I posted this over on the PC forums and thought some folks here that don't read those boards might find it useful for planning training.

******************************************************




On the last few days of conversion skills migration I tried out a couple of different levels of TWC training to see what was worth it. I have a level 27 dwarf monk with stats set for growth and perfect self at level 4 (STR bonus of 25 and DEX bonus of 21). I did my testing with all of my 1200's up, full wizard spells and mass colors. I'm assuming I got a few points from 909 though I dunno for sure.

Anyway, I was just curious exactly how much I'd be getting from 1 rank of TWC (to activate the stat/enchant bonuses) and .5x ranks (14 at level 27) and fully 1x ranks (29 at level 27) compared to 0 ranks. I also wanted to see the difference between 4x and 6x handwraps. I know I could just plug the numbers in the formula but I like to see things in game when possible. I thought maybe some others might be interested in it as well, nothing ground breaking but I took the time to write numbers in a notebook dangit!


These are all compared to having 0 ranks of TWC:


1 rank of TWC in 4x handwraps gave 7 offensive DS and 12 defensive DS

14 ranks of TWC (.5x training) in 4x handwraps gave 18 offensive DS and 27 defensive DS

29 ranks of TWC (fully 1x) in 4x handwraps gave 20 offensive DS and 32 defensive DS

1 rank of TWC in 6x handwraps gave 7 offensive DS and 14 defensive DS

14 ranks of TWC (.5x training) in 6x handwraps gave 19 offensive DS and 31 defensive DS

29 ranks of TWC (fully 1x) in 6x handwraps gave 20 offensive DS and 34 defensive DS


Its still a rather nice boost to take just a single rank in TWC now and .5x TWC seems well worth it at this level. I think I'll hold off on going over .5x until much later though, maybe not till post cap. Anecdotally I did seem to get a bunch more parries at 1x TWC just in my tiny testing sample.

I ended up putting the TWC points into 10 ranks of Ambush which has had a very nice effect on my aimed punches, not a single missed opening since (along with 2x CM). I'll be picking up the TWC to .5x next level though.

I reckon 0.5x TWC is the sweet spot early on, dropping to 1 rank is worth considering when you have got 1220 and only have more than 0.5x if you want to have the option to use it offensively. I haven't dropped it yet, but that's partly because I foresee eventually wanting the offensive option.

10 ranks ambush will be ample for most monks. Get 5 at level 20 (or whenever you first feel the need to aim) and add 1 each level if you missed an opening, is the plan I recommend if you are starting out 2x CMan. If the critter is small compared to you, you'll need a lot more, but I haven't run into that problem as a dwarf. Giants are going to have to be more like level 40 before having reasonable aim at small critters.