Monk

A monk is a special version of a tank, because a monk is primarily built with much of the same focuses (DX, STR, HP) as a tank, however the Monk also focuses on Unarmed Combat (UC) to do melee damage. The interesting part about this strategy is that there exists a number of pieces of equipment that directly augment UC, and therefore make this strategy definitely viable.

Armor for Monks:

1. Combat Gi [1]
2. Elven Cloak [4] (EC)
3. Elven Boots [10] (EB) or Displacement Boots [0] (DB)
4. Helm's Gauntlets [4] (HG)
5. Helm of Ecthelion [6] (HoE)
6. No Shield, or either Power Shield (see below)
7. Amulet of Might [0] (AoM), Amulet of Invisibility [0] (AoI), or Amulet of Focus [0]

This set has a base AC of [25] with EB and [15] with DB, or [35] and [25] if the Buckler of Mandos is used. This set is capable of much more AC at a cheap cost, as the Gi, EB, EC, and BoM all upgrade quite nicely at low levels.

Advantages of each item listed above:

Combat Gi: Grants +10 UC right off the bat (this means that new characters/minions can train base UC, equip a Gi, and then start building up their ST and DX right away with a much better "weapon" level than many characters in the lower ranks). It also grants 1/3 of the trained UC level in Evasion (useful at higher levels). It also upgrades very cheaply for a while, reaching +50 with just over $1 million Net Worth.

Elven Cloak: Grants a 1% bonus to Dexterity and Skills for each enchantment point. Dexterity bonuses are obviously advantageous to all minions who use physical attacks.

• Note: A Tattoo of Augmentation can be used instead of Combat Gi, Elven Cloak and Power Shield. You do lose the bonus to UC that the first two items give, the Evasion bonus granted by the Gi, the DX bonus from the Cloak, and the defence against mages that the shield offers. However, what you gain from using a ToA is a large amount of XP that you would normally have to spend on ST and DX, which can instead be used to pump up your UC to much higher levels. What you also gain is the ToA's bonus to PTH, which at higher levels increases your chances of multiple strikes, increasing your overall damage.
• Also Note: People who have run successful UC teams will tell you that the Gi/Elven Cloak combination is better than the ToA, assuming your other ST- and DX-boosting items listed below are sufficiently upgraded.

Elven Boots: Also grants a 1% bonus to Dexterity and Skills for each enchantment point. Grants AC, unlike DB (see below).

or

Displacement Boots: Grants Evasion for each enchantment point. Does not grant any AC or Dexterity. It fits with the strategy nicely, though, due to the Evasion that comes with UC, compounded with what the Gi does.

Helm's Gauntlets: Grants a 1% Strength bonus for each enchantment point. Also grants 1.5 points of effective UC level (the number in parentheses) for each enchantment point. Some strategies involve Elven Gloves instead of HG, mainly for those who focus their strategy around higher DX. However, one must consider the dual UC and Strength (and, therefore, damage) bonuses they are giving up for the added dexterity.

Helm of Ecthelion: Grants a 1% Strength bonus for each enchantment point. This was the first piece of headgear with no UC penalty, the only other being the Helm of Clearsight.

• Note: The Helm of Clearsight can be used alternatively if a monk's ranged attack is sufficiently powerful that the user opts for an extra ranged shot in exchange for the loss of the HoE's strength boost. This can be effective, though is not recommended for monks depending mostly on their melee damage from Unarmed Combat.

No Shield: All shields have a penalty to UC.

or

Power Shields: Both of the two items currently classified as "Power Shield" have certain advantages that many UC teams apparently consider worth the -5 to UC effect level. It can also be noted that, in order to have a Power Shield equipped, one cannot be using a Tattoo. Therefore, the same minion could equip a Combat Gi, and its static +10 bonus to UC's effective level could help to offset the penalty from the shield. (This logic could also be used to equip other armors that penalize UC, though the AC granted by a Cabasset or a pair of Leather Gauntlets will never be comparable to the advantages of a Power Shield).

• Many UC minions choose to use the Mage Shield with their strategy despite the -5 penalty to Unarmed Combat; the reasoning behind this is that UC minions devote quite a bit of experience to their Unarmed Combat skill and thus their teams are usually less than 4 minions. The experience on these fewer minion teams is largely devoted to UC, leaving little to HP and AMF - the MgS helps overcome this DD weakness.
• The Buckler of Mandos could also be considered a good choice for UC minions. It gives a high bonus to strength and good AC according to how highly upgraded it is, in exchange for a static 1% DX and Skill penalty, and a static UC effect penalty of 5 points. It is also cheaper to purchase and upgrade than the Mage Shield, and doesn't reduce enchantments down to 0, both of which are important strategic elements to consider.

Amulet of Might: Grants a 2% bonus to ST for each enchantment point (+).

Amulet of Invisibility: Acts as a pair of DB +20.

Amulet of Focus: Grants a 3% bonus to skill level for each + upgraded. This means that it is fairly cheap to get a 30% bonus to your base UC level using this item. The catch is that enchantments cast on you, such as Ethereal Chains, will be increased in effectiveness by that amount as well.

Pages that link to this page:

• Armor
• 1-Minion Teams
• Specialized Unarmed Combat Armor
• Tattoo of Augmentation
• Game Strategies