Comprehensive Monk Guide

Comprehensive Monk Guide File:Monk.jpg Type Square Spell Circles Minor Mental, Minor Spiritual Prime Requisites Agility, Strength Mana Statistics Wisdom, Logic

Physical Skills Skill Cost Ranks Two Weapon Combat 2/2 2 Armor Use 10/0 2 Shield Use 8/0 2 Combat Maneuvers 5/3 2 Edged Weapons 2/1 2 Blunt Weapons 3/1 2 Two-Handed Weapons 5/2 2 Ranged Weapons 4/1 2 Thrown Weapons 2/1 2 Polearm Weapons 6/2 2 Brawling 2/1 2 Ambush 3/2 2 Multi Opponent Combat 5/2 2 Physical Fitness 2/0 3 Dodging 1/1 3

Magical Skills Skill Cost Ranks Arcane Symbols 0/6 1 Magic Item Use 0/7 1 Spell Aiming 5/20 1 Harness Power 0/6 1 Elemental Mana Control 0/15 1 Mental Mana Control 0/8 1 Spirit Mana Control 0/8 1 Spell Research 0/38 1 Elemental Lore 0/40 1 Spiritual Lore 0/12 1 Sorcerous Lore 0/35 1 Mental Lore 0/12 1

General Skills Skill Cost Ranks Survival 2/2 2 Disarming Traps 3/4 2 Picking Locks 3/3 2 Stalking and Hiding 3/2 2 Perception 0/2 2 Climbing 1/0 2 Swimming 2/0 2 First Aid 1/2 2 Trading 0/3 2 Pickpocketing 2/2 2

About the Guide

This guide is brought to you by members of the GS community from discussions via various forums, Discord chats and direct player input on gswiki. It is ALWAYS open for contributions from the community.
Last Upate: 2/10/2018

Race and Stat Considerations

Racial Bonus To Starting Statistics (Sortable Table)

Race	Strength	Constitution	Dexterity	Agility	Discipline	Aura	Logic	Intuition	Wisdom	Influence	Total
Aelotoi	-5	0	5	10	5	0	5	5	0	-5	+20
Burghal gnome	-15	10	10	10	-5	5	10	5	0	-5	+25
Dark elf	0	-5	10	5	-10	10	0	5	5	-5	+15
Dwarf	10	15	0	-5	10	-10	5	0	0	-10	+15
Elf	0	0	5	15	-15	5	0	0	0	10	+20
Erithian	-5	10	0	0	5	0	5	0	0	10	+25
Forest gnome	-10	10	5	10	5	0	5	0	5	-5	+25
Giantman	15	10	-5	-5	0	-5	-5	0	0	5	+10
Half elf	0	0	5	10	-5	0	0	0	0	5	+15
Half krolvin	10	10	0	5	0	0	-10	0	-5	-5	+5
Halfling	-15	10	15	10	-5	-5	5	10	0	-5	+20
Human	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	5	0	0	+15
Sylvankind	0	0	10	5	-5	5	0	0	0	0	+15

What the UAF

Most monks are going to make use of Unarmed Combat (UAC). There are two factors that determine success with a UAC attack, Unarmed Factor (UAF) and Multiplier Modifier (MM). A monk's stats, specifically Strength and Agility, only have an impact on UAF. The UAF formula makes use of truncated STR bonus / 2 and truncated AGI bonus / 2. With that in mind the races provide the following total UAF increase, in descending order:

Race	STR Mod	AGI Mod	UAF Mod
Half-Krolvin	+10	+5	+7
Elf	0	+15	+7
Giantman	+15	-5	+5
Half-Elf	0	+10	+5
Dwarf	+10	-5	+3
Aelotoi	-5	+10	+3
Human	+5	0	+2
Dark Elf	0	+5	+2
Sylvan	0	+5	+2
Forest Gnome	-10	+10	0
Erithian	-5	0	-2
Halfling	-15	+10	-2
Burghal Gnome	-14	+10	-2

AgiDex

While a majority of monks make use of UAC, others have found a build utilizing Two-Handed Weapons or Polearms quite viable. For those builds one important factor is AgiDex, or the sum of the bonuses of a character's Dexterity and Agility. This combined total helps reduce the Roundtime of a physical attack by a specified amount:

Agility + Dexterity	Roundtime reduction
8 - 22	1
23 - 37	2
38 - 52	3
53 - 67	4
68 - 82	5
83 - 97	6
98 - 112	7
113+	8
Roundtime reductions above 5 are not achievable without enhancive items.

Pairing that table with the stat table above we can break it down to see each races theoretical maximum AgiDex, before enhancives:

5 RT Reduction	4 RT Reduction	3 RT Reduction
Halfling	Aelotoi	Erithian
Burghal gnome	Dark elf	Human
Elf	Forest gnome	Dwarf
	Half-elf	Giantman
	Sylvankind
	Half-Krolvin

This is important because weapons have a minimum RT, and a base RT. By taking the base RT and subtracting the AgiDex bonus we can find the unencumbered swing RT.

Strength

Strength bonus adds directly to melee AS. Any weapon using monk is going to want a decent Strength stat and will want to pair that with a decent AgiDex possibility. The table below shows the Strength stats of races compared to their AgiDex capability:

5 RT Reduction	STR Mod		4 RT Reduction	STR Mod		3 RT Reduction	STR Mod
Halfling	-15		Aelotoi	-5		Erithian	-5
Burghal gnome	-15		Dark elf	0		Human	5
Elf	0		Forest gnome	-10		Dwarf	10
			Half-elf	0		Giantman	15
			Sylvankind	0
			Half-krolvin	10

Other Racial Factors

Bear in mind that there are many other mechanical factors to consider when selecting a race. Not to mention all the role playing decisions. The weaker races, such as halflings and gnomes, tend to have much better maneuver defense than bigger, stronger races. As a trade off they also tend to have terrible encumbrance, while bigger races are able to carry quite a bit more. Elven races have bonuses to resisting disease and a small one to poison, but are slightly weaker against warding spells. Dwarves are less resistant to disease but also resistant to poison and have a bonus to warding off elemental magic, a major monk weakness. Halflings are slightly more resistant to poison, disease, and elemental magic than dwarves. Half-krolvin have natural heavy crit padding against cold attacks and suffer less from cold weather effects.

The races of Elanthia all have their pros and cons. They are well balanced and any one could make an excellent monk. Take into account the full picture, including mechanics and their cultural backgrounds, before you decide on a race for yours. Then you can likely pick a halfling anyway because that DEX!