Leaning towards going the 12mnk/7rog/1fvs framework, but can't quite nail down the setup/leveling split.

Help me out since I'm retarded.

Digimonk wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2018 at 12:50pm:


Awesome - thanks. I was having reservations about the build originally posted after catching up on info. Just returned 2-3 weeks ago and prepping to go on a RTR train.

Gonna do some more tinkering with those builds later today - appreciate the infos.

Rubbinns wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2018 at 8:22pm:

You are probably correct, but you can get a good bit more base DPS and melee power with 18/2 than the monk splash due to fighter bonus feats, weapon spec, mastery etc.  If the 12/3/3 is more DPS, I suspect it won't be that much, especially in real-world scenarios spread over the course of a mission rather than just a 30s burst of glory kobold burn.  Spamming all the ki attacks definitely adds DPS, but not many people can realistically sustain that over the course of a 10, 15 or 20 minute mission.

Maybe more importantly than just raw DPS, you can get a lot more defense on a heavy armor, 18/2 stick build.  Either build should work reasonably well though.

Thanks to SSG's shitty testing methods, Monk/Henshin are only good as splashes on staff builds again.  Which is pretty ironic considering that making Henshin good for more than just a 3 or 6 level splash on a stick build was the whole reason they reworked that tree a while ago.  Then they do so stupid, inaccurate testing and kneejerk a 180 and gut their own work.

Digimonk wrote on Jul 2^nd, 2018 at 12:50pm:

Having just LR'd my main into a Henshin Mystic (straight 20 Monk), I can completely agree with this. A Henshin's focused damage output is about half that of a shintao, which was immensely disappointing, considering how it came with the utility castration of losing Tomb of Jade/Dismissing Strike. Despite having Cleave/Great Cleave/Momentum Swing/Lay Waste, AoE damage was still behind a shintao with whirlwind. Cauldron of Flame was decent for leading into fights, but overall, it was lackluster.

My personal favorite q-staff'er would have to be 20 Rogue, Half-Orc. With Followthrough and a three-digit tumble score, it's basically like having a passive Dance of Death. Sustaining 100% doublestrike is incredibly easy with the 18th level core and Silent Avenger set (as well as BiS gear), and your helpless amplification exceeds that of even a tempest. Basically, you can tumble into a crowd of helpless mobs and annihilate them faster than pretty much any other melee. Considering how you also get an arsenal of emergency "oh, shit!" abilties, such as Improved Uncanny Dodge, Improved Defensive Roll, and Spinning Staff Wall, you're not going to die very much in reaper. Since you're also a rogue, your focused damage exceeds even Henshin Mystic through the immense amount of sneak dice.

Though, Kensei Q-Staff is something worth looking into. Going back to how rogue can sustain 100%+ doublestrike easily, this is honestly sometimes detrimental. Your standing doublestrike would look something like this:

• 23% (Molten Silver Gauntlets)
• 10% (Legendary Lore-fueled Packbanner)
• 20% Cartwheel Charge
• 15% Silent Avenger
• 10% Bloodrage Chrism
• 9% Doublestrike EPL
• 3% Aasimar Scourge PL
• 5% Perfect TWF

= 95% Passive Doublestrike

• 25% (Quick Strike)
• 30% (Reaper Memento)

= 150% Situational Doublestrike

In my opinion, this is a massive amount of wasted doublestrike. Considering how it can be consistently buffed well over the cap, kensei has better synergy with this. I like the idea (and likewise hate SSG's balancing decisions) of a kensei-focused q-staff'er. The immense amount of MP and fighter abilities would hit the base damage higher than either TA or Henshin, while feeding off of both via multiclassing. Speaking of which, a slightly better split to run with this would probably be 8 Fighter 6 Monk 6 Rogue. Considering how Power Surge is shit with prowess, you can drop it for more sneak dice and Uncanny Dodge for situational use.

If nothing else, the AP allocation would be completely identical to a 12/6/2 or 12/4/4, just with more front-loaded aptitude from the class split itself. You wouldn't be wasting large amounts of doublestrike compared to TA (as Quick Strike is an almost passive 25% that can't be fully utilized with a 95% standing DS), and you'd have much stronger overall DPS for single target. While I still believe that 20 Rogue is probably better solely by AoE damage, this is still an extremely good split for a quarterstaff user.

Starkjade wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2018 at 4:34pm:

Tumbling honestly doesn't cut very much into DPS at all. Even though you need to do it every 6 seconds, the recovery from tumbling (with an extremely high tumble score) is nearly nonexistent. It's basically a quarter-second break that navigates you to another point of the crowd - that also refreshes Followthrough. As for cleaves, I'm not sure. With a TA, cleaving would be a DPS loss considering how slow it is, and also that your main hits are already relayed to the entire crowd at once. Tumbling into the crowd and swinging is the best way to start, although this is assuming you're 20 Rogue and benefitting from the TA capstone. Otherwise, don't bother with constantly tumbling.