Aidan's Guide to Monks
As Vivoria poured herself deep within the arcane book of magic she recently found on the shelf, she suddenly came upon a passage indicating a way to harness the very power of Life itself. She read on, completely intrigued by this possibility and learned that with the aide of an otherworldly astral reagent, as well as a few others that she had plenty of, and intense prayer and dedication to the Powers, she could harness the power to resurrect a soul from the Ethereal Void. Completely shocked, she sat there for a few moments - tears slowly falling from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.
Within minutes Vivoria was seen bolting from the Sigil library, headed towards the great mountains of northwestern Avros. Rumor had it that a friend of hers had recently gone missing, and was assumed dead, while attempting to excavate a tomb found in the mountains. Since it was extremely taboo for mortals to meddle with graves and tombs, no one questioned as to why or how her friend had met his end.
As she reached the tomb, Vivoria began treading lightly, fearful of the unknown and what may have caused the death of her friend. As she scaled the small cliff overhanging the edge of the mountain's base, she knelt down on her knees and turned her head to the sky. She began to pray, asking for what no mortal has the sole power to do, and then quickly turned down towards her pack, removing her reagents and the book which she had taken from the library. Reading aloud the passage found within the text, her reagents flared brightly and she called up again to the Powers for the spiritual focus and strength to reach within the Ethereal and bring back her lost companion.
The sky quickly grew black, and lightning streaked across the horizon with an accompanying roll of thunder that shook the very ground she was standing on. She began glowing intensely with a bright white light and soon could no longer see, hear, or feel anything around her. The light was blinding now, and she could not block it even by closing her eyes. A soothing feeling of calm and tranquility started slowly taking over her body, from head to toe. She soon forgot about everything happening around her and was content to just relish and bask in this new found peace.
Suddenly she sensed a powerful presence from behind her and turned to find a dark shadowy figure moving slowly towards her. The being was bound in glowing chains and looked to be reaching out towards her with an outstretched hand. Reluctantly Vivoria raised her arm and began moving towards the figure, unsure of what exactly was happening. She could tell that the figure was a male now, and as the two moved closer to each other, the sound of thunder could be heard, increasing in volume the closer they got. As she slipped her hand into his, she noticed it was extremely cold and seemed to be drawing energy from her. With a loud crack of thunder, everything turned black, and Vivoria lost consciousness.
Vivoria slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the light and attempting to focus. She slowly propped herself up with one arm and at that moment her eyes grew wide and her breathing stopped.
"Hello, Vivoria.", said a tall handsome Elf with a warm smile.
"E..e.....e....Elodas!!!!!!", she cried out with joy.
Monks are a classification of mages, intent on focusing their lives to the study and mastery of the ancient magical arts. They are trained in secluded monasteries, where they spend years of their lives not talking to anyone and honing their skills and spells. During this time they form a special bond with nature, allowing them time to focus on the creation of magical affects using only herbs and sprigs.
The first monastery is rumored to have been founded ages ago by a group of White Wizards. Since then, monasteries have popped up all over Alyria, allowing these reclusive mages to spread to all corners of the world. The vast majority of them may be found near the magically inclined city of Sigil, though, where there is known to be the largest magical library in existence.
Though they may seem to be a religious class, Monks, with the rare exception of calling upon the Powers to aid in a spell, tend not to align themselves with deities and instead focus more on perfecting their mind and body, rather than their spirit. It is this intent desire to achieve physical and mental perfection that allows Monks to become much more adept at combat than other mages.
Some of the more notable and powerful Monks in recent history to grace the land of Alyria have been Balzac, Araphwael, Riven, Throm, Sotano, Palen, Corgan, Argent, Ascent, and Extemper.
There are a few things you should know about this guide before you continue on. First of all, this guide tries to be as completely objective as possible within the limits of the author's five year experience playing the game. Secondly, this guide was designed to be a helpful start for new players, as well as reference material for veteran players just wanting to find out more about the Monk class. Lastly, if you should have any questions about material in this guide, or critiques, criticisms, or comments in general, please send me a tell or I-Mail in game.
Proficiency and spell priority ratings range from highest priority (five stars) to lowest (one star) and are meant to represent the order in which you should train them and to an extent their respective overall usefulness.
Acrobatics - Priority Rating: **
Just as Rogan was about to be run through by the determined cavalier, in a stunningly spectacular acrobatic back flip, he leapt out of harm's way and sprang back to a ready fighting position.
Acrobatics is the highest complexity defense offered to the young adventurer, and surprisingly it is also the least useful. While to some it may have the appeal of being one of the "cooler" defenses (back flipping to avoid attacks IS pretty cool...), it cannot be used while mounted, which is a huge disadvantage to anyone who is not a Barbarian. Practice this proficiency only if you plan to be using 'combat defense auto'.
Bash - Priority Rating: ****
The enraged warrior, fueled by vengeance for his fallen comrades, rushed across the battle field towards his foe, drew back his shield, and with all his might brought the shield pummeling down on top of its head with a sickening "thud".
This proficiency is incredibly useful in all sorts of situations. Not only does it deal great damage to your opponents in combat, but it can also be used to bash open doors that are locked (and not bash-proof). It does take a good deal of stamina every time you use it, though, so caution should be used when trying to bash in combat while already low on stamina. It can now be used through the web filter, making it mildly more useful than it had previously been while in combat since a great deal of your time in combat with other players is spent webbed. Bash becomes quickly outdated as an archon if you choose to use a two-handed weapon, however, since you need to have a shield equipped to bash and you cannot use two-handed weapons while wearing a shield.
Blind Fighting - Priority Rating: **
Vilgan dodged the massive ball of flames aimed straight at his head and spun around to counter attack but instead was instantly blinded with an intense flash of light! All was not lost, however, as he focused on his other senses, heard the light footsteps of his foe rushing towards him, and plunged his spear deep within the chest of the evil sorcerer.
Blind fighting increases your chances of landing successful hits during combat while you are blinded. If you master this proficiency (it can be practiced to 100%) you will have a chance to deliver a successful blow equal to about 75% of the normal chance while not blinded. While this can definitely be useful in some clutch situations, Monks also receive the 'cure blind' spell, so it is not as useful to them.
Dodge - Priority Rating: *****
The Halfling quickly leapt out of the way of the attack, laughing uncontrollably and frustrating the slow moving Ogre.
This proficiency is THE definitive defensive proficiency in the game. It works wonders in all situations, and the best defense to use in any given situation regardless of race, classes, or style of play. It is fairly high complexity, though, so you will need to find other means of protecting yourself until you are able to practice it. Dodge also allows you to avoid falling rocks from certain rooms, paralyzing bites by some NPCs, as well as blows in combat, which truly makes it an invaluable proficiency.
Enhanced Damage - Priority Rating: ****
Through her studying of combat techniques and anatomy, Sarlock now knows several ways to deal incredible damage to her foes with minimal effort.
Enhanced damage is a great proficiency to have practiced, and although it is not necessary, it will make your life in Alyria much easier. It is a passive proficiency that you can't see working, save for the fact that your enemies seem to be dying much faster than they previously were. This proficiency is definitely invaluable to the Monk, as they do not have any high damage weapons and need all the help they can get in that department.
Exotic - Priority Rating: *
The seemingly helpless human was cornered as the orcs surrounded him, but then much to their surprise, he drew his weapon - a flaming tongue!
Exotic is a novelty proficiency at best. There is only one weapon of this type worth using in the game, and that is the tuning fork, a level 65 nodecay weapon with the shocking attribute. If you have trained everything else possible and are just looking for something to dump unwanted practices into, this is your proficiency.
Flail - Priority Rating: **
Vladia twirled the flail above her head before she unleashed its fury upon the attacking wolves. The spinning mass of metal and chain confused and bewildered the creatures as it laid waste to them one by one.
Flail is a moderately decent weapon, but there is a lack of weapons of this type in the game so you will be hard pressed to find enough to level with. It deals 'bash' type damage, which a lot of NPCs are immune or resistant to, as well as Minotaurs. If you are looking for a 'bash' type weapon, use a mace instead.
Hand to Hand - Priority Rating: **
Suddenly the Dracon's tail lashed out at the warrior's hand and knocked his weapon to the ground with a loud *clang*. To its surprise, instead of clambering around on the ground trying to regain the valuable weapon, the warrior instead rushed at it with fists cocked back ready to unload.
Hand to hand, like blind fighting, can be useful in certain combat situations, but is not in and of itself a very useful proficiency. As a weapon, your fists just cannot produce enough damage, even with martial arts (read below) to stand up to foes with other weapons. Train this proficiency only if you want to be prepared for every possible situation.
Hide - Priority Rating: **
Prenor heard footsteps coming from the east, and not wanting to be discovered, quickly stepped into the shadows, completely undetectable.
Hide is a confusing proficiency that can be both incredibly useful and incredibly useless at the same time. While the prospect of hiding different places and being undetectable by your peers appeals to many a young adventurer, the practicality of the proficiency eventually sets in. While hidden, a vast majority of commands cannot be used without revealing yourself. It is still useful for when you simply don't want people to know that you're there, but even that is not a sure thing, since people with sense life will still see that someone is there - they just won't be able to tell who it is.
Herbalism - Priority Rating: *****
The evil gang of Minotaurs saw the lone Monk and laughed heartily as they argued exactly how they were going to torture, maim, and slay her. When they finally decided, and started closing in, they saw a slight movement inside her cloak and stopped. It was too late, however, as she flung her cloak back and tossed three brown sacks at the group, which exploded with such intensity that it knocked her down on the ground and left the poor bovines in a smoldering pile of flaming fur, ash, and smoke.
Herbalism is an incredibly powerful proficiency, and should be among the first proficiencies of the Monk class that you should train to the maximum. With a mortar and pestle, some sprigs from the local herb shop, and a little spell power, you can create mixtures ranging from the simple 'cure poison' to the dreaded 'high explosive'. Monks are the only class besides Rangers to get this proficiency, and as such, mixtures are valued greatly - to the extent that other players who do not have the proficiency will actually pay for you to make some for them. In this way, herbalism can also be used to make gold. Be wary of what kind of mixtures you sell, and who you sell them to, however, or you might find them thrown right back in your face during your next visit to the Proving Grounds.
Kick - Priority Rating: **
The Barbarian lunged at the Halfling Monk, axe cocked back ready to chop down with force enough to split him in two, but was caught unaware with a roundhouse kick to the stomach and another to the side of the head, knocking him back a bit stunned.
To put it simply, kick is like a watered down version of the bash proficiency. It does not do as much damage, require as much stamina, or even require you to be wearing a shield, which is probably its saving grace, since while bash becomes useless while wearing a two-handed weapon, kick does not. However, the damage that kick deals isn't enough to warrant its use, even with the martial arts proficiency enhancing it. Definitely do not practice this if you plan on using a one-handed weapon like axe, lance, or magical wand, as you will find bash much more appealing.
Lore - Priority Rating: ***
Deep in thought, the Gnome studied his books and scrolls, yearning for more knowledge in an attempt to quench his insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Lore is a proficiency representing a character's knowledge of all things magical and non-magical in the world of Alyria. It is basically like an instant identify spell cast on any item that you look at, and comes in very handy. If you think you can get along just fine with the identify spell, which Monks also get, then this proficiency definitely isn't necessary. Convenience is never cheap, though.
Mace - Priority Rating: ***
Jenzu deflected the goblin's blows with her shield repeatedly until finally lunging forward with arm outstretched - her right hand clenching a mighty enchanted mace with which she landed a bone crunching blow to its skull.
Arguably the best bash type weapon in the game, and one of the best one-handed weapons overall. It does fairly high damage, is moderately accurate, and easy to obtain at almost any level. The diversity of the mace, and relative strength make it the best choice of weapon for a first class Monk, or any other character who does not have access to the sword, spear, axe, or lance proficiencies.
Meditation - Priority Rating: ***
Alone in the corner, the mage quietly meditated to herself, seeking spiritual cleansing and mental focus - a warm blue aura surrounding her as her powers grew.
Meditation is the cousin to the fast healing and enhanced endurance proficiencies. Instead of helping replenish hit points faster like fast healing, or stamina like enhanced endurance, meditation helps replenish your spell power while at rest, sleeping, or just walking about. It is rumored that this proficiency and its ilk do not work while in combat, which severely reduces its usefulness, however, there are times when you are able to and need to regenerate your spell power while not in combat quicker than normal and that is when this proficiency really shines. While easily overlooked, perhaps its best use is to provide the novice Monk with quicker regeneration, as he/she will definitely not have the large pool of spell power to draw from like a high level character does. Overall it is a good support proficiency, worth practicing after you have finished the higher priority proficiencies and spells.
Magical Items - Priority Rating: **
As the battle ensued, the Monk was rapidly growing tired. He knew he could not hold up in physical combat against the stalwart Cavalier, and must do something to end the fight quickly. As the rider turned for another pass with his lance, the Monk reached into his cloak and withdrew a small wand, causing the Cavalier to chuckle a bit as he charged fearlessly. Suddenly the Monk raised the wand and uttered a few magical words and spiders appeared out of nowhere, entangling the doomed horseman in sticky webs!
This proficiency was recently upgraded by the addition of the recharge item and multiply magic spells to the Monk spell list. Its purpose is to increase the proficiency with which a character can successfully use magical items (hence the name) such as wands, staves, etc. In conjunction with the aforementioned spells, the Monk can produce items which can be remarkably useful, but since almost all of the items which would make this proficiency really shine have been made magic-resistant, the proficiency is at best a decent support proficiency. If you are going to practice this proficiency at all, definitely practice it as early as possible - the cost of it grows almost exponentially as you level to an astoundingly high five practices per one percent.
Martial Arts - Priority Rating: **
With a lightning fast strike with her fist, Kira landed a blow to her opponent's neck causing him to stumble backwards gasping for air, completely stunned by what appeared to him to be a blur of motion.
Martial arts was intended to be a support proficiency for the hand to hand and kick proficiencies, in hopes of making these more viable to the masses. Due to the incredibly high cost of training and relatively low increase in actual damage that it provides these other proficiencies, however, it quickly sank to the bottom of the barrel and became one of those "train this only if you have nothing else to use your practices on" proficiencies. It receives two stars instead of only one because like hand to hand and blind fighting, it CAN be useful in certain rare circumstances - like if you've been disarmed and then blinded, in which case while you're blinded (at least a couple rounds, especially if you're also webbed) you will want to be doing as much damage as possible without your weapon equipped.
Nunchaku - Priority Rating: *
In a twirling storm of wood and chain, the Monk swiftly took out the would-be assassins one by one in a seemingly effortless ballet of man and weapon.
Nunchaku is possibly the worst weapon type in the game. There are hardly any attainable in the game, and the ones that are, aren't worth using due to extremely low accuracy and damage compared to all the other weapon types. Don't bother wasting practices on this proficiency unless you just like role-playing a martial artist.
Polearm - Priority Rating: **
The Valkyrie rode courageously head on into the battle, swinging her sword about her head, but much to her surprise, was instantly brought down off her steed with a tremendous blow to the chest from seemingly nowhere by an iron poleaxe.
Able to strike foes from a distance while keeping its wielder out of harm's way was historically the main purpose of polearms. Unfortunately the game's rendition of these powerful weapons is far less intriguing - in fact they're actually almost as useless as exotic type weapons. The only saving grace for this proficiency is the one good polearm in the game (a polearm called 'Cosmos') which, while still much less useful than other similarly leveled weapons, is still pretty good and nodecay to boot. Many argue that this proficiency and its cousin, halberd, would gain a much needed boost if they were given the ability to dismount opponents in battle, but as of yet this has yet to be implemented.
Staff - Priority Rating: *
An old man walking along the forest trail is surprised by two thieves, who appear out of the brush demanding him to empty his purse as toll for passage through 'their' forest. The man refuses and as one thief approaches angrily, receives a bash to the skull by the old man's gnarled staff, falling flat on his back, unconscious. Fearing for his life, the other thief disappears back into the shadowy forest.
Staff is yet another weapon proficiency which has been given no attention during item creation, and thus suffers not only from low damage, but also a lack of weapons of this type. There is no valid reason for training this proficiency, other than for role-playing.
Throwing - Priority Rating: *****
Swords clashed and agonizing grunts and groans of physical exhaustion ensued until finally, after coming to the conclusion that she could no longer go on, Charis reached under her belt and flung a small dark ball at the raging Barbarian, who was taken completely by surprise with a blinding flash of light, rendering him unable to see.
Throwing is perhaps the Monk's, as well as any other class's, most diverse and often used proficiency. The applications of the proficiency are only limited to the items you possess in which to throw. The most commonly thrown objects are smoke bombs, flash bombs, and herbalism mixtures. With these three incredibly powerful tools, the Monk can make quick work of the unexpecting foe. Definitely go out of your way to train this proficiency to the max as soon as possible, as you will need it at a high percentage to prevent your items from blowing up in your face when you attempt to throw them.
Whip - Priority Rating: **
Helgor, from a few yards away, reached back and let his whip fly through the air. With a loud crack, the whip jumped back towards the Monk, as the griffon cringed away in pain.
Whip is one of the mediocre weapon types in the game. It is not quite as bad as nunchaku, yo-yo, or exotic, but not as good as the better weapons like mace, spear, and sword. For first class Monks, mace is definitely a better choice than whip, and since you will likely be gaining other, better weapon proficiencies in your subsequent classes, this proficiency should stay where it is now: at the bottom of the list.
Yo-yo - Priority Rating: *
The young combat student was rarely ever thought a threat as he walked about the city playing with his yo-yo, but he had them all fooled, for if there ever rose a situation where he would be called upon to fight, his toy could easily make quick work of unsuspecting foes.
Yo-yo has been unofficially labeled as the bane of Materia Magica. It has very little practical use and is hated by newer players (due to the fact that it sucks up their precious leveling betters). It is pretty commonly known that the proficiency is a joke, and any attempt to try and use it in a real combat situation would just be asking to die.
Armor - Priority Rating: **
Armor is a good spell, but has a low priority rating due to the fact that with even a decent SCC you will be able to cast this spell successfully without practicing it at all. It provides the caster with +3 armor and if you don't use an item that casts it, you will want to have this in your spellbook.
Animate Dead - Priority Rating: *
Animate dead sounds very intriguing to the naïve new player, however, it is in fact actually pretty useless due to the fact that you can't animate corpses with a level high enough to be of any actual help to you. It's a pretty funny novelty spell though, and nothing is quite as amusing as seeing a formation of resurrected frog zombies walk into the room.
Abjure - Priority Rating: *
Abjure is an interesting spell. When cast upon a faerie target, it will send the faerie back to their own plane of existence. This sounds like an extremely powerful spell, and as such it comes with an extremely large cost - in the form of reagents. It costs an astral AND a summoning stone, so the cost of this spell pretty much outweighs the usefulness of it in terms of practicality.
Bless - Priority Rating: **
A player once said, "you can never have enough saves", and was absolutely correct. The bless spell raises your saving throw against spells anywhere from +1 to +4, depending on the level of the caster or item. This spell, like armor, is very easily cast without practicing, which is why it has such a low priority rating. Definitely keep bless scribed in one of your spellbooks, especially if you aren't going to be wearing an item that casts it.
Blindness - Priority Rating: ***
This spell used to be THE PK spell a few years back, but has been toned down a bit since then. It blinds the target (obviously), and prevents them from targeting spells, proficiencies, and thrown objects at you. It is suggested you practice this spell only if you are creating a PK character. Since you are a Monk and in 99% of your cases you will also be a Druid (see class path help below), it is highly recommended that you train smoke evocation instead of this version of blindness if you don't plan on PKing a lot.
Blink - Priority Rating: *
Blink is a travel spell which, when cast, will move the caster up to 40 rooms in the specified direction. As with blindess though, it is suggested that you hold off on practicing this spell in favor of the Druid equivalent, vacuum invocation, since it is lighter on the reagent requirements and does not have to be scribed or memorized.
Calm - Priority Rating: **
This spell, if successfully landed, will stop your current battle. It is most often used in an attempt at escaping from your opponent, and many a time has saved a player's life. As with some of the aforementioned spells, it is recommended that you forego training this spell and instead train the Druid equivalent, evoke ooze (note: this spell must be targeted on yourself to accomplish the desired affect), since it costs no reagents at all, needs not be scribed or memorized.
Cause Light - Priority Rating: *
Cause light is a mid-low level damage spell that deals type magic damage. Since there are a lot of magic resistant NPCs and players in the game, and the spell doesn't do much damage in the first place, it is very wise to resist the urge to practice it.
Cause Serious - Priority Rating: *
As with cause light, this is practically the same exact spell only dealing slightly more damage. Even with the minor boost in damage, this spell is not worth practicing as there are other far more useful spells of similar complexity and spell-power usage that deal much more damage.
Change Sex - Priority Rating: *
This is THE original novelty spell. There is practically no real use for being able to modify the gender of an NPC or player. Not to mention the fact that if you actually do find a need to do so later on, there are plenty of potions, herbs, and other magical items that cast this spell.
Cure Blindness - Priority Rating: *****
Cure blindness is pretty much the most important spell in the game. People create entire class paths around the ability to attain this spell, and for good reason. Being blinded almost completely debilitates your character, and as such, being able to reverse this affect is invaluable. This should be practiced to the maximum as soon as humanly possible and you should ALWAYS keep it memorized.
Cure Disease - Priority Rating: **
Cure disease is normally a decent spell, however, since as a Monk you are almost assuredly going to choose Druid as your cleric class, you will receive a better version of this spell in the form of salt invocation (which can be cast in combat, while cure disease cannot).
Cure Light - Priority Rating: *****
This is an extremely useful spell to have, and no character should be without it. It doesn't heal a whole lot of damage, and also doesn't use a lot of spellpoints, but its main selling point is the fact that it is one of the 3 or so spells that can be cast while silenced. If you plan on being in CPK, or attempting to solo any archon hunters or other fairly large NPCs, you'll definitely want to train this to the maximum, and eventually master it through use.
Cure Poison - Priority Rating: **
As with cure disease, this spell is decent but the version you will get from going Druid (salt evocation) is superior in every feasible way, and as such it is ill advised to waste practices on this spell.
Cure Serious - Priority Rating: **
Cure serious heals slightly more damage than cure light, for slightly more spellpoints. It is also the most effective healing spell Monks get. It receives such a low priority rating because Druids get an equivalent, minerals evocation, that has a much higher heal/spellpoint ratio, while still being target able. If you don't like the fact that minerals evocation costs reagents (2 earths), then cure serious makes a decent replacement, but reagents really aren't that big of a problem during the later levels of the game.
Curse - Priority Rating: *****
Curse is one of the most potent offensive spells in the game. It lowers the targets armor rating by as much as 14, depending on the level of the caster. It also lowers the target's saving vs. spell by up to five. It is a PK staple spell, and should be practiced to the maximum as early as possible so that you can start casting it on leveling NPCs and raising your proficiency.
Counterspell - Priority Rating: *****
This spell gets such a high priority rating for one simple reason. It single-handedly is responsible for a vast majority of archon hunter and high level NPC deaths in the game. While not quite as effective in PK, this spell is used so often against higher level NPCs that it is one of the spells you will wonder how anyone lives without.
Combat Blink - Priority Rating: *
This spell gives a slight armor rating bonus as well as providing your character with a defense if you set your defense to 'none' or happen to fail the defense roll. As this very rarely ever occurs, and the spell saps your spellpoints, it is definitely not worth using in any situation and practicing it is equally ill advised.
Detect Alignment - Priority Rating: *
As the name implies, detect alignment allows your character to see the alignments of other players, NPCs, and items within the game. There is really no real use for being able to tell this information, so practicing the spell is not suggested.
Detect Invisibility - Priority Rating: *
As with cure blindness, this spell is also a staple amongst every player in the game. The reason it gets such a low priority rating, however, is because it's much easier and more practical to wear an item that casts the spell instead of casting it on yourself.
Detect Magic - Priority Rating: *
The sole usefulness of this spell is that it adds some extra information onto your 'affects' command output, including your saving throw statistics. It can be cast successfully without practicing it at all, so this is why it gets only one star.
Detect Illusion - Priority Rating: *
As with detect alignment, there is no real advantage in having the ability to detect illusions. The spell currently does nothing of any use, and should not be practiced.
Dispel Magic - Priority Rating: *****
This is probably the second most important spell in your arsenal as a Monk. It is both an offensive AND a defense spell that removes random magical affects from the target. It can be cast on yourself to remove bad affects (like blindness, web, curse, plague, poison, etc) and it can also be cast on others to remove good affects (like haste, sanctuary, shield, stone skin, etc). It is advisable to max this spell as early as possible and begin using it on leveling NPCs to work towards mastering it. Once mastered, it is a very effective way to get out of being webbed and/or snared and can save your life and allow you to escape some sticky situations.
Erase - Priority Rating: *
This spell allows you to erase a spell scribed in a spellbook. It is rarely ever used, and when it is, people just use the scroll which can be purchased in shops around the world to accomplish the same thing.
Faerie Fire - Priority Rating: *****
While this spell gets a five star rating, it doesn't necessarily mean that it should be maxed. It is such a low complexity spell that it can be left as-is and it will work just fine, however, some people like to practice it to work towards mastering it and that's fine. It is basically like a mini-curse spell, and lowers the target's armor rating by up to six.
Hands of Wind - Priority Rating: *****
Hands of wind is an offensive spell with the sole purpose of breaking up formations of players or NPCs. Rarely will you ever be in a situation where you will need to break up a formation of NPCs, so the spell's main purpose revolves around PK. Formation fighting just wouldn't be formation fighting without someone (or multiple people) trying to pull this spell off, and if successful, it can turn the tide of the battle. The one catch is that it can only be cast outside, or in rooms flagged as outdoors. If you aren't going to be involved in a lot of PK, don't bother practicing this spell as you won't ever have a need for it.
Identify - Priority Rating: *
This spell allows you to identify (obviously) an item. It is made obsolete by the lore proficiency, which allows you to auto-identify items just by looking at them, but if you wish to just use the spell instead of training lore, it casts successfully without being practiced.
Light - Priority Rating: *
While this may be useful early on in the game, most players use items that provide light and/or spells that do so like sanctuary or fireshield.
Multiply Magic - Priority Rating: **
Multiply magic attempts to raise the level, and effectiveness of a magical item. The extent to which said items can be raised is determined by the level of the caster.
Plague - Priority Rating: *****
This spell is quite invaluable to the average player's arsenal. It prevents the affected target from regenerating hitpoints (or in the case of large NPCs, significantly reduces regeneration). Since regeneration occurs once every 15 seconds in the game, it is easy to see how this spell could quickly give an upper hand to the caster. Plague is a definite must-have for fighting archon hunters as well.
Poison - Priority Rating: *****
Similar to the plague spell, poison is just as useful. Instead of preventing hitpoint regeneration, it prevents spellpoint regeneration, as well as having the added bonus of inhibiting hitpoint regeneration and causing the victim to shiver and suffer every tick for some minor damage. This spell is most useful for fighting other players, where spellpoints are more important than hitpoints, however, like plague it is easy to resist and some races (Fey, Sidhe) are even immune to it.
Protection from Evil - Priority Rating: *
This spell will protect the target from the forces of evil by providing him or her with an extra 10% damage reduction from sources of evil nature (including evil aligned players). It is very low complexity and can be cast just fine at the percentage it is given to you when you start the class. It can only be cast on players or NPCs with a good alignment.
Protection from Good - Priority Rating: *
This is the exact same spell as the previous one, with the exception that it protects against good instead of evil, and it can be only cast on players or NPCs with an evil alignment, instead of good.
Recharge Item - Priority Rating: **
Monks share this spell with only one other class, Wizards, and it is equally useless to both of them. If successfully cast, it will replenish charges on a magical item, however, it will not work on items who have no charges left. The effectiveness of the spell is also increased by your proficiency in the magical items proficiency. Recharge item could have theoretically been combined with multiply magic for some real fun, but unfortunately both spells were made obsolete by the addition of the magic-resistant flag to a vast majority of the items with which the spells would have been useful.
Remove Curse - Priority Rating: ****
This spell has dual purposes, both equally as useful to the everyday player. First of all, casting remove curse on an item will allow you to remove curses from those which have the annoying noremove or nodrop flags. The only exception to this is items which have the nouncurse flag as well (obviously). The spell, when cast on yourself, will also remove the affects of most witch spells like malignancy, disjunction, etc. as well as the regular old curse spell. In either case, depending on the level of the respective curse(s), it may take more than one successful cast to fully remove all of the affects or flags.
Resurrect - Priority Rating: ***
Resurrect, as its name implies, allows you to call to the Powers and bring another player back to life after they have died. The spell costs an astral, and as such, you should make absolutely sure the person you are targeting is actually dead and will still be dead when the spell finishes casting, or else you will lose your astral and not be a very happy camper. While not very essential, this spell definitely comes in handy unless you're a complete recluse, so practice it after all other important proficiencies are completed.
Spark - Priority Rating: *
This spell is a very low level offensive spell that does fire type damage. It is only recommended that you train this if you are a first class Monk and wish to level by yourself, and even then it's not that much of a help due to the low spell-points you will have and the relatively low cost/damage ratio.
Sense Life - Priority Rating: *
Sense life isn't necessary to play the game, however, it is usually desired by most players as it allows you to see hidden and sneaking players and NPCs. Due to the fact that most people wear items to give them this spell, it is not advisable to practice it.
Silence - Priority Rating: *****
Silence is the most powerful offensive spell in the game, bar none. It eliminates the target's ability to speak and cast most spells. There are three exceptions to this rule: slow/hinder, fatigue, and cure light. This of course does not include Psionic spells, which can ALL be cast while silenced. The spell costs an astral, and as such it is usually only used in CPK situations, where equipment is at stake. If you don't plan on ever CPKing, do not train this spell, as its use beyond that is extremely restricted and not very practical.
Sanctuary - Priority Rating: *
Sanctuary, like detect invisibility, is another invaluable spell that receives a low priority rating due to the fact that everyone wears items that grant them the spell versus casting it for practicality purposes. It will reduce all damage you receive from any source by 20%.
Slow - Priority Rating: **
Slow is an incredibly strong and debilitating spell if used correctly, and on the right opponents. The spell version requires an astral, though, so it is rarely ever used, if at all. Bards get a reagent free version of slow called hinder, and if your path will include Bard, definitely do NOT practice this. It is still not suggested to practice even if you won't be a Bard, due to the high cost and relatively low success rate.
Scribe - Priority Rating: *
This spell is used to transfer spells from scrolls to spellbooks. It is such a low complexity that you will never need to train it.
Spell Shield - Priority Rating: ***
Spell shield is primarily a PK oriented spell. It allows you to absorb one spell targeted at you up to a certain complexity, after which it will collapse. It saps your spellpoints while it is active, but since it is usually not active for very long, this is not an issue. Used to gain a slight upper hand early on in battles, this spell is definitely useful, however, not essential. Practice this after you have finished with your more important spells and proficiencies.
Tremor - Priority Rating: ***
Tremor is an area attack spell that does bash type damage. While it does not deal as much damage as the other area attack spells in the game, it is the only one the Monk receives, and if you don't plan on choosing Bard as part of your class path, you will need to practice this spell for situations in which you require an area attack spell.
Wizard Eye - Priority Rating: **
Wizard eye can only be used while you are outdoors in the wilderness, and provides you with an expanded view of the terrain. In essence, it basically extends the output of the 'look' command, as well as showing question mark symbols (?'s) where there are NPCs present. The usefulness of this spell varies with your style of play. If you like adventuring and spend a lot of time wandering around outside towns, then this spell could be great for you, but for a majority of players it is not going to be very useful and is not worth practicing.
This will definitely be a shorter section than other class path sections in other class guides, because Monks are somewhat limited by plausible path selections. Because Monks are more of a combination mage/cleric class, they share too much overlap with some of the other classes. During the guide so far there has been one recurring theme, and that is that Monks are almost always going to be Druids as well. Because the Paladin class shares so many similar skills with Monks, choosing Paladin is more often than not a bad decision and should only be done in light of role-play. Taking these two facts into account, that only leaves three major class paths to choose from, determined mainly by choice of warrior class.
Applicable race choices for the following paths are listed in order from best to worst, left to right.
Cavalier / Bard / Monk / Druid - (Halfling, Sidhe, Elf, Half-Elf, Dwarf, Human)
This is a very strong path, and very well rounded. The Cavalier class is a strong class with its main selling points being riding and lance. Because basically the only reason to choose Cavalier over Barbarian or Valkyrie is if you are a die-hard fan of the Bard class, this is why the Cavalier / Rogue is not suggested as a very good choice. Since you will have to be using an instrument to play your Bard music, this means you will only be allowed to use a one handed weapon, and since lance is the best one handed weapon in the game, this makes Cavalier / Bard the natural choice. You will gain a lot of utility spells from the Bard class that complement Monk and Druid very well, including the weaken and hinder songs. This path is extremely strong for fighting against NPCs as well as other players. One big disadvantage of this path is that you won't ever be very good at CPK, as you will not be getting snare or roomshield.
Barbarian / Rogue (or Bard) / Monk / Druid - (Halfling, Half-Elf, Dwarf, Human)
This path can go one of two ways; you can either choose Rogue, if you play on CPKing a lot and/or would like to eventually be using two handed weapons, or you can choose Bard if you want to be using the Barbarian's axe proficiency and are looking for more effectiveness against NPCs rather than other players. For the same reason listed above, Bard complements this path very well, as the axe proficiency is the second best one handed weapon in the game. One huge advantage of this path is that you will also receive battle rage, which allows you to do a lot of damage, albeit in random unpredictable spurts. Due to the fact that axe does the most damage of all the one handed weapons, and two handed axe is the highest damage weapon in the game, bar none, battle rage makes this path unmatched in physical damage output. If you choose Rogue, you will gain the snare proficiency and two more agility, and will be overall much more effective against other players than Bard. Both choices are equally strong in their own respects, and make this path very solid.
Valkyrie / Rogue / Monk / Druid - (Gnome, Half-Elf, Human)
The shining star of this path has to be the second defense proficiency. With it, your character will take effectively 20-25% less damage in any given situation. This opens up all kinds of opportunities for different styles of fighting. Not having to heal nearly as much means you can focus on damage, and due to this fact, the natural choice of a thief class goes to Rogue. Wielding a two handed weapon requires both hands, and thus Bard would definitely not be a great choice (although it wouldn't ruin the character...). As with the Barbarian / Rogue path, this one focuses more on PKing, and will be able to hold its own against any other character in the game if played correctly. This is definitely the easiest of the three major paths to play for newcomers to the game, and it also allows a couple of the best races to be chosen.
Classes to avoid: Paladin, Priest, Shaman.
The Paladin, Priest, and Shaman classes are all too similar and have way too much overlap with the Monk proficiency and spell list to be of use for a character. This is not to say that a character who willingly chooses these classes will not be good, as it is very hard to actually have a "bad" character just based solely on class choice alone.
Currently Drow is the only race that is allowed to go Monk but cannot go Druid to complement it. It is ill advised to choose the Drow race if you are set on going Monk. Consider instead trying the Elf race which is very similar in most aspects (you will not be able to go Rogue, though).
One of the first things you should know about the Monk class, is that it is generally considered a PK oriented class. Most of their spells and proficiencies revolve around the world of player versus player combat, and allow them to excel at it as well.
Herbalism provides the young Monk with his or her only source of truly high damage offensive capability. With this proficiency, you will be able to create a variety of mixtures using a mortar and pestle and various sprigs obtained through herb shops in the larger towns (Lowangen, New Kolvir, New Rigel, Rune, Sigil, Templeton, and Xaventry). You will first need to obtain a mortar, which can either be bought at the same stores that sell sprigs, or there are some scattered around the world on different NPCs. The best mortar is the cracked mortar which you get from completing a little miniquest dealing with Syrazic at the bottom of Vesuvius. There is a list of 18 different possible mixtures that you can make, in any number of different combinations of sprigs, however, the ones that you should be aware of are: cure light, refresh, calm, blindness, death grip, fatigue, flame wind, and high explosive. There are two others which can be of some use, cure poison and cure disease, but since you will be going Druid, they are not necessary as you will be able to use the Druids salt evocation and salt invocation to accomplish the same affects in combat. Remember that herbalism mixtures do decay, and the only way to slow this decay is to mix in a sprig of sedum rosea with your other sprigs. Also, consider buying a Vandemaar's Apothecary Bottle, which will create random sprigs for you to use with your mixtures. It will save you a lot of gold in the long run, as well as time and effort.
Dispel magic is going to be your best friend. It allows you to escape from impossibly doomed situations, and if you manage to master this spell, it will not be affected by the web filter and become infinitely more handy have in your arsenal. Make sure when using this spell to avoid casting overtop of combat rounds or you will end up doing more harm to yourself than help. It is very easy to get panicked and just start spamming it because it's not going through the web filter very well, but this is the easiest way to get yourself killed.
Silence is probably going to be your only spell for use in CPK until you archon and obtain antimagic sphere. You will not be getting the roomshield spell, and if you don't choose Rogue, you will also not be getting the snare proficiency. This makes CPKing someone and obtaining decent loot very hard as a Bard / Monk, however, it is still possible and plausible. This spell, in conjunction with blindness herb mixtures used with good timing can produce some great loot and reward you for your time and effort. While it is definitely advisable to always have this spell ready just in case you need to cast it to get out of a sticky situation, it is generally not a spell that needs to be memorized.
You will want to train your knowledge to its maximum while you are a Monk, as it will cost 20 practices less per point of knowledge while in this class than any others. Also, check out your other classes; if their primary statistic wouldn't be as much use to you as knowledge, consider choosing Monk as your first class to get a +3 bonus instead of the normal +2. While it may be harder to level at first, it will save you time questing for practices later on, and higher knowledge means more frequent proficiency and spell improvement as well as a higher memorization capacity. You should focus on your wisdom after you have finished training your knowledge, as this will also affect your memorization capacity as well as the amount of practices you get each level. After wisdom, the statistics you train will be determined by what type of Monk you will be playing. For a combat oriented Monk, it is suggested that you train your agility. For more cleric or mage oriented Monks, training your sanity will be more to your advantage.
If you do choose Monk as your first class, it is advisable to practice herbalism and mace right off the bat. Mace will be your leveling weapon, as it is the easiest to come by and does the most damage out of all the Monk weapons. Practicing herbalism right away will save you a TON of practices later on, as its cost increases almost exponentially as you level. Resist the urge to practice any of the other weapon types until you are sure you've finished with everything else in the class that has a higher priority rating and also finished maxing your knowledge. You will also want to get equipment that raises your knowledge (until you max it) and wisdom in order to gain the highest possible amount of practices and spellpoints when you level. Octarine pendants, octarine cloaks, Rune library cards, copper armbands, and gryphon feathers are all great ideas for the first class Monk.
While for almost every proficiency and spell in the game, there are advantages to raising your proficiency level through use past the maximum allowed for training, the one exception to this rule is herbalism. It gives you no benefits from being higher than 75% and therefore is not suggested that you spend any extra gold or time in trying to get it any higher.
Generally speaking, there are only two main routes to take towards role-playing a Monk. You can choose to be the physically adept Shaolin-esque combat Monk, who excels at martial arts and weapons such as nunchaku, staff, hand to hand (with martial arts), and whip - or you can choose to be the quiet bookworm cure-all Monk with ties to the Powers a la Priest or Shaman. While it may be more fun to play the combat Monk, it is definitely much easier to role-play as a clerical type mage because of the proficiencies and spells required for the two respective playing styles. If you choose to play a combat Monk, you will have to practice many more proficienciess that you normally would not even touch, but with a clerical Monk you will generally only need a couple more spells than normal.
