Relatively new, tried all the feeders except guardian (because gross) and doing first Monk. Suppose it's good in a group? I've tried some groups in the past and it was slower than solo (pug things I guess).

Mainly just the armor issue? w/ robes I feel essentially forced to go dex instead of EE, light years away from int gear to compensate 20-base int so I'm melee (which is fine I like melee), and Doublestrike slaps but x-strike feels awful and no world where I'd make XCast work so it'd be another Powerstrike, Retribution, Double-strike build...but wearing a table cloth.

Did 100 vit rest into dex, no sneaky yet, gear is decent for a 3 week old acct but I've felt great on all my other melee climbs. Had a rouge that felt good death-farming at 68 using the same dagger. I know 27 dex armor 29 charm is pretty darn low but would 20+ more dex magically make it feel good? I usually stop at 90 vit and either do sneaky or just let an EE armor makeup for it (just 70 scale or 102 chain, nothing crazy). EE on robes seems cringe, minimum phys stays 0 and from anything I can find on here you just don't do it.

It just feels like Gutted defense for slightly better base stats than a rouge? Rouge had a 70 EE scale and felt infinitely better.

Maybe I'm missing something major or silly, figured I'd ask since everyone on here has been very helpful. If I'm just crazy then feel free to let me know lol ty all

Edit: https://forums.d2jsp.org/user.php?c=3&i=337134&p=558074
Forgot to link toon in case anyone cared but didn't want to click profile. Idk seemed like a thing to do.

This post was edited by Tonst3r on Mar 12 2024 08:41pm

My last 2 HC Deaths were on the lovely Monk class. I go 100 vita, lots of dext and as much EE as I can find in Padded Robes.

The levels above 71 are just stupid IMO on the monk as the Easy Mode wears off and the wrong 3 monsters can make you pucker in the lower region. I dont climb much anymore so my history with a Monk isnt very recent.

I've seen lots of Monks in good groups do VN damage with the right gear set up. Maybe only use your Monk in groups. Just my 2 cents.

Chip

PS - I know you're SC but wanted to give my opinion from HC point of view...limited due to lack of climbs but I'm not a big fan of Monk solo.

Despite being a SC-andy for now I have big respect for the HC grind! Maybe that's my issue, I'm trying to play it like the normal tank I build on all the previous classes while wearing tissue-paper. Do you feel like EE padded is actually doing much or just kind of forced into it for HC? Doesn't seem to be a great boost w/ the phys.def still showing 0 lol

Very sorry for your losses but does bring some solace that I'm not ENTIRELY crazy about this lol.

Maybe I just embrace the SC and go zero vit and chain-die accepting that my wep prof will never go up. 68 now so will get to experiment sometime 2m i guess.

For a group ... go pure melee damage as much as possible, thus EE wpn / dex armor and main charm.
For solo ... my preference is Melee/Heal ... Base 100 Vitality and Base 30 Intelligence (ensure you have a good Healing Charm)... Still go with the norm of EE wpn ... you could go Int or Dex armor (ee + either stat would be good) and of course dex main charm.

Abilities... Doublestrike + Salvation... get salvation to 40% which is like 6 Ability points (should get this by level 25) and upto 72% for Doublestrike. Or you can add in Retribution as well?

Also... if you find that you are still too fragile... you can go for 125 Base vitality.

Guess you can practice up on what you like the most... oh, another way to test this out... make a Melee Mage... at least you have high intelligence for healing and dex for damage. joking.

Padded ee robe will work if you get one that’s worth a little bit.

EE paddeds with pretty decent defense are still very cheap so it can work… and ofc it’ll be better with side mods.

Whatever you do stay away from non-padded robes. Their magical defenses are not too different, but non-padded is literally half the physical defense (the only one that matters on robes). That means that a 200 ee normal robe is the same as a 50 ee padded robe

Other than that, If you have heals I’ll recommend double strike and salvation as your main two skills for the high levels. Since robes take damage most of the time from physical attacks (which are most attacks) you will charge salvation relatively quickly.

If no heals yet, load up on vit and buy some regen gear. Gl!

don't feel forced to use class abilities all the time - best combo for melee solo is Powerstrike + Doublestrike(monks) which still gives you a lot of points to distribute at higher levels; so don't go Crosstrike because it's very bad for 1-3 mobs (I use this setup even for HH + Retribution)

as for armor I have played a long time with EE robe (140ish) and as my MQ weapon got upgraded to 137ee dagger I realized that dex armor is so much better because faster killing = less hp lost; (the higher your MQ ee is, the better dex robe output will be)
stacking your abilities and using them on waves of mobs (3 mobs = Doublestrike + Powerstrike the remaining one) is crucial; 2 mobs = Doublestrike or Powerstrike 1 and keep stacking DS for next wave, etc.
you will kill few more waves this way before you have to regen/self heal


/e:
and to answer your question: no, monk might be the best melee class for solo due to Doublestrike which stacks very easily

This post was edited by cagiva on Mar 13 2024 01:57am

Both of these are correct, also my explanation. Now you just need to find what fits you the best with the information given, and maybe from your own testing.

Here is a Novel concept that none have stated. I will try & keep it simple, you can figure it out for your play style etc.

I will use a Barb ability vs a Fighter ability solo'ing and only using Robes... one with +Stat, and the other with +% EE.

Powerstrike ability = Double damage and charges up at a rate of 10% per successful HIT (Hit Chance... a 0 hit = 0% charce to gain 10%)

Retribution ability = Double damage and charges up at a rate of 8% per successful Hit Taken (or Damage Taken) ... again, 0 Damage or Hit chance = 0% chance to gain 8%.

Now... say barb has an Axe and fighter a Dagger which = 1 sec delay per action:

1 vs 1 (Class vs Monster) Powerstrike will charge up faster vs Retribution because the monster also has the same 1 sec delay action (if using a normal weapon or charm of course.)

1 vs 2 or 3 Retribution will/can charge up faster vs Powerstrike because each monster that Hits or Damages per sec successful hit chance accumulates.

Hmm... let us say you confront 2 monsters, the Fighter with Powerstrike in that 1 second action successfully hits, and gains 10% charge up to Powerstrike, and the Barbarian "Takes Damage" and successfully gains 8% by BOTH monsters in that 1 second = 16% charge up: action.

Now for the Fighter, it is better to use Enhanced Effect armor to reduce damage or hits taken and rely on Powerstike successfully dealing damage to charge up the skill by 10% per second. The difference with Retribution and a Barb... the Barb can use stat armor, take damage or hits vs 2+ monsters and charge up Retribution faster and execute it earlier for faster killspeed... the difference is only the fact of encountering how many monsters per wave.

HOWEVER. I am not trying to preach to what to do... I just think, even with a melee / heal build monk (salvation is the same as retribution) ... it could come in very handy. But I do like Cagivas' post option(s).

This post was edited by izParagonzi on Mar 13 2024 03:06am

the only info you need is that
monk is pro at soloing

I didn't read.


Monk is one of the best robe class to solo with.
Tbf if casting/lock wasn't so OP
I'd say monk is my favorite

Monk is my favorite solo class. I stat vita the whole way and wear dex robes. Gets a little tough at 70+ especially with EPs but double strike is so good.