qtaff monk build

[huey9187]

looking for a viable qstaff build, i dont mind multiclass, anthing out there?

[Discpsycho]

Before I get too deep into the weeds, are you looking to play at cap? TR right at 30? At 20?

Broadly speaking, pure monk is solid (and easy to remember) if you plan on playing past 20. If you're TRing at 20 go 18 Monk / 1 Rogue / 1 (Fighter or FvS) because while both Rogue and Monk get +15% attack speed with quarterstaves, Rogues can get it at T1 enhancements and Monk has to wait until capstone

If you're not set on a quarterstaff monk, consider going 18 Alchemist, Wizard or Barbarian. Any of those would pair well with 2 Rogue, or 1 Rogue / 1 Monk (except Barb), or add an FvS level, or a Fighter level, etc.

[unbongwah]

Henshin benefited from the U45 improvements to 2H weapons (Strikethrough + THF feat chain). If you have the Falconry tree, you can go fully WIS-based. If this is just for a heroic life, a rogue splash helps for trap skills and Acrobatics (+15% attack speed). OTOH if you're focused on epics, pure monk is probably better for the Henshin capstone.

I'm a little rusty when it comes to staff builds but it seems like it should be straight-forward.

Henshin Falconer
Monk 20
Lawful Neutral Aasimar


Stats
               36pt     Tome     Level Up
               ----     ----     --------
Strength        14       +3       4: WIS
Dexterity       10       +3       8: WIS
Constitution    16       +3      12: WIS
Intelligence    10       +3      16: WIS
Wisdom          20       +3      20: WIS
Charisma         8       +3      24: WIS
                                 28: WIS

Feats

 1        : Cleave
 1 Monk   : Power Attack
 2 Monk   : Two Handed Fighting
 3        : Completionist OR Combat Expertise
 6        : Swords to Plowshares
 6 Monk   : Precision
 9        : Improved Two Handed Fighting
12        : Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
15        : Greater Two Handed Fighting
18        : Great Cleave OR Improved Trip
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Improved Martial Arts
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic   : Epic Reflexes OR Epic Will OR Epic Fortitude
30 Legend : Scion of: Astral Plane OR Ethereal Plane

 1 Aasimar: Bond of the Fallen

 3 Monk   : Path of Inevitable Dominion


Enhancements (80+5 AP)

Henshin Mystic (41 AP)
Riddle of Fire, Ki Bolt, Sounding Staff, Incinerating Wave, Cauldron of Flame, Serenity
All-Consuming Flame, Henshin Staff Training, Way of the: Elegant Crane
Porous Soul, Henshin Staff Training, Quick Strike III, Eagle Claw Attack
Winter's Touch, Henshin Staff Training, Lighting the Candle III, Embrace the Void III
Static Charge, Henshin Staff Training, Focus
Void Strike, Henshin Staff Training, Staff Specialization, Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light

Falconry (28 AP)
Summon Avian Companion: Falcon
Hunter's Knowledge, Out in Nature III
Killer Instinct I, Diving Attack: Diving Attack Strike III, Action Boost: Sprint I
Killer Instinct II, Strike for the Eyes: Strike III, Conditioning, Eyes of the Eagle
Deadly Instinct III, No Mercy III, Coordinated Strikes: Coordinated Strike, Expose Weakness

Aasimar (16 AP)
Stronger Bonds, Wisdom, Stronger Bonds II, Wisdom, Stronger Bonds III
Improved Recovery
Divine Purpose
Divine Charge III, Improved Recovery
Divine Form

Leveling Guide
Aas0 Stronger Bonds; Aas1 Improved Recovery; Hen0 Riddle of Fire; Hen1 Henshin Staff Training
Hen1 Way of the: Elegant Crane; Hen2 Quick Strike I, II, III
Fal0 Summon Avian Companion: Falcon; Fal1 Out in Nature I, II, III
Aas0 Wisdom; Fal1 Hunter's Knowledge; Fal2 Killer Instinct I; Fal2 Diving Attack: Diving Attack Strike I
Fal2 Diving Attack: Diving Attack Strike II, III; Fal3 Killer Instinct II
Hen0 Ki Bolt; Hen1 All-Consuming Flame; Hen0 Sounding Staff; Hen3 Lighting the Candle I
Hen3 Lighting the Candle II, III; Hen2 Henshin Staff Training
Hen2 Eagle Claw Attack; Hen2 Porous Soul; Hen3 Embrace the Void I
Hen4 Focus; Hen3 Embrace the Void II, III
Hen3 Winter's Touch; Hen4 Static Charge; Hen3 Henshin Staff Training
Hen4 Henshin Staff Training; Fal2 Action Boost: Sprint I; (Bank 1 AP)
Hen0 Incinerating Wave; Hen5 Void Strike; Hen5 Staff Specialization
Hen5 Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light; Hen5 Henshin Staff Training
Fal3 Conditioning; Fal3 Strike for the Eyes: Strike I, II
Fal3 Strike for the Eyes: Strike III; Aas0 Stronger Bonds II; Aas0 Wisdom
Aas0 Stronger Bonds III; Fal3 Eyes of the Eagle; Fal4 Deadly Instinct I
Fal4 Deadly Instinct II, III; Fal4 Expose Weakness; Fal4 Coordinated Strikes: Coordinated Strike
Hen0 Cauldron of Flame; Fal4 No Mercy I, II, III
Aas2 Divine Purpose; Aas3 Divine Charge I, II, III
Hen0 Serenity; Aas3 Improved Recovery; Aas4 Divine Form


Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought
Legendary Tactics III, Extra Action Boost III
Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack
Lay Waste, Haste Boost III
(none)
Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz, Pulverizer

You can take Protector bond instead of Fallen if you'd rather have +5% HPs than +10 Melee Power. Obviously if you don't have the extra racial APs you'll have to drop points from either Aasimar or Falconry.

[Zarick]

Henshin benefited from the U45 improvements to 2H weapons (Strikethrough + THF feat chain). If you have the Falconry tree, you can go fully WIS-based. If this is just for a heroic life, a rogue splash helps for trap skills and Acrobatics (+15% attack speed). OTOH if you're focused on epics, pure monk is probably better for the Henshin capstone.

If you're feeling generous could you throw together a version for the monk/rogue?

[Lupito]

Henshin benefited from the U45 improvements to 2H weapons (Strikethrough + THF feat chain). If you have the Falconry tree, you can go fully WIS-based. If this is just for a heroic life, a rogue splash helps for trap skills and Acrobatics (+15% attack speed). OTOH if you're focused on epics, pure monk is probably better for the Henshin capstone.

I'm a little rusty when it comes to staff builds but it seems like it should be straight-forward.

Henshin Falconer
Monk 20
Lawful Neutral Aasimar


Stats
               36pt     Tome     Level Up
               ----     ----     --------
Strength        14       +3       4: WIS
Dexterity       10       +3       8: WIS
Constitution    16       +3      12: WIS
Intelligence    10       +3      16: WIS
Wisdom          20       +3      20: WIS
Charisma         8       +3      24: WIS
                                 28: WIS

Feats

 1        : Cleave
 1 Monk   : Power Attack
 2 Monk   : Two Handed Fighting
 3        : Completionist OR Combat Expertise
 6        : Swords to Plowshares
 6 Monk   : Precision
 9        : Improved Two Handed Fighting
12        : Improved Critical: Bludgeoning
15        : Greater Two Handed Fighting
18        : Great Cleave OR Improved Trip
21 Epic   : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic   : Improved Martial Arts
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Handed Fighting
27 Epic   : Epic Damage Reduction
28 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
29 Destiny: Dire Charge
30 Epic   : Epic Reflexes OR Epic Will OR Epic Fortitude
30 Legend : Scion of: Astral Plane OR Ethereal Plane

 1 Aasimar: Bond of the Fallen

 3 Monk   : Path of Inevitable Dominion


Enhancements (80+5 AP)

Henshin Mystic (41 AP)
Riddle of Fire, Ki Bolt, Sounding Staff, Incinerating Wave, Cauldron of Flame, Serenity
All-Consuming Flame, Henshin Staff Training, Way of the: Elegant Crane
Porous Soul, Henshin Staff Training, Quick Strike III, Eagle Claw Attack
Winter's Touch, Henshin Staff Training, Lighting the Candle III, Embrace the Void III
Static Charge, Henshin Staff Training, Focus
Void Strike, Henshin Staff Training, Staff Specialization, Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light

Falconry (28 AP)
Summon Avian Companion: Falcon
Hunter's Knowledge, Out in Nature III
Killer Instinct I, Diving Attack: Diving Attack Strike III, Action Boost: Sprint I
Killer Instinct II, Strike for the Eyes: Strike III, Conditioning, Eyes of the Eagle
Deadly Instinct III, No Mercy III, Coordinated Strikes: Coordinated Strike, Expose Weakness

Aasimar (16 AP)
Stronger Bonds, Wisdom, Stronger Bonds II, Wisdom, Stronger Bonds III
Improved Recovery
Divine Purpose
Divine Charge III, Improved Recovery
Divine Form

Leveling Guide
Aas0 Stronger Bonds; Aas1 Improved Recovery; Hen0 Riddle of Fire; Hen1 Henshin Staff Training
Hen1 Way of the: Elegant Crane; Hen2 Quick Strike I, II, III
Fal0 Summon Avian Companion: Falcon; Fal1 Out in Nature I, II, III
Aas0 Wisdom; Fal1 Hunter's Knowledge; Fal2 Killer Instinct I; Fal2 Diving Attack: Diving Attack Strike I
Fal2 Diving Attack: Diving Attack Strike II, III; Fal3 Killer Instinct II
Hen0 Ki Bolt; Hen1 All-Consuming Flame; Hen0 Sounding Staff; Hen3 Lighting the Candle I
Hen3 Lighting the Candle II, III; Hen2 Henshin Staff Training
Hen2 Eagle Claw Attack; Hen2 Porous Soul; Hen3 Embrace the Void I
Hen4 Focus; Hen3 Embrace the Void II, III
Hen3 Winter's Touch; Hen4 Static Charge; Hen3 Henshin Staff Training
Hen4 Henshin Staff Training; Fal2 Action Boost: Sprint I; (Bank 1 AP)
Hen0 Incinerating Wave; Hen5 Void Strike; Hen5 Staff Specialization
Hen5 Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light; Hen5 Henshin Staff Training
Fal3 Conditioning; Fal3 Strike for the Eyes: Strike I, II
Fal3 Strike for the Eyes: Strike III; Aas0 Stronger Bonds II; Aas0 Wisdom
Aas0 Stronger Bonds III; Fal3 Eyes of the Eagle; Fal4 Deadly Instinct I
Fal4 Deadly Instinct II, III; Fal4 Expose Weakness; Fal4 Coordinated Strikes: Coordinated Strike
Hen0 Cauldron of Flame; Fal4 No Mercy I, II, III
Aas2 Divine Purpose; Aas3 Divine Charge I, II, III
Hen0 Serenity; Aas3 Improved Recovery; Aas4 Divine Form


Destiny (24 AP)

Legendary Dreadnought
Legendary Tactics III, Extra Action Boost III
Momentum Swing III, Imp. Power Attack
Lay Waste, Haste Boost III
(none)
Advancing Blows, Devastating Critical
Master's Blitz, Pulverizer

You can take Protector bond instead of Fallen if you'd rather have +5% HPs than +10 Melee Power. Obviously if you don't have the extra racial APs you'll have to drop points from either Aasimar or Falconry.

is there a reason you took Precision? should i use it over power attack?

[darkniteyogi]

Aasimar
Start 16 Strength and Wisdom, Level ups in Strength for Stunning blow. Using Frozen Tunic and Elemental Bloom for heroic at least til 15.

7 FVS for Ameliorating Strike (self healing), Tier 6 War Soul, Stout of Heart
1 Rogue for lvl 1 15% attack speed for heroics
12 Monk for Abundant Step

18-20 Points in Aasimar Tree for +10% Melee Determination Damage and +60% heal amp
4-6 points in Thief Acrobat for 15% attack speed
2 points in FVS healing tree for buff Sla. More can give Close Wounds SLA

Choose if Tier 6 is Warsoul or Henshin Mystic. Henshin mystic has +1 Crit Range and a healing Strike with Cooldown 6 seconds (Dark path), but Warsoul also has some viable choices, + the war soul tree is a lot better imo than Henshin, wc is mostly garbage imo.

---------------------

I choose to use Light Monk Healing Curse leveling up. Then switch to dark monk path when i have enough ability points to get the tier 6 ability to heal. Healing Curse gives 2-4 HP per hit which kind of sucks but is better than nothing and works in reaper.
Healing Ki is complete garbage for me. Hard to use.

With 5 FVS (or 7), you have Ameliorating Strike, and Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light, 2 healing strikes, one is 6 sec cooldown. one is 12 sec. Ameliorating strike works with devotion. Shadows Cannot Exist Without Light can use healing amp.

Feats are P.attack, Cleave, Stunning Blow, Thf x 3, Improved crit. Empower healing or Maximize optional for Close wounds SLA.

[unbongwah]

is there a reason you took Precision? should i use it over power attack?

Usually I prefer to use Precision instead of Power Attack for reasons explained here and here. I took Power Attack just as a pre-req for the Cleave feats.

[Sunnie]

Given the way strikethrough works and the fairly high attack speed of staves: How important are the cleaves anyway? I saw a comment saying that cleaving usually was a loss of dps for a THFing barbarian. If that's true, wouldn't that be even more so for q-staff builds with their higher attack speed? Or are cleave animations for staves faster?

[Xerinath]

For the pure monk Henshin Falconer:
How should I build for a first life character? What skills should I be taking?

[awar1234]

Search ALDBAR in YouTube.

He has a sweet staff build

[Stravix]

Usually I prefer to use Precision instead of Power Attack for reasons explained here and here. I took Power Attack just as a pre-req for the Cleave feats.

If you took PA just as a pre-req for cleaves, why take Improved Power Attack in LD?