The Monk: A Priest/Warrior Melee Build

*Disclaimer - due to recent patches many sections of this guide are out of date. I will be correcting and revising over time, please leave feedback pertaining to post 1818 BMonk info. Thank you.

Welcome and thanks for taking an interest in this guide. While I do not profess to be an expert at ROM, or the Monk build specifically, I felt our forums lack proper guides to most builds and this is my attempt to rectify this situation 1 build at a time.

I encourage feedback from the community. If my numbers / insights / whatever seem off or misleading please let me know and I will do my best to update the guide accordingly.

With that out of the way ….

Intro:

What is a Monk?
- A Monk is a Priest main, Warrior secondary build. Its namesake comes from the elite skill Battle Monk Stance (15/15).

BATTLE MONK STANCE- When activated, physical attack is raised by 30 points, defense is raised by 2%, and healing effectiveness is reduced by 3%. this stance lasts 600 sec.
Mana Cost: 20
Cast: Instant
Upgradeable: +6 physical attack, + .4% defense, +.6% healing effectiveness reduction per grade

Priests have no melee skills WTF!
- Very true. Again the Monk turns to his/her elite skills for assistance in Explosion of Fighting Spirit (EoFS) 20/20.

EXPLOSION OF FIGHTING SPIRIT – Does 80% of main hand weapon dmg to target. Must be in Battle Monk Stance
Mana Cost: 15
Cast: Instant
Upgradeable: +1.6 dmg per grade (increased mana cost / lvl [need numbers here])

And Chain of Fighting Spirit (CoFS) 25/25.

CHAIN OF FIGHTING SPIRIT – Fires off 2 hits for 90% main hand dmg. (Requires Battle Monk Stance)
Mana Cost: 30
Cast: Instant
CD: 4 sec
Upgradeable: +1.8% dmg and +3 mana cost per grade
User’s Note: It’s channeling (like Mooncleave)

To round out the Monks melee attack arsenal we borrow Slash and Whirlwind from our Warrior half-self, and our final elite skill Ascending Dragon Strike (ADS) 30/30.

ASCENDING DRAGON STRIKE – Cause 180% of the main hand weapon’s damage to target. (Requires the Battle Monk Stance)
Requires 30 Rage
Range: 50
Cast: Instant
CD: 8 sec
Upgradeable: +3.6% weapon dmg per grade

To supplement our melee abilities Priests also come with an array of useful buffs and survival skills that are well suited for melee combat. These include but are not limited to Grace of Life (HP buff that parties love and you’ll find invaluable), Amplified Attack (another crowd pleaser and a major boost to melee dps), Regen (the reason everyone loves a Priest secondary), and a 30 minute self rez (like it or not we all die, and sometimes running back to your body is not a good idea). Also the 10minute Priest Full heal is a life saver in party and solo.

The Warrior secondary also allows our Monk to use axes (some speculation as to the best MH option remains, some prefer sceptre, others maces, but I’ve found axes quite useful) and a very nice Str buff from Brute Strength.

All of this sounds great but where should I put my TP?

- Contrary to conventional reasoning maxing your elite skills is not the way of the Monk. (IMHO – there is some debate on the subject)

- Suggested TP investments – Priest

• Max Amplified Attack (great dmg and groups will love this)
• Max Regen (essential for survival and makes you a valid healer) {max until 25-30 then reassess. Also if using 2h staff may not need to keep it near max}
• Max Grace of Life (crowd pleaser and welcome self buff)
• Max or Near Max Battle Monk Stance (the healing penalty is not applied to Regen! And the def / attack bonus is very welcome with cloth armor)
• +2 EoFS (as will be seen the mana cost does not merit further upgrades of this skill) {for pure Melee builds max-near max this skill}
• +1 CoFS (same argument as above) {same as above}
• Max-Near Max ADS (post 30/30 this is your main attack skill)
• Spend the rest where you see fit. Personally I invested in faith and Heal to allow me the flexibility to main heal groups as necessary (caution if you follow this guide you will have a lower mana pool than your typical healing Priest)
• Also consider Bone Chill, it’s nice when faced with multiple adds, but it can easily burn your already sparse mana pool {if using 2h staff consider TW and CoL as they become very powerful pulling / grp dps skills}

– Suggested TP Investments – Warrior

• Max Slash
• Max Whirlwind (nice for multi mobs and if you find yourself tanking)
• Max Brute Strength
• Place the rest in any Warrior specific skills you find useful while leveling
• Depending on play style (if you want maximum dps) invest in Berserk, though I found it was not for me

I’m with you so far, how about some help on gear.

- For a Monk the stats most valued are melee stats, as one might expect. The plus side … cloth armor with these stats is oft cheaper than caster centric cloth. Downside … hard to find boss drops that pertain to your build, and will naturally upset natural melee builds if you roll on “their” weapons / jewellery.

- Stat distribution:

• Physical Attack – Priests receive only 1Pa per Str. If you want max dps get plenty of Pa.
• Stamina is another key, the more stam the longer you last, simple as that.
• Str – adds 1Pa per, also 1HP per. never worry about wasting stat points here. Brute Strength gives a healthy dose but the more the better.
• Dex is needed to increase hit rate as well as dodge (avoiding hits means you live to fight another day)
• Defense, while BMS provides a healthy does, as will a shield the added protection will help compensate for wearing cloth.
• Wisdom / MP, you WILL be burning through massive amounts of mana, pots are fine but can get expensive, so and time you can score extra mana without sacrificing too many melee stats consider it stat points well spent.
• +X to all … best of all worlds, Transmute yourself some of these Runes and place in damn near everything.
• Intel – adds Ma, MP, and Pa. small amounts of each. Most viable in a 2h staff build that also utilizes TW and CoL.

- Weapons

• Mace / Sceptars – Middle rung dmg and healing.
• Axes are great since you get the Bleed effect (even if minimal) from Slash
• Find the SLOWEST 1H weapon possible (you will be spamming EoFS all day long, with an approximate cast time of .75s the slower the weapon the harder you hit!)
• 2h Staffs – Best healing and Mdmg