I'm intending to have 5 ranks feint more or less as soon as I can (level 29 is the earliest it is allowed), but am not pushing it much till then. No point in sweep when you can 1207. Headbutt if it suits the character (punch head is how I prefer to get that effect). I have bearhug and will add coup for RP reasons. You need all 5 ranks of disarm to use it barehanded (same with feint) so its an all or nothing thing, but nowhere near as useful as feint from my perspective using them both as a warrior and a cleric. I think the punch, kick, grapple masteries are all well worth getting early, though I won't touch evade until much later. I reckon boosting EBP is more appropriate for level 50 than level 20. Cheapshots if you like them for RP but not otherwise.

If you don't uphunt much 1207 is completely reliable. 10 levels over me its dodgy but normal AG targets I can't recall a failure. If sweep doesn't work you are in 5s hard RT offensive stance. If 1207 doesn't work you are in 3s soft RT guarded stance. A warf walks in while I am hunting mercs. 1207 and if it works the warf is in trouble, if it doesn't I can run away. No way would I even think of sweeping in that situation.

I agree crowd press is worth considering, though I've never tried it out.

I picked up both slipperymind rank 2 and inner harmony rank 1 for my martial stances. Currently hunting pra'eda and fenghai on the lake and Sliperrymind activates quite a bit. Harmony I used a lot while hunting things that web, also saved me numerous times. Heh it's tough to choose. Mobility rank 1 is one that I find to be an absolute must, sometimes that loss of 50 defense from falling down manages to kill me.

I suppose I'm very defensive cman oriented currently while my redux is low and my 111 hitpoints as a gnome don't go very far. If you're not in sunfist and therefore have stamina for upkeep I'd say surge/burst/perfect self would be worthwhile some point in your monks life.

Lochiven

My monk has almost 0 issues offensively but really lacks defensively. I've been spending my cman points on anything that will help that out, evade mastery being a top priority. As I continue to level I'll supplement with slippery mind and the like.

>My monk has almost 0 issues offensively but really lacks defensively.

This will change. There is a massive amount of DS at the upper end of the spell list, and I suspect it is best rushing for 1216 and 1220 rather than investing in 2x CMan and defensive CMans. 3x dodge eventually will become pretty powerful too. However I reckon defense in the 15-30 range is pretty horrible for a standard training monk compared to other professions.

My 'must-haves' training wise are 2x brawling, 3x dodge, 1x in PF and 1x in spells (until at least 1620, 103, maybe up to 107). Spare points are chucked into CM and harness power. As long as I stance dance I'm finding 3 second punches are tearing up everything at level 13. 1214 will help out some and 1216 will be a much needed boost. Self spelled in all 4x gear I run with a 112 (including society bonuses) defense in offensive and a 137 bolt defense. Oh, and I wear a paper bag for armor.

(at level 13), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Two Weapon Combat..................| 5 1
Combat Maneuvers...................| 74 16
Brawling...........................| 114 28
Physical Fitness...................| 66 14
Dodging............................| 142 42
Harness Power......................| 45 9
First Aid..........................| 66 14

Spell Lists
Minor Mental.......................| 13
Training Points: 85 Phy 0 Mnt (378 Phy converted to Mnt)

I'm thinking about letting CM drop to singled and picking up 101 for some added bolt defense.

My monk is trained like so:

Two Weapon Combat..................| 2X
Combat Maneuvers...................| 2X
Brawling...........................| 2X
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 1X
Physical Fitness...................| 2X
Dodging............................| 3X
Perception.........................| 1X
Climbing...........................| 1X
Swimming...........................| 1X
First Aid..........................| 1X
Trading............................| 1X

At level 8 he has one rank in Harness Power, his first spell, and his Strongest foe vanquished is an ancient ghoul master. He also has one rank each in Flurry of Blows, Evade Mastery, and Combat Mobility. And oh yeah, looking forward to redux and that second spell.

Clunk

(Buy your swords at CBD weapons in Zul Logoth.)
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This is how I am training

3x dodge
2x brawl, PF, CMan
0.5x TWC (this will get dropped back to 1 rank at some point but I don't feel ready to give it up yet. Maybe when I hit 1220)
0.5x harness (in practice a little more depending how much mana I need for spell swapping rather than self casting)
0.5x spells (allowed to fall back if there isn't a useful spell to be trained soon, CMan is allowed to fall back if there is)
6 ranks transformation (5 to get scaly skin at level 15, plus 1 for the 1209 bonus. Next target is a long way off: 15 ranks at level 75)
7 ranks ambush (from level 20, if I got a missed opening when punching the head of a downed critter, I trained another ambush rank at the next level. 7 is where I got to. At some point I will add ranks for better aiming of other attacks, but at the moment its just punch leg on a standing and head on a downed critter that I care enough about to train ambush)
1 rank MOC (in case it activated something in krynch)

1x perception (because I like to see things on any character)
3 ranks MIU (for 401,503,103 imbeds)
1x between climb and swim (normal practice for me on any character)
0.5x-1 (max avoiding skin tasks) between FA and survival. I'll stop FA when I can eat ephlox in 3s. (normal practice for me if not skinning)

I initially went to 103, dropped back to 101 at the end of my 30 days and then got 102 again. 1220, then 103 then slack off for a while is my plan for spells, but I haven't yet decided what my priorities are for MIU/AS/mana control when I do.