the final upgrade of your Mystic Tattoo, it won't consume charges and is basically a permanent upgrade. That said, the benefits of +5 bonus for a stat are pretty marginal for most monks. Standout options include:

* Strength to decrease encumbrance, especially for small races
* Agility to reach an Agidex threshold (this is preferred over Dexterity because it gives more maneuver defense and slightly increases UAF)
* Logic to increase exp gain
* Wisdom to slightly improve defense against spiritual magic

Logic is arguably the best since, given an enhancive with infinite charges, a benefit that works every minute maximizes value more than a benefit that only works while hunting. I can't go further than "arguably" since the others will have more impact when they ''do'' have impact. Regardless, none of the stats jump out for a monk in the way that something like improving a CS-boosting stat on a caster would.

Mystic Tattoos are slated for a future upgrade. The current proposal includes adding a skill bonus up to +10, flares to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, an activated ability with a cooldown to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, and ignoring enhancive limits.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Until the future update, I'd only tattoo yourself in your spare time when you can't find others willing to pay for your tattoos who would probably get more mechanical use out of them than you do. More Wisdom or Aura can be a gamechanger for CS-based casters, so sell them your tattooing services and use the silver to pay for paladins' Battle Standards. As you run out of other things to pay for, you can eventually pick up tattooing from lower level monks and make sure to handle the final tier yourself so you have infinite charges!

====Resist Nature (the [[Resist Nature (620)|ranger service]])====

Rangers can build a bracelet, anklet, or amulet that grants up to 25% resistance against up to five damage types: cold, heat, nature, steam, and lightning.

For post-cap hunters going into Ascension areas and the Scatter, this is really good since most of those areas use at least four of those damage types. Before cap or in other hunting grounds, usually only one damage type is the scourge of the area--and if you only need one resistance, monks can simply meditate instead of needing a ranger trinket. Even pre-cap, there's ''some'' merit to a ranger trinket since you can meditate for a general purpose physical resistance like crush and use your trinket for an elemental resistance like fire or lightning, but you'd have to know you'll be running into that damage type consistently for a while.

On an obscure note, nature resistance is unique to ranger trinkets. Monks can't meditate against it and even the Ascension system can't train to defend against it. However, an extremely small number of creatures use nature damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I'd look into ranger resistance for post-cap purposes, especially if you intend to hunt Ascension hunting grounds (which monks perform well in at lower exp amounts than any other profession). Before cap, make do with your own meditation ability.

====Sanctification (the [[Sanctify (330)|cleric service]])====

Sanctifying unarmed combat gear adds UAF against undead for the first five tiers and negates 5% of their damage resistance per tier if your gear is sanctified (but not blessed). The sixth tier adds a holy fire flare against undead that deals 50-100 health damage and a fire crit.

The first five tiers of Sanctify have dubious value for UC gear (unless you're buying the first tier specifically because of the Kai's Strike situation). The sixth tier of Sanctify, however, is amazing if your monk frequently hunts undead. Holy fire flares are extremely powerful for anyone, but only get better for a spammy combat type like UC. The question is whether you're willing to pay for the first five tiers' minimal value just to get to holy fire.

Sanctifying armor is a much more clear value proposition for monks. The first five tiers improve DS, TD, and, most importantly, [[sheer fear]] protection so you can hunt higher level undead without constantly getting locked in RT. The sixth tier again provides holy fire, but since the flare is armor-based, it'll only trigger for certain combat maneuvers or when the undead hit you.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get the first five tiers on your robes unless you're absolutely certain you'll never have interest in hunting high-level undead. Holy fire isn't a high priority on armor, but does go well with Bearhug and Bull Rush if you want it one day. Unarmed combat gear is the opposite; either commit to seeing through the entire expensive holy fire path or don't bother sanctifying at all. Since UAF matters little, ordinary cleric blessings offer basically the same value as the first five Sanctify tiers for UC (arguably more value since blessings have holy water flares, so people usually stack blessings on top of pre-holy fire Sanctify).

====Weighting and Padding (the [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|warrior service]])====

Crit weighting has more limited value to an unarmed combat monk than most professions or builds because UC itself uses positioning to increase or decrease attack power in ways that can cap the effect of weighting. It's still marginally useful for good positioning (very specifically good positioning). Crit padding is more broadly useful. Either way, neither is useful enough to justify paying warriors unless they're charging less than the automated WPS smithy that comes around every couple of months. (They probably aren't!) Use that instead to bring your robes up to speed.

Like with Mystic Tattoos, the head of dev, Estild, has acknowledged that the warrior service needs improvement at a future date. Maybe hope is on the horizon, but right now this service isn't terribly desirable for most players, monks or otherwise.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

An easy skip unless a friend is providing it for free or something. Use the much more affordable WPS wagon and I'd say going to 5 CER (50 services) is perfectly sufficient due to scaling costs beyond that point and the reduced effect of weighting on UC in general.

====Order of operations in summary====

* Battle Standard up to P3 as soon as possible
* Enchant armor up to +30 relatively quickly
* Ensorcell UC gear to T1 relatively quickly
* Battle Standard up to P5 relatively quickly
* Either Sanctify UC gear all the way to S6 or don't do it at all
* Sanctify armor unless very rarely hunting undead
* Covert Arts Poisoncraft when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Lucky Items when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Slowly enchant UC gear over time
* Padding to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Slowly Ensorcell armor over time
* Weighting to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Resist Nature once hunting post-cap
* Slowly add non-Poisoncraft Covert Arts whenever you need a recharge
* Bloodstone Jewelry if you want it
* Slowly enchant armor past +30 over time, if ever
* Slowly Ensorcell UC gear past T1 over time, if ever
* Mystic Tattoo only if you can't sell yours, but selling it is preferable to fund all of the above
</div><div>

==Super Post-Cap Advancement==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-superpostcap" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Far post-cap and still looking for suggestions? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-superpostcap">

Congratulations, you've got a cap and a half worth of exp--or more! ...now what?

===Ascending Even Further Beyond===

Since it's not relevant to the large majority of players, I've only vaguely talked about monks' advantages with far post-cap experience until now. Most professions need 30 million to 40 million exp, if not more, before they're "done enough" with normal skills that continuing to gain normal experience instead of devoting it all toward [[Ascension]] would stop providing any useful improvements.

Monks, however, can get there at more like 10 to 25 million because their physical skill costs are on par with other squares, but their magical skills are much less expensive.

I did say this guide was for magical monks from 0 to 55,000,000 experience, so what should you do with Ascension Training Points (ATPs)?

The big long-term goal is the Elite Ascension skill [[Transcend Destiny]], which I'll explain shortly, but it's only for players putting in serious hours; even unlocking the ability to learn it requires that you've spent 150 ATPs on Ascension skills in the Common tier first and then Transcend Destiny ranks themselves cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and up to six more ranks of 50 ATPs each.

So whether Transcend Destiny is in your future or not, first we need to evaluate where your initial Common tier ATPs should be spent. Here are the options I like:

'''Common Ascension staples''':

* '''Agility''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, increased evade chance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and +0.75 DS per two ranks. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race.
* '''Brawling''': +2 UAF per rank. I'm not going to knock UAF this time because, once we're talking Ascension, we're talking marginal gains almost no matter what you do. Get it if you like numbers going up!
* '''Combat Maneuvers''': +1 UAF per two ranks and increased maneuver defense every rank (but half as much increase as Agility, so basically the same rate per two ranks).
* '''Dexterity''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, but half as much increase as Agility. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race. For the weapon route, specifically, Dexterity also adds crit weighting.
* '''Dodging''': +0.75 DS (in offensive) per rank and a tiny extra chance of outright evading for more Spin Kicks.
* '''Logic''': +1 TD against CS-based mental spells per two ranks. Because Logic breakpoints increase exp gain at 5 bonus on a node or 7 bonus off a node, reaching 35 Logic bonus is an especially attractive target. Neutral Logic races can reach it with 15 ATPs into Logic because Perfect Self will already have pushed them to 30 Logic bonus.
* '''Porter''' (requires training Strength and/or Physical Fitness first): Encumbrance reduction by 2 pounds per rank. ''Now'' I'll knock UAF again! If we're in the realm of diminishing returns from exp anyway, then Porter is a reasonable low-hanging fruit option for races with lower carrying capacity.
* '''Stamina Regeneration''': If you're firing off mstrikes on cooldown, rotating techniques with katars or Volley, using Surge of Strength on your small race, using Burst of Swiftness on your slow race, or otherwise guzzling stamina, there can come a point where Mind Over Body and Ensorcell no longer enough. If that's you, you'll know when to train this--or just buy stamina regen enhancives and Bloodstone Jewelry.
* '''Strength''': Reduced encumbrance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and the first ten ranks combined of this or Physical Fitness are a prerequisite for Porter. If you go the weapon route, it's also +1 AS per two ranks.

During earlier versions of this guide, I was also open to Aura, Wisdom, and damage resistances, all of which I had trained to varying degrees at some point. However, the release of Transcend Destiny offers superior defensive gains for the cost while also aiding offense! Let's finally delve into the Elite skill!

'''Transcend Destiny is Monks' Everything''':

There's a serious argument that monks are the biggest winners from the release of Transcend Destiny. Each rank acts as though your character is a level higher for the following purposes, where I've highlighted the ones potentially relevant to (magical) monks in green:

* Ambush Damage - Offense and Defense - Up to 5 Ranks
* Automatic Success of Certain Spells
* Casting Strength
* Evade, Block, and Parry - Offense and Defense
* Force on Force
* Hiding - Rogues Only
* Sheer Fear Resistance
* SMR - Offense and Defense
* SSR - Offense and Defense
* Target Defense
* Two-Weapon Combat
* UC - Tier Up Probability

As you can see, almost everything on this list is potentially applicable to monks. Not only that, but I'd argue that usually it's at or near the top end of value ''in'' that application:

* Improving UC tier ups is, naturally, at its best for the profession most built around UC.
* Improving evasion, blocking, and parrying is at its best for either monks or warriors (despite monks not even benefiting from the blocking part). Monks fight in offensive stance and Spin Kick is the best single-target reaction technique in the game by an incredible margin. (Its only competition overall is [[Radial Sweep]], which is an AoE reaction but has a 15-second cooldown.) Furthermore, decreasing the enemy's EBP means improving MM, which is a UC monk's most important offensive combat number.
* Improving SMR offense is at its best on builds who use it for attacking, which monks certainly will. Combat maneuvers like Bearhug or Coup de Grace--or Hamstring if using Edged Weapons--are very good at taking advantage of higher margins with their scaling, but even if you don't use those, even more bread and butter attacks like Twin Hammerfists, Feint, and Spin Kick win huge here.
* Improving TD has extraordinary value to magical monks, giving them potential to ward off spells from semi-style Ascension creatures by stacking Transcend Destiny with the Dragonscale Skin feat, sufficient Transformation lore, and the correct outside spells. I wouldn't go so far to say it's at its best here, which I think goes to pures who become capable of warding off spells from (some) ''pure''-style Ascension creatures, but it's a pretty narrow win.
* Improving SSR is at its best for characters in Voln due to Symbol of Sleep. For reasons explained earlier, monks are mechanically best suited by Voln.
* Sheer fear resistance is at its best for any profession other than clerics, empaths, and paladins (who all get a degree of sheer fear protection from their native spells), which includes monks.
* Improving ambush defense is a benefit I place almost no value on for any profession and build ''except'' magical monks. Others either have plate armor, significantly higher DS, significantly more redux, far superior means to pull creatures out of hiding, or any combination of the above, but monks might actually take hard hits from ambushers (not bandits, but real ambushers like halfling cannibals and kiramon stalkers) if they don't have 105 or more Transformation lore, so defense is valuable.

(The Two Weapon Combat and CS benefits have more niche value to magical monks, but they do ''have'' the occasional spots of value. The auto-success spell benefits don't do terribly much in current Ascension grounds, but that could easily change in the future if enemy buffs like Wall of Force or especially Cloak of Shadows became more prominent and dispelling gained value as a result.)

Can it get any better than monks reaping the rewards of almost every Transcend Destiny benefit? Actually, yes. Yes, it can!

Much like how monks need to spend less normal exp on normal skills before moving on to Common Ascension than other professions and builds, I'd also argue that there's less incentive for them to continue sinking ATPs into Common Ascension (beyond the required 150) before moving on to Elite Ascension than other professions and builds.

As I write this, my ranger and my monk Tarine have very similar amounts of Ascension experience at 18m and 18.9m, respectively, but even though they're both working on maxing Transcend Destiny over the next couple years, Tarine is 2.9 million exp further into that journey because she doesn't have any need to heavily boost her UAF with Common skills while my ranger certainly does value heavily boosting archery AS. Similarly, my bard has about 5.6m more ''total'' Ascension experience than Tarine, but on the specific journey of maxing Transcend Destiny, she's only 2.3m exp ahead; most of the other 3.3m went into Agidex to reach RT thresholds that Tarine didn't need to work for at all because monks have Perfect Self and Burst of Swiftness.

Ultimately, whether you see yourself playing GemStone IV long enough to eventually have a character who you can say reached level 110 or just level 101, monks are your fastest route to that goal. They're simply the most exp-efficient profession in the game.

===Illustrative Post-Cap Snapshots===

Like the earlier snapshots for normal skills, here are illustrations of both of my monks '''far post-cap''' at points where they are or will eventually be. The second column is where I've planned for Saria to end up at the time she never touches normal skills again. This time the table more clearly delineates normal skills and Ascension.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Sariara, 19.88m exp (10.77+9.11)'''||'''Sariara, post-Trading'''||'''Sariara, final plan'''||'''Tarine, 55.22m exp (23.79+31.43)'''||'''Tarine, post-Trading'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||1||50||50||202||202
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||202||202||202||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Edged Weapons'''||0||0||0||202||202
|-
||'''Brawling'''||202+10||202+10||202+10||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||100||100||190||202||202
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||303||303||303||303||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||303+15||303+15||303+15||303+19||303+19
|-
||'''Magic Item Use'''||0||0||0||101||101
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||40||40||40||101||101
|-
||'''Mental Mana Control'''||0||10||10||25||100
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||10||10||25||25
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||0||0||15||15
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Transformation'''||15||101+4||101+4||86+19||86+19
|-
||'''Survival'''||202||202||202||202||202
|-
||'''Perception'''||101||101||202||202||202
|-
||'''Climbing'''||60||60||101||101||101
|-
||'''Swimming'''||0||40||101||101||101
|-
||'''First Aid'''||202||101||101||202||202
|-
||'''Trading'''||191||0||0||202||0
|-
||'''Ascension Transcend Destiny'''||2||2||4||10||10
|}

There are some divergences here, which are mostly down to Tarine having leveled in a different era of GemStone IV. The reason for Trading going to 0 and First Aid going down to 101 for Sariara requires its own entire deep dive that I cover in the Odds and Ends section, but let's talk about the rest here.

'''TWC edged weapons''' were for Tarine to blast through Duskruin Arena, where overleveled creatures hindered UC tier up chances and slowed her down. However, in the modern day, Transcend Destiny exists to also "overlevel" yourself and all of the Duskruin activities pay out about as well as the arena does, so there's no particular reason for Saria to pick up Edged Weapons. At most, I can imagine Saria going to 100 Two Weapon Combat for 5 extra DS over the 50 benchmark. However, barring some extreme changes to overall gameplay mechanics, 200 TWC simply won't happen--and if that won't, then neither will Edged Weapons.

You might notice that, despite Tarine having over 35 million more exp than Saria--and over 22m in Ascension alone--their '''Brawling''' skill is exactly the same. Like I've said, UAF simply isn't important enough to think about too much! Tarine's advantages are mainly Transcend Destiny (10 ranks vs. 2) and spells (with a 64 CS advantage between spell ranks and Transcend Destiny, Tarine can land Mindwipe or even Vertigo on just about anything while Saria doesn't even know Mindwipe yet and would miss many Ascension creatures with it even if she did know it). Saria does have a redux advantage of 29.37% to 23.68% because of fewer spell ranks, though.

'''Magic Item Use, Harness Power, and Spiritual Mana Control''' are more relics of Tarine coming from a different era. In this case, I'm talking about the time before Transcend Destiny existed and before self-cast minimum spell durations were kicked up to two hours by default. Since I already had these skills trained, there's no point to untraining them, but they're a bit frivolous these days and I wouldn't push them that far on a new monk--like Sariara! Unlike Spiritual Mana Control, '''Mental Mana Control''' increases the number of targets for important spells like Mindwipe and Vertigo, so Tarine taking 100 ranks to hit up to seven creatures per cast makes perfect sense. You do need the CS for it too.

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' stopping at 190 or 200 (or 202 for completionism) comes down to whether you use mstrikes or techniques, respectively. Techniques are much better with weapons than they are with unarmed combat, so Tarine went to 200 because she has weapons trained and Saria won't because she doesn't.

Regarding that '''Transcend Destiny''' line for clarity's sake... given enough time, Saria will eventually get to 10 Transcend Destiny. What I'm saying is that she's working toward 4 Transcend Destiny now as a reasonable breakpoint, but after that's done, she'll go back and finish Multi-Opponent Combat, Perception, Climbing, and Swimming. ''That's'' the point where she'll be done with normal skills forever and commence the 10 Transcend Destiny push.

And just a brief comment on Trading: Saria had stopped at 191 Trading because that's the mark where she could max selling ability with Glamour up. Tarine's an elf, so her Influence bonus would let her hang back even further at 176. However, back then, finishing a skill for completionism's sake made more sense since fewer alternatives were competing for your exp. Those are past-tense things and now I've abandoned Trading, but I leave these examples here because not everybody should do so. For more on this, see the Max Loot Value section later in the guide.

===Gemstones: Diamonds in the Rough===

[[Gemstones]], powerful artifacts that might take a while to find, are another key component to post-cap progression. Gemstones generate with randomly selected properties, most of which have tiered upgrades. You can find the [[Gemstone Property List]] on the wiki. If you don't like the properties on your Gemstone, you can also reroll it to get new properties within the same category of rarity. Upgrading or rerolling Gemstones has costs in silver and dust, so there are likely to be:

* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and upgrade just the way you found them
* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and reroll until you get a good property combination, then upgrade after you've done that
* Gemstones you'll wish to shatter into dust
* Gemstones you'll wish to sell to or trade with other players willing to pay big for properties that are good for their characters and not so good for yours

====Good Common Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 Bolt AS and 1/1/1/2/3 CS.

The bolt AS is worthless, but the CS is reasonable if and only if you have a high CS build--like an 81 Minor Mental and 20 Minor Spiritual split with Logic boosts from enhancives or Ascension--that can make use of powerful spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe and you want them to hit more reliably.

'''Bold Brawler'''

Your unarmed combat attacks have an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to tier up.

A self-explanatory staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries. More tier ups, faster monster slaying. Easy!

'''Burning Blood'''

When you are dealt a rank 2+ critical strike, your blood combusts in the air. Up to 3 nearby enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they suffer a Heat flare.

Pretty good reactive damage that comes at full power out of the gate. Needing an SMR check does slightly hinder its efficiency against overleveled creatures, but that's offset by the fact that it can go after multiple targets to hit at least one of them. Importantly, note that "a rank 2+ critical strike" refers to a rank 2 critical ''based on a crit table,'' not a rank 2 wound. Usually a rank 2 critical only creates a rank 1 wound; for example, rank 2 [[Slash_critical_table|slash crits]] are always rank 1 wounds unless they hit an eye. In other words, even very light hits can get this going, but just not the absolute lightest hits.

'''Ephemera's Extension'''

The following spells have 20/40/60/80/100% higher duration: 117, 140, 240, 506, 515, 605, 919, 1608, 1619.

Reasonable if you have 40 Minor Spiritual ranks. Monks make better use of Wall of Force than any other profession besides paladins due to monks' combination of inexpensive Harness Power costs, not much to spend that mana on, not being in full plate like warriors (and so valuing the DS more), and lower DS at the highest end of exp than light armored rogues (or light armored warriors, but I don't know any of those other than my own).

'''Ether Flux'''

When you deal 3 types of elemental damage to a creature in under 60 seconds, the creature must make an SMR test or take a standard disruption flare. This cannot occur more than once every minute.

(For clarity, it can occur once ''per creature'' per minute. You can basically consider it once per creature, period. For even more clarity, Ether Flux itself isn't a flare ''chance''; it's described as a flare because it deals a random amount of disruption damage, but it always triggers once you meet the condition.)

Ether Flux has no tiers and comes at full power immediately, which is definitely nice and it's a very good perk ''if'' you can get it going! ...but can you? Even though monks don't innately deal elemental damage, it still might be easier than you think.

Some options for elemental flares include conventional ability slot flares, Battle Standards of applicable Arkati or spirits, certain Gemstone properties like Blood Boil or Infusion or Thorns, holy fire or holy water when hunting undead, or script flares of elemental types. That's already up to seven sources of elemental flares and I'm not describing anything too wildly out of the way or anything that's very expensive by post-cap standards. The most expensive of those would be buying flare type changes for Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons.

Whether you're mstriking or using Fury, monks fire off a lot of attacks, so with a decent base of varied flare types, the odds can stack up to force a lot of Ether Flux triggers through! However, if you don't have that decent base, I wouldn't go out of my way working up to it just because you find an Ether Flux. This is a very solid B or maybe B+ common, but it's no Bold Brawler, Flare Resonance, Stamina Prism, or Storm of Rage.

'''Flare Resonance'''

Your attacks have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to gain flare affinity.

Assuming you have flares on your handwear and your footwear (and if you don't, then you should!), this is another staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries.

[[Flare Affinity]] basically supercharges your flares to hit substantially harder--and, for that matter, more often! Flare Affinity is normally only obtainable by adding a [[Combat Flourish]] to your weapon at Duskruin for 400k bloodscrip--and many people do pay that gladly, which gives you an idea of its power. (If you ''are'' someone who already has the Flare Affinity flourish, you wouldn't want this property since they don't stack.) The Flare Resonance property only adds Flare Affinity 20% of the time, but it does go on your character instead of your gear, so getting the 100% equivalent on a monk's handwear ''and'' footwear would cost 800k bloodscrip.

In short, get more flares and make them spend less time poking and more time killing.

'''Force of Will'''

You shake off all of the following debilitating effects: calmed, confused, demoralized, horrified, immobile, rooted, slowed, stunned, sympathetic, terrified, webbed. Cooldown: 24/18/12/6/1 hour(s).

This can save you from almost any situation once per hour when fully upgraded. If you really hate dying, this is the property for you! Alternatively, if you find it on a Gemstone with at least one other property that's good for somebody else but isn't good for you, you can try to sell it for a good chunk of silver since solo hunters of almost every profession like Force of Will for general purposes. (The exceptions are bards, who can already get rid of almost all of these conditions with their own [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]], and maybe clerics, who can just [[Miracle (350)|Miracle]] resurrect themselves one to three times per day if they die.)

'''Journeyman Tactician'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 AS and 1/1/1/2/3 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

The UAF boost is fairly immaterial for all the reasons you know by now about UAF, but the maneuver boost makes for an acceptable placeholder for most monks to use while looking for better Gemstones in the long run. That said, I wouldn't recommend upgrading it except possibly on a monk who makes very heavy use of extremely endroll-dependent attacks like Spin Kick or Bearhug.

'''Mephitic Brume'''

When you are attacked by a creature, you have a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to release a noxious cloud. Up to three enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they become Dazed and Disengaged.

Quite useful for buying time with crowd control. There's not much else to say, but it's a good property for survival! Be sure it fits with your RP, though, since it's sort of gross.

'''Stamina Prism'''

Your passive stamina regeneration is increased by 5/10/15/20/25%.

This might be the highest ceiling Gemstone property of all for monks. It's easy to underrate the value for monks because most of them never out of stamina anyway because they already have Mind Over Body for at least 20% stamina cost reduction. However, the reason they don't run out of stamina is because they do manage it to an extent. For example, a monk might use mstrikes when they're off cooldown and Ki Focus when the mstrikes ''are'' on cooldown, thus basically only using stamina for the latter. However, if you started stacking on enhancives, Ascension, and Stamina Prism to start recovering 50-90% of your stamina every minute instead of the ~25% that 3x Physical Fitness gets you to on its own, you could add Ki Focus when mstriking, add qstrikes when not mstriking, and ''still'' not run out of stamina.

In other words, you can think of Stamina Prism as opening up entirely new combat options by indirectly reducing RT. This does require getting additional stamina regen benefits, but you can be even more of a whirlwind in battle if you build for it!

'''Storm of Rage'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5% damage factor for each kill. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect falls off after 30 seconds without making a kill. This applies to all DFs, including bolts.

If you'll battle just about any creature in your preferred hunting ground and it's a fairly swarmy place, this is an extraordinary property since you'll have the boost going constantly. UC monks or weapon monks will both love this property! Even if you're picky about which creatures you battle or if you hunt a slower area, it's still excellent. The only other thing is to consider is that it's a top tier common for virtually every build of virtually every profession--any weapon user, any UC build, any magical bolter--and so people are likely to pay very well for it if you'd rather have the silvers!

'''Taste of Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor.

Mini Storm of Rage, except you always have the boost even if you're in the slowest of areas or if you're selectively hunting a single creature type for your bounty. The small defensive penalty has very little impact on a monk with high redux monk or high Transformation lore--and you'll almost definitely have at least one of those.

'''Twist the Knife'''

You gain 2/4/6/8/10% damage factor against targets afflicted with major bleed. When your warding spells are successful, the endroll is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 if the target is afflicted with major bleed.

If you're using Hamstring or have the Slashing Strikes buff from Flurry active (or are hunting with partners who do those things), this is excellent. If not, it isn't.

====Good Rare Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Anointed Defender'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Defensive Strength and 3/4/4/5/6 Target Defense.

Helps shore up a primary monk weakness of TD and the extra DS is reasonably helpful too. Not necessarily worth using one of your rare slots on over the long haul, but it depends on your tolerance for death. Don't use this if you go the Kroderine Soul route.

'''Blood Boil'''

Your attacks have a standard flare chance to boil the targets blood, dealing 20% of target's current health, up to 100, per tick for 5 ticks (2 second interval). This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once per minute. Activate to cause this ability to trigger on your next attack. Activation Cooldown: 1 min.

A high quality Gemstone property for almost every monk since flares are always great for UC due to the high volume of attacks. That said, Blood Boil flares are a bit quirky; they can't outright kill things like normal flares, nor can you land several of them on the same creature. Still, the sheer health damage done will frequently exceed more conventional flares unless the creature is already very weakened. A possibly bigger obstacle is that Blood Boil, of course, only works on creatures with blood! That won't be an obstacle in most hunting grounds, but if you try to exclusively hunt undead who have no blood (most undead by far don't; a few do), this wouldn't be the property for you.

'''Defensive Duelist'''

When an enemy directs a melee attack at you, you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to intercept the attack and take no damage. The enemy must make an SMR test. On a failure, the enemy is disarmed, if applicable, and suffers roundtime.

Despite having some anti-synergy with Spin Kick, it's very hard to ignore the value of a universal 5% chance to avoid and (to an extent) counter AS attacks. All else being equal, it ''is'' better to not get hit as often as possible than to Spin Kick as often as possible. (Maybe not more fun, though!)

'''Greater Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Bolt AS and 3/4/4/5/6 CS.

Like its common counterpart except twice as good, this is a strong boost to make Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe if you're one of the rare monks who uses CS spells in combat.

'''Infusion of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] after attacking an enemy.

Top notch rare Gemstone property that every monk should want. As always, the higher volume of attacks per second, the better flares get! Simple, clean power. (Before you get any ideas, if we could have three Infusion properties active, then that's exactly what I'd recommend, but they're mutually exclusive.)

'''Master Tactician'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 AS and 3/4/4/5/6 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

Journeyman Tactician, but twice as good. Like its common counterpart, the UAF boost isn't noteworthy for a UC monk (it is good for a weapon monk, though!), but if you make heavy use of SMR attacks, I think it can be a reasonable long-term property for you. If not, I'd either sell it to someone willing to pay top silvers or reroll until you get a better rare property.

'''Serendipitous Hex'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare rate chance to cast an additional disabler spell, including Bind, Blind, Cold Snap, Confusion, Limb Disruption, Mystic Impedance, Power Sink, Sleep, Sounds, or Vertigo. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you cast a lot of single-target spells in combat, this might be the strongest rare Gemstone property you could find. That's an enormous if for a monk, though! Monks with incredible handwear are probably still better off sticking to Twin Hammerfists as their opening disabler or even just starting with Fury or an mstrike in the first place. However, if you're looking to be an even more magical monk than mine by regularly slinging around Web, Force Projection, Thought Lash, and other spells, this is the definitive property for you. And if you find a certain legendary property I'll cover shortly, you might consider working your entire build around it...

'''Strong Back'''

Your encumbrance thresholds are increased by 15/20/25/30/35 pounds.

A reasonable option for lighter races. It's not necessarily going to help with the newer and bigger boxes of 2026 on, but can help with the lower end loot like solid moonstone cubes or wands that add up when you're tiny. Definitely not a flashy property, but monks are more heavily punished by encumbrance than most professions due to its effect on their primary source of DS, Evade DS, and this is a solution to at least part of that!

'''Tethered Strike'''

Your offensive spells and weapon attacks no longer trigger creatures' innate abilities to outright avoid incoming attacks, such as Ithzir vanishing, warg avoidance, and myling fading.

From reading the description of what it does, you already know based on what you hunt whether this is a slam dunk to use or a slam dunk to sell to someone ''else'' for whom it's a slam dunk to use!

'''Thirst for Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor.

Twice as strong as its already very powerful common counterpart, Taste of Brutality... or is it? The common version's 5% penalty when taking hits is negligible, but a 10% penalty isn't as easily dismissed. Still, the increased DF is fantastic, so I'd say you should consider your options with this one. If you have high redux ''and'' high Transformation lore, get it, love it, and upgrade it all the way. If you only have one of those, then you could simply treat it like Taste of Brutality by leaving it un-upgraded. 6% on both ends with no upgrades is comparable to the fully upgraded Taste of Brutality's 5%, after all, and nothing says you have to upgrade it at any point, never mind right away.

====Good Legendary Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Mirror Image'''

When you attack a creature, you have a 10% chance to create a mirror image of yourself that will replicate the attack. When you are attacked by a creature, there is a 10% chance that a mirror image of you will appear and take the blow instead.

Pretty easily the most powerful legendary property for monks of just about any kind, albeit not as flashy and over-the-top as others. It's actually difficult to even sell you on this because it's so straightforward that I shouldn't have to. It's a 10% double attack chance on every attack!

If you're playing the long game, I say get this one at all costs. However, if you happen to find a different legendary that's also solid for monks and don't want to let perfect be the enemy of good, below are some other reasonable options...

'''Mystic Impulse'''

After hitting an enemy with a weapon attack or an unarmed strike, you have a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to gain Mystic Momentum for 60 seconds. Your next spell cast under the effects of Mystic Momentum incurs no mana cost and gains +50 Attack Strength and +30 Casting Strength.

Hear me out. This is a very, very specific niche, but it's incredible within that niche, which is that you're a high CS build, you prefer going into rooms with multiple creatures, you cast AoE spells like Vertigo or Mindwipe once per group of creatures, and you rarely casts spells otherwise.

If all of that's true, then this is basically a gigantic +30 CS buff. The 10% activation rate with your high volume of attacks means that, after defeating one room of creatures, you'll basically always have the Mystic Impulse buff active to disable or debuff the next room of creatures before you unleash havoc on them.

'''Stolen Power'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare chance to trigger an SMR roll against the target. On a failure, the target is inflicted with a random attack spell that cannot be warded off. Spells include Blood Burst, Bone Shatter, Dark Catalyst, Disintegrate, Divine Fury, Immolation, Pain, Repentance, Thought Lash, and Wither. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you're running the Serendipitous Hex build, run this too and your spells will be insane. If you find this legendary property and you ''aren't'' running the Serendipitous Hex build, then I'd honestly consider changing your mind and trying to get both of those to line up. The strength of your spells skyrockets when they can be up to three spells in one.

Also, with Serendipitous Hex, I gave the caveat that exceptional handwear could still make Twin Hammerfists beat out spells like Force Projection or Web as an opener. With Stolen Power, Twin Hammerfists would still be more reliable and better for one-on-one combat, but the sheer strength of Stolen Power's effect and the ability to use it from guarded stance creates a versatile, powerful use case when fighting two or more creatures at once. (And that's with Stolen Power alone! Again, someone who manages to get it and Serendipitous Hex onto the same build is really going hard.)

'''Thorns of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] when an enemy targets you with an attack, whether or not the attack hits.

Great general purpose power for any solo hunter (of any profession, not just monks). Basically randomly kills things for you just by standing in the same general vicinity when they attack you!

'''Witchhunter's Ascendancy'''

You enter a heightened state for 30 seconds. During this state, you gain Attack Strength equal to 50% of the Defensive Strength of spells on all creatures in the room, up to a maximum of 100. Additionally, all of your attacks have guaranteed dispel flares. Cooldown: 3 min.

The AS/UAF boost is, as always, borderline immaterial unless you're a weapon-wielding monk. 30 seconds of dispel flares on every attack, however, is a rush of power and joy that works well with the free jabs in your mstrikes! Unlike traditional dispel flares, these are post-resolution, so they're slightly less reliable. However, UC monks tend to have no trouble making their attacks land.

====Leafi's Wild Dream Scenario Gemstone Endgames====

By design, getting the exact perfect setup is mathematically almost impossible since Gemstones are meant to keep people going for years to come. Still, it's fun to dream, so here are some hypothetical ideal layouts!

Note that you can have at most one legendary property and three rare properties. Common properties are a bit different; you can technically have up to ten, but each common beyond three would be competing with a rare instead and going up to ten common properties would also exclude you from having a legendary.

'''Traditional Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 1 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# ''(Blood Boil)'' (rare 2 of 3)
# ''(Thirst for Brutality)'' (rare 3 of 3)
# Force of Will (common 5 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 6 of 7)
# Journeyman Tactician if using Thirst for Brutality, otherwise Taste of Brutality (common 7 of 7)

Blood Boil and Thirst of Brutality are parenthetical and italicized because they're slightly conditional picks. For general purposes, that's what I'd go with, but specific hunting ground choices or even gear can change everything. Blood Boil might be useless if you primarily hunt undead without blood. Tethered Strike, not listed, might be superior to either Blood Boil or Thirst of Brutality if you regularly hunt evasive creatures. Anointed Defender, also not listed, could be the way to go if you've managed your gear and training in such a way that the TD boost can push you just out of range of dangerous CS attacks.

'''Very Magic-Heavy Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# ''(Serendipitous Hex)'' (rare 1 of 3)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 2 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Greater Arcane Intensity (rare 3 of 3)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# Arcane Intensity (common 5 of 7)
# Taste of Brutality (common 6 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 7 of 7)

This has enough overlap that you might think they're the same picture, but the subtle differences add up to large ones. This Gemstone setup assumes a high CS monk, then Greater Arcane Intensity and Arcane Intensity push CS even higher. That means that Vertigo and Mindwipe land more consistently, which means that creatures are disabled more often, which means Force of Will shouldn't be as necessary. It also means that your MM will be higher, which means I wouldn't even think about Journeyman Tactician. Conversely, Taste of Brutality claims a solid place because its rare counterpart has been traded off to secure Greater Arcane Intensity and maybe Serendipitous Hex.

Speaking of Serendipitous Hex, even though I ranked it highly, it gets the parenthetical italics treatment because I only recommend it if you're regularly casting Web! It doesn't trigger with Vertigo or Mindwipe, so if those are your go-tos, then bring in some other top end rare like Blood Boil, Tethered Strike, or Thirst for Brutality. (Unlike the traditional monk, the magic-heavy monk doesn't risk as much from the double DF hit of using Taste and Thirst simultaneously because their more consistent disablers will keep enemies contained. Still, just in case of the worst, ''definitely'' use Ephemera's Extension over Ether Flux if you go the double Brutality route!)
</div></div>

==Odds and Ends==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-oddsandends" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Can I interest you in the weirdest inner workings of my mind re: monks, plus other miscellaneous topics not yet covered? If so, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-oddsandends">

As we draw close to the end, I'll cover miscellaneous topics like off-the-beaten-path things monks can do and obscure advantages they have that you might not have thought about.

===Monk Magic After Dark===

...wait, I can't write about that on the wiki! Moving on.

===Trade Secrets of the Sneaky Monk Merchants===

I'm one of the bigger advocates of training [[Trading]] in the GS community if you can't hit loot cap without it, but even more so for monks than others!

Monks have easier and more universal means to make more silvers per item sold than any other profession--and they can do it almost anywhere in Elanthia.

Except for [[Mist Harbor]] and [[Kraken's Fall]], every town's NPC shops will pay +5% extra silver to at least one race when players sell. ([[Trading#Trading_chart|See the chart of favored races here!]])

Monks have a '''secret weapon''' in the profit war: '''[[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]]'''!

Even monks who live in a geographic region where their race can't get a bonus can configure their Shroud profile to appear as another race and get the bonus anyway! It's that easy!

But wait, it gets better! Monks also have ''[[Glamour (1205)|Glamour]]''', which gives an enhancive boost of 20 Trading ranks or 50 Trading skill, whichever is lower. (50 Trading skill will be lower before you have 20 Trading ranks on your own.)

What does Trading do, though?

You get an extra 1% silver for every combined 12 bonus between Influence and Trading bonus. That's ''bonus'', not ranks! So, for example, if you had 44 Trading ranks, which is 144 Trading bonus, you'd make 12% more silver for selling items than if you had 0 Trading ranks. Shroud of Deception takes that 12% to 17%, then Glamour takes that 17% to 18%--and, actually, 8/12ths of the way to 19%. If you took my advice and set Influence high from the start, Influence will also get you to 19% if not 20%!

This is a big part of how Sariara made 2,509,473 million silver within a week of existing. By the time she had existed for four weeks and a day, she was up to 23,108,060 silver, only 1,500,000 of which came from selling a Mystic Tattoo. That particular amount wouldn't be possible anymore after game-wide loot changes in early 2026, but it's still a good overall illustration.

Some general tips on early silvers:

* Don't hunt overcrowded Landing areas, but find the rich lower level creatures. There are plenty of them because characters don't stay low level for long, so hunting pressure is low. (For more on hunting pressure, see the [[treasure system]] page and [[Treasure_system/saved_posts|saved posts subpage]].)
* Take advantage of Glamour and Shroud of Deception to get a percentage boost to these rich creatures' already valuable loot. Reap the reward of being a monk!
* Between level 0 and 19, when skills migrate near instantly, max out Trading every time you're about to sell things.
* Between level 0 and 19, push First Aid and Survival up when you're out hunting so you can get value from skinning. Unlearn them afterward so you can...
* Between level 5 and 19, learn Glamour and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* Between level 12 and 19, learn Shroud of Deception and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* For your final level 19.9 build, as you're forced to commit to your skills, have at least 20 ranks of Trading and know at least your first 12 Minor Mental spells.

Yes, this is what I did. I got to see delightful lines in my SKILL command like:

You started this migration period on Saturday, 5/25/2024 at 01:55:18 EDT. You have 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes remaining in your current 30 day migration period.

You're currently migrating at a rate of .001 skill points per pulse, and '''have converted 25580.00 training points this migration period.'''

Even if you don't go to this extreme, though, monks are the game's best at selling to NPC merchants. At the low end, monks skyrocket toward high sales value. At the high end in the post-cap world, monks reach the maximum sale bonus in almost every town.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

"Maximum sale bonus" is 28% from Trading and Influence plus another 5% from race bonus. To be clear, the max bonus is 33%, but only sort of; the two bonuses are treated separately. For example, if you're an elf monk selling in Solhaven (no bonus), you can't just pump your Trading and Influence so high that you'd make 33% from that alone; it's capped at 28% and the other 5% ''has to'' come from Shroud of Deception.

My monk Tarine was the key to my figuring this out. Noticing that Glamour no longer made a difference post-cap with max Trading led me down the rabbit trail of investigating why! I found the Trading and Influence hard cap, then the total hard cap counting race bonus, then isolated that they were separate things.
</blockquote>

===Max Loot Value: Trading, Skinning, and The Earthdiver Principle===

The above section was available almost entirely as-is from the first iteration of this entire guide in 2024, but by now it's 2026 and I eventually went on to untrain Trading for both of my monks. Why? Well, prepare to get mathematical as I introduce what I call [[https://discord.com/channels/226045346399256576/1271943281613340775/1356736553157918892 The Earthdiver Principle]]! He introduced me to a new line of thinking:

Earthdiver — 4/1/2025 2:06 PM
i don't know why anyone who can get close to loot cap even skins since it just takes away from enhancive loot

This was in 2025, but back then there was a 16m soft loot cap with diminishing returns as you approached a 35m hard cap. So I considered his words, but ultimately didn't stop skinning because I almost never ''did'' get close to the old loot cap. However, in early 2026, things changed to a 10m soft cap with diminishing returns toward a 15m hard cap. (...more or less. You can still find loot at a 1% rate past 15m.) Around 12m or 13m is a mark I get to with relative ease.

Let's back up and explore the point, though. Skinning counts toward loot cap, but skins go straight to the furrier for silver. The only way you could possibly get more silver out of a skin than what the game thinks they're worth (in other words, how much they count against loot cap) is if somebody else wants to buy them from you, but that's a very niche market with generally low demand. Earthdiver was pointing out that if you avoid creating potentially millions of silver worth of skins, then you can find that many millions of silver worth of other types of loot--and some of those other types of loot might be items like enhancives or reasonable starter items (sephwir longbows and the like) that the game only considers to be worth 25k at a pawnshop for loot cap purposes, but which you might value far more highly for your own use or to sell to other players.

In other words: if you can get into soft cap without skinning, it's potentially better not to skin because that creates more opportunity (buys you more time before diminishing loot returns kick in) to find items more valuable than skins.

Now let's extend The Earthdiver Principle to Trading!

Trading counts against loot cap, so you'll reach loot cap faster, but whether that's a good thing or bad thing depends on playstyle and preferred hunting grounds. I'll use a slightly oversimplified example, but let's say there are two characters: Silverlover, who's maxed Trading, and Lootlover, who has no Trading. Other than that, they're identical. Silverlover sells all their loot to NPC shops for 12m whereas Lootlover would only have found and sold 9.375m of items. However, Silverlover is already 2m into diminishing returns, so they would have needed to hunt longer to generate the same number of items as Lootlover. Lootlover can continue to generate loot at full, unthrottled speed until 10m, then can generate another 2m of loot before they slow down to the same degree as Silverlover already did.

Putting it another way: Silverlover needs to kill several times (possibly even many times) more creatures to find the same number of items as Lootlover. If you can get past soft cap at all, there's an argument that Lootlover's getting the better deal there. If Silverlover can actually reach hard cap, then it's more striking; Silverlover ends up with 15m for the month, but needs many thousands more kills to get there than Lootlover, who would end up with 11.72m for the month. Whether that's worth the time is up to you. Alternatively, if Lootlover ''does'' forge ahead and put in the same number of kills as Silverlover, the gap is probably much smaller than 3.28m in the first place!

So far these comparisons have just assumed that all items are going straight to the NPC shops. Let's re-apply The Earthdiver Principle and go with that 15m vs. 11.72m example again. Silverlover is already hard capped and done for the month, but Lootlover can keep going and potentially find up to another 3.28m worth. ''Even if they don't,'' though--let's say they only get half that and find another 1.64m--that doesn't necessarily mean they've come out worse than the Trading character. Silverlover is nominally 1.64m ahead, but Lootlover has found hundreds more total items, and among those items could be things that will sell to other people for millions, making Lootlover pull ahead of Silverlover anyway.

In my case, I do find good items decently often and I'm willing to take time to sell them. Probably every five or six months I find some especially crazy item that's worth two months of loot cap on its own. However, players who hate merchanting or who mostly play in heavily pressured hunting grounds that drop poor loot would be better off retaining Trading or continuing to skin.
</blockquote>

===When Robes Aren't Robes: Alterations===

For simplicity, I've been talking about "robes" throughout this guide because that's the conventional name for that [[armor]] type.

However, robes don't have to remain robes at all; they have the same leeway for alterations as other chest-worn clothing! Here are examples of post-alteration "robes" that my various characters (monks or otherwise) have worn or that I plan to create:

* An airy white starsilk sundress sporting an asymmetrical knee-length skirt
* A sleeveless lily white tunic with a jet black silk sash
* A knee-length midnight blue silk dress aglisten with a constellation of stars
* A sleeveless white tunic splashed with an autumn-hued music motif
* A sleeveless white starsilk tunic spangled with sunset orange musical notes
* A midnight black silk tunic marked with a silver eight-pointed star
* A sleeveless sunlight gold tunic accented by bright white edges
* A royal purple starsilk tunic featuring an embroidered silver rose
* A sleeveless emerald green dress showcasing a heart-framed pink sapphire fairy centerpiece (this one cheats; it has the [[Joola_items|Joola]] fluff script, so it can break character limits)
* A snowy off-shoulder dress sporting white pearl accents along a wavy aqua skirt (also a Joola)
* A thigh-slit scarlet starsilk dress accented by ivory edges
* A sleeveless white kimono featuring golden star embroidery
* A ribbon-sashed cherry red elesine blouse with vanilla-hued ruffled sleeves
* A sleeveless gold feather-patterned tunic tied at the waist

Mine are mostly feminine designs, but even for a masculine character, you can turn your robes into shirts, vests, jackets, and more. Get your creativity on!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Likewise, unarmed combat footwear isn't limited to boots or footwraps. Have a merchant make you shoes, sandals, slippers, flats, moccasins, or anything else you like and wear them into battle!
</blockquote>

===Hunting Partner Tactics and Synergy===

Who do monks team up well with for group hunts and why? Let's explore!

* '''Warriors''' have [[Carn's Cry]], an AoE immobilizer that's enormously helpful for the two things UC monks like most: increasing their MM and reducing enemies' UDF. In turn, warriors love monks' Mind Over Body stamina cost reduction, the best group buff they can get other than bards' [[Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] (which will probably be nerfed one day).
* '''Rogues''' have [[Subdue]] as a single-target immobilizer and love stamina cost reduction. Stealth can make grouping somewhat awkward for most professions, but monks don't necessarily mind being targeted more often since it offers more Spin Kick opportunities.
* '''A monk duo''' can keep up both Mind Over Body and Focus Barrier, but otherwise doesn't have any particular synergy. (Most other professions don't synergize with themselves either, so having any advantages at all is better than usual.)
* '''Paladins''' can give their monk partners extra flares via their [[Fervor (1618)|Fervor]] aura and reduce enemy UDF via [[Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] or even simply connecting with [[Judgment (1630)|Judgment]], both being AoE spells. Paladins can make good use of Mind Over Body or Focus Barrier alike; they use stamina, but don't have as much redux as warriors and rogues nor as much DS as them, so a boost can really help.
* '''Rangers''' have [[Moonbeam (611)|Moonbeam]] as a single-target immobilizer, among various other disablers. Two Weapon Combat rangers should like Focus Barrier and Sunfist rangers should like Mind Over Body, but monks don't offer much to rangers otherwise.
* '''Bards''' can make a monk's attacks even faster, at least for now, since Song of Tonis is the game's best group buff. 1 second kicks are a wild thing! Monks offer Focus Barrier in return, shoring up the typical bard weakness of defense.
* '''Wizards''' possess myriad AoE abilities, whether disablers or attacks, that monks can follow up on with increased MM and decreased enemy UDF. Focus Barrier helps wizards at least somewhat, but they're already pretty durable as casters go. Monks simply being present as an additional target to split up enemies' attacks is helpful to wizards and all casters.
* '''Empaths''' are near-universally welcome hunting partners for all professions with their healing. [[Adrenal Surge (1107)|Adrenal Surge]] also gives monks more leeway to go ham with mstrikes on cooldown without risking being too punished. [[Bind (214)|Bind]] can immobilize at lower levels, but becomes less reliable later. [[Web (118)|Web]] is a more consistently reliable disabler. Monks' Focus Barrier can be good for situations when an empath gets stanced down. Monks being an extra body helps. An empath's [[Mass Interference (217)|Mass Interference]] setting up a monk's Vertigo isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but it's not an amazing one either.
* '''Clerics''' have [[Censure (316)|Censure]] as an AoE immobilizer and [[Warding Sphere (310)|Warding Sphere]] as a group TD buff (and DS), so they help monks on offensive and defensive fronts alike. If enemy TD is too high for Censure, Web works as an alternative. Focus Barrier is somewhat less helpful to clerics than empaths since getting stanced down is less likely due to [[Soul Ward (319)|Soul Ward]], but it's still there when needed. Having a hunting partner's extra body is even more helpful to clerics than most professions because creatures usually need to focus fire on a cleric at least twice to get through Soul Ward, but the odds of that happening fall from 100% to 25% even in only a duo.
* '''Sorcerers''' have [[Grasp of the Grave (709)|Grasp of the Grave]] as an AoE disabler, though it doesn't help monks as most other professions' disablers. On the other side, Focus Barrier is arguably more helpful to them than to other pures since wizards have more DS, empaths have more Physical Fitness (and so are less likely to be stanced down) and can heal when they do get, and clerics have Soul Ward.

Nearly regardless of team composition, your monk training '''Coup de Grace''' and '''Side by Side''' (which also requires two ranks of '''Combat Movement''') can be helpful to groups.

===The Weapon-Wielding Melee Monk===

Let's talk more about Martial Mastery, the level 0 feat. Although monks have access, it was primarily invented for warriors and rogues as an alternative to learning [[Elemental Targeting (425)|Elemental Targeting]], a Minor Elemental spell that increases AS.

Far enough post-cap, magical warriors or magical rogues have the same AS ceiling as their non-magical counterparts. (Their non-magical counterparts do get there millions of experience points sooner while the magical ones have more DS and TD, but that's outside the scope of this guide...) Monks, on the other hand, don't have Elemental Targeting, so a monk maximizing Martial Mastery can have up to 50 more AS and UAF than a monk ''not'' maximizing it! Of course, UAF doesn't matter nearly as much as AS and the entire monk profession is built around unarmed combat. So I ask:

Is there merit to a weapon-wielding, AS-based monk?

Before I explore it, I'll repeat that I think people should make whatever kind of character they find fun and that I personally like wacky builds. However, I'm not convinced that a melee monk even ''is'' a wacky build. When people consider making a melee-only character who isn't stealth-based, a warrior is probably their first thought, but let's seriously compare these options.

'''The Training Cost Factor''':

I'll use my (first) monk and warrior for the sake of illustration since they're both elves. At level 50, my warrior had a total pool of 2568 PTPs and 2242 MTPs while my monk had a total pool of 2319 PTPs and 2259 MTPs. You might think the warrior is hugely ahead, but no, not at all. I could show you paragraphs upon paragraphs of math I wrote, but let's just cut to the chase.

Let's say my monk and warrior had both done dual katar builds that shared nearly identical core training. 2x Brawling, 2x Edged Weapons, 1x Thrown Weapons (to buff up Martial Mastery), 2x Two Weapon Combat, 2x Combat Maneuvers, 2x Physical Fitness, 50 Multi-Opponent Combat, and 1x Perception were all in common.

From there, my warrior took 70 Armor Use to get metal breastplate, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. My monk learned Iron Skin, took 30 Transformation to buff up Iron Skin, and took 10 Harness Power, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. Their skills would be identical in most ways, but here's where they'd differ:

* Monk in robes that act like chain mail: 153 ranks of Dodging and 102 MTPs spare
* Warrior in metal breastplate: 109 ranks of Dodging and 21 MTPs spare

I'm not going to claim that my monk would basically just be better; there are too many factors to say that. Warriors have their guild skills. Monks have Perfect Self. Warriors have a higher parry chance because of [[Combat Mastery|their level 40 feat]]. Monks have a higher evade chance because of ''their'' level 40 feat. Warriors have [[Whirling Dervish]]. Monks have more DS, at least at this stage of the game. Warriors have [[Weapon Specialization]]. Monks have Burst of Swiftness. Warriors have [[Weapon Bonding]].

My point is that a melee monk is even ''comparable''--better in some ways and worse in others--to a warrior with the exact same build despite ignoring so much of what the monk skillset is tailored toward.

'''The Mental Acuity Possibility''':

What if you learned Mental Acuity even without Kroderine Soul? My above training cost example illustrated my monk stopping at two Minor Mental spells for Iron Skin, but another alternative (though this would be during later levels) would be taking Mental Acuity to retain access to the first 20 Minor Mental spells and still even allowing room for Spirit Warding I and Spirit Defense. (If you were okay with Martial Mastery capping out at +45 AS instead of 50, you could even learn Spirit Warding II!)

The hypothetical Martial Mastery and Mental Acuity monk has almost the same AS as a Martial Mastery warrior, but her spells would pull her far ahead in DS while keeping all the silver selling benefits of Glamour and Shroud of Deception, plus saving tons of stamina via Mind Over Body. The tradeoff is making spelling up more of a hassle, but that might be worth the payoff of having a light armored warrior-like character whose combat maneuvers and weapon techniques have 35% stamina cost reduction!

'''Doubly Perfect Self''':

As great as Perfect Self is for unarmed combat, it's arguably even better for a melee monk. For UC purposes, it's mainly RT reduction for your mstrikes or your singular assault technique, Fury. For a katar monk, on the other hand, you're getting AS--more useful than UAF--and RT reduction for ''two'' types of assault techniques: Brawling's Fury and Edged Weapons' Flurry. Rotating weapon techniques to work around cooldowns is a very powerful thing available for hybrid weapons like katars! This can eat a lot of stamina on a warrior or rogue, but monks don't sweat it as much due to Mind Over Body.

'''Specializations and Katars''':

The Grapple, Kick, and Punch Specialization bonuses for their respective techniques ''do'' still apply even if you're using a brawling weapon instead of unarmed combat!

Grapple Specialization-powered Fury knocking foes down and dealing grapple damage is probably still the most powerful of these effects, letting you skip knockdown setups for your staple assault technique. Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick is probably still the most fun of these effects, letting you fire off powerful maneuvers every so often or occasionally rip through rooms while RT locked.

Ironically, if there's anywhere that I even sort of like Punch Specialization-powered Clash, it's on a weapon-wielding monk. For unarmed combat, Clash is noticeably weaker than unfocused mstrikes. For weapon combat, however, Clash without Punch Specialization has the same power as an unfocused mstrike and Clash ''with'' Punch Specialization has a 25% chance of minor impact damage against each target. That said, the Grapple and Kick benefits for Fury and Spin Kick are 100% instead of 25%, so I still think they win out. Punch at least becomes a more serious contender, though, especially if you're regularly hunting things like bandits, pirates, warcamps, or areas that swarm.

Before I close out this section, katars are the only great brawling weapon and are a hybrid weapon that requires Edged Weapons ranks. Monks do train both skills cheaply, but maxing both does have an opportunity cost, especially early on. If you can only train one weapon type, I'd make it Edged Weapons instead of Brawling. The Edged assault technique, [[Flurry]], gives you a [[Slashing Strikes]] buff that adds slash flares to your edged weapon attacks for the next two minutes. It's also much easier to find great edged weapons for sale from other players--and often even pay event shops--than great brawling weapons.

If you're really set on a brawling-only weapon at first, then the ones I think are at least reasonable relative to their minimum RT are cestuses (good against cloth, leather, and scale), tiger-claws (good against cloth, leather, and scale), yierka-spurs (good against cloth and chain and at least dagger-powered against plate for the same RT), and fist-scythes (good against cloth, scale, and chain, and at least short sword-powered against plate for the same RT).

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If or when you train for katars, take full advantage of them being hybrid weapons. Flurry and Fury have separate cooldowns. [[Whirling Blade]] (the Edged AoE technique) and Clash have separate cooldowns. Since at least one of these four techniques will be off cooldown much more often than not, you can go into a wild frenzy with a monk's stamina cost reduction from Mind Over Body.
</blockquote>

'''Conclusion''':

Ironically, I wrote the above Mental Acuity subsection mostly to acknowledge that it's a possibility even while thinking nobody would do it without Kroderine Soul. I just like to encourage weird builds in most professions, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Instead, after considering all the math and angles I did while writing this, it's made such a strong case for a bizarrely appealing build that I've talked myself into trying it with Sariara at some point, even if I end up fixskilling out of it later, just to see how it goes. My mind's swirling and it seems clear that the melee monk is a very, very real idea that's gone unexplored because it's not an intuitive or obvious idea from a glance over the monk skillset.
</div></div>

==Infrequently Asked (or Imagined) Questions==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-faq" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering about some weird corner case I somehow never touched on? Ask me on Discord or in the game. To see what weird corner cases other people have asked about, click here!</div>
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This final section covers any random topics that people have asked me or that I can ''imagine'' them asking me if I feel that they're worth answering in this guide, but not worth a full tip or sidebar of their own.

* Things actually asked are red.
* Things I imagine people should ask are pink.
* Things that are both red and pink come from comments I got that weren't originally questions, but I've reframed them into questions because they're worth discussing.

'''Does enchanting UC handwear and footwear help with DS?'''

No on footwear. Yes on handwear, but each +1 enchant only grants 0.1 DS in offensive stance and 0.35 DS in defensive. Work on your armor if you want more DS!

'''Aren't half-krolvin monks super great? Flimbo's Guide and the [[Comprehensive Monk Guide]] really like them!'''

I do have a pretty high opinion of half-krolvin monks--not a top tier one, but pretty high! However, it's for very different reasons in a very different modern GS than the one those older guides were written for. What I actually like is their great carrying capacity without sacrificing speed the way giants, dwarves, or humans do. Let's go over these other factors, though.

Flimbo's guide vouches for half-krolvin monks because Perfect Self normalizes their Logic penalty and they have "solid physical stats with which to punch things quite well." I agree that Perfect Self fixes something that scares some players away from half-krolvin. I even agree that if you're set on playing a half-krolvin, then a monk should be among your top considerations for a profession. Still, I'd rather have a race without a Logic penalty to begin with! Exp-wise, that Logic penalty is less important than it used to be if you're paying for Temple of Lumnis donations or Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage, but it's still a penalty. The impact on Vertigo and Mindwipe also isn't negligible. (This is, after all, the Autumnwinds' ''magical'' monk guide, not the Kroderine Soul monk guide.)

Another point I agree with Flimbo on is that half-krolvin have solid physical stats with which to ''punch'' things quite well. However, I'd rather have a faster Agidex race who has solid physical stats with which to also ''kick'' things quite well, meaning minimum RT for mstrike kick!

The comprehensive guide likes half-krolvin monks because of UAF and heavy crit padding against cold damage. The math says UAF doesn't matter! (Okay, fine, ''technically'' the math says UAF matters... fractionally. It's no big deal.)

Cold damage protection has some appeal if you're specifically leveling in Icemule, but monks also have meditation resistance, so, in effect, being a half-krolvin there opens up meditating to resist a different damage type. However, the outdoor environs around Icemule run out of creatures after the early 50s, so should you pick a race just for that?

The Hinterwilds ''are'' a post-cap option that also features cold damage, but that hunting ground has built-in means to protect any race from cold damage. Also, by that point, unless you've exclusively been hunting the most dirt poor areas in the game, you could also have picked up a ranger resistance trinket with all the silver you'll have made from Glamour, Shroud of Deception, selling your Mystic Tattoos, and needing little to nothing in the way of gear upgrades by virtue of being a monk.

All this said, half-krolvin do make for great monks. I just wouldn't even think to mention these really negligible perks or quirks as incentives; their sheer carrying capacity and excellent verbs are the draw!

'''Should I train Ambush?'''

The short answer is no. Now for the long, fun answer!

Flimbo's Guide and the Comprehensive Monk Guide suggested Ambush at high levels, but players had no visibility into the aiming formula at the time. Community knowledge and game mechanics alike have changed a great deal since then. Not only should you probably not train Ambush, but if you ''did,'' it would be most efficacious around the midgame and face diminishing returns to the point of very realistically doing literally nothing at cap depending on your training.

In May 2021, former GM Naijin revealed the aiming formula, which, until then, had been a mystery that players tried to estimate via self-discovery. [[Aim#Aiming_Formula:_Melee_and_Hurling|You can find it recorded here]] and read for full details, but we learned that:

* Enemy level has no effect on (non-stealth) aimed attacks (this was a shocking revelation!)
* Knocking creatures down helps (I don't remember if we'd known this or not)
* Combat Maneuvers bonus is as important as Ambush bonus (we knew CM helped, but we underestimated how much)
* The combination of CM bonus, Dexterity bonus, and Intuition bonus alone suffices to eventually max out aiming success

<blockquote>
'''Intuition Sidebar!'''

Even if you've tanked Intuition, almost every combination of UC attack and race reaches the maximum 95% aiming success rate for hitting heads of prone foes. The only exceptions are kicks (only kicks) used by erithians or giants, which still have a 94% and 92% chance. On the flip side, halflings have such overflowing success because of their absurd natural Dexterity and Intuition bonuses that they can tank Intuition and still max aiming success rate against the heads of even ''standing'' foes. Of course, they need Acrobat's Leap for that.
</blockquote>

To be more precise, every 4 CM bonus, 4 Ambush bonus, 2 Dexterity bonus, or 4 Intuition bonus increases your likelihood of hitting the right body part by 1%. 24 Ambush ranks (102 bonus) used to be what players had figured out as a reasonable stopping point, so let's use that in an example.

With 24 Ambush, 40 Combat Maneuvers (140 bonus), 15 Dexterity, and 10 Intuition, you'd have a 69%, 64%, or 61% chance to respectively punch, grapple, or kick the head of a prone creature. Aiming adds extra RT, so, for the sake of the argument, let's say we want a 90% benchmark. What would that require? Going to 40 Ambush only brings it up to 79%, 74%, and 71%. Going to 40 Ambush plus 80 Combat Maneuvers is still only 89%, 84%, and 81%.

Of course, by the time you can have 80 Combat Maneuvers, your stats might have increased, so let's say everything had reached 91%, 86%, and 83%. Even that's not good enough because tiering up might demand a grapple or kick for your excellent positioning attack, so you'd need 108 Combat Maneuvers ranks and 40 Ambush ranks. Those 40 Ambush ranks could have been 35 Physical Fitness ranks at 3x costs or 23 Dodging ranks (that's +17 DS in offensive stance) at 3x costs!

What if you eased back to the old 24 Ambush mark? Then you'd need 148 Combat Maneuvers. Perfect Self has kicked in, so let's call it 144 Combat Maneuvers needed. Even that's already level 70. (You can kind of see why players were able to figure out that Ambush should be reserved for higher levels even before we knew the formula!)

In short, pushing Ambush only even kind of makes sense during the high mid levels--60 to 70--when you have high enough stats and CM bonus that you ''can'' reach max or near-max success rates with some Ambush, but not ''so'' high that you reach max or near-max success rates even without Ambush.

''But even then,'' we're only looking at the training point opportunity costs. Guides recommending Ambush also predated the sweeping [[Player_System_Manager_-_Phase_3|PSM3]] combat maneuver updates. Sure, you could aim for heads after you reach excellent positioning. Alternatively, you could Bearhug things to death for 200-400 damage. Another option is using Twin Hammerfists or Fury with Grapple Specialization trained to inflict the Vulnerable status, which means your ''unaimed'' attacks--like the ones coming from mstrikes and Fury--are more likely to hit heads, necks, and eyes than normal with no Ambush or even CM training needed. In fact, if your Fury is using kicks, then hitting the chest or abdomen is also just as lethal at excellent positioning as hitting the head!

Like PSM3's wiki page says, much of the point was encouraging spending stamina to improve efficiency. Monks are the best positioned for that because of Mind Over Body, so I've made my choice: forget Ambush and play to my strengths.
</div></div>

==The TL;DR Recap: Making Cookie Cutter Monks==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Low on time or thought processing power and just want a cookie cutter build you don't need to put much thought into? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-cookiecutter">

(...by my wacky definition of "cookie cutter.")

"Leafi, I love you and all, but I expanded every section, noticed my scroll bar is tiny, noticed your guide is crazy long, and ain't nobody got time for that. Please tl;dr this nonsense?"

Okay, okay, I hear you.

Some of you never wanted the Leafiara treatment where we seek to become real life monks with advanced spiritual and mental understanding by thoroughly exploring the unfathomable mysteries of reality and transcendent metareality (like math and logic).

Some of you instead wanted the Saraphenia treatment where I tell you how to have a functional build that lets you have mechanical fun in an online text-based multiplayer video game and then you embark on your journey.

So I included this section for you!

'''Race''':

Aelotoi, dark elves, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-krolvin, halflings, and sylvankind are all basically the same power for monks. Faster is better, but more encumbrance is worse, so find your balance. Giantmen have a niche.

'''Stats''':

See the table in the Placing Your Stats section.

'''Society''':

Voln.

'''How do I fight?''':

'''Weapon Twinhammer''' as your opener once you learn it. (If you're Grapple Specialization, you can eventually consider skipping Twin Hamerfists and going straight to Fury once you have a few ranks of Specialization.)

'''Jab''' at decent position, '''punch''' at good position if you're not Grapple Specialization and '''grapple''' at good position if you are, '''kick''' at excellent position. Regardless of those general rules, '''follow prompts''' and do what it tells you when it tells you.

Against single targets, '''Weapon Fury''' until whenever you have enough Agidex for a 5-6 second '''mstrike kick'''.

Against multiple targets, '''mstrike grapple''' if you're Grapple Specialization or '''mstrike kick''' if you're Kick Specialization. In either case, not until they're 7 seconds or less. If mstrike grapple is 7 seconds or less, but you're Kick Specialization and mstrike kick is 8 seconds or more, '''mstrike punch''' for now until mstrike kick doesn't take so long.

'''Core skills to train every level''':

2x '''Brawling''', 2x '''Physical Fitness''' (eventually 3x), 2x '''Dodging''' (eventually 3x), 1x '''Perception'''.

'''Skills with breakpoints''':

1 rank of '''Two Weapon Combat'''. 50 ranks eventually much further down the road.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' in bursts for various breakpoints to pick up specific maneuvers. (For which ones and when, see the "combat maneuvers and feats" section below.)

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' in bursts to 5, 10, 24, 30, 35, 50, 55, 60, 90, and 100 ranks.

10 '''Harness Power''' early, 20-30 mid-game, then eventually 40. You probably don't need more unless you're very frequently casting spells in combat.

'''Minor Mental''' to 16 so you have both focus spells (1213 and 1216) as options, then slack off with spells until the midgame. Grab 1220 if you feel the DS need, especially if using 1213 instead of 1216.

'''Telepathy''' lore in bursts to 6, 15, and 30.

'''Transformation lore''' in bursts to 5, 15, and 30.

10 '''Climbing and Swimming''' until the midgame or as needs arise.

'''Tertiary skills''':

'''Spiritual/Mental Mana Control''' only if sharing mana with friends and alts.

'''First Aid and Survival''' only if you want skinning.

20 '''Trading''' by level 20 because monks make silver via Glamour (1205) and Shroud of Deception (1212). Get to 40 or the nearest multiple of 12 Trading+Influence bonus over time. If you can get deep into soft loot cap even without Trading, then eventually abandon Trading, but that probably won't be until later.

'''Midgame skills''':

'''Minor Spiritual''' to 2, 3, or 7 ranks, but only after 3x Dodging.

'''Combat maneuvers and feats''':

'''Dragonscale Skin''' for your level 30 feat.

Step 1 of Combat Maneuvers, making the super early game not painful:

Get 3 CM ranks ASAP for your first rank of '''Rolling Krynch Stance''', then another 6 CM ranks (so 9 total) for your second rank ASAP.

Step 2 of Combat Maneuvers, improving the early game:

In whatever order, pick up the last rank of Krynch and first three ranks of '''Grapple Specialization''' or '''Kick Specialization'''. Grapple if you want to hunt Ascension areas one day, Kick if not. If you choose Kick, it's not necessarily an early game priority since you don't get Spin Kick until level 35-36 (for level 35, spend your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling), so you could move to step 3 after finishing Krynch and grab Kick Specialization later.

Step 3 of Combat Maneuvers, fleshing out skills and diversifying your abilities through the midgame:

In whatever order, pick up three or more ranks of '''Bearhug''', two or more ranks of '''Bull Rush''', all three ranks of '''Evade Specialization''', three or more ranks of '''Feint''', and the remaining ranks of Grapple or Kick Specialization. If you went Kick Specialization, add '''Combat Mobility''' to the list sooner than later. If you picked a halfling or gnome, add Acrobat's Leap, but otherwise don't.

Step 4 of Combat Maneuvers, putting the last pieces in place:

Pick up Combat Mobility (if you didn't already have it) and all three ranks of '''Ki Focus'''.

Step 5 of Combat Maneuvers, player's choice:

Whatever you want. Finish Bearhug, Bull Rush, and Feint or don't, depending how you like them. You can veer off in different directions with more niche maneuver options or not. Up to you!

'''Armor upgrade path when ready''':

Buy TD-boosting armor of +7 or more from a playershop. It'll cost 1-5 million silver and serve you fantastically. Add services of Enchant, Sanctify, and Ensorcell over time in roughly that order while adding padding via the WPS wagons. (Enchant and Sanctify can switch places easily enough, but Ensorcell is definitely last.)

'''Weapon upgrade path when ready''':

* Spending almost nothing (~1 million silver): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear.
* Spending moderately (~35k pay event currency (equivalent of 35 million silver)): Buy off-the-shelf Animalistic Spirit from Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.
* Spending heavily (~80k pay event currency): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear. Add Greater Elemental Flares at Duskruin.
* Spending a ton (~150k pay event currency): Buy Phytomorphic handwear from Duskruin. Add Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate. For footwear, same steps except skip the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks.
* Spending a super ton (~265k pay event currency): Same as spending a ton, except either A) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your handwear, B) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your footwear (Kick Specialization monks), or C) get the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks for your footwear.
* Spending an ultra ton (~365k pay event currency): Same as spending a super ton, except do two of A, B, and C.
* Spending a megaton (~465k pay event currency): Same as spending an ultra ton, except do all of A, B, and C.

And if you're the top 0.5% ready to drop almost $7000 worth of pay event currency, then--well, realistically, you're probably not reading this guide. ''But just in case'', for fun, and to entertain the other 99.5%...

* Whaling out beyond most people's imagination just because you can (~4.24 million pay event currency): Buy greater [[somnis]] handwear and footwear at Duskruin. Add the Phytomorphic script at Duskruin. Add a slew of Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add bane lightning flares at Duskruin. Add Flare Affinity at Duskruin. Add the second active Flourish unlock at Duskruin. Add Lore Flares at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.

(Why lightning flares? Because the flares whales would normally buy when money is no object, mind wrack and death, are disallowed on UC gear. They've never said why to my knowledge, but I think I can infer why from the fact that they sold a [[xazkruvrixis]] (death flaring metal) cestus exactly once before swiftly banning the creation of more UC gear with death flares. Said item has become sort of a legend in the community since it's still around. I'm guessing they learned the hard way that top end flares are so astonishingly powerful with UC's low RT attacks that they considered it too great a balance-destroying outlier and had to cut it off. The good news is that the next best option, Flare Affinity-backed lightning flares, only cost 407.5k pay event currency per item instead of the 500k or two million that mind wrack and death flares would have!)

'''Other upgrades when ready''':

Buy a Battle Standard of third tier or higher to capitalize on flares going great with UC. Get it to the fifth tier eventually to max its flare rate, but the sixth tier is a more optional emergency ability. If you can't afford a Battle Standard, get silver for it over time via Glamour, Shroud of Deception, and selling your Mystic Tattoo service to others instead of tattooing your own monk. Get at least the Poisoncraft part of Covert Arts eventually. Possibly buy some Energy Wings if you like aiming at heads of very huge creatures.

'''Conclusion''':

Monks are easy! Go have fun!
</div></div>

==Denouement: An Unexpected Journey==

First, thank you for reading The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide.

Whether you read only the parts of it you were interested in, read every single word, or anything in between, I'm thankful for every reader.

Sometimes I write a "guide" partially or even almost entirely for myself. For example, with [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Ascension_Considerations|Ascension Considerations]], I was going to do the math on efficient progression anyway, so I figured I'd take the extra time to turn what could have been private spreadsheets into wiki tables. [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Pre-Ascension_Stopping_Points|Pre-Ascension Stopping Points]] (which I just noticed is really outdated) originally ''was'' a private document, but I turned it into a wiki page because sometimes people ask me if they can see my characters' skills when they want a template of where to take their post-cap training.

This one was for you guys, though. I hope it's been helpful, I hope it's gotten you thinking, and, maybe most of all, I hope you find monks more exciting or intriguing than you used to.

That said, if you were here only for mechanical informational purposes, I'm pretty much done with those. There's one more at the very end for people with multiple character slots (not multiple accounts, but ''character slots''), but otherwise, you can head out! I wish you a good day or good night and hopefully I'll see you around the lands.

Thank you again.

<div class="mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious on the backstory of why this guide exists and why now? Click here and we'll close out.</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-denouement">

For the rest of you, if you'll indulge my rambling a bit longer...

The Magical Monk Guide existing is an emergent happy accident.

The [[Raise Your Stout Krew]] (RYSK) [[Meeting Hall Organization|MHO]] features a division for each profession, including a lead player and character who organize related events and help people with related questions. [[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]] and her player were the monk division lead--and they sometimes said they wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest.

I thought, but didn't have the heart to say, that that was impossible. GemStone has been going for over three decades and monks have only been part of it for twelve years--more like ten years when RYSK started--so they don't have the history, nostalgia, momentum, or player population of other professions.

To be honest, even if I had said it was impossible, that wouldn't have stopped Phenia. Even as I type this, I can picture how I'd try to temper her expectations and she'd come back with "Well, I'm going to try anyway!" Phenia aimed high, never mind the odds.

When her player passed away, RYSK lost its monk division lead, but more importantly, we all lost a dear friend--at least her digital presence, and at least for now. During the grief spiral, I planned various things in Phenia's name and among them was making a new character, a sort of soul-daughter for Leafi and Phenia.

I made Sariara (name credit to Tairngaire) late on May 24th. As I leveled her, I did everything I talked about in the Trade Secrets section to capitalize on Glamour and Shroud of Deception, then shared my method in the RYSK Discord server on May 30th as a "Monk tip!"--plus a "Bonus tip!" about pre-level-20 fast skill migration for First Aid, Survival, and Trading. You can see how that impromptu post shaped this guide!

By coincidence, I'd also been answering a few people's questions in the main GS Discord server's monk channel that May into early June, like which out of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization to take, whether Grapple Specialization Fury worked with katars, and which races made good monks. So when Julenne asked me on June 17th to take over Phenia's spot as the monk division lead, I agreed. I don't think I ''could'' have declined. Over that string of seven weeks, I was basically doing what she needed already.

That morning, I decided I should write a new guide to replace Flimbo's old one.

I don't know what I expected would come out of it, but it wasn't this. With a motive like honoring my departed friend, I ''knew'' I'd put my all into it--but I didn't expect to write this much or this in-depth, I didn't expect to cover the topics I did, and, most of all, I didn't expect that I'd be learning myself, not just passing along what I knew beforehand.

I'd never thought about a non-Kroderine Soul monk without Mental Acuity. I'd barely thought about a weapon-wielding monk, even putting Mental Acuity aside. I'd barely thought about synergy between monks and other professions. I'd never investigated how one rank of Sanctify interacted with Kai's Strike. I'd never investigated how or if Stance of the Mongoose worked with unarmed combat. I'd never even investigated how or if Clash worked with a specified UC attack type.

But Saraphenia aimed high with her talent at community outreach, so I had to aim high with my talent at testing and explaining obscure mechanical interactions. Deep diving into the monk ocean sometimes turned up junk, but other times Atlantean treasures. I learned and now I hope you've learned too.

When Phenia said she wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest, I assumed she was talking about numbers. Maybe she was; I don't know either way. I ''do'' know that we want you monk players to be ''your'' strongest, as individuals. Not necessarily the most efficient, not necessarily the most min-maxed, but the most subjectively enjoyable version of your monk. Know your options, find the best one for you, and you'll be your strongest. Any part I might have played in helping you get there is an honor.

Now, for fun and because I can, here's one last obscure mechanical interaction for the road.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus tip!'''

I have a couple character slots where, even though I don't play them, I briefly log them in and out every day for [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]. That way, if I ever decided to start them up, they'd have a giant stockpile of benefits for a head start. Premium slots are especially useful for these purposes since, at no additional price over the base cost, you get more character slots than there are even professions. (Prime subscriptions can still get character slots at $2.50 per month each.)

What's probably less known is that when you [[Verb:RETIRE|reroll]] a character, the new character retains all the old one's login rewards! So I leveled Sariara very quickly early on, jumping past 1.2 million experience in just a month, because she was backed by seven years of rewards in the form of 1034 bounty boosts, 341 instant mind clearers, and 1004 long-term experience boosts (the previous character ''had'' gone beyond level 20 at some point), among other things like more than a thousand bounty task waivers to avoid escorts after she reached level 20. She also had 515 doubled experience boosts, which she didn't even begin using until level 60 when, due to natural stat growth and Perfect Self, she became just 1 exp per pulse shy of her capped exp gains.

Do with the knowledge what you will, premium subscribers! Log in some extra characters or, if you already have been, get a new one going.
</blockquote>

Farewell, have fun, and be good to one another!
</div></div>

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Monk]]
[[Category:Professional Guides]]

Witchful Thinking - 2019-08-03 - Fall Together Now, Concert of Chaos (log)

2026-03-24T22:45:47Z

LEAFIARA:

'''Phoenatos 3-4, 5119'''

'''by [[Leafiara]] Autumnwind of the [[The_TownCrier|TownCrier]]'''

=Summary=

* [[Undead]] [[rolton]]s, [[Spotted_gak|gak]]s, and [[velnalin]] rush the [[Wehnimer's Landing|Landing]] gates. The two groups of frontline defenders, though largely unharmed by them, can't kill the animals quickly enough to stop them from getting into town, forcing some to splinter off to protect those inside the gates.

* The groups split up further as the magic-immune sea serpents return and attack the docks. Then they split up even further as [[scarab]]s break the safety in Town Square Central and kill everyone there, driving the triage team out to the [[Order of Voln|Voln]] monastery. Then they split up still further as ghouls emerge from the graveyard by [[Lorminstra]]'s temple.

* All forces take a stand as [[Thadston]] leads a charge of militia members into the streets against the many creatures, the [[Brotherhood of Rooks|Rooks]] fire arrows down to stop the ghouls from advancing into [[Shanty Town]], a masked figure in white with Rone-like gauntlets escorts townspeople to safety, and [[Thrayzar]] flies into a rampage.

* The ground trembles violently, shattering windows throughout the Town Square areas. The rumbling grows strongest in Town Square Northeast, where adventurers gather to observe. A jagged fissure opens up, releasing foul mist similar to the [[Bleaklands]], driving some of those present into brief fits of madness and hallucination. Soon more trembles rock Town Square Southwest, opening up another fissure there. And still more trembles rock Noth Ring Road, opening a third fissure outside the militia barracks.

* [[Moulis]] infections hit, as do maggot infestations pouring out of townspeople's faces, killing them. Thadston reports moving civilians out and far away. Things slowly calm down as adventurers clear out the remaining creatures; [[Maylan]] gets turned into a frog during what's left of the battle, but a timely kiss from [[Cruxophim]] restores her.

=Highlights=

The dark of night begins to slowly fade, the sky above gradually bleeding away to hold a deep ruddy hue like the shade of old blood.
Speaking to Stormyrain, Puptilian says, "I'll start walking around. If it's raining blood we may want triage inside..."
Leafiara curiously says, "It's not raining at all, never mind blood rain."
Leafiara concedes, "...yet."
The sky begins to fill with huge clouds, dark and grey on the bottom, pale and white atop, their puffy crowns ascending toward the heavens.
Blood rain completely obscures the sky.
Lyrna mutters, "Ask for rain."
Elphieya quietly says, "I really need to invest in an umbrella."

Hapenlok says, "...I'll be wandering around outside the gate."
Hapenlok says, "I'm going to check a couple of her former hiding spots."
Speaking quietly to Hapenlok, Elphieya asks, "Are you sure you going off on your own is a good idea?"
Speaking quietly to Hapenlok, Elphieya asks, "Since you have that....doll problem?"
Speaking to Elphieya, Archales says, "I think it's for the best."
Archales says, "Away from the rest of us."

Shinann removes a ruby-inlaid onyx hourglass from in her soft suede cloak.
Shinann turns the onyx hourglass over.
Shinann put a ruby-inlaid onyx hourglass in her soft suede cloak.
Speaking musingly to Shinann, Leafiara says, "Time isn't running -that- short."

Speaking quietly to Cryheart, Pukk says, "Some Elves are long lived, some humans are very stubborn, some dwarves are good at mining...Pukk is good at getting people to join you."
Pukk quietly says, "I really should get a title of herald or something since I'm always announcing things and having people join people."
A green-eyed black cat says, "The town crier or village idiot both have a nice ring to it."

Puptilian: "If it's the witch the last few times she attacked from the bay so maybe want to keep an eye at the docks. I walked by and it's quiet so far."
Jiarine: "I did smell rotting fish not long ago."
Maylan: "Harrrr that's me."

Speaking to a pale-faced coppery barn owl, Evia says, "You should request just a little bit of a blood-rain hood to protect yourself."
A green-eyed black cat says, "I'll protect the owl...."
Falvicar quietly says, "Owl bet."

Balley softly says, "I need to get a better coat."
Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "Me too."
Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "Though I just had this one made."
Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "Ivory...well, used to be."
Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "It's a lovely shade of "we're all going to die" red now."

Pietra: "They are in town. At Thraks."
Maylan: "Perhaps they want a drink."
Maylan: "Or a lecture from an old fat warrior."

Pukk: "Voln warned us this would happen one day!"

Maylan says, "PROTECT SHANTY TOWN AT ALL COSTS."
Neopuron exclaims, "Yeah my house is there!"

The ground trembles again. Windows along buildings near Town Square Centra shatter outward, casting thousands of glass fragments along the cobbled roads as townspeople run screaming.
Dergoatean: "Here come the megaroaters."

Hapenlok: "I'll rejoin as soon as I'm able. I just burned out my nerves fighting a dozen of those damned ghouls."
Hapenlok: "...flat on my back."
Hapenlok: "Which is somewhat amazing."

Xorus says, "I feel it is best that we stand as close to the cracking ground as possible."
A foul odor seems to rise up from the ground along Town Square Northeast.
Ysharra says, "Much worse than Xorus..."
Xorus says, "I will be the judge of that."

Maylan: "I am triumphantly defending TSC against erm...oh hey a donut."

A foul odor seems to rise up from the ground along Town Square Northeast.
Darconas melodically exclaims, "I bet you that's Leafiara!"
Leafiara tosses her silken handkerchief high with cheeky abandon, sprinkling the air with a hint of cookie dough, sugar, vanilla, and chocolate as it floats gently back into her hand!
Speaking to Darconas, Leafiara says, "No, -that's- me."

One by one, cobblestones along Town Square Northeast are torn asunder as a jagged fissure opens up along the ground, clawing into existance as it stretches from one side of the road to the other like a vicious wound. Mist seems to swirl about within it, rising and falling and drifting about.
Chaoswynd slowly says, "...I don't believe this construction has been approved by the council..."

Raelee's stomach gives off a loud gurgle.
Speaking to Raelee, Stormyrain asks, "..hungry?"
Pietra's stomach gives off a loud gurgle.
Darconas's stomach gives off a loud gurgle.
Stormyrain says, "...damnit."

Kasik: "I'm stuck at the temple if someone wants to kill the ghouls trapping me."
Kasik: "I think they like fresh meat cause there's 6 of em waiting for me."

A green-eyed black cat says, "Protect the food cart at all costs."
Speaking to a green-eyed black cat, Leafiara exclaims, "You know it!"
Shinann stares at Leafiara.

Some townspeople can be seen stumbling about in the open streets, clawing at their faces, leaving bloody, deep wounds along their skin. They scream and writhe and cry out in pain and for help. Then one by one, their faces erupt outward, flesh spraying like broken glass as swarms of glistening white-grey maggots spill out from the wound, dropping to the ground just as the townsperson's corpse lands with a thud.
Talonhawke: "Well, it'll help with the crop shortage at least, maggots are high in protein, and less mouths to feed?"
Dergoatean: "Always look on the bright side of life."
Dergoatean: "Er, well, death in this case."

=Log=

==Bracing==

[Town Square Central]

This is the heart of the main square of Wehnimer's Landing. The impromptu shops of the bazaar are clustered around this central gathering place, where townsfolk, travellers, and adventurers meet to talk, conspire or raise expeditions to the far-flung reaches of Elanith. At the north end, an old well, with moss-covered stones and a craggy roof, is shaded from the moonlight by a strong, robust tree. The oak is tall and straight, and it is apparent that the roots run deep. You also see some stone benches with some stuff on it and an herbal remedy donation bin.

Also here: Dame Evia, Slimeface, Ithrayn, Land Pirate Maylan who is sitting, Dergoatean, Guarrin, Shinann, Musix, Nimaera, Aeleth, Chaoswynd, Snowbee who is kneeling, Event Planner Leafiara, Hapenlok, Sir Cryheart, Archales, Giocoso, Stormicore, Soneiken, Avalera, Elphieya who is sitting, Mistress Ghianna, High Lady Saranja, Eyona, Lyrna, Mistress Lyddia, Skoal, Lady Carolanne, Helsfeld, Stormyrain, Kleef, Puptilian, Lord Chamorr, Bernadette, Falvicar, Zosopage, Gypsy Scribe Balley who is sitting, Pukk, Ralkean, Grel

'''The dark of night begins to slowly fade, the sky above gradually bleeding away to hold a deep ruddy hue like the shade of old blood.'''

Balley softly says, "Um."

Leafiara curiously says, "Hm."

Evia chants, "Burn the Witch!"

Carolanne says, "Crap."

Elphieya quietly says, "Well, that's ominous."

Balley softly says, "Not good."

Carolanne says, "Time to hide."

Speaking to Pukk, Leafiara assures, "It's time!"

Falvicar quietly says, "Here we go."

Hapenlok quietly says, "...she's near."

Balley softly asks, "You think she is near?"

Cryheart feeds a pale-faced coppery barn owl the last of his fine raw meat.

Speaking raspily to Balley, Hapenlok says, "Yes."

Speaking confidently to Balley, Leafiara says, "Bet on it. Or at least her armies are."

Cryheart says, "There ye go Owly, meat to fly higher."

Balley softly says, "Not good."

Speaking to Stormyrain, Puptilian says, "I'll start walking around. If it's raining blood we may want triage inside..."

Avalera says, "Well, that's not ominous or anything."

Leafiara curiously says, "It's not raining at all, never mind blood rain."

Leafiara concedes, "...yet."

Lyrna says, "Not yet."

Puptilian says, "Everyone pleave have your amulet on. I'll call out if I see anything."

Thrassus: "Well now, doesn't that look ominous?"

'''The sky begins to fill with huge clouds, dark and grey on the bottom, pale and white atop, their puffy crowns ascending toward the heavens.'''

Saranja quietly asks, "Bug rain?"

>look up

Blood rain completely obscures the sky.

Speaking to Saranja, Maylan says, "WHAT."

Leafiara thoughtfully says, "Oh, there it is."

Stormyrain says, "Looks like rain isn't far behind."

Lyrna mutters, "Ask for rain."

Leafiara exclaims, "Blood rain it is!"

Elphieya quietly says, "I really need to invest in an umbrella."

Dergoatean exclaims, "Time to prep!"

Balley softly says, "Blood rain is definitely not good."

Pietra says, "It's salty."

Lyrna mildly says, "Certainly not my preference."

Elphieya quietly says, "And hard to get out of your hair and clothes."

Hapenlok says, "I've been covered in blood before."

Pukk recites quietly:

"Everybody join Cryheart if you're not already joined...or if you are Happy"

Speaking sagely to Lyrna, Leafiara says, "This is why I invested in a red cape."

Speaking quietly to Hapenlok, Elphieya says, "I prefer to have the blood on me be from helping others."

Lyrna stares at Leafiara.

Lyrna chuckles.

Speaking quietly to Hapenlok, Elphieya says, "Rain should be cleansing. not bloody."

Speaking insistently to Lyrna, Leafiara exclaims, "Well, it is!"

Lyrna says, "I believe you."

Hapenlok says, "...I'll be wandering around outside the gate."

Hapenlok says, "I'm going to check a couple of her former hiding spots."

Speaking quietly to Cryheart, Pukk says, "Some Elves are long lived, some humans are very stubborn, some dwarves are good at mining...Pukk is good at getting people to join you."

Speaking quietly to Hapenlok, Elphieya asks, "Are you sure you going off on your own is a good idea?"

Maylan: "There may be trouble brewing in the Landing. If any wordly defenders care to come our way, I'm sure it would be appreciated."

Speaking quietly to Hapenlok, Elphieya asks, "Since you have that....doll problem?"

Cryheart: "All scouts keep us apprise of any sightings."

Speaking to Elphieya, Archales says, "I think it's for the best."

Evia says, "Ugh."

Archales says, "Away from the rest of us."

Speaking to Elphieya, Hapenlok says, "Safer for both of us."

Bernadette softly says, "Blood comin."

Puptilian: "Walked the town and outside and so far quiet."

Speaking to Elphieya, Hapenlok says, "I don't have to worry about holding back as much, on my own."

Lylia: "Good evening. Though perhaps not such a good one...the sky has a look I do not like."

Chaoswynd offers Stormyrain a branded leather and faenor flask.

Speaking heartily to Archales, Chamorr says, "Howdy Arch."

Hapenlok: "...she's near."

Speaking to Chaoswynd, Stormyrain says, "Can't manage to take a sip without getting blood in my mouth. No thank you."

Maylan: "Yarrrrrrrrrrrr."

Elphieya quietly says, "May whatever Arkati you worship be with you then."

Speaking to Stormyrain, Chaoswynd says, "Fair point."

Falvicar: "Are there demons nearby?"

In a fair imitation of Archales, Pukk quietly exclaims, "Watch the flank, tighten up the ranks........MEND the bond!"

Eyona: "Yes."

Speaking quietly to Archales, Pukk says, "I covered it all for you."

Speaking to Chamorr, Archales asks, "Evening Chamorr are you leading the charge tonight?"

Hapenlok: "....not yet."

Speaking heartily to Archales, Chamorr says, "Spurs is got it."

Shinann removes a ruby-inlaid onyx hourglass from in her soft suede cloak.

Shinann turns the onyx hourglass over.

Shinann put a ruby-inlaid onyx hourglass in her soft suede cloak.

Speaking musingly to Shinann, Leafiara says, "Time isn't running -that- short."

Pukk quietly says, "I really should get a title of herald or something since I'm always announcing things and having people join people."

Speaking amicably to Pukk, Leafiara agrees, "You should."

Puptilian: "If it's the witch the last few times she attacked from the bay so maybe want to keep an eye at the docks. I walked by and it's quiet so far."

Pukk quietly says, "I mean we have Sir Shiny and Sir Ruffy, and Dame Evia and Grumpy Happy."

A green-eyed black cat says, "The towncrier or village idiot both have a nice ring to it."

Speaking to Pukk, Ghianna says, "Not Herald...Melvin."

Speaking to Pukk, Evia says, "Or we could all just call you Herald, or Harry."

Jiarine: "I did smell rotting fish not long ago."

Avalera says, "Ugh."

Maylan: "Harrrr that's me."

Avalera says, "Sticky."

Speaking to a pale-faced coppery barn owl, Evia says, "You should request just a little bit of a blood-rain hood to protect yourself."

A green-eyed black cat says, "I'll protect the owl...."

Falvicar quietly says, "Owl bet."

Pukk quietly says, "Pretty awful rain."

Cryheart says, "Aye."

Saranja quietly says, "Lyrna... focus on the task, love."

Stormyrain nods slowly at Alasatia.

Stormyrain points at Chaoswynd.

Stormyrain points at Alasatia.

Stormyrain adopts an agreeable expression.

Alasatia cocks her head at Chaoswynd.

Chaoswynd gazes in amusement at Stormyrain.

Alasatia studies Chaoswynd with an excruciating intensity bordering on indecency.

Stormyrain grins crookedly.

Alasatia nods approvingly at Stormyrain.

Stormyrain gazes in amusement at Alasatia.

Stormyrain preens.

Alasatia grins crookedly at Stormyrain.

Chaoswynd amusedly says, "I think that's Storm's roundabout way of introducing us."

Stormyrain laughs softly, trying to hide her amusement.

Chaoswynd grins at Alasatia.

Stormyrain agrees with Chaoswynd.

Speaking to Chaoswynd, Alasatia agrees, "I think so."

Pukk quietly says, "It's quiet......too quiet."

Maags looks thoughtfully at Shinann.

Ruffelin says, "Tis understandable when yer spattered wi' blood in battle, but ta hae it rain down on ye frae th' clouds is disconcertin' in th' extreme."

Maags says, "Well usuallies."

Balley softly says, "I need to get a better coat."

Speaking suspiciously to Pukk, Leafiara says, "Where are the beetles or serpents or worms or Blameless or demons or..."

Balley softly says, "Protect me from the weather a bit better."

Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "Me too."

Leafiara concludes, "Well, you get the point."

Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "Though I just had this one made."

Balley softly says, "Shhh."

Cryheart says, "Listen carefully for any skittering."

Speaking quietly to Leafiara, Pukk says, "I know right....I mean, what is a night in Landing without a scarab popping out of the ground and eating Happy."

Speaking deeply to Ruffelin, Guarrin says, "Reason for the color."

Evia chants, "Burn the Witch!"

Speaking in Elven, Eyona complains, "Get on with it already.."

Speaking quietly to Leafiara, Pukk asks, "What I ask you...what?"

Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "Ivory...well, used to be."

Speaking to Guarrin, Ruffelin says, "Good choice, lad."

Speaking quietly to Balley, Elphieya says, "It's a lovely shade of "we're all going to die" red now."

Speaking to Guarrin, Evia says, "Clever color choice for here."

Pukk quietly asks, "Maybe we can get Dreaven to cast some spells in TSC for us?"

Speaking deeply to Evia, Guarrin says, "I've learned a thing or two over the years."

Speaking to Pukk, Leafiara reminds, "Lately they've just been getting dispelled anyway..."

Speaking dejectedly to Leafiara, Pukk says, "Oh yeah."

Maags says, "I has not had this manies magics on me in a veries long time."

Speaking quietly to Leafiara, Pukk says, "I'm glad I visited the temple and got more favor with Lorminstra."

Speaking quietly to Leafiara, Pukk says, "Although, she knows me by sight now."

Speaking amusedly to Pukk, Leafiara agrees, "I bet."

Elphieya quietly says, "Careful out there. The night is not looking very safe..."

Speaking to Cryheart, Maags exclaims, "Readies!"

Cryheart says, "Same."

==Contact==

'''A guard from the north gate towers shouts, "I see something...."'''

[travel]

[Wehnimer's, Outside Gate]

Citizens, merchants and assorted dregs of society jostle against you before the great wooden gates of Wehnimer's Landing. Harried guards and militiamen try to keep the chaos to a minimum, but it is hard to keep track of those entering, let alone leaving, this large trading post. A dirt path encircling the wooden palisade of the town leads east and southwest. Nailed prominently to the wooden wall beside the gate is a sign you really should read. You also see a reinforced wooden defense tower and the Wayside inn.

Also here: Ysharra, Melikor, Xorus, Soneiken, Lord Zolis, Sofal, Razanetika, Skoal, Maags, Dergoatean, Tetreves, Yakushi, Sir Ruffelin, High Lady Saranja, Avalera, Guarrin, Eheylien, Vancudais, Rhayveign, Relic Hunter Madmountan, Krizualt, Dame Evia, Land Pirate Maylan, Shinann, Chaoswynd, Archales, Elphieya, Lyrna, Mistress Lyddia, Helsfeld, Stormyrain, Lord Chamorr, Bernadette, Falvicar, Zosopage, Pukk, Sir Cryheart, Event Planner Leafiara

Leafiara musingly says, "He may see something, but I sure don't yet."

Ysharra says, "I'm sure it'll be here soon enough."

Lokirro says, "Oh boy."

Cryheart: "Defenders at north gate."

Speaking to her drunken chinchilla, Maylan says, "Hide friend, HIDE."

'''A decaying rot-filled gak charges in, flaring her nostrils angrily!'''

Lokirro says, "Everyone's gonna die again."

A decaying rot-filled gak charges at Ysharra with its tusk!

Ysharra evades the attack by inches!

'''A decomposing worm-covered rolton ambles in.'''

'''A rotting bloated velnalin trots in, snorting to announce her arrival!'''

Leafiara says, "Curious."

Puptilian: "I'll watch the west gate if any want to keep an eye on it with me."

[combat; room clears]

Evia says, "Dang, nasty."

Pukk quietly exclaims, "Those were roltons with a mission!"

Pietra says, "Smelly."

Stormyrain: "North gate was attacked by undead wildlife."

Puptilian: "Need help."

Ruffelin says, "Well, e'en if ye cannae see 'em, ye kin surely smell 'em."

Dergoatean says, "I'll scout a bit. Send a thought if north gate needs reinforcements."

Maags says, "Better."

Leafiara acknowledges, "Not exactly her most threatening opening salvo ever, but... they were a bit ugly, I'll give them that."

Xorus disgustedly says, "Gaks."

Falvicar: "Where?"

Pukk quietly asks, "Ooh, I wonder if we will see a bunch of kobolds?"

Stormyrain: "West gate."

Maylan: "Man the towers!"

Dergoatean: "They're at west gate too."

[travel]

[Wehnimer's, Exterior]

The muted sounds of loud bartering from within Wehnimer's Landing, and the lonely calls of a pair of mated fenvaoks high up in the air vie for your attention as you march along the outer western edge of the town. You also see a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decomposing worm-covered rolton that is lying down, the Dergoatean disk, a long thorny vine, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a forest wolf, a tall wooden archery tower and a reinforced large wooden gate.

Also here: Pukk, Zosopage, Falvicar, Bernadette, Lord Chamorr, Helsfeld, Mistress Lyddia, Lyrna, Elphieya, Archales, Chaoswynd, Shinann, Land Pirate Maylan, Dame Evia, Relic Hunter Madmountan, Rhayveign, Vancudais, Eheylien, Guarrin, Avalera, High Lady Saranja, Sir Ruffelin, Yakushi, Tetreves, Maags, Razanetika, Sofal, Jiarine, Lord Zolis, Soneiken, Xorus, Melikor, Ysharra, Gypsy Scribe Balley, Tsarok, Hapenlok, Lord Drakkler, Sir Cryheart, Event Planner Leafiara, Mayor Lylia, Dergoatean, Stormyrain, Puptilian

Puptilian says, "Join up."

[combat; room clears]

Speaking to Cryheart, Puptilian says, "Keep the north gate."

Lylia: "The West Gate is secured."

Evia: "Ring the alarm Maylan!"

Maylan: "I FORGOT THE ALARM."

==Breakaway==

Cryheart says, "Ok..we need to split the groups to cover both West and North gates."

Elphieya: "Is a triage going to need to be set up?"

Dergoatean: "Ring roads clear at this time."

Cryheart says, "Stance offensive."

Speaking eagerly to Cryheart, Leafiara says, "Most definitely."

Cryheart: "Anyone at North gate?"

Stormyrain: "Yes. Due to the blood rain, I will leave it up to the healers whether TSC or the Inn are more appropriate."

Maylan: "Triage will be in TSC and at Voln."

Pukk recites quietly:

"Remember, if you see kobold trying to invade, don't aim at Happy, no matter how much you get confused!"

Puptilian says, "If some will stay with me, the north gate will need help too."

Pietra says, "I'll take a group to North gate."

Saranja quietly says, "Yona." [died elsewhere, because animals are getting through the gates]

Maylan: "North gate is clear."

Stormyrain: "It is not."

Leafiara says, "They've gotten in the gates. Just a moment."

[Leafi goes rescuing]

[Wehnimer's, Land's End Rd.]

Vigilant night guardsmen scrutinize the citizens and travelers arriving and departing through the wide gates spanning the land route into Wehnimer's Landing. The cluttered streets of the city to the south are a far cry from the deceptively calm expanse of the wilds of Elanith outside. Two daunting towers survey the countryside and protect the town, flanking the road to the east and west. You also see a decaying rot-filled gak, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, the town gates and a large wooden barrel.
Also here: the body of Lokirro who is lying down, the body of Eyona who is lying down

Stormyrain: "Clear now."

Maylan: "Odd, I must be staring out the wrong window."

Cryheart: "We need a few just to watch and defend the North gate."

Stormyrain: "I have the North Gate."

Talonir: "Run for you lives!"

Stormyrain: "I can use more help if west gate can spare them. Join Vancudais."

[combat, but the anmals have too much health for someone to solo without either Pain or incredible patience]

Leafiara: "Some are making it inside the gates."

[combat abandoned, corpse dragging]

Dergoatean: "Plenty of gaks at north gate. A few velnalins now too."

Cryheart: "Some of ye patrol just inside the north and west gates."

Maylan: "Man the ballistas!"

Dergoatean: "Or woman!!"

Lylia: "Join Puptilian at the West Gate for its defense."

Maylan: "Woman the ballistas!"

[TSC triage]

Cruxophim: "Person the ballistas!"

Stormyrain: "Just shoot the damned things already."

Dergoatean: "Or Crux!"

Speaking to Yrrk, Maags exclaims, "Lives to defend the life yous loved ones!"

Cryheart: "How is the north gate?"

Stormyrain: "Busy."

Leafiara roars, "To the battlefield!"

[Wehnimer's, Outside Gate]

Citizens, merchants and assorted dregs of society jostle against you before the great wooden gates of Wehnimer's Landing. Harried guards and militiamen try to keep the chaos to a minimum, but it is hard to keep track of those entering, let alone leaving, this large trading post. A dirt path encircling the wooden palisade of the town leads east and southwest. Nailed prominently to the wooden wall beside the gate is a sign you really should read. You also see a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin that appears dead, a roly-poly flamepoint sand kitten, the Dergoatean disk, a spotted great horned owl, the Eheylien disk, the cauldron-shaped Vancudais disk, an animated halberd hovering in mid-air, a short-haired black cat, a fluffy white cat, a reinforced wooden defense tower and the Wayside inn.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Sir Ruffelin, Lord Chamorr, Dergoatean, Chaoswynd, Stormyrain, Eheylien, Vancudais

[combat]

Puptilian: "Need help?"

Stormyrain: "Holding for now."

Cryheart: "Got enough up there?"

Hapenlok: "LEAFI, get back here, I got a body!"

Leafiara: "I can only raise every so often and I just did!"

Chaoswynd: "Things seem under control at the north gate, for now."

Hapenlok: "...triage him, I can't disengage."

Leafiara: "We have to stop the advance at the gates and just inside the gates or there'll be more bodies to come!"

Puptilian: "West gate busy but under control for now."

Jiarine: "I am collecting a large group of my own that need to die."

Dergoatean: "Undead animals on north ring road as well."

Leafiara: "You're just the right one for the job, Goat."

Cryheart: "Gak went through west gate."

Dergoatean: "The poor uniformed doorkeeper..."

Pietra: "They are in town. At Thraks."

Maylan: "Perhaps they want a drink."

Maags: "They are all over town."

Maylan: "Or a lecture from an old fat warrior."

Shinann: "They are getting into town."

Dergoatean: "Sorcerers - Pain is recommended. They take a lot of punishment."

Cryheart: "Group inside of west gate."

Cryheart: "Do we hae a group inside of north gate?"

Leafiara: "Small group still defending north gate."

Stormyrain: "No."

Leafiara: "Not inside, no."

Stormyrain: "Just outside it."

Stormyrain: "Nothing straight inside that I see."

Maylan: "Goat, Flapjack, and myself are attempting to clean up."

Puptilian: "I sent a few inside the gates to clean up inside. West Gate is holding though."

Maylan: "But we are spread out."

Cryheart: "Group is patrolling between north and west gate."

Hapenlok: "...anyone have eyes on the docks?"

Dergoatean: "The dead animals move very quickly from place to place - they slip through the gates easily."

Pukk: "Voln warned us this would happen one day!"

Elphieya: "Speaking of Voln. How is the healing situation there?"

Tetreves: "At least two healers at west gate."

Dergoatean: "Docks are clear, their pylons inactive, and quiet in Darkstone Bay itself."

[Leafi checks on the triage situation and west gate, then returns to north gate]

Maylan: "Inside north gate is getting overrun!"

Puptilian: "How is the north gate?"

Stormyrain: "Busy, still."

Pietra: "Scattered undead sheeps on locksmehr."

Leafiara: "The gate itself is holding but very busy."

Stormyrain: "I hold the lead now if someone comes in to join."

Cryheart: "Last bunch were a bit tougher."

Dergoatean: "We might consider two levels of defense for these - defenders both outside and inside the gates. It's nigh impossible to keep some from slipping inside the gates."

Pietra: "Is TSC still triage?"

Evia: "Cryheart group patrolling about."

Maylan: "Aye."

Maylan: "And the bodies are piling up in there."

Leafiara: "The general town patrol is definitely needed. Even two groups at each gate wouldn't be enough."

Elphieya: "Any clerics who can be spared in the fighting are needed in triage."

Maylan: "There are several of us patrolling."

Leafiara: "We thank you!"

Lyrna: "I've been fighting the ones I've been finding around town."

Dergoatean: "Inside of town looking pretty good at this moment."

Cryheart: "Report out if you see critters inside of town."

Lyrna: "I'm seeing one just west of House Phoenix."

==Fourway==

'''Dockworkers scramble and townspeople scream as huge black forms begin to glide along the surface of the Bay, moving rapidly towards the north docks!'''

Tetreves exclaims, "Docks!"

Leafiara mumbles, "Ooh boy."

Pietra says, "Ooooh."

Hapenlok: "...I'm going to the docks."

Dergoatean: "Bigguns. North docks."

[Leafi heads to the dock]

[Wehnimer's, North Dock]

The dock's planks are dull and weathered from the salt spray of many seasons. Northward beyond the massive sea gates, a flock of ice geese passes, silhouetted against the sky over the dark blue waters of Darkstone Bay. The hulk of a derelict coastal sailer is tethered to the end of the pier. You also see a sharp-nosed fire wyrdling, the Dergoatean disk, a huge oily black sea serpent, a frisky astral spirit that is flying around, the Rimo disk, a volatile aurora spirit that is flying around, a black imperial wagon with a glowing blue-white pylon on it, the dark waters of Darkstone Bay, a stack of empty crates, some huge wooden crates and some stacked piles of supplies.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Dergoatean, Land Pirate Maylan, Maags, Rimo, Dame Evia, Guarrin, Shimmerain, Shinann, Sir Cryheart

Elphieya: "Serpents in the bay."

Cryheart: "Group at north docks."

Dergoatean: "Serpents are magic immune?"

Hapenlok recites:

"Join Cryheart!"

Leafiara: "Serpents at the dock. These are immune to magic!"

Maylan: "Looks to be, aye."

Dergoatean: "And they poison."

Sairai: "I sure appreciate all yous defending the surroundings while I'm trying to get caught up with my "work".. My deepest thanks to yous."

Tetreves: "I'm heading to docks to help."

Hapenlok: "Bring warriors."

Stormyrain: "I have a corpse at the north gate."

Shimmerain says, "Can't do a thing."

Thrassus: "There is a serpent on Valeria street."

Tetreves says, "They're getting through."

Leafiara suggests, "If you can only use magic, defend the gates."

Dergoatean says, "One east." [we'd moved west at some point]

Maylan says, "Okay back to patrol I go."

[Voln - Dergoatean] "Serpents can be affected by symbols.. somewhat."

Stormyrain: "Still have a corpse at the north gate."

Cryheart says, "Whew."

Speaking hopefully to Falvicar, Leafiara asks, "Zealot?"

Tetreves exclaims, "Alright!"

[Falvicar casts]

A huge oily black sea serpent slithers in.

Cryheart says, "Thanks for coming."

Maylan: "Critters leaking through the north gate."

Speaking eagerly to Falvicar, Leafiara exclaims, "Now that's more like it!"

Puptilian: "West gate is now led by Lylia. I'm going to help against the serpents."

Cryheart: "Group is busy at north dock with the black sea serpents."

Dergoatean: "Docks is still magic-immune serpents."

Leafiara: "Cryheart's leading here at the docks."

Lylia: "I am now leading at the West Gate."

Sairai: "Glad it's you and not me.. I hates creepy crawlies."

Shinann asks, "Who is casting Zealot?"

Dergoatean says, "I dunno but I like it."

Puptilian says, "I figured my sword will help here more."

Nodyre says, "We need some Tonis, too."

Pukk: "Careful around town, both friendly fire and critter attacks."

Dergoatean asks, "So, how are my fellow squares doing?"

Cryheart says, "Doing well."

The voice of Pietra asks, "Fantastic?"

The voice of Pietra exclaims, "Hidden!"

The air crackles with potent energy!

Puptilian flashes with a bright ethereal light!

The barrier of force around Puptilian dissipates.

[and everyone; all foreign spells dispelled]

Lyrna says, "I hadn't noticed any immunity."

Evia says, "Oy."

Speaking thoughtfully to Falvicar, Leafiara says, "We're gonna need more Zealot."

Avalera says, "Good times."

Maylan: "Blasted anti magic."

Ruffelin says, "Gads."

Puptilian says, "Good my vines will still work."

The voice of Pietra says, "So how are we doing now? Not so great."

Aynissa: "The heavens themselves seem to be cursed."

Dergoatean says, "If Leafi and I can still hang without the other spells, so can the rest of you."

Leafiara adds, "But Zealot would still be great."

Dergoatean says, "Though now I've doomed myself by saying it."

Speaking to Leafiara, Dergoatean says, "I'm a little more scared of Zealot now."

The voice of Pietra exclaims, "Yep!"

Cryheart says, "Spell stripping was cast."

Speaking mischievously to Dergoatean, Leafiara says, "I'm never."

Dergoatean says, "Tonis, Tonis is what we really need."

Cryheart says, "So dinnae waste manna."

Speaking to Dergoatean, Leafiara concedes, "True."

Tetreves removes a bronze bar from in his ashen wool cloak.

Tetreves drops a bronze bar.

[drops a bunch more]

The voice of Pietra says, "Couple ambushers here, just so's you know."

Tetreves says, "That's better."

Cryheart says, "Good."

Dergoatean says, "Does anyone not want Zealot? I've got it here."

The voice of Pietra asks, "Can someone fling those at the big ugly snakes?"

Cryheart says, "Moving east."

Sir Cryheart's group just went east.

[Wehnimer's, North Dock]

The dock's planks are dull and weathered from the salt spray of many seasons. Northward beyond the massive sea gates, a flock of ice geese passes, silhouetted against the sky over the dark blue waters of Darkstone Bay. The hulk of a derelict coastal sailer is tethered to the end of the pier. You also see a huge oily black sea serpent, a huge oily black sea serpent, a black imperial wagon with a glowing blue-white pylon on it, the dark waters of Darkstone Bay, a stack of empty crates, some huge wooden crates and some stacked piles of supplies.

Also here: Rimo, Dame Evia, Guarrin, Shinann, Nodyre, Dergoatean, Sir Ruffelin, Tetreves, Lyrna, Falvicar, Event Planner Leafiara, Avalera, Relic Hunter Madmountan, Puptilian, Lord Zolis, Sir Cryheart

Dergoatean asks, "Anyone? Who doesn't want Zealot?"

Speaking greedily to Dergoatean, Leafiara says, "I want it."

Dergoatean asks, "I guess it'll just drop though?"

Cryheart says, "Spell stripping will most likely disrupt Zealot."

Leafiara offers, "Even having it temporarily is better than nothing."

Elphieya: "Everyone in TSC is alive for now. Good work clerics."

Zolis deeply asks, "Anyone hit me with a shot of Strength?"

Cryheart says, "Well... your mana, if you want to cast Zealot...no guarantees it will last."

Evia says, "Won't last."

Zolis deeply says, "True."

Speaking pleadingly to Falvicar, Leafiara exclaims, "Help us out!"

Elphieya: "Several died walking west from TSC."

Falvicar quietly says, "I could use adrenaline."

Dergoatean: "Serpents have remained under control to this point, at the north docks."

Dergoatean: "They remain magic immune."

Tetreves exclaims, "Balley!"

Dergoatean: "It's no place for sorcerers."

Falvicar quietly asks, "Who gave this?"

Leafiara: "Won't stop you or me!"

Stormyrain: "North gate is still steady, but controlled for now. Several groups here, though, if you come in please don't throw any magic that could inadvertently kill any of us."

Pietra exclaims, "Bugs too!" [scarabs and beetles have started appearing with the serpents]

Dergoatean: "Scarabs now."

Pietra: "There are scarabs at north dock now."

Dergoatean: "Anyone else getting scarabs, aside from north docks?"

Cryheart asks, "All ok?"

Ruffelin says, "Aye."

Speaking to Falvicar, Nodyre says, "Sorry."

Lyrna says, "So far."

Speaking to Puptilian, Shinann says, "Thank you."

Leafiara says, "Whew..."

Guarrin deeply says, "Aye, seem so."

Falvicar quietly says, "Thank ye."

Puptilian says, "Welcome."

Raelee: "... yes."

Cryheart says, "I am protecting one empath."

Pietra: "Besides inside bodies...?"

Dergoatean: "Yes, we have em outside."

Lyrna asks, "Are headaches the side effects of a spell that's been running?"

Speaking to Dergoatean, Pietra says, "I knows."

Jennora: "Scarabs in the square, I think the sanctuary in town square central is down."

Dergoatean says, "Sorry, I did it again."

Cryheart says, "Moving east."

Dergoatean asks, "Should we clear out town square central?"

Hapenlok: "I'm coming."

Talonir: "TSC is a mess... eww."

Jennora: "Is Voln secure?"

Leafiara curiously says, "Hmm. Trouble elsewhere." [mass deaths sensed]

'''A loud cackle echoes in the distance.'''

Cryheart says, "All over."

The voice of Pietra says, "Oooh."

Puptilian says, "Not good."

Evia chants, "Burn the Witch!"

Dergoatean: "Dozen bodies in Town Sqaure Central."

Cryheart asks, "Hear that cackle?"

Ruffelin says, "Aye."

Leafiara exclaims, "Yup!"

Aynissa: "Something powerful is cackling..."

Cryheart: "Hear that cackle?"

Guarrin deeply asks, "Triage setup elsewhere?"

Stormyrain: "Heard at the north gate."

Leafiara: "And here."

Hapenlok: "It's a risk."

Aynissa: "The Coastal Cliffs as well."

Avalera's face takes on a pinched expression.

Hapenlok: "She's had Voln under siege before."

Hapenlok: "Use your best judgement, there."

Speaking carefully to Avalera, Leafiara says, "You're about to be in trouble."

Dergoatean: "Looks like town square central is no longer overrun by anything but our own corpses."

[dispels]

Lyrna asks, "Is the headache a side effect of a spell wearing off?"

Hapenlok: "Everyone in the square is dead."

Speaking to Lyrna, Leafiara says, "No, that's when you have too much mana..."

Speaking to Lyrna, Dergoatean says, "Headache can be too much mana."

Pietra exclaims, "Bastards!"

Dergoatean says, "As in the rift, when we are stripped of our outside spells we can also gain or lose mana, even over what we can normally hold."

Lyrna says, "That might explain it."

Aynissa: "Bloodrain is bathing everything."

Pietra says, "I'm gonna barf...." [plague or moulis]

Hapenlok: "Yep. It is."

Cryheart says, "Well done."

Puptilian: "How are west and north gates?"

Elphieya: "Voln is safe for now."

[dispels]

The voice of Pietra says, "My tummy feels weird."

Elphieya: "If anyone can get bodies here."

Lyrna says, "Mine too."

Leafiara musingly says, "Some of you aren't looking so good."

Tetreves: "Inside town is getting overrun!"

Dergoatean: "By what?"

Balley: "Scarabs."

Tetreves: "All of it."

[combat; Leafi breaks away to triage]

==Regroup==

Hapenlok: "....I may have to implement the ultimate solution if this gets any worse."

[Town Square Central]

This is the heart of the main square of Wehnimer's Landing. The impromptu shops of the bazaar are clustered around this central gathering place, where townsfolk, travellers, and adventurers meet to talk, conspire or raise expeditions to the far-flung reaches of Elanith. At the north end, an old well, with moss-covered stones and a craggy roof, is shaded from the moonlight by a strong, robust tree. The oak is tall and straight, and it is apparent that the roots run deep. You also see a dismal badland spirit that is flying around, a sleek narrow-winged falcon that is flying around, a weathered fel trunk, a floating crystal green eye that is flying around, a ruffled narrow-winged falcon that is flying around, a weathered wooden box, a rotting thanot coffer, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a fluffy white cat that is sitting, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, some stone benches with some stuff on it and an herbal remedy donation bin.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, the body of High Lady Saranja who is lying down, the body of Razanetika who is lying down, the body of Kasik who is lying down, the body of Snoobie who is lying down, Draught, the body of Sofal who is lying down, the body of Savageheart who is lying down, the body of Stormicore who is lying down, the body of Chaser Rendena who is lying down, the body of Lord Gwoblyn who is lying down, the body of Lord Snub who is lying down, the body of Xure who is lying down, the body of Seleinia who is lying down, the body of Qeff who is lying down, the body of Skoal who is lying down, the body of Fyrrow who is lying down, the body of Ingward who is lying down, the body of Lady Carolanne who is lying down, the body of Ralkean who is lying down, the body of Grel who is lying down

Leafiara recites:

"Delivery!"

Leafiara surprisedly says, "...whoa."

The ghostly voice of Saranja quietly says, "No time to say ow."

The ghostly voice of Stormicore asks, "Could we even attack the bugs?"

Pietra: "Scarabs, sea serpents, velnalins. And now our stomachs are gurgling... some of us."

Jiarine: "Go set yourself on fire and die? I approve."

Cruxophim just arrived, dragging the body of Rinthius with him.

You hear a wet, muffled ripping sound from under the skin of Cruxophim's chest!

A heavy shudder passes through Cruxophim, but he remains helplessly stunned.

Speaking softly to Saranja, the ghostly voice of Razanetika says, "Hello aunty! I've missed you..."

Leafiara says, "Well, I'd... help if I could, but... not for a while yet." [35 minutes left on raise cooldown due to a previous person dying shortly after being raised]

The ghostly voice of Ingward says, "Yeah you can attack em but there is so many of em."

Draught says, "I'll see if there are any bodies out front..."

Hapenlok: "You know something Jiarine, if I weren't so busy..."

The ghostly voice of Saranja quietly says, "Hi Raza... missed you too."

Pukk quietly says, "It seems you have died my friend."

Dergoatean: "Where should we take the TSC corpses?"

Maylan: "Trophy room or Voln."

[dispels]

Hapenlok: "...one of these days, I'll look forward to standing over your still smoldering corpse and raising your head on a pike for everyone to see."

Leafiara: "That... I'll leave to those who are still able to raise."

Elphieya: "Is TSC safe?"

Pukk quietly says, "More deliveries."

Leafiara: "...for the time."

Leafiara: "But I wouldn't recommend it."

The ghostly voice of Savageheart says, "This dinner party is terrible."

Hapenlok: "But for the moment? I'm going to go swimming with the scarabs."

Dergoatean exclaims, "Taking some to Voln!"

Speaking to Leafiara, Maylan says, "Moving to voln."

Hapenlok: "No, nowhere in town is safe. Try Voln."

Leafiara: "Triage moving to Voln!"

Pukk: "Still more in town."

==Return==

[Leafi heads back to the docl]

[Wehnimer's, North Dock]

The dock's planks are dull and weathered from the salt spray of many seasons. Northward beyond the massive sea gates, a flock of ice geese passes, silhouetted against the sky over the dark blue waters of Darkstone Bay. The hulk of a derelict coastal sailer is tethered to the end of the pier. You also see a black imperial wagon with a glowing blue-white pylon on it, the dark waters of Darkstone Bay, a stack of empty crates, some huge wooden crates and some stacked piles of supplies.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Rhayveign, Relic Hunter Madmountan, Lyrna, Lord Zolis, Puptilian, Avalera, Falvicar, Nodyre, Rimo, Dame Evia, Guarrin, Sir Cryheart, Sir Ruffelin

A gravelly hiss announces the slithering arrival of a huge oily black sea serpent!

Speaking to Evia, Ruffelin says, "Mayhap let's git ye ta a healer."

Guarrin deeply says, "Nice swing."

Lyrna says, "Feels like my back... ribs."

Evia asks, "I don't think they can help?"

Cryheart says, "Feinting the serpents open them up for attack."

Evia says, "Uck, what is it."

Hapenlok: "Cryheart, a couple of your number are about to give birth to ....moulis, I think."

Dergoatean: "Roughly 10 undead fauna along north, west, and south ring roads."

==Graves==

'''An eerie groan rises amidst the battle chaos, and the wrought iron gate along Erebor Square is thrown open wide as one by one, sinewy ghouls shamble into view and spill out into the streets.'''

Stormyrain: "Where has triage been moved?"

Leafiara: "Voln."

Stormyrain: "..for the love of."

Leafiara says, "Going for the ghouls."

[travel]

Pukk: "They are coming from the cemetery now!"

[Wehnimer's, Cheridin Ave.]

Several small shops crowd along the street, which is composed of the back walls of the high buildings bordering the central square. Each storefront vies with the others for street space and the attention of the many travellers who pass through here. A few traders, hoping to take advantage of some late business attracted by the nearby temple, have set up stands and pushcarts filled with clothing, trinkets and souvenirs. You also see a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul and the clerics' shop.

Maylan: "TSC was overrun with scarabs."

[Leafi attempts to fight them alone, then Goat joins up]

Shinann: "Is anyone at the graveyard?"

Leafiara: "Goat and I are."

[then Tetreves and Tikoshi come by]

Jiarine: "I am, ghouls." [in another room]

Pietra: "Is there any thing we can do about this barfy stomach thing?"

Dergoatean traces a sign that contorts in the air while he forcefully incants a dark invocation...

Dergoatean gestures at a putrid sinewy ghoul.

CS: +563 - TD: +416 + CvA: +25 + d100: +76 == +248

Warding failed!

A putrid sinewy ghoul contorts in excruciating agony!

... 1050 points of damage!

You hear a sound like a weeping child as a white glow separates itself from the sinewy ghoul's body as it rises, disappearing into the heavens.

Dergoatean drops dead at your feet!

Leafiara: "Well... Goat was, anyway."

Stormyrain: "Barfy stomach thing?"

Dergoatean stands up. [except no, it's a bug and he's still alive...]

Tetreves swings a perfect steel maul at a putrid sinewy ghoul!

AS: +541 vs DS: +166 with AvD: +39 + d100 roll: +99 = +513

... and hits for 196 points of damage!

Massive blow punches a hole through the sinewy ghoul's chest!

You hear a sound like a weeping child as a white glow separates itself from the sinewy ghoul's body as it rises, disappearing into the heavens.

Tetreves drops dead at your feet!

Tetreves swings a perfect steel maul at a putrid sinewy ghoul!

AS: +476 vs DS: +510 with AvD: +39 + d100 roll: +50 = +55

A clean miss.

Dergoatean: "I'm still alive."

Lyrna: "Nausea."

[gas cloud kills Leafi (for real, not a bugged death)]

The ghostly voice of Leafiara says, "Ah... clouds."

[combat; Tikoshi and Tetreves are killed off; Leafi spams Symbol of Retribution to clear the room so she can teleport out]

'''The voice of Thadston shouts nearby as he and a host of Landing Militia flood into the streets, fighting back against the creatures.'''

The ghostly voice of Leafiara musingly says, "Not the best idea I've ever had."

The ghostly voice of Tetreves says, "You're the best, Leafi."

The ghostly voice of Leafiara amicably says, "Well, I try."

[self-raise eventually goes off; probably missed some amunet messages while dead]

[Temple, Altar]

The altar is plain, and bears only onyx bowls of smouldering incense and smoking paraffin. Draped behind it is a cloth banner, appliqued with an ancient mystical pattern. A legend is embroidered along the bottom. On the far side of the room at the end of an aisle, you see two pillars.

Also here: Tikoshi, Pukk who is sitting

Leafiara impatiently exclaims, "I don't have time to be dead!"

Soneiken: "Where are the healers?"

Aynissa: "The creatures could be diseased."

Elphieya: "Lots of dead at voln if some clerics who can raise are about."

>symbol return

Your surroundings blur into a white fog . . .

[Courtyard]

A well maintained and healthy garden occupies the entirety of the courtyard. The air here is cool and crisp, but the bulk of the monastery shelters you from wind and makes the air bracing instead of chilling. In the center of the garden is a natural spring bubbling up several inches above the surface of the encircling pool of crystal clear water. A large stone and iron gate blocks the entrance to the monastery flanked by a statue of a woman carrying a crystal staff and a set of crystalline keys facing a second statue of a kneeling young man bedecked in battle-worn black chain armor. You also see a spotted great horned owl, a forest wolf, a sleek barn owl that is flying around, a dismal badland spirit that is flying around, a capricious spring spirit that is flying around, the Xeryl disk, a lesser screech owl that is flying around, a scorched black marble bench with some stuff on it and a large fel tree.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, the body of Grand Lord Winowitch who is lying down, the body of Chaoswynd who is lying down, Stormyrain, Puptilian, the body of Razanetika who is lying down, the body of Lord Snub who is lying down, Semoeh, the body of Xure who is lying down, Ishtae who is kneeling, Deryc, the body of Ingward who is lying down, Illuminaty, Lord Gwoblyn who is kneeling, the body of Chaser Rendena who is lying down, the body of Chath who is lying down, the body of Fyrrow who is lying down, the body of Skoal who is lying down, the body of Qeff who is lying down, Mistress Lyddia who is kneeling, the body of Savageheart who is lying down, the body of Sofal who is lying down, the body of Kasik who is lying down, the body of High Lady Saranja who is lying down, the body of Grel who is lying down, the body of Ralkean who is lying down, Lady Carolanne who is lying down, the body of Seleinia who is lying down, the body of Stormicore who is lying down, Snoobie who is kneeling, Great Lady Shaliegh who is lying down, Jennora, Gypsy Scribe Balley, Kalsicar who is sitting, Great Lord Geovekn who is kneeling, Elphieya, Xeryl who is kneeling, Anemegus, High Lord Siamo, Grand Lord Reugo

The ghostly voice of Chath asks, "What is going on? Why is this all happening?"

Stormyrain says, "Corpses."

Hapenlok: "Voln."

Leafiara wryly says, "Well, on the bright side, now I can raise again."

Leafiara adds, "After I'm healed, anyway."

The ghostly voice of Chaoswynd says, "Well, on the bright side, at least I'm not diseased anymore."

The ghostly voice of Savageheart asks, "Specifically or generally?"

The ghostly voice of Snub says, "Someone passed gas and a spirit was summoned to destroy the Landing."

The ghostly voice of Snub exclaims, "It's revenge for Helga's cooking!"

[triage efforts]

Puptilian says, "Ok back to it."

Dergoatean: "Ghouls clear for the moment."

Hapenlok: "....unbelievable."

Dergoatean: "Town square as a whole is clear, save a few gaks and roltons."

Lylia: "Tetreves needs help at the West Gate. He is dead, and I cannot cease fighting for a moment to attend to him."

'''More ghouls pour out of the graveyard along Erebor Square.'''

Hapenlok: "Hold on, I'm coming."

Maylan: "Got him."

Lylia: "Thank you, Maylan."

==Unite==

'''The ghouls shamble southernly, moving along South Ring Road as they head towards Shanty Town.'''

Leafiara suddenly says, "Oh no."

[travel]

Lyrna: "Are people in other areas having these symptoms? sharp pain, nausea, coughing blood...?"

[Wehnimer's, South Ring Rd.]

Pedestrians and a few carts and wagons move along the cobblestoned road in the shadow of the palisades, most focused on going about some night time business in town. They pass by the low wood and stone buildings, rarely glancing up or at one another. You also see a pair of clawed arms, a skeletal arm, a putrid arm, a desiccated arm, a flayed arm, a desiccated arm, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul that appears dead, the Dergoatean disk, a scalloped ivory wooden sign and a small white-painted boutique.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Dergoatean

[combat, then travel to another spot]

[Wehnimer's, South Ring Rd.]

South Ring Road leads to the outskirts of Shanty Town, the poorest section of Wehnimer's Landing. The contrast between the colorful, well-kept buildings of the bazaar and main square and the dingy hovels to the east is striking. Most passers-by move hurriedly to the west or north to the river crossing. A ragged child cowers against the south wall, looking lost and forgotten. You also see a striped lynx, a skeletal arm, a gnarled arm, a pair of bloody arms, a fleshless arm, a desiccated arm, a pair of decayed arms and a putrid sinewy ghoul that is lying down.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Lord Leviathoar, Shimmerain, Helsfeld, Yakushi

Maylan: "Who has eyes on the ghouls?"

Jiarine: "I am inside the graveyard."

Leafiara: "Small group here on South Ring Road."

Hapenlok: "Not I."

Jiarine: "Nothing here inside."

Stormyrain: "North gate is completely unmanned."

'''Dark hooded figures run along the rooftops, many near South Ring Road. The figures move about like living shadows, firing white-tipped arrows down on the ghouls as they try to push their way deeper into Shanty Town.'''

Hapenlok: "The ghouls are the bigger threat."

Maylan says, "KILL EM."

Shinann: "Anyone in Shanty Town?"

Maylan says, "PROTECT SHANTY TOWN AT ALL COSTS."

Leafiara: "Many of us."

[Wehnimer's, Shanty Town]

The tracks of wagon wheels rut the path through here, forming tiny rivulets that connect the puddles. A few sparse bushes and a tiny garden outside one of the shanties do little to relieve the monotony of the otherwise indistinguishable dwellings to the north and east. The western path leads back to town. You also see the Dergoatean disk, a wide-scaled deep violet abyran'sa, a frisky astral spirit that is flying around, a sharp-nosed fire wyrdling, the seaweed-covered Neopuron disk, a slimy green frog and a white opal.

Also here: Hapenlok, Ambassador Neopuron, Stormyrain who is lying down, Dergoatean, Land Pirate Maylan, Shimmerain, Yakushi, Event Planner Leafiara, Pukk, Lord Thrassus, Xorus, Soneiken, Mayor Lylia

'''A slender white-armored figure can be seen darting in and out of alleyways, sparks of light flashing along some runic gauntlets along the figure's arms. A white steel mask conceals their face. The white figure moves from building to building, helping to hurl blades at ghouls and other undead while shepherding townspeople to safety.'''

Neopuron exclaims, "Yeah my house is there!"

Cryheart: "North group is frequently pinned down with serpents."

Leafiara surprisedly says, "What the..."

Maylan asks, "Who is that mystery hero?"

Hapenlok asks, "Thrayzar?"

Thrassus says, "Thrayzar."

Hapenlok asks, "Or Mother?"

Dergoatean asks, "Another Rone?"

Leafiara flatly asks, "Seriously? There's -another- one out there?"

Neopuron says, "I seen them jumping on the roofs."

Helsfeld recites:

"I is hero"

Neopuron says, "When I was coming into town."

Xorus says, "Presumably the same one that threw that fellow from Moot Hall months ago."

Dergoatean: "Ghoul group is on east end of south ring road."

Dergoatean: "Seems to have things under control."

Neopuron says, "It would seem."

Speaking quietly to Lylia, Pukk says, "Those demons creep me out and I keep trying to sleep em."

Leafiara says, "Well... I suppose it's not that bad, then."

'''Shinann: "Thadston, where are you?"'''

Lylia says, "Not my abyran'sa."

Dergoatean says, "Going to scout."

Leafiara: "He was fighting on the streets earlier."

'''Thadston: "We're pushing back where we can."'''

Shinann: "I know... trying to see where he is."

Puptilian: "We have the north docks under control."

[Leafi breaks away to check elsewhere]

[Wehnimer's, South Ring Rd.]
Many of the travellers through this part of town appear to be pilgrims, priests and monks. They travel to and fro, moving along the quiet road to the north. The hoot of an owl echoes from somewhere beyond the palisade wall. You also see a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a sharp-nosed fire wyrdling, a putrid sinewy ghoul and a putrid sinewy ghoul.

Leafiara: "South Ring Road needs some cleanup, even west of Shanty Town."

==Tremor==

[return to the larger South Ring Road group]

'''The ground trembles for a brief moment.'''

Lylia asks, "Did you feel that?"

Leafiara affirms, "Sure did."

Dergoatean: "North gate is unguarded. As a consequence, north ring road is overrun with wildlife."

'''Thadston: "You all feel that?"'''

Evia: "Yes."

Leafiara: "Yes..."

[Leafi breaks away again]

Cryheart: "Aye."

Lyrna: "Yes."

Lylia: "I did. Worms, I suspect."

[Wehnimer's, North Ring Rd.]

The cobbled road girds the town along the inner side of the northern palisade. Just to the north stand the twin sentinels of the gate's guardtowers, silhouetted against the night sky. Guardsmen come and go through the main gates, keeping a close eye on the people of all races who move to and fro. Opposite the gates, you see the shop of Dakris the Furrier. You also see a decaying rot-filled gak, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a rotting bloated velnalin, a rotting bloated velnalin, a rotting bloated velnalin, a rotting bloated velnalin, a decomposing worm-covered rolton and a large painted sign.
Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, the body of High Lady Saranja who is lying down

Balley: "Yes felt it here at Voln."

Dergoatean: "I didn't feel a thing. Just inside town, I guess."

Elphieya: "Or more scarabs?"

Puptilian: "Maybe issues in the Rook tunnels?"

Dergoatean: "I didn't feel a thing. Just inside town, I guess."

Dergoatean: "Ahem."

Cruxophim: "Aye, definitely felt it underground."

[return to Voln]

[Courtyard]

A well maintained and healthy garden occupies the entirety of the courtyard. The air here is cool and crisp, but the bulk of the monastery shelters you from wind and makes the air bracing instead of chilling. In the center of the garden is a natural spring bubbling up several inches above the surface of the encircling pool of crystal clear water. A large stone and iron gate blocks the entrance to the monastery flanked by a statue of a woman carrying a crystal staff and a set of crystalline keys facing a second statue of a kneeling young man bedecked in battle-worn black chain armor. You also see a sharp-nosed fire wyrdling, a cloudy grey panther, a sugar-dusted travel biscuit, some manna bread, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a thin crisp of hummus-topped bread, a pumpkin spice muffin with maple cream frosting, a thin crisp of hummus-topped bread, a scorched black marble bench with some stuff on it and a large fel tree.

Also here: Avalera, Jennora who is kneeling, Event Planner Leafiara, the body of High Lady Saranja who is lying down, Skoal who is lying down, the body of Lord Nightwolfz who is lying down, the body of Xeryl who is lying down, Gypsy Scribe Balley, Lord Zolis, the body of Lord Chamorr who is lying down, Great Lord Rico, Zaneon who is kneeling, Yiyuan, High Lord Siamo, Tetreves who is sleeping, Lord Snub who is kneeling, Great Lord Lieo who is sitting, Grand Lord Winowitch, the body of Razanetika who is lying down, Semoeh, Xure, Ishtae who is kneeling, Ingward who is kneeling, Illuminaty who is kneeling, Lord Gwoblyn who is kneeling, Chath who is sitting, Fyrrow who is sitting, Qeff who is lying down, Mistress Lyddia, Sofal who is sitting, Kasik, Grel who is lying down, Lady Carolanne, Seleinia, Stormicore, Snoobie who is kneeling, Great Lady Shaliegh who is kneeling, Kalsicar who is sitting, Great Lord Geovekn who is kneeling, Elphieya, Anemegus

[triage efforts]

Dergoatean: "Anything of note underground, Crux?"

Speaking quietly to Carolanne, Elphieya says, "I don't really drink."

Cruxophim: "Just worms and scarabs."

The ghostly voice of Saranja quietly says, "Some rolton."

Maylan: "Buncha ghouls on Airioch."

Dergoatean: "We're going to be clearing out bloated velnalins for a while out here in Dragonsclaw, I think."

Cryheart: "Where ye at?"

Puptilian: "Burrow Way looks normal."

Dergoatean: "Erebor Square."

Avalera says, "I will break my usual rule."

Avalera picks up a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut.

Avalera takes a bite of her blood pudding donut.

Avalera looks much more calm and refreshed.

'''A grey-cloaked figure can be seen almost spinning from building to building along North Ring Road. His grey cloak swirls out behind him to reveal the red fur of Thrayzar. The orc's face is locked in rage and his bellow matches the fire of his anger. He spins, ducks, dances, leaps, moving along the street and cutting into serpents, shredding through rotting gaks, screaming while almost lost in a blind rage. He presses on, blood darkening the red of his fur as his rampage continues.'''

Dergoatean: "Reminds me of Walkar."

Leafiara: "Hail, Thrayzar. Wish it were under better circumstances to see you so healthy again..."

Dergoatean: "Be careful taking on groups of ghouls on your own, or in small groups. They are very quick to cast Grasp of the Grave. Many, many grabbies."

Leafiara roars, "Back to the fray!"

[travel]

'''The ground trembles again. Windows along buildings near Town Square Centra shatter outward, casting thousands of glass fragments along the cobbled roads as townspeople run screaming.'''

Dergoatean: "Here come the megaroaters."

[travel]

Leafiara: "Animals all over town."

[Wehnimer's, Cheridin Ave.]

The broad avenue intersects here with the narrower byway connecting to the bazaar to the west, where occasional sounds of distant revelry rise from the lamplit streets. Older wood and stone buildings, mostly small shops and offices with upstairs lodgings overlooking the street, predominate here. You also see a white opal, a slimy green frog, the Dergoatean disk, the seaweed-covered Neopuron disk, a wide-scaled deep violet abyran'sa, a spotted great horned owl, a ruffled grey-bellied hawk and a frisky astral spirit that is flying around.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Ryjex, Bernadette, Zosopage, Dergoatean, Daniels, Chaoswynd, Lord Darconas, Helsfeld, Ambassador Neopuron, Shimmerain, Yakushi, Pukk, Lord Thrassus, Xorus, Soneiken, Stormyrain, Mayor Lylia, Land Pirate Maylan

Maylan says, "I was nearly overrun."

Puptilian: "North road is dangerous."

Maylan says, "I crawled away in triumph earlier."

Speaking quietly to Maylan, Pukk says, "You're welcome."

[travel]

Hapenlok: "....DAMN IT!"

Elphieya: "Voln is still safe for now."

[Town Square, East]

Here in the center of a broad plaza near the commercial area of the bazaar stands the impressive facade of the slate-roofed Moot Hall, where the citizens of Wehnimer's Landing hold various official, religious and social functions. Facing the square are some of the town's more prosperous shops, still doing business with the many customers who still frequent the streets at night. You also see the seaweed-covered Neopuron disk, a frisky astral spirit that is flying around, a wide-scaled deep violet abyran'sa, a spotted great horned owl, a ruffled grey-bellied hawk, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a large sack encrusted with dark coagulated blood, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a sharp-nosed fire wyrdling, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin that appears dead, a decaying rot-filled gak, a polished bleakstone statue, a bone-framed bulletin board and a large purple wooden barrel.
Also here: Shinann, Cruxophim, Bernadette, Lord Zolis, Ryjex, Zosopage, Dergoatean, Daniels, Chaoswynd, Lord Darconas, Helsfeld, Ambassador Neopuron, Shimmerain, Yakushi, Pukk, Lord Thrassus, Xorus, Soneiken, Stormyrain, Land Pirate Maylan, Mayor Lylia, Event Planner Leafiara

Xorus says, "Strategic 'regrouping'."

Puptilian: "These decomposing animals are harder to fight. Be safe."

Hapenlok: "Good to hear....I'm coming to you."

Leafiara: "They aren't especially dangerous, just... resilient."

Puptilian: "Around TSC."

Hapenlok: "Regaining some mana, and I'll be back in."

Hapenlok: "....ghouls are still swarming near Erebor square."

Puptilian: "More ghouls South Road."

Dergoatean asks, "Back to Erebor or south ring?"

Maylan says, "South Ring and Erebor are overrun."

Leafiara says, "North Ring was too last I checkedd."

[travel, checking the arious areas]

Puptilian: "Animals all over town especially around Baker's Square and North Road. Ghouls south road towards Shanty. Serpents still north dock."

Dergoatean: "Lylia group going after the south ring/erebor ghouls."

Hapenlok: "I'll rejoin as soon as I'm able. I just burned out my nerves fighting a dozen of those damned ghouls."

Hapenlok: "...flat on my back."

Jennora asks, "Healing for Shyspirit?"

Hapenlok: "Which is somewhat amazing."

Hapenlok: "Considering that's how I got turned inside out."

Lyrna: "Where are we regrouping?"

The Symbol of Need begins to burn in your mind and an image appears before you of Leafiara...

[Wehnimer's, North Ring Rd.]

The cobbled road girds the town along the inner side of the northern palisade. Just to the north stand the twin sentinels of the gate's guardtowers, silhouetted against the night sky. Guardsmen come and go through the main gates, keeping a close eye on the people of all races who move to and fro. Opposite the gates, you see the shop of Dakris the Furrier. You also see a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decomposing worm-covered rolton that is lying down, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decomposing worm-covered rolton that is lying down, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decomposing worm-covered rolton, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, a decaying rot-filled gak and a large painted sign.

[Leafi just fights them all alone]

'''The ground rumbles again, almost like a ripple and once more windows shatter along buildings in town, this time near Moot Hall.'''

[Jiarine eventually comes by and we still can't clear the room; Goat eventually comes by and figures out that the Symbol of Turning obliterates them due to their lower levels]

'''The cobbled road along Town Square Northeast begins to shift as the ground rumbles.'''

Speaking thoughtfully to Dergoatean, Leafiara says, "Oh, good thought."

Dergoatean: "Swarm on north ring now under control."

Leafiara slowly says, "And there go my nerves."

[return to Voln]

[Courtyard]

A well maintained and healthy garden occupies the entirety of the courtyard. The air here is cool and crisp, but the bulk of the monastery shelters you from wind and makes the air bracing instead of chilling. In the center of the garden is a natural spring bubbling up several inches above the surface of the encircling pool of crystal clear water. A large stone and iron gate blocks the entrance to the monastery flanked by a statue of a woman carrying a crystal staff and a set of crystalline keys facing a second statue of a kneeling young man bedecked in battle-worn black chain armor. You also see a pure white samoyed, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a capricious spring spirit that is flying around, a cloudy grey panther, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a thin crisp of hummus-topped bread, a pumpkin spice muffin with maple cream frosting, a thin crisp of hummus-topped bread, a scorched black marble bench with some stuff on it and a large fel tree.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Ralkean, Elphieya, Tikoshi, Lord Chamorr, Lord Snub who is kneeling, Azrelia who is sitting, Anemegus who is lying down, Skoal who is sleeping, Sir Ruffelin, Great Lord Mongonator who is sitting, Chath, Rinthius, Shyspirit who is sitting, Illuminaty, Ascheraden, Lord Burzer, High Lady Saranja, Deryc, Great Lady Shaliegh who is kneeling, Jennora who is kneeling, Xeryl who is kneeling, Great Lord Rico, Zaneon who is kneeling, Yiyuan, High Lord Siamo, Grand Lord Winowitch, Razanetika who is sitting, Semoeh, Xure, Ingward who is kneeling, Lord Gwoblyn who is kneeling, Fyrrow who is sitting, Qeff who is sitting, Sofal who is sitting, Grel who is lying down, Seleinia, Snoobie who is kneeling, Kalsicar who is sitting, Great Lord Geovekn who is kneeling

Razanetika softly asks, "Isn't the bleakstone statue in TownSquare Northeast?"

Speaking shakily to Razanetika, Leafiara replies, "East..."

Sofal says, "Just east."

Speaking to Chamorr, Ruffelin asks, "Goin'ta make a run fer town, Bear. Ye want ta come alang?"

Chamorr heartily says, "Ok."

'''The ground begins to crack along Town Square Northeast.'''

[Voln - Dergoatean] "Symbol of turning works great on the gaks, roltons, and velnalins"

Leafiara marvels, "This is really something."

Pietra: "The ground is cracking again?"

[travel]

[Town Square, Northeast]

The entrance to Tykel's Arms, its heavy door bounded by iron-barred windows, dominates this corner of the square. All manner of citizens pass by, moving among the solid, multistoried wooden buildings that surround the bazaar. Just to the southwest can be seen the tree-shaded heart of the square, where citizens and adventurers gather for socializing, healing and rest. You also see a slimy green frog, a pale-faced coppery barn owl that is flying around, a sharp-nosed fire wyrdling, the fiery red Hapenlok disk, the Ysharra disk, the seaweed-covered Neopuron disk, a wide-scaled deep violet abyran'sa, a ruffled grey-bellied hawk, a bi-taloned dark grey grik'trak and a narrow alleyway.

Also here: Event Planner Leafiara, Bernadette, Yakushi, Ysharra, Melikor, Shinann, Lord Zolis, Daniels, Lord Darconas, Helsfeld, Ambassador Neopuron, Shimmerain, Pukk, Lord Thrassus, Xorus, Soneiken, Stormyrain, Hapenlok, Mayor Lylia

Xorus says, "I feel it is best that we stand as close to the cracking ground as possible."

Maylan: "I am triumphantly defending TSC against erm...oh hey a donut."

'''A foul odor seems to rise up from the ground along Town Square Northeast.'''

Speaking to Xorus, Ysharra says, "I'm nimble. I bet it won't help, though..."

Darconas melodically exclaims, "I bet you that's Leafiara!"

Pukk quietly exclaims, "Wasn't me!"

Leafiara tosses her silken handkerchief high with cheeky abandon, sprinkling the air with a hint of cookie dough, sugar, vanilla, and chocolate as it floats gently back into her hand!

Ysharra says, "Much worse than Xorus..."

Speaking to Darconas, Leafiara says, "No, -that's- me."

Elphieya: "Careful Maylan. Not far from you is bad. Town square northeast."

Pukk quietly says, "Not Leafi either."

Xorus says, "I will be the judge of that."

Maylan: "Hmm that is likely why I am not standing there."

Ruffelin says, "Ghouls south."

Dergoatean: "Come to town square northwest if you like to wait until something pops out before rushing in."

Speaking to Lylia, Hapenlok says, "I'll handle them, get ready for that."

'''One by one, cobblestones along Town Square Northeast are torn asunder as a jagged fissure opens up along the ground, clawing into existance as it stretches from one side of the road to the other like a vicious wound. Mist seems to swirl about within it, rising and falling and drifting about.'''

[meanwhile, there's also combat]

Darconas melodically exclaims, "Come on and come out!"

Speaking to a jagged mist-filled fissure, Leafiara observes, "Curious."

Chaoswynd slowly says, "...I don't believe this construction has been approved by the council..."

Speaking musingly to Chaoswynd, Leafiara says, "That's destruction, not construction."

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Maylan's face and seeps into her!

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Chaoswynd's face and seeps into him!

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Shinann's face and seeps into her!

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Daniels's face and seeps into him!

The voice of Pietra says, "Oh that's not good."

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Pukk's face and seeps into him!

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Ysharra's face and seeps into her!

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Bernadette's face and seeps into her!

Xorus says, "I suspect some madness will set in soon."

A blast of foul-smelling mist erupts from a fissure in the ground and strikes Pietra's face and seeps into her!

Leafiara remarks, "Ahhh, yes, the Bleaklands mist..."

Speaking to Chaoswynd, Stormyrain asks, "Are you ok?"

Dergoatean: "Where'd you all go?"

Leafiara: "Moot Hall."

Lylia: "The ground is opening, and the mist that issues forth is like that of the Bleaklands."

Lylia: "I felt it best to observe from a greater distance."

Dergoatean: "Okay, that's what we were thinking too."

(OOC) Maylan's player whispers to the group, "117 second RT. Fun."

Dergoatean: "Hapenlok will rush in for us. Our hero."

(OOC) Ysharra's player whispers to the group, "Same!"

[combat is going on throughout, as well]

(OOC) Pietra's player whispers to the group, "Are we all in TSE and Darkness?"

Leafiara notes, "Some of you really don't look so good."

(OOC) Ysharra's player whispers to the group, "Some of us, I guess."

Shinann says, "I cannot move."

(OOC) Dergoatean's player whispers to the group, "TSE but not darkness for me."

Pietra says, "I can't talk."

Ysharra says, "I can't move, either..."

Pietra says, "Oh, finally can talk."

Speaking to Pietra, Melikor says, "Yes you can."

Speaking to Pietra, Dergoatean says, "We can hear you."

Speaking carefully to Pietra, Leafiara says, "I'm hearing you just fine."

Dergoatean says, "I can move."

Ysharra weakly asks, "...Munin...?"

Maylan feebly says, "Heeeelp me."

Puptilian: "Where is the ground opening?"

Dergoatean: "Town square."

Hapenlok: "Northeast square."

Dergoatean: "Northeast."

(OOC) Bernadette's playe whispers to the group, "534 rt."

Hapenlok: "Spitting mist."

Hapenlok: "Couple of people got it. Not sure who. Not sure the effects."

Puptilian: "Ok. Serpents still bad at the docks but we are holding."

Raelee's stomach gives off a loud gurgle.

Dergoatean: "We're mostly all lying in wait outside Moot."

(OOC) Ysharra's player whispers to the group, "Still 400+ seconds."

(OOC) Maylan's player whispers to the group, "Odd, I can move in RT."

Speaking to Raelee, Stormyrain asks, "..hungry?"

(OOC) Daniels's player whispers to the group, "Sick RT."

Kasik: "I'm stuck at the temple if someone wants to kill the ghouls trapping me."

Xorus says, "Must be essence of basilisk."

Pietra's stomach gives off a loud gurgle.

Darconas's stomach gives off a loud gurgle.

Stormyrain says, "...damnit."

(OOC) Dergoatean's player whispers to the group, "Kenstrom is trying out some new things tonight, and working out some bugs."

(OOC) Maylan's player whispers to the group, "New things are FUN."

(OOC) Leafiara's player whispers to the group, "Oh, he's working out "bugs" alright..."

(OOC) Pietra's player whispers to the group, "YAY!"

(OOC) Dergoatean's player whispers to the group, "The ghouls were super-bugged at first too."

Hapenlok: "I'll be there in a minute."

(OOC) Chaoswynd's player whispers to the group, "That was fun. Sudden -450 to RT."

Kasik: "I'm stuck at the temple if someone wants to kill the ghouls trapping me."

(OOC) Maylan's player whispers to the group, "I may need to re-log."

(OOC) Shinann's player whispers to the group, "Least I can watch!"

(OOC) Maylan's player whispers to the group, "Oh. There goes the RT."

(OOC) Pietra's player whispers to the group, "Exactly what I was thinking Shinann! :D."

(OOC) Kenstrom's player whispers to the group, "I've been removing the RT. :)."

(OOC) Pietra's player whispers to the group, "YAY!"

(OOC) Maylan's player whispers to the group, "Woot."

(OOC) Pukk's player whispers to the group, "I was cursing you too."

(OOC) Chaoswynd's player whispers to the group, "Yeah that stacking RT was pretty funny."

(OOC) Darconas's player whispers to the group, "Hey wait, that's allowed?"

(OOC) Pietra's player whispers to the group, "It is when you're awesome."

Elphieya quietly says, "People are waiting...wait no. Now there is fighting."

Daniels says, "How are the sorc doing 1400 hits."

Dergoatean says, "Pain."

Elphieya quietly says, "I am watching Lylia right now."

Daniels says, "I see that."

Kasik: "I think they like fresh meat cause there's 6 of em waiting for me."

Speaking to Shimmerain, Pietra says, "You are clearing things so fast. Impressive." [via imploding]

Maylan says, "Blasted serpents."

(OOC) Shinann's player whispers to the group, "Ok... Sorry for the OOC. This is the longest red line ever in my GS history. Ok... back to no OOC."

Shimmerain says, "While I have mana."

(OOC) Pietra's player whispers to the group, "You win the longest red line prize tonight!"

Pietra says, "Damn, I'm going to burst again."

Cruxophim: "Deader in TSC."

[Leafi heads there; triage]

From nearby, you hear Dergoatean yell, "Not much happening at the fissure, to be honest!"

From nearby, you hear Pukk yell, "You just had to curse us by saying that didn't you?"

Leafiara exclaims, "Town's still overrun... moving out!"

Puptilian: "Any more word on this mist?"

'''The ground trembles along Town Square Southwest.'''

[Town Square, Southwest]

This corner of the square seems somewhat subdued. Townsfolk pass through on their way to the shops, the bazaar, or the main well at the center of the square. Others hurry past, anxious to get home or go on about their business. You also see a decaying rot-filled gak, a decaying rot-filled gak that is lying down, a silver-traced carved mahogany cart with some stuff on it, a cobblestone walkway leading up to a wrought iron gate and a wood-sided shop.

[combat as Alasatia, Shinann, and Crux pour in]

Pietra: "It seems like everyone's getting moulis infected."

Hapenlok: "Friend, just stay in the temple."

A green-eyed black cat says, "Protect the food cart at all costs."

Speaking to a green-eyed black cat, Leafiara exclaims, "You know it!"

Hapenlok: "....there's about two dozen ghouls in front of the temple."

Kasik: "Thanks for trying."

Leafiara: "Watchng at Town Square Southwest for another fissure. Nothing yet."

Shinann stares at Leafiara.

Hapenlok: "Which is considerably less than what I started with."

Elphieya: "Just was told northwest is overrun."

Maylan: "TSNW is overrun."

Maylan: "N..nevermind."

[combat; Goat arrives]

'''The ground cracks, the cobbled road of Town Square Southwest ripping open like giving birth to a festering wound and a cloud of foul mist. Townspeople run screaming, unsure of which direction to flee in the chaos.'''

Leafiara says, "Yep... there's another one."

Dergoatean: "New fissure in square southwest. Looks about the same."

Leafiara helpfully suggests, "Might want to clear out before we go mad."

Kasik: "2 bodies outside temple but lots of ghouls not safe."

[small group withdraws to Erebor Square]

[Wehnimer's, Erebor Square]

The dome of a large temple rises above this peaceful square, silhouetted against the starlit sky. The circular building is surrounded by marble porticos and teak columns, and a promenade leads to two pillars, through which the inner sanctum can be glimpsed. Priests and worshippers wander here and there, engaged in various rituals of devotion or study. A locked almsbox is securely bolted to an iron pole alongside the pillars. You also see a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a rotting bloated velnalin that is lying down, some silver coins, a putrid sinewy ghoul that is lying down, a putrid sinewy ghoul that is lying down, a putrid sinewy ghoul that is lying down, a putrid sinewy ghoul that is lying down, an acid-pitted silver coffer, a simple thanot strongbox, a white opal, a wrought iron gate and a glowing white stone.

Also here: Land Pirate Maylan, Dergoatean, Shinann, Alasatia, Event Planner Leafiara

Hapenlok: "I know, i was working on them, but i had to retreat."

Kasik: "Nevermind they departed."

Leafiara: "Chipping away at the ghouls."

Leafiara says, "Serpent..."

'''The ground along North Ring Road trembles.'''

Hapenlok: "...I think we've lost this round."

Leafiara: "Never!"

Hapenlok: "We've been that spot before."

Hapenlok: "The end game's begun."

'''Militamen are sent scrambling as a section of North Ring Road literally rips open, splitting into a jagged, uneven wound of the earth as foul mist rises from it just outside the town barracks.'''

From nearby, you hear Dergoatean yell, "Need mana! I'll be back later!"

Leafiara murmurs, "If there is a later."

Hapenlok: "Think about getting these people out of here."

Dergoatean: "We need ideas on how to actually stop that..."

Dergoatean: "Crux, anything you understand to suggest a root cause we could tackle?"

[the battle with the ghouls doesn't go so well]

The ghostly voice of Leafiara thoughtfully says, "Yeah, I expected that one."

[then it goes even worse]

[Wehnimer's, Erebor Square]

The dome of a large temple rises above this peaceful square, silhouetted against the starlit sky. The circular building is surrounded by marble porticos and teak columns, and a promenade leads to two pillars, through which the inner sanctum can be glimpsed. Priests and worshippers wander here and there, engaged in various rituals of devotion or study. A locked almsbox is securely bolted to an iron pole alongside the pillars. You also see a flayed arm, a desiccated arm, a three-fingered arm, a three-fingered arm, a fleshless arm, a bloody arm, a flayed arm, a flayed arm, a flayed arm, a deformed arm, a gnarled arm, a mangled arm, a pair of fleshless arms, a bloated arm, a pair of deformed arms, a clawed arm, a flayed arm, a desiccated arm, a skeletal arm, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a decomposing worm-covered rolton that is lying down, a decomposing worm-covered rolton that is lying down, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a rose-marrow potion, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a spotted great horned owl, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a putrid sinewy ghoul, a green-eyed black cat, a white opal, a wrought iron gate and a glowing white stone.

Also here: the body of Chaoswynd who is lying down, the body of Shinann who is lying down, the body of Event Planner Leafiara who is lying down

The ghostly voice of Leafiara admits, "Things could be going better."

The ghostly voice of Chaoswynd says, "Indeed."

The ghostly voice of Leafiara optimistically says, "But, you know, as long as Lorminstra keeps bring us back..."

[the large group arrives and starts working on the ghouls]

[back at triage...]

[Courtyard]

A well maintained and healthy garden occupies the entirety of the courtyard. The air here is cool and crisp, but the bulk of the monastery shelters you from wind and makes the air bracing instead of chilling. In the center of the garden is a natural spring bubbling up several inches above the surface of the encircling pool of crystal clear water. A large stone and iron gate blocks the entrance to the monastery flanked by a statue of a woman carrying a crystal staff and a set of crystalline keys facing a second statue of a kneeling young man bedecked in battle-worn black chain armor. You also see a ruffled narrow-winged falcon that is flying around, a shifting portal, a capricious spring spirit that is flying around, a pure white samoyed, a sleek grey-bellied hawk that is flying around, a forest wolf, the Talonir disk, the Wanion disk, a morose mountain spirit that is flying around, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a bacon-wrapped blood pudding donut, a cloudy grey panther, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a sugar-dusted golden doughnut, a pumpkin spice muffin with maple cream frosting, a thin crisp of hummus-topped bread, a scorched black marble bench with some stuff on it and a large fel tree.

Also here: the body of Event Planner Leafiara who is lying down, the body of High Lady Saranja who is lying down, Kelrion, Falvicar, the body of Avalera who is lying down, Jennora, a stunned Dame Evia who is lying down, Lord Burzer, Puptilian, Sir Cryheart, High Lady Lauranathalasa, Nodyre, Zosopage, High Lord Siamo, Kembriana, Wanion, Talonir, Talonhawke, Rinthius, Eldillor who is sitting, Grand Lord Winowitch, Mistress Lyddia, Tikoshi, Lord Snub who is kneeling, Skoal, Chath who is sitting, Illuminaty who is kneeling, Ascheraden, Deryc, Great Lady Shaliegh who is kneeling, Xeryl who is kneeling, Great Lord Rico, Zaneon who is kneeling, Yiyuan, Razanetika who is sitting, Semoeh, Xure, Ingward who is kneeling, Fyrrow who is sitting, Qeff who is sitting, Sofal who is sitting, Grel who is lying down, Seleinia, Snoobie who is kneeling

The ghostly voice of Leafiara confesses, "I suppose it could be going better."

Evia says, "Phew."

The ghostly voice of Saranja quietly says, "Not our night."

Cryheart says, "Seems the town is being overrun."

Burzer asks, "Anyone else need rescue from the town?"

Cryheart says, "Anyone willng to head back with me..join me."

Evia dreamily says, "Can't yet...spirit." [she and Leafi speak dreamily because they're using the Symbol of Dreams to recover]

The ghostly voice of Saranja quietly says, "I got whacked."

Speaking to Saranja, Sofal says, "That wasn't being careful."

Avalera says, "Well, at least they're gone."

The ghostly voice of Saranja quietly says, "That IS careful."

Evia dreamily exclaims, "Yay!"

Saranja quietly says, "What you call careful is... dull."

Speaking to Guarrin, the ghostly voice of Ruffelin says, "Th' gods be wi' ye."

Speaking deeply to Ruffelin, Guarrin says, "I know one that is."

The ghostly voice of Ruffelin says, "Aye."

Speaking dreamily to Saranja, Leafiara says, "Well, you needed favor..."

Leafiara dreamily says, "Will head back in soon as I'm able..."

'''Some townspeople can be seen stumbling about in the open streets, clawing at their faces, leaving bloody, deep wounds along their skin. They scream and writhe and cry out in pain and for help. Then one by one, their faces erupt outward, flesh spraying like broken glass as swarms of glistening white-grey maggots spill out from the wound, dropping to the ground just as the townsperson's corpse lands with a thud.'''

Hapenlok: "I suggest you hurry, Pup. Thadston." [missed the context of this and the next couple comments due to losing the amunet while dead; update: Hap updated the discussion page to explain]

Thrassus: "Well, since maggots are bursting out of their faces at the moment, it's a bit late for that."

Puptilian: "Kobold village is too close by may be a good place too. They have helped us before."

Snoobie: "Is maggot balm being sold yet?"

Talonhawke: "Well, it'll help with the crop shortage at least, maggots are high in protein, and less mouths to feed?"

Maylan: "Eew, Maggots in TSW."

Dergoatean: "Always look on the bright side of life."

Dergoatean: "Er, well, death in this case."

'''Thadston: "We've been moving many out and far away."'''

Snoobie: "Is TSC still producing corpses?"

Maylan: "TSC is clear."

Elphieya: "Healing in tsc if you can't reach voln."

Shinann: "Good to hear."

Elphieya: "No clerics here though."

Maylan: "Just be careful getting here. Maggots are about."

[Town Square, Northwest]

This corner of the square is lively and hectic even at night. A number of representatives of the Landing's population, including several elven loggers and a party of rough-looking dwarves, loiter around the door of the Raging Thrak Inn, where the rowdy cheers of patrons and voices raised in songs of many sorts, from snatches of heroic ballads to blushingly bawdy tunes, beckon you to enter. You also see a glistening grey-white maggot, a glistening grey-white maggot, a flagon of Ice Drake rum, a polished granite statue and a large painted sign.

>appr magg

The grey-white maggot is tiny in size and about one foot high in its current state.

The maggot should prove to be a difficult challenge for you.

Hapenlok: "Whoever's eye? evil eye!"

Puptilian: "Where can we best help to do that Thadston?"

Leafiara: "These maggots are quite a bit tougher than their size might make them look..."

Dergoatean: "Evil eye is no good on the undead. It would get the maggots, but they have strong defense against warding spells generally."

Hapenlok: "Well, there WERE a bunch in TSW."

Cryheart: "Aye we inside of town now Guarrin."

Dergoatean: "Lylia group is on north ring, clearing maggots and such."

Dergoatean: "Adventurers are also burstingt with moulis now, not just the townsfolk and their maggots."

Elphieya: "A few stragglers in tssw, tsse."

'''The ruddy skies begin to slowly darken, deepening to the black shade of night.'''

[several groups split up to clear out the still-lingering creatures roaming all over town; at some point Maylan is turned into a frog, but sadly I wasn't in the room for it--but I did see this:]

Maylan makes a *RIBBIT* noise.

Maylan croaks.

Cruxophim just kissed Maylan.

Maylan returns to her kiss form. [yes, typo and all]

[[Category: TownCrier]]
[[Category: KST]]
[[Category: Witchful Thinking]]
[[Category: Logs]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide

2026-02-26T22:15:44Z

LEAFIARA:

{{player-guide
|title = The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide
|topic = Combat, Monks, Training
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-06-19
|updated = 2026-02-26
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind, in loving memory of '''[[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 26, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Introduction: How to Use This Guide==

This guide is for all magical monks from 0 exp to 55,000,000! (What do I mean by a magical monk? One not using [[Kroderine Soul]]. Somebody else will have to write that guide!) I'll go over monks' strengths, weaknesses, other unique qualities, things to consider, others' perspectives that I hear about, training plans, and so on.

'''This guide is exhaustive within its scope''', or at least it can be.

* If you want an exhaustive guide, read through it in order.
* If you want the opposite of an exhaustive guide, jump to the "tl;dr Recap: Cookie Cutter" section at the end.
* If you're not sure whether you want an exhaustive guide, read the "Why Play a Monk" section to see if monks sound cool, then jump to the Cookie Cutter section at the end, then read the rest if you're intrigued afterward. The Cookie Cutter section provides an overview of ''what'' to do and gives a small window into what the rest of the guide covers, which is ''why'' to do it.

I've made each section collapsible for easy navigation, but I try to scatter nuggets of wisdom for all experience levels all throughout!

Speaking of experience, what's mine? I capped my monk Tarine before the combat modernizations of 2020 and 2021, helped Saraphenia with her training (both on paper and as a hunting duo) from level 43 to about 9 million exp between 2022 and April 2024, and I'm now working on my monk Sariara, who filled in my knowledge gap before level 43 in the modern world.

Speaking of Saraphenia, who created many monks and enjoyed them more than any other profession, I think of this guide like our joint project. She would have had the passion and interest to create it, but not the knowledge and time. I have the knowledge and time, but wouldn't have had the passion or interest--at least on my own. When I say I've written this guide in loving memory, I truly mean it. If even a few more players find monks even half as exciting as Phenia did because of what they read here, I'll call it a job well done!

No further ado. Let's get on with it!

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay mw-customtoggle-creation mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat mw-customtoggle-skillsplan mw-customtoggle-choicesplan mw-customtoggle-progression mw-customtoggle-superpostcap mw-customtoggle-oddsandends mw-customtoggle-faq mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="color:#0000FF">'''(Want to read the entire guide? Click here to uncollapse all sections at once!)'''</div>

==Why Play a Monk or Why Not Play a Monk?==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Pondering the appeal of why to play a monk at all? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-whyplay">

===Unarmed Combat===

Monks specialize at [[Unarmed_combat_system|unarmed combat]] (UC), the most unique form of combat GemStone IV has to offer! It features four primary commands: JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH. Making the most of them revolves primarily around two things:

# "Tiering up," AKA improving positioning from decent to good, then from good to excellent, by sequencing your attacks correctly based on your training and following the combat messaging prompts.
# Improving your [[multiplier modifier]] primarily through things like forcing a creature's stance down or inflicting status conditions.

Unlike the other physical systems based on [[attack strength]] (AS) and [[defensive strength]] (DS), UC's equivalents of [[unarmed attack factor]] (UAF) and [[unarmed defense factor]] (UDF) are joined by a third number worth keeping your eye on, the [[multiplier modifier]] (MM). Another dissimilarity is that while increasing your AS or decreasing enemy DS by the same amount would have the same effect in combat, lowering enemy UDF is multiplicatively better than increasing your UDF. Meanwhile, increasing your MM is possibly even more paramount!

I'll elaborate further during the Unarmed Combat Primer section. For now, know that unarmed combat has a drastically higher floor, albeit also a lower ceiling, than other forms of combat. Monks are much less likely to one-shot anything than their melee counterparts, but monks are also much less likely to have no chance of hitting their foe.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Another standout difference of unarmed combat is that creatures can never outright evade, block, or parry a UC attack. UC attacks can still ''miss'' via low endrolls and there are stray creatures who can still do things like disappear into the shadows to avoid damage, but the latter are rare. If you've played other physical characters and can't stand seeing a creature avoid an attack before it even gets to the roll, try a monk!
</blockquote>

===Gear Indifference===

Monks have extremely low dependence on good gear.

While GSIV is technically balanced around vanilla +20 gear, most people would agree there's a difference between a viable way to play the game and an enjoyable way to play the game. Pure casters are commonly considered the best at remaining enjoyable even with little to nothing spent on good gear. While I do agree, I'd put monks right behind them--and easily ahead of [[warrior]]s, [[rogue]]s, [[paladin]]s, and [[ranger]]s!

Because of the unique qualities of unarmed combat, improvements like [[Enchant (925)|enchanting]], [[Ensorcell (735)|ensorcelling]], [[Sanctify (330)|sanctifying]], or [[weighting]] your offensive gear are much more luxury than necessity. If you're unable or unwilling to spend heavily on a new character, monks are an excellent low investment profession. (And smooth upgrade paths exist if you eventually want them, but more on that later in this guide!)

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

Players have noticed that monks can hunt and succeed in the Hinterwilds, arguably the game's most challenging area, on par with other professions even when monks have a third of the experience points and a tenth of the gear caliber. At that top end of difficult content, I'd say monks are ''the best'' at not depending on gear nor even exp! Much more on that in the Ascension section.
</blockquote>

===Simplicity===

Monks have a very low learning curve, at least by GS standards. This game world has a lot of convoluted training plans, tradeoffs, options, breakpoints, tight training point constraints, and too many desirable skills to train them all, but monks present you with a very straightforward, low pressure profession that it's difficult to get wrong. If you stick to unarmed combat, I'd go so far as ''extremely'' difficult to get wrong.

(If you want to do unusual things that don't involve UC, then read on in Odds and Ends!)

===Fun Factor===

Once monks hit their stride by level 40--maybe even level 30--they're great at screen scroll shenanigans. With the general speed of unarmed combat, its myriad status conditions, free bonus jabs in [[Verb:MSTRIKE|mstrikes]] or free knockdowns in [[Fury]], and plenty of messaging prompts about tiering up or when to [[Spin Kick]], combat can be an engaging and chaotic experience!

Even from a roleplaying perspective, [[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]] is one of the game's coolest tools. It allows you to customize your appearance and save up to three illusionary projections, which is as close as you can get to playing multiple characters in one!

===Might and Magic===

If you long for the raw power of a physical profession like a warrior, but still want the option to use magic in and out of combat even from early levels, monks are for you. The [[Minor Mental]] spell circle is so integral to the monk toolkit that dev had to make provision so even Kroderine Soul monks could still cast spells from level 30 on!

===Downsides or Lack Thereof===

Some players feel that monks are pigeonholed into unarmed combat. I would have agreed before creating this guide, but while writing Odds and Ends, I did a deep dive into the math and now believe a weapon build is absolutely on the table; monks ''can'', if they want, operate like warriors who have more DS (until very far post-cap) but don't wear heavy armor, are better at evading but worse at parrying, have a universal stat bonus from level 50 on but don't have guild skills, and a few other tradeoffs. If your character concept is a lightly armored Dread Pirate type quick on their feet, there's a very real case that a monk can be a better choice than a warrior.

[[Target defense]] (TD) is widely regarded as a monk weakness and was a major discussion point in [[Flimbo's Monk Guide]], which was extensive in its time, but has become outdated after years of major game developments since then. TD certainly is a weakness, but not nearly as much of one now. Monks' offensive toolkit has grown, making it easier than ever to keep enemies under control and stop them from casting at all. Even when creatures do fire off spells, non-Kroderine Soul monks have a new warding defense booster called Dragonscale Skin while Kroderine Soul monks have magic redux and can absorb (negate) an offensive spell once every 30 seconds.

The best I can muster for legitimate monk downsides are that they can't obliterate an entire swarm of creatures in six seconds or less (that's the domain of post-cap bards and wizards) and their profession service needs improvement (but improvement is already planned for the future).
</div></div>

==Character Creation==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-creation" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Need to walk through the creation of your monk? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-creation">

If making a monk sounds intriguing, let's get started!

===Choosing a Race===

From level 50 on, monks arguably have more leeway than any other [[profession]] to be any [[race]] with minimal drawbacks due to [[Perfect Self]] basically eliminating stat deficiencies. Instead of any race being bad at anything, it's more a question of which ones are slightly better at any given thing. I don't think you can go wrong, which I don't say about other professions, so my honest suggestion is to pick whatever sounds interesting.

If you're not sure what's interesting or are torn between options, my ''next'' suggestion is to see if any [[race-specific verbs]] strike your fancy. Even though Shroud of Deception can make your monk ''appear'' like other races, they can't perform (for example) halfling-specific verbs without actually being a halfling. Get the verbs you like!

If verbs don't sound compelling either, then here's how I'd rank monk races mechanically if I really had to:

# '''[[Elf|Elves]]''': What I made my first monk, Tarine. Elves tie with burghal gnomes as the second best race for combined [[Agility]] and [[Dexterity]] ("Agidex"), which means faster mstrikes and assault techniques--the most key parts of the monk arsenal. Elves have no particular disadvantages like height or size, though they're slightly below average on encumbrance.
# '''[[Aelotoi]], [[Dark Elf|Dark Elves]], [[Half-Elf|Half-Elves]], and [[Sylvankind|Sylvans]]''': All of these races tie for third place Agidex and second place in my overall rankings. They can still get to minimum speed attacks, but need a little more [[experience]] or enhancive items than elves, halflings, or gnomes would. They have much more carrying capacity (less encumbrance) than halflings and gnomes, all but aelotoi have more carrying capacity than elves, and none have problems height-wise. Mechanical differences between the four are pretty minimal for monks, but compared to elves as a baseline...
#* Aelotoi have a [[Logic]] bonus, so they gain exp slightly faster (1 per pulse) and [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] are slightly more reliable.
#* Dark elves' [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]] bonuses offer a small amount of defense against elemental and spiritual warding spells.
#* Half-elves have the best carrying capacity of my top five picks. The dwarves and halflings bullet points have more to say about encumbrance.
#* Sylvans' Aura bonus offers a small amount of defense against elemental warding spells. Dark elves are mechanically better at the same thing, but, again, the differences are very minimal in practice.
# '''[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and [[Halfling]]s''': Unlike the above grouping of races that play roughly identically, dwarves and halflings have substantial differences alongside some similarities. The most eye-catching similarity is excellent defense against elemental warding spells, which monks would normally be weak against; dwarves have +30 TD and halflings have +40 TD. Dwarves and halflings do have -10 and -5 Aura bonuses respectively, which also defends against elemental spells, so the real numbers could be considered more like +20 and +35. (Enemy elemental warding spells ''are'' sort of rare, but you might be glad for the benefit when you do run into them.) Their heights require keeping most creatures knocked down or training niche combat maneuvers like [[Acrobat's Leap]] to target heads as a finisher if you're trying to aim, though not all monks do. Dwarves and halflings have Logic bonuses for exp, Vertigo, and Mindwipe purposes. As for the differences...
#* Dwarves are the only race that's both short and slow, ranking second to last in Agidex. Still, if you're okay with slower attacks, then elemental TD remains a rare and valuable selling point. More importantly, dwarves can carry a surprising amount due to huge [[Strength]] and [[Constitution]] bonuses along with identical body weight to dark elves. I rank dwarven monks the best of the slower races. Dwarves also have a slew of amazing verbs!
#* Halflings are the best race for combined Agidex, having the fastest mstrikes and assaults while being about as close as invulnerable to enemy maneuvers as it gets. This alone (never mind also having the elemental TD bonus) is important enough that older versions of this guide used to rank halflings as the second best monk race. However, 2026 changes to average box sizes and drop rates exacerbate halflings' severe [[encumbrance]] issues. The question is your tolerance level for either A) frequently pulling back from hunts to [[locksmith pool|drop off boxes]] or B) buying encumbrance-reducing items like silvery blue potions and [[Blue_feather-shaped_charm|blue feather-shaped charms]]. If you don't mind, then halflings remain a very powerful option. If you do mind, you might want to look elsewhere.
# '''[[Half-krolvin]]''': The fourth best race for Agidex, though there's as much of a speed gap between third best and fourth best as between best and third best. Like dwarves, half-krolvin have a slew of amazing verbs. In pre-2026 versions of this guide, I didn't see much purely mechanical reason to choose a half-krolvin over the previous seven races or gnomes, but things have changed. Their second best carrying capacity helps much more than before. On the flip side, their Logic penalty hurts less in a world with new options in silver or Simucoins for vastly accelerated exp. If you want carrying capacity without sacrificing anything, but also not specializing in anything else, half-krolvin monks are a perfectly good place to be.
# '''[[Forest Gnome]]s and [[Burghal Gnome]]s''': These are in the top 3 and top 2 speed tiers, respectively. Forest gnomes handle encumbrance slightly better than halflings while burghal gnomes handle it even worse than halflings. I give halflings the advantage over gnomes mainly due to their huge elemental TD bonus, but the differences are minor enough that I don't think anyone should sweat it. It just comes down to the same question of whether you can live with the encumbrance issues. If you can, have at it.
# '''[[Giantmen]]''': Giants are the slowest race, but can carry near endless amounts of things without getting encumbered. Encumbrance reduces DS and slows down single-target UC attacks, assault techniques, and AoE techniques--but encumbrance ''doesn't'' slow down mstrikes nor Twin Hammerfists, which are key in the monk arsenal. However, giants are the worst at mstrikes via natural stats. Agidex-boosting enhancives can fix that, but maintaining charges on numerous enhancives can get even more expensive than the small race path of maintaining encumbrance potions, so I personally wouldn't take the trade. Still, there's a reason that some players choose giants near exclusively. If returning to town sounds aggravating or if you want to maximize the amount of time you spend acquiring loot (staying out hunting) instead of exp (ending the hunt as quickly as possible), giants might be for you.
# '''[[Erithian]]s and [[Human]]s''': These are the third slowest races. Erithians and humans have no particular mechanical disadvantages that push them away from being monks, but also no particular advantages that push them toward being monks. Erithians do have excellent verbs that go well with monks roleplaying-wise!

Races from half-krolvin up are close enough that I wouldn't quibble about any of them being seriously better than the others. I understand people's case for giants too, even though they're not my style (I'm okay with returning to town every two or three boxes!), and gnomes are similar enough to halflings. I find erithians and humans really dubious from a mechanical perspective, though. Perfect Self does bring up the low and you can't go wrong, exactly, but Perfect Self also makes the rich richer.

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar!'''

If you're used to playing a halfling or gnome warrior who wears full plate, don't expect your encumbrance life to be similar on a halfling or gnome monk in robes. For one thing, max rank [[Armor Support|armor support]] gives plate armor 35 pounds encumbrance reduction, but gives robes 15 pounds. For another, let's talk about GS' encumbrance paradox!

[[Encumbrance#Armor_Encumbrance_Formula|Base weight (unlightened) armor has no encumbrance while worn]]. Yes, really. 75 pound full plate weighs 75 in your hands and 0 on your body! However, if you lighten full plate down to its minimum 38 pounds, wearing it counts as -37 pounds multiplied by a number that depends on your race. That number is 0.5 for a halfling or burghal gnome and 0.6 for a forest gnome, so, after rounding, max light full plate gives -18 or -22 pounds encumbrance. Robes have a modest base weight of 8 and minimum weight of 4 pounds, so max light robes give -2 pounds encumbrance for halflings or gnomes.

Between armor encumbrance mechanics and armor support, a halfling or gnome in full plate has a 36-40 pound encumbrance advantage over a halfling or gnome monk in robes. Perfect Self will make up some pounds, but not nearly ''that'' much of the gap, so be warned!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar 2, 2026 Edition!'''

I didn't want to bog down the bullet points above by talking too much about encumbrance, which could have taken over the entire race section. In short, as of mid-January 2026, boxes drop a third as often as they used to, so encumbrance kicks in less often, but boxes also contain roughly three times as much as they used to, so once encumbrance does kick in, it kicks in much harder than it used to. You might jump from unencumbered to moderately encumbered in a single box.

It might not be immediately apparent why I consider the loot changes to be impactful enough to move halflings down, half-krolvin up, and gnomes down, but not impactful enough to move giants or humans up. The answer is that the 2026 loot changes are a double-edged sword. While giants and (to a lesser extent) humans can handle the bigger boxes, that doesn't mean their containers can. For example, if you have a conventional "max deep" backpack (no epic deepening that can cost millions of silver) that holds 140 pounds and you find a 45 pound, 55 pound, and 65 pound box, you can't fit all of that inside even if your character can hold it no problem.

Putting it another way, there's a point at which a character's max carrying capacity gets "wasted" because it exceeds the containers' practical limits. I think giants are certainly over that. Humans aren't, necessarily, but carrying capacity can also be "wasted" in a different sense because the boxes themselves are less common. You have to be exactly on a threshold of weight at which you're saving encumbrance, which is a narrow margin in a world where encumbrance increases less incrementally before. In other words, the hit to the small races outweighs the gain to the large races as rankings go.
</blockquote>

===Placing Your Stats===

At level 0, set Strength, Dexterity, and Agility high so you're at your best in combat and setting Logic high so you level faster. This will help power through the early game!

Before level 20, you can change your stats up to five times by checking in at your local inn. At level 20, you're locked in! Because of this finalization, the game stops your exp growth right before level 20 and forces you to confirm that your character is configured the way you want. That's your cue to check in and decide your "real" stat placement!

Here are my recommendations for each race. If you've read Flimbo's older monk guide, a major difference between us is that he was on the side of tanking Influence while I'm on the side of tanking Discipline or Intuition, which I'll explain.

'''The Level 20 Stat Placement Tables!'''

'''Please note: If you're adjusting stats at the inn, set Strength and Agility to 10 lower than the numbers shown here.''' The game automatically adds +10 more to prime stats, which for monks are Strength and Agility. (The website is different. If you're someone who only wants to set stats once at level 0 and be done with it, the numbers below are exactly what you'd enter during character creation.)

'''Tanking Discipline Version (Recommended!)'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||31||82||73||70||82||91
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||43||85||64||62||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||41||82||75||70||82||88
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||31||82||70||70||77||92
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||50||70||73||70||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||20||82||70||69||82||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||33||82||73||70||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||23||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||35||82||75||70||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||37||85||79||70||82||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||53||82||70||70||82||89
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||25||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||43||77||73||70||82||85
|}

'''Tanking Intuition Version'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||59||82||73||41||82||92
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||70||85||62||37||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||68||82||73||44||82||89
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||58||82||70||44||77||91
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||70||70||73||50||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||58||82||71||29||83||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||59||82||73||44||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||62||82||70||32||83||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||68||82||73||39||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||62||85||77||46||83||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||68||82||70||56||82||88
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||62||82||70||35||82||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||70||77||73||43||82||85
|}

My methodology was as follows:

* Set stats to max out at cap.
* Max everything except Discipline or Intuition if possible. If not possible, then take a small number out of either Constitution, Discipline, Influence, or occasionally Logic.
* If all stats have gotten as high as they can get by cap and there are spare points to allocate, then favor the configuration that gives the most mental TPs. If multiple configurations give the same mental TPs, then favor the one with stats that grow most slowly.

If you're wondering what relevant things each stat does, I'll go over them quickly:

* [[Strength]]: Reduced encumbrance. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus.
* [[Constitution]]: Slightly reduced encumbrance. Slightly more max health. +1 crit padding (AS-based attacks only) for every 5 bonus.
* [[Dexterity]]: Reduced [[Roundtime|roundtime]] (RT). Slightly increased maneuver defense. Improves tattooing ability. Adds crit weighting, but only if using melee weapons.
* [[Agility]]: Reduced RT. As much increased maneuver defense as Dexterity and Intuition combined. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus. +0.75 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Discipline]]: +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 TD against mental spells for every 1 bonus. Increased resistance to enemy warcries. Improves tattooing ability.
* [[Aura]]: +1 TD against elemental spells for every 1 bonus. +1 max [[spirit]] for every 10 base stat, rounded up.
* [[Logic]]: +1 exp absorbed per minute per 5 bonus on a node (safe place) or per 7 bonus off a node (e.g. hunting). +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 CS for Minor Mental spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 [[Mana#Base_Mana|starting mana]] for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Intuition]]: Slightly increased maneuver defense. +0.1875 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Wisdom]]: +1 TD against spiritual spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 starting mana for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Influence]]: Increased success for [[Standard success resolution system|Standard Success Resolution]] (SSR) attacks. +1% silver from selling to NPC shops for every 12 bonus.

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #1!'''

While there's endless debate across all professions about whether to set stats for cap or early power, it applies less to monks than others. Perfect Self makes monks good across the board from level 50 on almost regardless of what they do. Single strikes in unarmed combat are also naturally quick and, even at low levels, don't require good Agidex like hard-hitting melee weapons.

Once mstrikes and weapon techniques are a regular part of your monk's arsenal by the early 30s--if not sooner--Agidex does become more important. However, fast races who set stats for cap will be perfectly fine on Agidex due to innate bonuses. For example, at level 30, my monk Sariara had 19 Dexterity bonus and 16 Agility bonus, which is the -2 RT tier. She reached -3 RT by level 33, then -4 RT by level 50 thanks to stat growth and Perfect Self. -5 RT is her peak without enhancives or [[Ascension]] and she reached that at level 84. However, reaching -5 RT only matters for mstrikes and assault techniques, which, despite being very important, aren't the majority of commands in combat.

Overall, in my example, there's a pretty negligible difference between setting stats for cap (-4 RT by level 50) and setting stats for early power (-5 RT by level 50); she only really felt the difference from level 19 to 32. On the flip side, her TD was good from the start (for a monk) since setting stats for cap means that slow-growing stats like Aura and Wisdom start off high.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #2!'''

There's also endless debate across most professions on which stat to tank out of Discipline, Intuition, and Influence. The short answer is Discipline. The long answer requires more detail.

The Discipline wiki page might inadvertently lead you to believe that it's the best of the three because, after all, it contributes to both types of training points and is used for more systems in the game than other stats. However, that's more trivia than useful information. The training points aspect is actually a downside; monks' skill costs ultimately result in mental points being twice as valuable to them as physical points, so purely mental stats like Influence and Intuition ultimately provide more training points than a hybrid stat like Discipline.

As for Discipline being used in a lot of systems, that's true, but it's once again more trivia than useful information. Warcry defense is at least potentially relevant, but many monks will rarely, if ever, interact with it. SSR bonus is a reasonable perk because Voln is the mechanically strongest society (a point that I ''do'' concur with the majority on) and SSR bonus improves the success rate of Symbol of Sleep, arguably Voln's strongest ability, along with a couple of its others. (More on Voln in the next section!) However, Influence also grants SSR bonus.

The main reason that few players of any profession used to tank Discipline was experience. Instant Mind Clearers from login rewards can absorb up to 1000 exp, which means that, to get the full value, you need at least 1000 in your exp pool. This is very doable via bounties, which allow overfilling the exp pool. However, some players avoid bounties, which used to mean that they would need 100 totals in both Discipline and Logic so they could have a max exp pool size of exactly 1000.

That was then. Now, the Wisdom of the Ages perk introduced in 2025 increases your exp pool size by 2 for every month you remain a subscriber. If you're a premium or platinum subscriber, additional changes in 2026 have increased your exp pool size by 200 or 400 for being a subscriber at all. Between that, the Ascension system introduced in 2020 (though that's more aimed at capped characters), and of course Perfect Self, it's far easier than ever to retain the all-important 1000 exp pool even while tanking Discipline.

One aspect of Discipline that ''has'' become slightly more important in past years is mental TD. Enemies casting mental CS spells used to be exceedingly rare (even more than elemental CS spells) and you still virtually never run into it pre-cap, but they've proliferated at cap via creatures in the Sanctum of Scales, the Atoll, the Hinterwilds, and Sailor's Grief. If the trend keeps up, I can reevaluate Discipline in the future. However, for now, monks--at least magical monks using Dragonscale Skin (explained in the Feats section)--have better natural defenses against mental CS spells than any build of any other profession except for a warrior or rogue who has maxed or near-maxed spells, wears full plate, and uses a shield. Even that's debatable since it's assuming the warrior or rogue has infinite exp. Either way, the point is that magical monks have so much less to worry about from enemy mental spells than almost anyone else that tanking Discipline still leaves them ahead.

Still, what if someone is set on maxing Discipline? Maybe they really do want the mental TD, or maybe they don't stay subscribed and don't do bounties. In that case, the question goes to whether to tank Intuition or Influence. The majority usually say tank Influence, but I disagree. As already mentioned, Influence improves Symbol of Sleep and other Voln symbols. It also helps a little bit with Trading bonuses and making extra silver if you can't loot cap without the help of Influence and Trading! (More on that in the Monk Merchants section toward the end.) As a monk, thank to Glamour, you can admittedly max Trading benefit in the end even if you do tank Influence, but that's a post-cap thing and this guide is aimed at everyone.

The main argument for maxing Intuition is that it ekes out a tiny extra chance to dodge enemy maneuvers. That can make sense for pures, but it's much less compelling to monks, who already have extraordinary ability to dodge enemy maneuvers due to high rank caps and low training costs for [[Physical Fitness]] and [[Dodging]] (and low training costs for [[Perception]], for that matter).

To put it into perspective, my capped monk Tarine, who tanked Intuition (because Wisdom of the Ages didn't exist yet), has a -3% chance for a same-level maneuver to hit her in offensive stance and a -18% chance in defensive stance. If she maxed Intuition, those numbers would jump to... -4% and -19%. Not very impressive a difference!

But you might think that a super-capped character is an unfair example, so how about my other monk Sariara when she was level 30? She tanked Intuition, obviously hadn't maxed her stats yet, didn't have Perfect Self, is an aelotoi instead of an elf (a bit worse at avoiding maneuvers), had a little over 1 million experience points instead of 39 million, hadn't sunk [[Ascension]] points into avoiding maneuvers, and only had 2x Physical Fitness, 2x Dodging, 1.1x Combat Maneuvers, and 1x Perception instead of 3x, 3x, 2x, and 2x. For all that, like-level maneuvers still only had a 12% chance to hit her in offensive and a -2% chance in defensive. Improving those numbers doesn't appeal to me like improving the success of the absurdly powerful Symbol of Sleep.

Even assuming that you ''do'' want improved defense, remember that having extra silver from higher Influence lets you pay for better gear and items, which are also their ''own'' paths to improved defense--and often simultaneously to improved offense as well. Ultimately, the Intuition benefit is more narrow than the Influence benefit. That said, the Discipline benefit is even more narrow still. That's my true choice for tank stat.
</blockquote>

===Selecting a Society===

Almost all characters eventually join and master a [[society]] since there are numerous mechanical incentives to do so and none not to. This isn't part of character creation since you can't join a society until level 3, but it can be part of ''character concept'' creation. Also, like I said in stats, Voln makes Influence very relevant, so it's worth considering right away. Which society is right for your monk?

'''[[Council of Light]]''':

Mechanically, this society excels at exactly three things:
* Offering [[Sign of Wracking|way, way more mana]] than other societies (with the possible exception of [[empath]]s in Sunfist)
* Offering slightly more UAF and DS than other societies, as it caps out at 35 instead of 30 (Sunfist) or 26 against the living (Voln, but Voln does get 39 UAF against the undead)
* Being the easiest and fastest to master

Neither mana, UAF, nor DS matter to monks other than in the tiniest regard, so if you're interested in CoL, it's probably either for reasons of ease or for roleplaying reasons like the other two options being a no-go based on their lore.

'''[[Guardians of Sunfist]]''':

This society has a bit more mechanical appeal for monks.

Sunfist's sigils (abilities) consume small amounts of [[mana]] and [[stamina]]. Warriors and rogues need their stamina in droves, so they might find Sunfist tricky to work with or build stamina regeneration enhancives because of it. Monks, on the other hand, can already reduce their stamina costs--including sigils--by 20-35% with their [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] spell! They have more freedom to use Sunfist's powerful short-term buffs like [[Sigil of Major Protection|heavy crit padding]] or [[Sigil of Major Bane|heavy crit weighting]] (against sworn enemies) that other professions might find themselves reserving for emergencies or skipping entirely.

Sunfist also features the best [[Sigil of Focus|TD bonus]] of the societies by a small margin and a surprisingly underrated ability to [[Sigil of Determination|ignore penalties from moderate wounds]] for combat purposes.

Sunfist uniquely offers [[Sigil of Location|access]] to [[warcamp]]s, a type of hunting ground suitable for the level of the characters who enter. It's more or less a means to find private hunting grounds for you and/or your friends whenever you wish! Characters not in Sunfist can accomplish something similar via [[Open Sea Adventures]], which explores the same general concept, but that requires millions of silver to buy in to. Warcamp loot is rather poor, but warcamps remain an appealing aspect of Sunfist and can be a helpful alternative to power through level ranges where you might find traditional hunting grounds unappealing.

Sunfist is certainly not the most common societal choice for monks and arguably not the strongest, but it does open unique options and playstyles well worth considering.

'''[[Order of Voln]]''':

This is widely regarded as the mechanical best society for most or possibly all professions.

Like all professions, monks get extreme utility out of Voln's [[Symbol of Seeking|teleportation to hunting grounds]] and [[Symbol of Return|back from them]], as well as [[Symbol of Dreams|swifter recovery from stat loss]] after being resurrected. In battle, Voln offers a way to [[Symbol of Sleep|put foes to sleep]] and a way to [[Symbol of Submission|force undead foes into an offensive stance]], both of which are even better for unarmed combat than other forms of combat. There's also an [[Symbol of Transcendence|emergency button to go noncorporeal]] and avoid death crits. Voln's attack booster, [[Symbol of Courage]], gives slightly less sheer UAF than the other societies; however, it gives three levels' worth of protection against the undead [[sheer fear]] mechanic, which helps when hunting in areas where you might encounter undead more than ten levels higher.

Voln also features two UC-specific abilities in [[Kai's Strike]] and [[Kai's Smite]]. Kai's Smite is its own UC attack that allows you to temporarily turn noncorporeal [[undead]] corporeal. Inflicting physical wounds on things that normally don't have bodies--and usually wear light armor, if any!--is a powerful draw for brawling monks.

Kai's Strike can be a mixed bag. It treats your hands and feet as blessed even when your UC gear isn't. This used to be immensely valuable when undead creatures completely negated attacks from unblessed gear, making it arguably the top reason for a UC monk to join Voln. These days aren't those days, though. As of a few years ago, undead only have 25% resistance to physical attacks from unblessed gear.

The idea of Kai's Strike is removing the pain point of blessings running out mid-hunt. However, it accomplishes that by acting like you're not wearing your unblessed UC gear at all. That means you ignore undead damage resistance, but also don't benefit from your normal gear properties like flares, scripts, or weighting. That tradeoff is probably still a net win for anyone with basic gear, but I'd say it's a net loss for anyone with at least two flares.

The inability to turn off Kai's Strike after learning it has been an unfortunate side effect of the changes to blessings and undead a few years ago. Still, Voln monks can work around it by filling in with their own [[Symbol of Blessing]] until they can track down a cleric for a [[Bless (304)|real blessing]] that lasts longer, has holy water flares, and stops fast-disappearing undead from vanishing as quickly.

Alternatively, adding a single tier of [[Sanctify (330)|Sanctify]] to your gear overrides Kai's Strike. Sanctify takes off 5% resistance per tier, so you'd get 20% resistance while keeping your flares between blesses. While Kai's Strike is something to be aware of and can be tedious (if you self-bless) or cost a little bit (getting one cast of Sanctify), it's not a dealbreaker.

Overall, Voln offers the greatest diversity of mechanically useful abilities for monks.
</div></div>

==Unarmed Combat Primer==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Still figuring out how unarmed combat works? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-unarmedcombat">

Let's go over the unarmed combat system in more detail! If you're familiar with more conventional melee combat, put that knowledge aside--a great deal of it won't apply and might even interfere with understanding!

===Beginner Basics===

JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH are your tools of the trade. What's the difference? Have a look at this table from the unarmed combat system page.

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style = "background:#DDD; color: blue"
!Attack Type
![[Armor|AG]]
!Cloth
!Leather
!Scale
!Chain
!Plate
!Base [[Roundtime|RT]]
!Min [[Roundtime|RT]]
![[Critical table|Damage Type]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Jab]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.100
|.075
|.060
|.050
|.040
|2
|2
|[[Jab critical table (UCS)|Jab]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Punch]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.275
|.250
|.200
|.170
|.140
|3
|3
|[[Punch critical table (UCS)|Punch]]
|-align=center
|'''[[GRAPPLE (verb)|Grapple]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.250
|.200
|.160
|.120
|.100
|3
|3
|[[Grapple critical table (UCS)|Grapple]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Kick]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.400
|.350
|.300
|.250
|.200
|4
|4
|[[Kick critical table (UCS)|Kick]]
|}

The higher the decimal numbers, the stronger the attack, but the lower the RT numbers, the faster the attack. Summarizing these tables:

* '''Jabs''': Weak, but fast.
* '''Punches''': Moderate speed and moderate power.
* '''Grapples''': Moderate speed and moderate power, but less of the latter than punches.
* '''Kicks''': Powerful, but slow (at least by UC standards).

The use case for punches and kicks seems clear, but why jab when it's so weak and why grapple if punches are the same speed with more strength?

One answer that applies to both jabs and grapples is the defining component of unarmed combat: '''positioning'''. There are three positions: Decent, Good, and Excellent. Going up the ladder drastically increases the power of all four attack types. To improve your monk's position, follow the combat prompts as they appear. Here's an example:

You attempt to jab a mezic!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have '''decent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 210 = 1.161 * MM: 85 + d100: 39 = 137
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Fast slap only reddens the cheek.
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Let's take the cue to grapple:

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

As you can see, the followup was significantly more powerful. That's partly because the endroll is higher, partly because grapples are stronger than jabs, and partly because good positioning is much better than decent positioning. Here's one more example, this time going from good to excellent:

You attempt to '''jab''' a mezic!
You exploit the momentum of your previous strike to make a stronger attack against a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 87 + d100: 51 = 146
... and hit for 15 points of damage!
Blow to kidney!
The mezic is stunned!
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

[2 seconds later...]

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''excellent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 106 + d100: 43 = 158
... and hit for 48 points of damage!
Powerful tug pulls right hip, and leg, free of the socket!
A mezic falls to the ground grasping her mangled right leg!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

This time the jab started at good positioning because of Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in the Martial Stances section), but the followup grapple was still far more powerful. Tiering up is crucial!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Setting highlights can help! Since the text prompt is...

Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup [jab/grapple/kick/punch] attack!

...you can either create four highlights for each individual message or create a highlight for Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup, then four more highlights for jab attack! and the others.
</blockquote>

So, in unarmed combat's '''most basic form''' at the lowest levels, the use cases for each attack type are:

* '''Jabs''': Dig for tier up opportunities to get away from decent positioning or even good positioning as quickly as possible.
* '''Punches''': A half-and-half option during good positioning, in which punches have minor potential to kill, but are also reasonably fast at digging for tier up opportunities toward excellent positioning.
* '''Grapples''': Only when needed to tier up.
* '''Kicks''': Deliver a finishing blow during excellent positioning.

In later levels, things like mstrikes, techniques, and flares will throw generalizations out the window and create far stronger cases for jabs and grapples. We'll get into that later, but first let's keep exploring the basics to lay the foundation.

===UAF, UDF, and MM===

If you're used to GemStone's AS-based attacks, you probably noticed how different the combat messaging looks for unarmed combat. You might also have noticed that my monk Sariara hit a creature with higher UDF than her UAF:

You attempt to grapple a mezic!
You have good positioning against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

Let's look at an even more extreme example that doesn't go as well:

You attempt to grapple a spectral shade!
You have good positioning against a spectral shade.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 357 = 0.683 * MM: 85 + d100: 44 = 102
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
The spectral shade shakes off a weak arm grab.

This is why I say you have to ignore what you know about AS-based combat.

UAF isn't completely irrelevant, but the more important numbers are UDF and the '''multiplier modifier''' (MM). While melee weapons, ranged weapons, and bolts calculate endrolls by subtraction and addition, unarmed combat calculates outcomes by division, multiplication, and addition.

What does that mean in practice? Higher lows and lower highs.

It's rare that a monk outright ''couldn't possibly'' hit an enemy creature. Even in my spectral shade example, improving my MM or getting a higher d100 roll could have easily turned that into a powerful hit. On the flip side, since your UAF gets divided by enemy UDF, increasing your UAF additively (e.g. training more ranks of Brawling) means much less than decreasing enemy UDF by the same amount.

The primary means to decrease enemy UDF and increase your MM are generally the same: reducing your foes' stances and decreasing their EBP ability by reducing stats or inflicting conditions like stunning, immobilizing, or blinding them.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Unlike AS-based melee attacks, UC attacks have the same UAF in offensive or defensive stance. Instead, MM is the number that drops so low in defensive that it can even become negative! This used to occasionally trip up Saraphenia's player, who was used to looking at the first number in a typical AS or CS combat equation. Even when you do know what to look for, MM is deep enough into the visible formula that it's often easier to figure out that you're in the wrong stance because everything's failing to hit; that was how I'd take notice and Leafi would tell Phenia to fix up her stance.

Also unlike AS-based melee attacks, lying down not only doesn't reduce your UAF, but also doesn't even reduce your MM! Jabs, grapples, and punches can all be thrown at full power from the ground, so if you're not paying attention, you could be fighting from your back and not even know it! You'd find out once you tried to throw a kick or use an ability such as Twin Hammerfists or Fury, though. Those can't be done from the ground.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Fun Sidebar!'''

Monks and unarmed combat have existed for almost twelve years, but only a single hunting ground--the Atoll, for capped characters--has dared to release ''enemy creatures'' who use UC attacks. Why? Probably because no attainable UDF number can save you if they get to a high MM against you. UC is a dangerous tool in the hands--and feet--of enemy creatures and players alike!
</blockquote>

===Mstrikes===

As you train Multi-Opponent Combat and Brawling (more on that in the Skills section), you'll eventually be able to use mstrikes or weapon techniques. (I'll refer to these as "techniques" from here on. Despite the name, the brawling "weapon techniques" don't require weapons--unless you're thinking of your monk's hands and feet as weapons!) Mstrikes, assault techniques, and Area of Effect (AoE) techniques are your means to fit more attacks into less time.

Covering mstrikes first!

Mstrikes with no target specified, AKA '''unfocused mstrikes''', can attack two opponents in one command at 5 Multi-Opponent combat ranks, then add more opponents at 15, 35, 60, 100, and 155 MOC ranks. Mstrikes with a target specified, AKA '''focused mstrikes''', can attack a single opponent twice in one command at 30 MOC ranks, then add more attacks at 55, 90, 135, and 190.

For unarmed combat only, mstrikes also throw a bonus jab at enemies when you're at decent positioning against them and attacking them for the first time. Once you're into good positioning, mstrikes either use an attack type that you specify (e.g. MSTRIKE KICK) or, if you have an opportunity to tier up, your mstrike will switch to the appropriate type as needed. At decent positioning, mstrike will always jab (bonus or otherwise) until it finds a tier up.

Mstrikes ''sort of'' have a cooldown after use, which is 15-20 seconds or so (depending on training). When on "cooldown," you ''can'' still mstrike, but they'll consume a good chunk of stamina. (I can't give an exact number because it depends on how many hits are in your mstrike and which attack types are used.) When not on cooldown, mstrikes cost no stamina! Focused and unfocused mstrikes share the same cooldown timer.

Mstrike RT is frontloaded into a single burst and all attacks fire off at once. How much RT depends on the number of attacks and which attack types, but it'll be more attacks per RT than throwing single strikes would have been. However, be aware that it can reach times of 8 seconds or more early in a monk's life, especially if you're a low Agidex race or have made a hard push for high MOC ranks to have more attacks early! As an odd quirk, encumbrance doesn't increase mstrike RT. With high enough Agidex, you can eventually get even the top end of mstrikes down to 5 RT.

===Fury and Clash===

The unarmed combat assault technique is '''[[Fury]]''', which you learn with 25 ranks of Brawling (level 11). It attacks a single foe twice at 10 ranks of MOC, then adds one more attack at 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. There's no bonus jab, however. Like with mstrikes, you can specify an attack type (e.g. WEAPON FURY GRAPPLE) and, at good positioning or better, Fury will do what you said or switch as needed for a tier up. At decent positioning, Fury will only jab until it finds the tier up. Using Fury also grants the monk and their party members a +10 Constitution effect for two minutes after being used, though it's not a major selling point.

The AoE unarmed combat technique is '''[[Clash]]''', which you learn with 50 ranks of Brawling (level 23). It begins with three foes, then adds one more at the same thresholds as Fury: 10, 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. Like Fury, Clash doesn't include a bonus jab. At good positioning or better, it uses your specified UC attack type or switches to the appropriate tier up type; however, since Clash only throws one attack per creature, a tier up opportunity would have needed to exist ''before'' Clash was used. (Fury and mstrikes, on the other hand, can find tier up opportunities ''and'' seize on them within their own self-contained string of attacks.) At decent positioning, Clash can only throw jabs.

Techniques cost a small, flat amount of stamina (15 for Fury and 20 for Clash), then enter a cooldown period of 15-20 seconds or so )(depending on training). Unlike mstrikes, Fury and Clash can't be used while they're on cooldown. They do have separate cooldown timers, so you can alternate between them.

However, you can't alternate mstrikes with Fury and Clash. Using an mstrike locks you out of Fury and Clash for 60 seconds. On the flip side, you ''can'' use an mstrike right after Fury or Clash if needed, but those techniques activate the mstrike cooldown, so it'll cost stamina. All of this is because former GM Naijin, the creator of techniques, didn't intend for players to insert mstrikes into their rotation as a means to dodge around technique cooldowns. For this reason, many players pick whichever they prefer out of mstrikes or assault and AoE weapon techniques and ignore the other. (I use both, though, as I explain in the Training Plan section!)

RT-wise, much like mstrikes, Fury and Clash are difficult to nail down exact numbers on. However, they both seem to have lower max RT (unless encumbered; encumbrance affects techniques) and Fury definitely has lower minimum RT. Fury divides its RT over individual strikes instead of all at once. For example, if Fury has 5 RT worth of attacks, enough MOC to strike three times, and a certain amount of Agidex (again, difficult to pin down an exact amount), it'll execute them as 2 RT, 2 RT, and 1 RT.

Compared to focused mstrikes, Fury's structure has upsides and downsides. One upside is that you'll have less RT overall if the early rounds kill the creature. Another is that if an emergency comes up mid-Fury, you can interrupt your own attack to leave the room, cast a spell, disable a different foe, etc. On the other hand, enemy creatures can ''also'' interrupt your Fury by leaving the room, stunning you mid-Fury, etc. It's also less likely that your target will be dead as soon your command gets sent to the server since attacks don't happen all at once.

===Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick===

The other two UC techniques are '''[[Twin Hammerfists]]''' and '''[[Spin Kick]]''', respectively learned at 10 and 75 ranks of Brawling (level 3 and 36 (or level 35 if you use your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling)). Unlike Fury and Clash, using mstrikes won't lock you out of them.

Twin Hammerfists is an [[Standard_maneuver_roll|Standard Maneuver Roll (SMR)]] style attack and an incredible setup that tries to knock down the foe, put it in RT, stun it, and add the [[Vulnerable]] status condition--all in one technique! At only 2 RT and 7 stamina, it's a staple that can serve monks well from level 4 onward and potentially even for the rest of their lives.

Spin Kick is a reaction technique--a retaliation maneuver--that can kick a foe after your monk evades an attack. It has 2 RT, costs no stamina, and can even be used while in RT, so it can save you in a tough situation. Like Twin Hammerfists, it's an SMR-based attack. Unlike Twin Hammerfists, Spin Kick isn't a setup; it has real killing power if it rolls high. Spin Kick performs best against enemies with poor maneuver defense, like lumbering tanky creatures or magic users, and performs worst against enemies with excellent maneuver defense, like speedy four-legged animals or creatures patterned after warriors.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If highlighting tier up opportunities goes well for you, then You could use this opportunity to Spin Kick! is another message to consider highlighting from level 35-36 on!
</blockquote>

===Beyond Basics: Synchronizing Everything===

So far, I've written this unarmed combat primer as if players have no gear and hunting is universally optimized by killing creatures as quickly as possible. In these contexts, obviously punches and kicks seem great, jabs and grapples might seem like something we do only out of necessity for tiering up, and Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick might seem like more style than substance.

However, players do have gear and sometimes going on the all-out offensive is more likely to get players killed than their enemies, so let's put everything together into a cohesive whole.

Flaring gear gets better the faster the attack--and there are a wide variety of flares available these days! Most people will never reach a double digit number of possible flares per attack (though it is possible), but two to six possible flares per attack are shockingly easy to get hold of these days via the traditional ability slot ("flare slot"), script slot, and some help from clerics, paladins, rogues, or sorcerers in giving holy water/fire, Battle Standards, Poisoncraft, or Ensorcell respectively.

Here's an example of a Twin Hammerfists firing off three flares:

Sariara raises her hands high, laces them together and brings them crashing down towards the crimson angargeist
[SMR result: 316 (Open d100: 89, Bonus: 107)]
Perfectly executed strike to the crimson angargeist's back! It staggers!
The attack exposes a vulnerability in a roiling crimson angargeist's defenses!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps emit a searing bolt of lightning! **
... 20 points of damage!
Hard shot to the crimson angargeist's back sends it drifting forward!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps spray forth a shower of pure water! **
... 60 points of damage!
Incredible strike to the crimson angargeist's back smashes through the chest!
Too bad it melts back together.
Riotous ivory-haloed scarlet energy races along the surface of the handwraps, slender tendrils rising up to coalesce into the ethereal form of a keen-eyed owl.

** Talons extended and wings flared, a keen-eyed ethereal owl dives down with an ear-piercing hoot as a flock of wispy ivory-haloed scarlet owls roil forth in an angry torrent! **

... 30 points of damage!
Strong strike splits the belly open, revealing ghostly organs.
Haggis anyone?

The odds of all three flares coming together is only 0.8%, so this is an outlier that I might only see every one or two hunts, but it's a great illustration because of the particulars.

First of all, this is a level 110 creature, so I did mean it when I said Twin Hammerfists can be good through a monk's entire life. That's the least interesting thing to say here, though.

The flares did 110 damage and would have done 160-210 if I were finished upgrading to holy fire instead of holy water.

Angargeists are non-corporeal undead. Normally Kai's Smite would be extremely helpful since the holy water flare here was strong enough to kill corporeal undead, but with this specific creature, even turning it corporeal doesn't allow for one-shotting it; you have to take out its entire health pool.

2 RT attacks like jabs, Twin Hammerfists, and Spin Kick shine when a high number of possible flares makes both your average attacks and outlier attacks significantly stronger. That much is true whether the creature you're fighting can be crit killed or not. However, since the natural strength of UC is crit killing, the extra damage from flares becomes even more important against those uncrittable creatures.

Speaking of uncrittable creatures or creatures you're otherwise unlikely to get through in just a few commands, another thing not yet covered is that grapples [[Grapple_critical_table_(UCS)|are significantly better at inflicting RT or Slowed status effects]] on foes than punches. This can be really helpful as a means to buy time while tiering up to excellent positioning, sacrificing minor amounts of health damage (compared to punches) in exchange for delaying creature actions.

Here's a more nuanced look at the unarmed combat core attack types than before:

'''Jabs''':
* The fastest repeatable means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Twin Hammerfists is just as fast, but can't hit a foe who's already downed, so it's not repeatable.)
* The fastest means of tiering up with single strikes.
* Poor at excellent positioning since they have no killing power unless you have a high number of flares to fish for.
* Poor as the specified command of a Fury or mstrike since they have little or (usually) no speed advantage over the other commands in that case.

'''Punches''':
* A mix of killing power and speed that makes for the best general purpose good positioning single strike in a vacuum. A high number of flares can bring jabs above them, however.
* The best aimed attack at excellent positioning. I'm not particularly a fan of aimed UC attacks for reasons we'll delve into later, but it is there.
* Poor against uncrittable creatures, where specializing in either speed, power, or disabling is better than being a generalist.
* Poor as the specified command of an unfocused mstrike or Clash since it's unlikely to kill, is much less likely to slow foes down than grapples, and has little to no speed advantage over kicks in that case.

'''Grapples''':
* A mix of disabling power and speed that makes for the best means of stalling out hordes or individual uncrittable creatures that need to be whittled down while still allowing for tier up opportunities. (Twin Hammerfists and some combat maneuvers are more reliable at disabling, but can't help tier up.)
* Good against individual threatening creatures that need to be slowed down.
* Poor at excellent positioning, where disabling has less merit and killing power is more easily achieved with more strength.
* Poor at good positioning against unthreatening creatures since disabling has no merit in that case.

'''Kicks''':
* The best finishing blow at excellent positioning per hit.
* The highest damage output per hit.
* Poor as a means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Used during a Fury or mstrike, however, it can be either almost as fast or exactly as fast as the other commands.)
* Poor at tiering up with single strikes. (Same as above.)

In short, pick the right tool for the right job. They can all be the right tool at times!

===Macros and Aliases===

If you're playing even somewhat manually, I recommend creating [[Lich:Script_Alias|aliases]] (if using [[Lich:Software|Lich]]) or [[Macro|macros]] (if not) for the various unarmed combat attacks. Most specifically:

* Jab
* Grapple
* Punch
* Kick
* Weapon Twinhammer
* Weapon Fury [Grapple/Punch/Kick (depending on your level, training, specialization, and preference)]
* Weapon Spinkick
* Mstrike Grapple
* Mstrike Punch
* Mstrike Kick
* Mstrike Grapple Target
* Mstrike Punch Target
* Mstrike Kick Target

For macros, this just means tying each one you care about to a single key press. You can configure them in Options -> Macros if using [[Wrayth]].

For Lich aliases, I've set mine as jj for jab, gg for grapple, pp for punch, kk for kick, twin for Twin Hammerfists, utf for Fury Grapple (stands for "unarmed technique Fury"), uts for Spin Kick, mg for mstrike grapple, mp for mstrike punch, and mk for mstrike kick. I could create things like an mkt alias for mstrike kick target if I wanted, but in that case I just type out "mk target" or "mk [target noun]."
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Skills==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-skillsplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering how to train your monk's skills? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-skillsplan">

===Core Skills===

These are skills you consistently train with little to no deviation.

* '''[[Brawling]]''': Max every level.
* '''[[Physical Fitness]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more stamina early on.
* '''[[Dodging]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more DS early on.
* '''[[Perception]]''': Once per level.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Before level 20, you can flip your skills around any time and into any configuration. The game will adjust to your new training plan within a few minutes at most. I recommend taking advantage of this early period to experiment and find what you like! The above core skills cost little, so you'll have a lot of leeway to decide what to do with skills mentioned in the following sections.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #1: Combat Maneuvers as Core Skills?'''

Many players would probably consider Combat Maneuvers a core skill. I sort of agree in the sense that I'd say ''roughly'' 1x minimum is mandatory and you'll almost certainly want far more than that early on. However, philosophically, I don't consider CM in the same category as Brawling, Physical Fitness, Dodging, and Perception. All of those are inexpensive and offer noticeable incremental value with every rank, but 2x Combat Maneuvers has more opportunity cost and the skill provides value at discrete breakpoints. That's why it's in the Breakpoint Skills section below!
</blockquote>

===Breakpoint Skills===

Train these skills to specific thresholds because most have little to no merit for the in-between ranks.

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]]''': One rank gives 5 extra DS to barehanded monks, so it can be worth picking up early. Getting additional DS via TWC is slow (+1 per 10 ranks, plus a +10 bump at 0.5x level) and not worth prioritizing until much later, after maxing Dodging.
* '''[[Combat Maneuvers]]''': Train at least 1x--probably much more than that early on--but be intentional and reach benchmarks of Combat Maneuver Points to learn new maneuvers. (Which maneuvers? See the Combat Maneuvers section later or even jump to the tl;dr Recap section!) The UAF bonus from CM ranks isn't that important on its own, so learning new maneuvers is the focus. After getting your core maneuvers, you can push CM to 2x, but it's also reasonable to prioritize other things like getting more spells sooner or getting 3x Dodging sooner, especially if you're going self-spelled. Up to you!
* '''[[Multi-Opponent Combat]]''': Before cap, the good mstriking breakpoints are 5, 15, 30, 35, 55, 60, and ''possibly'' 90 or 100. The good technique breakpoints are 10, 24, 50, and ''possibly'' 100. If you're using mstrikes and techniques, then use both sets of breakpoints. (See the sidebars at the end of this section!)
* '''[[Harness Power]]''': Ten to twenty ranks early will be extremely helpful, giving respectively +60 or +110 mana, but I like waiting until the midgame or late game to go past twenty.
* '''[[Minor Mental]] up to 13 or 16 ranks''': The major early benchmarks are [[Iron Skin (1202)|Iron Skin]] at 2 ranks, [[Foresight (1204)|Foresight]] at 4 ranks, [[Force Projection (1207)|Force Projection]], [[Mindward (1208)|Mindward]] at 8 ranks, [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] at 9 ranks, and the [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] focus spell at 13 ranks. Beyond that, [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] at 14 ranks is good, though I'm not quite as high on it as many players since evasions come before parrying in the order of operations. The [[Focus Barrier (1216)|Focus Barrier]] focus spell is also a good stopping point if you prefer more DS--or at least the option of it--over Mind Over Body's stamina cost reduction. You can ease up on Minor Mental training for a while after the focus spells.
* '''[[Mental Lore, Telepathy|Telepathy]] or [[Mental Lore, Transformation|Transformation]] lore''': To prioritize more offense, pick up Telepathy lore at thresholds of 6, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for extra stamina cost reduction in Mind Over Body. To prioritize more defense, pick up Transformation lore at thresholds of 5, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for improved resilience in Iron Skin. To prioritize giving others [[Mystic Tattoo]]s, the first 30 to 40 ranks of Telepathy can rocket your skill up. You can also diversify! For more on lores, see the Secret Sauce of Lores section.
* '''[[Climbing]] and [[Swimming]]''': 10 ranks of each suffice for most places before the mid levels. Specific areas can change priorities, like the Icemule mountains or the Landing monastery. You'll generally know if you need more Climbing or Swimming, though. At cap, 60 ranks handle basically everything, but eventually 101 helps when you need to leave a hunting ground while encumbered.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #2: Mstrikes and Techniques are a Contextual Preference!'''

Why anyone would train to account for the mstrike MOC thresholds ''and'' the technique MOC thresholds is a good question since mstrikes lock out Fury and Clash for 60 seconds, but I find value in mstrikes and Fury depending on the situation.

My monk, Sariara, preferred Fury in most hunts while leveling, which mostly feature one-on-one combat. Fury scales up more quickly than focused mstrikes in the early game, firing off two attacks by 10 MOC and three attacks by 24 MOC while focused mstrikes don't even get started until 30 MOC. Fury also has excellent synergy with Grapple Specialization, which I'll discuss in the Offensive Specialization section.

However, Clash is a very weak AoE technique compared to unfocused mstrikes. Mstrikes' bonus jab allows double the number of attacks for the first engagement with the enemy, which means more tier up opportunities and more flare opportunities. During hunts that feature a lot of swarms, she would use focused mstrikes for single targets, even though they're slightly weaker than Fury because of her Grapple Specialization, since that left the unfocused mstrike option open for battling hordes.

Your MOC training plan doesn't need to assume that mstrikes or techniques are either/or!
</blockquote>

===Niche Skills===

Niche isn't a bad thing and several of these skills can be prioritized over breakpoint skills. Just make sure you're training with a plan and a purpose!

* '''[[Spiritual Mana Control]] and [[Mental Mana Control]]''': Harness Power gives much better mana improvement in a vacuum, so leave these alone until the late game ''unless'' you're surrounded by friends or alts who can send mana. In that case, tailor your SMC and MMC for sharing breakpoints. (See the tip below!)
* '''[[First Aid]]''': Helps with skinning and [[Mystic Tattoos]], though only barely in the latter case. I recommend it during the first 19 levels, which you can read about in the Trade Secrets section. From level 20 on, train First Aid if you want skinning bounties and avoid it if you don't.
* '''[[Trading]]''': Monks get immense value out of at least the first 20 ranks, especially in the early game, assuming you can't hit loot cap without it. See the Trade Secrets section!
* '''[[Survival]]''': Helps with skinning, but it's more expensive than First Aid. Slightly reduces duration of stuns, but monks don't get stunned very often. Like First Aid, I recommend it during the first 19 levels. Afterward, train it only if you want to excel at skinning bounties ''and'' have already trained First Aid.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Let's talk mana sharing breakpoints!

5 Spiritual Mana Control shares perfectly with capped [[cleric]]s who have maxed SMC.

7 SMC or Mental Mana Control shares perfectly with capped clerics who only have 2x SMC or capped [[empath]]s and [[sorcerer]]s who maxed the respective mana control.

10 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with capped [[bard]]s, [[paladin]]s, or [[ranger]]s with maxed mana control of that type or capped clerics, empaths, and sorcerers who only have 1x of that mana control.

24 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with anybody else who has 24 or more mana control of that type.

Just remember: 5, 7, 10, 24!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If you're at 24 mana control, consider going to 25! This unlocks [[Multicast|multicasting]], the ability to cast a buff spell twice in one cast. For self-cast spells, that'll take you to full duration in 3 RT instead of 6, which is nice quality of life!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #3: The Skinning Deluxe Special!'''

The [[Adventurer's Guild]] bounty system won't assign skinning bounties unless you have at least half your level in First Aid and Survival combined. For example, a level 20 character with 8 First Aid and 2 Survival is eligible for skinning bounties.

Some players purposely remain below the threshold because skinning bounties have comparatively low exp payouts. Other players lean into training these skills because adding skinning into their pool of bounty types reduces the odds of getting other types like escorts or gems that they might want to avoid.

Experience points paid out by skinning bounties depend on the quality of skins the furrier asks for; in turn, the range of qualities the furrier can ask for depends on your skill. It's a double-edged sword! If you keep your skinning ability low, the furrier will only ask for fair quality skins and it'll be relatively easy to complete, but the exp reward will always be 600. If you heavily push your skinning ability, the furrier can (but won't always) ask for fine or exceptional skins. These pay out 650 or 700 exp, but will be more difficult to complete.

What ''isn't'' a double-edged sword is that the skinning ''bounty point'' payout only depends on the quality and value of the skins sold to the furrier, regardless of what they asked for. The bounty point part of your reward can still be top notch if you sell magnificent skins.
</blockquote>

===Midgame and Later Skills===

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]] at half your level''': After you're finished with 3x Dodging, getting 10 extra DS by bumping TWC from one rank to half your level is a reasonable idea if you're still not feeling hardy enough.
* '''[[Minor Spiritual]] up to 2 or 7 ranks''': I'd ignore this for quite a long time, other than maybe picking up [[Spirit Barrier (102)|Spirit Barrier]] in the midgame. It's very easy to get most Minor Spiritual buffs from the [[Half-elven_invoker|invoker]] if you're a premium subscriber or from other players since so many professions learn it. ([[Lesser Shroud (120)|Lesser Shroud]] is a self-cast-only Minor Spiritual buff, but that's all the way at 20 ranks.) If you don't want to rely on the invoker or others, I'd say learn [[Spirit Warding II (107)|Spirit Warding II]] at 7 ranks somewhere in the midgame, then hold off until the late game.
* '''Minor Mental up to 20 or 25 ranks''': [[Premonition (1220)|Premonition]] gives extra DS at 20 ranks, but, training point-wise, fully maxing Dodging first is more efficient. Other compelling reasons to push Minor Mental are [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and maybe [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] at 19 and 25 ranks, which are CS-based disablers that benefit from training more ranks. You need to find low TD targets, though.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #4: The Spirit Barrier Irony!'''

Like I keep saying, pushing your UAF higher is more luxury than necessity--but that means the opposite is also true! ''Lowering'' your UAF in exchange for increasing your DS via Spirit Barrier isn't nearly as damaging to unarmed combat as for melee weapons. Whether you want to trade UAF for DS depends on your playstyle, preferences, and hunting grounds, but monks aren't like (weapon-using) rangers who would find trading ''AS'' for DS completely untenable. This spell can be worth a second look!
</blockquote>

===Post-Cap Skills===

Eventually you can train everything if you play long enough, but here are some considerations for what to prioritize if or when you reach post-cap.

'''[[Edged Weapons]]''':

There's merit to diversifying your offense eventually! Training edged weapons allows monks to use [[katar]]s, which are fast and powerful melee weapons. While unarmed combat can defeat basically everything and is usually fairly even with or advantaged over weapon-based combat in most situations, that's not universally true. AS-based attacks can blow UAF-based attacks out of the water in scenarios against creatures who can't be crit killed while also having any combination out of very low DS, very high health, and high level, the latter of which makes it harder to tier up. Edged Weapons training also opens up the possibility of using the very powerful [[Hamstring]]. If you want to do this, I highly recommend also maxing Two Weapon Combat.

'''[[Ranged Weapons]]''':

Archery is another possibility for diversifying. Unlike with katars, AS-based ''ranged'' attacks don't necessarily add much when you already know how to use UC, but [[Volley]] is an exceptional crowd control tool that does AoE damage over time. Monks aren't exactly ''poor'' at crowd control--they have a high target limit, [[Bull Rush]], and potentially Vertigo against low TD targets--but adding Volley can really up their game to excel at it.

'''[[Magic Item Use]]''':

Supplementing DS with [[small statue]]s is eventually a good idea for every profession and MIU bolsters their duration. (As a historical note, MIU is also among the most cost-efficient means to improve protection against [[spellburst]] in areas like Old Ta'Faendryl, the Ruined Temple, or the Sanctum of Scales. However, that's largely immaterial these days. [[Spell sever]] has supplanted spellburst in newer capped hunting grounds like the Hinterwilds, Moonsedge Castle, and the Hive--and, although these are technically Ascension grounds aimed at far post-cap characters, monks are able to do well in them long before other professions, including even at fresh cap, due to the unique qualities of unarmed combat.)

'''Minor Spiritual up to 20 or 40 ranks''':

Eventually the spiritual TD from Lesser Shroud will be important, likely closer to cap. It'll become apparent enough when that's the case! Going beyond 20 Minor Spiritual to potentially learn [[Spirit Guide (130)|Spirit Guide]] or [[Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] at 30 or 40 ranks is an option for post-cap monks. My first monk Tarine did learn those two spells, but I'm fairly certain that my second monk Sariara never will. Voln already offers a fine substitute for fogging, Wall of Force isn't what it used to be when it had no cooldown, and having fewer spell ranks means more redux.

'''Minor Mental up to 48 or 50 ranks (or beyond)''':

Working on Minor Mental is primarily for slightly improving DS, slightly improving mental TD, and improving mental CS if you cast Vertigo or even [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] and [[Thought Lash (1210)|Thought Lash]]. 48 Minor Mental ranks max out defensive benefits from Minor Mental spells. 50 ranks unlocks a few fancy Shroud of Deception options. Pushing beyond 50 would mainly be for the CS spells if you really like them, but they're more for hunting things like bandits and pirates or just messing around than for casting in "real" hunting grounds.

<blockquote>
'''Redux Sidenote!'''

Even if you do want 50 Minor Spiritual and 40 Minor Mental, you can still reach 25% redux--a great threshold--by training a second weapon type and maxing Physical Fitness and Dodging.
</blockquote>

For the extreme post-cap, namely training Ascension skills, see the Ascension section toward the end of this guide. [[Transcend Destiny]] in particular, which released a few months after the first iteration of this guide, can be a gamechanger for players who put in enough hours to potentially make use of it. I'll elaborate further there.

===Secret Sauce of Lores===

This section contains tables to visualize lore thresholds.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Telepathy Ranks'''||0||6||'''15'''||'''30'''||80||150
|-
||'''Mind Over Body Stamina Reduction'''||20%||25%||'''30%'''||'''35%'''||40%||45%
|}

'''Green''': The 30% and 35% marks are good stopping points for most monks! Consider this: if an ability normally costs 20 stamina, then another 5% reduction only saves 1 stamina.

Aside from Mind Over Body, a couple of Telepathy's more minor claims to fame for monks include:

* 25 ranks allow [[Soothing Word (1201)|Soothing Word]] to remove sheer fear and grant 30 seconds of immunity to it
* 15, 45, and 90 ranks improve the spawn rate of [[Provoke (1235)|Provoke]]

You can work around sheer fear in other ways by being in Voln or getting your robes sanctified, but the Soothing Word option exists.

Provoke is an interesting niche, but not a major selling point in my eyes. Training 35 Minor Mental ranks asks a ton pre-cap and Provoke becomes less effective the more people are hunting in an area. Most capped hunting grounds are either very crowded, so Provoke does little, or they're not crowded because they're extremely dangerous, which makes Provoke a bad idea.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Iron Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 2'''||'''Level 5'''||'''Level 15'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||'''Full leather'''||'''Reinforced leather'''||Double leather||Leather breastplate||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather
|-
||5 Transformation||||Double leather||'''Leather breastplate'''||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine
|-
||15 Transformation||||||Cuirbouilli leather||'''Studded leather'''||'''Brigandine'''||'''Chain mail'''
|-
||30 Transformation||||||||Brigandine||'''Chain mail'''||'''Double chain'''
|-
||50 Transformation||||||||||Double chain||Augmented chain
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||||||||Chain hauberk
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||||||||Metal breastplate
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||||||||Augmented breastplate
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||||||||Half plate
|}

'''Blue''': You'll need heavy help from enhancives and/or Ascension to reach 105 or more Transformation lore. (If you can do it, it ''is'' amazing and I recommend it highly for a magical monk--I'd consider it less important for a Kroderine Soul monk, who already has enormous redux--but that won't be the majority of my readers.)

'''Pink''': My recommendations for which levels to meet which Iron Skin thresholds if you're undecided. You have more leeway at level 50 on to push lores higher, so I've highlighted two rows each for those, but maxing or near-maxing lores before then has a very heavy training point opportunity cost.

Iron Skin aside, Transformation lore improves [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] and [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] as follows. After the first row, the cells are only filled in if the spell's effect has improved over the previous breakpoint.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||'''Dragonclaw UAF Bonus'''||'''Brace Disarm Rate'''
|-
||0||10||25%
|-
||1||11||
|-
||3||12||27%
|-
||6||13||
|-
||7||||29%
|-
||10||14||
|-
||12||||31%
|-
||15||15||
|-
||18||||33%
|-
||21||16||
|-
||25||||35%
|-
||28||17||
|-
||33||||37%
|-
||36||18||
|-
||42||||39%
|-
||45||19||
|-
||52||||41%
|-
||55||20||
|-
||63||||43%
|-
||66||21||
|-
||75||||45%
|-
||78||22||
|-
||88||||47%
|-
||91||23||
|}

It does continue past there if you wish to use Ascension or enhancives. As ever, slightly increasing UAF doesn't make a huge difference. Brace, on the other hand, can be impactful ''if'' you're getting hit by physical attacks. I wouldn't go out of my way to push Transformation for Brace alone, but if you're already at 15 or 30 ranks for Iron Skin, pushing to 18 or 33 for Brace can be a nice bump for minimal training point costs. 36 is also a great stopping point on Transformation for reasons we'll look at in the Meditation Resistance section.

===Illustrative Training Snapshots===

For illustration and discussion purposes, here's what my most recent monk Sariara has looked like at '''various level thresholds'''--or, in the case of level 30, what she ''should'' have looked like since I was messing around experimenting and pushing beyond the boundaries of reasonability.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Level 20'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 40'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 60'''||'''Level 70'''||'''Level 80'''||'''Level 90'''||'''Level 100 (fresh)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||24||48||74||100||114||134||134||144||144
|-
||'''Brawling'''||44||65||85||105||125||149||165||187||207
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||24||35||55||55||55||55||55||60||100
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||44||64||84||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||44||64||125||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||10||10||10||10||20||20||38||92||101
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||15||15||15||15||15||15||15||15
|-
||'''Perception'''||20||30||40||50||60||72||82||92||101
|-
||'''Climbing'''||10||10||10||20||20||40||40||60||60
|-
||'''Swimming'''||10||10||10||10||10||10||40||0||0
|-
||'''First Aid'''||20||30||20||25||30||35||40||42||42
|-
||'''Trading'''||40||43||42||48||60||72||83||95||167
|-
||'''Minor Spiritual'''||0||0||0||0||3||3||20||20||20
|-
||'''Minor Mental'''||12||13||14||16||20||20||20||20||20
|-
||'''(spare TPs)'''||3/0||86/0||11/0||2/0||34/0||306/128||2/0||192/0||114/0
|}

Let's break down some of the more unusual things you might notice!

I could have done the one rank of '''Two Weapon Combat''' much sooner, but didn't particularly feel the need for the quick DS.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' are definitely where I diverge from most players and you can tell how little I think of any perceived need for maxing them. Like I said, I aimed for specific thresholds. 3 Rolling Krynch Stance and 2 Grapple Specialization at level 20 sufficed to power through the simplest early creatures. Adding 3 Bearhug, 2 Feint, and another rank of Grapple Spec by level 30, then one rank each of Grapple Spec, Bearhug, Feint, and Evade Specialization by level 40, provided new options in the toolkit. Creatures with particularly good UDF made for good Bearhug fodder as an alternate attack method or Feint fodder to drop that UDF if it primarily came from stance instead of spells.

By level 50, Saria started catching up on Combat Maneuvers since she had finished Physical Fitness and Dodging by then, so she finished Bearhug and picked up Combat Mobility. However, by level 60, she'd maxed Evade Specialization and then largely coasted with an average of only 0.75 more Combat Maneuvers ranks per level until cap, picking up 4 Coup de Grace and finishing Grapple Spec. (Not shown in this table--maybe one day!--is that finishing CM ''is'' her second post-cap goal, finally; it's currently at 190 as she approaches 8.6m experience.)

Max '''Brawling''', obviously; I stuck one Ascension Training Point into it at level 25 to have Spin Kick one level in advance.

'''Physical Fitness and Dodging''' are more important than they used to be since spell sever areas are around even by the mid-50s, so I pushed to have them relatively early compared to some monks' training plans. (I actually turned up bounty difficulty and had Saria hunting spell sever by level 45!) The extra stamina and redux didn't hurt either.

I took a little bit of early '''Harness Power''', then slacked off for a while, then finally only began pushing it in the late game as an efficient way to wear more spells in ''spellburst'' hunting grounds, which she started on by level 85 (hence the huge jump from level 80 to 90). This table only shows up to fresh cap, but later in the guide, in the Ascension section, I'll show a "final build" where she drops Harness Power to 40; as she moved out of spellburst areas and into spell sever areas, the extra mana became frivolous.

I started '''First Aid''' relatively high, then it went backwards--but still high enough to get skinning bounties--as she grew out of level ranges with lucrative skins. 42 became the stopping point because it was the final 0.5x mark before level 85, when she moved to a hunting ground that had no skins. She eventually picked it back up post-cap, but the table only shows up to fresh 100.

'''Swimming and Climbing''' are skills that you might not need at fresh cap if you intend to stick to a specific hunting ground for a long time. I dropped Swimming since the Sanctum doesn't have any water and the only swimming in the Hinterwilds can be bypassed with Water Walking or Symbol of Return (among other options), but hunters of the Atoll, Ruined Temple, or Sailor's Grief would want it. Conversely, I kept Climbing because the Sanctum has a pretty tough check, but various other hunting grounds don't. For where Saria's currently at long after the initial publication of this guide, she could actually skip both Swimming and Climbing, but I keep them just in case.

Saria heavily pushed '''Trading''' early on for reasons that I explain in the Sneaky Monk Merchants section, but then let it slow down to more like a 1x pace until cap, when it became her first post-cap goal to finish. (The level where it goes backward a rank is because natural Influence growth had compensated. And later game changes in early 2026 made me untrain Trading entirely, but more on that later in this guide in the Ascension section.) Similar story for '''Minor Mental''', which came out of the gate fast, then inched to 20 at level 60 and stayed there.

Level 30 and 100 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the next '''Multi Opponent Combat''' thresholds while level 70 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the 20 '''Minor Spiritual''' threshold after noticing I could have it at level 76. I ultimately jumped from 3 ranks straight to 20 because I didn't care about any of the in-between spells, so might as well preserve higher redux until then.

If you're interested in a training snapshot far post-cap, see further below in the Ascension section!
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Exclusive Choices==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-choicesplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Looking for information about combat maneuver decisions and their opportunity costs, plus meditation resistance? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-choicesplan">

===Meditation Resistance===

One neat monk perk I haven't mentioned yet is that their [[Verb:MEDITATE#Damage_Resistance|MEDITATE verb]] allows them to gain resistance to one selected damage type! It offers 10% resistance to start, then improves at these thresholds:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||0||1||3||6||10||'''15'''||21||28||'''36'''||45||55||66||78||91
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||10%||12%||14%||16%||18%||'''20%'''||22%||24%||'''26%'''||28%||30%||32%||34%||36%
|}

And if you decide to go ham post-cap with Ascension and enhancives:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||105||120||136||153||171||190
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||38%||40%||42%||44%||46%||48%
|}

I've highlighted 15 and 36 Transformation because 20% and 26% (translation: "25% or more") are extremely notable benchmarks. I ''could'' fully elaborate, but people who aren't Whirlin and me would probably get bored to tears by the rows and charts I'd need to detail the math on the hidden Damage Severity Weighting mechanics, how they translate to GSIV's crit system, and how it relates to order of operations with redux and crit padding.

Suffice it to say this:

Because of rounding and the nature of GSIV crits, it wouldn't be merely ''underestimating'' 20% and 25% resistance to say that they're twice as effective or two and a half times as effective as 10% resistance, but ''completely off base'' by orders of magnitude. The upgrade is huge.

That said, which damage type should you resist? You can change your type any time, but these jump out:

* '''Cold''': Useful for Icemule-based hunting at various levels.
* '''Crush''': A very common damage type, like all physical damage types. Particularly helpful for gigantic creatures that fall on you as they die.
* '''Electrical''': The most lethal damage type, albeit somewhat rare. If you're hunting creatures that use it, though, protect yourself!
* '''Fire''': Useful for Teras Isle, among other specific areas.
* '''Impact''': Great against various rock-themed creatures or shield-using creatures, among some others.
* '''Puncture''': Another common physical damage type. Very deadly if it hits the eyes even on a fairly tame enemy attack, so 20% or 25% resistance will help immensely.
* '''Slash''': The last of the common physical damage types. Probably the least impressive in a vacuum, but it ''is'' very common.

Of course, what you should use depends on the hunting ground. If your monk is in a place where everything spews Acid or uses Disruption spells, then meditate to resist those!

The only damage types I'd generally advocate against are Grapple and Unbalance, which are fairly unique. They cause minimal wounds compared to other damage types, but even weak hits frequently knock you down--and resistance doesn't stop that aspect. Still, if you're in a hunting ground replete with Grapple or Unbalance effects, resisting them might save you rounds of stun, so anything's worth considering in the right context.

===Offensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Grapple Specialization]], [[Kick Specialization]], and [[Punch Specialization]], which each improve their respective attacks, but which is right for you? I'll write about each one as if it's maxed, but during the earliest levels, these ramp up by gaining 20% of their max effectiveness per rank.

'''Grapple Specialization''':

* Deals bonus heavy grapple damage before each round of [[Fury]] against non-prone foes, which knocks them down and inflicts Vulnerable. "Before" is the key word since that means foes are already down as your UAF attack connects, which can improve MM and/or save you time of not needing to lead with Twin Hammerfists.
* Against creatures that are immune to being knocked down, every hit of Fury racks up additional damage since the foe is never prone.
* If you love Fury or hate setups, this could be the specialization for you!
* In a vacuum, grapples aren't ideal when not using Fury nor mstrikes since they have the same speed as punches, but are less likely to have killing power at good positioning than punches or especially kicks.
* Grapple Specialization has little to offer if you exclusively use mstrikes. "Exclusively" is the key word this time. If you use Fury sometimes and mstrikes other times, like me, then Grapple Specialization pays off!

'''Kick Specialization''':

* Turns your [[Spin Kick]] into two Spin Kicks!
* Many a monk has happily shared tales of being stuck in 20 seconds of RT only for [[Combat Mobility]] to stand them up, then they go on to dodge everything and double Spin Kick a room of foes to death before even getting out of RT. It's great fun and can save you in situations where the other two specializations couldn't.
* Kicks are the most powerful of the unarmed combat attacks, but the slowest. However, higher Agidex races can eventually get even MSTRIKE KICK to the same speed as its grapple and punch counterparts, in which case it's flat out the best mstrike option.
* Slower races might be better off with Grapple or Punch Specialization. Those also might be better at lower levels, especially pre-Perfect Self, when mstrikes and Fury haven't become as fast as they'll eventually be and Spin Kick might not even be an option yet (pre-level 35-36).
* While Spin Kick performs exceptionally well against like-level foes, it's not nearly as good against overleveled ones for two reasons: it's less likely to succeed and you're much more incentivized to disable those foes immediately. If they don't attack, you don't evade, so you don't Spin Kick.
* By its nature, Kick Specialization wants you to prioritize improving your UC shoes or footwraps, which is at odds with the fact that UC in general wants you to prioritize improving your UC gloves or handwraps since more of your attacks than not will be hand-based.

'''Punch Specialization''':

* Punches as a base attack are faster than kicks and more powerful than grapples. Jabs remain the ideal for tiering up from decent positioning, but at good positioning, when UC attacks have a chance to kill, punches are arguably the best option.
* Maxed Punch Specialization has a 25% chance to add minor impact damage to each target hit by [[Clash]]. A 25% chance isn't a shining endorsement, though, since maxed Grapple Specialization and Kick Specialization have a 100% chance of adding heavy grapple damage or a second Spin Kick to their respective techniques. The disparity gets exacerbated by Clash being nowhere near as good as unfocused mstrikes.
* Despite the above, the buff to Clash being minor doesn't matter if the monk isn't using Clash anyway. Punch Specialization can shine for lower level characters or slower races if the player prefers mstrikes over weapon techniques, but can't bring MSTRIKE KICK down to the speed of MSTRIKE PUNCH.

<blockquote>
'''Specialization Sidebar: Mstrikes with Specified Attack Types!'''

In case it isn't clear or in case going into math would be helpful...

'''Mstrike kick''' becomes the mechanical best option for high Agidex races at high levels regardless of which specialization you pick. Depending on how armored the foe, kicks are 140-150% as strong as punches and 160-200% as powerful as grapples. That power gap is so big that even if your punches or grapples have a higher MM because you picked Punch or Grapple Specialization, kicks are most likely stronger anyway. Of course, your fast race monk could just train in Kick Specialization for the best of every world!

'''Mstrike punch''' can be the best for lower Agidex races, lower levels, or both. Kicks are stronger hit for hit, but if they're slower because your Agidex isn't up to par, punches can still win overall.

'''Mstrike grapple''' is worse than mstrike punch in a vacuum because the latter has the same speed while packing 110% to 141.67% as much power. Against foes in chain or plate armor, mstrike punch is probably better than grapple even if you trained Grapple Specialization. However, against foes in cloth, leather, or scale armor, the power gap is 110%-125%, so mstrike grapple backed by its specialization can still win out due to the MM bonus and higher tier up chance. Grapples also slow down foes, making them preferable attacks for a balance of offensive and defensive benefits.

In short...

Use mstrike kick if you're a high Agidex race who's at or close to the peak of your Agidex growth.

Use mstrike grapple if either A) you intend to slow down foes to keep your combat relatively safer or B) all of the following apply: you're a moderate Agidex race or a high Agidex race not yet near your peak, you're against foes in armor lighter than chain, and you trained Grapple Specialization, but you're in a situation where you want to mstrike instead of using Fury. (Like, say, unfocused mstrikes.)

Use mstrike punch if neither of the above applies.
</blockquote>

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Kick Specialization is the flashiest and arguably the most fun specialization, and I stand behind MSTRIKE KICK being easily the best mstrike for fast races in a vacuum. However, the Fury technique backed by Grapple Specialization arguably has the highest ceiling. Its high knockdown potential works wonders against higher level creatures who make tiering up difficult. I've been very happy with these two specializations, using Kick for Tarine and Grapple for Sariara (and Grapple for Saraphenia before her).

As for Punch Specialization, I wouldn't honestly recommend it to anybody other than the slowest races. Former GM Naijin designed Grapple and Kick Specialization to have stronger technique-boosting effects than Punch Specialization because punches are the most broadly useful as a standalone attack and he wanted to balance the scales a bit. GemStone rewards being exceptional at something instead of pretty good at everything, but punches fall squarely into the latter category.

If you're training Grapple Specialization, make it your top priority after Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in Martial Stances). Kick Specialization can potentially wait until later in life for Spin Kick at level 35-36, but training early isn't necessarily wrong either.

===Defensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Block Specialization]], [[Evade Specialization]], and [[Parry Specialization]], which improve their respective defenses, but which is right for you? ...well, this one's a lot easier than the last!

'''Block Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to block melee or ranged attacks with a shield. Shields are a bad idea for monks; they're expensive to train, monks can't learn shield skills, and shields significantly decrease their MM.

'''Parry Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to parry melee or ranged attacks--assuming you have [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] active. After parrying, it gives a 25% chance of gaining the [[Counter]] effect, which means your next attack has 1 less RT and costs 25% less stamina (if applicable). This might sound neat until it's compared to...

'''Evade Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to evade melee, ranged, or magical bolt attacks. After evading, it gives a 25% of gaining the [[Evasiveness]] effect, which will automatically avoid the next attack (of any kind, including CS-based or maneuver-based) thrown your way with 100% success. Also, evasion triggers (not Evasiveness triggers) allow [[Spin Kick]] followups.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Even without Kick Specialization, Evade Specialization is the only one that adds offensive power via a defensive specialization. I universally recommend it to all Brawling-oriented monks without exception. (I say "Brawling" because I'm not even limiting this to unarmed combat. Even if you're using brawling ''weapons'' like fist-scythes or katars, you can Spin Kick, so Evade Specialization still wins.)

===Martial Stances===

Monks can technically learn as many martial stances as they have points for, but can only have one active at a time, so most only learn one. Let's review them.

'''[[Duck and Weave]]''':

The most flavorful martial stance.

Gives you a chance to redirect enemy melee attacks that you evade, making enemies hit other enemies in the room.

This is a super cool and fun idea, but not nearly as practical as it might sound since it has to jump through so many hoops: you need to be fighting multiple creatures, they need to be attacking with melee, you need to evade, Duck and Weave needs to trigger, and the redirected attacker's AS and weapon type have to be good enough compared to the defending creature's DS and armor type to do meaningful damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Delightful, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Flurry of Blows]]''':

The screen scrolliest martial stance.

Yo dawg, I heard you like jabs, so I put jabs in your jabs so you can jab while you jab.

When you jab, Flurry of Blows can simultaneously jab other foes in the room. Jabs aren't good on their own, so bringing the best out of this martial stance requires heavy investment. Unless your attacks can potentially fire off at least five damaging flares (...and the current max for a monk is nine while grouped with a [[paladin]] or eight otherwise, but even getting to five requires grouping with a paladin or having high end gear), I wouldn't say it comes close to being worthwhile.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Again, great fun, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Inner Harmony]]''':

The most wasted potential of martial stances.

At rank 1 and 2, it can passively shake off negative spell effects. At rank 3, assuming the stance also removes the effect on demand with a 20 second cooldown. However, the effects you'd most want to remove are exactly the ones you can't because you can't use Inner Harmony while bound or RT-locked. [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]] this definitely isn't!

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I appreciate the idea behind this stance, but it has little to no appeal in practice.

'''[[Rolling Krynch Stance]]''':

Almost surely the best martial stance for UC monks.

This stance gives you a chance of carrying over excellent positioning or good positioning from one foe to the next, which is a massive time savings and power increase. Decent position attacks won't kill unless you have extreme flaring gear or run through a large slew of hits. At good positioning, you at least ''might'' kill creatures via crits and can pretty easily kill them with several hits. At excellent positioning, you can kill creatures via crits even with a pretty light tap.

When I wrote that monks rarely one-shot creatures, that's true in a vacuum, but Rolling Krynch can at least open that door for them.

Bottom line: the less time you spend in decent positioning, the better off you are, and that's what Rolling Krynch offers.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Rolling Krynch is everything a traditional UC monk wants. Make at least the first two ranks your first combat maneuver.

'''[[Slippery Mind]]''':

The most defensive martial stance.

When maxed, this one gives you a 27% chance to avoid CS-based attack spells (assuming you're in robes). If you do avoid a spell, Slippery Mind also has a 75% chance of redirecting it to the caster or a different enemy target. Even if don't avoid the spell, you still have a 27% chance to buff your TD for 15 seconds and possibly save yourself from subsequent attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

This stance is simple, but really good, offering two lines of defense against a monk's biggest weakness while also preserving--and arguably even improving upon--one of the most fun aspects of Duck and Weave. I prefer improving offense to defense, but this is still the second best stance for most monks. I'd say it's the very best for a weapon-wielding monk in robes!

'''[[Stance of the Mongoose]]''':

The most "almost got there" martial stance.

This martial stance lets you automatically retaliate after you parry. Even assuming the most wildly niche builds, like you're running a dual handaxe Kroderine Soul monk with Parry Specialization who wears metal breastplate (and if you're doing that, thank you for making it this far into the guide for reasons I don't understand!), this martial stance takes some agency away from the player by attacking and adding more RT into your combat--3 seconds in this example--when you might not have wanted it.

If you're a more typical unarmed combat monk, the good news is that Stance of the Mongoose's retaliation will only add 1-2 seconds of RT--but the bad news is that that RT is so low because it's always going to jab (and therefore do little damage) unless you currently have a tier up opportunity against that foe, in which case it'll pick the tier up type.

That last bit might sound good--and, truthfully, it ''is'' good when it lines up, but how often does that happen? Unlike the perfect storm Duck and Weave needs, at least maxed Stance of the Mongoose triggers 100% of the time when it's not on its 3 second cooldown. Still, you need to have attacked created a tier up opportunity, you need to not yet have manually seized that opportunity, your attack that created the tier up needs to not have disabled the foe so that it could attack you, it needs to actually attack you and specifically with something you could parry, and you need to parry it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Despite its problems, I think this makes a serious case of being the third best martial stance a UC-oriented monk can learn. That's not necessarily saying much; I'd put it distantly behind Rolling Krynch Stance and Slippery Mind. If you're running a wacky build of a weapon-wielding monk (so no Krynch) in heavy armor (so no Slippery Mind), go with this.

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

I'm not knocking wildly niche monks. Many of my characters who ''aren't'' monks are wildly niche builds like a dual wielding melee cleric in chain mail, a dual wielding paladin, a warrior in robes who casts [[Elemental Wave (410)|e-waves]] with no hindrance, and a maul wizard in leather breastplate. Do whatever you have fun with in this game.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Most characters attack dozens of times more often than enemies attack them. I lean heavily on this fact whenever I'm torn on a choice between offense or defense on any profession. The defensive one will have trouble winning out unless either the defensive gain is immense, the offensive opportunity cost is minimal, or both. (For example, in the right hunting ground, Spirit Barrier has low offensive opportunity cost and ''can'' have immense defensive gain!)

This is one reason I hold Rolling Krynch Stance in so much higher regard than Stance of the Mongoose or even Slippery Mind. Rolling Krynch powers up something that you're doing in combat against every creature you fight and usually several times per creature. Mongoose and Slippery Mind apply to things that the ''creatures'' do--things you're actively trying to prevent them from doing, no less!--and, for that matter, only ''some'' of them do it and only ''some'' of the time.
</blockquote>

'''[[Striking Asp Stance]]''':

The best... uh... PvP martial stance?

[[Verb:QSTRIKE|QSTRIKE]] is an ability available to all professions that lets you consume stamina to reduce the RT of your next attack. Striking Asp reduces that stamina cost for the first single-target qstrike used every minute.

Whoever this stance might be good for--if anyone, because I'm not convinced it's worthwhile in any context other than PvP duels--it's not good for monks. Since Striking Asp only works once per minute, Rolling Krynch is better at Asp's own claim to fame. Even if you use Asp to reduce a 5-second focused mstrike to 1 second, Krynch only needs to save you two jabs' worth of RT per minute. It will almost always do that and more with zero stamina cost instead of Asp's reduced stamina cost.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

No.

===Combat Maneuvers===

I won't go over every combat maneuver, but here are quick takes on the more standout ones.

<blockquote>
'''Quick Reminder!'''

Like with skills, you can flip your trained combat maneuvers around as you wish before level 20. Experiment and find what suits you!
</blockquote>

'''[[Acrobat's Leap]]''':

Useful for short races to make up the height gap.

'''[[Bearhug]]''':

Shockingly good supplement to unarmed combat. UAF attacks can overcome most defenses, but among creatures that ''are'' so good at turtling that UC struggles to punch through, most are casters who easily get hit by combat maneuvers. Bearhug is also a rare case of a maneuver with killing power in its own right. I don't necessarily recommend using learning it until you can train at least three ranks since its damage really depends on the endroll. It's also a bit worse for small races, but, since it's an SMR-based attack, even they can dish out tons of damage with the high endrolls achievable by inflicting status effects first.

Speaking of status effects, Bearhug has great synergy with [[Vulnerable]], which speeds up its damage rounds (not its cooldown). Twin Hammerfists inflicts Vulnerable and so does the Grapple Specialization knockdown perk from Fury, so either of those make for a nice one-two if you're already using them!

'''[[Bull Rush]]''':

Bull Rush is another way to inflict Vulnerable and can knock down a whole room of creatures. It does pretty minimal damage, but is a staple monk combat maneuver, filling a need of controlling the enemy hordes so you can systematically pick them off.

'''[[Burst of Swiftness]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

If your monk is a slow race, you might consider learning Burst anyway to bring your MSTRIKE KICK up to speed--literally! I don't recommend using it until you have at least four ranks since the cooldown is very long before then.

If your monk is a fast race, there's still a use case for Burst, but mostly for obscure builds at the top end; my super-capped elf monk Tarine has Burst of Swiftness exclusively for [[Duskruin Arena]] because it can push her into the vaunted -8 RT tier of 113 or more Agidex bonus, which allows her to do absurd shenanigans with 14 attacks in 4 seconds with Fury and [[Flurry]] while wielding two katars. (Since these are assaults, the attacks are broken up into 1-second rounds of 4, 4, 2, and 2 attacks. By contrast, TWC katar ''mstrikes''' don't get faster than 5 seconds regardless of Agidex.)

'''[[Cheapshots]]''':

I love this suite of disabling skills on rogues and bards, but I don't think unarmed combat-centric monks benefit much despite the wide variety of applications. UC can just power through most things and, for what it can't, Cheapshots won't either since they're all setups--and ones not necessarily better than Twin Hammerfists, at that. Cheapshots can still be worth considering for weapon builds. For UC, I'd rather get Bearhug or Coup de Grace.

'''[[Combat Focus]]''':

I like two or three ranks to slightly shore up TD weaknesses if you can spare the points, but it's not mandatory by any means.

'''[[Combat Mobility]]''':

Easily one of the best and most universal monk maneuvers. Automatically standing up while prone is amazing with Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick and, frankly, even without. 10 Combat Maneuver Points ''are'' a lot, so I recommend building up offense during the early game and possibly even into the midgame. By the level 60s at latest, though, when staying prone for any extended period of time gets real dangerous, most monks will love this.

'''[[Coup de Grace]]''':

A finisher that can insta-kill incapacitated foes at 50% health or less (at max Coup ranks) and provides a 90-second buff to AS/UAF depending how hard you killed them.

The AS/UAF buff isn't what matters (at least for solo UC-oriented monks; it's amazing for weapon-using monks or group hunts). Unarmed combat is riddled with incapacitating effects tacked on to its normal attacks, offering frequent opportunities to deliver the Coup de Grace. Also, even foes that can't be crit killed, like various golems, noncorporeal undead, or oozes are susceptible to Coup's insta-kill, so it's another helpful option in your toolbox.

'''[[Feint]]''':

Even though UAF attacks ''can'' power through turtled creatures, turning that "can" into "most likely" is ideal. Feint is the premier combat maneuver for lowering enemies' stance, decreasing their UDF--often by triple digits even in the fairly early game--and increasing your multiplier modifier.

'''[[Hamstring]]''':

I mention this for the katar builds. Hamstring can only be used with an edged weapon, but it's a devastatingly powerful setup-and-damage maneuver all in one. Two Weapon Combat characters will find it even more exceptional.

'''[[Ki Focus]]''':

Increases the odds of higher tier positioning or a tier up opportunity on your next UC attack. This maneuver's wiki page recommends it if you aren't using Rolling Krynch Stance, but I recommend it even if you are. Ki Focus is another means to more consistently keep the train of good-or-excellent positioning rolling, especially against overleveled foes who would normally be difficult to tier up against.

That said, the stamina cost to use it too often ''is'' real, even with Mind Over Body, so you'll need heavy Physical Fitness training. It's more of a midgame or late game skill to me.

Monks who use only mstrikes might benefit from Ki Focus more than monks who use techniques. Mstrikes don't cost stamina outside their cooldown period, giving more leeway to keep a high stamina cost maneuver in your rotation.

'''[[Surge of Strength]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

I'd consider Surge for halflings and gnomes only. Between Perfect Self and a max rank Surge, they can carry things at least slightly more like an average-sized race. Still, Surge's cooldown is very long before at least rank 4. Even at rank 5, you can only have 75% uptime (a 90 second ability with a 120 second cooldown) unless you're willing to use it while in cooldown, which doubles its already high stamina cost from 30 to 60. Mind Over Body can only do so much to save you from that!
</div></div>

==Further Character Progression==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-progression" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious about feats, meditating, or upgrading your monk's gear later? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-progression">

===Feats===

Monks gain new abilities called Feats at various levels, which are as follows:

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Kroderine Soul]]====

Kroderine Soul is an opt-in feat that I won't cover in detail, but suffice it to say that you gain additional physical [[redux]] (resistance to physical attacks, which is increased by training physically-oriented skills), redux now applies to magical attacks, magical disablers have decreased duration against you, and you have access to the [[Absorb Magic]] and [[Dispel Magic]] abilities.

In exchange, before level 30, you can't learn spells, cast spells, or have spells cast on you other than a few exceptions like [[Floating Disk (511)|disks]], empath healing, and [[Raise Dead (318)|resurrection]]. From level 30 on is a different story, which I'll explain in the level 30 feat section.

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Martial Mastery]]====

After you've maxed one weapon skill (for your level), Martial Mastery grants +1 AS or UAF for every eight total ranks you train in up to two ''additional'' weapon skills. However, the AS/UAF boost is penalized by 5% for every spell you learn beyond five ranks--which means Martial Mastery no longer applies by the time you have 25 total spell ranks. Monks have a way to ignore the first 20 of those spell ranks, but I'll explain that too in the level 30 feat section.

While Martial Mastery is technically learned automatically from level 0, most monks won't make much use of it for a while. Some, like my monk Tarine, will have too many spell ranks to ever make use of it. I'll speak more about that in the Odds and Ends section discussing builds off the beaten path.

====Level 20 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Tattoo]]====

Monks can tattoo themselves or other characters by using a needle and ink from the local [[alchemist]] shop. They can ink from ''[[Stock_tattoo|nearly 1000 different options]]'' from a stock tattoo list! These are called mundane tattoos.

From level 20 on, monks can upgrade a character's existing tattoo--including one for which the monk wasn't the artist--by turning it into a Mystic Tattoo, which makes it enhancive. This is the monk profession service!

For full detail on Mystic Tattoos, see their wiki page. The simplified version is that Mystic Tattoos have five tiers, each requiring more training from the monk and each adding an enhancive of +1 bonus for a stat of the buyer's choice. To empower Mystic Tattoos, monks use 50000, 75000, 100000, 125000, and 150000 Motes of Tranquility (respective to each tier), which they earn via absorbing the equivalent amounts of experience points. Monks can earn up to 50,000 motes per week and save up to 200,000 total for later use. (You can see your totals with the RESOURCE command.)

As profession services go--so I'm comparing Mystic Tattoos to Battle Standards, [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]], [[Covert Arts]], enchanting, ensorcelling, [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]], ranger [[Resist Nature (620)|resistance]], sanctifying, and warrior weighting--this ''can'' be a really high impact one for CS casters, who benefit heavily from boosting Aura or Wisdom. It can also be solid for any character close to specific Agidex thresholds, and some people like simply enhancing Logic to absorb more exp.

Mystic Tattoos are in the midrange of profession service value overall; don't create a monk expecting to start rolling in silver like a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard eventually can (...at least not via tattooing, but more on the silver-making secrets of monks later!), but they'll likely make more from tattooing than non-capped bards, paladins, or rangers, or any level rogues or warriors do from their services. At the time of this writing, empaths make more than monks with their service, but they also have the newest service, so that might be a temporary situation. Either way, GM Estild, the head of dev, has acknowledged that Mystic Tattoos (and warrior weighting) need further improvement at a future point.

<blockquote>
'''Advanced Tattooing Tips!'''

Mystic Tattoos were designed with the intent that a typically trained monk should be able to do a tier 1 at level 20, a tier 2 at level 40, a tier 3 at level 60, a tier 4 at level 80, and a tier 5 at level 100. In practice, I find that many monks are anywhere from 5-15 levels ahead of that schedule--''and'' that's even assuming that you want a 100% success rate unboosted! Here are some options to jump ahead of the curve:

* Use BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS (from [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]) for +10 tattooing skill. (However, since this temporarily increases your max health and max spirit and your tattooing ability gets reduced when those two stats aren't full, you'll need to wait until health and spirit recover after using the boost. Voln members can do this most easily since Symbol of Renewal is one of the game's very few tools to instantly recover spirit.)
* Use BOOST GIFT EONAK (also from daily login rewards) to take the best of two rolls when determining your success. To put that in perspective, a 50% success rate would become 75% with Gift of Eonak active, a 60% success rate would become 84%, a 70% success rate would become 91%, an 80% success rate would become 96%, and a 90% success rate would become 99%.
* Suffusion allows converting your Motes of Tranquility to extra skill bonus on a single tattoo upgrade at a rate of 2000 motes to 1 skill bonus. Since it's a one-off boost and yet requires trading potentially weeks of resource gain, I don't recommend using suffusion for tattooing characters other than your own monk. Even with your own monk, I'd usually just advise patience--but if patience isn't your thing, then trading off a week of resources for five levels or so of skill might appeal to you!
</blockquote>

====Level 25 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Strike]]====

A weird one, to say the least. FEAT MYSTICSTRIKE allows a monk to use a small amount of stamina to infuse their next physical UC or melee attack with an effect that debuffs a foe's defense against warding spells after it lands. While monks do have a few warding spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe, those spells are normally better off as setups--if they're even used at all--than something to set up ''toward''.

====Level 30 Monk Feat - [[Dragonscale Skin]] or [[Mental Acuity]]====

At level 30 (and any time a fixskill is used after that point), monks can decide between these two feats by using FEAT LEARN DRAGONSCALESKIN or FEAT LEARN MENTALACUITY.

'''Dragonscale Skin''' is a straightforward buff that improves monks' Iron Skin spell.

Reviewing the basics of Iron Skin first, it improves a monk's robes to have the defensive power of full leather at bare minimum (level 2) and can get all the way to the durability of half plate on a truly outlandish, mega-capped character with an incredible enhancive set. However, this boost to defensive power only counts for the purposes of taking physical damage. Enter Dragonscale Skin, which makes the armor-mimicking aspect of Iron Skin also reflect itself in CvA (defense against warding spells; basically the same as TD, except done as a number subtracted from the enemy attack instead of added to your defense).

Here's a revised version of the Iron Skin table from the Secret Sauce of Lores section again, now tailored to the context of the CvA boost. The listed benefits are comparing to the baseline of robe CvA ''without'' Dragonscale Skin.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Dragonscale Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||Leather breastplate (10 benefit)||Cuirbouilli leather (11 benefit)||Studded leather (12 benefit)
|-
||5 Transformation||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine (13 benefit)
|-
||15 Transformation||Studded leather||Brigandine||Chain mail (21 benefit)
|-
||30 Transformation||Brigandine||Chain mail||Double chain (22 benefit)
|-
||50 Transformation||||Double chain||Augmented chain (23 benefit)
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||Chain hauberk (24 benefit)
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||Metal breastplate (33 benefit)
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||Augmented breastplate (34 benefit)
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||Half plate (35 benefit)
|}

For illustration's sake, my monk Sariara had leather breastplate caliber robes at level 30, will reach cuirbouilli leather at level 34 or 35, studded leather around level 43-45, brigandine at 50, chain mail likely around 60, and double chain at 75, where she'll pause for a long while. My monk Tarine had a less Transformation-focused build and is only at chain mail caliber even now, but will push to chain hauberk in the near future, then stop at metal breastplate over the very long haul.

To be clear, Dragonscale Skin reduces the odds of getting hit by spells at all and, if the monk does get hit, essentially reduces the endroll result. However, an identical endroll against real chain armor, plate armor, etc. would do significantly less damage than it does against robes.

The alternative to Dragonscale Skin, '''Mental Acuity''', is a much more complex beast. It basically forces redux, Martial Mastery (the level 0 feat), and Kroderine Soul (the other level 0 feat) to act like a monk's first 20 learned Minor Mental spells don't count. However, instead of a monk's first 20 Minor Mental spells costing mana, they cost stamina at twice the mana cost. (Mind Over Body does bring that down, so it won't necessarily be exactly twice.)

The most striking of these exceptions is definitely Kroderine Soul because it creates the unique monk path of continuing to cast spells despite training a feat that prevents their warrior and rogue counterparts--and pre-level-30 monks--from using magic at all. I can see the appeal even though it's not a route I'm interested in.

In practice, the only monks I know who chose Mental Acuity instead of Dragonscale Skin were also using Kroderine Soul. Having spells cost stamina instead of mana is a hefty ask. That said, nothing stops a character from avoiding KS and using Mental Acuity anyway. There ''are'' still reasons to do it. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of redux remains a Mental Acuity benefit even for the non-KS monk. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of Martial Mastery penalty means that a monk trained in three weapon skills could still max out the AS/UAF bonus even while training, for example, 20 Minor Mental spells plus 3-5 ranks of Minor Spiritual.

Are these compelling enough reasons to take Mental Acuity over Dragonscale Skin on a non-KS monk? As far as I can tell, so far the community has said no, but I'll explore that later in Odds and Ends. As for KS monks, Mental Acuity is the only option; Dragonscale Skin does literally nothing for them because KS monks can't cast Iron Skin ''unless'' they have Mental Acuity.

====Level 40 Monk Feat - [[Martial Arts Mastery]]====

Now we're talking! Martial Arts Mastery uniformly adds +10 to the multiplier modifier of your UC attacks, adds a flat +10% tier up chance to your UC attacks, and adds a flat +10% evasion rate (which also helps fire off more Spin Kicks).

If you play an unarmed combat monk through low levels and find yourself wondering when it really gets good, level 40 is the latest possible answer. Before then, something like a brawling warrior in robes might feel at least similar to a monk, albeit with no Rolling Krynch Stance (a huge difference maker, admittedly) and with different training point costs for various skills.

Level 40 draws a line in the sand, though, to establish that unarmed combat ''is'' the monk's wheelhouse because Martial Arts Mastery ''is'' the monk's premier feat. To put it in perspective, Martial Arts Mastery is the equivalent of maxing Grapple Specialization, Kick Specialization, and Punch Specialization all at once, minus the Fury/Spin Kick/Clash perks but plus a new Jab Specialization that no other profession has. And since you'll already have trained one of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization the normal way, now Martial Arts Mastery is like ''double-maxing'' it.

Unleash the power and never look back.

====Level 50 Monk Feat - [[Perfect Self]]====

Perfect Self raises all your stats by +10 (or +5 bonus). That's it! Your monk hits level 50 and great power drops on their head.

Like I've said, there's pretty much no bad monk stat split from level 50 on because of this feat. It's also the driving force behind why even moderately fast races (along the lines of half-elves and aelotoi), never mind the really fast races, have so much potential as monks. If you're using mstrikes and weapon techniques at all, you'll notice the improvement!

===Gear Upgrades: Armor===

Even though fancy gear is more a luxury than a necessity for monks, you might as well upgrade your monk's gear eventually if you enjoy them! But how and in what way?

For armor, I think the answer is to keep it really simple. Most of the expensive armor you can pick up doesn't do all that much for monks. (...at least not magical non-Kroderine Soul monks, the subject of this guide. I assume expensive armor does way more for KS monks who are tanking more hits.)

'''Materials'''

* Rusalkan: A high-end expensive option at 400k soul shards that attempts to knock down up to three enemies if you get hit or evade an attack, boosts UAF and CS for 10 seconds if it does knock any of them down, and grants a 1 second haste effect for various offensive actions. It has a cooldown for 30 seconds. Probably the most powerful armor material overall with an extremely powerful effect, but the expenses are enormous. Some contact-based combat maneuvers like Bull Rush can also trigger rusalkan flares.
* Zelnorn: Uses half of what would be the DS from its enchant as AS (or in monks' case UAF) instead, but doesn't allow flares or a TD boost to go in the ability slot (AKA category B). Players hit creatures more than creatures hit players, so zelnorn can be fantastic for AS-based professions--but most monks aren't AS-based. Improving UAF is fairly irrelevant, not justifying the base cost of 50k bloodscrip in the case of monks. Either flares or increased TD would more greatly benefit monks, making use of the ability slot.

'''Scripts'''

* [[Animalistic Spirit Armor]]? Gives a few minutes of extra stamina regen per hunt and can flare to knock down creatures when you evade, but you're a monk. You already reduce your stamina costs by 35% and you already keep everything knocked down constantly.
* [[Ethereal armor]]? If you happen to have boatloads of ethereal scrip from frequent [[Settlement_of_Reim|Reim]] hunts, then sure, go for it, but a monk isn't screaming for more DS and a flare chance for crit padding.
* [[Forest Armor]]? Monks don't need a tiny boost to UAF and CS.
* [[Ithzir Armor]]? Cool abilities involving healing and emergency escape. 500k bloodscrip cool? Nah.
* [[Mana-Infused Armor]]? Mana, damage padding, crit padding, UAF and CS, and an emergency button to drive creatures out of the room. Not what a monk's seeking.
* [[Parasite Armor]]? It can give a 90 second buff to TD, but it's once every five minutes and costs 150k bloodscrip. Pass.
* [[Sprite Armor]]? Extra DS, maneuver defense, and mana. Nope, not for a monk!
* [[Valence Armor]]? Health, mana, and reactive flares. Skip.
* [[Voln armor]]? Extra DS, sheer fear protection, crit padding, and an emergency escape button. This was once a reasonable value even despite its high cost and the DS and crit padding not being too meaningful for a monk. However, that time has largely passed now that Sanctify and Battle Standard exist so you can get sheer fear protection for cheaper and emergency escape after death instead of before death. You'd have to die several thousand times before the cost of any extra deeds and chrisms outweigh the cost of fully unlocked Voln armor.

'''Defaults'''

So my actual answer to the armor question is:

* Go to playershops and spend 1-5 million silver on robes with either +7 to +9 TD or some cool damage resistance of 20% or more, get them upgraded by wizards, clerics, and sorcerers over time.

Yes, this is what I actually do! +20% acid resistance robes, +8 TD robes, more +8 TD robes, and +7 TD robes are all things that some of my characters wear or have worn in the past. If GMs ever release an armor script that I think is a must-have for monks, I'll come back and update the guide at that point!

===Gear Upgrades: Weapons===

I wrote a [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Choosing_Your_Ideal_Weapon_Script|guide on the topic of scripts]], but unarmed combat has more limited options than other weapon types, so I'll go over the few that I think are worth looking into depending on your budget--plus flourishes, flares, and one material!

'''No script or flourish, just basic elemental flares (especially lightning)''':

This is where I think you should begin if you're uncertain or just dipping your toe in the water.

You can find flaring UC handwear and footwear for under a million silver each at a fair number of events--sometimes even at free events. Basic lightning flaring gear matches the power of off-the-shelf pay event gear. Pay event gear does pull ahead when you double down and stack lightning flares ''on top'' of it, but that means even heavier investment.

Nothing wrong with starting small while you're getting your bearings and saving bigger decisions for later!

'''Dispel flares''' (price range: 30k to 210k bloodscrip):

Dispel flares trigger before a UC attack lands, either dispelling 1-5 randomly chosen buff spells (if the creature has any) or dealing SMR-based disruption damage. If they dispel two spells from different spheres of magic (spiritual, elemental, or mental), they can also deal flux damage.

You might sometimes hear dispel flares cited as even better than lightning flares in a weapon's ability slot, but these days it depends on your exact budget range. If you're using Flare Affinity for 400k bloodscrip or purified zorchar for (at most) 70k bloodscrip, lightning flares come roaring back. Below that mark, dispel makes more of a case for itself because of a few factors:

# High volume of attacks goes very well with pre-resolution flares
# Dispelling a buff to decrease enemy UDF is better than decreasing enemy DS by the same amount
# Against creatures without buffs, the disruption flare can increase MM by injuring and/or stunning a creature

There is a bit of luck to dispelling since many, if not most, creatures with spell buffs have some that don't affect UDF. You can improve your odds by making it 2-dispel or 3-dispel flares, which also greatly increases the odds of flux damage so you can get increased MM even while stunning. Overall, dispel flares with at least two dispel chances are very strong. All that said, the first three dispels cost 30k bloodscrip each while a fourth and fifth cost 50k each if you want to max them out. At most price ranges, alternatives like purified zorchar or Greater Elemental Flares (GEF) are either more bang for your buck or just outright more bang period. I think I'd only recommend dispel flares if you were going for at least three dispels while also stacking greater somnis, which is the current strongest UC material, but also much more expensive than the purified elemental materials or eonake.

'''[[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]] script''' (price range: 10k to 185k bloodscrip):

Incredible variety of flavor messaging makes this script very popular among all professions! For monks, specifically, Revenge Flares are a great unlockable feature that can fire off damaging flares when they evade. On the other hand, the default grapple damage type isn't the best since it's mainly good for knockdowns and monks are very adept at that on their own. My higher exp monk uses Animalistic Spirit gloves and boots with their damage type converted to lightning, but that's an extra expense.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (As a caveat, though, I highly recommend against the Savage Power unlock, which isn't particularly good for any build of any profession, and the Wild Backlash unlock, which is excellent for some professions but not all that useful for monks. Animalistic Fury upgrades can be worth it ''if'' you first change the damage type.)

Overall, this script has been monks' top pick for years for very good reason on the strength of Revenge Flares, messaging, and being one of the only games in town. However, it's been five years since Animalistic Spirit and the creator of Animalistic Spirit, GM Avaluka, has debuted a new script called Phytomorphic Weapons that I think is even better for monks! More on that further below.

'''[[Energy_Weapon/saved_posts|Energy Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 125k bloodscrip):

For unarmed combat, Energy Weapons are only available in the form of ''held'' weapons like a [[cestus]], not handwear and footwear. That's immediately anathema to some people. I'd agree with them when talking about a -10 or -15 MM weapon, but I'm actually not down on the -5 MM held UC weapons like others.

Held UC weapons improve UAF depending on the enchant and improve damage factor at a flat rate depending on the weapon type. The flat rate aspect means the weaker the base attack, like a jab or a grapple against heavier armor, the more noticeable the improvement. On the other hand, held weapons decrease the multiplier modifier and you also lose the use of Brace parrying.

That ''is'' an overall loss in a vacuum for most attack types against most armor types, so the held weapon needs something else significant to compensate. Energy Weapons can do that with supercharged lightning flares, so I do have a cestus and even use it against foes where MM is so high that I can live with the drop. If the margins are close, I don't use it. Easy enough.

The entry point for an Energy Weapon is 10k bloodscrip. The higher unlock tiers aren't very useful to monks, so I called mine a one and done.

<blockquote>
'''Obscure Trivia Sidenote!'''

When you're wearing flaring gloves while also using a flaring held unarmed combat weapon, the flare rate of each item--gloves and weapon--is halved, ending up at the same overall flare rate. So how can I be talking about an Energy Weapon's flares as a perk that helps compensate for the MM drop in any way if that perk is counterbalanced by hurting the flare rate of your gloves?

Well, let's say my Animalistic Spirit gloves still had their default grapple flares, which I don't value highly because unarmed combat keeps foes knocked down anyway. In that case, trading off half of a grapple flare rate to replace it with half of a lightning flare rate is a win.

This logic breaks down as gloves get more upgraded, because then either your tradeoffs aren't as favorable or you're spending currency to upgrade gloves ''and'' a cestus. Still, I stand behind it as at least an ''option'' if your stopping point is a flare and a script flare.
</blockquote>

'''[[Greater elemental flare|Greater Elemental Flares]] script''' (price: 40k bloodscrip):

These are a gold standard of midrange weapon scripts, at least if you'd consider 40k bloodscrip per item "midrange." Triple lightning flares are a pretty crazy thing! However, you do need to track down handwear and footwear that was already flaring or else the prices jump to 55k bloodscrip.

GEF flares are a solid and straightforward one-and-done option, but cheaper alternatives can be more efficient bang for your buck while more expensive alternatives can be more fun.

'''[[Knockout_flare|Knockout Flares]] script and [[Skullcrusher Flares]] flourish''' (price: 100k bloodscrip):

Easily some of the game's best flare messaging and they always hit heads, which can be very deadly, unless the head already has rank 3 wounds. I've used Knockout UC gear on non-monk characters and had a blast with them. One of my favorite moments was the happy accident of channeling Mario with the "You leap up, bringing your pure white sandals down across the head of the human mugger with a sickening thud!" messaging.

That said, Knockout's entry point--and exit point since there are no tiers--is 100k bloodscrip per item, which is a very tall ask for most people. It used to be a lot cheaper in the days of Ebon Gate on Caligos Isle, albeit released in limited quantities via a jackpot system to compensate. If you ''are'' willing to spend to that degree or find somebody who has Knockout gear from older days and is willing to sell, then I say read the wiki page and see if you like the messaging more or less than other options such as Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons. Some people pick Knockout for for their handwear or footwear and a different script for the others.

As for Skullcrusher, see everything I just said about Knockout, because Skullcrusher costs the same and is mechanically identical except that it goes into the flourish slot instead of the script slot. That means you can have the benefits of Knockout (in the form of Skullcrusher) ''and'' Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic if you were willing to pay for it!

'''[[Phytomorphic Weapon Shield|Phytomorphic Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 145k bloodscrip):

Another highly customizable instant hit of a script in the vein of Animalistic Spirit and from the same creator! This one is plant-themed instead of animal-themed and you can customize it yourself via foraging plants. Arboreal Agony is the big selling point of unlockable features here, which makes creatures Disoriented so they'll have difficulty casting spells--which are one of a monk's weak points. The default damage type is disintegrate, which is also broadly useful and can have killing power.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (Like with Animalistic Spirit's Wild Backlash, I'll give the caveat that Phytomorphic's Deciduous Decay is far more useful for AS-based professions than UAF-based professions like most monks. Phytomorphic Putrescence upgrades, on the other hand, don't need you to change the damage type first to get full value, which makes them either better or cheaper than Animalistic Spirit's Animalistic Fury counterpart depending on how you look at it.)

RP-wise, I think there's a very real chance that people will continue to favor Animalistic Spirit going forward. Mechanically, though, I'd say that Arboreal Agony not allowing enemy casters to cast is even better than Animalistic Spirit's Revenge Flares firing off when dodging physical attacks--and not needing to change the base damage type is also a big win.

'''[[Lore Flares]] flourish, specifically Telepathy or Transformation''' (price: 400k bloodcsrip):

At a whopping 400k bloodscrip, this is the top end of pricing for UC-oriented monks, but also the top end of power. While normal flares have a 20% rate, these start at 25%, reach 33% with 36 ranks of the applicable lore, reach 50% with 105 ranks, and reach an absurd and glorious 100% rate with 171 ranks. (171 ranks of a lore for a monk requires both heavy Ascension training ''and'' great enhancives, but hey, I did say this guide was for 0 exp to 55,000,000!) Telepathy Lore Flares deal puncture damage and then damage over time (DoT) afterward that's mostly sheer health damage, but only work against living foes. Transformation Lore Flares have no DoT and randomly deal either slash, crush, or puncture, but their initial hit is weighted to be one crit rank higher.

You probably aren't even reading this guide if you can actually reach 171 ranks of a lore, but for the sake of being informative, Transformation is the clear winner if you get there. Multiple DoTs can't stack on a single creature, so it's more valuable to have a stronger initial hit since you'd be firing off tons of those in a single mstrike or weapon technique. If 105 ranks are more your limit, that's a tougher call. Since your mstrikes include a free jab for the first time you attack a creature, your first unfocused mstrike in a swarmy room with Telepathy Lore Flares would have a 75% chance on each creature of getting a DoT rolling. However, ''focused'' mstrikes still favor Transformation due to DoTs not stacking.

'''Purified [[drakar]], [[gornar]], [[rhimar]], or [[zorchar]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Basically the GEF of materials! These have material-based flares of, respectively, fire, impact (earth), ice, or lightning that are slightly stronger on average than the normal ability slot flares of their unpurified counterparts (and they still have those too), then a 25% chance to fire off a second noticeably stronger flare if the first flare had landed. In short, just like GEF, it's an extra two flare chances.

To my knowledge, handwear and footwear of drakar, gornar, rhimar, and zorchar has never been offered off the shelf, so to get the purified materials, you need to get the unpurified version first by either paying 15k bloodscrip for a lesser transmutation (only available if your handwear and footwear already has the applicable flare type) or 20k bloodscrip for an intermediate transmutation, then an additional 50k bloodscrip to purify.

Like always, more flares are an excellent thing when firing from UC's flurry of free jabs or otherwise quick attacks. An incredible power upgrade if it's within your budget!

'''Purified [[eonake]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Purified eonake has a material flare against undead only, dealing fire damage slightly stronger than normal fire flares while also reducing the enemy's AS by 25 and slowing it down (adding more RT to its combat actions). Reasonable crowd control option if you hunt undead a ton, since your free mstrike jabs will be tossing slow effects all over the place. The purified elemental materials above will generally be stronger than purified eonake for monks, but there are scenarios where that's not always the case. For example, if you're set on dispel flares or just happen to have them from buying someone else's abandoned project weapon, then purified eonake would preserve the dispel flares while a purified elemental metal would require erasing them.

Purified eonake is certainly a cheaper option than somnis or starsong (described below), but shouldn't typically be a default consideration for monks. Everything always depends on the specifics, though, so just double check what you're doing.

'''[[Somnis]] material''' (price range: 100k or 250k bloodscrip bought as-is, or 300k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

Lesser somnis is a 100k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep after it hits while greater somnis is a 250k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep ''before'' it hits. Alternatively, instead of starting with somnis items as the base, you could wait for greater somnis transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 300k bloodscrip.

This powerful effect significantly increases MM for the next hit (or current hit) in most cases! In terms of bang for your buck, somnis is far behind flares, scripts, the Skullcrusher flourish (less so that than the previous two), and purified materials, so there are typically two demographics who should be considering somnis. Both of them should basically treat as no object, but the demographics are either 1) those who can buy greater somnis as the starting point because it could be years before the ability to convert existing weapons to it returns to Duskruin, or 2) those who can wait for years for transmutation to be available and have picked up everything else or almost everything else already, making greater somnis a great final touch to add after exhausting other avenues.

'''[[Vethinye|Starsong, AKA vethinye]] material''' (price range: 100k, 250k, or 400k raikhen bought as-is, or 450k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

A 100k raikhen base cost material that flares disruption. Starsong can be upgraded up to twice for 150k raikhen per upgrade, which can make it flare disruption up to one extra time per upgrade. Fully upgraded, it flares disruption 1 to 3 times; if there's only one creature against the room, all three flares would hit the same creature, but if there's more than one, then additional flares would hit other creatures. Alternatively, instead of starting with starsong items as the base, you could wait for maxed starsong transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 450k bloodscrip.

Overall, starsong is a bit of an outdated material as newer options are simultaneously stronger and cheaper. Neat for extra screen scroll if that's your thing and the AoE is somewhat unique, but being AoE isn't even guaranteed and the price is extremely high for what it is.

<blockquote>
'''Order of Operations Sidebar!'''

If you eventually want it all, you can get it, but there can be a correct order. For example, buying Phytomorphic gear and adding lightning or dispel to it later costs 40k bloodscrip less than buying lightning or dispel flaring gear and adding Phytomorphic to it later. Adding Knockout Flares costs the same 100k bloodscrip regardless of order, but does have a 90k more expensive starting point than Animalistic off the shelf, so it should be done later. Adding Skullcrusher Flares or Lore Flares costs the same 100k or 400k bloodscrip regardless of order.

Buying a base material like somnis or starsong and fully unlocking it costs 50k bloodscrip less than transmuting later, but if you want a script--which you should since a script is stronger than the material--then you break even because it'll cost 50k bloodscrip later to add a script to it. However, transmutation prices assume you want the highest tier of the material at all; if you don't, then starting with the base material is by far superior.

All of this is only talking price without even considering what adding scripts, flares, or flourishes does to gear difficulty. Lightning flares add 100 gear difficulty, but that can be negated with [[Enchant_(925)#Pre-enchanting_Potions|pre-enchanting potions]] (yes, these also work with ensorcelling and sanctifying). Dispel flares add 100 for the first dispel and 50 more for each thereafter. Knockout flares or Skullcrusher Flares add 150. Animalistic Spirit adds 200.

(What does any of that mean? Well, [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|but that's another guide entirely]], but suffice it to say that the higher the numbers get, the higher caliber of clerics, sorcerers, and wizards you'll need to improve them and the more you'll be paying for their services.)
</blockquote>

===Gear Upgrades: Items===

Some types of gear aren't conventional weapons or armor, so let's review a few of those that monks might think about!

'''[[Energy_Wings|Energy Wings]]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

When these got released, they made players (including me) freak out thinking they got priced too inexpensively on accident or something. I think it actually just might be a case of power creep, though--and since I'm listing items in this section in alphabetical order, you'll see why when I talk about other items that were released years earlier!

These wings come in light or dark flavor. Both share a lot in common, namely having some single-target SMR attacks, AoE SMR attacks, evasion buffs (good for Spin Kick), and Evasiveness buffs (outright avoiding the next incoming attack), but the primary differences are that the light wings can ignore height restrictions for 30 seconds every 90 seconds (so 33% of the time) while the dark wings have additional poison or disease effects on their attacks. If you regularly hunt in groups, the light wings also have a big group buff of DS, TD, and crit padding for 30 seconds every 30 minutes while the dark wings have a smaller scale but longer duration and shorter cooldown group buff of damage padding, health regen, and max health for 60 seconds every 15 minutes.

The general player consensus seems to be that the light wings are much better, which I can agree with if and only if you're regularly aiming for the heads of large creatures you couldn't otherwise hit. Energy Wings are a mere fraction of the price of what it used to cost to be able to hit heads, which was a huge part of the sticker shock. Monks are already really talented at knocking creatures down, but the light wings could save you some setup time if your playstyle is more about targeted single strikes than a flurry of attacks via mstrikes or Fury.

If you're ''not'' regularly aiming at large creatures, then I'd say it's closer than people believe. I'd side with the light wings on T1 and T2 attacks, but with the dark wings for the T3 attack. It's pretty close on all fronts, though, so picking a wing type based on roleplay makes perfect sense! And having new AoE attacks at all is an excellent thing for monks, who are somewhat lacking in that department from their own toolkit.

I also don't want to undersell the evasion buffs. If you're a Kick Specialization monk, that's an especially killer benefit for you, but even if not, +15% evasion (or even +10% on T2 or +5% on T1) is a serious upgrade against incoming physical attacks! I don't know which is the icing and which is the cake, but the evasion benefit and new AoE attacks combine to make either version of Energy Wings a tremendous pickup for monks. Just don't neglect more fundamental things like scripts on your handwear and footwear, but once you're done establishing a fine gear baseline, look into these wings!

'''[[Essence_Belt|Essence belts]]''' (price range: 25k to 100k bloodscrip):

Magical belts that you charge up with essences (found from either looting elemental creatures or buying from the tables of alchemy shops that get stocked up by other people looting and selling them) for various effects depending on exactly which essence. I'm not covering most of those effects because they're more or less immaterial to monks due to short duration, long cooldown, or both. What's not immaterial is that essence belts also add reactive flares that can go off whenever creatures hit you (with no cooldown), stacking additional protection against battles going south. It's a good benefit if you absolutely can't stand dying and have a lot of bloodscrip to spare! For everyone else, improving your armor with padding or flares (if not going the +TD armor route in flares' case) is certainly a cheaper option to start with.

'''[[Hand-held_Pylon|Hand pylons]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

Basically an arm--mounted Mega Man energy cannon! Like essence belts, you charge this up with essences and it blasts away with magical power on a 2-minute cooldown. If you upgrade to at least tier 3 (30k bloodscrip), this will one-shot just about anything in the game... but that's ''if'' you have at least 1x Magic Item Use or have disabled something. The trouble is that if you're already disabled a creature, then you can generally just kill it with your own attacks, so hand pylons are much better with someone who already has MIU and doesn't need to set up first. If you don't have MIU--and, on a monk, you probably don't--then this might not be the item for you. That said, when Duskruin's open in the live game, it's frequently also open on the test server and allows buying things for free to test with. So give hand pylons a try when you can and see if you like them!

===Profession Service Priorities===

Silver does no good unless it's spent ''somewhere'', so if you're going budget on buying gear or just have a money surplus in need of a home, how about looking into profession services?

====Battle Standards (the [[Battle Standard (1620)|paladin service]])====

If there's only one service I'd recommend for a monk, it's Battle Standards. From the third tier on, Battle Standards add offensive flares to your attacks. (The flare rate goes up at the fourth and fifth tiers.)

As a general rule, offensive flares are better the more attacks per minute you use on average. This pairs extremely well with unarmed combat (especially mstriking due to bonus jabs, but even Fury) because its myriad low RT abilities churn out attacks more quickly than anything other than high level wizards, high level bards, and high level Two Weapon Combat builds. Even while you're only throwing jabs and fishing for tier up opportunities, a Battle Standard flare can sneak in and potentially kill a creature. Usually it won't, but even a lighter hit might stun a creature--and stunning increases UC's most important offense-boosting number, MM, making every following attack better. Additionally, you can select from a wide variety of [[Holy_critical|choices for flare type]] based on which Arkati or spirit the Battle Standard is aligned with, which you can set at [[Holy_places|any shrine]] for the Arkati or spirit you want.

Fourth tier and up Battle Standards also offer a short-term buff where every attack you do for 30 seconds is ''guaranteed'' to flare. This is a burst of fun, chaotic, powerful mayhem, especially in any area that's even moderately swarmy! There's a 30-minute cooldown at the fourth tier and a 15-minute cooldown at the fifth tier, so you can use it once every two hunts or once every hunt, respectively.

Battle Standards have a few other perks, but these are the main ones making them so good for monks.

Battle Standards have charges and periodically need recharging, which will cost you. I don't believe we have hard confirmation on how the charges drain, but ''if'' (if!) it's identical to Lucky Items, charges drain depending on the amount of time you spend in combat. If so, that would be another factor making it even better for UC monks than most professions or builds due to sheer volume of attacks per minute.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get a Battle Standard and love it. Even in the worst case, if you end up not loving it, you can sell it to someone else since it unattunes from you 30 days after your first use.

====Bloodstone Jewelry (the [[Bloodsmith (1135)|empath service]])====

Fully upgraded Bloodstone Jewelry increases max health/mana/stamina by 100/50/25, increases regeneration for health/mana/stamina by 20/10/5, and adds 1-5 extra health damage (only health damage) to all attacks. After every 50 health damage it deals, the next attack inflicts Major Bleed. It also has an activated ability to quickly regen health/mana/stamina 100%/50%/25% over 10 seconds with a 30 minute cooldown. It also has another more unusual activated ability to temporarily move your wounds off of you and into the jewelry; however, the wounds come back after 10 minutes and there's a 30 minute cooldown on this ability too. The idea is sort of a quick fix mid-hunt and then you'll need two rounds of healing afterward.

The temporary healing is difficult to advise on because its value heavily depends on how much risk you take in hunting. That benefit is about knowing yourself well enough to know if you'll like it or not. Same goes for more max health; I see the value for small races roughly doubling their health, but otherwise don't consider it particularly valuable. However, opinions vary widely. As for max stamina, monks already have Mind Over Body--but, even if they didn't, you can shore up stamina far more cheaply with conventional regen enhancives than with Bloodstone Jewelry.

As for everything else, the value for a monk--at least a magical monk--is like a mishmash of weaker Battle Standards and weaker Ensorcell. Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell both offer stamina regeneration, which is a great in a vacuum, but Ensorcell's version of stamina regeneration is a flare chance (which is effective with frequent UC attacks) instead of a per minute effect and never requires paying again for recharging. There is something to be said for having both Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell since Ensorcell usually won't restore stamina unless your health is full and Bloodstone Jewelry helps keep your health full--but, then again, just having herbs or using society abilities could also keep your health full.

Extra health damage, on the other hand, is a reasonable selling point. While it can't stun or crit kill like a Battle Standard flare, it does affect every attack instead of 20% of attacks--and 1-5 damage might not sound like a lot, but when it's every attack, it does matter. On average, you'll get the Major Bleed effect after every 16.67 attacks, which is decently powerful in its own right. All that said, Bloodstone Jewelry doesn't add extra damage until its fifth and final tier, so you'd probably be paying a premium to get it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Either go all the way with this service or pass on it unless someone's offering a steal. I wouldn't call this a particularly monk-oriented service unless you're a Kroderine Soul build or a small race.

(Since this is alphabetically the first service I'm recommending against, I'll clarify that that doesn't mean it's a bad service; even Enchant isn't particularly great for monks, as we'll see later, and that's a classic service. I'm simply saying that, when you're reading a monk guide because you're making a monk, don't view this service through the lens of playing your warrior, your semi, or your Sunfist pure, who would all make better use of more of the Bloodstone Jewelry perks.)

====[[Covert Arts]] (the rogue service)====

Covert Arts are the most jack of all trades service, being sort of split into five mini-services each with five tiers of their own. Like most other non-gear-based profession services, they run on a charge-based system and eventually need recharging.

Sidestep helps defend against AoE maneuvers, increases evasion, and helps defend against maneuvers regardless of being AoE or single target. Keen Eye finds children for bounties, helps defend against maneuvers even more, and helps defend against ambushes. Escape Artist helps avoid bandit traps, reduces Force on Force pushdown, and reduces the duration of [[Rooted]] status. Swift Recovery decreases the RT of searches (e.g. for heirlooms or pulling bandits out of hiding), increases health regeneration, and reduces the duration of Stagger.

Poisoncraft allows applying various poisons to your gear. Poison on armor can inflict various status effects as reactive flares: [[Calmed]], [[Dazed]], [[Slowed]], [[Disoriented]], or [[Clumsy]]. Poison on offensive gear can flare to either deal any of the previously mentioned status effects, deal extra health damage, apply [[Crippled]], or apply [[Major Poison]].

But how good is any of this for monks? Most Covert Arts perks only make monks marginally better at things they're already amazing at. (By contrast, casters see good benefit from things like FOF defense and the myriad bonuses to maneuver defense unless already far post-cap.) Escape Artist does seem reasonable to me for monks who frequently hunt bandits, since traps and Rooted can really mess with unarmed combat by preventing kicks.

Poisoncraft, on the other hand, provides flares, which should seem great if you just read about Battle Standards! However, some caveats do bear mentioning. The biggest is that, unlike with Battle Standards, jabs don't flare with Poisoncraft. Poisons don't affect the undead. Poisons offer a more narrow variety of damage types; they do offer a much wider variety of disabling effects, but monks aren't lacking for those in their base toolkit. Overall, Battle Standards are much better, but the fact remains that any kind of flare is still powerful with unarmed combat in a vacuum--even if jabs are disallowed. The question is whether you have the funds for both services.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

It's worth learning at least Poisoncraft even though the other Covert Arts don't do much for monks. Recharging Poisoncraft isn't much cheaper--if any cheaper--than learning more Arts and learning them ''also'' recharges, so once you're in for Poisoncraft, you might as well slowly pick up the others over time as recharging needs come up.

====Enchanting (the [[Enchant (925)|wizard service]])====

Enchanting offensive gear improves UAF (or AS if you're using a weapon) while enchanting armor improves DS.

UAF offers minimal help for all the reasons described in the Unarmed Combat Primer. DS is more compelling, especially once you're hunting areas with the [[spell sever]] mechanic. Monks have the game's cheapest training costs for Dodging, so they have very good DS throughout their lives, but not untouchable since they ''are'' regularly in offensive stance. I don't go hard on improving monk DS, but it can't hurt either.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Bring your robes up to +30. It gets expensive afterward, but +35 is a fine long-term goal too when you have silver lying around! Poke away at improving your UC gear if you find a great deal, but improving it doesn't matter much otherwise.

====Ensorcelling (the [[Ensorcell (735)|sorcerer service]])====

Ensorcelling armor improves CvA and enemy spells are a weak point, so I'd say your long term plan should include this. However, get most or all of your sanctification done first since ensorcelling adds much more gear difficulty than sanctifying. (For much more on the intricacies of gear difficulty and order of operations for upgrading gear, see [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|my service guide]]! For our purposes here, though, basically just know that tiers 2-5 of Ensorcell should usually be done after finishing the enchanting and sanctifying you want. The order of enchanting and sanctifying doesn't matter much, though.)

For unarmed combat gear, ensorcelling adds a flare chance for either a UAF boost on the next attack, stamina recovery immediately, or health recovery immediately. Stamina is strong for monks, but the flares give UAF boosts most of the time, which is very weak for monks. Ensorcell evenly scales up its UAF bonus; a fifth tier (T5) Ensorcell increases UAF by 25 while a first tier (T1) increases UAF by 5. Stamina recovery, on the other hand, is frontloaded: the average stamina return at T1 is 9 while the average at T5 is 15.

I like the "get a T1 Ensorcell on your offensive gear and call it finished" philosophy. You already have 60% of T5's average stamina return, but only bought 10% as much of a sorcerer's resource points.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

T1 Ensorcell for your handwear and footwear whenever you get a chance. T5 Ensorcell for your robes over the long haul, but only after finished with enchanting and sanctifying.

====Lucky Items (the [[Song of Luck (1006)|bard service]])====

Lucky Items are incredible for almost everybody. They improve virtually every offensive and defensive aspect of combat, which is like having extra enchantments, ensorcellments, weighting, and padding all attached to the same item--plus boosts to maneuver offense and maneuver defense as even more cherry on top!

For most professions and builds, I'd argue that Lucky Items are mechanically the most powerful service.

...but monks aren't most professions and builds. Yes, Lucky Items are like having extra UAF, DS, TD, weighting, and padding all at once, but I have a pretty low opinion of all of those things for monks other than TD.

Lucky Items act sort of opposite to Battle Standards; instead of favoring the low-impact attacks that UC throws out in droves, Lucky Items favor high-impact attacks that make every luck trigger proportionally more powerful. Lucky Item triggering on a jab or a decent positioning attack is a waste and you're probably firing off a lot of those. On the bright side, since Lucky Items' charges drain depending on the amount of time spent in combat, that aspect does pair well with monks' high volume of attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

If this were any other profession, I'd be singing the praises of Lucky Items and breaking down the math. Honestly, I might have to write a mini-guide on Lucky Items because they're tragically underrated. They offer amazing power to every form of combat other than the exact one that monks favor! If you're a weapon-wielding monk, definitely buy in and do it quickly. For typical UC monks, I'd recommend your silvers go elsewhere first--but only "first." Luck is powerful and you should get it eventually, just not as a high priority. I'd take it over enchanting robes beyond +30 or enchanting offensive gear beyond +20, but not necessarily before Sanctify, Ensorcell, or especially Battle Standards.

====Mystic Tattoos (the monk service)====

Despite Mystic Tattooing being a monk's own ability, it's not that helpful when used on themselves. The good news is that if you perform the final upgrade of your Mystic Tattoo, it won't consume charges and is basically a permanent upgrade. That said, the benefits of +5 bonus for a stat are pretty marginal for most monks. Standout options include:

* Strength to decrease encumbrance, especially for small races
* Agility to reach an Agidex threshold (this is preferred over Dexterity because it gives more maneuver defense and slightly increases UAF)
* Logic to increase exp gain
* Wisdom to slightly improve defense against spiritual magic

Logic is arguably the best since, given an enhancive with infinite charges, a benefit that works every minute maximizes value more than a benefit that only works while hunting. I can't go further than "arguably" since the others will have more impact when they ''do'' have impact. Regardless, none of the stats jump out for a monk in the way that something like improving a CS-boosting stat on a caster would.

Mystic Tattoos are slated for a future upgrade. The current proposal includes adding a skill bonus up to +10, flares to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, an activated ability with a cooldown to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, and ignoring enhancive limits.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Until the future update, I'd only tattoo yourself in your spare time when you can't find others willing to pay for your tattoos who would probably get more mechanical use out of them than you do. More Wisdom or Aura can be a gamechanger for CS-based casters, so sell them your tattooing services and use the silver to pay for paladins' Battle Standards. As you run out of other things to pay for, you can eventually pick up tattooing from lower level monks and make sure to handle the final tier yourself so you have infinite charges!

====Resist Nature (the [[Resist Nature (620)|ranger service]])====

Rangers can build a bracelet, anklet, or amulet that grants up to 25% resistance against up to five damage types: cold, heat, nature, steam, and lightning.

For post-cap hunters going into Ascension areas and the Scatter, this is really good since most of those areas use at least four of those damage types. Before cap or in other hunting grounds, usually only one damage type is the scourge of the area--and if you only need one resistance, monks can simply meditate instead of needing a ranger trinket. Even pre-cap, there's ''some'' merit to a ranger trinket since you can meditate for a general purpose physical resistance like crush and use your trinket for an elemental resistance like fire or lightning, but you'd have to know you'll be running into that damage type consistently for a while.

On an obscure note, nature resistance is unique to ranger trinkets. Monks can't meditate against it and even the Ascension system can't train to defend against it. However, an extremely small number of creatures use nature damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I'd look into ranger resistance for post-cap purposes, especially if you intend to hunt Ascension hunting grounds (which monks perform well in at lower exp amounts than any other profession). Before cap, make do with your own meditation ability.

====Sanctification (the [[Sanctify (330)|cleric service]])====

Sanctifying unarmed combat gear adds UAF against undead for the first five tiers and negates 5% of their damage resistance per tier if your gear is sanctified (but not blessed). The sixth tier adds a holy fire flare against undead that deals 50-100 health damage and a fire crit.

The first five tiers of Sanctify have dubious value for UC gear (unless you're buying the first tier specifically because of the Kai's Strike situation). The sixth tier of Sanctify, however, is amazing if your monk frequently hunts undead. Holy fire flares are extremely powerful for anyone, but only get better for a spammy combat type like UC. The question is whether you're willing to pay for the first five tiers' minimal value just to get to holy fire.

Sanctifying armor is a much more clear value proposition for monks. The first five tiers improve DS, TD, and, most importantly, [[sheer fear]] protection so you can hunt higher level undead without constantly getting locked in RT. The sixth tier again provides holy fire, but since the flare is armor-based, it'll only trigger for certain combat maneuvers or when the undead hit you.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get the first five tiers on your robes unless you're absolutely certain you'll never have interest in hunting high-level undead. Holy fire isn't a high priority on armor, but does go well with Bearhug and Bull Rush if you want it one day. Unarmed combat gear is the opposite; either commit to seeing through the entire expensive holy fire path or don't bother sanctifying at all. Since UAF matters little, ordinary cleric blessings offer basically the same value as the first five Sanctify tiers for UC (arguably more value since blessings have holy water flares, so people usually stack blessings on top of pre-holy fire Sanctify).

====Weighting and Padding (the [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|warrior service]])====

Crit weighting has more limited value to an unarmed combat monk than most professions or builds because UC itself uses positioning to increase or decrease attack power in ways that can cap the effect of weighting. It's still marginally useful for good positioning (very specifically good positioning). Crit padding is more broadly useful. Either way, neither is useful enough to justify paying warriors unless they're charging less than the automated WPS smithy that comes around every couple of months. (They probably aren't!) Use that instead to bring your robes up to speed.

Like with Mystic Tattoos, the head of dev, Estild, has acknowledged that the warrior service needs improvement at a future date. Maybe hope is on the horizon, but right now this service isn't terribly desirable for most players, monks or otherwise.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

An easy skip unless a friend is providing it for free or something. Use the much more affordable WPS wagon and I'd say going to 5 CER (50 services) is perfectly sufficient due to scaling costs beyond that point and the reduced effect of weighting on UC in general.

====Order of operations in summary====

* Battle Standard up to P3 as soon as possible
* Enchant armor up to +30 relatively quickly
* Ensorcell UC gear to T1 relatively quickly
* Battle Standard up to P5 relatively quickly
* Either Sanctify UC gear all the way to S6 or don't do it at all
* Sanctify armor unless very rarely hunting undead
* Covert Arts Poisoncraft when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Lucky Items when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Slowly enchant UC gear over time
* Padding to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Slowly Ensorcell armor over time
* Weighting to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Resist Nature once hunting post-cap
* Slowly add non-Poisoncraft Covert Arts whenever you need a recharge
* Bloodstone Jewelry if you want it
* Slowly enchant armor past +30 over time, if ever
* Slowly Ensorcell UC gear past T1 over time, if ever
* Mystic Tattoo only if you can't sell yours, but selling it is preferable to fund all of the above
</div><div>

==Super Post-Cap Advancement==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-superpostcap" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Far post-cap and still looking for suggestions? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-superpostcap">

Congratulations, you've got a cap and a half worth of exp--or more! ...now what?

===Ascending Even Further Beyond===

Since it's not relevant to the large majority of players, I've only vaguely talked about monks' advantages with far post-cap experience until now. Most professions need 30 million to 40 million exp, if not more, before they're "done enough" with normal skills that continuing to gain normal experience instead of devoting it all toward [[Ascension]] would stop providing any useful improvements.

Monks, however, can get there at more like 10 to 25 million because their physical skill costs are on par with other squares, but their magical skills are much less expensive.

I did say this guide was for magical monks from 0 to 55,000,000 experience, so what should you do with Ascension Training Points (ATPs)?

The big long-term goal is the Elite Ascension skill [[Transcend Destiny]], which I'll explain shortly, but it's only for players putting in serious hours; even unlocking the ability to learn it requires that you've spent 150 ATPs on Ascension skills in the Common tier first and then Transcend Destiny ranks themselves cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and up to six more ranks of 50 ATPs each.

So whether Transcend Destiny is in your future or not, first we need to evaluate where your initial Common tier ATPs should be spent. Here are the options I like:

'''Common Ascension staples''':

* '''Agility''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, increased evade chance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and +0.75 DS per two ranks. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race.
* '''Brawling''': +2 UAF per rank. I'm not going to knock UAF this time because, once we're talking Ascension, we're talking marginal gains almost no matter what you do. Get it if you like numbers going up!
* '''Combat Maneuvers''': +1 UAF per two ranks and increased maneuver defense every rank (but half as much increase as Agility, so basically the same rate per two ranks).
* '''Dexterity''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, but half as much increase as Agility. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race. For the weapon route, specifically, Dexterity also adds crit weighting.
* '''Dodging''': +0.75 DS (in offensive) per rank and a tiny extra chance of outright evading for more Spin Kicks.
* '''Logic''': +1 TD against CS-based mental spells per two ranks. Because Logic breakpoints increase exp gain at 5 bonus on a node or 7 bonus off a node, reaching 35 Logic bonus is an especially attractive target. Neutral Logic races can reach it with 15 ATPs into Logic because Perfect Self will already have pushed them to 30 Logic bonus.
* '''Porter''' (requires training Strength and/or Physical Fitness first): Encumbrance reduction by 2 pounds per rank. ''Now'' I'll knock UAF again! If we're in the realm of diminishing returns from exp anyway, then Porter is a reasonable low-hanging fruit option for races with lower carrying capacity.
* '''Stamina Regeneration''': If you're firing off mstrikes on cooldown, rotating techniques with katars or Volley, using Surge of Strength on your small race, using Burst of Swiftness on your slow race, or otherwise guzzling stamina, there can come a point where Mind Over Body and Ensorcell no longer enough. If that's you, you'll know when to train this--or just buy stamina regen enhancives and Bloodstone Jewelry.
* '''Strength''': Reduced encumbrance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and the first ten ranks combined of this or Physical Fitness are a prerequisite for Porter. If you go the weapon route, it's also +1 AS per two ranks.

During earlier versions of this guide, I was also open to Aura, Wisdom, and damage resistances, all of which I had trained to varying degrees at some point. However, the release of Transcend Destiny offers superior defensive gains for the cost while also aiding offense! Let's finally delve into the Elite skill!

'''Transcend Destiny is Monks' Everything''':

There's a serious argument that monks are the biggest winners from the release of Transcend Destiny. Each rank acts as though your character is a level higher for the following purposes, where I've highlighted the ones potentially relevant to (magical) monks in green:

* Ambush Damage - Offense and Defense - Up to 5 Ranks
* Automatic Success of Certain Spells
* Casting Strength
* Evade, Block, and Parry - Offense and Defense
* Force on Force
* Hiding - Rogues Only
* Sheer Fear Resistance
* SMR - Offense and Defense
* SSR - Offense and Defense
* Target Defense
* Two-Weapon Combat
* UC - Tier Up Probability

As you can see, almost everything on this list is potentially applicable to monks. Not only that, but I'd argue that usually it's at or near the top end of value ''in'' that application:

* Improving UC tier ups is, naturally, at its best for the profession most built around UC.
* Improving evasion, blocking, and parrying is at its best for either monks or warriors (despite monks not even benefiting from the blocking part). Monks fight in offensive stance and Spin Kick is the best single-target reaction technique in the game by an incredible margin. (Its only competition overall is [[Radial Sweep]], which is an AoE reaction but has a 15-second cooldown.) Furthermore, decreasing the enemy's EBP means improving MM, which is a UC monk's most important offensive combat number.
* Improving SMR offense is at its best on builds who use it for attacking, which monks certainly will. Combat maneuvers like Bearhug or Coup de Grace--or Hamstring if using Edged Weapons--are very good at taking advantage of higher margins with their scaling, but even if you don't use those, even more bread and butter attacks like Twin Hammerfists, Feint, and Spin Kick win huge here.
* Improving TD has extraordinary value to magical monks, giving them potential to ward off spells from semi-style Ascension creatures by stacking Transcend Destiny with the Dragonscale Skin feat, sufficient Transformation lore, and the correct outside spells. I wouldn't go so far to say it's at its best here, which I think goes to pures who become capable of warding off spells from (some) ''pure''-style Ascension creatures, but it's a pretty narrow win.
* Improving SSR is at its best for characters in Voln due to Symbol of Sleep. For reasons explained earlier, monks are mechanically best suited by Voln.
* Sheer fear resistance is at its best for any profession other than clerics, empaths, and paladins (who all get a degree of sheer fear protection from their native spells), which includes monks.
* Improving ambush defense is a benefit I place almost no value on for any profession and build ''except'' magical monks. Others either have plate armor, significantly higher DS, significantly more redux, far superior means to pull creatures out of hiding, or any combination of the above, but monks might actually take hard hits from ambushers (not bandits, but real ambushers like halfling cannibals and kiramon stalkers) if they don't have 105 or more Transformation lore, so defense is valuable.

(The Two Weapon Combat and CS benefits have more niche value to magical monks, but they do ''have'' the occasional spots of value. The auto-success spell benefits don't do terribly much in current Ascension grounds, but that could easily change in the future if enemy buffs like Wall of Force or especially Cloak of Shadows became more prominent and dispelling gained value as a result.)

Can it get any better than monks reaping the rewards of almost every Transcend Destiny benefit? Actually, yes. Yes, it can!

Much like how monks need to spend less normal exp on normal skills before moving on to Common Ascension than other professions and builds, I'd also argue that there's less incentive for them to continue sinking ATPs into Common Ascension (beyond the required 150) before moving on to Elite Ascension than other professions and builds.

As I write this, my ranger and my monk Tarine have very similar amounts of Ascension experience at 18m and 18.9m, respectively, but even though they're both working on maxing Transcend Destiny over the next couple years, Tarine is 2.9 million exp further into that journey because she doesn't have any need to heavily boost her UAF with Common skills while my ranger certainly does value heavily boosting archery AS. Similarly, my bard has about 5.6m more ''total'' Ascension experience than Tarine, but on the specific journey of maxing Transcend Destiny, she's only 2.3m exp ahead; most of the other 3.3m went into Agidex to reach RT thresholds that Tarine didn't need to work for at all because monks have Perfect Self and Burst of Swiftness.

Ultimately, whether you see yourself playing GemStone IV long enough to eventually have a character who you can say reached level 110 or just level 101, monks are your fastest route to that goal. They're simply the most exp-efficient profession in the game.

===Illustrative Post-Cap Snapshots===

Like the earlier snapshots for normal skills, here are illustrations of both of my monks '''far post-cap''' at points where they are or will eventually be. The second column is where I've planned for Saria to end up at the time she never touches normal skills again. This time the table more clearly delineates normal skills and Ascension.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Sariara, 19.88m exp (10.77+9.11)'''||'''Sariara, post-Trading'''||'''Sariara, final plan'''||'''Tarine, 55.22m exp (23.79+31.43)'''||'''Tarine, post-Trading'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||1||50||50||202||202
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||202||202||202||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Edged Weapons'''||0||0||0||202||202
|-
||'''Brawling'''||202+10||202+10||202+10||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||100||100||190||202||202
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||303||303||303||303||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||303+15||303+15||303+15||303+19||303+19
|-
||'''Magic Item Use'''||0||0||0||101||101
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||40||40||40||101||101
|-
||'''Mental Mana Control'''||0||10||10||25||100
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||10||10||25||25
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||0||0||15||15
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Transformation'''||15||101+4||101+4||86+19||86+19
|-
||'''Survival'''||202||202||202||202||202
|-
||'''Perception'''||101||101||202||202||202
|-
||'''Climbing'''||60||60||101||101||101
|-
||'''Swimming'''||0||40||101||101||101
|-
||'''First Aid'''||202||101||101||202||202
|-
||'''Trading'''||191||0||0||202||0
|-
||'''Ascension Transcend Destiny'''||2||2||4||10||10
|}

There are some divergences here, which are mostly down to Tarine having leveled in a different era of GemStone IV. The reason for Trading going to 0 and First Aid going down to 101 for Sariara requires its own entire deep dive that I cover in the Odds and Ends section, but let's talk about the rest here.

'''TWC edged weapons''' were for Tarine to blast through Duskruin Arena, where overleveled creatures hindered UC tier up chances and slowed her down. However, in the modern day, Transcend Destiny exists to also "overlevel" yourself and all of the Duskruin activities pay out about as well as the arena does, so there's no particular reason for Saria to pick up Edged Weapons. At most, I can imagine Saria going to 100 Two Weapon Combat for 5 extra DS over the 50 benchmark. However, barring some extreme changes to overall gameplay mechanics, 200 TWC simply won't happen--and if that won't, then neither will Edged Weapons.

You might notice that, despite Tarine having over 35 million more exp than Saria--and over 22m in Ascension alone--their '''Brawling''' skill is exactly the same. Like I've said, UAF simply isn't important enough to think about too much! Tarine's advantages are mainly Transcend Destiny (10 ranks vs. 2) and spells (with a 64 CS advantage between spell ranks and Transcend Destiny, Tarine can land Mindwipe or even Vertigo on just about anything while Saria doesn't even know Mindwipe yet and would miss many Ascension creatures with it even if she did know it). Saria does have a redux advantage of 29.37% to 23.68% because of fewer spell ranks, though.

'''Magic Item Use, Harness Power, and Spiritual Mana Control''' are more relics of Tarine coming from a different era. In this case, I'm talking about the time before Transcend Destiny existed and before self-cast minimum spell durations were kicked up to two hours by default. Since I already had these skills trained, there's no point to untraining them, but they're a bit frivolous these days and I wouldn't push them that far on a new monk--like Sariara! Unlike Spiritual Mana Control, '''Mental Mana Control''' increases the number of targets for important spells like Mindwipe and Vertigo, so Tarine taking 100 ranks to hit up to seven creatures per cast makes perfect sense. You do need the CS for it too.

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' stopping at 190 or 200 (or 202 for completionism) comes down to whether you use mstrikes or techniques, respectively. Techniques are much better with weapons than they are with unarmed combat, so Tarine went to 200 because she has weapons trained and Saria won't because she doesn't.

Regarding that '''Transcend Destiny''' line for clarity's sake... given enough time, Saria will eventually get to 10 Transcend Destiny. What I'm saying is that she's working toward 4 Transcend Destiny now as a reasonable breakpoint, but after that's done, she'll go back and finish Multi-Opponent Combat, Perception, Climbing, and Swimming. ''That's'' the point where she'll be done with normal skills forever and commence the 10 Transcend Destiny push.

And just a brief comment on Trading: Saria had stopped at 191 Trading because that's the mark where she could max selling ability with Glamour up. Tarine's an elf, so her Influence bonus would let her hang back even further at 176. However, back then, finishing a skill for completionism's sake made more sense since fewer alternatives were competing for your exp. Those are past-tense things and now I've abandoned Trading, but I leave these examples here because not everybody should do so. For more on this, see the Max Loot Value section later in the guide.

===Gemstones: Diamonds in the Rough===

[[Gemstones]], powerful artifacts that might take a while to find, are another key component to post-cap progression. Gemstones generate with randomly selected properties, most of which have tiered upgrades. You can find the [[Gemstone Property List]] on the wiki. If you don't like the properties on your Gemstone, you can also reroll it to get new properties within the same category of rarity. Upgrading or rerolling Gemstones has costs in silver and dust, so there are likely to be:

* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and upgrade just the way you found them
* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and reroll until you get a good property combination, then upgrade after you've done that
* Gemstones you'll wish to shatter into dust
* Gemstones you'll wish to sell to or trade with other players willing to pay big for properties that are good for their characters and not so good for yours

====Good Common Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 Bolt AS and 1/1/1/2/3 CS.

The bolt AS is worthless, but the CS is reasonable if and only if you have a high CS build--like an 81 Minor Mental and 20 Minor Spiritual split with Logic boosts from enhancives or Ascension--that can make use of powerful spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe and you want them to hit more reliably.

'''Bold Brawler'''

Your unarmed combat attacks have an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to tier up.

A self-explanatory staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries. More tier ups, faster monster slaying. Easy!

'''Burning Blood'''

When you are dealt a rank 2+ critical strike, your blood combusts in the air. Up to 3 nearby enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they suffer a Heat flare.

Pretty good reactive damage that comes at full power out of the gate. Needing an SMR check does slightly hinder its efficiency against overleveled creatures, but that's offset by the fact that it can go after multiple targets to hit at least one of them. Importantly, note that "a rank 2+ critical strike" refers to a rank 2 critical ''based on a crit table,'' not a rank 2 wound. Usually a rank 2 critical only creates a rank 1 wound; for example, rank 2 [[Slash_critical_table|slash crits]] are always rank 1 wounds unless they hit an eye. In other words, even very light hits can get this going, but just not the absolute lightest hits.

'''Ephemera's Extension'''

The following spells have 20/40/60/80/100% higher duration: 117, 140, 240, 506, 515, 605, 919, 1608, 1619.

Reasonable if you have 40 Minor Spiritual ranks. Monks make better use of Wall of Force than any other profession besides paladins due to monks' combination of inexpensive Harness Power costs, not much to spend that mana on, not being in full plate like warriors (and so valuing the DS more), and lower DS at the highest end of exp than light armored rogues (or light armored warriors, but I don't know any of those other than my own).

'''Ether Flux'''

When you deal 3 types of elemental damage to a creature in under 60 seconds, the creature must make an SMR test or take a standard disruption flare. This cannot occur more than once every minute.

(For clarity, it can occur once ''per creature'' per minute. You can basically consider it once per creature, period. For even more clarity, Ether Flux itself isn't a flare ''chance''; it's described as a flare because it deals a random amount of disruption damage, but it always triggers once you meet the condition.)

Ether Flux has no tiers and comes at full power immediately, which is definitely nice and it's a very good perk ''if'' you can get it going! ...but can you? Even though monks don't innately deal elemental damage, it still might be easier than you think.

Some options for elemental flares include conventional ability slot flares, Battle Standards of applicable Arkati or spirits, certain Gemstone properties like Blood Boil or Infusion or Thorns, holy fire or holy water when hunting undead, or script flares of elemental types. That's already up to seven sources of elemental flares and I'm not describing anything too wildly out of the way or anything that's very expensive by post-cap standards. The most expensive of those would be buying flare type changes for Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons.

Whether you're mstriking or using Fury, monks fire off a lot of attacks, so with a decent base of varied flare types, the odds can stack up to force a lot of Ether Flux triggers through! However, if you don't have that decent base, I wouldn't go out of my way working up to it just because you find an Ether Flux. This is a very solid B or maybe B+ common, but it's no Bold Brawler, Flare Resonance, Stamina Prism, or Storm of Rage.

'''Flare Resonance'''

Your attacks have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to gain flare affinity.

Assuming you have flares on your handwear and your footwear (and if you don't, then you should!), this is another staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries.

[[Flare Affinity]] basically supercharges your flares to hit substantially harder--and, for that matter, more often! Flare Affinity is normally only obtainable by adding a [[Combat Flourish]] to your weapon at Duskruin for 400k bloodscrip--and many people do pay that gladly, which gives you an idea of its power. (If you ''are'' someone who already has the Flare Affinity flourish, you wouldn't want this property since they don't stack.) The Flare Resonance property only adds Flare Affinity 20% of the time, but it does go on your character instead of your gear, so getting the 100% equivalent on a monk's handwear ''and'' footwear would cost 800k bloodscrip.

In short, get more flares and make them spend less time poking and more time killing.

'''Force of Will'''

You shake off all of the following debilitating effects: calmed, confused, demoralized, horrified, immobile, rooted, slowed, stunned, sympathetic, terrified, webbed. Cooldown: 24/18/12/6/1 hour(s).

This can save you from almost any situation once per hour when fully upgraded. If you really hate dying, this is the property for you! Alternatively, if you find it on a Gemstone with at least one other property that's good for somebody else but isn't good for you, you can try to sell it for a good chunk of silver since solo hunters of almost every profession like Force of Will for general purposes. (The exceptions are bards, who can already get rid of almost all of these conditions with their own [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]], and maybe clerics, who can just [[Miracle (350)|Miracle]] resurrect themselves one to three times per day if they die.)

'''Journeyman Tactician'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 AS and 1/1/1/2/3 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

The UAF boost is fairly immaterial for all the reasons you know by now about UAF, but the maneuver boost makes for an acceptable placeholder for most monks to use while looking for better Gemstones in the long run. That said, I wouldn't recommend upgrading it except possibly on a monk who makes very heavy use of extremely endroll-dependent attacks like Spin Kick or Bearhug.

'''Mephitic Brume'''

When you are attacked by a creature, you have a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to release a noxious cloud. Up to three enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they become Dazed and Disengaged.

Quite useful for buying time with crowd control. There's not much else to say, but it's a good property for survival! Be sure it fits with your RP, though, since it's sort of gross.

'''Stamina Prism'''

Your passive stamina regeneration is increased by 5/10/15/20/25%.

This might be the highest ceiling Gemstone property of all for monks. It's easy to underrate the value for monks because most of them never out of stamina anyway because they already have Mind Over Body for at least 20% stamina cost reduction. However, the reason they don't run out of stamina is because they do manage it to an extent. For example, a monk might use mstrikes when they're off cooldown and Ki Focus when the mstrikes ''are'' on cooldown, thus basically only using stamina for the latter. However, if you started stacking on enhancives, Ascension, and Stamina Prism to start recovering 50-90% of your stamina every minute instead of the ~25% that 3x Physical Fitness gets you to on its own, you could add Ki Focus when mstriking, add qstrikes when not mstriking, and ''still'' not run out of stamina.

In other words, you can think of Stamina Prism as opening up entirely new combat options by indirectly reducing RT. This does require getting additional stamina regen benefits, but you can be even more of a whirlwind in battle if you build for it!

'''Storm of Rage'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5% damage factor for each kill. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect falls off after 30 seconds without making a kill. This applies to all DFs, including bolts.

If you'll battle just about any creature in your preferred hunting ground and it's a fairly swarmy place, this is an extraordinary property since you'll have the boost going constantly. UC monks or weapon monks will both love this property! Even if you're picky about which creatures you battle or if you hunt a slower area, it's still excellent. The only other thing is to consider is that it's a top tier common for virtually every build of virtually every profession--any weapon user, any UC build, any magical bolter--and so people are likely to pay very well for it if you'd rather have the silvers!

'''Taste of Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor.

Mini Storm of Rage, except you always have the boost even if you're in the slowest of areas or if you're selectively hunting a single creature type for your bounty. The small defensive penalty has very little impact on a monk with high redux monk or high Transformation lore--and you'll almost definitely have at least one of those.

'''Twist the Knife'''

You gain 2/4/6/8/10% damage factor against targets afflicted with major bleed. When your warding spells are successful, the endroll is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 if the target is afflicted with major bleed.

If you're using Hamstring or have the Slashing Strikes buff from Flurry active (or are hunting with partners who do those things), this is excellent. If not, it isn't.

====Good Rare Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Anointed Defender'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Defensive Strength and 3/4/4/5/6 Target Defense.

Helps shore up a primary monk weakness of TD and the extra DS is reasonably helpful too. Not necessarily worth using one of your rare slots on over the long haul, but it depends on your tolerance for death. Don't use this if you go the Kroderine Soul route.

'''Blood Boil'''

Your attacks have a standard flare chance to boil the targets blood, dealing 20% of target's current health, up to 100, per tick for 5 ticks (2 second interval). This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once per minute. Activate to cause this ability to trigger on your next attack. Activation Cooldown: 1 min.

A high quality Gemstone property for almost every monk since flares are always great for UC due to the high volume of attacks. That said, Blood Boil flares are a bit quirky; they can't outright kill things like normal flares, nor can you land several of them on the same creature. Still, the sheer health damage done will frequently exceed more conventional flares unless the creature is already very weakened. A possibly bigger obstacle is that Blood Boil, of course, only works on creatures with blood! That won't be an obstacle in most hunting grounds, but if you try to exclusively hunt undead who have no blood (most undead by far don't; a few do), this wouldn't be the property for you.

'''Defensive Duelist'''

When an enemy directs a melee attack at you, you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to intercept the attack and take no damage. The enemy must make an SMR test. On a failure, the enemy is disarmed, if applicable, and suffers roundtime.

Despite having some anti-synergy with Spin Kick, it's very hard to ignore the value of a universal 5% chance to avoid and (to an extent) counter AS attacks. All else being equal, it ''is'' better to not get hit as often as possible than to Spin Kick as often as possible. (Maybe not more fun, though!)

'''Greater Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Bolt AS and 3/4/4/5/6 CS.

Like its common counterpart except twice as good, this is a strong boost to make Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe if you're one of the rare monks who uses CS spells in combat.

'''Infusion of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] after attacking an enemy.

Top notch rare Gemstone property that every monk should want. As always, the higher volume of attacks per second, the better flares get! Simple, clean power. (Before you get any ideas, if we could have three Infusion properties active, then that's exactly what I'd recommend, but they're mutually exclusive.)

'''Master Tactician'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 AS and 3/4/4/5/6 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

Journeyman Tactician, but twice as good. Like its common counterpart, the UAF boost isn't noteworthy for a UC monk (it is good for a weapon monk, though!), but if you make heavy use of SMR attacks, I think it can be a reasonable long-term property for you. If not, I'd either sell it to someone willing to pay top silvers or reroll until you get a better rare property.

'''Serendipitous Hex'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare rate chance to cast an additional disabler spell, including Bind, Blind, Cold Snap, Confusion, Limb Disruption, Mystic Impedance, Power Sink, Sleep, Sounds, or Vertigo. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you cast a lot of single-target spells in combat, this might be the strongest rare Gemstone property you could find. That's an enormous if for a monk, though! Monks with incredible handwear are probably still better off sticking to Twin Hammerfists as their opening disabler or even just starting with Fury or an mstrike in the first place. However, if you're looking to be an even more magical monk than mine by regularly slinging around Web, Force Projection, Thought Lash, and other spells, this is the definitive property for you. And if you find a certain legendary property I'll cover shortly, you might consider working your entire build around it...

'''Strong Back'''

Your encumbrance thresholds are increased by 15/20/25/30/35 pounds.

A reasonable option for lighter races. It's not necessarily going to help with the newer and bigger boxes of 2026 on, but can help with the lower end loot like solid moonstone cubes or wands that add up when you're tiny. Definitely not a flashy property, but monks are more heavily punished by encumbrance than most professions due to its effect on their primary source of DS, Evade DS, and this is a solution to at least part of that!

'''Tethered Strike'''

Your offensive spells and weapon attacks no longer trigger creatures' innate abilities to outright avoid incoming attacks, such as Ithzir vanishing, warg avoidance, and myling fading.

From reading the description of what it does, you already know based on what you hunt whether this is a slam dunk to use or a slam dunk to sell to someone ''else'' for whom it's a slam dunk to use!

'''Thirst for Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor.

Twice as strong as its already very powerful common counterpart, Taste of Brutality... or is it? The common version's 5% penalty when taking hits is negligible, but a 10% penalty isn't as easily dismissed. Still, the increased DF is fantastic, so I'd say you should consider your options with this one. If you have high redux ''and'' high Transformation lore, get it, love it, and upgrade it all the way. If you only have one of those, then you could simply treat it like Taste of Brutality by leaving it un-upgraded. 6% on both ends with no upgrades is comparable to the fully upgraded Taste of Brutality's 5%, after all, and nothing says you have to upgrade it at any point, never mind right away.

====Good Legendary Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Mirror Image'''

When you attack a creature, you have a 10% chance to create a mirror image of yourself that will replicate the attack. When you are attacked by a creature, there is a 10% chance that a mirror image of you will appear and take the blow instead.

Pretty easily the most powerful legendary property for monks of just about any kind, albeit not as flashy and over-the-top as others. It's actually difficult to even sell you on this because it's so straightforward that I shouldn't have to. It's a 10% double attack chance on every attack!

If you're playing the long game, I say get this one at all costs. However, if you happen to find a different legendary that's also solid for monks and don't want to let perfect be the enemy of good, below are some other reasonable options...

'''Mystic Impulse'''

After hitting an enemy with a weapon attack or an unarmed strike, you have a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to gain Mystic Momentum for 60 seconds. Your next spell cast under the effects of Mystic Momentum incurs no mana cost and gains +50 Attack Strength and +30 Casting Strength.

Hear me out. This is a very, very specific niche, but it's incredible within that niche, which is that you're a high CS build, you prefer going into rooms with multiple creatures, you cast AoE spells like Vertigo or Mindwipe once per group of creatures, and you rarely casts spells otherwise.

If all of that's true, then this is basically a gigantic +30 CS buff. The 10% activation rate with your high volume of attacks means that, after defeating one room of creatures, you'll basically always have the Mystic Impulse buff active to disable or debuff the next room of creatures before you unleash havoc on them.

'''Stolen Power'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare chance to trigger an SMR roll against the target. On a failure, the target is inflicted with a random attack spell that cannot be warded off. Spells include Blood Burst, Bone Shatter, Dark Catalyst, Disintegrate, Divine Fury, Immolation, Pain, Repentance, Thought Lash, and Wither. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you're running the Serendipitous Hex build, run this too and your spells will be insane. If you find this legendary property and you ''aren't'' running the Serendipitous Hex build, then I'd honestly consider changing your mind and trying to get both of those to line up. The strength of your spells skyrockets when they can be up to three spells in one.

Also, with Serendipitous Hex, I gave the caveat that exceptional handwear could still make Twin Hammerfists beat out spells like Force Projection or Web as an opener. With Stolen Power, Twin Hammerfists would still be more reliable and better for one-on-one combat, but the sheer strength of Stolen Power's effect and the ability to use it from guarded stance creates a versatile, powerful use case when fighting two or more creatures at once. (And that's with Stolen Power alone! Again, someone who manages to get it and Serendipitous Hex onto the same build is really going hard.)

'''Thorns of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] when an enemy targets you with an attack, whether or not the attack hits.

Great general purpose power for any solo hunter (of any profession, not just monks). Basically randomly kills things for you just by standing in the same general vicinity when they attack you!

'''Witchhunter's Ascendancy'''

You enter a heightened state for 30 seconds. During this state, you gain Attack Strength equal to 50% of the Defensive Strength of spells on all creatures in the room, up to a maximum of 100. Additionally, all of your attacks have guaranteed dispel flares. Cooldown: 3 min.

The AS/UAF boost is, as always, borderline immaterial unless you're a weapon-wielding monk. 30 seconds of dispel flares on every attack, however, is a rush of power and joy that works well with the free jabs in your mstrikes! Unlike traditional dispel flares, these are post-resolution, so they're slightly less reliable. However, UC monks tend to have no trouble making their attacks land.

====Leafi's Wild Dream Scenario Gemstone Endgames====

By design, getting the exact perfect setup is mathematically almost impossible since Gemstones are meant to keep people going for years to come. Still, it's fun to dream, so here are some hypothetical ideal layouts!

Note that you can have at most one legendary property and three rare properties. Common properties are a bit different; you can technically have up to ten, but each common beyond three would be competing with a rare instead and going up to ten common properties would also exclude you from having a legendary.

'''Traditional Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 1 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# ''(Blood Boil)'' (rare 2 of 3)
# ''(Thirst for Brutality)'' (rare 3 of 3)
# Force of Will (common 5 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 6 of 7)
# Journeyman Tactician if using Thirst for Brutality, otherwise Taste of Brutality (common 7 of 7)

Blood Boil and Thirst of Brutality are parenthetical and italicized because they're slightly conditional picks. For general purposes, that's what I'd go with, but specific hunting ground choices or even gear can change everything. Blood Boil might be useless if you primarily hunt undead without blood. Tethered Strike, not listed, might be superior to either Blood Boil or Thirst of Brutality if you regularly hunt evasive creatures. Anointed Defender, also not listed, could be the way to go if you've managed your gear and training in such a way that the TD boost can push you just out of range of dangerous CS attacks.

'''Very Magic-Heavy Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# ''(Serendipitous Hex)'' (rare 1 of 3)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 2 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Greater Arcane Intensity (rare 3 of 3)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# Arcane Intensity (common 5 of 7)
# Taste of Brutality (common 6 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 7 of 7)

This has enough overlap that you might think they're the same picture, but the subtle differences add up to large ones. This Gemstone setup assumes a high CS monk, then Greater Arcane Intensity and Arcane Intensity push CS even higher. That means that Vertigo and Mindwipe land more consistently, which means that creatures are disabled more often, which means Force of Will shouldn't be as necessary. It also means that your MM will be higher, which means I wouldn't even think about Journeyman Tactician. Conversely, Taste of Brutality claims a solid place because its rare counterpart has been traded off to secure Greater Arcane Intensity and maybe Serendipitous Hex.

Speaking of Serendipitous Hex, even though I ranked it highly, it gets the parenthetical italics treatment because I only recommend it if you're regularly casting Web! It doesn't trigger with Vertigo or Mindwipe, so if those are your go-tos, then bring in some other top end rare like Blood Boil, Tethered Strike, or Thirst for Brutality. (Unlike the traditional monk, the magic-heavy monk doesn't risk as much from the double DF hit of using Taste and Thirst simultaneously because their more consistent disablers will keep enemies contained. Still, just in case of the worst, ''definitely'' use Ephemera's Extension over Ether Flux if you go the double Brutality route!)
</div></div>

==Odds and Ends==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-oddsandends" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Can I interest you in the weirdest inner workings of my mind re: monks, plus other miscellaneous topics not yet covered? If so, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-oddsandends">

As we draw close to the end, I'll cover miscellaneous topics like off-the-beaten-path things monks can do and obscure advantages they have that you might not have thought about.

===Monk Magic After Dark===

...wait, I can't write about that on the wiki! Moving on.

===Trade Secrets of the Sneaky Monk Merchants===

I'm one of the bigger advocates of training [[Trading]] in the GS community if you can't hit loot cap without it, but even more so for monks than others!

Monks have easier and more universal means to make more silvers per item sold than any other profession--and they can do it almost anywhere in Elanthia.

Except for [[Mist Harbor]] and [[Kraken's Fall]], every town's NPC shops will pay +5% extra silver to at least one race when players sell. ([[Trading#Trading_chart|See the chart of favored races here!]])

Monks have a '''secret weapon''' in the profit war: '''[[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]]'''!

Even monks who live in a geographic region where their race can't get a bonus can configure their Shroud profile to appear as another race and get the bonus anyway! It's that easy!

But wait, it gets better! Monks also have ''[[Glamour (1205)|Glamour]]''', which gives an enhancive boost of 20 Trading ranks or 50 Trading skill, whichever is lower. (50 Trading skill will be lower before you have 20 Trading ranks on your own.)

What does Trading do, though?

You get an extra 1% silver for every combined 12 bonus between Influence and Trading bonus. That's ''bonus'', not ranks! So, for example, if you had 44 Trading ranks, which is 144 Trading bonus, you'd make 12% more silver for selling items than if you had 0 Trading ranks. Shroud of Deception takes that 12% to 17%, then Glamour takes that 17% to 18%--and, actually, 8/12ths of the way to 19%. If you took my advice and set Influence high from the start, Influence will also get you to 19% if not 20%!

This is a big part of how Sariara made 2,509,473 million silver within a week of existing. By the time she had existed for four weeks and a day, she was up to 23,108,060 silver, only 1,500,000 of which came from selling a Mystic Tattoo. That particular amount wouldn't be possible anymore after game-wide loot changes in early 2026, but it's still a good overall illustration.

Some general tips on early silvers:

* Don't hunt overcrowded Landing areas, but find the rich lower level creatures. There are plenty of them because characters don't stay low level for long, so hunting pressure is low. (For more on hunting pressure, see the [[treasure system]] page and [[Treasure_system/saved_posts|saved posts subpage]].)
* Take advantage of Glamour and Shroud of Deception to get a percentage boost to these rich creatures' already valuable loot. Reap the reward of being a monk!
* Between level 0 and 19, when skills migrate near instantly, max out Trading every time you're about to sell things.
* Between level 0 and 19, push First Aid and Survival up when you're out hunting so you can get value from skinning. Unlearn them afterward so you can...
* Between level 5 and 19, learn Glamour and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* Between level 12 and 19, learn Shroud of Deception and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* For your final level 19.9 build, as you're forced to commit to your skills, have at least 20 ranks of Trading and know at least your first 12 Minor Mental spells.

Yes, this is what I did. I got to see delightful lines in my SKILL command like:

You started this migration period on Saturday, 5/25/2024 at 01:55:18 EDT. You have 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes remaining in your current 30 day migration period.

You're currently migrating at a rate of .001 skill points per pulse, and '''have converted 25580.00 training points this migration period.'''

Even if you don't go to this extreme, though, monks are the game's best at selling to NPC merchants. At the low end, monks skyrocket toward high sales value. At the high end in the post-cap world, monks reach the maximum sale bonus in almost every town.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

"Maximum sale bonus" is 28% from Trading and Influence plus another 5% from race bonus. To be clear, the max bonus is 33%, but only sort of; the two bonuses are treated separately. For example, if you're an elf monk selling in Solhaven (no bonus), you can't just pump your Trading and Influence so high that you'd make 33% from that alone; it's capped at 28% and the other 5% ''has to'' come from Shroud of Deception.

My monk Tarine was the key to my figuring this out. Noticing that Glamour no longer made a difference post-cap with max Trading led me down the rabbit trail of investigating why! I found the Trading and Influence hard cap, then the total hard cap counting race bonus, then isolated that they were separate things.
</blockquote>

===Max Loot Value: Trading, Skinning, and The Earthdiver Principle===

The above section was available almost entirely as-is from the first iteration of this entire guide in 2024, but by now it's 2026 and I eventually went on to untrain Trading for both of my monks. Why? Well, prepare to get mathematical as I introduce what I call [[https://discord.com/channels/226045346399256576/1271943281613340775/1356736553157918892 The Earthdiver Principle]]! He introduced me to a new line of thinking:

Earthdiver — 4/1/2025 2:06 PM
i don't know why anyone who can get close to loot cap even skins since it just takes away from enhancive loot

This was in 2025, but back then there was a 16m soft loot cap with diminishing returns as you approached a 35m hard cap. So I considered his words, but ultimately didn't stop skinning because I almost never ''did'' get close to the old loot cap. However, in early 2026, things changed to a 10m soft cap with diminishing returns toward a 15m hard cap. (...more or less. You can still find loot at a 1% rate past 15m.) Around 12m or 13m is a mark I get to with relative ease.

Let's back up and explore the point, though. Skinning counts toward loot cap, but skins go straight to the furrier for silver. The only way you could possibly get more silver out of a skin than what the game thinks they're worth (in other words, how much they count against loot cap) is if somebody else wants to buy them from you, but that's a very niche market with generally low demand. Earthdiver was pointing out that if you avoid creating potentially millions of silver worth of skins, then you can find that many millions of silver worth of other types of loot--and some of those other types of loot might be items like enhancives or reasonable starter items (sephwir longbows and the like) that the game only considers to be worth 25k at a pawnshop for loot cap purposes, but which you might value far more highly for your own use or to sell to other players.

In other words: if you can get into soft cap without skinning, it's potentially better not to skin because that creates more opportunity (buys you more time before diminishing loot returns kick in) to find items more valuable than skins.

Now let's extend The Earthdiver Principle to Trading!

Trading counts against loot cap, so you'll reach loot cap faster, but whether that's a good thing or bad thing depends on playstyle and preferred hunting grounds. I'll use a slightly oversimplified example, but let's say there are two characters: Silverlover, who's maxed Trading, and Lootlover, who has no Trading. Other than that, they're identical. Silverlover sells all their loot to NPC shops for 12m whereas Lootlover would only have found and sold 9.375m of items. However, Silverlover is already 2m into diminishing returns, so they would have needed to hunt longer to generate the same number of items as Lootlover. Lootlover can continue to generate loot at full, unthrottled speed until 10m, then can generate another 2m of loot before they slow down to the same degree as Silverlover already did.

Putting it another way: Silverlover needs to kill several times (possibly even many times) more creatures to find the same number of items as Lootlover. If you can get past soft cap at all, there's an argument that Lootlover's getting the better deal there. If Silverlover can actually reach hard cap, then it's more striking; Silverlover ends up with 15m for the month, but needs many thousands more kills to get there than Lootlover, who would end up with 11.72m for the month. Whether that's worth the time is up to you. Alternatively, if Lootlover ''does'' forge ahead and put in the same number of kills as Silverlover, the gap is probably much smaller than 3.28m in the first place!

So far these comparisons have just assumed that all items are going straight to the NPC shops. Let's re-apply The Earthdiver Principle and go with that 15m vs. 11.72m example again. Silverlover is already hard capped and done for the month, but Lootlover can keep going and potentially find up to another 3.28m worth. ''Even if they don't,'' though--let's say they only get half that and find another 1.64m--that doesn't necessarily mean they've come out worse than the Trading character. Silverlover is nominally 1.64m ahead, but Lootlover has found hundreds more total items, and among those items could be things that will sell to other people for millions, making Lootlover pull ahead of Silverlover anyway.

In my case, I do find good items decently often and I'm willing to take time to sell them. Probably every five or six months I find some especially crazy item that's worth two months of loot cap on its own. However, players who hate merchanting or who mostly play in heavily pressured hunting grounds that drop poor loot would be better off retaining Trading or continuing to skin.
</blockquote>

===When Robes Aren't Robes: Alterations===

For simplicity, I've been talking about "robes" throughout this guide because that's the conventional name for that [[armor]] type.

However, robes don't have to remain robes at all; they have the same leeway for alterations as other chest-worn clothing! Here are examples of post-alteration "robes" that my various characters (monks or otherwise) have worn or that I plan to create:

* An airy white starsilk sundress sporting an asymmetrical knee-length skirt
* A sleeveless lily white tunic with a jet black silk sash
* A knee-length midnight blue silk dress aglisten with a constellation of stars
* A sleeveless white tunic splashed with an autumn-hued music motif
* A sleeveless white starsilk tunic spangled with sunset orange musical notes
* A midnight black silk tunic marked with a silver eight-pointed star
* A sleeveless sunlight gold tunic accented by bright white edges
* A royal purple starsilk tunic featuring an embroidered silver rose
* A sleeveless emerald green dress showcasing a heart-framed pink sapphire fairy centerpiece (this one cheats; it has the [[Joola_items|Joola]] fluff script, so it can break character limits)
* A snowy off-shoulder dress sporting white pearl accents along a wavy aqua skirt (also a Joola)
* A thigh-slit scarlet starsilk dress accented by ivory edges
* A sleeveless white kimono featuring golden star embroidery
* A ribbon-sashed cherry red elesine blouse with vanilla-hued ruffled sleeves
* A sleeveless gold feather-patterned tunic tied at the waist

Mine are mostly feminine designs, but even for a masculine character, you can turn your robes into shirts, vests, jackets, and more. Get your creativity on!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Likewise, unarmed combat footwear isn't limited to boots or footwraps. Have a merchant make you shoes, sandals, slippers, flats, moccasins, or anything else you like and wear them into battle!
</blockquote>

===Hunting Partner Tactics and Synergy===

Who do monks team up well with for group hunts and why? Let's explore!

* '''Warriors''' have [[Carn's Cry]], an AoE immobilizer that's enormously helpful for the two things UC monks like most: increasing their MM and reducing enemies' UDF. In turn, warriors love monks' Mind Over Body stamina cost reduction, the best group buff they can get other than bards' [[Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] (which will probably be nerfed one day).
* '''Rogues''' have [[Subdue]] as a single-target immobilizer and love stamina cost reduction. Stealth can make grouping somewhat awkward for most professions, but monks don't necessarily mind being targeted more often since it offers more Spin Kick opportunities.
* '''A monk duo''' can keep up both Mind Over Body and Focus Barrier, but otherwise doesn't have any particular synergy. (Most other professions don't synergize with themselves either, so having any advantages at all is better than usual.)
* '''Paladins''' can give their monk partners extra flares via their [[Fervor (1618)|Fervor]] aura and reduce enemy UDF via [[Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] or even simply connecting with [[Judgment (1630)|Judgment]], both being AoE spells. Paladins can make good use of Mind Over Body or Focus Barrier alike; they use stamina, but don't have as much redux as warriors and rogues nor as much DS as them, so a boost can really help.
* '''Rangers''' have [[Moonbeam (611)|Moonbeam]] as a single-target immobilizer, among various other disablers. Two Weapon Combat rangers should like Focus Barrier and Sunfist rangers should like Mind Over Body, but monks don't offer much to rangers otherwise.
* '''Bards''' can make a monk's attacks even faster, at least for now, since Song of Tonis is the game's best group buff. 1 second kicks are a wild thing! Monks offer Focus Barrier in return, shoring up the typical bard weakness of defense.
* '''Wizards''' possess myriad AoE abilities, whether disablers or attacks, that monks can follow up on with increased MM and decreased enemy UDF. Focus Barrier helps wizards at least somewhat, but they're already pretty durable as casters go. Monks simply being present as an additional target to split up enemies' attacks is helpful to wizards and all casters.
* '''Empaths''' are near-universally welcome hunting partners for all professions with their healing. [[Adrenal Surge (1107)|Adrenal Surge]] also gives monks more leeway to go ham with mstrikes on cooldown without risking being too punished. [[Bind (214)|Bind]] can immobilize at lower levels, but becomes less reliable later. [[Web (118)|Web]] is a more consistently reliable disabler. Monks' Focus Barrier can be good for situations when an empath gets stanced down. Monks being an extra body helps. An empath's [[Mass Interference (217)|Mass Interference]] setting up a monk's Vertigo isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but it's not an amazing one either.
* '''Clerics''' have [[Censure (316)|Censure]] as an AoE immobilizer and [[Warding Sphere (310)|Warding Sphere]] as a group TD buff (and DS), so they help monks on offensive and defensive fronts alike. If enemy TD is too high for Censure, Web works as an alternative. Focus Barrier is somewhat less helpful to clerics than empaths since getting stanced down is less likely due to [[Soul Ward (319)|Soul Ward]], but it's still there when needed. Having a hunting partner's extra body is even more helpful to clerics than most professions because creatures usually need to focus fire on a cleric at least twice to get through Soul Ward, but the odds of that happening fall from 100% to 25% even in only a duo.
* '''Sorcerers''' have [[Grasp of the Grave (709)|Grasp of the Grave]] as an AoE disabler, though it doesn't help monks as most other professions' disablers. On the other side, Focus Barrier is arguably more helpful to them than to other pures since wizards have more DS, empaths have more Physical Fitness (and so are less likely to be stanced down) and can heal when they do get, and clerics have Soul Ward.

Nearly regardless of team composition, your monk training '''Coup de Grace''' and '''Side by Side''' (which also requires two ranks of '''Combat Movement''') can be helpful to groups.

===The Weapon-Wielding Melee Monk===

Let's talk more about Martial Mastery, the level 0 feat. Although monks have access, it was primarily invented for warriors and rogues as an alternative to learning [[Elemental Targeting (425)|Elemental Targeting]], a Minor Elemental spell that increases AS.

Far enough post-cap, magical warriors or magical rogues have the same AS ceiling as their non-magical counterparts. (Their non-magical counterparts do get there millions of experience points sooner while the magical ones have more DS and TD, but that's outside the scope of this guide...) Monks, on the other hand, don't have Elemental Targeting, so a monk maximizing Martial Mastery can have up to 50 more AS and UAF than a monk ''not'' maximizing it! Of course, UAF doesn't matter nearly as much as AS and the entire monk profession is built around unarmed combat. So I ask:

Is there merit to a weapon-wielding, AS-based monk?

Before I explore it, I'll repeat that I think people should make whatever kind of character they find fun and that I personally like wacky builds. However, I'm not convinced that a melee monk even ''is'' a wacky build. When people consider making a melee-only character who isn't stealth-based, a warrior is probably their first thought, but let's seriously compare these options.

'''The Training Cost Factor''':

I'll use my (first) monk and warrior for the sake of illustration since they're both elves. At level 50, my warrior had a total pool of 2568 PTPs and 2242 MTPs while my monk had a total pool of 2319 PTPs and 2259 MTPs. You might think the warrior is hugely ahead, but no, not at all. I could show you paragraphs upon paragraphs of math I wrote, but let's just cut to the chase.

Let's say my monk and warrior had both done dual katar builds that shared nearly identical core training. 2x Brawling, 2x Edged Weapons, 1x Thrown Weapons (to buff up Martial Mastery), 2x Two Weapon Combat, 2x Combat Maneuvers, 2x Physical Fitness, 50 Multi-Opponent Combat, and 1x Perception were all in common.

From there, my warrior took 70 Armor Use to get metal breastplate, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. My monk learned Iron Skin, took 30 Transformation to buff up Iron Skin, and took 10 Harness Power, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. Their skills would be identical in most ways, but here's where they'd differ:

* Monk in robes that act like chain mail: 153 ranks of Dodging and 102 MTPs spare
* Warrior in metal breastplate: 109 ranks of Dodging and 21 MTPs spare

I'm not going to claim that my monk would basically just be better; there are too many factors to say that. Warriors have their guild skills. Monks have Perfect Self. Warriors have a higher parry chance because of [[Combat Mastery|their level 40 feat]]. Monks have a higher evade chance because of ''their'' level 40 feat. Warriors have [[Whirling Dervish]]. Monks have more DS, at least at this stage of the game. Warriors have [[Weapon Specialization]]. Monks have Burst of Swiftness. Warriors have [[Weapon Bonding]].

My point is that a melee monk is even ''comparable''--better in some ways and worse in others--to a warrior with the exact same build despite ignoring so much of what the monk skillset is tailored toward.

'''The Mental Acuity Possibility''':

What if you learned Mental Acuity even without Kroderine Soul? My above training cost example illustrated my monk stopping at two Minor Mental spells for Iron Skin, but another alternative (though this would be during later levels) would be taking Mental Acuity to retain access to the first 20 Minor Mental spells and still even allowing room for Spirit Warding I and Spirit Defense. (If you were okay with Martial Mastery capping out at +45 AS instead of 50, you could even learn Spirit Warding II!)

The hypothetical Martial Mastery and Mental Acuity monk has almost the same AS as a Martial Mastery warrior, but her spells would pull her far ahead in DS while keeping all the silver selling benefits of Glamour and Shroud of Deception, plus saving tons of stamina via Mind Over Body. The tradeoff is making spelling up more of a hassle, but that might be worth the payoff of having a light armored warrior-like character whose combat maneuvers and weapon techniques have 35% stamina cost reduction!

'''Doubly Perfect Self''':

As great as Perfect Self is for unarmed combat, it's arguably even better for a melee monk. For UC purposes, it's mainly RT reduction for your mstrikes or your singular assault technique, Fury. For a katar monk, on the other hand, you're getting AS--more useful than UAF--and RT reduction for ''two'' types of assault techniques: Brawling's Fury and Edged Weapons' Flurry. Rotating weapon techniques to work around cooldowns is a very powerful thing available for hybrid weapons like katars! This can eat a lot of stamina on a warrior or rogue, but monks don't sweat it as much due to Mind Over Body.

'''Specializations and Katars''':

The Grapple, Kick, and Punch Specialization bonuses for their respective techniques ''do'' still apply even if you're using a brawling weapon instead of unarmed combat!

Grapple Specialization-powered Fury knocking foes down and dealing grapple damage is probably still the most powerful of these effects, letting you skip knockdown setups for your staple assault technique. Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick is probably still the most fun of these effects, letting you fire off powerful maneuvers every so often or occasionally rip through rooms while RT locked.

Ironically, if there's anywhere that I even sort of like Punch Specialization-powered Clash, it's on a weapon-wielding monk. For unarmed combat, Clash is noticeably weaker than unfocused mstrikes. For weapon combat, however, Clash without Punch Specialization has the same power as an unfocused mstrike and Clash ''with'' Punch Specialization has a 25% chance of minor impact damage against each target. That said, the Grapple and Kick benefits for Fury and Spin Kick are 100% instead of 25%, so I still think they win out. Punch at least becomes a more serious contender, though, especially if you're regularly hunting things like bandits, pirates, warcamps, or areas that swarm.

Before I close out this section, katars are the only great brawling weapon and are a hybrid weapon that requires Edged Weapons ranks. Monks do train both skills cheaply, but maxing both does have an opportunity cost, especially early on. If you can only train one weapon type, I'd make it Edged Weapons instead of Brawling. The Edged assault technique, [[Flurry]], gives you a [[Slashing Strikes]] buff that adds slash flares to your edged weapon attacks for the next two minutes. It's also much easier to find great edged weapons for sale from other players--and often even pay event shops--than great brawling weapons.

If you're really set on a brawling-only weapon at first, then the ones I think are at least reasonable relative to their minimum RT are cestuses (good against cloth, leather, and scale), tiger-claws (good against cloth, leather, and scale), yierka-spurs (good against cloth and chain and at least dagger-powered against plate for the same RT), and fist-scythes (good against cloth, scale, and chain, and at least short sword-powered against plate for the same RT).

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If or when you train for katars, take full advantage of them being hybrid weapons. Flurry and Fury have separate cooldowns. [[Whirling Blade]] (the Edged AoE technique) and Clash have separate cooldowns. Since at least one of these four techniques will be off cooldown much more often than not, you can go into a wild frenzy with a monk's stamina cost reduction from Mind Over Body.
</blockquote>

'''Conclusion''':

Ironically, I wrote the above Mental Acuity subsection mostly to acknowledge that it's a possibility even while thinking nobody would do it without Kroderine Soul. I just like to encourage weird builds in most professions, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Instead, after considering all the math and angles I did while writing this, it's made such a strong case for a bizarrely appealing build that I've talked myself into trying it with Sariara at some point, even if I end up fixskilling out of it later, just to see how it goes. My mind's swirling and it seems clear that the melee monk is a very, very real idea that's gone unexplored because it's not an intuitive or obvious idea from a glance over the monk skillset.
</div></div>

==Infrequently Asked (or Imagined) Questions==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-faq" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering about some weird corner case I somehow never touched on? Ask me on Discord or in the game. To see what weird corner cases other people have asked about, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-faq">

This final section covers any random topics that people have asked me or that I can ''imagine'' them asking me if I feel that they're worth answering in this guide, but not worth a full tip or sidebar of their own.

* Things actually asked are red.
* Things I imagine people should ask are pink.
* Things that are both red and pink come from comments I got that weren't originally questions, but I've reframed them into questions because they're worth discussing.

'''Does enchanting UC handwear and footwear help with DS?'''

No on footwear. Yes on handwear, but each +1 enchant only grants 0.1 DS in offensive stance and 0.35 DS in defensive. Work on your armor if you want more DS!

'''Aren't half-krolvin monks super great? Flimbo's Guide and the [[Comprehensive Monk Guide]] really like them!'''

I do have a pretty high opinion of half-krolvin monks--not a top tier one, but pretty high! However, it's for very different reasons in a very different modern GS than the one those older guides were written for. What I actually like is their great carrying capacity without sacrificing speed the way giants, dwarves, or humans do. Let's go over these other factors, though.

Flimbo's guide vouches for half-krolvin monks because Perfect Self normalizes their Logic penalty and they have "solid physical stats with which to punch things quite well." I agree that Perfect Self fixes something that scares some players away from half-krolvin. I even agree that if you're set on playing a half-krolvin, then a monk should be among your top considerations for a profession. Still, I'd rather have a race without a Logic penalty to begin with! Exp-wise, that Logic penalty is less important than it used to be if you're paying for Temple of Lumnis donations or Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage, but it's still a penalty. The impact on Vertigo and Mindwipe also isn't negligible. (This is, after all, the Autumnwinds' ''magical'' monk guide, not the Kroderine Soul monk guide.)

Another point I agree with Flimbo on is that half-krolvin have solid physical stats with which to ''punch'' things quite well. However, I'd rather have a faster Agidex race who has solid physical stats with which to also ''kick'' things quite well, meaning minimum RT for mstrike kick!

The comprehensive guide likes half-krolvin monks because of UAF and heavy crit padding against cold damage. The math says UAF doesn't matter! (Okay, fine, ''technically'' the math says UAF matters... fractionally. It's no big deal.)

Cold damage protection has some appeal if you're specifically leveling in Icemule, but monks also have meditation resistance, so, in effect, being a half-krolvin there opens up meditating to resist a different damage type. However, the outdoor environs around Icemule run out of creatures after the early 50s, so should you pick a race just for that?

The Hinterwilds ''are'' a post-cap option that also features cold damage, but that hunting ground has built-in means to protect any race from cold damage. Also, by that point, unless you've exclusively been hunting the most dirt poor areas in the game, you could also have picked up a ranger resistance trinket with all the silver you'll have made from Glamour, Shroud of Deception, selling your Mystic Tattoos, and needing little to nothing in the way of gear upgrades by virtue of being a monk.

All this said, half-krolvin do make for great monks. I just wouldn't even think to mention these really negligible perks or quirks as incentives; their sheer carrying capacity and excellent verbs are the draw!

'''Should I train Ambush?'''

The short answer is no. Now for the long, fun answer!

Flimbo's Guide and the Comprehensive Monk Guide suggested Ambush at high levels, but players had no visibility into the aiming formula at the time. Community knowledge and game mechanics alike have changed a great deal since then. Not only should you probably not train Ambush, but if you ''did,'' it would be most efficacious around the midgame and face diminishing returns to the point of very realistically doing literally nothing at cap depending on your training.

In May 2021, former GM Naijin revealed the aiming formula, which, until then, had been a mystery that players tried to estimate via self-discovery. [[Aim#Aiming_Formula:_Melee_and_Hurling|You can find it recorded here]] and read for full details, but we learned that:

* Enemy level has no effect on (non-stealth) aimed attacks (this was a shocking revelation!)
* Knocking creatures down helps (I don't remember if we'd known this or not)
* Combat Maneuvers bonus is as important as Ambush bonus (we knew CM helped, but we underestimated how much)
* The combination of CM bonus, Dexterity bonus, and Intuition bonus alone suffices to eventually max out aiming success

<blockquote>
'''Intuition Sidebar!'''

Even if you've tanked Intuition, almost every combination of UC attack and race reaches the maximum 95% aiming success rate for hitting heads of prone foes. The only exceptions are kicks (only kicks) used by erithians or giants, which still have a 94% and 92% chance. On the flip side, halflings have such overflowing success because of their absurd natural Dexterity and Intuition bonuses that they can tank Intuition and still max aiming success rate against the heads of even ''standing'' foes. Of course, they need Acrobat's Leap for that.
</blockquote>

To be more precise, every 4 CM bonus, 4 Ambush bonus, 2 Dexterity bonus, or 4 Intuition bonus increases your likelihood of hitting the right body part by 1%. 24 Ambush ranks (102 bonus) used to be what players had figured out as a reasonable stopping point, so let's use that in an example.

With 24 Ambush, 40 Combat Maneuvers (140 bonus), 15 Dexterity, and 10 Intuition, you'd have a 69%, 64%, or 61% chance to respectively punch, grapple, or kick the head of a prone creature. Aiming adds extra RT, so, for the sake of the argument, let's say we want a 90% benchmark. What would that require? Going to 40 Ambush only brings it up to 79%, 74%, and 71%. Going to 40 Ambush plus 80 Combat Maneuvers is still only 89%, 84%, and 81%.

Of course, by the time you can have 80 Combat Maneuvers, your stats might have increased, so let's say everything had reached 91%, 86%, and 83%. Even that's not good enough because tiering up might demand a grapple or kick for your excellent positioning attack, so you'd need 108 Combat Maneuvers ranks and 40 Ambush ranks. Those 40 Ambush ranks could have been 35 Physical Fitness ranks at 3x costs or 23 Dodging ranks (that's +17 DS in offensive stance) at 3x costs!

What if you eased back to the old 24 Ambush mark? Then you'd need 148 Combat Maneuvers. Perfect Self has kicked in, so let's call it 144 Combat Maneuvers needed. Even that's already level 70. (You can kind of see why players were able to figure out that Ambush should be reserved for higher levels even before we knew the formula!)

In short, pushing Ambush only even kind of makes sense during the high mid levels--60 to 70--when you have high enough stats and CM bonus that you ''can'' reach max or near-max success rates with some Ambush, but not ''so'' high that you reach max or near-max success rates even without Ambush.

''But even then,'' we're only looking at the training point opportunity costs. Guides recommending Ambush also predated the sweeping [[Player_System_Manager_-_Phase_3|PSM3]] combat maneuver updates. Sure, you could aim for heads after you reach excellent positioning. Alternatively, you could Bearhug things to death for 200-400 damage. Another option is using Twin Hammerfists or Fury with Grapple Specialization trained to inflict the Vulnerable status, which means your ''unaimed'' attacks--like the ones coming from mstrikes and Fury--are more likely to hit heads, necks, and eyes than normal with no Ambush or even CM training needed. In fact, if your Fury is using kicks, then hitting the chest or abdomen is also just as lethal at excellent positioning as hitting the head!

Like PSM3's wiki page says, much of the point was encouraging spending stamina to improve efficiency. Monks are the best positioned for that because of Mind Over Body, so I've made my choice: forget Ambush and play to my strengths.
</div></div>

==The TL;DR Recap: Making Cookie Cutter Monks==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Low on time or thought processing power and just want a cookie cutter build you don't need to put much thought into? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-cookiecutter">

(...by my wacky definition of "cookie cutter.")

"Leafi, I love you and all, but I expanded every section, noticed my scroll bar is tiny, noticed your guide is crazy long, and ain't nobody got time for that. Please tl;dr this nonsense?"

Okay, okay, I hear you.

Some of you never wanted the Leafiara treatment where we seek to become real life monks with advanced spiritual and mental understanding by thoroughly exploring the unfathomable mysteries of reality and transcendent metareality (like math and logic).

Some of you instead wanted the Saraphenia treatment where I tell you how to have a functional build that lets you have mechanical fun in an online text-based multiplayer video game and then you embark on your journey.

So I included this section for you!

'''Race''':

Aelotoi, dark elves, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-krolvin, halflings, and sylvankind are all basically the same power for monks. Faster is better, but more encumbrance is worse, so find your balance. Giantmen have a niche.

'''Stats''':

See the table in the Placing Your Stats section.

'''Society''':

Voln.

'''How do I fight?''':

'''Weapon Twinhammer''' as your opener once you learn it. (If you're Grapple Specialization, you can eventually consider skipping Twin Hamerfists and going straight to Fury once you have a few ranks of Specialization.)

'''Jab''' at decent position, '''punch''' at good position if you're not Grapple Specialization and '''grapple''' at good position if you are, '''kick''' at excellent position. Regardless of those general rules, '''follow prompts''' and do what it tells you when it tells you.

Against single targets, '''Weapon Fury''' until whenever you have enough Agidex for a 5-6 second '''mstrike kick'''.

Against multiple targets, '''mstrike grapple''' if you're Grapple Specialization or '''mstrike kick''' if you're Kick Specialization. In either case, not until they're 7 seconds or less. If mstrike grapple is 7 seconds or less, but you're Kick Specialization and mstrike kick is 8 seconds or more, '''mstrike punch''' for now until mstrike kick doesn't take so long.

'''Core skills to train every level''':

2x '''Brawling''', 2x '''Physical Fitness''' (eventually 3x), 2x '''Dodging''' (eventually 3x), 1x '''Perception'''.

'''Skills with breakpoints''':

1 rank of '''Two Weapon Combat'''. 50 ranks eventually much further down the road.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' in bursts for various breakpoints to pick up specific maneuvers. (For which ones and when, see the "combat maneuvers and feats" section below.)

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' in bursts to 5, 10, 24, 30, 35, 50, 55, 60, 90, and 100 ranks.

10 '''Harness Power''' early, 20-30 mid-game, then eventually 40. You probably don't need more unless you're very frequently casting spells in combat.

'''Minor Mental''' to 16 so you have both focus spells (1213 and 1216) as options, then slack off with spells until the midgame. Grab 1220 if you feel the DS need, especially if using 1213 instead of 1216.

'''Telepathy''' lore in bursts to 6, 15, and 30.

'''Transformation lore''' in bursts to 5, 15, and 30.

10 '''Climbing and Swimming''' until the midgame or as needs arise.

'''Tertiary skills''':

'''Spiritual/Mental Mana Control''' only if sharing mana with friends and alts.

'''First Aid and Survival''' only if you want skinning.

20 '''Trading''' by level 20 because monks make silver via Glamour (1205) and Shroud of Deception (1212). Get to 40 or the nearest multiple of 12 Trading+Influence bonus over time. If you can get deep into soft loot cap even without Trading, then eventually abandon Trading, but that probably won't be until later.

'''Midgame skills''':

'''Minor Spiritual''' to 2, 3, or 7 ranks, but only after 3x Dodging.

'''Combat maneuvers and feats''':

'''Dragonscale Skin''' for your level 30 feat.

Step 1 of Combat Maneuvers, making the super early game not painful:

Get 3 CM ranks ASAP for your first rank of '''Rolling Krynch Stance''', then another 6 CM ranks (so 9 total) for your second rank ASAP.

Step 2 of Combat Maneuvers, improving the early game:

In whatever order, pick up the last rank of Krynch and first three ranks of '''Grapple Specialization''' or '''Kick Specialization'''. Grapple if you want to hunt Ascension areas one day, Kick if not. If you choose Kick, it's not necessarily an early game priority since you don't get Spin Kick until level 35-36 (for level 35, spend your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling), so you could move to step 3 after finishing Krynch and grab Kick Specialization later.

Step 3 of Combat Maneuvers, fleshing out skills and diversifying your abilities through the midgame:

In whatever order, pick up three or more ranks of '''Bearhug''', two or more ranks of '''Bull Rush''', all three ranks of '''Evade Specialization''', three or more ranks of '''Feint''', and the remaining ranks of Grapple or Kick Specialization. If you went Kick Specialization, add '''Combat Mobility''' to the list sooner than later. If you picked a halfling or gnome, add Acrobat's Leap, but otherwise don't.

Step 4 of Combat Maneuvers, putting the last pieces in place:

Pick up Combat Mobility (if you didn't already have it) and all three ranks of '''Ki Focus'''.

Step 5 of Combat Maneuvers, player's choice:

Whatever you want. Finish Bearhug, Bull Rush, and Feint or don't, depending how you like them. You can veer off in different directions with more niche maneuver options or not. Up to you!

'''Armor upgrade path when ready''':

Buy TD-boosting armor of +7 or more from a playershop. It'll cost 1-5 million silver and serve you fantastically. Add services of Enchant, Sanctify, and Ensorcell over time in roughly that order while adding padding via the WPS wagons. (Enchant and Sanctify can switch places easily enough, but Ensorcell is definitely last.)

'''Weapon upgrade path when ready''':

* Spending almost nothing (~1 million silver): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear.
* Spending moderately (~35k pay event currency (equivalent of 35 million silver)): Buy off-the-shelf Animalistic Spirit from Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.
* Spending heavily (~80k pay event currency): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear. Add Greater Elemental Flares at Duskruin.
* Spending a ton (~150k pay event currency): Buy Phytomorphic handwear from Duskruin. Add Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate. For footwear, same steps except skip the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks.
* Spending a super ton (~265k pay event currency): Same as spending a ton, except either A) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your handwear, B) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your footwear (Kick Specialization monks), or C) get the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks for your footwear.
* Spending an ultra ton (~365k pay event currency): Same as spending a super ton, except do two of A, B, and C.
* Spending a megaton (~465k pay event currency): Same as spending an ultra ton, except do all of A, B, and C.

And if you're the top 0.5% ready to drop almost $7000 worth of pay event currency, then--well, realistically, you're probably not reading this guide. ''But just in case'', for fun, and to entertain the other 99.5%...

* Whaling out beyond most people's imagination just because you can (~4.24 million pay event currency): Buy greater [[somnis]] handwear and footwear at Duskruin. Add the Phytomorphic script at Duskruin. Add a slew of Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add bane lightning flares at Duskruin. Add Flare Affinity at Duskruin. Add the second active Flourish unlock at Duskruin. Add Lore Flares at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.

(Why lightning flares? Because the flares whales would normally buy when money is no object, mind wrack and death, are disallowed on UC gear. They've never said why to my knowledge, but I think I can infer why from the fact that they sold a [[xazkruvrixis]] (death flaring metal) cestus exactly once before swiftly banning the creation of more UC gear with death flares. Said item has become sort of a legend in the community since it's still around. I'm guessing they learned the hard way that top end flares are so astonishingly powerful with UC's low RT attacks that they considered it too great a balance-destroying outlier and had to cut it off. The good news is that the next best option, Flare Affinity-backed lightning flares, only cost 407.5k pay event currency per item instead of the 500k or two million that mind wrack and death flares would have!)

'''Other upgrades when ready''':

Buy a Battle Standard of third tier or higher to capitalize on flares going great with UC. Get it to the fifth tier eventually to max its flare rate, but the sixth tier is a more optional emergency ability. If you can't afford a Battle Standard, get silver for it over time via Glamour, Shroud of Deception, and selling your Mystic Tattoo service to others instead of tattooing your own monk. Get at least the Poisoncraft part of Covert Arts eventually. Possibly buy some Energy Wings if you like aiming at heads of very huge creatures.

'''Conclusion''':

Monks are easy! Go have fun!
</div></div>

==Denouement: An Unexpected Journey==

First, thank you for reading The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide.

Whether you read only the parts of it you were interested in, read every single word, or anything in between, I'm thankful for every reader.

Sometimes I write a "guide" partially or even almost entirely for myself. For example, with [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Ascension_Considerations|Ascension Considerations]], I was going to do the math on efficient progression anyway, so I figured I'd take the extra time to turn what could have been private spreadsheets into wiki tables. [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Pre-Ascension_Stopping_Points|Pre-Ascension Stopping Points]] (which I just noticed is really outdated) originally ''was'' a private document, but I turned it into a wiki page because sometimes people ask me if they can see my characters' skills when they want a template of where to take their post-cap training.

This one was for you guys, though. I hope it's been helpful, I hope it's gotten you thinking, and, maybe most of all, I hope you find monks more exciting or intriguing than you used to.

That said, if you were here only for mechanical informational purposes, I'm pretty much done with those. There's one more at the very end for people with multiple character slots (not multiple accounts, but ''character slots''), but otherwise, you can head out! I wish you a good day or good night and hopefully I'll see you around the lands.

Thank you again.

<div class="mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious on the backstory of why this guide exists and why now? Click here and we'll close out.</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-denouement">

For the rest of you, if you'll indulge my rambling a bit longer...

The Magical Monk Guide existing is an emergent happy accident.

The [[Raise Your Stout Krew]] (RYSK) [[Meeting Hall Organization|MHO]] features a division for each profession, including a lead player and character who organize related events and help people with related questions. [[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]] and her player were the monk division lead--and they sometimes said they wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest.

I thought, but didn't have the heart to say, that that was impossible. GemStone has been going for over three decades and monks have only been part of it for twelve years--more like ten years when RYSK started--so they don't have the history, nostalgia, momentum, or player population of other professions.

To be honest, even if I had said it was impossible, that wouldn't have stopped Phenia. Even as I type this, I can picture how I'd try to temper her expectations and she'd come back with "Well, I'm going to try anyway!" Phenia aimed high, never mind the odds.

When her player passed away, RYSK lost its monk division lead, but more importantly, we all lost a dear friend--at least her digital presence, and at least for now. During the grief spiral, I planned various things in Phenia's name and among them was making a new character, a sort of soul-daughter for Leafi and Phenia.

I made Sariara (name credit to Tairngaire) late on May 24th. As I leveled her, I did everything I talked about in the Trade Secrets section to capitalize on Glamour and Shroud of Deception, then shared my method in the RYSK Discord server on May 30th as a "Monk tip!"--plus a "Bonus tip!" about pre-level-20 fast skill migration for First Aid, Survival, and Trading. You can see how that impromptu post shaped this guide!

By coincidence, I'd also been answering a few people's questions in the main GS Discord server's monk channel that May into early June, like which out of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization to take, whether Grapple Specialization Fury worked with katars, and which races made good monks. So when Julenne asked me on June 17th to take over Phenia's spot as the monk division lead, I agreed. I don't think I ''could'' have declined. Over that string of seven weeks, I was basically doing what she needed already.

That morning, I decided I should write a new guide to replace Flimbo's old one.

I don't know what I expected would come out of it, but it wasn't this. With a motive like honoring my departed friend, I ''knew'' I'd put my all into it--but I didn't expect to write this much or this in-depth, I didn't expect to cover the topics I did, and, most of all, I didn't expect that I'd be learning myself, not just passing along what I knew beforehand.

I'd never thought about a non-Kroderine Soul monk without Mental Acuity. I'd barely thought about a weapon-wielding monk, even putting Mental Acuity aside. I'd barely thought about synergy between monks and other professions. I'd never investigated how one rank of Sanctify interacted with Kai's Strike. I'd never investigated how or if Stance of the Mongoose worked with unarmed combat. I'd never even investigated how or if Clash worked with a specified UC attack type.

But Saraphenia aimed high with her talent at community outreach, so I had to aim high with my talent at testing and explaining obscure mechanical interactions. Deep diving into the monk ocean sometimes turned up junk, but other times Atlantean treasures. I learned and now I hope you've learned too.

When Phenia said she wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest, I assumed she was talking about numbers. Maybe she was; I don't know either way. I ''do'' know that we want you monk players to be ''your'' strongest, as individuals. Not necessarily the most efficient, not necessarily the most min-maxed, but the most subjectively enjoyable version of your monk. Know your options, find the best one for you, and you'll be your strongest. Any part I might have played in helping you get there is an honor.

Now, for fun and because I can, here's one last obscure mechanical interaction for the road.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus tip!'''

I have a couple character slots where, even though I don't play them, I briefly log them in and out every day for [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]. That way, if I ever decided to start them up, they'd have a giant stockpile of benefits for a head start. Premium slots are especially useful for these purposes since, at no additional price over the base cost, you get more character slots than there are even professions. (Prime subscriptions can still get character slots at $2.50 per month each.)

What's probably less known is that when you [[Verb:RETIRE|reroll]] a character, the new character retains all the old one's login rewards! So I leveled Sariara very quickly early on, jumping past 1.2 million experience in just a month, because she was backed by seven years of rewards in the form of 1034 bounty boosts, 341 instant mind clearers, and 1004 long-term experience boosts (the previous character ''had'' gone beyond level 20 at some point), among other things like more than a thousand bounty task waivers to avoid escorts after she reached level 20. She also had 515 doubled experience boosts, which she didn't even begin using until level 60 when, due to natural stat growth and Perfect Self, she became just 1 exp per pulse shy of her capped exp gains.

Do with the knowledge what you will, premium subscribers! Log in some extra characters or, if you already have been, get a new one going.
</blockquote>

Farewell, have fun, and be good to one another!
</div></div>

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Monk]]
[[Category:Professional Guides]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide

2026-02-26T22:14:23Z

LEAFIARA: New (technically old) information on Trading and loot cap. Half-krolvin commentary update.

{{player-guide
|title = The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide
|topic = Combat, Monks, Training
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-06-19
|updated = 2026-02-24
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind, in loving memory of '''[[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 26, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Introduction: How to Use This Guide==

This guide is for all magical monks from 0 exp to 55,000,000! (What do I mean by a magical monk? One not using [[Kroderine Soul]]. Somebody else will have to write that guide!) I'll go over monks' strengths, weaknesses, other unique qualities, things to consider, others' perspectives that I hear about, training plans, and so on.

'''This guide is exhaustive within its scope''', or at least it can be.

* If you want an exhaustive guide, read through it in order.
* If you want the opposite of an exhaustive guide, jump to the "tl;dr Recap: Cookie Cutter" section at the end.
* If you're not sure whether you want an exhaustive guide, read the "Why Play a Monk" section to see if monks sound cool, then jump to the Cookie Cutter section at the end, then read the rest if you're intrigued afterward. The Cookie Cutter section provides an overview of ''what'' to do and gives a small window into what the rest of the guide covers, which is ''why'' to do it.

I've made each section collapsible for easy navigation, but I try to scatter nuggets of wisdom for all experience levels all throughout!

Speaking of experience, what's mine? I capped my monk Tarine before the combat modernizations of 2020 and 2021, helped Saraphenia with her training (both on paper and as a hunting duo) from level 43 to about 9 million exp between 2022 and April 2024, and I'm now working on my monk Sariara, who filled in my knowledge gap before level 43 in the modern world.

Speaking of Saraphenia, who created many monks and enjoyed them more than any other profession, I think of this guide like our joint project. She would have had the passion and interest to create it, but not the knowledge and time. I have the knowledge and time, but wouldn't have had the passion or interest--at least on my own. When I say I've written this guide in loving memory, I truly mean it. If even a few more players find monks even half as exciting as Phenia did because of what they read here, I'll call it a job well done!

No further ado. Let's get on with it!

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay mw-customtoggle-creation mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat mw-customtoggle-skillsplan mw-customtoggle-choicesplan mw-customtoggle-progression mw-customtoggle-superpostcap mw-customtoggle-oddsandends mw-customtoggle-faq mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="color:#0000FF">'''(Want to read the entire guide? Click here to uncollapse all sections at once!)'''</div>

==Why Play a Monk or Why Not Play a Monk?==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Pondering the appeal of why to play a monk at all? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-whyplay">

===Unarmed Combat===

Monks specialize at [[Unarmed_combat_system|unarmed combat]] (UC), the most unique form of combat GemStone IV has to offer! It features four primary commands: JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH. Making the most of them revolves primarily around two things:

# "Tiering up," AKA improving positioning from decent to good, then from good to excellent, by sequencing your attacks correctly based on your training and following the combat messaging prompts.
# Improving your [[multiplier modifier]] primarily through things like forcing a creature's stance down or inflicting status conditions.

Unlike the other physical systems based on [[attack strength]] (AS) and [[defensive strength]] (DS), UC's equivalents of [[unarmed attack factor]] (UAF) and [[unarmed defense factor]] (UDF) are joined by a third number worth keeping your eye on, the [[multiplier modifier]] (MM). Another dissimilarity is that while increasing your AS or decreasing enemy DS by the same amount would have the same effect in combat, lowering enemy UDF is multiplicatively better than increasing your UDF. Meanwhile, increasing your MM is possibly even more paramount!

I'll elaborate further during the Unarmed Combat Primer section. For now, know that unarmed combat has a drastically higher floor, albeit also a lower ceiling, than other forms of combat. Monks are much less likely to one-shot anything than their melee counterparts, but monks are also much less likely to have no chance of hitting their foe.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Another standout difference of unarmed combat is that creatures can never outright evade, block, or parry a UC attack. UC attacks can still ''miss'' via low endrolls and there are stray creatures who can still do things like disappear into the shadows to avoid damage, but the latter are rare. If you've played other physical characters and can't stand seeing a creature avoid an attack before it even gets to the roll, try a monk!
</blockquote>

===Gear Indifference===

Monks have extremely low dependence on good gear.

While GSIV is technically balanced around vanilla +20 gear, most people would agree there's a difference between a viable way to play the game and an enjoyable way to play the game. Pure casters are commonly considered the best at remaining enjoyable even with little to nothing spent on good gear. While I do agree, I'd put monks right behind them--and easily ahead of [[warrior]]s, [[rogue]]s, [[paladin]]s, and [[ranger]]s!

Because of the unique qualities of unarmed combat, improvements like [[Enchant (925)|enchanting]], [[Ensorcell (735)|ensorcelling]], [[Sanctify (330)|sanctifying]], or [[weighting]] your offensive gear are much more luxury than necessity. If you're unable or unwilling to spend heavily on a new character, monks are an excellent low investment profession. (And smooth upgrade paths exist if you eventually want them, but more on that later in this guide!)

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

Players have noticed that monks can hunt and succeed in the Hinterwilds, arguably the game's most challenging area, on par with other professions even when monks have a third of the experience points and a tenth of the gear caliber. At that top end of difficult content, I'd say monks are ''the best'' at not depending on gear nor even exp! Much more on that in the Ascension section.
</blockquote>

===Simplicity===

Monks have a very low learning curve, at least by GS standards. This game world has a lot of convoluted training plans, tradeoffs, options, breakpoints, tight training point constraints, and too many desirable skills to train them all, but monks present you with a very straightforward, low pressure profession that it's difficult to get wrong. If you stick to unarmed combat, I'd go so far as ''extremely'' difficult to get wrong.

(If you want to do unusual things that don't involve UC, then read on in Odds and Ends!)

===Fun Factor===

Once monks hit their stride by level 40--maybe even level 30--they're great at screen scroll shenanigans. With the general speed of unarmed combat, its myriad status conditions, free bonus jabs in [[Verb:MSTRIKE|mstrikes]] or free knockdowns in [[Fury]], and plenty of messaging prompts about tiering up or when to [[Spin Kick]], combat can be an engaging and chaotic experience!

Even from a roleplaying perspective, [[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]] is one of the game's coolest tools. It allows you to customize your appearance and save up to three illusionary projections, which is as close as you can get to playing multiple characters in one!

===Might and Magic===

If you long for the raw power of a physical profession like a warrior, but still want the option to use magic in and out of combat even from early levels, monks are for you. The [[Minor Mental]] spell circle is so integral to the monk toolkit that dev had to make provision so even Kroderine Soul monks could still cast spells from level 30 on!

===Downsides or Lack Thereof===

Some players feel that monks are pigeonholed into unarmed combat. I would have agreed before creating this guide, but while writing Odds and Ends, I did a deep dive into the math and now believe a weapon build is absolutely on the table; monks ''can'', if they want, operate like warriors who have more DS (until very far post-cap) but don't wear heavy armor, are better at evading but worse at parrying, have a universal stat bonus from level 50 on but don't have guild skills, and a few other tradeoffs. If your character concept is a lightly armored Dread Pirate type quick on their feet, there's a very real case that a monk can be a better choice than a warrior.

[[Target defense]] (TD) is widely regarded as a monk weakness and was a major discussion point in [[Flimbo's Monk Guide]], which was extensive in its time, but has become outdated after years of major game developments since then. TD certainly is a weakness, but not nearly as much of one now. Monks' offensive toolkit has grown, making it easier than ever to keep enemies under control and stop them from casting at all. Even when creatures do fire off spells, non-Kroderine Soul monks have a new warding defense booster called Dragonscale Skin while Kroderine Soul monks have magic redux and can absorb (negate) an offensive spell once every 30 seconds.

The best I can muster for legitimate monk downsides are that they can't obliterate an entire swarm of creatures in six seconds or less (that's the domain of post-cap bards and wizards) and their profession service needs improvement (but improvement is already planned for the future).
</div></div>

==Character Creation==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-creation" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Need to walk through the creation of your monk? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-creation">

If making a monk sounds intriguing, let's get started!

===Choosing a Race===

From level 50 on, monks arguably have more leeway than any other [[profession]] to be any [[race]] with minimal drawbacks due to [[Perfect Self]] basically eliminating stat deficiencies. Instead of any race being bad at anything, it's more a question of which ones are slightly better at any given thing. I don't think you can go wrong, which I don't say about other professions, so my honest suggestion is to pick whatever sounds interesting.

If you're not sure what's interesting or are torn between options, my ''next'' suggestion is to see if any [[race-specific verbs]] strike your fancy. Even though Shroud of Deception can make your monk ''appear'' like other races, they can't perform (for example) halfling-specific verbs without actually being a halfling. Get the verbs you like!

If verbs don't sound compelling either, then here's how I'd rank monk races mechanically if I really had to:

# '''[[Elf|Elves]]''': What I made my first monk, Tarine. Elves tie with burghal gnomes as the second best race for combined [[Agility]] and [[Dexterity]] ("Agidex"), which means faster mstrikes and assault techniques--the most key parts of the monk arsenal. Elves have no particular disadvantages like height or size, though they're slightly below average on encumbrance.
# '''[[Aelotoi]], [[Dark Elf|Dark Elves]], [[Half-Elf|Half-Elves]], and [[Sylvankind|Sylvans]]''': All of these races tie for third place Agidex and second place in my overall rankings. They can still get to minimum speed attacks, but need a little more [[experience]] or enhancive items than elves, halflings, or gnomes would. They have much more carrying capacity (less encumbrance) than halflings and gnomes, all but aelotoi have more carrying capacity than elves, and none have problems height-wise. Mechanical differences between the four are pretty minimal for monks, but compared to elves as a baseline...
#* Aelotoi have a [[Logic]] bonus, so they gain exp slightly faster (1 per pulse) and [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] are slightly more reliable.
#* Dark elves' [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]] bonuses offer a small amount of defense against elemental and spiritual warding spells.
#* Half-elves have the best carrying capacity of my top five picks. The dwarves and halflings bullet points have more to say about encumbrance.
#* Sylvans' Aura bonus offers a small amount of defense against elemental warding spells. Dark elves are mechanically better at the same thing, but, again, the differences are very minimal in practice.
# '''[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and [[Halfling]]s''': Unlike the above grouping of races that play roughly identically, dwarves and halflings have substantial differences alongside some similarities. The most eye-catching similarity is excellent defense against elemental warding spells, which monks would normally be weak against; dwarves have +30 TD and halflings have +40 TD. Dwarves and halflings do have -10 and -5 Aura bonuses respectively, which also defends against elemental spells, so the real numbers could be considered more like +20 and +35. (Enemy elemental warding spells ''are'' sort of rare, but you might be glad for the benefit when you do run into them.) Their heights require keeping most creatures knocked down or training niche combat maneuvers like [[Acrobat's Leap]] to target heads as a finisher if you're trying to aim, though not all monks do. Dwarves and halflings have Logic bonuses for exp, Vertigo, and Mindwipe purposes. As for the differences...
#* Dwarves are the only race that's both short and slow, ranking second to last in Agidex. Still, if you're okay with slower attacks, then elemental TD remains a rare and valuable selling point. More importantly, dwarves can carry a surprising amount due to huge [[Strength]] and [[Constitution]] bonuses along with identical body weight to dark elves. I rank dwarven monks the best of the slower races. Dwarves also have a slew of amazing verbs!
#* Halflings are the best race for combined Agidex, having the fastest mstrikes and assaults while being about as close as invulnerable to enemy maneuvers as it gets. This alone (never mind also having the elemental TD bonus) is important enough that older versions of this guide used to rank halflings as the second best monk race. However, 2026 changes to average box sizes and drop rates exacerbate halflings' severe [[encumbrance]] issues. The question is your tolerance level for either A) frequently pulling back from hunts to [[locksmith pool|drop off boxes]] or B) buying encumbrance-reducing items like silvery blue potions and [[Blue_feather-shaped_charm|blue feather-shaped charms]]. If you don't mind, then halflings remain a very powerful option. If you do mind, you might want to look elsewhere.
# '''[[Half-krolvin]]''': The fourth best race for Agidex, though there's as much of a speed gap between third best and fourth best as between best and third best. Like dwarves, half-krolvin have a slew of amazing verbs. In pre-2026 versions of this guide, I didn't see much purely mechanical reason to choose a half-krolvin over the previous seven races or gnomes, but things have changed. Their second best carrying capacity helps much more than before. On the flip side, their Logic penalty hurts less in a world with new options in silver or Simucoins for vastly accelerated exp. If you want carrying capacity without sacrificing anything, but also not specializing in anything else, half-krolvin monks are a perfectly good place to be.
# '''[[Forest Gnome]]s and [[Burghal Gnome]]s''': These are in the top 3 and top 2 speed tiers, respectively. Forest gnomes handle encumbrance slightly better than halflings while burghal gnomes handle it even worse than halflings. I give halflings the advantage over gnomes mainly due to their huge elemental TD bonus, but the differences are minor enough that I don't think anyone should sweat it. It just comes down to the same question of whether you can live with the encumbrance issues. If you can, have at it.
# '''[[Giantmen]]''': Giants are the slowest race, but can carry near endless amounts of things without getting encumbered. Encumbrance reduces DS and slows down single-target UC attacks, assault techniques, and AoE techniques--but encumbrance ''doesn't'' slow down mstrikes nor Twin Hammerfists, which are key in the monk arsenal. However, giants are the worst at mstrikes via natural stats. Agidex-boosting enhancives can fix that, but maintaining charges on numerous enhancives can get even more expensive than the small race path of maintaining encumbrance potions, so I personally wouldn't take the trade. Still, there's a reason that some players choose giants near exclusively. If returning to town sounds aggravating or if you want to maximize the amount of time you spend acquiring loot (staying out hunting) instead of exp (ending the hunt as quickly as possible), giants might be for you.
# '''[[Erithian]]s and [[Human]]s''': These are the third slowest races. Erithians and humans have no particular mechanical disadvantages that push them away from being monks, but also no particular advantages that push them toward being monks. Erithians do have excellent verbs that go well with monks roleplaying-wise!

Races from half-krolvin up are close enough that I wouldn't quibble about any of them being seriously better than the others. I understand people's case for giants too, even though they're not my style (I'm okay with returning to town every two or three boxes!), and gnomes are similar enough to halflings. I find erithians and humans really dubious from a mechanical perspective, though. Perfect Self does bring up the low and you can't go wrong, exactly, but Perfect Self also makes the rich richer.

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar!'''

If you're used to playing a halfling or gnome warrior who wears full plate, don't expect your encumbrance life to be similar on a halfling or gnome monk in robes. For one thing, max rank [[Armor Support|armor support]] gives plate armor 35 pounds encumbrance reduction, but gives robes 15 pounds. For another, let's talk about GS' encumbrance paradox!

[[Encumbrance#Armor_Encumbrance_Formula|Base weight (unlightened) armor has no encumbrance while worn]]. Yes, really. 75 pound full plate weighs 75 in your hands and 0 on your body! However, if you lighten full plate down to its minimum 38 pounds, wearing it counts as -37 pounds multiplied by a number that depends on your race. That number is 0.5 for a halfling or burghal gnome and 0.6 for a forest gnome, so, after rounding, max light full plate gives -18 or -22 pounds encumbrance. Robes have a modest base weight of 8 and minimum weight of 4 pounds, so max light robes give -2 pounds encumbrance for halflings or gnomes.

Between armor encumbrance mechanics and armor support, a halfling or gnome in full plate has a 36-40 pound encumbrance advantage over a halfling or gnome monk in robes. Perfect Self will make up some pounds, but not nearly ''that'' much of the gap, so be warned!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar 2, 2026 Edition!'''

I didn't want to bog down the bullet points above by talking too much about encumbrance, which could have taken over the entire race section. In short, as of mid-January 2026, boxes drop a third as often as they used to, so encumbrance kicks in less often, but boxes also contain roughly three times as much as they used to, so once encumbrance does kick in, it kicks in much harder than it used to. You might jump from unencumbered to moderately encumbered in a single box.

It might not be immediately apparent why I consider the loot changes to be impactful enough to move halflings down, half-krolvin up, and gnomes down, but not impactful enough to move giants or humans up. The answer is that the 2026 loot changes are a double-edged sword. While giants and (to a lesser extent) humans can handle the bigger boxes, that doesn't mean their containers can. For example, if you have a conventional "max deep" backpack (no epic deepening that can cost millions of silver) that holds 140 pounds and you find a 45 pound, 55 pound, and 65 pound box, you can't fit all of that inside even if your character can hold it no problem.

Putting it another way, there's a point at which a character's max carrying capacity gets "wasted" because it exceeds the containers' practical limits. I think giants are certainly over that. Humans aren't, necessarily, but carrying capacity can also be "wasted" in a different sense because the boxes themselves are less common. You have to be exactly on a threshold of weight at which you're saving encumbrance, which is a narrow margin in a world where encumbrance increases less incrementally before. In other words, the hit to the small races outweighs the gain to the large races as rankings go.
</blockquote>

===Placing Your Stats===

At level 0, set Strength, Dexterity, and Agility high so you're at your best in combat and setting Logic high so you level faster. This will help power through the early game!

Before level 20, you can change your stats up to five times by checking in at your local inn. At level 20, you're locked in! Because of this finalization, the game stops your exp growth right before level 20 and forces you to confirm that your character is configured the way you want. That's your cue to check in and decide your "real" stat placement!

Here are my recommendations for each race. If you've read Flimbo's older monk guide, a major difference between us is that he was on the side of tanking Influence while I'm on the side of tanking Discipline or Intuition, which I'll explain.

'''The Level 20 Stat Placement Tables!'''

'''Please note: If you're adjusting stats at the inn, set Strength and Agility to 10 lower than the numbers shown here.''' The game automatically adds +10 more to prime stats, which for monks are Strength and Agility. (The website is different. If you're someone who only wants to set stats once at level 0 and be done with it, the numbers below are exactly what you'd enter during character creation.)

'''Tanking Discipline Version (Recommended!)'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||31||82||73||70||82||91
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||43||85||64||62||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||41||82||75||70||82||88
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||31||82||70||70||77||92
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||50||70||73||70||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||20||82||70||69||82||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||33||82||73||70||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||23||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||35||82||75||70||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||37||85||79||70||82||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||53||82||70||70||82||89
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||25||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||43||77||73||70||82||85
|}

'''Tanking Intuition Version'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||59||82||73||41||82||92
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||70||85||62||37||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||68||82||73||44||82||89
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||58||82||70||44||77||91
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||70||70||73||50||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||58||82||71||29||83||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||59||82||73||44||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||62||82||70||32||83||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||68||82||73||39||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||62||85||77||46||83||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||68||82||70||56||82||88
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||62||82||70||35||82||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||70||77||73||43||82||85
|}

My methodology was as follows:

* Set stats to max out at cap.
* Max everything except Discipline or Intuition if possible. If not possible, then take a small number out of either Constitution, Discipline, Influence, or occasionally Logic.
* If all stats have gotten as high as they can get by cap and there are spare points to allocate, then favor the configuration that gives the most mental TPs. If multiple configurations give the same mental TPs, then favor the one with stats that grow most slowly.

If you're wondering what relevant things each stat does, I'll go over them quickly:

* [[Strength]]: Reduced encumbrance. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus.
* [[Constitution]]: Slightly reduced encumbrance. Slightly more max health. +1 crit padding (AS-based attacks only) for every 5 bonus.
* [[Dexterity]]: Reduced [[Roundtime|roundtime]] (RT). Slightly increased maneuver defense. Improves tattooing ability. Adds crit weighting, but only if using melee weapons.
* [[Agility]]: Reduced RT. As much increased maneuver defense as Dexterity and Intuition combined. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus. +0.75 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Discipline]]: +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 TD against mental spells for every 1 bonus. Increased resistance to enemy warcries. Improves tattooing ability.
* [[Aura]]: +1 TD against elemental spells for every 1 bonus. +1 max [[spirit]] for every 10 base stat, rounded up.
* [[Logic]]: +1 exp absorbed per minute per 5 bonus on a node (safe place) or per 7 bonus off a node (e.g. hunting). +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 CS for Minor Mental spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 [[Mana#Base_Mana|starting mana]] for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Intuition]]: Slightly increased maneuver defense. +0.1875 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Wisdom]]: +1 TD against spiritual spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 starting mana for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Influence]]: Increased success for [[Standard success resolution system|Standard Success Resolution]] (SSR) attacks. +1% silver from selling to NPC shops for every 12 bonus.

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #1!'''

While there's endless debate across all professions about whether to set stats for cap or early power, it applies less to monks than others. Perfect Self makes monks good across the board from level 50 on almost regardless of what they do. Single strikes in unarmed combat are also naturally quick and, even at low levels, don't require good Agidex like hard-hitting melee weapons.

Once mstrikes and weapon techniques are a regular part of your monk's arsenal by the early 30s--if not sooner--Agidex does become more important. However, fast races who set stats for cap will be perfectly fine on Agidex due to innate bonuses. For example, at level 30, my monk Sariara had 19 Dexterity bonus and 16 Agility bonus, which is the -2 RT tier. She reached -3 RT by level 33, then -4 RT by level 50 thanks to stat growth and Perfect Self. -5 RT is her peak without enhancives or [[Ascension]] and she reached that at level 84. However, reaching -5 RT only matters for mstrikes and assault techniques, which, despite being very important, aren't the majority of commands in combat.

Overall, in my example, there's a pretty negligible difference between setting stats for cap (-4 RT by level 50) and setting stats for early power (-5 RT by level 50); she only really felt the difference from level 19 to 32. On the flip side, her TD was good from the start (for a monk) since setting stats for cap means that slow-growing stats like Aura and Wisdom start off high.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #2!'''

There's also endless debate across most professions on which stat to tank out of Discipline, Intuition, and Influence. The short answer is Discipline. The long answer requires more detail.

The Discipline wiki page might inadvertently lead you to believe that it's the best of the three because, after all, it contributes to both types of training points and is used for more systems in the game than other stats. However, that's more trivia than useful information. The training points aspect is actually a downside; monks' skill costs ultimately result in mental points being twice as valuable to them as physical points, so purely mental stats like Influence and Intuition ultimately provide more training points than a hybrid stat like Discipline.

As for Discipline being used in a lot of systems, that's true, but it's once again more trivia than useful information. Warcry defense is at least potentially relevant, but many monks will rarely, if ever, interact with it. SSR bonus is a reasonable perk because Voln is the mechanically strongest society (a point that I ''do'' concur with the majority on) and SSR bonus improves the success rate of Symbol of Sleep, arguably Voln's strongest ability, along with a couple of its others. (More on Voln in the next section!) However, Influence also grants SSR bonus.

The main reason that few players of any profession used to tank Discipline was experience. Instant Mind Clearers from login rewards can absorb up to 1000 exp, which means that, to get the full value, you need at least 1000 in your exp pool. This is very doable via bounties, which allow overfilling the exp pool. However, some players avoid bounties, which used to mean that they would need 100 totals in both Discipline and Logic so they could have a max exp pool size of exactly 1000.

That was then. Now, the Wisdom of the Ages perk introduced in 2025 increases your exp pool size by 2 for every month you remain a subscriber. If you're a premium or platinum subscriber, additional changes in 2026 have increased your exp pool size by 200 or 400 for being a subscriber at all. Between that, the Ascension system introduced in 2020 (though that's more aimed at capped characters), and of course Perfect Self, it's far easier than ever to retain the all-important 1000 exp pool even while tanking Discipline.

One aspect of Discipline that ''has'' become slightly more important in past years is mental TD. Enemies casting mental CS spells used to be exceedingly rare (even more than elemental CS spells) and you still virtually never run into it pre-cap, but they've proliferated at cap via creatures in the Sanctum of Scales, the Atoll, the Hinterwilds, and Sailor's Grief. If the trend keeps up, I can reevaluate Discipline in the future. However, for now, monks--at least magical monks using Dragonscale Skin (explained in the Feats section)--have better natural defenses against mental CS spells than any build of any other profession except for a warrior or rogue who has maxed or near-maxed spells, wears full plate, and uses a shield. Even that's debatable since it's assuming the warrior or rogue has infinite exp. Either way, the point is that magical monks have so much less to worry about from enemy mental spells than almost anyone else that tanking Discipline still leaves them ahead.

Still, what if someone is set on maxing Discipline? Maybe they really do want the mental TD, or maybe they don't stay subscribed and don't do bounties. In that case, the question goes to whether to tank Intuition or Influence. The majority usually say tank Influence, but I disagree. As already mentioned, Influence improves Symbol of Sleep and other Voln symbols. It also helps a little bit with Trading bonuses and making extra silver if you can't loot cap without the help of Influence and Trading! (More on that in the Monk Merchants section toward the end.) As a monk, thank to Glamour, you can admittedly max Trading benefit in the end even if you do tank Influence, but that's a post-cap thing and this guide is aimed at everyone.

The main argument for maxing Intuition is that it ekes out a tiny extra chance to dodge enemy maneuvers. That can make sense for pures, but it's much less compelling to monks, who already have extraordinary ability to dodge enemy maneuvers due to high rank caps and low training costs for [[Physical Fitness]] and [[Dodging]] (and low training costs for [[Perception]], for that matter).

To put it into perspective, my capped monk Tarine, who tanked Intuition (because Wisdom of the Ages didn't exist yet), has a -3% chance for a same-level maneuver to hit her in offensive stance and a -18% chance in defensive stance. If she maxed Intuition, those numbers would jump to... -4% and -19%. Not very impressive a difference!

But you might think that a super-capped character is an unfair example, so how about my other monk Sariara when she was level 30? She tanked Intuition, obviously hadn't maxed her stats yet, didn't have Perfect Self, is an aelotoi instead of an elf (a bit worse at avoiding maneuvers), had a little over 1 million experience points instead of 39 million, hadn't sunk [[Ascension]] points into avoiding maneuvers, and only had 2x Physical Fitness, 2x Dodging, 1.1x Combat Maneuvers, and 1x Perception instead of 3x, 3x, 2x, and 2x. For all that, like-level maneuvers still only had a 12% chance to hit her in offensive and a -2% chance in defensive. Improving those numbers doesn't appeal to me like improving the success of the absurdly powerful Symbol of Sleep.

Even assuming that you ''do'' want improved defense, remember that having extra silver from higher Influence lets you pay for better gear and items, which are also their ''own'' paths to improved defense--and often simultaneously to improved offense as well. Ultimately, the Intuition benefit is more narrow than the Influence benefit. That said, the Discipline benefit is even more narrow still. That's my true choice for tank stat.
</blockquote>

===Selecting a Society===

Almost all characters eventually join and master a [[society]] since there are numerous mechanical incentives to do so and none not to. This isn't part of character creation since you can't join a society until level 3, but it can be part of ''character concept'' creation. Also, like I said in stats, Voln makes Influence very relevant, so it's worth considering right away. Which society is right for your monk?

'''[[Council of Light]]''':

Mechanically, this society excels at exactly three things:
* Offering [[Sign of Wracking|way, way more mana]] than other societies (with the possible exception of [[empath]]s in Sunfist)
* Offering slightly more UAF and DS than other societies, as it caps out at 35 instead of 30 (Sunfist) or 26 against the living (Voln, but Voln does get 39 UAF against the undead)
* Being the easiest and fastest to master

Neither mana, UAF, nor DS matter to monks other than in the tiniest regard, so if you're interested in CoL, it's probably either for reasons of ease or for roleplaying reasons like the other two options being a no-go based on their lore.

'''[[Guardians of Sunfist]]''':

This society has a bit more mechanical appeal for monks.

Sunfist's sigils (abilities) consume small amounts of [[mana]] and [[stamina]]. Warriors and rogues need their stamina in droves, so they might find Sunfist tricky to work with or build stamina regeneration enhancives because of it. Monks, on the other hand, can already reduce their stamina costs--including sigils--by 20-35% with their [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] spell! They have more freedom to use Sunfist's powerful short-term buffs like [[Sigil of Major Protection|heavy crit padding]] or [[Sigil of Major Bane|heavy crit weighting]] (against sworn enemies) that other professions might find themselves reserving for emergencies or skipping entirely.

Sunfist also features the best [[Sigil of Focus|TD bonus]] of the societies by a small margin and a surprisingly underrated ability to [[Sigil of Determination|ignore penalties from moderate wounds]] for combat purposes.

Sunfist uniquely offers [[Sigil of Location|access]] to [[warcamp]]s, a type of hunting ground suitable for the level of the characters who enter. It's more or less a means to find private hunting grounds for you and/or your friends whenever you wish! Characters not in Sunfist can accomplish something similar via [[Open Sea Adventures]], which explores the same general concept, but that requires millions of silver to buy in to. Warcamp loot is rather poor, but warcamps remain an appealing aspect of Sunfist and can be a helpful alternative to power through level ranges where you might find traditional hunting grounds unappealing.

Sunfist is certainly not the most common societal choice for monks and arguably not the strongest, but it does open unique options and playstyles well worth considering.

'''[[Order of Voln]]''':

This is widely regarded as the mechanical best society for most or possibly all professions.

Like all professions, monks get extreme utility out of Voln's [[Symbol of Seeking|teleportation to hunting grounds]] and [[Symbol of Return|back from them]], as well as [[Symbol of Dreams|swifter recovery from stat loss]] after being resurrected. In battle, Voln offers a way to [[Symbol of Sleep|put foes to sleep]] and a way to [[Symbol of Submission|force undead foes into an offensive stance]], both of which are even better for unarmed combat than other forms of combat. There's also an [[Symbol of Transcendence|emergency button to go noncorporeal]] and avoid death crits. Voln's attack booster, [[Symbol of Courage]], gives slightly less sheer UAF than the other societies; however, it gives three levels' worth of protection against the undead [[sheer fear]] mechanic, which helps when hunting in areas where you might encounter undead more than ten levels higher.

Voln also features two UC-specific abilities in [[Kai's Strike]] and [[Kai's Smite]]. Kai's Smite is its own UC attack that allows you to temporarily turn noncorporeal [[undead]] corporeal. Inflicting physical wounds on things that normally don't have bodies--and usually wear light armor, if any!--is a powerful draw for brawling monks.

Kai's Strike can be a mixed bag. It treats your hands and feet as blessed even when your UC gear isn't. This used to be immensely valuable when undead creatures completely negated attacks from unblessed gear, making it arguably the top reason for a UC monk to join Voln. These days aren't those days, though. As of a few years ago, undead only have 25% resistance to physical attacks from unblessed gear.

The idea of Kai's Strike is removing the pain point of blessings running out mid-hunt. However, it accomplishes that by acting like you're not wearing your unblessed UC gear at all. That means you ignore undead damage resistance, but also don't benefit from your normal gear properties like flares, scripts, or weighting. That tradeoff is probably still a net win for anyone with basic gear, but I'd say it's a net loss for anyone with at least two flares.

The inability to turn off Kai's Strike after learning it has been an unfortunate side effect of the changes to blessings and undead a few years ago. Still, Voln monks can work around it by filling in with their own [[Symbol of Blessing]] until they can track down a cleric for a [[Bless (304)|real blessing]] that lasts longer, has holy water flares, and stops fast-disappearing undead from vanishing as quickly.

Alternatively, adding a single tier of [[Sanctify (330)|Sanctify]] to your gear overrides Kai's Strike. Sanctify takes off 5% resistance per tier, so you'd get 20% resistance while keeping your flares between blesses. While Kai's Strike is something to be aware of and can be tedious (if you self-bless) or cost a little bit (getting one cast of Sanctify), it's not a dealbreaker.

Overall, Voln offers the greatest diversity of mechanically useful abilities for monks.
</div></div>

==Unarmed Combat Primer==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Still figuring out how unarmed combat works? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-unarmedcombat">

Let's go over the unarmed combat system in more detail! If you're familiar with more conventional melee combat, put that knowledge aside--a great deal of it won't apply and might even interfere with understanding!

===Beginner Basics===

JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH are your tools of the trade. What's the difference? Have a look at this table from the unarmed combat system page.

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style = "background:#DDD; color: blue"
!Attack Type
![[Armor|AG]]
!Cloth
!Leather
!Scale
!Chain
!Plate
!Base [[Roundtime|RT]]
!Min [[Roundtime|RT]]
![[Critical table|Damage Type]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Jab]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.100
|.075
|.060
|.050
|.040
|2
|2
|[[Jab critical table (UCS)|Jab]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Punch]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.275
|.250
|.200
|.170
|.140
|3
|3
|[[Punch critical table (UCS)|Punch]]
|-align=center
|'''[[GRAPPLE (verb)|Grapple]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.250
|.200
|.160
|.120
|.100
|3
|3
|[[Grapple critical table (UCS)|Grapple]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Kick]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.400
|.350
|.300
|.250
|.200
|4
|4
|[[Kick critical table (UCS)|Kick]]
|}

The higher the decimal numbers, the stronger the attack, but the lower the RT numbers, the faster the attack. Summarizing these tables:

* '''Jabs''': Weak, but fast.
* '''Punches''': Moderate speed and moderate power.
* '''Grapples''': Moderate speed and moderate power, but less of the latter than punches.
* '''Kicks''': Powerful, but slow (at least by UC standards).

The use case for punches and kicks seems clear, but why jab when it's so weak and why grapple if punches are the same speed with more strength?

One answer that applies to both jabs and grapples is the defining component of unarmed combat: '''positioning'''. There are three positions: Decent, Good, and Excellent. Going up the ladder drastically increases the power of all four attack types. To improve your monk's position, follow the combat prompts as they appear. Here's an example:

You attempt to jab a mezic!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have '''decent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 210 = 1.161 * MM: 85 + d100: 39 = 137
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Fast slap only reddens the cheek.
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Let's take the cue to grapple:

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

As you can see, the followup was significantly more powerful. That's partly because the endroll is higher, partly because grapples are stronger than jabs, and partly because good positioning is much better than decent positioning. Here's one more example, this time going from good to excellent:

You attempt to '''jab''' a mezic!
You exploit the momentum of your previous strike to make a stronger attack against a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 87 + d100: 51 = 146
... and hit for 15 points of damage!
Blow to kidney!
The mezic is stunned!
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

[2 seconds later...]

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''excellent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 106 + d100: 43 = 158
... and hit for 48 points of damage!
Powerful tug pulls right hip, and leg, free of the socket!
A mezic falls to the ground grasping her mangled right leg!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

This time the jab started at good positioning because of Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in the Martial Stances section), but the followup grapple was still far more powerful. Tiering up is crucial!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Setting highlights can help! Since the text prompt is...

Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup [jab/grapple/kick/punch] attack!

...you can either create four highlights for each individual message or create a highlight for Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup, then four more highlights for jab attack! and the others.
</blockquote>

So, in unarmed combat's '''most basic form''' at the lowest levels, the use cases for each attack type are:

* '''Jabs''': Dig for tier up opportunities to get away from decent positioning or even good positioning as quickly as possible.
* '''Punches''': A half-and-half option during good positioning, in which punches have minor potential to kill, but are also reasonably fast at digging for tier up opportunities toward excellent positioning.
* '''Grapples''': Only when needed to tier up.
* '''Kicks''': Deliver a finishing blow during excellent positioning.

In later levels, things like mstrikes, techniques, and flares will throw generalizations out the window and create far stronger cases for jabs and grapples. We'll get into that later, but first let's keep exploring the basics to lay the foundation.

===UAF, UDF, and MM===

If you're used to GemStone's AS-based attacks, you probably noticed how different the combat messaging looks for unarmed combat. You might also have noticed that my monk Sariara hit a creature with higher UDF than her UAF:

You attempt to grapple a mezic!
You have good positioning against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

Let's look at an even more extreme example that doesn't go as well:

You attempt to grapple a spectral shade!
You have good positioning against a spectral shade.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 357 = 0.683 * MM: 85 + d100: 44 = 102
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
The spectral shade shakes off a weak arm grab.

This is why I say you have to ignore what you know about AS-based combat.

UAF isn't completely irrelevant, but the more important numbers are UDF and the '''multiplier modifier''' (MM). While melee weapons, ranged weapons, and bolts calculate endrolls by subtraction and addition, unarmed combat calculates outcomes by division, multiplication, and addition.

What does that mean in practice? Higher lows and lower highs.

It's rare that a monk outright ''couldn't possibly'' hit an enemy creature. Even in my spectral shade example, improving my MM or getting a higher d100 roll could have easily turned that into a powerful hit. On the flip side, since your UAF gets divided by enemy UDF, increasing your UAF additively (e.g. training more ranks of Brawling) means much less than decreasing enemy UDF by the same amount.

The primary means to decrease enemy UDF and increase your MM are generally the same: reducing your foes' stances and decreasing their EBP ability by reducing stats or inflicting conditions like stunning, immobilizing, or blinding them.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Unlike AS-based melee attacks, UC attacks have the same UAF in offensive or defensive stance. Instead, MM is the number that drops so low in defensive that it can even become negative! This used to occasionally trip up Saraphenia's player, who was used to looking at the first number in a typical AS or CS combat equation. Even when you do know what to look for, MM is deep enough into the visible formula that it's often easier to figure out that you're in the wrong stance because everything's failing to hit; that was how I'd take notice and Leafi would tell Phenia to fix up her stance.

Also unlike AS-based melee attacks, lying down not only doesn't reduce your UAF, but also doesn't even reduce your MM! Jabs, grapples, and punches can all be thrown at full power from the ground, so if you're not paying attention, you could be fighting from your back and not even know it! You'd find out once you tried to throw a kick or use an ability such as Twin Hammerfists or Fury, though. Those can't be done from the ground.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Fun Sidebar!'''

Monks and unarmed combat have existed for almost twelve years, but only a single hunting ground--the Atoll, for capped characters--has dared to release ''enemy creatures'' who use UC attacks. Why? Probably because no attainable UDF number can save you if they get to a high MM against you. UC is a dangerous tool in the hands--and feet--of enemy creatures and players alike!
</blockquote>

===Mstrikes===

As you train Multi-Opponent Combat and Brawling (more on that in the Skills section), you'll eventually be able to use mstrikes or weapon techniques. (I'll refer to these as "techniques" from here on. Despite the name, the brawling "weapon techniques" don't require weapons--unless you're thinking of your monk's hands and feet as weapons!) Mstrikes, assault techniques, and Area of Effect (AoE) techniques are your means to fit more attacks into less time.

Covering mstrikes first!

Mstrikes with no target specified, AKA '''unfocused mstrikes''', can attack two opponents in one command at 5 Multi-Opponent combat ranks, then add more opponents at 15, 35, 60, 100, and 155 MOC ranks. Mstrikes with a target specified, AKA '''focused mstrikes''', can attack a single opponent twice in one command at 30 MOC ranks, then add more attacks at 55, 90, 135, and 190.

For unarmed combat only, mstrikes also throw a bonus jab at enemies when you're at decent positioning against them and attacking them for the first time. Once you're into good positioning, mstrikes either use an attack type that you specify (e.g. MSTRIKE KICK) or, if you have an opportunity to tier up, your mstrike will switch to the appropriate type as needed. At decent positioning, mstrike will always jab (bonus or otherwise) until it finds a tier up.

Mstrikes ''sort of'' have a cooldown after use, which is 15-20 seconds or so (depending on training). When on "cooldown," you ''can'' still mstrike, but they'll consume a good chunk of stamina. (I can't give an exact number because it depends on how many hits are in your mstrike and which attack types are used.) When not on cooldown, mstrikes cost no stamina! Focused and unfocused mstrikes share the same cooldown timer.

Mstrike RT is frontloaded into a single burst and all attacks fire off at once. How much RT depends on the number of attacks and which attack types, but it'll be more attacks per RT than throwing single strikes would have been. However, be aware that it can reach times of 8 seconds or more early in a monk's life, especially if you're a low Agidex race or have made a hard push for high MOC ranks to have more attacks early! As an odd quirk, encumbrance doesn't increase mstrike RT. With high enough Agidex, you can eventually get even the top end of mstrikes down to 5 RT.

===Fury and Clash===

The unarmed combat assault technique is '''[[Fury]]''', which you learn with 25 ranks of Brawling (level 11). It attacks a single foe twice at 10 ranks of MOC, then adds one more attack at 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. There's no bonus jab, however. Like with mstrikes, you can specify an attack type (e.g. WEAPON FURY GRAPPLE) and, at good positioning or better, Fury will do what you said or switch as needed for a tier up. At decent positioning, Fury will only jab until it finds the tier up. Using Fury also grants the monk and their party members a +10 Constitution effect for two minutes after being used, though it's not a major selling point.

The AoE unarmed combat technique is '''[[Clash]]''', which you learn with 50 ranks of Brawling (level 23). It begins with three foes, then adds one more at the same thresholds as Fury: 10, 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. Like Fury, Clash doesn't include a bonus jab. At good positioning or better, it uses your specified UC attack type or switches to the appropriate tier up type; however, since Clash only throws one attack per creature, a tier up opportunity would have needed to exist ''before'' Clash was used. (Fury and mstrikes, on the other hand, can find tier up opportunities ''and'' seize on them within their own self-contained string of attacks.) At decent positioning, Clash can only throw jabs.

Techniques cost a small, flat amount of stamina (15 for Fury and 20 for Clash), then enter a cooldown period of 15-20 seconds or so )(depending on training). Unlike mstrikes, Fury and Clash can't be used while they're on cooldown. They do have separate cooldown timers, so you can alternate between them.

However, you can't alternate mstrikes with Fury and Clash. Using an mstrike locks you out of Fury and Clash for 60 seconds. On the flip side, you ''can'' use an mstrike right after Fury or Clash if needed, but those techniques activate the mstrike cooldown, so it'll cost stamina. All of this is because former GM Naijin, the creator of techniques, didn't intend for players to insert mstrikes into their rotation as a means to dodge around technique cooldowns. For this reason, many players pick whichever they prefer out of mstrikes or assault and AoE weapon techniques and ignore the other. (I use both, though, as I explain in the Training Plan section!)

RT-wise, much like mstrikes, Fury and Clash are difficult to nail down exact numbers on. However, they both seem to have lower max RT (unless encumbered; encumbrance affects techniques) and Fury definitely has lower minimum RT. Fury divides its RT over individual strikes instead of all at once. For example, if Fury has 5 RT worth of attacks, enough MOC to strike three times, and a certain amount of Agidex (again, difficult to pin down an exact amount), it'll execute them as 2 RT, 2 RT, and 1 RT.

Compared to focused mstrikes, Fury's structure has upsides and downsides. One upside is that you'll have less RT overall if the early rounds kill the creature. Another is that if an emergency comes up mid-Fury, you can interrupt your own attack to leave the room, cast a spell, disable a different foe, etc. On the other hand, enemy creatures can ''also'' interrupt your Fury by leaving the room, stunning you mid-Fury, etc. It's also less likely that your target will be dead as soon your command gets sent to the server since attacks don't happen all at once.

===Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick===

The other two UC techniques are '''[[Twin Hammerfists]]''' and '''[[Spin Kick]]''', respectively learned at 10 and 75 ranks of Brawling (level 3 and 36 (or level 35 if you use your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling)). Unlike Fury and Clash, using mstrikes won't lock you out of them.

Twin Hammerfists is an [[Standard_maneuver_roll|Standard Maneuver Roll (SMR)]] style attack and an incredible setup that tries to knock down the foe, put it in RT, stun it, and add the [[Vulnerable]] status condition--all in one technique! At only 2 RT and 7 stamina, it's a staple that can serve monks well from level 4 onward and potentially even for the rest of their lives.

Spin Kick is a reaction technique--a retaliation maneuver--that can kick a foe after your monk evades an attack. It has 2 RT, costs no stamina, and can even be used while in RT, so it can save you in a tough situation. Like Twin Hammerfists, it's an SMR-based attack. Unlike Twin Hammerfists, Spin Kick isn't a setup; it has real killing power if it rolls high. Spin Kick performs best against enemies with poor maneuver defense, like lumbering tanky creatures or magic users, and performs worst against enemies with excellent maneuver defense, like speedy four-legged animals or creatures patterned after warriors.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If highlighting tier up opportunities goes well for you, then You could use this opportunity to Spin Kick! is another message to consider highlighting from level 35-36 on!
</blockquote>

===Beyond Basics: Synchronizing Everything===

So far, I've written this unarmed combat primer as if players have no gear and hunting is universally optimized by killing creatures as quickly as possible. In these contexts, obviously punches and kicks seem great, jabs and grapples might seem like something we do only out of necessity for tiering up, and Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick might seem like more style than substance.

However, players do have gear and sometimes going on the all-out offensive is more likely to get players killed than their enemies, so let's put everything together into a cohesive whole.

Flaring gear gets better the faster the attack--and there are a wide variety of flares available these days! Most people will never reach a double digit number of possible flares per attack (though it is possible), but two to six possible flares per attack are shockingly easy to get hold of these days via the traditional ability slot ("flare slot"), script slot, and some help from clerics, paladins, rogues, or sorcerers in giving holy water/fire, Battle Standards, Poisoncraft, or Ensorcell respectively.

Here's an example of a Twin Hammerfists firing off three flares:

Sariara raises her hands high, laces them together and brings them crashing down towards the crimson angargeist
[SMR result: 316 (Open d100: 89, Bonus: 107)]
Perfectly executed strike to the crimson angargeist's back! It staggers!
The attack exposes a vulnerability in a roiling crimson angargeist's defenses!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps emit a searing bolt of lightning! **
... 20 points of damage!
Hard shot to the crimson angargeist's back sends it drifting forward!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps spray forth a shower of pure water! **
... 60 points of damage!
Incredible strike to the crimson angargeist's back smashes through the chest!
Too bad it melts back together.
Riotous ivory-haloed scarlet energy races along the surface of the handwraps, slender tendrils rising up to coalesce into the ethereal form of a keen-eyed owl.

** Talons extended and wings flared, a keen-eyed ethereal owl dives down with an ear-piercing hoot as a flock of wispy ivory-haloed scarlet owls roil forth in an angry torrent! **

... 30 points of damage!
Strong strike splits the belly open, revealing ghostly organs.
Haggis anyone?

The odds of all three flares coming together is only 0.8%, so this is an outlier that I might only see every one or two hunts, but it's a great illustration because of the particulars.

First of all, this is a level 110 creature, so I did mean it when I said Twin Hammerfists can be good through a monk's entire life. That's the least interesting thing to say here, though.

The flares did 110 damage and would have done 160-210 if I were finished upgrading to holy fire instead of holy water.

Angargeists are non-corporeal undead. Normally Kai's Smite would be extremely helpful since the holy water flare here was strong enough to kill corporeal undead, but with this specific creature, even turning it corporeal doesn't allow for one-shotting it; you have to take out its entire health pool.

2 RT attacks like jabs, Twin Hammerfists, and Spin Kick shine when a high number of possible flares makes both your average attacks and outlier attacks significantly stronger. That much is true whether the creature you're fighting can be crit killed or not. However, since the natural strength of UC is crit killing, the extra damage from flares becomes even more important against those uncrittable creatures.

Speaking of uncrittable creatures or creatures you're otherwise unlikely to get through in just a few commands, another thing not yet covered is that grapples [[Grapple_critical_table_(UCS)|are significantly better at inflicting RT or Slowed status effects]] on foes than punches. This can be really helpful as a means to buy time while tiering up to excellent positioning, sacrificing minor amounts of health damage (compared to punches) in exchange for delaying creature actions.

Here's a more nuanced look at the unarmed combat core attack types than before:

'''Jabs''':
* The fastest repeatable means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Twin Hammerfists is just as fast, but can't hit a foe who's already downed, so it's not repeatable.)
* The fastest means of tiering up with single strikes.
* Poor at excellent positioning since they have no killing power unless you have a high number of flares to fish for.
* Poor as the specified command of a Fury or mstrike since they have little or (usually) no speed advantage over the other commands in that case.

'''Punches''':
* A mix of killing power and speed that makes for the best general purpose good positioning single strike in a vacuum. A high number of flares can bring jabs above them, however.
* The best aimed attack at excellent positioning. I'm not particularly a fan of aimed UC attacks for reasons we'll delve into later, but it is there.
* Poor against uncrittable creatures, where specializing in either speed, power, or disabling is better than being a generalist.
* Poor as the specified command of an unfocused mstrike or Clash since it's unlikely to kill, is much less likely to slow foes down than grapples, and has little to no speed advantage over kicks in that case.

'''Grapples''':
* A mix of disabling power and speed that makes for the best means of stalling out hordes or individual uncrittable creatures that need to be whittled down while still allowing for tier up opportunities. (Twin Hammerfists and some combat maneuvers are more reliable at disabling, but can't help tier up.)
* Good against individual threatening creatures that need to be slowed down.
* Poor at excellent positioning, where disabling has less merit and killing power is more easily achieved with more strength.
* Poor at good positioning against unthreatening creatures since disabling has no merit in that case.

'''Kicks''':
* The best finishing blow at excellent positioning per hit.
* The highest damage output per hit.
* Poor as a means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Used during a Fury or mstrike, however, it can be either almost as fast or exactly as fast as the other commands.)
* Poor at tiering up with single strikes. (Same as above.)

In short, pick the right tool for the right job. They can all be the right tool at times!

===Macros and Aliases===

If you're playing even somewhat manually, I recommend creating [[Lich:Script_Alias|aliases]] (if using [[Lich:Software|Lich]]) or [[Macro|macros]] (if not) for the various unarmed combat attacks. Most specifically:

* Jab
* Grapple
* Punch
* Kick
* Weapon Twinhammer
* Weapon Fury [Grapple/Punch/Kick (depending on your level, training, specialization, and preference)]
* Weapon Spinkick
* Mstrike Grapple
* Mstrike Punch
* Mstrike Kick
* Mstrike Grapple Target
* Mstrike Punch Target
* Mstrike Kick Target

For macros, this just means tying each one you care about to a single key press. You can configure them in Options -> Macros if using [[Wrayth]].

For Lich aliases, I've set mine as jj for jab, gg for grapple, pp for punch, kk for kick, twin for Twin Hammerfists, utf for Fury Grapple (stands for "unarmed technique Fury"), uts for Spin Kick, mg for mstrike grapple, mp for mstrike punch, and mk for mstrike kick. I could create things like an mkt alias for mstrike kick target if I wanted, but in that case I just type out "mk target" or "mk [target noun]."
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Skills==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-skillsplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering how to train your monk's skills? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-skillsplan">

===Core Skills===

These are skills you consistently train with little to no deviation.

* '''[[Brawling]]''': Max every level.
* '''[[Physical Fitness]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more stamina early on.
* '''[[Dodging]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more DS early on.
* '''[[Perception]]''': Once per level.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Before level 20, you can flip your skills around any time and into any configuration. The game will adjust to your new training plan within a few minutes at most. I recommend taking advantage of this early period to experiment and find what you like! The above core skills cost little, so you'll have a lot of leeway to decide what to do with skills mentioned in the following sections.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #1: Combat Maneuvers as Core Skills?'''

Many players would probably consider Combat Maneuvers a core skill. I sort of agree in the sense that I'd say ''roughly'' 1x minimum is mandatory and you'll almost certainly want far more than that early on. However, philosophically, I don't consider CM in the same category as Brawling, Physical Fitness, Dodging, and Perception. All of those are inexpensive and offer noticeable incremental value with every rank, but 2x Combat Maneuvers has more opportunity cost and the skill provides value at discrete breakpoints. That's why it's in the Breakpoint Skills section below!
</blockquote>

===Breakpoint Skills===

Train these skills to specific thresholds because most have little to no merit for the in-between ranks.

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]]''': One rank gives 5 extra DS to barehanded monks, so it can be worth picking up early. Getting additional DS via TWC is slow (+1 per 10 ranks, plus a +10 bump at 0.5x level) and not worth prioritizing until much later, after maxing Dodging.
* '''[[Combat Maneuvers]]''': Train at least 1x--probably much more than that early on--but be intentional and reach benchmarks of Combat Maneuver Points to learn new maneuvers. (Which maneuvers? See the Combat Maneuvers section later or even jump to the tl;dr Recap section!) The UAF bonus from CM ranks isn't that important on its own, so learning new maneuvers is the focus. After getting your core maneuvers, you can push CM to 2x, but it's also reasonable to prioritize other things like getting more spells sooner or getting 3x Dodging sooner, especially if you're going self-spelled. Up to you!
* '''[[Multi-Opponent Combat]]''': Before cap, the good mstriking breakpoints are 5, 15, 30, 35, 55, 60, and ''possibly'' 90 or 100. The good technique breakpoints are 10, 24, 50, and ''possibly'' 100. If you're using mstrikes and techniques, then use both sets of breakpoints. (See the sidebars at the end of this section!)
* '''[[Harness Power]]''': Ten to twenty ranks early will be extremely helpful, giving respectively +60 or +110 mana, but I like waiting until the midgame or late game to go past twenty.
* '''[[Minor Mental]] up to 13 or 16 ranks''': The major early benchmarks are [[Iron Skin (1202)|Iron Skin]] at 2 ranks, [[Foresight (1204)|Foresight]] at 4 ranks, [[Force Projection (1207)|Force Projection]], [[Mindward (1208)|Mindward]] at 8 ranks, [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] at 9 ranks, and the [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] focus spell at 13 ranks. Beyond that, [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] at 14 ranks is good, though I'm not quite as high on it as many players since evasions come before parrying in the order of operations. The [[Focus Barrier (1216)|Focus Barrier]] focus spell is also a good stopping point if you prefer more DS--or at least the option of it--over Mind Over Body's stamina cost reduction. You can ease up on Minor Mental training for a while after the focus spells.
* '''[[Mental Lore, Telepathy|Telepathy]] or [[Mental Lore, Transformation|Transformation]] lore''': To prioritize more offense, pick up Telepathy lore at thresholds of 6, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for extra stamina cost reduction in Mind Over Body. To prioritize more defense, pick up Transformation lore at thresholds of 5, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for improved resilience in Iron Skin. To prioritize giving others [[Mystic Tattoo]]s, the first 30 to 40 ranks of Telepathy can rocket your skill up. You can also diversify! For more on lores, see the Secret Sauce of Lores section.
* '''[[Climbing]] and [[Swimming]]''': 10 ranks of each suffice for most places before the mid levels. Specific areas can change priorities, like the Icemule mountains or the Landing monastery. You'll generally know if you need more Climbing or Swimming, though. At cap, 60 ranks handle basically everything, but eventually 101 helps when you need to leave a hunting ground while encumbered.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #2: Mstrikes and Techniques are a Contextual Preference!'''

Why anyone would train to account for the mstrike MOC thresholds ''and'' the technique MOC thresholds is a good question since mstrikes lock out Fury and Clash for 60 seconds, but I find value in mstrikes and Fury depending on the situation.

My monk, Sariara, preferred Fury in most hunts while leveling, which mostly feature one-on-one combat. Fury scales up more quickly than focused mstrikes in the early game, firing off two attacks by 10 MOC and three attacks by 24 MOC while focused mstrikes don't even get started until 30 MOC. Fury also has excellent synergy with Grapple Specialization, which I'll discuss in the Offensive Specialization section.

However, Clash is a very weak AoE technique compared to unfocused mstrikes. Mstrikes' bonus jab allows double the number of attacks for the first engagement with the enemy, which means more tier up opportunities and more flare opportunities. During hunts that feature a lot of swarms, she would use focused mstrikes for single targets, even though they're slightly weaker than Fury because of her Grapple Specialization, since that left the unfocused mstrike option open for battling hordes.

Your MOC training plan doesn't need to assume that mstrikes or techniques are either/or!
</blockquote>

===Niche Skills===

Niche isn't a bad thing and several of these skills can be prioritized over breakpoint skills. Just make sure you're training with a plan and a purpose!

* '''[[Spiritual Mana Control]] and [[Mental Mana Control]]''': Harness Power gives much better mana improvement in a vacuum, so leave these alone until the late game ''unless'' you're surrounded by friends or alts who can send mana. In that case, tailor your SMC and MMC for sharing breakpoints. (See the tip below!)
* '''[[First Aid]]''': Helps with skinning and [[Mystic Tattoos]], though only barely in the latter case. I recommend it during the first 19 levels, which you can read about in the Trade Secrets section. From level 20 on, train First Aid if you want skinning bounties and avoid it if you don't.
* '''[[Trading]]''': Monks get immense value out of at least the first 20 ranks, especially in the early game, assuming you can't hit loot cap without it. See the Trade Secrets section!
* '''[[Survival]]''': Helps with skinning, but it's more expensive than First Aid. Slightly reduces duration of stuns, but monks don't get stunned very often. Like First Aid, I recommend it during the first 19 levels. Afterward, train it only if you want to excel at skinning bounties ''and'' have already trained First Aid.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Let's talk mana sharing breakpoints!

5 Spiritual Mana Control shares perfectly with capped [[cleric]]s who have maxed SMC.

7 SMC or Mental Mana Control shares perfectly with capped clerics who only have 2x SMC or capped [[empath]]s and [[sorcerer]]s who maxed the respective mana control.

10 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with capped [[bard]]s, [[paladin]]s, or [[ranger]]s with maxed mana control of that type or capped clerics, empaths, and sorcerers who only have 1x of that mana control.

24 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with anybody else who has 24 or more mana control of that type.

Just remember: 5, 7, 10, 24!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If you're at 24 mana control, consider going to 25! This unlocks [[Multicast|multicasting]], the ability to cast a buff spell twice in one cast. For self-cast spells, that'll take you to full duration in 3 RT instead of 6, which is nice quality of life!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #3: The Skinning Deluxe Special!'''

The [[Adventurer's Guild]] bounty system won't assign skinning bounties unless you have at least half your level in First Aid and Survival combined. For example, a level 20 character with 8 First Aid and 2 Survival is eligible for skinning bounties.

Some players purposely remain below the threshold because skinning bounties have comparatively low exp payouts. Other players lean into training these skills because adding skinning into their pool of bounty types reduces the odds of getting other types like escorts or gems that they might want to avoid.

Experience points paid out by skinning bounties depend on the quality of skins the furrier asks for; in turn, the range of qualities the furrier can ask for depends on your skill. It's a double-edged sword! If you keep your skinning ability low, the furrier will only ask for fair quality skins and it'll be relatively easy to complete, but the exp reward will always be 600. If you heavily push your skinning ability, the furrier can (but won't always) ask for fine or exceptional skins. These pay out 650 or 700 exp, but will be more difficult to complete.

What ''isn't'' a double-edged sword is that the skinning ''bounty point'' payout only depends on the quality and value of the skins sold to the furrier, regardless of what they asked for. The bounty point part of your reward can still be top notch if you sell magnificent skins.
</blockquote>

===Midgame and Later Skills===

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]] at half your level''': After you're finished with 3x Dodging, getting 10 extra DS by bumping TWC from one rank to half your level is a reasonable idea if you're still not feeling hardy enough.
* '''[[Minor Spiritual]] up to 2 or 7 ranks''': I'd ignore this for quite a long time, other than maybe picking up [[Spirit Barrier (102)|Spirit Barrier]] in the midgame. It's very easy to get most Minor Spiritual buffs from the [[Half-elven_invoker|invoker]] if you're a premium subscriber or from other players since so many professions learn it. ([[Lesser Shroud (120)|Lesser Shroud]] is a self-cast-only Minor Spiritual buff, but that's all the way at 20 ranks.) If you don't want to rely on the invoker or others, I'd say learn [[Spirit Warding II (107)|Spirit Warding II]] at 7 ranks somewhere in the midgame, then hold off until the late game.
* '''Minor Mental up to 20 or 25 ranks''': [[Premonition (1220)|Premonition]] gives extra DS at 20 ranks, but, training point-wise, fully maxing Dodging first is more efficient. Other compelling reasons to push Minor Mental are [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and maybe [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] at 19 and 25 ranks, which are CS-based disablers that benefit from training more ranks. You need to find low TD targets, though.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #4: The Spirit Barrier Irony!'''

Like I keep saying, pushing your UAF higher is more luxury than necessity--but that means the opposite is also true! ''Lowering'' your UAF in exchange for increasing your DS via Spirit Barrier isn't nearly as damaging to unarmed combat as for melee weapons. Whether you want to trade UAF for DS depends on your playstyle, preferences, and hunting grounds, but monks aren't like (weapon-using) rangers who would find trading ''AS'' for DS completely untenable. This spell can be worth a second look!
</blockquote>

===Post-Cap Skills===

Eventually you can train everything if you play long enough, but here are some considerations for what to prioritize if or when you reach post-cap.

'''[[Edged Weapons]]''':

There's merit to diversifying your offense eventually! Training edged weapons allows monks to use [[katar]]s, which are fast and powerful melee weapons. While unarmed combat can defeat basically everything and is usually fairly even with or advantaged over weapon-based combat in most situations, that's not universally true. AS-based attacks can blow UAF-based attacks out of the water in scenarios against creatures who can't be crit killed while also having any combination out of very low DS, very high health, and high level, the latter of which makes it harder to tier up. Edged Weapons training also opens up the possibility of using the very powerful [[Hamstring]]. If you want to do this, I highly recommend also maxing Two Weapon Combat.

'''[[Ranged Weapons]]''':

Archery is another possibility for diversifying. Unlike with katars, AS-based ''ranged'' attacks don't necessarily add much when you already know how to use UC, but [[Volley]] is an exceptional crowd control tool that does AoE damage over time. Monks aren't exactly ''poor'' at crowd control--they have a high target limit, [[Bull Rush]], and potentially Vertigo against low TD targets--but adding Volley can really up their game to excel at it.

'''[[Magic Item Use]]''':

Supplementing DS with [[small statue]]s is eventually a good idea for every profession and MIU bolsters their duration. (As a historical note, MIU is also among the most cost-efficient means to improve protection against [[spellburst]] in areas like Old Ta'Faendryl, the Ruined Temple, or the Sanctum of Scales. However, that's largely immaterial these days. [[Spell sever]] has supplanted spellburst in newer capped hunting grounds like the Hinterwilds, Moonsedge Castle, and the Hive--and, although these are technically Ascension grounds aimed at far post-cap characters, monks are able to do well in them long before other professions, including even at fresh cap, due to the unique qualities of unarmed combat.)

'''Minor Spiritual up to 20 or 40 ranks''':

Eventually the spiritual TD from Lesser Shroud will be important, likely closer to cap. It'll become apparent enough when that's the case! Going beyond 20 Minor Spiritual to potentially learn [[Spirit Guide (130)|Spirit Guide]] or [[Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] at 30 or 40 ranks is an option for post-cap monks. My first monk Tarine did learn those two spells, but I'm fairly certain that my second monk Sariara never will. Voln already offers a fine substitute for fogging, Wall of Force isn't what it used to be when it had no cooldown, and having fewer spell ranks means more redux.

'''Minor Mental up to 48 or 50 ranks (or beyond)''':

Working on Minor Mental is primarily for slightly improving DS, slightly improving mental TD, and improving mental CS if you cast Vertigo or even [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] and [[Thought Lash (1210)|Thought Lash]]. 48 Minor Mental ranks max out defensive benefits from Minor Mental spells. 50 ranks unlocks a few fancy Shroud of Deception options. Pushing beyond 50 would mainly be for the CS spells if you really like them, but they're more for hunting things like bandits and pirates or just messing around than for casting in "real" hunting grounds.

<blockquote>
'''Redux Sidenote!'''

Even if you do want 50 Minor Spiritual and 40 Minor Mental, you can still reach 25% redux--a great threshold--by training a second weapon type and maxing Physical Fitness and Dodging.
</blockquote>

For the extreme post-cap, namely training Ascension skills, see the Ascension section toward the end of this guide. [[Transcend Destiny]] in particular, which released a few months after the first iteration of this guide, can be a gamechanger for players who put in enough hours to potentially make use of it. I'll elaborate further there.

===Secret Sauce of Lores===

This section contains tables to visualize lore thresholds.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Telepathy Ranks'''||0||6||'''15'''||'''30'''||80||150
|-
||'''Mind Over Body Stamina Reduction'''||20%||25%||'''30%'''||'''35%'''||40%||45%
|}

'''Green''': The 30% and 35% marks are good stopping points for most monks! Consider this: if an ability normally costs 20 stamina, then another 5% reduction only saves 1 stamina.

Aside from Mind Over Body, a couple of Telepathy's more minor claims to fame for monks include:

* 25 ranks allow [[Soothing Word (1201)|Soothing Word]] to remove sheer fear and grant 30 seconds of immunity to it
* 15, 45, and 90 ranks improve the spawn rate of [[Provoke (1235)|Provoke]]

You can work around sheer fear in other ways by being in Voln or getting your robes sanctified, but the Soothing Word option exists.

Provoke is an interesting niche, but not a major selling point in my eyes. Training 35 Minor Mental ranks asks a ton pre-cap and Provoke becomes less effective the more people are hunting in an area. Most capped hunting grounds are either very crowded, so Provoke does little, or they're not crowded because they're extremely dangerous, which makes Provoke a bad idea.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Iron Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 2'''||'''Level 5'''||'''Level 15'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||'''Full leather'''||'''Reinforced leather'''||Double leather||Leather breastplate||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather
|-
||5 Transformation||||Double leather||'''Leather breastplate'''||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine
|-
||15 Transformation||||||Cuirbouilli leather||'''Studded leather'''||'''Brigandine'''||'''Chain mail'''
|-
||30 Transformation||||||||Brigandine||'''Chain mail'''||'''Double chain'''
|-
||50 Transformation||||||||||Double chain||Augmented chain
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||||||||Chain hauberk
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||||||||Metal breastplate
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||||||||Augmented breastplate
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||||||||Half plate
|}

'''Blue''': You'll need heavy help from enhancives and/or Ascension to reach 105 or more Transformation lore. (If you can do it, it ''is'' amazing and I recommend it highly for a magical monk--I'd consider it less important for a Kroderine Soul monk, who already has enormous redux--but that won't be the majority of my readers.)

'''Pink''': My recommendations for which levels to meet which Iron Skin thresholds if you're undecided. You have more leeway at level 50 on to push lores higher, so I've highlighted two rows each for those, but maxing or near-maxing lores before then has a very heavy training point opportunity cost.

Iron Skin aside, Transformation lore improves [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] and [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] as follows. After the first row, the cells are only filled in if the spell's effect has improved over the previous breakpoint.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||'''Dragonclaw UAF Bonus'''||'''Brace Disarm Rate'''
|-
||0||10||25%
|-
||1||11||
|-
||3||12||27%
|-
||6||13||
|-
||7||||29%
|-
||10||14||
|-
||12||||31%
|-
||15||15||
|-
||18||||33%
|-
||21||16||
|-
||25||||35%
|-
||28||17||
|-
||33||||37%
|-
||36||18||
|-
||42||||39%
|-
||45||19||
|-
||52||||41%
|-
||55||20||
|-
||63||||43%
|-
||66||21||
|-
||75||||45%
|-
||78||22||
|-
||88||||47%
|-
||91||23||
|}

It does continue past there if you wish to use Ascension or enhancives. As ever, slightly increasing UAF doesn't make a huge difference. Brace, on the other hand, can be impactful ''if'' you're getting hit by physical attacks. I wouldn't go out of my way to push Transformation for Brace alone, but if you're already at 15 or 30 ranks for Iron Skin, pushing to 18 or 33 for Brace can be a nice bump for minimal training point costs. 36 is also a great stopping point on Transformation for reasons we'll look at in the Meditation Resistance section.

===Illustrative Training Snapshots===

For illustration and discussion purposes, here's what my most recent monk Sariara has looked like at '''various level thresholds'''--or, in the case of level 30, what she ''should'' have looked like since I was messing around experimenting and pushing beyond the boundaries of reasonability.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Level 20'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 40'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 60'''||'''Level 70'''||'''Level 80'''||'''Level 90'''||'''Level 100 (fresh)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||24||48||74||100||114||134||134||144||144
|-
||'''Brawling'''||44||65||85||105||125||149||165||187||207
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||24||35||55||55||55||55||55||60||100
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||44||64||84||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||44||64||125||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||10||10||10||10||20||20||38||92||101
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||15||15||15||15||15||15||15||15
|-
||'''Perception'''||20||30||40||50||60||72||82||92||101
|-
||'''Climbing'''||10||10||10||20||20||40||40||60||60
|-
||'''Swimming'''||10||10||10||10||10||10||40||0||0
|-
||'''First Aid'''||20||30||20||25||30||35||40||42||42
|-
||'''Trading'''||40||43||42||48||60||72||83||95||167
|-
||'''Minor Spiritual'''||0||0||0||0||3||3||20||20||20
|-
||'''Minor Mental'''||12||13||14||16||20||20||20||20||20
|-
||'''(spare TPs)'''||3/0||86/0||11/0||2/0||34/0||306/128||2/0||192/0||114/0
|}

Let's break down some of the more unusual things you might notice!

I could have done the one rank of '''Two Weapon Combat''' much sooner, but didn't particularly feel the need for the quick DS.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' are definitely where I diverge from most players and you can tell how little I think of any perceived need for maxing them. Like I said, I aimed for specific thresholds. 3 Rolling Krynch Stance and 2 Grapple Specialization at level 20 sufficed to power through the simplest early creatures. Adding 3 Bearhug, 2 Feint, and another rank of Grapple Spec by level 30, then one rank each of Grapple Spec, Bearhug, Feint, and Evade Specialization by level 40, provided new options in the toolkit. Creatures with particularly good UDF made for good Bearhug fodder as an alternate attack method or Feint fodder to drop that UDF if it primarily came from stance instead of spells.

By level 50, Saria started catching up on Combat Maneuvers since she had finished Physical Fitness and Dodging by then, so she finished Bearhug and picked up Combat Mobility. However, by level 60, she'd maxed Evade Specialization and then largely coasted with an average of only 0.75 more Combat Maneuvers ranks per level until cap, picking up 4 Coup de Grace and finishing Grapple Spec. (Not shown in this table--maybe one day!--is that finishing CM ''is'' her second post-cap goal, finally; it's currently at 190 as she approaches 8.6m experience.)

Max '''Brawling''', obviously; I stuck one Ascension Training Point into it at level 25 to have Spin Kick one level in advance.

'''Physical Fitness and Dodging''' are more important than they used to be since spell sever areas are around even by the mid-50s, so I pushed to have them relatively early compared to some monks' training plans. (I actually turned up bounty difficulty and had Saria hunting spell sever by level 45!) The extra stamina and redux didn't hurt either.

I took a little bit of early '''Harness Power''', then slacked off for a while, then finally only began pushing it in the late game as an efficient way to wear more spells in ''spellburst'' hunting grounds, which she started on by level 85 (hence the huge jump from level 80 to 90). This table only shows up to fresh cap, but later in the guide, in the Ascension section, I'll show a "final build" where she drops Harness Power to 40; as she moved out of spellburst areas and into spell sever areas, the extra mana became frivolous.

I started '''First Aid''' relatively high, then it went backwards--but still high enough to get skinning bounties--as she grew out of level ranges with lucrative skins. 42 became the stopping point because it was the final 0.5x mark before level 85, when she moved to a hunting ground that had no skins. She eventually picked it back up post-cap, but the table only shows up to fresh 100.

'''Swimming and Climbing''' are skills that you might not need at fresh cap if you intend to stick to a specific hunting ground for a long time. I dropped Swimming since the Sanctum doesn't have any water and the only swimming in the Hinterwilds can be bypassed with Water Walking or Symbol of Return (among other options), but hunters of the Atoll, Ruined Temple, or Sailor's Grief would want it. Conversely, I kept Climbing because the Sanctum has a pretty tough check, but various other hunting grounds don't. For where Saria's currently at long after the initial publication of this guide, she could actually skip both Swimming and Climbing, but I keep them just in case.

Saria heavily pushed '''Trading''' early on for reasons that I explain in the Sneaky Monk Merchants section, but then let it slow down to more like a 1x pace until cap, when it became her first post-cap goal to finish. (The level where it goes backward a rank is because natural Influence growth had compensated. And later game changes in early 2026 made me untrain Trading entirely, but more on that later in this guide in the Ascension section.) Similar story for '''Minor Mental''', which came out of the gate fast, then inched to 20 at level 60 and stayed there.

Level 30 and 100 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the next '''Multi Opponent Combat''' thresholds while level 70 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the 20 '''Minor Spiritual''' threshold after noticing I could have it at level 76. I ultimately jumped from 3 ranks straight to 20 because I didn't care about any of the in-between spells, so might as well preserve higher redux until then.

If you're interested in a training snapshot far post-cap, see further below in the Ascension section!
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Exclusive Choices==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-choicesplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Looking for information about combat maneuver decisions and their opportunity costs, plus meditation resistance? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-choicesplan">

===Meditation Resistance===

One neat monk perk I haven't mentioned yet is that their [[Verb:MEDITATE#Damage_Resistance|MEDITATE verb]] allows them to gain resistance to one selected damage type! It offers 10% resistance to start, then improves at these thresholds:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||0||1||3||6||10||'''15'''||21||28||'''36'''||45||55||66||78||91
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||10%||12%||14%||16%||18%||'''20%'''||22%||24%||'''26%'''||28%||30%||32%||34%||36%
|}

And if you decide to go ham post-cap with Ascension and enhancives:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||105||120||136||153||171||190
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||38%||40%||42%||44%||46%||48%
|}

I've highlighted 15 and 36 Transformation because 20% and 26% (translation: "25% or more") are extremely notable benchmarks. I ''could'' fully elaborate, but people who aren't Whirlin and me would probably get bored to tears by the rows and charts I'd need to detail the math on the hidden Damage Severity Weighting mechanics, how they translate to GSIV's crit system, and how it relates to order of operations with redux and crit padding.

Suffice it to say this:

Because of rounding and the nature of GSIV crits, it wouldn't be merely ''underestimating'' 20% and 25% resistance to say that they're twice as effective or two and a half times as effective as 10% resistance, but ''completely off base'' by orders of magnitude. The upgrade is huge.

That said, which damage type should you resist? You can change your type any time, but these jump out:

* '''Cold''': Useful for Icemule-based hunting at various levels.
* '''Crush''': A very common damage type, like all physical damage types. Particularly helpful for gigantic creatures that fall on you as they die.
* '''Electrical''': The most lethal damage type, albeit somewhat rare. If you're hunting creatures that use it, though, protect yourself!
* '''Fire''': Useful for Teras Isle, among other specific areas.
* '''Impact''': Great against various rock-themed creatures or shield-using creatures, among some others.
* '''Puncture''': Another common physical damage type. Very deadly if it hits the eyes even on a fairly tame enemy attack, so 20% or 25% resistance will help immensely.
* '''Slash''': The last of the common physical damage types. Probably the least impressive in a vacuum, but it ''is'' very common.

Of course, what you should use depends on the hunting ground. If your monk is in a place where everything spews Acid or uses Disruption spells, then meditate to resist those!

The only damage types I'd generally advocate against are Grapple and Unbalance, which are fairly unique. They cause minimal wounds compared to other damage types, but even weak hits frequently knock you down--and resistance doesn't stop that aspect. Still, if you're in a hunting ground replete with Grapple or Unbalance effects, resisting them might save you rounds of stun, so anything's worth considering in the right context.

===Offensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Grapple Specialization]], [[Kick Specialization]], and [[Punch Specialization]], which each improve their respective attacks, but which is right for you? I'll write about each one as if it's maxed, but during the earliest levels, these ramp up by gaining 20% of their max effectiveness per rank.

'''Grapple Specialization''':

* Deals bonus heavy grapple damage before each round of [[Fury]] against non-prone foes, which knocks them down and inflicts Vulnerable. "Before" is the key word since that means foes are already down as your UAF attack connects, which can improve MM and/or save you time of not needing to lead with Twin Hammerfists.
* Against creatures that are immune to being knocked down, every hit of Fury racks up additional damage since the foe is never prone.
* If you love Fury or hate setups, this could be the specialization for you!
* In a vacuum, grapples aren't ideal when not using Fury nor mstrikes since they have the same speed as punches, but are less likely to have killing power at good positioning than punches or especially kicks.
* Grapple Specialization has little to offer if you exclusively use mstrikes. "Exclusively" is the key word this time. If you use Fury sometimes and mstrikes other times, like me, then Grapple Specialization pays off!

'''Kick Specialization''':

* Turns your [[Spin Kick]] into two Spin Kicks!
* Many a monk has happily shared tales of being stuck in 20 seconds of RT only for [[Combat Mobility]] to stand them up, then they go on to dodge everything and double Spin Kick a room of foes to death before even getting out of RT. It's great fun and can save you in situations where the other two specializations couldn't.
* Kicks are the most powerful of the unarmed combat attacks, but the slowest. However, higher Agidex races can eventually get even MSTRIKE KICK to the same speed as its grapple and punch counterparts, in which case it's flat out the best mstrike option.
* Slower races might be better off with Grapple or Punch Specialization. Those also might be better at lower levels, especially pre-Perfect Self, when mstrikes and Fury haven't become as fast as they'll eventually be and Spin Kick might not even be an option yet (pre-level 35-36).
* While Spin Kick performs exceptionally well against like-level foes, it's not nearly as good against overleveled ones for two reasons: it's less likely to succeed and you're much more incentivized to disable those foes immediately. If they don't attack, you don't evade, so you don't Spin Kick.
* By its nature, Kick Specialization wants you to prioritize improving your UC shoes or footwraps, which is at odds with the fact that UC in general wants you to prioritize improving your UC gloves or handwraps since more of your attacks than not will be hand-based.

'''Punch Specialization''':

* Punches as a base attack are faster than kicks and more powerful than grapples. Jabs remain the ideal for tiering up from decent positioning, but at good positioning, when UC attacks have a chance to kill, punches are arguably the best option.
* Maxed Punch Specialization has a 25% chance to add minor impact damage to each target hit by [[Clash]]. A 25% chance isn't a shining endorsement, though, since maxed Grapple Specialization and Kick Specialization have a 100% chance of adding heavy grapple damage or a second Spin Kick to their respective techniques. The disparity gets exacerbated by Clash being nowhere near as good as unfocused mstrikes.
* Despite the above, the buff to Clash being minor doesn't matter if the monk isn't using Clash anyway. Punch Specialization can shine for lower level characters or slower races if the player prefers mstrikes over weapon techniques, but can't bring MSTRIKE KICK down to the speed of MSTRIKE PUNCH.

<blockquote>
'''Specialization Sidebar: Mstrikes with Specified Attack Types!'''

In case it isn't clear or in case going into math would be helpful...

'''Mstrike kick''' becomes the mechanical best option for high Agidex races at high levels regardless of which specialization you pick. Depending on how armored the foe, kicks are 140-150% as strong as punches and 160-200% as powerful as grapples. That power gap is so big that even if your punches or grapples have a higher MM because you picked Punch or Grapple Specialization, kicks are most likely stronger anyway. Of course, your fast race monk could just train in Kick Specialization for the best of every world!

'''Mstrike punch''' can be the best for lower Agidex races, lower levels, or both. Kicks are stronger hit for hit, but if they're slower because your Agidex isn't up to par, punches can still win overall.

'''Mstrike grapple''' is worse than mstrike punch in a vacuum because the latter has the same speed while packing 110% to 141.67% as much power. Against foes in chain or plate armor, mstrike punch is probably better than grapple even if you trained Grapple Specialization. However, against foes in cloth, leather, or scale armor, the power gap is 110%-125%, so mstrike grapple backed by its specialization can still win out due to the MM bonus and higher tier up chance. Grapples also slow down foes, making them preferable attacks for a balance of offensive and defensive benefits.

In short...

Use mstrike kick if you're a high Agidex race who's at or close to the peak of your Agidex growth.

Use mstrike grapple if either A) you intend to slow down foes to keep your combat relatively safer or B) all of the following apply: you're a moderate Agidex race or a high Agidex race not yet near your peak, you're against foes in armor lighter than chain, and you trained Grapple Specialization, but you're in a situation where you want to mstrike instead of using Fury. (Like, say, unfocused mstrikes.)

Use mstrike punch if neither of the above applies.
</blockquote>

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Kick Specialization is the flashiest and arguably the most fun specialization, and I stand behind MSTRIKE KICK being easily the best mstrike for fast races in a vacuum. However, the Fury technique backed by Grapple Specialization arguably has the highest ceiling. Its high knockdown potential works wonders against higher level creatures who make tiering up difficult. I've been very happy with these two specializations, using Kick for Tarine and Grapple for Sariara (and Grapple for Saraphenia before her).

As for Punch Specialization, I wouldn't honestly recommend it to anybody other than the slowest races. Former GM Naijin designed Grapple and Kick Specialization to have stronger technique-boosting effects than Punch Specialization because punches are the most broadly useful as a standalone attack and he wanted to balance the scales a bit. GemStone rewards being exceptional at something instead of pretty good at everything, but punches fall squarely into the latter category.

If you're training Grapple Specialization, make it your top priority after Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in Martial Stances). Kick Specialization can potentially wait until later in life for Spin Kick at level 35-36, but training early isn't necessarily wrong either.

===Defensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Block Specialization]], [[Evade Specialization]], and [[Parry Specialization]], which improve their respective defenses, but which is right for you? ...well, this one's a lot easier than the last!

'''Block Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to block melee or ranged attacks with a shield. Shields are a bad idea for monks; they're expensive to train, monks can't learn shield skills, and shields significantly decrease their MM.

'''Parry Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to parry melee or ranged attacks--assuming you have [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] active. After parrying, it gives a 25% chance of gaining the [[Counter]] effect, which means your next attack has 1 less RT and costs 25% less stamina (if applicable). This might sound neat until it's compared to...

'''Evade Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to evade melee, ranged, or magical bolt attacks. After evading, it gives a 25% of gaining the [[Evasiveness]] effect, which will automatically avoid the next attack (of any kind, including CS-based or maneuver-based) thrown your way with 100% success. Also, evasion triggers (not Evasiveness triggers) allow [[Spin Kick]] followups.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Even without Kick Specialization, Evade Specialization is the only one that adds offensive power via a defensive specialization. I universally recommend it to all Brawling-oriented monks without exception. (I say "Brawling" because I'm not even limiting this to unarmed combat. Even if you're using brawling ''weapons'' like fist-scythes or katars, you can Spin Kick, so Evade Specialization still wins.)

===Martial Stances===

Monks can technically learn as many martial stances as they have points for, but can only have one active at a time, so most only learn one. Let's review them.

'''[[Duck and Weave]]''':

The most flavorful martial stance.

Gives you a chance to redirect enemy melee attacks that you evade, making enemies hit other enemies in the room.

This is a super cool and fun idea, but not nearly as practical as it might sound since it has to jump through so many hoops: you need to be fighting multiple creatures, they need to be attacking with melee, you need to evade, Duck and Weave needs to trigger, and the redirected attacker's AS and weapon type have to be good enough compared to the defending creature's DS and armor type to do meaningful damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Delightful, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Flurry of Blows]]''':

The screen scrolliest martial stance.

Yo dawg, I heard you like jabs, so I put jabs in your jabs so you can jab while you jab.

When you jab, Flurry of Blows can simultaneously jab other foes in the room. Jabs aren't good on their own, so bringing the best out of this martial stance requires heavy investment. Unless your attacks can potentially fire off at least five damaging flares (...and the current max for a monk is nine while grouped with a [[paladin]] or eight otherwise, but even getting to five requires grouping with a paladin or having high end gear), I wouldn't say it comes close to being worthwhile.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Again, great fun, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Inner Harmony]]''':

The most wasted potential of martial stances.

At rank 1 and 2, it can passively shake off negative spell effects. At rank 3, assuming the stance also removes the effect on demand with a 20 second cooldown. However, the effects you'd most want to remove are exactly the ones you can't because you can't use Inner Harmony while bound or RT-locked. [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]] this definitely isn't!

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I appreciate the idea behind this stance, but it has little to no appeal in practice.

'''[[Rolling Krynch Stance]]''':

Almost surely the best martial stance for UC monks.

This stance gives you a chance of carrying over excellent positioning or good positioning from one foe to the next, which is a massive time savings and power increase. Decent position attacks won't kill unless you have extreme flaring gear or run through a large slew of hits. At good positioning, you at least ''might'' kill creatures via crits and can pretty easily kill them with several hits. At excellent positioning, you can kill creatures via crits even with a pretty light tap.

When I wrote that monks rarely one-shot creatures, that's true in a vacuum, but Rolling Krynch can at least open that door for them.

Bottom line: the less time you spend in decent positioning, the better off you are, and that's what Rolling Krynch offers.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Rolling Krynch is everything a traditional UC monk wants. Make at least the first two ranks your first combat maneuver.

'''[[Slippery Mind]]''':

The most defensive martial stance.

When maxed, this one gives you a 27% chance to avoid CS-based attack spells (assuming you're in robes). If you do avoid a spell, Slippery Mind also has a 75% chance of redirecting it to the caster or a different enemy target. Even if don't avoid the spell, you still have a 27% chance to buff your TD for 15 seconds and possibly save yourself from subsequent attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

This stance is simple, but really good, offering two lines of defense against a monk's biggest weakness while also preserving--and arguably even improving upon--one of the most fun aspects of Duck and Weave. I prefer improving offense to defense, but this is still the second best stance for most monks. I'd say it's the very best for a weapon-wielding monk in robes!

'''[[Stance of the Mongoose]]''':

The most "almost got there" martial stance.

This martial stance lets you automatically retaliate after you parry. Even assuming the most wildly niche builds, like you're running a dual handaxe Kroderine Soul monk with Parry Specialization who wears metal breastplate (and if you're doing that, thank you for making it this far into the guide for reasons I don't understand!), this martial stance takes some agency away from the player by attacking and adding more RT into your combat--3 seconds in this example--when you might not have wanted it.

If you're a more typical unarmed combat monk, the good news is that Stance of the Mongoose's retaliation will only add 1-2 seconds of RT--but the bad news is that that RT is so low because it's always going to jab (and therefore do little damage) unless you currently have a tier up opportunity against that foe, in which case it'll pick the tier up type.

That last bit might sound good--and, truthfully, it ''is'' good when it lines up, but how often does that happen? Unlike the perfect storm Duck and Weave needs, at least maxed Stance of the Mongoose triggers 100% of the time when it's not on its 3 second cooldown. Still, you need to have attacked created a tier up opportunity, you need to not yet have manually seized that opportunity, your attack that created the tier up needs to not have disabled the foe so that it could attack you, it needs to actually attack you and specifically with something you could parry, and you need to parry it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Despite its problems, I think this makes a serious case of being the third best martial stance a UC-oriented monk can learn. That's not necessarily saying much; I'd put it distantly behind Rolling Krynch Stance and Slippery Mind. If you're running a wacky build of a weapon-wielding monk (so no Krynch) in heavy armor (so no Slippery Mind), go with this.

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

I'm not knocking wildly niche monks. Many of my characters who ''aren't'' monks are wildly niche builds like a dual wielding melee cleric in chain mail, a dual wielding paladin, a warrior in robes who casts [[Elemental Wave (410)|e-waves]] with no hindrance, and a maul wizard in leather breastplate. Do whatever you have fun with in this game.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Most characters attack dozens of times more often than enemies attack them. I lean heavily on this fact whenever I'm torn on a choice between offense or defense on any profession. The defensive one will have trouble winning out unless either the defensive gain is immense, the offensive opportunity cost is minimal, or both. (For example, in the right hunting ground, Spirit Barrier has low offensive opportunity cost and ''can'' have immense defensive gain!)

This is one reason I hold Rolling Krynch Stance in so much higher regard than Stance of the Mongoose or even Slippery Mind. Rolling Krynch powers up something that you're doing in combat against every creature you fight and usually several times per creature. Mongoose and Slippery Mind apply to things that the ''creatures'' do--things you're actively trying to prevent them from doing, no less!--and, for that matter, only ''some'' of them do it and only ''some'' of the time.
</blockquote>

'''[[Striking Asp Stance]]''':

The best... uh... PvP martial stance?

[[Verb:QSTRIKE|QSTRIKE]] is an ability available to all professions that lets you consume stamina to reduce the RT of your next attack. Striking Asp reduces that stamina cost for the first single-target qstrike used every minute.

Whoever this stance might be good for--if anyone, because I'm not convinced it's worthwhile in any context other than PvP duels--it's not good for monks. Since Striking Asp only works once per minute, Rolling Krynch is better at Asp's own claim to fame. Even if you use Asp to reduce a 5-second focused mstrike to 1 second, Krynch only needs to save you two jabs' worth of RT per minute. It will almost always do that and more with zero stamina cost instead of Asp's reduced stamina cost.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

No.

===Combat Maneuvers===

I won't go over every combat maneuver, but here are quick takes on the more standout ones.

<blockquote>
'''Quick Reminder!'''

Like with skills, you can flip your trained combat maneuvers around as you wish before level 20. Experiment and find what suits you!
</blockquote>

'''[[Acrobat's Leap]]''':

Useful for short races to make up the height gap.

'''[[Bearhug]]''':

Shockingly good supplement to unarmed combat. UAF attacks can overcome most defenses, but among creatures that ''are'' so good at turtling that UC struggles to punch through, most are casters who easily get hit by combat maneuvers. Bearhug is also a rare case of a maneuver with killing power in its own right. I don't necessarily recommend using learning it until you can train at least three ranks since its damage really depends on the endroll. It's also a bit worse for small races, but, since it's an SMR-based attack, even they can dish out tons of damage with the high endrolls achievable by inflicting status effects first.

Speaking of status effects, Bearhug has great synergy with [[Vulnerable]], which speeds up its damage rounds (not its cooldown). Twin Hammerfists inflicts Vulnerable and so does the Grapple Specialization knockdown perk from Fury, so either of those make for a nice one-two if you're already using them!

'''[[Bull Rush]]''':

Bull Rush is another way to inflict Vulnerable and can knock down a whole room of creatures. It does pretty minimal damage, but is a staple monk combat maneuver, filling a need of controlling the enemy hordes so you can systematically pick them off.

'''[[Burst of Swiftness]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

If your monk is a slow race, you might consider learning Burst anyway to bring your MSTRIKE KICK up to speed--literally! I don't recommend using it until you have at least four ranks since the cooldown is very long before then.

If your monk is a fast race, there's still a use case for Burst, but mostly for obscure builds at the top end; my super-capped elf monk Tarine has Burst of Swiftness exclusively for [[Duskruin Arena]] because it can push her into the vaunted -8 RT tier of 113 or more Agidex bonus, which allows her to do absurd shenanigans with 14 attacks in 4 seconds with Fury and [[Flurry]] while wielding two katars. (Since these are assaults, the attacks are broken up into 1-second rounds of 4, 4, 2, and 2 attacks. By contrast, TWC katar ''mstrikes''' don't get faster than 5 seconds regardless of Agidex.)

'''[[Cheapshots]]''':

I love this suite of disabling skills on rogues and bards, but I don't think unarmed combat-centric monks benefit much despite the wide variety of applications. UC can just power through most things and, for what it can't, Cheapshots won't either since they're all setups--and ones not necessarily better than Twin Hammerfists, at that. Cheapshots can still be worth considering for weapon builds. For UC, I'd rather get Bearhug or Coup de Grace.

'''[[Combat Focus]]''':

I like two or three ranks to slightly shore up TD weaknesses if you can spare the points, but it's not mandatory by any means.

'''[[Combat Mobility]]''':

Easily one of the best and most universal monk maneuvers. Automatically standing up while prone is amazing with Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick and, frankly, even without. 10 Combat Maneuver Points ''are'' a lot, so I recommend building up offense during the early game and possibly even into the midgame. By the level 60s at latest, though, when staying prone for any extended period of time gets real dangerous, most monks will love this.

'''[[Coup de Grace]]''':

A finisher that can insta-kill incapacitated foes at 50% health or less (at max Coup ranks) and provides a 90-second buff to AS/UAF depending how hard you killed them.

The AS/UAF buff isn't what matters (at least for solo UC-oriented monks; it's amazing for weapon-using monks or group hunts). Unarmed combat is riddled with incapacitating effects tacked on to its normal attacks, offering frequent opportunities to deliver the Coup de Grace. Also, even foes that can't be crit killed, like various golems, noncorporeal undead, or oozes are susceptible to Coup's insta-kill, so it's another helpful option in your toolbox.

'''[[Feint]]''':

Even though UAF attacks ''can'' power through turtled creatures, turning that "can" into "most likely" is ideal. Feint is the premier combat maneuver for lowering enemies' stance, decreasing their UDF--often by triple digits even in the fairly early game--and increasing your multiplier modifier.

'''[[Hamstring]]''':

I mention this for the katar builds. Hamstring can only be used with an edged weapon, but it's a devastatingly powerful setup-and-damage maneuver all in one. Two Weapon Combat characters will find it even more exceptional.

'''[[Ki Focus]]''':

Increases the odds of higher tier positioning or a tier up opportunity on your next UC attack. This maneuver's wiki page recommends it if you aren't using Rolling Krynch Stance, but I recommend it even if you are. Ki Focus is another means to more consistently keep the train of good-or-excellent positioning rolling, especially against overleveled foes who would normally be difficult to tier up against.

That said, the stamina cost to use it too often ''is'' real, even with Mind Over Body, so you'll need heavy Physical Fitness training. It's more of a midgame or late game skill to me.

Monks who use only mstrikes might benefit from Ki Focus more than monks who use techniques. Mstrikes don't cost stamina outside their cooldown period, giving more leeway to keep a high stamina cost maneuver in your rotation.

'''[[Surge of Strength]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

I'd consider Surge for halflings and gnomes only. Between Perfect Self and a max rank Surge, they can carry things at least slightly more like an average-sized race. Still, Surge's cooldown is very long before at least rank 4. Even at rank 5, you can only have 75% uptime (a 90 second ability with a 120 second cooldown) unless you're willing to use it while in cooldown, which doubles its already high stamina cost from 30 to 60. Mind Over Body can only do so much to save you from that!
</div></div>

==Further Character Progression==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-progression" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious about feats, meditating, or upgrading your monk's gear later? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-progression">

===Feats===

Monks gain new abilities called Feats at various levels, which are as follows:

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Kroderine Soul]]====

Kroderine Soul is an opt-in feat that I won't cover in detail, but suffice it to say that you gain additional physical [[redux]] (resistance to physical attacks, which is increased by training physically-oriented skills), redux now applies to magical attacks, magical disablers have decreased duration against you, and you have access to the [[Absorb Magic]] and [[Dispel Magic]] abilities.

In exchange, before level 30, you can't learn spells, cast spells, or have spells cast on you other than a few exceptions like [[Floating Disk (511)|disks]], empath healing, and [[Raise Dead (318)|resurrection]]. From level 30 on is a different story, which I'll explain in the level 30 feat section.

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Martial Mastery]]====

After you've maxed one weapon skill (for your level), Martial Mastery grants +1 AS or UAF for every eight total ranks you train in up to two ''additional'' weapon skills. However, the AS/UAF boost is penalized by 5% for every spell you learn beyond five ranks--which means Martial Mastery no longer applies by the time you have 25 total spell ranks. Monks have a way to ignore the first 20 of those spell ranks, but I'll explain that too in the level 30 feat section.

While Martial Mastery is technically learned automatically from level 0, most monks won't make much use of it for a while. Some, like my monk Tarine, will have too many spell ranks to ever make use of it. I'll speak more about that in the Odds and Ends section discussing builds off the beaten path.

====Level 20 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Tattoo]]====

Monks can tattoo themselves or other characters by using a needle and ink from the local [[alchemist]] shop. They can ink from ''[[Stock_tattoo|nearly 1000 different options]]'' from a stock tattoo list! These are called mundane tattoos.

From level 20 on, monks can upgrade a character's existing tattoo--including one for which the monk wasn't the artist--by turning it into a Mystic Tattoo, which makes it enhancive. This is the monk profession service!

For full detail on Mystic Tattoos, see their wiki page. The simplified version is that Mystic Tattoos have five tiers, each requiring more training from the monk and each adding an enhancive of +1 bonus for a stat of the buyer's choice. To empower Mystic Tattoos, monks use 50000, 75000, 100000, 125000, and 150000 Motes of Tranquility (respective to each tier), which they earn via absorbing the equivalent amounts of experience points. Monks can earn up to 50,000 motes per week and save up to 200,000 total for later use. (You can see your totals with the RESOURCE command.)

As profession services go--so I'm comparing Mystic Tattoos to Battle Standards, [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]], [[Covert Arts]], enchanting, ensorcelling, [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]], ranger [[Resist Nature (620)|resistance]], sanctifying, and warrior weighting--this ''can'' be a really high impact one for CS casters, who benefit heavily from boosting Aura or Wisdom. It can also be solid for any character close to specific Agidex thresholds, and some people like simply enhancing Logic to absorb more exp.

Mystic Tattoos are in the midrange of profession service value overall; don't create a monk expecting to start rolling in silver like a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard eventually can (...at least not via tattooing, but more on the silver-making secrets of monks later!), but they'll likely make more from tattooing than non-capped bards, paladins, or rangers, or any level rogues or warriors do from their services. At the time of this writing, empaths make more than monks with their service, but they also have the newest service, so that might be a temporary situation. Either way, GM Estild, the head of dev, has acknowledged that Mystic Tattoos (and warrior weighting) need further improvement at a future point.

<blockquote>
'''Advanced Tattooing Tips!'''

Mystic Tattoos were designed with the intent that a typically trained monk should be able to do a tier 1 at level 20, a tier 2 at level 40, a tier 3 at level 60, a tier 4 at level 80, and a tier 5 at level 100. In practice, I find that many monks are anywhere from 5-15 levels ahead of that schedule--''and'' that's even assuming that you want a 100% success rate unboosted! Here are some options to jump ahead of the curve:

* Use BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS (from [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]) for +10 tattooing skill. (However, since this temporarily increases your max health and max spirit and your tattooing ability gets reduced when those two stats aren't full, you'll need to wait until health and spirit recover after using the boost. Voln members can do this most easily since Symbol of Renewal is one of the game's very few tools to instantly recover spirit.)
* Use BOOST GIFT EONAK (also from daily login rewards) to take the best of two rolls when determining your success. To put that in perspective, a 50% success rate would become 75% with Gift of Eonak active, a 60% success rate would become 84%, a 70% success rate would become 91%, an 80% success rate would become 96%, and a 90% success rate would become 99%.
* Suffusion allows converting your Motes of Tranquility to extra skill bonus on a single tattoo upgrade at a rate of 2000 motes to 1 skill bonus. Since it's a one-off boost and yet requires trading potentially weeks of resource gain, I don't recommend using suffusion for tattooing characters other than your own monk. Even with your own monk, I'd usually just advise patience--but if patience isn't your thing, then trading off a week of resources for five levels or so of skill might appeal to you!
</blockquote>

====Level 25 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Strike]]====

A weird one, to say the least. FEAT MYSTICSTRIKE allows a monk to use a small amount of stamina to infuse their next physical UC or melee attack with an effect that debuffs a foe's defense against warding spells after it lands. While monks do have a few warding spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe, those spells are normally better off as setups--if they're even used at all--than something to set up ''toward''.

====Level 30 Monk Feat - [[Dragonscale Skin]] or [[Mental Acuity]]====

At level 30 (and any time a fixskill is used after that point), monks can decide between these two feats by using FEAT LEARN DRAGONSCALESKIN or FEAT LEARN MENTALACUITY.

'''Dragonscale Skin''' is a straightforward buff that improves monks' Iron Skin spell.

Reviewing the basics of Iron Skin first, it improves a monk's robes to have the defensive power of full leather at bare minimum (level 2) and can get all the way to the durability of half plate on a truly outlandish, mega-capped character with an incredible enhancive set. However, this boost to defensive power only counts for the purposes of taking physical damage. Enter Dragonscale Skin, which makes the armor-mimicking aspect of Iron Skin also reflect itself in CvA (defense against warding spells; basically the same as TD, except done as a number subtracted from the enemy attack instead of added to your defense).

Here's a revised version of the Iron Skin table from the Secret Sauce of Lores section again, now tailored to the context of the CvA boost. The listed benefits are comparing to the baseline of robe CvA ''without'' Dragonscale Skin.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Dragonscale Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||Leather breastplate (10 benefit)||Cuirbouilli leather (11 benefit)||Studded leather (12 benefit)
|-
||5 Transformation||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine (13 benefit)
|-
||15 Transformation||Studded leather||Brigandine||Chain mail (21 benefit)
|-
||30 Transformation||Brigandine||Chain mail||Double chain (22 benefit)
|-
||50 Transformation||||Double chain||Augmented chain (23 benefit)
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||Chain hauberk (24 benefit)
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||Metal breastplate (33 benefit)
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||Augmented breastplate (34 benefit)
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||Half plate (35 benefit)
|}

For illustration's sake, my monk Sariara had leather breastplate caliber robes at level 30, will reach cuirbouilli leather at level 34 or 35, studded leather around level 43-45, brigandine at 50, chain mail likely around 60, and double chain at 75, where she'll pause for a long while. My monk Tarine had a less Transformation-focused build and is only at chain mail caliber even now, but will push to chain hauberk in the near future, then stop at metal breastplate over the very long haul.

To be clear, Dragonscale Skin reduces the odds of getting hit by spells at all and, if the monk does get hit, essentially reduces the endroll result. However, an identical endroll against real chain armor, plate armor, etc. would do significantly less damage than it does against robes.

The alternative to Dragonscale Skin, '''Mental Acuity''', is a much more complex beast. It basically forces redux, Martial Mastery (the level 0 feat), and Kroderine Soul (the other level 0 feat) to act like a monk's first 20 learned Minor Mental spells don't count. However, instead of a monk's first 20 Minor Mental spells costing mana, they cost stamina at twice the mana cost. (Mind Over Body does bring that down, so it won't necessarily be exactly twice.)

The most striking of these exceptions is definitely Kroderine Soul because it creates the unique monk path of continuing to cast spells despite training a feat that prevents their warrior and rogue counterparts--and pre-level-30 monks--from using magic at all. I can see the appeal even though it's not a route I'm interested in.

In practice, the only monks I know who chose Mental Acuity instead of Dragonscale Skin were also using Kroderine Soul. Having spells cost stamina instead of mana is a hefty ask. That said, nothing stops a character from avoiding KS and using Mental Acuity anyway. There ''are'' still reasons to do it. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of redux remains a Mental Acuity benefit even for the non-KS monk. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of Martial Mastery penalty means that a monk trained in three weapon skills could still max out the AS/UAF bonus even while training, for example, 20 Minor Mental spells plus 3-5 ranks of Minor Spiritual.

Are these compelling enough reasons to take Mental Acuity over Dragonscale Skin on a non-KS monk? As far as I can tell, so far the community has said no, but I'll explore that later in Odds and Ends. As for KS monks, Mental Acuity is the only option; Dragonscale Skin does literally nothing for them because KS monks can't cast Iron Skin ''unless'' they have Mental Acuity.

====Level 40 Monk Feat - [[Martial Arts Mastery]]====

Now we're talking! Martial Arts Mastery uniformly adds +10 to the multiplier modifier of your UC attacks, adds a flat +10% tier up chance to your UC attacks, and adds a flat +10% evasion rate (which also helps fire off more Spin Kicks).

If you play an unarmed combat monk through low levels and find yourself wondering when it really gets good, level 40 is the latest possible answer. Before then, something like a brawling warrior in robes might feel at least similar to a monk, albeit with no Rolling Krynch Stance (a huge difference maker, admittedly) and with different training point costs for various skills.

Level 40 draws a line in the sand, though, to establish that unarmed combat ''is'' the monk's wheelhouse because Martial Arts Mastery ''is'' the monk's premier feat. To put it in perspective, Martial Arts Mastery is the equivalent of maxing Grapple Specialization, Kick Specialization, and Punch Specialization all at once, minus the Fury/Spin Kick/Clash perks but plus a new Jab Specialization that no other profession has. And since you'll already have trained one of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization the normal way, now Martial Arts Mastery is like ''double-maxing'' it.

Unleash the power and never look back.

====Level 50 Monk Feat - [[Perfect Self]]====

Perfect Self raises all your stats by +10 (or +5 bonus). That's it! Your monk hits level 50 and great power drops on their head.

Like I've said, there's pretty much no bad monk stat split from level 50 on because of this feat. It's also the driving force behind why even moderately fast races (along the lines of half-elves and aelotoi), never mind the really fast races, have so much potential as monks. If you're using mstrikes and weapon techniques at all, you'll notice the improvement!

===Gear Upgrades: Armor===

Even though fancy gear is more a luxury than a necessity for monks, you might as well upgrade your monk's gear eventually if you enjoy them! But how and in what way?

For armor, I think the answer is to keep it really simple. Most of the expensive armor you can pick up doesn't do all that much for monks. (...at least not magical non-Kroderine Soul monks, the subject of this guide. I assume expensive armor does way more for KS monks who are tanking more hits.)

'''Materials'''

* Rusalkan: A high-end expensive option at 400k soul shards that attempts to knock down up to three enemies if you get hit or evade an attack, boosts UAF and CS for 10 seconds if it does knock any of them down, and grants a 1 second haste effect for various offensive actions. It has a cooldown for 30 seconds. Probably the most powerful armor material overall with an extremely powerful effect, but the expenses are enormous. Some contact-based combat maneuvers like Bull Rush can also trigger rusalkan flares.
* Zelnorn: Uses half of what would be the DS from its enchant as AS (or in monks' case UAF) instead, but doesn't allow flares or a TD boost to go in the ability slot (AKA category B). Players hit creatures more than creatures hit players, so zelnorn can be fantastic for AS-based professions--but most monks aren't AS-based. Improving UAF is fairly irrelevant, not justifying the base cost of 50k bloodscrip in the case of monks. Either flares or increased TD would more greatly benefit monks, making use of the ability slot.

'''Scripts'''

* [[Animalistic Spirit Armor]]? Gives a few minutes of extra stamina regen per hunt and can flare to knock down creatures when you evade, but you're a monk. You already reduce your stamina costs by 35% and you already keep everything knocked down constantly.
* [[Ethereal armor]]? If you happen to have boatloads of ethereal scrip from frequent [[Settlement_of_Reim|Reim]] hunts, then sure, go for it, but a monk isn't screaming for more DS and a flare chance for crit padding.
* [[Forest Armor]]? Monks don't need a tiny boost to UAF and CS.
* [[Ithzir Armor]]? Cool abilities involving healing and emergency escape. 500k bloodscrip cool? Nah.
* [[Mana-Infused Armor]]? Mana, damage padding, crit padding, UAF and CS, and an emergency button to drive creatures out of the room. Not what a monk's seeking.
* [[Parasite Armor]]? It can give a 90 second buff to TD, but it's once every five minutes and costs 150k bloodscrip. Pass.
* [[Sprite Armor]]? Extra DS, maneuver defense, and mana. Nope, not for a monk!
* [[Valence Armor]]? Health, mana, and reactive flares. Skip.
* [[Voln armor]]? Extra DS, sheer fear protection, crit padding, and an emergency escape button. This was once a reasonable value even despite its high cost and the DS and crit padding not being too meaningful for a monk. However, that time has largely passed now that Sanctify and Battle Standard exist so you can get sheer fear protection for cheaper and emergency escape after death instead of before death. You'd have to die several thousand times before the cost of any extra deeds and chrisms outweigh the cost of fully unlocked Voln armor.

'''Defaults'''

So my actual answer to the armor question is:

* Go to playershops and spend 1-5 million silver on robes with either +7 to +9 TD or some cool damage resistance of 20% or more, get them upgraded by wizards, clerics, and sorcerers over time.

Yes, this is what I actually do! +20% acid resistance robes, +8 TD robes, more +8 TD robes, and +7 TD robes are all things that some of my characters wear or have worn in the past. If GMs ever release an armor script that I think is a must-have for monks, I'll come back and update the guide at that point!

===Gear Upgrades: Weapons===

I wrote a [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Choosing_Your_Ideal_Weapon_Script|guide on the topic of scripts]], but unarmed combat has more limited options than other weapon types, so I'll go over the few that I think are worth looking into depending on your budget--plus flourishes, flares, and one material!

'''No script or flourish, just basic elemental flares (especially lightning)''':

This is where I think you should begin if you're uncertain or just dipping your toe in the water.

You can find flaring UC handwear and footwear for under a million silver each at a fair number of events--sometimes even at free events. Basic lightning flaring gear matches the power of off-the-shelf pay event gear. Pay event gear does pull ahead when you double down and stack lightning flares ''on top'' of it, but that means even heavier investment.

Nothing wrong with starting small while you're getting your bearings and saving bigger decisions for later!

'''Dispel flares''' (price range: 30k to 210k bloodscrip):

Dispel flares trigger before a UC attack lands, either dispelling 1-5 randomly chosen buff spells (if the creature has any) or dealing SMR-based disruption damage. If they dispel two spells from different spheres of magic (spiritual, elemental, or mental), they can also deal flux damage.

You might sometimes hear dispel flares cited as even better than lightning flares in a weapon's ability slot, but these days it depends on your exact budget range. If you're using Flare Affinity for 400k bloodscrip or purified zorchar for (at most) 70k bloodscrip, lightning flares come roaring back. Below that mark, dispel makes more of a case for itself because of a few factors:

# High volume of attacks goes very well with pre-resolution flares
# Dispelling a buff to decrease enemy UDF is better than decreasing enemy DS by the same amount
# Against creatures without buffs, the disruption flare can increase MM by injuring and/or stunning a creature

There is a bit of luck to dispelling since many, if not most, creatures with spell buffs have some that don't affect UDF. You can improve your odds by making it 2-dispel or 3-dispel flares, which also greatly increases the odds of flux damage so you can get increased MM even while stunning. Overall, dispel flares with at least two dispel chances are very strong. All that said, the first three dispels cost 30k bloodscrip each while a fourth and fifth cost 50k each if you want to max them out. At most price ranges, alternatives like purified zorchar or Greater Elemental Flares (GEF) are either more bang for your buck or just outright more bang period. I think I'd only recommend dispel flares if you were going for at least three dispels while also stacking greater somnis, which is the current strongest UC material, but also much more expensive than the purified elemental materials or eonake.

'''[[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]] script''' (price range: 10k to 185k bloodscrip):

Incredible variety of flavor messaging makes this script very popular among all professions! For monks, specifically, Revenge Flares are a great unlockable feature that can fire off damaging flares when they evade. On the other hand, the default grapple damage type isn't the best since it's mainly good for knockdowns and monks are very adept at that on their own. My higher exp monk uses Animalistic Spirit gloves and boots with their damage type converted to lightning, but that's an extra expense.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (As a caveat, though, I highly recommend against the Savage Power unlock, which isn't particularly good for any build of any profession, and the Wild Backlash unlock, which is excellent for some professions but not all that useful for monks. Animalistic Fury upgrades can be worth it ''if'' you first change the damage type.)

Overall, this script has been monks' top pick for years for very good reason on the strength of Revenge Flares, messaging, and being one of the only games in town. However, it's been five years since Animalistic Spirit and the creator of Animalistic Spirit, GM Avaluka, has debuted a new script called Phytomorphic Weapons that I think is even better for monks! More on that further below.

'''[[Energy_Weapon/saved_posts|Energy Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 125k bloodscrip):

For unarmed combat, Energy Weapons are only available in the form of ''held'' weapons like a [[cestus]], not handwear and footwear. That's immediately anathema to some people. I'd agree with them when talking about a -10 or -15 MM weapon, but I'm actually not down on the -5 MM held UC weapons like others.

Held UC weapons improve UAF depending on the enchant and improve damage factor at a flat rate depending on the weapon type. The flat rate aspect means the weaker the base attack, like a jab or a grapple against heavier armor, the more noticeable the improvement. On the other hand, held weapons decrease the multiplier modifier and you also lose the use of Brace parrying.

That ''is'' an overall loss in a vacuum for most attack types against most armor types, so the held weapon needs something else significant to compensate. Energy Weapons can do that with supercharged lightning flares, so I do have a cestus and even use it against foes where MM is so high that I can live with the drop. If the margins are close, I don't use it. Easy enough.

The entry point for an Energy Weapon is 10k bloodscrip. The higher unlock tiers aren't very useful to monks, so I called mine a one and done.

<blockquote>
'''Obscure Trivia Sidenote!'''

When you're wearing flaring gloves while also using a flaring held unarmed combat weapon, the flare rate of each item--gloves and weapon--is halved, ending up at the same overall flare rate. So how can I be talking about an Energy Weapon's flares as a perk that helps compensate for the MM drop in any way if that perk is counterbalanced by hurting the flare rate of your gloves?

Well, let's say my Animalistic Spirit gloves still had their default grapple flares, which I don't value highly because unarmed combat keeps foes knocked down anyway. In that case, trading off half of a grapple flare rate to replace it with half of a lightning flare rate is a win.

This logic breaks down as gloves get more upgraded, because then either your tradeoffs aren't as favorable or you're spending currency to upgrade gloves ''and'' a cestus. Still, I stand behind it as at least an ''option'' if your stopping point is a flare and a script flare.
</blockquote>

'''[[Greater elemental flare|Greater Elemental Flares]] script''' (price: 40k bloodscrip):

These are a gold standard of midrange weapon scripts, at least if you'd consider 40k bloodscrip per item "midrange." Triple lightning flares are a pretty crazy thing! However, you do need to track down handwear and footwear that was already flaring or else the prices jump to 55k bloodscrip.

GEF flares are a solid and straightforward one-and-done option, but cheaper alternatives can be more efficient bang for your buck while more expensive alternatives can be more fun.

'''[[Knockout_flare|Knockout Flares]] script and [[Skullcrusher Flares]] flourish''' (price: 100k bloodscrip):

Easily some of the game's best flare messaging and they always hit heads, which can be very deadly, unless the head already has rank 3 wounds. I've used Knockout UC gear on non-monk characters and had a blast with them. One of my favorite moments was the happy accident of channeling Mario with the "You leap up, bringing your pure white sandals down across the head of the human mugger with a sickening thud!" messaging.

That said, Knockout's entry point--and exit point since there are no tiers--is 100k bloodscrip per item, which is a very tall ask for most people. It used to be a lot cheaper in the days of Ebon Gate on Caligos Isle, albeit released in limited quantities via a jackpot system to compensate. If you ''are'' willing to spend to that degree or find somebody who has Knockout gear from older days and is willing to sell, then I say read the wiki page and see if you like the messaging more or less than other options such as Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons. Some people pick Knockout for for their handwear or footwear and a different script for the others.

As for Skullcrusher, see everything I just said about Knockout, because Skullcrusher costs the same and is mechanically identical except that it goes into the flourish slot instead of the script slot. That means you can have the benefits of Knockout (in the form of Skullcrusher) ''and'' Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic if you were willing to pay for it!

'''[[Phytomorphic Weapon Shield|Phytomorphic Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 145k bloodscrip):

Another highly customizable instant hit of a script in the vein of Animalistic Spirit and from the same creator! This one is plant-themed instead of animal-themed and you can customize it yourself via foraging plants. Arboreal Agony is the big selling point of unlockable features here, which makes creatures Disoriented so they'll have difficulty casting spells--which are one of a monk's weak points. The default damage type is disintegrate, which is also broadly useful and can have killing power.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (Like with Animalistic Spirit's Wild Backlash, I'll give the caveat that Phytomorphic's Deciduous Decay is far more useful for AS-based professions than UAF-based professions like most monks. Phytomorphic Putrescence upgrades, on the other hand, don't need you to change the damage type first to get full value, which makes them either better or cheaper than Animalistic Spirit's Animalistic Fury counterpart depending on how you look at it.)

RP-wise, I think there's a very real chance that people will continue to favor Animalistic Spirit going forward. Mechanically, though, I'd say that Arboreal Agony not allowing enemy casters to cast is even better than Animalistic Spirit's Revenge Flares firing off when dodging physical attacks--and not needing to change the base damage type is also a big win.

'''[[Lore Flares]] flourish, specifically Telepathy or Transformation''' (price: 400k bloodcsrip):

At a whopping 400k bloodscrip, this is the top end of pricing for UC-oriented monks, but also the top end of power. While normal flares have a 20% rate, these start at 25%, reach 33% with 36 ranks of the applicable lore, reach 50% with 105 ranks, and reach an absurd and glorious 100% rate with 171 ranks. (171 ranks of a lore for a monk requires both heavy Ascension training ''and'' great enhancives, but hey, I did say this guide was for 0 exp to 55,000,000!) Telepathy Lore Flares deal puncture damage and then damage over time (DoT) afterward that's mostly sheer health damage, but only work against living foes. Transformation Lore Flares have no DoT and randomly deal either slash, crush, or puncture, but their initial hit is weighted to be one crit rank higher.

You probably aren't even reading this guide if you can actually reach 171 ranks of a lore, but for the sake of being informative, Transformation is the clear winner if you get there. Multiple DoTs can't stack on a single creature, so it's more valuable to have a stronger initial hit since you'd be firing off tons of those in a single mstrike or weapon technique. If 105 ranks are more your limit, that's a tougher call. Since your mstrikes include a free jab for the first time you attack a creature, your first unfocused mstrike in a swarmy room with Telepathy Lore Flares would have a 75% chance on each creature of getting a DoT rolling. However, ''focused'' mstrikes still favor Transformation due to DoTs not stacking.

'''Purified [[drakar]], [[gornar]], [[rhimar]], or [[zorchar]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Basically the GEF of materials! These have material-based flares of, respectively, fire, impact (earth), ice, or lightning that are slightly stronger on average than the normal ability slot flares of their unpurified counterparts (and they still have those too), then a 25% chance to fire off a second noticeably stronger flare if the first flare had landed. In short, just like GEF, it's an extra two flare chances.

To my knowledge, handwear and footwear of drakar, gornar, rhimar, and zorchar has never been offered off the shelf, so to get the purified materials, you need to get the unpurified version first by either paying 15k bloodscrip for a lesser transmutation (only available if your handwear and footwear already has the applicable flare type) or 20k bloodscrip for an intermediate transmutation, then an additional 50k bloodscrip to purify.

Like always, more flares are an excellent thing when firing from UC's flurry of free jabs or otherwise quick attacks. An incredible power upgrade if it's within your budget!

'''Purified [[eonake]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Purified eonake has a material flare against undead only, dealing fire damage slightly stronger than normal fire flares while also reducing the enemy's AS by 25 and slowing it down (adding more RT to its combat actions). Reasonable crowd control option if you hunt undead a ton, since your free mstrike jabs will be tossing slow effects all over the place. The purified elemental materials above will generally be stronger than purified eonake for monks, but there are scenarios where that's not always the case. For example, if you're set on dispel flares or just happen to have them from buying someone else's abandoned project weapon, then purified eonake would preserve the dispel flares while a purified elemental metal would require erasing them.

Purified eonake is certainly a cheaper option than somnis or starsong (described below), but shouldn't typically be a default consideration for monks. Everything always depends on the specifics, though, so just double check what you're doing.

'''[[Somnis]] material''' (price range: 100k or 250k bloodscrip bought as-is, or 300k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

Lesser somnis is a 100k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep after it hits while greater somnis is a 250k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep ''before'' it hits. Alternatively, instead of starting with somnis items as the base, you could wait for greater somnis transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 300k bloodscrip.

This powerful effect significantly increases MM for the next hit (or current hit) in most cases! In terms of bang for your buck, somnis is far behind flares, scripts, the Skullcrusher flourish (less so that than the previous two), and purified materials, so there are typically two demographics who should be considering somnis. Both of them should basically treat as no object, but the demographics are either 1) those who can buy greater somnis as the starting point because it could be years before the ability to convert existing weapons to it returns to Duskruin, or 2) those who can wait for years for transmutation to be available and have picked up everything else or almost everything else already, making greater somnis a great final touch to add after exhausting other avenues.

'''[[Vethinye|Starsong, AKA vethinye]] material''' (price range: 100k, 250k, or 400k raikhen bought as-is, or 450k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

A 100k raikhen base cost material that flares disruption. Starsong can be upgraded up to twice for 150k raikhen per upgrade, which can make it flare disruption up to one extra time per upgrade. Fully upgraded, it flares disruption 1 to 3 times; if there's only one creature against the room, all three flares would hit the same creature, but if there's more than one, then additional flares would hit other creatures. Alternatively, instead of starting with starsong items as the base, you could wait for maxed starsong transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 450k bloodscrip.

Overall, starsong is a bit of an outdated material as newer options are simultaneously stronger and cheaper. Neat for extra screen scroll if that's your thing and the AoE is somewhat unique, but being AoE isn't even guaranteed and the price is extremely high for what it is.

<blockquote>
'''Order of Operations Sidebar!'''

If you eventually want it all, you can get it, but there can be a correct order. For example, buying Phytomorphic gear and adding lightning or dispel to it later costs 40k bloodscrip less than buying lightning or dispel flaring gear and adding Phytomorphic to it later. Adding Knockout Flares costs the same 100k bloodscrip regardless of order, but does have a 90k more expensive starting point than Animalistic off the shelf, so it should be done later. Adding Skullcrusher Flares or Lore Flares costs the same 100k or 400k bloodscrip regardless of order.

Buying a base material like somnis or starsong and fully unlocking it costs 50k bloodscrip less than transmuting later, but if you want a script--which you should since a script is stronger than the material--then you break even because it'll cost 50k bloodscrip later to add a script to it. However, transmutation prices assume you want the highest tier of the material at all; if you don't, then starting with the base material is by far superior.

All of this is only talking price without even considering what adding scripts, flares, or flourishes does to gear difficulty. Lightning flares add 100 gear difficulty, but that can be negated with [[Enchant_(925)#Pre-enchanting_Potions|pre-enchanting potions]] (yes, these also work with ensorcelling and sanctifying). Dispel flares add 100 for the first dispel and 50 more for each thereafter. Knockout flares or Skullcrusher Flares add 150. Animalistic Spirit adds 200.

(What does any of that mean? Well, [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|but that's another guide entirely]], but suffice it to say that the higher the numbers get, the higher caliber of clerics, sorcerers, and wizards you'll need to improve them and the more you'll be paying for their services.)
</blockquote>

===Gear Upgrades: Items===

Some types of gear aren't conventional weapons or armor, so let's review a few of those that monks might think about!

'''[[Energy_Wings|Energy Wings]]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

When these got released, they made players (including me) freak out thinking they got priced too inexpensively on accident or something. I think it actually just might be a case of power creep, though--and since I'm listing items in this section in alphabetical order, you'll see why when I talk about other items that were released years earlier!

These wings come in light or dark flavor. Both share a lot in common, namely having some single-target SMR attacks, AoE SMR attacks, evasion buffs (good for Spin Kick), and Evasiveness buffs (outright avoiding the next incoming attack), but the primary differences are that the light wings can ignore height restrictions for 30 seconds every 90 seconds (so 33% of the time) while the dark wings have additional poison or disease effects on their attacks. If you regularly hunt in groups, the light wings also have a big group buff of DS, TD, and crit padding for 30 seconds every 30 minutes while the dark wings have a smaller scale but longer duration and shorter cooldown group buff of damage padding, health regen, and max health for 60 seconds every 15 minutes.

The general player consensus seems to be that the light wings are much better, which I can agree with if and only if you're regularly aiming for the heads of large creatures you couldn't otherwise hit. Energy Wings are a mere fraction of the price of what it used to cost to be able to hit heads, which was a huge part of the sticker shock. Monks are already really talented at knocking creatures down, but the light wings could save you some setup time if your playstyle is more about targeted single strikes than a flurry of attacks via mstrikes or Fury.

If you're ''not'' regularly aiming at large creatures, then I'd say it's closer than people believe. I'd side with the light wings on T1 and T2 attacks, but with the dark wings for the T3 attack. It's pretty close on all fronts, though, so picking a wing type based on roleplay makes perfect sense! And having new AoE attacks at all is an excellent thing for monks, who are somewhat lacking in that department from their own toolkit.

I also don't want to undersell the evasion buffs. If you're a Kick Specialization monk, that's an especially killer benefit for you, but even if not, +15% evasion (or even +10% on T2 or +5% on T1) is a serious upgrade against incoming physical attacks! I don't know which is the icing and which is the cake, but the evasion benefit and new AoE attacks combine to make either version of Energy Wings a tremendous pickup for monks. Just don't neglect more fundamental things like scripts on your handwear and footwear, but once you're done establishing a fine gear baseline, look into these wings!

'''[[Essence_Belt|Essence belts]]''' (price range: 25k to 100k bloodscrip):

Magical belts that you charge up with essences (found from either looting elemental creatures or buying from the tables of alchemy shops that get stocked up by other people looting and selling them) for various effects depending on exactly which essence. I'm not covering most of those effects because they're more or less immaterial to monks due to short duration, long cooldown, or both. What's not immaterial is that essence belts also add reactive flares that can go off whenever creatures hit you (with no cooldown), stacking additional protection against battles going south. It's a good benefit if you absolutely can't stand dying and have a lot of bloodscrip to spare! For everyone else, improving your armor with padding or flares (if not going the +TD armor route in flares' case) is certainly a cheaper option to start with.

'''[[Hand-held_Pylon|Hand pylons]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

Basically an arm--mounted Mega Man energy cannon! Like essence belts, you charge this up with essences and it blasts away with magical power on a 2-minute cooldown. If you upgrade to at least tier 3 (30k bloodscrip), this will one-shot just about anything in the game... but that's ''if'' you have at least 1x Magic Item Use or have disabled something. The trouble is that if you're already disabled a creature, then you can generally just kill it with your own attacks, so hand pylons are much better with someone who already has MIU and doesn't need to set up first. If you don't have MIU--and, on a monk, you probably don't--then this might not be the item for you. That said, when Duskruin's open in the live game, it's frequently also open on the test server and allows buying things for free to test with. So give hand pylons a try when you can and see if you like them!

===Profession Service Priorities===

Silver does no good unless it's spent ''somewhere'', so if you're going budget on buying gear or just have a money surplus in need of a home, how about looking into profession services?

====Battle Standards (the [[Battle Standard (1620)|paladin service]])====

If there's only one service I'd recommend for a monk, it's Battle Standards. From the third tier on, Battle Standards add offensive flares to your attacks. (The flare rate goes up at the fourth and fifth tiers.)

As a general rule, offensive flares are better the more attacks per minute you use on average. This pairs extremely well with unarmed combat (especially mstriking due to bonus jabs, but even Fury) because its myriad low RT abilities churn out attacks more quickly than anything other than high level wizards, high level bards, and high level Two Weapon Combat builds. Even while you're only throwing jabs and fishing for tier up opportunities, a Battle Standard flare can sneak in and potentially kill a creature. Usually it won't, but even a lighter hit might stun a creature--and stunning increases UC's most important offense-boosting number, MM, making every following attack better. Additionally, you can select from a wide variety of [[Holy_critical|choices for flare type]] based on which Arkati or spirit the Battle Standard is aligned with, which you can set at [[Holy_places|any shrine]] for the Arkati or spirit you want.

Fourth tier and up Battle Standards also offer a short-term buff where every attack you do for 30 seconds is ''guaranteed'' to flare. This is a burst of fun, chaotic, powerful mayhem, especially in any area that's even moderately swarmy! There's a 30-minute cooldown at the fourth tier and a 15-minute cooldown at the fifth tier, so you can use it once every two hunts or once every hunt, respectively.

Battle Standards have a few other perks, but these are the main ones making them so good for monks.

Battle Standards have charges and periodically need recharging, which will cost you. I don't believe we have hard confirmation on how the charges drain, but ''if'' (if!) it's identical to Lucky Items, charges drain depending on the amount of time you spend in combat. If so, that would be another factor making it even better for UC monks than most professions or builds due to sheer volume of attacks per minute.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get a Battle Standard and love it. Even in the worst case, if you end up not loving it, you can sell it to someone else since it unattunes from you 30 days after your first use.

====Bloodstone Jewelry (the [[Bloodsmith (1135)|empath service]])====

Fully upgraded Bloodstone Jewelry increases max health/mana/stamina by 100/50/25, increases regeneration for health/mana/stamina by 20/10/5, and adds 1-5 extra health damage (only health damage) to all attacks. After every 50 health damage it deals, the next attack inflicts Major Bleed. It also has an activated ability to quickly regen health/mana/stamina 100%/50%/25% over 10 seconds with a 30 minute cooldown. It also has another more unusual activated ability to temporarily move your wounds off of you and into the jewelry; however, the wounds come back after 10 minutes and there's a 30 minute cooldown on this ability too. The idea is sort of a quick fix mid-hunt and then you'll need two rounds of healing afterward.

The temporary healing is difficult to advise on because its value heavily depends on how much risk you take in hunting. That benefit is about knowing yourself well enough to know if you'll like it or not. Same goes for more max health; I see the value for small races roughly doubling their health, but otherwise don't consider it particularly valuable. However, opinions vary widely. As for max stamina, monks already have Mind Over Body--but, even if they didn't, you can shore up stamina far more cheaply with conventional regen enhancives than with Bloodstone Jewelry.

As for everything else, the value for a monk--at least a magical monk--is like a mishmash of weaker Battle Standards and weaker Ensorcell. Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell both offer stamina regeneration, which is a great in a vacuum, but Ensorcell's version of stamina regeneration is a flare chance (which is effective with frequent UC attacks) instead of a per minute effect and never requires paying again for recharging. There is something to be said for having both Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell since Ensorcell usually won't restore stamina unless your health is full and Bloodstone Jewelry helps keep your health full--but, then again, just having herbs or using society abilities could also keep your health full.

Extra health damage, on the other hand, is a reasonable selling point. While it can't stun or crit kill like a Battle Standard flare, it does affect every attack instead of 20% of attacks--and 1-5 damage might not sound like a lot, but when it's every attack, it does matter. On average, you'll get the Major Bleed effect after every 16.67 attacks, which is decently powerful in its own right. All that said, Bloodstone Jewelry doesn't add extra damage until its fifth and final tier, so you'd probably be paying a premium to get it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Either go all the way with this service or pass on it unless someone's offering a steal. I wouldn't call this a particularly monk-oriented service unless you're a Kroderine Soul build or a small race.

(Since this is alphabetically the first service I'm recommending against, I'll clarify that that doesn't mean it's a bad service; even Enchant isn't particularly great for monks, as we'll see later, and that's a classic service. I'm simply saying that, when you're reading a monk guide because you're making a monk, don't view this service through the lens of playing your warrior, your semi, or your Sunfist pure, who would all make better use of more of the Bloodstone Jewelry perks.)

====[[Covert Arts]] (the rogue service)====

Covert Arts are the most jack of all trades service, being sort of split into five mini-services each with five tiers of their own. Like most other non-gear-based profession services, they run on a charge-based system and eventually need recharging.

Sidestep helps defend against AoE maneuvers, increases evasion, and helps defend against maneuvers regardless of being AoE or single target. Keen Eye finds children for bounties, helps defend against maneuvers even more, and helps defend against ambushes. Escape Artist helps avoid bandit traps, reduces Force on Force pushdown, and reduces the duration of [[Rooted]] status. Swift Recovery decreases the RT of searches (e.g. for heirlooms or pulling bandits out of hiding), increases health regeneration, and reduces the duration of Stagger.

Poisoncraft allows applying various poisons to your gear. Poison on armor can inflict various status effects as reactive flares: [[Calmed]], [[Dazed]], [[Slowed]], [[Disoriented]], or [[Clumsy]]. Poison on offensive gear can flare to either deal any of the previously mentioned status effects, deal extra health damage, apply [[Crippled]], or apply [[Major Poison]].

But how good is any of this for monks? Most Covert Arts perks only make monks marginally better at things they're already amazing at. (By contrast, casters see good benefit from things like FOF defense and the myriad bonuses to maneuver defense unless already far post-cap.) Escape Artist does seem reasonable to me for monks who frequently hunt bandits, since traps and Rooted can really mess with unarmed combat by preventing kicks.

Poisoncraft, on the other hand, provides flares, which should seem great if you just read about Battle Standards! However, some caveats do bear mentioning. The biggest is that, unlike with Battle Standards, jabs don't flare with Poisoncraft. Poisons don't affect the undead. Poisons offer a more narrow variety of damage types; they do offer a much wider variety of disabling effects, but monks aren't lacking for those in their base toolkit. Overall, Battle Standards are much better, but the fact remains that any kind of flare is still powerful with unarmed combat in a vacuum--even if jabs are disallowed. The question is whether you have the funds for both services.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

It's worth learning at least Poisoncraft even though the other Covert Arts don't do much for monks. Recharging Poisoncraft isn't much cheaper--if any cheaper--than learning more Arts and learning them ''also'' recharges, so once you're in for Poisoncraft, you might as well slowly pick up the others over time as recharging needs come up.

====Enchanting (the [[Enchant (925)|wizard service]])====

Enchanting offensive gear improves UAF (or AS if you're using a weapon) while enchanting armor improves DS.

UAF offers minimal help for all the reasons described in the Unarmed Combat Primer. DS is more compelling, especially once you're hunting areas with the [[spell sever]] mechanic. Monks have the game's cheapest training costs for Dodging, so they have very good DS throughout their lives, but not untouchable since they ''are'' regularly in offensive stance. I don't go hard on improving monk DS, but it can't hurt either.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Bring your robes up to +30. It gets expensive afterward, but +35 is a fine long-term goal too when you have silver lying around! Poke away at improving your UC gear if you find a great deal, but improving it doesn't matter much otherwise.

====Ensorcelling (the [[Ensorcell (735)|sorcerer service]])====

Ensorcelling armor improves CvA and enemy spells are a weak point, so I'd say your long term plan should include this. However, get most or all of your sanctification done first since ensorcelling adds much more gear difficulty than sanctifying. (For much more on the intricacies of gear difficulty and order of operations for upgrading gear, see [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|my service guide]]! For our purposes here, though, basically just know that tiers 2-5 of Ensorcell should usually be done after finishing the enchanting and sanctifying you want. The order of enchanting and sanctifying doesn't matter much, though.)

For unarmed combat gear, ensorcelling adds a flare chance for either a UAF boost on the next attack, stamina recovery immediately, or health recovery immediately. Stamina is strong for monks, but the flares give UAF boosts most of the time, which is very weak for monks. Ensorcell evenly scales up its UAF bonus; a fifth tier (T5) Ensorcell increases UAF by 25 while a first tier (T1) increases UAF by 5. Stamina recovery, on the other hand, is frontloaded: the average stamina return at T1 is 9 while the average at T5 is 15.

I like the "get a T1 Ensorcell on your offensive gear and call it finished" philosophy. You already have 60% of T5's average stamina return, but only bought 10% as much of a sorcerer's resource points.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

T1 Ensorcell for your handwear and footwear whenever you get a chance. T5 Ensorcell for your robes over the long haul, but only after finished with enchanting and sanctifying.

====Lucky Items (the [[Song of Luck (1006)|bard service]])====

Lucky Items are incredible for almost everybody. They improve virtually every offensive and defensive aspect of combat, which is like having extra enchantments, ensorcellments, weighting, and padding all attached to the same item--plus boosts to maneuver offense and maneuver defense as even more cherry on top!

For most professions and builds, I'd argue that Lucky Items are mechanically the most powerful service.

...but monks aren't most professions and builds. Yes, Lucky Items are like having extra UAF, DS, TD, weighting, and padding all at once, but I have a pretty low opinion of all of those things for monks other than TD.

Lucky Items act sort of opposite to Battle Standards; instead of favoring the low-impact attacks that UC throws out in droves, Lucky Items favor high-impact attacks that make every luck trigger proportionally more powerful. Lucky Item triggering on a jab or a decent positioning attack is a waste and you're probably firing off a lot of those. On the bright side, since Lucky Items' charges drain depending on the amount of time spent in combat, that aspect does pair well with monks' high volume of attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

If this were any other profession, I'd be singing the praises of Lucky Items and breaking down the math. Honestly, I might have to write a mini-guide on Lucky Items because they're tragically underrated. They offer amazing power to every form of combat other than the exact one that monks favor! If you're a weapon-wielding monk, definitely buy in and do it quickly. For typical UC monks, I'd recommend your silvers go elsewhere first--but only "first." Luck is powerful and you should get it eventually, just not as a high priority. I'd take it over enchanting robes beyond +30 or enchanting offensive gear beyond +20, but not necessarily before Sanctify, Ensorcell, or especially Battle Standards.

====Mystic Tattoos (the monk service)====

Despite Mystic Tattooing being a monk's own ability, it's not that helpful when used on themselves. The good news is that if you perform the final upgrade of your Mystic Tattoo, it won't consume charges and is basically a permanent upgrade. That said, the benefits of +5 bonus for a stat are pretty marginal for most monks. Standout options include:

* Strength to decrease encumbrance, especially for small races
* Agility to reach an Agidex threshold (this is preferred over Dexterity because it gives more maneuver defense and slightly increases UAF)
* Logic to increase exp gain
* Wisdom to slightly improve defense against spiritual magic

Logic is arguably the best since, given an enhancive with infinite charges, a benefit that works every minute maximizes value more than a benefit that only works while hunting. I can't go further than "arguably" since the others will have more impact when they ''do'' have impact. Regardless, none of the stats jump out for a monk in the way that something like improving a CS-boosting stat on a caster would.

Mystic Tattoos are slated for a future upgrade. The current proposal includes adding a skill bonus up to +10, flares to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, an activated ability with a cooldown to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, and ignoring enhancive limits.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Until the future update, I'd only tattoo yourself in your spare time when you can't find others willing to pay for your tattoos who would probably get more mechanical use out of them than you do. More Wisdom or Aura can be a gamechanger for CS-based casters, so sell them your tattooing services and use the silver to pay for paladins' Battle Standards. As you run out of other things to pay for, you can eventually pick up tattooing from lower level monks and make sure to handle the final tier yourself so you have infinite charges!

====Resist Nature (the [[Resist Nature (620)|ranger service]])====

Rangers can build a bracelet, anklet, or amulet that grants up to 25% resistance against up to five damage types: cold, heat, nature, steam, and lightning.

For post-cap hunters going into Ascension areas and the Scatter, this is really good since most of those areas use at least four of those damage types. Before cap or in other hunting grounds, usually only one damage type is the scourge of the area--and if you only need one resistance, monks can simply meditate instead of needing a ranger trinket. Even pre-cap, there's ''some'' merit to a ranger trinket since you can meditate for a general purpose physical resistance like crush and use your trinket for an elemental resistance like fire or lightning, but you'd have to know you'll be running into that damage type consistently for a while.

On an obscure note, nature resistance is unique to ranger trinkets. Monks can't meditate against it and even the Ascension system can't train to defend against it. However, an extremely small number of creatures use nature damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I'd look into ranger resistance for post-cap purposes, especially if you intend to hunt Ascension hunting grounds (which monks perform well in at lower exp amounts than any other profession). Before cap, make do with your own meditation ability.

====Sanctification (the [[Sanctify (330)|cleric service]])====

Sanctifying unarmed combat gear adds UAF against undead for the first five tiers and negates 5% of their damage resistance per tier if your gear is sanctified (but not blessed). The sixth tier adds a holy fire flare against undead that deals 50-100 health damage and a fire crit.

The first five tiers of Sanctify have dubious value for UC gear (unless you're buying the first tier specifically because of the Kai's Strike situation). The sixth tier of Sanctify, however, is amazing if your monk frequently hunts undead. Holy fire flares are extremely powerful for anyone, but only get better for a spammy combat type like UC. The question is whether you're willing to pay for the first five tiers' minimal value just to get to holy fire.

Sanctifying armor is a much more clear value proposition for monks. The first five tiers improve DS, TD, and, most importantly, [[sheer fear]] protection so you can hunt higher level undead without constantly getting locked in RT. The sixth tier again provides holy fire, but since the flare is armor-based, it'll only trigger for certain combat maneuvers or when the undead hit you.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get the first five tiers on your robes unless you're absolutely certain you'll never have interest in hunting high-level undead. Holy fire isn't a high priority on armor, but does go well with Bearhug and Bull Rush if you want it one day. Unarmed combat gear is the opposite; either commit to seeing through the entire expensive holy fire path or don't bother sanctifying at all. Since UAF matters little, ordinary cleric blessings offer basically the same value as the first five Sanctify tiers for UC (arguably more value since blessings have holy water flares, so people usually stack blessings on top of pre-holy fire Sanctify).

====Weighting and Padding (the [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|warrior service]])====

Crit weighting has more limited value to an unarmed combat monk than most professions or builds because UC itself uses positioning to increase or decrease attack power in ways that can cap the effect of weighting. It's still marginally useful for good positioning (very specifically good positioning). Crit padding is more broadly useful. Either way, neither is useful enough to justify paying warriors unless they're charging less than the automated WPS smithy that comes around every couple of months. (They probably aren't!) Use that instead to bring your robes up to speed.

Like with Mystic Tattoos, the head of dev, Estild, has acknowledged that the warrior service needs improvement at a future date. Maybe hope is on the horizon, but right now this service isn't terribly desirable for most players, monks or otherwise.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

An easy skip unless a friend is providing it for free or something. Use the much more affordable WPS wagon and I'd say going to 5 CER (50 services) is perfectly sufficient due to scaling costs beyond that point and the reduced effect of weighting on UC in general.

====Order of operations in summary====

* Battle Standard up to P3 as soon as possible
* Enchant armor up to +30 relatively quickly
* Ensorcell UC gear to T1 relatively quickly
* Battle Standard up to P5 relatively quickly
* Either Sanctify UC gear all the way to S6 or don't do it at all
* Sanctify armor unless very rarely hunting undead
* Covert Arts Poisoncraft when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Lucky Items when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Slowly enchant UC gear over time
* Padding to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Slowly Ensorcell armor over time
* Weighting to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Resist Nature once hunting post-cap
* Slowly add non-Poisoncraft Covert Arts whenever you need a recharge
* Bloodstone Jewelry if you want it
* Slowly enchant armor past +30 over time, if ever
* Slowly Ensorcell UC gear past T1 over time, if ever
* Mystic Tattoo only if you can't sell yours, but selling it is preferable to fund all of the above
</div><div>

==Super Post-Cap Advancement==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-superpostcap" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Far post-cap and still looking for suggestions? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-superpostcap">

Congratulations, you've got a cap and a half worth of exp--or more! ...now what?

===Ascending Even Further Beyond===

Since it's not relevant to the large majority of players, I've only vaguely talked about monks' advantages with far post-cap experience until now. Most professions need 30 million to 40 million exp, if not more, before they're "done enough" with normal skills that continuing to gain normal experience instead of devoting it all toward [[Ascension]] would stop providing any useful improvements.

Monks, however, can get there at more like 10 to 25 million because their physical skill costs are on par with other squares, but their magical skills are much less expensive.

I did say this guide was for magical monks from 0 to 55,000,000 experience, so what should you do with Ascension Training Points (ATPs)?

The big long-term goal is the Elite Ascension skill [[Transcend Destiny]], which I'll explain shortly, but it's only for players putting in serious hours; even unlocking the ability to learn it requires that you've spent 150 ATPs on Ascension skills in the Common tier first and then Transcend Destiny ranks themselves cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and up to six more ranks of 50 ATPs each.

So whether Transcend Destiny is in your future or not, first we need to evaluate where your initial Common tier ATPs should be spent. Here are the options I like:

'''Common Ascension staples''':

* '''Agility''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, increased evade chance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and +0.75 DS per two ranks. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race.
* '''Brawling''': +2 UAF per rank. I'm not going to knock UAF this time because, once we're talking Ascension, we're talking marginal gains almost no matter what you do. Get it if you like numbers going up!
* '''Combat Maneuvers''': +1 UAF per two ranks and increased maneuver defense every rank (but half as much increase as Agility, so basically the same rate per two ranks).
* '''Dexterity''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, but half as much increase as Agility. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race. For the weapon route, specifically, Dexterity also adds crit weighting.
* '''Dodging''': +0.75 DS (in offensive) per rank and a tiny extra chance of outright evading for more Spin Kicks.
* '''Logic''': +1 TD against CS-based mental spells per two ranks. Because Logic breakpoints increase exp gain at 5 bonus on a node or 7 bonus off a node, reaching 35 Logic bonus is an especially attractive target. Neutral Logic races can reach it with 15 ATPs into Logic because Perfect Self will already have pushed them to 30 Logic bonus.
* '''Porter''' (requires training Strength and/or Physical Fitness first): Encumbrance reduction by 2 pounds per rank. ''Now'' I'll knock UAF again! If we're in the realm of diminishing returns from exp anyway, then Porter is a reasonable low-hanging fruit option for races with lower carrying capacity.
* '''Stamina Regeneration''': If you're firing off mstrikes on cooldown, rotating techniques with katars or Volley, using Surge of Strength on your small race, using Burst of Swiftness on your slow race, or otherwise guzzling stamina, there can come a point where Mind Over Body and Ensorcell no longer enough. If that's you, you'll know when to train this--or just buy stamina regen enhancives and Bloodstone Jewelry.
* '''Strength''': Reduced encumbrance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and the first ten ranks combined of this or Physical Fitness are a prerequisite for Porter. If you go the weapon route, it's also +1 AS per two ranks.

During earlier versions of this guide, I was also open to Aura, Wisdom, and damage resistances, all of which I had trained to varying degrees at some point. However, the release of Transcend Destiny offers superior defensive gains for the cost while also aiding offense! Let's finally delve into the Elite skill!

'''Transcend Destiny is Monks' Everything''':

There's a serious argument that monks are the biggest winners from the release of Transcend Destiny. Each rank acts as though your character is a level higher for the following purposes, where I've highlighted the ones potentially relevant to (magical) monks in green:

* Ambush Damage - Offense and Defense - Up to 5 Ranks
* Automatic Success of Certain Spells
* Casting Strength
* Evade, Block, and Parry - Offense and Defense
* Force on Force
* Hiding - Rogues Only
* Sheer Fear Resistance
* SMR - Offense and Defense
* SSR - Offense and Defense
* Target Defense
* Two-Weapon Combat
* UC - Tier Up Probability

As you can see, almost everything on this list is potentially applicable to monks. Not only that, but I'd argue that usually it's at or near the top end of value ''in'' that application:

* Improving UC tier ups is, naturally, at its best for the profession most built around UC.
* Improving evasion, blocking, and parrying is at its best for either monks or warriors (despite monks not even benefiting from the blocking part). Monks fight in offensive stance and Spin Kick is the best single-target reaction technique in the game by an incredible margin. (Its only competition overall is [[Radial Sweep]], which is an AoE reaction but has a 15-second cooldown.) Furthermore, decreasing the enemy's EBP means improving MM, which is a UC monk's most important offensive combat number.
* Improving SMR offense is at its best on builds who use it for attacking, which monks certainly will. Combat maneuvers like Bearhug or Coup de Grace--or Hamstring if using Edged Weapons--are very good at taking advantage of higher margins with their scaling, but even if you don't use those, even more bread and butter attacks like Twin Hammerfists, Feint, and Spin Kick win huge here.
* Improving TD has extraordinary value to magical monks, giving them potential to ward off spells from semi-style Ascension creatures by stacking Transcend Destiny with the Dragonscale Skin feat, sufficient Transformation lore, and the correct outside spells. I wouldn't go so far to say it's at its best here, which I think goes to pures who become capable of warding off spells from (some) ''pure''-style Ascension creatures, but it's a pretty narrow win.
* Improving SSR is at its best for characters in Voln due to Symbol of Sleep. For reasons explained earlier, monks are mechanically best suited by Voln.
* Sheer fear resistance is at its best for any profession other than clerics, empaths, and paladins (who all get a degree of sheer fear protection from their native spells), which includes monks.
* Improving ambush defense is a benefit I place almost no value on for any profession and build ''except'' magical monks. Others either have plate armor, significantly higher DS, significantly more redux, far superior means to pull creatures out of hiding, or any combination of the above, but monks might actually take hard hits from ambushers (not bandits, but real ambushers like halfling cannibals and kiramon stalkers) if they don't have 105 or more Transformation lore, so defense is valuable.

(The Two Weapon Combat and CS benefits have more niche value to magical monks, but they do ''have'' the occasional spots of value. The auto-success spell benefits don't do terribly much in current Ascension grounds, but that could easily change in the future if enemy buffs like Wall of Force or especially Cloak of Shadows became more prominent and dispelling gained value as a result.)

Can it get any better than monks reaping the rewards of almost every Transcend Destiny benefit? Actually, yes. Yes, it can!

Much like how monks need to spend less normal exp on normal skills before moving on to Common Ascension than other professions and builds, I'd also argue that there's less incentive for them to continue sinking ATPs into Common Ascension (beyond the required 150) before moving on to Elite Ascension than other professions and builds.

As I write this, my ranger and my monk Tarine have very similar amounts of Ascension experience at 18m and 18.9m, respectively, but even though they're both working on maxing Transcend Destiny over the next couple years, Tarine is 2.9 million exp further into that journey because she doesn't have any need to heavily boost her UAF with Common skills while my ranger certainly does value heavily boosting archery AS. Similarly, my bard has about 5.6m more ''total'' Ascension experience than Tarine, but on the specific journey of maxing Transcend Destiny, she's only 2.3m exp ahead; most of the other 3.3m went into Agidex to reach RT thresholds that Tarine didn't need to work for at all because monks have Perfect Self and Burst of Swiftness.

Ultimately, whether you see yourself playing GemStone IV long enough to eventually have a character who you can say reached level 110 or just level 101, monks are your fastest route to that goal. They're simply the most exp-efficient profession in the game.

===Illustrative Post-Cap Snapshots===

Like the earlier snapshots for normal skills, here are illustrations of both of my monks '''far post-cap''' at points where they are or will eventually be. The second column is where I've planned for Saria to end up at the time she never touches normal skills again. This time the table more clearly delineates normal skills and Ascension.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Sariara, 19.88m exp (10.77+9.11)'''||'''Sariara, post-Trading'''||'''Sariara, final plan'''||'''Tarine, 55.22m exp (23.79+31.43)'''||'''Tarine, post-Trading'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||1||50||50||202||202
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||202||202||202||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Edged Weapons'''||0||0||0||202||202
|-
||'''Brawling'''||202+10||202+10||202+10||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||100||100||190||202||202
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||303||303||303||303||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||303+15||303+15||303+15||303+19||303+19
|-
||'''Magic Item Use'''||0||0||0||101||101
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||40||40||40||101||101
|-
||'''Mental Mana Control'''||0||10||10||25||100
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||10||10||25||25
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||0||0||15||15
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Transformation'''||15||101+4||101+4||86+19||86+19
|-
||'''Survival'''||202||202||202||202||202
|-
||'''Perception'''||101||101||202||202||202
|-
||'''Climbing'''||60||60||101||101||101
|-
||'''Swimming'''||0||40||101||101||101
|-
||'''First Aid'''||202||101||101||202||202
|-
||'''Trading'''||191||0||0||202||0
|-
||'''Ascension Transcend Destiny'''||2||2||4||10||10
|}

There are some divergences here, which are mostly down to Tarine having leveled in a different era of GemStone IV. The reason for Trading going to 0 and First Aid going down to 101 for Sariara requires its own entire deep dive that I cover in the Odds and Ends section, but let's talk about the rest here.

'''TWC edged weapons''' were for Tarine to blast through Duskruin Arena, where overleveled creatures hindered UC tier up chances and slowed her down. However, in the modern day, Transcend Destiny exists to also "overlevel" yourself and all of the Duskruin activities pay out about as well as the arena does, so there's no particular reason for Saria to pick up Edged Weapons. At most, I can imagine Saria going to 100 Two Weapon Combat for 5 extra DS over the 50 benchmark. However, barring some extreme changes to overall gameplay mechanics, 200 TWC simply won't happen--and if that won't, then neither will Edged Weapons.

You might notice that, despite Tarine having over 35 million more exp than Saria--and over 22m in Ascension alone--their '''Brawling''' skill is exactly the same. Like I've said, UAF simply isn't important enough to think about too much! Tarine's advantages are mainly Transcend Destiny (10 ranks vs. 2) and spells (with a 64 CS advantage between spell ranks and Transcend Destiny, Tarine can land Mindwipe or even Vertigo on just about anything while Saria doesn't even know Mindwipe yet and would miss many Ascension creatures with it even if she did know it). Saria does have a redux advantage of 29.37% to 23.68% because of fewer spell ranks, though.

'''Magic Item Use, Harness Power, and Spiritual Mana Control''' are more relics of Tarine coming from a different era. In this case, I'm talking about the time before Transcend Destiny existed and before self-cast minimum spell durations were kicked up to two hours by default. Since I already had these skills trained, there's no point to untraining them, but they're a bit frivolous these days and I wouldn't push them that far on a new monk--like Sariara! Unlike Spiritual Mana Control, '''Mental Mana Control''' increases the number of targets for important spells like Mindwipe and Vertigo, so Tarine taking 100 ranks to hit up to seven creatures per cast makes perfect sense. You do need the CS for it too.

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' stopping at 190 or 200 (or 202 for completionism) comes down to whether you use mstrikes or techniques, respectively. Techniques are much better with weapons than they are with unarmed combat, so Tarine went to 200 because she has weapons trained and Saria won't because she doesn't.

Regarding that '''Transcend Destiny''' line for clarity's sake... given enough time, Saria will eventually get to 10 Transcend Destiny. What I'm saying is that she's working toward 4 Transcend Destiny now as a reasonable breakpoint, but after that's done, she'll go back and finish Multi-Opponent Combat, Perception, Climbing, and Swimming. ''That's'' the point where she'll be done with normal skills forever and commence the 10 Transcend Destiny push.

And just a brief comment on Trading: Saria had stopped at 191 Trading because that's the mark where she could max selling ability with Glamour up. Tarine's an elf, so her Influence bonus would let her hang back even further at 176. However, back then, finishing a skill for completionism's sake made more sense since fewer alternatives were competing for your exp. Those are past-tense things and now I've abandoned Trading, but I leave these examples here because not everybody should do so. For more on this, see the Max Loot Value section later in the guide.

===Gemstones: Diamonds in the Rough===

[[Gemstones]], powerful artifacts that might take a while to find, are another key component to post-cap progression. Gemstones generate with randomly selected properties, most of which have tiered upgrades. You can find the [[Gemstone Property List]] on the wiki. If you don't like the properties on your Gemstone, you can also reroll it to get new properties within the same category of rarity. Upgrading or rerolling Gemstones has costs in silver and dust, so there are likely to be:

* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and upgrade just the way you found them
* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and reroll until you get a good property combination, then upgrade after you've done that
* Gemstones you'll wish to shatter into dust
* Gemstones you'll wish to sell to or trade with other players willing to pay big for properties that are good for their characters and not so good for yours

====Good Common Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 Bolt AS and 1/1/1/2/3 CS.

The bolt AS is worthless, but the CS is reasonable if and only if you have a high CS build--like an 81 Minor Mental and 20 Minor Spiritual split with Logic boosts from enhancives or Ascension--that can make use of powerful spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe and you want them to hit more reliably.

'''Bold Brawler'''

Your unarmed combat attacks have an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to tier up.

A self-explanatory staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries. More tier ups, faster monster slaying. Easy!

'''Burning Blood'''

When you are dealt a rank 2+ critical strike, your blood combusts in the air. Up to 3 nearby enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they suffer a Heat flare.

Pretty good reactive damage that comes at full power out of the gate. Needing an SMR check does slightly hinder its efficiency against overleveled creatures, but that's offset by the fact that it can go after multiple targets to hit at least one of them. Importantly, note that "a rank 2+ critical strike" refers to a rank 2 critical ''based on a crit table,'' not a rank 2 wound. Usually a rank 2 critical only creates a rank 1 wound; for example, rank 2 [[Slash_critical_table|slash crits]] are always rank 1 wounds unless they hit an eye. In other words, even very light hits can get this going, but just not the absolute lightest hits.

'''Ephemera's Extension'''

The following spells have 20/40/60/80/100% higher duration: 117, 140, 240, 506, 515, 605, 919, 1608, 1619.

Reasonable if you have 40 Minor Spiritual ranks. Monks make better use of Wall of Force than any other profession besides paladins due to monks' combination of inexpensive Harness Power costs, not much to spend that mana on, not being in full plate like warriors (and so valuing the DS more), and lower DS at the highest end of exp than light armored rogues (or light armored warriors, but I don't know any of those other than my own).

'''Ether Flux'''

When you deal 3 types of elemental damage to a creature in under 60 seconds, the creature must make an SMR test or take a standard disruption flare. This cannot occur more than once every minute.

(For clarity, it can occur once ''per creature'' per minute. You can basically consider it once per creature, period. For even more clarity, Ether Flux itself isn't a flare ''chance''; it's described as a flare because it deals a random amount of disruption damage, but it always triggers once you meet the condition.)

Ether Flux has no tiers and comes at full power immediately, which is definitely nice and it's a very good perk ''if'' you can get it going! ...but can you? Even though monks don't innately deal elemental damage, it still might be easier than you think.

Some options for elemental flares include conventional ability slot flares, Battle Standards of applicable Arkati or spirits, certain Gemstone properties like Blood Boil or Infusion or Thorns, holy fire or holy water when hunting undead, or script flares of elemental types. That's already up to seven sources of elemental flares and I'm not describing anything too wildly out of the way or anything that's very expensive by post-cap standards. The most expensive of those would be buying flare type changes for Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons.

Whether you're mstriking or using Fury, monks fire off a lot of attacks, so with a decent base of varied flare types, the odds can stack up to force a lot of Ether Flux triggers through! However, if you don't have that decent base, I wouldn't go out of my way working up to it just because you find an Ether Flux. This is a very solid B or maybe B+ common, but it's no Bold Brawler, Flare Resonance, Stamina Prism, or Storm of Rage.

'''Flare Resonance'''

Your attacks have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to gain flare affinity.

Assuming you have flares on your handwear and your footwear (and if you don't, then you should!), this is another staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries.

[[Flare Affinity]] basically supercharges your flares to hit substantially harder--and, for that matter, more often! Flare Affinity is normally only obtainable by adding a [[Combat Flourish]] to your weapon at Duskruin for 400k bloodscrip--and many people do pay that gladly, which gives you an idea of its power. (If you ''are'' someone who already has the Flare Affinity flourish, you wouldn't want this property since they don't stack.) The Flare Resonance property only adds Flare Affinity 20% of the time, but it does go on your character instead of your gear, so getting the 100% equivalent on a monk's handwear ''and'' footwear would cost 800k bloodscrip.

In short, get more flares and make them spend less time poking and more time killing.

'''Force of Will'''

You shake off all of the following debilitating effects: calmed, confused, demoralized, horrified, immobile, rooted, slowed, stunned, sympathetic, terrified, webbed. Cooldown: 24/18/12/6/1 hour(s).

This can save you from almost any situation once per hour when fully upgraded. If you really hate dying, this is the property for you! Alternatively, if you find it on a Gemstone with at least one other property that's good for somebody else but isn't good for you, you can try to sell it for a good chunk of silver since solo hunters of almost every profession like Force of Will for general purposes. (The exceptions are bards, who can already get rid of almost all of these conditions with their own [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]], and maybe clerics, who can just [[Miracle (350)|Miracle]] resurrect themselves one to three times per day if they die.)

'''Journeyman Tactician'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 AS and 1/1/1/2/3 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

The UAF boost is fairly immaterial for all the reasons you know by now about UAF, but the maneuver boost makes for an acceptable placeholder for most monks to use while looking for better Gemstones in the long run. That said, I wouldn't recommend upgrading it except possibly on a monk who makes very heavy use of extremely endroll-dependent attacks like Spin Kick or Bearhug.

'''Mephitic Brume'''

When you are attacked by a creature, you have a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to release a noxious cloud. Up to three enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they become Dazed and Disengaged.

Quite useful for buying time with crowd control. There's not much else to say, but it's a good property for survival! Be sure it fits with your RP, though, since it's sort of gross.

'''Stamina Prism'''

Your passive stamina regeneration is increased by 5/10/15/20/25%.

This might be the highest ceiling Gemstone property of all for monks. It's easy to underrate the value for monks because most of them never out of stamina anyway because they already have Mind Over Body for at least 20% stamina cost reduction. However, the reason they don't run out of stamina is because they do manage it to an extent. For example, a monk might use mstrikes when they're off cooldown and Ki Focus when the mstrikes ''are'' on cooldown, thus basically only using stamina for the latter. However, if you started stacking on enhancives, Ascension, and Stamina Prism to start recovering 50-90% of your stamina every minute instead of the ~25% that 3x Physical Fitness gets you to on its own, you could add Ki Focus when mstriking, add qstrikes when not mstriking, and ''still'' not run out of stamina.

In other words, you can think of Stamina Prism as opening up entirely new combat options by indirectly reducing RT. This does require getting additional stamina regen benefits, but you can be even more of a whirlwind in battle if you build for it!

'''Storm of Rage'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5% damage factor for each kill. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect falls off after 30 seconds without making a kill. This applies to all DFs, including bolts.

If you'll battle just about any creature in your preferred hunting ground and it's a fairly swarmy place, this is an extraordinary property since you'll have the boost going constantly. UC monks or weapon monks will both love this property! Even if you're picky about which creatures you battle or if you hunt a slower area, it's still excellent. The only other thing is to consider is that it's a top tier common for virtually every build of virtually every profession--any weapon user, any UC build, any magical bolter--and so people are likely to pay very well for it if you'd rather have the silvers!

'''Taste of Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor.

Mini Storm of Rage, except you always have the boost even if you're in the slowest of areas or if you're selectively hunting a single creature type for your bounty. The small defensive penalty has very little impact on a monk with high redux monk or high Transformation lore--and you'll almost definitely have at least one of those.

'''Twist the Knife'''

You gain 2/4/6/8/10% damage factor against targets afflicted with major bleed. When your warding spells are successful, the endroll is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 if the target is afflicted with major bleed.

If you're using Hamstring or have the Slashing Strikes buff from Flurry active (or are hunting with partners who do those things), this is excellent. If not, it isn't.

====Good Rare Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Anointed Defender'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Defensive Strength and 3/4/4/5/6 Target Defense.

Helps shore up a primary monk weakness of TD and the extra DS is reasonably helpful too. Not necessarily worth using one of your rare slots on over the long haul, but it depends on your tolerance for death. Don't use this if you go the Kroderine Soul route.

'''Blood Boil'''

Your attacks have a standard flare chance to boil the targets blood, dealing 20% of target's current health, up to 100, per tick for 5 ticks (2 second interval). This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once per minute. Activate to cause this ability to trigger on your next attack. Activation Cooldown: 1 min.

A high quality Gemstone property for almost every monk since flares are always great for UC due to the high volume of attacks. That said, Blood Boil flares are a bit quirky; they can't outright kill things like normal flares, nor can you land several of them on the same creature. Still, the sheer health damage done will frequently exceed more conventional flares unless the creature is already very weakened. A possibly bigger obstacle is that Blood Boil, of course, only works on creatures with blood! That won't be an obstacle in most hunting grounds, but if you try to exclusively hunt undead who have no blood (most undead by far don't; a few do), this wouldn't be the property for you.

'''Defensive Duelist'''

When an enemy directs a melee attack at you, you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to intercept the attack and take no damage. The enemy must make an SMR test. On a failure, the enemy is disarmed, if applicable, and suffers roundtime.

Despite having some anti-synergy with Spin Kick, it's very hard to ignore the value of a universal 5% chance to avoid and (to an extent) counter AS attacks. All else being equal, it ''is'' better to not get hit as often as possible than to Spin Kick as often as possible. (Maybe not more fun, though!)

'''Greater Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Bolt AS and 3/4/4/5/6 CS.

Like its common counterpart except twice as good, this is a strong boost to make Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe if you're one of the rare monks who uses CS spells in combat.

'''Infusion of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] after attacking an enemy.

Top notch rare Gemstone property that every monk should want. As always, the higher volume of attacks per second, the better flares get! Simple, clean power. (Before you get any ideas, if we could have three Infusion properties active, then that's exactly what I'd recommend, but they're mutually exclusive.)

'''Master Tactician'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 AS and 3/4/4/5/6 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

Journeyman Tactician, but twice as good. Like its common counterpart, the UAF boost isn't noteworthy for a UC monk (it is good for a weapon monk, though!), but if you make heavy use of SMR attacks, I think it can be a reasonable long-term property for you. If not, I'd either sell it to someone willing to pay top silvers or reroll until you get a better rare property.

'''Serendipitous Hex'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare rate chance to cast an additional disabler spell, including Bind, Blind, Cold Snap, Confusion, Limb Disruption, Mystic Impedance, Power Sink, Sleep, Sounds, or Vertigo. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you cast a lot of single-target spells in combat, this might be the strongest rare Gemstone property you could find. That's an enormous if for a monk, though! Monks with incredible handwear are probably still better off sticking to Twin Hammerfists as their opening disabler or even just starting with Fury or an mstrike in the first place. However, if you're looking to be an even more magical monk than mine by regularly slinging around Web, Force Projection, Thought Lash, and other spells, this is the definitive property for you. And if you find a certain legendary property I'll cover shortly, you might consider working your entire build around it...

'''Strong Back'''

Your encumbrance thresholds are increased by 15/20/25/30/35 pounds.

A reasonable option for lighter races. It's not necessarily going to help with the newer and bigger boxes of 2026 on, but can help with the lower end loot like solid moonstone cubes or wands that add up when you're tiny. Definitely not a flashy property, but monks are more heavily punished by encumbrance than most professions due to its effect on their primary source of DS, Evade DS, and this is a solution to at least part of that!

'''Tethered Strike'''

Your offensive spells and weapon attacks no longer trigger creatures' innate abilities to outright avoid incoming attacks, such as Ithzir vanishing, warg avoidance, and myling fading.

From reading the description of what it does, you already know based on what you hunt whether this is a slam dunk to use or a slam dunk to sell to someone ''else'' for whom it's a slam dunk to use!

'''Thirst for Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor.

Twice as strong as its already very powerful common counterpart, Taste of Brutality... or is it? The common version's 5% penalty when taking hits is negligible, but a 10% penalty isn't as easily dismissed. Still, the increased DF is fantastic, so I'd say you should consider your options with this one. If you have high redux ''and'' high Transformation lore, get it, love it, and upgrade it all the way. If you only have one of those, then you could simply treat it like Taste of Brutality by leaving it un-upgraded. 6% on both ends with no upgrades is comparable to the fully upgraded Taste of Brutality's 5%, after all, and nothing says you have to upgrade it at any point, never mind right away.

====Good Legendary Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Mirror Image'''

When you attack a creature, you have a 10% chance to create a mirror image of yourself that will replicate the attack. When you are attacked by a creature, there is a 10% chance that a mirror image of you will appear and take the blow instead.

Pretty easily the most powerful legendary property for monks of just about any kind, albeit not as flashy and over-the-top as others. It's actually difficult to even sell you on this because it's so straightforward that I shouldn't have to. It's a 10% double attack chance on every attack!

If you're playing the long game, I say get this one at all costs. However, if you happen to find a different legendary that's also solid for monks and don't want to let perfect be the enemy of good, below are some other reasonable options...

'''Mystic Impulse'''

After hitting an enemy with a weapon attack or an unarmed strike, you have a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to gain Mystic Momentum for 60 seconds. Your next spell cast under the effects of Mystic Momentum incurs no mana cost and gains +50 Attack Strength and +30 Casting Strength.

Hear me out. This is a very, very specific niche, but it's incredible within that niche, which is that you're a high CS build, you prefer going into rooms with multiple creatures, you cast AoE spells like Vertigo or Mindwipe once per group of creatures, and you rarely casts spells otherwise.

If all of that's true, then this is basically a gigantic +30 CS buff. The 10% activation rate with your high volume of attacks means that, after defeating one room of creatures, you'll basically always have the Mystic Impulse buff active to disable or debuff the next room of creatures before you unleash havoc on them.

'''Stolen Power'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare chance to trigger an SMR roll against the target. On a failure, the target is inflicted with a random attack spell that cannot be warded off. Spells include Blood Burst, Bone Shatter, Dark Catalyst, Disintegrate, Divine Fury, Immolation, Pain, Repentance, Thought Lash, and Wither. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you're running the Serendipitous Hex build, run this too and your spells will be insane. If you find this legendary property and you ''aren't'' running the Serendipitous Hex build, then I'd honestly consider changing your mind and trying to get both of those to line up. The strength of your spells skyrockets when they can be up to three spells in one.

Also, with Serendipitous Hex, I gave the caveat that exceptional handwear could still make Twin Hammerfists beat out spells like Force Projection or Web as an opener. With Stolen Power, Twin Hammerfists would still be more reliable and better for one-on-one combat, but the sheer strength of Stolen Power's effect and the ability to use it from guarded stance creates a versatile, powerful use case when fighting two or more creatures at once. (And that's with Stolen Power alone! Again, someone who manages to get it and Serendipitous Hex onto the same build is really going hard.)

'''Thorns of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] when an enemy targets you with an attack, whether or not the attack hits.

Great general purpose power for any solo hunter (of any profession, not just monks). Basically randomly kills things for you just by standing in the same general vicinity when they attack you!

'''Witchhunter's Ascendancy'''

You enter a heightened state for 30 seconds. During this state, you gain Attack Strength equal to 50% of the Defensive Strength of spells on all creatures in the room, up to a maximum of 100. Additionally, all of your attacks have guaranteed dispel flares. Cooldown: 3 min.

The AS/UAF boost is, as always, borderline immaterial unless you're a weapon-wielding monk. 30 seconds of dispel flares on every attack, however, is a rush of power and joy that works well with the free jabs in your mstrikes! Unlike traditional dispel flares, these are post-resolution, so they're slightly less reliable. However, UC monks tend to have no trouble making their attacks land.

====Leafi's Wild Dream Scenario Gemstone Endgames====

By design, getting the exact perfect setup is mathematically almost impossible since Gemstones are meant to keep people going for years to come. Still, it's fun to dream, so here are some hypothetical ideal layouts!

Note that you can have at most one legendary property and three rare properties. Common properties are a bit different; you can technically have up to ten, but each common beyond three would be competing with a rare instead and going up to ten common properties would also exclude you from having a legendary.

'''Traditional Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 1 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# ''(Blood Boil)'' (rare 2 of 3)
# ''(Thirst for Brutality)'' (rare 3 of 3)
# Force of Will (common 5 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 6 of 7)
# Journeyman Tactician if using Thirst for Brutality, otherwise Taste of Brutality (common 7 of 7)

Blood Boil and Thirst of Brutality are parenthetical and italicized because they're slightly conditional picks. For general purposes, that's what I'd go with, but specific hunting ground choices or even gear can change everything. Blood Boil might be useless if you primarily hunt undead without blood. Tethered Strike, not listed, might be superior to either Blood Boil or Thirst of Brutality if you regularly hunt evasive creatures. Anointed Defender, also not listed, could be the way to go if you've managed your gear and training in such a way that the TD boost can push you just out of range of dangerous CS attacks.

'''Very Magic-Heavy Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# ''(Serendipitous Hex)'' (rare 1 of 3)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 2 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Greater Arcane Intensity (rare 3 of 3)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# Arcane Intensity (common 5 of 7)
# Taste of Brutality (common 6 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 7 of 7)

This has enough overlap that you might think they're the same picture, but the subtle differences add up to large ones. This Gemstone setup assumes a high CS monk, then Greater Arcane Intensity and Arcane Intensity push CS even higher. That means that Vertigo and Mindwipe land more consistently, which means that creatures are disabled more often, which means Force of Will shouldn't be as necessary. It also means that your MM will be higher, which means I wouldn't even think about Journeyman Tactician. Conversely, Taste of Brutality claims a solid place because its rare counterpart has been traded off to secure Greater Arcane Intensity and maybe Serendipitous Hex.

Speaking of Serendipitous Hex, even though I ranked it highly, it gets the parenthetical italics treatment because I only recommend it if you're regularly casting Web! It doesn't trigger with Vertigo or Mindwipe, so if those are your go-tos, then bring in some other top end rare like Blood Boil, Tethered Strike, or Thirst for Brutality. (Unlike the traditional monk, the magic-heavy monk doesn't risk as much from the double DF hit of using Taste and Thirst simultaneously because their more consistent disablers will keep enemies contained. Still, just in case of the worst, ''definitely'' use Ephemera's Extension over Ether Flux if you go the double Brutality route!)
</div></div>

==Odds and Ends==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-oddsandends" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Can I interest you in the weirdest inner workings of my mind re: monks, plus other miscellaneous topics not yet covered? If so, click here!</div>
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As we draw close to the end, I'll cover miscellaneous topics like off-the-beaten-path things monks can do and obscure advantages they have that you might not have thought about.

===Monk Magic After Dark===

...wait, I can't write about that on the wiki! Moving on.

===Trade Secrets of the Sneaky Monk Merchants===

I'm one of the bigger advocates of training [[Trading]] in the GS community if you can't hit loot cap without it, but even more so for monks than others!

Monks have easier and more universal means to make more silvers per item sold than any other profession--and they can do it almost anywhere in Elanthia.

Except for [[Mist Harbor]] and [[Kraken's Fall]], every town's NPC shops will pay +5% extra silver to at least one race when players sell. ([[Trading#Trading_chart|See the chart of favored races here!]])

Monks have a '''secret weapon''' in the profit war: '''[[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]]'''!

Even monks who live in a geographic region where their race can't get a bonus can configure their Shroud profile to appear as another race and get the bonus anyway! It's that easy!

But wait, it gets better! Monks also have ''[[Glamour (1205)|Glamour]]''', which gives an enhancive boost of 20 Trading ranks or 50 Trading skill, whichever is lower. (50 Trading skill will be lower before you have 20 Trading ranks on your own.)

What does Trading do, though?

You get an extra 1% silver for every combined 12 bonus between Influence and Trading bonus. That's ''bonus'', not ranks! So, for example, if you had 44 Trading ranks, which is 144 Trading bonus, you'd make 12% more silver for selling items than if you had 0 Trading ranks. Shroud of Deception takes that 12% to 17%, then Glamour takes that 17% to 18%--and, actually, 8/12ths of the way to 19%. If you took my advice and set Influence high from the start, Influence will also get you to 19% if not 20%!

This is a big part of how Sariara made 2,509,473 million silver within a week of existing. By the time she had existed for four weeks and a day, she was up to 23,108,060 silver, only 1,500,000 of which came from selling a Mystic Tattoo. That particular amount wouldn't be possible anymore after game-wide loot changes in early 2026, but it's still a good overall illustration.

Some general tips on early silvers:

* Don't hunt overcrowded Landing areas, but find the rich lower level creatures. There are plenty of them because characters don't stay low level for long, so hunting pressure is low. (For more on hunting pressure, see the [[treasure system]] page and [[Treasure_system/saved_posts|saved posts subpage]].)
* Take advantage of Glamour and Shroud of Deception to get a percentage boost to these rich creatures' already valuable loot. Reap the reward of being a monk!
* Between level 0 and 19, when skills migrate near instantly, max out Trading every time you're about to sell things.
* Between level 0 and 19, push First Aid and Survival up when you're out hunting so you can get value from skinning. Unlearn them afterward so you can...
* Between level 5 and 19, learn Glamour and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* Between level 12 and 19, learn Shroud of Deception and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* For your final level 19.9 build, as you're forced to commit to your skills, have at least 20 ranks of Trading and know at least your first 12 Minor Mental spells.

Yes, this is what I did. I got to see delightful lines in my SKILL command like:

You started this migration period on Saturday, 5/25/2024 at 01:55:18 EDT. You have 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes remaining in your current 30 day migration period.

You're currently migrating at a rate of .001 skill points per pulse, and '''have converted 25580.00 training points this migration period.'''

Even if you don't go to this extreme, though, monks are the game's best at selling to NPC merchants. At the low end, monks skyrocket toward high sales value. At the high end in the post-cap world, monks reach the maximum sale bonus in almost every town.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

"Maximum sale bonus" is 28% from Trading and Influence plus another 5% from race bonus. To be clear, the max bonus is 33%, but only sort of; the two bonuses are treated separately. For example, if you're an elf monk selling in Solhaven (no bonus), you can't just pump your Trading and Influence so high that you'd make 33% from that alone; it's capped at 28% and the other 5% ''has to'' come from Shroud of Deception.

My monk Tarine was the key to my figuring this out. Noticing that Glamour no longer made a difference post-cap with max Trading led me down the rabbit trail of investigating why! I found the Trading and Influence hard cap, then the total hard cap counting race bonus, then isolated that they were separate things.
</blockquote>

===Max Loot Value: Trading, Skinning, and The Earthdiver Principle===

The above section was available almost entirely as-is from the first iteration of this entire guide in 2024, but by now it's 2026 and I eventually went on to untrain Trading for both of my monks. Why? Well, prepare to get mathematical as I introduce what I call [[https://discord.com/channels/226045346399256576/1271943281613340775/1356736553157918892 The Earthdiver Principle]]! He introduced me to a new line of thinking:

Earthdiver — 4/1/2025 2:06 PM
i don't know why anyone who can get close to loot cap even skins since it just takes away from enhancive loot

This was in 2025, but back then there was a 16m soft loot cap with diminishing returns as you approached a 35m hard cap. So I considered his words, but ultimately didn't stop skinning because I almost never ''did'' get close to the old loot cap. However, in early 2026, things changed to a 10m soft cap with diminishing returns toward a 15m hard cap. (...more or less. You can still find loot at a 1% rate past 15m.) Around 12m or 13m is a mark I get to with relative ease.

Let's back up and explore the point, though. Skinning counts toward loot cap, but skins go straight to the furrier for silver. The only way you could possibly get more silver out of a skin than what the game thinks they're worth (in other words, how much they count against loot cap) is if somebody else wants to buy them from you, but that's a very niche market with generally low demand. Earthdiver was pointing out that if you avoid creating potentially millions of silver worth of skins, then you can find that many millions of silver worth of other types of loot--and some of those other types of loot might be items like enhancives or reasonable starter items (sephwir longbows and the like) that the game only considers to be worth 25k at a pawnshop for loot cap purposes, but which you might value far more highly for your own use or to sell to other players.

In other words: if you can get into soft cap without skinning, it's potentially better not to skin because that creates more opportunity (buys you more time before diminishing loot returns kick in) to find items more valuable than skins.

Now let's extend The Earthdiver Principle to Trading!

Trading counts against loot cap, so you'll reach loot cap faster, but whether that's a good thing or bad thing depends on playstyle and preferred hunting grounds. I'll use a slightly oversimplified example, but let's say there are two characters: Silverlover, who's maxed Trading, and Lootlover, who has no Trading. Other than that, they're identical. Silverlover sells all their loot to NPC shops for 12m whereas Lootlover would only have found and sold 9.375m of items. However, Silverlover is already 2m into diminishing returns, so they would have needed to hunt longer to generate the same number of items as Lootlover. Lootlover can continue to generate loot at full, unthrottled speed until 10m, then can generate another 2m of loot before they slow down to the same degree as Silverlover already did.

Putting it another way: Silverlover needs to kill several times (possibly even many times) more creatures to find the same number of items as Lootlover. If you can get past soft cap at all, there's an argument that Lootlover's getting the better deal there. If Silverlover can actually reach hard cap, then it's more striking; Silverlover ends up with 15m for the month, but needs many thousands more kills to get there than Lootlover, who would end up with 11.72m for the month. Whether that's worth the time is up to you. Alternatively, if Lootlover ''does'' forge ahead and put in the same number of kills as Silverlover, the gap is probably much smaller than 3.28m in the first place!

So far these comparisons have just assumed that all items are going straight to the NPC shops. Let's re-apply The Earthdiver Principle and go with that 15m vs. 11.72m example again. Silverlover is already hard capped and done for the month, but Lootlover can keep going and potentially find up to another 3.28m worth. ''Even if they don't,'' though--let's say they only get half that and find another 1.64m--that doesn't necessarily mean they've come out worse than the Trading character. Silverlover is nominally 1.64m ahead, but Lootlover has found hundreds more total items, and among those items could be things that will sell to other people for millions, making Lootlover pull ahead of Silverlover anyway.

In my case, I do find good items decently often and I'm willing to take time to sell them. Probably every five or six months I find some especially crazy item that's worth two months of loot cap on its own. However, players who hate merchanting or who mostly play in heavily pressured hunting grounds that drop poor loot would be better off retaining Trading or continuing to skin.
</blockquote>

===When Robes Aren't Robes: Alterations===

For simplicity, I've been talking about "robes" throughout this guide because that's the conventional name for that [[armor]] type.

However, robes don't have to remain robes at all; they have the same leeway for alterations as other chest-worn clothing! Here are examples of post-alteration "robes" that my various characters (monks or otherwise) have worn or that I plan to create:

* An airy white starsilk sundress sporting an asymmetrical knee-length skirt
* A sleeveless lily white tunic with a jet black silk sash
* A knee-length midnight blue silk dress aglisten with a constellation of stars
* A sleeveless white tunic splashed with an autumn-hued music motif
* A sleeveless white starsilk tunic spangled with sunset orange musical notes
* A midnight black silk tunic marked with a silver eight-pointed star
* A sleeveless sunlight gold tunic accented by bright white edges
* A royal purple starsilk tunic featuring an embroidered silver rose
* A sleeveless emerald green dress showcasing a heart-framed pink sapphire fairy centerpiece (this one cheats; it has the [[Joola_items|Joola]] fluff script, so it can break character limits)
* A snowy off-shoulder dress sporting white pearl accents along a wavy aqua skirt (also a Joola)
* A thigh-slit scarlet starsilk dress accented by ivory edges
* A sleeveless white kimono featuring golden star embroidery
* A ribbon-sashed cherry red elesine blouse with vanilla-hued ruffled sleeves
* A sleeveless gold feather-patterned tunic tied at the waist

Mine are mostly feminine designs, but even for a masculine character, you can turn your robes into shirts, vests, jackets, and more. Get your creativity on!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Likewise, unarmed combat footwear isn't limited to boots or footwraps. Have a merchant make you shoes, sandals, slippers, flats, moccasins, or anything else you like and wear them into battle!
</blockquote>

===Hunting Partner Tactics and Synergy===

Who do monks team up well with for group hunts and why? Let's explore!

* '''Warriors''' have [[Carn's Cry]], an AoE immobilizer that's enormously helpful for the two things UC monks like most: increasing their MM and reducing enemies' UDF. In turn, warriors love monks' Mind Over Body stamina cost reduction, the best group buff they can get other than bards' [[Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] (which will probably be nerfed one day).
* '''Rogues''' have [[Subdue]] as a single-target immobilizer and love stamina cost reduction. Stealth can make grouping somewhat awkward for most professions, but monks don't necessarily mind being targeted more often since it offers more Spin Kick opportunities.
* '''A monk duo''' can keep up both Mind Over Body and Focus Barrier, but otherwise doesn't have any particular synergy. (Most other professions don't synergize with themselves either, so having any advantages at all is better than usual.)
* '''Paladins''' can give their monk partners extra flares via their [[Fervor (1618)|Fervor]] aura and reduce enemy UDF via [[Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] or even simply connecting with [[Judgment (1630)|Judgment]], both being AoE spells. Paladins can make good use of Mind Over Body or Focus Barrier alike; they use stamina, but don't have as much redux as warriors and rogues nor as much DS as them, so a boost can really help.
* '''Rangers''' have [[Moonbeam (611)|Moonbeam]] as a single-target immobilizer, among various other disablers. Two Weapon Combat rangers should like Focus Barrier and Sunfist rangers should like Mind Over Body, but monks don't offer much to rangers otherwise.
* '''Bards''' can make a monk's attacks even faster, at least for now, since Song of Tonis is the game's best group buff. 1 second kicks are a wild thing! Monks offer Focus Barrier in return, shoring up the typical bard weakness of defense.
* '''Wizards''' possess myriad AoE abilities, whether disablers or attacks, that monks can follow up on with increased MM and decreased enemy UDF. Focus Barrier helps wizards at least somewhat, but they're already pretty durable as casters go. Monks simply being present as an additional target to split up enemies' attacks is helpful to wizards and all casters.
* '''Empaths''' are near-universally welcome hunting partners for all professions with their healing. [[Adrenal Surge (1107)|Adrenal Surge]] also gives monks more leeway to go ham with mstrikes on cooldown without risking being too punished. [[Bind (214)|Bind]] can immobilize at lower levels, but becomes less reliable later. [[Web (118)|Web]] is a more consistently reliable disabler. Monks' Focus Barrier can be good for situations when an empath gets stanced down. Monks being an extra body helps. An empath's [[Mass Interference (217)|Mass Interference]] setting up a monk's Vertigo isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but it's not an amazing one either.
* '''Clerics''' have [[Censure (316)|Censure]] as an AoE immobilizer and [[Warding Sphere (310)|Warding Sphere]] as a group TD buff (and DS), so they help monks on offensive and defensive fronts alike. If enemy TD is too high for Censure, Web works as an alternative. Focus Barrier is somewhat less helpful to clerics than empaths since getting stanced down is less likely due to [[Soul Ward (319)|Soul Ward]], but it's still there when needed. Having a hunting partner's extra body is even more helpful to clerics than most professions because creatures usually need to focus fire on a cleric at least twice to get through Soul Ward, but the odds of that happening fall from 100% to 25% even in only a duo.
* '''Sorcerers''' have [[Grasp of the Grave (709)|Grasp of the Grave]] as an AoE disabler, though it doesn't help monks as most other professions' disablers. On the other side, Focus Barrier is arguably more helpful to them than to other pures since wizards have more DS, empaths have more Physical Fitness (and so are less likely to be stanced down) and can heal when they do get, and clerics have Soul Ward.

Nearly regardless of team composition, your monk training '''Coup de Grace''' and '''Side by Side''' (which also requires two ranks of '''Combat Movement''') can be helpful to groups.

===The Weapon-Wielding Melee Monk===

Let's talk more about Martial Mastery, the level 0 feat. Although monks have access, it was primarily invented for warriors and rogues as an alternative to learning [[Elemental Targeting (425)|Elemental Targeting]], a Minor Elemental spell that increases AS.

Far enough post-cap, magical warriors or magical rogues have the same AS ceiling as their non-magical counterparts. (Their non-magical counterparts do get there millions of experience points sooner while the magical ones have more DS and TD, but that's outside the scope of this guide...) Monks, on the other hand, don't have Elemental Targeting, so a monk maximizing Martial Mastery can have up to 50 more AS and UAF than a monk ''not'' maximizing it! Of course, UAF doesn't matter nearly as much as AS and the entire monk profession is built around unarmed combat. So I ask:

Is there merit to a weapon-wielding, AS-based monk?

Before I explore it, I'll repeat that I think people should make whatever kind of character they find fun and that I personally like wacky builds. However, I'm not convinced that a melee monk even ''is'' a wacky build. When people consider making a melee-only character who isn't stealth-based, a warrior is probably their first thought, but let's seriously compare these options.

'''The Training Cost Factor''':

I'll use my (first) monk and warrior for the sake of illustration since they're both elves. At level 50, my warrior had a total pool of 2568 PTPs and 2242 MTPs while my monk had a total pool of 2319 PTPs and 2259 MTPs. You might think the warrior is hugely ahead, but no, not at all. I could show you paragraphs upon paragraphs of math I wrote, but let's just cut to the chase.

Let's say my monk and warrior had both done dual katar builds that shared nearly identical core training. 2x Brawling, 2x Edged Weapons, 1x Thrown Weapons (to buff up Martial Mastery), 2x Two Weapon Combat, 2x Combat Maneuvers, 2x Physical Fitness, 50 Multi-Opponent Combat, and 1x Perception were all in common.

From there, my warrior took 70 Armor Use to get metal breastplate, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. My monk learned Iron Skin, took 30 Transformation to buff up Iron Skin, and took 10 Harness Power, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. Their skills would be identical in most ways, but here's where they'd differ:

* Monk in robes that act like chain mail: 153 ranks of Dodging and 102 MTPs spare
* Warrior in metal breastplate: 109 ranks of Dodging and 21 MTPs spare

I'm not going to claim that my monk would basically just be better; there are too many factors to say that. Warriors have their guild skills. Monks have Perfect Self. Warriors have a higher parry chance because of [[Combat Mastery|their level 40 feat]]. Monks have a higher evade chance because of ''their'' level 40 feat. Warriors have [[Whirling Dervish]]. Monks have more DS, at least at this stage of the game. Warriors have [[Weapon Specialization]]. Monks have Burst of Swiftness. Warriors have [[Weapon Bonding]].

My point is that a melee monk is even ''comparable''--better in some ways and worse in others--to a warrior with the exact same build despite ignoring so much of what the monk skillset is tailored toward.

'''The Mental Acuity Possibility''':

What if you learned Mental Acuity even without Kroderine Soul? My above training cost example illustrated my monk stopping at two Minor Mental spells for Iron Skin, but another alternative (though this would be during later levels) would be taking Mental Acuity to retain access to the first 20 Minor Mental spells and still even allowing room for Spirit Warding I and Spirit Defense. (If you were okay with Martial Mastery capping out at +45 AS instead of 50, you could even learn Spirit Warding II!)

The hypothetical Martial Mastery and Mental Acuity monk has almost the same AS as a Martial Mastery warrior, but her spells would pull her far ahead in DS while keeping all the silver selling benefits of Glamour and Shroud of Deception, plus saving tons of stamina via Mind Over Body. The tradeoff is making spelling up more of a hassle, but that might be worth the payoff of having a light armored warrior-like character whose combat maneuvers and weapon techniques have 35% stamina cost reduction!

'''Doubly Perfect Self''':

As great as Perfect Self is for unarmed combat, it's arguably even better for a melee monk. For UC purposes, it's mainly RT reduction for your mstrikes or your singular assault technique, Fury. For a katar monk, on the other hand, you're getting AS--more useful than UAF--and RT reduction for ''two'' types of assault techniques: Brawling's Fury and Edged Weapons' Flurry. Rotating weapon techniques to work around cooldowns is a very powerful thing available for hybrid weapons like katars! This can eat a lot of stamina on a warrior or rogue, but monks don't sweat it as much due to Mind Over Body.

'''Specializations and Katars''':

The Grapple, Kick, and Punch Specialization bonuses for their respective techniques ''do'' still apply even if you're using a brawling weapon instead of unarmed combat!

Grapple Specialization-powered Fury knocking foes down and dealing grapple damage is probably still the most powerful of these effects, letting you skip knockdown setups for your staple assault technique. Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick is probably still the most fun of these effects, letting you fire off powerful maneuvers every so often or occasionally rip through rooms while RT locked.

Ironically, if there's anywhere that I even sort of like Punch Specialization-powered Clash, it's on a weapon-wielding monk. For unarmed combat, Clash is noticeably weaker than unfocused mstrikes. For weapon combat, however, Clash without Punch Specialization has the same power as an unfocused mstrike and Clash ''with'' Punch Specialization has a 25% chance of minor impact damage against each target. That said, the Grapple and Kick benefits for Fury and Spin Kick are 100% instead of 25%, so I still think they win out. Punch at least becomes a more serious contender, though, especially if you're regularly hunting things like bandits, pirates, warcamps, or areas that swarm.

Before I close out this section, katars are the only great brawling weapon and are a hybrid weapon that requires Edged Weapons ranks. Monks do train both skills cheaply, but maxing both does have an opportunity cost, especially early on. If you can only train one weapon type, I'd make it Edged Weapons instead of Brawling. The Edged assault technique, [[Flurry]], gives you a [[Slashing Strikes]] buff that adds slash flares to your edged weapon attacks for the next two minutes. It's also much easier to find great edged weapons for sale from other players--and often even pay event shops--than great brawling weapons.

If you're really set on a brawling-only weapon at first, then the ones I think are at least reasonable relative to their minimum RT are cestuses (good against cloth, leather, and scale), tiger-claws (good against cloth, leather, and scale), yierka-spurs (good against cloth and chain and at least dagger-powered against plate for the same RT), and fist-scythes (good against cloth, scale, and chain, and at least short sword-powered against plate for the same RT).

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If or when you train for katars, take full advantage of them being hybrid weapons. Flurry and Fury have separate cooldowns. [[Whirling Blade]] (the Edged AoE technique) and Clash have separate cooldowns. Since at least one of these four techniques will be off cooldown much more often than not, you can go into a wild frenzy with a monk's stamina cost reduction from Mind Over Body.
</blockquote>

'''Conclusion''':

Ironically, I wrote the above Mental Acuity subsection mostly to acknowledge that it's a possibility even while thinking nobody would do it without Kroderine Soul. I just like to encourage weird builds in most professions, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Instead, after considering all the math and angles I did while writing this, it's made such a strong case for a bizarrely appealing build that I've talked myself into trying it with Sariara at some point, even if I end up fixskilling out of it later, just to see how it goes. My mind's swirling and it seems clear that the melee monk is a very, very real idea that's gone unexplored because it's not an intuitive or obvious idea from a glance over the monk skillset.
</div></div>

==Infrequently Asked (or Imagined) Questions==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-faq" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering about some weird corner case I somehow never touched on? Ask me on Discord or in the game. To see what weird corner cases other people have asked about, click here!</div>
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This final section covers any random topics that people have asked me or that I can ''imagine'' them asking me if I feel that they're worth answering in this guide, but not worth a full tip or sidebar of their own.

* Things actually asked are red.
* Things I imagine people should ask are pink.
* Things that are both red and pink come from comments I got that weren't originally questions, but I've reframed them into questions because they're worth discussing.

'''Does enchanting UC handwear and footwear help with DS?'''

No on footwear. Yes on handwear, but each +1 enchant only grants 0.1 DS in offensive stance and 0.35 DS in defensive. Work on your armor if you want more DS!

'''Aren't half-krolvin monks super great? Flimbo's Guide and the [[Comprehensive Monk Guide]] really like them!'''

I do have a pretty high opinion of half-krolvin monks--not a top tier one, but pretty high! However, it's for very different reasons in a very different modern GS than the one those older guides were written for. What I actually like is their great carrying capacity without sacrificing speed the way giants, dwarves, or humans do. Let's go over these other factors, though.

Flimbo's guide vouches for half-krolvin monks because Perfect Self normalizes their Logic penalty and they have "solid physical stats with which to punch things quite well." I agree that Perfect Self fixes something that scares some players away from half-krolvin. I even agree that if you're set on playing a half-krolvin, then a monk should be among your top considerations for a profession. Still, I'd rather have a race without a Logic penalty to begin with! Exp-wise, that Logic penalty is less important than it used to be if you're paying for Temple of Lumnis donations or Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage, but it's still a penalty. The impact on Vertigo and Mindwipe also isn't negligible. (This is, after all, the Autumnwinds' ''magical'' monk guide, not the Kroderine Soul monk guide.)

Another point I agree with Flimbo on is that half-krolvin have solid physical stats with which to ''punch'' things quite well. However, I'd rather have a faster Agidex race who has solid physical stats with which to also ''kick'' things quite well, meaning minimum RT for mstrike kick!

The comprehensive guide likes half-krolvin monks because of UAF and heavy crit padding against cold damage. The math says UAF doesn't matter! (Okay, fine, ''technically'' the math says UAF matters... fractionally. It's no big deal.)

Cold damage protection has some appeal if you're specifically leveling in Icemule, but monks also have meditation resistance, so, in effect, being a half-krolvin there opens up meditating to resist a different damage type. However, the outdoor environs around Icemule run out of creatures after the early 50s, so should you pick a race just for that?

The Hinterwilds ''are'' a post-cap option that also features cold damage, but that hunting ground has built-in means to protect any race from cold damage. Also, by that point, unless you've exclusively been hunting the most dirt poor areas in the game, you could also have picked up a ranger resistance trinket with all the silver you'll have made from Glamour, Shroud of Deception, selling your Mystic Tattoos, and needing little to nothing in the way of gear upgrades by virtue of being a monk.

All this said, half-krolvin do make for great monks. I just wouldn't even think to mention these really negligible perks or quirks as incentives; their sheer carrying capacity and excellent verbs are the draw!

'''Should I train Ambush?'''

The short answer is no. Now for the long, fun answer!

Flimbo's Guide and the Comprehensive Monk Guide suggested Ambush at high levels, but players had no visibility into the aiming formula at the time. Community knowledge and game mechanics alike have changed a great deal since then. Not only should you probably not train Ambush, but if you ''did,'' it would be most efficacious around the midgame and face diminishing returns to the point of very realistically doing literally nothing at cap depending on your training.

In May 2021, former GM Naijin revealed the aiming formula, which, until then, had been a mystery that players tried to estimate via self-discovery. [[Aim#Aiming_Formula:_Melee_and_Hurling|You can find it recorded here]] and read for full details, but we learned that:

* Enemy level has no effect on (non-stealth) aimed attacks (this was a shocking revelation!)
* Knocking creatures down helps (I don't remember if we'd known this or not)
* Combat Maneuvers bonus is as important as Ambush bonus (we knew CM helped, but we underestimated how much)
* The combination of CM bonus, Dexterity bonus, and Intuition bonus alone suffices to eventually max out aiming success

<blockquote>
'''Intuition Sidebar!'''

Even if you've tanked Intuition, almost every combination of UC attack and race reaches the maximum 95% aiming success rate for hitting heads of prone foes. The only exceptions are kicks (only kicks) used by erithians or giants, which still have a 94% and 92% chance. On the flip side, halflings have such overflowing success because of their absurd natural Dexterity and Intuition bonuses that they can tank Intuition and still max aiming success rate against the heads of even ''standing'' foes. Of course, they need Acrobat's Leap for that.
</blockquote>

To be more precise, every 4 CM bonus, 4 Ambush bonus, 2 Dexterity bonus, or 4 Intuition bonus increases your likelihood of hitting the right body part by 1%. 24 Ambush ranks (102 bonus) used to be what players had figured out as a reasonable stopping point, so let's use that in an example.

With 24 Ambush, 40 Combat Maneuvers (140 bonus), 15 Dexterity, and 10 Intuition, you'd have a 69%, 64%, or 61% chance to respectively punch, grapple, or kick the head of a prone creature. Aiming adds extra RT, so, for the sake of the argument, let's say we want a 90% benchmark. What would that require? Going to 40 Ambush only brings it up to 79%, 74%, and 71%. Going to 40 Ambush plus 80 Combat Maneuvers is still only 89%, 84%, and 81%.

Of course, by the time you can have 80 Combat Maneuvers, your stats might have increased, so let's say everything had reached 91%, 86%, and 83%. Even that's not good enough because tiering up might demand a grapple or kick for your excellent positioning attack, so you'd need 108 Combat Maneuvers ranks and 40 Ambush ranks. Those 40 Ambush ranks could have been 35 Physical Fitness ranks at 3x costs or 23 Dodging ranks (that's +17 DS in offensive stance) at 3x costs!

What if you eased back to the old 24 Ambush mark? Then you'd need 148 Combat Maneuvers. Perfect Self has kicked in, so let's call it 144 Combat Maneuvers needed. Even that's already level 70. (You can kind of see why players were able to figure out that Ambush should be reserved for higher levels even before we knew the formula!)

In short, pushing Ambush only even kind of makes sense during the high mid levels--60 to 70--when you have high enough stats and CM bonus that you ''can'' reach max or near-max success rates with some Ambush, but not ''so'' high that you reach max or near-max success rates even without Ambush.

''But even then,'' we're only looking at the training point opportunity costs. Guides recommending Ambush also predated the sweeping [[Player_System_Manager_-_Phase_3|PSM3]] combat maneuver updates. Sure, you could aim for heads after you reach excellent positioning. Alternatively, you could Bearhug things to death for 200-400 damage. Another option is using Twin Hammerfists or Fury with Grapple Specialization trained to inflict the Vulnerable status, which means your ''unaimed'' attacks--like the ones coming from mstrikes and Fury--are more likely to hit heads, necks, and eyes than normal with no Ambush or even CM training needed. In fact, if your Fury is using kicks, then hitting the chest or abdomen is also just as lethal at excellent positioning as hitting the head!

Like PSM3's wiki page says, much of the point was encouraging spending stamina to improve efficiency. Monks are the best positioned for that because of Mind Over Body, so I've made my choice: forget Ambush and play to my strengths.
</div></div>

==The TL;DR Recap: Making Cookie Cutter Monks==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Low on time or thought processing power and just want a cookie cutter build you don't need to put much thought into? Click here!</div>
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(...by my wacky definition of "cookie cutter.")

"Leafi, I love you and all, but I expanded every section, noticed my scroll bar is tiny, noticed your guide is crazy long, and ain't nobody got time for that. Please tl;dr this nonsense?"

Okay, okay, I hear you.

Some of you never wanted the Leafiara treatment where we seek to become real life monks with advanced spiritual and mental understanding by thoroughly exploring the unfathomable mysteries of reality and transcendent metareality (like math and logic).

Some of you instead wanted the Saraphenia treatment where I tell you how to have a functional build that lets you have mechanical fun in an online text-based multiplayer video game and then you embark on your journey.

So I included this section for you!

'''Race''':

Aelotoi, dark elves, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-krolvin, halflings, and sylvankind are all basically the same power for monks. Faster is better, but more encumbrance is worse, so find your balance. Giantmen have a niche.

'''Stats''':

See the table in the Placing Your Stats section.

'''Society''':

Voln.

'''How do I fight?''':

'''Weapon Twinhammer''' as your opener once you learn it. (If you're Grapple Specialization, you can eventually consider skipping Twin Hamerfists and going straight to Fury once you have a few ranks of Specialization.)

'''Jab''' at decent position, '''punch''' at good position if you're not Grapple Specialization and '''grapple''' at good position if you are, '''kick''' at excellent position. Regardless of those general rules, '''follow prompts''' and do what it tells you when it tells you.

Against single targets, '''Weapon Fury''' until whenever you have enough Agidex for a 5-6 second '''mstrike kick'''.

Against multiple targets, '''mstrike grapple''' if you're Grapple Specialization or '''mstrike kick''' if you're Kick Specialization. In either case, not until they're 7 seconds or less. If mstrike grapple is 7 seconds or less, but you're Kick Specialization and mstrike kick is 8 seconds or more, '''mstrike punch''' for now until mstrike kick doesn't take so long.

'''Core skills to train every level''':

2x '''Brawling''', 2x '''Physical Fitness''' (eventually 3x), 2x '''Dodging''' (eventually 3x), 1x '''Perception'''.

'''Skills with breakpoints''':

1 rank of '''Two Weapon Combat'''. 50 ranks eventually much further down the road.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' in bursts for various breakpoints to pick up specific maneuvers. (For which ones and when, see the "combat maneuvers and feats" section below.)

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' in bursts to 5, 10, 24, 30, 35, 50, 55, 60, 90, and 100 ranks.

10 '''Harness Power''' early, 20-30 mid-game, then eventually 40. You probably don't need more unless you're very frequently casting spells in combat.

'''Minor Mental''' to 16 so you have both focus spells (1213 and 1216) as options, then slack off with spells until the midgame. Grab 1220 if you feel the DS need, especially if using 1213 instead of 1216.

'''Telepathy''' lore in bursts to 6, 15, and 30.

'''Transformation lore''' in bursts to 5, 15, and 30.

10 '''Climbing and Swimming''' until the midgame or as needs arise.

'''Tertiary skills''':

'''Spiritual/Mental Mana Control''' only if sharing mana with friends and alts.

'''First Aid and Survival''' only if you want skinning.

20 '''Trading''' by level 20 because monks make silver via Glamour (1205) and Shroud of Deception (1212). Get to 40 or the nearest multiple of 12 Trading+Influence bonus over time. If you can get deep into soft loot cap even without Trading, then eventually abandon Trading, but that probably won't be until later.

'''Midgame skills''':

'''Minor Spiritual''' to 2, 3, or 7 ranks, but only after 3x Dodging.

'''Combat maneuvers and feats''':

'''Dragonscale Skin''' for your level 30 feat.

Step 1 of Combat Maneuvers, making the super early game not painful:

Get 3 CM ranks ASAP for your first rank of '''Rolling Krynch Stance''', then another 6 CM ranks (so 9 total) for your second rank ASAP.

Step 2 of Combat Maneuvers, improving the early game:

In whatever order, pick up the last rank of Krynch and first three ranks of '''Grapple Specialization''' or '''Kick Specialization'''. Grapple if you want to hunt Ascension areas one day, Kick if not. If you choose Kick, it's not necessarily an early game priority since you don't get Spin Kick until level 35-36 (for level 35, spend your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling), so you could move to step 3 after finishing Krynch and grab Kick Specialization later.

Step 3 of Combat Maneuvers, fleshing out skills and diversifying your abilities through the midgame:

In whatever order, pick up three or more ranks of '''Bearhug''', two or more ranks of '''Bull Rush''', all three ranks of '''Evade Specialization''', three or more ranks of '''Feint''', and the remaining ranks of Grapple or Kick Specialization. If you went Kick Specialization, add '''Combat Mobility''' to the list sooner than later. If you picked a halfling or gnome, add Acrobat's Leap, but otherwise don't.

Step 4 of Combat Maneuvers, putting the last pieces in place:

Pick up Combat Mobility (if you didn't already have it) and all three ranks of '''Ki Focus'''.

Step 5 of Combat Maneuvers, player's choice:

Whatever you want. Finish Bearhug, Bull Rush, and Feint or don't, depending how you like them. You can veer off in different directions with more niche maneuver options or not. Up to you!

'''Armor upgrade path when ready''':

Buy TD-boosting armor of +7 or more from a playershop. It'll cost 1-5 million silver and serve you fantastically. Add services of Enchant, Sanctify, and Ensorcell over time in roughly that order while adding padding via the WPS wagons. (Enchant and Sanctify can switch places easily enough, but Ensorcell is definitely last.)

'''Weapon upgrade path when ready''':

* Spending almost nothing (~1 million silver): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear.
* Spending moderately (~35k pay event currency (equivalent of 35 million silver)): Buy off-the-shelf Animalistic Spirit from Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.
* Spending heavily (~80k pay event currency): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear. Add Greater Elemental Flares at Duskruin.
* Spending a ton (~150k pay event currency): Buy Phytomorphic handwear from Duskruin. Add Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate. For footwear, same steps except skip the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks.
* Spending a super ton (~265k pay event currency): Same as spending a ton, except either A) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your handwear, B) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your footwear (Kick Specialization monks), or C) get the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks for your footwear.
* Spending an ultra ton (~365k pay event currency): Same as spending a super ton, except do two of A, B, and C.
* Spending a megaton (~465k pay event currency): Same as spending an ultra ton, except do all of A, B, and C.

And if you're the top 0.5% ready to drop almost $7000 worth of pay event currency, then--well, realistically, you're probably not reading this guide. ''But just in case'', for fun, and to entertain the other 99.5%...

* Whaling out beyond most people's imagination just because you can (~4.24 million pay event currency): Buy greater [[somnis]] handwear and footwear at Duskruin. Add the Phytomorphic script at Duskruin. Add a slew of Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add bane lightning flares at Duskruin. Add Flare Affinity at Duskruin. Add the second active Flourish unlock at Duskruin. Add Lore Flares at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.

(Why lightning flares? Because the flares whales would normally buy when money is no object, mind wrack and death, are disallowed on UC gear. They've never said why to my knowledge, but I think I can infer why from the fact that they sold a [[xazkruvrixis]] (death flaring metal) cestus exactly once before swiftly banning the creation of more UC gear with death flares. Said item has become sort of a legend in the community since it's still around. I'm guessing they learned the hard way that top end flares are so astonishingly powerful with UC's low RT attacks that they considered it too great a balance-destroying outlier and had to cut it off. The good news is that the next best option, Flare Affinity-backed lightning flares, only cost 407.5k pay event currency per item instead of the 500k or two million that mind wrack and death flares would have!)

'''Other upgrades when ready''':

Buy a Battle Standard of third tier or higher to capitalize on flares going great with UC. Get it to the fifth tier eventually to max its flare rate, but the sixth tier is a more optional emergency ability. If you can't afford a Battle Standard, get silver for it over time via Glamour, Shroud of Deception, and selling your Mystic Tattoo service to others instead of tattooing your own monk. Get at least the Poisoncraft part of Covert Arts eventually. Possibly buy some Energy Wings if you like aiming at heads of very huge creatures.

'''Conclusion''':

Monks are easy! Go have fun!
</div></div>

==Denouement: An Unexpected Journey==

First, thank you for reading The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide.

Whether you read only the parts of it you were interested in, read every single word, or anything in between, I'm thankful for every reader.

Sometimes I write a "guide" partially or even almost entirely for myself. For example, with [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Ascension_Considerations|Ascension Considerations]], I was going to do the math on efficient progression anyway, so I figured I'd take the extra time to turn what could have been private spreadsheets into wiki tables. [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Pre-Ascension_Stopping_Points|Pre-Ascension Stopping Points]] (which I just noticed is really outdated) originally ''was'' a private document, but I turned it into a wiki page because sometimes people ask me if they can see my characters' skills when they want a template of where to take their post-cap training.

This one was for you guys, though. I hope it's been helpful, I hope it's gotten you thinking, and, maybe most of all, I hope you find monks more exciting or intriguing than you used to.

That said, if you were here only for mechanical informational purposes, I'm pretty much done with those. There's one more at the very end for people with multiple character slots (not multiple accounts, but ''character slots''), but otherwise, you can head out! I wish you a good day or good night and hopefully I'll see you around the lands.

Thank you again.

<div class="mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious on the backstory of why this guide exists and why now? Click here and we'll close out.</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-denouement">

For the rest of you, if you'll indulge my rambling a bit longer...

The Magical Monk Guide existing is an emergent happy accident.

The [[Raise Your Stout Krew]] (RYSK) [[Meeting Hall Organization|MHO]] features a division for each profession, including a lead player and character who organize related events and help people with related questions. [[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]] and her player were the monk division lead--and they sometimes said they wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest.

I thought, but didn't have the heart to say, that that was impossible. GemStone has been going for over three decades and monks have only been part of it for twelve years--more like ten years when RYSK started--so they don't have the history, nostalgia, momentum, or player population of other professions.

To be honest, even if I had said it was impossible, that wouldn't have stopped Phenia. Even as I type this, I can picture how I'd try to temper her expectations and she'd come back with "Well, I'm going to try anyway!" Phenia aimed high, never mind the odds.

When her player passed away, RYSK lost its monk division lead, but more importantly, we all lost a dear friend--at least her digital presence, and at least for now. During the grief spiral, I planned various things in Phenia's name and among them was making a new character, a sort of soul-daughter for Leafi and Phenia.

I made Sariara (name credit to Tairngaire) late on May 24th. As I leveled her, I did everything I talked about in the Trade Secrets section to capitalize on Glamour and Shroud of Deception, then shared my method in the RYSK Discord server on May 30th as a "Monk tip!"--plus a "Bonus tip!" about pre-level-20 fast skill migration for First Aid, Survival, and Trading. You can see how that impromptu post shaped this guide!

By coincidence, I'd also been answering a few people's questions in the main GS Discord server's monk channel that May into early June, like which out of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization to take, whether Grapple Specialization Fury worked with katars, and which races made good monks. So when Julenne asked me on June 17th to take over Phenia's spot as the monk division lead, I agreed. I don't think I ''could'' have declined. Over that string of seven weeks, I was basically doing what she needed already.

That morning, I decided I should write a new guide to replace Flimbo's old one.

I don't know what I expected would come out of it, but it wasn't this. With a motive like honoring my departed friend, I ''knew'' I'd put my all into it--but I didn't expect to write this much or this in-depth, I didn't expect to cover the topics I did, and, most of all, I didn't expect that I'd be learning myself, not just passing along what I knew beforehand.

I'd never thought about a non-Kroderine Soul monk without Mental Acuity. I'd barely thought about a weapon-wielding monk, even putting Mental Acuity aside. I'd barely thought about synergy between monks and other professions. I'd never investigated how one rank of Sanctify interacted with Kai's Strike. I'd never investigated how or if Stance of the Mongoose worked with unarmed combat. I'd never even investigated how or if Clash worked with a specified UC attack type.

But Saraphenia aimed high with her talent at community outreach, so I had to aim high with my talent at testing and explaining obscure mechanical interactions. Deep diving into the monk ocean sometimes turned up junk, but other times Atlantean treasures. I learned and now I hope you've learned too.

When Phenia said she wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest, I assumed she was talking about numbers. Maybe she was; I don't know either way. I ''do'' know that we want you monk players to be ''your'' strongest, as individuals. Not necessarily the most efficient, not necessarily the most min-maxed, but the most subjectively enjoyable version of your monk. Know your options, find the best one for you, and you'll be your strongest. Any part I might have played in helping you get there is an honor.

Now, for fun and because I can, here's one last obscure mechanical interaction for the road.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus tip!'''

I have a couple character slots where, even though I don't play them, I briefly log them in and out every day for [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]. That way, if I ever decided to start them up, they'd have a giant stockpile of benefits for a head start. Premium slots are especially useful for these purposes since, at no additional price over the base cost, you get more character slots than there are even professions. (Prime subscriptions can still get character slots at $2.50 per month each.)

What's probably less known is that when you [[Verb:RETIRE|reroll]] a character, the new character retains all the old one's login rewards! So I leveled Sariara very quickly early on, jumping past 1.2 million experience in just a month, because she was backed by seven years of rewards in the form of 1034 bounty boosts, 341 instant mind clearers, and 1004 long-term experience boosts (the previous character ''had'' gone beyond level 20 at some point), among other things like more than a thousand bounty task waivers to avoid escorts after she reached level 20. She also had 515 doubled experience boosts, which she didn't even begin using until level 60 when, due to natural stat growth and Perfect Self, she became just 1 exp per pulse shy of her capped exp gains.

Do with the knowledge what you will, premium subscribers! Log in some extra characters or, if you already have been, get a new one going.
</blockquote>

Farewell, have fun, and be good to one another!
</div></div>

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Monk]]
[[Category:Professional Guides]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Rags to Riches: The Rings of Lumnis Story

2026-02-25T22:20:18Z

LEAFIARA:

{{player-guide
|title = Rags to Riches: The Rings of Lumnis Story
|topic = Experience, Rings of Lumnis
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-05-02
|updated = 2026-02-08
}}

==2026 Disclaimer and Update==

'''The below is preserved as a legacy guide that I don't want to rewrite from the ground up, but suffice it to say that, at this point in time, I recommend that the average player buy Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage items and forego Rings of Lumnis brooches beyond 100 or maybe 300 runs.'''

'''The exception''' is if either or both of the following are true:
* You have enough spending money that using all possible means of exp acceleration regardless of bang for your buck is exactly what you wish to do
* You play little enough so as to not absorb at least 39,600 base exp per week (if not donating to the Temple of Lumnis) or 54,200 base exp per week (if donating to the Temple of Lumnis), nor even get close, and yet you ''do'' play enough that getting through the Spiritual runs of your Rings of Lumnis brooch wouldn't be difficult

For everyone else, the new Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage item costs 3,500 Simucoins and provides up to 100,000 bonus exp per week for a 90-day period by playing for an additional 25,000 normal exp absorption above and beyond the amount needed for your Gift of Lumnis absorption. (That amount will be 14,600 + 25,000 exp by default or 29,200 + 25,000 exp if you're paying for the Temple of Lumnis bonuses.)

Depending on how easily you can finish your Gift of Lumnis and where you time the Tutelage to start, those 90 days encompass a minimum of 12 weeks (84 days by starting Tutelage on the same day as a Gift of Lumnis, so the 13th week has only 1 day to finish grinding) and a maximum of 14 weeks (bookending the middle 84 days with two partial weeks between Gifts of Lumnis). That's 1,200,000 to 1,400,000 exp. For the sake of illustration, I'll meet in the middle and call it 1,300,000 since not everybody can necessarily finish a Gift of Lumnis, especially a Temple-boosted one, in a partial week.

Meanwhile, 100 Rings of Lumnis runs cost 10,000 Simucoins--2.857 times as much--while providing 284,700 exp per year. Measuring exp per dollar, that brooch will only surpass Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage after ~13 years of play. It only swings further in favor of Tutelage at higher tiers that are less cost-effective. For example, 300 Rings of Lumnis cost 30,000 Simucoins--8.57 times as much--while providing 651,525 exp per year. In this case, the brooch will take ~17 years of play to surpass Tutelage.

So far this has assumed that you play enough to earn the full Tutelage benefit of 100k bonus exp per week. However, even if you don't play for the full amount, you still get proportional benefit to whatever you do play. For example, if you play for 12,500 exp beyond your Gift of Lumnis each week, then the benefit would still be 50k bonus exp per week, equaling (in our middle ground example) 650k exp over a 90-day period. 100 Rings of Lumnis brooch runs would still only win after ~6.52 years of play and 300 runs would still only win after ~8.54 years of play.

I don't want to minimize the extra playtime factor of Tutelage, so I'll acknowledge that asking people to play for 25,000 more exp per week is possibly up to 12.5 more hours playing per week assuming a baseline of ~2k exp per hour (which is achievable by most characters). However, the downside of having little playtime works not only against Tutelage, but also potentially against Brooches of Lumnis.

The lower end brooch examples that I've been mentioning so far--100 or 300 runs--can be knocked out fairly quickly since they only require commitments of hunting for 780 extra exp and 1,785 extra exp per day, which probably respectively require 4-10 minutes or less per day. Those are, certainly, much easier than maximizing Tutelage for 12.5 hours per week. However, a higher end brooch example like 1,850 runs would require hunting for 5,664 extra exp per day. Some characters in swarmy areas with strong AoE abilities can get that in relatively no time, but others might need half an hour or more per day. Still easier than 12.5 hours per week, but not negligible.

In short, unless money is no object and/or you have little time to play (while also being able to fry quickly in the time you do play), buy Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage as a far better deal than Rings of Lumnis brooches. Buying both does, of course, remain an option if money truly is no object! And if that's you, read on.

==Preamble==

Since 5118, Elanthian adventurers have traveled each year to the Needle of Pentas on the Isle of Ornath to participate in the Trials of Lumnis, a series of puzzles and trivia to test their logic and knowledge. Likewise, since 2018, the Rings of Lumnis event has presented GemStone IV players each years with tests of their own thoughts, raising questions such as "'''Is this for me?'''" and "'''What do I stand to gain?'''"

The short answer for most people is "extra experience at accelerated rates," but fully explaining just how much so--and the other alternatives--is another matter. These are reasonably complex mechanical questions, which is one reason that the Rings of Lumnis event struggled in its earliest days. Wyrom recounted the following history on Discord:

Wyrom — 03/20/2021
RoL took a pretty heavy time investment for its debut run. Probably more so than most events. A good chunk of live events is planning and scheduling. For RoL, it required lots of coding, more so than Duskruin. It also had heavy QC, more so than EG. '''The initial run was a flop, so much that it came off the official Simu event list for the next year. But because players were asking for it, we just turned it on.''' There were tweaks that happened, but I don't really see us doing anything major with RoL again. We want to add more puzzles, but I'm fairly certain the unknown factors like solving puzzles led to its initial flop.

However, as the title of this article implies, Rings of Lumnis would go on to perform as a stellar event by any measure. Wyrom would later state the following:

Wyrom — 06/14/2021
Major events being Duskruin, RW, and EG. Though '''RoL outperformed everything this year''', so we probably should reconsider that event.

Wyrom — 10/11/2021
Years and years ago, RoL got pushed into the minor event category, so we though[t] about having it always available. But '''it then blew up, and there is no way I can label it as a minor event anymore.'''

What happened in those years between? Let the story unfold as we dig into the details of Rings of Lumnis, starting with its signature item.

==The Spiritual Ring: Supercharging Players and the Event Itself==

Since the beginning, the '''[[Brooch of Lumnis|quintuple orb brooch]]''', an account-bound pinworn item acquired only at the Rings of Lumnis event, offered players a choice of five benefits:

* Planar: A larger experience pool capacity for half an hour.
* Spiritual: Instant experience absorption.
* Elemental: Improved odds with luck-based Adventurer's Guild bounties.
* Chaos: A random selection from the other four, but up to 10% more effective at it.
* Order: Increased bounty point rewards for half an hour.

This article will eventually cover most of these benefits, especially since now you can have them all and it's no longer your choice of one, but I'll start by focusing heavily on the obvious:

'''For most players who participated early on, and even to this day, the Spiritual benefit of instant experience absorption immediately jumped out as the most attractive.'''

Exactly how attractive is it, though? The thresholds for benefits as of this writing are as follows, assuming one is buying from a premium subscription:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Rings of Lumnis Runs'''||'''Exp Per Rub'''||'''X/Day Uses'''||'''Daily Exp'''||'''Yearly Exp'''||'''Simucoin Cost'''||'''Premium Dollar Cost'''||'''Yearly Exp Per Dollar'''
|-
||10||100||1||100||36,500||1,000||$8.69 (of a $9.99 package)||4200.23
|-
||30||200||1||200||73,000||3,000||$23.99 (of a $34.99 package)||3042.93
|-
||55||300||1||300||109,500||5,500||$42.30 (of $49.99)||2588.65
|-
||100||390||2||780||284,700||10,000|||$74.07 (of $99.99)||3843.66
|-
||300||595||3||1,785||651,525||30,000||$223.05 (of two $99.99 and one $49.99)||2920.98
|-
||750||761||4||3,044||1,111,060||75,000||$535.71 (of $999.99)||2073.995
|-
||1,250||869||5||4,345||1,585,925||125,000||$892.85 (of $999.99)||1776.25
|-
||1,850||944||6||5,664||2,067,360||185,000||$1,321.42 (of two $999.99s)||1564.499
|-
||2,500||1,009||7||7,063||2,577,995||250,000||$1,785.70 (of two $999.99s)||1443.69
|-
||3,250||1,084||8||8,672||3,165,280||325,000||$2,321.41 (of three $999.99s)||1363.52
|-
||5,000||1,259||9||11,331||4,135,815||500,000||$3,571.39 (of four $999.99s)||1158.04
|-
||7,500||1,509||10||15,090||5,507,850||750,000||$5,357.09 (of six $999.99s)||1028.14
|-
||12,000||1,959||11||21,549||7,865,385||1,200,000||$8,571.34 (of nine $999.99s)||917.64
|}

The short of it is:

'''As long as you play enough to use the Rings of Lumnis brooch's Spiritual benefit, it offers by far the game's most efficient bang for your buck to improve experience gain.'''

I could even go further and argue that it offers the best ''mechanical'' gain of any pay event. I realize this is a bold claim in the face of Duskruin, but even the most powerful flares only have a chance to activate while the Rings of Lumnis brooch offers high value in a guaranteed form. In fact, let's run that comparison of ''the most powerful'' flares to a similar price spent on the brooch:

* Duskruin's xazkruvrixis metal, which has flares that instantly kill creatures, costs roughly $952 worth of bloodscrip.
* A Rings of Lumnis brooch with 1250 runs of the Spiritual ring, which gives the user 1.6 million experience ''every year,'' costs $892.85 worth of event entries.

Let's put that 1.6 million experience per year into perspective.

A casual player who only plays exactly enough each week to finish their Gift of Lumnis earns about 1.9m annual exp ordinarily, so the brooch described above would skyrocket their exp gain to 184% of what it was. If starting fresh from level 0, they would reach level 61 within a year and level 95 within two years. Alternatively, if we look at a veteran or more hardcore player who's already capped, they would earn an additional 1920 training points (if converting PTPs to MTPs or vice versa) or 32 Ascension training points every year from the brooch alone.

It boggles my mind that these brooches exist, but it's just as baffling to raise the question:

Why did this unbelievable mechanical benefit take time to catch on instead of selling like hotcakes immediately?

==Playing It By Ear: How Rings of Lumnis got Better in Reality and Perception==

Several factors held the Rings of Lumnis event back at the start, yet most are things of the past by now.

One was the uncertainty factor described by Wyrom near the start of this page. Asking players to solve puzzles by guessing at verbs or answering trivia by scouring the wiki is a taller mountain to climb than asking them to defeat creatures at Duskruin and Ebon Gate or search areas at Duskruin and Rumor Woods. However, these days the answers to the puzzles and trivia are widely known and available, including even a [[Research:Rings_of_Lumnis|spoiler section on the wiki]] if one really needs it, making Rings of Lumnis more accessible.

Only being able to keep one of the brooch's five types of benefits active before 2021 also left many players advancing exclusively in Spiritual and not spending on the other types of puzzles, but more on that later.

One of the biggest improvements to the event, starting only days into its first run, was the addition of lightening and deepening notes as rewards. You don't--and never did--need to actually complete the Rings of Lumnis puzzles to upgrade your brooch. Merely entering the puzzle upgrades it even if you forfeit, ensuring that you get value for your Simucoins.

Of course, players soon realized this and some began just entering and forfeiting repeatedly, seeing little reason to finish puzzles they'd already encountered--if not also ones they hadn't. In response, staff added lightening and deepening notes as rewards for completion. (There are also more rare prizes like RPA orbs and most years have even had a handful of jackpot level prizes like unique lunar halos or spirit servants.) These notes allow automated lightening and deepening of your items on your schedule, so the Rings of Lumnis value proposition became not only getting experience (or, if preferred, one of the other benefits), but saving yourself or someone else a great deal of time that could have been spent waiting in merchant lines.

Almost the entire supply of lightening and deepening notes that are so ubiquitous in playershops today has come from players running Rings of Lumnis.

One thing that did and probably still does hold Rings of Lumnis back, however, is that substantial brooch benefits are predicated on some combination of heavy play, heavy spending, or heavy merchanting. My earlier example used the ~1.6 million bonus exp mark, which is pretty staggering, but it also costs almost $900 and not everyone's willing to spend that. So, even though you could spend (at the low end) less than $9 to get 36,500 bonus exp a year and ten lightening or deepening notes and that's technically a great deal, it's also a small enough benefit that it might not "feel" enticing to players. I could probably argue that brooch benefits aren't felt as a big impact until at least the $74.07 threshold of 100 runs for 284,700 bonus exp per year, if not the $223.05 threshold of 651,525 exp.

(As an aside, in case anyone is wondering, the Rings of Lumnis secondary market is historically nowhere near as robust as the Duskruin secondary market, in which players are frequently willing to sell entries for silvers. That does change a bit when event boxes are on the table, but as of this writing in 2024, the only time that happened was the 2023 Rings of Lumnis and it's not happening again this year.)

My personal take is that the core reason Rings of Lumnis took a while to catch on is that, even though the value proposition is great, it requires analysis and ''math'' to grasp just ''how'' great it is. It's caught on through word of mouth, charts, and analogies (for example, the $74.07 threshold is comparable to more than six and a half violet orbs every year!) since not every player is willing to look that deeply into it. After all, while the mechanical benefits are a min-maxer's dream, GemStone IV is a roleplaying game and many do play primarily for that reason.

...and that's a perfect segue to my next point:

==The Hidden Benefits of Time Saving and Account Boosting==

Until now I've been framing the brooch's instant exp absorption in the most basic terms: an additive benefit on top of your usual hunting, used by a single character. In reality, though, it doesn't need to be either of those things.

When I first wrote this sentence, I had been idling on a node in game for three hours and I just didn't sweat it or feel the pressure that I "should" be out getting exp. It doesn't matter anymore. I hunt significantly less often than several years ago because I'm doing other things--writing on the wiki, chatting on Discord, running Silverwood Manor events or Twilight Hall events, idling and talking with people--but I still gain exp matching the pace I've planned around.

It doesn't even require a huge number of Spiritual runs to feel way more at luxury. Most people hover in the realm of earning 1800 to 2500 exp per hour when playing semi-seriously, so even a fairly modest $74.07 brooch that gives 5,460 exp per week gives a player about 2.184 to 3.03 hours of leeway.

That said, a significant number of Spiritual runs--like, say, 1250 or more--can be a double-edged sword. Though it relieves the pressure of staying consistently active in the hunt-rest cycle, it can ''add'' the pressure of feeling the need to run through every Spiritual use each day. This can come in the form of, for example, one exhaustive power hunt with frequent absorbs, doing an instant absorb after each of the first X bounties turned in for the day, or participating in large scale group hunts like Reim or warcamps where exp flows like water.

Another benefit of the brooch is that, as mentioned before, it's account-bound rather than character-bound, so you can give uses to another character on a premium slot for any reason you like. When Sanctify was on the verge of being released, I had begun working on another cleric who was in her mid-10s and shifted some of my Planar brooch rubs to her for a couple of weeks to bring her up to speed and start sanctifying items.

Yes, I said Planar, not Spiritual. As nice as it is to have the freedom to shift gears and start heavily pushing a backup character with Spiritual if you want, the Planar benefit can also make a gigantic difference for a premium player who's really capitalizing on alt slots. Used carefully and split up across characters, you can more or less permanently increase the size of their exp pools. Let's break down Planar in the next section!

==Maximizing an Upgraded Multi-Ring Brooch==

Since 2021, players have been able to pay a million silvers to upgrade their brooches, enabling them to add runs in every ring and therefore have every benefit. Each ring has its own number of uses per day, however. Someone can have, for example, a brooch with 300 Spiritual runs to give 595 absorbed exp three times per day, 100 Planar runs to give half an hour of +390 exp pool size twice per day, and 100 Order runs to give half an hour of +390 bounty points twice per day.

Revisiting a simplified version of our chart...

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Rings of Lumnis Runs'''||'''Exp Pool or Bounty Point Increase Per Rub'''||'''X/Day Uses'''||'''Minutes Per Day'''
|-
||10||100||1||30
|-
||30||200||1||30
|-
||55||300||1||30
|-
||100||390||2||60
|-
||300||595||3||90
|-
||750||761||4||120
|-
||1,250||869||5||150
|-
||1,850||944||6||180
|-
||2,500||1,009||7||210
|-
||3,250||1,084||8||240
|-
||5,000||1,259||9||270
|-
||7,500||1,509||10||300
|-
||12,000||1,959||11||330
|}

...the scaling on Planar and Order is nominally identical to Spiritual, meaning that 1 absorbed exp = 1 additional exp in the pool = 1 additional bounty point. ''However,'' while Spiritual happens instantaneously and is then gone, Planar and Order each last half an hour per rub.

In the case of Order, this means you can often get more than one use out of it. Rub the brooch just before turning in a bounty to get bonus bounty points, then complete another one within the half hour and get bonus bounty points on that too. Order is good at what it does, but I won't spend any more time on that since ''what it does'' is a niche benefit primarily helpful to players who need a steady supply of bounty points for enhancive charging or even fixskills (like, for example, if they fixskill every time Duskruin comes around or supply fixskills to wizards, clerics, and sorcerers working on improving their items).

The benefits of the Planar ring, while not as immediately and obviously attractive as the Spiritual ring, can be substantial. On the surface level, a Spiritual benefit of (just to pick a number) 600 experience instantly absorbed per rub likely seems far better than the equivalent Planar benefit of increasing your exp pool by 600 for half an hour and gradually absorbing that over time.

However, there are caveats and niche circumstances in which the Planar benefit can be ''better'' than the Spiritual benefit, depending on your playstyle and resources.

First, for every 200 exp in your pool, you absorb one more experience per pulse than normal. So, using our example of a Planar brooch with 600 bonus, you'd nominally have +3 experience per pulse for half an hour, which is 90 experience on top of the 600.

Better yet, though, a Planar boost can technically extend past half an hour if you time it correctly. By turning in a bounty right before a Planar boost expires, your saturated mind state will be based on the increased exp pool. In my case, this means ~2000 experience to absorb instead of ~1500, so I retain bigger experience pulses not just for the ordinary half hour, but also during the time it takes to absorb the the additional exp above and beyond what I would have had ordinarily.

So far, the above two points can only make a case for Planar ever exceeding Spiritual, even in the most niche scenario, if someone is playing heavily enough to be online for the full duration of exp pulses.

However, due to how offline experience absorption works, arguably a far better use case than the above is using a Planar boost on the most ''infrequently'' played of characters. Here's an illustration:

Right before a player goes to bed, her level 15 character with a normal exp pool size of 900 takes on a bounty. When her normal exp pool fills up, she uses a Planar boost to increase it by 761, then fills her head again as she completes the bounty five minutes later. She turns it in, reaching a saturated point of ~2100 exp, then shuts off GS for the night.

She only plays this character once per day before bed to finish out her Gift of Lumnis, so by the time she comes back, it's about 23 hours later. Using the offline exp absorption rate of 15 per 10 minutes, the character has absorbed 2070 experience.

Crucially, if she ''hadn't'' used the Planar boost, then her saturated exp pool would have been around 1400, so she would have come back to exactly that much experience absorbed. In other words, the character gained a net benefit of 670 experience from this 761 experience Planar boost.

However, she's not done. You see, the Planar boost lasts half an hour and we said that so far she only had it active for five minutes while finishing her bounty. Now she gets a new bounty and we'll say it takes ten minutes to complete and turn in, so she does that and shuts off for the night again, ending with ~2100 exp.

This time she comes back to play 24 hours later and has absorbed all 2100 exp, which again is 700 more than she would have if she didn't have a Planar boost active. At this point she's now gotten a 1370 experience benefit from a rub of a 761 experience Planar ring.

...but the Planar boost still has 15 minutes left, so if she can finish another bounty in that time, she can get ''2070'' experience (by the time she logs on again tomorrow night) from this one Planar rub.

In reality, it's even better than that because this example doesn't mention the larger exp pulses or the increased instant absorption from bounty turn-ins with a bigger exp pool. Still, as nice as those are, they're minutiae compared to the overarching point:

'''On a character played only once a day, a Planar rub can be equivalent to multiple Spiritual rubs. If you can complete bounties quickly enough on such a character, it's essentially like permanently increasing your exp pool.'''

But let's step back for a second. If the character's brooch is good for an exp pool of 761, then it has four uses per day, so why does it matter that she can get 2070 exp out of one rub over the course of three days? What happens to the other eleven rubs?

Well, there are three broad possibilities. One is better than its Spiritual counterpart, one is worse, and the other depends (but will generally favor Spiritual).

In the example as it was written--a player who consistently hunts exactly seven times per week--the extra rubs are pointless and she most likely would have been better off going with Spiritual. The daily exp absorbed per Planar rub via offline absorption is 670 whereas Spiritual would have been the full 761, so Spiritual can only win if her hunts are typically short enough or against underleveled enough creatures that using a Spiritual rub is either A) unlikely to get its full amount or B) would likely leave her at noticeably less than a full mind by the time she's finished, therefore reducing the amount of exp instantly absorbed when turning in her bounty.

The second possibility involves stacking Planar rubs. If we changed our example from a player who hunts once per day to a player who hunts once per day except for Saturdays, when she plays anywhere from 4-8 hours, then she has her full exp pool permanently active due to gaining more hours of boost than she's using six days a week.

I've done this myself. With my earlier example of a mid-10s cleric, at one point I had stacked over eight hours of Planar boost by adding an hour (two rubs) each day while only hunting her once. Since she was a premium alt who had stocked hundreds of instant mind clearers over years of daily logins, I then basically just power hunted to blast through her early levels and get to Sanctifying. (And, yes, I said I stacked ''over eight hours''--because, unlike conventional spell effects, Rings of Lumnis brooch benefits aren't constrained to a four hour and ten minute maximum.)

Barring a scenario like that with tons of mind clearers stocked ahead of time, though, a Spiritual brooch will still pay off more even for a player who only plays heavily once per week.

So the third possibility, and the one where Planar really does shine, involves premium accounts. If we used an example of a player who hunts ''four characters'' once per day each, she could split the brooch uses among them and basically they would ''all'' end up with larger exp pools as a reward for her item management juggling.

Having said all that, I'll reiterate that you can also just build up Planar ''and'' Spiritual on the same brooch!

==A Tangent on the Orb Alternative==

Here's a comparison of yearly exp from Rings of Lumnis brooches to [[Roleplaying_award#Roleplaying_Experience_Award_Levels|indigo orbs or violet orbs]], which are respectively worth 21,875 or 42,875 exp. You can think of Rings of Lumnis entries like a one-time fee for a lifetime subscription to some number of yearly orbs!

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Rings of Lumnis Runs'''||'''Yearly Exp'''||'''Equivalent in Indigo Orbs'''||'''Equivalent in Violet Orbs'''||'''Simucoin Cost'''||'''Premium Dollar Cost'''
|-
||10||36,500||1.6686||0.8513||1,000||$8.69 (of a $9.99 package)
|-
||30||73,000||3.3371||1.7026||3,000||$23.99 (of a $34.99 package)
|-
||55||109,500||5.0057||2.5539||5,500||$42.30 (of $49.99)
|-
||100||284,700||13.0149||6.6402||10,000|||$74.07 (of $99.99)
|-
||300||651,525||29.784||15.1959||30,000||$223.05 (of two $99.99 and one $49.99)
|-
||750||1,111,060||50,7913||25.9139||75,000||$535.71 (of $999.99)
|-
||1,250||1,585,925||72.4994||36.9895||125,000||$892.85 (of $999.99)
|-
||1,850||2,067,360||94.5079||48.2183||185,000||$1,321.42 (of two $999.99s)
|-
||2,500||2,577,995||117.8512||60.128||250,000||$1,785.70 (of two $999.99s)
|-
||3,250||3,165,280||144.6985||73.8258||325,000||$2,321.41 (of three $999.99s)
|-
||5,000||4,135,815||189.0658||96.4622||500,000||$3,571.39 (of four $999.99s)
|-
||7,500||5,507,850||251.7874||128.46297||750,000||$5,357.09 (of six $999.99s)
|-
||12,000||7,865,385||359.5605||183.4492||1,200,000||$8,571.34 (of nine $999.99s)
|}

I want to put this in perspective. Let's say that Wyrom offers a violet orb at Duskruin for 5000 bloodscrip. 5000 bloodscrip can be earned from 16.67 Duskruin entries. We'll round up and call it 1700 Simucoins. Let's also say you're buying Simucoins in the $49.99 package on a premium account. At that point, 5000 bloodscrip, and therefore the violet orb, costs $13.07--and that's why I never buy them.

At the 100 Rings of Lumnis entries mark, the exp equivalent of a yearly violet orb--not a one-off--costs $11.1548, which is cheaper ''and'' a recurring benefit. At the 300 Rings of Lumnis entries mark, the exp equivalent of a yearly violet orb costs $14.6783, which is slightly more than $13.07, but is again a recurring benefit.

Let's skip ahead to what's technically the least bang for your buck in Rings of Lumnis. At 12,000 entries, the exp equivalent of a yearly violet orb costs $46.7232. Obviously this is much more than $13.07, but if you play for at least 3.575 years, it swings around and becomes a better deal. The longer you keep playing afterward, the better it gets.

These are the kinds of things I probably shouldn't even talk about since it might stop people from buying unattuned indigo orbs or violet orbs that I put in my playershop, but the mathematical truth is that if you're a GemStone player who's here for the long term ''and'' who has time to get through brooch rubs every day (or almost every day), then Rings of Lumnis entries are always a better deal than any price--in bloodscrip, raikhen, or silver--I've ever seen orbs offered at. Orbs are only worthwhile if you have little time to play, if you go through long stretches of not playing, if you have a short-term goal that you want to hit very quickly, or other situations like that.

[Note: There's still more to come since this guide hasn't covered the Chaos benefit yet! Didn't want to hold off for that, though, since this is perfectly suitable as a first draft covering what are by far the three most used benefits.]

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Rings of Lumnis]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide

2026-02-24T22:35:58Z

LEAFIARA: Covered Energy Wings, essence belts, hand pylons, and various purified materials.

{{player-guide
|title = The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide
|topic = Combat, Monks, Training
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-06-19
|updated = 2026-02-24
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind, in loving memory of '''[[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 24, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Introduction: How to Use This Guide==

This guide is for all magical monks from 0 exp to 55,000,000! (What do I mean by a magical monk? One not using [[Kroderine Soul]]. Somebody else will have to write that guide!) I'll go over monks' strengths, weaknesses, other unique qualities, things to consider, others' perspectives that I hear about, training plans, and so on.

'''This guide is exhaustive within its scope''', or at least it can be.

* If you want an exhaustive guide, read through it in order.
* If you want the opposite of an exhaustive guide, jump to the "tl;dr Recap: Cookie Cutter" section at the end.
* If you're not sure whether you want an exhaustive guide, read the "Why Play a Monk" section to see if monks sound cool, then jump to the Cookie Cutter section at the end, then read the rest if you're intrigued afterward. The Cookie Cutter section provides an overview of ''what'' to do and gives a small window into what the rest of the guide covers, which is ''why'' to do it.

I've made each section collapsible for easy navigation, but I try to scatter nuggets of wisdom for all experience levels all throughout!

Speaking of experience, what's mine? I capped my monk Tarine before the combat modernizations of 2020 and 2021, helped Saraphenia with her training (both on paper and as a hunting duo) from level 43 to about 9 million exp between 2022 and April 2024, and I'm now working on my monk Sariara, who filled in my knowledge gap before level 43 in the modern world.

Speaking of Saraphenia, who created many monks and enjoyed them more than any other profession, I think of this guide like our joint project. She would have had the passion and interest to create it, but not the knowledge and time. I have the knowledge and time, but wouldn't have had the passion or interest--at least on my own. When I say I've written this guide in loving memory, I truly mean it. If even a few more players find monks even half as exciting as Phenia did because of what they read here, I'll call it a job well done!

No further ado. Let's get on with it!

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay mw-customtoggle-creation mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat mw-customtoggle-skillsplan mw-customtoggle-choicesplan mw-customtoggle-progression mw-customtoggle-superpostcap mw-customtoggle-oddsandends mw-customtoggle-faq mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="color:#0000FF">'''(Want to read the entire guide? Click here to uncollapse all sections at once!)'''</div>

==Why Play a Monk or Why Not Play a Monk?==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Pondering the appeal of why to play a monk at all? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-whyplay">

===Unarmed Combat===

Monks specialize at [[Unarmed_combat_system|unarmed combat]] (UC), the most unique form of combat GemStone IV has to offer! It features four primary commands: JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH. Making the most of them revolves primarily around two things:

# "Tiering up," AKA improving positioning from decent to good, then from good to excellent, by sequencing your attacks correctly based on your training and following the combat messaging prompts.
# Improving your [[multiplier modifier]] primarily through things like forcing a creature's stance down or inflicting status conditions.

Unlike the other physical systems based on [[attack strength]] (AS) and [[defensive strength]] (DS), UC's equivalents of [[unarmed attack factor]] (UAF) and [[unarmed defense factor]] (UDF) are joined by a third number worth keeping your eye on, the [[multiplier modifier]] (MM). Another dissimilarity is that while increasing your AS or decreasing enemy DS by the same amount would have the same effect in combat, lowering enemy UDF is multiplicatively better than increasing your UDF. Meanwhile, increasing your MM is possibly even more paramount!

I'll elaborate further during the Unarmed Combat Primer section. For now, know that unarmed combat has a drastically higher floor, albeit also a lower ceiling, than other forms of combat. Monks are much less likely to one-shot anything than their melee counterparts, but monks are also much less likely to have no chance of hitting their foe.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Another standout difference of unarmed combat is that creatures can never outright evade, block, or parry a UC attack. UC attacks can still ''miss'' via low endrolls and there are stray creatures who can still do things like disappear into the shadows to avoid damage, but the latter are rare. If you've played other physical characters and can't stand seeing a creature avoid an attack before it even gets to the roll, try a monk!
</blockquote>

===Gear Indifference===

Monks have extremely low dependence on good gear.

While GSIV is technically balanced around vanilla +20 gear, most people would agree there's a difference between a viable way to play the game and an enjoyable way to play the game. Pure casters are commonly considered the best at remaining enjoyable even with little to nothing spent on good gear. While I do agree, I'd put monks right behind them--and easily ahead of [[warrior]]s, [[rogue]]s, [[paladin]]s, and [[ranger]]s!

Because of the unique qualities of unarmed combat, improvements like [[Enchant (925)|enchanting]], [[Ensorcell (735)|ensorcelling]], [[Sanctify (330)|sanctifying]], or [[weighting]] your offensive gear are much more luxury than necessity. If you're unable or unwilling to spend heavily on a new character, monks are an excellent low investment profession. (And smooth upgrade paths exist if you eventually want them, but more on that later in this guide!)

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

Players have noticed that monks can hunt and succeed in the Hinterwilds, arguably the game's most challenging area, on par with other professions even when monks have a third of the experience points and a tenth of the gear caliber. At that top end of difficult content, I'd say monks are ''the best'' at not depending on gear nor even exp! Much more on that in the Ascension section.
</blockquote>

===Simplicity===

Monks have a very low learning curve, at least by GS standards. This game world has a lot of convoluted training plans, tradeoffs, options, breakpoints, tight training point constraints, and too many desirable skills to train them all, but monks present you with a very straightforward, low pressure profession that it's difficult to get wrong. If you stick to unarmed combat, I'd go so far as ''extremely'' difficult to get wrong.

(If you want to do unusual things that don't involve UC, then read on in Odds and Ends!)

===Fun Factor===

Once monks hit their stride by level 40--maybe even level 30--they're great at screen scroll shenanigans. With the general speed of unarmed combat, its myriad status conditions, free bonus jabs in [[Verb:MSTRIKE|mstrikes]] or free knockdowns in [[Fury]], and plenty of messaging prompts about tiering up or when to [[Spin Kick]], combat can be an engaging and chaotic experience!

Even from a roleplaying perspective, [[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]] is one of the game's coolest tools. It allows you to customize your appearance and save up to three illusionary projections, which is as close as you can get to playing multiple characters in one!

===Might and Magic===

If you long for the raw power of a physical profession like a warrior, but still want the option to use magic in and out of combat even from early levels, monks are for you. The [[Minor Mental]] spell circle is so integral to the monk toolkit that dev had to make provision so even Kroderine Soul monks could still cast spells from level 30 on!

===Downsides or Lack Thereof===

Some players feel that monks are pigeonholed into unarmed combat. I would have agreed before creating this guide, but while writing Odds and Ends, I did a deep dive into the math and now believe a weapon build is absolutely on the table; monks ''can'', if they want, operate like warriors who have more DS (until very far post-cap) but don't wear heavy armor, are better at evading but worse at parrying, have a universal stat bonus from level 50 on but don't have guild skills, and a few other tradeoffs. If your character concept is a lightly armored Dread Pirate type quick on their feet, there's a very real case that a monk can be a better choice than a warrior.

[[Target defense]] (TD) is widely regarded as a monk weakness and was a major discussion point in [[Flimbo's Monk Guide]], which was extensive in its time, but has become outdated after years of major game developments since then. TD certainly is a weakness, but not nearly as much of one now. Monks' offensive toolkit has grown, making it easier than ever to keep enemies under control and stop them from casting at all. Even when creatures do fire off spells, non-Kroderine Soul monks have a new warding defense booster called Dragonscale Skin while Kroderine Soul monks have magic redux and can absorb (negate) an offensive spell once every 30 seconds.

The best I can muster for legitimate monk downsides are that they can't obliterate an entire swarm of creatures in six seconds or less (that's the domain of post-cap bards and wizards) and their profession service needs improvement (but improvement is already planned for the future).
</div></div>

==Character Creation==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-creation" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Need to walk through the creation of your monk? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-creation">

If making a monk sounds intriguing, let's get started!

===Choosing a Race===

From level 50 on, monks arguably have more leeway than any other [[profession]] to be any [[race]] with minimal drawbacks due to [[Perfect Self]] basically eliminating stat deficiencies. Instead of any race being bad at anything, it's more a question of which ones are slightly better at any given thing. I don't think you can go wrong, which I don't say about other professions, so my honest suggestion is to pick whatever sounds interesting.

If you're not sure what's interesting or are torn between options, my ''next'' suggestion is to see if any [[race-specific verbs]] strike your fancy. Even though Shroud of Deception can make your monk ''appear'' like other races, they can't perform (for example) halfling-specific verbs without actually being a halfling. Get the verbs you like!

If verbs don't sound compelling either, then here's how I'd rank monk races mechanically if I really had to:

# '''[[Elf|Elves]]''': What I made my first monk, Tarine. Elves tie with burghal gnomes as the second best race for combined [[Agility]] and [[Dexterity]] ("Agidex"), which means faster mstrikes and assault techniques--the most key parts of the monk arsenal. Elves have no particular disadvantages like height or size, though they're slightly below average on encumbrance.
# '''[[Aelotoi]], [[Dark Elf|Dark Elves]], [[Half-Elf|Half-Elves]], and [[Sylvankind|Sylvans]]''': All of these races tie for third place Agidex and second place in my overall rankings. They can still get to minimum speed attacks, but need a little more [[experience]] or enhancive items than elves, halflings, or gnomes would. They have much more carrying capacity (less encumbrance) than halflings and gnomes, all but aelotoi have more carrying capacity than elves, and none have problems height-wise. Mechanical differences between the four are pretty minimal for monks, but compared to elves as a baseline...
#* Aelotoi have a [[Logic]] bonus, so they gain exp slightly faster (1 per pulse) and [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] are slightly more reliable.
#* Dark elves' [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]] bonuses offer a small amount of defense against elemental and spiritual warding spells.
#* Half-elves have the best carrying capacity of my top five picks. The dwarves and halflings bullet points have more to say about encumbrance.
#* Sylvans' Aura bonus offers a small amount of defense against elemental warding spells. Dark elves are mechanically better at the same thing, but, again, the differences are very minimal in practice.
# '''[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and [[Halfling]]s''': Unlike the above grouping of races that play roughly identically, dwarves and halflings have substantial differences alongside some similarities. The most eye-catching similarity is excellent defense against elemental warding spells, which monks would normally be weak against; dwarves have +30 TD and halflings have +40 TD. Dwarves and halflings do have -10 and -5 Aura bonuses respectively, which also defends against elemental spells, so the real numbers could be considered more like +20 and +35. (Enemy elemental warding spells ''are'' sort of rare, but you might be glad for the benefit when you do run into them.) Their heights require keeping most creatures knocked down or training niche combat maneuvers like [[Acrobat's Leap]] to target heads as a finisher if you're trying to aim, though not all monks do. Dwarves and halflings have Logic bonuses for exp, Vertigo, and Mindwipe purposes. As for the differences...
#* Dwarves are the only race that's both short and slow, ranking second to last in Agidex. Still, if you're okay with slower attacks, then elemental TD remains a rare and valuable selling point. More importantly, dwarves can carry a surprising amount due to huge [[Strength]] and [[Constitution]] bonuses along with identical body weight to dark elves. I rank dwarven monks the best of the slower races. Dwarves also have a slew of amazing verbs!
#* Halflings are the best race for combined Agidex, having the fastest mstrikes and assaults while being about as close as invulnerable to enemy maneuvers as it gets. This alone (never mind also having the elemental TD bonus) is important enough that older versions of this guide used to rank halflings as the second best monk race. However, 2026 changes to average box sizes and drop rates exacerbate halflings' severe [[encumbrance]] issues. The question is your tolerance level for either A) frequently pulling back from hunts to [[locksmith pool|drop off boxes]] or B) buying encumbrance-reducing items like silvery blue potions and [[Blue_feather-shaped_charm|blue feather-shaped charms]]. If you don't mind, then halflings remain a very powerful option. If you do mind, you might want to look elsewhere.
# '''[[Half-krolvin]]''': The fourth best race for Agidex, though there's as much of a speed gap between third best and fourth best as between best and third best. Like dwarves, half-krolvin have a slew of amazing verbs. In pre-2026 versions of this guide, I didn't see much purely mechanical reason to choose a half-krolvin over the previous seven races or gnomes, but things have changed. Their second best carrying capacity helps much more than before. On the flip side, their Logic penalty hurts less in a world with new options in silver or Simucoins for vastly accelerated exp. If you want carrying capacity without sacrificing anything, but also not specializing in anything else, half-krolvin monks are a perfectly good place to be.
# '''[[Forest Gnome]]s and [[Burghal Gnome]]s''': These are in the top 3 and top 2 speed tiers, respectively. Forest gnomes handle encumbrance slightly better than halflings while burghal gnomes handle it even worse than halflings. I give halflings the advantage over gnomes mainly due to their huge elemental TD bonus, but the differences are minor enough that I don't think anyone should sweat it. It just comes down to the same question of whether you can live with the encumbrance issues. If you can, have at it.
# '''[[Giantmen]]''': Giants are the slowest race, but can carry near endless amounts of things without getting encumbered. Encumbrance reduces DS and slows down single-target UC attacks, assault techniques, and AoE techniques--but encumbrance ''doesn't'' slow down mstrikes nor Twin Hammerfists, which are key in the monk arsenal. However, giants are the worst at mstrikes via natural stats. Agidex-boosting enhancives can fix that, but maintaining charges on numerous enhancives can get even more expensive than the small race path of maintaining encumbrance potions, so I personally wouldn't take the trade. Still, there's a reason that some players choose giants near exclusively. If returning to town sounds aggravating or if you want to maximize the amount of time you spend acquiring loot (staying out hunting) instead of exp (ending the hunt as quickly as possible), giants might be for you.
# '''[[Erithian]]s and [[Human]]s''': These are the third slowest races. Erithians and humans have no particular mechanical disadvantages that push them away from being monks, but also no particular advantages that push them toward being monks. Erithians do have excellent verbs that go well with monks roleplaying-wise!

Races from half-krolvin up are close enough that I wouldn't quibble about any of them being seriously better than the others. I understand people's case for giants too, even though they're not my style (I'm okay with returning to town every two or three boxes!), and gnomes are similar enough to halflings. I find erithians and humans really dubious from a mechanical perspective, though. Perfect Self does bring up the low and you can't go wrong, exactly, but Perfect Self also makes the rich richer.

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar!'''

If you're used to playing a halfling or gnome warrior who wears full plate, don't expect your encumbrance life to be similar on a halfling or gnome monk in robes. For one thing, max rank [[Armor Support|armor support]] gives plate armor 35 pounds encumbrance reduction, but gives robes 15 pounds. For another, let's talk about GS' encumbrance paradox!

[[Encumbrance#Armor_Encumbrance_Formula|Base weight (unlightened) armor has no encumbrance while worn]]. Yes, really. 75 pound full plate weighs 75 in your hands and 0 on your body! However, if you lighten full plate down to its minimum 38 pounds, wearing it counts as -37 pounds multiplied by a number that depends on your race. That number is 0.5 for a halfling or burghal gnome and 0.6 for a forest gnome, so, after rounding, max light full plate gives -18 or -22 pounds encumbrance. Robes have a modest base weight of 8 and minimum weight of 4 pounds, so max light robes give -2 pounds encumbrance for halflings or gnomes.

Between armor encumbrance mechanics and armor support, a halfling or gnome in full plate has a 36-40 pound encumbrance advantage over a halfling or gnome monk in robes. Perfect Self will make up some pounds, but not nearly ''that'' much of the gap, so be warned!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar 2, 2026 Edition!'''

I didn't want to bog down the bullet points above by talking too much about encumbrance, which could have taken over the entire race section. In short, as of mid-January 2026, boxes drop a third as often as they used to, so encumbrance kicks in less often, but boxes also contain roughly three times as much as they used to, so once encumbrance does kick in, it kicks in much harder than it used to. You might jump from unencumbered to moderately encumbered in a single box.

It might not be immediately apparent why I consider the loot changes to be impactful enough to move halflings down, half-krolvin up, and gnomes down, but not impactful enough to move giants or humans up. The answer is that the 2026 loot changes are a double-edged sword. While giants and (to a lesser extent) humans can handle the bigger boxes, that doesn't mean their containers can. For example, if you have a conventional "max deep" backpack (no epic deepening that can cost millions of silver) that holds 140 pounds and you find a 45 pound, 55 pound, and 65 pound box, you can't fit all of that inside even if your character can hold it no problem.

Putting it another way, there's a point at which a character's max carrying capacity gets "wasted" because it exceeds the containers' practical limits. I think giants are certainly over that. Humans aren't, necessarily, but carrying capacity can also be "wasted" in a different sense because the boxes themselves are less common. You have to be exactly on a threshold of weight at which you're saving encumbrance, which is a narrow margin in a world where encumbrance increases less incrementally before. In other words, the hit to the small races outweighs the gain to the large races as rankings go.
</blockquote>

===Placing Your Stats===

At level 0, set Strength, Dexterity, and Agility high so you're at your best in combat and setting Logic high so you level faster. This will help power through the early game!

Before level 20, you can change your stats up to five times by checking in at your local inn. At level 20, you're locked in! Because of this finalization, the game stops your exp growth right before level 20 and forces you to confirm that your character is configured the way you want. That's your cue to check in and decide your "real" stat placement!

Here are my recommendations for each race. If you've read Flimbo's older monk guide, a major difference between us is that he was on the side of tanking Influence while I'm on the side of tanking Discipline or Intuition, which I'll explain.

'''The Level 20 Stat Placement Tables!'''

'''Please note: If you're adjusting stats at the inn, set Strength and Agility to 10 lower than the numbers shown here.''' The game automatically adds +10 more to prime stats, which for monks are Strength and Agility. (The website is different. If you're someone who only wants to set stats once at level 0 and be done with it, the numbers below are exactly what you'd enter during character creation.)

'''Tanking Discipline Version (Recommended!)'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||31||82||73||70||82||91
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||43||85||64||62||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||41||82||75||70||82||88
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||31||82||70||70||77||92
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||50||70||73||70||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||20||82||70||69||82||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||33||82||73||70||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||23||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||35||82||75||70||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||37||85||79||70||82||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||53||82||70||70||82||89
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||25||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||43||77||73||70||82||85
|}

'''Tanking Intuition Version'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||59||82||73||41||82||92
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||70||85||62||37||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||68||82||73||44||82||89
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||58||82||70||44||77||91
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||70||70||73||50||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||58||82||71||29||83||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||59||82||73||44||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||62||82||70||32||83||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||68||82||73||39||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||62||85||77||46||83||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||68||82||70||56||82||88
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||62||82||70||35||82||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||70||77||73||43||82||85
|}

My methodology was as follows:

* Set stats to max out at cap.
* Max everything except Discipline or Intuition if possible. If not possible, then take a small number out of either Constitution, Discipline, Influence, or occasionally Logic.
* If all stats have gotten as high as they can get by cap and there are spare points to allocate, then favor the configuration that gives the most mental TPs. If multiple configurations give the same mental TPs, then favor the one with stats that grow most slowly.

If you're wondering what relevant things each stat does, I'll go over them quickly:

* [[Strength]]: Reduced encumbrance. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus.
* [[Constitution]]: Slightly reduced encumbrance. Slightly more max health. +1 crit padding (AS-based attacks only) for every 5 bonus.
* [[Dexterity]]: Reduced [[Roundtime|roundtime]] (RT). Slightly increased maneuver defense. Improves tattooing ability. Adds crit weighting, but only if using melee weapons.
* [[Agility]]: Reduced RT. As much increased maneuver defense as Dexterity and Intuition combined. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus. +0.75 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Discipline]]: +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 TD against mental spells for every 1 bonus. Increased resistance to enemy warcries. Improves tattooing ability.
* [[Aura]]: +1 TD against elemental spells for every 1 bonus. +1 max [[spirit]] for every 10 base stat, rounded up.
* [[Logic]]: +1 exp absorbed per minute per 5 bonus on a node (safe place) or per 7 bonus off a node (e.g. hunting). +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 CS for Minor Mental spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 [[Mana#Base_Mana|starting mana]] for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Intuition]]: Slightly increased maneuver defense. +0.1875 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Wisdom]]: +1 TD against spiritual spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 starting mana for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Influence]]: Increased success for [[Standard success resolution system|Standard Success Resolution]] (SSR) attacks. +1% silver from selling to NPC shops for every 12 bonus.

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #1!'''

While there's endless debate across all professions about whether to set stats for cap or early power, it applies less to monks than others. Perfect Self makes monks good across the board from level 50 on almost regardless of what they do. Single strikes in unarmed combat are also naturally quick and, even at low levels, don't require good Agidex like hard-hitting melee weapons.

Once mstrikes and weapon techniques are a regular part of your monk's arsenal by the early 30s--if not sooner--Agidex does become more important. However, fast races who set stats for cap will be perfectly fine on Agidex due to innate bonuses. For example, at level 30, my monk Sariara had 19 Dexterity bonus and 16 Agility bonus, which is the -2 RT tier. She reached -3 RT by level 33, then -4 RT by level 50 thanks to stat growth and Perfect Self. -5 RT is her peak without enhancives or [[Ascension]] and she reached that at level 84. However, reaching -5 RT only matters for mstrikes and assault techniques, which, despite being very important, aren't the majority of commands in combat.

Overall, in my example, there's a pretty negligible difference between setting stats for cap (-4 RT by level 50) and setting stats for early power (-5 RT by level 50); she only really felt the difference from level 19 to 32. On the flip side, her TD was good from the start (for a monk) since setting stats for cap means that slow-growing stats like Aura and Wisdom start off high.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #2!'''

There's also endless debate across most professions on which stat to tank out of Discipline, Intuition, and Influence. The short answer is Discipline. The long answer requires more detail.

The Discipline wiki page might inadvertently lead you to believe that it's the best of the three because, after all, it contributes to both types of training points and is used for more systems in the game than other stats. However, that's more trivia than useful information. The training points aspect is actually a downside in this case; monks' skill costs ultimately result in mental points being twice as valuable to them as physical points, so purely mental stats like Influence and Intuition ultimately provide more training points than a hybrid stat like Discipline.

As for Discipline being used in a lot of systems, that's true, but it's once again more trivia than useful information. Warcry defense is at least potentially relevant, but many monks will rarely, if ever, interact with it. SSR bonus is a reasonable perk because Voln is the mechanically strongest society (a point that I ''do'' concur with the majority on) and SSR bonus improves the success rate of Symbol of Sleep, arguably Voln's strongest ability, along with a couple of its others. (More on Voln in the next section!) However, Influence also grants SSR bonus.

The main reason that few players of any profession used to tank Discipline was experience. Instant Mind Clearers from login rewards can absorb up to 1000 exp, which means that, to get the full value, you need at least 1000 in your exp pool. This is very doable via bounties, which allow overfilling the exp pool. However, some players avoid bounties, which used to mean that they would need 100 totals in both Discipline and Logic so they could have a max exp pool size of exactly 1000.

That was then. Now, the Wisdom of the Ages perk introduced in 2025 increases your exp pool size by 2 for every month you remain a subscriber. If you're a premium or platinum subscriber, additional changes in 2026 have increased your exp pool size by 200 or 400 for being a subscriber at all. Between that, the Ascension system introduced in 2020 (though that's more aimed at capped characters), and of course Perfect Self, it's far easier than ever to retain the all-important 1000 exp pool even while tanking Discipline.

One aspect of Discipline that has become slightly more important in past years is mental TD. Enemies casting mental CS spells used to be exceedingly rare (even more than elemental CS spells) and you still virtually never run into it pre-cap, but they've proliferated at cap via creatures in the Sanctum of Scales, the Atoll, the Hinterwilds, and Sailor's Grief. If the trend keeps up, I can reevaluate Discipline in the future. However, for now, monks--at least magical monks using Dragonscale Skin (explained in the Feats section)--have better natural defenses against mental CS spells than any build of any other profession except for a warrior or rogue who has maxed or near-maxed spells, wears full plate, and uses a shield. Even that's debatable since it's assuming the warrior or rogue has infinite exp. Either way, the point is that magical monks have so much less to worry about from enemy mental spells than almost anyone else that tanking Discipline still leaves them ahead.

Still, what if someone is set on maxing Discipline? Maybe they really do want the mental TD, or maybe they don't stay subscribed and don't do bounties. In that case, the question goes to whether to tank Intuition or Influence. The majority usually say tank Influence, but I disagree. As already mentioned, Influence improves Symbol of Sleep and other Voln symbols. It also helps a little bit with Trading bonuses and making extra silver! (More on that in the Monk Merchants section toward the end.) As a monk, thank to Glamour, you can admittedly max Trading benefit in the end even if you do tank Influence, but that's a post-cap thing and this guide is aimed at everyone.

The main argument for maxing Intuition is that it ekes out a tiny extra chance to dodge enemy maneuvers. That can make sense for pures, but it's much less compelling to monks, who already have extraordinary ability to dodge enemy maneuvers due to high rank caps and low training costs for [[Physical Fitness]] and [[Dodging]] (and low training costs for [[Perception]], for that matter).

To put it into perspective, my capped monk Tarine, who tanked Intuition (because Wisdom of the Ages didn't exist yet), has a -3% chance for a same-level maneuver to hit her in offensive stance and a -18% chance in defensive stance. If she maxed Intuition, those numbers would jump to... -4% and -19%. Not very impressive a difference!

But you might think that a super-capped character is an unfair example, so how about my other monk Sariara when she was level 30? She tanked Intuition, obviously hadn't maxed her stats yet, didn't have Perfect Self, is an aelotoi instead of an elf (a bit worse at avoiding maneuvers), had a little over 1 million experience points instead of 39 million, hadn't sunk [[Ascension]] points into avoiding maneuvers, and only had 2x Physical Fitness, 2x Dodging, 1.1x Combat Maneuvers, and 1x Perception instead of 3x, 3x, 2x, and 2x. For all that, like-level maneuvers still only had a 12% chance to hit her in offensive and a -2% chance in defensive. Improving those numbers doesn't appeal to me like improving the success of the absurdly powerful Symbol of Sleep.

Even assuming that you ''do'' want improved defense, remember that having extra silver from higher Influence lets you pay for better gear and items, which are also their ''own'' paths to improved defense--and often simultaneously to improved offense as well. Ultimately, the Intuition benefit is more narrow than the Influence benefit. That said, the Discipline benefit is even more narrow still. That's my true choice for tank stat.
</blockquote>

===Selecting a Society===

Almost all characters eventually join and master a [[society]] since there are numerous mechanical incentives to do so and none not to. This isn't part of character creation since you can't join a society until level 3, but it can be part of ''character concept'' creation. Also, like I said in stats, Voln makes Influence very relevant, so it's worth considering right away. Which society is right for your monk?

'''[[Council of Light]]''':

Mechanically, this society excels at exactly three things:
* Offering [[Sign of Wracking|way, way more mana]] than other societies (with the possible exception of [[empath]]s in Sunfist)
* Offering slightly more UAF and DS than other societies, as it caps out at 35 instead of 30 (Sunfist) or 26 against the living (Voln, but Voln does get 39 UAF against the undead)
* Being the easiest and fastest to master

Neither mana, UAF, nor DS matter to monks other than in the tiniest regard, so if you're interested in CoL, it's probably either for reasons of ease or for roleplaying reasons like the other two options being a no-go based on their lore.

'''[[Guardians of Sunfist]]''':

This society has a bit more mechanical appeal for monks.

Sunfist's sigils (abilities) consume small amounts of [[mana]] and [[stamina]]. Warriors and rogues need their stamina in droves, so they might find Sunfist tricky to work with or build stamina regeneration enhancives because of it. Monks, on the other hand, can already reduce their stamina costs--including sigils--by 20-35% with their [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] spell! They have more freedom to use Sunfist's powerful short-term buffs like [[Sigil of Major Protection|heavy crit padding]] or [[Sigil of Major Bane|heavy crit weighting]] (against sworn enemies) that other professions might find themselves reserving for emergencies or skipping entirely.

Sunfist also features the best [[Sigil of Focus|TD bonus]] of the societies by a small margin and a surprisingly underrated ability to [[Sigil of Determination|ignore penalties from moderate wounds]] for combat purposes.

Sunfist uniquely offers [[Sigil of Location|access]] to [[warcamp]]s, a type of hunting ground suitable for the level of the characters who enter. It's more or less a means to find private hunting grounds for you and/or your friends whenever you wish! Characters not in Sunfist can accomplish something similar via [[Open Sea Adventures]], which explores the same general concept, but that requires millions of silver to buy in to. Warcamp loot is rather poor, but warcamps remain an appealing aspect of Sunfist and can be a helpful alternative to power through level ranges where you might find traditional hunting grounds unappealing.

Sunfist is certainly not the most common societal choice for monks and arguably not the strongest, but it does open unique options and playstyles well worth considering.

'''[[Order of Voln]]''':

This is widely regarded as the mechanical best society for most or possibly all professions.

Like all professions, monks get extreme utility out of Voln's [[Symbol of Seeking|teleportation to hunting grounds]] and [[Symbol of Return|back from them]], as well as [[Symbol of Dreams|swifter recovery from stat loss]] after being resurrected. In battle, Voln offers a way to [[Symbol of Sleep|put foes to sleep]] and a way to [[Symbol of Submission|force undead foes into an offensive stance]], both of which are even better for unarmed combat than other forms of combat. There's also an [[Symbol of Transcendence|emergency button to go noncorporeal]] and avoid death crits. Voln's attack booster, [[Symbol of Courage]], gives slightly less sheer UAF than the other societies; however, it gives three levels' worth of protection against the undead [[sheer fear]] mechanic, which helps when hunting in areas where you might encounter undead more than ten levels higher.

Voln also features two UC-specific abilities in [[Kai's Strike]] and [[Kai's Smite]]. Kai's Smite is its own UC attack that allows you to temporarily turn noncorporeal [[undead]] corporeal. Inflicting physical wounds on things that normally don't have bodies--and usually wear light armor, if any!--is a powerful draw for brawling monks.

Kai's Strike can be a mixed bag. It treats your hands and feet as blessed even when your UC gear isn't. This used to be immensely valuable when undead creatures completely negated attacks from unblessed gear, making it arguably the top reason for a UC monk to join Voln. These days aren't those days, though. As of a few years ago, undead only have 25% resistance to physical attacks from unblessed gear.

The idea of Kai's Strike is removing the pain point of blessings running out mid-hunt. However, it accomplishes that by acting like you're not wearing your unblessed UC gear at all. That means you ignore undead damage resistance, but also don't benefit from your normal gear properties like flares, scripts, or weighting. That tradeoff is probably still a net win for anyone with basic gear, but I'd say it's a net loss for anyone with at least two flares.

The inability to turn off Kai's Strike after learning it has been an unfortunate side effect of the changes to blessings and undead a few years ago. Still, Voln monks can work around it by filling in with their own [[Symbol of Blessing]] until they can track down a cleric for a [[Bless (304)|real blessing]] that lasts longer, has holy water flares, and stops fast-disappearing undead from vanishing as quickly.

Alternatively, adding a single tier of [[Sanctify (330)|Sanctify]] to your gear overrides Kai's Strike. Sanctify takes off 5% resistance per tier, so you'd get 20% resistance while keeping your flares between blesses. While Kai's Strike is something to be aware of and can be tedious (if you self-bless) or cost a little bit (getting one cast of Sanctify), it's not a dealbreaker.

Overall, Voln offers the greatest diversity of mechanically useful abilities for monks.
</div></div>

==Unarmed Combat Primer==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Still figuring out how unarmed combat works? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-unarmedcombat">

Let's go over the unarmed combat system in more detail! If you're familiar with more conventional melee combat, put that knowledge aside--a great deal of it won't apply and might even interfere with understanding!

===Beginner Basics===

JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH are your tools of the trade. What's the difference? Have a look at this table from the unarmed combat system page.

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style = "background:#DDD; color: blue"
!Attack Type
![[Armor|AG]]
!Cloth
!Leather
!Scale
!Chain
!Plate
!Base [[Roundtime|RT]]
!Min [[Roundtime|RT]]
![[Critical table|Damage Type]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Jab]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.100
|.075
|.060
|.050
|.040
|2
|2
|[[Jab critical table (UCS)|Jab]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Punch]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.275
|.250
|.200
|.170
|.140
|3
|3
|[[Punch critical table (UCS)|Punch]]
|-align=center
|'''[[GRAPPLE (verb)|Grapple]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.250
|.200
|.160
|.120
|.100
|3
|3
|[[Grapple critical table (UCS)|Grapple]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Kick]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.400
|.350
|.300
|.250
|.200
|4
|4
|[[Kick critical table (UCS)|Kick]]
|}

The higher the decimal numbers, the stronger the attack, but the lower the RT numbers, the faster the attack. Summarizing these tables:

* '''Jabs''': Weak, but fast.
* '''Punches''': Moderate speed and moderate power.
* '''Grapples''': Moderate speed and moderate power, but less of the latter than punches.
* '''Kicks''': Powerful, but slow (at least by UC standards).

The use case for punches and kicks seems clear, but why jab when it's so weak and why grapple if punches are the same speed with more strength?

One answer that applies to both jabs and grapples is the defining component of unarmed combat: '''positioning'''. There are three positions: Decent, Good, and Excellent. Going up the ladder drastically increases the power of all four attack types. To improve your monk's position, follow the combat prompts as they appear. Here's an example:

You attempt to jab a mezic!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have '''decent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 210 = 1.161 * MM: 85 + d100: 39 = 137
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Fast slap only reddens the cheek.
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Let's take the cue to grapple:

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

As you can see, the followup was significantly more powerful. That's partly because the endroll is higher, partly because grapples are stronger than jabs, and partly because good positioning is much better than decent positioning. Here's one more example, this time going from good to excellent:

You attempt to '''jab''' a mezic!
You exploit the momentum of your previous strike to make a stronger attack against a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 87 + d100: 51 = 146
... and hit for 15 points of damage!
Blow to kidney!
The mezic is stunned!
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

[2 seconds later...]

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''excellent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 106 + d100: 43 = 158
... and hit for 48 points of damage!
Powerful tug pulls right hip, and leg, free of the socket!
A mezic falls to the ground grasping her mangled right leg!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

This time the jab started at good positioning because of Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in the Martial Stances section), but the followup grapple was still far more powerful. Tiering up is crucial!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Setting highlights can help! Since the text prompt is...

Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup [jab/grapple/kick/punch] attack!

...you can either create four highlights for each individual message or create a highlight for Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup, then four more highlights for jab attack! and the others.
</blockquote>

So, in unarmed combat's '''most basic form''' at the lowest levels, the use cases for each attack type are:

* '''Jabs''': Dig for tier up opportunities to get away from decent positioning or even good positioning as quickly as possible.
* '''Punches''': A half-and-half option during good positioning, in which punches have minor potential to kill, but are also reasonably fast at digging for tier up opportunities toward excellent positioning.
* '''Grapples''': Only when needed to tier up.
* '''Kicks''': Deliver a finishing blow during excellent positioning.

In later levels, things like mstrikes, techniques, and flares will throw generalizations out the window and create far stronger cases for jabs and grapples. We'll get into that later, but first let's keep exploring the basics to lay the foundation.

===UAF, UDF, and MM===

If you're used to GemStone's AS-based attacks, you probably noticed how different the combat messaging looks for unarmed combat. You might also have noticed that my monk Sariara hit a creature with higher UDF than her UAF:

You attempt to grapple a mezic!
You have good positioning against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

Let's look at an even more extreme example that doesn't go as well:

You attempt to grapple a spectral shade!
You have good positioning against a spectral shade.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 357 = 0.683 * MM: 85 + d100: 44 = 102
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
The spectral shade shakes off a weak arm grab.

This is why I say you have to ignore what you know about AS-based combat.

UAF isn't completely irrelevant, but the more important numbers are UDF and the '''multiplier modifier''' (MM). While melee weapons, ranged weapons, and bolts calculate endrolls by subtraction and addition, unarmed combat calculates outcomes by division, multiplication, and addition.

What does that mean in practice? Higher lows and lower highs.

It's rare that a monk outright ''couldn't possibly'' hit an enemy creature. Even in my spectral shade example, improving my MM or getting a higher d100 roll could have easily turned that into a powerful hit. On the flip side, since your UAF gets divided by enemy UDF, increasing your UAF additively (e.g. training more ranks of Brawling) means much less than decreasing enemy UDF by the same amount.

The primary means to decrease enemy UDF and increase your MM are generally the same: reducing your foes' stances and decreasing their EBP ability by reducing stats or inflicting conditions like stunning, immobilizing, or blinding them.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Unlike AS-based melee attacks, UC attacks have the same UAF in offensive or defensive stance. Instead, MM is the number that drops so low in defensive that it can even become negative! This used to occasionally trip up Saraphenia's player, who was used to looking at the first number in a typical AS or CS combat equation. Even when you do know what to look for, MM is deep enough into the visible formula that it's often easier to figure out that you're in the wrong stance because everything's failing to hit; that was how I'd take notice and Leafi would tell Phenia to fix up her stance.

Also unlike AS-based melee attacks, lying down not only doesn't reduce your UAF, but also doesn't even reduce your MM! Jabs, grapples, and punches can all be thrown at full power from the ground, so if you're not paying attention, you could be fighting from your back and not even know it! You'd find out once you tried to throw a kick or use an ability such as Twin Hammerfists or Fury, though. Those can't be done from the ground.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Fun Sidebar!'''

Monks and unarmed combat have existed for almost twelve years, but only a single hunting ground--the Atoll, for capped characters--has dared to release ''enemy creatures'' who use UC attacks. Why? Probably because no attainable UDF number can save you if they get to a high MM against you. UC is a dangerous tool in the hands--and feet--of enemy creatures and players alike!
</blockquote>

===Mstrikes===

As you train Multi-Opponent Combat and Brawling (more on that in the Skills section), you'll eventually be able to use mstrikes or weapon techniques. (I'll refer to these as "techniques" from here on. Despite the name, the brawling "weapon techniques" don't require weapons--unless you're thinking of your monk's hands and feet as weapons!) Mstrikes, assault techniques, and Area of Effect (AoE) techniques are your means to fit more attacks into less time.

Covering mstrikes first!

Mstrikes with no target specified, AKA '''unfocused mstrikes''', can attack two opponents in one command at 5 Multi-Opponent combat ranks, then add more opponents at 15, 35, 60, 100, and 155 MOC ranks. Mstrikes with a target specified, AKA '''focused mstrikes''', can attack a single opponent twice in one command at 30 MOC ranks, then add more attacks at 55, 90, 135, and 190.

For unarmed combat only, mstrikes also throw a bonus jab at enemies when you're at decent positioning against them and attacking them for the first time. Once you're into good positioning, mstrikes either use an attack type that you specify (e.g. MSTRIKE KICK) or, if you have an opportunity to tier up, your mstrike will switch to the appropriate type as needed. At decent positioning, mstrike will always jab (bonus or otherwise) until it finds a tier up.

Mstrikes ''sort of'' have a cooldown after use, which is 15-20 seconds or so (depending on training). When on "cooldown," you ''can'' still mstrike, but they'll consume a good chunk of stamina. (I can't give an exact number because it depends on how many hits are in your mstrike and which attack types are used.) When not on cooldown, mstrikes cost no stamina! Focused and unfocused mstrikes share the same cooldown timer.

Mstrike RT is frontloaded into a single burst and all attacks fire off at once. How much RT depends on the number of attacks and which attack types, but it'll be more attacks per RT than throwing single strikes would have been. However, be aware that it can reach times of 8 seconds or more early in a monk's life, especially if you're a low Agidex race or have made a hard push for high MOC ranks to have more attacks early! As an odd quirk, encumbrance doesn't increase mstrike RT. With high enough Agidex, you can eventually get even the top end of mstrikes down to 5 RT.

===Fury and Clash===

The unarmed combat assault technique is '''[[Fury]]''', which you learn with 25 ranks of Brawling (level 11). It attacks a single foe twice at 10 ranks of MOC, then adds one more attack at 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. There's no bonus jab, however. Like with mstrikes, you can specify an attack type (e.g. WEAPON FURY GRAPPLE) and, at good positioning or better, Fury will do what you said or switch as needed for a tier up. At decent positioning, Fury will only jab until it finds the tier up. Using Fury also grants the monk and their party members a +10 Constitution effect for two minutes after being used, though it's not a major selling point.

The AoE unarmed combat technique is '''[[Clash]]''', which you learn with 50 ranks of Brawling (level 23). It begins with three foes, then adds one more at the same thresholds as Fury: 10, 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. Like Fury, Clash doesn't include a bonus jab. At good positioning or better, it uses your specified UC attack type or switches to the appropriate tier up type; however, since Clash only throws one attack per creature, a tier up opportunity would have needed to exist ''before'' Clash was used. (Fury and mstrikes, on the other hand, can find tier up opportunities ''and'' seize on them within their own self-contained string of attacks.) At decent positioning, Clash can only throw jabs.

Techniques cost a small, flat amount of stamina (15 for Fury and 20 for Clash), then enter a cooldown period of 15-20 seconds or so )(depending on training). Unlike mstrikes, Fury and Clash can't be used while they're on cooldown. They do have separate cooldown timers, so you can alternate between them.

However, you can't alternate mstrikes with Fury and Clash. Using an mstrike locks you out of Fury and Clash for 60 seconds. On the flip side, you ''can'' use an mstrike right after Fury or Clash if needed, but those techniques activate the mstrike cooldown, so it'll cost stamina. All of this is because former GM Naijin, the creator of techniques, didn't intend for players to insert mstrikes into their rotation as a means to dodge around technique cooldowns. For this reason, many players pick whichever they prefer out of mstrikes or assault and AoE weapon techniques and ignore the other. (I use both, though, as I explain in the Training Plan section!)

RT-wise, much like mstrikes, Fury and Clash are difficult to nail down exact numbers on. However, they both seem to have lower max RT (unless encumbered; encumbrance affects techniques) and Fury definitely has lower minimum RT. Fury divides its RT over individual strikes instead of all at once. For example, if Fury has 5 RT worth of attacks, enough MOC to strike three times, and a certain amount of Agidex (again, difficult to pin down an exact amount), it'll execute them as 2 RT, 2 RT, and 1 RT.

Compared to focused mstrikes, Fury's structure has upsides and downsides. One upside is that you'll have less RT overall if the early rounds kill the creature. Another is that if an emergency comes up mid-Fury, you can interrupt your own attack to leave the room, cast a spell, disable a different foe, etc. On the other hand, enemy creatures can ''also'' interrupt your Fury by leaving the room, stunning you mid-Fury, etc. It's also less likely that your target will be dead as soon your command gets sent to the server since attacks don't happen all at once.

===Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick===

The other two UC techniques are '''[[Twin Hammerfists]]''' and '''[[Spin Kick]]''', respectively learned at 10 and 75 ranks of Brawling (level 3 and 36 (or level 35 if you use your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling)). Unlike Fury and Clash, using mstrikes won't lock you out of them.

Twin Hammerfists is an [[Standard_maneuver_roll|Standard Maneuver Roll (SMR)]] style attack and an incredible setup that tries to knock down the foe, put it in RT, stun it, and add the [[Vulnerable]] status condition--all in one technique! At only 2 RT and 7 stamina, it's a staple that can serve monks well from level 4 onward and potentially even for the rest of their lives.

Spin Kick is a reaction technique--a retaliation maneuver--that can kick a foe after your monk evades an attack. It has 2 RT, costs no stamina, and can even be used while in RT, so it can save you in a tough situation. Like Twin Hammerfists, it's an SMR-based attack. Unlike Twin Hammerfists, Spin Kick isn't a setup; it has real killing power if it rolls high. Spin Kick performs best against enemies with poor maneuver defense, like lumbering tanky creatures or magic users, and performs worst against enemies with excellent maneuver defense, like speedy four-legged animals or creatures patterned after warriors.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If highlighting tier up opportunities goes well for you, then You could use this opportunity to Spin Kick! is another message to consider highlighting from level 35-36 on!
</blockquote>

===Beyond Basics: Synchronizing Everything===

So far, I've written this unarmed combat primer as if players have no gear and hunting is universally optimized by killing creatures as quickly as possible. In these contexts, obviously punches and kicks seem great, jabs and grapples might seem like something we do only out of necessity for tiering up, and Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick might seem like more style than substance.

However, players do have gear and sometimes going on the all-out offensive is more likely to get players killed than their enemies, so let's put everything together into a cohesive whole.

Flaring gear gets better the faster the attack--and there are a wide variety of flares available these days! Most people will never reach a double digit number of possible flares per attack (though it is possible), but two to six possible flares per attack are shockingly easy to get hold of these days via the traditional ability slot ("flare slot"), script slot, and some help from clerics, paladins, rogues, or sorcerers in giving holy water/fire, Battle Standards, Poisoncraft, or Ensorcell respectively.

Here's an example of a Twin Hammerfists firing off three flares:

Sariara raises her hands high, laces them together and brings them crashing down towards the crimson angargeist
[SMR result: 316 (Open d100: 89, Bonus: 107)]
Perfectly executed strike to the crimson angargeist's back! It staggers!
The attack exposes a vulnerability in a roiling crimson angargeist's defenses!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps emit a searing bolt of lightning! **
... 20 points of damage!
Hard shot to the crimson angargeist's back sends it drifting forward!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps spray forth a shower of pure water! **
... 60 points of damage!
Incredible strike to the crimson angargeist's back smashes through the chest!
Too bad it melts back together.
Riotous ivory-haloed scarlet energy races along the surface of the handwraps, slender tendrils rising up to coalesce into the ethereal form of a keen-eyed owl.

** Talons extended and wings flared, a keen-eyed ethereal owl dives down with an ear-piercing hoot as a flock of wispy ivory-haloed scarlet owls roil forth in an angry torrent! **

... 30 points of damage!
Strong strike splits the belly open, revealing ghostly organs.
Haggis anyone?

The odds of all three flares coming together is only 0.8%, so this is an outlier that I might only see every one or two hunts, but it's a great illustration because of the particulars.

First of all, this is a level 110 creature, so I did mean it when I said Twin Hammerfists can be good through a monk's entire life. That's the least interesting thing to say here, though.

The flares did 110 damage and would have done 160-210 if I were finished upgrading to holy fire instead of holy water.

Angargeists are non-corporeal undead. Normally Kai's Smite would be extremely helpful since the holy water flare here was strong enough to kill corporeal undead, but with this specific creature, even turning it corporeal doesn't allow for one-shotting it; you have to take out its entire health pool.

2 RT attacks like jabs, Twin Hammerfists, and Spin Kick shine when a high number of possible flares makes both your average attacks and outlier attacks significantly stronger. That much is true whether the creature you're fighting can be crit killed or not. However, since the natural strength of UC is crit killing, the extra damage from flares becomes even more important against those uncrittable creatures.

Speaking of uncrittable creatures or creatures you're otherwise unlikely to get through in just a few commands, another thing not yet covered is that grapples [[Grapple_critical_table_(UCS)|are significantly better at inflicting RT or Slowed status effects]] on foes than punches. This can be really helpful as a means to buy time while tiering up to excellent positioning, sacrificing minor amounts of health damage (compared to punches) in exchange for delaying creature actions.

Here's a more nuanced look at the unarmed combat core attack types than before:

'''Jabs''':
* The fastest repeatable means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Twin Hammerfists is just as fast, but can't hit a foe who's already downed, so it's not repeatable.)
* The fastest means of tiering up with single strikes.
* Poor at excellent positioning since they have no killing power unless you have a high number of flares to fish for.
* Poor as the specified command of a Fury or mstrike since they have little or (usually) no speed advantage over the other commands in that case.

'''Punches''':
* A mix of killing power and speed that makes for the best general purpose good positioning single strike in a vacuum. A high number of flares can bring jabs above them, however.
* The best aimed attack at excellent positioning. I'm not particularly a fan of aimed UC attacks for reasons we'll delve into later, but it is there.
* Poor against uncrittable creatures, where specializing in either speed, power, or disabling is better than being a generalist.
* Poor as the specified command of an unfocused mstrike or Clash since it's unlikely to kill, is much less likely to slow foes down than grapples, and has little to no speed advantage over kicks in that case.

'''Grapples''':
* A mix of disabling power and speed that makes for the best means of stalling out hordes or individual uncrittable creatures that need to be whittled down while still allowing for tier up opportunities. (Twin Hammerfists and some combat maneuvers are more reliable at disabling, but can't help tier up.)
* Good against individual threatening creatures that need to be slowed down.
* Poor at excellent positioning, where disabling has less merit and killing power is more easily achieved with more strength.
* Poor at good positioning against unthreatening creatures since disabling has no merit in that case.

'''Kicks''':
* The best finishing blow at excellent positioning per hit.
* The highest damage output per hit.
* Poor as a means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Used during a Fury or mstrike, however, it can be either almost as fast or exactly as fast as the other commands.)
* Poor at tiering up with single strikes. (Same as above.)

In short, pick the right tool for the right job. They can all be the right tool at times!

===Macros and Aliases===

If you're playing even somewhat manually, I recommend creating [[Lich:Script_Alias|aliases]] (if using [[Lich:Software|Lich]]) or [[Macro|macros]] (if not) for the various unarmed combat attacks. Most specifically:

* Jab
* Grapple
* Punch
* Kick
* Weapon Twinhammer
* Weapon Fury [Grapple/Punch/Kick (depending on your level, training, specialization, and preference)]
* Weapon Spinkick
* Mstrike Grapple
* Mstrike Punch
* Mstrike Kick
* Mstrike Grapple Target
* Mstrike Punch Target
* Mstrike Kick Target

For macros, this just means tying each one you care about to a single key press. You can configure them in Options -> Macros if using [[Wrayth]].

For Lich aliases, I've set mine as jj for jab, gg for grapple, pp for punch, kk for kick, twin for Twin Hammerfists, utf for Fury Grapple (stands for "unarmed technique Fury"), uts for Spin Kick, mg for mstrike grapple, mp for mstrike punch, and mk for mstrike kick. I could create things like an mkt alias for mstrike kick target if I wanted, but in that case I just type out "mk target" or "mk [target noun]."
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Skills==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-skillsplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering how to train your monk's skills? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-skillsplan">

===Core Skills===

These are skills you consistently train with little to no deviation.

* '''[[Brawling]]''': Max every level.
* '''[[Physical Fitness]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more stamina early on.
* '''[[Dodging]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more DS early on.
* '''[[Perception]]''': Once per level.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Before level 20, you can flip your skills around any time and into any configuration. The game will adjust to your new training plan within a few minutes at most. I recommend taking advantage of this early period to experiment and find what you like! The above core skills cost little, so you'll have a lot of leeway to decide what to do with skills mentioned in the following sections.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #1: Combat Maneuvers as Core Skills?'''

Many players would probably consider Combat Maneuvers a core skill. I sort of agree in the sense that I'd say ''roughly'' 1x minimum is mandatory and you'll almost certainly want far more than that early on. However, philosophically, I don't consider CM in the same category as Brawling, Physical Fitness, Dodging, and Perception. All of those are inexpensive and offer noticeable incremental value with every rank, but 2x Combat Maneuvers has more opportunity cost and the skill provides value at discrete breakpoints. That's why it's in the Breakpoint Skills section below!
</blockquote>

===Breakpoint Skills===

Train these skills to specific thresholds because most have little to no merit for the in-between ranks.

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]]''': One rank gives 5 extra DS to barehanded monks, so it can be worth picking up early. Getting additional DS via TWC is slow (+1 per 10 ranks, plus a +10 bump at 0.5x level) and not worth prioritizing until much later, after maxing Dodging.
* '''[[Combat Maneuvers]]''': Train at least 1x--probably much more than that early on--but be intentional and reach benchmarks of Combat Maneuver Points to learn new maneuvers. (Which maneuvers? See the Combat Maneuvers section later or even jump to the tl;dr Recap section!) The UAF bonus from CM ranks isn't that important on its own, so learning new maneuvers is the focus. After getting your core maneuvers, you can push CM to 2x, but it's also reasonable to prioritize other things like getting more spells sooner or getting 3x Dodging sooner, especially if you're going self-spelled. Up to you!
* '''[[Multi-Opponent Combat]]''': Before cap, the good mstriking breakpoints are 5, 15, 30, 35, 55, 60, and ''possibly'' 90 or 100. The good technique breakpoints are 10, 24, 50, and ''possibly'' 100. If you're using mstrikes and techniques, then use both sets of breakpoints. (See the sidebars at the end of this section!)
* '''[[Harness Power]]''': Ten to twenty ranks early will be extremely helpful, giving respectively +60 or +110 mana, but I like waiting until the midgame or late game to go past twenty.
* '''[[Minor Mental]] up to 13 or 16 ranks''': The major early benchmarks are [[Iron Skin (1202)|Iron Skin]] at 2 ranks, [[Foresight (1204)|Foresight]] at 4 ranks, [[Force Projection (1207)|Force Projection]], [[Mindward (1208)|Mindward]] at 8 ranks, [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] at 9 ranks, and the [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] focus spell at 13 ranks. Beyond that, [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] at 14 ranks is good, though I'm not quite as high on it as many players since evasions come before parrying in the order of operations. The [[Focus Barrier (1216)|Focus Barrier]] focus spell is also a good stopping point if you prefer more DS--or at least the option of it--over Mind Over Body's stamina cost reduction. You can ease up on Minor Mental training for a while after the focus spells.
* '''[[Mental Lore, Telepathy|Telepathy]] or [[Mental Lore, Transformation|Transformation]] lore''': To prioritize more offense, pick up Telepathy lore at thresholds of 6, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for extra stamina cost reduction in Mind Over Body. To prioritize more defense, pick up Transformation lore at thresholds of 5, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for improved resilience in Iron Skin. To prioritize giving others [[Mystic Tattoo]]s, the first 30 to 40 ranks of Telepathy can rocket your skill up. You can also diversify! For more on lores, see the Secret Sauce of Lores section.
* '''[[Climbing]] and [[Swimming]]''': 10 ranks of each suffice for most places before the mid levels. Specific areas can change priorities, like the Icemule mountains or the Landing monastery. You'll generally know if you need more Climbing or Swimming, though. At cap, 60 ranks handle basically everything, but eventually 101 helps when you need to leave a hunting ground while encumbered.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #2: Mstrikes and Techniques are a Contextual Preference!'''

Why anyone would train to account for the mstrike MOC thresholds ''and'' the technique MOC thresholds is a good question since mstrikes lock out Fury and Clash for 60 seconds, but I find value in mstrikes and Fury depending on the situation.

My monk, Sariara, preferred Fury in most hunts while leveling, which mostly feature one-on-one combat. Fury scales up more quickly than focused mstrikes in the early game, firing off two attacks by 10 MOC and three attacks by 24 MOC while focused mstrikes don't even get started until 30 MOC. Fury also has excellent synergy with Grapple Specialization, which I'll discuss in the Offensive Specialization section.

However, Clash is a very weak AoE technique compared to unfocused mstrikes. Mstrikes' bonus jab allows double the number of attacks for the first engagement with the enemy, which means more tier up opportunities and more flare opportunities. During hunts that feature a lot of swarms, she would use focused mstrikes for single targets, even though they're slightly weaker than Fury because of her Grapple Specialization, since that left the unfocused mstrike option open for battling hordes.

Your MOC training plan doesn't need to assume that mstrikes or techniques are either/or!
</blockquote>

===Niche Skills===

Niche isn't a bad thing and several of these skills can be prioritized over breakpoint skills. Just make sure you're training with a plan and a purpose!

* '''[[Spiritual Mana Control]] and [[Mental Mana Control]]''': Harness Power gives much better mana improvement in a vacuum, so leave these alone until the late game ''unless'' you're surrounded by friends or alts who can send mana. In that case, tailor your SMC and MMC for sharing breakpoints. (See the tip below!)
* '''[[First Aid]]''': Helps with skinning and [[Mystic Tattoos]], though only barely in the latter case. I recommend it during the first 19 levels, which you can read about in the Trade Secrets section. From level 20 on, train First Aid if you want skinning bounties and avoid it if you don't.
* '''[[Trading]]''': Monks get immense value out of at least the first 20 ranks. See the Trade Secrets section!
* '''[[Survival]]''': Helps with skinning, but it's more expensive than First Aid. Slightly reduces duration of stuns, but monks don't get stunned very often. Like First Aid, I recommend it during the first 19 levels. Afterward, train it only if you want to excel at skinning bounties ''and'' have already trained First Aid.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Let's talk mana sharing breakpoints!

5 Spiritual Mana Control shares perfectly with capped [[cleric]]s who have maxed SMC.

7 SMC or Mental Mana Control shares perfectly with capped clerics who only have 2x SMC or capped [[empath]]s and [[sorcerer]]s who maxed the respective mana control.

10 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with capped [[bard]]s, [[paladin]]s, or [[ranger]]s with maxed mana control of that type or capped clerics, empaths, and sorcerers who only have 1x of that mana control.

24 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with anybody else who has 24 or more mana control of that type.

Just remember: 5, 7, 10, 24!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If you're at 24 mana control, consider going to 25! This unlocks [[Multicast|multicasting]], the ability to cast a buff spell twice in one cast. For self-cast spells, that'll take you to full duration in 3 RT instead of 6, which is nice quality of life!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #3: The Skinning Deluxe Special!'''

The [[Adventurer's Guild]] bounty system won't assign skinning bounties unless you have at least half your level in First Aid and Survival combined. For example, a level 20 character with 8 First Aid and 2 Survival is eligible for skinning bounties.

Some players purposely remain below the threshold because skinning bounties have comparatively low exp payouts. Other players lean into training these skills because adding skinning into their pool of bounty types reduces the odds of getting other types like escorts or gems that they might want to avoid.

Experience points paid out by skinning bounties depend on the quality of skins the furrier asks for; in turn, the range of qualities the furrier can ask for depends on your skill. It's a double-edged sword! If you keep your skinning ability low, the furrier will only ask for fair quality skins and it'll be relatively easy to complete, but the exp reward will always be 600. If you heavily push your skinning ability, the furrier can (but won't always) ask for fine or exceptional skins. These pay out 650 or 700 exp, but will be more difficult to complete.

What ''isn't'' a double-edged sword is that the skinning ''bounty point'' payout only depends on the quality and value of the skins sold to the furrier, regardless of what they asked for. The bounty point part of your reward can still be top notch if you sell magnificent skins.
</blockquote>

===Midgame and Later Skills===

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]] at half your level''': After you're finished with 3x Dodging, getting 10 extra DS by bumping TWC from one rank to half your level is a reasonable idea if you're still not feeling hardy enough.
* '''[[Minor Spiritual]] up to 2 or 7 ranks''': I'd ignore this for quite a long time, other than maybe picking up [[Spirit Barrier (102)|Spirit Barrier]] in the midgame. It's very easy to get most Minor Spiritual buffs from the [[Half-elven_invoker|invoker]] if you're a premium subscriber or from other players since so many professions learn it. ([[Lesser Shroud (120)|Lesser Shroud]] is a self-cast-only Minor Spiritual buff, but that's all the way at 20 ranks.) If you don't want to rely on the invoker or others, I'd say learn [[Spirit Warding II (107)|Spirit Warding II]] at 7 ranks somewhere in the midgame, then hold off until the late game.
* '''Minor Mental up to 20 or 25 ranks''': [[Premonition (1220)|Premonition]] gives extra DS at 20 ranks, but, training point-wise, fully maxing Dodging first is more efficient. Other compelling reasons to push Minor Mental are [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and maybe [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] at 19 and 25 ranks, which are CS-based disablers that benefit from training more ranks. You need to find low TD targets, though.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #4: The Spirit Barrier Irony!'''

Like I keep saying, pushing your UAF higher is more luxury than necessity--but that means the opposite is also true! ''Lowering'' your UAF in exchange for increasing your DS via Spirit Barrier isn't nearly as damaging to unarmed combat as for melee weapons. Whether you want to trade UAF for DS depends on your playstyle, preferences, and hunting grounds, but monks aren't like (weapon-using) rangers who would find trading ''AS'' for DS completely untenable. This spell can be worth a second look!
</blockquote>

===Post-Cap Skills===

Eventually you can train everything if you play long enough, but here are some considerations for what to prioritize if or when you reach post-cap.

'''[[Edged Weapons]]''':

There's merit to diversifying your offense eventually! Training edged weapons allows monks to use [[katar]]s, which are fast and powerful melee weapons. While unarmed combat can defeat basically everything and is usually fairly even with or advantaged over weapon-based combat in most situations, that's not universally true. AS-based attacks can blow UAF-based attacks out of the water in scenarios against creatures who can't be crit killed while also having any combination out of very low DS, very high health, and high level, the latter of which makes it harder to tier up. Edged Weapons training also opens up the possibility of using the very powerful [[Hamstring]]. If you want to do this, I highly recommend also maxing Two Weapon Combat.

'''[[Ranged Weapons]]''':

Archery is another possibility for diversifying. Unlike with katars, AS-based ''ranged'' attacks don't necessarily add much when you already know how to use UC, but [[Volley]] is an exceptional crowd control tool that does AoE damage over time. Monks aren't exactly ''poor'' at crowd control--they have a high target limit, [[Bull Rush]], and potentially Vertigo against low TD targets--but adding Volley can really up their game to excel at it.

'''[[Magic Item Use]]''':

Supplementing DS with [[small statue]]s is eventually a good idea for every profession and MIU bolsters their duration. (As a historical note, MIU is also among the most cost-efficient means to improve protection against [[spellburst]] in areas like Old Ta'Faendryl, the Ruined Temple, or the Sanctum of Scales. However, that's largely immaterial these days. [[Spell sever]] has supplanted spellburst in newer capped hunting grounds like the Hinterwilds, Moonsedge Castle, and the Hive--and, although these are technically Ascension grounds aimed at far post-cap characters, monks are able to do well in them long before other professions, including even at fresh cap, due to the unique qualities of unarmed combat.)

'''Minor Spiritual up to 20 or 40 ranks''':

Eventually the spiritual TD from Lesser Shroud will be important, likely closer to cap. It'll become apparent enough when that's the case! Going beyond 20 Minor Spiritual to potentially learn [[Spirit Guide (130)|Spirit Guide]] or [[Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] at 30 or 40 ranks is an option for post-cap monks. My first monk Tarine did learn those two spells, but I'm fairly certain that my second monk Sariara never will. Voln already offers a fine substitute for fogging, Wall of Force isn't what it used to be when it had no cooldown, and having fewer spell ranks means more redux.

'''Minor Mental up to 48 or 50 ranks (or beyond)''':

Working on Minor Mental is primarily for slightly improving DS, slightly improving mental TD, and improving mental CS if you cast Vertigo or even [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] and [[Thought Lash (1210)|Thought Lash]]. 48 Minor Mental ranks max out defensive benefits from Minor Mental spells. 50 ranks unlocks a few fancy Shroud of Deception options. Pushing beyond 50 would mainly be for the CS spells if you really like them, but they're more for hunting things like bandits and pirates or just messing around than for casting in "real" hunting grounds.

<blockquote>
'''Redux Sidenote!'''

Even if you do want 50 Minor Spiritual and 40 Minor Mental, you can still reach 25% redux--a great threshold--by training a second weapon type and maxing Physical Fitness and Dodging.
</blockquote>

For the extreme post-cap, namely training Ascension skills, see the Ascension section toward the end of this guide. [[Transcend Destiny]] in particular, which released a few months after the first iteration of this guide, can be a gamechanger for players who put in enough hours to potentially make use of it. I'll elaborate further there.

===Secret Sauce of Lores===

This section contains tables to visualize lore thresholds.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Telepathy Ranks'''||0||6||'''15'''||'''30'''||80||150
|-
||'''Mind Over Body Stamina Reduction'''||20%||25%||'''30%'''||'''35%'''||40%||45%
|}

'''Green''': The 30% and 35% marks are good stopping points for most monks! Consider this: if an ability normally costs 20 stamina, then another 5% reduction only saves 1 stamina.

Aside from Mind Over Body, a couple of Telepathy's more minor claims to fame for monks include:

* 25 ranks allow [[Soothing Word (1201)|Soothing Word]] to remove sheer fear and grant 30 seconds of immunity to it
* 15, 45, and 90 ranks improve the spawn rate of [[Provoke (1235)|Provoke]]

You can work around sheer fear in other ways by being in Voln or getting your robes sanctified, but the Soothing Word option exists.

Provoke is an interesting niche, but not a major selling point in my eyes. Training 35 Minor Mental ranks asks a ton pre-cap and Provoke becomes less effective the more people are hunting in an area. Most capped hunting grounds are either very crowded, so Provoke does little, or they're not crowded because they're extremely dangerous, which makes Provoke a bad idea.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Iron Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 2'''||'''Level 5'''||'''Level 15'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||'''Full leather'''||'''Reinforced leather'''||Double leather||Leather breastplate||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather
|-
||5 Transformation||||Double leather||'''Leather breastplate'''||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine
|-
||15 Transformation||||||Cuirbouilli leather||'''Studded leather'''||'''Brigandine'''||'''Chain mail'''
|-
||30 Transformation||||||||Brigandine||'''Chain mail'''||'''Double chain'''
|-
||50 Transformation||||||||||Double chain||Augmented chain
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||||||||Chain hauberk
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||||||||Metal breastplate
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||||||||Augmented breastplate
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||||||||Half plate
|}

'''Blue''': You'll need heavy help from enhancives and/or Ascension to reach 105 or more Transformation lore. (If you can do it, it ''is'' amazing and I recommend it highly for a magical monk--I'd consider it less important for a Kroderine Soul monk, who already has enormous redux--but that won't be the majority of my readers.)

'''Pink''': My recommendations for which levels to meet which Iron Skin thresholds if you're undecided. You have more leeway at level 50 on to push lores higher, so I've highlighted two rows each for those, but maxing or near-maxing lores before then has a very heavy training point opportunity cost.

Iron Skin aside, Transformation lore improves [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] and [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] as follows. After the first row, the cells are only filled in if the spell's effect has improved over the previous breakpoint.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||'''Dragonclaw UAF Bonus'''||'''Brace Disarm Rate'''
|-
||0||10||25%
|-
||1||11||
|-
||3||12||27%
|-
||6||13||
|-
||7||||29%
|-
||10||14||
|-
||12||||31%
|-
||15||15||
|-
||18||||33%
|-
||21||16||
|-
||25||||35%
|-
||28||17||
|-
||33||||37%
|-
||36||18||
|-
||42||||39%
|-
||45||19||
|-
||52||||41%
|-
||55||20||
|-
||63||||43%
|-
||66||21||
|-
||75||||45%
|-
||78||22||
|-
||88||||47%
|-
||91||23||
|}

It does continue past there if you wish to use Ascension or enhancives. As ever, slightly increasing UAF doesn't make a huge difference. Brace, on the other hand, can be impactful ''if'' you're getting hit by physical attacks. I wouldn't go out of my way to push Transformation for Brace alone, but if you're already at 15 or 30 ranks for Iron Skin, pushing to 18 or 33 for Brace can be a nice bump for minimal training point costs. 36 is also a great stopping point on Transformation for reasons we'll look at in the Meditation Resistance section.

===Illustrative Training Snapshots===

For illustration and discussion purposes, here's what my most recent monk Sariara has looked like at '''various level thresholds'''--or, in the case of level 30, what she ''should'' have looked like since I was messing around experimenting and pushing beyond the boundaries of reasonability.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Level 20'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 40'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 60'''||'''Level 70'''||'''Level 80'''||'''Level 90'''||'''Level 100 (fresh)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||24||48||74||100||114||134||134||144||144
|-
||'''Brawling'''||44||65||85||105||125||149||165||187||207
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||24||35||55||55||55||55||55||60||100
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||44||64||84||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||44||64||125||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||10||10||10||10||20||20||38||92||101
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||15||15||15||15||15||15||15||15
|-
||'''Perception'''||20||30||40||50||60||72||82||92||101
|-
||'''Climbing'''||10||10||10||20||20||40||40||60||60
|-
||'''Swimming'''||10||10||10||10||10||10||40||0||0
|-
||'''First Aid'''||20||30||20||25||30||35||40||42||42
|-
||'''Trading'''||40||43||42||48||60||72||83||95||167
|-
||'''Minor Spiritual'''||0||0||0||0||3||3||20||20||20
|-
||'''Minor Mental'''||12||13||14||16||20||20||20||20||20
|-
||'''(spare TPs)'''||3/0||86/0||11/0||2/0||34/0||306/128||2/0||192/0||114/0
|}

Let's break down some of the more unusual things you might notice!

I could have done the one rank of '''Two Weapon Combat''' much sooner, but didn't particularly feel the need for the quick DS.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' are definitely where I diverge from most players and you can tell how little I think of any perceived need for maxing them. Like I said, I aimed for specific thresholds. 3 Rolling Krynch Stance and 2 Grapple Specialization at level 20 sufficed to power through the simplest early creatures. Adding 3 Bearhug, 2 Feint, and another rank of Grapple Spec by level 30, then one rank each of Grapple Spec, Bearhug, Feint, and Evade Specialization by level 40, provided new options in the toolkit. Creatures with particularly good UDF made for good Bearhug fodder as an alternate attack method or Feint fodder to drop that UDF if it primarily came from stance instead of spells.

By level 50, Saria started catching up on Combat Maneuvers since she had finished Physical Fitness and Dodging by then, so she finished Bearhug and picked up Combat Mobility. However, by level 60, she'd maxed Evade Specialization and then largely coasted with an average of only 0.75 more Combat Maneuvers ranks per level until cap, picking up 4 Coup de Grace and finishing Grapple Spec. (Not shown in this table--maybe one day!--is that finishing CM ''is'' her second post-cap goal, finally; it's currently at 190 as she approaches 8.6m experience.)

Max '''Brawling''', obviously; I stuck one Ascension Training Point into it at level 25 to have Spin Kick one level in advance.

'''Physical Fitness and Dodging''' are more important than they used to be since spell sever areas are around even by the mid-50s, so I pushed to have them relatively early compared to some monks' training plans. (I actually turned up bounty difficulty and had Saria hunting spell sever by level 45!) The extra stamina and redux didn't hurt either.

I took a little bit of early '''Harness Power''', then slacked off for a while, then finally only began pushing it in the late game as an efficient way to wear more spells in ''spellburst'' hunting grounds, which she started on by level 85 (hence the huge jump from level 80 to 90). This table only shows up to fresh cap, but later in the guide, in the Ascension section, I'll show a "final build" where she drops Harness Power to 40; as she moved out of spellburst areas and into spell sever areas, the extra mana became frivolous.

I started '''First Aid''' relatively high, then it went backwards--but still high enough to get skinning bounties--as she grew out of level ranges with lucrative skins. 42 became the stopping point because it was the final 0.5x mark before level 85, when she moved to a hunting ground that had no skins. She eventually picked it back up post-cap, but the table only shows up to fresh 100.

'''Swimming and Climbing''' are skills that you might not need at fresh cap if you intend to stick to a specific hunting ground for a long time. I dropped Swimming since the Sanctum doesn't have any water and the only swimming in the Hinterwilds can be bypassed with Water Walking or Symbol of Return (among other options), but hunters of the Atoll, Ruined Temple, or Sailor's Grief would want it. Conversely, I kept Climbing because the Sanctum has a pretty tough check, but various other hunting grounds don't. For where Saria's currently at long after the initial publication of this guide, she could actually skip both Swimming and Climbing, but I keep them just in case.

Saria heavily pushed '''Trading''' early on for reasons that I explain in the Sneaky Monk Merchants section, but then let it slow down to more like a 1x pace until cap, when it became her first post-cap goal to finish. (The level where it goes backward a rank is because natural Influence growth had compensated.) Similar story for '''Minor Mental''', which came out of the gate fast, then inched to 20 at level 60 and stayed there.

Level 30 and 100 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the next '''Multi Opponent Combat''' thresholds while level 70 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the 20 '''Minor Spiritual''' threshold after noticing I could have it at level 76. I ultimately jumped from 3 ranks straight to 20 because I didn't care about any of the in-between spells, so might as well preserve higher redux until then.

If you're interested in a training snapshot far post-cap, see further below in the Ascension section!
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Exclusive Choices==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-choicesplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Looking for information about combat maneuver decisions and their opportunity costs, plus meditation resistance? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-choicesplan">

===Meditation Resistance===

One neat monk perk I haven't mentioned yet is that their [[Verb:MEDITATE#Damage_Resistance|MEDITATE verb]] allows them to gain resistance to one selected damage type! It offers 10% resistance to start, then improves at these thresholds:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||0||1||3||6||10||'''15'''||21||28||'''36'''||45||55||66||78||91
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||10%||12%||14%||16%||18%||'''20%'''||22%||24%||'''26%'''||28%||30%||32%||34%||36%
|}

And if you decide to go ham post-cap with Ascension and enhancives:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||105||120||136||153||171||190
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||38%||40%||42%||44%||46%||48%
|}

I've highlighted 15 and 36 Transformation because 20% and 26% (translation: "25% or more") are extremely notable benchmarks. I ''could'' fully elaborate, but people who aren't Whirlin and me would probably get bored to tears by the rows and charts I'd need to detail the math on the hidden Damage Severity Weighting mechanics, how they translate to GSIV's crit system, and how it relates to order of operations with redux and crit padding.

Suffice it to say this:

Because of rounding and the nature of GSIV crits, it wouldn't be merely ''underestimating'' 20% and 25% resistance to say that they're twice as effective or two and a half times as effective as 10% resistance, but ''completely off base'' by orders of magnitude. The upgrade is huge.

That said, which damage type should you resist? You can change your type any time, but these jump out:

* '''Cold''': Useful for Icemule-based hunting at various levels.
* '''Crush''': A very common damage type, like all physical damage types. Particularly helpful for gigantic creatures that fall on you as they die.
* '''Electrical''': The most lethal damage type, albeit somewhat rare. If you're hunting creatures that use it, though, protect yourself!
* '''Fire''': Useful for Teras Isle, among other specific areas.
* '''Impact''': Great against various rock-themed creatures or shield-using creatures, among some others.
* '''Puncture''': Another common physical damage type. Very deadly if it hits the eyes even on a fairly tame enemy attack, so 20% or 25% resistance will help immensely.
* '''Slash''': The last of the common physical damage types. Probably the least impressive in a vacuum, but it ''is'' very common.

Of course, what you should use depends on the hunting ground. If your monk is in a place where everything spews Acid or uses Disruption spells, then meditate to resist those!

The only damage types I'd generally advocate against are Grapple and Unbalance, which are fairly unique. They cause minimal wounds compared to other damage types, but even weak hits frequently knock you down--and resistance doesn't stop that aspect. Still, if you're in a hunting ground replete with Grapple or Unbalance effects, resisting them might save you rounds of stun, so anything's worth considering in the right context.

===Offensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Grapple Specialization]], [[Kick Specialization]], and [[Punch Specialization]], which each improve their respective attacks, but which is right for you? I'll write about each one as if it's maxed, but during the earliest levels, these ramp up by gaining 20% of their max effectiveness per rank.

'''Grapple Specialization''':

* Deals bonus heavy grapple damage before each round of [[Fury]] against non-prone foes, which knocks them down and inflicts Vulnerable. "Before" is the key word since that means foes are already down as your UAF attack connects, which can improve MM and/or save you time of not needing to lead with Twin Hammerfists.
* Against creatures that are immune to being knocked down, every hit of Fury racks up additional damage since the foe is never prone.
* If you love Fury or hate setups, this could be the specialization for you!
* In a vacuum, grapples aren't ideal when not using Fury nor mstrikes since they have the same speed as punches, but are less likely to have killing power at good positioning than punches or especially kicks.
* Grapple Specialization has little to offer if you exclusively use mstrikes. "Exclusively" is the key word this time. If you use Fury sometimes and mstrikes other times, like me, then Grapple Specialization pays off!

'''Kick Specialization''':

* Turns your [[Spin Kick]] into two Spin Kicks!
* Many a monk has happily shared tales of being stuck in 20 seconds of RT only for [[Combat Mobility]] to stand them up, then they go on to dodge everything and double Spin Kick a room of foes to death before even getting out of RT. It's great fun and can save you in situations where the other two specializations couldn't.
* Kicks are the most powerful of the unarmed combat attacks, but the slowest. However, higher Agidex races can eventually get even MSTRIKE KICK to the same speed as its grapple and punch counterparts, in which case it's flat out the best mstrike option.
* Slower races might be better off with Grapple or Punch Specialization. Those also might be better at lower levels, especially pre-Perfect Self, when mstrikes and Fury haven't become as fast as they'll eventually be and Spin Kick might not even be an option yet (pre-level 35-36).
* While Spin Kick performs exceptionally well against like-level foes, it's not nearly as good against overleveled ones for two reasons: it's less likely to succeed and you're much more incentivized to disable those foes immediately. If they don't attack, you don't evade, so you don't Spin Kick.
* By its nature, Kick Specialization wants you to prioritize improving your UC shoes or footwraps, which is at odds with the fact that UC in general wants you to prioritize improving your UC gloves or handwraps since more of your attacks than not will be hand-based.

'''Punch Specialization''':

* Punches as a base attack are faster than kicks and more powerful than grapples. Jabs remain the ideal for tiering up from decent positioning, but at good positioning, when UC attacks have a chance to kill, punches are arguably the best option.
* Maxed Punch Specialization has a 25% chance to add minor impact damage to each target hit by [[Clash]]. A 25% chance isn't a shining endorsement, though, since maxed Grapple Specialization and Kick Specialization have a 100% chance of adding heavy grapple damage or a second Spin Kick to their respective techniques. The disparity gets exacerbated by Clash being nowhere near as good as unfocused mstrikes.
* Despite the above, the buff to Clash being minor doesn't matter if the monk isn't using Clash anyway. Punch Specialization can shine for lower level characters or slower races if the player prefers mstrikes over weapon techniques, but can't bring MSTRIKE KICK down to the speed of MSTRIKE PUNCH.

<blockquote>
'''Specialization Sidebar: Mstrikes with Specified Attack Types!'''

In case it isn't clear or in case going into math would be helpful...

'''Mstrike kick''' becomes the mechanical best option for high Agidex races at high levels regardless of which specialization you pick. Depending on how armored the foe, kicks are 140-150% as strong as punches and 160-200% as powerful as grapples. That power gap is so big that even if your punches or grapples have a higher MM because you picked Punch or Grapple Specialization, kicks are most likely stronger anyway. Of course, your fast race monk could just train in Kick Specialization for the best of every world!

'''Mstrike punch''' can be the best for lower Agidex races, lower levels, or both. Kicks are stronger hit for hit, but if they're slower because your Agidex isn't up to par, punches can still win overall.

'''Mstrike grapple''' is worse than mstrike punch in a vacuum because the latter has the same speed while packing 110% to 141.67% as much power. Against foes in chain or plate armor, mstrike punch is probably better than grapple even if you trained Grapple Specialization. However, against foes in cloth, leather, or scale armor, the power gap is 110%-125%, so mstrike grapple backed by its specialization can still win out due to the MM bonus and higher tier up chance. Grapples also slow down foes, making them preferable attacks for a balance of offensive and defensive benefits.

In short...

Use mstrike kick if you're a high Agidex race who's at or close to the peak of your Agidex growth.

Use mstrike grapple if either A) you intend to slow down foes to keep your combat relatively safer or B) all of the following apply: you're a moderate Agidex race or a high Agidex race not yet near your peak, you're against foes in armor lighter than chain, and you trained Grapple Specialization, but you're in a situation where you want to mstrike instead of using Fury. (Like, say, unfocused mstrikes.)

Use mstrike punch if neither of the above applies.
</blockquote>

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Kick Specialization is the flashiest and arguably the most fun specialization, and I stand behind MSTRIKE KICK being easily the best mstrike for fast races in a vacuum. However, the Fury technique backed by Grapple Specialization arguably has the highest ceiling. Its high knockdown potential works wonders against higher level creatures who make tiering up difficult. I've been very happy with these two specializations, using Kick for Tarine and Grapple for Sariara (and Grapple for Saraphenia before her).

As for Punch Specialization, I wouldn't honestly recommend it to anybody other than the slowest races. Former GM Naijin designed Grapple and Kick Specialization to have stronger technique-boosting effects than Punch Specialization because punches are the most broadly useful as a standalone attack and he wanted to balance the scales a bit. GemStone rewards being exceptional at something instead of pretty good at everything, but punches fall squarely into the latter category.

If you're training Grapple Specialization, make it your top priority after Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in Martial Stances). Kick Specialization can potentially wait until later in life for Spin Kick at level 35-36, but training early isn't necessarily wrong either.

===Defensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Block Specialization]], [[Evade Specialization]], and [[Parry Specialization]], which improve their respective defenses, but which is right for you? ...well, this one's a lot easier than the last!

'''Block Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to block melee or ranged attacks with a shield. Shields are a bad idea for monks; they're expensive to train, monks can't learn shield skills, and shields significantly decrease their MM.

'''Parry Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to parry melee or ranged attacks--assuming you have [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] active. After parrying, it gives a 25% chance of gaining the [[Counter]] effect, which means your next attack has 1 less RT and costs 25% less stamina (if applicable). This might sound neat until it's compared to...

'''Evade Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to evade melee, ranged, or magical bolt attacks. After evading, it gives a 25% of gaining the [[Evasiveness]] effect, which will automatically avoid the next attack (of any kind, including CS-based or maneuver-based) thrown your way with 100% success. Also, evasion triggers (not Evasiveness triggers) allow [[Spin Kick]] followups.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Even without Kick Specialization, Evade Specialization is the only one that adds offensive power via a defensive specialization. I universally recommend it to all Brawling-oriented monks without exception. (I say "Brawling" because I'm not even limiting this to unarmed combat. Even if you're using brawling ''weapons'' like fist-scythes or katars, you can Spin Kick, so Evade Specialization still wins.)

===Martial Stances===

Monks can technically learn as many martial stances as they have points for, but can only have one active at a time, so most only learn one. Let's review them.

'''[[Duck and Weave]]''':

The most flavorful martial stance.

Gives you a chance to redirect enemy melee attacks that you evade, making enemies hit other enemies in the room.

This is a super cool and fun idea, but not nearly as practical as it might sound since it has to jump through so many hoops: you need to be fighting multiple creatures, they need to be attacking with melee, you need to evade, Duck and Weave needs to trigger, and the redirected attacker's AS and weapon type have to be good enough compared to the defending creature's DS and armor type to do meaningful damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Delightful, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Flurry of Blows]]''':

The screen scrolliest martial stance.

Yo dawg, I heard you like jabs, so I put jabs in your jabs so you can jab while you jab.

When you jab, Flurry of Blows can simultaneously jab other foes in the room. Jabs aren't good on their own, so bringing the best out of this martial stance requires heavy investment. Unless your attacks can potentially fire off at least five damaging flares (...and the current max for a monk is nine while grouped with a [[paladin]] or eight otherwise, but even getting to five requires grouping with a paladin or having high end gear), I wouldn't say it comes close to being worthwhile.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Again, great fun, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Inner Harmony]]''':

The most wasted potential of martial stances.

At rank 1 and 2, it can passively shake off negative spell effects. At rank 3, assuming the stance also removes the effect on demand with a 20 second cooldown. However, the effects you'd most want to remove are exactly the ones you can't because you can't use Inner Harmony while bound or RT-locked. [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]] this definitely isn't!

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I appreciate the idea behind this stance, but it has little to no appeal in practice.

'''[[Rolling Krynch Stance]]''':

Almost surely the best martial stance for UC monks.

This stance gives you a chance of carrying over excellent positioning or good positioning from one foe to the next, which is a massive time savings and power increase. Decent position attacks won't kill unless you have extreme flaring gear or run through a large slew of hits. At good positioning, you at least ''might'' kill creatures via crits and can pretty easily kill them with several hits. At excellent positioning, you can kill creatures via crits even with a pretty light tap.

When I wrote that monks rarely one-shot creatures, that's true in a vacuum, but Rolling Krynch can at least open that door for them.

Bottom line: the less time you spend in decent positioning, the better off you are, and that's what Rolling Krynch offers.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Rolling Krynch is everything a traditional UC monk wants. Make at least the first two ranks your first combat maneuver.

'''[[Slippery Mind]]''':

The most defensive martial stance.

When maxed, this one gives you a 27% chance to avoid CS-based attack spells (assuming you're in robes). If you do avoid a spell, Slippery Mind also has a 75% chance of redirecting it to the caster or a different enemy target. Even if don't avoid the spell, you still have a 27% chance to buff your TD for 15 seconds and possibly save yourself from subsequent attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

This stance is simple, but really good, offering two lines of defense against a monk's biggest weakness while also preserving--and arguably even improving upon--one of the most fun aspects of Duck and Weave. I prefer improving offense to defense, but this is still the second best stance for most monks. I'd say it's the very best for a weapon-wielding monk in robes!

'''[[Stance of the Mongoose]]''':

The most "almost got there" martial stance.

This martial stance lets you automatically retaliate after you parry. Even assuming the most wildly niche builds, like you're running a dual handaxe Kroderine Soul monk with Parry Specialization who wears metal breastplate (and if you're doing that, thank you for making it this far into the guide for reasons I don't understand!), this martial stance takes some agency away from the player by attacking and adding more RT into your combat--3 seconds in this example--when you might not have wanted it.

If you're a more typical unarmed combat monk, the good news is that Stance of the Mongoose's retaliation will only add 1-2 seconds of RT--but the bad news is that that RT is so low because it's always going to jab (and therefore do little damage) unless you currently have a tier up opportunity against that foe, in which case it'll pick the tier up type.

That last bit might sound good--and, truthfully, it ''is'' good when it lines up, but how often does that happen? Unlike the perfect storm Duck and Weave needs, at least maxed Stance of the Mongoose triggers 100% of the time when it's not on its 3 second cooldown. Still, you need to have attacked created a tier up opportunity, you need to not yet have manually seized that opportunity, your attack that created the tier up needs to not have disabled the foe so that it could attack you, it needs to actually attack you and specifically with something you could parry, and you need to parry it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Despite its problems, I think this makes a serious case of being the third best martial stance a UC-oriented monk can learn. That's not necessarily saying much; I'd put it distantly behind Rolling Krynch Stance and Slippery Mind. If you're running a wacky build of a weapon-wielding monk (so no Krynch) in heavy armor (so no Slippery Mind), go with this.

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

I'm not knocking wildly niche monks. Many of my characters who ''aren't'' monks are wildly niche builds like a dual wielding melee cleric in chain mail, a dual wielding paladin, a warrior in robes who casts [[Elemental Wave (410)|e-waves]] with no hindrance, and a maul wizard in leather breastplate. Do whatever you have fun with in this game.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Most characters attack dozens of times more often than enemies attack them. I lean heavily on this fact whenever I'm torn on a choice between offense or defense on any profession. The defensive one will have trouble winning out unless either the defensive gain is immense, the offensive opportunity cost is minimal, or both. (For example, in the right hunting ground, Spirit Barrier has low offensive opportunity cost and ''can'' have immense defensive gain!)

This is one reason I hold Rolling Krynch Stance in so much higher regard than Stance of the Mongoose or even Slippery Mind. Rolling Krynch powers up something that you're doing in combat against every creature you fight and usually several times per creature. Mongoose and Slippery Mind apply to things that the ''creatures'' do--things you're actively trying to prevent them from doing, no less!--and, for that matter, only ''some'' of them do it and only ''some'' of the time.
</blockquote>

'''[[Striking Asp Stance]]''':

The best... uh... PvP martial stance?

[[Verb:QSTRIKE|QSTRIKE]] is an ability available to all professions that lets you consume stamina to reduce the RT of your next attack. Striking Asp reduces that stamina cost for the first single-target qstrike used every minute.

Whoever this stance might be good for--if anyone, because I'm not convinced it's worthwhile in any context other than PvP duels--it's not good for monks. Since Striking Asp only works once per minute, Rolling Krynch is better at Asp's own claim to fame. Even if you use Asp to reduce a 5-second focused mstrike to 1 second, Krynch only needs to save you two jabs' worth of RT per minute. It will almost always do that and more with zero stamina cost instead of Asp's reduced stamina cost.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

No.

===Combat Maneuvers===

I won't go over every combat maneuver, but here are quick takes on the more standout ones.

<blockquote>
'''Quick Reminder!'''

Like with skills, you can flip your trained combat maneuvers around as you wish before level 20. Experiment and find what suits you!
</blockquote>

'''[[Acrobat's Leap]]''':

Useful for short races to make up the height gap.

'''[[Bearhug]]''':

Shockingly good supplement to unarmed combat. UAF attacks can overcome most defenses, but among creatures that ''are'' so good at turtling that UC struggles to punch through, most are casters who easily get hit by combat maneuvers. Bearhug is also a rare case of a maneuver with killing power in its own right. I don't necessarily recommend using learning it until you can train at least three ranks since its damage really depends on the endroll. It's also a bit worse for small races, but, since it's an SMR-based attack, even they can dish out tons of damage with the high endrolls achievable by inflicting status effects first.

Speaking of status effects, Bearhug has great synergy with [[Vulnerable]], which speeds up its damage rounds (not its cooldown). Twin Hammerfists inflicts Vulnerable and so does the Grapple Specialization knockdown perk from Fury, so either of those make for a nice one-two if you're already using them!

'''[[Bull Rush]]''':

Bull Rush is another way to inflict Vulnerable and can knock down a whole room of creatures. It does pretty minimal damage, but is a staple monk combat maneuver, filling a need of controlling the enemy hordes so you can systematically pick them off.

'''[[Burst of Swiftness]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

If your monk is a slow race, you might consider learning Burst anyway to bring your MSTRIKE KICK up to speed--literally! I don't recommend using it until you have at least four ranks since the cooldown is very long before then.

If your monk is a fast race, there's still a use case for Burst, but mostly for obscure builds at the top end; my super-capped elf monk Tarine has Burst of Swiftness exclusively for [[Duskruin Arena]] because it can push her into the vaunted -8 RT tier of 113 or more Agidex bonus, which allows her to do absurd shenanigans with 14 attacks in 4 seconds with Fury and [[Flurry]] while wielding two katars. (Since these are assaults, the attacks are broken up into 1-second rounds of 4, 4, 2, and 2 attacks. By contrast, TWC katar ''mstrikes''' don't get faster than 5 seconds regardless of Agidex.)

'''[[Cheapshots]]''':

I love this suite of disabling skills on rogues and bards, but I don't think unarmed combat-centric monks benefit much despite the wide variety of applications. UC can just power through most things and, for what it can't, Cheapshots won't either since they're all setups--and ones not necessarily better than Twin Hammerfists, at that. Cheapshots can still be worth considering for weapon builds. For UC, I'd rather get Bearhug or Coup de Grace.

'''[[Combat Focus]]''':

I like two or three ranks to slightly shore up TD weaknesses if you can spare the points, but it's not mandatory by any means.

'''[[Combat Mobility]]''':

Easily one of the best and most universal monk maneuvers. Automatically standing up while prone is amazing with Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick and, frankly, even without. 10 Combat Maneuver Points ''are'' a lot, so I recommend building up offense during the early game and possibly even into the midgame. By the level 60s at latest, though, when staying prone for any extended period of time gets real dangerous, most monks will love this.

'''[[Coup de Grace]]''':

A finisher that can insta-kill incapacitated foes at 50% health or less (at max Coup ranks) and provides a 90-second buff to AS/UAF depending how hard you killed them.

The AS/UAF buff isn't what matters (at least for solo UC-oriented monks; it's amazing for weapon-using monks or group hunts). Unarmed combat is riddled with incapacitating effects tacked on to its normal attacks, offering frequent opportunities to deliver the Coup de Grace. Also, even foes that can't be crit killed, like various golems, noncorporeal undead, or oozes are susceptible to Coup's insta-kill, so it's another helpful option in your toolbox.

'''[[Feint]]''':

Even though UAF attacks ''can'' power through turtled creatures, turning that "can" into "most likely" is ideal. Feint is the premier combat maneuver for lowering enemies' stance, decreasing their UDF--often by triple digits even in the fairly early game--and increasing your multiplier modifier.

'''[[Hamstring]]''':

I mention this for the katar builds. Hamstring can only be used with an edged weapon, but it's a devastatingly powerful setup-and-damage maneuver all in one. Two Weapon Combat characters will find it even more exceptional.

'''[[Ki Focus]]''':

Increases the odds of higher tier positioning or a tier up opportunity on your next UC attack. This maneuver's wiki page recommends it if you aren't using Rolling Krynch Stance, but I recommend it even if you are. Ki Focus is another means to more consistently keep the train of good-or-excellent positioning rolling, especially against overleveled foes who would normally be difficult to tier up against.

That said, the stamina cost to use it too often ''is'' real, even with Mind Over Body, so you'll need heavy Physical Fitness training. It's more of a midgame or late game skill to me.

Monks who use only mstrikes might benefit from Ki Focus more than monks who use techniques. Mstrikes don't cost stamina outside their cooldown period, giving more leeway to keep a high stamina cost maneuver in your rotation.

'''[[Surge of Strength]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

I'd consider Surge for halflings and gnomes only. Between Perfect Self and a max rank Surge, they can carry things at least slightly more like an average-sized race. Still, Surge's cooldown is very long before at least rank 4. Even at rank 5, you can only have 75% uptime (a 90 second ability with a 120 second cooldown) unless you're willing to use it while in cooldown, which doubles its already high stamina cost from 30 to 60. Mind Over Body can only do so much to save you from that!
</div></div>

==Further Character Progression==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-progression" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious about feats, meditating, or upgrading your monk's gear later? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-progression">

===Feats===

Monks gain new abilities called Feats at various levels, which are as follows:

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Kroderine Soul]]====

Kroderine Soul is an opt-in feat that I won't cover in detail, but suffice it to say that you gain additional physical [[redux]] (resistance to physical attacks, which is increased by training physically-oriented skills), redux now applies to magical attacks, magical disablers have decreased duration against you, and you have access to the [[Absorb Magic]] and [[Dispel Magic]] abilities.

In exchange, before level 30, you can't learn spells, cast spells, or have spells cast on you other than a few exceptions like [[Floating Disk (511)|disks]], empath healing, and [[Raise Dead (318)|resurrection]]. From level 30 on is a different story, which I'll explain in the level 30 feat section.

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Martial Mastery]]====

After you've maxed one weapon skill (for your level), Martial Mastery grants +1 AS or UAF for every eight total ranks you train in up to two ''additional'' weapon skills. However, the AS/UAF boost is penalized by 5% for every spell you learn beyond five ranks--which means Martial Mastery no longer applies by the time you have 25 total spell ranks. Monks have a way to ignore the first 20 of those spell ranks, but I'll explain that too in the level 30 feat section.

While Martial Mastery is technically learned automatically from level 0, most monks won't make much use of it for a while. Some, like my monk Tarine, will have too many spell ranks to ever make use of it. I'll speak more about that in the Odds and Ends section discussing builds off the beaten path.

====Level 20 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Tattoo]]====

Monks can tattoo themselves or other characters by using a needle and ink from the local [[alchemist]] shop. They can ink from ''[[Stock_tattoo|nearly 1000 different options]]'' from a stock tattoo list! These are called mundane tattoos.

From level 20 on, monks can upgrade a character's existing tattoo--including one for which the monk wasn't the artist--by turning it into a Mystic Tattoo, which makes it enhancive. This is the monk profession service!

For full detail on Mystic Tattoos, see their wiki page. The simplified version is that Mystic Tattoos have five tiers, each requiring more training from the monk and each adding an enhancive of +1 bonus for a stat of the buyer's choice. To empower Mystic Tattoos, monks use 50000, 75000, 100000, 125000, and 150000 Motes of Tranquility (respective to each tier), which they earn via absorbing the equivalent amounts of experience points. Monks can earn up to 50,000 motes per week and save up to 200,000 total for later use. (You can see your totals with the RESOURCE command.)

As profession services go--so I'm comparing Mystic Tattoos to Battle Standards, [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]], [[Covert Arts]], enchanting, ensorcelling, [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]], ranger [[Resist Nature (620)|resistance]], sanctifying, and warrior weighting--this ''can'' be a really high impact one for CS casters, who benefit heavily from boosting Aura or Wisdom. It can also be solid for any character close to specific Agidex thresholds, and some people like simply enhancing Logic to absorb more exp.

Mystic Tattoos are in the midrange of profession service value overall; don't create a monk expecting to start rolling in silver like a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard eventually can (...at least not via tattooing, but more on the silver-making secrets of monks later!), but they'll likely make more from tattooing than non-capped bards, paladins, or rangers, or any level rogues or warriors do from their services. At the time of this writing, empaths make more than monks with their service, but they also have the newest service, so that might be a temporary situation. Either way, GM Estild, the head of dev, has acknowledged that Mystic Tattoos (and warrior weighting) need further improvement at a future point.

<blockquote>
'''Advanced Tattooing Tips!'''

Mystic Tattoos were designed with the intent that a typically trained monk should be able to do a tier 1 at level 20, a tier 2 at level 40, a tier 3 at level 60, a tier 4 at level 80, and a tier 5 at level 100. In practice, I find that many monks are anywhere from 5-15 levels ahead of that schedule--''and'' that's even assuming that you want a 100% success rate unboosted! Here are some options to jump ahead of the curve:

* Use BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS (from [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]) for +10 tattooing skill. (However, since this temporarily increases your max health and max spirit and your tattooing ability gets reduced when those two stats aren't full, you'll need to wait until health and spirit recover after using the boost. Voln members can do this most easily since Symbol of Renewal is one of the game's very few tools to instantly recover spirit.)
* Use BOOST GIFT EONAK (also from daily login rewards) to take the best of two rolls when determining your success. To put that in perspective, a 50% success rate would become 75% with Gift of Eonak active, a 60% success rate would become 84%, a 70% success rate would become 91%, an 80% success rate would become 96%, and a 90% success rate would become 99%.
* Suffusion allows converting your Motes of Tranquility to extra skill bonus on a single tattoo upgrade at a rate of 2000 motes to 1 skill bonus. Since it's a one-off boost and yet requires trading potentially weeks of resource gain, I don't recommend using suffusion for tattooing characters other than your own monk. Even with your own monk, I'd usually just advise patience--but if patience isn't your thing, then trading off a week of resources for five levels or so of skill might appeal to you!
</blockquote>

====Level 25 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Strike]]====

A weird one, to say the least. FEAT MYSTICSTRIKE allows a monk to use a small amount of stamina to infuse their next physical UC or melee attack with an effect that debuffs a foe's defense against warding spells after it lands. While monks do have a few warding spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe, those spells are normally better off as setups--if they're even used at all--than something to set up ''toward''.

====Level 30 Monk Feat - [[Dragonscale Skin]] or [[Mental Acuity]]====

At level 30 (and any time a fixskill is used after that point), monks can decide between these two feats by using FEAT LEARN DRAGONSCALESKIN or FEAT LEARN MENTALACUITY.

'''Dragonscale Skin''' is a straightforward buff that improves monks' Iron Skin spell.

Reviewing the basics of Iron Skin first, it improves a monk's robes to have the defensive power of full leather at bare minimum (level 2) and can get all the way to the durability of half plate on a truly outlandish, mega-capped character with an incredible enhancive set. However, this boost to defensive power only counts for the purposes of taking physical damage. Enter Dragonscale Skin, which makes the armor-mimicking aspect of Iron Skin also reflect itself in CvA (defense against warding spells; basically the same as TD, except done as a number subtracted from the enemy attack instead of added to your defense).

Here's a revised version of the Iron Skin table from the Secret Sauce of Lores section again, now tailored to the context of the CvA boost. The listed benefits are comparing to the baseline of robe CvA ''without'' Dragonscale Skin.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Dragonscale Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||Leather breastplate (10 benefit)||Cuirbouilli leather (11 benefit)||Studded leather (12 benefit)
|-
||5 Transformation||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine (13 benefit)
|-
||15 Transformation||Studded leather||Brigandine||Chain mail (21 benefit)
|-
||30 Transformation||Brigandine||Chain mail||Double chain (22 benefit)
|-
||50 Transformation||||Double chain||Augmented chain (23 benefit)
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||Chain hauberk (24 benefit)
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||Metal breastplate (33 benefit)
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||Augmented breastplate (34 benefit)
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||Half plate (35 benefit)
|}

For illustration's sake, my monk Sariara had leather breastplate caliber robes at level 30, will reach cuirbouilli leather at level 34 or 35, studded leather around level 43-45, brigandine at 50, chain mail likely around 60, and double chain at 75, where she'll pause for a long while. My monk Tarine had a less Transformation-focused build and is only at chain mail caliber even now, but will push to chain hauberk in the near future, then stop at metal breastplate over the very long haul.

To be clear, Dragonscale Skin reduces the odds of getting hit by spells at all and, if the monk does get hit, essentially reduces the endroll result. However, an identical endroll against real chain armor, plate armor, etc. would do significantly less damage than it does against robes.

The alternative to Dragonscale Skin, '''Mental Acuity''', is a much more complex beast. It basically forces redux, Martial Mastery (the level 0 feat), and Kroderine Soul (the other level 0 feat) to act like a monk's first 20 learned Minor Mental spells don't count. However, instead of a monk's first 20 Minor Mental spells costing mana, they cost stamina at twice the mana cost. (Mind Over Body does bring that down, so it won't necessarily be exactly twice.)

The most striking of these exceptions is definitely Kroderine Soul because it creates the unique monk path of continuing to cast spells despite training a feat that prevents their warrior and rogue counterparts--and pre-level-30 monks--from using magic at all. I can see the appeal even though it's not a route I'm interested in.

In practice, the only monks I know who chose Mental Acuity instead of Dragonscale Skin were also using Kroderine Soul. Having spells cost stamina instead of mana is a hefty ask. That said, nothing stops a character from avoiding KS and using Mental Acuity anyway. There ''are'' still reasons to do it. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of redux remains a Mental Acuity benefit even for the non-KS monk. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of Martial Mastery penalty means that a monk trained in three weapon skills could still max out the AS/UAF bonus even while training, for example, 20 Minor Mental spells plus 3-5 ranks of Minor Spiritual.

Are these compelling enough reasons to take Mental Acuity over Dragonscale Skin on a non-KS monk? As far as I can tell, so far the community has said no, but I'll explore that later in Odds and Ends. As for KS monks, Mental Acuity is the only option; Dragonscale Skin does literally nothing for them because KS monks can't cast Iron Skin ''unless'' they have Mental Acuity.

====Level 40 Monk Feat - [[Martial Arts Mastery]]====

Now we're talking! Martial Arts Mastery uniformly adds +10 to the multiplier modifier of your UC attacks, adds a flat +10% tier up chance to your UC attacks, and adds a flat +10% evasion rate (which also helps fire off more Spin Kicks).

If you play an unarmed combat monk through low levels and find yourself wondering when it really gets good, level 40 is the latest possible answer. Before then, something like a brawling warrior in robes might feel at least similar to a monk, albeit with no Rolling Krynch Stance (a huge difference maker, admittedly) and with different training point costs for various skills.

Level 40 draws a line in the sand, though, to establish that unarmed combat ''is'' the monk's wheelhouse because Martial Arts Mastery ''is'' the monk's premier feat. To put it in perspective, Martial Arts Mastery is the equivalent of maxing Grapple Specialization, Kick Specialization, and Punch Specialization all at once, minus the Fury/Spin Kick/Clash perks but plus a new Jab Specialization that no other profession has. And since you'll already have trained one of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization the normal way, now Martial Arts Mastery is like ''double-maxing'' it.

Unleash the power and never look back.

====Level 50 Monk Feat - [[Perfect Self]]====

Perfect Self raises all your stats by +10 (or +5 bonus). That's it! Your monk hits level 50 and great power drops on their head.

Like I've said, there's pretty much no bad monk stat split from level 50 on because of this feat. It's also the driving force behind why even moderately fast races (along the lines of half-elves and aelotoi), never mind the really fast races, have so much potential as monks. If you're using mstrikes and weapon techniques at all, you'll notice the improvement!

===Gear Upgrades: Armor===

Even though fancy gear is more a luxury than a necessity for monks, you might as well upgrade your monk's gear eventually if you enjoy them! But how and in what way?

For armor, I think the answer is to keep it really simple. Most of the expensive armor you can pick up doesn't do all that much for monks. (...at least not magical non-Kroderine Soul monks, the subject of this guide. I assume expensive armor does way more for KS monks who are tanking more hits.)

'''Materials'''

* Rusalkan: A high-end expensive option at 400k soul shards that attempts to knock down up to three enemies if you get hit or evade an attack, boosts UAF and CS for 10 seconds if it does knock any of them down, and grants a 1 second haste effect for various offensive actions. It has a cooldown for 30 seconds. Probably the most powerful armor material overall with an extremely powerful effect, but the expenses are enormous. Some contact-based combat maneuvers like Bull Rush can also trigger rusalkan flares.
* Zelnorn: Uses half of what would be the DS from its enchant as AS (or in monks' case UAF) instead, but doesn't allow flares or a TD boost to go in the ability slot (AKA category B). Players hit creatures more than creatures hit players, so zelnorn can be fantastic for AS-based professions--but most monks aren't AS-based. Improving UAF is fairly irrelevant, not justifying the base cost of 50k bloodscrip in the case of monks. Either flares or increased TD would more greatly benefit monks, making use of the ability slot.

'''Scripts'''

* [[Animalistic Spirit Armor]]? Gives a few minutes of extra stamina regen per hunt and can flare to knock down creatures when you evade, but you're a monk. You already reduce your stamina costs by 35% and you already keep everything knocked down constantly.
* [[Ethereal armor]]? If you happen to have boatloads of ethereal scrip from frequent [[Settlement_of_Reim|Reim]] hunts, then sure, go for it, but a monk isn't screaming for more DS and a flare chance for crit padding.
* [[Forest Armor]]? Monks don't need a tiny boost to UAF and CS.
* [[Ithzir Armor]]? Cool abilities involving healing and emergency escape. 500k bloodscrip cool? Nah.
* [[Mana-Infused Armor]]? Mana, damage padding, crit padding, UAF and CS, and an emergency button to drive creatures out of the room. Not what a monk's seeking.
* [[Parasite Armor]]? It can give a 90 second buff to TD, but it's once every five minutes and costs 150k bloodscrip. Pass.
* [[Sprite Armor]]? Extra DS, maneuver defense, and mana. Nope, not for a monk!
* [[Valence Armor]]? Health, mana, and reactive flares. Skip.
* [[Voln armor]]? Extra DS, sheer fear protection, crit padding, and an emergency escape button. This was once a reasonable value even despite its high cost and the DS and crit padding not being too meaningful for a monk. However, that time has largely passed now that Sanctify and Battle Standard exist so you can get sheer fear protection for cheaper and emergency escape after death instead of before death. You'd have to die several thousand times before the cost of any extra deeds and chrisms outweigh the cost of fully unlocked Voln armor.

'''Defaults'''

So my actual answer to the armor question is:

* Go to playershops and spend 1-5 million silver on robes with either +7 to +9 TD or some cool damage resistance of 20% or more, get them upgraded by wizards, clerics, and sorcerers over time.

Yes, this is what I actually do! +20% acid resistance robes, +8 TD robes, more +8 TD robes, and +7 TD robes are all things that some of my characters wear or have worn in the past. If GMs ever release an armor script that I think is a must-have for monks, I'll come back and update the guide at that point!

===Gear Upgrades: Weapons===

I wrote a [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Choosing_Your_Ideal_Weapon_Script|guide on the topic of scripts]], but unarmed combat has more limited options than other weapon types, so I'll go over the few that I think are worth looking into depending on your budget--plus flourishes, flares, and one material!

'''No script or flourish, just basic elemental flares (especially lightning)''':

This is where I think you should begin if you're uncertain or just dipping your toe in the water.

You can find flaring UC handwear and footwear for under a million silver each at a fair number of events--sometimes even at free events. Basic lightning flaring gear matches the power of off-the-shelf pay event gear. Pay event gear does pull ahead when you double down and stack lightning flares ''on top'' of it, but that means even heavier investment.

Nothing wrong with starting small while you're getting your bearings and saving bigger decisions for later!

'''Dispel flares''' (price range: 30k to 210k bloodscrip):

Dispel flares trigger before a UC attack lands, either dispelling 1-5 randomly chosen buff spells (if the creature has any) or dealing SMR-based disruption damage. If they dispel two spells from different spheres of magic (spiritual, elemental, or mental), they can also deal flux damage.

You might sometimes hear dispel flares cited as even better than lightning flares in a weapon's ability slot, but these days it depends on your exact budget range. If you're using Flare Affinity for 400k bloodscrip or purified zorchar for (at most) 70k bloodscrip, lightning flares come roaring back. Below that mark, dispel makes more of a case for itself because of a few factors:

# High volume of attacks goes very well with pre-resolution flares
# Dispelling a buff to decrease enemy UDF is better than decreasing enemy DS by the same amount
# Against creatures without buffs, the disruption flare can increase MM by injuring and/or stunning a creature

There is a bit of luck to dispelling since many, if not most, creatures with spell buffs have some that don't affect UDF. You can improve your odds by making it 2-dispel or 3-dispel flares, which also greatly increases the odds of flux damage so you can get increased MM even while stunning. Overall, dispel flares with at least two dispel chances are very strong. All that said, the first three dispels cost 30k bloodscrip each while a fourth and fifth cost 50k each if you want to max them out. At most price ranges, alternatives like purified zorchar or Greater Elemental Flares (GEF) are either more bang for your buck or just outright more bang period. I think I'd only recommend dispel flares if you were going for at least three dispels while also stacking greater somnis, which is the current strongest UC material, but also much more expensive than the purified elemental materials or eonake.

'''[[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]] script''' (price range: 10k to 185k bloodscrip):

Incredible variety of flavor messaging makes this script very popular among all professions! For monks, specifically, Revenge Flares are a great unlockable feature that can fire off damaging flares when they evade. On the other hand, the default grapple damage type isn't the best since it's mainly good for knockdowns and monks are very adept at that on their own. My higher exp monk uses Animalistic Spirit gloves and boots with their damage type converted to lightning, but that's an extra expense.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (As a caveat, though, I highly recommend against the Savage Power unlock, which isn't particularly good for any build of any profession, and the Wild Backlash unlock, which is excellent for some professions but not all that useful for monks. Animalistic Fury upgrades can be worth it ''if'' you first change the damage type.)

Overall, this script has been monks' top pick for years for very good reason on the strength of Revenge Flares, messaging, and being one of the only games in town. However, it's been five years since Animalistic Spirit and the creator of Animalistic Spirit, GM Avaluka, has debuted a new script called Phytomorphic Weapons that I think is even better for monks! More on that further below.

'''[[Energy_Weapon/saved_posts|Energy Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 125k bloodscrip):

For unarmed combat, Energy Weapons are only available in the form of ''held'' weapons like a [[cestus]], not handwear and footwear. That's immediately anathema to some people. I'd agree with them when talking about a -10 or -15 MM weapon, but I'm actually not down on the -5 MM held UC weapons like others.

Held UC weapons improve UAF depending on the enchant and improve damage factor at a flat rate depending on the weapon type. The flat rate aspect means the weaker the base attack, like a jab or a grapple against heavier armor, the more noticeable the improvement. On the other hand, held weapons decrease the multiplier modifier and you also lose the use of Brace parrying.

That ''is'' an overall loss in a vacuum for most attack types against most armor types, so the held weapon needs something else significant to compensate. Energy Weapons can do that with supercharged lightning flares, so I do have a cestus and even use it against foes where MM is so high that I can live with the drop. If the margins are close, I don't use it. Easy enough.

The entry point for an Energy Weapon is 10k bloodscrip. The higher unlock tiers aren't very useful to monks, so I called mine a one and done.

<blockquote>
'''Obscure Trivia Sidenote!'''

When you're wearing flaring gloves while also using a flaring held unarmed combat weapon, the flare rate of each item--gloves and weapon--is halved, ending up at the same overall flare rate. So how can I be talking about an Energy Weapon's flares as a perk that helps compensate for the MM drop in any way if that perk is counterbalanced by hurting the flare rate of your gloves?

Well, let's say my Animalistic Spirit gloves still had their default grapple flares, which I don't value highly because unarmed combat keeps foes knocked down anyway. In that case, trading off half of a grapple flare rate to replace it with half of a lightning flare rate is a win.

This logic breaks down as gloves get more upgraded, because then either your tradeoffs aren't as favorable or you're spending currency to upgrade gloves ''and'' a cestus. Still, I stand behind it as at least an ''option'' if your stopping point is a flare and a script flare.
</blockquote>

'''[[Greater elemental flare|Greater Elemental Flares]] script''' (price: 40k bloodscrip):

These are a gold standard of midrange weapon scripts, at least if you'd consider 40k bloodscrip per item "midrange." Triple lightning flares are a pretty crazy thing! However, you do need to track down handwear and footwear that was already flaring or else the prices jump to 55k bloodscrip.

GEF flares are a solid and straightforward one-and-done option, but cheaper alternatives can be more efficient bang for your buck while more expensive alternatives can be more fun.

'''[[Knockout_flare|Knockout Flares]] script and [[Skullcrusher Flares]] flourish''' (price: 100k bloodscrip):

Easily some of the game's best flare messaging and they always hit heads, which can be very deadly, unless the head already has rank 3 wounds. I've used Knockout UC gear on non-monk characters and had a blast with them. One of my favorite moments was the happy accident of channeling Mario with the "You leap up, bringing your pure white sandals down across the head of the human mugger with a sickening thud!" messaging.

That said, Knockout's entry point--and exit point since there are no tiers--is 100k bloodscrip per item, which is a very tall ask for most people. It used to be a lot cheaper in the days of Ebon Gate on Caligos Isle, albeit released in limited quantities via a jackpot system to compensate. If you ''are'' willing to spend to that degree or find somebody who has Knockout gear from older days and is willing to sell, then I say read the wiki page and see if you like the messaging more or less than other options such as Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons. Some people pick Knockout for for their handwear or footwear and a different script for the others.

As for Skullcrusher, see everything I just said about Knockout, because Skullcrusher costs the same and is mechanically identical except that it goes into the flourish slot instead of the script slot. That means you can have the benefits of Knockout (in the form of Skullcrusher) ''and'' Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic if you were willing to pay for it!

'''[[Phytomorphic Weapon Shield|Phytomorphic Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 145k bloodscrip):

Another highly customizable instant hit of a script in the vein of Animalistic Spirit and from the same creator! This one is plant-themed instead of animal-themed and you can customize it yourself via foraging plants. Arboreal Agony is the big selling point of unlockable features here, which makes creatures Disoriented so they'll have difficulty casting spells--which are one of a monk's weak points. The default damage type is disintegrate, which is also broadly useful and can have killing power.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (Like with Animalistic Spirit's Wild Backlash, I'll give the caveat that Phytomorphic's Deciduous Decay is far more useful for AS-based professions than UAF-based professions like most monks. Phytomorphic Putrescence upgrades, on the other hand, don't need you to change the damage type first to get full value, which makes them either better or cheaper than Animalistic Spirit's Animalistic Fury counterpart depending on how you look at it.)

RP-wise, I think there's a very real chance that people will continue to favor Animalistic Spirit going forward. Mechanically, though, I'd say that Arboreal Agony not allowing enemy casters to cast is even better than Animalistic Spirit's Revenge Flares firing off when dodging physical attacks--and not needing to change the base damage type is also a big win.

'''[[Lore Flares]] flourish, specifically Telepathy or Transformation''' (price: 400k bloodcsrip):

At a whopping 400k bloodscrip, this is the top end of pricing for UC-oriented monks, but also the top end of power. While normal flares have a 20% rate, these start at 25%, reach 33% with 36 ranks of the applicable lore, reach 50% with 105 ranks, and reach an absurd and glorious 100% rate with 171 ranks. (171 ranks of a lore for a monk requires both heavy Ascension training ''and'' great enhancives, but hey, I did say this guide was for 0 exp to 55,000,000!) Telepathy Lore Flares deal puncture damage and then damage over time (DoT) afterward that's mostly sheer health damage, but only work against living foes. Transformation Lore Flares have no DoT and randomly deal either slash, crush, or puncture, but their initial hit is weighted to be one crit rank higher.

You probably aren't even reading this guide if you can actually reach 171 ranks of a lore, but for the sake of being informative, Transformation is the clear winner if you get there. Multiple DoTs can't stack on a single creature, so it's more valuable to have a stronger initial hit since you'd be firing off tons of those in a single mstrike or weapon technique. If 105 ranks are more your limit, that's a tougher call. Since your mstrikes include a free jab for the first time you attack a creature, your first unfocused mstrike in a swarmy room with Telepathy Lore Flares would have a 75% chance on each creature of getting a DoT rolling. However, ''focused'' mstrikes still favor Transformation due to DoTs not stacking.

'''Purified [[drakar]], [[gornar]], [[rhimar]], or [[zorchar]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Basically the GEF of materials! These have material-based flares of, respectively, fire, impact (earth), ice, or lightning that are slightly stronger on average than the normal ability slot flares of their unpurified counterparts (and they still have those too), then a 25% chance to fire off a second noticeably stronger flare if the first flare had landed. In short, just like GEF, it's an extra two flare chances.

To my knowledge, handwear and footwear of drakar, gornar, rhimar, and zorchar has never been offered off the shelf, so to get the purified materials, you need to get the unpurified version first by either paying 15k bloodscrip for a lesser transmutation (only available if your handwear and footwear already has the applicable flare type) or 20k bloodscrip for an intermediate transmutation, then an additional 50k bloodscrip to purify.

Like always, more flares are an excellent thing when firing from UC's flurry of free jabs or otherwise quick attacks. An incredible power upgrade if it's within your budget!

'''Purified [[eonake]] material''' (price range: 65k-70k bloodscrip):

Purified eonake has a material flare against undead only, dealing fire damage slightly stronger than normal fire flares while also reducing the enemy's AS by 25 and slowing it down (adding more RT to its combat actions). Reasonable crowd control option if you hunt undead a ton, since your free mstrike jabs will be tossing slow effects all over the place. The purified elemental materials above will generally be stronger than purified eonake for monks, but there are scenarios where that's not always the case. For example, if you're set on dispel flares or just happen to have them from buying someone else's abandoned project weapon, then purified eonake would preserve the dispel flares while a purified elemental metal would require erasing them.

Purified eonake is certainly a cheaper option than somnis or starsong (described below), but shouldn't typically be a default consideration for monks. Everything always depends on the specifics, though, so just double check what you're doing.

'''[[Somnis]] material''' (price range: 100k or 250k bloodscrip bought as-is, or 300k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

Lesser somnis is a 100k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep after it hits while greater somnis is a 250k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep ''before'' it hits. Alternatively, instead of starting with somnis items as the base, you could wait for greater somnis transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 300k bloodscrip.

This powerful effect significantly increases MM for the next hit (or current hit) in most cases! In terms of bang for your buck, somnis is far behind flares, scripts, the Skullcrusher flourish (less so that than the previous two), and purified materials, so there are typically two demographics who should be considering somnis. Both of them should basically treat as no object, but the demographics are either 1) those who can buy greater somnis as the starting point because it could be years before the ability to convert existing weapons to it returns to Duskruin, or 2) those who can wait for years for transmutation to be available and have picked up everything else or almost everything else already, making greater somnis a great final touch to add after exhausting other avenues.

'''[[Vethinye|Starsong, AKA vethinye]] material''' (price range: 100k, 250k, or 400k raikhen bought as-is, or 450k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

A 100k raikhen base cost material that flares disruption. Starsong can be upgraded up to twice for 150k raikhen per upgrade, which can make it flare disruption up to one extra time per upgrade. Fully upgraded, it flares disruption 1 to 3 times; if there's only one creature against the room, all three flares would hit the same creature, but if there's more than one, then additional flares would hit other creatures. Alternatively, instead of starting with starsong items as the base, you could wait for maxed starsong transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 450k bloodscrip.

Overall, starsong is a bit of an outdated material as newer options are simultaneously stronger and cheaper. Neat for extra screen scroll if that's your thing and the AoE is somewhat unique, but being AoE isn't even guaranteed and the price is extremely high for what it is.

<blockquote>
'''Order of Operations Sidebar!'''

If you eventually want it all, you can get it, but there can be a correct order. For example, buying Phytomorphic gear and adding lightning or dispel to it later costs 40k bloodscrip less than buying lightning or dispel flaring gear and adding Phytomorphic to it later. Adding Knockout Flares costs the same 100k bloodscrip regardless of order, but does have a 90k more expensive starting point than Animalistic off the shelf, so it should be done later. Adding Skullcrusher Flares or Lore Flares costs the same 100k or 400k bloodscrip regardless of order.

Buying a base material like somnis or starsong and fully unlocking it costs 50k bloodscrip less than transmuting later, but if you want a script--which you should since a script is stronger than the material--then you break even because it'll cost 50k bloodscrip later to add a script to it. However, transmutation prices assume you want the highest tier of the material at all; if you don't, then starting with the base material is by far superior.

All of this is only talking price without even considering what adding scripts, flares, or flourishes does to gear difficulty. Lightning flares add 100 gear difficulty, but that can be negated with [[Enchant_(925)#Pre-enchanting_Potions|pre-enchanting potions]] (yes, these also work with ensorcelling and sanctifying). Dispel flares add 100 for the first dispel and 50 more for each thereafter. Knockout flares or Skullcrusher Flares add 150. Animalistic Spirit adds 200.

(What does any of that mean? Well, [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|but that's another guide entirely]], but suffice it to say that the higher the numbers get, the higher caliber of clerics, sorcerers, and wizards you'll need to improve them and the more you'll be paying for their services.)
</blockquote>

===Gear Upgrades: Items===

Some types of gear aren't conventional weapons or armor, so let's review a few of those that monks might think about!

'''[[Energy_Wings|Energy Wings]]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

When these got released, they made players (including me) freak out thinking they got priced too inexpensively on accident or something. I think it actually just might be a case of power creep, though--and since I'm listing items in this section in alphabetical order, you'll see why when I talk about other items that were released years earlier!

These wings come in light or dark flavor. Both share a lot in common, namely having some single-target SMR attacks, AoE SMR attacks, evasion buffs (good for Spin Kick), and Evasiveness buffs (outright avoiding the next incoming attack), but the primary differences are that the light wings can ignore height restrictions for 30 seconds every 90 seconds (so 33% of the time) while the dark wings have additional poison or disease effects on their attacks. If you regularly hunt in groups, the light wings also have a big group buff of DS, TD, and crit padding for 30 seconds every 30 minutes while the dark wings have a smaller scale but longer duration and shorter cooldown group buff of damage padding, health regen, and max health for 60 seconds every 15 minutes.

The general player consensus seems to be that the light wings are much better, which I can agree with if and only if you're regularly aiming for the heads of large creatures you couldn't otherwise hit. Energy Wings are a mere fraction of the price of what it used to cost to be able to hit heads, which was a huge part of the sticker shock. Monks are already really talented at knocking creatures down, but the light wings could save you some setup time if your playstyle is more about targeted single strikes than a flurry of attacks via mstrikes or Fury.

If you're ''not'' regularly aiming at large creatures, then I'd say it's closer than people believe. I'd side with the light wings on T1 and T2 attacks, but with the dark wings for the T3 attack. It's pretty close on all fronts, though, so picking a wing type based on roleplay makes perfect sense! And having new AoE attacks at all is an excellent thing for monks, who are somewhat lacking in that department from their own toolkit.

I also don't want to undersell the evasion buffs. If you're a Kick Specialization monk, that's an especially killer benefit for you, but even if not, +15% evasion (or even +10% on T2 or +5% on T1) is a serious upgrade against incoming physical attacks! I don't know which is the icing and which is the cake, but the evasion benefit and new AoE attacks combine to make either version of Energy Wings a tremendous pickup for monks. Just don't neglect more fundamental things like scripts on your handwear and footwear, but once you're done establishing a fine gear baseline, look into these wings!

'''[[Essence_Belt|Essence belts]]''' (price range: 25k to 100k bloodscrip):

Magical belts that you charge up with essences (found from either looting elemental creatures or buying from the tables of alchemy shops that get stocked up by other people looting and selling them) for various effects depending on exactly which essence. I'm not covering most of those effects because they're more or less immaterial to monks due to short duration, long cooldown, or both. What's not immaterial is that essence belts also add reactive flares that can go off whenever creatures hit you (with no cooldown), stacking additional protection against battles going south. It's a good benefit if you absolutely can't stand dying and have a lot of bloodscrip to spare! For everyone else, improving your armor with padding or flares (if not going the +TD armor route in flares' case) is certainly a cheaper option to start with.

'''[[Hand-held_Pylon|Hand pylons]]''' (price range: 10k to 40k bloodscrip):

Basically an arm--mounted Mega Man energy cannon! Like essence belts, you charge this up with essences and it blasts away with magical power on a 2-minute cooldown. If you upgrade to at least tier 3 (30k bloodscrip), this will one-shot just about anything in the game... but that's ''if'' you have at least 1x Magic Item Use or have disabled something. The trouble is that if you're already disabled a creature, then you can generally just kill it with your own attacks, so hand pylons are much better with someone who already has MIU and doesn't need to set up first. If you don't have MIU--and, on a monk, you probably don't--then this might not be the item for you. That said, when Duskruin's open in the live game, it's frequently also open on the test server and allows buying things for free to test with. So give hand pylons a try when you can and see if you like them!

===Profession Service Priorities===

Silver does no good unless it's spent ''somewhere'', so if you're going budget on buying gear or just have a money surplus in need of a home, how about looking into profession services?

====Battle Standards (the [[Battle Standard (1620)|paladin service]])====

If there's only one service I'd recommend for a monk, it's Battle Standards. From the third tier on, Battle Standards add offensive flares to your attacks. (The flare rate goes up at the fourth and fifth tiers.)

As a general rule, offensive flares are better the more attacks per minute you use on average. This pairs extremely well with unarmed combat (especially mstriking due to bonus jabs, but even Fury) because its myriad low RT abilities churn out attacks more quickly than anything other than high level wizards, high level bards, and high level Two Weapon Combat builds. Even while you're only throwing jabs and fishing for tier up opportunities, a Battle Standard flare can sneak in and potentially kill a creature. Usually it won't, but even a lighter hit might stun a creature--and stunning increases UC's most important offense-boosting number, MM, making every following attack better. Additionally, you can select from a wide variety of [[Holy_critical|choices for flare type]] based on which Arkati or spirit the Battle Standard is aligned with, which you can set at [[Holy_places|any shrine]] for the Arkati or spirit you want.

Fourth tier and up Battle Standards also offer a short-term buff where every attack you do for 30 seconds is ''guaranteed'' to flare. This is a burst of fun, chaotic, powerful mayhem, especially in any area that's even moderately swarmy! There's a 30-minute cooldown at the fourth tier and a 15-minute cooldown at the fifth tier, so you can use it once every two hunts or once every hunt, respectively.

Battle Standards have a few other perks, but these are the main ones making them so good for monks.

Battle Standards have charges and periodically need recharging, which will cost you. I don't believe we have hard confirmation on how the charges drain, but ''if'' (if!) it's identical to Lucky Items, charges drain depending on the amount of time you spend in combat. If so, that would be another factor making it even better for UC monks than most professions or builds due to sheer volume of attacks per minute.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get a Battle Standard and love it. Even in the worst case, if you end up not loving it, you can sell it to someone else since it unattunes from you 30 days after your first use.

====Bloodstone Jewelry (the [[Bloodsmith (1135)|empath service]])====

Fully upgraded Bloodstone Jewelry increases max health/mana/stamina by 100/50/25, increases regeneration for health/mana/stamina by 20/10/5, and adds 1-5 extra health damage (only health damage) to all attacks. After every 50 health damage it deals, the next attack inflicts Major Bleed. It also has an activated ability to quickly regen health/mana/stamina 100%/50%/25% over 10 seconds with a 30 minute cooldown. It also has another more unusual activated ability to temporarily move your wounds off of you and into the jewelry; however, the wounds come back after 10 minutes and there's a 30 minute cooldown on this ability too. The idea is sort of a quick fix mid-hunt and then you'll need two rounds of healing afterward.

The temporary healing is difficult to advise on because its value heavily depends on how much risk you take in hunting. That benefit is about knowing yourself well enough to know if you'll like it or not. Same goes for more max health; I see the value for small races roughly doubling their health, but otherwise don't consider it particularly valuable. However, opinions vary widely. As for max stamina, monks already have Mind Over Body--but, even if they didn't, you can shore up stamina far more cheaply with conventional regen enhancives than with Bloodstone Jewelry.

As for everything else, the value for a monk--at least a magical monk--is like a mishmash of weaker Battle Standards and weaker Ensorcell. Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell both offer stamina regeneration, which is a great in a vacuum, but Ensorcell's version of stamina regeneration is a flare chance (which is effective with frequent UC attacks) instead of a per minute effect and never requires paying again for recharging. There is something to be said for having both Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell since Ensorcell usually won't restore stamina unless your health is full and Bloodstone Jewelry helps keep your health full--but, then again, just having herbs or using society abilities could also keep your health full.

Extra health damage, on the other hand, is a reasonable selling point. While it can't stun or crit kill like a Battle Standard flare, it does affect every attack instead of 20% of attacks--and 1-5 damage might not sound like a lot, but when it's every attack, it does matter. On average, you'll get the Major Bleed effect after every 16.67 attacks, which is decently powerful in its own right. All that said, Bloodstone Jewelry doesn't add extra damage until its fifth and final tier, so you'd probably be paying a premium to get it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Either go all the way with this service or pass on it unless someone's offering a steal. I wouldn't call this a particularly monk-oriented service unless you're a Kroderine Soul build or a small race.

(Since this is alphabetically the first service I'm recommending against, I'll clarify that that doesn't mean it's a bad service; even Enchant isn't particularly great for monks, as we'll see later, and that's a classic service. I'm simply saying that, when you're reading a monk guide because you're making a monk, don't view this service through the lens of playing your warrior, your semi, or your Sunfist pure, who would all make better use of more of the Bloodstone Jewelry perks.)

====[[Covert Arts]] (the rogue service)====

Covert Arts are the most jack of all trades service, being sort of split into five mini-services each with five tiers of their own. Like most other non-gear-based profession services, they run on a charge-based system and eventually need recharging.

Sidestep helps defend against AoE maneuvers, increases evasion, and helps defend against maneuvers regardless of being AoE or single target. Keen Eye finds children for bounties, helps defend against maneuvers even more, and helps defend against ambushes. Escape Artist helps avoid bandit traps, reduces Force on Force pushdown, and reduces the duration of [[Rooted]] status. Swift Recovery decreases the RT of searches (e.g. for heirlooms or pulling bandits out of hiding), increases health regeneration, and reduces the duration of Stagger.

Poisoncraft allows applying various poisons to your gear. Poison on armor can inflict various status effects as reactive flares: [[Calmed]], [[Dazed]], [[Slowed]], [[Disoriented]], or [[Clumsy]]. Poison on offensive gear can flare to either deal any of the previously mentioned status effects, deal extra health damage, apply [[Crippled]], or apply [[Major Poison]].

But how good is any of this for monks? Most Covert Arts perks only make monks marginally better at things they're already amazing at. (By contrast, casters see good benefit from things like FOF defense and the myriad bonuses to maneuver defense unless already far post-cap.) Escape Artist does seem reasonable to me for monks who frequently hunt bandits, since traps and Rooted can really mess with unarmed combat by preventing kicks.

Poisoncraft, on the other hand, provides flares, which should seem great if you just read about Battle Standards! However, some caveats do bear mentioning. The biggest is that, unlike with Battle Standards, jabs don't flare with Poisoncraft. Poisons don't affect the undead. Poisons offer a more narrow variety of damage types; they do offer a much wider variety of disabling effects, but monks aren't lacking for those in their base toolkit. Overall, Battle Standards are much better, but the fact remains that any kind of flare is still powerful with unarmed combat in a vacuum--even if jabs are disallowed. The question is whether you have the funds for both services.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

It's worth learning at least Poisoncraft even though the other Covert Arts don't do much for monks. Recharging Poisoncraft isn't much cheaper--if any cheaper--than learning more Arts and learning them ''also'' recharges, so once you're in for Poisoncraft, you might as well slowly pick up the others over time as recharging needs come up.

====Enchanting (the [[Enchant (925)|wizard service]])====

Enchanting offensive gear improves UAF (or AS if you're using a weapon) while enchanting armor improves DS.

UAF offers minimal help for all the reasons described in the Unarmed Combat Primer. DS is more compelling, especially once you're hunting areas with the [[spell sever]] mechanic. Monks have the game's cheapest training costs for Dodging, so they have very good DS throughout their lives, but not untouchable since they ''are'' regularly in offensive stance. I don't go hard on improving monk DS, but it can't hurt either.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Bring your robes up to +30. It gets expensive afterward, but +35 is a fine long-term goal too when you have silver lying around! Poke away at improving your UC gear if you find a great deal, but improving it doesn't matter much otherwise.

====Ensorcelling (the [[Ensorcell (735)|sorcerer service]])====

Ensorcelling armor improves CvA and enemy spells are a weak point, so I'd say your long term plan should include this. However, get most or all of your sanctification done first since ensorcelling adds much more gear difficulty than sanctifying. (For much more on the intricacies of gear difficulty and order of operations for upgrading gear, see [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|my service guide]]! For our purposes here, though, basically just know that tiers 2-5 of Ensorcell should usually be done after finishing the enchanting and sanctifying you want. The order of enchanting and sanctifying doesn't matter much, though.)

For unarmed combat gear, ensorcelling adds a flare chance for either a UAF boost on the next attack, stamina recovery immediately, or health recovery immediately. Stamina is strong for monks, but the flares give UAF boosts most of the time, which is very weak for monks. Ensorcell evenly scales up its UAF bonus; a fifth tier (T5) Ensorcell increases UAF by 25 while a first tier (T1) increases UAF by 5. Stamina recovery, on the other hand, is frontloaded: the average stamina return at T1 is 9 while the average at T5 is 15.

I like the "get a T1 Ensorcell on your offensive gear and call it finished" philosophy. You already have 60% of T5's average stamina return, but only bought 10% as much of a sorcerer's resource points.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

T1 Ensorcell for your handwear and footwear whenever you get a chance. T5 Ensorcell for your robes over the long haul, but only after finished with enchanting and sanctifying.

====Lucky Items (the [[Song of Luck (1006)|bard service]])====

Lucky Items are incredible for almost everybody. They improve virtually every offensive and defensive aspect of combat, which is like having extra enchantments, ensorcellments, weighting, and padding all attached to the same item--plus boosts to maneuver offense and maneuver defense as even more cherry on top!

For most professions and builds, I'd argue that Lucky Items are mechanically the most powerful service.

...but monks aren't most professions and builds. Yes, Lucky Items are like having extra UAF, DS, TD, weighting, and padding all at once, but I have a pretty low opinion of all of those things for monks other than TD.

Lucky Items act sort of opposite to Battle Standards; instead of favoring the low-impact attacks that UC throws out in droves, Lucky Items favor high-impact attacks that make every luck trigger proportionally more powerful. Lucky Item triggering on a jab or a decent positioning attack is a waste and you're probably firing off a lot of those. On the bright side, since Lucky Items' charges drain depending on the amount of time spent in combat, that aspect does pair well with monks' high volume of attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

If this were any other profession, I'd be singing the praises of Lucky Items and breaking down the math. Honestly, I might have to write a mini-guide on Lucky Items because they're tragically underrated. They offer amazing power to every form of combat other than the exact one that monks favor! If you're a weapon-wielding monk, definitely buy in and do it quickly. For typical UC monks, I'd recommend your silvers go elsewhere first--but only "first." Luck is powerful and you should get it eventually, just not as a high priority. I'd take it over enchanting robes beyond +30 or enchanting offensive gear beyond +20, but not necessarily before Sanctify, Ensorcell, or especially Battle Standards.

====Mystic Tattoos (the monk service)====

Despite Mystic Tattooing being a monk's own ability, it's not that helpful when used on themselves. The good news is that if you perform the final upgrade of your Mystic Tattoo, it won't consume charges and is basically a permanent upgrade. That said, the benefits of +5 bonus for a stat are pretty marginal for most monks. Standout options include:

* Strength to decrease encumbrance, especially for small races
* Agility to reach an Agidex threshold (this is preferred over Dexterity because it gives more maneuver defense and slightly increases UAF)
* Logic to increase exp gain
* Wisdom to slightly improve defense against spiritual magic

Logic is arguably the best since, given an enhancive with infinite charges, a benefit that works every minute maximizes value more than a benefit that only works while hunting. I can't go further than "arguably" since the others will have more impact when they ''do'' have impact. Regardless, none of the stats jump out for a monk in the way that something like improving a CS-boosting stat on a caster would.

Mystic Tattoos are slated for a future upgrade. The current proposal includes adding a skill bonus up to +10, flares to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, an activated ability with a cooldown to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, and ignoring enhancive limits.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Until the future update, I'd only tattoo yourself in your spare time when you can't find others willing to pay for your tattoos who would probably get more mechanical use out of them than you do. More Wisdom or Aura can be a gamechanger for CS-based casters, so sell them your tattooing services and use the silver to pay for paladins' Battle Standards. As you run out of other things to pay for, you can eventually pick up tattooing from lower level monks and make sure to handle the final tier yourself so you have infinite charges!

====Resist Nature (the [[Resist Nature (620)|ranger service]])====

Rangers can build a bracelet, anklet, or amulet that grants up to 25% resistance against up to five damage types: cold, heat, nature, steam, and lightning.

For post-cap hunters going into Ascension areas and the Scatter, this is really good since most of those areas use at least four of those damage types. Before cap or in other hunting grounds, usually only one damage type is the scourge of the area--and if you only need one resistance, monks can simply meditate instead of needing a ranger trinket. Even pre-cap, there's ''some'' merit to a ranger trinket since you can meditate for a general purpose physical resistance like crush and use your trinket for an elemental resistance like fire or lightning, but you'd have to know you'll be running into that damage type consistently for a while.

On an obscure note, nature resistance is unique to ranger trinkets. Monks can't meditate against it and even the Ascension system can't train to defend against it. However, an extremely small number of creatures use nature damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I'd look into ranger resistance for post-cap purposes, especially if you intend to hunt Ascension hunting grounds (which monks perform well in at lower exp amounts than any other profession). Before cap, make do with your own meditation ability.

====Sanctification (the [[Sanctify (330)|cleric service]])====

Sanctifying unarmed combat gear adds UAF against undead for the first five tiers and negates 5% of their damage resistance per tier if your gear is sanctified (but not blessed). The sixth tier adds a holy fire flare against undead that deals 50-100 health damage and a fire crit.

The first five tiers of Sanctify have dubious value for UC gear (unless you're buying the first tier specifically because of the Kai's Strike situation). The sixth tier of Sanctify, however, is amazing if your monk frequently hunts undead. Holy fire flares are extremely powerful for anyone, but only get better for a spammy combat type like UC. The question is whether you're willing to pay for the first five tiers' minimal value just to get to holy fire.

Sanctifying armor is a much more clear value proposition for monks. The first five tiers improve DS, TD, and, most importantly, [[sheer fear]] protection so you can hunt higher level undead without constantly getting locked in RT. The sixth tier again provides holy fire, but since the flare is armor-based, it'll only trigger for certain combat maneuvers or when the undead hit you.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get the first five tiers on your robes unless you're absolutely certain you'll never have interest in hunting high-level undead. Holy fire isn't a high priority on armor, but does go well with Bearhug and Bull Rush if you want it one day. Unarmed combat gear is the opposite; either commit to seeing through the entire expensive holy fire path or don't bother sanctifying at all. Since UAF matters little, ordinary cleric blessings offer basically the same value as the first five Sanctify tiers for UC (arguably more value since blessings have holy water flares, so people usually stack blessings on top of pre-holy fire Sanctify).

====Weighting and Padding (the [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|warrior service]])====

Crit weighting has more limited value to an unarmed combat monk than most professions or builds because UC itself uses positioning to increase or decrease attack power in ways that can cap the effect of weighting. It's still marginally useful for good positioning (very specifically good positioning). Crit padding is more broadly useful. Either way, neither is useful enough to justify paying warriors unless they're charging less than the automated WPS smithy that comes around every couple of months. (They probably aren't!) Use that instead to bring your robes up to speed.

Like with Mystic Tattoos, the head of dev, Estild, has acknowledged that the warrior service needs improvement at a future date. Maybe hope is on the horizon, but right now this service isn't terribly desirable for most players, monks or otherwise.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

An easy skip unless a friend is providing it for free or something. Use the much more affordable WPS wagon and I'd say going to 5 CER (50 services) is perfectly sufficient due to scaling costs beyond that point and the reduced effect of weighting on UC in general.

====Order of operations in summary====

* Battle Standard up to P3 as soon as possible
* Enchant armor up to +30 relatively quickly
* Ensorcell UC gear to T1 relatively quickly
* Battle Standard up to P5 relatively quickly
* Either Sanctify UC gear all the way to S6 or don't do it at all
* Sanctify armor unless very rarely hunting undead
* Covert Arts Poisoncraft when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Lucky Items when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Slowly enchant UC gear over time
* Padding to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Slowly Ensorcell armor over time
* Weighting to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Resist Nature once hunting post-cap
* Slowly add non-Poisoncraft Covert Arts whenever you need a recharge
* Bloodstone Jewelry if you want it
* Slowly enchant armor past +30 over time, if ever
* Slowly Ensorcell UC gear past T1 over time, if ever
* Mystic Tattoo only if you can't sell yours, but selling it is preferable to fund all of the above
</div><div>

==Super Post-Cap Advancement==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-superpostcap" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Far post-cap and still looking for suggestions? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-superpostcap">

Congratulations, you've got a cap and a half worth of exp--or more! ...now what?

===Ascending Even Further Beyond===

Since it's not relevant to the large majority of players, I've only vaguely talked about monks' advantages with far post-cap experience until now. Most professions need 30 million to 40 million exp, if not more, before they're "done enough" with normal skills that continuing to gain normal experience instead of devoting it all toward [[Ascension]] would stop providing any useful improvements.

Monks, however, can get there at more like 10 to 25 million because their physical skill costs are on par with other squares, but their magical skills are much less expensive.

I did say this guide was for magical monks from 0 to 55,000,000 experience, so what should you do with Ascension Training Points (ATPs)?

The big long-term goal is the Elite Ascension skill [[Transcend Destiny]], which I'll explain shortly, but it's only for players putting in serious hours; even unlocking the ability to learn it requires that you've spent 150 ATPs on Ascension skills in the Common tier first and then Transcend Destiny ranks themselves cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and up to six more ranks of 50 ATPs each.

So whether Transcend Destiny is in your future or not, first we need to evaluate where your initial Common tier ATPs should be spent. Here are the options I like:

'''Common Ascension staples''':

* '''Agility''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, increased evade chance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and +0.75 DS per two ranks. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race.
* '''Brawling''': +2 UAF per rank. I'm not going to knock UAF this time because, once we're talking Ascension, we're talking marginal gains almost no matter what you do. Get it if you like numbers going up!
* '''Combat Maneuvers''': +1 UAF per two ranks and increased maneuver defense every rank (but half as much increase as Agility, so basically the same rate per two ranks).
* '''Dexterity''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, but half as much increase as Agility. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race. For the weapon route, specifically, Dexterity also adds crit weighting.
* '''Dodging''': +0.75 DS (in offensive) per rank and a tiny extra chance of outright evading for more Spin Kicks.
* '''Logic''': +1 TD against CS-based mental spells per two ranks. Because Logic breakpoints increase exp gain at 5 bonus on a node or 7 bonus off a node, reaching 35 Logic bonus is an especially attractive target. Neutral Logic races can reach it with 15 ATPs into Logic because Perfect Self will already have pushed them to 30 Logic bonus.
* '''Porter''' (requires training Strength and/or Physical Fitness first): Encumbrance reduction by 2 pounds per rank. ''Now'' I'll knock UAF again! If we're in the realm of diminishing returns from exp anyway, then Porter is a reasonable low-hanging fruit option for races with lower carrying capacity.
* '''Stamina Regeneration''': If you're firing off mstrikes on cooldown, rotating techniques with katars or Volley, using Surge of Strength on your small race, using Burst of Swiftness on your slow race, or otherwise guzzling stamina, there can come a point where Mind Over Body and Ensorcell no longer enough. If that's you, you'll know when to train this--or just buy stamina regen enhancives and Bloodstone Jewelry.
* '''Strength''': Reduced encumbrance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and the first ten ranks combined of this or Physical Fitness are a prerequisite for Porter. If you go the weapon route, it's also +1 AS per two ranks.

During earlier versions of this guide, I was also open to Aura, Wisdom, and damage resistances, all of which I had trained to varying degrees at some point. However, the release of Transcend Destiny offers superior defensive gains for the cost while also aiding offense! Let's finally delve into the Elite skill!

'''Transcend Destiny is Monks' Everything''':

There's a serious argument that monks are the biggest winners from the release of Transcend Destiny. Each rank acts as though your character is a level higher for the following purposes, where I've highlighted the ones potentially relevant to (magical) monks in green:

* Ambush Damage - Offense and Defense - Up to 5 Ranks
* Automatic Success of Certain Spells
* Casting Strength
* Evade, Block, and Parry - Offense and Defense
* Force on Force
* Hiding - Rogues Only
* Sheer Fear Resistance
* SMR - Offense and Defense
* SSR - Offense and Defense
* Target Defense
* Two-Weapon Combat
* UC - Tier Up Probability

As you can see, almost everything on this list is potentially applicable to monks. Not only that, but I'd argue that usually it's at or near the top end of value ''in'' that application:

* Improving UC tier ups is, naturally, at its best for the profession most built around UC.
* Improving evasion, blocking, and parrying is at its best for either monks or warriors (despite monks not even benefiting from the blocking part). Monks fight in offensive stance and Spin Kick is the best single-target reaction technique in the game by an incredible margin. (Its only competition overall is [[Radial Sweep]], which is an AoE reaction but has a 15-second cooldown.) Furthermore, decreasing the enemy's EBP means improving MM, which is a UC monk's most important offensive combat number.
* Improving SMR offense is at its best on builds who use it for attacking, which monks certainly will. Combat maneuvers like Bearhug or Coup de Grace--or Hamstring if using Edged Weapons--are very good at taking advantage of higher margins with their scaling, but even if you don't use those, even more bread and butter attacks like Twin Hammerfists, Feint, and Spin Kick win huge here.
* Improving TD has extraordinary value to magical monks, giving them potential to ward off spells from semi-style Ascension creatures by stacking Transcend Destiny with the Dragonscale Skin feat, sufficient Transformation lore, and the correct outside spells. I wouldn't go so far to say it's at its best here, which I think goes to pures who become capable of warding off spells from (some) ''pure''-style Ascension creatures, but it's a pretty narrow win.
* Improving SSR is at its best for characters in Voln due to Symbol of Sleep. For reasons explained earlier, monks are mechanically best suited by Voln.
* Sheer fear resistance is at its best for any profession other than clerics, empaths, and paladins (who all get a degree of sheer fear protection from their native spells), which includes monks.
* Improving ambush defense is a benefit I place almost no value on for any profession and build ''except'' magical monks. Others either have plate armor, significantly higher DS, significantly more redux, far superior means to pull creatures out of hiding, or any combination of the above, but monks might actually take hard hits from ambushers (not bandits, but real ambushers like halfling cannibals and kiramon stalkers) if they don't have 105 or more Transformation lore, so defense is valuable.

(The Two Weapon Combat and CS benefits have more niche value to magical monks, but they do ''have'' the occasional spots of value. The auto-success spell benefits don't do terribly much in current Ascension grounds, but that could easily change in the future if enemy buffs like Wall of Force or especially Cloak of Shadows became more prominent and dispelling gained value as a result.)

Can it get any better than monks reaping the rewards of almost every Transcend Destiny benefit? Actually, yes. Yes, it can!

Much like how monks need to spend less normal exp on normal skills before moving on to Common Ascension than other professions and builds, I'd also argue that there's less incentive for them to continue sinking ATPs into Common Ascension (beyond the required 150) before moving on to Elite Ascension than other professions and builds.

As I write this, my ranger and my monk Tarine have very similar amounts of Ascension experience at 18m and 18.9m, respectively, but even though they're both working on maxing Transcend Destiny over the next couple years, Tarine is 2.9 million exp further into that journey because she doesn't have any need to heavily boost her UAF with Common skills while my ranger certainly does value heavily boosting archery AS. Similarly, my bard has about 5.6m more ''total'' Ascension experience than Tarine, but on the specific journey of maxing Transcend Destiny, she's only 2.3m exp ahead; most of the other 3.3m went into Agidex to reach RT thresholds that Tarine didn't need to work for at all because monks have Perfect Self and Burst of Swiftness.

Ultimately, whether you see yourself playing GemStone IV long enough to eventually have a character who you can say reached level 110 or just level 101, monks are your fastest route to that goal. They're simply the most exp-efficient profession in the game.

===Illustrative Post-Cap Snapshots===

Like the earlier snapshots for normal skills, here are illustrations of both of my monks '''far post-cap''' at points where they are or will eventually be. The second column is where I've planned for Saria to end up at the time she never touches normal skills again. This time the table more clearly delineates normal skills and Ascension.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Sariara, 19.88m exp (10.77+9.11)'''||'''Sariara, final normal skills plan'''||'''Tarine, 55.22m exp (23.79+31.43)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||1||50||202
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||202||202||202+10
|-
||'''Edged Weapons'''||0||0||202
|-
||'''Brawling'''||202+10||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||100||190||202
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||303||303||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||303+15||303+15||303+19
|-
||'''Magic Item Use'''||0||0||101
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||40||40||101
|-
||'''Mental Mana Control'''||0||10||25
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||7||25
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||0||15
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Transformation'''||15||101+4||86+19
|-
||'''Survival'''||202||202||202
|-
||'''Perception'''||101||202||202
|-
||'''Climbing'''||60||101||101
|-
||'''Swimming'''||0||101||101
|-
||'''First Aid'''||202||202||202
|-
||'''Trading'''||191||191||202
|-
||'''Ascension Transcend Destiny'''||2||4||10
|}

There are some divergences here, which are mostly down to Tarine having leveled in a different era of GemStone IV.

'''TWC edged weapons''' were for Tarine to blast through Duskruin Arena, where overleveled creatures hindered UC tier up chances and slowed her down. However, in the modern day, Transcend Destiny exists to also "overlevel" yourself and all of the Duskruin activities pay out about as well as the arena does, so there's no particular reason for Saria to pick up Edged Weapons. At most, I can imagine Saria going to 100 Two Weapon Combat for a tiny bit of extra DS over her 50 plan. However, barring some extreme changes to overall gameplay mechanics, 200 TWC simply won't happen--and if that won't, then neither will Edged Weapons.

You might notice that, despite Tarine having over 35 million more exp than Saria--and over 22m in Ascension alone--their '''Brawling''' skill is exactly the same. Like I've said, UAF simply isn't important enough to think about too much! Tarine's advantages are mainly Transcend Destiny (10 ranks vs. 2), lores (Tarine's Iron Skin is at the metal breastplate equivalent while Saria's is still at chain mail for now), and spells (with a 64 CS advantage between spell ranks and Transcend Destiny, Tarine can land Mindwipe or even Vertigo on just about anything while Saria doesn't even know Mindwipe yet and would miss many Ascension creatures with it even if she did know it). Saria does have a redux advantage of 29.23% to 23.68% because of fewer spell ranks, though.

'''Magic Item Use, Harness Power, and mana controls''' are more relics of Tarine coming from a different era. In this case, I'm talking about the time before Transcend Destiny existed and before self-cast minimum spell durations were kicked up to two hours by default. Since I already had these skills trained, there's no point to untraining them, but they're a bit frivolous these days and I wouldn't push them that far on a new monk--like Sariara!

'''Trading'' is also a relic. Saria stopped at 191 because that's the mark where she can max selling ability with Glamour up. Tarine's an elf, so her Influence bonus would let her hang back even further at 176. However, back then, finishing a skill for completionism's sake made more sense since fewer alternatives were competing for your exp.

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' stopping at 190 or 200 (or 202 for completionism) comes down to whether you use mstrikes or techniques, respectively. Techniques are much better with weapons than they are with unarmed combat, so Tarine went to 200 because she has weapons trained and Saria won't because she doesn't.

Finally, regarding that '''Transcend Destiny''' line for clarity's sake... given enough time, Saria will eventually get to 10 Transcend Destiny. What I'm saying is that she's working toward 4 Transcend Destiny now as a reasonable breakpoint, but after that's done, she'll go back and finish Multi-Opponent Combat, Transformation, Two Weapon Combat, Perception, Climbing, Swimming, and a few mana control ranks that she doesn't have now. ''That's'' the point where she'll be done with normal skills forever and commence the 10 Transcend Destiny push.

===Gemstones: Diamonds in the Rough===

[[Gemstones]], powerful artifacts that might take a while to find, are another key component to post-cap progression. Gemstones generate with randomly selected properties, most of which have tiered upgrades. You can find the [[Gemstone Property List]] on the wiki. If you don't like the properties on your Gemstone, you can also reroll it to get new properties within the same category of rarity. Upgrading or rerolling Gemstones has costs in silver and dust, so there are likely to be:

* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and upgrade just the way you found them
* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and reroll until you get a good property combination, then upgrade after you've done that
* Gemstones you'll wish to shatter into dust
* Gemstones you'll wish to sell to or trade with other players willing to pay big for properties that are good for their characters and not so good for yours

====Good Common Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 Bolt AS and 1/1/1/2/3 CS.

The bolt AS is worthless, but the CS is reasonable if and only if you have a high CS build--like an 81 Minor Mental and 20 Minor Spiritual split with Logic boosts from enhancives or Ascension--that can make use of powerful spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe and you want them to hit more reliably.

'''Bold Brawler'''

Your unarmed combat attacks have an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to tier up.

A self-explanatory staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries. More tier ups, faster monster slaying. Easy!

'''Burning Blood'''

When you are dealt a rank 2+ critical strike, your blood combusts in the air. Up to 3 nearby enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they suffer a Heat flare.

Pretty good reactive damage that comes at full power out of the gate. Needing an SMR check does slightly hinder its efficiency against overleveled creatures, but that's offset by the fact that it can go after multiple targets to hit at least one of them. Importantly, note that "a rank 2+ critical strike" refers to a rank 2 critical ''based on a crit table,'' not a rank 2 wound. Usually a rank 2 critical only creates a rank 1 wound; for example, rank 2 [[Slash_critical_table|slash crits]] are always rank 1 wounds unless they hit an eye. In other words, even very light hits can get this going, but just not the absolute lightest hits.

'''Ephemera's Extension'''

The following spells have 20/40/60/80/100% higher duration: 117, 140, 240, 506, 515, 605, 919, 1608, 1619.

Reasonable if you have 40 Minor Spiritual ranks. Monks make better use of Wall of Force than any other profession besides paladins due to monks' combination of inexpensive Harness Power costs, not much to spend that mana on, not being in full plate like warriors (and so valuing the DS more), and lower DS at the highest end of exp than light armored rogues (or light armored warriors, but I don't know any of those other than my own).

'''Ether Flux'''

When you deal 3 types of elemental damage to a creature in under 60 seconds, the creature must make an SMR test or take a standard disruption flare. This cannot occur more than once every minute.

(For clarity, it can occur once ''per creature'' per minute. You can basically consider it once per creature, period. For even more clarity, Ether Flux itself isn't a flare ''chance''; it's described as a flare because it deals a random amount of disruption damage, but it always triggers once you meet the condition.)

Ether Flux has no tiers and comes at full power immediately, which is definitely nice and it's a very good perk ''if'' you can get it going! ...but can you? Even though monks don't innately deal elemental damage, it still might be easier than you think.

Some options for elemental flares include conventional ability slot flares, Battle Standards of applicable Arkati or spirits, certain Gemstone properties like Blood Boil or Infusion or Thorns, holy fire or holy water when hunting undead, or script flares of elemental types. That's already up to seven sources of elemental flares and I'm not describing anything too wildly out of the way or anything that's very expensive by post-cap standards. The most expensive of those would be buying flare type changes for Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons.

Whether you're mstriking or using Fury, monks fire off a lot of attacks, so with a decent base of varied flare types, the odds can stack up to force a lot of Ether Flux triggers through! However, if you don't have that decent base, I wouldn't go out of my way working up to it just because you find an Ether Flux. This is a very solid B or maybe B+ common, but it's no Bold Brawler, Flare Resonance, Stamina Prism, or Storm of Rage.

'''Flare Resonance'''

Your attacks have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to gain flare affinity.

Assuming you have flares on your handwear and your footwear (and if you don't, then you should!), this is another staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries.

[[Flare Affinity]] basically supercharges your flares to hit substantially harder--and, for that matter, more often! Flare Affinity is normally only obtainable by adding a [[Combat Flourish]] to your weapon at Duskruin for 400k bloodscrip--and many people do pay that gladly, which gives you an idea of its power. (If you ''are'' someone who already has the Flare Affinity flourish, you wouldn't want this property since they don't stack.) The Flare Resonance property only adds Flare Affinity 20% of the time, but it does go on your character instead of your gear, so getting the 100% equivalent on a monk's handwear ''and'' footwear would cost 800k bloodscrip.

In short, get more flares and make them spend less time poking and more time killing.

'''Force of Will'''

You shake off all of the following debilitating effects: calmed, confused, demoralized, horrified, immobile, rooted, slowed, stunned, sympathetic, terrified, webbed. Cooldown: 24/18/12/6/1 hour(s).

This can save you from almost any situation once per hour when fully upgraded. If you really hate dying, this is the property for you! Alternatively, if you find it on a Gemstone with at least one other property that's good for somebody else but isn't good for you, you can try to sell it for a good chunk of silver since solo hunters of almost every profession like Force of Will for general purposes. (The exceptions are bards, who can already get rid of almost all of these conditions with their own [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]], and maybe clerics, who can just [[Miracle (350)|Miracle]] resurrect themselves one to three times per day if they die.)

'''Journeyman Tactician'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 AS and 1/1/1/2/3 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

The UAF boost is fairly immaterial for all the reasons you know by now about UAF, but the maneuver boost makes for an acceptable placeholder for most monks to use while looking for better Gemstones in the long run. That said, I wouldn't recommend upgrading it except possibly on a monk who makes very heavy use of extremely endroll-dependent attacks like Spin Kick or Bearhug.

'''Mephitic Brume'''

When you are attacked by a creature, you have a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to release a noxious cloud. Up to three enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they become Dazed and Disengaged.

Quite useful for buying time with crowd control. There's not much else to say, but it's a good property for survival! Be sure it fits with your RP, though, since it's sort of gross.

'''Stamina Prism'''

Your passive stamina regeneration is increased by 5/10/15/20/25%.

This might be the highest ceiling Gemstone property of all for monks. It's easy to underrate the value for monks because most of them never out of stamina anyway because they already have Mind Over Body for at least 20% stamina cost reduction. However, the reason they don't run out of stamina is because they do manage it to an extent. For example, a monk might use mstrikes when they're off cooldown and Ki Focus when the mstrikes ''are'' on cooldown, thus basically only using stamina for the latter. However, if you started stacking on enhancives, Ascension, and Stamina Prism to start recovering 50-90% of your stamina every minute instead of the ~25% that 3x Physical Fitness gets you to on its own, you could add Ki Focus when mstriking, add qstrikes when not mstriking, and ''still'' not run out of stamina.

In other words, you can think of Stamina Prism as opening up entirely new combat options by indirectly reducing RT. This does require getting additional stamina regen benefits, but you can be even more of a whirlwind in battle if you build for it!

'''Storm of Rage'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5% damage factor for each kill. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect falls off after 30 seconds without making a kill. This applies to all DFs, including bolts.

If you'll battle just about any creature in your preferred hunting ground and it's a fairly swarmy place, this is an extraordinary property since you'll have the boost going constantly. UC monks or weapon monks will both love this property! Even if you're picky about which creatures you battle or if you hunt a slower area, it's still excellent. The only other thing is to consider is that it's a top tier common for virtually every build of virtually every profession--any weapon user, any UC build, any magical bolter--and so people are likely to pay very well for it if you'd rather have the silvers!

'''Taste of Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor.

Mini Storm of Rage, except you always have the boost even if you're in the slowest of areas or if you're selectively hunting a single creature type for your bounty. The small defensive penalty has very little impact on a monk with high redux monk or high Transformation lore--and you'll almost definitely have at least one of those.

'''Twist the Knife'''

You gain 2/4/6/8/10% damage factor against targets afflicted with major bleed. When your warding spells are successful, the endroll is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 if the target is afflicted with major bleed.

If you're using Hamstring or have the Slashing Strikes buff from Flurry active (or are hunting with partners who do those things), this is excellent. If not, it isn't.

====Good Rare Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Anointed Defender'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Defensive Strength and 3/4/4/5/6 Target Defense.

Helps shore up a primary monk weakness of TD and the extra DS is reasonably helpful too. Not necessarily worth using one of your rare slots on over the long haul, but it depends on your tolerance for death. Don't use this if you go the Kroderine Soul route.

'''Blood Boil'''

Your attacks have a standard flare chance to boil the targets blood, dealing 20% of target's current health, up to 100, per tick for 5 ticks (2 second interval). This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once per minute. Activate to cause this ability to trigger on your next attack. Activation Cooldown: 1 min.

A high quality Gemstone property for almost every monk since flares are always great for UC due to the high volume of attacks. That said, Blood Boil flares are a bit quirky; they can't outright kill things like normal flares, nor can you land several of them on the same creature. Still, the sheer health damage done will frequently exceed more conventional flares unless the creature is already very weakened. A possibly bigger obstacle is that Blood Boil, of course, only works on creatures with blood! That won't be an obstacle in most hunting grounds, but if you try to exclusively hunt undead who have no blood (most undead by far don't; a few do), this wouldn't be the property for you.

'''Defensive Duelist'''

When an enemy directs a melee attack at you, you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to intercept the attack and take no damage. The enemy must make an SMR test. On a failure, the enemy is disarmed, if applicable, and suffers roundtime.

Despite having some anti-synergy with Spin Kick, it's very hard to ignore the value of a universal 5% chance to avoid and (to an extent) counter AS attacks. All else being equal, it ''is'' better to not get hit as often as possible than to Spin Kick as often as possible. (Maybe not more fun, though!)

'''Greater Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Bolt AS and 3/4/4/5/6 CS.

Like its common counterpart except twice as good, this is a strong boost to make Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe if you're one of the rare monks who uses CS spells in combat.

'''Infusion of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] after attacking an enemy.

Top notch rare Gemstone property that every monk should want. As always, the higher volume of attacks per second, the better flares get! Simple, clean power. (Before you get any ideas, if we could have three Infusion properties active, then that's exactly what I'd recommend, but they're mutually exclusive.)

'''Master Tactician'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 AS and 3/4/4/5/6 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

Journeyman Tactician, but twice as good. Like its common counterpart, the UAF boost isn't noteworthy for a UC monk (it is good for a weapon monk, though!), but if you make heavy use of SMR attacks, I think it can be a reasonable long-term property for you. If not, I'd either sell it to someone willing to pay top silvers or reroll until you get a better rare property.

'''Serendipitous Hex'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare rate chance to cast an additional disabler spell, including Bind, Blind, Cold Snap, Confusion, Limb Disruption, Mystic Impedance, Power Sink, Sleep, Sounds, or Vertigo. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you cast a lot of single-target spells in combat, this might be the strongest rare Gemstone property you could find. That's an enormous if for a monk, though! Monks with incredible handwear are probably still better off sticking to Twin Hammerfists as their opening disabler or even just starting with Fury or an mstrike in the first place. However, if you're looking to be an even more magical monk than mine by regularly slinging around Web, Force Projection, Thought Lash, and other spells, this is the definitive property for you. And if you find a certain legendary property I'll cover shortly, you might consider working your entire build around it...

'''Strong Back'''

Your encumbrance thresholds are increased by 15/20/25/30/35 pounds.

A reasonable option for lighter races. It's not necessarily going to help with the newer and bigger boxes of 2026 on, but can help with the lower end loot like solid moonstone cubes or wands that add up when you're tiny. Definitely not a flashy property, but monks are more heavily punished by encumbrance than most professions due to its effect on their primary source of DS, Evade DS, and this is a solution to at least part of that!

'''Tethered Strike'''

Your offensive spells and weapon attacks no longer trigger creatures' innate abilities to outright avoid incoming attacks, such as Ithzir vanishing, warg avoidance, and myling fading.

From reading the description of what it does, you already know based on what you hunt whether this is a slam dunk to use or a slam dunk to sell to someone ''else'' for whom it's a slam dunk to use!

'''Thirst for Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor.

Twice as strong as its already very powerful common counterpart, Taste of Brutality... or is it? The common version's 5% penalty when taking hits is negligible, but a 10% penalty isn't as easily dismissed. Still, the increased DF is fantastic, so I'd say you should consider your options with this one. If you have high redux ''and'' high Transformation lore, get it, love it, and upgrade it all the way. If you only have one of those, then you could simply treat it like Taste of Brutality by leaving it un-upgraded. 6% on both ends with no upgrades is comparable to the fully upgraded Taste of Brutality's 5%, after all, and nothing says you have to upgrade it at any point, never mind right away.

====Good Legendary Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Mirror Image'''

When you attack a creature, you have a 10% chance to create a mirror image of yourself that will replicate the attack. When you are attacked by a creature, there is a 10% chance that a mirror image of you will appear and take the blow instead.

Pretty easily the most powerful legendary property for monks of just about any kind, albeit not as flashy and over-the-top as others. It's actually difficult to even sell you on this because it's so straightforward that I shouldn't have to. It's a 10% double attack chance on every attack!

If you're playing the long game, I say get this one at all costs. However, if you happen to find a different legendary that's also solid for monks and don't want to let perfect be the enemy of good, below are some other reasonable options...

'''Mystic Impulse'''

After hitting an enemy with a weapon attack or an unarmed strike, you have a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to gain Mystic Momentum for 60 seconds. Your next spell cast under the effects of Mystic Momentum incurs no mana cost and gains +50 Attack Strength and +30 Casting Strength.

Hear me out. This is a very, very specific niche, but it's incredible within that niche, which is that you're a high CS build, you prefer going into rooms with multiple creatures, you cast AoE spells like Vertigo or Mindwipe once per group of creatures, and you rarely casts spells otherwise.

If all of that's true, then this is basically a gigantic +30 CS buff. The 10% activation rate with your high volume of attacks means that, after defeating one room of creatures, you'll basically always have the Mystic Impulse buff active to disable or debuff the next room of creatures before you unleash havoc on them.

'''Stolen Power'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare chance to trigger an SMR roll against the target. On a failure, the target is inflicted with a random attack spell that cannot be warded off. Spells include Blood Burst, Bone Shatter, Dark Catalyst, Disintegrate, Divine Fury, Immolation, Pain, Repentance, Thought Lash, and Wither. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you're running the Serendipitous Hex build, run this too and your spells will be insane. If you find this legendary property and you ''aren't'' running the Serendipitous Hex build, then I'd honestly consider changing your mind and trying to get both of those to line up. The strength of your spells skyrockets when they can be up to three spells in one.

Also, with Serendipitous Hex, I gave the caveat that exceptional handwear could still make Twin Hammerfists beat out spells like Force Projection or Web as an opener. With Stolen Power, Twin Hammerfists would still be more reliable and better for one-on-one combat, but the sheer strength of Stolen Power's effect and the ability to use it from guarded stance creates a versatile, powerful use case when fighting two or more creatures at once. (And that's with Stolen Power alone! Again, someone who manages to get it and Serendipitous Hex onto the same build is really going hard.)

'''Thorns of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] when an enemy targets you with an attack, whether or not the attack hits.

Great general purpose power for any solo hunter (of any profession, not just monks). Basically randomly kills things for you just by standing in the same general vicinity when they attack you!

'''Witchhunter's Ascendancy'''

You enter a heightened state for 30 seconds. During this state, you gain Attack Strength equal to 50% of the Defensive Strength of spells on all creatures in the room, up to a maximum of 100. Additionally, all of your attacks have guaranteed dispel flares. Cooldown: 3 min.

The AS/UAF boost is, as always, borderline immaterial unless you're a weapon-wielding monk. 30 seconds of dispel flares on every attack, however, is a rush of power and joy that works well with the free jabs in your mstrikes! Unlike traditional dispel flares, these are post-resolution, so they're slightly less reliable. However, UC monks tend to have no trouble making their attacks land.

====Leafi's Wild Dream Scenario Gemstone Endgames====

By design, getting the exact perfect setup is mathematically almost impossible since Gemstones are meant to keep people going for years to come. Still, it's fun to dream, so here are some hypothetical ideal layouts!

Note that you can have at most one legendary property and three rare properties. Common properties are a bit different; you can technically have up to ten, but each common beyond three would be competing with a rare instead and going up to ten common properties would also exclude you from having a legendary.

'''Traditional Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 1 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# ''(Blood Boil)'' (rare 2 of 3)
# ''(Thirst for Brutality)'' (rare 3 of 3)
# Force of Will (common 5 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 6 of 7)
# Journeyman Tactician if using Thirst for Brutality, otherwise Taste of Brutality (common 7 of 7)

Blood Boil and Thirst of Brutality are parenthetical and italicized because they're slightly conditional picks. For general purposes, that's what I'd go with, but specific hunting ground choices or even gear can change everything. Blood Boil might be useless if you primarily hunt undead without blood. Tethered Strike, not listed, might be superior to either Blood Boil or Thirst of Brutality if you regularly hunt evasive creatures. Anointed Defender, also not listed, could be the way to go if you've managed your gear and training in such a way that the TD boost can push you just out of range of dangerous CS attacks.

'''Very Magic-Heavy Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# ''(Serendipitous Hex)'' (rare 1 of 3)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 2 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Greater Arcane Intensity (rare 3 of 3)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# Arcane Intensity (common 5 of 7)
# Taste of Brutality (common 6 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 7 of 7)

This has enough overlap that you might think they're the same picture, but the subtle differences add up to large ones. This Gemstone setup assumes a high CS monk, then Greater Arcane Intensity and Arcane Intensity push CS even higher. That means that Vertigo and Mindwipe land more consistently, which means that creatures are disabled more often, which means Force of Will shouldn't be as necessary. It also means that your MM will be higher, which means I wouldn't even think about Journeyman Tactician. Conversely, Taste of Brutality claims a solid place because its rare counterpart has been traded off to secure Greater Arcane Intensity and maybe Serendipitous Hex.

Speaking of Serendipitous Hex, even though I ranked it highly, it gets the parenthetical italics treatment because I only recommend it if you're regularly casting Web! It doesn't trigger with Vertigo or Mindwipe, so if those are your go-tos, then bring in some other top end rare like Blood Boil, Tethered Strike, or Thirst for Brutality. (Unlike the traditional monk, the magic-heavy monk doesn't risk as much from the double DF hit of using Taste and Thirst simultaneously because their more consistent disablers will keep enemies contained. Still, just in case of the worst, ''definitely'' use Ephemera's Extension over Ether Flux if you go the double Brutality route!)
</div></div>

==Odds and Ends==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-oddsandends" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Can I interest you in the weirdest inner workings of my mind re: monks, plus other miscellaneous topics not yet covered? If so, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-oddsandends">

As we draw close to the end, I'll cover miscellaneous topics like off-the-beaten-path things monks can do and obscure advantages they have that you might not have thought about.

===Monk Magic After Dark===

...wait, I can't write about that on the wiki! Moving on.

===Trade Secrets of the Sneaky Monk Merchants===

I'm one of the bigger advocates of training [[Trading]] in the GS community, but even more so for monks than others!

Monks have easier and more universal means to make more silvers per item sold than any other profession--and they can do it almost anywhere in Elanthia.

Except for [[Mist Harbor]] and [[Kraken's Fall]], every town's NPC shops will pay +5% extra silver to at least one race when players sell. ([[Trading#Trading_chart|See the chart of favored races here!]])

Monks have a '''secret weapon''' in the profit war: '''[[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]]'''!

Even monks who live in a geographic region where their race can't get a bonus can configure their Shroud profile to appear as another race and get the bonus anyway! It's that easy!

But wait, it gets better! Monks also have ''[[Glamour (1205)|Glamour]]''', which gives an enhancive boost of 20 Trading ranks or 50 Trading skill, whichever is lower. (50 Trading skill will be lower before you have 20 Trading ranks on your own.)

What does Trading do, though?

You get an extra 1% silver for every combined 12 bonus between Influence and Trading bonus. That's ''bonus'', not ranks! So, for example, if you had 44 Trading ranks, which is 144 Trading bonus, you'd make 12% more silver for selling items than if you had 0 Trading ranks. Shroud of Deception takes that 12% to 17%, then Glamour takes that 17% to 18%--and, actually, 8/12ths of the way to 19%. If you took my advice and set Influence high from the start, Influence will also get you to 19% if not 20%!

This is a big part of how Sariara made 2,509,473 million silver within a week of existing. By now she's existed for four weeks and a day and is up to 23,108,060 silver, only 1,500,000 of which came from selling a Mystic Tattoo.

Some general tips on early silvers:

* Don't hunt overcrowded Landing areas, but find the rich lower level creatures. There are plenty of them because characters don't stay low level for long, so hunting pressure is low. (For more on hunting pressure, see the [[treasure system]] page and [[Treasure_system/saved_posts|saved posts subpage]].)
* Take advantage of Glamour and Shroud of Deception to get a percentage boost to these rich creatures' already valuable loot. Reap the reward of being a monk!
* Between level 0 and 19, when skills migrate near instantly, max out Trading every time you're about to sell things.
* Between level 0 and 19, push First Aid and Survival up when you're out hunting so you can get value from skinning. Unlearn them afterward so you can...
* Between level 5 and 19, learn Glamour and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* Between level 12 and 19, learn Shroud of Deception and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* For your final level 19.9 build, as you're forced to commit to your skills, have at least 20 ranks of Trading and know at least your first 12 Minor Mental spells.

Yes, this is what I did. I got to see delightful lines in my SKILL command like:

You started this migration period on Saturday, 5/25/2024 at 01:55:18 EDT. You have 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes remaining in your current 30 day migration period.

You're currently migrating at a rate of .001 skill points per pulse, and '''have converted 25580.00 training points this migration period.'''

Even if you don't go to this extreme, though, monks are the game's best at selling to NPC merchants. At the low end, monks skyrocket toward high sales value. At the high end in the post-cap world, monks reach the maximum sale bonus in almost every town.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

"Maximum sale bonus" is 28% from Trading and Influence plus another 5% from race bonus. To be clear, the max bonus is 33%, but only sort of; the two bonuses are treated separately. For example, if you're an elf monk selling in Solhaven (no bonus), you can't just pump your Trading and Influence so high that you'd make 33% from that alone; it's capped at 28% and the other 5% ''has to'' come from Shroud of Deception.

My monk Tarine was the key to my figuring this out. Noticing that Glamour no longer made a difference post-cap with max Trading led me down the rabbit trail of investigating why! I found the Trading and Influence hard cap, then the total hard cap counting race bonus, then isolated that they were separate things.
</blockquote>

===When Robes Aren't Robes: Alterations===

For simplicity, I've been talking about "robes" throughout this guide because that's the conventional name for that [[armor]] type.

However, robes don't have to remain robes at all; they have the same leeway for alterations as other chest-worn clothing! Here are examples of post-alteration "robes" that my various characters (monks or otherwise) have worn or that I plan to create:

* An airy white starsilk sundress sporting an asymmetrical knee-length skirt
* A sleeveless lily white tunic with a jet black silk sash
* A knee-length midnight blue silk dress aglisten with a constellation of stars
* A sleeveless white tunic splashed with an autumn-hued music motif
* A sleeveless white starsilk tunic spangled with sunset orange musical notes
* A midnight black silk tunic marked with a silver eight-pointed star
* A sleeveless sunlight gold tunic accented by bright white edges
* A royal purple starsilk tunic featuring an embroidered silver rose
* A sleeveless emerald green dress showcasing a heart-framed pink sapphire fairy centerpiece (this one cheats; it has the [[Joola_items|Joola]] fluff script, so it can break character limits)
* A snowy off-shoulder dress sporting white pearl accents along a wavy aqua skirt (also a Joola)
* A thigh-slit scarlet starsilk dress accented by ivory edges
* A sleeveless white kimono featuring golden star embroidery
* A ribbon-sashed cherry red elesine blouse with vanilla-hued ruffled sleeves
* A sleeveless gold feather-patterned tunic tied at the waist

Mine are mostly feminine designs, but even for a masculine character, you can turn your robes into shirts, vests, jackets, and more. Get your creativity on!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Likewise, unarmed combat footwear isn't limited to boots or footwraps. Have a merchant make you shoes, sandals, slippers, flats, moccasins, or anything else you like and wear them into battle!
</blockquote>

===Hunting Partner Tactics and Synergy===

Who do monks team up well with for group hunts and why? Let's explore!

* '''Warriors''' have [[Carn's Cry]], an AoE immobilizer that's enormously helpful for the two things UC monks like most: increasing their MM and reducing enemies' UDF. In turn, warriors love monks' Mind Over Body stamina cost reduction, the best group buff they can get other than bards' [[Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] (which will probably be nerfed one day).
* '''Rogues''' have [[Subdue]] as a single-target immobilizer and love stamina cost reduction. Stealth can make grouping somewhat awkward for most professions, but monks don't necessarily mind being targeted more often since it offers more Spin Kick opportunities.
* '''A monk duo''' can keep up both Mind Over Body and Focus Barrier, but otherwise doesn't have any particular synergy.
* '''Paladins''' can give their monk partners extra flares via their [[Fervor (1618)|Fervor]] aura and reduce enemy UDF via [[Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] or even simply connecting with [[Judgment (1630)|Judgment]], both being AoE spells. Paladins can make good use of Mind Over Body or Focus Barrier alike; they use stamina, but don't have as much redux as warriors and rogues nor as much DS as them, so a boost can really help.
* '''Rangers''' have [[Moonbeam (611)|Moonbeam]] as a single-target immobilizer, among various other disablers. Two Weapon Combat rangers should like Focus Barrier and Sunfist rangers should like Mind Over Body, but monks don't offer much to rangers otherwise.
* '''Bards''' can make a monk's attacks even faster, at least for now, since Song of Tonis is the game's best group buff. 1 second kicks are a wild thing! Monks offer Focus Barrier in return, shoring up the typical bard weakness of defense.
* '''Wizards''' possess myriad AoE abilities, whether disablers or attacks, that monks can follow up on with increased MM and decreased enemy UDF. Focus Barrier helps wizards at least somewhat, but they're already pretty durable as casters go. Monks simply being present as an additional target to split up enemies' attacks is helpful to wizards and all casters.
* '''Empaths''' are near-universally welcome hunting partners for all professions with their healing. [[Adrenal Surge (1107)|Adrenal Surge]] also gives monks more leeway to go ham with mstrikes on cooldown without risking being too punished. [[Bind (214)|Bind]] can immobilize at lower levels, but becomes less reliable later. [[Web (118)|Web]] is a more consistently reliable disabler. Monks' Focus Barrier can be good for situations when an empath gets stanced down. Monks being an extra body helps. An empath's [[Mass Interference (217)|Mass Interference]] setting up a monk's Vertigo isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but it's not an amazing one either.
* '''Clerics''' have [[Censure (316)|Censure]] as an AoE immobilizer and [[Warding Sphere (310)|Warding Sphere]] as a group TD buff (and DS), so they help monks on offensive and defensive fronts alike. If enemy TD is too high for Censure, Web works as an alternative. Focus Barrier is somewhat less helpful to clerics than empaths since getting stanced down is less likely due to [[Soul Ward (319)|Soul Ward]], but it's still there when needed. Having a hunting partner's extra body is even more helpful to clerics than most professions because creatures usually need to focus fire on a cleric at least twice to get through Soul Ward, but the odds of that happening fall from 100% to 25% even in only a duo.
* '''Sorcerers''' have [[Grasp of the Grave (709)|Grasp of the Grave]] as an AoE disabler, though it doesn't help monks as most other professions' disablers. On the other side, Focus Barrier is arguably more helpful to them than to other pures since wizards have more DS, empaths have more Physical Fitness (and so are less likely to be stanced down) and can heal when they do get, and clerics have Soul Ward.

Nearly regardless of team composition, your monk training '''Coup de Grace''' and '''Side by Side''' (which also requires two ranks of '''Combat Movement''') can be helpful to groups.

===The Weapon-Wielding Melee Monk===

Let's talk more about Martial Mastery, the level 0 feat. Although monks have access, it was primarily invented for warriors and rogues as an alternative to learning [[Elemental Targeting (425)|Elemental Targeting]], a Minor Elemental spell that increases AS.

Far enough post-cap, magical warriors or magical rogues have the same AS ceiling as their non-magical counterparts. (Their non-magical counterparts do get there millions of experience points sooner while the magical ones have more DS and TD, but that's outside the scope of this guide...) Monks, on the other hand, don't have Elemental Targeting, so a monk maximizing Martial Mastery can have up to 50 more AS and UAF than a monk ''not'' maximizing it! Of course, UAF doesn't matter nearly as much as AS and the entire monk profession is built around unarmed combat. So I ask:

Is there merit to a weapon-wielding, AS-based monk?

Before I explore it, I'll repeat that I think people should make whatever kind of character they find fun and that I personally like wacky builds. However, I'm not convinced that a melee monk even ''is'' a wacky build. When people consider making a melee-only character who isn't stealth-based, a warrior is probably their first thought, but let's seriously compare these options.

'''The Training Cost Factor''':

I'll use my (first) monk and warrior for the sake of illustration since they're both elves. At level 50, my warrior had a total pool of 2568 PTPs and 2242 MTPs while my monk had a total pool of 2319 PTPs and 2259 MTPs. You might think the warrior is hugely ahead, but no, not at all. I could show you paragraphs upon paragraphs of math I wrote, but let's just cut to the chase.

Let's say my monk and warrior had both done dual katar builds that shared nearly identical core training. 2x Brawling, 2x Edged Weapons, 1x Thrown Weapons (to buff up Martial Mastery), 2x Two Weapon Combat, 2x Combat Maneuvers, 2x Physical Fitness, 50 Multi-Opponent Combat, and 1x Perception were all in common.

From there, my warrior took 70 Armor Use to get metal breastplate, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. My monk learned Iron Skin, took 30 Transformation to buff up Iron Skin, and took 10 Harness Power, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. Their skills would be identical in most ways, but here's where they'd differ:

* Monk in robes that act like chain mail: 153 ranks of Dodging and 102 MTPs spare
* Warrior in metal breastplate: 109 ranks of Dodging and 21 MTPs spare

I'm not going to claim that my monk would basically just be better; there are too many factors to say that. Warriors have their guild skills. Monks have Perfect Self. Warriors have a higher parry chance because of [[Combat Mastery|their level 40 feat]]. Monks have a higher evade chance because of ''their'' level 40 feat. Warriors have [[Whirling Dervish]]. Monks have more DS, at least at this stage of the game. Warriors have [[Weapon Specialization]]. Monks have Burst of Swiftness. Warriors have [[Weapon Bonding]].

My point is that a melee monk is even ''comparable''--better in some ways and worse in others--to a warrior with the exact same build despite ignoring so much of what the monk skillset is tailored toward.

'''The Mental Acuity Possibility''':

What if you learned Mental Acuity even without Kroderine Soul? My above training cost example illustrated my monk stopping at two Minor Mental spells for Iron Skin, but another alternative (though this would be during later levels) would be taking Mental Acuity to retain access to the first 20 Minor Mental spells and still even allowing room for Spirit Warding I and Spirit Defense. (If you were okay with Martial Mastery capping out at +45 AS instead of 50, you could even learn Spirit Warding II!)

The hypothetical Martial Mastery and Mental Acuity monk has almost the same AS as a Martial Mastery warrior, but her spells would pull her far ahead in DS while keeping all the silver selling benefits of Glamour and Shroud of Deception, plus saving tons of stamina via Mind Over Body. The tradeoff is making spelling up more of a hassle, but that might be worth the payoff of having a light armored warrior-like character whose combat maneuvers and weapon techniques have 35% stamina cost reduction!

'''Doubly Perfect Self''':

As great as Perfect Self is for unarmed combat, it's arguably even better for a melee monk. For UC purposes, it's mainly RT reduction for your mstrikes or your singular assault technique, Fury. For a katar monk, on the other hand, you're getting AS--more useful than UAF--and RT reduction for ''two'' types of assault techniques: Brawling's Fury and Edged Weapons' Flurry. Rotating weapon techniques to work around cooldowns is a very powerful thing available for hybrid weapons like katars! This can eat a lot of stamina on a warrior or rogue, but monks don't sweat it as much due to Mind Over Body.

'''Specializations and Katars''':

The Grapple, Kick, and Punch Specialization bonuses for their respective techniques ''do'' still apply even if you're using a brawling weapon instead of unarmed combat!

Grapple Specialization-powered Fury knocking foes down and dealing grapple damage is probably still the most powerful of these effects, letting you skip knockdown setups for your staple assault technique. Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick is probably still the most fun of these effects, letting you fire off powerful maneuvers every so often or occasionally rip through rooms while RT locked.

Ironically, if there's anywhere that I even sort of like Punch Specialization-powered Clash, it's on a weapon-wielding monk. For unarmed combat, Clash is noticeably weaker than unfocused mstrikes. For weapon combat, however, Clash without Punch Specialization has the same power as an unfocused mstrike and Clash ''with'' Punch Specialization has a 25% chance of minor impact damage against each target. That said, the Grapple and Kick benefits for Fury and Spin Kick are 100% instead of 25%, so I still think they win out. Punch at least becomes a more serious contender, though, especially if you're regularly hunting things like bandits, pirates, warcamps, or areas that swarm.

Before I close out this section, katars are the only great brawling weapon and are a hybrid weapon that requires Edged Weapons ranks. Monks do train both skills cheaply, but maxing both does have an opportunity cost, especially early on. If you can only train one weapon type, I'd make it Edged Weapons instead of Brawling. The Edged assault technique, [[Flurry]], gives you a [[Slashing Strikes]] buff that adds slash flares to your edged weapon attacks for the next two minutes. It's also much easier to find great edged weapons for sale from other players--and often even pay event shops--than great brawling weapons.

If you're really set on a brawling-only weapon at first, then the ones I think are at least reasonable relative to their minimum RT are cestuses (good against cloth, leather, and scale), tiger-claws (good against cloth, leather, and scale), yierka-spurs (good against cloth and chain and at least dagger-powered against plate for the same RT), and fist-scythes (good against cloth, scale, and chain, and at least short sword-powered against plate for the same RT).

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If or when you train for katars, take full advantage of them being hybrid weapons. Flurry and Fury have separate cooldowns. [[Whirling Blade]] (the Edged AoE technique) and Clash have separate cooldowns. Since at least one of these four techniques will be off cooldown much more often than not, you can go into a wild frenzy with a monk's stamina cost reduction from Mind Over Body.
</blockquote>

'''Conclusion''':

Ironically, I wrote the above Mental Acuity subsection mostly to acknowledge that it's a possibility even while thinking nobody would do it without Kroderine Soul. I just like to encourage weird builds in most professions, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Instead, after considering all the math and angles I did while writing this, it's made such a strong case for a bizarrely appealing build that I've talked myself into trying it with Sariara at some point, even if I end up fixskilling out of it later, just to see how it goes. My mind's swirling and it seems clear that the melee monk is a very, very real idea that's gone unexplored because it's not an intuitive or obvious idea from a glance over the monk skillset.
</div></div>

==Infrequently Asked (or Imagined) Questions==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-faq" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering about some weird corner case I somehow never touched on? Ask me on Discord or in the game. To see what weird corner cases other people have asked about, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-faq">

This final section covers any random topics that people have asked me or that I can ''imagine'' them asking me if I feel that they're worth answering in this guide, but not worth a full tip or sidebar of their own.

* Things actually asked are red.
* Things I imagine people should ask are pink.
* Things that are both red and pink come from comments I got that weren't originally questions, but I've reframed them into questions because they're worth discussing.

'''Does enchanting UC handwear and footwear help with DS?'''

No on footwear. Yes on handwear, but each +1 enchant only grants 0.1 DS in offensive stance and 0.35 DS in defensive. Work on your armor if you want more DS!

'''Why do you rank half-krolvin monks so low? Flimbo's Guide and the [[Comprehensive Monk Guide]] really like them!'''

Flimbo's guide likes half-krolvin monks because Perfect Self normalizes their Logic penalty and they have "solid physical stats with which to punch things quite well." I agree that Perfect Self fixes something that scares some players away from half-krolvin. I even kind of agree that if you're set on playing a half-krolvin, then a monk should be among your top considerations for a profession. Still, I'd rather have a race without a Logic penalty to begin with! Exp-wise, that Logic penalty is less important than it used to be if you're paying for Temple of Lumnis donations or Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage, but it's still a penalty. The impact on Vertigo and Mindwipe also isn't negligible. (This is, after all, the Autumnwinds' ''magical'' monk guide, not the Kroderine Soul monk guide.)

Another point I agree with Flimbo on is that half-krolvin have solid physical stats with which to ''punch'' things quite well. However, I'd rather have a faster Agidex race who has solid physical stats with which to also ''kick'' things quite well, meaning minimum RT for mstrike kick!

The comprehensive guide likes half-krolvin monks because of UAF and heavy crit padding against cold damage. The math says UAF doesn't matter! (Okay, fine, ''technically'' the math says UAF matters... fractionally.)

Cold damage protection has some appeal if you're specifically leveling in Icemule, but monks also have meditation resistance, so, in effect, being a half-krolvin there opens up meditating to resist a different damage type. However, the outdoor environs around Icemule run out of creatures after the early 50s, so should you pick a race just for that?

The Hinterwilds ''are'' a post-cap option that also features cold damage, but that hunting ground has built-in means to protect any race from cold damage. Also, by that point, unless you've exclusively been hunting the most dirt poor areas in the game, you could also have picked up a ranger resistance trinket with all the silver you'll have made from Glamour, Shroud of Deception, selling your Mystic Tattoos, and needing little to nothing in the way of gear upgrades by virtue of being a monk.

Like I said, any race can do well as a monk. I'm not down on half-krolvin, exactly, but I'd rather truly excel at ''something'' than be a generalist. Play a half-krolvin if you like their excellent verbs, though!

'''Should I train Ambush?'''

The short answer is no. Now for the long, fun answer!

Flimbo's Guide and the Comprehensive Monk Guide suggested Ambush at high levels, but back then, players had no visibility into the aiming formula. Community knowledge and game mechanics alike have changed a great deal since then. Not only should you probably not train Ambush, but if you ''did,'' it would be most efficacious around the midgame and face diminishing returns to the point of very realistically doing literally nothing at cap depending on your training.

In May 2021, former GM Naijin revealed the aiming formula, which, until then, had been a mystery that players tried to estimate via self-discovery. [[Aim#Aiming_Formula:_Melee_and_Hurling|You can find it recorded here]] and read for full details, but we learned that:

* Enemy level has no effect on (non-stealth) aimed attacks (this was a shocking revelation!)
* Knocking creatures down helps (I don't remember if we'd known this or not)
* Combat Maneuvers bonus is as important as Ambush bonus (we knew CM helped, but we underestimated how much)
* The combination of CM bonus, Dexterity bonus, and Intuition bonus alone suffices to eventually max out aiming success

<blockquote>
'''Intuition Sidebar!'''

Even if you've tanked Intuition instead of Discipline, almost every combination of UC attack and race reaches the maximum 95% aiming success rate for hitting heads of prone foes. The only exceptions are kicks (only kicks) used by erithians or giants, which still have a 94% and 92% chance. On the flip side, halflings have such overflowing success because of their absurd natural Dexterity and Intuition bonuses that they can tank Intuition and still max aiming success rate against the heads of even ''standing'' foes. Of course, they need Acrobat's Leap for that.
</blockquote>

To be more precise, every 4 CM bonus, 4 Ambush bonus, 2 Dexterity bonus, or 4 Intuition bonus increases your likelihood of hitting the right body part by 1%. 24 Ambush ranks (102 bonus) used to be what players had figured out as a reasonable stopping point, so let's use that in an example.

With 24 Ambush, 40 Combat Maneuvers (140 bonus), 15 Dexterity, and 10 Intuition, you'd have a 69%, 64%, or 61% chance to respectively punch, grapple, or kick the head of a prone creature. Aiming adds extra RT, so, for the sake of the argument, let's say we want a 90% benchmark. What would that require? Going to 40 Ambush only brings it up to 79%, 74%, and 71%. Going to 40 Ambush plus 80 Combat Maneuvers is still only 89%, 84%, and 81%.

Of course, by the time you can have 80 Combat Maneuvers, your stats might have increased, so let's say everything had reached 91%, 86%, and 83%. Even that's not good enough because tiering up might demand a grapple or kick for your excellent positioning attack, so you'd need 108 Combat Maneuvers ranks and 40 Ambush ranks. Those 40 Ambush ranks could have been 35 Physical Fitness ranks at 3x costs or 23 Dodging ranks (that's +17 DS in offensive stance) at 3x costs!

What if you eased back to the old 24 Ambush mark? Then you'd need 148 Combat Maneuvers. Perfect Self has kicked in, so let's call it 144 Combat Maneuvers needed. Even that's already level 70. (You can kind of see why players were able to figure out that Ambush should be reserved for higher levels even before we knew the formula!)

In short, pushing Ambush only even kind of makes sense during the high mid levels--60 to 70--when you have high enough stats and CM bonus that you ''can'' reach max or near-max success rates with some Ambush, but not ''so'' high that you reach max or near-max success rates even without Ambush.

''But even then,'' we're only looking at the training point opportunity costs. Guides recommending Ambush also predated the sweeping [[Player_System_Manager_-_Phase_3|PSM3]] combat maneuver updates. Sure, you could aim for heads after you reach excellent positioning. Alternatively, you could Bearhug things to death for 200-400 damage. Another option is using Twin Hammerfists or Fury with Grapple Specialization trained to inflict the Vulnerable status, which means your ''unaimed'' attacks--like the ones coming from mstrikes and Fury--are more likely to hit heads, necks, and eyes than normal with no Ambush or even CM training needed. In fact, if your Fury is using kicks, then hitting the chest or abdomen is also just as lethal at excellent positioning as hitting the head!

Like PSM3's wiki page says, much of the point was encouraging spending stamina to improve efficiency. Monks are the best positioned for that because of Mind Over Body, so I've made my choice: forget Ambush and play to my strengths.
</div></div>

==The TL;DR Recap: Making Cookie Cutter Monks==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Low on time or thought processing power and just want a cookie cutter build you don't need to put much thought into? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-cookiecutter">

(...by my wacky definition of "cookie cutter.")

"Leafi, I love you and all, but I expanded every section, noticed my scroll bar is tiny, noticed your guide is crazy long, and ain't nobody got time for that. Please tl;dr this nonsense?"

Okay, okay, I hear you.

Some of you never wanted the Leafiara treatment where we seek to become real life monks with advanced spiritual and mental understanding by thoroughly exploring the unfathomable mysteries of reality and transcendent metareality (like math and logic).

Some of you instead wanted the Saraphenia treatment where I tell you how to have a functional build that lets you have mechanical fun in an online text-based multiplayer video game and then you embark on your journey.

So I included this section for you!

'''Race''':

Aelotoi, dark elves, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-krolvin, halflings, and sylvankind are all basically the same power for monks. Faster is better, but more encumbrance is worse, so find your balance. Giantmen have a niche.

'''Stats''':

See the table in the Placing Your Stats section.

'''Society''':

Voln.

'''How do I fight?''':

'''Weapon Twinhammer''' as your opener once you learn it.

'''Jab''' at decent position, '''punch''' at good position if you're not Grapple Specialization and '''grapple''' at good position if you are, '''kick''' at excellent position. Regardless of those general rules, '''follow prompts''' and do what it tells you when it tells you.

Against single targets, '''Weapon Fury''' until whenever you have enough Agidex for a 5-6 second '''mstrike kick'''.

Against multiple targets, '''mstrike grapple''' if you're Grapple Specialization or '''mstrike kick''' if you're Kick Specialization. In either case, not until they're 7 seconds or less. If mstrike grapple is 7 seconds or less, but you're Kick Specialization and mstrike kick is 8 seconds or more, '''mstrike punch''' for now until mstrike kick doesn't take so long.

'''Core skills to train every level''':

2x '''Brawling''', 2x '''Physical Fitness''' (eventually 3x), 2x '''Dodging''' (eventually 3x), 1x '''Perception'''.

'''Skills with breakpoints''':

1 rank of '''Two Weapon Combat'''.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' in bursts for various breakpoints to pick up specific maneuvers. (For which ones and when, see the "combat maneuvers and feats" section below.)

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' in bursts to 5, 10, 24, 30, 35, 50, 55, 60, 90, and 100 ranks.

10 '''Harness Power''' early, 20-30 mid-game, then push near cap if you want QoL for spelling up.

'''Minor Mental''' to 16 so you have both focus spells (1213 and 1216) as options, then slack off with spells until the midgame. Grab 1220 if you feel the DS need, especially if using 1213 instead of 1216.

'''Telepathy''' lore in bursts to 6, 15, and 30.

'''Transformation lore''' in bursts to 5, 15, and 30.

10 '''Climbing and Swimming''' until the midgame or as needs arise.

'''Tertiary skills''':

'''Spiritual/Mental Mana Control''' only if sharing mana with friends and alts.

'''First Aid and Survival''' only if you want skinning.

20 '''Trading''' by level 20 because monks make silver via Glamour (1205) and Shroud of Deception (1212). Get to 40 or the nearest multiple of 12 Trading+Influence bonus over time.

'''Midgame skills''':

'''Minor Spiritual''' to 2, 3, or 7 ranks, but only after 3x Dodging.

'''Combat maneuvers and feats''':

'''Dragonscale Skin''' for your level 30 feat.

Step 1 of Combat Maneuvers, making the super early game not painful:

Get 3 CM ranks ASAP for your first rank of '''Rolling Krynch Stance''', then another 6 CM ranks (so 9 total) for your second rank ASAP.

Step 2 of Combat Maneuvers, improving the early game:

In whatever order, pick up the last rank of Krynch and first three ranks of '''Grapple Specialization''' or '''Kick Specialization'''. Grapple if you want to hunt Ascension areas one day, Kick if not. If you choose Kick, it's not necessarily an early game priority since you don't get Spin Kick until level 35-36 (for level 35, spend your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling), so you could move to step 3 after finishing Krynch and grab Kick Specialization later.

Step 3 of Combat Maneuvers, fleshing out skills and diversifying your abilities through the midgame:

In whatever order, pick up three or more ranks of '''Bearhug''', two or more ranks of '''Bull Rush''', all three ranks of '''Evade Specialization''', three or more ranks of '''Feint''', and the remaining ranks of Grapple or Kick Specialization. If you went Kick Specialization, add '''Combat Mobility''' to the list sooner than later. If you picked a halfling or gnome, add Acrobat's Leap, but otherwise don't.

Step 4 of Combat Maneuvers, putting the last pieces in place:

Pick up Combat Mobility (if you didn't already have it) and all three ranks of '''Ki Focus'''.

Step 5 of Combat Maneuvers, player's choice:

Whatever you want. Finish Bearhug, Bull Rush, and Feint or don't, depending how you like them. You can veer off in different directions with more niche maneuver options or not. Up to you!

'''Armor upgrade path when ready''':

Buy TD-boosting armor of +7 or more from a playershop. It'll cost 1-5 million silver and serve you fantastically. Add services of Enchant, Sanctify, and Ensorcell over time in roughly that order while adding padding via the WPS wagons. (Enchant and Sanctify can switch places easily enough, but Ensorcell is definitely last.)

'''Weapon upgrade path when ready''':

* Spending almost nothing (~1 million silver): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear.
* Spending moderately (~35k pay event currency (equivalent of 35 million silver)): Buy off-the-shelf Animalistic Spirit from Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.
* Spending heavily (~80k pay event currency): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear. Add Greater Elemental Flares at Duskruin.
* Spending a ton (~150k pay event currency): Buy Phytomorphic handwear from Duskruin. Add Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate. For footwear, same steps except skip the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks.
* Spending a super ton (~265k pay event currency): Same as spending a ton, except either A) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your handwear, B) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your footwear (Kick Specialization monks), or C) get the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks for your footwear.
* Spending an ultra ton (~365k pay event currency): Same as spending a super ton, except do two of A, B, and C.
* Spending a megaton (~465k pay event currency): Same as spending an ultra ton, except do all of A, B, and C.

And if you're the top 0.5% ready to drop almost $7000 worth of pay event currency, then--well, realistically, you're probably not reading this guide. ''But just in case'', for fun, and to entertain the other 99.5%...

* Whaling out beyond most people's imagination just because you can (~4.24 million pay event currency): Buy greater [[somnis]] handwear and footwear at Duskruin. Add the Phytomorphic script at Duskruin. Add a slew of Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add bane lightning flares at Duskruin. Add Flare Affinity at Duskruin. Add the second active Flourish unlock at Duskruin. Add Lore Flares at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.

(Why lightning flares? Because the flares whales would normally buy when money is no object, mind wrack and death, are disallowed on UC gear. They've never said why to my knowledge, but I think I can infer why from the fact that they sold a [[xazkruvrixis]] (death flaring metal) cestus exactly once before swiftly banning the creation of more UC gear with death flares. Said item has become sort of a legend in the community since it's still around. I'm guessing they learned the hard way that top end flares are so astonishingly powerful with UC's low RT attacks that they considered it too great a balance-destroying outlier and had to cut it off. The good news is that the next best option, Flare Affinity-backed lightning flares, only cost 407.5k pay event currency per item instead of the 500k or two million that mind wrack and death flares would have!)

'''Other upgrades when ready''':

Buy a Battle Standard of third tier or higher to capitalize on flares going great with UC. Get it to the fifth tier eventually to max its flare rate, but the sixth tier is a more optional emergency ability. If you can't afford a Battle Standard, get silver for it over time via Glamour, Shroud of Deception, and selling your Mystic Tattoo service to others instead of tattooing your own monk. Get at least the Poisoncraft part of Covert Arts eventually.

'''Conclusion''':

Monks are easy! Go have fun!
</div></div>

==Denouement: An Unexpected Journey==

First, thank you for reading The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide.

Whether you read only the parts of it you were interested in, read every single word, or anything in between, I'm thankful for every reader.

Sometimes I write a "guide" partially or even almost entirely for myself. For example, with [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Ascension_Considerations|Ascension Considerations]], I was going to do the math on efficient progression anyway, so I figured I'd take the extra time to turn what could have been private spreadsheets into wiki tables. [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Pre-Ascension_Stopping_Points|Pre-Ascension Stopping Points]] (which I just noticed is really outdated) originally ''was'' a private document, but I turned it into a wiki page because sometimes people ask me if they can see my characters' skills when they want a template of where to take their post-cap training.

This one was for you guys, though. I hope it's been helpful, I hope it's gotten you thinking, and, maybe most of all, I hope you find monks more exciting or intriguing than you used to.

That said, if you were here only for mechanical informational purposes, I'm pretty much done with those. There's one more at the very end for people with multiple character slots (not multiple accounts, but ''character slots''), but otherwise, you can head out! I wish you a good day or good night and hopefully I'll see you around the lands.

Thank you again.

<div class="mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious on the backstory of why this guide exists and why now? Click here and we'll close out.</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-denouement">

For the rest of you, if you'll indulge my rambling a bit longer...

The Magical Monk Guide existing is an emergent happy accident.

The [[Raise Your Stout Krew]] (RYSK) [[Meeting Hall Organization|MHO]] features a division for each profession, including a lead player and character who organize related events and help people with related questions. [[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]] and her player were the monk division lead--and they sometimes said they wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest.

I thought, but didn't have the heart to say, that that was impossible. GemStone has been going for over three decades and monks have only been part of it for twelve years--more like ten years when RYSK started--so they don't have the history, nostalgia, momentum, or player population of other professions.

To be honest, even if I had said it was impossible, that wouldn't have stopped Phenia. Even as I type this, I can picture how I'd try to temper her expectations and she'd come back with "Well, I'm going to try anyway!" Phenia aimed high, never mind the odds.

When her player passed away, RYSK lost its monk division lead, but more importantly, we all lost a dear friend--at least her digital presence, and at least for now. During the grief spiral, I planned various things in Phenia's name and among them was making a new character, a sort of soul-daughter for Leafi and Phenia.

I made Sariara (name credit to Tairngaire) late on May 24th. As I leveled her, I did everything I talked about in the Trade Secrets section to capitalize on Glamour and Shroud of Deception, then shared my method in the RYSK Discord server on May 30th as a "Monk tip!"--plus a "Bonus tip!" about pre-level-20 fast skill migration for First Aid, Survival, and Trading. You can see how that impromptu post shaped this guide!

By coincidence, I'd also been answering a few people's questions in the main GS Discord server's monk channel that May into early June, like which out of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization to take, whether Grapple Specialization Fury worked with katars, and which races made good monks. So when Julenne asked me on June 17th to take over Phenia's spot as the monk division lead, I agreed. I don't think I ''could'' have declined. Over that string of seven weeks, I was basically doing what she needed already.

That morning, I decided I should write a new guide to replace Flimbo's old one.

I don't know what I expected would come out of it, but it wasn't this. With a motive like honoring my departed friend, I ''knew'' I'd put my all into it--but I didn't expect to write this much or this in-depth, I didn't expect to cover the topics I did, and, most of all, I didn't expect that I'd be learning myself, not just passing along what I knew beforehand.

I'd never thought about a non-Kroderine Soul monk without Mental Acuity. I'd barely thought about a weapon-wielding monk, even putting Mental Acuity aside. I'd barely thought about synergy between monks and other professions. I'd never investigated how one rank of Sanctify interacted with Kai's Strike. I'd never investigated how or if Stance of the Mongoose worked with unarmed combat. I'd never even investigated how or if Clash worked with a specified UC attack type.

But Saraphenia aimed high with her talent at community outreach, so I had to aim high with my talent at testing and explaining obscure mechanical interactions. Deep diving into the monk ocean sometimes turned up junk, but other times Atlantean treasures. I learned and now I hope you've learned too.

When Phenia said she wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest, I assumed she was talking about numbers. Maybe she was; I don't know either way. I ''do'' know that we want you monk players to be ''your'' strongest, as individuals. Not necessarily the most efficient, not necessarily the most min-maxed, but the most subjectively enjoyable version of your monk. Know your options, find the best one for you, and you'll be your strongest. Any part I might have played in helping you get there is an honor.

Now, for fun and because I can, here's one last obscure mechanical interaction for the road.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus tip!'''

I have a couple character slots where, even though I don't play them, I briefly log them in and out every day for [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]. That way, if I ever decided to start them up, they'd have a giant stockpile of benefits for a head start. Premium slots are especially useful for these purposes since, at no additional price over the base cost, you get more character slots than there are even professions. (Prime subscriptions can still get character slots at $2.50 per month each.)

What's probably less known is that when you [[Verb:RETIRE|reroll]] a character, the new character retains all the old one's login rewards! So I leveled Sariara very quickly early on, jumping past 1.2 million experience in just a month, because she was backed by seven years of rewards in the form of 1034 bounty boosts, 341 instant mind clearers, and 1004 long-term experience boosts (the previous character ''had'' gone beyond level 20 at some point), among other things like more than a thousand bounty task waivers to avoid escorts after she reached level 20. She also had 515 doubled experience boosts, which she didn't even begin using until level 60 when, due to natural stat growth and Perfect Self, she became just 1 exp per pulse shy of her capped exp gains.

Do with the knowledge what you will, premium subscribers! Log in some extra characters or, if you already have been, get a new one going.
</blockquote>

Farewell, have fun, and be good to one another!
</div></div>

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Monk]]
[[Category:Professional Guides]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide

2026-02-24T20:52:50Z

LEAFIARA:

{{player-guide
|title = The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide
|topic = Combat, Monks, Training
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-06-19
|updated = 2026-02-24
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind, in loving memory of '''[[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 24, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Introduction: How to Use This Guide==

This guide is for all magical monks from 0 exp to 55,000,000! (What do I mean by a magical monk? One not using [[Kroderine Soul]]. Somebody else will have to write that guide!) I'll go over monks' strengths, weaknesses, other unique qualities, things to consider, others' perspectives that I hear about, training plans, and so on.

'''This guide is exhaustive within its scope''', or at least it can be.

* If you want an exhaustive guide, read through it in order.
* If you want the opposite of an exhaustive guide, jump to the "tl;dr Recap: Cookie Cutter" section at the end.
* If you're not sure whether you want an exhaustive guide, read the "Why Play a Monk" section to see if monks sound cool, then jump to the Cookie Cutter section at the end, then read the rest if you're intrigued afterward. The Cookie Cutter section provides an overview of ''what'' to do and gives a small window into what the rest of the guide covers, which is ''why'' to do it.

I've made each section collapsible for easy navigation, but I try to scatter nuggets of wisdom for all experience levels all throughout!

Speaking of experience, what's mine? I capped my monk Tarine before the combat modernizations of 2020 and 2021, helped Saraphenia with her training (both on paper and as a hunting duo) from level 43 to about 9 million exp between 2022 and April 2024, and I'm now working on my monk Sariara, who filled in my knowledge gap before level 43 in the modern world.

Speaking of Saraphenia, who created many monks and enjoyed them more than any other profession, I think of this guide like our joint project. She would have had the passion and interest to create it, but not the knowledge and time. I have the knowledge and time, but wouldn't have had the passion or interest--at least on my own. When I say I've written this guide in loving memory, I truly mean it. If even a few more players find monks even half as exciting as Phenia did because of what they read here, I'll call it a job well done!

No further ado. Let's get on with it!

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay mw-customtoggle-creation mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat mw-customtoggle-skillsplan mw-customtoggle-choicesplan mw-customtoggle-progression mw-customtoggle-superpostcap mw-customtoggle-oddsandends mw-customtoggle-faq mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="color:#0000FF">'''(Want to read the entire guide? Click here to uncollapse all sections at once!)'''</div>

==Why Play a Monk or Why Not Play a Monk?==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Pondering the appeal of why to play a monk at all? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-whyplay">

===Unarmed Combat===

Monks specialize at [[Unarmed_combat_system|unarmed combat]] (UC), the most unique form of combat GemStone IV has to offer! It features four primary commands: JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH. Making the most of them revolves primarily around two things:

# "Tiering up," AKA improving positioning from decent to good, then from good to excellent, by sequencing your attacks correctly based on your training and following the combat messaging prompts.
# Improving your [[multiplier modifier]] primarily through things like forcing a creature's stance down or inflicting status conditions.

Unlike the other physical systems based on [[attack strength]] (AS) and [[defensive strength]] (DS), UC's equivalents of [[unarmed attack factor]] (UAF) and [[unarmed defense factor]] (UDF) are joined by a third number worth keeping your eye on, the [[multiplier modifier]] (MM). Another dissimilarity is that while increasing your AS or decreasing enemy DS by the same amount would have the same effect in combat, lowering enemy UDF is multiplicatively better than increasing your UDF. Meanwhile, increasing your MM is possibly even more paramount!

I'll elaborate further during the Unarmed Combat Primer section. For now, know that unarmed combat has a drastically higher floor, albeit also a lower ceiling, than other forms of combat. Monks are much less likely to one-shot anything than their melee counterparts, but monks are also much less likely to have no chance of hitting their foe.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Another standout difference of unarmed combat is that creatures can never outright evade, block, or parry a UC attack. UC attacks can still ''miss'' via low endrolls and there are stray creatures who can still do things like disappear into the shadows to avoid damage, but the latter are rare. If you've played other physical characters and can't stand seeing a creature avoid an attack before it even gets to the roll, try a monk!
</blockquote>

===Gear Indifference===

Monks have extremely low dependence on good gear.

While GSIV is technically balanced around vanilla +20 gear, most people would agree there's a difference between a viable way to play the game and an enjoyable way to play the game. Pure casters are commonly considered the best at remaining enjoyable even with little to nothing spent on good gear. While I do agree, I'd put monks right behind them--and easily ahead of [[warrior]]s, [[rogue]]s, [[paladin]]s, and [[ranger]]s!

Because of the unique qualities of unarmed combat, improvements like [[Enchant (925)|enchanting]], [[Ensorcell (735)|ensorcelling]], [[Sanctify (330)|sanctifying]], or [[weighting]] your offensive gear are much more luxury than necessity. If you're unable or unwilling to spend heavily on a new character, monks are an excellent low investment profession. (And smooth upgrade paths exist if you eventually want them, but more on that later in this guide!)

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

Players have noticed that monks can hunt and succeed in the Hinterwilds, arguably the game's most challenging area, on par with other professions even when monks have a third of the experience points and a tenth of the gear caliber. At that top end of difficult content, I'd say monks are ''the best'' at not depending on gear nor even exp! Much more on that in the Ascension section.
</blockquote>

===Simplicity===

Monks have a very low learning curve, at least by GS standards. This game world has a lot of convoluted training plans, tradeoffs, options, breakpoints, tight training point constraints, and too many desirable skills to train them all, but monks present you with a very straightforward, low pressure profession that it's difficult to get wrong. If you stick to unarmed combat, I'd go so far as ''extremely'' difficult to get wrong.

(If you want to do unusual things that don't involve UC, then read on in Odds and Ends!)

===Fun Factor===

Once monks hit their stride by level 40--maybe even level 30--they're great at screen scroll shenanigans. With the general speed of unarmed combat, its myriad status conditions, free bonus jabs in [[Verb:MSTRIKE|mstrikes]] or free knockdowns in [[Fury]], and plenty of messaging prompts about tiering up or when to [[Spin Kick]], combat can be an engaging and chaotic experience!

Even from a roleplaying perspective, [[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]] is one of the game's coolest tools. It allows you to customize your appearance and save up to three illusionary projections, which is as close as you can get to playing multiple characters in one!

===Might and Magic===

If you long for the raw power of a physical profession like a warrior, but still want the option to use magic in and out of combat even from early levels, monks are for you. The [[Minor Mental]] spell circle is so integral to the monk toolkit that dev had to make provision so even Kroderine Soul monks could still cast spells from level 30 on!

===Downsides or Lack Thereof===

Some players feel that monks are pigeonholed into unarmed combat. I would have agreed before creating this guide, but while writing Odds and Ends, I did a deep dive into the math and now believe a weapon build is absolutely on the table; monks ''can'', if they want, operate like warriors who have more DS (until very far post-cap) but don't wear heavy armor, are better at evading but worse at parrying, have a universal stat bonus from level 50 on but don't have guild skills, and a few other tradeoffs. If your character concept is a lightly armored Dread Pirate type quick on their feet, there's a very real case that a monk can be a better choice than a warrior.

[[Target defense]] (TD) is widely regarded as a monk weakness and was a major discussion point in [[Flimbo's Monk Guide]], which was extensive in its time, but has become outdated after years of major game developments since then. TD certainly is a weakness, but not nearly as much of one now. Monks' offensive toolkit has grown, making it easier than ever to keep enemies under control and stop them from casting at all. Even when creatures do fire off spells, non-Kroderine Soul monks have a new warding defense booster called Dragonscale Skin while Kroderine Soul monks have magic redux and can absorb (negate) an offensive spell once every 30 seconds.

The best I can muster for legitimate monk downsides are that they can't obliterate an entire swarm of creatures in six seconds or less (that's the domain of post-cap bards and wizards) and their profession service needs improvement (but improvement is already planned for the future).
</div></div>

==Character Creation==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-creation" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Need to walk through the creation of your monk? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-creation">

If making a monk sounds intriguing, let's get started!

===Choosing a Race===

From level 50 on, monks arguably have more leeway than any other [[profession]] to be any [[race]] with minimal drawbacks due to [[Perfect Self]] basically eliminating stat deficiencies. Instead of any race being bad at anything, it's more a question of which ones are slightly better at any given thing. I don't think you can go wrong, which I don't say about other professions, so my honest suggestion is to pick whatever sounds interesting.

If you're not sure what's interesting or are torn between options, my ''next'' suggestion is to see if any [[race-specific verbs]] strike your fancy. Even though Shroud of Deception can make your monk ''appear'' like other races, they can't perform (for example) halfling-specific verbs without actually being a halfling. Get the verbs you like!

If verbs don't sound compelling either, then here's how I'd rank monk races mechanically if I really had to:

# '''[[Elf|Elves]]''': What I made my first monk, Tarine. Elves tie with burghal gnomes as the second best race for combined [[Agility]] and [[Dexterity]] ("Agidex"), which means faster mstrikes and assault techniques--the most key parts of the monk arsenal. Elves have no particular disadvantages like height or size, though they're slightly below average on encumbrance.
# '''[[Aelotoi]], [[Dark Elf|Dark Elves]], [[Half-Elf|Half-Elves]], and [[Sylvankind|Sylvans]]''': All of these races tie for third place Agidex and second place in my overall rankings. They can still get to minimum speed attacks, but need a little more [[experience]] or enhancive items than elves, halflings, or gnomes would. They have much more carrying capacity (less encumbrance) than halflings and gnomes, all but aelotoi have more carrying capacity than elves, and none have problems height-wise. Mechanical differences between the four are pretty minimal for monks, but compared to elves as a baseline...
#* Aelotoi have a [[Logic]] bonus, so they gain exp slightly faster (1 per pulse) and [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] are slightly more reliable.
#* Dark elves' [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]] bonuses offer a small amount of defense against elemental and spiritual warding spells.
#* Half-elves have the best carrying capacity of my top five picks. The dwarves and halflings bullet points have more to say about encumbrance.
#* Sylvans' Aura bonus offers a small amount of defense against elemental warding spells. Dark elves are mechanically better at the same thing, but, again, the differences are very minimal in practice.
# '''[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and [[Halfling]]s''': Unlike the above grouping of races that play roughly identically, dwarves and halflings have substantial differences alongside some similarities. The most eye-catching similarity is excellent defense against elemental warding spells, which monks would normally be weak against; dwarves have +30 TD and halflings have +40 TD. Dwarves and halflings do have -10 and -5 Aura bonuses respectively, which also defends against elemental spells, so the real numbers could be considered more like +20 and +35. (Enemy elemental warding spells ''are'' sort of rare, but you might be glad for the benefit when you do run into them.) Their heights require keeping most creatures knocked down or training niche combat maneuvers like [[Acrobat's Leap]] to target heads as a finisher if you're trying to aim, though not all monks do. Dwarves and halflings have Logic bonuses for exp, Vertigo, and Mindwipe purposes. As for the differences...
#* Dwarves are the only race that's both short and slow, ranking second to last in Agidex. Still, if you're okay with slower attacks, then elemental TD remains a rare and valuable selling point. More importantly, dwarves can carry a surprising amount due to huge [[Strength]] and [[Constitution]] bonuses along with identical body weight to dark elves. I rank dwarven monks the best of the slower races. Dwarves also have a slew of amazing verbs!
#* Halflings are the best race for combined Agidex, having the fastest mstrikes and assaults while being about as close as invulnerable to enemy maneuvers as it gets. This alone (never mind also having the elemental TD bonus) is important enough that older versions of this guide used to rank halflings as the second best monk race. However, 2026 changes to average box sizes and drop rates exacerbate halflings' severe [[encumbrance]] issues. The question is your tolerance level for either A) frequently pulling back from hunts to [[locksmith pool|drop off boxes]] or B) buying encumbrance-reducing items like silvery blue potions and [[Blue_feather-shaped_charm|blue feather-shaped charms]]. If you don't mind, then halflings remain a very powerful option. If you do mind, you might want to look elsewhere.
# '''[[Half-krolvin]]''': The fourth best race for Agidex, though there's as much of a speed gap between third best and fourth best as between best and third best. Like dwarves, half-krolvin have a slew of amazing verbs. In pre-2026 versions of this guide, I didn't see much purely mechanical reason to choose a half-krolvin over the previous seven races or gnomes, but things have changed. Their second best carrying capacity helps much more than before. On the flip side, their Logic penalty hurts less in a world with new options in silver or Simucoins for vastly accelerated exp. If you want carrying capacity without sacrificing anything, but also not specializing in anything else, half-krolvin monks are a perfectly good place to be.
# '''[[Forest Gnome]]s and [[Burghal Gnome]]s''': These are in the top 3 and top 2 speed tiers, respectively. Forest gnomes handle encumbrance slightly better than halflings while burghal gnomes handle it even worse than halflings. I give halflings the advantage over gnomes mainly due to their huge elemental TD bonus, but the differences are minor enough that I don't think anyone should sweat it. It just comes down to the same question of whether you can live with the encumbrance issues. If you can, have at it.
# '''[[Giantmen]]''': Giants are the slowest race, but can carry near endless amounts of things without getting encumbered. Encumbrance reduces DS and slows down single-target UC attacks, assault techniques, and AoE techniques--but encumbrance ''doesn't'' slow down mstrikes nor Twin Hammerfists, which are key in the monk arsenal. However, giants are the worst at mstrikes via natural stats. Agidex-boosting enhancives can fix that, but maintaining charges on numerous enhancives can get even more expensive than the small race path of maintaining encumbrance potions, so I personally wouldn't take the trade. Still, there's a reason that some players choose giants near exclusively. If returning to town sounds aggravating or if you want to maximize the amount of time you spend acquiring loot (staying out hunting) instead of exp (ending the hunt as quickly as possible), giants might be for you.
# '''[[Erithian]]s and [[Human]]s''': These are the third slowest races. Erithians and humans have no particular mechanical disadvantages that push them away from being monks, but also no particular advantages that push them toward being monks. Erithians do have excellent verbs that go well with monks roleplaying-wise!

Races from half-krolvin up are close enough that I wouldn't quibble about any of them being seriously better than the others. I understand people's case for giants too, even though they're not my style (I'm okay with returning to town every two or three boxes!), and gnomes are similar enough to halflings. I find erithians and humans really dubious from a mechanical perspective, though. Perfect Self does bring up the low and you can't go wrong, exactly, but Perfect Self also makes the rich richer.

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar!'''

If you're used to playing a halfling or gnome warrior who wears full plate, don't expect your encumbrance life to be similar on a halfling or gnome monk in robes. For one thing, max rank [[Armor Support|armor support]] gives plate armor 35 pounds encumbrance reduction, but gives robes 15 pounds. For another, let's talk about GS' encumbrance paradox!

[[Encumbrance#Armor_Encumbrance_Formula|Base weight (unlightened) armor has no encumbrance while worn]]. Yes, really. 75 pound full plate weighs 75 in your hands and 0 on your body! However, if you lighten full plate down to its minimum 38 pounds, wearing it counts as -37 pounds multiplied by a number that depends on your race. That number is 0.5 for a halfling or burghal gnome and 0.6 for a forest gnome, so, after rounding, max light full plate gives -18 or -22 pounds encumbrance. Robes have a modest base weight of 8 and minimum weight of 4 pounds, so max light robes give -2 pounds encumbrance for halflings or gnomes.

Between armor encumbrance mechanics and armor support, a halfling or gnome in full plate has a 36-40 pound encumbrance advantage over a halfling or gnome monk in robes. Perfect Self will make up some pounds, but not nearly ''that'' much of the gap, so be warned!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar 2, 2026 Edition!'''

I didn't want to bog down the bullet points above by talking too much about encumbrance, which could have taken over the entire race section. In short, as of mid-January 2026, boxes drop a third as often as they used to, so encumbrance kicks in less often, but boxes also contain roughly three times as much as they used to, so once encumbrance does kick in, it kicks in much harder than it used to. You might jump from unencumbered to moderately encumbered in a single box.

It might not be immediately apparent why I consider the loot changes to be impactful enough to move halflings down, half-krolvin up, and gnomes down, but not impactful enough to move giants or humans up. The answer is that the 2026 loot changes are a double-edged sword. While giants and (to a lesser extent) humans can handle the bigger boxes, that doesn't mean their containers can. For example, if you have a conventional "max deep" backpack (no epic deepening that can cost millions of silver) that holds 140 pounds and you find a 45 pound, 55 pound, and 65 pound box, you can't fit all of that inside even if your character can hold it no problem.

Putting it another way, there's a point at which a character's max carrying capacity gets "wasted" because it exceeds the containers' practical limits. I think giants are certainly over that. Humans aren't, necessarily, but carrying capacity can also be "wasted" in a different sense because the boxes themselves are less common. You have to be exactly on a threshold of weight at which you're saving encumbrance, which is a narrow margin in a world where encumbrance increases less incrementally before. In other words, the hit to the small races outweighs the gain to the large races as rankings go.
</blockquote>

===Placing Your Stats===

At level 0, set Strength, Dexterity, and Agility high so you're at your best in combat and setting Logic high so you level faster. This will help power through the early game!

Before level 20, you can change your stats up to five times by checking in at your local inn. At level 20, you're locked in! Because of this finalization, the game stops your exp growth right before level 20 and forces you to confirm that your character is configured the way you want. That's your cue to check in and decide your "real" stat placement!

Here are my recommendations for each race. If you've read Flimbo's older monk guide, a major difference between us is that he was on the side of tanking Influence while I'm on the side of tanking Discipline or Intuition, which I'll explain.

'''The Level 20 Stat Placement Tables!'''

'''Please note: If you're adjusting stats at the inn, set Strength and Agility to 10 lower than the numbers shown here.''' The game automatically adds +10 more to prime stats, which for monks are Strength and Agility. (The website is different. If you're someone who only wants to set stats once at level 0 and be done with it, the numbers below are exactly what you'd enter during character creation.)

'''Tanking Discipline Version (Recommended!)'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||31||82||73||70||82||91
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||43||85||64||62||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||41||82||75||70||82||88
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||31||82||70||70||77||92
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||50||70||73||70||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||20||82||70||69||82||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||33||82||73||70||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||23||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||35||82||75||70||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||37||85||79||70||82||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||53||82||70||70||82||89
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||25||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||43||77||73||70||82||85
|}

'''Tanking Intuition Version'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||59||82||73||41||82||92
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||70||85||62||37||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||68||82||73||44||82||89
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||58||82||70||44||77||91
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||70||70||73||50||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||58||82||71||29||83||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||59||82||73||44||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||62||82||70||32||83||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||68||82||73||39||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||62||85||77||46||83||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||68||82||70||56||82||88
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||62||82||70||35||82||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||70||77||73||43||82||85
|}

My methodology was as follows:

* Set stats to max out at cap.
* Max everything except Discipline or Intuition if possible. If not possible, then take a small number out of either Constitution, Discipline, Influence, or occasionally Logic.
* If all stats have gotten as high as they can get by cap and there are spare points to allocate, then favor the configuration that gives the most mental TPs. If multiple configurations give the same mental TPs, then favor the one with stats that grow most slowly.

If you're wondering what relevant things each stat does, I'll go over them quickly:

* [[Strength]]: Reduced encumbrance. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus.
* [[Constitution]]: Slightly reduced encumbrance. Slightly more max health. +1 crit padding (AS-based attacks only) for every 5 bonus.
* [[Dexterity]]: Reduced [[Roundtime|roundtime]] (RT). Slightly increased maneuver defense. Improves tattooing ability. Adds crit weighting, but only if using melee weapons.
* [[Agility]]: Reduced RT. As much increased maneuver defense as Dexterity and Intuition combined. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus. +0.75 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Discipline]]: +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 TD against mental spells for every 1 bonus. Increased resistance to enemy warcries. Improves tattooing ability.
* [[Aura]]: +1 TD against elemental spells for every 1 bonus. +1 max [[spirit]] for every 10 base stat, rounded up.
* [[Logic]]: +1 exp absorbed per minute per 5 bonus on a node (safe place) or per 7 bonus off a node (e.g. hunting). +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 CS for Minor Mental spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 [[Mana#Base_Mana|starting mana]] for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Intuition]]: Slightly increased maneuver defense. +0.1875 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Wisdom]]: +1 TD against spiritual spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 starting mana for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Influence]]: Increased success for [[Standard success resolution system|Standard Success Resolution]] (SSR) attacks. +1% silver from selling to NPC shops for every 12 bonus.

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #1!'''

While there's endless debate across all professions about whether to set stats for cap or early power, it applies less to monks than others. Perfect Self makes monks good across the board from level 50 on almost regardless of what they do. Single strikes in unarmed combat are also naturally quick and, even at low levels, don't require good Agidex like hard-hitting melee weapons.

Once mstrikes and weapon techniques are a regular part of your monk's arsenal by the early 30s--if not sooner--Agidex does become more important. However, fast races who set stats for cap will be perfectly fine on Agidex due to innate bonuses. For example, at level 30, my monk Sariara had 19 Dexterity bonus and 16 Agility bonus, which is the -2 RT tier. She reached -3 RT by level 33, then -4 RT by level 50 thanks to stat growth and Perfect Self. -5 RT is her peak without enhancives or [[Ascension]] and she reached that at level 84. However, reaching -5 RT only matters for mstrikes and assault techniques, which, despite being very important, aren't the majority of commands in combat.

Overall, in my example, there's a pretty negligible difference between setting stats for cap (-4 RT by level 50) and setting stats for early power (-5 RT by level 50); she only really felt the difference from level 19 to 32. On the flip side, her TD was good from the start (for a monk) since setting stats for cap means that slow-growing stats like Aura and Wisdom start off high.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #2!'''

There's also endless debate across most professions on which stat to tank out of Discipline, Intuition, and Influence. The short answer is Discipline. The long answer requires more detail.

The Discipline wiki page might inadvertently lead you to believe that it's the best of the three because, after all, it contributes to both types of training points and is used for more systems in the game than other stats. However, that's more trivia than useful information. The training points aspect is actually a downside in this case; monks' skill costs ultimately result in mental points being twice as valuable to them as physical points, so purely mental stats like Influence and Intuition ultimately provide more training points than a hybrid stat like Discipline.

As for Discipline being used in a lot of systems, that's true, but it's once again more trivia than useful information. Warcry defense is at least potentially relevant, but many monks will rarely, if ever, interact with it. SSR bonus is a reasonable perk because Voln is the mechanically strongest society (a point that I ''do'' concur with the majority on) and SSR bonus improves the success rate of Symbol of Sleep, arguably Voln's strongest ability, along with a couple of its others. (More on Voln in the next section!) However, Influence also grants SSR bonus.

The main reason that few players of any profession used to tank Discipline was experience. Instant Mind Clearers from login rewards can absorb up to 1000 exp, which means that, to get the full value, you need at least 1000 in your exp pool. This is very doable via bounties, which allow overfilling the exp pool. However, some players avoid bounties, which used to mean that they would need 100 totals in both Discipline and Logic so they could have a max exp pool size of exactly 1000.

That was then. Now, the Wisdom of the Ages perk introduced in 2025 increases your exp pool size by 2 for every month you remain a subscriber. If you're a premium or platinum subscriber, additional changes in 2026 have increased your exp pool size by 200 or 400 for being a subscriber at all. Between that, the Ascension system introduced in 2020 (though that's more aimed at capped characters), and of course Perfect Self, it's far easier than ever to retain the all-important 1000 exp pool even while tanking Discipline.

One aspect of Discipline that has become slightly more important in past years is mental TD. Enemies casting mental CS spells used to be exceedingly rare (even more than elemental CS spells) and you still virtually never run into it pre-cap, but they've proliferated at cap via creatures in the Sanctum of Scales, the Atoll, the Hinterwilds, and Sailor's Grief. If the trend keeps up, I can reevaluate Discipline in the future. However, for now, monks--at least magical monks using Dragonscale Skin (explained in the Feats section)--have better natural defenses against mental CS spells than any build of any other profession except for a warrior or rogue who has maxed or near-maxed spells, wears full plate, and uses a shield. Even that's debatable since it's assuming the warrior or rogue has infinite exp. Either way, the point is that magical monks have so much less to worry about from enemy mental spells than almost anyone else that tanking Discipline still leaves them ahead.

Still, what if someone is set on maxing Discipline? Maybe they really do want the mental TD, or maybe they don't stay subscribed and don't do bounties. In that case, the question goes to whether to tank Intuition or Influence. The majority usually say tank Influence, but I disagree. As already mentioned, Influence improves Symbol of Sleep and other Voln symbols. It also helps a little bit with Trading bonuses and making extra silver! (More on that in the Monk Merchants section toward the end.) As a monk, thank to Glamour, you can admittedly max Trading benefit in the end even if you do tank Influence, but that's a post-cap thing and this guide is aimed at everyone.

The main argument for maxing Intuition is that it ekes out a tiny extra chance to dodge enemy maneuvers. That can make sense for pures, but it's much less compelling to monks, who already have extraordinary ability to dodge enemy maneuvers due to high rank caps and low training costs for [[Physical Fitness]] and [[Dodging]] (and low training costs for [[Perception]], for that matter).

To put it into perspective, my capped monk Tarine, who tanked Intuition (because Wisdom of the Ages didn't exist yet), has a -3% chance for a same-level maneuver to hit her in offensive stance and a -18% chance in defensive stance. If she maxed Intuition, those numbers would jump to... -4% and -19%. Not very impressive a difference!

But you might think that a super-capped character is an unfair example, so how about my other monk Sariara when she was level 30? She tanked Intuition, obviously hadn't maxed her stats yet, didn't have Perfect Self, is an aelotoi instead of an elf (a bit worse at avoiding maneuvers), had a little over 1 million experience points instead of 39 million, hadn't sunk [[Ascension]] points into avoiding maneuvers, and only had 2x Physical Fitness, 2x Dodging, 1.1x Combat Maneuvers, and 1x Perception instead of 3x, 3x, 2x, and 2x. For all that, like-level maneuvers still only had a 12% chance to hit her in offensive and a -2% chance in defensive. Improving those numbers doesn't appeal to me like improving the success of the absurdly powerful Symbol of Sleep.

Even assuming that you ''do'' want improved defense, remember that having extra silver from higher Influence lets you pay for better gear and items, which are also their ''own'' paths to improved defense--and often simultaneously to improved offense as well. Ultimately, the Intuition benefit is more narrow than the Influence benefit. That said, the Discipline benefit is even more narrow still. That's my true choice for tank stat.
</blockquote>

===Selecting a Society===

Almost all characters eventually join and master a [[society]] since there are numerous mechanical incentives to do so and none not to. This isn't part of character creation since you can't join a society until level 3, but it can be part of ''character concept'' creation. Also, like I said in stats, Voln makes Influence very relevant, so it's worth considering right away. Which society is right for your monk?

'''[[Council of Light]]''':

Mechanically, this society excels at exactly three things:
* Offering [[Sign of Wracking|way, way more mana]] than other societies (with the possible exception of [[empath]]s in Sunfist)
* Offering slightly more UAF and DS than other societies, as it caps out at 35 instead of 30 (Sunfist) or 26 against the living (Voln, but Voln does get 39 UAF against the undead)
* Being the easiest and fastest to master

Neither mana, UAF, nor DS matter to monks other than in the tiniest regard, so if you're interested in CoL, it's probably either for reasons of ease or for roleplaying reasons like the other two options being a no-go based on their lore.

'''[[Guardians of Sunfist]]''':

This society has a bit more mechanical appeal for monks.

Sunfist's sigils (abilities) consume small amounts of [[mana]] and [[stamina]]. Warriors and rogues need their stamina in droves, so they might find Sunfist tricky to work with or build stamina regeneration enhancives because of it. Monks, on the other hand, can already reduce their stamina costs--including sigils--by 20-35% with their [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] spell! They have more freedom to use Sunfist's powerful short-term buffs like [[Sigil of Major Protection|heavy crit padding]] or [[Sigil of Major Bane|heavy crit weighting]] (against sworn enemies) that other professions might find themselves reserving for emergencies or skipping entirely.

Sunfist also features the best [[Sigil of Focus|TD bonus]] of the societies by a small margin and a surprisingly underrated ability to [[Sigil of Determination|ignore penalties from moderate wounds]] for combat purposes.

Sunfist uniquely offers [[Sigil of Location|access]] to [[warcamp]]s, a type of hunting ground suitable for the level of the characters who enter. It's more or less a means to find private hunting grounds for you and/or your friends whenever you wish! Characters not in Sunfist can accomplish something similar via [[Open Sea Adventures]], which explores the same general concept, but that requires millions of silver to buy in to. Warcamp loot is rather poor, but warcamps remain an appealing aspect of Sunfist and can be a helpful alternative to power through level ranges where you might find traditional hunting grounds unappealing.

Sunfist is certainly not the most common societal choice for monks and arguably not the strongest, but it does open unique options and playstyles well worth considering.

'''[[Order of Voln]]''':

This is widely regarded as the mechanical best society for most or possibly all professions.

Like all professions, monks get extreme utility out of Voln's [[Symbol of Seeking|teleportation to hunting grounds]] and [[Symbol of Return|back from them]], as well as [[Symbol of Dreams|swifter recovery from stat loss]] after being resurrected. In battle, Voln offers a way to [[Symbol of Sleep|put foes to sleep]] and a way to [[Symbol of Submission|force undead foes into an offensive stance]], both of which are even better for unarmed combat than other forms of combat. There's also an [[Symbol of Transcendence|emergency button to go noncorporeal]] and avoid death crits. Voln's attack booster, [[Symbol of Courage]], gives slightly less sheer UAF than the other societies; however, it gives three levels' worth of protection against the undead [[sheer fear]] mechanic, which helps when hunting in areas where you might encounter undead more than ten levels higher.

Voln also features two UC-specific abilities in [[Kai's Strike]] and [[Kai's Smite]]. Kai's Smite is its own UC attack that allows you to temporarily turn noncorporeal [[undead]] corporeal. Inflicting physical wounds on things that normally don't have bodies--and usually wear light armor, if any!--is a powerful draw for brawling monks.

Kai's Strike can be a mixed bag. It treats your hands and feet as blessed even when your UC gear isn't. This used to be immensely valuable when undead creatures completely negated attacks from unblessed gear, making it arguably the top reason for a UC monk to join Voln. These days aren't those days, though. As of a few years ago, undead only have 25% resistance to physical attacks from unblessed gear.

The idea of Kai's Strike is removing the pain point of blessings running out mid-hunt. However, it accomplishes that by acting like you're not wearing your unblessed UC gear at all. That means you ignore undead damage resistance, but also don't benefit from your normal gear properties like flares, scripts, or weighting. That tradeoff is probably still a net win for anyone with basic gear, but I'd say it's a net loss for anyone with at least two flares.

The inability to turn off Kai's Strike after learning it has been an unfortunate side effect of the changes to blessings and undead a few years ago. Still, Voln monks can work around it by filling in with their own [[Symbol of Blessing]] until they can track down a cleric for a [[Bless (304)|real blessing]] that lasts longer, has holy water flares, and stops fast-disappearing undead from vanishing as quickly.

Alternatively, adding a single tier of [[Sanctify (330)|Sanctify]] to your gear overrides Kai's Strike. Sanctify takes off 5% resistance per tier, so you'd get 20% resistance while keeping your flares between blesses. While Kai's Strike is something to be aware of and can be tedious (if you self-bless) or cost a little bit (getting one cast of Sanctify), it's not a dealbreaker.

Overall, Voln offers the greatest diversity of mechanically useful abilities for monks.
</div></div>

==Unarmed Combat Primer==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Still figuring out how unarmed combat works? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-unarmedcombat">

Let's go over the unarmed combat system in more detail! If you're familiar with more conventional melee combat, put that knowledge aside--a great deal of it won't apply and might even interfere with understanding!

===Beginner Basics===

JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH are your tools of the trade. What's the difference? Have a look at this table from the unarmed combat system page.

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style = "background:#DDD; color: blue"
!Attack Type
![[Armor|AG]]
!Cloth
!Leather
!Scale
!Chain
!Plate
!Base [[Roundtime|RT]]
!Min [[Roundtime|RT]]
![[Critical table|Damage Type]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Jab]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.100
|.075
|.060
|.050
|.040
|2
|2
|[[Jab critical table (UCS)|Jab]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Punch]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.275
|.250
|.200
|.170
|.140
|3
|3
|[[Punch critical table (UCS)|Punch]]
|-align=center
|'''[[GRAPPLE (verb)|Grapple]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.250
|.200
|.160
|.120
|.100
|3
|3
|[[Grapple critical table (UCS)|Grapple]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Kick]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.400
|.350
|.300
|.250
|.200
|4
|4
|[[Kick critical table (UCS)|Kick]]
|}

The higher the decimal numbers, the stronger the attack, but the lower the RT numbers, the faster the attack. Summarizing these tables:

* '''Jabs''': Weak, but fast.
* '''Punches''': Moderate speed and moderate power.
* '''Grapples''': Moderate speed and moderate power, but less of the latter than punches.
* '''Kicks''': Powerful, but slow (at least by UC standards).

The use case for punches and kicks seems clear, but why jab when it's so weak and why grapple if punches are the same speed with more strength?

One answer that applies to both jabs and grapples is the defining component of unarmed combat: '''positioning'''. There are three positions: Decent, Good, and Excellent. Going up the ladder drastically increases the power of all four attack types. To improve your monk's position, follow the combat prompts as they appear. Here's an example:

You attempt to jab a mezic!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have '''decent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 210 = 1.161 * MM: 85 + d100: 39 = 137
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Fast slap only reddens the cheek.
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Let's take the cue to grapple:

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

As you can see, the followup was significantly more powerful. That's partly because the endroll is higher, partly because grapples are stronger than jabs, and partly because good positioning is much better than decent positioning. Here's one more example, this time going from good to excellent:

You attempt to '''jab''' a mezic!
You exploit the momentum of your previous strike to make a stronger attack against a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 87 + d100: 51 = 146
... and hit for 15 points of damage!
Blow to kidney!
The mezic is stunned!
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

[2 seconds later...]

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''excellent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 106 + d100: 43 = 158
... and hit for 48 points of damage!
Powerful tug pulls right hip, and leg, free of the socket!
A mezic falls to the ground grasping her mangled right leg!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

This time the jab started at good positioning because of Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in the Martial Stances section), but the followup grapple was still far more powerful. Tiering up is crucial!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Setting highlights can help! Since the text prompt is...

Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup [jab/grapple/kick/punch] attack!

...you can either create four highlights for each individual message or create a highlight for Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup, then four more highlights for jab attack! and the others.
</blockquote>

So, in unarmed combat's '''most basic form''' at the lowest levels, the use cases for each attack type are:

* '''Jabs''': Dig for tier up opportunities to get away from decent positioning or even good positioning as quickly as possible.
* '''Punches''': A half-and-half option during good positioning, in which punches have minor potential to kill, but are also reasonably fast at digging for tier up opportunities toward excellent positioning.
* '''Grapples''': Only when needed to tier up.
* '''Kicks''': Deliver a finishing blow during excellent positioning.

In later levels, things like mstrikes, techniques, and flares will throw generalizations out the window and create far stronger cases for jabs and grapples. We'll get into that later, but first let's keep exploring the basics to lay the foundation.

===UAF, UDF, and MM===

If you're used to GemStone's AS-based attacks, you probably noticed how different the combat messaging looks for unarmed combat. You might also have noticed that my monk Sariara hit a creature with higher UDF than her UAF:

You attempt to grapple a mezic!
You have good positioning against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

Let's look at an even more extreme example that doesn't go as well:

You attempt to grapple a spectral shade!
You have good positioning against a spectral shade.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 357 = 0.683 * MM: 85 + d100: 44 = 102
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
The spectral shade shakes off a weak arm grab.

This is why I say you have to ignore what you know about AS-based combat.

UAF isn't completely irrelevant, but the more important numbers are UDF and the '''multiplier modifier''' (MM). While melee weapons, ranged weapons, and bolts calculate endrolls by subtraction and addition, unarmed combat calculates outcomes by division, multiplication, and addition.

What does that mean in practice? Higher lows and lower highs.

It's rare that a monk outright ''couldn't possibly'' hit an enemy creature. Even in my spectral shade example, improving my MM or getting a higher d100 roll could have easily turned that into a powerful hit. On the flip side, since your UAF gets divided by enemy UDF, increasing your UAF additively (e.g. training more ranks of Brawling) means much less than decreasing enemy UDF by the same amount.

The primary means to decrease enemy UDF and increase your MM are generally the same: reducing your foes' stances and decreasing their EBP ability by reducing stats or inflicting conditions like stunning, immobilizing, or blinding them.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Unlike AS-based melee attacks, UC attacks have the same UAF in offensive or defensive stance. Instead, MM is the number that drops so low in defensive that it can even become negative! This used to occasionally trip up Saraphenia's player, who was used to looking at the first number in a typical AS or CS combat equation. Even when you do know what to look for, MM is deep enough into the visible formula that it's often easier to figure out that you're in the wrong stance because everything's failing to hit; that was how I'd take notice and Leafi would tell Phenia to fix up her stance.

Also unlike AS-based melee attacks, lying down not only doesn't reduce your UAF, but also doesn't even reduce your MM! Jabs, grapples, and punches can all be thrown at full power from the ground, so if you're not paying attention, you could be fighting from your back and not even know it! You'd find out once you tried to throw a kick or use an ability such as Twin Hammerfists or Fury, though. Those can't be done from the ground.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Fun Sidebar!'''

Monks and unarmed combat have existed for almost twelve years, but only a single hunting ground--the Atoll, for capped characters--has dared to release ''enemy creatures'' who use UC attacks. Why? Probably because no attainable UDF number can save you if they get to a high MM against you. UC is a dangerous tool in the hands--and feet--of enemy creatures and players alike!
</blockquote>

===Mstrikes===

As you train Multi-Opponent Combat and Brawling (more on that in the Skills section), you'll eventually be able to use mstrikes or weapon techniques. (I'll refer to these as "techniques" from here on. Despite the name, the brawling "weapon techniques" don't require weapons--unless you're thinking of your monk's hands and feet as weapons!) Mstrikes, assault techniques, and Area of Effect (AoE) techniques are your means to fit more attacks into less time.

Covering mstrikes first!

Mstrikes with no target specified, AKA '''unfocused mstrikes''', can attack two opponents in one command at 5 Multi-Opponent combat ranks, then add more opponents at 15, 35, 60, 100, and 155 MOC ranks. Mstrikes with a target specified, AKA '''focused mstrikes''', can attack a single opponent twice in one command at 30 MOC ranks, then add more attacks at 55, 90, 135, and 190.

For unarmed combat only, mstrikes also throw a bonus jab at enemies when you're at decent positioning against them and attacking them for the first time. Once you're into good positioning, mstrikes either use an attack type that you specify (e.g. MSTRIKE KICK) or, if you have an opportunity to tier up, your mstrike will switch to the appropriate type as needed. At decent positioning, mstrike will always jab (bonus or otherwise) until it finds a tier up.

Mstrikes ''sort of'' have a cooldown after use, which is 15-20 seconds or so (depending on training). When on "cooldown," you ''can'' still mstrike, but they'll consume a good chunk of stamina. (I can't give an exact number because it depends on how many hits are in your mstrike and which attack types are used.) When not on cooldown, mstrikes cost no stamina! Focused and unfocused mstrikes share the same cooldown timer.

Mstrike RT is frontloaded into a single burst and all attacks fire off at once. How much RT depends on the number of attacks and which attack types, but it'll be more attacks per RT than throwing single strikes would have been. However, be aware that it can reach times of 8 seconds or more early in a monk's life, especially if you're a low Agidex race or have made a hard push for high MOC ranks to have more attacks early! As an odd quirk, encumbrance doesn't increase mstrike RT. With high enough Agidex, you can eventually get even the top end of mstrikes down to 5 RT.

===Fury and Clash===

The unarmed combat assault technique is '''[[Fury]]''', which you learn with 25 ranks of Brawling (level 11). It attacks a single foe twice at 10 ranks of MOC, then adds one more attack at 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. There's no bonus jab, however. Like with mstrikes, you can specify an attack type (e.g. WEAPON FURY GRAPPLE) and, at good positioning or better, Fury will do what you said or switch as needed for a tier up. At decent positioning, Fury will only jab until it finds the tier up. Using Fury also grants the monk and their party members a +10 Constitution effect for two minutes after being used, though it's not a major selling point.

The AoE unarmed combat technique is '''[[Clash]]''', which you learn with 50 ranks of Brawling (level 23). It begins with three foes, then adds one more at the same thresholds as Fury: 10, 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. Like Fury, Clash doesn't include a bonus jab. At good positioning or better, it uses your specified UC attack type or switches to the appropriate tier up type; however, since Clash only throws one attack per creature, a tier up opportunity would have needed to exist ''before'' Clash was used. (Fury and mstrikes, on the other hand, can find tier up opportunities ''and'' seize on them within their own self-contained string of attacks.) At decent positioning, Clash can only throw jabs.

Techniques cost a small, flat amount of stamina (15 for Fury and 20 for Clash), then enter a cooldown period of 15-20 seconds or so )(depending on training). Unlike mstrikes, Fury and Clash can't be used while they're on cooldown. They do have separate cooldown timers, so you can alternate between them.

However, you can't alternate mstrikes with Fury and Clash. Using an mstrike locks you out of Fury and Clash for 60 seconds. On the flip side, you ''can'' use an mstrike right after Fury or Clash if needed, but those techniques activate the mstrike cooldown, so it'll cost stamina. All of this is because former GM Naijin, the creator of techniques, didn't intend for players to insert mstrikes into their rotation as a means to dodge around technique cooldowns. For this reason, many players pick whichever they prefer out of mstrikes or assault and AoE weapon techniques and ignore the other. (I use both, though, as I explain in the Training Plan section!)

RT-wise, much like mstrikes, Fury and Clash are difficult to nail down exact numbers on. However, they both seem to have lower max RT (unless encumbered; encumbrance affects techniques) and Fury definitely has lower minimum RT. Fury divides its RT over individual strikes instead of all at once. For example, if Fury has 5 RT worth of attacks, enough MOC to strike three times, and a certain amount of Agidex (again, difficult to pin down an exact amount), it'll execute them as 2 RT, 2 RT, and 1 RT.

Compared to focused mstrikes, Fury's structure has upsides and downsides. One upside is that you'll have less RT overall if the early rounds kill the creature. Another is that if an emergency comes up mid-Fury, you can interrupt your own attack to leave the room, cast a spell, disable a different foe, etc. On the other hand, enemy creatures can ''also'' interrupt your Fury by leaving the room, stunning you mid-Fury, etc. It's also less likely that your target will be dead as soon your command gets sent to the server since attacks don't happen all at once.

===Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick===

The other two UC techniques are '''[[Twin Hammerfists]]''' and '''[[Spin Kick]]''', respectively learned at 10 and 75 ranks of Brawling (level 3 and 36 (or level 35 if you use your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling)). Unlike Fury and Clash, using mstrikes won't lock you out of them.

Twin Hammerfists is an [[Standard_maneuver_roll|Standard Maneuver Roll (SMR)]] style attack and an incredible setup that tries to knock down the foe, put it in RT, stun it, and add the [[Vulnerable]] status condition--all in one technique! At only 2 RT and 7 stamina, it's a staple that can serve monks well from level 4 onward and potentially even for the rest of their lives.

Spin Kick is a reaction technique--a retaliation maneuver--that can kick a foe after your monk evades an attack. It has 2 RT, costs no stamina, and can even be used while in RT, so it can save you in a tough situation. Like Twin Hammerfists, it's an SMR-based attack. Unlike Twin Hammerfists, Spin Kick isn't a setup; it has real killing power if it rolls high. Spin Kick performs best against enemies with poor maneuver defense, like lumbering tanky creatures or magic users, and performs worst against enemies with excellent maneuver defense, like speedy four-legged animals or creatures patterned after warriors.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If highlighting tier up opportunities goes well for you, then You could use this opportunity to Spin Kick! is another message to consider highlighting from level 35-36 on!
</blockquote>

===Beyond Basics: Synchronizing Everything===

So far, I've written this unarmed combat primer as if players have no gear and hunting is universally optimized by killing creatures as quickly as possible. In these contexts, obviously punches and kicks seem great, jabs and grapples might seem like something we do only out of necessity for tiering up, and Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick might seem like more style than substance.

However, players do have gear and sometimes going on the all-out offensive is more likely to get players killed than their enemies, so let's put everything together into a cohesive whole.

Flaring gear gets better the faster the attack--and there are a wide variety of flares available these days! Most people will never reach a double digit number of possible flares per attack (though it is possible), but two to six possible flares per attack are shockingly easy to get hold of these days via the traditional ability slot ("flare slot"), script slot, and some help from clerics, paladins, rogues, or sorcerers in giving holy water/fire, Battle Standards, Poisoncraft, or Ensorcell respectively.

Here's an example of a Twin Hammerfists firing off three flares:

Sariara raises her hands high, laces them together and brings them crashing down towards the crimson angargeist
[SMR result: 316 (Open d100: 89, Bonus: 107)]
Perfectly executed strike to the crimson angargeist's back! It staggers!
The attack exposes a vulnerability in a roiling crimson angargeist's defenses!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps emit a searing bolt of lightning! **
... 20 points of damage!
Hard shot to the crimson angargeist's back sends it drifting forward!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps spray forth a shower of pure water! **
... 60 points of damage!
Incredible strike to the crimson angargeist's back smashes through the chest!
Too bad it melts back together.
Riotous ivory-haloed scarlet energy races along the surface of the handwraps, slender tendrils rising up to coalesce into the ethereal form of a keen-eyed owl.

** Talons extended and wings flared, a keen-eyed ethereal owl dives down with an ear-piercing hoot as a flock of wispy ivory-haloed scarlet owls roil forth in an angry torrent! **

... 30 points of damage!
Strong strike splits the belly open, revealing ghostly organs.
Haggis anyone?

The odds of all three flares coming together is only 0.8%, so this is an outlier that I might only see every one or two hunts, but it's a great illustration because of the particulars.

First of all, this is a level 110 creature, so I did mean it when I said Twin Hammerfists can be good through a monk's entire life. That's the least interesting thing to say here, though.

The flares did 110 damage and would have done 160-210 if I were finished upgrading to holy fire instead of holy water.

Angargeists are non-corporeal undead. Normally Kai's Smite would be extremely helpful since the holy water flare here was strong enough to kill corporeal undead, but with this specific creature, even turning it corporeal doesn't allow for one-shotting it; you have to take out its entire health pool.

2 RT attacks like jabs, Twin Hammerfists, and Spin Kick shine when a high number of possible flares makes both your average attacks and outlier attacks significantly stronger. That much is true whether the creature you're fighting can be crit killed or not. However, since the natural strength of UC is crit killing, the extra damage from flares becomes even more important against those uncrittable creatures.

Speaking of uncrittable creatures or creatures you're otherwise unlikely to get through in just a few commands, another thing not yet covered is that grapples [[Grapple_critical_table_(UCS)|are significantly better at inflicting RT or Slowed status effects]] on foes than punches. This can be really helpful as a means to buy time while tiering up to excellent positioning, sacrificing minor amounts of health damage (compared to punches) in exchange for delaying creature actions.

Here's a more nuanced look at the unarmed combat core attack types than before:

'''Jabs''':
* The fastest repeatable means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Twin Hammerfists is just as fast, but can't hit a foe who's already downed, so it's not repeatable.)
* The fastest means of tiering up with single strikes.
* Poor at excellent positioning since they have no killing power unless you have a high number of flares to fish for.
* Poor as the specified command of a Fury or mstrike since they have little or (usually) no speed advantage over the other commands in that case.

'''Punches''':
* A mix of killing power and speed that makes for the best general purpose good positioning single strike in a vacuum. A high number of flares can bring jabs above them, however.
* The best aimed attack at excellent positioning. I'm not particularly a fan of aimed UC attacks for reasons we'll delve into later, but it is there.
* Poor against uncrittable creatures, where specializing in either speed, power, or disabling is better than being a generalist.
* Poor as the specified command of an unfocused mstrike or Clash since it's unlikely to kill, is much less likely to slow foes down than grapples, and has little to no speed advantage over kicks in that case.

'''Grapples''':
* A mix of disabling power and speed that makes for the best means of stalling out hordes or individual uncrittable creatures that need to be whittled down while still allowing for tier up opportunities. (Twin Hammerfists and some combat maneuvers are more reliable at disabling, but can't help tier up.)
* Good against individual threatening creatures that need to be slowed down.
* Poor at excellent positioning, where disabling has less merit and killing power is more easily achieved with more strength.
* Poor at good positioning against unthreatening creatures since disabling has no merit in that case.

'''Kicks''':
* The best finishing blow at excellent positioning per hit.
* The highest damage output per hit.
* Poor as a means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Used during a Fury or mstrike, however, it can be either almost as fast or exactly as fast as the other commands.)
* Poor at tiering up with single strikes. (Same as above.)

In short, pick the right tool for the right job. They can all be the right tool at times!

===Macros and Aliases===

If you're playing even somewhat manually, I recommend creating [[Lich:Script_Alias|aliases]] (if using [[Lich:Software|Lich]]) or [[Macro|macros]] (if not) for the various unarmed combat attacks. Most specifically:

* Jab
* Grapple
* Punch
* Kick
* Weapon Twinhammer
* Weapon Fury [Grapple/Punch/Kick (depending on your level, training, specialization, and preference)]
* Weapon Spinkick
* Mstrike Grapple
* Mstrike Punch
* Mstrike Kick
* Mstrike Grapple Target
* Mstrike Punch Target
* Mstrike Kick Target

For macros, this just means tying each one you care about to a single key press. You can configure them in Options -> Macros if using [[Wrayth]].

For Lich aliases, I've set mine as jj for jab, gg for grapple, pp for punch, kk for kick, twin for Twin Hammerfists, utf for Fury Grapple (stands for "unarmed technique Fury"), uts for Spin Kick, mg for mstrike grapple, mp for mstrike punch, and mk for mstrike kick. I could create things like an mkt alias for mstrike kick target if I wanted, but in that case I just type out "mk target" or "mk [target noun]."
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Skills==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-skillsplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering how to train your monk's skills? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-skillsplan">

===Core Skills===

These are skills you consistently train with little to no deviation.

* '''[[Brawling]]''': Max every level.
* '''[[Physical Fitness]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more stamina early on.
* '''[[Dodging]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more DS early on.
* '''[[Perception]]''': Once per level.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Before level 20, you can flip your skills around any time and into any configuration. The game will adjust to your new training plan within a few minutes at most. I recommend taking advantage of this early period to experiment and find what you like! The above core skills cost little, so you'll have a lot of leeway to decide what to do with skills mentioned in the following sections.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #1: Combat Maneuvers as Core Skills?'''

Many players would probably consider Combat Maneuvers a core skill. I sort of agree in the sense that I'd say ''roughly'' 1x minimum is mandatory and you'll almost certainly want far more than that early on. However, philosophically, I don't consider CM in the same category as Brawling, Physical Fitness, Dodging, and Perception. All of those are inexpensive and offer noticeable incremental value with every rank, but 2x Combat Maneuvers has more opportunity cost and the skill provides value at discrete breakpoints. That's why it's in the Breakpoint Skills section below!
</blockquote>

===Breakpoint Skills===

Train these skills to specific thresholds because most have little to no merit for the in-between ranks.

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]]''': One rank gives 5 extra DS to barehanded monks, so it can be worth picking up early. Getting additional DS via TWC is slow (+1 per 10 ranks, plus a +10 bump at 0.5x level) and not worth prioritizing until much later, after maxing Dodging.
* '''[[Combat Maneuvers]]''': Train at least 1x--probably much more than that early on--but be intentional and reach benchmarks of Combat Maneuver Points to learn new maneuvers. (Which maneuvers? See the Combat Maneuvers section later or even jump to the tl;dr Recap section!) The UAF bonus from CM ranks isn't that important on its own, so learning new maneuvers is the focus. After getting your core maneuvers, you can push CM to 2x, but it's also reasonable to prioritize other things like getting more spells sooner or getting 3x Dodging sooner, especially if you're going self-spelled. Up to you!
* '''[[Multi-Opponent Combat]]''': Before cap, the good mstriking breakpoints are 5, 15, 30, 35, 55, 60, and ''possibly'' 90 or 100. The good technique breakpoints are 10, 24, 50, and ''possibly'' 100. If you're using mstrikes and techniques, then use both sets of breakpoints. (See the sidebars at the end of this section!)
* '''[[Harness Power]]''': Ten to twenty ranks early will be extremely helpful, giving respectively +60 or +110 mana, but I like waiting until the midgame or late game to go past twenty.
* '''[[Minor Mental]] up to 13 or 16 ranks''': The major early benchmarks are [[Iron Skin (1202)|Iron Skin]] at 2 ranks, [[Foresight (1204)|Foresight]] at 4 ranks, [[Force Projection (1207)|Force Projection]], [[Mindward (1208)|Mindward]] at 8 ranks, [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] at 9 ranks, and the [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] focus spell at 13 ranks. Beyond that, [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] at 14 ranks is good, though I'm not quite as high on it as many players since evasions come before parrying in the order of operations. The [[Focus Barrier (1216)|Focus Barrier]] focus spell is also a good stopping point if you prefer more DS--or at least the option of it--over Mind Over Body's stamina cost reduction. You can ease up on Minor Mental training for a while after the focus spells.
* '''[[Mental Lore, Telepathy|Telepathy]] or [[Mental Lore, Transformation|Transformation]] lore''': To prioritize more offense, pick up Telepathy lore at thresholds of 6, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for extra stamina cost reduction in Mind Over Body. To prioritize more defense, pick up Transformation lore at thresholds of 5, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for improved resilience in Iron Skin. To prioritize giving others [[Mystic Tattoo]]s, the first 30 to 40 ranks of Telepathy can rocket your skill up. You can also diversify! For more on lores, see the Secret Sauce of Lores section.
* '''[[Climbing]] and [[Swimming]]''': 10 ranks of each suffice for most places before the mid levels. Specific areas can change priorities, like the Icemule mountains or the Landing monastery. You'll generally know if you need more Climbing or Swimming, though. At cap, 60 ranks handle basically everything, but eventually 101 helps when you need to leave a hunting ground while encumbered.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #2: Mstrikes and Techniques are a Contextual Preference!'''

Why anyone would train to account for the mstrike MOC thresholds ''and'' the technique MOC thresholds is a good question since mstrikes lock out Fury and Clash for 60 seconds, but I find value in mstrikes and Fury depending on the situation.

My monk, Sariara, preferred Fury in most hunts while leveling, which mostly feature one-on-one combat. Fury scales up more quickly than focused mstrikes in the early game, firing off two attacks by 10 MOC and three attacks by 24 MOC while focused mstrikes don't even get started until 30 MOC. Fury also has excellent synergy with Grapple Specialization, which I'll discuss in the Offensive Specialization section.

However, Clash is a very weak AoE technique compared to unfocused mstrikes. Mstrikes' bonus jab allows double the number of attacks for the first engagement with the enemy, which means more tier up opportunities and more flare opportunities. During hunts that feature a lot of swarms, she would use focused mstrikes for single targets, even though they're slightly weaker than Fury because of her Grapple Specialization, since that left the unfocused mstrike option open for battling hordes.

Your MOC training plan doesn't need to assume that mstrikes or techniques are either/or!
</blockquote>

===Niche Skills===

Niche isn't a bad thing and several of these skills can be prioritized over breakpoint skills. Just make sure you're training with a plan and a purpose!

* '''[[Spiritual Mana Control]] and [[Mental Mana Control]]''': Harness Power gives much better mana improvement in a vacuum, so leave these alone until the late game ''unless'' you're surrounded by friends or alts who can send mana. In that case, tailor your SMC and MMC for sharing breakpoints. (See the tip below!)
* '''[[First Aid]]''': Helps with skinning and [[Mystic Tattoos]], though only barely in the latter case. I recommend it during the first 19 levels, which you can read about in the Trade Secrets section. From level 20 on, train First Aid if you want skinning bounties and avoid it if you don't.
* '''[[Trading]]''': Monks get immense value out of at least the first 20 ranks. See the Trade Secrets section!
* '''[[Survival]]''': Helps with skinning, but it's more expensive than First Aid. Slightly reduces duration of stuns, but monks don't get stunned very often. Like First Aid, I recommend it during the first 19 levels. Afterward, train it only if you want to excel at skinning bounties ''and'' have already trained First Aid.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Let's talk mana sharing breakpoints!

5 Spiritual Mana Control shares perfectly with capped [[cleric]]s who have maxed SMC.

7 SMC or Mental Mana Control shares perfectly with capped clerics who only have 2x SMC or capped [[empath]]s and [[sorcerer]]s who maxed the respective mana control.

10 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with capped [[bard]]s, [[paladin]]s, or [[ranger]]s with maxed mana control of that type or capped clerics, empaths, and sorcerers who only have 1x of that mana control.

24 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with anybody else who has 24 or more mana control of that type.

Just remember: 5, 7, 10, 24!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If you're at 24 mana control, consider going to 25! This unlocks [[Multicast|multicasting]], the ability to cast a buff spell twice in one cast. For self-cast spells, that'll take you to full duration in 3 RT instead of 6, which is nice quality of life!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #3: The Skinning Deluxe Special!'''

The [[Adventurer's Guild]] bounty system won't assign skinning bounties unless you have at least half your level in First Aid and Survival combined. For example, a level 20 character with 8 First Aid and 2 Survival is eligible for skinning bounties.

Some players purposely remain below the threshold because skinning bounties have comparatively low exp payouts. Other players lean into training these skills because adding skinning into their pool of bounty types reduces the odds of getting other types like escorts or gems that they might want to avoid.

Experience points paid out by skinning bounties depend on the quality of skins the furrier asks for; in turn, the range of qualities the furrier can ask for depends on your skill. It's a double-edged sword! If you keep your skinning ability low, the furrier will only ask for fair quality skins and it'll be relatively easy to complete, but the exp reward will always be 600. If you heavily push your skinning ability, the furrier can (but won't always) ask for fine or exceptional skins. These pay out 650 or 700 exp, but will be more difficult to complete.

What ''isn't'' a double-edged sword is that the skinning ''bounty point'' payout only depends on the quality and value of the skins sold to the furrier, regardless of what they asked for. The bounty point part of your reward can still be top notch if you sell magnificent skins.
</blockquote>

===Midgame and Later Skills===

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]] at half your level''': After you're finished with 3x Dodging, getting 10 extra DS by bumping TWC from one rank to half your level is a reasonable idea if you're still not feeling hardy enough.
* '''[[Minor Spiritual]] up to 2 or 7 ranks''': I'd ignore this for quite a long time, other than maybe picking up [[Spirit Barrier (102)|Spirit Barrier]] in the midgame. It's very easy to get most Minor Spiritual buffs from the [[Half-elven_invoker|invoker]] if you're a premium subscriber or from other players since so many professions learn it. ([[Lesser Shroud (120)|Lesser Shroud]] is a self-cast-only Minor Spiritual buff, but that's all the way at 20 ranks.) If you don't want to rely on the invoker or others, I'd say learn [[Spirit Warding II (107)|Spirit Warding II]] at 7 ranks somewhere in the midgame, then hold off until the late game.
* '''Minor Mental up to 20 or 25 ranks''': [[Premonition (1220)|Premonition]] gives extra DS at 20 ranks, but, training point-wise, fully maxing Dodging first is more efficient. Other compelling reasons to push Minor Mental are [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and maybe [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] at 19 and 25 ranks, which are CS-based disablers that benefit from training more ranks. You need to find low TD targets, though.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #4: The Spirit Barrier Irony!'''

Like I keep saying, pushing your UAF higher is more luxury than necessity--but that means the opposite is also true! ''Lowering'' your UAF in exchange for increasing your DS via Spirit Barrier isn't nearly as damaging to unarmed combat as for melee weapons. Whether you want to trade UAF for DS depends on your playstyle, preferences, and hunting grounds, but monks aren't like (weapon-using) rangers who would find trading ''AS'' for DS completely untenable. This spell can be worth a second look!
</blockquote>

===Post-Cap Skills===

Eventually you can train everything if you play long enough, but here are some considerations for what to prioritize if or when you reach post-cap.

'''[[Edged Weapons]]''':

There's merit to diversifying your offense eventually! Training edged weapons allows monks to use [[katar]]s, which are fast and powerful melee weapons. While unarmed combat can defeat basically everything and is usually fairly even with or advantaged over weapon-based combat in most situations, that's not universally true. AS-based attacks can blow UAF-based attacks out of the water in scenarios against creatures who can't be crit killed while also having any combination out of very low DS, very high health, and high level, the latter of which makes it harder to tier up. Edged Weapons training also opens up the possibility of using the very powerful [[Hamstring]]. If you want to do this, I highly recommend also maxing Two Weapon Combat.

'''[[Ranged Weapons]]''':

Archery is another possibility for diversifying. Unlike with katars, AS-based ''ranged'' attacks don't necessarily add much when you already know how to use UC, but [[Volley]] is an exceptional crowd control tool that does AoE damage over time. Monks aren't exactly ''poor'' at crowd control--they have a high target limit, [[Bull Rush]], and potentially Vertigo against low TD targets--but adding Volley can really up their game to excel at it.

'''[[Magic Item Use]]''':

Supplementing DS with [[small statue]]s is eventually a good idea for every profession and MIU bolsters their duration. (As a historical note, MIU is also among the most cost-efficient means to improve protection against [[spellburst]] in areas like Old Ta'Faendryl, the Ruined Temple, or the Sanctum of Scales. However, that's largely immaterial these days. [[Spell sever]] has supplanted spellburst in newer capped hunting grounds like the Hinterwilds, Moonsedge Castle, and the Hive--and, although these are technically Ascension grounds aimed at far post-cap characters, monks are able to do well in them long before other professions, including even at fresh cap, due to the unique qualities of unarmed combat.)

'''Minor Spiritual up to 20 or 40 ranks''':

Eventually the spiritual TD from Lesser Shroud will be important, likely closer to cap. It'll become apparent enough when that's the case! Going beyond 20 Minor Spiritual to potentially learn [[Spirit Guide (130)|Spirit Guide]] or [[Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] at 30 or 40 ranks is an option for post-cap monks. My first monk Tarine did learn those two spells, but I'm fairly certain that my second monk Sariara never will. Voln already offers a fine substitute for fogging, Wall of Force isn't what it used to be when it had no cooldown, and having fewer spell ranks means more redux.

'''Minor Mental up to 48 or 50 ranks (or beyond)''':

Working on Minor Mental is primarily for slightly improving DS, slightly improving mental TD, and improving mental CS if you cast Vertigo or even [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] and [[Thought Lash (1210)|Thought Lash]]. 48 Minor Mental ranks max out defensive benefits from Minor Mental spells. 50 ranks unlocks a few fancy Shroud of Deception options. Pushing beyond 50 would mainly be for the CS spells if you really like them, but they're more for hunting things like bandits and pirates or just messing around than for casting in "real" hunting grounds.

<blockquote>
'''Redux Sidenote!'''

Even if you do want 50 Minor Spiritual and 40 Minor Mental, you can still reach 25% redux--a great threshold--by training a second weapon type and maxing Physical Fitness and Dodging.
</blockquote>

For the extreme post-cap, namely training Ascension skills, see the Ascension section toward the end of this guide. [[Transcend Destiny]] in particular, which released a few months after the first iteration of this guide, can be a gamechanger for players who put in enough hours to potentially make use of it. I'll elaborate further there.

===Secret Sauce of Lores===

This section contains tables to visualize lore thresholds.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Telepathy Ranks'''||0||6||'''15'''||'''30'''||80||150
|-
||'''Mind Over Body Stamina Reduction'''||20%||25%||'''30%'''||'''35%'''||40%||45%
|}

'''Green''': The 30% and 35% marks are good stopping points for most monks! Consider this: if an ability normally costs 20 stamina, then another 5% reduction only saves 1 stamina.

Aside from Mind Over Body, a couple of Telepathy's more minor claims to fame for monks include:

* 25 ranks allow [[Soothing Word (1201)|Soothing Word]] to remove sheer fear and grant 30 seconds of immunity to it
* 15, 45, and 90 ranks improve the spawn rate of [[Provoke (1235)|Provoke]]

You can work around sheer fear in other ways by being in Voln or getting your robes sanctified, but the Soothing Word option exists.

Provoke is an interesting niche, but not a major selling point in my eyes. Training 35 Minor Mental ranks asks a ton pre-cap and Provoke becomes less effective the more people are hunting in an area. Most capped hunting grounds are either very crowded, so Provoke does little, or they're not crowded because they're extremely dangerous, which makes Provoke a bad idea.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Iron Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 2'''||'''Level 5'''||'''Level 15'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||'''Full leather'''||'''Reinforced leather'''||Double leather||Leather breastplate||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather
|-
||5 Transformation||||Double leather||'''Leather breastplate'''||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine
|-
||15 Transformation||||||Cuirbouilli leather||'''Studded leather'''||'''Brigandine'''||'''Chain mail'''
|-
||30 Transformation||||||||Brigandine||'''Chain mail'''||'''Double chain'''
|-
||50 Transformation||||||||||Double chain||Augmented chain
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||||||||Chain hauberk
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||||||||Metal breastplate
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||||||||Augmented breastplate
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||||||||Half plate
|}

'''Blue''': You'll need heavy help from enhancives and/or Ascension to reach 105 or more Transformation lore. (If you can do it, it ''is'' amazing and I recommend it highly for a magical monk--I'd consider it less important for a Kroderine Soul monk, who already has enormous redux--but that won't be the majority of my readers.)

'''Pink''': My recommendations for which levels to meet which Iron Skin thresholds if you're undecided. You have more leeway at level 50 on to push lores higher, so I've highlighted two rows each for those, but maxing or near-maxing lores before then has a very heavy training point opportunity cost.

Iron Skin aside, Transformation lore improves [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] and [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] as follows. After the first row, the cells are only filled in if the spell's effect has improved over the previous breakpoint.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||'''Dragonclaw UAF Bonus'''||'''Brace Disarm Rate'''
|-
||0||10||25%
|-
||1||11||
|-
||3||12||27%
|-
||6||13||
|-
||7||||29%
|-
||10||14||
|-
||12||||31%
|-
||15||15||
|-
||18||||33%
|-
||21||16||
|-
||25||||35%
|-
||28||17||
|-
||33||||37%
|-
||36||18||
|-
||42||||39%
|-
||45||19||
|-
||52||||41%
|-
||55||20||
|-
||63||||43%
|-
||66||21||
|-
||75||||45%
|-
||78||22||
|-
||88||||47%
|-
||91||23||
|}

It does continue past there if you wish to use Ascension or enhancives. As ever, slightly increasing UAF doesn't make a huge difference. Brace, on the other hand, can be impactful ''if'' you're getting hit by physical attacks. I wouldn't go out of my way to push Transformation for Brace alone, but if you're already at 15 or 30 ranks for Iron Skin, pushing to 18 or 33 for Brace can be a nice bump for minimal training point costs. 36 is also a great stopping point on Transformation for reasons we'll look at in the Meditation Resistance section.

===Illustrative Training Snapshots===

For illustration and discussion purposes, here's what my most recent monk Sariara has looked like at '''various level thresholds'''--or, in the case of level 30, what she ''should'' have looked like since I was messing around experimenting and pushing beyond the boundaries of reasonability.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Level 20'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 40'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 60'''||'''Level 70'''||'''Level 80'''||'''Level 90'''||'''Level 100 (fresh)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||24||48||74||100||114||134||134||144||144
|-
||'''Brawling'''||44||65||85||105||125||149||165||187||207
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||24||35||55||55||55||55||55||60||100
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||44||64||84||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||44||64||125||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||10||10||10||10||20||20||38||92||101
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||15||15||15||15||15||15||15||15
|-
||'''Perception'''||20||30||40||50||60||72||82||92||101
|-
||'''Climbing'''||10||10||10||20||20||40||40||60||60
|-
||'''Swimming'''||10||10||10||10||10||10||40||0||0
|-
||'''First Aid'''||20||30||20||25||30||35||40||42||42
|-
||'''Trading'''||40||43||42||48||60||72||83||95||167
|-
||'''Minor Spiritual'''||0||0||0||0||3||3||20||20||20
|-
||'''Minor Mental'''||12||13||14||16||20||20||20||20||20
|-
||'''(spare TPs)'''||3/0||86/0||11/0||2/0||34/0||306/128||2/0||192/0||114/0
|}

Let's break down some of the more unusual things you might notice!

I could have done the one rank of '''Two Weapon Combat''' much sooner, but didn't particularly feel the need for the quick DS.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' are definitely where I diverge from most players and you can tell how little I think of any perceived need for maxing them. Like I said, I aimed for specific thresholds. 3 Rolling Krynch Stance and 2 Grapple Specialization at level 20 sufficed to power through the simplest early creatures. Adding 3 Bearhug, 2 Feint, and another rank of Grapple Spec by level 30, then one rank each of Grapple Spec, Bearhug, Feint, and Evade Specialization by level 40, provided new options in the toolkit. Creatures with particularly good UDF made for good Bearhug fodder as an alternate attack method or Feint fodder to drop that UDF if it primarily came from stance instead of spells.

By level 50, Saria started catching up on Combat Maneuvers since she had finished Physical Fitness and Dodging by then, so she finished Bearhug and picked up Combat Mobility. However, by level 60, she'd maxed Evade Specialization and then largely coasted with an average of only 0.75 more Combat Maneuvers ranks per level until cap, picking up 4 Coup de Grace and finishing Grapple Spec. (Not shown in this table--maybe one day!--is that finishing CM ''is'' her second post-cap goal, finally; it's currently at 190 as she approaches 8.6m experience.)

Max '''Brawling''', obviously; I stuck one Ascension Training Point into it at level 25 to have Spin Kick one level in advance.

'''Physical Fitness and Dodging''' are more important than they used to be since spell sever areas are around even by the mid-50s, so I pushed to have them relatively early compared to some monks' training plans. (I actually turned up bounty difficulty and had Saria hunting spell sever by level 45!) The extra stamina and redux didn't hurt either.

I took a little bit of early '''Harness Power''', then slacked off for a while, then finally only began pushing it in the late game as an efficient way to wear more spells in ''spellburst'' hunting grounds, which she started on by level 85 (hence the huge jump from level 80 to 90). This table only shows up to fresh cap, but later in the guide, in the Ascension section, I'll show a "final build" where she drops Harness Power to 40; as she moved out of spellburst areas and into spell sever areas, the extra mana became frivolous.

I started '''First Aid''' relatively high, then it went backwards--but still high enough to get skinning bounties--as she grew out of level ranges with lucrative skins. 42 became the stopping point because it was the final 0.5x mark before level 85, when she moved to a hunting ground that had no skins. She eventually picked it back up post-cap, but the table only shows up to fresh 100.

'''Swimming and Climbing''' are skills that you might not need at fresh cap if you intend to stick to a specific hunting ground for a long time. I dropped Swimming since the Sanctum doesn't have any water and the only swimming in the Hinterwilds can be bypassed with Water Walking or Symbol of Return (among other options), but hunters of the Atoll, Ruined Temple, or Sailor's Grief would want it. Conversely, I kept Climbing because the Sanctum has a pretty tough check, but various other hunting grounds don't. For where Saria's currently at long after the initial publication of this guide, she could actually skip both Swimming and Climbing, but I keep them just in case.

Saria heavily pushed '''Trading''' early on for reasons that I explain in the Sneaky Monk Merchants section, but then let it slow down to more like a 1x pace until cap, when it became her first post-cap goal to finish. (The level where it goes backward a rank is because natural Influence growth had compensated.) Similar story for '''Minor Mental''', which came out of the gate fast, then inched to 20 at level 60 and stayed there.

Level 30 and 100 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the next '''Multi Opponent Combat''' thresholds while level 70 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the 20 '''Minor Spiritual''' threshold after noticing I could have it at level 76. I ultimately jumped from 3 ranks straight to 20 because I didn't care about any of the in-between spells, so might as well preserve higher redux until then.

If you're interested in a training snapshot far post-cap, see further below in the Ascension section!
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Exclusive Choices==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-choicesplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Looking for information about combat maneuver decisions and their opportunity costs, plus meditation resistance? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-choicesplan">

===Meditation Resistance===

One neat monk perk I haven't mentioned yet is that their [[Verb:MEDITATE#Damage_Resistance|MEDITATE verb]] allows them to gain resistance to one selected damage type! It offers 10% resistance to start, then improves at these thresholds:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||0||1||3||6||10||'''15'''||21||28||'''36'''||45||55||66||78||91
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||10%||12%||14%||16%||18%||'''20%'''||22%||24%||'''26%'''||28%||30%||32%||34%||36%
|}

And if you decide to go ham post-cap with Ascension and enhancives:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||105||120||136||153||171||190
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||38%||40%||42%||44%||46%||48%
|}

I've highlighted 15 and 36 Transformation because 20% and 26% (translation: "25% or more") are extremely notable benchmarks. I ''could'' fully elaborate, but people who aren't Whirlin and me would probably get bored to tears by the rows and charts I'd need to detail the math on the hidden Damage Severity Weighting mechanics, how they translate to GSIV's crit system, and how it relates to order of operations with redux and crit padding.

Suffice it to say this:

Because of rounding and the nature of GSIV crits, it wouldn't be merely ''underestimating'' 20% and 25% resistance to say that they're twice as effective or two and a half times as effective as 10% resistance, but ''completely off base'' by orders of magnitude. The upgrade is huge.

That said, which damage type should you resist? You can change your type any time, but these jump out:

* '''Cold''': Useful for Icemule-based hunting at various levels.
* '''Crush''': A very common damage type, like all physical damage types. Particularly helpful for gigantic creatures that fall on you as they die.
* '''Electrical''': The most lethal damage type, albeit somewhat rare. If you're hunting creatures that use it, though, protect yourself!
* '''Fire''': Useful for Teras Isle, among other specific areas.
* '''Impact''': Great against various rock-themed creatures or shield-using creatures, among some others.
* '''Puncture''': Another common physical damage type. Very deadly if it hits the eyes even on a fairly tame enemy attack, so 20% or 25% resistance will help immensely.
* '''Slash''': The last of the common physical damage types. Probably the least impressive in a vacuum, but it ''is'' very common.

Of course, what you should use depends on the hunting ground. If your monk is in a place where everything spews Acid or uses Disruption spells, then meditate to resist those!

The only damage types I'd generally advocate against are Grapple and Unbalance, which are fairly unique. They cause minimal wounds compared to other damage types, but even weak hits frequently knock you down--and resistance doesn't stop that aspect. Still, if you're in a hunting ground replete with Grapple or Unbalance effects, resisting them might save you rounds of stun, so anything's worth considering in the right context.

===Offensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Grapple Specialization]], [[Kick Specialization]], and [[Punch Specialization]], which each improve their respective attacks, but which is right for you? I'll write about each one as if it's maxed, but during the earliest levels, these ramp up by gaining 20% of their max effectiveness per rank.

'''Grapple Specialization''':

* Deals bonus heavy grapple damage before each round of [[Fury]] against non-prone foes, which knocks them down and inflicts Vulnerable. "Before" is the key word since that means foes are already down as your UAF attack connects, which can improve MM and/or save you time of not needing to lead with Twin Hammerfists.
* Against creatures that are immune to being knocked down, every hit of Fury racks up additional damage since the foe is never prone.
* If you love Fury or hate setups, this could be the specialization for you!
* In a vacuum, grapples aren't ideal when not using Fury nor mstrikes since they have the same speed as punches, but are less likely to have killing power at good positioning than punches or especially kicks.
* Grapple Specialization has little to offer if you exclusively use mstrikes. "Exclusively" is the key word this time. If you use Fury sometimes and mstrikes other times, like me, then Grapple Specialization pays off!

'''Kick Specialization''':

* Turns your [[Spin Kick]] into two Spin Kicks!
* Many a monk has happily shared tales of being stuck in 20 seconds of RT only for [[Combat Mobility]] to stand them up, then they go on to dodge everything and double Spin Kick a room of foes to death before even getting out of RT. It's great fun and can save you in situations where the other two specializations couldn't.
* Kicks are the most powerful of the unarmed combat attacks, but the slowest. However, higher Agidex races can eventually get even MSTRIKE KICK to the same speed as its grapple and punch counterparts, in which case it's flat out the best mstrike option.
* Slower races might be better off with Grapple or Punch Specialization. Those also might be better at lower levels, especially pre-Perfect Self, when mstrikes and Fury haven't become as fast as they'll eventually be and Spin Kick might not even be an option yet (pre-level 35-36).
* While Spin Kick performs exceptionally well against like-level foes, it's not nearly as good against overleveled ones for two reasons: it's less likely to succeed and you're much more incentivized to disable those foes immediately. If they don't attack, you don't evade, so you don't Spin Kick.
* By its nature, Kick Specialization wants you to prioritize improving your UC shoes or footwraps, which is at odds with the fact that UC in general wants you to prioritize improving your UC gloves or handwraps since more of your attacks than not will be hand-based.

'''Punch Specialization''':

* Punches as a base attack are faster than kicks and more powerful than grapples. Jabs remain the ideal for tiering up from decent positioning, but at good positioning, when UC attacks have a chance to kill, punches are arguably the best option.
* Maxed Punch Specialization has a 25% chance to add minor impact damage to each target hit by [[Clash]]. A 25% chance isn't a shining endorsement, though, since maxed Grapple Specialization and Kick Specialization have a 100% chance of adding heavy grapple damage or a second Spin Kick to their respective techniques. The disparity gets exacerbated by Clash being nowhere near as good as unfocused mstrikes.
* Despite the above, the buff to Clash being minor doesn't matter if the monk isn't using Clash anyway. Punch Specialization can shine for lower level characters or slower races if the player prefers mstrikes over weapon techniques, but can't bring MSTRIKE KICK down to the speed of MSTRIKE PUNCH.

<blockquote>
'''Specialization Sidebar: Mstrikes with Specified Attack Types!'''

In case it isn't clear or in case going into math would be helpful...

'''Mstrike kick''' becomes the mechanical best option for high Agidex races at high levels regardless of which specialization you pick. Depending on how armored the foe, kicks are 140-150% as strong as punches and 160-200% as powerful as grapples. That power gap is so big that even if your punches or grapples have a higher MM because you picked Punch or Grapple Specialization, kicks are most likely stronger anyway. Of course, your fast race monk could just train in Kick Specialization for the best of every world!

'''Mstrike punch''' can be the best for lower Agidex races, lower levels, or both. Kicks are stronger hit for hit, but if they're slower because your Agidex isn't up to par, punches can still win overall.

'''Mstrike grapple''' is worse than mstrike punch in a vacuum because the latter has the same speed while packing 110% to 141.67% as much power. Against foes in chain or plate armor, mstrike punch is probably better than grapple even if you trained Grapple Specialization. However, against foes in cloth, leather, or scale armor, the power gap is 110%-125%, so mstrike grapple backed by its specialization can still win out due to the MM bonus and higher tier up chance. Grapples also slow down foes, making them preferable attacks for a balance of offensive and defensive benefits.

In short...

Use mstrike kick if you're a high Agidex race who's at or close to the peak of your Agidex growth.

Use mstrike grapple if either A) you intend to slow down foes to keep your combat relatively safer or B) all of the following apply: you're a moderate Agidex race or a high Agidex race not yet near your peak, you're against foes in armor lighter than chain, and you trained Grapple Specialization, but you're in a situation where you want to mstrike instead of using Fury. (Like, say, unfocused mstrikes.)

Use mstrike punch if neither of the above applies.
</blockquote>

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Kick Specialization is the flashiest and arguably the most fun specialization, and I stand behind MSTRIKE KICK being easily the best mstrike for fast races in a vacuum. However, the Fury technique backed by Grapple Specialization arguably has the highest ceiling. Its high knockdown potential works wonders against higher level creatures who make tiering up difficult. I've been very happy with these two specializations, using Kick for Tarine and Grapple for Sariara (and Grapple for Saraphenia before her).

As for Punch Specialization, I wouldn't honestly recommend it to anybody other than the slowest races. Former GM Naijin designed Grapple and Kick Specialization to have stronger technique-boosting effects than Punch Specialization because punches are the most broadly useful as a standalone attack and he wanted to balance the scales a bit. GemStone rewards being exceptional at something instead of pretty good at everything, but punches fall squarely into the latter category.

If you're training Grapple Specialization, make it your top priority after Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in Martial Stances). Kick Specialization can potentially wait until later in life for Spin Kick at level 35-36, but training early isn't necessarily wrong either.

===Defensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Block Specialization]], [[Evade Specialization]], and [[Parry Specialization]], which improve their respective defenses, but which is right for you? ...well, this one's a lot easier than the last!

'''Block Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to block melee or ranged attacks with a shield. Shields are a bad idea for monks; they're expensive to train, monks can't learn shield skills, and shields significantly decrease their MM.

'''Parry Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to parry melee or ranged attacks--assuming you have [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] active. After parrying, it gives a 25% chance of gaining the [[Counter]] effect, which means your next attack has 1 less RT and costs 25% less stamina (if applicable). This might sound neat until it's compared to...

'''Evade Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to evade melee, ranged, or magical bolt attacks. After evading, it gives a 25% of gaining the [[Evasiveness]] effect, which will automatically avoid the next attack (of any kind, including CS-based or maneuver-based) thrown your way with 100% success. Also, evasion triggers (not Evasiveness triggers) allow [[Spin Kick]] followups.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Even without Kick Specialization, Evade Specialization is the only one that adds offensive power via a defensive specialization. I universally recommend it to all Brawling-oriented monks without exception. (I say "Brawling" because I'm not even limiting this to unarmed combat. Even if you're using brawling ''weapons'' like fist-scythes or katars, you can Spin Kick, so Evade Specialization still wins.)

===Martial Stances===

Monks can technically learn as many martial stances as they have points for, but can only have one active at a time, so most only learn one. Let's review them.

'''[[Duck and Weave]]''':

The most flavorful martial stance.

Gives you a chance to redirect enemy melee attacks that you evade, making enemies hit other enemies in the room.

This is a super cool and fun idea, but not nearly as practical as it might sound since it has to jump through so many hoops: you need to be fighting multiple creatures, they need to be attacking with melee, you need to evade, Duck and Weave needs to trigger, and the redirected attacker's AS and weapon type have to be good enough compared to the defending creature's DS and armor type to do meaningful damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Delightful, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Flurry of Blows]]''':

The screen scrolliest martial stance.

Yo dawg, I heard you like jabs, so I put jabs in your jabs so you can jab while you jab.

When you jab, Flurry of Blows can simultaneously jab other foes in the room. Jabs aren't good on their own, so bringing the best out of this martial stance requires heavy investment. Unless your attacks can potentially fire off at least five damaging flares (...and the current max for a monk is nine while grouped with a [[paladin]] or eight otherwise, but even getting to five requires grouping with a paladin or having high end gear), I wouldn't say it comes close to being worthwhile.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Again, great fun, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Inner Harmony]]''':

The most wasted potential of martial stances.

At rank 1 and 2, it can passively shake off negative spell effects. At rank 3, assuming the stance also removes the effect on demand with a 20 second cooldown. However, the effects you'd most want to remove are exactly the ones you can't because you can't use Inner Harmony while bound or RT-locked. [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]] this definitely isn't!

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I appreciate the idea behind this stance, but it has little to no appeal in practice.

'''[[Rolling Krynch Stance]]''':

Almost surely the best martial stance for UC monks.

This stance gives you a chance of carrying over excellent positioning or good positioning from one foe to the next, which is a massive time savings and power increase. Decent position attacks won't kill unless you have extreme flaring gear or run through a large slew of hits. At good positioning, you at least ''might'' kill creatures via crits and can pretty easily kill them with several hits. At excellent positioning, you can kill creatures via crits even with a pretty light tap.

When I wrote that monks rarely one-shot creatures, that's true in a vacuum, but Rolling Krynch can at least open that door for them.

Bottom line: the less time you spend in decent positioning, the better off you are, and that's what Rolling Krynch offers.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Rolling Krynch is everything a traditional UC monk wants. Make at least the first two ranks your first combat maneuver.

'''[[Slippery Mind]]''':

The most defensive martial stance.

When maxed, this one gives you a 27% chance to avoid CS-based attack spells (assuming you're in robes). If you do avoid a spell, Slippery Mind also has a 75% chance of redirecting it to the caster or a different enemy target. Even if don't avoid the spell, you still have a 27% chance to buff your TD for 15 seconds and possibly save yourself from subsequent attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

This stance is simple, but really good, offering two lines of defense against a monk's biggest weakness while also preserving--and arguably even improving upon--one of the most fun aspects of Duck and Weave. I prefer improving offense to defense, but this is still the second best stance for most monks. I'd say it's the very best for a weapon-wielding monk in robes!

'''[[Stance of the Mongoose]]''':

The most "almost got there" martial stance.

This martial stance lets you automatically retaliate after you parry. Even assuming the most wildly niche builds, like you're running a dual handaxe Kroderine Soul monk with Parry Specialization who wears metal breastplate (and if you're doing that, thank you for making it this far into the guide for reasons I don't understand!), this martial stance takes some agency away from the player by attacking and adding more RT into your combat--3 seconds in this example--when you might not have wanted it.

If you're a more typical unarmed combat monk, the good news is that Stance of the Mongoose's retaliation will only add 1-2 seconds of RT--but the bad news is that that RT is so low because it's always going to jab (and therefore do little damage) unless you currently have a tier up opportunity against that foe, in which case it'll pick the tier up type.

That last bit might sound good--and, truthfully, it ''is'' good when it lines up, but how often does that happen? Unlike the perfect storm Duck and Weave needs, at least maxed Stance of the Mongoose triggers 100% of the time when it's not on its 3 second cooldown. Still, you need to have attacked created a tier up opportunity, you need to not yet have manually seized that opportunity, your attack that created the tier up needs to not have disabled the foe so that it could attack you, it needs to actually attack you and specifically with something you could parry, and you need to parry it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Despite its problems, I think this makes a serious case of being the third best martial stance a UC-oriented monk can learn. That's not necessarily saying much; I'd put it distantly behind Rolling Krynch Stance and Slippery Mind. If you're running a wacky build of a weapon-wielding monk (so no Krynch) in heavy armor (so no Slippery Mind), go with this.

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

I'm not knocking wildly niche monks. Many of my characters who ''aren't'' monks are wildly niche builds like a dual wielding melee cleric in chain mail, a dual wielding paladin, a warrior in robes who casts [[Elemental Wave (410)|e-waves]] with no hindrance, and a maul wizard in leather breastplate. Do whatever you have fun with in this game.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Most characters attack dozens of times more often than enemies attack them. I lean heavily on this fact whenever I'm torn on a choice between offense or defense on any profession. The defensive one will have trouble winning out unless either the defensive gain is immense, the offensive opportunity cost is minimal, or both. (For example, in the right hunting ground, Spirit Barrier has low offensive opportunity cost and ''can'' have immense defensive gain!)

This is one reason I hold Rolling Krynch Stance in so much higher regard than Stance of the Mongoose or even Slippery Mind. Rolling Krynch powers up something that you're doing in combat against every creature you fight and usually several times per creature. Mongoose and Slippery Mind apply to things that the ''creatures'' do--things you're actively trying to prevent them from doing, no less!--and, for that matter, only ''some'' of them do it and only ''some'' of the time.
</blockquote>

'''[[Striking Asp Stance]]''':

The best... uh... PvP martial stance?

[[Verb:QSTRIKE|QSTRIKE]] is an ability available to all professions that lets you consume stamina to reduce the RT of your next attack. Striking Asp reduces that stamina cost for the first single-target qstrike used every minute.

Whoever this stance might be good for--if anyone, because I'm not convinced it's worthwhile in any context other than PvP duels--it's not good for monks. Since Striking Asp only works once per minute, Rolling Krynch is better at Asp's own claim to fame. Even if you use Asp to reduce a 5-second focused mstrike to 1 second, Krynch only needs to save you two jabs' worth of RT per minute. It will almost always do that and more with zero stamina cost instead of Asp's reduced stamina cost.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

No.

===Combat Maneuvers===

I won't go over every combat maneuver, but here are quick takes on the more standout ones.

<blockquote>
'''Quick Reminder!'''

Like with skills, you can flip your trained combat maneuvers around as you wish before level 20. Experiment and find what suits you!
</blockquote>

'''[[Acrobat's Leap]]''':

Useful for short races to make up the height gap.

'''[[Bearhug]]''':

Shockingly good supplement to unarmed combat. UAF attacks can overcome most defenses, but among creatures that ''are'' so good at turtling that UC struggles to punch through, most are casters who easily get hit by combat maneuvers. Bearhug is also a rare case of a maneuver with killing power in its own right. I don't necessarily recommend using learning it until you can train at least three ranks since its damage really depends on the endroll. It's also a bit worse for small races, but, since it's an SMR-based attack, even they can dish out tons of damage with the high endrolls achievable by inflicting status effects first.

Speaking of status effects, Bearhug has great synergy with [[Vulnerable]], which speeds up its damage rounds (not its cooldown). Twin Hammerfists inflicts Vulnerable and so does the Grapple Specialization knockdown perk from Fury, so either of those make for a nice one-two if you're already using them!

'''[[Bull Rush]]''':

Bull Rush is another way to inflict Vulnerable and can knock down a whole room of creatures. It does pretty minimal damage, but is a staple monk combat maneuver, filling a need of controlling the enemy hordes so you can systematically pick them off.

'''[[Burst of Swiftness]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

If your monk is a slow race, you might consider learning Burst anyway to bring your MSTRIKE KICK up to speed--literally! I don't recommend using it until you have at least four ranks since the cooldown is very long before then.

If your monk is a fast race, there's still a use case for Burst, but mostly for obscure builds at the top end; my super-capped elf monk Tarine has Burst of Swiftness exclusively for [[Duskruin Arena]] because it can push her into the vaunted -8 RT tier of 113 or more Agidex bonus, which allows her to do absurd shenanigans with 14 attacks in 4 seconds with Fury and [[Flurry]] while wielding two katars. (Since these are assaults, the attacks are broken up into 1-second rounds of 4, 4, 2, and 2 attacks. By contrast, TWC katar ''mstrikes''' don't get faster than 5 seconds regardless of Agidex.)

'''[[Cheapshots]]''':

I love this suite of disabling skills on rogues and bards, but I don't think unarmed combat-centric monks benefit much despite the wide variety of applications. UC can just power through most things and, for what it can't, Cheapshots won't either since they're all setups--and ones not necessarily better than Twin Hammerfists, at that. Cheapshots can still be worth considering for weapon builds. For UC, I'd rather get Bearhug or Coup de Grace.

'''[[Combat Focus]]''':

I like two or three ranks to slightly shore up TD weaknesses if you can spare the points, but it's not mandatory by any means.

'''[[Combat Mobility]]''':

Easily one of the best and most universal monk maneuvers. Automatically standing up while prone is amazing with Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick and, frankly, even without. 10 Combat Maneuver Points ''are'' a lot, so I recommend building up offense during the early game and possibly even into the midgame. By the level 60s at latest, though, when staying prone for any extended period of time gets real dangerous, most monks will love this.

'''[[Coup de Grace]]''':

A finisher that can insta-kill incapacitated foes at 50% health or less (at max Coup ranks) and provides a 90-second buff to AS/UAF depending how hard you killed them.

The AS/UAF buff isn't what matters (at least for solo UC-oriented monks; it's amazing for weapon-using monks or group hunts). Unarmed combat is riddled with incapacitating effects tacked on to its normal attacks, offering frequent opportunities to deliver the Coup de Grace. Also, even foes that can't be crit killed, like various golems, noncorporeal undead, or oozes are susceptible to Coup's insta-kill, so it's another helpful option in your toolbox.

'''[[Feint]]''':

Even though UAF attacks ''can'' power through turtled creatures, turning that "can" into "most likely" is ideal. Feint is the premier combat maneuver for lowering enemies' stance, decreasing their UDF--often by triple digits even in the fairly early game--and increasing your multiplier modifier.

'''[[Hamstring]]''':

I mention this for the katar builds. Hamstring can only be used with an edged weapon, but it's a devastatingly powerful setup-and-damage maneuver all in one. Two Weapon Combat characters will find it even more exceptional.

'''[[Ki Focus]]''':

Increases the odds of higher tier positioning or a tier up opportunity on your next UC attack. This maneuver's wiki page recommends it if you aren't using Rolling Krynch Stance, but I recommend it even if you are. Ki Focus is another means to more consistently keep the train of good-or-excellent positioning rolling, especially against overleveled foes who would normally be difficult to tier up against.

That said, the stamina cost to use it too often ''is'' real, even with Mind Over Body, so you'll need heavy Physical Fitness training. It's more of a midgame or late game skill to me.

Monks who use only mstrikes might benefit from Ki Focus more than monks who use techniques. Mstrikes don't cost stamina outside their cooldown period, giving more leeway to keep a high stamina cost maneuver in your rotation.

'''[[Surge of Strength]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

I'd consider Surge for halflings and gnomes only. Between Perfect Self and a max rank Surge, they can carry things at least slightly more like an average-sized race. Still, Surge's cooldown is very long before at least rank 4. Even at rank 5, you can only have 75% uptime (a 90 second ability with a 120 second cooldown) unless you're willing to use it while in cooldown, which doubles its already high stamina cost from 30 to 60. Mind Over Body can only do so much to save you from that!
</div></div>

==Further Character Progression==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-progression" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious about feats, meditating, or upgrading your monk's gear later? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-progression">

===Feats===

Monks gain new abilities called Feats at various levels, which are as follows:

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Kroderine Soul]]====

Kroderine Soul is an opt-in feat that I won't cover in detail, but suffice it to say that you gain additional physical [[redux]] (resistance to physical attacks, which is increased by training physically-oriented skills), redux now applies to magical attacks, magical disablers have decreased duration against you, and you have access to the [[Absorb Magic]] and [[Dispel Magic]] abilities.

In exchange, before level 30, you can't learn spells, cast spells, or have spells cast on you other than a few exceptions like [[Floating Disk (511)|disks]], empath healing, and [[Raise Dead (318)|resurrection]]. From level 30 on is a different story, which I'll explain in the level 30 feat section.

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Martial Mastery]]====

After you've maxed one weapon skill (for your level), Martial Mastery grants +1 AS or UAF for every eight total ranks you train in up to two ''additional'' weapon skills. However, the AS/UAF boost is penalized by 5% for every spell you learn beyond five ranks--which means Martial Mastery no longer applies by the time you have 25 total spell ranks. Monks have a way to ignore the first 20 of those spell ranks, but I'll explain that too in the level 30 feat section.

While Martial Mastery is technically learned automatically from level 0, most monks won't make much use of it for a while. Some, like my monk Tarine, will have too many spell ranks to ever make use of it. I'll speak more about that in the Odds and Ends section discussing builds off the beaten path.

====Level 20 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Tattoo]]====

Monks can tattoo themselves or other characters by using a needle and ink from the local [[alchemist]] shop. They can ink from ''[[Stock_tattoo|nearly 1000 different options]]'' from a stock tattoo list! These are called mundane tattoos.

From level 20 on, monks can upgrade a character's existing tattoo--including one for which the monk wasn't the artist--by turning it into a Mystic Tattoo, which makes it enhancive. This is the monk profession service!

For full detail on Mystic Tattoos, see their wiki page. The simplified version is that Mystic Tattoos have five tiers, each requiring more training from the monk and each adding an enhancive of +1 bonus for a stat of the buyer's choice. To empower Mystic Tattoos, monks use 50000, 75000, 100000, 125000, and 150000 Motes of Tranquility (respective to each tier), which they earn via absorbing the equivalent amounts of experience points. Monks can earn up to 50,000 motes per week and save up to 200,000 total for later use. (You can see your totals with the RESOURCE command.)

As profession services go--so I'm comparing Mystic Tattoos to Battle Standards, [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]], [[Covert Arts]], enchanting, ensorcelling, [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]], ranger [[Resist Nature (620)|resistance]], sanctifying, and warrior weighting--this ''can'' be a really high impact one for CS casters, who benefit heavily from boosting Aura or Wisdom. It can also be solid for any character close to specific Agidex thresholds, and some people like simply enhancing Logic to absorb more exp.

Mystic Tattoos are in the midrange of profession service value overall; don't create a monk expecting to start rolling in silver like a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard eventually can (...at least not via tattooing, but more on the silver-making secrets of monks later!), but they'll likely make more from tattooing than non-capped bards, paladins, or rangers, or any level rogues or warriors do from their services. At the time of this writing, empaths make more than monks with their service, but they also have the newest service, so that might be a temporary situation. Either way, GM Estild, the head of dev, has acknowledged that Mystic Tattoos (and warrior weighting) need further improvement at a future point.

<blockquote>
'''Advanced Tattooing Tips!'''

Mystic Tattoos were designed with the intent that a typically trained monk should be able to do a tier 1 at level 20, a tier 2 at level 40, a tier 3 at level 60, a tier 4 at level 80, and a tier 5 at level 100. In practice, I find that many monks are anywhere from 5-15 levels ahead of that schedule--''and'' that's even assuming that you want a 100% success rate unboosted! Here are some options to jump ahead of the curve:

* Use BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS (from [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]) for +10 tattooing skill. (However, since this temporarily increases your max health and max spirit and your tattooing ability gets reduced when those two stats aren't full, you'll need to wait until health and spirit recover after using the boost. Voln members can do this most easily since Symbol of Renewal is one of the game's very few tools to instantly recover spirit.)
* Use BOOST GIFT EONAK (also from daily login rewards) to take the best of two rolls when determining your success. To put that in perspective, a 50% success rate would become 75% with Gift of Eonak active, a 60% success rate would become 84%, a 70% success rate would become 91%, an 80% success rate would become 96%, and a 90% success rate would become 99%.
* Suffusion allows converting your Motes of Tranquility to extra skill bonus on a single tattoo upgrade at a rate of 2000 motes to 1 skill bonus. Since it's a one-off boost and yet requires trading potentially weeks of resource gain, I don't recommend using suffusion for tattooing characters other than your own monk. Even with your own monk, I'd usually just advise patience--but if patience isn't your thing, then trading off a week of resources for five levels or so of skill might appeal to you!
</blockquote>

====Level 25 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Strike]]====

A weird one, to say the least. FEAT MYSTICSTRIKE allows a monk to use a small amount of stamina to infuse their next physical UC or melee attack with an effect that debuffs a foe's defense against warding spells after it lands. While monks do have a few warding spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe, those spells are normally better off as setups--if they're even used at all--than something to set up ''toward''.

====Level 30 Monk Feat - [[Dragonscale Skin]] or [[Mental Acuity]]====

At level 30 (and any time a fixskill is used after that point), monks can decide between these two feats by using FEAT LEARN DRAGONSCALESKIN or FEAT LEARN MENTALACUITY.

'''Dragonscale Skin''' is a straightforward buff that improves monks' Iron Skin spell.

Reviewing the basics of Iron Skin first, it improves a monk's robes to have the defensive power of full leather at bare minimum (level 2) and can get all the way to the durability of half plate on a truly outlandish, mega-capped character with an incredible enhancive set. However, this boost to defensive power only counts for the purposes of taking physical damage. Enter Dragonscale Skin, which makes the armor-mimicking aspect of Iron Skin also reflect itself in CvA (defense against warding spells; basically the same as TD, except done as a number subtracted from the enemy attack instead of added to your defense).

Here's a revised version of the Iron Skin table from the Secret Sauce of Lores section again, now tailored to the context of the CvA boost. The listed benefits are comparing to the baseline of robe CvA ''without'' Dragonscale Skin.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Dragonscale Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||Leather breastplate (10 benefit)||Cuirbouilli leather (11 benefit)||Studded leather (12 benefit)
|-
||5 Transformation||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine (13 benefit)
|-
||15 Transformation||Studded leather||Brigandine||Chain mail (21 benefit)
|-
||30 Transformation||Brigandine||Chain mail||Double chain (22 benefit)
|-
||50 Transformation||||Double chain||Augmented chain (23 benefit)
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||Chain hauberk (24 benefit)
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||Metal breastplate (33 benefit)
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||Augmented breastplate (34 benefit)
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||Half plate (35 benefit)
|}

For illustration's sake, my monk Sariara had leather breastplate caliber robes at level 30, will reach cuirbouilli leather at level 34 or 35, studded leather around level 43-45, brigandine at 50, chain mail likely around 60, and double chain at 75, where she'll pause for a long while. My monk Tarine had a less Transformation-focused build and is only at chain mail caliber even now, but will push to chain hauberk in the near future, then stop at metal breastplate over the very long haul.

To be clear, Dragonscale Skin reduces the odds of getting hit by spells at all and, if the monk does get hit, essentially reduces the endroll result. However, an identical endroll against real chain armor, plate armor, etc. would do significantly less damage than it does against robes.

The alternative to Dragonscale Skin, '''Mental Acuity''', is a much more complex beast. It basically forces redux, Martial Mastery (the level 0 feat), and Kroderine Soul (the other level 0 feat) to act like a monk's first 20 learned Minor Mental spells don't count. However, instead of a monk's first 20 Minor Mental spells costing mana, they cost stamina at twice the mana cost. (Mind Over Body does bring that down, so it won't necessarily be exactly twice.)

The most striking of these exceptions is definitely Kroderine Soul because it creates the unique monk path of continuing to cast spells despite training a feat that prevents their warrior and rogue counterparts--and pre-level-30 monks--from using magic at all. I can see the appeal even though it's not a route I'm interested in.

In practice, the only monks I know who chose Mental Acuity instead of Dragonscale Skin were also using Kroderine Soul. Having spells cost stamina instead of mana is a hefty ask. That said, nothing stops a character from avoiding KS and using Mental Acuity anyway. There ''are'' still reasons to do it. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of redux remains a Mental Acuity benefit even for the non-KS monk. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of Martial Mastery penalty means that a monk trained in three weapon skills could still max out the AS/UAF bonus even while training, for example, 20 Minor Mental spells plus 3-5 ranks of Minor Spiritual.

Are these compelling enough reasons to take Mental Acuity over Dragonscale Skin on a non-KS monk? As far as I can tell, so far the community has said no, but I'll explore that later in Odds and Ends. As for KS monks, Mental Acuity is the only option; Dragonscale Skin does literally nothing for them because KS monks can't cast Iron Skin ''unless'' they have Mental Acuity.

====Level 40 Monk Feat - [[Martial Arts Mastery]]====

Now we're talking! Martial Arts Mastery uniformly adds +10 to the multiplier modifier of your UC attacks, adds a flat +10% tier up chance to your UC attacks, and adds a flat +10% evasion rate (which also helps fire off more Spin Kicks).

If you play an unarmed combat monk through low levels and find yourself wondering when it really gets good, level 40 is the latest possible answer. Before then, something like a brawling warrior in robes might feel at least similar to a monk, albeit with no Rolling Krynch Stance (a huge difference maker, admittedly) and with different training point costs for various skills.

Level 40 draws a line in the sand, though, to establish that unarmed combat ''is'' the monk's wheelhouse because Martial Arts Mastery ''is'' the monk's premier feat. To put it in perspective, Martial Arts Mastery is the equivalent of maxing Grapple Specialization, Kick Specialization, and Punch Specialization all at once, minus the Fury/Spin Kick/Clash perks but plus a new Jab Specialization that no other profession has. And since you'll already have trained one of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization the normal way, now Martial Arts Mastery is like ''double-maxing'' it.

Unleash the power and never look back.

====Level 50 Monk Feat - [[Perfect Self]]====

Perfect Self raises all your stats by +10 (or +5 bonus). That's it! Your monk hits level 50 and great power drops on their head.

Like I've said, there's pretty much no bad monk stat split from level 50 on because of this feat. It's also the driving force behind why even moderately fast races (along the lines of half-elves and aelotoi), never mind the really fast races, have so much potential as monks. If you're using mstrikes and weapon techniques at all, you'll notice the improvement!

===Gear Upgrades: Armor===

Even though fancy gear is more a luxury than a necessity for monks, you might as well upgrade your monk's gear eventually if you enjoy them! But how and in what way?

For armor, I think the answer is to keep it really simple. Most of the expensive armor you can pick up doesn't do all that much for monks. (...at least not magical non-Kroderine Soul monks, the subject of this guide. I assume expensive armor does way more for KS monks who are tanking more hits.)

'''Materials'''

* Rusalkan: A high-end expensive option at 400k soul shards that attempts to knock down up to three enemies if you get hit or evade an attack, boosts UAF and CS for 10 seconds if it does knock any of them down, and grants a 1 second haste effect for various offensive actions. It has a cooldown for 30 seconds. Probably the most powerful armor material overall with an extremely powerful effect, but the expenses are enormous. Some contact-based combat maneuvers like Bull Rush can also trigger rusalkan flares.
* Zelnorn: Uses half of what would be the DS from its enchant as AS (or in monks' case UAF) instead, but doesn't allow flares or a TD boost to go in the ability slot (AKA category B). Players hit creatures more than creatures hit players, so zelnorn can be fantastic for AS-based professions--but most monks aren't AS-based. Improving UAF is fairly irrelevant, not justifying the base cost of 50k bloodscrip in the case of monks. Either flares or increased TD would more greatly benefit monks, making use of the ability slot.

'''Scripts'''

* [[Animalistic Spirit Armor]]? Gives a few minutes of extra stamina regen per hunt and can flare to knock down creatures when you evade, but you're a monk. You already reduce your stamina costs by 35% and you already keep everything knocked down constantly.
* [[Ethereal armor]]? If you happen to have boatloads of ethereal scrip from frequent [[Settlement_of_Reim|Reim]] hunts, then sure, go for it, but a monk isn't screaming for more DS and a flare chance for crit padding.
* [[Forest Armor]]? Monks don't need a tiny boost to UAF and CS.
* [[Ithzir Armor]]? Cool abilities involving healing and emergency escape. 500k bloodscrip cool? Nah.
* [[Mana-Infused Armor]]? Mana, damage padding, crit padding, UAF and CS, and an emergency button to drive creatures out of the room. Not what a monk's seeking.
* [[Parasite Armor]]? It can give a 90 second buff to TD, but it's once every five minutes and costs 150k bloodscrip. Pass.
* [[Sprite Armor]]? Extra DS, maneuver defense, and mana. Nope, not for a monk!
* [[Valence Armor]]? Health, mana, and reactive flares. Skip.
* [[Voln armor]]? Extra DS, sheer fear protection, crit padding, and an emergency escape button. This was once a reasonable value even despite its high cost and the DS and crit padding not being too meaningful for a monk. However, that time has largely passed now that Sanctify and Battle Standard exist so you can get sheer fear protection for cheaper and emergency escape after death instead of before death. You'd have to die several thousand times before the cost of any extra deeds and chrisms outweigh the cost of fully unlocked Voln armor.

'''Defaults'''

So my actual answer to the armor question is:

* Go to playershops and spend 1-5 million silver on robes with either +7 to +9 TD or some cool damage resistance of 20% or more, get them upgraded by wizards, clerics, and sorcerers over time.

Yes, this is what I actually do! +20% acid resistance robes, +8 TD robes, more +8 TD robes, and +7 TD robes are all things that some of my characters wear or have worn in the past. If GMs ever release an armor script that I think is a must-have for monks, I'll come back and update the guide at that point!

===Gear Upgrades: Weapons===

I wrote a [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Choosing_Your_Ideal_Weapon_Script|guide on the topic of scripts]], but unarmed combat has more limited options than other weapon types, so I'll go over the few that I think are worth looking into depending on your budget--plus flourishes, flares, and one material!

'''No script or flourish, just basic elemental flares (especially lightning)''':

This is where I think you should begin if you're uncertain or just dipping your toe in the water.

You can find flaring UC handwear and footwear for under a million silver each at a fair number of events--sometimes even at free events. Basic lightning flaring gear matches the power of off-the-shelf pay event gear. Pay event gear does pull ahead when you double down and stack lightning flares ''on top'' of it, but that means even heavier investment.

Nothing wrong with starting small while you're getting your bearings and saving bigger decisions for later!

'''Dispel flares''' (price range: 30k to 210k bloodscrip):

Dispel flares trigger before a UC attack lands, either dispelling 1-5 randomly chosen buff spells (if the creature has any) or dealing SMR-based disruption damage. If they dispel two spells from different spheres of magic (spiritual, elemental, or mental), they can also deal flux damage.

You might hear dispel flares commonly cited as better than lightning flares in a weapon's ability slot and the best in class (unless you're using Flare Affinity for 400k bloodscrip, in which case lightning flares come roaring back). I generally agree with this and would say it's even more true that dispel is great for UC than for other weapon types due to three factors:

# High volume of attacks
# Dispelling a buff to decrease enemy UDF is better than decreasing enemy DS by the same amount
# Against creatures without buffs, the disruption flare can increase MM by injuring and/or stunning a creature

There is a bit of luck to dispelling since many, if not most, creatures with spell buffs have some that don't affect UDF. You can improve your odds by making it 2-dispel or 3-dispel flares, which also greatly increases the odds of flux damage so you can get increased MM even while stunning. Overall, dispel flares with at least two dispel chances are very strong.

All that said, the first three dispels cost 30k bloodscrip each while a fourth and fifth cost 50k each if you want to max them out. These aren't starter gear, but for committed and reasonably wealthy monks, and should only go onto UC gear that started with a script like Animalistic Spirit, Knockout, or Phytomorphic Weapons. (GEF can't use dispel flares.)

'''[[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]] script''' (price range: 10k to 185k bloodscrip):

Incredible variety of flavor messaging makes this script very popular among all professions! For monks, specifically, Revenge Flares are a great unlockable feature that can fire off damaging flares when they evade. On the other hand, the default grapple damage type isn't the best since it's mainly good for knockdowns and monks are very adept at that on their own. My higher exp monk uses Animalistic Spirit gloves and boots with their damage type converted to lightning, but that's an extra expense.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (As a caveat, though, I highly recommend against the Savage Power unlock, which isn't particularly good for any build of any profession, and the Wild Backlash unlock, which is excellent for some professions but not all that useful for monks. Animalistic Fury upgrades can be worth it ''if'' you first change the damage type.)

Overall, this script has been monks' top pick for years for very good reason on the strength of Revenge Flares, messaging, and being one of the only games in town. However, it's been five years since Animalistic Spirit and the creator of Animalistic Spirit, GM Avaluka, has debuted a new script called Phytomorphic Weapons that I think is even better for monks! More on that further below.

'''[[Energy_Weapon/saved_posts|Energy Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 125k bloodscrip):

For unarmed combat, Energy Weapons are only available in the form of ''held'' weapons like a [[cestus]], not handwear and footwear. That's immediately anathema to some people. I'd agree with them when talking about a -10 or -15 MM weapon, but I'm actually not down on the -5 MM held UC weapons like others.

Held UC weapons improve UAF depending on the enchant and improve damage factor at a flat rate depending on the weapon type. The flat rate aspect means the weaker the base attack, like a jab or a grapple against heavier armor, the more noticeable the improvement. On the other hand, held weapons decrease the multiplier modifier and you also lose the use of Brace parrying.

That ''is'' an overall loss in a vacuum for most attack types against most armor types, so the held weapon needs something else significant to compensate. Energy Weapons can do that with supercharged lightning flares, so I do have a cestus and even use it against foes where MM is so high that I can live with the drop. If the margins are close, I don't use it. Easy enough.

The entry point for an Energy Weapon is 10k bloodscrip. The higher unlock tiers aren't very useful to monks, so I called mine a one and done.

<blockquote>
'''Obscure Trivia Sidenote!'''

When you're wearing flaring gloves while also using a flaring held unarmed combat weapon, the flare rate of each item--gloves and weapon--is halved, ending up at the same overall flare rate. So how can I be talking about an Energy Weapon's flares as a perk that helps compensate for the MM drop in any way if that perk is counterbalanced by hurting the flare rate of your gloves?

Well, let's say my Animalistic Spirit gloves still had their default grapple flares, which I don't value highly because unarmed combat keeps foes knocked down anyway. In that case, trading off half of a grapple flare rate to replace it with half of a lightning flare rate is a win.

This logic breaks down as gloves get more upgraded, because then either your tradeoffs aren't as favorable or you're spending currency to upgrade gloves ''and'' a cestus. Still, I stand behind it as at least an ''option'' if your stopping point is a flare and a script flare.
</blockquote>

'''[[Greater elemental flare|Greater Elemental Flares]] script''' (price: 40k bloodscrip):

These are a gold standard of midrange weapon scripts, at least if you'd consider 40k bloodscrip per item "midrange." Triple lightning flares are a pretty crazy thing! However, you do need to track down handwear and footwear that was already flaring or else the prices jump to 55k bloodscrip.

GEF flares are a solid and straightforward one-and-done option, but cheaper alternatives can be more efficient bang for your buck while more expensive alternatives can be more fun.

'''[[Knockout_flare|Knockout Flares]] script and [[Skullcrusher Flares]] flourish''' (price: 100k bloodscrip):

Easily some of the game's best flare messaging and they always hit heads, which can be very deadly, unless the head already has rank 3 wounds. I've used Knockout UC gear on non-monk characters and had a blast with them. One of my favorite moments was the happy accident of channeling Mario with the "You leap up, bringing your pure white sandals down across the head of the human mugger with a sickening thud!" messaging.

That said, Knockout's entry point--and exit point since there are no tiers--is 100k bloodscrip per item, which is a very tall ask for most people. It used to be a lot cheaper in the days of Ebon Gate on Caligos Isle, albeit released in limited quantities via a jackpot system to compensate. If you ''are'' willing to spend to that degree or find somebody who has Knockout gear from older days and is willing to sell, then I say read the wiki page and see if you like the messaging more or less than other options such as Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons. Some people pick Knockout for for their handwear or footwear and a different script for the others.

As for Skullcrusher, see everything I just said about Knockout, because Skullcrusher costs the same and is mechanically identical except that it goes into the flourish slot instead of the script slot. That means you can have the benefits of Knockout (in the form of Skullcrusher) ''and'' Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic if you were willing to pay for it!

'''[[Phytomorphic Weapon Shield|Phytomorphic Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 145k bloodscrip):

Another highly customizable instant hit of a script in the vein of Animalistic Spirit and from the same creator! This one is plant-themed instead of animal-themed and you can customize it yourself via foraging plants. Arboreal Agony is the big selling point of unlockable features here, which makes creatures Disoriented so they'll have difficulty casting spells--which are one of a monk's weak points. The default damage type is disintegrate, which is also broadly useful and can have killing power.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (Like with Animalistic Spirit's Wild Backlash, I'll give the caveat that Phytomorphic's Deciduous Decay is far more useful for AS-based professions than UAF-based professions like most monks. Phytomorphic Putrescence upgrades, on the other hand, don't need you to change the damage type first to get full value, which makes them either better or cheaper than Animalistic Spirit's Animalistic Fury counterpart depending on how you look at it.)

RP-wise, I think there's a very real chance that people will continue to favor Animalistic Spirit going forward. Mechanically, though, I'd say that Arboreal Agony not allowing enemy casters to cast is even better than Animalistic Spirit's Revenge Flares firing off when dodging physical attacks--and not needing to change the base damage type is also a big win.

'''[[Lore Flares]] flourish, specifically Telepathy or Transformation''' (price: 400k bloodcsrip):

At a whopping 400k bloodscrip, this is the top end of pricing for UC-oriented monks, but also the top end of power. While normal flares have a 20% rate, these start at 25%, reach 33% with 36 ranks of the applicable lore, reach 50% with 105 ranks, and reach an absurd and glorious 100% rate with 171 ranks. (171 ranks of a lore for a monk requires both heavy Ascension training ''and'' great enhancives, but hey, I did say this guide was for 0 exp to 55,000,000!) Telepathy Lore Flares deal puncture damage and then damage over time (DoT) afterward that's mostly sheer health damage, but only work against living foes. Transformation Lore Flares have no DoT and randomly deal either slash, crush, or puncture, but their initial hit is weighted to be one crit rank higher.

You probably aren't even reading this guide if you can actually reach 171 ranks of a lore, but for the sake of being informative, Transformation is the clear winner if you get there. Multiple DoTs can't stack on a single creature, so it's more valuable to have a stronger initial hit since you'd be firing off tons of those in a single mstrike or weapon technique. If 105 ranks are more your limit, that's a tougher call. Since your mstrikes include a free jab for the first time you attack a creature, your first unfocused mstrike in a swarmy room with Telepathy Lore Flares would have a 75% chance on each creature of getting a DoT rolling. However, ''focused'' mstrikes still favor Transformation due to DoTs not stacking.

'''[[Somnis]] material''' (price range: 100k or 250k bloodscrip bought as-is, or 300k bloodscrip transmuted into when available)

Lesser somnis is a 100k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep after it hits while greater somnis is a 250k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep ''before'' it hits. Alternatively, instead of starting with somnis items as the base, you could wait for greater somnis transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 300k bloodscrip.

This powerful effect significantly increases MM for the next hit (or current hit) in most cases! Materials in general are far behind flares and scripts in terms of bang for your buck, and behind the Skullcrusher flourish as well (not as much so), so there are typically two demographics who should be considering this: 1) those to whom money is no object, who would be well served to buy greater somnis as the starting point because it could be years before the ability to convert existing weapons to it returns to Duskruin, or 2) those who can wait for years for transmutation to be available and have picked up everything else or almost everything else already, making greater somnis a great final touch to add after exhausting other avenues.

'''[[Vethinye|Starsong, AKA vethinye]] material''' (price range: 100k, 250k, or 400k raikhen bought as-is, or 450k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

A 100k raikhen base cost material that flares disruption. Starsong can be upgraded up to twice for 150k raikhen per upgrade, which can make it flare disruption up to one extra time per upgrade. Fully upgraded, it flares disruption 1 to 3 times; if there's only one creature against the room, all three flares would hit the same creature, but if there's more than one, then additional flares would hit other creatures. Alternatively, instead of starting with starsong items as the base, you could wait for maxed starsong transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 450k bloodscrip.

Like always, more flares are an excellent thing when firing from UC's flurry of free jabs or otherwise quick attacks. The main problem for starsong handwear and footwear is that it's competing with somnis, which in the context of UC is either stronger, cheaper, or both. Personally, I love the extra screen scroll fun of starsong flares blasting all over the place. Objectively, somnis is the way to go. It's a classic matter of fun vs. power.

<blockquote>
'''Order of Operations Sidebar!'''

If you eventually want it all, you can get it, but there can be a correct order. For example, buying Phytomorphic gear and adding lightning or dispel to it later costs 40k bloodscrip less than buying lightning or dispel flaring gear and adding Phytomorphic to it later. Adding Knockout Flares costs the same 100k bloodscrip regardless of order, but does have a 90k more expensive starting point than Animalistic off the shelf, so it should be done later. Adding Skullcrusher Flares or Lore Flares costs the same 100k or 400k bloodscrip regardless of order.

Buying a base material like somnis or starsong and fully unlocking it costs 50k bloodscrip less than transmuting later, but if you want a script--which you should since a script is stronger than the material--then you break even because it'll cost 50k bloodscrip later to add a script to it. However, transmutation prices assume you want the highest tier of the material at all; if you don't, then starting with the base material is by far superior.

All of this is only talking price without even considering what adding scripts, flares, or flourishes does to gear difficulty. Lightning flares add 100 gear difficulty, but that can be negated with [[Enchant_(925)#Pre-enchanting_Potions|pre-enchanting potions]] (yes, these also work with ensorcelling and sanctifying). Dispel flares add 100 for the first dispel and 50 more for each thereafter. Knockout flares or Skullcrusher Flares add 150. Animalistic Spirit adds 200.

(What does any of that mean? Well, [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|but that's another guide entirely]], but suffice it to say that the higher the numbers get, the higher caliber of clerics, sorcerers, and wizards you'll need to improve them and the more you'll be paying for their services.)
</blockquote>

===Profession Service Priorities===

Silver does no good unless it's spent ''somewhere'', so if you're going budget on buying gear or just have a money surplus in need of a home, how about looking into profession services?

====Battle Standards (the [[Battle Standard (1620)|paladin service]])====

If there's only one service I'd recommend for a monk, it's Battle Standards. From the third tier on, Battle Standards add offensive flares to your attacks. (The flare rate goes up at the fourth and fifth tiers.)

As a general rule, offensive flares are better the more attacks per minute you use on average. This pairs extremely well with unarmed combat (especially mstriking due to bonus jabs, but even Fury) because its myriad low RT abilities churn out attacks more quickly than anything other than high level wizards, high level bards, and high level Two Weapon Combat builds. Even while you're only throwing jabs and fishing for tier up opportunities, a Battle Standard flare can sneak in and potentially kill a creature. Usually it won't, but even a lighter hit might stun a creature--and stunning increases UC's most important offense-boosting number, MM, making every following attack better. Additionally, you can select from a wide variety of [[Holy_critical|choices for flare type]] based on which Arkati or spirit the Battle Standard is aligned with, which you can set at [[Holy_places|any shrine]] for the Arkati or spirit you want.

Fourth tier and up Battle Standards also offer a short-term buff where every attack you do for 30 seconds is ''guaranteed'' to flare. This is a burst of fun, chaotic, powerful mayhem, especially in any area that's even moderately swarmy! There's a 30-minute cooldown at the fourth tier and a 15-minute cooldown at the fifth tier, so you can use it once every two hunts or once every hunt, respectively.

Battle Standards have a few other perks, but these are the main ones making them so good for monks.

Battle Standards have charges and periodically need recharging, which will cost you. I don't believe we have hard confirmation on how the charges drain, but ''if'' (if!) it's identical to Lucky Items, charges drain depending on the amount of time you spend in combat. If so, that would be another factor making it even better for UC monks than most professions or builds due to sheer volume of attacks per minute.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get a Battle Standard and love it. Even in the worst case, if you end up not loving it, you can sell it to someone else since it unattunes from you 30 days after your first use.

====Bloodstone Jewelry (the [[Bloodsmith (1135)|empath service]])====

Fully upgraded Bloodstone Jewelry increases max health/mana/stamina by 100/50/25, increases regeneration for health/mana/stamina by 20/10/5, and adds 1-5 extra health damage (only health damage) to all attacks. After every 50 health damage it deals, the next attack inflicts Major Bleed. It also has an activated ability to quickly regen health/mana/stamina 100%/50%/25% over 10 seconds with a 30 minute cooldown. It also has another more unusual activated ability to temporarily move your wounds off of you and into the jewelry; however, the wounds come back after 10 minutes and there's a 30 minute cooldown on this ability too. The idea is sort of a quick fix mid-hunt and then you'll need two rounds of healing afterward.

The temporary healing is difficult to advise on because its value heavily depends on how much risk you take in hunting. That benefit is about knowing yourself well enough to know if you'll like it or not. Same goes for more max health; I see the value for small races roughly doubling their health, but otherwise don't consider it particularly valuable. However, opinions vary widely. As for max stamina, monks already have Mind Over Body--but, even if they didn't, you can shore up stamina far more cheaply with conventional regen enhancives than with Bloodstone Jewelry.

As for everything else, the value for a monk--at least a magical monk--is like a mishmash of weaker Battle Standards and weaker Ensorcell. Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell both offer stamina regeneration, which is a great in a vacuum, but Ensorcell's version of stamina regeneration is a flare chance (which is effective with frequent UC attacks) instead of a per minute effect and never requires paying again for recharging. There is something to be said for having both Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell since Ensorcell usually won't restore stamina unless your health is full and Bloodstone Jewelry helps keep your health full--but, then again, just having herbs or using society abilities could also keep your health full.

Extra health damage, on the other hand, is a reasonable selling point. While it can't stun or crit kill like a Battle Standard flare, it does affect every attack instead of 20% of attacks--and 1-5 damage might not sound like a lot, but when it's every attack, it does matter. On average, you'll get the Major Bleed effect after every 16.67 attacks, which is decently powerful in its own right. All that said, Bloodstone Jewelry doesn't add extra damage until its fifth and final tier, so you'd probably be paying a premium to get it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Either go all the way with this service or pass on it unless someone's offering a steal. I wouldn't call this a particularly monk-oriented service unless you're a Kroderine Soul build or a small race.

(Since this is alphabetically the first service I'm recommending against, I'll clarify that that doesn't mean it's a bad service; even Enchant isn't particularly great for monks, as we'll see later, and that's a classic service. I'm simply saying that, when you're reading a monk guide because you're making a monk, don't view this service through the lens of playing your warrior, your semi, or your Sunfist pure, who would all make better use of more of the Bloodstone Jewelry perks.)

====[[Covert Arts]] (the rogue service)====

Covert Arts are the most jack of all trades service, being sort of split into five mini-services each with five tiers of their own. Like most other non-gear-based profession services, they run on a charge-based system and eventually need recharging.

Sidestep helps defend against AoE maneuvers, increases evasion, and helps defend against maneuvers regardless of being AoE or single target. Keen Eye finds children for bounties, helps defend against maneuvers even more, and helps defend against ambushes. Escape Artist helps avoid bandit traps, reduces Force on Force pushdown, and reduces the duration of [[Rooted]] status. Swift Recovery decreases the RT of searches (e.g. for heirlooms or pulling bandits out of hiding), increases health regeneration, and reduces the duration of Stagger.

Poisoncraft allows applying various poisons to your gear. Poison on armor can inflict various status effects as reactive flares: [[Calmed]], [[Dazed]], [[Slowed]], [[Disoriented]], or [[Clumsy]]. Poison on offensive gear can flare to either deal any of the previously mentioned status effects, deal extra health damage, apply [[Crippled]], or apply [[Major Poison]].

But how good is any of this for monks? Most Covert Arts perks only make monks marginally better at things they're already amazing at. (By contrast, casters see good benefit from things like FOF defense and the myriad bonuses to maneuver defense unless already far post-cap.) Escape Artist does seem reasonable to me for monks who frequently hunt bandits, since traps and Rooted can really mess with unarmed combat by preventing kicks.

Poisoncraft, on the other hand, provides flares, which should seem great if you just read about Battle Standards! However, some caveats do bear mentioning. The biggest is that, unlike with Battle Standards, jabs don't flare with Poisoncraft. Poisons don't affect the undead. Poisons offer a more narrow variety of damage types; they do offer a much wider variety of disabling effects, but monks aren't lacking for those in their base toolkit. Overall, Battle Standards are much better, but the fact remains that any kind of flare is still powerful with unarmed combat in a vacuum--even if jabs are disallowed. The question is whether you have the funds for both services.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

It's worth learning at least Poisoncraft even though the other Covert Arts don't do much for monks. Recharging Poisoncraft isn't much cheaper--if any cheaper--than learning more Arts and learning them ''also'' recharges, so once you're in for Poisoncraft, you might as well slowly pick up the others over time as recharging needs come up.

====Enchanting (the [[Enchant (925)|wizard service]])====

Enchanting offensive gear improves UAF (or AS if you're using a weapon) while enchanting armor improves DS.

UAF offers minimal help for all the reasons described in the Unarmed Combat Primer. DS is more compelling, especially once you're hunting areas with the [[spell sever]] mechanic. Monks have the game's cheapest training costs for Dodging, so they have very good DS throughout their lives, but not untouchable since they ''are'' regularly in offensive stance. I don't go hard on improving monk DS, but it can't hurt either.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Bring your robes up to +30. It gets expensive afterward, but +35 is a fine long-term goal too when you have silver lying around! Poke away at improving your UC gear if you find a great deal, but improving it doesn't matter much otherwise.

====Ensorcelling (the [[Ensorcell (735)|sorcerer service]])====

Ensorcelling armor improves CvA and enemy spells are a weak point, so I'd say your long term plan should include this. However, get most or all of your sanctification done first since ensorcelling adds much more gear difficulty than sanctifying. (For much more on the intricacies of gear difficulty and order of operations for upgrading gear, see [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|my service guide]]! For our purposes here, though, basically just know that tiers 2-5 of Ensorcell should usually be done after finishing the enchanting and sanctifying you want. The order of enchanting and sanctifying doesn't matter much, though.)

For unarmed combat gear, ensorcelling adds a flare chance for either a UAF boost on the next attack, stamina recovery immediately, or health recovery immediately. Stamina is strong for monks, but the flares give UAF boosts most of the time, which is very weak for monks. Ensorcell evenly scales up its UAF bonus; a fifth tier (T5) Ensorcell increases UAF by 25 while a first tier (T1) increases UAF by 5. Stamina recovery, on the other hand, is frontloaded: the average stamina return at T1 is 9 while the average at T5 is 15.

I like the "get a T1 Ensorcell on your offensive gear and call it finished" philosophy. You already have 60% of T5's average stamina return, but only bought 10% as much of a sorcerer's resource points.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

T1 Ensorcell for your handwear and footwear whenever you get a chance. T5 Ensorcell for your robes over the long haul, but only after finished with enchanting and sanctifying.

====Lucky Items (the [[Song of Luck (1006)|bard service]])====

Lucky Items are incredible for almost everybody. They improve virtually every offensive and defensive aspect of combat, which is like having extra enchantments, ensorcellments, weighting, and padding all attached to the same item--plus boosts to maneuver offense and maneuver defense as even more cherry on top!

For most professions and builds, I'd argue that Lucky Items are mechanically the most powerful service.

...but monks aren't most professions and builds. Yes, Lucky Items are like having extra UAF, DS, TD, weighting, and padding all at once, but I have a pretty low opinion of all of those things for monks other than TD.

Lucky Items act sort of opposite to Battle Standards; instead of favoring the low-impact attacks that UC throws out in droves, Lucky Items favor high-impact attacks that make every luck trigger proportionally more powerful. Lucky Item triggering on a jab or a decent positioning attack is a waste and you're probably firing off a lot of those. On the bright side, since Lucky Items' charges drain depending on the amount of time spent in combat, that aspect does pair well with monks' high volume of attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

If this were any other profession, I'd be singing the praises of Lucky Items and breaking down the math. Honestly, I might have to write a mini-guide on Lucky Items because they're tragically underrated. They offer amazing power to every form of combat other than the exact one that monks favor! If you're a weapon-wielding monk, definitely buy in and do it quickly. For typical UC monks, I'd recommend your silvers go elsewhere first--but only "first." Luck is powerful and you should get it eventually, just not as a high priority. I'd take it over enchanting robes beyond +30 or enchanting offensive gear beyond +20, but not necessarily before Sanctify, Ensorcell, or especially Battle Standards.

====Mystic Tattoos (the monk service)====

Despite Mystic Tattooing being a monk's own ability, it's not that helpful when used on themselves. The good news is that if you perform the final upgrade of your Mystic Tattoo, it won't consume charges and is basically a permanent upgrade. That said, the benefits of +5 bonus for a stat are pretty marginal for most monks. Standout options include:

* Strength to decrease encumbrance, especially for small races
* Agility to reach an Agidex threshold (this is preferred over Dexterity because it gives more maneuver defense and slightly increases UAF)
* Logic to increase exp gain
* Wisdom to slightly improve defense against spiritual magic

Logic is arguably the best since, given an enhancive with infinite charges, a benefit that works every minute maximizes value more than a benefit that only works while hunting. I can't go further than "arguably" since the others will have more impact when they ''do'' have impact. Regardless, none of the stats jump out for a monk in the way that something like improving a CS-boosting stat on a caster would.

Mystic Tattoos are slated for a future upgrade. The current proposal includes adding a skill bonus up to +10, flares to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, an activated ability with a cooldown to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, and ignoring enhancive limits.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Until the future update, I'd only tattoo yourself in your spare time when you can't find others willing to pay for your tattoos who would probably get more mechanical use out of them than you do. More Wisdom or Aura can be a gamechanger for CS-based casters, so sell them your tattooing services and use the silver to pay for paladins' Battle Standards. As you run out of other things to pay for, you can eventually pick up tattooing from lower level monks and make sure to handle the final tier yourself so you have infinite charges!

====Resist Nature (the [[Resist Nature (620)|ranger service]])====

Rangers can build a bracelet, anklet, or amulet that grants up to 25% resistance against up to five damage types: cold, heat, nature, steam, and lightning.

For post-cap hunters going into Ascension areas and the Scatter, this is really good since most of those areas use at least four of those damage types. Before cap or in other hunting grounds, usually only one damage type is the scourge of the area--and if you only need one resistance, monks can simply meditate instead of needing a ranger trinket. Even pre-cap, there's ''some'' merit to a ranger trinket since you can meditate for a general purpose physical resistance like crush and use your trinket for an elemental resistance like fire or lightning, but you'd have to know you'll be running into that damage type consistently for a while.

On an obscure note, nature resistance is unique to ranger trinkets. Monks can't meditate against it and even the Ascension system can't train to defend against it. However, an extremely small number of creatures use nature damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I'd look into ranger resistance for post-cap purposes, especially if you intend to hunt Ascension hunting grounds (which monks perform well in at lower exp amounts than any other profession). Before cap, make do with your own meditation ability.

====Sanctification (the [[Sanctify (330)|cleric service]])====

Sanctifying unarmed combat gear adds UAF against undead for the first five tiers and negates 5% of their damage resistance per tier if your gear is sanctified (but not blessed). The sixth tier adds a holy fire flare against undead that deals 50-100 health damage and a fire crit.

The first five tiers of Sanctify have dubious value for UC gear (unless you're buying the first tier specifically because of the Kai's Strike situation). The sixth tier of Sanctify, however, is amazing if your monk frequently hunts undead. Holy fire flares are extremely powerful for anyone, but only get better for a spammy combat type like UC. The question is whether you're willing to pay for the first five tiers' minimal value just to get to holy fire.

Sanctifying armor is a much more clear value proposition for monks. The first five tiers improve DS, TD, and, most importantly, [[sheer fear]] protection so you can hunt higher level undead without constantly getting locked in RT. The sixth tier again provides holy fire, but since the flare is armor-based, it'll only trigger for certain combat maneuvers or when the undead hit you.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get the first five tiers on your robes unless you're absolutely certain you'll never have interest in hunting high-level undead. Holy fire isn't a high priority on armor, but does go well with Bearhug and Bull Rush if you want it one day. Unarmed combat gear is the opposite; either commit to seeing through the entire expensive holy fire path or don't bother sanctifying at all. Since UAF matters little, ordinary cleric blessings offer basically the same value as the first five Sanctify tiers for UC (arguably more value since blessings have holy water flares, so people usually stack blessings on top of pre-holy fire Sanctify).

====Weighting and Padding (the [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|warrior service]])====

Crit weighting has more limited value to an unarmed combat monk than most professions or builds because UC itself uses positioning to increase or decrease attack power in ways that can cap the effect of weighting. It's still marginally useful for good positioning (very specifically good positioning). Crit padding is more broadly useful. Either way, neither is useful enough to justify paying warriors unless they're charging less than the automated WPS smithy that comes around every couple of months. (They probably aren't!) Use that instead to bring your robes up to speed.

Like with Mystic Tattoos, the head of dev, Estild, has acknowledged that the warrior service needs improvement at a future date. Maybe hope is on the horizon, but right now this service isn't terribly desirable for most players, monks or otherwise.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

An easy skip unless a friend is providing it for free or something. Use the much more affordable WPS wagon and I'd say going to 5 CER (50 services) is perfectly sufficient due to scaling costs beyond that point and the reduced effect of weighting on UC in general.

====Order of operations in summary====

* Battle Standard up to P3 as soon as possible
* Enchant armor up to +30 relatively quickly
* Ensorcell UC gear to T1 relatively quickly
* Battle Standard up to P5 relatively quickly
* Either Sanctify UC gear all the way to S6 or don't do it at all
* Sanctify armor unless very rarely hunting undead
* Covert Arts Poisoncraft when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Lucky Items when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Slowly enchant UC gear over time
* Padding to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Slowly Ensorcell armor over time
* Weighting to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Resist Nature once hunting post-cap
* Slowly add non-Poisoncraft Covert Arts whenever you need a recharge
* Bloodstone Jewelry if you want it
* Slowly enchant armor past +30 over time, if ever
* Slowly Ensorcell UC gear past T1 over time, if ever
* Mystic Tattoo only if you can't sell yours, but selling it is preferable to fund all of the above
</div><div>

==Super Post-Cap Advancement==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-superpostcap" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Far post-cap and still looking for suggestions? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-superpostcap">

Congratulations, you've got a cap and a half worth of exp--or more! ...now what?

===Ascending Even Further Beyond===

Since it's not relevant to the large majority of players, I've only vaguely talked about monks' advantages with far post-cap experience until now. Most professions need 30 million to 40 million exp, if not more, before they're "done enough" with normal skills that continuing to gain normal experience instead of devoting it all toward [[Ascension]] would stop providing any useful improvements.

Monks, however, can get there at more like 10 to 25 million because their physical skill costs are on par with other squares, but their magical skills are much less expensive.

I did say this guide was for magical monks from 0 to 55,000,000 experience, so what should you do with Ascension Training Points (ATPs)?

The big long-term goal is the Elite Ascension skill [[Transcend Destiny]], which I'll explain shortly, but it's only for players putting in serious hours; even unlocking the ability to learn it requires that you've spent 150 ATPs on Ascension skills in the Common tier first and then Transcend Destiny ranks themselves cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and up to six more ranks of 50 ATPs each.

So whether Transcend Destiny is in your future or not, first we need to evaluate where your initial Common tier ATPs should be spent. Here are the options I like:

'''Common Ascension staples''':

* '''Agility''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, increased evade chance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and +0.75 DS per two ranks. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race.
* '''Brawling''': +2 UAF per rank. I'm not going to knock UAF this time because, once we're talking Ascension, we're talking marginal gains almost no matter what you do. Get it if you like numbers going up!
* '''Combat Maneuvers''': +1 UAF per two ranks and increased maneuver defense every rank (but half as much increase as Agility, so basically the same rate per two ranks).
* '''Dexterity''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, but half as much increase as Agility. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race. For the weapon route, specifically, Dexterity also adds crit weighting.
* '''Dodging''': +0.75 DS (in offensive) per rank and a tiny extra chance of outright evading for more Spin Kicks.
* '''Logic''': +1 TD against CS-based mental spells per two ranks. Because Logic breakpoints increase exp gain at 5 bonus on a node or 7 bonus off a node, reaching 35 Logic bonus is an especially attractive target. Neutral Logic races can reach it with 15 ATPs into Logic because Perfect Self will already have pushed them to 30 Logic bonus.
* '''Porter''' (requires training Strength and/or Physical Fitness first): Encumbrance reduction by 2 pounds per rank. ''Now'' I'll knock UAF again! If we're in the realm of diminishing returns from exp anyway, then Porter is a reasonable low-hanging fruit option for races with lower carrying capacity.
* '''Stamina Regeneration''': If you're firing off mstrikes on cooldown, rotating techniques with katars or Volley, using Surge of Strength on your small race, using Burst of Swiftness on your slow race, or otherwise guzzling stamina, there can come a point where Mind Over Body and Ensorcell no longer enough. If that's you, you'll know when to train this--or just buy stamina regen enhancives and Bloodstone Jewelry.
* '''Strength''': Reduced encumbrance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and the first ten ranks combined of this or Physical Fitness are a prerequisite for Porter. If you go the weapon route, it's also +1 AS per two ranks.

During earlier versions of this guide, I was also open to Aura, Wisdom, and damage resistances, all of which I had trained to varying degrees at some point. However, the release of Transcend Destiny offers superior defensive gains for the cost while also aiding offense! Let's finally delve into the Elite skill!

'''Transcend Destiny is Monks' Everything''':

There's a serious argument that monks are the biggest winners from the release of Transcend Destiny. Each rank acts as though your character is a level higher for the following purposes, where I've highlighted the ones potentially relevant to (magical) monks in green:

* Ambush Damage - Offense and Defense - Up to 5 Ranks
* Automatic Success of Certain Spells
* Casting Strength
* Evade, Block, and Parry - Offense and Defense
* Force on Force
* Hiding - Rogues Only
* Sheer Fear Resistance
* SMR - Offense and Defense
* SSR - Offense and Defense
* Target Defense
* Two-Weapon Combat
* UC - Tier Up Probability

As you can see, almost everything on this list is potentially applicable to monks. Not only that, but I'd argue that usually it's at or near the top end of value ''in'' that application:

* Improving UC tier ups is, naturally, at its best for the profession most built around UC.
* Improving evasion, blocking, and parrying is at its best for either monks or warriors (despite monks not even benefiting from the blocking part). Monks fight in offensive stance and Spin Kick is the best single-target reaction technique in the game by an incredible margin. (Its only competition overall is [[Radial Sweep]], which is an AoE reaction but has a 15-second cooldown.) Furthermore, decreasing the enemy's EBP means improving MM, which is a UC monk's most important offensive combat number.
* Improving SMR offense is at its best on builds who use it for attacking, which monks certainly will. Combat maneuvers like Bearhug or Coup de Grace--or Hamstring if using Edged Weapons--are very good at taking advantage of higher margins with their scaling, but even if you don't use those, even more bread and butter attacks like Twin Hammerfists, Feint, and Spin Kick win huge here.
* Improving TD has extraordinary value to magical monks, giving them potential to ward off spells from semi-style Ascension creatures by stacking Transcend Destiny with the Dragonscale Skin feat, sufficient Transformation lore, and the correct outside spells. I wouldn't go so far to say it's at its best here, which I think goes to pures who become capable of warding off spells from (some) ''pure''-style Ascension creatures, but it's a pretty narrow win.
* Improving SSR is at its best for characters in Voln due to Symbol of Sleep. For reasons explained earlier, monks are mechanically best suited by Voln.
* Sheer fear resistance is at its best for any profession other than clerics, empaths, and paladins (who all get a degree of sheer fear protection from their native spells), which includes monks.
* Improving ambush defense is a benefit I place almost no value on for any profession and build ''except'' magical monks. Others either have plate armor, significantly higher DS, significantly more redux, far superior means to pull creatures out of hiding, or any combination of the above, but monks might actually take hard hits from ambushers (not bandits, but real ambushers like halfling cannibals and kiramon stalkers) if they don't have 105 or more Transformation lore, so defense is valuable.

(The Two Weapon Combat and CS benefits have more niche value to magical monks, but they do ''have'' the occasional spots of value. The auto-success spell benefits don't do terribly much in current Ascension grounds, but that could easily change in the future if enemy buffs like Wall of Force or especially Cloak of Shadows became more prominent and dispelling gained value as a result.)

Can it get any better than monks reaping the rewards of almost every Transcend Destiny benefit? Actually, yes. Yes, it can!

Much like how monks need to spend less normal exp on normal skills before moving on to Common Ascension than other professions and builds, I'd also argue that there's less incentive for them to continue sinking ATPs into Common Ascension (beyond the required 150) before moving on to Elite Ascension than other professions and builds.

As I write this, my ranger and my monk Tarine have very similar amounts of Ascension experience at 18m and 18.9m, respectively, but even though they're both working on maxing Transcend Destiny over the next couple years, Tarine is 2.9 million exp further into that journey because she doesn't have any need to heavily boost her UAF with Common skills while my ranger certainly does value heavily boosting archery AS. Similarly, my bard has about 5.6m more ''total'' Ascension experience than Tarine, but on the specific journey of maxing Transcend Destiny, she's only 2.3m exp ahead; most of the other 3.3m went into Agidex to reach RT thresholds that Tarine didn't need to work for at all because monks have Perfect Self and Burst of Swiftness.

Ultimately, whether you see yourself playing GemStone IV long enough to eventually have a character who you can say reached level 110 or just level 101, monks are your fastest route to that goal. They're simply the most exp-efficient profession in the game.

===Illustrative Post-Cap Snapshots===

Like the earlier snapshots for normal skills, here are illustrations of both of my monks '''far post-cap''' at points where they are or will eventually be. The second column is where I've planned for Saria to end up at the time she never touches normal skills again. This time the table more clearly delineates normal skills and Ascension.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Sariara, 19.88m exp (10.77+9.11)'''||'''Sariara, final normal skills plan'''||'''Tarine, 55.22m exp (23.79+31.43)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||1||50||202
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||202||202||202+10
|-
||'''Edged Weapons'''||0||0||202
|-
||'''Brawling'''||202+10||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||100||190||202
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||303||303||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||303+15||303+15||303+19
|-
||'''Magic Item Use'''||0||0||101
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||40||40||101
|-
||'''Mental Mana Control'''||0||10||25
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||7||25
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||0||15
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Transformation'''||15||101+4||86+19
|-
||'''Survival'''||202||202||202
|-
||'''Perception'''||101||202||202
|-
||'''Climbing'''||60||101||101
|-
||'''Swimming'''||0||101||101
|-
||'''First Aid'''||202||202||202
|-
||'''Trading'''||191||191||202
|-
||'''Ascension Transcend Destiny'''||2||4||10
|}

There are some divergences here, which are mostly down to Tarine having leveled in a different era of GemStone IV.

'''TWC edged weapons''' were for Tarine to blast through Duskruin Arena, where overleveled creatures hindered UC tier up chances and slowed her down. However, in the modern day, Transcend Destiny exists to also "overlevel" yourself and all of the Duskruin activities pay out about as well as the arena does, so there's no particular reason for Saria to pick up Edged Weapons. At most, I can imagine Saria going to 100 Two Weapon Combat for a tiny bit of extra DS over her 50 plan. However, barring some extreme changes to overall gameplay mechanics, 200 TWC simply won't happen--and if that won't, then neither will Edged Weapons.

You might notice that, despite Tarine having over 35 million more exp than Saria--and over 22m in Ascension alone--their '''Brawling''' skill is exactly the same. Like I've said, UAF simply isn't important enough to think about too much! Tarine's advantages are mainly Transcend Destiny (10 ranks vs. 2), lores (Tarine's Iron Skin is at the metal breastplate equivalent while Saria's is still at chain mail for now), and spells (with a 64 CS advantage between spell ranks and Transcend Destiny, Tarine can land Mindwipe or even Vertigo on just about anything while Saria doesn't even know Mindwipe yet and would miss many Ascension creatures with it even if she did know it). Saria does have a redux advantage of 29.23% to 23.68% because of fewer spell ranks, though.

'''Magic Item Use, Harness Power, and mana controls''' are more relics of Tarine coming from a different era. In this case, I'm talking about the time before Transcend Destiny existed and before self-cast minimum spell durations were kicked up to two hours by default. Since I already had these skills trained, there's no point to untraining them, but they're a bit frivolous these days and I wouldn't push them that far on a new monk--like Sariara!

'''Trading'' is also a relic. Saria stopped at 191 because that's the mark where she can max selling ability with Glamour up. Tarine's an elf, so her Influence bonus would let her hang back even further at 176. However, back then, finishing a skill for completionism's sake made more sense since fewer alternatives were competing for your exp.

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' stopping at 190 or 200 (or 202 for completionism) comes down to whether you use mstrikes or techniques, respectively. Techniques are much better with weapons than they are with unarmed combat, so Tarine went to 200 because she has weapons trained and Saria won't because she doesn't.

Finally, regarding that '''Transcend Destiny''' line for clarity's sake... given enough time, Saria will eventually get to 10 Transcend Destiny. What I'm saying is that she's working toward 4 Transcend Destiny now as a reasonable breakpoint, but after that's done, she'll go back and finish Multi-Opponent Combat, Transformation, Two Weapon Combat, Perception, Climbing, Swimming, and a few mana control ranks that she doesn't have now. ''That's'' the point where she'll be done with normal skills forever and commence the 10 Transcend Destiny push.

===Gemstones: Diamonds in the Rough===

[[Gemstones]], powerful artifacts that might take a while to find, are another key component to post-cap progression. Gemstones generate with randomly selected properties, most of which have tiered upgrades. You can find the [[Gemstone Property List]] on the wiki. If you don't like the properties on your Gemstone, you can also reroll it to get new properties within the same category of rarity. Upgrading or rerolling Gemstones has costs in silver and dust, so there are likely to be:

* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and upgrade just the way you found them
* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and reroll until you get a good property combination, then upgrade after you've done that
* Gemstones you'll wish to shatter into dust
* Gemstones you'll wish to sell to or trade with other players willing to pay big for properties that are good for their characters and not so good for yours

====Good Common Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 Bolt AS and 1/1/1/2/3 CS.

The bolt AS is worthless, but the CS is reasonable if and only if you have a high CS build--like an 81 Minor Mental and 20 Minor Spiritual split with Logic boosts from enhancives or Ascension--that can make use of powerful spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe and you want them to hit more reliably.

'''Bold Brawler'''

Your unarmed combat attacks have an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to tier up.

A self-explanatory staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries. More tier ups, faster monster slaying. Easy!

'''Burning Blood'''

When you are dealt a rank 2+ critical strike, your blood combusts in the air. Up to 3 nearby enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they suffer a Heat flare.

Pretty good reactive damage that comes at full power out of the gate. Needing an SMR check does slightly hinder its efficiency against overleveled creatures, but that's offset by the fact that it can go after multiple targets to hit at least one of them. Importantly, note that "a rank 2+ critical strike" refers to a rank 2 critical ''based on a crit table,'' not a rank 2 wound. Usually a rank 2 critical only creates a rank 1 wound; for example, rank 2 [[Slash_critical_table|slash crits]] are always rank 1 wounds unless they hit an eye. In other words, even very light hits can get this going, but just not the absolute lightest hits.

'''Ephemera's Extension'''

The following spells have 20/40/60/80/100% higher duration: 117, 140, 240, 506, 515, 605, 919, 1608, 1619.

Reasonable if you have 40 Minor Spiritual ranks. Monks make better use of Wall of Force than any other profession besides paladins due to monks' combination of inexpensive Harness Power costs, not much to spend that mana on, not being in full plate like warriors (and so valuing the DS more), and lower DS at the highest end of exp than light armored rogues (or light armored warriors, but I don't know any of those other than my own).

'''Ether Flux'''

When you deal 3 types of elemental damage to a creature in under 60 seconds, the creature must make an SMR test or take a standard disruption flare. This cannot occur more than once every minute.

(For clarity, it can occur once ''per creature'' per minute. You can basically consider it once per creature, period. For even more clarity, Ether Flux itself isn't a flare ''chance''; it's described as a flare because it deals a random amount of disruption damage, but it always triggers once you meet the condition.)

Ether Flux has no tiers and comes at full power immediately, which is definitely nice and it's a very good perk ''if'' you can get it going! ...but can you? Even though monks don't innately deal elemental damage, it still might be easier than you think.

Some options for elemental flares include conventional ability slot flares, Battle Standards of applicable Arkati or spirits, certain Gemstone properties like Blood Boil or Infusion or Thorns, holy fire or holy water when hunting undead, or script flares of elemental types. That's already up to seven sources of elemental flares and I'm not describing anything too wildly out of the way or anything that's very expensive by post-cap standards. The most expensive of those would be buying flare type changes for Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons.

Whether you're mstriking or using Fury, monks fire off a lot of attacks, so with a decent base of varied flare types, the odds can stack up to force a lot of Ether Flux triggers through! However, if you don't have that decent base, I wouldn't go out of my way working up to it just because you find an Ether Flux. This is a very solid B or maybe B+ common, but it's no Bold Brawler, Flare Resonance, Stamina Prism, or Storm of Rage.

'''Flare Resonance'''

Your attacks have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to gain flare affinity.

Assuming you have flares on your handwear and your footwear (and if you don't, then you should!), this is another staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries.

[[Flare Affinity]] basically supercharges your flares to hit substantially harder--and, for that matter, more often! Flare Affinity is normally only obtainable by adding a [[Combat Flourish]] to your weapon at Duskruin for 400k bloodscrip--and many people do pay that gladly, which gives you an idea of its power. (If you ''are'' someone who already has the Flare Affinity flourish, you wouldn't want this property since they don't stack.) The Flare Resonance property only adds Flare Affinity 20% of the time, but it does go on your character instead of your gear, so getting the 100% equivalent on a monk's handwear ''and'' footwear would cost 800k bloodscrip.

In short, get more flares and make them spend less time poking and more time killing.

'''Force of Will'''

You shake off all of the following debilitating effects: calmed, confused, demoralized, horrified, immobile, rooted, slowed, stunned, sympathetic, terrified, webbed. Cooldown: 24/18/12/6/1 hour(s).

This can save you from almost any situation once per hour when fully upgraded. If you really hate dying, this is the property for you! Alternatively, if you find it on a Gemstone with at least one other property that's good for somebody else but isn't good for you, you can try to sell it for a good chunk of silver since solo hunters of almost every profession like Force of Will for general purposes. (The exceptions are bards, who can already get rid of almost all of these conditions with their own [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]], and maybe clerics, who can just [[Miracle (350)|Miracle]] resurrect themselves one to three times per day if they die.)

'''Journeyman Tactician'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 AS and 1/1/1/2/3 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

The UAF boost is fairly immaterial for all the reasons you know by now about UAF, but the maneuver boost makes for an acceptable placeholder for most monks to use while looking for better Gemstones in the long run. That said, I wouldn't recommend upgrading it except possibly on a monk who makes very heavy use of extremely endroll-dependent attacks like Spin Kick or Bearhug.

'''Mephitic Brume'''

When you are attacked by a creature, you have a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to release a noxious cloud. Up to three enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they become Dazed and Disengaged.

Quite useful for buying time with crowd control. There's not much else to say, but it's a good property for survival! Be sure it fits with your RP, though, since it's sort of gross.

'''Stamina Prism'''

Your passive stamina regeneration is increased by 5/10/15/20/25%.

This might be the highest ceiling Gemstone property of all for monks. It's easy to underrate the value for monks because most of them never out of stamina anyway because they already have Mind Over Body for at least 20% stamina cost reduction. However, the reason they don't run out of stamina is because they do manage it to an extent. For example, a monk might use mstrikes when they're off cooldown and Ki Focus when the mstrikes ''are'' on cooldown, thus basically only using stamina for the latter. However, if you started stacking on enhancives, Ascension, and Stamina Prism to start recovering 50-90% of your stamina every minute instead of the ~25% that 3x Physical Fitness gets you to on its own, you could add Ki Focus when mstriking, add qstrikes when not mstriking, and ''still'' not run out of stamina.

In other words, you can think of Stamina Prism as opening up entirely new combat options by indirectly reducing RT. This does require getting additional stamina regen benefits, but you can be even more of a whirlwind in battle if you build for it!

'''Storm of Rage'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5% damage factor for each kill. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect falls off after 30 seconds without making a kill. This applies to all DFs, including bolts.

If you'll battle just about any creature in your preferred hunting ground and it's a fairly swarmy place, this is an extraordinary property since you'll have the boost going constantly. UC monks or weapon monks will both love this property! Even if you're picky about which creatures you battle or if you hunt a slower area, it's still excellent. The only other thing is to consider is that it's a top tier common for virtually every build of virtually every profession--any weapon user, any UC build, any magical bolter--and so people are likely to pay very well for it if you'd rather have the silvers!

'''Taste of Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor.

Mini Storm of Rage, except you always have the boost even if you're in the slowest of areas or if you're selectively hunting a single creature type for your bounty. The small defensive penalty has very little impact on a monk with high redux monk or high Transformation lore--and you'll almost definitely have at least one of those.

'''Twist the Knife'''

You gain 2/4/6/8/10% damage factor against targets afflicted with major bleed. When your warding spells are successful, the endroll is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 if the target is afflicted with major bleed.

If you're using Hamstring or have the Slashing Strikes buff from Flurry active (or are hunting with partners who do those things), this is excellent. If not, it isn't.

====Good Rare Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Anointed Defender'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Defensive Strength and 3/4/4/5/6 Target Defense.

Helps shore up a primary monk weakness of TD and the extra DS is reasonably helpful too. Not necessarily worth using one of your rare slots on over the long haul, but it depends on your tolerance for death. Don't use this if you go the Kroderine Soul route.

'''Blood Boil'''

Your attacks have a standard flare chance to boil the targets blood, dealing 20% of target's current health, up to 100, per tick for 5 ticks (2 second interval). This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once per minute. Activate to cause this ability to trigger on your next attack. Activation Cooldown: 1 min.

A high quality Gemstone property for almost every monk since flares are always great for UC due to the high volume of attacks. That said, Blood Boil flares are a bit quirky; they can't outright kill things like normal flares, nor can you land several of them on the same creature. Still, the sheer health damage done will frequently exceed more conventional flares unless the creature is already very weakened. A possibly bigger obstacle is that Blood Boil, of course, only works on creatures with blood! That won't be an obstacle in most hunting grounds, but if you try to exclusively hunt undead who have no blood (most undead by far don't; a few do), this wouldn't be the property for you.

'''Defensive Duelist'''

When an enemy directs a melee attack at you, you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to intercept the attack and take no damage. The enemy must make an SMR test. On a failure, the enemy is disarmed, if applicable, and suffers roundtime.

Despite having some anti-synergy with Spin Kick, it's very hard to ignore the value of a universal 5% chance to avoid and (to an extent) counter AS attacks. All else being equal, it ''is'' better to not get hit as often as possible than to Spin Kick as often as possible. (Maybe not more fun, though!)

'''Greater Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Bolt AS and 3/4/4/5/6 CS.

Like its common counterpart except twice as good, this is a strong boost to make Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe if you're one of the rare monks who uses CS spells in combat.

'''Infusion of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] after attacking an enemy.

Top notch rare Gemstone property that every monk should want. As always, the higher volume of attacks per second, the better flares get! Simple, clean power. (Before you get any ideas, if we could have three Infusion properties active, then that's exactly what I'd recommend, but they're mutually exclusive.)

'''Master Tactician'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 AS and 3/4/4/5/6 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

Journeyman Tactician, but twice as good. Like its common counterpart, the UAF boost isn't noteworthy for a UC monk (it is good for a weapon monk, though!), but if you make heavy use of SMR attacks, I think it can be a reasonable long-term property for you. If not, I'd either sell it to someone willing to pay top silvers or reroll until you get a better rare property.

'''Serendipitous Hex'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare rate chance to cast an additional disabler spell, including Bind, Blind, Cold Snap, Confusion, Limb Disruption, Mystic Impedance, Power Sink, Sleep, Sounds, or Vertigo. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you cast a lot of single-target spells in combat, this might be the strongest rare Gemstone property you could find. That's an enormous if for a monk, though! Monks with incredible handwear are probably still better off sticking to Twin Hammerfists as their opening disabler or even just starting with Fury or an mstrike in the first place. However, if you're looking to be an even more magical monk than mine by regularly slinging around Web, Force Projection, Thought Lash, and other spells, this is the definitive property for you. And if you find a certain legendary property I'll cover shortly, you might consider working your entire build around it...

'''Strong Back'''

Your encumbrance thresholds are increased by 15/20/25/30/35 pounds.

A reasonable option for lighter races. It's not necessarily going to help with the newer and bigger boxes of 2026 on, but can help with the lower end loot like solid moonstone cubes or wands that add up when you're tiny. Definitely not a flashy property, but monks are more heavily punished by encumbrance than most professions due to its effect on their primary source of DS, Evade DS, and this is a solution to at least part of that!

'''Tethered Strike'''

Your offensive spells and weapon attacks no longer trigger creatures' innate abilities to outright avoid incoming attacks, such as Ithzir vanishing, warg avoidance, and myling fading.

From reading the description of what it does, you already know based on what you hunt whether this is a slam dunk to use or a slam dunk to sell to someone ''else'' for whom it's a slam dunk to use!

'''Thirst for Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor.

Twice as strong as its already very powerful common counterpart, Taste of Brutality... or is it? The common version's 5% penalty when taking hits is negligible, but a 10% penalty isn't as easily dismissed. Still, the increased DF is fantastic, so I'd say you should consider your options with this one. If you have high redux ''and'' high Transformation lore, get it, love it, and upgrade it all the way. If you only have one of those, then you could simply treat it like Taste of Brutality by leaving it un-upgraded. 6% on both ends with no upgrades is comparable to the fully upgraded Taste of Brutality's 5%, after all, and nothing says you have to upgrade it at any point, never mind right away.

====Good Legendary Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Mirror Image'''

When you attack a creature, you have a 10% chance to create a mirror image of yourself that will replicate the attack. When you are attacked by a creature, there is a 10% chance that a mirror image of you will appear and take the blow instead.

Pretty easily the most powerful legendary property for monks of just about any kind, albeit not as flashy and over-the-top as others. It's actually difficult to even sell you on this because it's so straightforward that I shouldn't have to. It's a 10% double attack chance on every attack!

If you're playing the long game, I say get this one at all costs. However, if you happen to find a different legendary that's also solid for monks and don't want to let perfect be the enemy of good, below are some other reasonable options...

'''Mystic Impulse'''

After hitting an enemy with a weapon attack or an unarmed strike, you have a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to gain Mystic Momentum for 60 seconds. Your next spell cast under the effects of Mystic Momentum incurs no mana cost and gains +50 Attack Strength and +30 Casting Strength.

Hear me out. This is a very, very specific niche, but it's incredible within that niche, which is that you're a high CS build, you prefer going into rooms with multiple creatures, you cast AoE spells like Vertigo or Mindwipe once per group of creatures, and you rarely casts spells otherwise.

If all of that's true, then this is basically a gigantic +30 CS buff. The 10% activation rate with your high volume of attacks means that, after defeating one room of creatures, you'll basically always have the Mystic Impulse buff active to disable or debuff the next room of creatures before you unleash havoc on them.

'''Stolen Power'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare chance to trigger an SMR roll against the target. On a failure, the target is inflicted with a random attack spell that cannot be warded off. Spells include Blood Burst, Bone Shatter, Dark Catalyst, Disintegrate, Divine Fury, Immolation, Pain, Repentance, Thought Lash, and Wither. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you're running the Serendipitous Hex build, run this too and your spells will be insane. If you find this legendary property and you ''aren't'' running the Serendipitous Hex build, then I'd honestly consider changing your mind and trying to get both of those to line up. The strength of your spells skyrockets when they can be up to three spells in one.

Also, with Serendipitous Hex, I gave the caveat that exceptional handwear could still make Twin Hammerfists beat out spells like Force Projection or Web as an opener. With Stolen Power, Twin Hammerfists would still be more reliable and better for one-on-one combat, but the sheer strength of Stolen Power's effect and the ability to use it from guarded stance creates a versatile, powerful use case when fighting two or more creatures at once. (And that's with Stolen Power alone! Again, someone who manages to get it and Serendipitous Hex onto the same build is really going hard.)

'''Thorns of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] when an enemy targets you with an attack, whether or not the attack hits.

Great general purpose power for any solo hunter (of any profession, not just monks). Basically randomly kills things for you just by standing in the same general vicinity when they attack you!

'''Witchhunter's Ascendancy'''

You enter a heightened state for 30 seconds. During this state, you gain Attack Strength equal to 50% of the Defensive Strength of spells on all creatures in the room, up to a maximum of 100. Additionally, all of your attacks have guaranteed dispel flares. Cooldown: 3 min.

The AS/UAF boost is, as always, borderline immaterial unless you're a weapon-wielding monk. 30 seconds of dispel flares on every attack, however, is a rush of power and joy that works well with the free jabs in your mstrikes! Unlike traditional dispel flares, these are post-resolution, so they're slightly less reliable. However, UC monks tend to have no trouble making their attacks land.

====Leafi's Wild Dream Scenario Gemstone Endgames====

By design, getting the exact perfect setup is mathematically almost impossible since Gemstones are meant to keep people going for years to come. Still, it's fun to dream, so here are some hypothetical ideal layouts!

Note that you can have at most one legendary property and three rare properties. Common properties are a bit different; you can technically have up to ten, but each common beyond three would be competing with a rare instead and going up to ten common properties would also exclude you from having a legendary.

'''Traditional Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 1 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# ''(Blood Boil)'' (rare 2 of 3)
# ''(Thirst for Brutality)'' (rare 3 of 3)
# Force of Will (common 5 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 6 of 7)
# Journeyman Tactician if using Thirst for Brutality, otherwise Taste of Brutality (common 7 of 7)

Blood Boil and Thirst of Brutality are parenthetical and italicized because they're slightly conditional picks. For general purposes, that's what I'd go with, but specific hunting ground choices or even gear can change everything. Blood Boil might be useless if you primarily hunt undead without blood. Tethered Strike, not listed, might be superior to either Blood Boil or Thirst of Brutality if you regularly hunt evasive creatures. Anointed Defender, also not listed, could be the way to go if you've managed your gear and training in such a way that the TD boost can push you just out of range of dangerous CS attacks.

'''Very Magic-Heavy Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# ''(Serendipitous Hex)'' (rare 1 of 3)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 2 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Greater Arcane Intensity (rare 3 of 3)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# Arcane Intensity (common 5 of 7)
# Taste of Brutality (common 6 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 7 of 7)

This has enough overlap that you might think they're the same picture, but the subtle differences add up to large ones. This Gemstone setup assumes a high CS monk, then Greater Arcane Intensity and Arcane Intensity push CS even higher. That means that Vertigo and Mindwipe land more consistently, which means that creatures are disabled more often, which means Force of Will shouldn't be as necessary. It also means that your MM will be higher, which means I wouldn't even think about Journeyman Tactician. Conversely, Taste of Brutality claims a solid place because its rare counterpart has been traded off to secure Greater Arcane Intensity and maybe Serendipitous Hex.

Speaking of Serendipitous Hex, even though I ranked it highly, it gets the parenthetical italics treatment because I only recommend it if you're regularly casting Web! It doesn't trigger with Vertigo or Mindwipe, so if those are your go-tos, then bring in some other top end rare like Blood Boil, Tethered Strike, or Thirst for Brutality. (Unlike the traditional monk, the magic-heavy monk doesn't risk as much from the double DF hit of using Taste and Thirst simultaneously because their more consistent disablers will keep enemies contained. Still, just in case of the worst, ''definitely'' use Ephemera's Extension over Ether Flux if you go the double Brutality route!)
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==Odds and Ends==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-oddsandends" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Can I interest you in the weirdest inner workings of my mind re: monks, plus other miscellaneous topics not yet covered? If so, click here!</div>
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As we draw close to the end, I'll cover miscellaneous topics like off-the-beaten-path things monks can do and obscure advantages they have that you might not have thought about.

===Monk Magic After Dark===

...wait, I can't write about that on the wiki! Moving on.

===Trade Secrets of the Sneaky Monk Merchants===

I'm one of the bigger advocates of training [[Trading]] in the GS community, but even more so for monks than others!

Monks have easier and more universal means to make more silvers per item sold than any other profession--and they can do it almost anywhere in Elanthia.

Except for [[Mist Harbor]] and [[Kraken's Fall]], every town's NPC shops will pay +5% extra silver to at least one race when players sell. ([[Trading#Trading_chart|See the chart of favored races here!]])

Monks have a '''secret weapon''' in the profit war: '''[[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]]'''!

Even monks who live in a geographic region where their race can't get a bonus can configure their Shroud profile to appear as another race and get the bonus anyway! It's that easy!

But wait, it gets better! Monks also have ''[[Glamour (1205)|Glamour]]''', which gives an enhancive boost of 20 Trading ranks or 50 Trading skill, whichever is lower. (50 Trading skill will be lower before you have 20 Trading ranks on your own.)

What does Trading do, though?

You get an extra 1% silver for every combined 12 bonus between Influence and Trading bonus. That's ''bonus'', not ranks! So, for example, if you had 44 Trading ranks, which is 144 Trading bonus, you'd make 12% more silver for selling items than if you had 0 Trading ranks. Shroud of Deception takes that 12% to 17%, then Glamour takes that 17% to 18%--and, actually, 8/12ths of the way to 19%. If you took my advice and set Influence high from the start, Influence will also get you to 19% if not 20%!

This is a big part of how Sariara made 2,509,473 million silver within a week of existing. By now she's existed for four weeks and a day and is up to 23,108,060 silver, only 1,500,000 of which came from selling a Mystic Tattoo.

Some general tips on early silvers:

* Don't hunt overcrowded Landing areas, but find the rich lower level creatures. There are plenty of them because characters don't stay low level for long, so hunting pressure is low. (For more on hunting pressure, see the [[treasure system]] page and [[Treasure_system/saved_posts|saved posts subpage]].)
* Take advantage of Glamour and Shroud of Deception to get a percentage boost to these rich creatures' already valuable loot. Reap the reward of being a monk!
* Between level 0 and 19, when skills migrate near instantly, max out Trading every time you're about to sell things.
* Between level 0 and 19, push First Aid and Survival up when you're out hunting so you can get value from skinning. Unlearn them afterward so you can...
* Between level 5 and 19, learn Glamour and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* Between level 12 and 19, learn Shroud of Deception and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* For your final level 19.9 build, as you're forced to commit to your skills, have at least 20 ranks of Trading and know at least your first 12 Minor Mental spells.

Yes, this is what I did. I got to see delightful lines in my SKILL command like:

You started this migration period on Saturday, 5/25/2024 at 01:55:18 EDT. You have 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes remaining in your current 30 day migration period.

You're currently migrating at a rate of .001 skill points per pulse, and '''have converted 25580.00 training points this migration period.'''

Even if you don't go to this extreme, though, monks are the game's best at selling to NPC merchants. At the low end, monks skyrocket toward high sales value. At the high end in the post-cap world, monks reach the maximum sale bonus in almost every town.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

"Maximum sale bonus" is 28% from Trading and Influence plus another 5% from race bonus. To be clear, the max bonus is 33%, but only sort of; the two bonuses are treated separately. For example, if you're an elf monk selling in Solhaven (no bonus), you can't just pump your Trading and Influence so high that you'd make 33% from that alone; it's capped at 28% and the other 5% ''has to'' come from Shroud of Deception.

My monk Tarine was the key to my figuring this out. Noticing that Glamour no longer made a difference post-cap with max Trading led me down the rabbit trail of investigating why! I found the Trading and Influence hard cap, then the total hard cap counting race bonus, then isolated that they were separate things.
</blockquote>

===When Robes Aren't Robes: Alterations===

For simplicity, I've been talking about "robes" throughout this guide because that's the conventional name for that [[armor]] type.

However, robes don't have to remain robes at all; they have the same leeway for alterations as other chest-worn clothing! Here are examples of post-alteration "robes" that my various characters (monks or otherwise) have worn or that I plan to create:

* An airy white starsilk sundress sporting an asymmetrical knee-length skirt
* A sleeveless lily white tunic with a jet black silk sash
* A knee-length midnight blue silk dress aglisten with a constellation of stars
* A sleeveless white tunic splashed with an autumn-hued music motif
* A sleeveless white starsilk tunic spangled with sunset orange musical notes
* A midnight black silk tunic marked with a silver eight-pointed star
* A sleeveless sunlight gold tunic accented by bright white edges
* A royal purple starsilk tunic featuring an embroidered silver rose
* A sleeveless emerald green dress showcasing a heart-framed pink sapphire fairy centerpiece (this one cheats; it has the [[Joola_items|Joola]] fluff script, so it can break character limits)
* A snowy off-shoulder dress sporting white pearl accents along a wavy aqua skirt (also a Joola)
* A thigh-slit scarlet starsilk dress accented by ivory edges
* A sleeveless white kimono featuring golden star embroidery
* A ribbon-sashed cherry red elesine blouse with vanilla-hued ruffled sleeves
* A sleeveless gold feather-patterned tunic tied at the waist

Mine are mostly feminine designs, but even for a masculine character, you can turn your robes into shirts, vests, jackets, and more. Get your creativity on!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Likewise, unarmed combat footwear isn't limited to boots or footwraps. Have a merchant make you shoes, sandals, slippers, flats, moccasins, or anything else you like and wear them into battle!
</blockquote>

===Hunting Partner Tactics and Synergy===

Who do monks team up well with for group hunts and why? Let's explore!

* '''Warriors''' have [[Carn's Cry]], an AoE immobilizer that's enormously helpful for the two things UC monks like most: increasing their MM and reducing enemies' UDF. In turn, warriors love monks' Mind Over Body stamina cost reduction, the best group buff they can get other than bards' [[Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] (which will probably be nerfed one day).
* '''Rogues''' have [[Subdue]] as a single-target immobilizer and love stamina cost reduction. Stealth can make grouping somewhat awkward for most professions, but monks don't necessarily mind being targeted more often since it offers more Spin Kick opportunities.
* '''A monk duo''' can keep up both Mind Over Body and Focus Barrier, but otherwise doesn't have any particular synergy.
* '''Paladins''' can give their monk partners extra flares via their [[Fervor (1618)|Fervor]] aura and reduce enemy UDF via [[Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] or even simply connecting with [[Judgment (1630)|Judgment]], both being AoE spells. Paladins can make good use of Mind Over Body or Focus Barrier alike; they use stamina, but don't have as much redux as warriors and rogues nor as much DS as them, so a boost can really help.
* '''Rangers''' have [[Moonbeam (611)|Moonbeam]] as a single-target immobilizer, among various other disablers. Two Weapon Combat rangers should like Focus Barrier and Sunfist rangers should like Mind Over Body, but monks don't offer much to rangers otherwise.
* '''Bards''' can make a monk's attacks even faster, at least for now, since Song of Tonis is the game's best group buff. 1 second kicks are a wild thing! Monks offer Focus Barrier in return, shoring up the typical bard weakness of defense.
* '''Wizards''' possess myriad AoE abilities, whether disablers or attacks, that monks can follow up on with increased MM and decreased enemy UDF. Focus Barrier helps wizards at least somewhat, but they're already pretty durable as casters go. Monks simply being present as an additional target to split up enemies' attacks is helpful to wizards and all casters.
* '''Empaths''' are near-universally welcome hunting partners for all professions with their healing. [[Adrenal Surge (1107)|Adrenal Surge]] also gives monks more leeway to go ham with mstrikes on cooldown without risking being too punished. [[Bind (214)|Bind]] can immobilize at lower levels, but becomes less reliable later. [[Web (118)|Web]] is a more consistently reliable disabler. Monks' Focus Barrier can be good for situations when an empath gets stanced down. Monks being an extra body helps. An empath's [[Mass Interference (217)|Mass Interference]] setting up a monk's Vertigo isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but it's not an amazing one either.
* '''Clerics''' have [[Censure (316)|Censure]] as an AoE immobilizer and [[Warding Sphere (310)|Warding Sphere]] as a group TD buff (and DS), so they help monks on offensive and defensive fronts alike. If enemy TD is too high for Censure, Web works as an alternative. Focus Barrier is somewhat less helpful to clerics than empaths since getting stanced down is less likely due to [[Soul Ward (319)|Soul Ward]], but it's still there when needed. Having a hunting partner's extra body is even more helpful to clerics than most professions because creatures usually need to focus fire on a cleric at least twice to get through Soul Ward, but the odds of that happening fall from 100% to 25% even in only a duo.
* '''Sorcerers''' have [[Grasp of the Grave (709)|Grasp of the Grave]] as an AoE disabler, though it doesn't help monks as most other professions' disablers. On the other side, Focus Barrier is arguably more helpful to them than to other pures since wizards have more DS, empaths have more Physical Fitness (and so are less likely to be stanced down) and can heal when they do get, and clerics have Soul Ward.

Nearly regardless of team composition, your monk training '''Coup de Grace''' and '''Side by Side''' (which also requires two ranks of '''Combat Movement''') can be helpful to groups.

===The Weapon-Wielding Melee Monk===

Let's talk more about Martial Mastery, the level 0 feat. Although monks have access, it was primarily invented for warriors and rogues as an alternative to learning [[Elemental Targeting (425)|Elemental Targeting]], a Minor Elemental spell that increases AS.

Far enough post-cap, magical warriors or magical rogues have the same AS ceiling as their non-magical counterparts. (Their non-magical counterparts do get there millions of experience points sooner while the magical ones have more DS and TD, but that's outside the scope of this guide...) Monks, on the other hand, don't have Elemental Targeting, so a monk maximizing Martial Mastery can have up to 50 more AS and UAF than a monk ''not'' maximizing it! Of course, UAF doesn't matter nearly as much as AS and the entire monk profession is built around unarmed combat. So I ask:

Is there merit to a weapon-wielding, AS-based monk?

Before I explore it, I'll repeat that I think people should make whatever kind of character they find fun and that I personally like wacky builds. However, I'm not convinced that a melee monk even ''is'' a wacky build. When people consider making a melee-only character who isn't stealth-based, a warrior is probably their first thought, but let's seriously compare these options.

'''The Training Cost Factor''':

I'll use my (first) monk and warrior for the sake of illustration since they're both elves. At level 50, my warrior had a total pool of 2568 PTPs and 2242 MTPs while my monk had a total pool of 2319 PTPs and 2259 MTPs. You might think the warrior is hugely ahead, but no, not at all. I could show you paragraphs upon paragraphs of math I wrote, but let's just cut to the chase.

Let's say my monk and warrior had both done dual katar builds that shared nearly identical core training. 2x Brawling, 2x Edged Weapons, 1x Thrown Weapons (to buff up Martial Mastery), 2x Two Weapon Combat, 2x Combat Maneuvers, 2x Physical Fitness, 50 Multi-Opponent Combat, and 1x Perception were all in common.

From there, my warrior took 70 Armor Use to get metal breastplate, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. My monk learned Iron Skin, took 30 Transformation to buff up Iron Skin, and took 10 Harness Power, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. Their skills would be identical in most ways, but here's where they'd differ:

* Monk in robes that act like chain mail: 153 ranks of Dodging and 102 MTPs spare
* Warrior in metal breastplate: 109 ranks of Dodging and 21 MTPs spare

I'm not going to claim that my monk would basically just be better; there are too many factors to say that. Warriors have their guild skills. Monks have Perfect Self. Warriors have a higher parry chance because of [[Combat Mastery|their level 40 feat]]. Monks have a higher evade chance because of ''their'' level 40 feat. Warriors have [[Whirling Dervish]]. Monks have more DS, at least at this stage of the game. Warriors have [[Weapon Specialization]]. Monks have Burst of Swiftness. Warriors have [[Weapon Bonding]].

My point is that a melee monk is even ''comparable''--better in some ways and worse in others--to a warrior with the exact same build despite ignoring so much of what the monk skillset is tailored toward.

'''The Mental Acuity Possibility''':

What if you learned Mental Acuity even without Kroderine Soul? My above training cost example illustrated my monk stopping at two Minor Mental spells for Iron Skin, but another alternative (though this would be during later levels) would be taking Mental Acuity to retain access to the first 20 Minor Mental spells and still even allowing room for Spirit Warding I and Spirit Defense. (If you were okay with Martial Mastery capping out at +45 AS instead of 50, you could even learn Spirit Warding II!)

The hypothetical Martial Mastery and Mental Acuity monk has almost the same AS as a Martial Mastery warrior, but her spells would pull her far ahead in DS while keeping all the silver selling benefits of Glamour and Shroud of Deception, plus saving tons of stamina via Mind Over Body. The tradeoff is making spelling up more of a hassle, but that might be worth the payoff of having a light armored warrior-like character whose combat maneuvers and weapon techniques have 35% stamina cost reduction!

'''Doubly Perfect Self''':

As great as Perfect Self is for unarmed combat, it's arguably even better for a melee monk. For UC purposes, it's mainly RT reduction for your mstrikes or your singular assault technique, Fury. For a katar monk, on the other hand, you're getting AS--more useful than UAF--and RT reduction for ''two'' types of assault techniques: Brawling's Fury and Edged Weapons' Flurry. Rotating weapon techniques to work around cooldowns is a very powerful thing available for hybrid weapons like katars! This can eat a lot of stamina on a warrior or rogue, but monks don't sweat it as much due to Mind Over Body.

'''Specializations and Katars''':

The Grapple, Kick, and Punch Specialization bonuses for their respective techniques ''do'' still apply even if you're using a brawling weapon instead of unarmed combat!

Grapple Specialization-powered Fury knocking foes down and dealing grapple damage is probably still the most powerful of these effects, letting you skip knockdown setups for your staple assault technique. Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick is probably still the most fun of these effects, letting you fire off powerful maneuvers every so often or occasionally rip through rooms while RT locked.

Ironically, if there's anywhere that I even sort of like Punch Specialization-powered Clash, it's on a weapon-wielding monk. For unarmed combat, Clash is noticeably weaker than unfocused mstrikes. For weapon combat, however, Clash without Punch Specialization has the same power as an unfocused mstrike and Clash ''with'' Punch Specialization has a 25% chance of minor impact damage against each target. That said, the Grapple and Kick benefits for Fury and Spin Kick are 100% instead of 25%, so I still think they win out. Punch at least becomes a more serious contender, though, especially if you're regularly hunting things like bandits, pirates, warcamps, or areas that swarm.

Before I close out this section, katars are the only great brawling weapon and are a hybrid weapon that requires Edged Weapons ranks. Monks do train both skills cheaply, but maxing both does have an opportunity cost, especially early on. If you can only train one weapon type, I'd make it Edged Weapons instead of Brawling. The Edged assault technique, [[Flurry]], gives you a [[Slashing Strikes]] buff that adds slash flares to your edged weapon attacks for the next two minutes. It's also much easier to find great edged weapons for sale from other players--and often even pay event shops--than great brawling weapons.

If you're really set on a brawling-only weapon at first, then the ones I think are at least reasonable relative to their minimum RT are cestuses (good against cloth, leather, and scale), tiger-claws (good against cloth, leather, and scale), yierka-spurs (good against cloth and chain and at least dagger-powered against plate for the same RT), and fist-scythes (good against cloth, scale, and chain, and at least short sword-powered against plate for the same RT).

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If or when you train for katars, take full advantage of them being hybrid weapons. Flurry and Fury have separate cooldowns. [[Whirling Blade]] (the Edged AoE technique) and Clash have separate cooldowns. Since at least one of these four techniques will be off cooldown much more often than not, you can go into a wild frenzy with a monk's stamina cost reduction from Mind Over Body.
</blockquote>

'''Conclusion''':

Ironically, I wrote the above Mental Acuity subsection mostly to acknowledge that it's a possibility even while thinking nobody would do it without Kroderine Soul. I just like to encourage weird builds in most professions, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Instead, after considering all the math and angles I did while writing this, it's made such a strong case for a bizarrely appealing build that I've talked myself into trying it with Sariara at some point, even if I end up fixskilling out of it later, just to see how it goes. My mind's swirling and it seems clear that the melee monk is a very, very real idea that's gone unexplored because it's not an intuitive or obvious idea from a glance over the monk skillset.
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==Infrequently Asked (or Imagined) Questions==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-faq" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering about some weird corner case I somehow never touched on? Ask me on Discord or in the game. To see what weird corner cases other people have asked about, click here!</div>
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This final section covers any random topics that people have asked me or that I can ''imagine'' them asking me if I feel that they're worth answering in this guide, but not worth a full tip or sidebar of their own.

* Things actually asked are red.
* Things I imagine people should ask are pink.
* Things that are both red and pink come from comments I got that weren't originally questions, but I've reframed them into questions because they're worth discussing.

'''Does enchanting UC handwear and footwear help with DS?'''

No on footwear. Yes on handwear, but each +1 enchant only grants 0.1 DS in offensive stance and 0.35 DS in defensive. Work on your armor if you want more DS!

'''Why do you rank half-krolvin monks so low? Flimbo's Guide and the [[Comprehensive Monk Guide]] really like them!'''

Flimbo's guide likes half-krolvin monks because Perfect Self normalizes their Logic penalty and they have "solid physical stats with which to punch things quite well." I agree that Perfect Self fixes something that scares some players away from half-krolvin. I even kind of agree that if you're set on playing a half-krolvin, then a monk should be among your top considerations for a profession. Still, I'd rather have a race without a Logic penalty to begin with! Exp-wise, that Logic penalty is less important than it used to be if you're paying for Temple of Lumnis donations or Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage, but it's still a penalty. The impact on Vertigo and Mindwipe also isn't negligible. (This is, after all, the Autumnwinds' ''magical'' monk guide, not the Kroderine Soul monk guide.)

Another point I agree with Flimbo on is that half-krolvin have solid physical stats with which to ''punch'' things quite well. However, I'd rather have a faster Agidex race who has solid physical stats with which to also ''kick'' things quite well, meaning minimum RT for mstrike kick!

The comprehensive guide likes half-krolvin monks because of UAF and heavy crit padding against cold damage. The math says UAF doesn't matter! (Okay, fine, ''technically'' the math says UAF matters... fractionally.)

Cold damage protection has some appeal if you're specifically leveling in Icemule, but monks also have meditation resistance, so, in effect, being a half-krolvin there opens up meditating to resist a different damage type. However, the outdoor environs around Icemule run out of creatures after the early 50s, so should you pick a race just for that?

The Hinterwilds ''are'' a post-cap option that also features cold damage, but that hunting ground has built-in means to protect any race from cold damage. Also, by that point, unless you've exclusively been hunting the most dirt poor areas in the game, you could also have picked up a ranger resistance trinket with all the silver you'll have made from Glamour, Shroud of Deception, selling your Mystic Tattoos, and needing little to nothing in the way of gear upgrades by virtue of being a monk.

Like I said, any race can do well as a monk. I'm not down on half-krolvin, exactly, but I'd rather truly excel at ''something'' than be a generalist. Play a half-krolvin if you like their excellent verbs, though!

'''Should I train Ambush?'''

The short answer is no. Now for the long, fun answer!

Flimbo's Guide and the Comprehensive Monk Guide suggested Ambush at high levels, but back then, players had no visibility into the aiming formula. Community knowledge and game mechanics alike have changed a great deal since then. Not only should you probably not train Ambush, but if you ''did,'' it would be most efficacious around the midgame and face diminishing returns to the point of very realistically doing literally nothing at cap depending on your training.

In May 2021, former GM Naijin revealed the aiming formula, which, until then, had been a mystery that players tried to estimate via self-discovery. [[Aim#Aiming_Formula:_Melee_and_Hurling|You can find it recorded here]] and read for full details, but we learned that:

* Enemy level has no effect on (non-stealth) aimed attacks (this was a shocking revelation!)
* Knocking creatures down helps (I don't remember if we'd known this or not)
* Combat Maneuvers bonus is as important as Ambush bonus (we knew CM helped, but we underestimated how much)
* The combination of CM bonus, Dexterity bonus, and Intuition bonus alone suffices to eventually max out aiming success

<blockquote>
'''Intuition Sidebar!'''

Even if you've tanked Intuition instead of Discipline, almost every combination of UC attack and race reaches the maximum 95% aiming success rate for hitting heads of prone foes. The only exceptions are kicks (only kicks) used by erithians or giants, which still have a 94% and 92% chance. On the flip side, halflings have such overflowing success because of their absurd natural Dexterity and Intuition bonuses that they can tank Intuition and still max aiming success rate against the heads of even ''standing'' foes. Of course, they need Acrobat's Leap for that.
</blockquote>

To be more precise, every 4 CM bonus, 4 Ambush bonus, 2 Dexterity bonus, or 4 Intuition bonus increases your likelihood of hitting the right body part by 1%. 24 Ambush ranks (102 bonus) used to be what players had figured out as a reasonable stopping point, so let's use that in an example.

With 24 Ambush, 40 Combat Maneuvers (140 bonus), 15 Dexterity, and 10 Intuition, you'd have a 69%, 64%, or 61% chance to respectively punch, grapple, or kick the head of a prone creature. Aiming adds extra RT, so, for the sake of the argument, let's say we want a 90% benchmark. What would that require? Going to 40 Ambush only brings it up to 79%, 74%, and 71%. Going to 40 Ambush plus 80 Combat Maneuvers is still only 89%, 84%, and 81%.

Of course, by the time you can have 80 Combat Maneuvers, your stats might have increased, so let's say everything had reached 91%, 86%, and 83%. Even that's not good enough because tiering up might demand a grapple or kick for your excellent positioning attack, so you'd need 108 Combat Maneuvers ranks and 40 Ambush ranks. Those 40 Ambush ranks could have been 35 Physical Fitness ranks at 3x costs or 23 Dodging ranks (that's +17 DS in offensive stance) at 3x costs!

What if you eased back to the old 24 Ambush mark? Then you'd need 148 Combat Maneuvers. Perfect Self has kicked in, so let's call it 144 Combat Maneuvers needed. Even that's already level 70. (You can kind of see why players were able to figure out that Ambush should be reserved for higher levels even before we knew the formula!)

In short, pushing Ambush only even kind of makes sense during the high mid levels--60 to 70--when you have high enough stats and CM bonus that you ''can'' reach max or near-max success rates with some Ambush, but not ''so'' high that you reach max or near-max success rates even without Ambush.

''But even then,'' we're only looking at the training point opportunity costs. Guides recommending Ambush also predated the sweeping [[Player_System_Manager_-_Phase_3|PSM3]] combat maneuver updates. Sure, you could aim for heads after you reach excellent positioning. Alternatively, you could Bearhug things to death for 200-400 damage. Another option is using Twin Hammerfists or Fury with Grapple Specialization trained to inflict the Vulnerable status, which means your ''unaimed'' attacks--like the ones coming from mstrikes and Fury--are more likely to hit heads, necks, and eyes than normal with no Ambush or even CM training needed. In fact, if your Fury is using kicks, then hitting the chest or abdomen is also just as lethal at excellent positioning as hitting the head!

Like PSM3's wiki page says, much of the point was encouraging spending stamina to improve efficiency. Monks are the best positioned for that because of Mind Over Body, so I've made my choice: forget Ambush and play to my strengths.
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==The TL;DR Recap: Making Cookie Cutter Monks==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Low on time or thought processing power and just want a cookie cutter build you don't need to put much thought into? Click here!</div>
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(...by my wacky definition of "cookie cutter.")

"Leafi, I love you and all, but I expanded every section, noticed my scroll bar is tiny, noticed your guide is crazy long, and ain't nobody got time for that. Please tl;dr this nonsense?"

Okay, okay, I hear you.

Some of you never wanted the Leafiara treatment where we seek to become real life monks with advanced spiritual and mental understanding by thoroughly exploring the unfathomable mysteries of reality and transcendent metareality (like math and logic).

Some of you instead wanted the Saraphenia treatment where I tell you how to have a functional build that lets you have mechanical fun in an online text-based multiplayer video game and then you embark on your journey.

So I included this section for you!

'''Race''':

Aelotoi, dark elves, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-krolvin, halflings, and sylvankind are all basically the same power for monks. Faster is better, but more encumbrance is worse, so find your balance. Giantmen have a niche.

'''Stats''':

See the table in the Placing Your Stats section.

'''Society''':

Voln.

'''How do I fight?''':

'''Weapon Twinhammer''' as your opener once you learn it.

'''Jab''' at decent position, '''punch''' at good position if you're not Grapple Specialization and '''grapple''' at good position if you are, '''kick''' at excellent position. Regardless of those general rules, '''follow prompts''' and do what it tells you when it tells you.

Against single targets, '''Weapon Fury''' until whenever you have enough Agidex for a 5-6 second '''mstrike kick'''.

Against multiple targets, '''mstrike grapple''' if you're Grapple Specialization or '''mstrike kick''' if you're Kick Specialization. In either case, not until they're 7 seconds or less. If mstrike grapple is 7 seconds or less, but you're Kick Specialization and mstrike kick is 8 seconds or more, '''mstrike punch''' for now until mstrike kick doesn't take so long.

'''Core skills to train every level''':

2x '''Brawling''', 2x '''Physical Fitness''' (eventually 3x), 2x '''Dodging''' (eventually 3x), 1x '''Perception'''.

'''Skills with breakpoints''':

1 rank of '''Two Weapon Combat'''.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' in bursts for various breakpoints to pick up specific maneuvers. (For which ones and when, see the "combat maneuvers and feats" section below.)

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' in bursts to 5, 10, 24, 30, 35, 50, 55, 60, 90, and 100 ranks.

10 '''Harness Power''' early, 20-30 mid-game, then push near cap if you want QoL for spelling up.

'''Minor Mental''' to 16 so you have both focus spells (1213 and 1216) as options, then slack off with spells until the midgame. Grab 1220 if you feel the DS need, especially if using 1213 instead of 1216.

'''Telepathy''' lore in bursts to 6, 15, and 30.

'''Transformation lore''' in bursts to 5, 15, and 30.

10 '''Climbing and Swimming''' until the midgame or as needs arise.

'''Tertiary skills''':

'''Spiritual/Mental Mana Control''' only if sharing mana with friends and alts.

'''First Aid and Survival''' only if you want skinning.

20 '''Trading''' by level 20 because monks make silver via Glamour (1205) and Shroud of Deception (1212). Get to 40 or the nearest multiple of 12 Trading+Influence bonus over time.

'''Midgame skills''':

'''Minor Spiritual''' to 2, 3, or 7 ranks, but only after 3x Dodging.

'''Combat maneuvers and feats''':

'''Dragonscale Skin''' for your level 30 feat.

Step 1 of Combat Maneuvers, making the super early game not painful:

Get 3 CM ranks ASAP for your first rank of '''Rolling Krynch Stance''', then another 6 CM ranks (so 9 total) for your second rank ASAP.

Step 2 of Combat Maneuvers, improving the early game:

In whatever order, pick up the last rank of Krynch and first three ranks of '''Grapple Specialization''' or '''Kick Specialization'''. Grapple if you want to hunt Ascension areas one day, Kick if not. If you choose Kick, it's not necessarily an early game priority since you don't get Spin Kick until level 35-36 (for level 35, spend your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling), so you could move to step 3 after finishing Krynch and grab Kick Specialization later.

Step 3 of Combat Maneuvers, fleshing out skills and diversifying your abilities through the midgame:

In whatever order, pick up three or more ranks of '''Bearhug''', two or more ranks of '''Bull Rush''', all three ranks of '''Evade Specialization''', three or more ranks of '''Feint''', and the remaining ranks of Grapple or Kick Specialization. If you went Kick Specialization, add '''Combat Mobility''' to the list sooner than later. If you picked a halfling or gnome, add Acrobat's Leap, but otherwise don't.

Step 4 of Combat Maneuvers, putting the last pieces in place:

Pick up Combat Mobility (if you didn't already have it) and all three ranks of '''Ki Focus'''.

Step 5 of Combat Maneuvers, player's choice:

Whatever you want. Finish Bearhug, Bull Rush, and Feint or don't, depending how you like them. You can veer off in different directions with more niche maneuver options or not. Up to you!

'''Armor upgrade path when ready''':

Buy TD-boosting armor of +7 or more from a playershop. It'll cost 1-5 million silver and serve you fantastically. Add services of Enchant, Sanctify, and Ensorcell over time in roughly that order while adding padding via the WPS wagons. (Enchant and Sanctify can switch places easily enough, but Ensorcell is definitely last.)

'''Weapon upgrade path when ready''':

* Spending almost nothing (~1 million silver): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear.
* Spending moderately (~35k pay event currency (equivalent of 35 million silver)): Buy off-the-shelf Animalistic Spirit from Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.
* Spending heavily (~80k pay event currency): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear. Add Greater Elemental Flares at Duskruin.
* Spending a ton (~150k pay event currency): Buy Phytomorphic handwear from Duskruin. Add Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate. For footwear, same steps except skip the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks.
* Spending a super ton (~265k pay event currency): Same as spending a ton, except either A) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your handwear, B) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your footwear (Kick Specialization monks), or C) get the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks for your footwear.
* Spending an ultra ton (~365k pay event currency): Same as spending a super ton, except do two of A, B, and C.
* Spending a megaton (~465k pay event currency): Same as spending an ultra ton, except do all of A, B, and C.

And if you're the top 0.5% ready to drop almost $7000 worth of pay event currency, then--well, realistically, you're probably not reading this guide. ''But just in case'', for fun, and to entertain the other 99.5%...

* Whaling out beyond most people's imagination just because you can (~4.24 million pay event currency): Buy greater [[somnis]] handwear and footwear at Duskruin. Add the Phytomorphic script at Duskruin. Add a slew of Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add bane lightning flares at Duskruin. Add Flare Affinity at Duskruin. Add the second active Flourish unlock at Duskruin. Add Lore Flares at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.

(Why lightning flares? Because the flares whales would normally buy when money is no object, mind wrack and death, are disallowed on UC gear. They've never said why to my knowledge, but I think I can infer why from the fact that they sold a [[xazkruvrixis]] (death flaring metal) cestus exactly once before swiftly banning the creation of more UC gear with death flares. Said item has become sort of a legend in the community since it's still around. I'm guessing they learned the hard way that top end flares are so astonishingly powerful with UC's low RT attacks that they considered it too great a balance-destroying outlier and had to cut it off. The good news is that the next best option, Flare Affinity-backed lightning flares, only cost 407.5k pay event currency per item instead of the 500k or two million that mind wrack and death flares would have!)

'''Other upgrades when ready''':

Buy a Battle Standard of third tier or higher to capitalize on flares going great with UC. Get it to the fifth tier eventually to max its flare rate, but the sixth tier is a more optional emergency ability. If you can't afford a Battle Standard, get silver for it over time via Glamour, Shroud of Deception, and selling your Mystic Tattoo service to others instead of tattooing your own monk. Get at least the Poisoncraft part of Covert Arts eventually.

'''Conclusion''':

Monks are easy! Go have fun!
</div></div>

==Denouement: An Unexpected Journey==

First, thank you for reading The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide.

Whether you read only the parts of it you were interested in, read every single word, or anything in between, I'm thankful for every reader.

Sometimes I write a "guide" partially or even almost entirely for myself. For example, with [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Ascension_Considerations|Ascension Considerations]], I was going to do the math on efficient progression anyway, so I figured I'd take the extra time to turn what could have been private spreadsheets into wiki tables. [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Pre-Ascension_Stopping_Points|Pre-Ascension Stopping Points]] (which I just noticed is really outdated) originally ''was'' a private document, but I turned it into a wiki page because sometimes people ask me if they can see my characters' skills when they want a template of where to take their post-cap training.

This one was for you guys, though. I hope it's been helpful, I hope it's gotten you thinking, and, maybe most of all, I hope you find monks more exciting or intriguing than you used to.

That said, if you were here only for mechanical informational purposes, I'm pretty much done with those. There's one more at the very end for people with multiple character slots (not multiple accounts, but ''character slots''), but otherwise, you can head out! I wish you a good day or good night and hopefully I'll see you around the lands.

Thank you again.

<div class="mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious on the backstory of why this guide exists and why now? Click here and we'll close out.</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-denouement">

For the rest of you, if you'll indulge my rambling a bit longer...

The Magical Monk Guide existing is an emergent happy accident.

The [[Raise Your Stout Krew]] (RYSK) [[Meeting Hall Organization|MHO]] features a division for each profession, including a lead player and character who organize related events and help people with related questions. [[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]] and her player were the monk division lead--and they sometimes said they wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest.

I thought, but didn't have the heart to say, that that was impossible. GemStone has been going for over three decades and monks have only been part of it for twelve years--more like ten years when RYSK started--so they don't have the history, nostalgia, momentum, or player population of other professions.

To be honest, even if I had said it was impossible, that wouldn't have stopped Phenia. Even as I type this, I can picture how I'd try to temper her expectations and she'd come back with "Well, I'm going to try anyway!" Phenia aimed high, never mind the odds.

When her player passed away, RYSK lost its monk division lead, but more importantly, we all lost a dear friend--at least her digital presence, and at least for now. During the grief spiral, I planned various things in Phenia's name and among them was making a new character, a sort of soul-daughter for Leafi and Phenia.

I made Sariara (name credit to Tairngaire) late on May 24th. As I leveled her, I did everything I talked about in the Trade Secrets section to capitalize on Glamour and Shroud of Deception, then shared my method in the RYSK Discord server on May 30th as a "Monk tip!"--plus a "Bonus tip!" about pre-level-20 fast skill migration for First Aid, Survival, and Trading. You can see how that impromptu post shaped this guide!

By coincidence, I'd also been answering a few people's questions in the main GS Discord server's monk channel that May into early June, like which out of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization to take, whether Grapple Specialization Fury worked with katars, and which races made good monks. So when Julenne asked me on June 17th to take over Phenia's spot as the monk division lead, I agreed. I don't think I ''could'' have declined. Over that string of seven weeks, I was basically doing what she needed already.

That morning, I decided I should write a new guide to replace Flimbo's old one.

I don't know what I expected would come out of it, but it wasn't this. With a motive like honoring my departed friend, I ''knew'' I'd put my all into it--but I didn't expect to write this much or this in-depth, I didn't expect to cover the topics I did, and, most of all, I didn't expect that I'd be learning myself, not just passing along what I knew beforehand.

I'd never thought about a non-Kroderine Soul monk without Mental Acuity. I'd barely thought about a weapon-wielding monk, even putting Mental Acuity aside. I'd barely thought about synergy between monks and other professions. I'd never investigated how one rank of Sanctify interacted with Kai's Strike. I'd never investigated how or if Stance of the Mongoose worked with unarmed combat. I'd never even investigated how or if Clash worked with a specified UC attack type.

But Saraphenia aimed high with her talent at community outreach, so I had to aim high with my talent at testing and explaining obscure mechanical interactions. Deep diving into the monk ocean sometimes turned up junk, but other times Atlantean treasures. I learned and now I hope you've learned too.

When Phenia said she wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest, I assumed she was talking about numbers. Maybe she was; I don't know either way. I ''do'' know that we want you monk players to be ''your'' strongest, as individuals. Not necessarily the most efficient, not necessarily the most min-maxed, but the most subjectively enjoyable version of your monk. Know your options, find the best one for you, and you'll be your strongest. Any part I might have played in helping you get there is an honor.

Now, for fun and because I can, here's one last obscure mechanical interaction for the road.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus tip!'''

I have a couple character slots where, even though I don't play them, I briefly log them in and out every day for [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]. That way, if I ever decided to start them up, they'd have a giant stockpile of benefits for a head start. Premium slots are especially useful for these purposes since, at no additional price over the base cost, you get more character slots than there are even professions. (Prime subscriptions can still get character slots at $2.50 per month each.)

What's probably less known is that when you [[Verb:RETIRE|reroll]] a character, the new character retains all the old one's login rewards! So I leveled Sariara very quickly early on, jumping past 1.2 million experience in just a month, because she was backed by seven years of rewards in the form of 1034 bounty boosts, 341 instant mind clearers, and 1004 long-term experience boosts (the previous character ''had'' gone beyond level 20 at some point), among other things like more than a thousand bounty task waivers to avoid escorts after she reached level 20. She also had 515 doubled experience boosts, which she didn't even begin using until level 60 when, due to natural stat growth and Perfect Self, she became just 1 exp per pulse shy of her capped exp gains.

Do with the knowledge what you will, premium subscribers! Log in some extra characters or, if you already have been, get a new one going.
</blockquote>

Farewell, have fun, and be good to one another!
</div></div>

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Monk]]
[[Category:Professional Guides]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide

2026-02-24T20:51:22Z

LEAFIARA: New table for post-cap training examples.

{{player-guide
|title = The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide
|topic = Combat, Monks, Training
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2024-06-19
|updated = 2026-02-24
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind, in loving memory of '''[[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 24, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Introduction: How to Use This Guide==

This guide is for all magical monks from 0 exp to 55,000,000! (What do I mean by a magical monk? One not using [[Kroderine Soul]]. Somebody else will have to write that guide!) I'll go over monks' strengths, weaknesses, other unique qualities, things to consider, others' perspectives that I hear about, training plans, and so on.

'''This guide is exhaustive within its scope''', or at least it can be.

* If you want an exhaustive guide, read through it in order.
* If you want the opposite of an exhaustive guide, jump to the "tl;dr Recap: Cookie Cutter" section at the end.
* If you're not sure whether you want an exhaustive guide, read the "Why Play a Monk" section to see if monks sound cool, then jump to the Cookie Cutter section at the end, then read the rest if you're intrigued afterward. The Cookie Cutter section provides an overview of ''what'' to do and gives a small window into what the rest of the guide covers, which is ''why'' to do it.

I've made each section collapsible for easy navigation, but I try to scatter nuggets of wisdom for all experience levels all throughout!

Speaking of experience, what's mine? I capped my monk Tarine before the combat modernizations of 2020 and 2021, helped Saraphenia with her training (both on paper and as a hunting duo) from level 43 to about 9 million exp between 2022 and April 2024, and I'm now working on my monk Sariara, who filled in my knowledge gap before level 43 in the modern world.

Speaking of Saraphenia, who created many monks and enjoyed them more than any other profession, I think of this guide like our joint project. She would have had the passion and interest to create it, but not the knowledge and time. I have the knowledge and time, but wouldn't have had the passion or interest--at least on my own. When I say I've written this guide in loving memory, I truly mean it. If even a few more players find monks even half as exciting as Phenia did because of what they read here, I'll call it a job well done!

No further ado. Let's get on with it!

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay mw-customtoggle-creation mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat mw-customtoggle-skillsplan mw-customtoggle-choicesplan mw-customtoggle-progression mw-customtoggle-superpostcap mw-customtoggle-oddsandends mw-customtoggle-faq mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="color:#0000FF">'''(Want to read the entire guide? Click here to uncollapse all sections at once!)'''</div>

==Why Play a Monk or Why Not Play a Monk?==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-whyplay" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Pondering the appeal of why to play a monk at all? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-whyplay">

===Unarmed Combat===

Monks specialize at [[Unarmed_combat_system|unarmed combat]] (UC), the most unique form of combat GemStone IV has to offer! It features four primary commands: JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH. Making the most of them revolves primarily around two things:

# "Tiering up," AKA improving positioning from decent to good, then from good to excellent, by sequencing your attacks correctly based on your training and following the combat messaging prompts.
# Improving your [[multiplier modifier]] primarily through things like forcing a creature's stance down or inflicting status conditions.

Unlike the other physical systems based on [[attack strength]] (AS) and [[defensive strength]] (DS), UC's equivalents of [[unarmed attack factor]] (UAF) and [[unarmed defense factor]] (UDF) are joined by a third number worth keeping your eye on, the [[multiplier modifier]] (MM). Another dissimilarity is that while increasing your AS or decreasing enemy DS by the same amount would have the same effect in combat, lowering enemy UDF is multiplicatively better than increasing your UDF. Meanwhile, increasing your MM is possibly even more paramount!

I'll elaborate further during the Unarmed Combat Primer section. For now, know that unarmed combat has a drastically higher floor, albeit also a lower ceiling, than other forms of combat. Monks are much less likely to one-shot anything than their melee counterparts, but monks are also much less likely to have no chance of hitting their foe.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Another standout difference of unarmed combat is that creatures can never outright evade, block, or parry a UC attack. UC attacks can still ''miss'' via low endrolls and there are stray creatures who can still do things like disappear into the shadows to avoid damage, but the latter are rare. If you've played other physical characters and can't stand seeing a creature avoid an attack before it even gets to the roll, try a monk!
</blockquote>

===Gear Indifference===

Monks have extremely low dependence on good gear.

While GSIV is technically balanced around vanilla +20 gear, most people would agree there's a difference between a viable way to play the game and an enjoyable way to play the game. Pure casters are commonly considered the best at remaining enjoyable even with little to nothing spent on good gear. While I do agree, I'd put monks right behind them--and easily ahead of [[warrior]]s, [[rogue]]s, [[paladin]]s, and [[ranger]]s!

Because of the unique qualities of unarmed combat, improvements like [[Enchant (925)|enchanting]], [[Ensorcell (735)|ensorcelling]], [[Sanctify (330)|sanctifying]], or [[weighting]] your offensive gear are much more luxury than necessity. If you're unable or unwilling to spend heavily on a new character, monks are an excellent low investment profession. (And smooth upgrade paths exist if you eventually want them, but more on that later in this guide!)

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

Players have noticed that monks can hunt and succeed in the Hinterwilds, arguably the game's most challenging area, on par with other professions even when monks have a third of the experience points and a tenth of the gear caliber. At that top end of difficult content, I'd say monks are ''the best'' at not depending on gear nor even exp! Much more on that in the Ascension section.
</blockquote>

===Simplicity===

Monks have a very low learning curve, at least by GS standards. This game world has a lot of convoluted training plans, tradeoffs, options, breakpoints, tight training point constraints, and too many desirable skills to train them all, but monks present you with a very straightforward, low pressure profession that it's difficult to get wrong. If you stick to unarmed combat, I'd go so far as ''extremely'' difficult to get wrong.

(If you want to do unusual things that don't involve UC, then read on in Odds and Ends!)

===Fun Factor===

Once monks hit their stride by level 40--maybe even level 30--they're great at screen scroll shenanigans. With the general speed of unarmed combat, its myriad status conditions, free bonus jabs in [[Verb:MSTRIKE|mstrikes]] or free knockdowns in [[Fury]], and plenty of messaging prompts about tiering up or when to [[Spin Kick]], combat can be an engaging and chaotic experience!

Even from a roleplaying perspective, [[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]] is one of the game's coolest tools. It allows you to customize your appearance and save up to three illusionary projections, which is as close as you can get to playing multiple characters in one!

===Might and Magic===

If you long for the raw power of a physical profession like a warrior, but still want the option to use magic in and out of combat even from early levels, monks are for you. The [[Minor Mental]] spell circle is so integral to the monk toolkit that dev had to make provision so even Kroderine Soul monks could still cast spells from level 30 on!

===Downsides or Lack Thereof===

Some players feel that monks are pigeonholed into unarmed combat. I would have agreed before creating this guide, but while writing Odds and Ends, I did a deep dive into the math and now believe a weapon build is absolutely on the table; monks ''can'', if they want, operate like warriors who have more DS (until very far post-cap) but don't wear heavy armor, are better at evading but worse at parrying, have a universal stat bonus from level 50 on but don't have guild skills, and a few other tradeoffs. If your character concept is a lightly armored Dread Pirate type quick on their feet, there's a very real case that a monk can be a better choice than a warrior.

[[Target defense]] (TD) is widely regarded as a monk weakness and was a major discussion point in [[Flimbo's Monk Guide]], which was extensive in its time, but has become outdated after years of major game developments since then. TD certainly is a weakness, but not nearly as much of one now. Monks' offensive toolkit has grown, making it easier than ever to keep enemies under control and stop them from casting at all. Even when creatures do fire off spells, non-Kroderine Soul monks have a new warding defense booster called Dragonscale Skin while Kroderine Soul monks have magic redux and can absorb (negate) an offensive spell once every 30 seconds.

The best I can muster for legitimate monk downsides are that they can't obliterate an entire swarm of creatures in six seconds or less (that's the domain of post-cap bards and wizards) and their profession service needs improvement (but improvement is already planned for the future).
</div></div>

==Character Creation==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-creation" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Need to walk through the creation of your monk? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-creation">

If making a monk sounds intriguing, let's get started!

===Choosing a Race===

From level 50 on, monks arguably have more leeway than any other [[profession]] to be any [[race]] with minimal drawbacks due to [[Perfect Self]] basically eliminating stat deficiencies. Instead of any race being bad at anything, it's more a question of which ones are slightly better at any given thing. I don't think you can go wrong, which I don't say about other professions, so my honest suggestion is to pick whatever sounds interesting.

If you're not sure what's interesting or are torn between options, my ''next'' suggestion is to see if any [[race-specific verbs]] strike your fancy. Even though Shroud of Deception can make your monk ''appear'' like other races, they can't perform (for example) halfling-specific verbs without actually being a halfling. Get the verbs you like!

If verbs don't sound compelling either, then here's how I'd rank monk races mechanically if I really had to:

# '''[[Elf|Elves]]''': What I made my first monk, Tarine. Elves tie with burghal gnomes as the second best race for combined [[Agility]] and [[Dexterity]] ("Agidex"), which means faster mstrikes and assault techniques--the most key parts of the monk arsenal. Elves have no particular disadvantages like height or size, though they're slightly below average on encumbrance.
# '''[[Aelotoi]], [[Dark Elf|Dark Elves]], [[Half-Elf|Half-Elves]], and [[Sylvankind|Sylvans]]''': All of these races tie for third place Agidex and second place in my overall rankings. They can still get to minimum speed attacks, but need a little more [[experience]] or enhancive items than elves, halflings, or gnomes would. They have much more carrying capacity (less encumbrance) than halflings and gnomes, all but aelotoi have more carrying capacity than elves, and none have problems height-wise. Mechanical differences between the four are pretty minimal for monks, but compared to elves as a baseline...
#* Aelotoi have a [[Logic]] bonus, so they gain exp slightly faster (1 per pulse) and [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] are slightly more reliable.
#* Dark elves' [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]] bonuses offer a small amount of defense against elemental and spiritual warding spells.
#* Half-elves have the best carrying capacity of my top five picks. The dwarves and halflings bullet points have more to say about encumbrance.
#* Sylvans' Aura bonus offers a small amount of defense against elemental warding spells. Dark elves are mechanically better at the same thing, but, again, the differences are very minimal in practice.
# '''[[Dwarf|Dwarves]] and [[Halfling]]s''': Unlike the above grouping of races that play roughly identically, dwarves and halflings have substantial differences alongside some similarities. The most eye-catching similarity is excellent defense against elemental warding spells, which monks would normally be weak against; dwarves have +30 TD and halflings have +40 TD. Dwarves and halflings do have -10 and -5 Aura bonuses respectively, which also defends against elemental spells, so the real numbers could be considered more like +20 and +35. (Enemy elemental warding spells ''are'' sort of rare, but you might be glad for the benefit when you do run into them.) Their heights require keeping most creatures knocked down or training niche combat maneuvers like [[Acrobat's Leap]] to target heads as a finisher if you're trying to aim, though not all monks do. Dwarves and halflings have Logic bonuses for exp, Vertigo, and Mindwipe purposes. As for the differences...
#* Dwarves are the only race that's both short and slow, ranking second to last in Agidex. Still, if you're okay with slower attacks, then elemental TD remains a rare and valuable selling point. More importantly, dwarves can carry a surprising amount due to huge [[Strength]] and [[Constitution]] bonuses along with identical body weight to dark elves. I rank dwarven monks the best of the slower races. Dwarves also have a slew of amazing verbs!
#* Halflings are the best race for combined Agidex, having the fastest mstrikes and assaults while being about as close as invulnerable to enemy maneuvers as it gets. This alone (never mind also having the elemental TD bonus) is important enough that older versions of this guide used to rank halflings as the second best monk race. However, 2026 changes to average box sizes and drop rates exacerbate halflings' severe [[encumbrance]] issues. The question is your tolerance level for either A) frequently pulling back from hunts to [[locksmith pool|drop off boxes]] or B) buying encumbrance-reducing items like silvery blue potions and [[Blue_feather-shaped_charm|blue feather-shaped charms]]. If you don't mind, then halflings remain a very powerful option. If you do mind, you might want to look elsewhere.
# '''[[Half-krolvin]]''': The fourth best race for Agidex, though there's as much of a speed gap between third best and fourth best as between best and third best. Like dwarves, half-krolvin have a slew of amazing verbs. In pre-2026 versions of this guide, I didn't see much purely mechanical reason to choose a half-krolvin over the previous seven races or gnomes, but things have changed. Their second best carrying capacity helps much more than before. On the flip side, their Logic penalty hurts less in a world with new options in silver or Simucoins for vastly accelerated exp. If you want carrying capacity without sacrificing anything, but also not specializing in anything else, half-krolvin monks are a perfectly good place to be.
# '''[[Forest Gnome]]s and [[Burghal Gnome]]s''': These are in the top 3 and top 2 speed tiers, respectively. Forest gnomes handle encumbrance slightly better than halflings while burghal gnomes handle it even worse than halflings. I give halflings the advantage over gnomes mainly due to their huge elemental TD bonus, but the differences are minor enough that I don't think anyone should sweat it. It just comes down to the same question of whether you can live with the encumbrance issues. If you can, have at it.
# '''[[Giantmen]]''': Giants are the slowest race, but can carry near endless amounts of things without getting encumbered. Encumbrance reduces DS and slows down single-target UC attacks, assault techniques, and AoE techniques--but encumbrance ''doesn't'' slow down mstrikes nor Twin Hammerfists, which are key in the monk arsenal. However, giants are the worst at mstrikes via natural stats. Agidex-boosting enhancives can fix that, but maintaining charges on numerous enhancives can get even more expensive than the small race path of maintaining encumbrance potions, so I personally wouldn't take the trade. Still, there's a reason that some players choose giants near exclusively. If returning to town sounds aggravating or if you want to maximize the amount of time you spend acquiring loot (staying out hunting) instead of exp (ending the hunt as quickly as possible), giants might be for you.
# '''[[Erithian]]s and [[Human]]s''': These are the third slowest races. Erithians and humans have no particular mechanical disadvantages that push them away from being monks, but also no particular advantages that push them toward being monks. Erithians do have excellent verbs that go well with monks roleplaying-wise!

Races from half-krolvin up are close enough that I wouldn't quibble about any of them being seriously better than the others. I understand people's case for giants too, even though they're not my style (I'm okay with returning to town every two or three boxes!), and gnomes are similar enough to halflings. I find erithians and humans really dubious from a mechanical perspective, though. Perfect Self does bring up the low and you can't go wrong, exactly, but Perfect Self also makes the rich richer.

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar!'''

If you're used to playing a halfling or gnome warrior who wears full plate, don't expect your encumbrance life to be similar on a halfling or gnome monk in robes. For one thing, max rank [[Armor Support|armor support]] gives plate armor 35 pounds encumbrance reduction, but gives robes 15 pounds. For another, let's talk about GS' encumbrance paradox!

[[Encumbrance#Armor_Encumbrance_Formula|Base weight (unlightened) armor has no encumbrance while worn]]. Yes, really. 75 pound full plate weighs 75 in your hands and 0 on your body! However, if you lighten full plate down to its minimum 38 pounds, wearing it counts as -37 pounds multiplied by a number that depends on your race. That number is 0.5 for a halfling or burghal gnome and 0.6 for a forest gnome, so, after rounding, max light full plate gives -18 or -22 pounds encumbrance. Robes have a modest base weight of 8 and minimum weight of 4 pounds, so max light robes give -2 pounds encumbrance for halflings or gnomes.

Between armor encumbrance mechanics and armor support, a halfling or gnome in full plate has a 36-40 pound encumbrance advantage over a halfling or gnome monk in robes. Perfect Self will make up some pounds, but not nearly ''that'' much of the gap, so be warned!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Encumbrance Sidebar 2, 2026 Edition!'''

I didn't want to bog down the bullet points above by talking too much about encumbrance, which could have taken over the entire race section. In short, as of mid-January 2026, boxes drop a third as often as they used to, so encumbrance kicks in less often, but boxes also contain roughly three times as much as they used to, so once encumbrance does kick in, it kicks in much harder than it used to. You might jump from unencumbered to moderately encumbered in a single box.

It might not be immediately apparent why I consider the loot changes to be impactful enough to move halflings down, half-krolvin up, and gnomes down, but not impactful enough to move giants or humans up. The answer is that the 2026 loot changes are a double-edged sword. While giants and (to a lesser extent) humans can handle the bigger boxes, that doesn't mean their containers can. For example, if you have a conventional "max deep" backpack (no epic deepening that can cost millions of silver) that holds 140 pounds and you find a 45 pound, 55 pound, and 65 pound box, you can't fit all of that inside even if your character can hold it no problem.

Putting it another way, there's a point at which a character's max carrying capacity gets "wasted" because it exceeds the containers' practical limits. I think giants are certainly over that. Humans aren't, necessarily, but carrying capacity can also be "wasted" in a different sense because the boxes themselves are less common. You have to be exactly on a threshold of weight at which you're saving encumbrance, which is a narrow margin in a world where encumbrance increases less incrementally before. In other words, the hit to the small races outweighs the gain to the large races as rankings go.
</blockquote>

===Placing Your Stats===

At level 0, set Strength, Dexterity, and Agility high so you're at your best in combat and setting Logic high so you level faster. This will help power through the early game!

Before level 20, you can change your stats up to five times by checking in at your local inn. At level 20, you're locked in! Because of this finalization, the game stops your exp growth right before level 20 and forces you to confirm that your character is configured the way you want. That's your cue to check in and decide your "real" stat placement!

Here are my recommendations for each race. If you've read Flimbo's older monk guide, a major difference between us is that he was on the side of tanking Influence while I'm on the side of tanking Discipline or Intuition, which I'll explain.

'''The Level 20 Stat Placement Tables!'''

'''Please note: If you're adjusting stats at the inn, set Strength and Agility to 10 lower than the numbers shown here.''' The game automatically adds +10 more to prime stats, which for monks are Strength and Agility. (The website is different. If you're someone who only wants to set stats once at level 0 and be done with it, the numbers below are exactly what you'd enter during character creation.)

'''Tanking Discipline Version (Recommended!)'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||31||82||73||70||82||91
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||43||85||64||62||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||41||82||75||70||82||88
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||31||82||70||70||77||92
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||50||70||73||70||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||20||82||70||69||82||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||33||82||73||70||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||23||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||35||82||75||70||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||37||85||79||70||82||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||53||82||70||70||82||89
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||25||82||70||70||84||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||43||77||73||70||82||85
|}

'''Tanking Intuition Version'''

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Race'''||'''Strength'''||'''Constitution'''||'''Dexterity'''||'''Agility'''||'''Discipline'''||'''Aura'''||'''Logic'''||'''Intuition'''||'''Wisdom'''||'''Influence'''
|-
||Aelotoi||62||68||68||33||59||82||73||41||82||92
|-
||Burghal gnome||73||62||68||33||70||85||62||37||82||88
|-
||Dark elf||62||68||62||30||68||82||73||44||82||89
|-
||Dwarf||49||49||78||62||58||82||70||44||77||91
|-
||Elf||62||73||62||33||70||70||73||50||82||85
|-
||Erithian||68||62||73||49||58||82||71||29||83||85
|-
||Forest gnome||70||59||70||33||59||82||73||44||82||88
|-
||Giantman||49||58||77||58||62||82||70||32||83||89
|-
||Half-elf||59||62||70||39||68||82||73||39||82||86
|-
||Half-krolvin||58||49||70||39||62||85||77||46||83||91
|-
||Halfling||73||49||62||30||68||82||70||56||82||88
|-
||Human||59||59||73||49||62||82||70||35||82||89
|-
||Sylvankind||70||68||62||30||70||77||73||43||82||85
|}

My methodology was as follows:

* Set stats to max out at cap.
* Max everything except Discipline or Intuition if possible. If not possible, then take a small number out of either Constitution, Discipline, Influence, or occasionally Logic.
* If all stats have gotten as high as they can get by cap and there are spare points to allocate, then favor the configuration that gives the most mental TPs. If multiple configurations give the same mental TPs, then favor the one with stats that grow most slowly.

If you're wondering what relevant things each stat does, I'll go over them quickly:

* [[Strength]]: Reduced encumbrance. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus.
* [[Constitution]]: Slightly reduced encumbrance. Slightly more max health. +1 crit padding (AS-based attacks only) for every 5 bonus.
* [[Dexterity]]: Reduced [[Roundtime|roundtime]] (RT). Slightly increased maneuver defense. Improves tattooing ability. Adds crit weighting, but only if using melee weapons.
* [[Agility]]: Reduced RT. As much increased maneuver defense as Dexterity and Intuition combined. +1 UAF for every 2 bonus. +0.75 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Discipline]]: +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 TD against mental spells for every 1 bonus. Increased resistance to enemy warcries. Improves tattooing ability.
* [[Aura]]: +1 TD against elemental spells for every 1 bonus. +1 max [[spirit]] for every 10 base stat, rounded up.
* [[Logic]]: +1 exp absorbed per minute per 5 bonus on a node (safe place) or per 7 bonus off a node (e.g. hunting). +1 exp pool size for every 1 base stat (not bonus). +1 CS for Minor Mental spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 [[Mana#Base_Mana|starting mana]] for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Intuition]]: Slightly increased maneuver defense. +0.1875 DS in offensive stance for every 1 bonus, assuming you're in robes.
* [[Wisdom]]: +1 TD against spiritual spells for every 1 bonus. Potentially +1 starting mana for every 4 bonus of initial stat placement only.
* [[Influence]]: Increased success for [[Standard success resolution system|Standard Success Resolution]] (SSR) attacks. +1% silver from selling to NPC shops for every 12 bonus.

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #1!'''

While there's endless debate across all professions about whether to set stats for cap or early power, it applies less to monks than others. Perfect Self makes monks good across the board from level 50 on almost regardless of what they do. Single strikes in unarmed combat are also naturally quick and, even at low levels, don't require good Agidex like hard-hitting melee weapons.

Once mstrikes and weapon techniques are a regular part of your monk's arsenal by the early 30s--if not sooner--Agidex does become more important. However, fast races who set stats for cap will be perfectly fine on Agidex due to innate bonuses. For example, at level 30, my monk Sariara had 19 Dexterity bonus and 16 Agility bonus, which is the -2 RT tier. She reached -3 RT by level 33, then -4 RT by level 50 thanks to stat growth and Perfect Self. -5 RT is her peak without enhancives or [[Ascension]] and she reached that at level 84. However, reaching -5 RT only matters for mstrikes and assault techniques, which, despite being very important, aren't the majority of commands in combat.

Overall, in my example, there's a pretty negligible difference between setting stats for cap (-4 RT by level 50) and setting stats for early power (-5 RT by level 50); she only really felt the difference from level 19 to 32. On the flip side, her TD was good from the start (for a monk) since setting stats for cap means that slow-growing stats like Aura and Wisdom start off high.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Deep Dive Stat Sidebar #2!'''

There's also endless debate across most professions on which stat to tank out of Discipline, Intuition, and Influence. The short answer is Discipline. The long answer requires more detail.

The Discipline wiki page might inadvertently lead you to believe that it's the best of the three because, after all, it contributes to both types of training points and is used for more systems in the game than other stats. However, that's more trivia than useful information. The training points aspect is actually a downside in this case; monks' skill costs ultimately result in mental points being twice as valuable to them as physical points, so purely mental stats like Influence and Intuition ultimately provide more training points than a hybrid stat like Discipline.

As for Discipline being used in a lot of systems, that's true, but it's once again more trivia than useful information. Warcry defense is at least potentially relevant, but many monks will rarely, if ever, interact with it. SSR bonus is a reasonable perk because Voln is the mechanically strongest society (a point that I ''do'' concur with the majority on) and SSR bonus improves the success rate of Symbol of Sleep, arguably Voln's strongest ability, along with a couple of its others. (More on Voln in the next section!) However, Influence also grants SSR bonus.

The main reason that few players of any profession used to tank Discipline was experience. Instant Mind Clearers from login rewards can absorb up to 1000 exp, which means that, to get the full value, you need at least 1000 in your exp pool. This is very doable via bounties, which allow overfilling the exp pool. However, some players avoid bounties, which used to mean that they would need 100 totals in both Discipline and Logic so they could have a max exp pool size of exactly 1000.

That was then. Now, the Wisdom of the Ages perk introduced in 2025 increases your exp pool size by 2 for every month you remain a subscriber. If you're a premium or platinum subscriber, additional changes in 2026 have increased your exp pool size by 200 or 400 for being a subscriber at all. Between that, the Ascension system introduced in 2020 (though that's more aimed at capped characters), and of course Perfect Self, it's far easier than ever to retain the all-important 1000 exp pool even while tanking Discipline.

One aspect of Discipline that has become slightly more important in past years is mental TD. Enemies casting mental CS spells used to be exceedingly rare (even more than elemental CS spells) and you still virtually never run into it pre-cap, but they've proliferated at cap via creatures in the Sanctum of Scales, the Atoll, the Hinterwilds, and Sailor's Grief. If the trend keeps up, I can reevaluate Discipline in the future. However, for now, monks--at least magical monks using Dragonscale Skin (explained in the Feats section)--have better natural defenses against mental CS spells than any build of any other profession except for a warrior or rogue who has maxed or near-maxed spells, wears full plate, and uses a shield. Even that's debatable since it's assuming the warrior or rogue has infinite exp. Either way, the point is that magical monks have so much less to worry about from enemy mental spells than almost anyone else that tanking Discipline still leaves them ahead.

Still, what if someone is set on maxing Discipline? Maybe they really do want the mental TD, or maybe they don't stay subscribed and don't do bounties. In that case, the question goes to whether to tank Intuition or Influence. The majority usually say tank Influence, but I disagree. As already mentioned, Influence improves Symbol of Sleep and other Voln symbols. It also helps a little bit with Trading bonuses and making extra silver! (More on that in the Monk Merchants section toward the end.) As a monk, thank to Glamour, you can admittedly max Trading benefit in the end even if you do tank Influence, but that's a post-cap thing and this guide is aimed at everyone.

The main argument for maxing Intuition is that it ekes out a tiny extra chance to dodge enemy maneuvers. That can make sense for pures, but it's much less compelling to monks, who already have extraordinary ability to dodge enemy maneuvers due to high rank caps and low training costs for [[Physical Fitness]] and [[Dodging]] (and low training costs for [[Perception]], for that matter).

To put it into perspective, my capped monk Tarine, who tanked Intuition (because Wisdom of the Ages didn't exist yet), has a -3% chance for a same-level maneuver to hit her in offensive stance and a -18% chance in defensive stance. If she maxed Intuition, those numbers would jump to... -4% and -19%. Not very impressive a difference!

But you might think that a super-capped character is an unfair example, so how about my other monk Sariara when she was level 30? She tanked Intuition, obviously hadn't maxed her stats yet, didn't have Perfect Self, is an aelotoi instead of an elf (a bit worse at avoiding maneuvers), had a little over 1 million experience points instead of 39 million, hadn't sunk [[Ascension]] points into avoiding maneuvers, and only had 2x Physical Fitness, 2x Dodging, 1.1x Combat Maneuvers, and 1x Perception instead of 3x, 3x, 2x, and 2x. For all that, like-level maneuvers still only had a 12% chance to hit her in offensive and a -2% chance in defensive. Improving those numbers doesn't appeal to me like improving the success of the absurdly powerful Symbol of Sleep.

Even assuming that you ''do'' want improved defense, remember that having extra silver from higher Influence lets you pay for better gear and items, which are also their ''own'' paths to improved defense--and often simultaneously to improved offense as well. Ultimately, the Intuition benefit is more narrow than the Influence benefit. That said, the Discipline benefit is even more narrow still. That's my true choice for tank stat.
</blockquote>

===Selecting a Society===

Almost all characters eventually join and master a [[society]] since there are numerous mechanical incentives to do so and none not to. This isn't part of character creation since you can't join a society until level 3, but it can be part of ''character concept'' creation. Also, like I said in stats, Voln makes Influence very relevant, so it's worth considering right away. Which society is right for your monk?

'''[[Council of Light]]''':

Mechanically, this society excels at exactly three things:
* Offering [[Sign of Wracking|way, way more mana]] than other societies (with the possible exception of [[empath]]s in Sunfist)
* Offering slightly more UAF and DS than other societies, as it caps out at 35 instead of 30 (Sunfist) or 26 against the living (Voln, but Voln does get 39 UAF against the undead)
* Being the easiest and fastest to master

Neither mana, UAF, nor DS matter to monks other than in the tiniest regard, so if you're interested in CoL, it's probably either for reasons of ease or for roleplaying reasons like the other two options being a no-go based on their lore.

'''[[Guardians of Sunfist]]''':

This society has a bit more mechanical appeal for monks.

Sunfist's sigils (abilities) consume small amounts of [[mana]] and [[stamina]]. Warriors and rogues need their stamina in droves, so they might find Sunfist tricky to work with or build stamina regeneration enhancives because of it. Monks, on the other hand, can already reduce their stamina costs--including sigils--by 20-35% with their [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] spell! They have more freedom to use Sunfist's powerful short-term buffs like [[Sigil of Major Protection|heavy crit padding]] or [[Sigil of Major Bane|heavy crit weighting]] (against sworn enemies) that other professions might find themselves reserving for emergencies or skipping entirely.

Sunfist also features the best [[Sigil of Focus|TD bonus]] of the societies by a small margin and a surprisingly underrated ability to [[Sigil of Determination|ignore penalties from moderate wounds]] for combat purposes.

Sunfist uniquely offers [[Sigil of Location|access]] to [[warcamp]]s, a type of hunting ground suitable for the level of the characters who enter. It's more or less a means to find private hunting grounds for you and/or your friends whenever you wish! Characters not in Sunfist can accomplish something similar via [[Open Sea Adventures]], which explores the same general concept, but that requires millions of silver to buy in to. Warcamp loot is rather poor, but warcamps remain an appealing aspect of Sunfist and can be a helpful alternative to power through level ranges where you might find traditional hunting grounds unappealing.

Sunfist is certainly not the most common societal choice for monks and arguably not the strongest, but it does open unique options and playstyles well worth considering.

'''[[Order of Voln]]''':

This is widely regarded as the mechanical best society for most or possibly all professions.

Like all professions, monks get extreme utility out of Voln's [[Symbol of Seeking|teleportation to hunting grounds]] and [[Symbol of Return|back from them]], as well as [[Symbol of Dreams|swifter recovery from stat loss]] after being resurrected. In battle, Voln offers a way to [[Symbol of Sleep|put foes to sleep]] and a way to [[Symbol of Submission|force undead foes into an offensive stance]], both of which are even better for unarmed combat than other forms of combat. There's also an [[Symbol of Transcendence|emergency button to go noncorporeal]] and avoid death crits. Voln's attack booster, [[Symbol of Courage]], gives slightly less sheer UAF than the other societies; however, it gives three levels' worth of protection against the undead [[sheer fear]] mechanic, which helps when hunting in areas where you might encounter undead more than ten levels higher.

Voln also features two UC-specific abilities in [[Kai's Strike]] and [[Kai's Smite]]. Kai's Smite is its own UC attack that allows you to temporarily turn noncorporeal [[undead]] corporeal. Inflicting physical wounds on things that normally don't have bodies--and usually wear light armor, if any!--is a powerful draw for brawling monks.

Kai's Strike can be a mixed bag. It treats your hands and feet as blessed even when your UC gear isn't. This used to be immensely valuable when undead creatures completely negated attacks from unblessed gear, making it arguably the top reason for a UC monk to join Voln. These days aren't those days, though. As of a few years ago, undead only have 25% resistance to physical attacks from unblessed gear.

The idea of Kai's Strike is removing the pain point of blessings running out mid-hunt. However, it accomplishes that by acting like you're not wearing your unblessed UC gear at all. That means you ignore undead damage resistance, but also don't benefit from your normal gear properties like flares, scripts, or weighting. That tradeoff is probably still a net win for anyone with basic gear, but I'd say it's a net loss for anyone with at least two flares.

The inability to turn off Kai's Strike after learning it has been an unfortunate side effect of the changes to blessings and undead a few years ago. Still, Voln monks can work around it by filling in with their own [[Symbol of Blessing]] until they can track down a cleric for a [[Bless (304)|real blessing]] that lasts longer, has holy water flares, and stops fast-disappearing undead from vanishing as quickly.

Alternatively, adding a single tier of [[Sanctify (330)|Sanctify]] to your gear overrides Kai's Strike. Sanctify takes off 5% resistance per tier, so you'd get 20% resistance while keeping your flares between blesses. While Kai's Strike is something to be aware of and can be tedious (if you self-bless) or cost a little bit (getting one cast of Sanctify), it's not a dealbreaker.

Overall, Voln offers the greatest diversity of mechanically useful abilities for monks.
</div></div>

==Unarmed Combat Primer==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-unarmedcombat" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Still figuring out how unarmed combat works? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-unarmedcombat">

Let's go over the unarmed combat system in more detail! If you're familiar with more conventional melee combat, put that knowledge aside--a great deal of it won't apply and might even interfere with understanding!

===Beginner Basics===

JAB, GRAPPLE, KICK, and PUNCH are your tools of the trade. What's the difference? Have a look at this table from the unarmed combat system page.

{|{{prettytable}}
|-style = "background:#DDD; color: blue"
!Attack Type
![[Armor|AG]]
!Cloth
!Leather
!Scale
!Chain
!Plate
!Base [[Roundtime|RT]]
!Min [[Roundtime|RT]]
![[Critical table|Damage Type]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Jab]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.100
|.075
|.060
|.050
|.040
|2
|2
|[[Jab critical table (UCS)|Jab]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Punch]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.275
|.250
|.200
|.170
|.140
|3
|3
|[[Punch critical table (UCS)|Punch]]
|-align=center
|'''[[GRAPPLE (verb)|Grapple]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.250
|.200
|.160
|.120
|.100
|3
|3
|[[Grapple critical table (UCS)|Grapple]]
|-align=center
|'''[[Kick]]'''
|'''[[DF]]'''
|.400
|.350
|.300
|.250
|.200
|4
|4
|[[Kick critical table (UCS)|Kick]]
|}

The higher the decimal numbers, the stronger the attack, but the lower the RT numbers, the faster the attack. Summarizing these tables:

* '''Jabs''': Weak, but fast.
* '''Punches''': Moderate speed and moderate power.
* '''Grapples''': Moderate speed and moderate power, but less of the latter than punches.
* '''Kicks''': Powerful, but slow (at least by UC standards).

The use case for punches and kicks seems clear, but why jab when it's so weak and why grapple if punches are the same speed with more strength?

One answer that applies to both jabs and grapples is the defining component of unarmed combat: '''positioning'''. There are three positions: Decent, Good, and Excellent. Going up the ladder drastically increases the power of all four attack types. To improve your monk's position, follow the combat prompts as they appear. Here's an example:

You attempt to jab a mezic!
As you strike, a deep golden light surrounds your hands!
You have '''decent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 210 = 1.161 * MM: 85 + d100: 39 = 137
... and hit for 4 points of damage!
Fast slap only reddens the cheek.
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

Let's take the cue to grapple:

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

As you can see, the followup was significantly more powerful. That's partly because the endroll is higher, partly because grapples are stronger than jabs, and partly because good positioning is much better than decent positioning. Here's one more example, this time going from good to excellent:

You attempt to '''jab''' a mezic!
You exploit the momentum of your previous strike to make a stronger attack against a mezic!
You have '''good positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 87 + d100: 51 = 146
... and hit for 15 points of damage!
Blow to kidney!
The mezic is stunned!
'''Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup grapple attack!'''
Roundtime: 2 sec.

[2 seconds later...]

You attempt to '''grapple''' a mezic!
You have '''excellent positioning''' against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 223 = 1.094 * MM: 106 + d100: 43 = 158
... and hit for 48 points of damage!
Powerful tug pulls right hip, and leg, free of the socket!
A mezic falls to the ground grasping her mangled right leg!
Roundtime: 3 sec.

This time the jab started at good positioning because of Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in the Martial Stances section), but the followup grapple was still far more powerful. Tiering up is crucial!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Setting highlights can help! Since the text prompt is...

Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup [jab/grapple/kick/punch] attack!

...you can either create four highlights for each individual message or create a highlight for Strike leaves foe vulnerable to a followup, then four more highlights for jab attack! and the others.
</blockquote>

So, in unarmed combat's '''most basic form''' at the lowest levels, the use cases for each attack type are:

* '''Jabs''': Dig for tier up opportunities to get away from decent positioning or even good positioning as quickly as possible.
* '''Punches''': A half-and-half option during good positioning, in which punches have minor potential to kill, but are also reasonably fast at digging for tier up opportunities toward excellent positioning.
* '''Grapples''': Only when needed to tier up.
* '''Kicks''': Deliver a finishing blow during excellent positioning.

In later levels, things like mstrikes, techniques, and flares will throw generalizations out the window and create far stronger cases for jabs and grapples. We'll get into that later, but first let's keep exploring the basics to lay the foundation.

===UAF, UDF, and MM===

If you're used to GemStone's AS-based attacks, you probably noticed how different the combat messaging looks for unarmed combat. You might also have noticed that my monk Sariara hit a creature with higher UDF than her UAF:

You attempt to grapple a mezic!
You have good positioning against a mezic.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 269 = 0.907 * MM: 100 + d100: 60 = 150
... and hit for 41 points of damage!
Repeated blows to both sides of the head dizzies foe!
The mezic is stunned!
The mezic's movements slow to a crawl!
A mezic appears dazed and unsure.

Let's look at an even more extreme example that doesn't go as well:

You attempt to grapple a spectral shade!
You have good positioning against a spectral shade.
UAF: 244 vs UDF: 357 = 0.683 * MM: 85 + d100: 44 = 102
... and hit for 1 point of damage!
The spectral shade shakes off a weak arm grab.

This is why I say you have to ignore what you know about AS-based combat.

UAF isn't completely irrelevant, but the more important numbers are UDF and the '''multiplier modifier''' (MM). While melee weapons, ranged weapons, and bolts calculate endrolls by subtraction and addition, unarmed combat calculates outcomes by division, multiplication, and addition.

What does that mean in practice? Higher lows and lower highs.

It's rare that a monk outright ''couldn't possibly'' hit an enemy creature. Even in my spectral shade example, improving my MM or getting a higher d100 roll could have easily turned that into a powerful hit. On the flip side, since your UAF gets divided by enemy UDF, increasing your UAF additively (e.g. training more ranks of Brawling) means much less than decreasing enemy UDF by the same amount.

The primary means to decrease enemy UDF and increase your MM are generally the same: reducing your foes' stances and decreasing their EBP ability by reducing stats or inflicting conditions like stunning, immobilizing, or blinding them.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Unlike AS-based melee attacks, UC attacks have the same UAF in offensive or defensive stance. Instead, MM is the number that drops so low in defensive that it can even become negative! This used to occasionally trip up Saraphenia's player, who was used to looking at the first number in a typical AS or CS combat equation. Even when you do know what to look for, MM is deep enough into the visible formula that it's often easier to figure out that you're in the wrong stance because everything's failing to hit; that was how I'd take notice and Leafi would tell Phenia to fix up her stance.

Also unlike AS-based melee attacks, lying down not only doesn't reduce your UAF, but also doesn't even reduce your MM! Jabs, grapples, and punches can all be thrown at full power from the ground, so if you're not paying attention, you could be fighting from your back and not even know it! You'd find out once you tried to throw a kick or use an ability such as Twin Hammerfists or Fury, though. Those can't be done from the ground.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Fun Sidebar!'''

Monks and unarmed combat have existed for almost twelve years, but only a single hunting ground--the Atoll, for capped characters--has dared to release ''enemy creatures'' who use UC attacks. Why? Probably because no attainable UDF number can save you if they get to a high MM against you. UC is a dangerous tool in the hands--and feet--of enemy creatures and players alike!
</blockquote>

===Mstrikes===

As you train Multi-Opponent Combat and Brawling (more on that in the Skills section), you'll eventually be able to use mstrikes or weapon techniques. (I'll refer to these as "techniques" from here on. Despite the name, the brawling "weapon techniques" don't require weapons--unless you're thinking of your monk's hands and feet as weapons!) Mstrikes, assault techniques, and Area of Effect (AoE) techniques are your means to fit more attacks into less time.

Covering mstrikes first!

Mstrikes with no target specified, AKA '''unfocused mstrikes''', can attack two opponents in one command at 5 Multi-Opponent combat ranks, then add more opponents at 15, 35, 60, 100, and 155 MOC ranks. Mstrikes with a target specified, AKA '''focused mstrikes''', can attack a single opponent twice in one command at 30 MOC ranks, then add more attacks at 55, 90, 135, and 190.

For unarmed combat only, mstrikes also throw a bonus jab at enemies when you're at decent positioning against them and attacking them for the first time. Once you're into good positioning, mstrikes either use an attack type that you specify (e.g. MSTRIKE KICK) or, if you have an opportunity to tier up, your mstrike will switch to the appropriate type as needed. At decent positioning, mstrike will always jab (bonus or otherwise) until it finds a tier up.

Mstrikes ''sort of'' have a cooldown after use, which is 15-20 seconds or so (depending on training). When on "cooldown," you ''can'' still mstrike, but they'll consume a good chunk of stamina. (I can't give an exact number because it depends on how many hits are in your mstrike and which attack types are used.) When not on cooldown, mstrikes cost no stamina! Focused and unfocused mstrikes share the same cooldown timer.

Mstrike RT is frontloaded into a single burst and all attacks fire off at once. How much RT depends on the number of attacks and which attack types, but it'll be more attacks per RT than throwing single strikes would have been. However, be aware that it can reach times of 8 seconds or more early in a monk's life, especially if you're a low Agidex race or have made a hard push for high MOC ranks to have more attacks early! As an odd quirk, encumbrance doesn't increase mstrike RT. With high enough Agidex, you can eventually get even the top end of mstrikes down to 5 RT.

===Fury and Clash===

The unarmed combat assault technique is '''[[Fury]]''', which you learn with 25 ranks of Brawling (level 11). It attacks a single foe twice at 10 ranks of MOC, then adds one more attack at 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. There's no bonus jab, however. Like with mstrikes, you can specify an attack type (e.g. WEAPON FURY GRAPPLE) and, at good positioning or better, Fury will do what you said or switch as needed for a tier up. At decent positioning, Fury will only jab until it finds the tier up. Using Fury also grants the monk and their party members a +10 Constitution effect for two minutes after being used, though it's not a major selling point.

The AoE unarmed combat technique is '''[[Clash]]''', which you learn with 50 ranks of Brawling (level 23). It begins with three foes, then adds one more at the same thresholds as Fury: 10, 24, 50, 100, 150, and 200. Like Fury, Clash doesn't include a bonus jab. At good positioning or better, it uses your specified UC attack type or switches to the appropriate tier up type; however, since Clash only throws one attack per creature, a tier up opportunity would have needed to exist ''before'' Clash was used. (Fury and mstrikes, on the other hand, can find tier up opportunities ''and'' seize on them within their own self-contained string of attacks.) At decent positioning, Clash can only throw jabs.

Techniques cost a small, flat amount of stamina (15 for Fury and 20 for Clash), then enter a cooldown period of 15-20 seconds or so )(depending on training). Unlike mstrikes, Fury and Clash can't be used while they're on cooldown. They do have separate cooldown timers, so you can alternate between them.

However, you can't alternate mstrikes with Fury and Clash. Using an mstrike locks you out of Fury and Clash for 60 seconds. On the flip side, you ''can'' use an mstrike right after Fury or Clash if needed, but those techniques activate the mstrike cooldown, so it'll cost stamina. All of this is because former GM Naijin, the creator of techniques, didn't intend for players to insert mstrikes into their rotation as a means to dodge around technique cooldowns. For this reason, many players pick whichever they prefer out of mstrikes or assault and AoE weapon techniques and ignore the other. (I use both, though, as I explain in the Training Plan section!)

RT-wise, much like mstrikes, Fury and Clash are difficult to nail down exact numbers on. However, they both seem to have lower max RT (unless encumbered; encumbrance affects techniques) and Fury definitely has lower minimum RT. Fury divides its RT over individual strikes instead of all at once. For example, if Fury has 5 RT worth of attacks, enough MOC to strike three times, and a certain amount of Agidex (again, difficult to pin down an exact amount), it'll execute them as 2 RT, 2 RT, and 1 RT.

Compared to focused mstrikes, Fury's structure has upsides and downsides. One upside is that you'll have less RT overall if the early rounds kill the creature. Another is that if an emergency comes up mid-Fury, you can interrupt your own attack to leave the room, cast a spell, disable a different foe, etc. On the other hand, enemy creatures can ''also'' interrupt your Fury by leaving the room, stunning you mid-Fury, etc. It's also less likely that your target will be dead as soon your command gets sent to the server since attacks don't happen all at once.

===Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick===

The other two UC techniques are '''[[Twin Hammerfists]]''' and '''[[Spin Kick]]''', respectively learned at 10 and 75 ranks of Brawling (level 3 and 36 (or level 35 if you use your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling)). Unlike Fury and Clash, using mstrikes won't lock you out of them.

Twin Hammerfists is an [[Standard_maneuver_roll|Standard Maneuver Roll (SMR)]] style attack and an incredible setup that tries to knock down the foe, put it in RT, stun it, and add the [[Vulnerable]] status condition--all in one technique! At only 2 RT and 7 stamina, it's a staple that can serve monks well from level 4 onward and potentially even for the rest of their lives.

Spin Kick is a reaction technique--a retaliation maneuver--that can kick a foe after your monk evades an attack. It has 2 RT, costs no stamina, and can even be used while in RT, so it can save you in a tough situation. Like Twin Hammerfists, it's an SMR-based attack. Unlike Twin Hammerfists, Spin Kick isn't a setup; it has real killing power if it rolls high. Spin Kick performs best against enemies with poor maneuver defense, like lumbering tanky creatures or magic users, and performs worst against enemies with excellent maneuver defense, like speedy four-legged animals or creatures patterned after warriors.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If highlighting tier up opportunities goes well for you, then You could use this opportunity to Spin Kick! is another message to consider highlighting from level 35-36 on!
</blockquote>

===Beyond Basics: Synchronizing Everything===

So far, I've written this unarmed combat primer as if players have no gear and hunting is universally optimized by killing creatures as quickly as possible. In these contexts, obviously punches and kicks seem great, jabs and grapples might seem like something we do only out of necessity for tiering up, and Twin Hammerfists and Spin Kick might seem like more style than substance.

However, players do have gear and sometimes going on the all-out offensive is more likely to get players killed than their enemies, so let's put everything together into a cohesive whole.

Flaring gear gets better the faster the attack--and there are a wide variety of flares available these days! Most people will never reach a double digit number of possible flares per attack (though it is possible), but two to six possible flares per attack are shockingly easy to get hold of these days via the traditional ability slot ("flare slot"), script slot, and some help from clerics, paladins, rogues, or sorcerers in giving holy water/fire, Battle Standards, Poisoncraft, or Ensorcell respectively.

Here's an example of a Twin Hammerfists firing off three flares:

Sariara raises her hands high, laces them together and brings them crashing down towards the crimson angargeist
[SMR result: 316 (Open d100: 89, Bonus: 107)]
Perfectly executed strike to the crimson angargeist's back! It staggers!
The attack exposes a vulnerability in a roiling crimson angargeist's defenses!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps emit a searing bolt of lightning! **
... 20 points of damage!
Hard shot to the crimson angargeist's back sends it drifting forward!

** Sariara's owl-painted handwraps spray forth a shower of pure water! **
... 60 points of damage!
Incredible strike to the crimson angargeist's back smashes through the chest!
Too bad it melts back together.
Riotous ivory-haloed scarlet energy races along the surface of the handwraps, slender tendrils rising up to coalesce into the ethereal form of a keen-eyed owl.

** Talons extended and wings flared, a keen-eyed ethereal owl dives down with an ear-piercing hoot as a flock of wispy ivory-haloed scarlet owls roil forth in an angry torrent! **

... 30 points of damage!
Strong strike splits the belly open, revealing ghostly organs.
Haggis anyone?

The odds of all three flares coming together is only 0.8%, so this is an outlier that I might only see every one or two hunts, but it's a great illustration because of the particulars.

First of all, this is a level 110 creature, so I did mean it when I said Twin Hammerfists can be good through a monk's entire life. That's the least interesting thing to say here, though.

The flares did 110 damage and would have done 160-210 if I were finished upgrading to holy fire instead of holy water.

Angargeists are non-corporeal undead. Normally Kai's Smite would be extremely helpful since the holy water flare here was strong enough to kill corporeal undead, but with this specific creature, even turning it corporeal doesn't allow for one-shotting it; you have to take out its entire health pool.

2 RT attacks like jabs, Twin Hammerfists, and Spin Kick shine when a high number of possible flares makes both your average attacks and outlier attacks significantly stronger. That much is true whether the creature you're fighting can be crit killed or not. However, since the natural strength of UC is crit killing, the extra damage from flares becomes even more important against those uncrittable creatures.

Speaking of uncrittable creatures or creatures you're otherwise unlikely to get through in just a few commands, another thing not yet covered is that grapples [[Grapple_critical_table_(UCS)|are significantly better at inflicting RT or Slowed status effects]] on foes than punches. This can be really helpful as a means to buy time while tiering up to excellent positioning, sacrificing minor amounts of health damage (compared to punches) in exchange for delaying creature actions.

Here's a more nuanced look at the unarmed combat core attack types than before:

'''Jabs''':
* The fastest repeatable means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Twin Hammerfists is just as fast, but can't hit a foe who's already downed, so it's not repeatable.)
* The fastest means of tiering up with single strikes.
* Poor at excellent positioning since they have no killing power unless you have a high number of flares to fish for.
* Poor as the specified command of a Fury or mstrike since they have little or (usually) no speed advantage over the other commands in that case.

'''Punches''':
* A mix of killing power and speed that makes for the best general purpose good positioning single strike in a vacuum. A high number of flares can bring jabs above them, however.
* The best aimed attack at excellent positioning. I'm not particularly a fan of aimed UC attacks for reasons we'll delve into later, but it is there.
* Poor against uncrittable creatures, where specializing in either speed, power, or disabling is better than being a generalist.
* Poor as the specified command of an unfocused mstrike or Clash since it's unlikely to kill, is much less likely to slow foes down than grapples, and has little to no speed advantage over kicks in that case.

'''Grapples''':
* A mix of disabling power and speed that makes for the best means of stalling out hordes or individual uncrittable creatures that need to be whittled down while still allowing for tier up opportunities. (Twin Hammerfists and some combat maneuvers are more reliable at disabling, but can't help tier up.)
* Good against individual threatening creatures that need to be slowed down.
* Poor at excellent positioning, where disabling has less merit and killing power is more easily achieved with more strength.
* Poor at good positioning against unthreatening creatures since disabling has no merit in that case.

'''Kicks''':
* The best finishing blow at excellent positioning per hit.
* The highest damage output per hit.
* Poor as a means of firing off flares with single strikes. (Used during a Fury or mstrike, however, it can be either almost as fast or exactly as fast as the other commands.)
* Poor at tiering up with single strikes. (Same as above.)

In short, pick the right tool for the right job. They can all be the right tool at times!

===Macros and Aliases===

If you're playing even somewhat manually, I recommend creating [[Lich:Script_Alias|aliases]] (if using [[Lich:Software|Lich]]) or [[Macro|macros]] (if not) for the various unarmed combat attacks. Most specifically:

* Jab
* Grapple
* Punch
* Kick
* Weapon Twinhammer
* Weapon Fury [Grapple/Punch/Kick (depending on your level, training, specialization, and preference)]
* Weapon Spinkick
* Mstrike Grapple
* Mstrike Punch
* Mstrike Kick
* Mstrike Grapple Target
* Mstrike Punch Target
* Mstrike Kick Target

For macros, this just means tying each one you care about to a single key press. You can configure them in Options -> Macros if using [[Wrayth]].

For Lich aliases, I've set mine as jj for jab, gg for grapple, pp for punch, kk for kick, twin for Twin Hammerfists, utf for Fury Grapple (stands for "unarmed technique Fury"), uts for Spin Kick, mg for mstrike grapple, mp for mstrike punch, and mk for mstrike kick. I could create things like an mkt alias for mstrike kick target if I wanted, but in that case I just type out "mk target" or "mk [target noun]."
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Skills==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-skillsplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering how to train your monk's skills? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-skillsplan">

===Core Skills===

These are skills you consistently train with little to no deviation.

* '''[[Brawling]]''': Max every level.
* '''[[Physical Fitness]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more stamina early on.
* '''[[Dodging]]''': At least twice per level. Thrice per level later in life or if you really want more DS early on.
* '''[[Perception]]''': Once per level.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Before level 20, you can flip your skills around any time and into any configuration. The game will adjust to your new training plan within a few minutes at most. I recommend taking advantage of this early period to experiment and find what you like! The above core skills cost little, so you'll have a lot of leeway to decide what to do with skills mentioned in the following sections.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #1: Combat Maneuvers as Core Skills?'''

Many players would probably consider Combat Maneuvers a core skill. I sort of agree in the sense that I'd say ''roughly'' 1x minimum is mandatory and you'll almost certainly want far more than that early on. However, philosophically, I don't consider CM in the same category as Brawling, Physical Fitness, Dodging, and Perception. All of those are inexpensive and offer noticeable incremental value with every rank, but 2x Combat Maneuvers has more opportunity cost and the skill provides value at discrete breakpoints. That's why it's in the Breakpoint Skills section below!
</blockquote>

===Breakpoint Skills===

Train these skills to specific thresholds because most have little to no merit for the in-between ranks.

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]]''': One rank gives 5 extra DS to barehanded monks, so it can be worth picking up early. Getting additional DS via TWC is slow (+1 per 10 ranks, plus a +10 bump at 0.5x level) and not worth prioritizing until much later, after maxing Dodging.
* '''[[Combat Maneuvers]]''': Train at least 1x--probably much more than that early on--but be intentional and reach benchmarks of Combat Maneuver Points to learn new maneuvers. (Which maneuvers? See the Combat Maneuvers section later or even jump to the tl;dr Recap section!) The UAF bonus from CM ranks isn't that important on its own, so learning new maneuvers is the focus. After getting your core maneuvers, you can push CM to 2x, but it's also reasonable to prioritize other things like getting more spells sooner or getting 3x Dodging sooner, especially if you're going self-spelled. Up to you!
* '''[[Multi-Opponent Combat]]''': Before cap, the good mstriking breakpoints are 5, 15, 30, 35, 55, 60, and ''possibly'' 90 or 100. The good technique breakpoints are 10, 24, 50, and ''possibly'' 100. If you're using mstrikes and techniques, then use both sets of breakpoints. (See the sidebars at the end of this section!)
* '''[[Harness Power]]''': Ten to twenty ranks early will be extremely helpful, giving respectively +60 or +110 mana, but I like waiting until the midgame or late game to go past twenty.
* '''[[Minor Mental]] up to 13 or 16 ranks''': The major early benchmarks are [[Iron Skin (1202)|Iron Skin]] at 2 ranks, [[Foresight (1204)|Foresight]] at 4 ranks, [[Force Projection (1207)|Force Projection]], [[Mindward (1208)|Mindward]] at 8 ranks, [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] at 9 ranks, and the [[Mind Over Body (1213)|Mind Over Body]] focus spell at 13 ranks. Beyond that, [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] at 14 ranks is good, though I'm not quite as high on it as many players since evasions come before parrying in the order of operations. The [[Focus Barrier (1216)|Focus Barrier]] focus spell is also a good stopping point if you prefer more DS--or at least the option of it--over Mind Over Body's stamina cost reduction. You can ease up on Minor Mental training for a while after the focus spells.
* '''[[Mental Lore, Telepathy|Telepathy]] or [[Mental Lore, Transformation|Transformation]] lore''': To prioritize more offense, pick up Telepathy lore at thresholds of 6, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for extra stamina cost reduction in Mind Over Body. To prioritize more defense, pick up Transformation lore at thresholds of 5, 15, and eventually (midgame or late game) 30 for improved resilience in Iron Skin. To prioritize giving others [[Mystic Tattoo]]s, the first 30 to 40 ranks of Telepathy can rocket your skill up. You can also diversify! For more on lores, see the Secret Sauce of Lores section.
* '''[[Climbing]] and [[Swimming]]''': 10 ranks of each suffice for most places before the mid levels. Specific areas can change priorities, like the Icemule mountains or the Landing monastery. You'll generally know if you need more Climbing or Swimming, though. At cap, 60 ranks handle basically everything, but eventually 101 helps when you need to leave a hunting ground while encumbered.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #2: Mstrikes and Techniques are a Contextual Preference!'''

Why anyone would train to account for the mstrike MOC thresholds ''and'' the technique MOC thresholds is a good question since mstrikes lock out Fury and Clash for 60 seconds, but I find value in mstrikes and Fury depending on the situation.

My monk, Sariara, preferred Fury in most hunts while leveling, which mostly feature one-on-one combat. Fury scales up more quickly than focused mstrikes in the early game, firing off two attacks by 10 MOC and three attacks by 24 MOC while focused mstrikes don't even get started until 30 MOC. Fury also has excellent synergy with Grapple Specialization, which I'll discuss in the Offensive Specialization section.

However, Clash is a very weak AoE technique compared to unfocused mstrikes. Mstrikes' bonus jab allows double the number of attacks for the first engagement with the enemy, which means more tier up opportunities and more flare opportunities. During hunts that feature a lot of swarms, she would use focused mstrikes for single targets, even though they're slightly weaker than Fury because of her Grapple Specialization, since that left the unfocused mstrike option open for battling hordes.

Your MOC training plan doesn't need to assume that mstrikes or techniques are either/or!
</blockquote>

===Niche Skills===

Niche isn't a bad thing and several of these skills can be prioritized over breakpoint skills. Just make sure you're training with a plan and a purpose!

* '''[[Spiritual Mana Control]] and [[Mental Mana Control]]''': Harness Power gives much better mana improvement in a vacuum, so leave these alone until the late game ''unless'' you're surrounded by friends or alts who can send mana. In that case, tailor your SMC and MMC for sharing breakpoints. (See the tip below!)
* '''[[First Aid]]''': Helps with skinning and [[Mystic Tattoos]], though only barely in the latter case. I recommend it during the first 19 levels, which you can read about in the Trade Secrets section. From level 20 on, train First Aid if you want skinning bounties and avoid it if you don't.
* '''[[Trading]]''': Monks get immense value out of at least the first 20 ranks. See the Trade Secrets section!
* '''[[Survival]]''': Helps with skinning, but it's more expensive than First Aid. Slightly reduces duration of stuns, but monks don't get stunned very often. Like First Aid, I recommend it during the first 19 levels. Afterward, train it only if you want to excel at skinning bounties ''and'' have already trained First Aid.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Let's talk mana sharing breakpoints!

5 Spiritual Mana Control shares perfectly with capped [[cleric]]s who have maxed SMC.

7 SMC or Mental Mana Control shares perfectly with capped clerics who only have 2x SMC or capped [[empath]]s and [[sorcerer]]s who maxed the respective mana control.

10 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with capped [[bard]]s, [[paladin]]s, or [[ranger]]s with maxed mana control of that type or capped clerics, empaths, and sorcerers who only have 1x of that mana control.

24 SMC or MMC shares perfectly with anybody else who has 24 or more mana control of that type.

Just remember: 5, 7, 10, 24!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If you're at 24 mana control, consider going to 25! This unlocks [[Multicast|multicasting]], the ability to cast a buff spell twice in one cast. For self-cast spells, that'll take you to full duration in 3 RT instead of 6, which is nice quality of life!
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #3: The Skinning Deluxe Special!'''

The [[Adventurer's Guild]] bounty system won't assign skinning bounties unless you have at least half your level in First Aid and Survival combined. For example, a level 20 character with 8 First Aid and 2 Survival is eligible for skinning bounties.

Some players purposely remain below the threshold because skinning bounties have comparatively low exp payouts. Other players lean into training these skills because adding skinning into their pool of bounty types reduces the odds of getting other types like escorts or gems that they might want to avoid.

Experience points paid out by skinning bounties depend on the quality of skins the furrier asks for; in turn, the range of qualities the furrier can ask for depends on your skill. It's a double-edged sword! If you keep your skinning ability low, the furrier will only ask for fair quality skins and it'll be relatively easy to complete, but the exp reward will always be 600. If you heavily push your skinning ability, the furrier can (but won't always) ask for fine or exceptional skins. These pay out 650 or 700 exp, but will be more difficult to complete.

What ''isn't'' a double-edged sword is that the skinning ''bounty point'' payout only depends on the quality and value of the skins sold to the furrier, regardless of what they asked for. The bounty point part of your reward can still be top notch if you sell magnificent skins.
</blockquote>

===Midgame and Later Skills===

* '''[[Two Weapon Combat]] at half your level''': After you're finished with 3x Dodging, getting 10 extra DS by bumping TWC from one rank to half your level is a reasonable idea if you're still not feeling hardy enough.
* '''[[Minor Spiritual]] up to 2 or 7 ranks''': I'd ignore this for quite a long time, other than maybe picking up [[Spirit Barrier (102)|Spirit Barrier]] in the midgame. It's very easy to get most Minor Spiritual buffs from the [[Half-elven_invoker|invoker]] if you're a premium subscriber or from other players since so many professions learn it. ([[Lesser Shroud (120)|Lesser Shroud]] is a self-cast-only Minor Spiritual buff, but that's all the way at 20 ranks.) If you don't want to rely on the invoker or others, I'd say learn [[Spirit Warding II (107)|Spirit Warding II]] at 7 ranks somewhere in the midgame, then hold off until the late game.
* '''Minor Mental up to 20 or 25 ranks''': [[Premonition (1220)|Premonition]] gives extra DS at 20 ranks, but, training point-wise, fully maxing Dodging first is more efficient. Other compelling reasons to push Minor Mental are [[Vertigo (1219)|Vertigo]] and maybe [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] at 19 and 25 ranks, which are CS-based disablers that benefit from training more ranks. You need to find low TD targets, though.

<blockquote>
'''Skill Training Sidebar #4: The Spirit Barrier Irony!'''

Like I keep saying, pushing your UAF higher is more luxury than necessity--but that means the opposite is also true! ''Lowering'' your UAF in exchange for increasing your DS via Spirit Barrier isn't nearly as damaging to unarmed combat as for melee weapons. Whether you want to trade UAF for DS depends on your playstyle, preferences, and hunting grounds, but monks aren't like (weapon-using) rangers who would find trading ''AS'' for DS completely untenable. This spell can be worth a second look!
</blockquote>

===Post-Cap Skills===

Eventually you can train everything if you play long enough, but here are some considerations for what to prioritize if or when you reach post-cap.

'''[[Edged Weapons]]''':

There's merit to diversifying your offense eventually! Training edged weapons allows monks to use [[katar]]s, which are fast and powerful melee weapons. While unarmed combat can defeat basically everything and is usually fairly even with or advantaged over weapon-based combat in most situations, that's not universally true. AS-based attacks can blow UAF-based attacks out of the water in scenarios against creatures who can't be crit killed while also having any combination out of very low DS, very high health, and high level, the latter of which makes it harder to tier up. Edged Weapons training also opens up the possibility of using the very powerful [[Hamstring]]. If you want to do this, I highly recommend also maxing Two Weapon Combat.

'''[[Ranged Weapons]]''':

Archery is another possibility for diversifying. Unlike with katars, AS-based ''ranged'' attacks don't necessarily add much when you already know how to use UC, but [[Volley]] is an exceptional crowd control tool that does AoE damage over time. Monks aren't exactly ''poor'' at crowd control--they have a high target limit, [[Bull Rush]], and potentially Vertigo against low TD targets--but adding Volley can really up their game to excel at it.

'''[[Magic Item Use]]''':

Supplementing DS with [[small statue]]s is eventually a good idea for every profession and MIU bolsters their duration. (As a historical note, MIU is also among the most cost-efficient means to improve protection against [[spellburst]] in areas like Old Ta'Faendryl, the Ruined Temple, or the Sanctum of Scales. However, that's largely immaterial these days. [[Spell sever]] has supplanted spellburst in newer capped hunting grounds like the Hinterwilds, Moonsedge Castle, and the Hive--and, although these are technically Ascension grounds aimed at far post-cap characters, monks are able to do well in them long before other professions, including even at fresh cap, due to the unique qualities of unarmed combat.)

'''Minor Spiritual up to 20 or 40 ranks''':

Eventually the spiritual TD from Lesser Shroud will be important, likely closer to cap. It'll become apparent enough when that's the case! Going beyond 20 Minor Spiritual to potentially learn [[Spirit Guide (130)|Spirit Guide]] or [[Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] at 30 or 40 ranks is an option for post-cap monks. My first monk Tarine did learn those two spells, but I'm fairly certain that my second monk Sariara never will. Voln already offers a fine substitute for fogging, Wall of Force isn't what it used to be when it had no cooldown, and having fewer spell ranks means more redux.

'''Minor Mental up to 48 or 50 ranks (or beyond)''':

Working on Minor Mental is primarily for slightly improving DS, slightly improving mental TD, and improving mental CS if you cast Vertigo or even [[Mindwipe (1225)|Mindwipe]] and [[Thought Lash (1210)|Thought Lash]]. 48 Minor Mental ranks max out defensive benefits from Minor Mental spells. 50 ranks unlocks a few fancy Shroud of Deception options. Pushing beyond 50 would mainly be for the CS spells if you really like them, but they're more for hunting things like bandits and pirates or just messing around than for casting in "real" hunting grounds.

<blockquote>
'''Redux Sidenote!'''

Even if you do want 50 Minor Spiritual and 40 Minor Mental, you can still reach 25% redux--a great threshold--by training a second weapon type and maxing Physical Fitness and Dodging.
</blockquote>

For the extreme post-cap, namely training Ascension skills, see the Ascension section toward the end of this guide. [[Transcend Destiny]] in particular, which released a few months after the first iteration of this guide, can be a gamechanger for players who put in enough hours to potentially make use of it. I'll elaborate further there.

===Secret Sauce of Lores===

This section contains tables to visualize lore thresholds.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Telepathy Ranks'''||0||6||'''15'''||'''30'''||80||150
|-
||'''Mind Over Body Stamina Reduction'''||20%||25%||'''30%'''||'''35%'''||40%||45%
|}

'''Green''': The 30% and 35% marks are good stopping points for most monks! Consider this: if an ability normally costs 20 stamina, then another 5% reduction only saves 1 stamina.

Aside from Mind Over Body, a couple of Telepathy's more minor claims to fame for monks include:

* 25 ranks allow [[Soothing Word (1201)|Soothing Word]] to remove sheer fear and grant 30 seconds of immunity to it
* 15, 45, and 90 ranks improve the spawn rate of [[Provoke (1235)|Provoke]]

You can work around sheer fear in other ways by being in Voln or getting your robes sanctified, but the Soothing Word option exists.

Provoke is an interesting niche, but not a major selling point in my eyes. Training 35 Minor Mental ranks asks a ton pre-cap and Provoke becomes less effective the more people are hunting in an area. Most capped hunting grounds are either very crowded, so Provoke does little, or they're not crowded because they're extremely dangerous, which makes Provoke a bad idea.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Iron Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 2'''||'''Level 5'''||'''Level 15'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||'''Full leather'''||'''Reinforced leather'''||Double leather||Leather breastplate||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather
|-
||5 Transformation||||Double leather||'''Leather breastplate'''||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine
|-
||15 Transformation||||||Cuirbouilli leather||'''Studded leather'''||'''Brigandine'''||'''Chain mail'''
|-
||30 Transformation||||||||Brigandine||'''Chain mail'''||'''Double chain'''
|-
||50 Transformation||||||||||Double chain||Augmented chain
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||||||||Chain hauberk
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||||||||Metal breastplate
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||||||||Augmented breastplate
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||||||||Half plate
|}

'''Blue''': You'll need heavy help from enhancives and/or Ascension to reach 105 or more Transformation lore. (If you can do it, it ''is'' amazing and I recommend it highly for a magical monk--I'd consider it less important for a Kroderine Soul monk, who already has enormous redux--but that won't be the majority of my readers.)

'''Pink''': My recommendations for which levels to meet which Iron Skin thresholds if you're undecided. You have more leeway at level 50 on to push lores higher, so I've highlighted two rows each for those, but maxing or near-maxing lores before then has a very heavy training point opportunity cost.

Iron Skin aside, Transformation lore improves [[Dragonclaw (1209)|Dragonclaw]] and [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] as follows. After the first row, the cells are only filled in if the spell's effect has improved over the previous breakpoint.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||'''Dragonclaw UAF Bonus'''||'''Brace Disarm Rate'''
|-
||0||10||25%
|-
||1||11||
|-
||3||12||27%
|-
||6||13||
|-
||7||||29%
|-
||10||14||
|-
||12||||31%
|-
||15||15||
|-
||18||||33%
|-
||21||16||
|-
||25||||35%
|-
||28||17||
|-
||33||||37%
|-
||36||18||
|-
||42||||39%
|-
||45||19||
|-
||52||||41%
|-
||55||20||
|-
||63||||43%
|-
||66||21||
|-
||75||||45%
|-
||78||22||
|-
||88||||47%
|-
||91||23||
|}

It does continue past there if you wish to use Ascension or enhancives. As ever, slightly increasing UAF doesn't make a huge difference. Brace, on the other hand, can be impactful ''if'' you're getting hit by physical attacks. I wouldn't go out of my way to push Transformation for Brace alone, but if you're already at 15 or 30 ranks for Iron Skin, pushing to 18 or 33 for Brace can be a nice bump for minimal training point costs. 36 is also a great stopping point on Transformation for reasons we'll look at in the Meditation Resistance section.

===Illustrative Training Snapshots===

For illustration and discussion purposes, here's what my most recent monk Sariara has looked like at '''various level thresholds'''--or, in the case of level 30, what she ''should'' have looked like since I was messing around experimenting and pushing beyond the boundaries of reasonability.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Level 20'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 40'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 60'''||'''Level 70'''||'''Level 80'''||'''Level 90'''||'''Level 100 (fresh)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||0||0||0||0||0||0||1||1||1
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||24||48||74||100||114||134||134||144||144
|-
||'''Brawling'''||44||65||85||105||125||149||165||187||207
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||24||35||55||55||55||55||55||60||100
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||44||64||84||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||44||64||125||156||186||216||246||276||303
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||10||10||10||10||20||20||38||92||101
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5||5
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||15||15||15||15||15||15||15||15
|-
||'''Perception'''||20||30||40||50||60||72||82||92||101
|-
||'''Climbing'''||10||10||10||20||20||40||40||60||60
|-
||'''Swimming'''||10||10||10||10||10||10||40||0||0
|-
||'''First Aid'''||20||30||20||25||30||35||40||42||42
|-
||'''Trading'''||40||43||42||48||60||72||83||95||167
|-
||'''Minor Spiritual'''||0||0||0||0||3||3||20||20||20
|-
||'''Minor Mental'''||12||13||14||16||20||20||20||20||20
|-
||'''(spare TPs)'''||3/0||86/0||11/0||2/0||34/0||306/128||2/0||192/0||114/0
|}

Let's break down some of the more unusual things you might notice!

I could have done the one rank of '''Two Weapon Combat''' much sooner, but didn't particularly feel the need for the quick DS.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' are definitely where I diverge from most players and you can tell how little I think of any perceived need for maxing them. Like I said, I aimed for specific thresholds. 3 Rolling Krynch Stance and 2 Grapple Specialization at level 20 sufficed to power through the simplest early creatures. Adding 3 Bearhug, 2 Feint, and another rank of Grapple Spec by level 30, then one rank each of Grapple Spec, Bearhug, Feint, and Evade Specialization by level 40, provided new options in the toolkit. Creatures with particularly good UDF made for good Bearhug fodder as an alternate attack method or Feint fodder to drop that UDF if it primarily came from stance instead of spells.

By level 50, Saria started catching up on Combat Maneuvers since she had finished Physical Fitness and Dodging by then, so she finished Bearhug and picked up Combat Mobility. However, by level 60, she'd maxed Evade Specialization and then largely coasted with an average of only 0.75 more Combat Maneuvers ranks per level until cap, picking up 4 Coup de Grace and finishing Grapple Spec. (Not shown in this table--maybe one day!--is that finishing CM ''is'' her second post-cap goal, finally; it's currently at 190 as she approaches 8.6m experience.)

Max '''Brawling''', obviously; I stuck one Ascension Training Point into it at level 25 to have Spin Kick one level in advance.

'''Physical Fitness and Dodging''' are more important than they used to be since spell sever areas are around even by the mid-50s, so I pushed to have them relatively early compared to some monks' training plans. (I actually turned up bounty difficulty and had Saria hunting spell sever by level 45!) The extra stamina and redux didn't hurt either.

I took a little bit of early '''Harness Power''', then slacked off for a while, then finally only began pushing it in the late game as an efficient way to wear more spells in ''spellburst'' hunting grounds, which she started on by level 85 (hence the huge jump from level 80 to 90). This table only shows up to fresh cap, but later in the guide, in the Ascension section, I'll show a "final build" where she drops Harness Power to 40; as she moved out of spellburst areas and into spell sever areas, the extra mana became frivolous.

I started '''First Aid''' relatively high, then it went backwards--but still high enough to get skinning bounties--as she grew out of level ranges with lucrative skins. 42 became the stopping point because it was the final 0.5x mark before level 85, when she moved to a hunting ground that had no skins. She eventually picked it back up post-cap, but the table only shows up to fresh 100.

'''Swimming and Climbing''' are skills that you might not need at fresh cap if you intend to stick to a specific hunting ground for a long time. I dropped Swimming since the Sanctum doesn't have any water and the only swimming in the Hinterwilds can be bypassed with Water Walking or Symbol of Return (among other options), but hunters of the Atoll, Ruined Temple, or Sailor's Grief would want it. Conversely, I kept Climbing because the Sanctum has a pretty tough check, but various other hunting grounds don't. For where Saria's currently at long after the initial publication of this guide, she could actually skip both Swimming and Climbing, but I keep them just in case.

Saria heavily pushed '''Trading''' early on for reasons that I explain in the Sneaky Monk Merchants section, but then let it slow down to more like a 1x pace until cap, when it became her first post-cap goal to finish. (The level where it goes backward a rank is because natural Influence growth had compensated.) Similar story for '''Minor Mental''', which came out of the gate fast, then inched to 20 at level 60 and stayed there.

Level 30 and 100 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the next '''Multi Opponent Combat''' thresholds while level 70 spare TPs are there because I was hoarding for the 20 '''Minor Spiritual''' threshold after noticing I could have it at level 76. I ultimately jumped from 3 ranks straight to 20 because I didn't care about any of the in-between spells, so might as well preserve higher redux until then.

If you're interested in a training snapshot far post-cap, see further below in the Ascension section!
</div></div>

==Training Plan: Exclusive Choices==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-choicesplan" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Looking for information about combat maneuver decisions and their opportunity costs, plus meditation resistance? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-choicesplan">

===Meditation Resistance===

One neat monk perk I haven't mentioned yet is that their [[Verb:MEDITATE#Damage_Resistance|MEDITATE verb]] allows them to gain resistance to one selected damage type! It offers 10% resistance to start, then improves at these thresholds:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||0||1||3||6||10||'''15'''||21||28||'''36'''||45||55||66||78||91
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||10%||12%||14%||16%||18%||'''20%'''||22%||24%||'''26%'''||28%||30%||32%||34%||36%
|}

And if you decide to go ham post-cap with Ascension and enhancives:

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Transformation Ranks'''||105||120||136||153||171||190
|-
||'''Damage Resistance'''||38%||40%||42%||44%||46%||48%
|}

I've highlighted 15 and 36 Transformation because 20% and 26% (translation: "25% or more") are extremely notable benchmarks. I ''could'' fully elaborate, but people who aren't Whirlin and me would probably get bored to tears by the rows and charts I'd need to detail the math on the hidden Damage Severity Weighting mechanics, how they translate to GSIV's crit system, and how it relates to order of operations with redux and crit padding.

Suffice it to say this:

Because of rounding and the nature of GSIV crits, it wouldn't be merely ''underestimating'' 20% and 25% resistance to say that they're twice as effective or two and a half times as effective as 10% resistance, but ''completely off base'' by orders of magnitude. The upgrade is huge.

That said, which damage type should you resist? You can change your type any time, but these jump out:

* '''Cold''': Useful for Icemule-based hunting at various levels.
* '''Crush''': A very common damage type, like all physical damage types. Particularly helpful for gigantic creatures that fall on you as they die.
* '''Electrical''': The most lethal damage type, albeit somewhat rare. If you're hunting creatures that use it, though, protect yourself!
* '''Fire''': Useful for Teras Isle, among other specific areas.
* '''Impact''': Great against various rock-themed creatures or shield-using creatures, among some others.
* '''Puncture''': Another common physical damage type. Very deadly if it hits the eyes even on a fairly tame enemy attack, so 20% or 25% resistance will help immensely.
* '''Slash''': The last of the common physical damage types. Probably the least impressive in a vacuum, but it ''is'' very common.

Of course, what you should use depends on the hunting ground. If your monk is in a place where everything spews Acid or uses Disruption spells, then meditate to resist those!

The only damage types I'd generally advocate against are Grapple and Unbalance, which are fairly unique. They cause minimal wounds compared to other damage types, but even weak hits frequently knock you down--and resistance doesn't stop that aspect. Still, if you're in a hunting ground replete with Grapple or Unbalance effects, resisting them might save you rounds of stun, so anything's worth considering in the right context.

===Offensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Grapple Specialization]], [[Kick Specialization]], and [[Punch Specialization]], which each improve their respective attacks, but which is right for you? I'll write about each one as if it's maxed, but during the earliest levels, these ramp up by gaining 20% of their max effectiveness per rank.

'''Grapple Specialization''':

* Deals bonus heavy grapple damage before each round of [[Fury]] against non-prone foes, which knocks them down and inflicts Vulnerable. "Before" is the key word since that means foes are already down as your UAF attack connects, which can improve MM and/or save you time of not needing to lead with Twin Hammerfists.
* Against creatures that are immune to being knocked down, every hit of Fury racks up additional damage since the foe is never prone.
* If you love Fury or hate setups, this could be the specialization for you!
* In a vacuum, grapples aren't ideal when not using Fury nor mstrikes since they have the same speed as punches, but are less likely to have killing power at good positioning than punches or especially kicks.
* Grapple Specialization has little to offer if you exclusively use mstrikes. "Exclusively" is the key word this time. If you use Fury sometimes and mstrikes other times, like me, then Grapple Specialization pays off!

'''Kick Specialization''':

* Turns your [[Spin Kick]] into two Spin Kicks!
* Many a monk has happily shared tales of being stuck in 20 seconds of RT only for [[Combat Mobility]] to stand them up, then they go on to dodge everything and double Spin Kick a room of foes to death before even getting out of RT. It's great fun and can save you in situations where the other two specializations couldn't.
* Kicks are the most powerful of the unarmed combat attacks, but the slowest. However, higher Agidex races can eventually get even MSTRIKE KICK to the same speed as its grapple and punch counterparts, in which case it's flat out the best mstrike option.
* Slower races might be better off with Grapple or Punch Specialization. Those also might be better at lower levels, especially pre-Perfect Self, when mstrikes and Fury haven't become as fast as they'll eventually be and Spin Kick might not even be an option yet (pre-level 35-36).
* While Spin Kick performs exceptionally well against like-level foes, it's not nearly as good against overleveled ones for two reasons: it's less likely to succeed and you're much more incentivized to disable those foes immediately. If they don't attack, you don't evade, so you don't Spin Kick.
* By its nature, Kick Specialization wants you to prioritize improving your UC shoes or footwraps, which is at odds with the fact that UC in general wants you to prioritize improving your UC gloves or handwraps since more of your attacks than not will be hand-based.

'''Punch Specialization''':

* Punches as a base attack are faster than kicks and more powerful than grapples. Jabs remain the ideal for tiering up from decent positioning, but at good positioning, when UC attacks have a chance to kill, punches are arguably the best option.
* Maxed Punch Specialization has a 25% chance to add minor impact damage to each target hit by [[Clash]]. A 25% chance isn't a shining endorsement, though, since maxed Grapple Specialization and Kick Specialization have a 100% chance of adding heavy grapple damage or a second Spin Kick to their respective techniques. The disparity gets exacerbated by Clash being nowhere near as good as unfocused mstrikes.
* Despite the above, the buff to Clash being minor doesn't matter if the monk isn't using Clash anyway. Punch Specialization can shine for lower level characters or slower races if the player prefers mstrikes over weapon techniques, but can't bring MSTRIKE KICK down to the speed of MSTRIKE PUNCH.

<blockquote>
'''Specialization Sidebar: Mstrikes with Specified Attack Types!'''

In case it isn't clear or in case going into math would be helpful...

'''Mstrike kick''' becomes the mechanical best option for high Agidex races at high levels regardless of which specialization you pick. Depending on how armored the foe, kicks are 140-150% as strong as punches and 160-200% as powerful as grapples. That power gap is so big that even if your punches or grapples have a higher MM because you picked Punch or Grapple Specialization, kicks are most likely stronger anyway. Of course, your fast race monk could just train in Kick Specialization for the best of every world!

'''Mstrike punch''' can be the best for lower Agidex races, lower levels, or both. Kicks are stronger hit for hit, but if they're slower because your Agidex isn't up to par, punches can still win overall.

'''Mstrike grapple''' is worse than mstrike punch in a vacuum because the latter has the same speed while packing 110% to 141.67% as much power. Against foes in chain or plate armor, mstrike punch is probably better than grapple even if you trained Grapple Specialization. However, against foes in cloth, leather, or scale armor, the power gap is 110%-125%, so mstrike grapple backed by its specialization can still win out due to the MM bonus and higher tier up chance. Grapples also slow down foes, making them preferable attacks for a balance of offensive and defensive benefits.

In short...

Use mstrike kick if you're a high Agidex race who's at or close to the peak of your Agidex growth.

Use mstrike grapple if either A) you intend to slow down foes to keep your combat relatively safer or B) all of the following apply: you're a moderate Agidex race or a high Agidex race not yet near your peak, you're against foes in armor lighter than chain, and you trained Grapple Specialization, but you're in a situation where you want to mstrike instead of using Fury. (Like, say, unfocused mstrikes.)

Use mstrike punch if neither of the above applies.
</blockquote>

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Kick Specialization is the flashiest and arguably the most fun specialization, and I stand behind MSTRIKE KICK being easily the best mstrike for fast races in a vacuum. However, the Fury technique backed by Grapple Specialization arguably has the highest ceiling. Its high knockdown potential works wonders against higher level creatures who make tiering up difficult. I've been very happy with these two specializations, using Kick for Tarine and Grapple for Sariara (and Grapple for Saraphenia before her).

As for Punch Specialization, I wouldn't honestly recommend it to anybody other than the slowest races. Former GM Naijin designed Grapple and Kick Specialization to have stronger technique-boosting effects than Punch Specialization because punches are the most broadly useful as a standalone attack and he wanted to balance the scales a bit. GemStone rewards being exceptional at something instead of pretty good at everything, but punches fall squarely into the latter category.

If you're training Grapple Specialization, make it your top priority after Rolling Krynch Stance (more on that in Martial Stances). Kick Specialization can potentially wait until later in life for Spin Kick at level 35-36, but training early isn't necessarily wrong either.

===Defensive Specialization===

Monks can only train one out of [[Block Specialization]], [[Evade Specialization]], and [[Parry Specialization]], which improve their respective defenses, but which is right for you? ...well, this one's a lot easier than the last!

'''Block Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to block melee or ranged attacks with a shield. Shields are a bad idea for monks; they're expensive to train, monks can't learn shield skills, and shields significantly decrease their MM.

'''Parry Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to parry melee or ranged attacks--assuming you have [[Brace (1214)|Brace]] active. After parrying, it gives a 25% chance of gaining the [[Counter]] effect, which means your next attack has 1 less RT and costs 25% less stamina (if applicable). This might sound neat until it's compared to...

'''Evade Specialization''':

At max, a +15% chance to evade melee, ranged, or magical bolt attacks. After evading, it gives a 25% of gaining the [[Evasiveness]] effect, which will automatically avoid the next attack (of any kind, including CS-based or maneuver-based) thrown your way with 100% success. Also, evasion triggers (not Evasiveness triggers) allow [[Spin Kick]] followups.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Even without Kick Specialization, Evade Specialization is the only one that adds offensive power via a defensive specialization. I universally recommend it to all Brawling-oriented monks without exception. (I say "Brawling" because I'm not even limiting this to unarmed combat. Even if you're using brawling ''weapons'' like fist-scythes or katars, you can Spin Kick, so Evade Specialization still wins.)

===Martial Stances===

Monks can technically learn as many martial stances as they have points for, but can only have one active at a time, so most only learn one. Let's review them.

'''[[Duck and Weave]]''':

The most flavorful martial stance.

Gives you a chance to redirect enemy melee attacks that you evade, making enemies hit other enemies in the room.

This is a super cool and fun idea, but not nearly as practical as it might sound since it has to jump through so many hoops: you need to be fighting multiple creatures, they need to be attacking with melee, you need to evade, Duck and Weave needs to trigger, and the redirected attacker's AS and weapon type have to be good enough compared to the defending creature's DS and armor type to do meaningful damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Delightful, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Flurry of Blows]]''':

The screen scrolliest martial stance.

Yo dawg, I heard you like jabs, so I put jabs in your jabs so you can jab while you jab.

When you jab, Flurry of Blows can simultaneously jab other foes in the room. Jabs aren't good on their own, so bringing the best out of this martial stance requires heavy investment. Unless your attacks can potentially fire off at least five damaging flares (...and the current max for a monk is nine while grouped with a [[paladin]] or eight otherwise, but even getting to five requires grouping with a paladin or having high end gear), I wouldn't say it comes close to being worthwhile.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Again, great fun, but bad. Not recommended.

'''[[Inner Harmony]]''':

The most wasted potential of martial stances.

At rank 1 and 2, it can passively shake off negative spell effects. At rank 3, assuming the stance also removes the effect on demand with a 20 second cooldown. However, the effects you'd most want to remove are exactly the ones you can't because you can't use Inner Harmony while bound or RT-locked. [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]] this definitely isn't!

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I appreciate the idea behind this stance, but it has little to no appeal in practice.

'''[[Rolling Krynch Stance]]''':

Almost surely the best martial stance for UC monks.

This stance gives you a chance of carrying over excellent positioning or good positioning from one foe to the next, which is a massive time savings and power increase. Decent position attacks won't kill unless you have extreme flaring gear or run through a large slew of hits. At good positioning, you at least ''might'' kill creatures via crits and can pretty easily kill them with several hits. At excellent positioning, you can kill creatures via crits even with a pretty light tap.

When I wrote that monks rarely one-shot creatures, that's true in a vacuum, but Rolling Krynch can at least open that door for them.

Bottom line: the less time you spend in decent positioning, the better off you are, and that's what Rolling Krynch offers.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Rolling Krynch is everything a traditional UC monk wants. Make at least the first two ranks your first combat maneuver.

'''[[Slippery Mind]]''':

The most defensive martial stance.

When maxed, this one gives you a 27% chance to avoid CS-based attack spells (assuming you're in robes). If you do avoid a spell, Slippery Mind also has a 75% chance of redirecting it to the caster or a different enemy target. Even if don't avoid the spell, you still have a 27% chance to buff your TD for 15 seconds and possibly save yourself from subsequent attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

This stance is simple, but really good, offering two lines of defense against a monk's biggest weakness while also preserving--and arguably even improving upon--one of the most fun aspects of Duck and Weave. I prefer improving offense to defense, but this is still the second best stance for most monks. I'd say it's the very best for a weapon-wielding monk in robes!

'''[[Stance of the Mongoose]]''':

The most "almost got there" martial stance.

This martial stance lets you automatically retaliate after you parry. Even assuming the most wildly niche builds, like you're running a dual handaxe Kroderine Soul monk with Parry Specialization who wears metal breastplate (and if you're doing that, thank you for making it this far into the guide for reasons I don't understand!), this martial stance takes some agency away from the player by attacking and adding more RT into your combat--3 seconds in this example--when you might not have wanted it.

If you're a more typical unarmed combat monk, the good news is that Stance of the Mongoose's retaliation will only add 1-2 seconds of RT--but the bad news is that that RT is so low because it's always going to jab (and therefore do little damage) unless you currently have a tier up opportunity against that foe, in which case it'll pick the tier up type.

That last bit might sound good--and, truthfully, it ''is'' good when it lines up, but how often does that happen? Unlike the perfect storm Duck and Weave needs, at least maxed Stance of the Mongoose triggers 100% of the time when it's not on its 3 second cooldown. Still, you need to have attacked created a tier up opportunity, you need to not yet have manually seized that opportunity, your attack that created the tier up needs to not have disabled the foe so that it could attack you, it needs to actually attack you and specifically with something you could parry, and you need to parry it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Despite its problems, I think this makes a serious case of being the third best martial stance a UC-oriented monk can learn. That's not necessarily saying much; I'd put it distantly behind Rolling Krynch Stance and Slippery Mind. If you're running a wacky build of a weapon-wielding monk (so no Krynch) in heavy armor (so no Slippery Mind), go with this.

<blockquote>
'''Fun time sidebar!'''

I'm not knocking wildly niche monks. Many of my characters who ''aren't'' monks are wildly niche builds like a dual wielding melee cleric in chain mail, a dual wielding paladin, a warrior in robes who casts [[Elemental Wave (410)|e-waves]] with no hindrance, and a maul wizard in leather breastplate. Do whatever you have fun with in this game.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Most characters attack dozens of times more often than enemies attack them. I lean heavily on this fact whenever I'm torn on a choice between offense or defense on any profession. The defensive one will have trouble winning out unless either the defensive gain is immense, the offensive opportunity cost is minimal, or both. (For example, in the right hunting ground, Spirit Barrier has low offensive opportunity cost and ''can'' have immense defensive gain!)

This is one reason I hold Rolling Krynch Stance in so much higher regard than Stance of the Mongoose or even Slippery Mind. Rolling Krynch powers up something that you're doing in combat against every creature you fight and usually several times per creature. Mongoose and Slippery Mind apply to things that the ''creatures'' do--things you're actively trying to prevent them from doing, no less!--and, for that matter, only ''some'' of them do it and only ''some'' of the time.
</blockquote>

'''[[Striking Asp Stance]]''':

The best... uh... PvP martial stance?

[[Verb:QSTRIKE|QSTRIKE]] is an ability available to all professions that lets you consume stamina to reduce the RT of your next attack. Striking Asp reduces that stamina cost for the first single-target qstrike used every minute.

Whoever this stance might be good for--if anyone, because I'm not convinced it's worthwhile in any context other than PvP duels--it's not good for monks. Since Striking Asp only works once per minute, Rolling Krynch is better at Asp's own claim to fame. Even if you use Asp to reduce a 5-second focused mstrike to 1 second, Krynch only needs to save you two jabs' worth of RT per minute. It will almost always do that and more with zero stamina cost instead of Asp's reduced stamina cost.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

No.

===Combat Maneuvers===

I won't go over every combat maneuver, but here are quick takes on the more standout ones.

<blockquote>
'''Quick Reminder!'''

Like with skills, you can flip your trained combat maneuvers around as you wish before level 20. Experiment and find what suits you!
</blockquote>

'''[[Acrobat's Leap]]''':

Useful for short races to make up the height gap.

'''[[Bearhug]]''':

Shockingly good supplement to unarmed combat. UAF attacks can overcome most defenses, but among creatures that ''are'' so good at turtling that UC struggles to punch through, most are casters who easily get hit by combat maneuvers. Bearhug is also a rare case of a maneuver with killing power in its own right. I don't necessarily recommend using learning it until you can train at least three ranks since its damage really depends on the endroll. It's also a bit worse for small races, but, since it's an SMR-based attack, even they can dish out tons of damage with the high endrolls achievable by inflicting status effects first.

Speaking of status effects, Bearhug has great synergy with [[Vulnerable]], which speeds up its damage rounds (not its cooldown). Twin Hammerfists inflicts Vulnerable and so does the Grapple Specialization knockdown perk from Fury, so either of those make for a nice one-two if you're already using them!

'''[[Bull Rush]]''':

Bull Rush is another way to inflict Vulnerable and can knock down a whole room of creatures. It does pretty minimal damage, but is a staple monk combat maneuver, filling a need of controlling the enemy hordes so you can systematically pick them off.

'''[[Burst of Swiftness]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

If your monk is a slow race, you might consider learning Burst anyway to bring your MSTRIKE KICK up to speed--literally! I don't recommend using it until you have at least four ranks since the cooldown is very long before then.

If your monk is a fast race, there's still a use case for Burst, but mostly for obscure builds at the top end; my super-capped elf monk Tarine has Burst of Swiftness exclusively for [[Duskruin Arena]] because it can push her into the vaunted -8 RT tier of 113 or more Agidex bonus, which allows her to do absurd shenanigans with 14 attacks in 4 seconds with Fury and [[Flurry]] while wielding two katars. (Since these are assaults, the attacks are broken up into 1-second rounds of 4, 4, 2, and 2 attacks. By contrast, TWC katar ''mstrikes''' don't get faster than 5 seconds regardless of Agidex.)

'''[[Cheapshots]]''':

I love this suite of disabling skills on rogues and bards, but I don't think unarmed combat-centric monks benefit much despite the wide variety of applications. UC can just power through most things and, for what it can't, Cheapshots won't either since they're all setups--and ones not necessarily better than Twin Hammerfists, at that. Cheapshots can still be worth considering for weapon builds. For UC, I'd rather get Bearhug or Coup de Grace.

'''[[Combat Focus]]''':

I like two or three ranks to slightly shore up TD weaknesses if you can spare the points, but it's not mandatory by any means.

'''[[Combat Mobility]]''':

Easily one of the best and most universal monk maneuvers. Automatically standing up while prone is amazing with Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick and, frankly, even without. 10 Combat Maneuver Points ''are'' a lot, so I recommend building up offense during the early game and possibly even into the midgame. By the level 60s at latest, though, when staying prone for any extended period of time gets real dangerous, most monks will love this.

'''[[Coup de Grace]]''':

A finisher that can insta-kill incapacitated foes at 50% health or less (at max Coup ranks) and provides a 90-second buff to AS/UAF depending how hard you killed them.

The AS/UAF buff isn't what matters (at least for solo UC-oriented monks; it's amazing for weapon-using monks or group hunts). Unarmed combat is riddled with incapacitating effects tacked on to its normal attacks, offering frequent opportunities to deliver the Coup de Grace. Also, even foes that can't be crit killed, like various golems, noncorporeal undead, or oozes are susceptible to Coup's insta-kill, so it's another helpful option in your toolbox.

'''[[Feint]]''':

Even though UAF attacks ''can'' power through turtled creatures, turning that "can" into "most likely" is ideal. Feint is the premier combat maneuver for lowering enemies' stance, decreasing their UDF--often by triple digits even in the fairly early game--and increasing your multiplier modifier.

'''[[Hamstring]]''':

I mention this for the katar builds. Hamstring can only be used with an edged weapon, but it's a devastatingly powerful setup-and-damage maneuver all in one. Two Weapon Combat characters will find it even more exceptional.

'''[[Ki Focus]]''':

Increases the odds of higher tier positioning or a tier up opportunity on your next UC attack. This maneuver's wiki page recommends it if you aren't using Rolling Krynch Stance, but I recommend it even if you are. Ki Focus is another means to more consistently keep the train of good-or-excellent positioning rolling, especially against overleveled foes who would normally be difficult to tier up against.

That said, the stamina cost to use it too often ''is'' real, even with Mind Over Body, so you'll need heavy Physical Fitness training. It's more of a midgame or late game skill to me.

Monks who use only mstrikes might benefit from Ki Focus more than monks who use techniques. Mstrikes don't cost stamina outside their cooldown period, giving more leeway to keep a high stamina cost maneuver in your rotation.

'''[[Surge of Strength]]''':

You needed this in the days of old to learn Perfect Self, but no longer. If you hear that, it's outdated information.

I'd consider Surge for halflings and gnomes only. Between Perfect Self and a max rank Surge, they can carry things at least slightly more like an average-sized race. Still, Surge's cooldown is very long before at least rank 4. Even at rank 5, you can only have 75% uptime (a 90 second ability with a 120 second cooldown) unless you're willing to use it while in cooldown, which doubles its already high stamina cost from 30 to 60. Mind Over Body can only do so much to save you from that!
</div></div>

==Further Character Progression==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-progression" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious about feats, meditating, or upgrading your monk's gear later? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-progression">

===Feats===

Monks gain new abilities called Feats at various levels, which are as follows:

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Kroderine Soul]]====

Kroderine Soul is an opt-in feat that I won't cover in detail, but suffice it to say that you gain additional physical [[redux]] (resistance to physical attacks, which is increased by training physically-oriented skills), redux now applies to magical attacks, magical disablers have decreased duration against you, and you have access to the [[Absorb Magic]] and [[Dispel Magic]] abilities.

In exchange, before level 30, you can't learn spells, cast spells, or have spells cast on you other than a few exceptions like [[Floating Disk (511)|disks]], empath healing, and [[Raise Dead (318)|resurrection]]. From level 30 on is a different story, which I'll explain in the level 30 feat section.

====Level 0 Monk Feat - [[Martial Mastery]]====

After you've maxed one weapon skill (for your level), Martial Mastery grants +1 AS or UAF for every eight total ranks you train in up to two ''additional'' weapon skills. However, the AS/UAF boost is penalized by 5% for every spell you learn beyond five ranks--which means Martial Mastery no longer applies by the time you have 25 total spell ranks. Monks have a way to ignore the first 20 of those spell ranks, but I'll explain that too in the level 30 feat section.

While Martial Mastery is technically learned automatically from level 0, most monks won't make much use of it for a while. Some, like my monk Tarine, will have too many spell ranks to ever make use of it. I'll speak more about that in the Odds and Ends section discussing builds off the beaten path.

====Level 20 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Tattoo]]====

Monks can tattoo themselves or other characters by using a needle and ink from the local [[alchemist]] shop. They can ink from ''[[Stock_tattoo|nearly 1000 different options]]'' from a stock tattoo list! These are called mundane tattoos.

From level 20 on, monks can upgrade a character's existing tattoo--including one for which the monk wasn't the artist--by turning it into a Mystic Tattoo, which makes it enhancive. This is the monk profession service!

For full detail on Mystic Tattoos, see their wiki page. The simplified version is that Mystic Tattoos have five tiers, each requiring more training from the monk and each adding an enhancive of +1 bonus for a stat of the buyer's choice. To empower Mystic Tattoos, monks use 50000, 75000, 100000, 125000, and 150000 Motes of Tranquility (respective to each tier), which they earn via absorbing the equivalent amounts of experience points. Monks can earn up to 50,000 motes per week and save up to 200,000 total for later use. (You can see your totals with the RESOURCE command.)

As profession services go--so I'm comparing Mystic Tattoos to Battle Standards, [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]], [[Covert Arts]], enchanting, ensorcelling, [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]], ranger [[Resist Nature (620)|resistance]], sanctifying, and warrior weighting--this ''can'' be a really high impact one for CS casters, who benefit heavily from boosting Aura or Wisdom. It can also be solid for any character close to specific Agidex thresholds, and some people like simply enhancing Logic to absorb more exp.

Mystic Tattoos are in the midrange of profession service value overall; don't create a monk expecting to start rolling in silver like a cleric, sorcerer, or wizard eventually can (...at least not via tattooing, but more on the silver-making secrets of monks later!), but they'll likely make more from tattooing than non-capped bards, paladins, or rangers, or any level rogues or warriors do from their services. At the time of this writing, empaths make more than monks with their service, but they also have the newest service, so that might be a temporary situation. Either way, GM Estild, the head of dev, has acknowledged that Mystic Tattoos (and warrior weighting) need further improvement at a future point.

<blockquote>
'''Advanced Tattooing Tips!'''

Mystic Tattoos were designed with the intent that a typically trained monk should be able to do a tier 1 at level 20, a tier 2 at level 40, a tier 3 at level 60, a tier 4 at level 80, and a tier 5 at level 100. In practice, I find that many monks are anywhere from 5-15 levels ahead of that schedule--''and'' that's even assuming that you want a 100% success rate unboosted! Here are some options to jump ahead of the curve:

* Use BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS (from [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]) for +10 tattooing skill. (However, since this temporarily increases your max health and max spirit and your tattooing ability gets reduced when those two stats aren't full, you'll need to wait until health and spirit recover after using the boost. Voln members can do this most easily since Symbol of Renewal is one of the game's very few tools to instantly recover spirit.)
* Use BOOST GIFT EONAK (also from daily login rewards) to take the best of two rolls when determining your success. To put that in perspective, a 50% success rate would become 75% with Gift of Eonak active, a 60% success rate would become 84%, a 70% success rate would become 91%, an 80% success rate would become 96%, and a 90% success rate would become 99%.
* Suffusion allows converting your Motes of Tranquility to extra skill bonus on a single tattoo upgrade at a rate of 2000 motes to 1 skill bonus. Since it's a one-off boost and yet requires trading potentially weeks of resource gain, I don't recommend using suffusion for tattooing characters other than your own monk. Even with your own monk, I'd usually just advise patience--but if patience isn't your thing, then trading off a week of resources for five levels or so of skill might appeal to you!
</blockquote>

====Level 25 Monk Feat - [[Mystic Strike]]====

A weird one, to say the least. FEAT MYSTICSTRIKE allows a monk to use a small amount of stamina to infuse their next physical UC or melee attack with an effect that debuffs a foe's defense against warding spells after it lands. While monks do have a few warding spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe, those spells are normally better off as setups--if they're even used at all--than something to set up ''toward''.

====Level 30 Monk Feat - [[Dragonscale Skin]] or [[Mental Acuity]]====

At level 30 (and any time a fixskill is used after that point), monks can decide between these two feats by using FEAT LEARN DRAGONSCALESKIN or FEAT LEARN MENTALACUITY.

'''Dragonscale Skin''' is a straightforward buff that improves monks' Iron Skin spell.

Reviewing the basics of Iron Skin first, it improves a monk's robes to have the defensive power of full leather at bare minimum (level 2) and can get all the way to the durability of half plate on a truly outlandish, mega-capped character with an incredible enhancive set. However, this boost to defensive power only counts for the purposes of taking physical damage. Enter Dragonscale Skin, which makes the armor-mimicking aspect of Iron Skin also reflect itself in CvA (defense against warding spells; basically the same as TD, except done as a number subtracted from the enemy attack instead of added to your defense).

Here's a revised version of the Iron Skin table from the Secret Sauce of Lores section again, now tailored to the context of the CvA boost. The listed benefits are comparing to the baseline of robe CvA ''without'' Dragonscale Skin.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||'''Dragonscale Skin Breakpoints'''||'''Level 30'''||'''Level 50'''||'''Level 75 to 100'''
|-
||0 Transformation||Leather breastplate (10 benefit)||Cuirbouilli leather (11 benefit)||Studded leather (12 benefit)
|-
||5 Transformation||Cuirbouilli leather||Studded leather||Brigandine (13 benefit)
|-
||15 Transformation||Studded leather||Brigandine||Chain mail (21 benefit)
|-
||30 Transformation||Brigandine||Chain mail||Double chain (22 benefit)
|-
||50 Transformation||||Double chain||Augmented chain (23 benefit)
|-
||75 Transformation|||||||Chain hauberk (24 benefit)
|-
||105 Transformation|||||||Metal breastplate (33 benefit)
|-
||140 Transformation|||||||Augmented breastplate (34 benefit)
|-
||180 Transformation|||||||Half plate (35 benefit)
|}

For illustration's sake, my monk Sariara had leather breastplate caliber robes at level 30, will reach cuirbouilli leather at level 34 or 35, studded leather around level 43-45, brigandine at 50, chain mail likely around 60, and double chain at 75, where she'll pause for a long while. My monk Tarine had a less Transformation-focused build and is only at chain mail caliber even now, but will push to chain hauberk in the near future, then stop at metal breastplate over the very long haul.

To be clear, Dragonscale Skin reduces the odds of getting hit by spells at all and, if the monk does get hit, essentially reduces the endroll result. However, an identical endroll against real chain armor, plate armor, etc. would do significantly less damage than it does against robes.

The alternative to Dragonscale Skin, '''Mental Acuity''', is a much more complex beast. It basically forces redux, Martial Mastery (the level 0 feat), and Kroderine Soul (the other level 0 feat) to act like a monk's first 20 learned Minor Mental spells don't count. However, instead of a monk's first 20 Minor Mental spells costing mana, they cost stamina at twice the mana cost. (Mind Over Body does bring that down, so it won't necessarily be exactly twice.)

The most striking of these exceptions is definitely Kroderine Soul because it creates the unique monk path of continuing to cast spells despite training a feat that prevents their warrior and rogue counterparts--and pre-level-30 monks--from using magic at all. I can see the appeal even though it's not a route I'm interested in.

In practice, the only monks I know who chose Mental Acuity instead of Dragonscale Skin were also using Kroderine Soul. Having spells cost stamina instead of mana is a hefty ask. That said, nothing stops a character from avoiding KS and using Mental Acuity anyway. There ''are'' still reasons to do it. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of redux remains a Mental Acuity benefit even for the non-KS monk. Saving 20 spell ranks' worth of Martial Mastery penalty means that a monk trained in three weapon skills could still max out the AS/UAF bonus even while training, for example, 20 Minor Mental spells plus 3-5 ranks of Minor Spiritual.

Are these compelling enough reasons to take Mental Acuity over Dragonscale Skin on a non-KS monk? As far as I can tell, so far the community has said no, but I'll explore that later in Odds and Ends. As for KS monks, Mental Acuity is the only option; Dragonscale Skin does literally nothing for them because KS monks can't cast Iron Skin ''unless'' they have Mental Acuity.

====Level 40 Monk Feat - [[Martial Arts Mastery]]====

Now we're talking! Martial Arts Mastery uniformly adds +10 to the multiplier modifier of your UC attacks, adds a flat +10% tier up chance to your UC attacks, and adds a flat +10% evasion rate (which also helps fire off more Spin Kicks).

If you play an unarmed combat monk through low levels and find yourself wondering when it really gets good, level 40 is the latest possible answer. Before then, something like a brawling warrior in robes might feel at least similar to a monk, albeit with no Rolling Krynch Stance (a huge difference maker, admittedly) and with different training point costs for various skills.

Level 40 draws a line in the sand, though, to establish that unarmed combat ''is'' the monk's wheelhouse because Martial Arts Mastery ''is'' the monk's premier feat. To put it in perspective, Martial Arts Mastery is the equivalent of maxing Grapple Specialization, Kick Specialization, and Punch Specialization all at once, minus the Fury/Spin Kick/Clash perks but plus a new Jab Specialization that no other profession has. And since you'll already have trained one of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization the normal way, now Martial Arts Mastery is like ''double-maxing'' it.

Unleash the power and never look back.

====Level 50 Monk Feat - [[Perfect Self]]====

Perfect Self raises all your stats by +10 (or +5 bonus). That's it! Your monk hits level 50 and great power drops on their head.

Like I've said, there's pretty much no bad monk stat split from level 50 on because of this feat. It's also the driving force behind why even moderately fast races (along the lines of half-elves and aelotoi), never mind the really fast races, have so much potential as monks. If you're using mstrikes and weapon techniques at all, you'll notice the improvement!

===Gear Upgrades: Armor===

Even though fancy gear is more a luxury than a necessity for monks, you might as well upgrade your monk's gear eventually if you enjoy them! But how and in what way?

For armor, I think the answer is to keep it really simple. Most of the expensive armor you can pick up doesn't do all that much for monks. (...at least not magical non-Kroderine Soul monks, the subject of this guide. I assume expensive armor does way more for KS monks who are tanking more hits.)

'''Materials'''

* Rusalkan: A high-end expensive option at 400k soul shards that attempts to knock down up to three enemies if you get hit or evade an attack, boosts UAF and CS for 10 seconds if it does knock any of them down, and grants a 1 second haste effect for various offensive actions. It has a cooldown for 30 seconds. Probably the most powerful armor material overall with an extremely powerful effect, but the expenses are enormous. Some contact-based combat maneuvers like Bull Rush can also trigger rusalkan flares.
* Zelnorn: Uses half of what would be the DS from its enchant as AS (or in monks' case UAF) instead, but doesn't allow flares or a TD boost to go in the ability slot (AKA category B). Players hit creatures more than creatures hit players, so zelnorn can be fantastic for AS-based professions--but most monks aren't AS-based. Improving UAF is fairly irrelevant, not justifying the base cost of 50k bloodscrip in the case of monks. Either flares or increased TD would more greatly benefit monks, making use of the ability slot.

'''Scripts'''

* [[Animalistic Spirit Armor]]? Gives a few minutes of extra stamina regen per hunt and can flare to knock down creatures when you evade, but you're a monk. You already reduce your stamina costs by 35% and you already keep everything knocked down constantly.
* [[Ethereal armor]]? If you happen to have boatloads of ethereal scrip from frequent [[Settlement_of_Reim|Reim]] hunts, then sure, go for it, but a monk isn't screaming for more DS and a flare chance for crit padding.
* [[Forest Armor]]? Monks don't need a tiny boost to UAF and CS.
* [[Ithzir Armor]]? Cool abilities involving healing and emergency escape. 500k bloodscrip cool? Nah.
* [[Mana-Infused Armor]]? Mana, damage padding, crit padding, UAF and CS, and an emergency button to drive creatures out of the room. Not what a monk's seeking.
* [[Parasite Armor]]? It can give a 90 second buff to TD, but it's once every five minutes and costs 150k bloodscrip. Pass.
* [[Sprite Armor]]? Extra DS, maneuver defense, and mana. Nope, not for a monk!
* [[Valence Armor]]? Health, mana, and reactive flares. Skip.
* [[Voln armor]]? Extra DS, sheer fear protection, crit padding, and an emergency escape button. This was once a reasonable value even despite its high cost and the DS and crit padding not being too meaningful for a monk. However, that time has largely passed now that Sanctify and Battle Standard exist so you can get sheer fear protection for cheaper and emergency escape after death instead of before death. You'd have to die several thousand times before the cost of any extra deeds and chrisms outweigh the cost of fully unlocked Voln armor.

'''Defaults'''

So my actual answer to the armor question is:

* Go to playershops and spend 1-5 million silver on robes with either +7 to +9 TD or some cool damage resistance of 20% or more, get them upgraded by wizards, clerics, and sorcerers over time.

Yes, this is what I actually do! +20% acid resistance robes, +8 TD robes, more +8 TD robes, and +7 TD robes are all things that some of my characters wear or have worn in the past. If GMs ever release an armor script that I think is a must-have for monks, I'll come back and update the guide at that point!

===Gear Upgrades: Weapons===

I wrote a [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Choosing_Your_Ideal_Weapon_Script|guide on the topic of scripts]], but unarmed combat has more limited options than other weapon types, so I'll go over the few that I think are worth looking into depending on your budget--plus flourishes, flares, and one material!

'''No script or flourish, just basic elemental flares (especially lightning)''':

This is where I think you should begin if you're uncertain or just dipping your toe in the water.

You can find flaring UC handwear and footwear for under a million silver each at a fair number of events--sometimes even at free events. Basic lightning flaring gear matches the power of off-the-shelf pay event gear. Pay event gear does pull ahead when you double down and stack lightning flares ''on top'' of it, but that means even heavier investment.

Nothing wrong with starting small while you're getting your bearings and saving bigger decisions for later!

'''Dispel flares''' (price range: 30k to 210k bloodscrip):

Dispel flares trigger before a UC attack lands, either dispelling 1-5 randomly chosen buff spells (if the creature has any) or dealing SMR-based disruption damage. If they dispel two spells from different spheres of magic (spiritual, elemental, or mental), they can also deal flux damage.

You might hear dispel flares commonly cited as better than lightning flares in a weapon's ability slot and the best in class (unless you're using Flare Affinity for 400k bloodscrip, in which case lightning flares come roaring back). I generally agree with this and would say it's even more true that dispel is great for UC than for other weapon types due to three factors:

# High volume of attacks
# Dispelling a buff to decrease enemy UDF is better than decreasing enemy DS by the same amount
# Against creatures without buffs, the disruption flare can increase MM by injuring and/or stunning a creature

There is a bit of luck to dispelling since many, if not most, creatures with spell buffs have some that don't affect UDF. You can improve your odds by making it 2-dispel or 3-dispel flares, which also greatly increases the odds of flux damage so you can get increased MM even while stunning. Overall, dispel flares with at least two dispel chances are very strong.

All that said, the first three dispels cost 30k bloodscrip each while a fourth and fifth cost 50k each if you want to max them out. These aren't starter gear, but for committed and reasonably wealthy monks, and should only go onto UC gear that started with a script like Animalistic Spirit, Knockout, or Phytomorphic Weapons. (GEF can't use dispel flares.)

'''[[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]] script''' (price range: 10k to 185k bloodscrip):

Incredible variety of flavor messaging makes this script very popular among all professions! For monks, specifically, Revenge Flares are a great unlockable feature that can fire off damaging flares when they evade. On the other hand, the default grapple damage type isn't the best since it's mainly good for knockdowns and monks are very adept at that on their own. My higher exp monk uses Animalistic Spirit gloves and boots with their damage type converted to lightning, but that's an extra expense.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (As a caveat, though, I highly recommend against the Savage Power unlock, which isn't particularly good for any build of any profession, and the Wild Backlash unlock, which is excellent for some professions but not all that useful for monks. Animalistic Fury upgrades can be worth it ''if'' you first change the damage type.)

Overall, this script has been monks' top pick for years for very good reason on the strength of Revenge Flares, messaging, and being one of the only games in town. However, it's been five years since Animalistic Spirit and the creator of Animalistic Spirit, GM Avaluka, has debuted a new script called Phytomorphic Weapons that I think is even better for monks! More on that further below.

'''[[Energy_Weapon/saved_posts|Energy Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 125k bloodscrip):

For unarmed combat, Energy Weapons are only available in the form of ''held'' weapons like a [[cestus]], not handwear and footwear. That's immediately anathema to some people. I'd agree with them when talking about a -10 or -15 MM weapon, but I'm actually not down on the -5 MM held UC weapons like others.

Held UC weapons improve UAF depending on the enchant and improve damage factor at a flat rate depending on the weapon type. The flat rate aspect means the weaker the base attack, like a jab or a grapple against heavier armor, the more noticeable the improvement. On the other hand, held weapons decrease the multiplier modifier and you also lose the use of Brace parrying.

That ''is'' an overall loss in a vacuum for most attack types against most armor types, so the held weapon needs something else significant to compensate. Energy Weapons can do that with supercharged lightning flares, so I do have a cestus and even use it against foes where MM is so high that I can live with the drop. If the margins are close, I don't use it. Easy enough.

The entry point for an Energy Weapon is 10k bloodscrip. The higher unlock tiers aren't very useful to monks, so I called mine a one and done.

<blockquote>
'''Obscure Trivia Sidenote!'''

When you're wearing flaring gloves while also using a flaring held unarmed combat weapon, the flare rate of each item--gloves and weapon--is halved, ending up at the same overall flare rate. So how can I be talking about an Energy Weapon's flares as a perk that helps compensate for the MM drop in any way if that perk is counterbalanced by hurting the flare rate of your gloves?

Well, let's say my Animalistic Spirit gloves still had their default grapple flares, which I don't value highly because unarmed combat keeps foes knocked down anyway. In that case, trading off half of a grapple flare rate to replace it with half of a lightning flare rate is a win.

This logic breaks down as gloves get more upgraded, because then either your tradeoffs aren't as favorable or you're spending currency to upgrade gloves ''and'' a cestus. Still, I stand behind it as at least an ''option'' if your stopping point is a flare and a script flare.
</blockquote>

'''[[Greater elemental flare|Greater Elemental Flares]] script''' (price: 40k bloodscrip):

These are a gold standard of midrange weapon scripts, at least if you'd consider 40k bloodscrip per item "midrange." Triple lightning flares are a pretty crazy thing! However, you do need to track down handwear and footwear that was already flaring or else the prices jump to 55k bloodscrip.

GEF flares are a solid and straightforward one-and-done option, but cheaper alternatives can be more efficient bang for your buck while more expensive alternatives can be more fun.

'''[[Knockout_flare|Knockout Flares]] script and [[Skullcrusher Flares]] flourish''' (price: 100k bloodscrip):

Easily some of the game's best flare messaging and they always hit heads, which can be very deadly, unless the head already has rank 3 wounds. I've used Knockout UC gear on non-monk characters and had a blast with them. One of my favorite moments was the happy accident of channeling Mario with the "You leap up, bringing your pure white sandals down across the head of the human mugger with a sickening thud!" messaging.

That said, Knockout's entry point--and exit point since there are no tiers--is 100k bloodscrip per item, which is a very tall ask for most people. It used to be a lot cheaper in the days of Ebon Gate on Caligos Isle, albeit released in limited quantities via a jackpot system to compensate. If you ''are'' willing to spend to that degree or find somebody who has Knockout gear from older days and is willing to sell, then I say read the wiki page and see if you like the messaging more or less than other options such as Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons. Some people pick Knockout for for their handwear or footwear and a different script for the others.

As for Skullcrusher, see everything I just said about Knockout, because Skullcrusher costs the same and is mechanically identical except that it goes into the flourish slot instead of the script slot. That means you can have the benefits of Knockout (in the form of Skullcrusher) ''and'' Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic if you were willing to pay for it!

'''[[Phytomorphic Weapon Shield|Phytomorphic Weapon]] script''' (price range: 10k to 145k bloodscrip):

Another highly customizable instant hit of a script in the vein of Animalistic Spirit and from the same creator! This one is plant-themed instead of animal-themed and you can customize it yourself via foraging plants. Arboreal Agony is the big selling point of unlockable features here, which makes creatures Disoriented so they'll have difficulty casting spells--which are one of a monk's weak points. The default damage type is disintegrate, which is also broadly useful and can have killing power.

The entry point is only 10k bloodscrip per item and the a la carte unlocking paths make upgrading in the future easy if you really like your gloves and shoes. (Like with Animalistic Spirit's Wild Backlash, I'll give the caveat that Phytomorphic's Deciduous Decay is far more useful for AS-based professions than UAF-based professions like most monks. Phytomorphic Putrescence upgrades, on the other hand, don't need you to change the damage type first to get full value, which makes them either better or cheaper than Animalistic Spirit's Animalistic Fury counterpart depending on how you look at it.)

RP-wise, I think there's a very real chance that people will continue to favor Animalistic Spirit going forward. Mechanically, though, I'd say that Arboreal Agony not allowing enemy casters to cast is even better than Animalistic Spirit's Revenge Flares firing off when dodging physical attacks--and not needing to change the base damage type is also a big win.

'''[[Lore Flares]] flourish, specifically Telepathy or Transformation''' (price: 400k bloodcsrip):

At a whopping 400k bloodscrip, this is the top end of pricing for UC-oriented monks, but also the top end of power. While normal flares have a 20% rate, these start at 25%, reach 33% with 36 ranks of the applicable lore, reach 50% with 105 ranks, and reach an absurd and glorious 100% rate with 171 ranks. (171 ranks of a lore for a monk requires both heavy Ascension training ''and'' great enhancives, but hey, I did say this guide was for 0 exp to 55,000,000!) Telepathy Lore Flares deal puncture damage and then damage over time (DoT) afterward that's mostly sheer health damage, but only work against living foes. Transformation Lore Flares have no DoT and randomly deal either slash, crush, or puncture, but their initial hit is weighted to be one crit rank higher.

You probably aren't even reading this guide if you can actually reach 171 ranks of a lore, but for the sake of being informative, Transformation is the clear winner if you get there. Multiple DoTs can't stack on a single creature, so it's more valuable to have a stronger initial hit since you'd be firing off tons of those in a single mstrike or weapon technique. If 105 ranks are more your limit, that's a tougher call. Since your mstrikes include a free jab for the first time you attack a creature, your first unfocused mstrike in a swarmy room with Telepathy Lore Flares would have a 75% chance on each creature of getting a DoT rolling. However, ''focused'' mstrikes still favor Transformation due to DoTs not stacking.

'''[[Somnis]] material''' (price range: 100k or 250k bloodscrip bought as-is, or 300k bloodscrip transmuted into when available)

Lesser somnis is a 100k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep after it hits while greater somnis is a 250k bloodscrip material that flares to put a creature to sleep ''before'' it hits. Alternatively, instead of starting with somnis items as the base, you could wait for greater somnis transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 300k bloodscrip.

This powerful effect significantly increases MM for the next hit (or current hit) in most cases! Materials in general are far behind flares and scripts in terms of bang for your buck, and behind the Skullcrusher flourish as well (not as much so), so there are typically two demographics who should be considering this: 1) those to whom money is no object, who would be well served to buy greater somnis as the starting point because it could be years before the ability to convert existing weapons to it returns to Duskruin, or 2) those who can wait for years for transmutation to be available and have picked up everything else or almost everything else already, making greater somnis a great final touch to add after exhausting other avenues.

'''[[Vethinye|Starsong, AKA vethinye]] material''' (price range: 100k, 250k, or 400k raikhen bought as-is, or 450k bloodscrip transmuted into when available):

A 100k raikhen base cost material that flares disruption. Starsong can be upgraded up to twice for 150k raikhen per upgrade, which can make it flare disruption up to one extra time per upgrade. Fully upgraded, it flares disruption 1 to 3 times; if there's only one creature against the room, all three flares would hit the same creature, but if there's more than one, then additional flares would hit other creatures. Alternatively, instead of starting with starsong items as the base, you could wait for maxed starsong transmutation to re-enter the Duskruin rotation every so often for 450k bloodscrip.

Like always, more flares are an excellent thing when firing from UC's flurry of free jabs or otherwise quick attacks. The main problem for starsong handwear and footwear is that it's competing with somnis, which in the context of UC is either stronger, cheaper, or both. Personally, I love the extra screen scroll fun of starsong flares blasting all over the place. Objectively, somnis is the way to go. It's a classic matter of fun vs. power.

<blockquote>
'''Order of Operations Sidebar!'''

If you eventually want it all, you can get it, but there can be a correct order. For example, buying Phytomorphic gear and adding lightning or dispel to it later costs 40k bloodscrip less than buying lightning or dispel flaring gear and adding Phytomorphic to it later. Adding Knockout Flares costs the same 100k bloodscrip regardless of order, but does have a 90k more expensive starting point than Animalistic off the shelf, so it should be done later. Adding Skullcrusher Flares or Lore Flares costs the same 100k or 400k bloodscrip regardless of order.

Buying a base material like somnis or starsong and fully unlocking it costs 50k bloodscrip less than transmuting later, but if you want a script--which you should since a script is stronger than the material--then you break even because it'll cost 50k bloodscrip later to add a script to it. However, transmutation prices assume you want the highest tier of the material at all; if you don't, then starting with the base material is by far superior.

All of this is only talking price without even considering what adding scripts, flares, or flourishes does to gear difficulty. Lightning flares add 100 gear difficulty, but that can be negated with [[Enchant_(925)#Pre-enchanting_Potions|pre-enchanting potions]] (yes, these also work with ensorcelling and sanctifying). Dispel flares add 100 for the first dispel and 50 more for each thereafter. Knockout flares or Skullcrusher Flares add 150. Animalistic Spirit adds 200.

(What does any of that mean? Well, [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|but that's another guide entirely]], but suffice it to say that the higher the numbers get, the higher caliber of clerics, sorcerers, and wizards you'll need to improve them and the more you'll be paying for their services.)
</blockquote>

===Profession Service Priorities===

Silver does no good unless it's spent ''somewhere'', so if you're going budget on buying gear or just have a money surplus in need of a home, how about looking into profession services?

====Battle Standards (the [[Battle Standard (1620)|paladin service]])====

If there's only one service I'd recommend for a monk, it's Battle Standards. From the third tier on, Battle Standards add offensive flares to your attacks. (The flare rate goes up at the fourth and fifth tiers.)

As a general rule, offensive flares are better the more attacks per minute you use on average. This pairs extremely well with unarmed combat (especially mstriking due to bonus jabs, but even Fury) because its myriad low RT abilities churn out attacks more quickly than anything other than high level wizards, high level bards, and high level Two Weapon Combat builds. Even while you're only throwing jabs and fishing for tier up opportunities, a Battle Standard flare can sneak in and potentially kill a creature. Usually it won't, but even a lighter hit might stun a creature--and stunning increases UC's most important offense-boosting number, MM, making every following attack better. Additionally, you can select from a wide variety of [[Holy_critical|choices for flare type]] based on which Arkati or spirit the Battle Standard is aligned with, which you can set at [[Holy_places|any shrine]] for the Arkati or spirit you want.

Fourth tier and up Battle Standards also offer a short-term buff where every attack you do for 30 seconds is ''guaranteed'' to flare. This is a burst of fun, chaotic, powerful mayhem, especially in any area that's even moderately swarmy! There's a 30-minute cooldown at the fourth tier and a 15-minute cooldown at the fifth tier, so you can use it once every two hunts or once every hunt, respectively.

Battle Standards have a few other perks, but these are the main ones making them so good for monks.

Battle Standards have charges and periodically need recharging, which will cost you. I don't believe we have hard confirmation on how the charges drain, but ''if'' (if!) it's identical to Lucky Items, charges drain depending on the amount of time you spend in combat. If so, that would be another factor making it even better for UC monks than most professions or builds due to sheer volume of attacks per minute.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get a Battle Standard and love it. Even in the worst case, if you end up not loving it, you can sell it to someone else since it unattunes from you 30 days after your first use.

====Bloodstone Jewelry (the [[Bloodsmith (1135)|empath service]])====

Fully upgraded Bloodstone Jewelry increases max health/mana/stamina by 100/50/25, increases regeneration for health/mana/stamina by 20/10/5, and adds 1-5 extra health damage (only health damage) to all attacks. After every 50 health damage it deals, the next attack inflicts Major Bleed. It also has an activated ability to quickly regen health/mana/stamina 100%/50%/25% over 10 seconds with a 30 minute cooldown. It also has another more unusual activated ability to temporarily move your wounds off of you and into the jewelry; however, the wounds come back after 10 minutes and there's a 30 minute cooldown on this ability too. The idea is sort of a quick fix mid-hunt and then you'll need two rounds of healing afterward.

The temporary healing is difficult to advise on because its value heavily depends on how much risk you take in hunting. That benefit is about knowing yourself well enough to know if you'll like it or not. Same goes for more max health; I see the value for small races roughly doubling their health, but otherwise don't consider it particularly valuable. However, opinions vary widely. As for max stamina, monks already have Mind Over Body--but, even if they didn't, you can shore up stamina far more cheaply with conventional regen enhancives than with Bloodstone Jewelry.

As for everything else, the value for a monk--at least a magical monk--is like a mishmash of weaker Battle Standards and weaker Ensorcell. Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell both offer stamina regeneration, which is a great in a vacuum, but Ensorcell's version of stamina regeneration is a flare chance (which is effective with frequent UC attacks) instead of a per minute effect and never requires paying again for recharging. There is something to be said for having both Bloodstone Jewelry and Ensorcell since Ensorcell usually won't restore stamina unless your health is full and Bloodstone Jewelry helps keep your health full--but, then again, just having herbs or using society abilities could also keep your health full.

Extra health damage, on the other hand, is a reasonable selling point. While it can't stun or crit kill like a Battle Standard flare, it does affect every attack instead of 20% of attacks--and 1-5 damage might not sound like a lot, but when it's every attack, it does matter. On average, you'll get the Major Bleed effect after every 16.67 attacks, which is decently powerful in its own right. All that said, Bloodstone Jewelry doesn't add extra damage until its fifth and final tier, so you'd probably be paying a premium to get it.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Either go all the way with this service or pass on it unless someone's offering a steal. I wouldn't call this a particularly monk-oriented service unless you're a Kroderine Soul build or a small race.

(Since this is alphabetically the first service I'm recommending against, I'll clarify that that doesn't mean it's a bad service; even Enchant isn't particularly great for monks, as we'll see later, and that's a classic service. I'm simply saying that, when you're reading a monk guide because you're making a monk, don't view this service through the lens of playing your warrior, your semi, or your Sunfist pure, who would all make better use of more of the Bloodstone Jewelry perks.)

====[[Covert Arts]] (the rogue service)====

Covert Arts are the most jack of all trades service, being sort of split into five mini-services each with five tiers of their own. Like most other non-gear-based profession services, they run on a charge-based system and eventually need recharging.

Sidestep helps defend against AoE maneuvers, increases evasion, and helps defend against maneuvers regardless of being AoE or single target. Keen Eye finds children for bounties, helps defend against maneuvers even more, and helps defend against ambushes. Escape Artist helps avoid bandit traps, reduces Force on Force pushdown, and reduces the duration of [[Rooted]] status. Swift Recovery decreases the RT of searches (e.g. for heirlooms or pulling bandits out of hiding), increases health regeneration, and reduces the duration of Stagger.

Poisoncraft allows applying various poisons to your gear. Poison on armor can inflict various status effects as reactive flares: [[Calmed]], [[Dazed]], [[Slowed]], [[Disoriented]], or [[Clumsy]]. Poison on offensive gear can flare to either deal any of the previously mentioned status effects, deal extra health damage, apply [[Crippled]], or apply [[Major Poison]].

But how good is any of this for monks? Most Covert Arts perks only make monks marginally better at things they're already amazing at. (By contrast, casters see good benefit from things like FOF defense and the myriad bonuses to maneuver defense unless already far post-cap.) Escape Artist does seem reasonable to me for monks who frequently hunt bandits, since traps and Rooted can really mess with unarmed combat by preventing kicks.

Poisoncraft, on the other hand, provides flares, which should seem great if you just read about Battle Standards! However, some caveats do bear mentioning. The biggest is that, unlike with Battle Standards, jabs don't flare with Poisoncraft. Poisons don't affect the undead. Poisons offer a more narrow variety of damage types; they do offer a much wider variety of disabling effects, but monks aren't lacking for those in their base toolkit. Overall, Battle Standards are much better, but the fact remains that any kind of flare is still powerful with unarmed combat in a vacuum--even if jabs are disallowed. The question is whether you have the funds for both services.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

It's worth learning at least Poisoncraft even though the other Covert Arts don't do much for monks. Recharging Poisoncraft isn't much cheaper--if any cheaper--than learning more Arts and learning them ''also'' recharges, so once you're in for Poisoncraft, you might as well slowly pick up the others over time as recharging needs come up.

====Enchanting (the [[Enchant (925)|wizard service]])====

Enchanting offensive gear improves UAF (or AS if you're using a weapon) while enchanting armor improves DS.

UAF offers minimal help for all the reasons described in the Unarmed Combat Primer. DS is more compelling, especially once you're hunting areas with the [[spell sever]] mechanic. Monks have the game's cheapest training costs for Dodging, so they have very good DS throughout their lives, but not untouchable since they ''are'' regularly in offensive stance. I don't go hard on improving monk DS, but it can't hurt either.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Bring your robes up to +30. It gets expensive afterward, but +35 is a fine long-term goal too when you have silver lying around! Poke away at improving your UC gear if you find a great deal, but improving it doesn't matter much otherwise.

====Ensorcelling (the [[Ensorcell (735)|sorcerer service]])====

Ensorcelling armor improves CvA and enemy spells are a weak point, so I'd say your long term plan should include this. However, get most or all of your sanctification done first since ensorcelling adds much more gear difficulty than sanctifying. (For much more on the intricacies of gear difficulty and order of operations for upgrading gear, see [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Order_of_Operations:_Servicing_Gear|my service guide]]! For our purposes here, though, basically just know that tiers 2-5 of Ensorcell should usually be done after finishing the enchanting and sanctifying you want. The order of enchanting and sanctifying doesn't matter much, though.)

For unarmed combat gear, ensorcelling adds a flare chance for either a UAF boost on the next attack, stamina recovery immediately, or health recovery immediately. Stamina is strong for monks, but the flares give UAF boosts most of the time, which is very weak for monks. Ensorcell evenly scales up its UAF bonus; a fifth tier (T5) Ensorcell increases UAF by 25 while a first tier (T1) increases UAF by 5. Stamina recovery, on the other hand, is frontloaded: the average stamina return at T1 is 9 while the average at T5 is 15.

I like the "get a T1 Ensorcell on your offensive gear and call it finished" philosophy. You already have 60% of T5's average stamina return, but only bought 10% as much of a sorcerer's resource points.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

T1 Ensorcell for your handwear and footwear whenever you get a chance. T5 Ensorcell for your robes over the long haul, but only after finished with enchanting and sanctifying.

====Lucky Items (the [[Song of Luck (1006)|bard service]])====

Lucky Items are incredible for almost everybody. They improve virtually every offensive and defensive aspect of combat, which is like having extra enchantments, ensorcellments, weighting, and padding all attached to the same item--plus boosts to maneuver offense and maneuver defense as even more cherry on top!

For most professions and builds, I'd argue that Lucky Items are mechanically the most powerful service.

...but monks aren't most professions and builds. Yes, Lucky Items are like having extra UAF, DS, TD, weighting, and padding all at once, but I have a pretty low opinion of all of those things for monks other than TD.

Lucky Items act sort of opposite to Battle Standards; instead of favoring the low-impact attacks that UC throws out in droves, Lucky Items favor high-impact attacks that make every luck trigger proportionally more powerful. Lucky Item triggering on a jab or a decent positioning attack is a waste and you're probably firing off a lot of those. On the bright side, since Lucky Items' charges drain depending on the amount of time spent in combat, that aspect does pair well with monks' high volume of attacks.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

If this were any other profession, I'd be singing the praises of Lucky Items and breaking down the math. Honestly, I might have to write a mini-guide on Lucky Items because they're tragically underrated. They offer amazing power to every form of combat other than the exact one that monks favor! If you're a weapon-wielding monk, definitely buy in and do it quickly. For typical UC monks, I'd recommend your silvers go elsewhere first--but only "first." Luck is powerful and you should get it eventually, just not as a high priority. I'd take it over enchanting robes beyond +30 or enchanting offensive gear beyond +20, but not necessarily before Sanctify, Ensorcell, or especially Battle Standards.

====Mystic Tattoos (the monk service)====

Despite Mystic Tattooing being a monk's own ability, it's not that helpful when used on themselves. The good news is that if you perform the final upgrade of your Mystic Tattoo, it won't consume charges and is basically a permanent upgrade. That said, the benefits of +5 bonus for a stat are pretty marginal for most monks. Standout options include:

* Strength to decrease encumbrance, especially for small races
* Agility to reach an Agidex threshold (this is preferred over Dexterity because it gives more maneuver defense and slightly increases UAF)
* Logic to increase exp gain
* Wisdom to slightly improve defense against spiritual magic

Logic is arguably the best since, given an enhancive with infinite charges, a benefit that works every minute maximizes value more than a benefit that only works while hunting. I can't go further than "arguably" since the others will have more impact when they ''do'' have impact. Regardless, none of the stats jump out for a monk in the way that something like improving a CS-boosting stat on a caster would.

Mystic Tattoos are slated for a future upgrade. The current proposal includes adding a skill bonus up to +10, flares to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, an activated ability with a cooldown to double the stat and skill bonuses for a short duration, and ignoring enhancive limits.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Until the future update, I'd only tattoo yourself in your spare time when you can't find others willing to pay for your tattoos who would probably get more mechanical use out of them than you do. More Wisdom or Aura can be a gamechanger for CS-based casters, so sell them your tattooing services and use the silver to pay for paladins' Battle Standards. As you run out of other things to pay for, you can eventually pick up tattooing from lower level monks and make sure to handle the final tier yourself so you have infinite charges!

====Resist Nature (the [[Resist Nature (620)|ranger service]])====

Rangers can build a bracelet, anklet, or amulet that grants up to 25% resistance against up to five damage types: cold, heat, nature, steam, and lightning.

For post-cap hunters going into Ascension areas and the Scatter, this is really good since most of those areas use at least four of those damage types. Before cap or in other hunting grounds, usually only one damage type is the scourge of the area--and if you only need one resistance, monks can simply meditate instead of needing a ranger trinket. Even pre-cap, there's ''some'' merit to a ranger trinket since you can meditate for a general purpose physical resistance like crush and use your trinket for an elemental resistance like fire or lightning, but you'd have to know you'll be running into that damage type consistently for a while.

On an obscure note, nature resistance is unique to ranger trinkets. Monks can't meditate against it and even the Ascension system can't train to defend against it. However, an extremely small number of creatures use nature damage.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

I'd look into ranger resistance for post-cap purposes, especially if you intend to hunt Ascension hunting grounds (which monks perform well in at lower exp amounts than any other profession). Before cap, make do with your own meditation ability.

====Sanctification (the [[Sanctify (330)|cleric service]])====

Sanctifying unarmed combat gear adds UAF against undead for the first five tiers and negates 5% of their damage resistance per tier if your gear is sanctified (but not blessed). The sixth tier adds a holy fire flare against undead that deals 50-100 health damage and a fire crit.

The first five tiers of Sanctify have dubious value for UC gear (unless you're buying the first tier specifically because of the Kai's Strike situation). The sixth tier of Sanctify, however, is amazing if your monk frequently hunts undead. Holy fire flares are extremely powerful for anyone, but only get better for a spammy combat type like UC. The question is whether you're willing to pay for the first five tiers' minimal value just to get to holy fire.

Sanctifying armor is a much more clear value proposition for monks. The first five tiers improve DS, TD, and, most importantly, [[sheer fear]] protection so you can hunt higher level undead without constantly getting locked in RT. The sixth tier again provides holy fire, but since the flare is armor-based, it'll only trigger for certain combat maneuvers or when the undead hit you.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

Get the first five tiers on your robes unless you're absolutely certain you'll never have interest in hunting high-level undead. Holy fire isn't a high priority on armor, but does go well with Bearhug and Bull Rush if you want it one day. Unarmed combat gear is the opposite; either commit to seeing through the entire expensive holy fire path or don't bother sanctifying at all. Since UAF matters little, ordinary cleric blessings offer basically the same value as the first five Sanctify tiers for UC (arguably more value since blessings have holy water flares, so people usually stack blessings on top of pre-holy fire Sanctify).

====Weighting and Padding (the [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|warrior service]])====

Crit weighting has more limited value to an unarmed combat monk than most professions or builds because UC itself uses positioning to increase or decrease attack power in ways that can cap the effect of weighting. It's still marginally useful for good positioning (very specifically good positioning). Crit padding is more broadly useful. Either way, neither is useful enough to justify paying warriors unless they're charging less than the automated WPS smithy that comes around every couple of months. (They probably aren't!) Use that instead to bring your robes up to speed.

Like with Mystic Tattoos, the head of dev, Estild, has acknowledged that the warrior service needs improvement at a future date. Maybe hope is on the horizon, but right now this service isn't terribly desirable for most players, monks or otherwise.

'''The Leafi verdict''':

An easy skip unless a friend is providing it for free or something. Use the much more affordable WPS wagon and I'd say going to 5 CER (50 services) is perfectly sufficient due to scaling costs beyond that point and the reduced effect of weighting on UC in general.

====Order of operations in summary====

* Battle Standard up to P3 as soon as possible
* Enchant armor up to +30 relatively quickly
* Ensorcell UC gear to T1 relatively quickly
* Battle Standard up to P5 relatively quickly
* Either Sanctify UC gear all the way to S6 or don't do it at all
* Sanctify armor unless very rarely hunting undead
* Covert Arts Poisoncraft when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Lucky Items when you can spare funds and still handle all of the above
* Slowly enchant UC gear over time
* Padding to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Slowly Ensorcell armor over time
* Weighting to 5 CER over time (via WPS wagons, not warriors)
* Resist Nature once hunting post-cap
* Slowly add non-Poisoncraft Covert Arts whenever you need a recharge
* Bloodstone Jewelry if you want it
* Slowly enchant armor past +30 over time, if ever
* Slowly Ensorcell UC gear past T1 over time, if ever
* Mystic Tattoo only if you can't sell yours, but selling it is preferable to fund all of the above
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==Super Post-Cap Advancement==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-superpostcap" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Far post-cap and still looking for suggestions? Click here!</div>
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Congratulations, you've got a cap and a half worth of exp--or more! ...now what?

===Ascending Even Further Beyond===

Since it's not relevant to the large majority of players, I've only vaguely talked about monks' advantages with far post-cap experience until now. Most professions need 30 million to 40 million exp, if not more, before they're "done enough" with normal skills that continuing to gain normal experience instead of devoting it all toward [[Ascension]] would stop providing any useful improvements.

Monks, however, can get there at more like 10 to 25 million because their physical skill costs are on par with other squares, but their magical skills are much less expensive.

I did say this guide was for magical monks from 0 to 55,000,000 experience, so what should you do with Ascension Training Points (ATPs)?

The big long-term goal is the Elite Ascension skill [[Transcend Destiny]], which I'll explain shortly, but it's only for players putting in serious hours; even unlocking the ability to learn it requires that you've spent 150 ATPs on Ascension skills in the Common tier first and then Transcend Destiny ranks themselves cost 10, 20, 30, 40, and up to six more ranks of 50 ATPs each.

So whether Transcend Destiny is in your future or not, first we need to evaluate where your initial Common tier ATPs should be spent. Here are the options I like:

'''Common Ascension staples''':

* '''Agility''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, increased evade chance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and +0.75 DS per two ranks. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race.
* '''Brawling''': +2 UAF per rank. I'm not going to knock UAF this time because, once we're talking Ascension, we're talking marginal gains almost no matter what you do. Get it if you like numbers going up!
* '''Combat Maneuvers''': +1 UAF per two ranks and increased maneuver defense every rank (but half as much increase as Agility, so basically the same rate per two ranks).
* '''Dexterity''': Increased maneuver defense every two ranks, but half as much increase as Agility. It also reduces RT, though this mostly helps only if you go the weapon route or play a slow race. For the weapon route, specifically, Dexterity also adds crit weighting.
* '''Dodging''': +0.75 DS (in offensive) per rank and a tiny extra chance of outright evading for more Spin Kicks.
* '''Logic''': +1 TD against CS-based mental spells per two ranks. Because Logic breakpoints increase exp gain at 5 bonus on a node or 7 bonus off a node, reaching 35 Logic bonus is an especially attractive target. Neutral Logic races can reach it with 15 ATPs into Logic because Perfect Self will already have pushed them to 30 Logic bonus.
* '''Porter''' (requires training Strength and/or Physical Fitness first): Encumbrance reduction by 2 pounds per rank. ''Now'' I'll knock UAF again! If we're in the realm of diminishing returns from exp anyway, then Porter is a reasonable low-hanging fruit option for races with lower carrying capacity.
* '''Stamina Regeneration''': If you're firing off mstrikes on cooldown, rotating techniques with katars or Volley, using Surge of Strength on your small race, using Burst of Swiftness on your slow race, or otherwise guzzling stamina, there can come a point where Mind Over Body and Ensorcell no longer enough. If that's you, you'll know when to train this--or just buy stamina regen enhancives and Bloodstone Jewelry.
* '''Strength''': Reduced encumbrance, +1 UAF per four ranks, and the first ten ranks combined of this or Physical Fitness are a prerequisite for Porter. If you go the weapon route, it's also +1 AS per two ranks.

During earlier versions of this guide, I was also open to Aura, Wisdom, and damage resistances, all of which I had trained to varying degrees at some point. However, the release of Transcend Destiny offers superior defensive gains for the cost while also aiding offense! Let's finally delve into the Elite skill!

'''Transcend Destiny is Monks' Everything''':

There's a serious argument that monks are the biggest winners from the release of Transcend Destiny. Each rank acts as though your character is a level higher for the following purposes, where I've highlighted the ones potentially relevant to (magical) monks in green:

* Ambush Damage - Offense and Defense - Up to 5 Ranks
* Automatic Success of Certain Spells
* Casting Strength
* Evade, Block, and Parry - Offense and Defense
* Force on Force
* Hiding - Rogues Only
* Sheer Fear Resistance
* SMR - Offense and Defense
* SSR - Offense and Defense
* Target Defense
* Two-Weapon Combat
* UC - Tier Up Probability

As you can see, almost everything on this list is potentially applicable to monks. Not only that, but I'd argue that usually it's at or near the top end of value ''in'' that application:

* Improving UC tier ups is, naturally, at its best for the profession most built around UC.
* Improving evasion, blocking, and parrying is at its best for either monks or warriors (despite monks not even benefiting from the blocking part). Monks fight in offensive stance and Spin Kick is the best single-target reaction technique in the game by an incredible margin. (Its only competition overall is [[Radial Sweep]], which is an AoE reaction but has a 15-second cooldown.) Furthermore, decreasing the enemy's EBP means improving MM, which is a UC monk's most important offensive combat number.
* Improving SMR offense is at its best on builds who use it for attacking, which monks certainly will. Combat maneuvers like Bearhug or Coup de Grace--or Hamstring if using Edged Weapons--are very good at taking advantage of higher margins with their scaling, but even if you don't use those, even more bread and butter attacks like Twin Hammerfists, Feint, and Spin Kick win huge here.
* Improving TD has extraordinary value to magical monks, giving them potential to ward off spells from semi-style Ascension creatures by stacking Transcend Destiny with the Dragonscale Skin feat, sufficient Transformation lore, and the correct outside spells. I wouldn't go so far to say it's at its best here, which I think goes to pures who become capable of warding off spells from (some) ''pure''-style Ascension creatures, but it's a pretty narrow win.
* Improving SSR is at its best for characters in Voln due to Symbol of Sleep. For reasons explained earlier, monks are mechanically best suited by Voln.
* Sheer fear resistance is at its best for any profession other than clerics, empaths, and paladins (who all get a degree of sheer fear protection from their native spells), which includes monks.
* Improving ambush defense is a benefit I place almost no value on for any profession and build ''except'' magical monks. Others either have plate armor, significantly higher DS, significantly more redux, far superior means to pull creatures out of hiding, or any combination of the above, but monks might actually take hard hits from ambushers (not bandits, but real ambushers like halfling cannibals and kiramon stalkers) if they don't have 105 or more Transformation lore, so defense is valuable.

(The Two Weapon Combat and CS benefits have more niche value to magical monks, but they do ''have'' the occasional spots of value. The auto-success spell benefits don't do terribly much in current Ascension grounds, but that could easily change in the future if enemy buffs like Wall of Force or especially Cloak of Shadows became more prominent and dispelling gained value as a result.)

Can it get any better than monks reaping the rewards of almost every Transcend Destiny benefit? Actually, yes. Yes, it can!

Much like how monks need to spend less normal exp on normal skills before moving on to Common Ascension than other professions and builds, I'd also argue that there's less incentive for them to continue sinking ATPs into Common Ascension (beyond the required 150) before moving on to Elite Ascension than other professions and builds.

As I write this, my ranger and my monk Tarine have very similar amounts of Ascension experience at 18m and 18.9m, respectively, but even though they're both working on maxing Transcend Destiny over the next couple years, Tarine is 2.9 million exp further into that journey because she doesn't have any need to heavily boost her UAF with Common skills while my ranger certainly does value heavily boosting archery AS. Similarly, my bard has about 5.6m more ''total'' Ascension experience than Tarine, but on the specific journey of maxing Transcend Destiny, she's only 2.3m exp ahead; most of the other 3.3m went into Agidex to reach RT thresholds that Tarine didn't need to work for at all because monks have Perfect Self and Burst of Swiftness.

Ultimately, whether you see yourself playing GemStone IV long enough to eventually have a character who you can say reached level 110 or just level 101, monks are your fastest route to that goal. They're simply the most exp-efficient profession in the game.

===Illustrative Post-Cap Snapshots===

Like the earlier snapshots for normal skills, here are illustrations of both of my monks '''far post-cap''' at points where they are or will eventually be. The second column is where I've planned for Saria to end up at the time she never touches normal skills again. This time the table more clearly delineates normal skills and Ascension.

:{| {{prettytable}} align="center"
||||'''Sariara, 19.88m exp (10.77+9.11)'''||'''Sariara, final normal skills plan'''||'''Tarine, 55.22m exp (23.79+31.43)'''
|-
||'''Two Weapon Combat'''||1||50||202
|-
||'''Combat Maneuvers'''||202||202||202+10
|-
||'''Edged Weapons'''||0||0||202
|-
||'''Brawling'''||202+10||202+10||202+10
|-
||'''Multi-Opponent Combat'''||100||190||202
|-
||'''Physical Fitness'''||303||303||303
|-
||'''Dodging'''||303+15||303+15||303+19
|-
||'''Magic Item Use'''||0||0||101
|-
||'''Harness Power'''||40||40||101
|-
||'''Mental Mana Control'''||0||10||25
|-
||'''Spiritual Mana Control'''||5||7||25
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Telepathy'''||0||0||15
|-
||'''Mental Lore - Transformation'''||15||101+4||86+19
|-
||'''Survival'''||202||202||202
|-
||'''Perception'''||101||202||202
|-
||'''Climbing'''||60||101||101
|-
||'''Swimming'''||0||101||101
|-
||'''First Aid'''||202||202||202
|-
||'''Trading'''||191||191||202
|-
||'''Ascension Transcend Destiny'''||2||4||10
|}

There are some divergences here, which are mostly down to Tarine having leveled in a different era of GemStone IV.

'''TWC edged weapons''' were for Tarine to blast through Duskruin Arena, where overleveled creatures hindered UC tier up chances and slowed her down. However, in the modern day, Transcend Destiny exists to also "overlevel" yourself and all of the Duskruin activities pay out about as well as the arena does, so there's no particular reason for Saria to pick up Edged Weapons. At most, I can imagine Saria going to 100 Two Weapon Combat for a tiny bit of extra DS over her 50 plan. However, barring some extreme changes to overall gameplay mechanics, 200 TWC simply won't happen--and if that won't, then neither will Edged Weapons.

You might notice that, despite Tarine having over 35 million more exp than Saria--and over 22m in Ascension alone--their '''Brawling''' skill is exactly the same. Like I've said, UAF simply isn't important enough to think about too much! Tarine's advantages are mainly Transcend Destiny (10 ranks vs. 2), lores (Tarine's Iron Skin is at the metal breastplate equivalent while Saria's is still at chain mail for now), and spells (with a 64 CS advantage between spell ranks and Transcend Destiny, Tarine can land Mindwipe or even Vertigo on just about anything while Saria doesn't even know Mindwipe yet and would miss many Ascension creatures with it even if she did know it). Saria does have a redux advantage of 29.23% to 23.68% because of fewer spell ranks, though.

'''Magic Item Use, Harness Power, and mana controls''' are more relics of Tarine coming from a different era. In this case, I'm talking about the time before Transcend Destiny existed and before self-cast minimum spell durations were kicked up to two hours by default. Since I already had these skills trained, there's no point to untraining them, but they're a bit frivolous these days and I wouldn't push them that far on a new monk--like Sariara!

'''Trading'' is also a relic. Saria stopped at 191 because that's the mark where she can max selling ability with Glamour up. Tarine's an elf, so her Influence bonus would let her hang back even further at 176. However, back then, finishing a skill for completionism's sake made more sense since fewer alternatives were competing for your exp.

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' stopping at 190 or 200 (or 202 for completionism) comes down to whether you use mstrikes or techniques, respectively. Techniques are much better with weapons than they are with unarmed combat, so Tarine went to 200 because she has weapons trained and Saria won't because she doesn't.

Finally, regarding that '''Transcend Destiny''' line for clarity's sake... given enough time, Saria will eventually get to 10 Transcend Destiny. What I'm saying is that she's working toward 4 Transcend Destiny now as a reasonable breakpoint, but after that's done, she'll go back and finish the other things like Two Weapon Combat, Multi-Opponent Combat, Transformation lore, Climbing, Swimming, and a few mana control ranks that she doesn't have now. ''That's'' the point where she'll be done with normal skills forever and commence the 10 Transcend Destiny push.

===Gemstones: Diamonds in the Rough===

[[Gemstones]], powerful artifacts that might take a while to find, are another key component to post-cap progression. Gemstones generate with randomly selected properties, most of which have tiered upgrades. You can find the [[Gemstone Property List]] on the wiki. If you don't like the properties on your Gemstone, you can also reroll it to get new properties within the same category of rarity. Upgrading or rerolling Gemstones has costs in silver and dust, so there are likely to be:

* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and upgrade just the way you found them
* Gemstones you'll wish to keep and reroll until you get a good property combination, then upgrade after you've done that
* Gemstones you'll wish to shatter into dust
* Gemstones you'll wish to sell to or trade with other players willing to pay big for properties that are good for their characters and not so good for yours

====Good Common Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 Bolt AS and 1/1/1/2/3 CS.

The bolt AS is worthless, but the CS is reasonable if and only if you have a high CS build--like an 81 Minor Mental and 20 Minor Spiritual split with Logic boosts from enhancives or Ascension--that can make use of powerful spells like Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe and you want them to hit more reliably.

'''Bold Brawler'''

Your unarmed combat attacks have an additional 1/2/3/4/5% chance to tier up.

A self-explanatory staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries. More tier ups, faster monster slaying. Easy!

'''Burning Blood'''

When you are dealt a rank 2+ critical strike, your blood combusts in the air. Up to 3 nearby enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they suffer a Heat flare.

Pretty good reactive damage that comes at full power out of the gate. Needing an SMR check does slightly hinder its efficiency against overleveled creatures, but that's offset by the fact that it can go after multiple targets to hit at least one of them. Importantly, note that "a rank 2+ critical strike" refers to a rank 2 critical ''based on a crit table,'' not a rank 2 wound. Usually a rank 2 critical only creates a rank 1 wound; for example, rank 2 [[Slash_critical_table|slash crits]] are always rank 1 wounds unless they hit an eye. In other words, even very light hits can get this going, but just not the absolute lightest hits.

'''Ephemera's Extension'''

The following spells have 20/40/60/80/100% higher duration: 117, 140, 240, 506, 515, 605, 919, 1608, 1619.

Reasonable if you have 40 Minor Spiritual ranks. Monks make better use of Wall of Force than any other profession besides paladins due to monks' combination of inexpensive Harness Power costs, not much to spend that mana on, not being in full plate like warriors (and so valuing the DS more), and lower DS at the highest end of exp than light armored rogues (or light armored warriors, but I don't know any of those other than my own).

'''Ether Flux'''

When you deal 3 types of elemental damage to a creature in under 60 seconds, the creature must make an SMR test or take a standard disruption flare. This cannot occur more than once every minute.

(For clarity, it can occur once ''per creature'' per minute. You can basically consider it once per creature, period. For even more clarity, Ether Flux itself isn't a flare ''chance''; it's described as a flare because it deals a random amount of disruption damage, but it always triggers once you meet the condition.)

Ether Flux has no tiers and comes at full power immediately, which is definitely nice and it's a very good perk ''if'' you can get it going! ...but can you? Even though monks don't innately deal elemental damage, it still might be easier than you think.

Some options for elemental flares include conventional ability slot flares, Battle Standards of applicable Arkati or spirits, certain Gemstone properties like Blood Boil or Infusion or Thorns, holy fire or holy water when hunting undead, or script flares of elemental types. That's already up to seven sources of elemental flares and I'm not describing anything too wildly out of the way or anything that's very expensive by post-cap standards. The most expensive of those would be buying flare type changes for Animalistic Spirit or Phytomorphic Weapons.

Whether you're mstriking or using Fury, monks fire off a lot of attacks, so with a decent base of varied flare types, the odds can stack up to force a lot of Ether Flux triggers through! However, if you don't have that decent base, I wouldn't go out of my way working up to it just because you find an Ether Flux. This is a very solid B or maybe B+ common, but it's no Bold Brawler, Flare Resonance, Stamina Prism, or Storm of Rage.

'''Flare Resonance'''

Your attacks have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to gain flare affinity.

Assuming you have flares on your handwear and your footwear (and if you don't, then you should!), this is another staple Gemstone property that's better for UC monks than almost all rares and legendaries.

[[Flare Affinity]] basically supercharges your flares to hit substantially harder--and, for that matter, more often! Flare Affinity is normally only obtainable by adding a [[Combat Flourish]] to your weapon at Duskruin for 400k bloodscrip--and many people do pay that gladly, which gives you an idea of its power. (If you ''are'' someone who already has the Flare Affinity flourish, you wouldn't want this property since they don't stack.) The Flare Resonance property only adds Flare Affinity 20% of the time, but it does go on your character instead of your gear, so getting the 100% equivalent on a monk's handwear ''and'' footwear would cost 800k bloodscrip.

In short, get more flares and make them spend less time poking and more time killing.

'''Force of Will'''

You shake off all of the following debilitating effects: calmed, confused, demoralized, horrified, immobile, rooted, slowed, stunned, sympathetic, terrified, webbed. Cooldown: 24/18/12/6/1 hour(s).

This can save you from almost any situation once per hour when fully upgraded. If you really hate dying, this is the property for you! Alternatively, if you find it on a Gemstone with at least one other property that's good for somebody else but isn't good for you, you can try to sell it for a good chunk of silver since solo hunters of almost every profession like Force of Will for general purposes. (The exceptions are bards, who can already get rid of almost all of these conditions with their own [[Troubadour's Rally (1040)|Troubadour's Rally]], and maybe clerics, who can just [[Miracle (350)|Miracle]] resurrect themselves one to three times per day if they die.)

'''Journeyman Tactician'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5 AS and 1/1/1/2/3 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

The UAF boost is fairly immaterial for all the reasons you know by now about UAF, but the maneuver boost makes for an acceptable placeholder for most monks to use while looking for better Gemstones in the long run. That said, I wouldn't recommend upgrading it except possibly on a monk who makes very heavy use of extremely endroll-dependent attacks like Spin Kick or Bearhug.

'''Mephitic Brume'''

When you are attacked by a creature, you have a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to release a noxious cloud. Up to three enemies must make an SMR test. On a failure, they become Dazed and Disengaged.

Quite useful for buying time with crowd control. There's not much else to say, but it's a good property for survival! Be sure it fits with your RP, though, since it's sort of gross.

'''Stamina Prism'''

Your passive stamina regeneration is increased by 5/10/15/20/25%.

This might be the highest ceiling Gemstone property of all for monks. It's easy to underrate the value for monks because most of them never out of stamina anyway because they already have Mind Over Body for at least 20% stamina cost reduction. However, the reason they don't run out of stamina is because they do manage it to an extent. For example, a monk might use mstrikes when they're off cooldown and Ki Focus when the mstrikes ''are'' on cooldown, thus basically only using stamina for the latter. However, if you started stacking on enhancives, Ascension, and Stamina Prism to start recovering 50-90% of your stamina every minute instead of the ~25% that 3x Physical Fitness gets you to on its own, you could add Ki Focus when mstriking, add qstrikes when not mstriking, and ''still'' not run out of stamina.

In other words, you can think of Stamina Prism as opening up entirely new combat options by indirectly reducing RT. This does require getting additional stamina regen benefits, but you can be even more of a whirlwind in battle if you build for it!

'''Storm of Rage'''

You gain 1/2/3/4/5% damage factor for each kill. Stacks up to 3 times. This effect falls off after 30 seconds without making a kill. This applies to all DFs, including bolts.

If you'll battle just about any creature in your preferred hunting ground and it's a fairly swarmy place, this is an extraordinary property since you'll have the boost going constantly. UC monks or weapon monks will both love this property! Even if you're picky about which creatures you battle or if you hunt a slower area, it's still excellent. The only other thing is to consider is that it's a top tier common for virtually every build of virtually every profession--any weapon user, any UC build, any magical bolter--and so people are likely to pay very well for it if you'd rather have the silvers!

'''Taste of Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 3/4/4/4/5% Damage Factor.

Mini Storm of Rage, except you always have the boost even if you're in the slowest of areas or if you're selectively hunting a single creature type for your bounty. The small defensive penalty has very little impact on a monk with high redux monk or high Transformation lore--and you'll almost definitely have at least one of those.

'''Twist the Knife'''

You gain 2/4/6/8/10% damage factor against targets afflicted with major bleed. When your warding spells are successful, the endroll is increased by 2/4/6/8/10 if the target is afflicted with major bleed.

If you're using Hamstring or have the Slashing Strikes buff from Flurry active (or are hunting with partners who do those things), this is excellent. If not, it isn't.

====Good Rare Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Anointed Defender'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Defensive Strength and 3/4/4/5/6 Target Defense.

Helps shore up a primary monk weakness of TD and the extra DS is reasonably helpful too. Not necessarily worth using one of your rare slots on over the long haul, but it depends on your tolerance for death. Don't use this if you go the Kroderine Soul route.

'''Blood Boil'''

Your attacks have a standard flare chance to boil the targets blood, dealing 20% of target's current health, up to 100, per tick for 5 ticks (2 second interval). This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once per minute. Activate to cause this ability to trigger on your next attack. Activation Cooldown: 1 min.

A high quality Gemstone property for almost every monk since flares are always great for UC due to the high volume of attacks. That said, Blood Boil flares are a bit quirky; they can't outright kill things like normal flares, nor can you land several of them on the same creature. Still, the sheer health damage done will frequently exceed more conventional flares unless the creature is already very weakened. A possibly bigger obstacle is that Blood Boil, of course, only works on creatures with blood! That won't be an obstacle in most hunting grounds, but if you try to exclusively hunt undead who have no blood (most undead by far don't; a few do), this wouldn't be the property for you.

'''Defensive Duelist'''

When an enemy directs a melee attack at you, you have a 1/2/3/4/5% chance to intercept the attack and take no damage. The enemy must make an SMR test. On a failure, the enemy is disarmed, if applicable, and suffers roundtime.

Despite having some anti-synergy with Spin Kick, it's very hard to ignore the value of a universal 5% chance to avoid and (to an extent) counter AS attacks. All else being equal, it ''is'' better to not get hit as often as possible than to Spin Kick as often as possible. (Maybe not more fun, though!)

'''Greater Arcane Intensity'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 Bolt AS and 3/4/4/5/6 CS.

Like its common counterpart except twice as good, this is a strong boost to make Thought Lash, Vertigo, and Mindwipe if you're one of the rare monks who uses CS spells in combat.

'''Infusion of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] after attacking an enemy.

Top notch rare Gemstone property that every monk should want. As always, the higher volume of attacks per second, the better flares get! Simple, clean power. (Before you get any ideas, if we could have three Infusion properties active, then that's exactly what I'd recommend, but they're mutually exclusive.)

'''Master Tactician'''

You gain 6/7/8/9/10 AS and 3/4/4/5/6 SMR Offense with Combat Maneuvers.

Journeyman Tactician, but twice as good. Like its common counterpart, the UAF boost isn't noteworthy for a UC monk (it is good for a weapon monk, though!), but if you make heavy use of SMR attacks, I think it can be a reasonable long-term property for you. If not, I'd either sell it to someone willing to pay top silvers or reroll until you get a better rare property.

'''Serendipitous Hex'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare rate chance to cast an additional disabler spell, including Bind, Blind, Cold Snap, Confusion, Limb Disruption, Mystic Impedance, Power Sink, Sleep, Sounds, or Vertigo. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you cast a lot of single-target spells in combat, this might be the strongest rare Gemstone property you could find. That's an enormous if for a monk, though! Monks with incredible handwear are probably still better off sticking to Twin Hammerfists as their opening disabler or even just starting with Fury or an mstrike in the first place. However, if you're looking to be an even more magical monk than mine by regularly slinging around Web, Force Projection, Thought Lash, and other spells, this is the definitive property for you. And if you find a certain legendary property I'll cover shortly, you might consider working your entire build around it...

'''Strong Back'''

Your encumbrance thresholds are increased by 15/20/25/30/35 pounds.

A reasonable option for lighter races. It's not necessarily going to help with the newer and bigger boxes of 2026 on, but can help with the lower end loot like solid moonstone cubes or wands that add up when you're tiny. Definitely not a flashy property, but monks are more heavily punished by encumbrance than most professions due to its effect on their primary source of DS, Evade DS, and this is a solution to at least part of that!

'''Tethered Strike'''

Your offensive spells and weapon attacks no longer trigger creatures' innate abilities to outright avoid incoming attacks, such as Ithzir vanishing, warg avoidance, and myling fading.

From reading the description of what it does, you already know based on what you hunt whether this is a slam dunk to use or a slam dunk to sell to someone ''else'' for whom it's a slam dunk to use!

'''Thirst for Brutality'''

Your attacks gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor and attacks against you gain 6/7/8/9/10% Damage Factor.

Twice as strong as its already very powerful common counterpart, Taste of Brutality... or is it? The common version's 5% penalty when taking hits is negligible, but a 10% penalty isn't as easily dismissed. Still, the increased DF is fantastic, so I'd say you should consider your options with this one. If you have high redux ''and'' high Transformation lore, get it, love it, and upgrade it all the way. If you only have one of those, then you could simply treat it like Taste of Brutality by leaving it un-upgraded. 6% on both ends with no upgrades is comparable to the fully upgraded Taste of Brutality's 5%, after all, and nothing says you have to upgrade it at any point, never mind right away.

====Good Legendary Gemstone Properties for Monks====

'''Mirror Image'''

When you attack a creature, you have a 10% chance to create a mirror image of yourself that will replicate the attack. When you are attacked by a creature, there is a 10% chance that a mirror image of you will appear and take the blow instead.

Pretty easily the most powerful legendary property for monks of just about any kind, albeit not as flashy and over-the-top as others. It's actually difficult to even sell you on this because it's so straightforward that I shouldn't have to. It's a 10% double attack chance on every attack!

If you're playing the long game, I say get this one at all costs. However, if you happen to find a different legendary that's also solid for monks and don't want to let perfect be the enemy of good, below are some other reasonable options...

'''Mystic Impulse'''

After hitting an enemy with a weapon attack or an unarmed strike, you have a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to gain Mystic Momentum for 60 seconds. Your next spell cast under the effects of Mystic Momentum incurs no mana cost and gains +50 Attack Strength and +30 Casting Strength.

Hear me out. This is a very, very specific niche, but it's incredible within that niche, which is that you're a high CS build, you prefer going into rooms with multiple creatures, you cast AoE spells like Vertigo or Mindwipe once per group of creatures, and you rarely casts spells otherwise.

If all of that's true, then this is basically a gigantic +30 CS buff. The 10% activation rate with your high volume of attacks means that, after defeating one room of creatures, you'll basically always have the Mystic Impulse buff active to disable or debuff the next room of creatures before you unleash havoc on them.

'''Stolen Power'''

Your offensive spells have a standard flare chance to trigger an SMR roll against the target. On a failure, the target is inflicted with a random attack spell that cannot be warded off. Spells include Blood Burst, Bone Shatter, Dark Catalyst, Disintegrate, Divine Fury, Immolation, Pain, Repentance, Thought Lash, and Wither. This chance is reduced for each tier below 3.

If you're running the Serendipitous Hex build, run this too and your spells will be insane. If you find this legendary property and you ''aren't'' running the Serendipitous Hex build, then I'd honestly consider changing your mind and trying to get both of those to line up. The strength of your spells skyrockets when they can be up to three spells in one.

Also, with Serendipitous Hex, I gave the caveat that exceptional handwear could still make Twin Hammerfists beat out spells like Force Projection or Web as an opener. With Stolen Power, Twin Hammerfists would still be more reliable and better for one-on-one combat, but the sheer strength of Stolen Power's effect and the ability to use it from guarded stance creates a versatile, powerful use case when fighting two or more creatures at once. (And that's with Stolen Power alone! Again, someone who manages to get it and Serendipitous Hex onto the same build is really going hard.)

'''Thorns of [Damage Type]'''

You gain a standard chance to flare with [damage type] when an enemy targets you with an attack, whether or not the attack hits.

Great general purpose power for any solo hunter (of any profession, not just monks). Basically randomly kills things for you just by standing in the same general vicinity when they attack you!

'''Witchhunter's Ascendancy'''

You enter a heightened state for 30 seconds. During this state, you gain Attack Strength equal to 50% of the Defensive Strength of spells on all creatures in the room, up to a maximum of 100. Additionally, all of your attacks have guaranteed dispel flares. Cooldown: 3 min.

The AS/UAF boost is, as always, borderline immaterial unless you're a weapon-wielding monk. 30 seconds of dispel flares on every attack, however, is a rush of power and joy that works well with the free jabs in your mstrikes! Unlike traditional dispel flares, these are post-resolution, so they're slightly less reliable. However, UC monks tend to have no trouble making their attacks land.

====Leafi's Wild Dream Scenario Gemstone Endgames====

By design, getting the exact perfect setup is mathematically almost impossible since Gemstones are meant to keep people going for years to come. Still, it's fun to dream, so here are some hypothetical ideal layouts!

Note that you can have at most one legendary property and three rare properties. Common properties are a bit different; you can technically have up to ten, but each common beyond three would be competing with a rare instead and going up to ten common properties would also exclude you from having a legendary.

'''Traditional Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 1 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# ''(Blood Boil)'' (rare 2 of 3)
# ''(Thirst for Brutality)'' (rare 3 of 3)
# Force of Will (common 5 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 6 of 7)
# Journeyman Tactician if using Thirst for Brutality, otherwise Taste of Brutality (common 7 of 7)

Blood Boil and Thirst of Brutality are parenthetical and italicized because they're slightly conditional picks. For general purposes, that's what I'd go with, but specific hunting ground choices or even gear can change everything. Blood Boil might be useless if you primarily hunt undead without blood. Tethered Strike, not listed, might be superior to either Blood Boil or Thirst of Brutality if you regularly hunt evasive creatures. Anointed Defender, also not listed, could be the way to go if you've managed your gear and training in such a way that the TD boost can push you just out of range of dangerous CS attacks.

'''Very Magic-Heavy Monk'''

# Mirror Image (the legendary)
# ''(Serendipitous Hex)'' (rare 1 of 3)
# Infusion of Lightning (or other damage type; rare 2 of 3)
# Stamina Prism (common 1 of 7)
# Bold Brawler (common 2 of 7)
# Storm of Rage (common 3 of 7)
# Greater Arcane Intensity (rare 3 of 3)
# Flare Resonance (common 4 of 7)
# Arcane Intensity (common 5 of 7)
# Taste of Brutality (common 6 of 7)
# Ephemera's Extension or Ether Flux (definitely not Ephemera's if you don't know Wall of Force; common 7 of 7)

This has enough overlap that you might think they're the same picture, but the subtle differences add up to large ones. This Gemstone setup assumes a high CS monk, then Greater Arcane Intensity and Arcane Intensity push CS even higher. That means that Vertigo and Mindwipe land more consistently, which means that creatures are disabled more often, which means Force of Will shouldn't be as necessary. It also means that your MM will be higher, which means I wouldn't even think about Journeyman Tactician. Conversely, Taste of Brutality claims a solid place because its rare counterpart has been traded off to secure Greater Arcane Intensity and maybe Serendipitous Hex.

Speaking of Serendipitous Hex, even though I ranked it highly, it gets the parenthetical italics treatment because I only recommend it if you're regularly casting Web! It doesn't trigger with Vertigo or Mindwipe, so if those are your go-tos, then bring in some other top end rare like Blood Boil, Tethered Strike, or Thirst for Brutality. (Unlike the traditional monk, the magic-heavy monk doesn't risk as much from the double DF hit of using Taste and Thirst simultaneously because their more consistent disablers will keep enemies contained. Still, just in case of the worst, ''definitely'' use Ephemera's Extension over Ether Flux if you go the double Brutality route!)
</div></div>

==Odds and Ends==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-oddsandends" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Can I interest you in the weirdest inner workings of my mind re: monks, plus other miscellaneous topics not yet covered? If so, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-oddsandends">

As we draw close to the end, I'll cover miscellaneous topics like off-the-beaten-path things monks can do and obscure advantages they have that you might not have thought about.

===Monk Magic After Dark===

...wait, I can't write about that on the wiki! Moving on.

===Trade Secrets of the Sneaky Monk Merchants===

I'm one of the bigger advocates of training [[Trading]] in the GS community, but even more so for monks than others!

Monks have easier and more universal means to make more silvers per item sold than any other profession--and they can do it almost anywhere in Elanthia.

Except for [[Mist Harbor]] and [[Kraken's Fall]], every town's NPC shops will pay +5% extra silver to at least one race when players sell. ([[Trading#Trading_chart|See the chart of favored races here!]])

Monks have a '''secret weapon''' in the profit war: '''[[Shroud of Deception (1212)|Shroud of Deception]]'''!

Even monks who live in a geographic region where their race can't get a bonus can configure their Shroud profile to appear as another race and get the bonus anyway! It's that easy!

But wait, it gets better! Monks also have ''[[Glamour (1205)|Glamour]]''', which gives an enhancive boost of 20 Trading ranks or 50 Trading skill, whichever is lower. (50 Trading skill will be lower before you have 20 Trading ranks on your own.)

What does Trading do, though?

You get an extra 1% silver for every combined 12 bonus between Influence and Trading bonus. That's ''bonus'', not ranks! So, for example, if you had 44 Trading ranks, which is 144 Trading bonus, you'd make 12% more silver for selling items than if you had 0 Trading ranks. Shroud of Deception takes that 12% to 17%, then Glamour takes that 17% to 18%--and, actually, 8/12ths of the way to 19%. If you took my advice and set Influence high from the start, Influence will also get you to 19% if not 20%!

This is a big part of how Sariara made 2,509,473 million silver within a week of existing. By now she's existed for four weeks and a day and is up to 23,108,060 silver, only 1,500,000 of which came from selling a Mystic Tattoo.

Some general tips on early silvers:

* Don't hunt overcrowded Landing areas, but find the rich lower level creatures. There are plenty of them because characters don't stay low level for long, so hunting pressure is low. (For more on hunting pressure, see the [[treasure system]] page and [[Treasure_system/saved_posts|saved posts subpage]].)
* Take advantage of Glamour and Shroud of Deception to get a percentage boost to these rich creatures' already valuable loot. Reap the reward of being a monk!
* Between level 0 and 19, when skills migrate near instantly, max out Trading every time you're about to sell things.
* Between level 0 and 19, push First Aid and Survival up when you're out hunting so you can get value from skinning. Unlearn them afterward so you can...
* Between level 5 and 19, learn Glamour and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* Between level 12 and 19, learn Shroud of Deception and cast it before selling. (Afterward, unlearn it so you can get skinning skills back!)
* For your final level 19.9 build, as you're forced to commit to your skills, have at least 20 ranks of Trading and know at least your first 12 Minor Mental spells.

Yes, this is what I did. I got to see delightful lines in my SKILL command like:

You started this migration period on Saturday, 5/25/2024 at 01:55:18 EDT. You have 4 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes remaining in your current 30 day migration period.

You're currently migrating at a rate of .001 skill points per pulse, and '''have converted 25580.00 training points this migration period.'''

Even if you don't go to this extreme, though, monks are the game's best at selling to NPC merchants. At the low end, monks skyrocket toward high sales value. At the high end in the post-cap world, monks reach the maximum sale bonus in almost every town.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

"Maximum sale bonus" is 28% from Trading and Influence plus another 5% from race bonus. To be clear, the max bonus is 33%, but only sort of; the two bonuses are treated separately. For example, if you're an elf monk selling in Solhaven (no bonus), you can't just pump your Trading and Influence so high that you'd make 33% from that alone; it's capped at 28% and the other 5% ''has to'' come from Shroud of Deception.

My monk Tarine was the key to my figuring this out. Noticing that Glamour no longer made a difference post-cap with max Trading led me down the rabbit trail of investigating why! I found the Trading and Influence hard cap, then the total hard cap counting race bonus, then isolated that they were separate things.
</blockquote>

===When Robes Aren't Robes: Alterations===

For simplicity, I've been talking about "robes" throughout this guide because that's the conventional name for that [[armor]] type.

However, robes don't have to remain robes at all; they have the same leeway for alterations as other chest-worn clothing! Here are examples of post-alteration "robes" that my various characters (monks or otherwise) have worn or that I plan to create:

* An airy white starsilk sundress sporting an asymmetrical knee-length skirt
* A sleeveless lily white tunic with a jet black silk sash
* A knee-length midnight blue silk dress aglisten with a constellation of stars
* A sleeveless white tunic splashed with an autumn-hued music motif
* A sleeveless white starsilk tunic spangled with sunset orange musical notes
* A midnight black silk tunic marked with a silver eight-pointed star
* A sleeveless sunlight gold tunic accented by bright white edges
* A royal purple starsilk tunic featuring an embroidered silver rose
* A sleeveless emerald green dress showcasing a heart-framed pink sapphire fairy centerpiece (this one cheats; it has the [[Joola_items|Joola]] fluff script, so it can break character limits)
* A snowy off-shoulder dress sporting white pearl accents along a wavy aqua skirt (also a Joola)
* A thigh-slit scarlet starsilk dress accented by ivory edges
* A sleeveless white kimono featuring golden star embroidery
* A ribbon-sashed cherry red elesine blouse with vanilla-hued ruffled sleeves
* A sleeveless gold feather-patterned tunic tied at the waist

Mine are mostly feminine designs, but even for a masculine character, you can turn your robes into shirts, vests, jackets, and more. Get your creativity on!

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

Likewise, unarmed combat footwear isn't limited to boots or footwraps. Have a merchant make you shoes, sandals, slippers, flats, moccasins, or anything else you like and wear them into battle!
</blockquote>

===Hunting Partner Tactics and Synergy===

Who do monks team up well with for group hunts and why? Let's explore!

* '''Warriors''' have [[Carn's Cry]], an AoE immobilizer that's enormously helpful for the two things UC monks like most: increasing their MM and reducing enemies' UDF. In turn, warriors love monks' Mind Over Body stamina cost reduction, the best group buff they can get other than bards' [[Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] (which will probably be nerfed one day).
* '''Rogues''' have [[Subdue]] as a single-target immobilizer and love stamina cost reduction. Stealth can make grouping somewhat awkward for most professions, but monks don't necessarily mind being targeted more often since it offers more Spin Kick opportunities.
* '''A monk duo''' can keep up both Mind Over Body and Focus Barrier, but otherwise doesn't have any particular synergy.
* '''Paladins''' can give their monk partners extra flares via their [[Fervor (1618)|Fervor]] aura and reduce enemy UDF via [[Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] or even simply connecting with [[Judgment (1630)|Judgment]], both being AoE spells. Paladins can make good use of Mind Over Body or Focus Barrier alike; they use stamina, but don't have as much redux as warriors and rogues nor as much DS as them, so a boost can really help.
* '''Rangers''' have [[Moonbeam (611)|Moonbeam]] as a single-target immobilizer, among various other disablers. Two Weapon Combat rangers should like Focus Barrier and Sunfist rangers should like Mind Over Body, but monks don't offer much to rangers otherwise.
* '''Bards''' can make a monk's attacks even faster, at least for now, since Song of Tonis is the game's best group buff. 1 second kicks are a wild thing! Monks offer Focus Barrier in return, shoring up the typical bard weakness of defense.
* '''Wizards''' possess myriad AoE abilities, whether disablers or attacks, that monks can follow up on with increased MM and decreased enemy UDF. Focus Barrier helps wizards at least somewhat, but they're already pretty durable as casters go. Monks simply being present as an additional target to split up enemies' attacks is helpful to wizards and all casters.
* '''Empaths''' are near-universally welcome hunting partners for all professions with their healing. [[Adrenal Surge (1107)|Adrenal Surge]] also gives monks more leeway to go ham with mstrikes on cooldown without risking being too punished. [[Bind (214)|Bind]] can immobilize at lower levels, but becomes less reliable later. [[Web (118)|Web]] is a more consistently reliable disabler. Monks' Focus Barrier can be good for situations when an empath gets stanced down. Monks being an extra body helps. An empath's [[Mass Interference (217)|Mass Interference]] setting up a monk's Vertigo isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but it's not an amazing one either.
* '''Clerics''' have [[Censure (316)|Censure]] as an AoE immobilizer and [[Warding Sphere (310)|Warding Sphere]] as a group TD buff (and DS), so they help monks on offensive and defensive fronts alike. If enemy TD is too high for Censure, Web works as an alternative. Focus Barrier is somewhat less helpful to clerics than empaths since getting stanced down is less likely due to [[Soul Ward (319)|Soul Ward]], but it's still there when needed. Having a hunting partner's extra body is even more helpful to clerics than most professions because creatures usually need to focus fire on a cleric at least twice to get through Soul Ward, but the odds of that happening fall from 100% to 25% even in only a duo.
* '''Sorcerers''' have [[Grasp of the Grave (709)|Grasp of the Grave]] as an AoE disabler, though it doesn't help monks as most other professions' disablers. On the other side, Focus Barrier is arguably more helpful to them than to other pures since wizards have more DS, empaths have more Physical Fitness (and so are less likely to be stanced down) and can heal when they do get, and clerics have Soul Ward.

Nearly regardless of team composition, your monk training '''Coup de Grace''' and '''Side by Side''' (which also requires two ranks of '''Combat Movement''') can be helpful to groups.

===The Weapon-Wielding Melee Monk===

Let's talk more about Martial Mastery, the level 0 feat. Although monks have access, it was primarily invented for warriors and rogues as an alternative to learning [[Elemental Targeting (425)|Elemental Targeting]], a Minor Elemental spell that increases AS.

Far enough post-cap, magical warriors or magical rogues have the same AS ceiling as their non-magical counterparts. (Their non-magical counterparts do get there millions of experience points sooner while the magical ones have more DS and TD, but that's outside the scope of this guide...) Monks, on the other hand, don't have Elemental Targeting, so a monk maximizing Martial Mastery can have up to 50 more AS and UAF than a monk ''not'' maximizing it! Of course, UAF doesn't matter nearly as much as AS and the entire monk profession is built around unarmed combat. So I ask:

Is there merit to a weapon-wielding, AS-based monk?

Before I explore it, I'll repeat that I think people should make whatever kind of character they find fun and that I personally like wacky builds. However, I'm not convinced that a melee monk even ''is'' a wacky build. When people consider making a melee-only character who isn't stealth-based, a warrior is probably their first thought, but let's seriously compare these options.

'''The Training Cost Factor''':

I'll use my (first) monk and warrior for the sake of illustration since they're both elves. At level 50, my warrior had a total pool of 2568 PTPs and 2242 MTPs while my monk had a total pool of 2319 PTPs and 2259 MTPs. You might think the warrior is hugely ahead, but no, not at all. I could show you paragraphs upon paragraphs of math I wrote, but let's just cut to the chase.

Let's say my monk and warrior had both done dual katar builds that shared nearly identical core training. 2x Brawling, 2x Edged Weapons, 1x Thrown Weapons (to buff up Martial Mastery), 2x Two Weapon Combat, 2x Combat Maneuvers, 2x Physical Fitness, 50 Multi-Opponent Combat, and 1x Perception were all in common.

From there, my warrior took 70 Armor Use to get metal breastplate, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. My monk learned Iron Skin, took 30 Transformation to buff up Iron Skin, and took 10 Harness Power, then trained as many Dodging ranks as possible with her remaining points. Their skills would be identical in most ways, but here's where they'd differ:

* Monk in robes that act like chain mail: 153 ranks of Dodging and 102 MTPs spare
* Warrior in metal breastplate: 109 ranks of Dodging and 21 MTPs spare

I'm not going to claim that my monk would basically just be better; there are too many factors to say that. Warriors have their guild skills. Monks have Perfect Self. Warriors have a higher parry chance because of [[Combat Mastery|their level 40 feat]]. Monks have a higher evade chance because of ''their'' level 40 feat. Warriors have [[Whirling Dervish]]. Monks have more DS, at least at this stage of the game. Warriors have [[Weapon Specialization]]. Monks have Burst of Swiftness. Warriors have [[Weapon Bonding]].

My point is that a melee monk is even ''comparable''--better in some ways and worse in others--to a warrior with the exact same build despite ignoring so much of what the monk skillset is tailored toward.

'''The Mental Acuity Possibility''':

What if you learned Mental Acuity even without Kroderine Soul? My above training cost example illustrated my monk stopping at two Minor Mental spells for Iron Skin, but another alternative (though this would be during later levels) would be taking Mental Acuity to retain access to the first 20 Minor Mental spells and still even allowing room for Spirit Warding I and Spirit Defense. (If you were okay with Martial Mastery capping out at +45 AS instead of 50, you could even learn Spirit Warding II!)

The hypothetical Martial Mastery and Mental Acuity monk has almost the same AS as a Martial Mastery warrior, but her spells would pull her far ahead in DS while keeping all the silver selling benefits of Glamour and Shroud of Deception, plus saving tons of stamina via Mind Over Body. The tradeoff is making spelling up more of a hassle, but that might be worth the payoff of having a light armored warrior-like character whose combat maneuvers and weapon techniques have 35% stamina cost reduction!

'''Doubly Perfect Self''':

As great as Perfect Self is for unarmed combat, it's arguably even better for a melee monk. For UC purposes, it's mainly RT reduction for your mstrikes or your singular assault technique, Fury. For a katar monk, on the other hand, you're getting AS--more useful than UAF--and RT reduction for ''two'' types of assault techniques: Brawling's Fury and Edged Weapons' Flurry. Rotating weapon techniques to work around cooldowns is a very powerful thing available for hybrid weapons like katars! This can eat a lot of stamina on a warrior or rogue, but monks don't sweat it as much due to Mind Over Body.

'''Specializations and Katars''':

The Grapple, Kick, and Punch Specialization bonuses for their respective techniques ''do'' still apply even if you're using a brawling weapon instead of unarmed combat!

Grapple Specialization-powered Fury knocking foes down and dealing grapple damage is probably still the most powerful of these effects, letting you skip knockdown setups for your staple assault technique. Kick Specialization-powered Spin Kick is probably still the most fun of these effects, letting you fire off powerful maneuvers every so often or occasionally rip through rooms while RT locked.

Ironically, if there's anywhere that I even sort of like Punch Specialization-powered Clash, it's on a weapon-wielding monk. For unarmed combat, Clash is noticeably weaker than unfocused mstrikes. For weapon combat, however, Clash without Punch Specialization has the same power as an unfocused mstrike and Clash ''with'' Punch Specialization has a 25% chance of minor impact damage against each target. That said, the Grapple and Kick benefits for Fury and Spin Kick are 100% instead of 25%, so I still think they win out. Punch at least becomes a more serious contender, though, especially if you're regularly hunting things like bandits, pirates, warcamps, or areas that swarm.

Before I close out this section, katars are the only great brawling weapon and are a hybrid weapon that requires Edged Weapons ranks. Monks do train both skills cheaply, but maxing both does have an opportunity cost, especially early on. If you can only train one weapon type, I'd make it Edged Weapons instead of Brawling. The Edged assault technique, [[Flurry]], gives you a [[Slashing Strikes]] buff that adds slash flares to your edged weapon attacks for the next two minutes. It's also much easier to find great edged weapons for sale from other players--and often even pay event shops--than great brawling weapons.

If you're really set on a brawling-only weapon at first, then the ones I think are at least reasonable relative to their minimum RT are cestuses (good against cloth, leather, and scale), tiger-claws (good against cloth, leather, and scale), yierka-spurs (good against cloth and chain and at least dagger-powered against plate for the same RT), and fist-scythes (good against cloth, scale, and chain, and at least short sword-powered against plate for the same RT).

<blockquote>
'''Bonus Tip!'''

If or when you train for katars, take full advantage of them being hybrid weapons. Flurry and Fury have separate cooldowns. [[Whirling Blade]] (the Edged AoE technique) and Clash have separate cooldowns. Since at least one of these four techniques will be off cooldown much more often than not, you can go into a wild frenzy with a monk's stamina cost reduction from Mind Over Body.
</blockquote>

'''Conclusion''':

Ironically, I wrote the above Mental Acuity subsection mostly to acknowledge that it's a possibility even while thinking nobody would do it without Kroderine Soul. I just like to encourage weird builds in most professions, so I figured I'd bring it up.

Instead, after considering all the math and angles I did while writing this, it's made such a strong case for a bizarrely appealing build that I've talked myself into trying it with Sariara at some point, even if I end up fixskilling out of it later, just to see how it goes. My mind's swirling and it seems clear that the melee monk is a very, very real idea that's gone unexplored because it's not an intuitive or obvious idea from a glance over the monk skillset.
</div></div>

==Infrequently Asked (or Imagined) Questions==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-faq" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Wondering about some weird corner case I somehow never touched on? Ask me on Discord or in the game. To see what weird corner cases other people have asked about, click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-faq">

This final section covers any random topics that people have asked me or that I can ''imagine'' them asking me if I feel that they're worth answering in this guide, but not worth a full tip or sidebar of their own.

* Things actually asked are red.
* Things I imagine people should ask are pink.
* Things that are both red and pink come from comments I got that weren't originally questions, but I've reframed them into questions because they're worth discussing.

'''Does enchanting UC handwear and footwear help with DS?'''

No on footwear. Yes on handwear, but each +1 enchant only grants 0.1 DS in offensive stance and 0.35 DS in defensive. Work on your armor if you want more DS!

'''Why do you rank half-krolvin monks so low? Flimbo's Guide and the [[Comprehensive Monk Guide]] really like them!'''

Flimbo's guide likes half-krolvin monks because Perfect Self normalizes their Logic penalty and they have "solid physical stats with which to punch things quite well." I agree that Perfect Self fixes something that scares some players away from half-krolvin. I even kind of agree that if you're set on playing a half-krolvin, then a monk should be among your top considerations for a profession. Still, I'd rather have a race without a Logic penalty to begin with! Exp-wise, that Logic penalty is less important than it used to be if you're paying for Temple of Lumnis donations or Fash'lo'nae's Tutelage, but it's still a penalty. The impact on Vertigo and Mindwipe also isn't negligible. (This is, after all, the Autumnwinds' ''magical'' monk guide, not the Kroderine Soul monk guide.)

Another point I agree with Flimbo on is that half-krolvin have solid physical stats with which to ''punch'' things quite well. However, I'd rather have a faster Agidex race who has solid physical stats with which to also ''kick'' things quite well, meaning minimum RT for mstrike kick!

The comprehensive guide likes half-krolvin monks because of UAF and heavy crit padding against cold damage. The math says UAF doesn't matter! (Okay, fine, ''technically'' the math says UAF matters... fractionally.)

Cold damage protection has some appeal if you're specifically leveling in Icemule, but monks also have meditation resistance, so, in effect, being a half-krolvin there opens up meditating to resist a different damage type. However, the outdoor environs around Icemule run out of creatures after the early 50s, so should you pick a race just for that?

The Hinterwilds ''are'' a post-cap option that also features cold damage, but that hunting ground has built-in means to protect any race from cold damage. Also, by that point, unless you've exclusively been hunting the most dirt poor areas in the game, you could also have picked up a ranger resistance trinket with all the silver you'll have made from Glamour, Shroud of Deception, selling your Mystic Tattoos, and needing little to nothing in the way of gear upgrades by virtue of being a monk.

Like I said, any race can do well as a monk. I'm not down on half-krolvin, exactly, but I'd rather truly excel at ''something'' than be a generalist. Play a half-krolvin if you like their excellent verbs, though!

'''Should I train Ambush?'''

The short answer is no. Now for the long, fun answer!

Flimbo's Guide and the Comprehensive Monk Guide suggested Ambush at high levels, but back then, players had no visibility into the aiming formula. Community knowledge and game mechanics alike have changed a great deal since then. Not only should you probably not train Ambush, but if you ''did,'' it would be most efficacious around the midgame and face diminishing returns to the point of very realistically doing literally nothing at cap depending on your training.

In May 2021, former GM Naijin revealed the aiming formula, which, until then, had been a mystery that players tried to estimate via self-discovery. [[Aim#Aiming_Formula:_Melee_and_Hurling|You can find it recorded here]] and read for full details, but we learned that:

* Enemy level has no effect on (non-stealth) aimed attacks (this was a shocking revelation!)
* Knocking creatures down helps (I don't remember if we'd known this or not)
* Combat Maneuvers bonus is as important as Ambush bonus (we knew CM helped, but we underestimated how much)
* The combination of CM bonus, Dexterity bonus, and Intuition bonus alone suffices to eventually max out aiming success

<blockquote>
'''Intuition Sidebar!'''

Even if you've tanked Intuition instead of Discipline, almost every combination of UC attack and race reaches the maximum 95% aiming success rate for hitting heads of prone foes. The only exceptions are kicks (only kicks) used by erithians or giants, which still have a 94% and 92% chance. On the flip side, halflings have such overflowing success because of their absurd natural Dexterity and Intuition bonuses that they can tank Intuition and still max aiming success rate against the heads of even ''standing'' foes. Of course, they need Acrobat's Leap for that.
</blockquote>

To be more precise, every 4 CM bonus, 4 Ambush bonus, 2 Dexterity bonus, or 4 Intuition bonus increases your likelihood of hitting the right body part by 1%. 24 Ambush ranks (102 bonus) used to be what players had figured out as a reasonable stopping point, so let's use that in an example.

With 24 Ambush, 40 Combat Maneuvers (140 bonus), 15 Dexterity, and 10 Intuition, you'd have a 69%, 64%, or 61% chance to respectively punch, grapple, or kick the head of a prone creature. Aiming adds extra RT, so, for the sake of the argument, let's say we want a 90% benchmark. What would that require? Going to 40 Ambush only brings it up to 79%, 74%, and 71%. Going to 40 Ambush plus 80 Combat Maneuvers is still only 89%, 84%, and 81%.

Of course, by the time you can have 80 Combat Maneuvers, your stats might have increased, so let's say everything had reached 91%, 86%, and 83%. Even that's not good enough because tiering up might demand a grapple or kick for your excellent positioning attack, so you'd need 108 Combat Maneuvers ranks and 40 Ambush ranks. Those 40 Ambush ranks could have been 35 Physical Fitness ranks at 3x costs or 23 Dodging ranks (that's +17 DS in offensive stance) at 3x costs!

What if you eased back to the old 24 Ambush mark? Then you'd need 148 Combat Maneuvers. Perfect Self has kicked in, so let's call it 144 Combat Maneuvers needed. Even that's already level 70. (You can kind of see why players were able to figure out that Ambush should be reserved for higher levels even before we knew the formula!)

In short, pushing Ambush only even kind of makes sense during the high mid levels--60 to 70--when you have high enough stats and CM bonus that you ''can'' reach max or near-max success rates with some Ambush, but not ''so'' high that you reach max or near-max success rates even without Ambush.

''But even then,'' we're only looking at the training point opportunity costs. Guides recommending Ambush also predated the sweeping [[Player_System_Manager_-_Phase_3|PSM3]] combat maneuver updates. Sure, you could aim for heads after you reach excellent positioning. Alternatively, you could Bearhug things to death for 200-400 damage. Another option is using Twin Hammerfists or Fury with Grapple Specialization trained to inflict the Vulnerable status, which means your ''unaimed'' attacks--like the ones coming from mstrikes and Fury--are more likely to hit heads, necks, and eyes than normal with no Ambush or even CM training needed. In fact, if your Fury is using kicks, then hitting the chest or abdomen is also just as lethal at excellent positioning as hitting the head!

Like PSM3's wiki page says, much of the point was encouraging spending stamina to improve efficiency. Monks are the best positioned for that because of Mind Over Body, so I've made my choice: forget Ambush and play to my strengths.
</div></div>

==The TL;DR Recap: Making Cookie Cutter Monks==

<div class="mw-customtoggle-cookiecutter" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Low on time or thought processing power and just want a cookie cutter build you don't need to put much thought into? Click here!</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-cookiecutter">

(...by my wacky definition of "cookie cutter.")

"Leafi, I love you and all, but I expanded every section, noticed my scroll bar is tiny, noticed your guide is crazy long, and ain't nobody got time for that. Please tl;dr this nonsense?"

Okay, okay, I hear you.

Some of you never wanted the Leafiara treatment where we seek to become real life monks with advanced spiritual and mental understanding by thoroughly exploring the unfathomable mysteries of reality and transcendent metareality (like math and logic).

Some of you instead wanted the Saraphenia treatment where I tell you how to have a functional build that lets you have mechanical fun in an online text-based multiplayer video game and then you embark on your journey.

So I included this section for you!

'''Race''':

Aelotoi, dark elves, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-krolvin, halflings, and sylvankind are all basically the same power for monks. Faster is better, but more encumbrance is worse, so find your balance. Giantmen have a niche.

'''Stats''':

See the table in the Placing Your Stats section.

'''Society''':

Voln.

'''How do I fight?''':

'''Weapon Twinhammer''' as your opener once you learn it.

'''Jab''' at decent position, '''punch''' at good position if you're not Grapple Specialization and '''grapple''' at good position if you are, '''kick''' at excellent position. Regardless of those general rules, '''follow prompts''' and do what it tells you when it tells you.

Against single targets, '''Weapon Fury''' until whenever you have enough Agidex for a 5-6 second '''mstrike kick'''.

Against multiple targets, '''mstrike grapple''' if you're Grapple Specialization or '''mstrike kick''' if you're Kick Specialization. In either case, not until they're 7 seconds or less. If mstrike grapple is 7 seconds or less, but you're Kick Specialization and mstrike kick is 8 seconds or more, '''mstrike punch''' for now until mstrike kick doesn't take so long.

'''Core skills to train every level''':

2x '''Brawling''', 2x '''Physical Fitness''' (eventually 3x), 2x '''Dodging''' (eventually 3x), 1x '''Perception'''.

'''Skills with breakpoints''':

1 rank of '''Two Weapon Combat'''.

'''Combat Maneuvers''' in bursts for various breakpoints to pick up specific maneuvers. (For which ones and when, see the "combat maneuvers and feats" section below.)

'''Multi-Opponent Combat''' in bursts to 5, 10, 24, 30, 35, 50, 55, 60, 90, and 100 ranks.

10 '''Harness Power''' early, 20-30 mid-game, then push near cap if you want QoL for spelling up.

'''Minor Mental''' to 16 so you have both focus spells (1213 and 1216) as options, then slack off with spells until the midgame. Grab 1220 if you feel the DS need, especially if using 1213 instead of 1216.

'''Telepathy''' lore in bursts to 6, 15, and 30.

'''Transformation lore''' in bursts to 5, 15, and 30.

10 '''Climbing and Swimming''' until the midgame or as needs arise.

'''Tertiary skills''':

'''Spiritual/Mental Mana Control''' only if sharing mana with friends and alts.

'''First Aid and Survival''' only if you want skinning.

20 '''Trading''' by level 20 because monks make silver via Glamour (1205) and Shroud of Deception (1212). Get to 40 or the nearest multiple of 12 Trading+Influence bonus over time.

'''Midgame skills''':

'''Minor Spiritual''' to 2, 3, or 7 ranks, but only after 3x Dodging.

'''Combat maneuvers and feats''':

'''Dragonscale Skin''' for your level 30 feat.

Step 1 of Combat Maneuvers, making the super early game not painful:

Get 3 CM ranks ASAP for your first rank of '''Rolling Krynch Stance''', then another 6 CM ranks (so 9 total) for your second rank ASAP.

Step 2 of Combat Maneuvers, improving the early game:

In whatever order, pick up the last rank of Krynch and first three ranks of '''Grapple Specialization''' or '''Kick Specialization'''. Grapple if you want to hunt Ascension areas one day, Kick if not. If you choose Kick, it's not necessarily an early game priority since you don't get Spin Kick until level 35-36 (for level 35, spend your first Ascension Milestone point on Brawling), so you could move to step 3 after finishing Krynch and grab Kick Specialization later.

Step 3 of Combat Maneuvers, fleshing out skills and diversifying your abilities through the midgame:

In whatever order, pick up three or more ranks of '''Bearhug''', two or more ranks of '''Bull Rush''', all three ranks of '''Evade Specialization''', three or more ranks of '''Feint''', and the remaining ranks of Grapple or Kick Specialization. If you went Kick Specialization, add '''Combat Mobility''' to the list sooner than later. If you picked a halfling or gnome, add Acrobat's Leap, but otherwise don't.

Step 4 of Combat Maneuvers, putting the last pieces in place:

Pick up Combat Mobility (if you didn't already have it) and all three ranks of '''Ki Focus'''.

Step 5 of Combat Maneuvers, player's choice:

Whatever you want. Finish Bearhug, Bull Rush, and Feint or don't, depending how you like them. You can veer off in different directions with more niche maneuver options or not. Up to you!

'''Armor upgrade path when ready''':

Buy TD-boosting armor of +7 or more from a playershop. It'll cost 1-5 million silver and serve you fantastically. Add services of Enchant, Sanctify, and Ensorcell over time in roughly that order while adding padding via the WPS wagons. (Enchant and Sanctify can switch places easily enough, but Ensorcell is definitely last.)

'''Weapon upgrade path when ready''':

* Spending almost nothing (~1 million silver): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear.
* Spending moderately (~35k pay event currency (equivalent of 35 million silver)): Buy off-the-shelf Animalistic Spirit from Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.
* Spending heavily (~80k pay event currency): Buy basic lightning flaring handwear and footwear. Add Greater Elemental Flares at Duskruin.
* Spending a ton (~150k pay event currency): Buy Phytomorphic handwear from Duskruin. Add Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate. For footwear, same steps except skip the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks.
* Spending a super ton (~265k pay event currency): Same as spending a ton, except either A) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your handwear, B) also add Skullcrusher Flares to your footwear (Kick Specialization monks), or C) get the Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks for your footwear.
* Spending an ultra ton (~365k pay event currency): Same as spending a super ton, except do two of A, B, and C.
* Spending a megaton (~465k pay event currency): Same as spending an ultra ton, except do all of A, B, and C.

And if you're the top 0.5% ready to drop almost $7000 worth of pay event currency, then--well, realistically, you're probably not reading this guide. ''But just in case'', for fun, and to entertain the other 99.5%...

* Whaling out beyond most people's imagination just because you can (~4.24 million pay event currency): Buy greater [[somnis]] handwear and footwear at Duskruin. Add the Phytomorphic script at Duskruin. Add a slew of Phytomorphic upgrades and unlocks at Duskruin. Add bane lightning flares at Duskruin. Add Flare Affinity at Duskruin. Add the second active Flourish unlock at Duskruin. Add Lore Flares at Duskruin. Add lightning flares at Rumor Woods or Ebon Gate.

(Why lightning flares? Because the flares whales would normally buy when money is no object, mind wrack and death, are disallowed on UC gear. They've never said why to my knowledge, but I think I can infer why from the fact that they sold a [[xazkruvrixis]] (death flaring metal) cestus exactly once before swiftly banning the creation of more UC gear with death flares. Said item has become sort of a legend in the community since it's still around. I'm guessing they learned the hard way that top end flares are so astonishingly powerful with UC's low RT attacks that they considered it too great a balance-destroying outlier and had to cut it off. The good news is that the next best option, Flare Affinity-backed lightning flares, only cost 407.5k pay event currency per item instead of the 500k or two million that mind wrack and death flares would have!)

'''Other upgrades when ready''':

Buy a Battle Standard of third tier or higher to capitalize on flares going great with UC. Get it to the fifth tier eventually to max its flare rate, but the sixth tier is a more optional emergency ability. If you can't afford a Battle Standard, get silver for it over time via Glamour, Shroud of Deception, and selling your Mystic Tattoo service to others instead of tattooing your own monk. Get at least the Poisoncraft part of Covert Arts eventually.

'''Conclusion''':

Monks are easy! Go have fun!
</div></div>

==Denouement: An Unexpected Journey==

First, thank you for reading The Autumnwinds' Magical Monk Guide.

Whether you read only the parts of it you were interested in, read every single word, or anything in between, I'm thankful for every reader.

Sometimes I write a "guide" partially or even almost entirely for myself. For example, with [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Ascension_Considerations|Ascension Considerations]], I was going to do the math on efficient progression anyway, so I figured I'd take the extra time to turn what could have been private spreadsheets into wiki tables. [[Leafiara_(prime)/Mechanical_Musings/Pre-Ascension_Stopping_Points|Pre-Ascension Stopping Points]] (which I just noticed is really outdated) originally ''was'' a private document, but I turned it into a wiki page because sometimes people ask me if they can see my characters' skills when they want a template of where to take their post-cap training.

This one was for you guys, though. I hope it's been helpful, I hope it's gotten you thinking, and, maybe most of all, I hope you find monks more exciting or intriguing than you used to.

That said, if you were here only for mechanical informational purposes, I'm pretty much done with those. There's one more at the very end for people with multiple character slots (not multiple accounts, but ''character slots''), but otherwise, you can head out! I wish you a good day or good night and hopefully I'll see you around the lands.

Thank you again.

<div class="mw-customtoggle-denouement" style="overflow:auto;color:#0000FF">Curious on the backstory of why this guide exists and why now? Click here and we'll close out.</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" id="mw-customcollapsible-denouement">

For the rest of you, if you'll indulge my rambling a bit longer...

The Magical Monk Guide existing is an emergent happy accident.

The [[Raise Your Stout Krew]] (RYSK) [[Meeting Hall Organization|MHO]] features a division for each profession, including a lead player and character who organize related events and help people with related questions. [[Saraphenia (prime)/Memorial|Saraphenia]] and her player were the monk division lead--and they sometimes said they wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest.

I thought, but didn't have the heart to say, that that was impossible. GemStone has been going for over three decades and monks have only been part of it for twelve years--more like ten years when RYSK started--so they don't have the history, nostalgia, momentum, or player population of other professions.

To be honest, even if I had said it was impossible, that wouldn't have stopped Phenia. Even as I type this, I can picture how I'd try to temper her expectations and she'd come back with "Well, I'm going to try anyway!" Phenia aimed high, never mind the odds.

When her player passed away, RYSK lost its monk division lead, but more importantly, we all lost a dear friend--at least her digital presence, and at least for now. During the grief spiral, I planned various things in Phenia's name and among them was making a new character, a sort of soul-daughter for Leafi and Phenia.

I made Sariara (name credit to Tairngaire) late on May 24th. As I leveled her, I did everything I talked about in the Trade Secrets section to capitalize on Glamour and Shroud of Deception, then shared my method in the RYSK Discord server on May 30th as a "Monk tip!"--plus a "Bonus tip!" about pre-level-20 fast skill migration for First Aid, Survival, and Trading. You can see how that impromptu post shaped this guide!

By coincidence, I'd also been answering a few people's questions in the main GS Discord server's monk channel that May into early June, like which out of Grapple/Kick/Punch Specialization to take, whether Grapple Specialization Fury worked with katars, and which races made good monks. So when Julenne asked me on June 17th to take over Phenia's spot as the monk division lead, I agreed. I don't think I ''could'' have declined. Over that string of seven weeks, I was basically doing what she needed already.

That morning, I decided I should write a new guide to replace Flimbo's old one.

I don't know what I expected would come out of it, but it wasn't this. With a motive like honoring my departed friend, I ''knew'' I'd put my all into it--but I didn't expect to write this much or this in-depth, I didn't expect to cover the topics I did, and, most of all, I didn't expect that I'd be learning myself, not just passing along what I knew beforehand.

I'd never thought about a non-Kroderine Soul monk without Mental Acuity. I'd barely thought about a weapon-wielding monk, even putting Mental Acuity aside. I'd barely thought about synergy between monks and other professions. I'd never investigated how one rank of Sanctify interacted with Kai's Strike. I'd never investigated how or if Stance of the Mongoose worked with unarmed combat. I'd never even investigated how or if Clash worked with a specified UC attack type.

But Saraphenia aimed high with her talent at community outreach, so I had to aim high with my talent at testing and explaining obscure mechanical interactions. Deep diving into the monk ocean sometimes turned up junk, but other times Atlantean treasures. I learned and now I hope you've learned too.

When Phenia said she wanted the monk division to be RYSK's strongest, I assumed she was talking about numbers. Maybe she was; I don't know either way. I ''do'' know that we want you monk players to be ''your'' strongest, as individuals. Not necessarily the most efficient, not necessarily the most min-maxed, but the most subjectively enjoyable version of your monk. Know your options, find the best one for you, and you'll be your strongest. Any part I might have played in helping you get there is an honor.

Now, for fun and because I can, here's one last obscure mechanical interaction for the road.

<blockquote>
'''Bonus tip!'''

I have a couple character slots where, even though I don't play them, I briefly log them in and out every day for [[Login_Rewards|daily login rewards]]. That way, if I ever decided to start them up, they'd have a giant stockpile of benefits for a head start. Premium slots are especially useful for these purposes since, at no additional price over the base cost, you get more character slots than there are even professions. (Prime subscriptions can still get character slots at $2.50 per month each.)

What's probably less known is that when you [[Verb:RETIRE|reroll]] a character, the new character retains all the old one's login rewards! So I leveled Sariara very quickly early on, jumping past 1.2 million experience in just a month, because she was backed by seven years of rewards in the form of 1034 bounty boosts, 341 instant mind clearers, and 1004 long-term experience boosts (the previous character ''had'' gone beyond level 20 at some point), among other things like more than a thousand bounty task waivers to avoid escorts after she reached level 20. She also had 515 doubled experience boosts, which she didn't even begin using until level 60 when, due to natural stat growth and Perfect Self, she became just 1 exp per pulse shy of her capped exp gains.

Do with the knowledge what you will, premium subscribers! Log in some extra characters or, if you already have been, get a new one going.
</blockquote>

Farewell, have fun, and be good to one another!
</div></div>

[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Monk]]
[[Category:Professional Guides]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Order of Operations: Servicing Gear

2026-02-20T21:25:40Z

LEAFIARA:

{{player-guide
|title = Order of Operations: Servicing Gear
|topic = Gear, Profession Services
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2023-07-05
|updated = 2026-02-20
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 20, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Disclaimer / Recommended Reading==

This wiki page assumes familiarity with item properties and the profession services being described. If these topics are mysterious to you, please read the following first:

'''More on item properties''':

* [[Item_properties|Item properties page]] - "Just the facts" of what item properties are.
* [[Silverwood_Manor_Events_-_2023-01-29_-_Nothing_to_Fear_but_Gear_Itself_(log)|Nothing to Fear but Gear Itself]] - A more colloquial discussion where Jervil and Leafiara host an event to discuss gear properties at Silverwood Manor.

'''More on profession services''':

* [[Enchant_(925)|Enchant page]] - The basics of enchanting.
* [[Ensorcell_(735)|Ensorcell page]] - The basics of ensorcelling.
* [[Sanctify_(330)|Sanctify page]] - The basics of sanctifying.
* [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|WPS page]] - The basics of weighting, padding, and sighting ("WPS").
* [[Silverwood_Manor_Events_-_2023-03-11_-_At_Your_Service_with_a_Smile_(log)|At Your Service with a Smile]] - A more colloquial discussion where Leafiara hosts an event to discuss profession services at Silverwood Manor.

==The Short Version==

===What do I do and when?===

* '''Enchant''' from +0 to +25: Whenever.
* '''Enchant''' from +25 to +35: Whenever. Skippable on a budget.
* '''Enchant''' beyond +35: After ensorcelling and sanctification. Before flares and scripts when possible. Skippable on a budget.

* '''Ensorcell''' tier 1 on a physical weapon: Ideally after sanctification. Before flares and scripts when possible.
* '''Ensorcell''' on anything else or past tier 1 on a physical weapon: Before flares and scripts when possible. Skippable on a budget.

* '''Sanctify''' on physical weapons: Whenever. Skippable on a budget.
* '''Sanctify''' on anything else: Whenever. Skippable on a budget, either entirely or after sufficient tiers to avoid sheer fear.

* '''WPS''' from 0 to 5 CER: Whenever.
* '''WPS''' from 5 to 8 CER: Whenever. Skippable on a budget.
* '''WPS''' from 8 to 10 CER: Ideally after enchanting, ensorcelling, and sanctification, but whenever is also fine. Skippable on a budget.
* '''WPS''' beyond 10 CER: After enchanting, ensorcelling, and sanctification. Skippable on a budget.

This final bullet point section generally presumes that all desired player services are already done.

* '''Creature bane''': 400k bloodscrip to add. Add near last when possible due to expense. (Creature bane is very scarce and unlikely to have as an item's starting point. However, sometimes boxfound bane items do get sold on the player market.)
* '''Flares''': 7.5k to 90k event currency to add, so typically right after player services. If you're willing to pay a minimum 15k event currency, then [[Flare Gloves]] are potentially a better option since those add flares in a roundabout way that adds no gear difficulty. If your end goal is a basic elemental flare, which might only cost 7.5k depending on the base item you're adding flares to, it's possible to have flares before player services and still negate the gear difficulty increase by paying fairly negligible silver costs for [[alchemy]]-produced (player-produced) [[Enchanting_potion#Pre-tempering_Potions|potions]] available in playershops.
* '''Material properties''': 50k to 450k event currency to add if not started with, so either first or pretty late in a project depending on which material. Skippable on a budget.
* '''Perfect forging''': 1.5m bloodscrip to add when it's even available at all (which is very rarely), so either before player services, one of the last things added, or never. Skippable on a budget, but depends on how much budget and which scripts, if any, are desired for the end item.
* '''Scripts''': 50k bloodscrip to add. Starting with it before player services is an option that many players take, especially if they're not interested in perfect forging, but scripts can also be added at any time after player services to save on gear difficulty.
* '''Combat flourishes''': 100k to 400k bloodscrip to add (of the ones currently available). Add near last when possible due to expenses and/or gear difficulty.

'''If this is all too abstract and you need examples,''' see the Examples section at the end, which goes over how to approach hypothetical scenarios depending on what you intend for the final form of your item and how much money (whether silvers or real-world) you're willing to spend.

===What else could I spend silvers on instead?===

The following services don't go onto gear, so they can largely be considered benefits in a vacuum and purchased at any time.

* [[Battle Standard (1620)|Battle Standards]] offer rescuing to town, passively firing flares, conventional flares, reactive defense boosts upon getting hit, and powered up modes with cooldowns for the flares and defensive boosts.
* [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]] offers increases to max health, mana, and stamina, increases to regeneration of those three resources, activated near-instant regeneration of those three resources with a cooldown, temporary wound removal, and extra damage (only damage) on attacks that eventually creates a flare.
* [[Covert Arts]] offer a cornucopia of scattered benefits like flares, maneuver defense, passively finding lost children for bounties, protection against Rooted and Staggered, search RT reduction, and more.
* [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]] offer chances for better combat rolls of every offensive and defensive variety.
* [[Mystic Tattoo]]s offer enhancive stat boosts.
* [[Resist Nature (620)|Ranger Resistance Trinkets]] offer defense and chances against immunity against various elements.

(Caveat on Mystic Tattoos: When getting a tattoo for [[Strength]], ''if'' AS is your primary or only concern, then enchanting your weapon to at least +30 first will usually be the more cost-effective option. That said, [[Dexterity]] tattoos are a strong alternative for melee characters as a stat that pulls double duty of increasing weighting and potentially decreasing RT. When getting a tattoo for a casting stat like [[Wisdom]] or [[Aura]], on the other hand, the tattoo is a more universal option than sanctifying a runestaff (since the latter is only for undead) and a more cost-effective option--at least for the first few years of recharges--than ensorcelling a runestaff (since the latter is only a flare chance instead of increased CS for every spell).)

===Why is any of the above true?===

For that you'll need the long version, which is the rest of this page!

==Before You Begin==

===What's your long-term vision?===

The Enchant, Ensorcell, and Sanctify sections below primarily cover the topic of sequencing those services based on possible skill ranges for different professions. Before any of that, though, several questions need to be asked:

* What will your project look like when you've finished everything?
* How much in-game currency are you willing to spend on your project?
* How much real-world currency are you willing to spend on your project?
* How much real-world time are you willing to spend on your project?

These answers vary wildly by individual, but the one safe assumption is that nobody has infinite time or infinite money. Therefore, the only common wisdom says to add flares and scripted abilities to your gear as late as possible. However, depending on your answers to the questions, "as late as possible" might mean starting off with a scripted ability! It will only rarely mean starting off with a flare, however, unless you have no interest in scripted abilities.

Now to elaborate on why that's the common wisdom!

===What can low-end clerics, sorcerers, and wizards work on?===

The most straightforward method to keep your sanctifying, ensorcelling, and enchanting costs as low as possible is to keep the gear difficulty as low as possible. (Less straightforward methods include leveling several characters of different professions on a premium account, running multiple accounts, networking to find people willing to give deep discounts, and so on.)

Let's put some numbers to this.

* A typical level 25 wizard who just learned Enchant is likely to have in the realm of 199 to 219 skill, allowing them to work on items of roughly 95 to 115 difficulty.
* A typical level 30 cleric who just learned Sanctify is likely to have in the realm of 166 to 186 skill, allowing them to work on items of 46 to 66 difficulty.
* A typical level 35 sorcerer who just learned Ensorcell is likely to have at least in the realm of 178 to 198 skill, allowing them to work on items of 28 to 48 difficulty. (Add 10 to these numbers if they're a dark elf.)

The above assumes that the characters' associated stats for their services are at 10-20 bonus each and they're training profession spell circles once per level, Magic Item Use and Arcane Symbols once per level, mana controls twice per level for wizards and clerics, each of a sorcerer's types of mana control once per level.

Of these three professions, sorcerers are the ones most likely to be outside these assumptions and could certainly have 20-25 more skill bonus, as they're the least incentivized of the three to train [[Spell Aiming]] or to use a relatively even spell split in the early levels to round out their combat toolkits.

===How much do flares and scripts get in the way?===

Nearly all flares add (at minimum) 100 difficulty to an item. To put that in perspective, I wouldn't expect a level 50 wizard to have gained more than 115 or so skill over the fresh level 25 wizard unless the player is specifically aiming to push enchanting ability.

(Conversely, clerics and sorcerers ''are'' incentivized to heavily push their profession circles eventually, so they'll likely make more progress in 25 levels than a wizard would, but they'll also have come from a worse starting point due to wizards' hefty workshop bonus. These are all just fine details for those who care, though. The point is that...)

In other words, the moment you add flares to an item, you've guaranteed that the lowest end clerics and sorcerers can't work on that item--at least, not without a tempering potion, but even those only apply to basic acid, cold (ice), heat (fire), impact (earth), lightning, steam, and vacuum (void) flares.

Meanwhile, scripted abilities typically add in the range of 50 to 200 difficulty. Most of the popular ones trend toward that 200 mark, though there are some exceptions: greater elemental flares and knockout flares "only" add 150 while multi-tiered scripts like Sigil Staves or Twin Weapons have lower difficulties at lower tiers. In the latter case, the least expensive route is delaying ''upgrading'' the tiers of the script until after profession services are mostly or entirely finished.

Aside from those exceptions, a variety of popular scripts like Animalistic Spirit, Daybringer/Nightbringer, Energy Weapons/Shields, Parasite Armor/Weapons, and Sprite Armor/Weapons all have 200 difficulty immediately and will require mid-level clerics, sorcerers, and wizards at minimum.

Still, this is where the question comes in of what you intend your project gear to look like at the end. Buying scripted gear off the shelf and needing to pay mid-level-and-up prices to mid-level-and-up characters right away is but a fraction of the cost that it would take to pay low-level prices to low-level characters and then add a script later.

(One possible exception would be if greater elemental flaring weapons were sold off the shelves in the future. Those aren't offered as I write this, but since adding that script is only 40,000 bloodscrip, it's at least ''conceivable'' that you'd be able to save more than 30 million silver (the exchange rate at time of writing) by finishing all services first.)

===Conclusion===

That covers the groundwork of why many players delay adding flares and scripted abilities when they can. I could go into further details and examples like perfect forging, material properties, banes, and more, but I'll reserve that for later updates to the guide in the Examples section.

For now, on to the main event of enchanting, ensorcelling, and sanctifying!

==Enchant==

===How much enchanting is enough?===

Here are some different schools of thought:

* +20 is enough because, except for post-cap areas intended to be the most difficult hunting in the game, all other content is designed with the expectation that +20 is viable.
* +25 is enough because enchanting even from +0 to +25 consumes less than two weeks of a [[wizard]]'s weekly resource points, but enchanting from +25 to +30 consumes three weeks, consuming from +30 to +35 consumes 6.75 weeks, and it only gets more intense from there.
* +35 is enough because it's the maximum an item can be enchanted by players without acquiring potions from pay events, raffles, or other means not ubiquitously available.
* +40 is enough because that's the minimum necessary enchantment for a weapon to hit certain demon creatures without going through several layers of dispelling.
* +50 is enough because it's the maximum an item can be enchanted in commonly occurring circumstances and/or because, even when enchanting higher is offered, it's prohibitively expensive. (As I write this, enchanting up to +75 has been offered exactly once at a cost of 275,000 bloodscrip per +5 over +50.)
* +75 is enough because it's the maximum possible.
* Enchanting is irrelevant because you can make up a deficit from a low enchant with heavy investment in the enhancive and Ascension systems or simply using other tools available like maneuvers (offensively) or scripted abilities (defensively).

(The latter would typically only be argued in the case of, say, an auction item that has a lower base enchant but is attractive due to extraordinary properties that come with the downside of adding high gear difficulty to make further enchantment less feasible.)

===Are there any additional considerations based on build?===

Excellent value for Enchant:
* Bows and crossbows used by any profession and build because archery has fewer alternative ways to increase AS than other physical weapons.

Poor value for Enchant:
* Armor and runestaves used by builds that spend a lot of time in guarded or defensive stance since they're likely to be untouchable by AS attacks regardless.
* Unarmed combat gear used by any profession or build due to UAF mattering only fractionally as much to unarmed combat as AS does to physical weapons.

Roughly average value for Enchant:
* Everything else. See previous section for why.

===When should I enchant?===

According to [[Enchant_(925)#Difficulty_Penalty_Modifier_Formula|the enchanting formula]], some enchanting benchmarks are:

* +20 is 36 gear difficulty
* +25 is 58 gear difficulty
* +30 is 87 gear difficulty
* +35 is 121 gear difficulty
* +40 is 160 gear difficulty
* +50 is 256 gear difficulty

To put this in perspective, each tier of Ensorcell adds 50 gear difficulty, the first five tiers of Sanctify add 20 gear difficulty each, and holy fire adds 50 gear difficulty. Most gear you'll work on will already be +20 as a baseline, so the case could be made that moving to +25 is only another 22 difficulty, moving to +30 is only another 51 difficulty (over +20), and so on. Viewed in that light, Enchant is among the least gear difficulty-intensive of services.

In other words...

'''Adding to an item's enchantment at any step in the process of gear improvement is less likely to get in the way of ensorcelling and sanctifying it later than vice versa.'''

''However'' (and it's a very big however!), this is speaking very generically and assumes that the final result of your intent for the item could be reasonably handled by sufficiently skilled player [[cleric]]s, [[sorcerer]]s, and wizards without requiring suffusion, super potions from [[Bloodriven Village]], or fixskills and mutant builds.

For example, it's viable to enchant an [[Animalistic Spirit Weapon]] to +35, add flares to it, and still expect that a player cleric can add all five tiers of sanctification to it. However, if you additionally wanted to add holy fire and the first tier of Ensorcell, then either the flares shouldn't have been added until after those services were finished, the weapon should have been left at +20, or both.

'''As safe as it can feel--and, in many cases, ''be''!--to add enchanting early in the process, it's paradoxically even safer to add enchanting late in the process.'''

There are several reasons why enchanting late or even last is viable:

* Clerics need 120 more skill than an item's difficulty to safely sanctify it (or 150 more skill in the case of holy fire) and sorcerers need 150 more skill than difficulty to safely ensorcell, but wizards only need 100-111 more skill than difficulty due to the more multi-step mechanics of enchanting. In other words, all else being equal, wizards would be able to work on higher difficulty items than clerics and sorcerers.
* All else isn't equal in the first place! Wizards get 75 total bonus to their enchanting skill from having a familiar summoned and being in a workshop; clerics and sorcerers only get 20 bonus from being in, respectively, a shrine of their [[Arkati]]/spirit or a workshop. This is somewhat offset in that clerics and sorcerers tend to push their respective native spell circles higher than wizards do, but ignoring stat bonuses from race, high end post-cap wizards will have higher bonus than their cleric and sorcerer counterparts. (More on that with sorcerers, however, as they're typically dark elves...)
* As for uncommon mutant builds, I don't have hard numbers, but they do seem to be more common--or at least more well-advertised--than mutant clerics and sorcerers. At absolute least, there are certainly more wizards in general than clerics or sorcerers. Furthermore, because clerics and sorcerers train more ranks of their spell circles than wizards, that means wizards have more room to grow when they ''do'' go mutant.
* Wizards' suffusion is five times as efficient as clerics' or sorcerers' suffusion, converting a week of resources into up to 125 skill instead of 25 skill. This means that as long as your item doesn't need more than five times as many casts of Enchant as it does casts of Sanctify or Ensorcell, it would be easier to push extra requirements onto the wizard than onto the cleric or sorcerer. (And that's even disregarding the likelihood that the wizard has higher skill in the first place!)

And, of course, if all else fails...

* The Duskruin pay event offers a path, albeit expensive, to enchant items with no consideration of gear difficulty at a rate of 150,000 bloodscrip per +5. The same isn't true of ensorcelling or sanctification.
* The Duskruin pay event also offers potions for 50,000 bloodscrip that grant +500 to a wizard's skill for their next CHANNEL of Enchant. These potions notably have five pours each (to make them suitable for, say, going from +45 to +50), unlike the cleric and sorcerer counterparts that have one pour each for the same price.

===How high does wizard skill get?===

* 645 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a [[race]] with a neutral 25 [[Logic]] bonus and 25 [[Intuition]] bonus using a fairly typical post-cap build with 128 ranks of Wizard Base and all other relevant enchanting skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 655 is the same as the above, but with the use of BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS from daily logins.
* 720 is the same as the above, but now also wearing an incredible enhancive set to finish maxing out Logic and Intuition in addition to maxing out Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, and Elemental Mana Control. (Finding someone with such an enhancive set is very unlikely!)
* 770 is the same as the above, but now also with a maxed-out Consummate Professional Gemstone equipped.

* 820 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a race with a neutral 25 Logic bonus and 25 Intuition bonus using a mutant build with 303 ranks of Wizard Base and all other relevant enchanting skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 830 is the same as the above, but with BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS.
* 895 is the same as the above, but now with the full set of enhancives.
* 945 is the same as the above, but now with a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

* 995 is the same as the above, but now with the extremely expensive +50 spell rank enhancives from the High End Scrip Shop.
* 1070 is the same as the above, but now with the extremely time-consuming 1135 Ascension Training Points to nearly max out every skill. (Magic Item Use and Arcane Symbols can stop two ranks short of maxing while Elemental Mana Control can stop one rank short.)

* Add 15 to any of the above numbers if the character is a [[burghal gnome]] or [[halfling]], the races statistically best at enchanting. [[Aelotoi]] and [[human]]s also get +10 while [[dark elf|dark elves]], [[dwarf|dwarves]], [[erithian]]s, and [[forest gnome]]s get +5.

In summary, 1105 is as high as theoretically possible, but a range of 645 to 700 is what you could more likely expect from ordinary post-cap wizard builds while 820 to 875 is what you could more likely expect from post-cap mutant wizard builds.

(The upper ends of these ranges assume some degree of Ascension or enhancives, but not maxed out sets. They assume no Consummate Professional Gemstones, which are still rarely seen at the time of this update. However, over the long term, the upper ends of these ranges are likely to increase as more Consummate Professional Gemstones are eventually looted.)

===So how tough an item can I realistically get enchanted?===

* 544 difficulty: a conventional far post-cap wizard with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~594 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~644 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~694 difficulty: all three of the above.

* 719 difficulty: a far post-cap mutant wizard with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~769 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~819 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~869 difficulty: all three of the above.

Add +125 to difficulty numbers if you're willing to pay for an extra week of suffusion, +250 if you're willing to pay for two extra weeks of suffusion, and so on.

In short, try not to push too far beyond these difficulty amounts if you'll still need a slew of enchanting afterward. These numbers are more forgiving than the ones for Ensorcell and Sanctify, though!

==Ensorcell==

===How much ensorcelling is enough?===

Some schools of thought for '''physical weapons''':

* T1 is enough because it only adds 20% of the gear difficulty of T5, but still allows 60% as much stamina/health regeneration (on average) and 100% as much use of [[Spell Cleave]], [[Spell Parry]], and [[Spell Thieve]].
* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or because the AS boost scales proportionately with each tier (unlike frontloaded regen) and/or because [[Tainted Bond]] uses the AS boost.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more and/or because stamina regeneration is an unlikely chance for a flare (which itself is only a chance) compared to AS.

Some schools of thought for '''shields''':

* T1 is enough because it only adds 20% of the gear difficulty of a T5, but still allows full use of [[Shield Mind]] and [[Spell Block]].
* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or all protection against CS spells is good because they're among the game's most deadly attacks.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more.

Some schools of thought for '''armor''':

* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or the CvA boost scales proportionately with each tier and/or all protection against CS spells is good because they're among the game's most deadly attacks.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more.

Some schools of thought for '''runestaves''':

* T1 is enough because it only adds 20% of the gear difficulty of a T5, but still allows 60% as much mana regeneration (on average).
* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or the CS boost scales proportionately with each tier (unlike frontloaded regen) and/or the CvA boost scales proportionately with each tier and/or improving your CS spells and protecting against enemies' CS spells are good benefits since they're among the game's most deadly attacks.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more.

(Note: I've only ever heard one person make the T1 argument for runestaves--and it was in response to me initially posting this page while mentioning that I left it out specifically because I'd never heard anyone make it before then!)

===Are there any additional considerations based on build?===

Excellent value for Ensorcell:
* T5 for armor used by professions and builds that either A) have just short of high enough TD to be immune to most spells with a little bump or B) have very low TD, but are in heavy armor and/or using Kroderine Soul so that every additional point of TD improvement matters comparatively more.
* T1 (at least) for katanas and katars used by squares or semis due to weapon technique rotation incentivizing even heavier stamina usage than for other physical weapons.
* T1 (at least) for unarmed combat gear on any profession and build due to high attack volume.

Good value for Ensorcell:
* T1 (at least) for low RT weapons used by any profession and build due to above average attack volume.

Poor value for Ensorcell:
* Any tier for bows and crossbows used by any profession and build because archery consumes significantly less stamina than other physical weapon.

Roughly average value for Ensorcell:
* Everything else. See previous section for why.

===When should I ensorcell?===

'''Since every tier of Ensorcell adds 50 gear difficulty, it hinders clerics and wizards more than their services hinder sorcerers.''' (Additionally, ensorcelling an item before sanctifying it will require the use of an [[inky black potion]] for each cast of sanctification. That point's far more minor, though, as playershops sell inky black potions at very low costs.)

The first tier of Ensorcell is sometimes done early, especially for physical weapons that reap immediate and noticeable benefits, but pushing items further is typically reserved for later in the gear improvement process due to the high gear difficulty this service adds.

Finishing all five tiers of Ensorcell before finishing Enchant and Sanctify will very likely require more skilled clerics and wizards charging more silver than doing it the other way around. This isn't to say that doing Ensorcell last will be easy either, though, since sorcerers need 150 more skill bonus than an item's gear difficulty to work on it without failing (barring fumble) and suffusion doesn't give them the same degree of leeway that it does wizards.

'''Plan carefully to determine ''how'' far you can prolong Ensorcell on your project piece without rendering it impossible nor prohibitively expensive.'''

===How high does sorcerer skill get?===

Unlike with wizards, I'll assume as a base that the sorcerer is a dark elf rather than a race with neutral stat bonuses. Statistically, players have made this true due in some part to a combination of [[Faendryl]] lore and the calculations for sorcerer [[CS]] using [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]], which dark elves have the best bonuses in. As for ensorcelling, that uses Wisdom and Intuition, which leaves dark elves and halflings tied for the best.

* 642 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a dark elf (or halfling) using a fairly typical post-cap build with 170 ranks of Sorcerer Base and all other relevant ensorcelling skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 652 is the same as the above, but with the use of BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS from daily logins.
* 730 is the same as the above, but now also wearing an incredible enhancive set to finish maxing out Intuition and Wisdom in addition to maxing out Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, Elemental Mana Control, and Spiritual Mana Control. (Finding someone with such an enhancive set is very unlikely!)
* 780 is the same as the above, but now also with a maxed-out Consummate Professional Gemstone equipped.

* 775 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a dark elf (or halfling) using a mutant build with 303 ranks of Sorcerer Base and all other relevant ensorcelling skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 785 is the same as the above, but with BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS.
* 863 is the same as the above, but now with the full set of enhancives.
* 913 is the same as the above, but now with a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

* 963 is the same as the above, but now with the extremely expensive +50 spell rank enhancives from the High End Scrip Shop.
* 1050 is the same as the above, but now also the astonishingly time-consuming 1400 Ascension Training Points to nearly max out every skill. (Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, and ''one'' out of Elemental or Spiritual Mana Control can stop two ranks short of maxing.)

In summary, 1050 is as high as theoretically possible, but a range of 642 to 710 is what you could more likely expect from ordinary post-cap sorcerer builds while 775 to 843 is what you could more likely expect from post-cap mutant sorcerer builds.

(The upper ends of these ranges assume some degree of Ascension or enhancives, but not maxed out sets. They assume no Consummate Professional Gemstones, which are still rarely seen at the time of this update. However, over the long term, the upper ends of these ranges are likely to increase as more Consummate Professional Gemstones are eventually looted.

===So how tough an item can I realistically get ensorcelled?===

* 502 difficulty: a conventional far post-cap sorcerer with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~552 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~602 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~652 difficulty: all three of the above.

* 635 difficulty: a far post-cap mutant sorcerer with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~685 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~735 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~785 difficulty: all three of the above.

Add +25 to difficulty numbers if you're willing to pay for an extra week of suffusion, +50 if you're willing to pay for two extra weeks of suffusion, and so on.

Despite sorcerers nominally having similar skill bonus numbers to wizards, they top off working on lower difficulty items because of how the formulas work! If your item would end up beyond these difficulty numbers before your intended final tier of ensorcellment, that might be a signal to reserve enchanting for last instead. Alternatively, ensorcelling being so high difficulty is why others will leave it for the last of the profession services and simply stop just before they'd need suffusion or super potions.

==Sanctify==

===How much sanctification is enough?===

Some schools of thought for '''physical weapons''':

* S5 is enough because it maxes out the AS benefit and/or because of the QoL of never running out of blessings again.
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares.
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire), anchoring noncorporeal undead, and ignoring undead damage resistance.

Some schools of thought for '''shields''':

* Sufficient sanctification for immunity to sheer fear in your chosen hunting ground is enough.
* S5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or CS attacks are among the game's most deadly attacks, so all protection against them is good.
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares.
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire) and ignoring undead damage resistance.

Some schools of thought for '''armor''':

* Sufficient sanctification for immunity to sheer fear in your chosen hunting ground is enough.
* S5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or CS attacks are among the game's most deadly attacks, so all protection against them is good
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares when getting hit by undead or using offensive maneuvers involving the body against them. (Note: Greaves or helmets worn over armor will prevent holy fire flares from going off when attacking with or getting hit on the respective body parts.)
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire) and ignoring undead damage resistance.

Some schools of thought for '''runestaves''':

* Sufficient sanctification for immunity to sheer fear in your chosen hunting ground is enough. (For sorcerers and wizards, this will likely also require sanctification of your armor.)
* S5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or CS attacks are among the game's most deadly attacks, so improving your own and protecting against enemies' are good benefits.
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares.
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire), anchoring noncorporeal undead, and ignoring undead damage resistance.

===Are there any additional considerations based on build?===

Excellent value for Sanctify:
* S6 for any physical weapon used by bards or wizards due to Song of Tonis or Celerity, respectively.
* S6 for bows and crossbows used by squares or semis due to Volley.
* S6 for katanas and katars used by squares or semis due to weapon technique rotation indirectly increasing attack volume.
* S6 for unarmed combat gear used by any profession and build due to high attack volume.

Good value for Sanctify:
* S6 for low RT weapons used by any profession and build due to above average attack volume.

Poor value for Sanctify:
* S1-S5 for unarmed combat gear used by any profession and build due to UAF mattering only fractionally as much to unarmed combat as AS does to physical weapons.

Roughly average value for Sanctify:
* Everything else. See previous section for why.

===When should I sanctify?===

Assuming that somebody wants Sanctify in the first place instead of opting for blessings, they usually intend to push to the fifth tier or fully into holy fire, which are end results of 100 or 150 gear difficulty. This is less intense than the 250 gear difficulty added by a finished T5 Ensorcell or the 220 gear difficulty added by taking an item from +20 to +50, but more intense than the 85 gear difficulty added by taking an item from +20 to +35.

'''Clerics and wizards each add low enough difficulty that they're not likely to make an item impossible to work on for the other unless at least two other factors get involved out of flares, script flares, Ensorcell, difficult materials, banes, and substantial WPS.'''

However, if those factors ''do'' come into play, that's when it becomes relevant that wizards have more leeway with skill bonus than clerics do (for all the reasons described in the Enchant section--and below in this Sanctify section). The numbers are close enough that which to do first might be a matter of who you know, but if you don't know anyone in particular, the safer move is most likely sanctifying before enchanting. Holy fire is an exception that might be worth saving for last or near last, but I'll cover that at the end of this section.

===How high does cleric skill get?===

* 632 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a race with a neutral 25 Wisdom bonus and 25 Influence bonus using a fairly typical post-cap build with 170 ranks of Cleric Base and all other relevant sanctifying skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 642 is the same as the above, but with the use of BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS from daily logins.
* 707 is the same as the above, but now also wearing an incredible enhancive set to finish maxing out Wisdom and Influence in addition to maxing out Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, and Spiritual Mana Control. (Finding someone with such an enhancive set is very unlikely!)
* 757 is the same as the above, but now also with a maxed-out Consummate Professional Gemstone equipped.

* 765 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a race with a neutral 25 Wisdom bonus and 25 Influence bonus using a mutant build with 303 ranks of Cleric Base and all other relevant sanctifying skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 775 is the same as the above, but with BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS.
* 840 is the same as the above, but now with the full set of enhancives.
* 890 is the same as the above, but now with a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

* 940 is the same as the above, but now with +50 spell rank enhancives.
* 1015 is the same as the above, but now also the extremely time-consuming 1135 Ascension Training Points to nearly max out every skill. (Magic Item Use and Arcane Symbols can stop two ranks short of maxing while Spiritual Mana Control can stop one rank short.)

* Add 10 to any of the above numbers if the character is an [[elf]] or erithian, the races statistically best at sanctifying. [[Giantman|Giantmen]] and [[half-elf|half-elves]] also get +5.

In summary, 1025 is as high as theoretically possible, but a range of 642 to 697 is what you could more likely expect from ordinary post-cap cleric builds while 775 to 820 is what you could more likely expect from post-cap mutant cleric builds.

(The upper ends of these ranges assume some degree of Ascension or enhancives, but not maxed out sets. They assume no Consummate Professional Gemstones, which are still rarely seen at the time of this update. However, over the long term, the upper ends of these ranges are likely to increase as more Consummate Professional Gemstones are eventually looted.)

===So how tough an item can I realistically get sanctified?===

Two numbers are shown depending on whether the item will be stopping at S5 or going all the way to holy fire, respectively:

* 512/482 difficulty: a conventional far post-cap cleric with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~562/532 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~612/583 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~662/632 difficulty: all three of the above.

* 655/625 difficulty: a far post-cap mutant cleric with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~705/675 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~755/725 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~805/775 difficulty: all three of the above.

Add +25 to difficulty numbers if you're willing to pay for an extra week of suffusion, +50 if you're willing to pay for two extra weeks of suffusion, and so on. Add +50 if you're working on [[eonake]], [[white ora]], [[faewood]], [[Voln armor]], or [[white alloy]], which have bonuses for sanctification.

Cleric skill tops off lower than wizards--and, for that matter, starts lower than wizards--and that's one reason why sanctification, especially the first five tiers, are often done early in the process of gear improvement. That said, the training requirements for a cleric to add holy fire are such that low level holy fire casters are impossible and the opportunity cost even for higher level clerics means that it would be extremely rare to get a bargain price on an S6 at all. So, since holy fire is likely to be expensive regardless of whether you do it before finishing up enchanting and ensorcelling or after, consider saving it for later. Just make sure that the final form of your project item is within or close to within a cleric's range--ideally a conventional one. It can be particularly difficult to fit holy fire and a full T5 Ensorcell onto a single item.

==Examples: Putting Everything Into Practice==

This work in progress section looks at several possible starting points for items, then analyzes either how low level or how high level you'd need characters to be to get to the final product.

===Perfect Forged Mithril Weapon===

'''Why would someone start from this point?'''

It doesn't require pay event currency and mithril is an easy material for all professions to work on. It's a good place to start if the intended final product will use a fluff script like Anfelt or a mechanical script in the midrange, such as greater elemental flares or knockout flares. Alternatively, if budget isn't a consideration and the final product is meant to have perfect forging ''and'' a high end script, then perfect forging is by far the cheaper starting point. (1,500,000 bloodscrip to add perfect forging vs. 50,000 bloodscrip to add a high end script.)

'''How far can a fresh level 25 wizard enchant it if nothing else is done first?'''

Up to the +35 cast.

'''How far can a fresh level 30 cleric sanctify it if nothing else is done first?'''

Most can cast the third tier of Sanctify and some might be able to cast the fourth tier with the right stats and skills. The fifth tier is unlikely and holy fire is dozens of levels away at minimum.

'''How far can a fresh level 35 sorcerer ensorcell it if nothing else is done first?'''

One tier of Ensorcell at least, two tiers at most.

'''What would you do?'''

This is a case where I wouldn't concern myself at all with the order of Enchant and the main tiers of Sanctify. The -20 gear difficulty inherent to mithril is often equivalent to five or so levels' worth of skill bonus, allowing very low end clerics and wizards to work on your item. Holy fire generally isn't an expected offering from clerics below level 60 (if even that early), so there's a little flexibility to add a couple Ensorcell casts first and probably not drive up the price in the process.

In summary:

* Enchant to +35 (or preferred stopping point) and Sanctify to S5 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 201 total)
* Add holy fire (if desired) and Ensorcell as far as T2 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 251 or 301, respectively)
* Add holy fire and the remainder of Ensorcell in any order

===Perfect Forged Eonake Weapon===

'''Why would someone start from this point?'''

It doesn't require pay event currency, eonake is one of the easiest materials for clerics to work on (and the only one of them that starts at an enchant of +20 while not requiring pay event currency), and paladins can add Consecrate flares to eonake even before learning the Holy Weapon spell. It's a good place to start if the intended final product will definitely have holy fire--or even just the main tiers of Sanctify--while also using a fluff script like Anfelt or the midrange end of mechanical scripts, such as greater elemental flares or knockout flares. Alternatively, if budget isn't a consideration and the final product is meant to have perfect forging ''and'' a high end script, then perfect forging must be the starting point.

'''How far can a fresh level 25 wizard enchant it if nothing else is done first?'''

A +31 cast is nearly guaranteed for a typical build, +32 is likely, and +33 and +34 at least aren't entirely impossible.

'''How far can a fresh level 30 cleric sanctify it if nothing else is done first?'''

The fourth tier will be easy and the fifth tier isn't impossible.

'''How far can a fresh level 35 sorcerer ensorcell it if nothing else is done first?'''

A single tier of Ensorcell.

'''What would you do?'''

This is mostly similar to mithril in that even low end wizards and clerics can handle most or all casts, except this time it's flipped to favor clerics. Like with mithril, both professions can handle the casts well enough. Where eonake shines is that it essentially cancels out the added difficulty of an entire tier of Ensorcell instead of just 40% of one like mithril. Going as far as T3 Ensorcell might very well not impact the price of a holy fire cast in the slightest. Even T4 might not, though I personally wouldn't risk pushing that far.

In summary:

* Enchant to +35 (or preferred stopping point) and Sanctify to S5 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 221 total)
* Add holy fire and Ensorcell as far as T3 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 271 or 371, respectively, but the 371 would act as 321 for purposes of the holy fire cast afterward)
* Add holy fire and the remainder of Ensorcell in any order

===Midrange Scripted Weapon===

For the sake of simplicity, this section assumes the maximum script difficulty of 200, seen in scripts such as [[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]], [[Duskbringer weapons|Duskbringer]], [[Energy Weapon]]s, [[Parasitic Weapon|Parasite Weapons]], [[Sprite Weapon]]s, and [[Valence Weapon]]s. However, if you instead have interest in scripts such as [[Fighting Knife|Fighting Knives]], [[Greater elemental flare]]s, [[Knockout flare]]s, or [[Twin Weapons]], the difficulty could be as low as 50 or as high as 150. (For more on this, see [[Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Choosing Your Ideal Weapon Script|my Choosing Your Ideal Weapon Script guide]].)

This section also assumes the weapon has a +20 enchant, which adds another 36 difficulty. Animalistic, Duskbringer, Energy, Parasite, Sprite, and Twin all fall into that category, but Fighting Knives and Valence actually start at +25.

'''Why would someone start from this point?'''

Other than greater elemental flares and knockout flares, which must be added to existing weapons, the aforementioned staple scripts attached to off the script weapons act as entry points to pay events' unique blend of flavor, mechanics, and a high power ceiling with potential for growth over time. If a player's vision for their endgame weapon includes a combat script that isn't GEF or knockout, then starting with the script will be anywhere from 3.33 (Twin Weapons) to 16.67 (Fighting Knives) times as cost-effective as starting with a perfect weapon and adding it later, with most scripts landing at 5 times as cost-effective (Animalistic Spirit, Duskbringer, Energy, Parasite, Sprite) to start with.

(Incidentally, if the final vision ''is'' GEF or knockout, then adding those last is the most cost-effective route because it delays the additional gear difficulty until the end, making it easy for lower level clerics, sorcerers, and wizards to improve a weapon until it's ready for a script.)

In essence, these scripts serve as the convergence of power, style, and pricing. Certainly not the strongest, weakest, most expensive, nor least expensive, but if there's one thing they do excel at, it's unique flavor that can even go so far as character-defining. They're made for players to whom budget is a consideration and to whom money can be an object, but not ''so much'' of one that they want to sacrifice future potential or stylistic flair.

'''What level cleric would be able to sanctify a midrange scripted weapon if...'''

* Nothing else is done first: around level 65.
* It's enchanted to +35 first: around level 85.
* It's ensorcelled to T1 first: around level 75.
* It's ensorcelled to T5 first: far post-cap.
* It's enchanted to +35 and ensorcelled to T1 first: around fresh cap.
* It's enchanted to +35 and ensorcelled to T5 first: mutant cleric or far post-cap with substantial enhancives or a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

'''What level sorcerer would be able to ensorcell a midrange scripted weapon if...'''

* Nothing else is done first: around level 65.
* It's enchanted to +35 first: around level 85.
* It's sanctified to S6 first: around fresh cap.
* It's enchanted to +35 and sanctified to S6 first: far post-cap.

'''What level wizard would be able to enchant a midrange scripted weapon if...'''

* Nothing else is done first: around level 60.
* It's ensorcelled to T1 first: around level 75.
* It's ensorcelled to T5 first: far post-cap.
* It's sanctified to S6 first: around fresh cap.
* It's ensorcelled to T1 and sanctified to S6 first: somewhat post-cap.
* It's ensorcelled to T5 and sanctified to S6 first: far post-cap ''and'' (not or) mutant wizard.

'''What would you do?'''

Since we're in the realm of needing mid-level characters at minimum and ramping up to needing post-cap characters almost immediately, the order of enchanting and sanctification is largely immaterial. As you can see in the above numbers, though, T5 Ensorcell is extremely punishing on the caliber of cleric or wizard you'd need to follow up, so that should be reserved for last. That said, enchanting to +35 and S6 Sanctify before starting the Ensorcell process is conversely punishing on the caliber of sorcerer you'd need to follow up. Please note that each of the "What level..." sections only consider the ''first'' cast made by that profession. A far post-cap sorcerer with great enhancives might be able to add a T2 Ensorcell to a +35 S6 scripted weapon, but going beyond that will need mutants, suffusion, or boosting potions from Duskruin.

It's possible to make compromises in any direction. The most common is probably stopping Ensorcell at tier 1, which is why my example bullet points include that even though they don't mention myriad other possibilities like stopping Enchant at +25, stopping Enchant at +30, or stopping Sanctify at S5. Stopping enchantment at +25 does save slightly more than one Ensorcell tier's worth of difficulty. Stopping sanctification at S5 saves exactly as much as one Ensorcell tier's worth of difficulty. In cases where any one out of Enchant, Ensorcell, or Sanctify is undesirable in the first place, there's more leeway and breathing room to get the other two finished as you please. (Even then, I'd still reserve Ensorcell for last if T5 is on the menu.) Every individual will have to decide what they value and how much they value it.

In summary:

* Enchant to +35 (or preferred stopping point (and if desired)), Ensorcell to T1 (if desired and acting as the preferred stopping point), and Sanctify to S5 or S6 (if desired) in any order
* Add the remainder of Ensorcell to preferred stopping point (if desired) afterward

[[Category:Guides]]

Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Order of Operations: Servicing Gear

2026-02-20T21:24:25Z

LEAFIARA: Various updates related to accounting for Consummate Professional Gemstones, script add pricing being cheaper than during older guide updates, minor grammar fixes, no more lending of the +50 socks going on, and probably more.

{{player-guide
|title = Order of Operations: Servicing Gear
|topic = Gear, Profession Services
|author = Leafiara
|author-displayed = Leafiara
|date = 2023-07-05
|updated = 2026-02-20
}}

By '''[[Leafiara (prime)|Leafiara]]''' Autumnwind.

Last updated February 20, 2026.

Feel free to message me on Discord, send a thought, send player mail, or otherwise get feedback to me.

==Disclaimer / Recommended Reading==

This wiki page assumes familiarity with item properties and the profession services being described. If these topics are mysterious to you, please read the following first:

'''More on item properties''':

* [[Item_properties|Item properties page]] - "Just the facts" of what item properties are.
* [[Silverwood_Manor_Events_-_2023-01-29_-_Nothing_to_Fear_but_Gear_Itself_(log)|Nothing to Fear but Gear Itself]] - A more colloquial discussion where Jervil and Leafiara host an event to discuss gear properties at Silverwood Manor.

'''More on profession services''':

* [[Enchant_(925)|Enchant page]] - The basics of enchanting.
* [[Ensorcell_(735)|Ensorcell page]] - The basics of ensorcelling.
* [[Sanctify_(330)|Sanctify page]] - The basics of sanctifying.
* [[Weighting,_Padding,_Sighting|WPS page]] - The basics of weighting, padding, and sighting ("WPS").
* [[Silverwood_Manor_Events_-_2023-03-11_-_At_Your_Service_with_a_Smile_(log)|At Your Service with a Smile]] - A more colloquial discussion where Leafiara hosts an event to discuss profession services at Silverwood Manor.

==The Short Version==

===What do I do and when?===

* '''Enchant''' from +0 to +25: Whenever.
* '''Enchant''' from +25 to +35: Whenever. Skippable on a budget.
* '''Enchant''' beyond +35: After ensorcelling and sanctification. Before flares and scripts when possible. Skippable on a budget.

* '''Ensorcell''' tier 1 on a physical weapon: Ideally after sanctification. Before flares and scripts when possible.
* '''Ensorcell''' on anything else or past tier 1 on a physical weapon: Before flares and scripts when possible. Skippable on a budget.

* '''Sanctify''' on physical weapons: Whenever. Skippable on a budget.
* '''Sanctify''' on anything else: Whenever. Skippable on a budget, either entirely or after sufficient tiers to avoid sheer fear.

* '''WPS''' from 0 to 5 CER: Whenever.
* '''WPS''' from 5 to 8 CER: Whenever. Skippable on a budget.
* '''WPS''' from 8 to 10 CER: Ideally after enchanting, ensorcelling, and sanctification, but whenever is also fine. Skippable on a budget.
* '''WPS''' beyond 10 CER: After enchanting, ensorcelling, and sanctification. Skippable on a budget.

This final bullet point section generally presumes that all desired player services are already done.

* '''Creature bane''': 400k bloodscrip to add. Add near last when possible due to expense. (Creature bane is very scarce and unlikely to have as an item's starting point. However, sometimes boxfound bane items do get sold on the player market.)
* '''Flares''': 7.5k to 90k event currency to add, so typically right after player services. If you're willing to pay a minimum 15k event currency, then [[Flare Gloves]] are potentially a better option since those add flares in a roundabout way that adds no gear difficulty. If your end goal is a basic elemental flare, which might only cost 7.5k depending on the base item you're adding flares to, it's possible to have flares before player services and still negate the gear difficulty increase by paying fairly negligible silver costs for [[alchemy]]-produced (player-produced) [[Enchanting_potion#Pre-tempering_Potions|potions]] available in playershops.
* '''Material properties''': 50k to 450k event currency to add if not started with, so either first or pretty late in a project depending on which material. Skippable on a budget.
* '''Perfect forging''': 1.5m bloodscrip to add when it's even available at all (which is very rarely), so either before player services, one of the last things added, or never. Skippable on a budget, but depends on how much budget and which scripts, if any, are desired for the end item.
* '''Scripts''': 50k bloodscrip to add. Starting with it before player services is an option that many players take, especially if they're not interested in perfect forging, but scripts can also be added at any time after player services to save on gear difficulty.
* '''Combat flourishes''': 100k to 400k bloodscrip to add (of the ones currently available). Add near last when possible due to expenses and/or gear difficulty.

'''If this is all too abstract and you need examples,''' see the Examples section at the end, which goes over how to approach hypothetical scenarios depending on what you intend for the final form of your item and how much money (whether silvers or real-world) you're willing to spend.

===What else could I spend silvers on instead?===

The following services don't go onto gear, so they can largely be considered benefits in a vacuum and purchased at any time.

* [[Battle Standard (1620)|Battle Standards]] offer rescuing to town, passively firing flares, conventional flares, reactive defense boosts upon getting hit, and powered up modes with cooldowns for the flares and defensive boosts.
* [[Bloodsmith (1135)|Bloodstone Jewelry]] offers increases to max health, mana, and stamina, increases to regeneration of those three resources, activated near-instant regeneration of those three resources with a cooldown, temporary wound removal, and extra damage (only damage) on attacks that eventually creates a flare.
* [[Covert Arts]] offer a cornucopia of scattered benefits like flares, maneuver defense, passively finding lost children for bounties, protection against Rooted and Staggered, search RT reduction, and more.
* [[Song of Luck (1006)|Lucky Items]] offer chances for better combat rolls of every offensive and defensive variety.
* [[Mystic Tattoo]]s offer enhancive stat boosts.
* [[Resist Nature (620)|Ranger Resistance Trinkets]] offer defense and chances against immunity against various elements.

(Caveat on Mystic Tattoos: When getting a tattoo for [[Strength]], ''if'' AS is your primary or only concern, then enchanting your weapon to at least +30 first will usually be the more cost-effective option. That said, [[Dexterity]] tattoos are a strong alternative for melee characters as a stat that pulls double duty of increasing weighting and potentially decreasing RT. When getting a tattoo for a casting stat like [[Wisdom]] or [[Aura]], on the other hand, the tattoo is a more universal option than sanctifying a runestaff (since the latter is only for undead) and a more cost-effective option--at least for the first few years of recharges--than ensorcelling a runestaff (since the latter is only a flare chance instead of increased CS for every spell).)

===Why is any of the above true?===

For that you'll need the long version, which is the rest of this page!

==Before You Begin==

===What's your long-term vision?===

The Enchant, Ensorcell, and Sanctify sections below primarily cover the topic of sequencing those services based on possible skill ranges for different professions. Before any of that, though, several questions need to be asked:

* What will your project look like when you've finished everything?
* How much in-game currency are you willing to spend on your project?
* How much real-world currency are you willing to spend on your project?
* How much real-world time are you willing to spend on your project?

These answers vary wildly by individual, but the one safe assumption is that nobody has infinite time or infinite money. Therefore, the only common wisdom says to add flares and scripted abilities to your gear as late as possible. However, depending on your answers to the questions, "as late as possible" might mean starting off with a scripted ability! It will only rarely mean starting off with a flare, however, unless you have no interest in scripted abilities.

Now to elaborate on why that's the common wisdom!

===What can low-end clerics, sorcerers, and wizards work on?===

The most straightforward method to keep your sanctifying, ensorcelling, and enchanting costs as low as possible is to keep the gear difficulty as low as possible. (Less straightforward methods include leveling several characters of different professions on a premium account, running multiple accounts, networking to find people willing to give deep discounts, and so on.)

Let's put some numbers to this.

* A typical level 25 wizard who just learned Enchant is likely to have in the realm of 199 to 219 skill, allowing them to work on items of roughly 95 to 115 difficulty.
* A typical level 30 cleric who just learned Sanctify is likely to have in the realm of 166 to 186 skill, allowing them to work on items of 46 to 66 difficulty.
* A typical level 35 sorcerer who just learned Ensorcell is likely to have at least in the realm of 178 to 198 skill, allowing them to work on items of 28 to 48 difficulty. (Add 10 to these numbers if they're a dark elf.)

The above assumes that the characters' associated stats for their services are at 10-20 bonus each and they're training profession spell circles once per level, Magic Item Use and Arcane Symbols once per level, mana controls twice per level for wizards and clerics, each of a sorcerer's types of mana control once per level.

Of these three professions, sorcerers are the ones most likely to be outside these assumptions and could certainly have 20-25 more skill bonus, as they're the least incentivized of the three to train [[Spell Aiming]] or to use a relatively even spell split in the early levels to round out their combat toolkits.

===How much do flares and scripts get in the way?===

Nearly all flares add (at minimum) 100 difficulty to an item. To put that in perspective, I wouldn't expect a level 50 wizard to have gained more than 115 or so skill over the fresh level 25 wizard unless the player is specifically aiming to push enchanting ability.

(Conversely, clerics and sorcerers ''are'' incentivized to heavily push their profession circles eventually, so they'll likely make more progress in 25 levels than a wizard would, but they'll also have come from a worse starting point due to wizards' hefty workshop bonus. These are all just fine details for those who care, though. The point is that...)

In other words, the moment you add flares to an item, you've guaranteed that the lowest end clerics and sorcerers can't work on that item--at least, not without a tempering potion, but even those only apply to basic acid, cold (ice), heat (fire), impact (earth), lightning, steam, and vacuum (void) flares.

Meanwhile, scripted abilities typically add in the range of 50 to 200 difficulty. Most of the popular ones trend toward that 200 mark, though there are some exceptions: greater elemental flares and knockout flares "only" add 150 while multi-tiered scripts like Sigil Staves or Twin Weapons have lower difficulties at lower tiers. In the latter case, the least expensive route is delaying ''upgrading'' the tiers of the script until after profession services are mostly or entirely finished.

Aside from those exceptions, a variety of popular scripts like Animalistic Spirit, Daybringer/Nightbringer, Energy Weapons/Shields, Parasite Armor/Weapons, and Sprite Armor/Weapons all have 200 difficulty immediately and will require mid-level clerics, sorcerers, and wizards at minimum.

Still, this is where the question comes in of what you intend your project gear to look like at the end. Buying scripted gear off the shelf and needing to pay mid-level-and-up prices to mid-level-and-up characters right away is but a fraction of the cost that it would take to pay low-level prices to low-level characters and then add a script later.

(One possible exception would be if greater elemental flaring weapons were sold off the shelves in the future. Those aren't offered as I write this, but since adding that script is only 40,000 bloodscrip, it's at least ''conceivable'' that you'd be able to save more than 30 million silver (the exchange rate at time of writing) by finishing all services first.)

===Conclusion===

That covers the groundwork of why many players delay adding flares and scripted abilities when they can. I could go into further details and examples like perfect forging, material properties, banes, and more, but I'll reserve that for later updates to the guide in the Examples section.

For now, on to the main event of enchanting, ensorcelling, and sanctifying!

==Enchant==

===How much enchanting is enough?===

Here are some different schools of thought:

* +20 is enough because, except for post-cap areas intended to be the most difficult hunting in the game, all other content is designed with the expectation that +20 is viable.
* +25 is enough because enchanting even from +0 to +25 consumes less than two weeks of a [[wizard]]'s weekly resource points, but enchanting from +25 to +30 consumes three weeks, consuming from +30 to +35 consumes 6.75 weeks, and it only gets more intense from there.
* +35 is enough because it's the maximum an item can be enchanted by players without acquiring potions from pay events, raffles, or other means not ubiquitously available.
* +40 is enough because that's the minimum necessary enchantment for a weapon to hit certain demon creatures without going through several layers of dispelling.
* +50 is enough because it's the maximum an item can be enchanted in commonly occurring circumstances and/or because, even when enchanting higher is offered, it's prohibitively expensive. (As I write this, enchanting up to +75 has been offered exactly once at a cost of 275,000 bloodscrip per +5 over +50.)
* +75 is enough because it's the maximum possible.
* Enchanting is irrelevant because you can make up a deficit from a low enchant with heavy investment in the enhancive and Ascension systems or simply using other tools available like maneuvers (offensively) or scripted abilities (defensively).

(The latter would typically only be argued in the case of, say, an auction item that has a lower base enchant but is attractive due to extraordinary properties that come with the downside of adding high gear difficulty to make further enchantment less feasible.)

===Are there any additional considerations based on build?===

Excellent value for Enchant:
* Bows and crossbows used by any profession and build because archery has fewer alternative ways to increase AS than other physical weapons.

Poor value for Enchant:
* Armor and runestaves used by builds that spend a lot of time in guarded or defensive stance since they're likely to be untouchable by AS attacks regardless.
* Unarmed combat gear used by any profession or build due to UAF mattering only fractionally as much to unarmed combat as AS does to physical weapons.

Roughly average value for Enchant:
* Everything else. See previous section for why.

===When should I enchant?===

According to [[Enchant_(925)#Difficulty_Penalty_Modifier_Formula|the enchanting formula]], some enchanting benchmarks are:

* +20 is 36 gear difficulty
* +25 is 58 gear difficulty
* +30 is 87 gear difficulty
* +35 is 121 gear difficulty
* +40 is 160 gear difficulty
* +50 is 256 gear difficulty

To put this in perspective, each tier of Ensorcell adds 50 gear difficulty, the first five tiers of Sanctify add 20 gear difficulty each, and holy fire adds 50 gear difficulty. Most gear you'll work on will already be +20 as a baseline, so the case could be made that moving to +25 is only another 22 difficulty, moving to +30 is only another 51 difficulty (over +20), and so on. Viewed in that light, Enchant is among the least gear difficulty-intensive of services.

In other words...

'''Adding to an item's enchantment at any step in the process of gear improvement is less likely to get in the way of ensorcelling and sanctifying it later than vice versa.'''

''However'' (and it's a very big however!), this is speaking very generically and assumes that the final result of your intent for the item could be reasonably handled by sufficiently skilled player [[cleric]]s, [[sorcerer]]s, and wizards without requiring suffusion, super potions from [[Bloodriven Village]], or fixskills and mutant builds.

For example, it's viable to enchant an [[Animalistic Spirit Weapon]] to +35, add flares to it, and still expect that a player cleric can add all five tiers of sanctification to it. However, if you additionally wanted to add holy fire and the first tier of Ensorcell, then either the flares shouldn't have been added until after those services were finished, the weapon should have been left at +20, or both.

'''As safe as it can feel--and, in many cases, ''be''!--to add enchanting early in the process, it's paradoxically even safer to add enchanting late in the process.'''

There are several reasons why enchanting late or even last is viable:

* Clerics need 120 more skill than an item's difficulty to safely sanctify it (or 150 more skill in the case of holy fire) and sorcerers need 150 more skill than difficulty to safely ensorcell, but wizards only need 100-111 more skill than difficulty due to the more multi-step mechanics of enchanting. In other words, all else being equal, wizards would be able to work on higher difficulty items than clerics and sorcerers.
* All else isn't equal in the first place! Wizards get 75 total bonus to their enchanting skill from having a familiar summoned and being in a workshop; clerics and sorcerers only get 20 bonus from being in, respectively, a shrine of their [[Arkati]]/spirit or a workshop. This is somewhat offset in that clerics and sorcerers tend to push their respective native spell circles higher than wizards do, but ignoring stat bonuses from race, high end post-cap wizards will have higher bonus than their cleric and sorcerer counterparts. (More on that with sorcerers, however, as they're typically dark elves...)
* As for uncommon mutant builds, I don't have hard numbers, but they do seem to be more common--or at least more well-advertised--than mutant clerics and sorcerers. At absolute least, there are certainly more wizards in general than clerics or sorcerers. Furthermore, because clerics and sorcerers train more ranks of their spell circles than wizards, that means wizards have more room to grow when they ''do'' go mutant.
* Wizards' suffusion is five times as efficient as clerics' or sorcerers' suffusion, converting a week of resources into up to 125 skill instead of 25 skill. This means that as long as your item doesn't need more than five times as many casts of Enchant as it does casts of Sanctify or Ensorcell, it would be easier to push extra requirements onto the wizard than onto the cleric or sorcerer. (And that's even disregarding the likelihood that the wizard has higher skill in the first place!)

And, of course, if all else fails...

* The Duskruin pay event offers a path, albeit expensive, to enchant items with no consideration of gear difficulty at a rate of 150,000 bloodscrip per +5. The same isn't true of ensorcelling or sanctification.
* The Duskruin pay event also offers potions for 50,000 bloodscrip that grant +500 to a wizard's skill for their next CHANNEL of Enchant. These potions notably have five pours each (to make them suitable for, say, going from +45 to +50), unlike the cleric and sorcerer counterparts that have one pour each for the same price.

===How high does wizard skill get?===

* 645 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a [[race]] with a neutral 25 [[Logic]] bonus and 25 [[Intuition]] bonus using a fairly typical post-cap build with 128 ranks of Wizard Base and all other relevant enchanting skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 655 is the same as the above, but with the use of BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS from daily logins.
* 720 is the same as the above, but now also wearing an incredible enhancive set to finish maxing out Logic and Intuition in addition to maxing out Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, and Elemental Mana Control. (Finding someone with such an enhancive set is very unlikely!)
* 770 is the same as the above, but now also with a maxed-out Consummate Professional Gemstone equipped.

* 820 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a race with a neutral 25 Logic bonus and 25 Intuition bonus using a mutant build with 303 ranks of Wizard Base and all other relevant enchanting skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 830 is the same as the above, but with BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS.
* 895 is the same as the above, but now with the full set of enhancives.
* 945 is the same as the above, but now with a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

* 995 is the same as the above, but now with the extremely expensive +50 spell rank enhancives from the High End Scrip Shop.
* 1070 is the same as the above, but now with the extremely time-consuming 1135 Ascension Training Points to nearly max out every skill. (Magic Item Use and Arcane Symbols can stop two ranks short of maxing while Elemental Mana Control can stop one rank short.)

* Add 15 to any of the above numbers if the character is a [[burghal gnome]] or [[halfling]], the races statistically best at enchanting. [[Aelotoi]] and [[human]]s also get +10 while [[dark elf|dark elves]], [[dwarf|dwarves]], [[erithian]]s, and [[forest gnome]]s get +5.

In summary, 1105 is as high as theoretically possible, but a range of 645 to 700 is what you could more likely expect from ordinary post-cap wizard builds while 820 to 875 is what you could more likely expect from post-cap mutant wizard builds.

(The upper ends of these ranges assume some degree of Ascension or enhancives, but not maxed out sets. They assume no Consummate Professional Gemstones, which are still rarely seen at the time of this update. However, over the long term, the upper ends of these ranges are likely to increase as more Consummate Professional Gemstones are eventually looted.)

===So how tough an item can I realistically get enchanted?===

* 544 difficulty: a conventional far post-cap wizard with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~594 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~644 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~694 difficulty: all three of the above.

* 719 difficulty: a far post-cap mutant wizard with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~769 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~819 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~869 difficulty: all three of the above.

Add +125 to difficulty numbers if you're willing to pay for an extra week of suffusion, +250 if you're willing to pay for two extra weeks of suffusion, and so on.

In short, try not to push too far beyond these difficulty amounts if you'll still need a slew of enchanting afterward. These numbers are more forgiving than the ones for Ensorcell and Sanctify, though!

==Ensorcell==

===How much ensorcelling is enough?===

Some schools of thought for '''physical weapons''':

* T1 is enough because it only adds 20% of the gear difficulty of T5, but still allows 60% as much stamina/health regeneration (on average) and 100% as much use of [[Spell Cleave]], [[Spell Parry]], and [[Spell Thieve]].
* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or because the AS boost scales proportionately with each tier (unlike frontloaded regen) and/or because [[Tainted Bond]] uses the AS boost.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more and/or because stamina regeneration is an unlikely chance for a flare (which itself is only a chance) compared to AS.

Some schools of thought for '''shields''':

* T1 is enough because it only adds 20% of the gear difficulty of a T5, but still allows full use of [[Shield Mind]] and [[Spell Block]].
* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or all protection against CS spells is good because they're among the game's most deadly attacks.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more.

Some schools of thought for '''armor''':

* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or the CvA boost scales proportionately with each tier and/or all protection against CS spells is good because they're among the game's most deadly attacks.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more.

Some schools of thought for '''runestaves''':

* T1 is enough because it only adds 20% of the gear difficulty of a T5, but still allows 60% as much mana regeneration (on average).
* T5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or the CS boost scales proportionately with each tier (unlike frontloaded regen) and/or the CvA boost scales proportionately with each tier and/or improving your CS spells and protecting against enemies' CS spells are good benefits since they're among the game's most deadly attacks.
* As far as you can go without requiring fixskills, suffusion, or super potions is enough.
* T0 is enough because the game isn't designed with the expectation that you have anything more.

(Note: I've only ever heard one person make the T1 argument for runestaves--and it was in response to me initially posting this page while mentioning that I left it out specifically because I'd never heard anyone make it before then!)

===Are there any additional considerations based on build?===

Excellent value for Ensorcell:
* T5 for armor used by professions and builds that either A) have just short of high enough TD to be immune to most spells with a little bump or B) have very low TD, but are in heavy armor and/or using Kroderine Soul so that every additional point of TD improvement matters comparatively more.
* T1 (at least) for katanas and katars used by squares or semis due to weapon technique rotation incentivizing even heavier stamina usage than for other physical weapons.
* T1 (at least) for unarmed combat gear on any profession and build due to high attack volume.

Good value for Ensorcell:
* T1 (at least) for low RT weapons used by any profession and build due to above average attack volume.

Poor value for Ensorcell:
* Any tier for bows and crossbows used by any profession and build because archery consumes significantly less stamina than other physical weapon.

Roughly average value for Ensorcell:
* Everything else. See previous section for why.

===When should I ensorcell?===

'''Since every tier of Ensorcell adds 50 gear difficulty, it hinders clerics and wizards more than their services hinder sorcerers.''' (Additionally, ensorcelling an item before sanctifying it will require the use of an [[inky black potion]] for each cast of sanctification. That point's far more minor, though, as playershops sell inky black potions at very low costs.)

The first tier of Ensorcell is sometimes done early, especially for physical weapons that reap immediate and noticeable benefits, but pushing items further is typically reserved for later in the gear improvement process due to the high gear difficulty this service adds.

Finishing all five tiers of Ensorcell before finishing Enchant and Sanctify will very likely require more skilled clerics and wizards charging more silver than doing it the other way around. This isn't to say that doing Ensorcell last will be easy either, though, since sorcerers need 150 more skill bonus than an item's gear difficulty to work on it without failing (barring fumble) and suffusion doesn't give them the same degree of leeway that it does wizards.

'''Plan carefully to determine ''how'' far you can prolong Ensorcell on your project piece without rendering it impossible nor prohibitively expensive.'''

===How high does sorcerer skill get?===

Unlike with wizards, I'll assume as a base that the sorcerer is a dark elf rather than a race with neutral stat bonuses. Statistically, players have made this true due in some part to a combination of [[Faendryl]] lore and the calculations for sorcerer [[CS]] using [[Aura]] and [[Wisdom]], which dark elves have the best bonuses in. As for ensorcelling, that uses Wisdom and Intuition, which leaves dark elves and halflings tied for the best.

* 642 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a dark elf (or halfling) using a fairly typical post-cap build with 170 ranks of Sorcerer Base and all other relevant ensorcelling skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 652 is the same as the above, but with the use of BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS from daily logins.
* 730 is the same as the above, but now also wearing an incredible enhancive set to finish maxing out Intuition and Wisdom in addition to maxing out Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, Elemental Mana Control, and Spiritual Mana Control. (Finding someone with such an enhancive set is very unlikely!)
* 780 is the same as the above, but now also with a maxed-out Consummate Professional Gemstone equipped.

* 775 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a dark elf (or halfling) using a mutant build with 303 ranks of Sorcerer Base and all other relevant ensorcelling skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 785 is the same as the above, but with BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS.
* 863 is the same as the above, but now with the full set of enhancives.
* 913 is the same as the above, but now with a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

* 963 is the same as the above, but now with the extremely expensive +50 spell rank enhancives from the High End Scrip Shop.
* 1050 is the same as the above, but now also the astonishingly time-consuming 1400 Ascension Training Points to nearly max out every skill. (Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, and ''one'' out of Elemental or Spiritual Mana Control can stop two ranks short of maxing.)

In summary, 1050 is as high as theoretically possible, but a range of 642 to 710 is what you could more likely expect from ordinary post-cap sorcerer builds while 775 to 843 is what you could more likely expect from post-cap mutant sorcerer builds.

(The upper ends of these ranges assume some degree of Ascension or enhancives, but not maxed out sets. They assume no Consummate Professional Gemstones, which are still rarely seen at the time of this update. However, over the long term, the upper ends of these ranges are likely to increase as more Consummate Professional Gemstones are eventually looted.

===So how tough an item can I realistically get ensorcelled?===

* 502 difficulty: a conventional far post-cap sorcerer with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~552 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~602 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~652 difficulty: all three of the above.

* 635 difficulty: a far post-cap mutant sorcerer with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~685 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~735 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~785 difficulty: all three of the above.

Add +25 to difficulty numbers if you're willing to pay for an extra week of suffusion, +50 if you're willing to pay for two extra weeks of suffusion, and so on.

Despite sorcerers nominally having similar skill bonus numbers to wizards, they top off working on lower difficulty items because of how the formulas work! If your item would end up beyond these difficulty numbers before your intended final tier of ensorcellment, that might be a signal to reserve enchanting for last instead. Alternatively, ensorcelling being so high difficulty is why others will leave it for the last of the profession services and simply stop just before they'd need suffusion or super potions.

==Sanctify==

===How much sanctification is enough?===

Some schools of thought for '''physical weapons''':

* S5 is enough because it maxes out the AS benefit and/or because of the QoL of never running out of blessings again.
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares.
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire), anchoring noncorporeal undead, and ignoring undead damage resistance.

Some schools of thought for '''shields''':

* Sufficient sanctification for immunity to sheer fear in your chosen hunting ground is enough.
* S5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or CS attacks are among the game's most deadly attacks, so all protection against them is good.
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares.
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire) and ignoring undead damage resistance.

Some schools of thought for '''armor''':

* Sufficient sanctification for immunity to sheer fear in your chosen hunting ground is enough.
* S5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or CS attacks are among the game's most deadly attacks, so all protection against them is good
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares when getting hit by undead or using offensive maneuvers involving the body against them. (Note: Greaves or helmets worn over armor will prevent holy fire flares from going off when attacking with or getting hit on the respective body parts.)
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire) and ignoring undead damage resistance.

Some schools of thought for '''runestaves''':

* Sufficient sanctification for immunity to sheer fear in your chosen hunting ground is enough. (For sorcerers and wizards, this will likely also require sanctification of your armor.)
* S5 is enough because it's the maximum possible and/or CS attacks are among the game's most deadly attacks, so improving your own and protecting against enemies' are good benefits.
* S6 is enough because it grants 75 extra damage per flare on average over holy water flares.
* S0 is enough because you can simply get blessings from high end clerics for the benefits of the crit portion of flares (as acid instead of fire), anchoring noncorporeal undead, and ignoring undead damage resistance.

===Are there any additional considerations based on build?===

Excellent value for Sanctify:
* S6 for any physical weapon used by bards or wizards due to Song of Tonis or Celerity, respectively.
* S6 for bows and crossbows used by squares or semis due to Volley.
* S6 for katanas and katars used by squares or semis due to weapon technique rotation indirectly increasing attack volume.
* S6 for unarmed combat gear used by any profession and build due to high attack volume.

Good value for Sanctify:
* S6 for low RT weapons used by any profession and build due to above average attack volume.

Poor value for Sanctify:
* S1-S5 for unarmed combat gear used by any profession and build due to UAF mattering only fractionally as much to unarmed combat as AS does to physical weapons.

Roughly average value for Sanctify:
* Everything else. See previous section for why.

===When should I sanctify?===

Assuming that somebody wants Sanctify in the first place instead of opting for blessings, they usually intend to push to the fifth tier or fully into holy fire, which are end results of 100 or 150 gear difficulty. This is less intense than the 250 gear difficulty added by a finished T5 Ensorcell or the 220 gear difficulty added by taking an item from +20 to +50, but more intense than the 85 gear difficulty added by taking an item from +20 to +35.

'''Clerics and wizards each add low enough difficulty that they're not likely to make an item impossible to work on for the other unless at least two other factors get involved out of flares, script flares, Ensorcell, difficult materials, banes, and substantial WPS.'''

However, if those factors ''do'' come into play, that's when it becomes relevant that wizards have more leeway with skill bonus than clerics do (for all the reasons described in the Enchant section--and below in this Sanctify section). The numbers are close enough that which to do first might be a matter of who you know, but if you don't know anyone in particular, the safer move is most likely sanctifying before enchanting. Holy fire is an exception that might be worth saving for last or near last, but I'll cover that at the end of this section.

===How high does cleric skill get?===

* 632 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a race with a neutral 25 Wisdom bonus and 25 Influence bonus using a fairly typical post-cap build with 170 ranks of Cleric Base and all other relevant sanctifying skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 642 is the same as the above, but with the use of BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS from daily logins.
* 707 is the same as the above, but now also wearing an incredible enhancive set to finish maxing out Wisdom and Influence in addition to maxing out Magic Item Use, Arcane Symbols, and Spiritual Mana Control. (Finding someone with such an enhancive set is very unlikely!)
* 757 is the same as the above, but now also with a maxed-out Consummate Professional Gemstone equipped.

* 765 is achievable without using Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone on a race with a neutral 25 Wisdom bonus and 25 Influence bonus using a mutant build with 303 ranks of Cleric Base and all other relevant sanctifying skills maxed out through ordinary training.
* 775 is the same as the above, but with BOOST ENHANCIVE STATS.
* 840 is the same as the above, but now with the full set of enhancives.
* 890 is the same as the above, but now with a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

* 940 is the same as the above, but now with +50 spell rank enhancives.
* 1015 is the same as the above, but now also the extremely time-consuming 1135 Ascension Training Points to nearly max out every skill. (Magic Item Use and Arcane Symbols can stop two ranks short of maxing while Spiritual Mana Control can stop one rank short.)

* Add 10 to any of the above numbers if the character is an [[elf]] or erithian, the races statistically best at sanctifying. [[Giantman|Giantmen]] and [[half-elf|half-elves]] also get +5.

In summary, 1025 is as high as theoretically possible, but a range of 642 to 697 is what you could more likely expect from ordinary post-cap cleric builds while 775 to 820 is what you could more likely expect from post-cap mutant cleric builds.

(The upper ends of these ranges assume some degree of Ascension or enhancives, but not maxed out sets. They assume no Consummate Professional Gemstones, which are still rarely seen at the time of this update. However, over the long term, the upper ends of these ranges are likely to increase as more Consummate Professional Gemstones are eventually looted.)

===So how tough an item can I realistically get sanctified?===

Two numbers are shown depending on whether the item will be stopping at S5 or going all the way to holy fire, respectively:

* 512/482 difficulty: a conventional far post-cap cleric with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~562/532 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~612/583 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~662/632 difficulty: all three of the above.

* 655/625 difficulty: a far post-cap mutant cleric with no investment in Ascension nor enhancives nor a Consummate Professional Gemstone.
* ~705/675 difficulty: with at least one of the above.
* ~755/725 difficulty: at least two of the above.
* ~805/775 difficulty: all three of the above.

Add +25 to difficulty numbers if you're willing to pay for an extra week of suffusion, +50 if you're willing to pay for two extra weeks of suffusion, and so on. Add +50 if you're working on [[eonake]], [[white ora]], [[faewood]], [[Voln armor]], or [[white alloy]], which have bonuses for sanctification.

Cleric skill tops off lower than wizards--and, for that matter, starts lower than wizards--and that's one reason why sanctification, especially the first five tiers, are often done early in the process of gear improvement. That said, the training requirements for a cleric to add holy fire are such that low level holy fire casters are impossible and the opportunity cost even for higher level clerics means that it would be extremely rare to get a bargain price on an S6 at all. So, since holy fire is likely to be expensive regardless of whether you do it before finishing up enchanting and ensorcelling or after, consider saving it for later. Just make sure that the final form of your project item is within or close to within a cleric's range--ideally a conventional one. It can be particularly difficult to fit holy fire and a full T5 Ensorcell onto a single item.

==Examples: Putting Everything Into Practice==

This work in progress section looks at several possible starting points for items, then analyzes either how low level or how high level you'd need characters to be to get to the final product.

===Perfect Forged Mithril Weapon===

'''Why would someone start from this point?'''

It doesn't require pay event currency and mithril is an easy material for all professions to work on. It's a good place to start if the intended final product will use a fluff script like Anfelt or a mechanical script in the midrange, such as greater elemental flares or knockout flares. Alternatively, if budget isn't a consideration and the final product is meant to have perfect forging ''and'' a high end script, then perfect forging is by far the cheaper starting point. (1,500,000 bloodscrip to add perfect forging vs. 250,000 bloodscrip to add a high end script.)

'''How far can a fresh level 25 wizard enchant it if nothing else is done first?'''

Up to the +35 cast.

'''How far can a fresh level 30 cleric sanctify it if nothing else is done first?'''

Most can cast the third tier of Sanctify and some might be able to cast the fourth tier with the right stats and skills. The fifth tier is unlikely and holy fire is dozens of levels away at minimum.

'''How far can a fresh level 35 sorcerer ensorcell it if nothing else is done first?'''

One tier of Ensorcell at least, two tiers at most.

'''What would you do?'''

This is a case where I wouldn't concern myself at all with the order of Enchant and the main tiers of Sanctify. The -20 gear difficulty inherent to mithril is often equivalent to five or so levels' worth of skill bonus, allowing very low end clerics and wizards to work on your item. Holy fire generally isn't an expected offering from clerics below level 60 (if even that early), so there's a little flexibility to add a couple Ensorcell casts first and probably not drive up the price in the process.

In summary:

* Enchant to +35 (or preferred stopping point) and Sanctify to S5 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 201 total)
* Add holy fire (if desired) and Ensorcell as far as T2 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 251 or 301, respectively)
* Add holy fire and the remainder of Ensorcell in any order

===Perfect Forged Eonake Weapon===

'''Why would someone start from this point?'''

It doesn't require pay event currency, eonake is one of the easiest materials for clerics to work on (and the only one of them that starts at an enchant of +20 while not requiring pay event currency), and paladins can add Consecrate flares to eonake even before learning the Holy Weapon spell. It's a good place to start if the intended final product will definitely have holy fire--or even just the main tiers of Sanctify--while also using a fluff script like Anfelt or the midrange end of mechanical scripts, such as greater elemental flares or knockout flares. Alternatively, if budget isn't a consideration and the final product is meant to have perfect forging ''and'' a high end script, then perfect forging must be the starting point.

'''How far can a fresh level 25 wizard enchant it if nothing else is done first?'''

A +31 cast is nearly guaranteed for a typical build, +32 is likely, and +33 and +34 at least aren't entirely impossible.

'''How far can a fresh level 30 cleric sanctify it if nothing else is done first?'''

The fourth tier will be easy and the fifth tier isn't impossible.

'''How far can a fresh level 35 sorcerer ensorcell it if nothing else is done first?'''

A single tier of Ensorcell.

'''What would you do?'''

This is mostly similar to mithril in that even low end wizards and clerics can handle most or all casts, except this time it's flipped to favor clerics. Like with mithril, both professions can handle the casts well enough. Where eonake shines is that it essentially cancels out the added difficulty of an entire tier of Ensorcell instead of just 40% of one like mithril. Going as far as T3 Ensorcell might very well not impact the price of a holy fire cast in the slightest. Even T4 might not, though I personally wouldn't risk pushing that far.

In summary:

* Enchant to +35 (or preferred stopping point) and Sanctify to S5 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 221 total)
* Add holy fire and Ensorcell as far as T3 in any order (pushes difficulty up to 271 or 371, respectively, but the 371 would act as 321 for purposes of the holy fire cast afterward)
* Add holy fire and the remainder of Ensorcell in any order

===Midrange Scripted Weapon===

For the sake of simplicity, this section assumes the maximum script difficulty of 200, seen in scripts such as [[Animalistic Spirit Weapon|Animalistic Spirit]], [[Duskbringer weapons|Duskbringer]], [[Energy Weapon]]s, [[Parasitic Weapon|Parasite Weapons]], [[Sprite Weapon]]s, and [[Valence Weapon]]s. However, if you instead have interest in scripts such as [[Fighting Knife|Fighting Knives]], [[Greater elemental flare]]s, [[Knockout flare]]s, or [[Twin Weapons]], the difficulty could be as low as 50 or as high as 150. (For more on this, see [[Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Choosing Your Ideal Weapon Script|my Choosing Your Ideal Weapon Script guide]].)

This section also assumes the weapon has a +20 enchant, which adds another 36 difficulty. Animalistic, Duskbringer, Energy, Parasite, Sprite, and Twin all fall into that category, but Fighting Knives and Valence actually start at +25.

'''Why would someone start from this point?'''

Other than greater elemental flares and knockout flares, which must be added to existing weapons, the aforementioned staple scripts attached to off the script weapons act as entry points to pay events' unique blend of flavor, mechanics, and a high power ceiling with potential for growth over time. If a player's vision for their endgame weapon includes a combat script that isn't GEF or knockout, then starting with the script will be anywhere from 3.33 (Twin Weapons) to 16.67 (Fighting Knives) times as cost-effective as starting with a perfect weapon and adding it later, with most scripts landing at 5 times as cost-effective (Animalistic Spirit, Duskbringer, Energy, Parasite, Sprite) to start with.

(Incidentally, if the final vision ''is'' GEF or knockout, then adding those last is the most cost-effective route because it delays the additional gear difficulty until the end, making it easy for lower level clerics, sorcerers, and wizards to improve a weapon until it's ready for a script.)

In essence, these scripts serve as the convergence of power, style, and pricing. Certainly not the strongest, weakest, most expensive, nor least expensive, but if there's one thing they do excel at, it's unique flavor that can even go so far as character-defining. They're made for players to whom budget is a consideration and to whom money can be an object, but not ''so much'' of one that they want to sacrifice future potential or stylistic flair.

'''What level cleric would be able to sanctify a midrange scripted weapon if...'''

* Nothing else is done first: around level 65.
* It's enchanted to +35 first: around level 85.
* It's ensorcelled to T1 first: around level 75.
* It's ensorcelled to T5 first: far post-cap.
* It's enchanted to +35 and ensorcelled to T1 first: around fresh cap.
* It's enchanted to +35 and ensorcelled to T5 first: mutant cleric or far post-cap with substantial enhancives or a Consummate Professional Gemstone.

'''What level sorcerer would be able to ensorcell a midrange scripted weapon if...'''

* Nothing else is done first: around level 65.
* It's enchanted to +35 first: around level 85.
* It's sanctified to S6 first: around fresh cap.
* It's enchanted to +35 and sanctified to S6 first: far post-cap.

'''What level wizard would be able to enchant a midrange scripted weapon if...'''

* Nothing else is done first: around level 60.
* It's ensorcelled to T1 first: around level 75.
* It's ensorcelled to T5 first: far post-cap.
* It's sanctified to S6 first: around fresh cap.
* It's ensorcelled to T1 and sanctified to S6 first: somewhat post-cap.
* It's ensorcelled to T5 and sanctified to S6 first: far post-cap ''and'' (not or) mutant wizard.

'''What would you do?'''

Since we're in the realm of needing mid-level characters at minimum and ramping up to needing post-cap characters almost immediately, the order of enchanting and sanctification is largely immaterial. As you can see in the above numbers, though, T5 Ensorcell is extremely punishing on the caliber of cleric or wizard you'd need to follow up, so that should be reserved for last. That said, enchanting to +35 and S6 Sanctify before starting the Ensorcell process is conversely punishing on the caliber of sorcerer you'd need to follow up. Please note that each of the "What level..." sections only consider the ''first'' cast made by that profession. A far post-cap sorcerer with great enhancives might be able to add a T2 Ensorcell to a +35 S6 scripted weapon, but going beyond that will need mutants, suffusion, or boosting potions from Duskruin.

It's possible to make compromises in any direction. The most common is probably stopping Ensorcell at tier 1, which is why my example bullet points include that even though they don't mention myriad other possibilities like stopping Enchant at +25, stopping Enchant at +30, or stopping Sanctify at S5. Stopping enchantment at +25 does save slightly more than one Ensorcell tier's worth of difficulty. Stopping sanctification at S5 saves exactly as much as one Ensorcell tier's worth of difficulty. In cases where any one out of Enchant, Ensorcell, or Sanctify is undesirable in the first place, there's more leeway and breathing room to get the other two finished as you please. (Even then, I'd still reserve Ensorcell for last if T5 is on the menu.) Every individual will have to decide what they value and how much they value it.

In summary:

* Enchant to +35 (or preferred stopping point (and if desired)), Ensorcell to T1 (if desired and acting as the preferred stopping point), and Sanctify to S5 or S6 (if desired) in any order
* Add the remainder of Ensorcell to preferred stopping point (if desired) afterward

[[Category:Guides]]

Buyer's Choice - Duskruin February 2026

2026-02-20T03:42:50Z

LEAFIARA:

The [[TownCrier]] put the call out for your favorite buys from the Duskruin [[Bloodriven Village/shop listing February 2026|February 2026 Shops at Bloodriven Village]] for the Best of the Fest. 

Submit your recommendations at this little form: https://forms.gle/YdrGvtwvaKiSAk8r9

{| {{prettytable}}
|style="width: 23%;"| '''ITEM''' ||style="width: 55%;"|'''RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ADVENTURERS''' ||style="width: 22%;"| '''SHOP'''
|-
|[[Energy Wings|Wings!]]||Get them Light, get them Dark, Get them both and trick them out! These wings are not just for looks. Every tier brings something to the party!||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|[[Survivalist's Kit]]||These are the single most awesomest item that has come out of the minds of GMs for a LONG time. Being able to carry around so many herbs, at such little weight, in both solid and liquid forms, is a game-changer. 11/10, will recommend again, and again, and again!||[[BVShop:The Herbal Huntsman|The Herbal Huntsman]]
|-
|[[Animalistic Spirit|The animalistic set of gear]]||Darrgo: Animalistic Gear has something for Melee, Ranged, or Magic Users - there may be more expensive options that are better out there, but for someone new that can save up, the Animalistic Spirit line is a great place to start and grow with!||[[BVShop:Untamed Spirit|Untamed Spirit]] and [[BVShop:Wild Instinct|Wild Instinct]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Fulmen: It's an extremely useful item for ambushing heads, even at T1, so for 10k you get 30 seconds of flight (then 60 sec cooldown after) and can whack monsters on the head. It's a very cheap solution for what used to be a very expensive problem to solve. Compared to a gnomish harness, it's a steal. Plus, you get the offensive flare on T1 and the higher tiers are great for attack/defense abilities too.||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|[[Fighting Fan]]||Traiva: We go through this EVERY TIME: Dance your way across the battlefield with fighting fans! When closed, they're a blackjack with electric flares, and when opened, a katar with, appropriately, air flares. Unlocking tiers unlocks special SMR attacks that give even more style. Stun your enemies with the grace of Fighting Fans!||[[BVShop:Sparrow's Dance|Sparrow's Dance]]
|-
|[[Flare Gloves]]||NecroDeus: So having a dispell/acuity/magma when ever I want/need something I got it no matter what weapon im covered... leveling up an alt? want acuity flares or dispell flares so you can melt though things this is the one item to rule them all.... wait where did all my BloodScrip go?..... taking donations!||[[BVShop:Right to Flare Arms|Right to Flare Arms]]
|-
|[[Fancy Stancing Flourish]] (a delicate vellum certificate)||Leafiara: The Fancy Stancing Flourish is one of the best fluff purchases around because it shows itself off whenever you change stance--something that most builds already do a lot of! If you like visualizing your character in combat, give this a look on the wiki and see if the messaging suits you!||[[BVShop:Certifiable|Certifiable]]
|-
|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt]] Pirate props||Traiva: The Yarrpee Shoppe is closing forever after this run, so make sure to get all your pirate-y gear while you can. The Buxom Bucaneer skirts are super cute and super functional while out on the seas, and are great for holding a dagger or small knife at the ready.||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
|-
|Large Capacity Gem Jars||Get 100 or 50 count capacity gem jars while you can, at Spellbound. They are only available twice a year.||[[BVShop:Spellbound|Spellbound]]
|-
|Mystic Phrases Spell Preps||Leafiara: Need some spell preps? Check out Mystic Phrases! This shop used to specialize mostly in paladin and ranger preps, which are all still there, but expanded over the years to include lots of fun, flavorful messaging for just about anyone. And they're only 750 bloodscrip each, cheaper than the 1000 raikhen you'd be paying for the options available at Rumor Woods!||[[BVShop:Mystic Phrases|Mystic Phrases]]
|-
|Cash’lo’nae||Lucullan: Goes without saying that everyone needs that Fash'lo'nae Tutelage in the SimuCoin Shop to boost all the experience. For weeks - no, for months!||[https://store.play.net/store/purchase/gs Simucoin Shop]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Leafiara: I'm assuming that ten other people will play up the mechanical benefits and they're all correct, so I want to highlight something else! Even if Energy Wings did nothing in combat instead of amazing things, this is the kind of fluff I would still be buying to at least T2 because the verbs are fantastic and so is adding to your LOOK description if you can! (Check the wiki page for a list of conflicting things that add unique feature lines.) Give the messaging a read and see if you'd like to fly high!||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|[[Weighting, Padding, Sighting|WPS]]||Out there in the wilds on a dangerous mission, you need to stay alive against tricksy foes. Remember to get your extra armor padding from the Smithy under the Arena. Take advantage of new window pricing on WPS today, and again on March 1.||[[WPS smithy]]
|-
|[[Animalistic Totem|Animalistic Totems]]||Leafiara: For 3500 bloodscrip total, Animalistic Totems with a movement style unlock cost are by far the most inexpensive way to walk around in style--we're talking six-digit savings here--and yet are also the coolest! Customize the animal spirit that follows you and create something uniquely your own. You could even make a menagerie of four more animal spirits for 500 bloodscrip each to suit your mood!||[[BVShop:Totemic Spirits|Totemic Spirits]]
|-
|Basic Gown flourish||Lissaya: Have an old skirt, gown, petticoat, or chemise that needs some love? Now with the Basic Gown flourish, you can add verb traps for PULL, PUSH, RUB, and TURN to your items as a flourish! It will work on all of the following items: skirt, skirts, wrap-skirt, underskirt, underskirts, petticoat, petticoats, overskirt, overskirts, gown, ballgown, bliaut, chemise, cotehardie, dress, frock, houppelande, kirtle, sundress, and train.||[[BVShop:With a Flourish|With a Flourish]])"
|-
|[[Magic Marker|Weight-Shaving Gravers]]||Use the miniature pounce pot unlock on your Graver from the Make Your Mark shop to allow it to hollow out those heavy adventureables up to 5 times a day: small statues, heavy moonstone cubes, and heavy quartz orbs. You'll be shaving off pounds each time.||[[BVShop:Make Your Mark|Make Your Mark]]
|-
|With a Flourish flourishes||Leafiara: With a Flourish hosts numerous amazing fluff flourishes new and old for 500 to 2500 bloodscrip. I highly recommend looking through every one of them to find the best purchases for you! Other than the incredible Elemental Fluff Jewelry at Ebon Gate, I know of nothing else in the game that can even compete with these flourishes for sheer number of verbs per pay event currency--and you're adding all those verbs to what are probably already your most cherished and most used items!||[[BVShop:With a Flourish|With a Flourish]]
|-
|[[Fyrswn'ava]]||Traiva: This is a material flare, so won't interfere with scripts like Animalistic, Phytomorphic, or Sigil, or the like. Watching the beautiful celadon sap lash out and trap (root) or blind your opponent is great... getting the greater version that will also terrify, confuse, or clumsify is even better. Plus, the wood is cultivated by Aelotoi horticulturalists, and we all know Aelotoi are awesome. (This author may be very biased.)||[[BVShop:The Celadon Thread|The Celadon Thread]]
|-
|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt|Buxom Buccaneer Skirts]]||Leafiara: Visceral. Fearless. Stylish. Liberating. Dangerous. Buccaneer Skirts! Available at Duskruin now for the last time. Hide your dagger, flaunt a leg, sail the seas, plunder pirate ships, and use the riches to fund all the alters you'll need for the best skirt you'll ever have! Don't miss out.||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Daenamaryllis: Energy Wings are a great item that offers excellent abilities for use during combat on reasonable cooldown timers that don't feel oppressive. The abilities are strong enough to aid you in the most challenging ascension hunting grounds or just starting out at level 1. The evasiveness on demand buff they provide is truly an outstanding ability as it allows you to block any attack, cman, or spell. This is an incredibly strong offering at 40k (less if attuned) bloodscrip if you choose to fully unlock it which I highly recommend.||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|Material Purification PSA||Leafi's careful Bloodscrip PSA: If you're considering material purification or intermediate transmutes to a purifiable material, look closely at base properties of items and understand the differences between transmutation types. Sigil and Daybringer offer faewood runestaff options OTS and there's the Greater Rhimar lineup of weapons, which are, of course, rhimar. These weapons could be purified right after being purchased OTS. On the other hand, the OTS versions of Energy Shields and realm flaring UC gear at Duskruin have long descriptions that indicate accents of zorchar, drakar, eonake, etc., but their base materials in the INSPECT aren't those materials. Since purification looks at the INSPECT material to determine eligibility, you would need to transmute and then purify afterward. Lesser transmutation is cheaper than intermediate transmutation, but can only be done if the item already has properties in line with the final material. For example, you could lesser transmute a white ora Daybringer sledgehammer into eonake since it's already holy, but other non-holy Daybringer weapons would need an intermediate transmute to be made into eonake. If you added lightning flares to your (for example) Animalistic Spirit weapon's ability slot in the past, you can lesser transmute it into zorchar for less than the price of an intermediate transmute. However, if you've been using an Animalistic Spirit weapon with an empty ability slot, then an intermediate transmute to zorchar costs less than the alternative of adding lightning flares to enable doing a lesser transmute. Don't get tripped up!||[[High End Scrip Shop/shop list February 2026|HESS]]
|-
|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt]]||Lissaya: This is your last chance for the Buxom Buccaneers line at DR as the shop is closing this run. The skirt in particular has some very fun scripts when sheathing (PUSH) or brandishing (PULL) a dagger, and they differ if you are on land or on a ship! You can even POINT it at a TARGET for some extra sass.||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
|-
|a slender pyinma branch and a thin fyrswn'ava branch||Traiva: Stock up on these alter fodder pieces, especially the non-mechanical fyrswn'ava that MUST be supplied. While pyinma (crepe myrtle lumber) may not always be needed, if you want to add the beauty of the cultivated fyrswn'ava to your life, you will need to supply some! (Information on the appearance of both woods: [[Fyrswn'ava: A Treatise on the Bound Tree#OOC Information/Notes|Fyrswn'ava Notes]] )||[[BVShop:The Celadon Thread|The Celadon Thread]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Gawyane: Energy Wing are a great mechanical AND fluff item for an amazing price!||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]!||Riend: The light version of these wings, even off the shelf, have really great synergy for ambushing rogues hunting tall creatures! 30s of flying every 90s allows you to hit those gigas in the eyes with your stabbity stabs without having to take them down to your level first. ||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Vorlash: What a fantastic price for fantastic cooldowns and abilities.||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|Greater [[Lathonian]] Armor||Aikei: I first bought some lathonian double leather on a whim but I could not be more pleased with how it has performed on an Empath. I cannot even count how many times my greater lathonian leathers have saved me from SMR attacks and open rolls. Watching the baddies disappear into the void is always good for a laugh.||[[BVShop:The Demon Drop|The Demon Drop]]
|-
|[[Alcohol Still]]||Riend: The alcohol still is a great crafting item that allows you to create custom drinks and vinegars to share with friends. ||[[BVShop:Be Still My Hops|Be Still My Hops]]
|-
|[[Bottle Contraption|Bottletraption]]||Riend: The bottletraption really lets you customize how your alcohol, vinegar and jams can show up, opening up any number of rp avenues. Start your own distillery! Have a farm stand!||[[BVShop:Be Still My Hops|Be Still My Hops]]
|-
|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt]]||Riend: These skirts are easy to customize and have some really fun scripts!||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Nidal: The Energy Wings have immediately become one of my favorite items I own. Perfectly complement my monk. Huge fan. I already said this in the Energy Wings thread, but people should give them a look if you're sleeping on them||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|Add A New Item||What did we forget on this list? Tell everyone about your fav Dukruin gear:||[https://forms.gle/YdrGvtwvaKiSAk8r9 Shopping Guide Form]
|}

Buyer's Choice - Duskruin February 2026

2026-02-20T03:42:00Z

LEAFIARA:

The [[TownCrier]] put the call out for your favorite buys from the Duskruin [[Bloodriven Village/shop listing February 2026|February 2026 Shops at Bloodriven Village]] for the Best of the Fest. 

Submit your recommendations at this little form: https://forms.gle/YdrGvtwvaKiSAk8r9

{| {{prettytable}}
|style="width: 23%;"| '''ITEM''' ||style="width: 55%;"|'''RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ADVENTURERS''' ||style="width: 22%;"| '''SHOP'''
|-
|[[Energy Wings|Wings!]]||Get them Light, get them Dark, Get them both and trick them out! These wings are not just for looks. Every tier brings something to the party!||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
|-
|[[Survivalist's Kit]]||These are the single most awesomest item that has come out of the minds of GMs for a LONG time. Being able to carry around so many herbs, at such little weight, in both solid and liquid forms, is a game-changer. 11/10, will recommend again, and again, and again!||[[BVShop:The Herbal Huntsman|The Herbal Huntsman]]
|-
|[[Animalistic Spirit|The animalistic set of gear]]||Darrgo: Animalistic Gear has something for Melee, Ranged, or Magic Users - there may be more expensive options that are better out there, but for someone new that can save up, the Animalistic Spirit line is a great place to start and grow with!||[[BVShop:Untamed Spirit|Untamed Spirit]] and [[BVShop:Wild Instinct|Wild Instinct]]
|-
|[[Energy Wings]]||Fulmen: It's an extremely useful item for ambushing heads, even at T1, so for 10k you get 30 seconds of flight (then 60 sec cooldown after) and can whack monsters on the head. It's a very cheap solution for what used to be a very expensive problem to solve. Compared to a gnomish harness, it's a steal. Plus, you get the offensive flare on T1 and the higher tiers are great for attack/defense abilities too.||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|[[Fighting Fan]]||Traiva: We go through this EVERY TIME: Dance your way across the battlefield with fighting fans! When closed, they're a blackjack with electric flares, and when opened, a katar with, appropriately, air flares. Unlocking tiers unlocks special SMR attacks that give even more style. Stun your enemies with the grace of Fighting Fans!||[[BVShop:Sparrow's Dance|Sparrow's Dance]]
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|[[Flare Gloves]]||NecroDeus: So having a dispell/acuity/magma when ever I want/need something I got it no matter what weapon im covered... leveling up an alt? want acuity flares or dispell flares so you can melt though things this is the one item to rule them all.... wait where did all my BloodScrip go?..... taking donations!||[[BVShop:Right to Flare Arms|Right to Flare Arms]]
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|[[Fancy Stancing Flourish]] (a delicate vellum certificate)||Leafiara: The Fancy Stancing Flourish is one of the best fluff purchases around because it shows itself off whenever you change stance--something that most builds already do a lot of! If you like visualizing your character in combat, give this a look on the wiki and see if the messaging suits you!||[[BVShop:Certifiable|Certifiable]]
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|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt]] Pirate props||Traiva: The Yarrpee Shoppe is closing forever after this run, so make sure to get all your pirate-y gear while you can. The Buxom Bucaneer skirts are super cute and super functional while out on the seas, and are great for holding a dagger or small knife at the ready.||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
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|Large Capacity Gem Jars||Get 100 or 50 count capacity gem jars while you can, at Spellbound. They are only available twice a year.||[[BVShop:Spellbound|Spellbound]]
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|Mystic Phrases Spell Preps||Leafiara: Need some spell preps? Check out Mystic Phrases! This shop used to specialize mostly in paladin and ranger preps, which are all still there, but expanded over the years to include lots of fun, flavorful messaging for just about anyone. And they're only 750 bloodscrip each, cheaper than the 1000 raikhen you'd be paying for the options available at Rumor Woods!||[[BVShop:Mystic Phrases|Mystic Phrases]]
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|Cash’lo’nae||Lucullan: Goes without saying that everyone needs that Fash'lo'nae Tutelage in the SimuCoin Shop to boost all the experience. For weeks - no, for months!||[https://store.play.net/store/purchase/gs Simucoin Shop]
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|[[Energy Wings]]||Leafiara: I'm assuming that ten other people will play up the mechanical benefits and they're all correct, so I want to highlight something else! Even if Energy Wings did nothing in combat instead of amazing things, this is the kind of fluff I would still be buying to at least T2 because the verbs are fantastic and so is adding to your LOOK description if you can! (Check the wiki page for a list of conflicting things that add unique feature lines.) Give the messaging a read and see if you'd like to fly high!||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|[[Weighting, Padding, Sighting|WPS]]||Out there in the wilds on a dangerous mission, you need to stay alive against tricksy foes. Remember to get your extra armor padding from the Smithy under the Arena. Take advantage of new window pricing on WPS today, and again on March 1.||[[WPS smithy]]
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|[[Animalistic Totem|Animalistic Totems]]||Leafiara: For 3500 bloodscrip total, Animalistic Totems with a movement style unlock cost are by far the most inexpensive way to walk around in style--we're talking six-digit savings here--and yet are also the coolest! Customize the animal spirit that follows you and create something uniquely your own. You could even make a menagerie of four more animal spirits for 500 bloodscrip each to suit your mood!||[[BVShop:Totemic Spirits|Totemic Spirits]]
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|Basic Gown flourish||Lissaya: Have an old skirt, gown, petticoat, or chemise that needs some love? Now with the Basic Gown flourish, you can add verb traps for PULL, PUSH, RUB, and TURN to your items as a flourish! It will work on all of the following items: skirt, skirts, wrap-skirt, underskirt, underskirts, petticoat, petticoats, overskirt, overskirts, gown, ballgown, bliaut, chemise, cotehardie, dress, frock, houppelande, kirtle, sundress, and train.||[[BVShop:With a Flourish|With a Flourish]])"
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|[[Magic Marker|Weight-Shaving Gravers]]||Use the miniature pounce pot unlock on your Graver from the Make Your Mark shop to allow it to hollow out those heavy adventureables up to 5 times a day: small statues, heavy moonstone cubes, and heavy quartz orbs. You'll be shaving off pounds each time.||[[BVShop:Make Your Mark|Make Your Mark]]
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|With a Flourish flourishes||Leafiara: With a Flourish hosts numerous amazing fluff flourishes new and old for 500 to 2500 bloodscrip. I highly recommend looking through every one of them to find the best purchases for you! Other than the incredible Elemental Fluff Jewelry at Ebon Gate, I know of nothing else in the game that can even compete with these flourishes for sheer number of verbs per pay event currency--and you're adding all those verbs to what are probably already your most cherished and most used items!||[[BVShop:With a Flourish|With a Flourish]]
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|[[Fyrswn'ava]]||Traiva: This is a material flare, so won't interfere with scripts like Animalistic, Phytomorphic, or Sigil, or the like. Watching the beautiful celadon sap lash out and trap (root) or blind your opponent is great... getting the greater version that will also terrify, confuse, or clumsify is even better. Plus, the wood is cultivated by Aelotoi horticulturalists, and we all know Aelotoi are awesome. (This author may be very biased.)||[[BVShop:The Celadon Thread|The Celadon Thread]]
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|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt|Buxom Buccaneer Skirts]]||Leafiara: Visceral. Fearless. Stylish. Liberating. Dangerous. Buccaneer Skirts! Available at Duskruin now for the last time. Hide your dagger, flaunt a leg, sail the seas, plunder pirate ships, and use the riches to fund all the alters you'll need for the best skirt you'll ever have! Don't miss out.||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
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|[[Energy Wings]]||Daenamaryllis: Energy Wings are a great item that offers excellent abilities for use during combat on reasonable cooldown timers that don't feel oppressive. The abilities are strong enough to aid you in the most challenging ascension hunting grounds or just starting out at level 1. The evasiveness on demand buff they provide is truly an outstanding ability as it allows you to block any attack, cman, or spell. This is an incredibly strong offering at 40k (less if attuned) bloodscrip if you choose to fully unlock it which I highly recommend.||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|Material Purification PSA||Leafi's careful Bloodscrip PSA: If you're considering material purification or intermediate transmutes to a purifiable material, look closely at base properties of items and understand the differences between transmutation types. Sigil and Daybringer offer faewood runestaff options OTS and there's the Greater Rhimar lineup of weapons, which are, of course, rhimar. On the other hand, the OTS versions of Energy Shields and realm flaring UC gear at Duskruin have long descriptions that indicate accents of zorchar, drakar, eonake, etc., but their base materials in the INSPECT aren't those materials. Since purification looks at the INSPECT material to determine eligibility, you would need to transmute and then purify afterward. Lesser transmutation is cheaper than intermediate transmutation, but can only be done if the item already has properties in line with the final material. For example, you could lesser transmute a white ora Daybringer sledgehammer into eonake since it's already holy, but other non-holy Daybringer weapons would need an intermediate transmute to be made into eonake. If you added lightning flares to your (for example) Animalistic Spirit weapon's ability slot in the past, you can lesser transmute it into zorchar for less than the price of an intermediate transmute. However, if you've been using an Animalistic Spirit weapon with an empty ability slot, then an intermediate transmute to zorchar costs less than the alternative of adding lightning flares to enable doing a lesser transmute. Don't get tripped up!||[[High End Scrip Shop/shop list February 2026|HESS]]
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|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt]]||Lissaya: This is your last chance for the Buxom Buccaneers line at DR as the shop is closing this run. The skirt in particular has some very fun scripts when sheathing (PUSH) or brandishing (PULL) a dagger, and they differ if you are on land or on a ship! You can even POINT it at a TARGET for some extra sass.||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
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|a slender pyinma branch and a thin fyrswn'ava branch||Traiva: Stock up on these alter fodder pieces, especially the non-mechanical fyrswn'ava that MUST be supplied. While pyinma (crepe myrtle lumber) may not always be needed, if you want to add the beauty of the cultivated fyrswn'ava to your life, you will need to supply some! (Information on the appearance of both woods: [[Fyrswn'ava: A Treatise on the Bound Tree#OOC Information/Notes|Fyrswn'ava Notes]] )||[[BVShop:The Celadon Thread|The Celadon Thread]]
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|[[Energy Wings]]||Gawyane: Energy Wing are a great mechanical AND fluff item for an amazing price!||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|[[Energy Wings]]!||Riend: The light version of these wings, even off the shelf, have really great synergy for ambushing rogues hunting tall creatures! 30s of flying every 90s allows you to hit those gigas in the eyes with your stabbity stabs without having to take them down to your level first. ||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|[[Energy Wings]]||Vorlash: What a fantastic price for fantastic cooldowns and abilities.||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|Greater [[Lathonian]] Armor||Aikei: I first bought some lathonian double leather on a whim but I could not be more pleased with how it has performed on an Empath. I cannot even count how many times my greater lathonian leathers have saved me from SMR attacks and open rolls. Watching the baddies disappear into the void is always good for a laugh.||[[BVShop:The Demon Drop|The Demon Drop]]
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|[[Alcohol Still]]||Riend: The alcohol still is a great crafting item that allows you to create custom drinks and vinegars to share with friends. ||[[BVShop:Be Still My Hops|Be Still My Hops]]
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|[[Bottle Contraption|Bottletraption]]||Riend: The bottletraption really lets you customize how your alcohol, vinegar and jams can show up, opening up any number of rp avenues. Start your own distillery! Have a farm stand!||[[BVShop:Be Still My Hops|Be Still My Hops]]
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|[[Buxom Buccaneers Skirt]]||Riend: These skirts are easy to customize and have some really fun scripts!||[[BVShop:Yarrrpee Shoppe|Yarrrpee Shoppe]]
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|[[Energy Wings]]||Nidal: The Energy Wings have immediately become one of my favorite items I own. Perfectly complement my monk. Huge fan. I already said this in the Energy Wings thread, but people should give them a look if you're sleeping on them||[[BVShop:Pinions and Pulse|Pinions and Pulse]]
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|Add A New Item||What did we forget on this list? Tell everyone about your fav Dukruin gear:||[https://forms.gle/YdrGvtwvaKiSAk8r9 Shopping Guide Form]
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