Always glad to see a new video! Now, a few additions: - You didn't mention that an unspent wound dissapears after 20 seconds (+/- INT), so one can't just get X wounds and keep them forever. This is no longer true in PoE2. - Transcedent Suffering gives unarmed accuracy and damage increase at this rate: Level 1 +2 damage Level 4 +4 damage +4 accuracy Level 7 +6 damage +8 accuracy Level 10 +8 damage +12 accuracy Level 13 +10 damage +15 accuracy Level 16 +12 damage +18 accuracy - I disagree about Enervating Blows - with high Perception Monk krits A LOT, and this ability works on ANY melee attacks, be it base attacks, things like Torment's Reach or weapon attacks. Eneravating Blows effect has long duration and works well with Apprentice Sneak Attack. - Force of Anguish is the boss killer. With such long duration it can stunlock dragon bosses on PotD. - you can use weapon if you want. All monk abilities and special attacks will work just fine. - IMO Monk is really overpowered class in this game. And absolutely the best for solo. His problem is that he has minimal party synergy (unless you count weakening/proning people) and works best when player concentrates on the Monk specifically. Also, I disagree that Monk is not very fitting for PC roleplay-wise. The Watcher suffers quite a lot from his condition but eventually accept it and becomes stronger through it. And the whole thing with Watcher's visions and previous life can be seen as pretty transcendent experience. Monk are about understanding themselves and surpassing limits of flesh, after all. The whole game can be seen as the final spiritual challenge for the Monk!Watcher. To me personally, Monk "felt" second most right after Cipher.
This. I approve. Never made a main monk [I'm the spell guy] But carry Zahua or just make merc. Monk as you say is strong, and with the conditionality you mention. Can't be too critical, Slandered isn't there yet, He played on normal and just enjoyed the experience, so the min-max part isn't there. Eventually Pillars shall consume him like the rest of us and he'll play potd at least once, rage, roll one monk and play in the dark butt naked screaming... and then... he'll know.
I will pin this. Thank you for the table and the notes/corrections. I don't agree regarding how often Monk crits or that Monk is overpowered but you bring up good points and I agree with Nemesis that I am not coming from a min-max POTD perspective. Regarding the roleplaying aspect I agree that Monks description doesn't conflict with being a Watcher. The problem is you get very little unique dialogue for being a Monk so the game has virtually no reactivity towards your class. As opposed to classes like Cipher, Priest, and Paladin that get a ton of reactivity in the game.
Ah, the monk. I find this one of the most intriguing approaches to your typical martial artist archetype. The more you suffer, the more suffering for your opponents.
FINALLY!! Any shmuck can kill the Dragon with +10 Swords of Ultimate Pwnage or Level 9 Castings of "Everything Dies Now!!". True Legends punch the Dragon to death.
I've finished PotD twice as a monk. Mechanically it's S class, but only for what it does best, which is to take out high priority targets like wizards, ciphers, adragans, ogre druids etc. Then polish off foes that are just melee. You run into a melee character, disengage for wounds then run to the dangerous target and melt them. I didn't even have to minmax for my character to have the most damage, hits, crits and kills of the party. It's a beast as long as you keep his endurance up. Stats of 14, 14, 14, 16, 10, 10 with the deadfire dlc items made me a powerhouse. The 10 you get from Iron Wheel is pretty significant by the way, especially if you have durgan and legendary gear with second skin. I loved playing as cipher, but I had to min max to feel as powerful as I did playing the monk with the stats above and I enjoyed the monk much more. It is even more of a beast in PoE 2
Rooting Pain: Fortitude is a very high defense for a lot of tougher enemies, so it's only really useful against mobs. You'll want some way to increase engagement if possible, so your monk can punish those who get close.
The problem for me with Monk was the Wounds Mechanic. Aside from the fact they're attribute needy - since more than average are actually good for Monk, so there's less of a "dump stat" to play with increases. The actual abilities are a little bit of a PITA to figure out, especially since you have to be wounded to a set extent to pull a lot of them off. Keeping track of that while also trying not to DIE is the same problem as the Cypher and the Chanter. You may if you are lucky, use one big ability per fight. ** There's also the point that up to a certain patch; it was actually more viable to play Unarmed on ANY other character than a monk. Since the choice of style - whose name I forget - actually stacked up on itself every level, if you were not a monk. [I was very disappointed when they patched it out; and no I don't care that it was a bug. It was a fun bug] * If you took Unarmed as weapon style - while it was not patched - as a Paladin; you would be literally Death Incarnate and Unstoppable. Overall, I'd go Con/Str/Dex in that order. Some Int depending on ability choices, and I think resolve is about the only universal dump stat. * You're going to want the HP and Endurance to survive the wounds and still fight. Con is most important, followed by strength, or dex depending on what you favor. I tend to like strength since I found that attack speed is wonky. It's capped at a set point, so dex may not be all that helpful on a build that's focused on Unarmed, which is naturally a faster attack. I'm less fond of what they call "risk vs. reward" types of class. Mostly because it's always more of one, and it's usually the punitive one.
I absolutely agree tracking the resource and using it properly is a huge pain for Monk. For Chanter and Cipher I didn't find it to be a struggle but it might be because of my playstyle.
@@SlanderedGaming Pardon the pun, but Monk hits different; and I think it's because with the other two - you're not risking death/game over just to be able to use your abilities. The monk makes you do that. It's an added layer of pressure not to mess up, and use it wisely. But then what do you expect from one of the designers who famously made X-Com harder. Or came up with the Triple Crown Solo. o. O
The Monk is one if my favorites in Pillars its an interesting twist on the class. Feels to me like a meta call-out that Monks in a world of high magic, plate armour and magically enchanted weapons are these masochistic nutcases who charge into battle with fists and often not in armor and all the class mechanics and flavor lean heavily on this. While Deadfire refines the class a bit to make it better, and multiclass it of course, I disagree that it sucks other comments go into what makes it work and get it into ridiculous op levels just takes a little more effort and game knowledge to get up to the level of a Barb, Pally or melee wizard.
Monk certainly doesn't suck, it's just shoehorned into being quite an awkward off-tank / secondary damage dealer tied to a character that you dont get until usually after you've already assembled the team you want the main game for, unless you specifcally go ingame with a mind to picking him up. Personally I see no reason to play a woundkeep monk. If you want a tank, go with fighter.. if you want pure dmg objectively barb is overall better.. if you want an active dmg melee class.. then go with monk, generate wounds.. keep him well topped by priest and/or chanter.. and then and only then with wound usage does he outdps fighter and some barb builds and certainly provides more utility with stuns. The monk you face in Crägholdt, shows most people some of the monk potential.. and typically kills parties.. especially the underprepared and underleveled as most will be when they reach that area. The monk and surrounding fighters are typically responsible for some of the most deaths in the entire game. Ultimately the best way to make a monk is a crit focused woundspending Monk. Monks actually can crit, and crit more frequently than you seem to think - get wounds quick.. use the most effective talents you have, and let the team heal you, disable with stuns or kill with dmg anyone who deal the most damage. The monk lives and dies by his wounds.. and would have it no other way.
Yup agreed with most of what you said. Overall Monk doesn't suck but it sucks for me because I cannot stand it in this game. So much better in the sequel.
The worse part about this class that it has no reactivity. Thankfully monk in poe 2 got buffed whether its pure or multiclassed. Regardless I don't think the class is the worse in poe 1. You can use whatever weapon that doesn't involve with fists and can still alot of damage. Speaking of fists the fists get more powerful the more you level up.
@@SlanderedGaming if you asked me that In poe 2 I would tell you of the worse classes and archetypes but here...not sure. Maybe wizard if I'm being honest. Sure you have some good spells and all early but it starts real bumpy early in the game and probably mid and endgame it shines but that's just me. Don't know about the other players experience with wizard so that may vary.
Forced to tread the path between life and death. This way offers only suffering. A penitent monk must come to terms with the fact that his existence is a punishment... Or you could avoid this class entirely and be a wizard.
In my opinion Monk is an interesting take on class specific resources, but in the wrong type of game. If healing was more effective and important to gameplay, as well as health not limiting the total damage you can take between rests, then Monk would excel. Unfortunately health effectively puts a cap on Wounds per rest, and the mechanics favor damage mitigation over damage recovery. It's a shame because Monk has very strong abilities and the Wounds mechanic is interesting. Monk is a lost class. They wandered into the wrong game.
Always glad to see a new video!
Now, a few additions:
- You didn't mention that an unspent wound dissapears after 20 seconds (+/- INT), so one can't just get X wounds and keep them forever. This is no longer true in PoE2.
- Transcedent Suffering gives unarmed accuracy and damage increase at this rate:
Level 1 +2 damage
Level 4 +4 damage +4 accuracy
Level 7 +6 damage +8 accuracy
Level 10 +8 damage +12 accuracy
Level 13 +10 damage +15 accuracy
Level 16 +12 damage +18 accuracy
- I disagree about Enervating Blows - with high Perception Monk krits A LOT, and this ability works on ANY melee attacks, be it base attacks, things like Torment's Reach or weapon attacks. Eneravating Blows effect has long duration and works well with Apprentice Sneak Attack.
- Force of Anguish is the boss killer. With such long duration it can stunlock dragon bosses on PotD.
- you can use weapon if you want. All monk abilities and special attacks will work just fine.
- IMO Monk is really overpowered class in this game. And absolutely the best for solo. His problem is that he has minimal party synergy (unless you count weakening/proning people) and works best when player concentrates on the Monk specifically.
Also, I disagree that Monk is not very fitting for PC roleplay-wise. The Watcher suffers quite a lot from his condition but eventually accept it and becomes stronger through it. And the whole thing with Watcher's visions and previous life can be seen as pretty transcendent experience. Monk are about understanding themselves and surpassing limits of flesh, after all. The whole game can be seen as the final spiritual challenge for the Monk!Watcher. To me personally, Monk "felt" second most right after Cipher.
This. I approve. Never made a main monk [I'm the spell guy] But carry Zahua or just make merc.
Monk as you say is strong, and with the conditionality you mention. Can't be too critical, Slandered isn't there yet, He played on normal and just enjoyed the experience, so the min-max part isn't there. Eventually Pillars shall consume him like the rest of us and he'll play potd at least once, rage, roll one monk and play in the dark butt naked screaming... and then... he'll know.
I will pin this. Thank you for the table and the notes/corrections. I don't agree regarding how often Monk crits or that Monk is overpowered but you bring up good points and I agree with Nemesis that I am not coming from a min-max POTD perspective.
Regarding the roleplaying aspect I agree that Monks description doesn't conflict with being a Watcher. The problem is you get very little unique dialogue for being a Monk so the game has virtually no reactivity towards your class. As opposed to classes like Cipher, Priest, and Paladin that get a ton of reactivity in the game.
I had a blast playing the monk. It was the class i completed the game with.
Nice glad you enjoyed it. I like Monk in the sequel but here it's just not my cup of tea.
Ah, the monk. I find this one of the most intriguing approaches to your typical martial artist archetype. The more you suffer, the more suffering for your opponents.
I think the concept is interesting here but much more well done in the sequel.
Intro to the first video: "No class will get below a C."
This video: "Actually, screw Monk."
Made me chuckle
😂😂😂
FINALLY!! Any shmuck can kill the Dragon with +10 Swords of Ultimate Pwnage or Level 9 Castings of "Everything Dies Now!!". True Legends punch the Dragon to death.
True! Not much things feel as badass as keeping a dragon on it's knees using Force of Anguish.
@@Quaranyr Discovering that you can kick Demigods to death is like discovering that you can kick Wolfman in the Nards.
😂😂
I've finished PotD twice as a monk. Mechanically it's S class, but only for what it does best, which is to take out high priority targets like wizards, ciphers, adragans, ogre druids etc. Then polish off foes that are just melee. You run into a melee character, disengage for wounds then run to the dangerous target and melt them. I didn't even have to minmax for my character to have the most damage, hits, crits and kills of the party. It's a beast as long as you keep his endurance up. Stats of 14, 14, 14, 16, 10, 10 with the deadfire dlc items made me a powerhouse. The 10 you get from Iron Wheel is pretty significant by the way, especially if you have durgan and legendary gear with second skin. I loved playing as cipher, but I had to min max to feel as powerful as I did playing the monk with the stats above and I enjoyed the monk much more. It is even more of a beast in PoE 2
Fascinating thank you. I enjoyed this class a lot more in the sequel as well.
Rooting Pain: Fortitude is a very high defense for a lot of tougher enemies, so it's only really useful against mobs. You'll want some way to increase engagement if possible, so your monk can punish those who get close.
Good callout thank you.
The problem for me with Monk was the Wounds Mechanic. Aside from the fact they're attribute needy - since more than average are actually good for Monk, so there's less of a "dump stat" to play with increases. The actual abilities are a little bit of a PITA to figure out, especially since you have to be wounded to a set extent to pull a lot of them off. Keeping track of that while also trying not to DIE is the same problem as the Cypher and the Chanter. You may if you are lucky, use one big ability per fight. ** There's also the point that up to a certain patch; it was actually more viable to play Unarmed on ANY other character than a monk. Since the choice of style - whose name I forget - actually stacked up on itself every level, if you were not a monk. [I was very disappointed when they patched it out; and no I don't care that it was a bug. It was a fun bug] * If you took Unarmed as weapon style - while it was not patched - as a Paladin; you would be literally Death Incarnate and Unstoppable.
Overall, I'd go Con/Str/Dex in that order. Some Int depending on ability choices, and I think resolve is about the only universal dump stat. * You're going to want the HP and Endurance to survive the wounds and still fight. Con is most important, followed by strength, or dex depending on what you favor. I tend to like strength since I found that attack speed is wonky. It's capped at a set point, so dex may not be all that helpful on a build that's focused on Unarmed, which is naturally a faster attack. I'm less fond of what they call "risk vs. reward" types of class. Mostly because it's always more of one, and it's usually the punitive one.
I absolutely agree tracking the resource and using it properly is a huge pain for Monk. For Chanter and Cipher I didn't find it to be a struggle but it might be because of my playstyle.
@@SlanderedGaming Pardon the pun, but Monk hits different; and I think it's because with the other two - you're not risking death/game over just to be able to use your abilities. The monk makes you do that. It's an added layer of pressure not to mess up, and use it wisely. But then what do you expect from one of the designers who famously made X-Com harder. Or came up with the Triple Crown Solo. o. O
Waiting for obsidian to release a dlc that introduces 200 new classes just to watch us try to rank them all. Like a spite dlc
😂😂
The Monk is one if my favorites in Pillars its an interesting twist on the class. Feels to me like a meta call-out that Monks in a world of high magic, plate armour and magically enchanted weapons are these masochistic nutcases who charge into battle with fists and often not in armor and all the class mechanics and flavor lean heavily on this.
While Deadfire refines the class a bit to make it better, and multiclass it of course, I disagree that it sucks other comments go into what makes it work and get it into ridiculous op levels just takes a little more effort and game knowledge to get up to the level of a Barb, Pally or melee wizard.
I see we share the opinions on another Pillars class!
😂
Monk certainly doesn't suck, it's just shoehorned into being quite an awkward off-tank / secondary damage dealer tied to a character that you dont get until usually after you've already assembled the team you want the main game for, unless you specifcally go ingame with a mind to picking him up. Personally I see no reason to play a woundkeep monk. If you want a tank, go with fighter.. if you want pure dmg objectively barb is overall better.. if you want an active dmg melee class.. then go with monk, generate wounds.. keep him well topped by priest and/or chanter.. and then and only then with wound usage does he outdps fighter and some barb builds and certainly provides more utility with stuns.
The monk you face in Crägholdt, shows most people some of the monk potential.. and typically kills parties.. especially the underprepared and underleveled as most will be when they reach that area. The monk and surrounding fighters are typically responsible for some of the most deaths in the entire game.
Ultimately the best way to make a monk is a crit focused woundspending Monk. Monks actually can crit, and crit more frequently than you seem to think - get wounds quick.. use the most effective talents you have, and let the team heal you, disable with stuns or kill with dmg anyone who deal the most damage. The monk lives and dies by his wounds.. and would have it no other way.
Yup agreed with most of what you said. Overall Monk doesn't suck but it sucks for me because I cannot stand it in this game. So much better in the sequel.
The worse part about this class that it has no reactivity. Thankfully monk in poe 2 got buffed whether its pure or multiclassed. Regardless I don't think the class is the worse in poe 1. You can use whatever weapon that doesn't involve with fists and can still alot of damage. Speaking of fists the fists get more powerful the more you level up.
Which class do you believe is worse?
@@SlanderedGaming if you asked me that In poe 2 I would tell you of the worse classes and archetypes but here...not sure. Maybe wizard if I'm being honest. Sure you have some good spells and all early but it starts real bumpy early in the game and probably mid and endgame it shines but that's just me. Don't know about the other players experience with wizard so that may vary.
Forced to tread the path between life and death. This way offers only suffering. A penitent monk must come to terms with the fact that his existence is a punishment... Or you could avoid this class entirely and be a wizard.
LMFAO
In my opinion Monk is an interesting take on class specific resources, but in the wrong type of game. If healing was more effective and important to gameplay, as well as health not limiting the total damage you can take between rests, then Monk would excel. Unfortunately health effectively puts a cap on Wounds per rest, and the mechanics favor damage mitigation over damage recovery.
It's a shame because Monk has very strong abilities and the Wounds mechanic is interesting.
Monk is a lost class. They wandered into the wrong game.